Chapter 715: World Ascension: Integration of Origin Essence

“Since we were going to use what we obtained back then from the Manyu Continent anyway, what's the difference between using it back then and now?” Shang Xia asked.

Before Shang Bo could say anything, another voice rang in the pavilion. “Of course there’s a difference!” Ji Wenlong reappeared and he nodded at Shang Bo. However, he didn’t plan on explaining himself at the moment. Instead, he sighed, “It’s great to have our own Holy Land…”

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

When he was done with the expansion of land earlier, Ji Wenlong specially took a trip around the Tongyou Paradise and allowed Chu Jia to give him proper explanations on everything that happened back then.

He couldn’t help but chuckle twice before returning to the explanation. “The quality of the Azure Origin World and the Azure Spiritual World was pretty similar. The process of fusion was relatively long, and if we threw the fragments of the Manyu Continent into the mix, it would take an even longer time.”

He paused for some time before he continued, “Moreover, you saw what happened earlier. After the fusion was complete, a large amount of world origin would be lost. If we fused the Manyu Continent fragments into the worlds back then, there would be even more wasted world origin and origin essence.”

Shang Bo added, “To be honest, we were forced to push for the World Ascension due to the threat coming from the Spirit Abundance World. We didn’t have much time to prepare and there wasn’t much accumulation to begin with. Our worlds had to take great care on how to deal with the essence from the Manyu Continent.”

“If we absorbed the essence from the Manyu Continent after the fusion of our worlds, we would be doing so in an advantageous position. We would be a lot stronger and the process of assimilation would be much easier. Not only will we not waste too much of it, we can refine it at a much quicker rate.” Ji Wenlong completed the explanation.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Shang Xia felt that their next step would be to finally bring the Tongyou Island back to the You Continent.

However, Shang Bo and Ji Wenlong didn’t seem too anxious about it.

After explaining what was going on, Shang Bo turned and asked, “Chief Ji, did you make the arrangements for the battlefield between the two worlds to merge with the You Continent?”

Raising an eyebrow triumphantly, a grin appeared on his face. “It’s been brought into the borders of the You Continent.”

“Are Yun Jing, Yan Su’er, Liu Qinglan, and the others alright? What about everyone else from the institution?” Shang Bo asked again.

“They’re pretty alright. Some of them exhausted too much energy and wouldn’t be able to fight in the near future. Of the 60 percent of land from the battlefield between the two worlds, I split them up roughly for now. I’ll have to make proper arrangements in the future otherwise there’ll be tons of natural disasters waiting for us.” Ji Wenlong muttered.

Only then did Shang Bo heave a sigh of relief. “As long as it has been brought into our You Continent, it’s fine. The land is ours now. We can expand our territory by close to 1000 miles and the continent will be able to bear the burden of a Holy Land. Once we bring the Tongyou Island back, along with those random fragments we gathered, we should at the very least be comparable to the next smallest continent in the new world!”

Shang Xia didn’t know about the foundations of the Azure Spiritual World, but he knew that the Yan Continent was the second smallest continent in the Azure Origin World. The Zhongxuan Sect of the Yan Continent also had their own island, and they would be able to expand their territory accordingly.

With another thought in mind, Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Where will we place the Tongyou Island after bringing it back to the continent?”

The battlefield between the two worlds was in an independent space separated by spatial barriers back then. After the fusion of the worlds, the spatial barrier disappeared and the battlefield was merged into the new world. A portion of it was given to the Liao Continent, while the Tongyou Institution obtained the other.

That could happen because the regions of land were already in the newly formed world to begin with. The Tongyou Island was a different story. They couldn’t dump it directly into the You Continent. Instead, they would have to find a different spot to place it.

Shang Bo chuckled in response. “Where else can we put it? We can only place it in the large ocean. That way, we’ll be able to extend our territory by a little over a thousand miles and those random fragments can become islands close to the mainland.”

Shang Xia thought about the geography after integrating the Tongyou Island and he couldn’t help but laugh, “Luckily, the battlefield between the two worlds managed to extend our territory to the north by close to 1000 miles. Otherwise, our You Continent will turn into a long streak of land after we integrate the island…”

Ji Wenlong and Shang Bo seemed to have thought of the same thing. Unlike what Shang Xia was thinking, they could tell that the shape of the You Continent wasn’t actually advantageous to them.

Not knowing what was on their mind, Shang Xia thought a level deeper and continued, “Is our Tongyou Institution going to start expanding Overseas?”

Once they integrated the Tongyou Island, the addition of the land from the battlefield between the two worlds had already pulled the coastline around the You Continent by close to 1000 miles. With the numerous fragments that could turn into islands, a jumping board to regions outside the You Continent would be formed that the Tongyou Institution could utilize.

Ji Wenlong explained, “Even though the regions Overseas might not be as prosperous as the mainland, they are pretty sparse in population. There should also be resources out there and some precious treasures we have not seen before. However, gathering all of them would be too difficult and there are terrifying beasts living deep within the ocean. They might pose a threat to our plans if we choose to expand outwards. Of course, it’s still an option at the end of the day. Kid, you bet not forget that our institution has 4 Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors now. Our foundation as a Holy Land might be solid, but it won’t be able to support all of us. Otherwise, the other Holy Lands wouldn’t have kept their number of Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors low throughout the years. Most of them only had 2 or 3 experts at our level.”

Shang Xia understood what he meant. With himself as an example, he could easily absorb all the world origin hundreds of miles around him.

Of course, his amazing talent and superior control over world origin played a factor in that, but even after absorbing so much world origin, the effects it had on him were pretty minuscule!

That was how terrifying it was whenever a Martial Dipper Realm expert cultivated!

Moreover, the Tongyou Paradise didn’t just have to support the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors. There was also a large amount of experts it had to nurture and support.

With the same reasoning, every one of them required space and resources for cultivation.

The You Continent seemed to have risen from the ashes and everything was progressing in the right direction, but planning ahead and making preparations was never a foolish move.

Another thought entered Shang Xia’s mind the next moment. He recalled the Hundred Weapons Mill he ran into back during the trade fair. They seemed to have the ability to refine and remake divine weapons, and they seemed to come from the land Overseas.

It seemed as though there were powerful factions out there as well, and Shang Xia felt that he understood the Tongyou Institution’s future arrangements.

Ji Wenlong turned to Shang Bo and laughed suddenly, “You came back from the north, what’s happening over there? The Changbai Holy Land had your help and they managed to nurture another Martial Dipper Realm expert. Did the Triple Frost Palace back down after realizing they wouldn’t be able to achieve much?”

A strange look appeared on Shang Bo’s face. “The Triple Frost Palace retreated indeed, but it didn’t seem to have too much to do with me or the newly promoted Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor. They seemed to have their reservations when they backed down, and the feeling I got from the Changbai Holy Land was that they had everything under control. I think they were relying on something else to begin with.”

Ji Wenlong turned serious after hearing his explanation. “That’s strange… The Triple Frost Palace is backed by the Northern Sea Mystic Sect. Who could be assisting the Changbai Holy Land? Could it be the Eternal Palace or the Divine Capital Sect? Who else can it be other than them?”

Shang Bo shook his head in response. “We know too little about the powers in the Azure Spiritual World. We merely know of some names, but we have no idea about their inner workings.”

“Let’s not think too much into it. At the very least, the Triple Frost Palace retreated. We won’t have to face their threat when we focus our efforts when expanding across the ocean. If we become enemies with the Changbai Holy Land in the future, we know someone else who might want to deal with them.” Ji Wenlong snorted.

Hearing their conversation, Shang Xia couldn’t hold back any longer and he cried, “It has already been so long! When will we start integrating the Tongyou Island into the world?”

Sniggering softly, Ji Wenlong and Shang Bo looked at each other. Ji Wenlong eventually asked, “Kid, how do you know it hasn’t begun?”

Shang Xia was stunned. With his current cultivation, he could obviously see the Tongyou Island floating outside the Beyond Heavens Pavilion. There were also countless fragments that were hovering somewhere around it.

How could the integration of such a massive landmass be hidden from him?

Moreover, Shang Xia was sure that the Tongyou Island didn’t have the slightest connection with the new world yet. The islands that belonged to other factions were also floating above the Beyond Heavens Pavilion above their respective continents.

Shang Bo finally decided to point him in the right direction. “Don’t you feel a sense of resonance with the World’s Will? Martial Dipper Realm cultivators like ourselves will be able to come into contact with it and engage in some elementary communication.”

Shang Xia was taken aback, and he calmed himself down. He tried to feel the connection to the World’s Will.

With nothing distracting him, Shang Xia seemed to ‘see’ an endless lake. He was sure the ‘lake’ was made from world origin and the World’s Will existed within it.

The moment he understood that point, the scene before him changed.

The scene that seemed to be shrouded in some type of fog became a lot more colorful the next moment. Even the lake started to move and it seemed to come alive.

When that was happening, Shang Xia discovered some sort of bond extending towards him from the void. However, it didn’t attach itself to him. Instead, it connected with the endless lake of world origin. When he tried to take a closer look at those connections, he discovered that they had turned illusory. No matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn’t pinpoint where they came from.

He didn’t know why, but an epiphany struck him the next second. Those connections to the lake seemed to be made from the various Holy Lands and Elysiums that existed.

Shang Xia no longer tried to investigate it. He simply enjoyed the wondrous scene.

In his special state of mind, he seemed to hear gurgling sounds coming from the endless lake of world origin. The gurgling seemed to be caused by something entering the lake of world origin through those connections.

Shang Xia snapped back to reality and opened his eyes in shock. He stared at Ji Wenlong and Shang Bo while muttering, “I get it! It’s the origin essence of the Manyu Continent!”