Chapter 2246: Splitting the Heavens

In the Essence Abundance World, Huang Yu, whose cultivation had already reached the grand completion stage of the Martial Void Realm, was fleeing across a barren wasteland.

He looked utterly disheveled. His face was deathly pale and the severity of his blood loss was clear. His heavy and ragged breathing showed that exhaustion had driven him nearly to his limit. He couldn’t even properly control his aura, and it was as if his cultivation might fall from the grand completion stage at any time.

The next Just then, a cold voice came from ahead of his path of escape. "You can’t get away."

Raising his head, Huang Yu glanced at the figure blocking his way, and knew instantly that he had no chance of escaping in his current condition. With a weary sigh, he let himself collapse half-sitting onto the ground without a care of how he looked. A mocking grin appeared on his face and he chuckled, "If I hadn’t been wounded by the backlash from destroying the World Origin Sources connected to those continents, do you really think any of you could have stopped me?"

The man blocking him fell silent for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Why?"

Huang Yu laughed casually, "You still don’t get it? I was working for the Essence Luxuriant World all along!"

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The person who intercepted him fell silent for some time before finally asking again, "How did you do it?"

Huang Yu knew the man was asking how he had managed to destroy the World Origin Sources despite the protection of the World’s Will.

Whether it was the Star Origin Lord or the awakened Essence World Clone, both should have been able to sense and prevent any attempt to destroy the World Origin Sources. And yet, Huang Yu had not only succeeded, he had destroyed two.

Coughing between laughs, Huang Yu answered, "It’s simple. I had several rank seven talismans. I just had to wait for the brief moments when the Star Origin Lord’s and the Essence World Clone’s souls were clashing to strike. The backlash could be absorbed by the rest of the talismans..."

The person who intercepted him slowly drew a long sword from his waist and pointed it toward Huang Yu. "I have no right to meddle in the conflict between the Star Origin Lord and the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field..." He sighed coldly, "But I only wish to protect the Essence Abundance World. Your actions have crippled its vitality. The world itself now teeters on the edge of collapse!"

The man’s killing intent made Huang Yu’s organs quake. Blood spilled from his mouth, yet he smiled faintly through it. "You’ve already reached the peak of the Martial Void Realm, haven’t you? Haven’t you ever thought of glimpsing beyond, to what lies in the Martial Emptiness Realm?"

The man lifted his sword horizontally, his aura flaring. He replied curtly, "Of course I’ve thought about it, but..."

Huang Yu cut him off before he could finish. "But you also know you’ll never have the chance! As long as the Essence Abundance World exists as it is, as long as the Seven Essence Heavenly Field and the Star Origin Lord remain, you’ll never have a chance to step into the Martial Emptiness Realm!"

The interceptor was silent for a moment before speaking softly, "To be honest, my chances of advancing were never that great to begin with..."

Rather than accepting the other party’s dejection, Huang Yu raised his voice, interrupting him again. "That’s not the same thing! Failing to break through on your own is one thing, but having no future is another!"

The man still wasn’t swayed. He retorted coldly, "So you think destroying the Essence Abundance World’s foundation, causing the Star Origin Lord’s failure, splitting the Seven Essence Heavenly Field, and causing the Essence Abundance World to regress into a Spirit World will give me a chance to enter the Martial Emptiness Realm?"

"Exactly!" Huang Yu’s voice rang with conviction. "Destruction brings rebirth. Once the Essence Abundance World escapes the Star Origin Lord’s control, even if it falls back to what it once was, the Spirit Abundance World, you will have the hope of rising again. You can rebuild another Heavenly Field and return to an Essence World! If you can seize that opportunity during the ascension of the world, who’s to say you can’t reach the Martial Emptiness Realm?"

The interceptor gave a short, scornful snort. "A Heavenly Field only has one slot to house an expert at the Martial Emptiness Realm. What makes you think it would be mine?"

Huang Yu looked genuinely surprised as he gasped. "Why would you even ask such a thing? The nine Star Fields have already merged to form the Ninefold Star Field. The gates to the Eighth Order are open. Naturally, the restrictions on the number of Sages have loosened! The Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field already holds three Sages. Has the Star Origin Lord’s blockade of the Seven Essence Heavenly Field really grown so complete? Ah, I see, the Essence World Clones were only ever tools, temporary vessels to help him seize and replace each World’s Will. When he’s finished, he’ll discard them all. Why would he ever allow a native cultivator to ascend?"

The interceptor’s expression flickered uncertainly. His sword trembled in his grip, its power fully gathered, yet he still hadn’t struck.

At that moment, a streak of starlight tore across the sky and fell toward them like a meteor.

Both men’s faces changed. They could sense that if it struck, the impact alone could annihilate them.

They were about to flee when they suddenly realized the surrounding space had been sealed. A majestic pressure descended from above, freezing them in place.

Unlike the interceptor, whose face turned pale with horror and despair, Huang Yu’s initial shock quickly faded. His expression became almost serene.

The falling light halted in midair just before impact, then continued its descent, striking the ground heavily. Its earlier overwhelming aura had vanished,

A deep, thunderous crash that sent dust billowing into the air slammed into the ground, and the shockwave forced the interceptor back several steps before he could steady himself. Surprisingly enough, Huang Yu, who should have been the more wounded of the two, still lay half-reclined on the ground, looking almost unbothered. The other man glared at him in disbelief, even forgetting the danger of whatever had fallen.

Slowly sitting up straighter, Huang Yu’s pale face regained a bit of color. He wiped the blood from his mouth, glanced toward the settling dust, and frowned. "What the hell happened to you? Why do you look like that?!"

The smoke suddenly parted, swept away by an unseen flick of a sleeve, and the fallen figure came into view.

Even though he was missing a leg, half an arm, and even a large section of his left side, Shang Xia’s External Avatar didn’t look too bad. Balancing himself awkwardly on one leg, he hopped a few times and muttered irritably, "This isn’t our territory. I came in expecting to be torn to pieces. The fact that I even made it back in one piece, well, mostly, is already a miracle, alright?"

As soon as he finished, a loud crack sounded, his neck gave way under its own weight, and his head lolled to the side, hanging limply over his shoulder.

Only then did Huang Yu finally notice the severe corrosion marks along the back of Shang Xia’s External Avatar’s neck. The bones of his spine was shattered long ago.

Yet instead of panic, Huang Yu chuckled softly and said with calm assurance, "It’s fine. You can be repaired. Now that the Grand Star Field has been born, countless new, higher-grade treasures will emerge. Who knows? You might even be able to wield the strength of an Eighth Order expert."

Shang Xia’s External Avatar shook his dangling head and sighed, "The Eighth Order carries the power of creation. That kind of power isn’t something you can pile up with materials."

He didn’t linger on the topic. His dim eyes turned to the nearby interceptor, who still stared in mute shock. "What about him? Should I kill him now?"

Huang Yu glanced at the man and sighed lightly, "Forget it. We were friends once. Our paths simply diverged. There’s no need for us to be enemies anymore."

Shang Xia’s External Avatar’s damaged body continued to deteriorate, but neither of them seemed concerned. His voice grew faint as he muttered, "You’re right. What we’ve done may not have been the final straw that broke the Star Origin Lord, but we’ve certainly helped push the Seven Essence Heavenly Field that much closer to collapse."

As his voice faded, all three, Huang Yu, Shang Xia’s External Avatar, and the interceptor whose cultivation also stood at the grand completion stage of the Martial Void Realm, instinctively raised their heads.

Above them, a crack appeared in the heavens, splitting it in half.

The Essence Abundance World officially began to split apart, opening the rift that would divide it.