Chapter 612: Challenging the Martial Dipper

The moment he opened the case, he could feel the formless connection that seemed to pull the Origin Dipper away. The Imperial Star Fate Dipper turned into a streak of light that tried to fly away, but Shang Xia was prepared. His extermination origin protection barrier appeared and his Four Seasons Extermination Origins emerged to form a giant cage around him. The Imperial Star Fate Dipper was trapped within and no matter how much it trashed about, it failed to break free.

When Shang Xia raised his head again, he noticed something strange. Since the formless connection was unable to draw the Imperial Star Fate Dipper away, whatever it was connected to had to come to it!

Carefully extending his divine perception, he could feel a strange colorful mist separating from the condensed starlight. They flew to the Imperial Star Fate Dipper, bypassing the protection barrier completely.

Everything that was gathering there was Star Essence! The colorful mist was definitely Star Essence!

Getting excited, Shang Xia quickly opened another case that contained Star Essence Kou Chongxue gave him. His plan was to collect the Star Essence that was gathering into the case, but he didn’t expect the Star Essence within to be drawn over to the Imperial Star Fate Dipper.? He had to think of another plan.

He started to circulate the method Kou Chongxue taught him while crushing a spiritual jade in his hand. He ground it into jade powder and scattered it slowly on the mist that was gathering around the Origin Dipper. Next, he borrowed the power of his extermination origins to condense the starlight into the jade dust, as they started to form colorful sand that started to fall slowly.

Gathering Star Essence was an extremely tedious process that required a lot of patience.

Luckily for Shang Xia, the spatial tunnel had already condensed the starlight across millions of miles, saving him a lot of time.

As he used the power of his extermination origins to gather those colorful sand back into its original jade case, he discovered that there were at least a hundred or so of them. In just a short moment, he managed to multiply the amount he had by several times!

He had no idea how much Star Essence was required for him to fix his Abyssal Blade, but due to the preciousness of the weapon, Shang Xia knew that it wouldn’t be a small amount. Moreover, it wouldn’t be a mistake for him to gather more Star Essence anyway.

Unfortunately, their journey back to the Azure Origin World wasn’t going to be as smooth as they had thought.

The island that had been quiet so far experienced a sudden jerk and Shang Xia’s progress of gathering Star Essence was nearly disrupted completely.

When he raised his head, he noticed that the star river was disrupted and his heart sank. Clearly, an external influence was affecting the spatial tunnel they were in.

In the same instant he discovered the disturbance, Chu Jia’s voice rang in everyone’s mind. “Enemy attack! Everyone, be careful when dealing with the threat!”

Be careful? Deal with the threat?!

To be able to affect the spatial tunnel, their assailant had to be someone in the Martial Dipper Realm!

There was no taking care of the situation… The experts on the Tongyou Island could only tuck their heads in and hope for the best!

Shang Xia immediately stopped collecting Star Essence and took the risk of leaving the formation node he was on. He returned to the core region to assist Yun Jing and Yan Su’er in maintaining the grand formation.

By the time he returned, Chu Jia, Yun Jing, and Yan Su’er had already discovered that danger was approaching. They no longer cared about the consumption of world origin and used it to support the grand formation.

“What’s going on? Can we figure out the direction of the attack?” Shang Xia assisted them in controlling the grand formation while asking in a low voice.

Rather than answering his question, Chu Jia started grumbling after she felt his influence over the grand formation. “You’re actually so strong when it comes to adjusting the flow of energy! If I had known this earlier, I would have kept you here to help me the entire time!”

After a short pause, Chu Jia continued, “Anyway, I can’t locate them in a short amount of time. The only thing we know for sure right now is that someone has infiltrated the spatial passage.”

“Are they from the Spirit Abundance World? Or are they from the Azure Spiritual World? Could they be a Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor from our Azure Origin World?” Shang Xia pondered out loud.

In response, Yun Jing analyzed, “It’s not quite possible for a Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor of our Azure Origin World or the Azure Spiritual World to make a move now. After all, if we’re able to discover traces of their action, Patriarch Kou can definitely feel it too. It’s most likely done by a Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor from the Spirit Abundance World.”

“No… Something isn’t right!” Yan Su’er frowned and she seemed to have thought of something.

Chu Jia, Yun Jing, and Shang Xia turned to stare at her in unison while she explained solemnly, “A Martial Dipper Realm expert from the Spirit Abundance World might not actually make a move…”

Yun Jing was slightly taken aback, but she also seemed to understand her meaning.

“Why not?” Chu Jia was the first to ask.

“Because a Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor of the Spirit Abundance World will follow behind us to locate the Azure Origin World. I’m afraid that will be their true goal!”

Chu Jia and Shang Xia didn’t even have time to panic when Yun Jing’s scream came from the side. “Little Chu, quick! Tell Patriarch Kou…”

Only then did they realize what was going on.

Chu Jia screamed, “It’s too late, we’re reaching the end of our journey! We aren’t too far away from the Azure Origin World right now!”

“What should we do now?” Shang Xia asked instinctively.

“We have to leave the spatial tunnel immediately and interrupt our journey back!” Chu Jia replied as she placed her hand on the formation disc.

“Hey…” Shang Xia wanted to say something, but the swaying of the island told him that it was too late to tell them his thoughts. Chu Jia acted the moment she spoke.

The protection barrier around the core region of the Tongyou Island started to distort as the Nine Blossom Jade Formation Disc emitted a milky white glow. The world origin contained within was used up at a rapid pace.

Shang Xia wanted to remind them that if the goal of the Spirit Abundance World was to locate the Azure Origin World, they wouldn’t be the only ones under attack. Moreover, the number of Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors the Spirit Abundance World had wouldn’t be low either. At the very least, they would have more Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors than the Azure Spiritual World and Azure Origin World combined.

In a situation like that, what was the point of them interrupting their journey?

It wasn’t as though the other islands would do the same to get rid of their tail.

However, with things progressing up to that point, Shang Xia could only assist Chu Jia in controlling the grand formation. At least he could reduce the pressure on her and eliminate the possibility of her facing a backlash from the grand formation.

Luckily, the formation node Shang Xia was currently on was one of the most important ones around the Nine Blossom Jade Formation Disc. He realized that he didn’t need to exhaust his inner qi at all while maintaining his peak state.

A soft rumble could be heard as the Tongyou Island seemed to pass through another formless spatial barrier. It was thrown out of the tunnel and it appeared in the vast sea of stars.

The strong trembling caused many people on the island to feel dizzy, and their senses became a little distorted.

Shang Xia was the first to snap out of it and regain his thoughts. He swept his gaze around only to see large chunks of land separating from the middle sector of the Tongyou Island.

Chu Jia was unable to hold the island together when they exited the spatial tunnel forcefully, causing the border regions of the island to shatter.

“Hey, wake up!” Shang Xia yelled. Seeing as it wasn’t effective, he released his divine perception again and a loud snort boomed in the minds of everyone present. It was so strong it jolted their soul.

Yan Su’er, Yun Jing, Liu Qinglan, and Ren Bainian were the first to snap back to reality as they had the highest cultivation levels.

He eventually noticed a glowing ornament hanging by her waist. He also saw a talisman turning into a wisp of blue smoke which was quickly inhaled by Chu Jia as she restored herself to her peak state. Realization dawned on Shang Xia.

As the only Formation Grandmaster of the Tongyou Institution, she had to maintain the grand formation and take care of the entire situation. The higher-ups of the Tongyou Institution would naturally bring out a ton of treasures to ensure she would be able to respond appropriately to whatever would happen.

It was no wonder Chu Jia was able to hold on for so long despite being in the early stages of the Martial Extermination Realm.

Shang Xia thought that she was able to persevere due to her abnormal talent. As it turned out, there were many other reasons behind it.

Whatever it was, Shang Xia didn’t have the luxury of time to wait for everyone else on the island to recover. When he raised his head, he noticed a giant hand reaching out from the void to grab at the Tongyou Island.

Evidently, the hand belonged to a Martial Dipper Realm expert who attacked them in the spatial tunnel. Seeing as the Tongyou Island had interrupted their journey, he knew that his presence was exposed. In response, he decided to immediately take action and make his move on the Tongyou Island.

Unfortunately for him, the spatial ripples caused by such a huge landmass passing through the spatial tunnel wasn’t something he had the guts to pass through casually. He could only gather a giant hand in space that attempted to grab the island.

Shang Xia was helpless as there didn’t seem to be much the others could do at the moment. He flew into the air and unleashed his Four Constellation Samsara Nether Blade with all his might.

As cultivators in the Martial Extermination Realm could only use their extermination origin, while experts in the Martial Dipper Realm had control over their respective fate dippers, there was already a fundamental difference between the both of them.

Luckily, Shang Xia completed the transformation of his Four Seasons Extermination Origins to the Four Constellation Extermination Origins after he completed their refinement. He managed to close the distance between himself and an expert in the Martial Dipper Realm.

Also, he was unleashing his martial intent he comprehended in the Martial Extermination Realm with a divine weapon at the moment.

Shang Xia’s strike landed directly in the middle of the palm of the giant hand that was headed their way.

The Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor clearly didn’t expect a Martial Extermination Realm cultivator to put up any resistance against him, much less nullify the attack he sent out. In response, he poured his Origin Dipper True Qi into his palm in order to prevent it from shattering against Shang Xia’s strike.

He might have held off for the time being, but the Martial Dipper Realm expert quickly discovered that it was nearly impossible to restore the giant palm back to its original state. It stopped breaking down, but it was still in a very weakened condition!

With the strike he sent out and the wound he created on the giant palm, Shang Xia’s Four Constellation Extermination Origins managed to drill its way in.

As his extermination origins clashed with the other party’s fate dipper, they failed to destroy the palm completely. However, the palm was also unable to force the extermination origins out. In the end, it was unable to continue its assault on the Tongyou Island.