Chapter 2248: The End?

In the void beyond the Seven Essence Heavenly Field, two figures stood side by side upon the deck of an Eternal Golden Boat.

They were both peak-level Sages, the very same two who had once confronted each other when Shang Xia ascended to the Eighth Order. Now, however, they stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing across the vast expanse of void at a fleet of five Super Star Ships, one of which was a partially repaired Eternal Golden Boat. Each ship had hurled enormous anchors into the Seven Essence Heavenly Field, and soon after, the chains began to tighten, dragging something from within.

Of both peak-tier Sages, one was Wanggui, once rescued by Shang Xia from the Star River, and the other was the Star River Stowaway who had battled Shang Xia.

Though they had once been enemies, neither displayed the slightest hostility toward the other.

"Are you not going to intervene?" Wanggui asked coldly, glancing sideways. "The Star Origin Lord must have paid a great price to bring you here. For you to just stand by and watch, don’t you think that’s rather inappropriate?"

The Star River Stowaway’s gaze never left the scene before them. His eyes were fixed on a single brilliant sword strike that had just split open the barrier around the Seven Essence Heavenly Field. Without turning his head, he replied calmly, "The price was merely a promise. Right now, the Star Origin Lord’s chances of fulfilling that promise are close to zero. Besides..."

He trailed off as he saw the mace expand, forcing the gap wider and holding it open like a giant pillar. After a short pause, he finished, "... Besides, are you not here? Even if I wanted to intervene, I doubt I could beat you. As things stand, you and I merely hold each other off. What happens next is up to the Star Origin Lord’s fate."

"Then his fate is already sealed!" Wanggui grunted once, watching as half of the Essence Abundance World was dragged out of the rift.

The Star River Stowaway’s tone shifted, tinged with disbelief. "So Sage Shang, truly succeeded? The Heaven Observation Sect’s 1,000 years of accumulation, and the Star Origin Lord’s millennium of preparation... They were all defeated by a man who rose in barely a century?"

A faint smile appeared on Wanggui’s face. He cast another look at the man beside him. "You would best reconsider how you address him. The title of Sage applies only to those in the Martial Emptiness Realm, after all."

The Star River Stowaway’s expression stiffened slightly, and he fell into thoughtful silence, as if genuinely pondering the implication of Wanggui’s words.

But soon their attention returned to the distant Heavenly Field.

They watched as half of the Essence Abundance World finally broke away from the Seven Essence Heavenly Field. The mace that had held open the rift withdrew just as the turbulent void sealed shut once more.

Yet before the gap closed, both men caught a glimpse of what was happening inside. The mace did not return to Shang Xia. Instead, as it withdrew into the Heavenly Field before expanding into a massive pillar that split the heavens. It plunged straight through the other half of the Essence Abundance World, smashing into its already shattered lands below.

Then the rift closed completely, cutting off their sight. The two exchanged a brief glance, each knowing what the other had realized. The remaining half of the Essence Abundance World would be utterly annihilated.

They could already imagine the consequences. With the Seven Essence Heavenly Field losing an Essence World, the entire Heavenly Field would be thrown into chaos. The Star Origin Lord’s strength would plummet and he wouldn’t be merely weakened. He might even fall from the Eighth Order completely.

Indeed, the changes in the Seven Essence Heavenly Field soon seemed to confirm their fears. The once-invisible barrier around the Heavenly Field lost its ability. It was fully exposed, bulging and contracting in unstable waves.

The surrounding void twisted violently, the distortion spreading outward in every direction. The Heavenly Field appeared to be on the verge of complete collapse.

The fleet, which had just finished pulling out half of the Essence Abundance World and was preparing to retreat, suddenly found itself caught in the expanding distortion. The Super Star Ship at the rear was torn in half by the twisting void.

Meanwhile, from within the collapsing Heavenly Field, streams of world origin began leaking into the void. The flow grew faster and thicker with every passing moment.

Both Wanggui and the Star River Stowaway frowned.

"Strange..." Wanggui murmured. "The Star Origin Lord is still able to maintain his cultivation? Could it be that once one reaches that level, it becomes permanent?"

The Star River Stowaway also looked perplexed, but after a moment’s thought, he shook his head. "The Eighth Order may be beyond our understanding, but I don’t believe in any such thing as a permanent ascension."

Wanggui silently agreed. Neither had reached that level, so they dared not speculate further.

What they did not know was that when the Crimson Soul Tablet transformed into that colossal pillar and pierced through the remaining half of the Essence Abundance World, it had not destroyed it completely. Instead, after striking the ground, it began forcibly absorbing all the world origin it could.

Shang Xia’s intent was simple. He wanted to drain it dry. Directly annihilating the world would have unleashed a flood of chaotic world origin that the Star Origin Lord might still reclaim. By emptying the world of its essence, Shang Xia cut off the flow at its source.

Yet as he absorbed the world origin, Shang Xia confirmed his earlier suspicion. The world origin of the Essence Abundance World did show faint signs of evolving to a higher grade, but only faintly. It was far from any complete transformation.

So how, he wondered, had the Star Origin Lord managed to achieve his evolution to the Eighth Heaven, if even the Heavenly Field’s energy had not transformed?

The thought gave him pause. A realization dawned upon him.

The Seven Essence Heavenly Field had been the foundation for the Star Origin Lord’s ascension, and its worlds had served as the stepping stones. But perhaps, once the Star Origin Lord reached the Martial Eternity Realm, he could in turn catalyze the future transformation of those worlds. For now, however, that process was incomplete.

The truth was clear. Only one part had truly evolved. Not the entire Heavenly Field, but the Essence Ping World, the very first world whose World’s Will the Star Origin Lord had replaced. It was his core, his origin, and his true body.

Looking back, Shang Xia realized it. Across both invasions, though he had battered and shattered many of the Seven Essence Heavenly Field’s worlds, the Essence Ping World had never once been harmed. Even amid the fiercest combat, the Star Origin Lord had instinctively shielded it.

That could mean only one thing, the Essence Ping World was the Star Origin Lord!

At least for the time being, the other Essence Worlds were mere extensions. They could only be considered his limbs. Their loss weakened him, yes, but only by shattering the Essence Ping World could Shang Xia deliver a mortal wound.

No wonder, even with the Essence Abundance World destroyed, the Star Origin Lord still retained his cultivation.

With that understanding, Shang Xia acted decisively. After draining the remaining world origin from the Essence Abundance World, he recalled his Crimson Soul Tablet. As it shimmered with powerful starlight, Shang Xia once again unleashed his martial intents in one smooth motion straight at the Essence Ping World behind the figure that stood across him!