Chapter 2220: Ascension: Grand Star Field

At the critical moment when Shang Xia barely escaped from the Six Essence Heavenly Field, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with an Eternal Golden Boat floating across the void, its prow marked by obvious traces of repair.

He was not unfamiliar with this vessel, nor with the Star River Stowaway who owned it, Dong Jin, the very same opponent he had clashed with multiple times in the Illusory Sea of Stars.

Shang Xia’s first instinct was that Dong Jin intended to intercept him. It seemed highly possible that the Star Origin Lord had arranged the encounter in advance as a contingency.

If Dong Jin struck at that moment, then with the Star Origin Lord pursuing close behind, Shang Xia would find himself caught between two enemies. It would throw him into a deadly predicament.

When he had invaded the Six Essence Heavenly Field, Shang Xia’s success had depended entirely on catching the Star Origin Lord off guard while his attention was divided by the fusion of the seventh Essence World. If he were to be stopped by another formidable foe, the price of escape would be devastating, especially when he was no longer at his peak state.

Yet, just as he prepared to strike first, determined to break through by force, the Eternal Golden Boat suddenly drifted sideways, gliding a short distance through the void, opening a clear path.

Shang Xia was briefly stunned. Though confusion stirred in his heart, he immediately realized that the other party had no intention of acting against him and was instead allowing him to leave freely.

Suppressing his doubts, he wasted no time. His body turned into a stream of starlight as he flew off cautiously, vanishing into the depths of the void.

Only after the Six Essence Heavenly Field had completely vanished from his senses, and he confirmed that no one was following him, did Shang Xia finally come to a halt.

He already had a few guesses as to why Dong Jin had let him go. The man clearly had his own plans, and whether this gesture was a favor worth repaying would depend on future developments.

Rather than returning directly to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, Shang Xia chose to rest for a while. He found a small Earth Star hidden among a dense belt of asteroids and took the chance to recover.

After shattering the Essence Mammoth World, Shang Xia had absorbed an immense quantity of world origin from its World Origin Source using the Crimson Soul Tablet.

Though his cultivation had already reached the very peak of the Seven Star Realm, making such energy nearly useless for further breakthroughs, it still served well to replenish his depleted inner qi more rapidly.

During the battle within the Six Essence Heavenly Field, Shang Xia had once again drawn upon the power of the Dipper Star Formation within the Star River.

According to his calculations, and those of Yuan Qiuyuan and the other Stargazers from the Hall of Stargazing, if there truly existed a rank seven Grand Stargazer within the Six Essence Heavenly Field, or if the Star Origin Lord himself was one, then it was possible, though unlikely, that the precise position of Shang Xia’s Dipper Star Formation in the Star River could be deduced.

Incidentally, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s Stargazers had reached the absolute limits of their craft.

As Yuan Qiuyuan himself had said, his mastery of the art of stargazing had reached a dead end. He could see no path forward.

He suspected that the inheritance they had inherited was incomplete, possibly tampered with long ago by the Stargazers of the ancient Heaven Observation Sect.

If that suspicion were true, then there could be only one explanation. The Star Origin Lord himself did it.

Even if he was not a true Stargazer, he undoubtedly possessed the complete legacy of the Heaven Observation Sect.

Shang Xia’s inner qi recovered swiftly. Beyond the world origin he had drawn into the Crimson Soul Tablet, much of the credit lay in the increasingly dense and potent origin qi now saturating the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

He also noticed that the origin qi of the foreign Star Fields, which had once been distinct, was blending together at a visibly deeper level.

That could mean only one thing. The integration of the eight foreign Star Fields into the Chaotic Sea of Stars had accelerated further.

Moreover, when he extended his senses deeper, he realized something even more striking, the origin qi from the foreign Star Fields and the Chaotic Sea of Stars itself were now approaching perfect equilibrium.

In other words, the proportions of the nine different types of energies were becoming nearly identical.

That suggested that the merging process of all eight worlds had now reached a consistent stage.

It was remarkable that they were still in the Heaven Observation Star Region that was connected to the Illusory Sea of Stars.

After the Essence World of the Illusory Sea of Stars had been forcibly pulled through a void passage into the Chaotic Sea of Stars, vast amounts of its essence had flooded into the Star Region. By all logic, the Illusory Sea of Stars’ influence should have remained dominant for some time.

Yet barely any time had passed, and already the balance was leveling out!

That could only mean one thing. The fusion of all nine Star Fields was accelerating rapidly, and the ascension of the Chaotic Sea of Stars to a Grand Star Field was likely approaching much faster than anyone had anticipated.

Shang Xia thought quietly to himself, "I wonder if this development was part of the Star Origin Lord’s plan, and that of those Star River Stowaways, or if it caught them by surprise as well..."

He smiled faintly. “But as things stand, the situation between the Star Origin Lord, the Star River Stowaways, and me has reversed. The one who now most wishes for the Chaotic Sea of Stars to complete its ascension quickly...”

“... IS ME!” Shang Xia ran his fingers lightly over the surface of the Crimson Soul Tablet, which had returned to its original form. A series of luminous inscriptions appeared across its surface.

Advancement Medicine: Eight Trigrams Immortal Golden Pill

Prerequisite: Grand Completion Stage of the Seven Star Realm

Main Medicine: Eternity Artifact

Secondary Medicine: 7 strands of Eternity Essence from the Star River

Auxiliary Medium: Starlight Curtain (9.9 x 3.3 feet)

Required Medium: Origin qi from different Star Fields

Remarks: Martial Intent suitable for current cultivation realm. Soul at the grand completion stage. Advancement with a Star World.

Compatibility: 92%

Success Rate: 92%

Compared to before, there was little change, the only differences were the increase in the compatibility and success rate.

Shang Xia believed the improvement was due to his continual refinement of his Dipper Star Formation and the strengthening of his foundation.

He also suspected that his advancement medicine was not something to be concocted externally. Rather, it would have to be forged within his body, turning himself into the furnace, condensing the pill inside him, and thus stepping directly into the Eight Trigram Realm.

In truth, Shang Xia no longer believed that anyone, whether in the Chaotic Sea of Stars, the other Star Fields, the Star River Stowaways, or even the Star Origin Lord himself, possessed the ability or qualifications to refine a true rank eight advancement medicine.

If they had, they would not have waited until now.

Since the initiative rested firmly in his hands, why shouldn’t Shang Xia take control of the process himself, accelerating the fusion of the Star Fields and initiating his ascension to the Eight Trigrams Realm before anyone else?

Having made up his mind, Shang Xia decided his first step was to return to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field.

After all, if his coming plan was to succeed, he would first need to ensure the absolute safety of the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field amidst the storm that was about to unfold.