Chapter 823: Weakening Space

...

“Haha! It looks like I really am the first one to arrive!”

The Lightning Bird quickly found the Ruined Observatory with Kou Chongxue’s clone leading the way.

Even though Shang Xia’s group entered the Celestial Remains after the Divine Capital Sect, Eternal Palace, and Yuanchen Sect, it was obvious those superpowers didn’t care much about the observatory with the lure of the Origin Holy Artifact.

Thanks to the rank five Lightning Bird’s superior speed, Kou Chongxue’s clone could see the Ruined Observatory appearing in the distance.

When they finally arrived, they discovered that the Ruined Observatory was surrounded by countless layers of restrictions.

Landing softly on the ruins, the Lightning Bird flapped its wings and swept up a cloud of dust while emitting high pitched cries.

A rank four spiritual beast would already develop intelligence and spirituality. Now that the Lightning Bird entered the fifth rank, its consciousness developed to a whole new level. It could clearly see the dangers the Celestial Remains posed.

When the Yuanchen Sect and Kou Chongxue forced their way into the Celestial Remains back then, the experts of the Azure Origin World followed behind. They discovered the Starry Tree and the Star Essence Liquid that accumulated on the Ruined Observatory. In anticipation for the Starry Tree to bear the Starry Fruit that would assist one in breaking through to the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm, the Martial Dipper Realm experts who were there laid down countless restrictions and sealed the place off completely.

The Lightning Bird barely broke through to the fifth rank, and Kou Chongxue’s clone was nothing more than a hired thug with combat abilities at the Martial Dipper Realm. There was no way they would be able to break through the restrictions to enter the Ruined Observatory without prior preparations.

“There’s no need to worry! I naturally left something behind back then!” Kou Chongxue’s clone obviously sensed the Lightning Bird’s displeasure and he quickly explained, “Even if we run into danger, aren’t you forgetting the trump card the little brat gave us?”

No longer flapping its wings, the Lightning Bird tilted its head slightly and stared at the ball of light. It seemed to be saying something to the clone.

Oh yeah?! You’re so smart huh? Why don’t you do something about this then? Go ahead!

“Hehe...” Kou Chongxue’s clone chuckled. “Please, follow me!”

The clone finally took shape and started to lead the way. Streaks of silver lightning flashed along the Lightning Bird’s wings, and it leaped into the air slightly. It circled in the air above the clone and it shrunk itself down even more. Its body was less than 1 feet tall, and its entire wingspan shortened to slightly under 2 feet. It landed on the shoulder of the clone.

As the clone started to make his way forward, every step he took seemed to shrink the ground beneath him. Every step he took allowed him to travel a massive distance.

It didn’t take too long before the clone brought the Lightning Bird to the Ruined Observatory. Raising their heads to take a look, it was no different from a mass of shattered rocks.

“Chirp, chirp. Chirp, chirp!”

The Lightning Bird pecked at Kou Chongxue’s clone’s scalp as though it was trying to hurry him up. There were also traces of confusion while it was crying out earlier.

Waves after waves of numbing lightning flowed across his body from the locations the bird pecked at and Kou Chongxue’s clone shivered involuntarily.

“Hey, enough! Stop it! Stop chirping and pecking! I’ll bring you in right now!”

As he spoke, he tried to avoid getting pecked by the bird. At the same time, he didn’t forget to grumble, “Damn it! You’re a Lightning Bird, not a woodpecker. Why the hell are you acting like one? Even if you are a Mutated Woodpecker, my head isn’t made of wood...”

As he spoke, he brought the bird around the pile of rocks, and after locating something, he grinned, “I found it!”

Stepping onto the Ruined Observatory and walking ever closer to the scary stack of restrictions, his body started to emit light. He seemed to leap left and right while changing angles from time to time. Eventually, his gaze landed on a certain spot.

When he finally saw a location through the twisted space, his body froze and he didn’t move in the slightest. The Lightning Bird nearly fell from his shoulders and hit the ground when he stopped moving.

“It’s here!” Kou Chongxue’s clone maintained a strange posture as he crashed directly into the location he stared at. The Lightning Bird on his shoulder released several cries as though it was doubting him.

The next second, the man and bird duo disappeared after slamming into one of the restrictions.

As they made their way through, Kou Chongxue’s clone’s voice rang in the Lightning Bird’s mind. “Little bird ancestor, you cannot move! You better not move! Remain where you are quietly!”

The Lightning Bird could sense danger all around and it quickly retracted its wings as it rolled its eyes from side to side to observe the situation.

The layers upon layers of restriction that were preventing anyone from passing through seemed to possess a tiny gap enough for someone to carefully make their way through. The gap was actually forced apart carefully and there were several runes flashing on both sides. It seemed as though they could still restore themselves once they returned to their original position. The tiny gap was like a heavenly rift that temporarily separated the runes on both sides.

...

When Kou Chongxue’s clone led the Lightning Bird to the Ruined Observatory, the Heavenly Star Palace and the Changbai Sect who were making their way over ran into some trouble.

Shen Baisong’s face was filled with dust and smoke as he dragged 2 Martial Extermination Realm experts from the Changbai Sect behind him. They traveled several miles and after tossing the both of them into the distance, he slashed the air before him with his wooden ruler. A spatial barrier was formed in an instant.

However, the spatial barrier showed signs of cracking the moment it appeared as a formless shockwave crashed into it.

Shen Baisong’s expression changed as he poured his dipper qi into the barrier he created. He forcefully maintained the barrier and prevented the 2 members of the Changbai Sect from being killed by the formless energy.

Fortunately, Shen Baisong managed to avoid the initial collapse of space. The shockwave that struck them was already greatly weakened.

The spatial barrier seemed like it would shatter at any moment, but Shen Baisong managed to maintain it eventually. After some time, the fluctuating space around him started to calm down.

By the time he got rid of the spatial barrier, he turned around to stare at the Martial Extermination Realm experts of his sect. He could see that they were completely dumbfounded by what happened.

When Shen Baisong entered the Celestial Remains, he only brought 3 Martial Extermination Realm experts along with him. Everything happened too quickly earlier and even Yi Jingxu didn’t detect any abnormality before the space collapsed. In a hurry, Shen Baisong could only drag 2 of them out. The person left behind was probably dead...

It was then that he discovered several people closing in rapidly. Ignoring the consumption of his dipper qi, he pushed the Martial Extermination Realm experts of his sect away.

“Martial Nephew Shen, there’s no need to panic! It’s me!” Yi Jingxu’s voice came from the void. Even though the spatial fluctuations were starting to die, it still formed some sort of obstruction for voice transmissions. However, experts at their level were able to bypass it and transmit their voices to each other. After hearing who it was, Shen Baisong finally relaxed.

Soon after, he saw Yi Jingxu bringing 2 members of the Heavenly Star Palace over.

Glancing all around, Shen Baisong frowned. “Where’s Junior Sister Jingzi? Why isn’t she with you?”

“Everything happened too quickly and we scattered due to the collapsing space. I only had time to bring both of them away. However, with Jingzi’s adaptability, she shouldn’t face too many problems. It’s just... Sigh... I don’t know how many disciples managed to stay alive...” Yi Jingxu sighed.

Shen Baisong fell silent after hearing what he said.

Actually, both of them knew that without the protection of Martial Dipper Realm experts, the constant bombardment of strong spatial fluctuations like that would definitely kill a Martial Extermination Realm cultivator.

Shen Baisong brought 3 Martial Extermination Realm experts of the Changbai Sect with him, and Yi Jingxu brought 5 Martial Extermination Realm experts of the Heavenly Star Palace...

After a short moment when the region of space finally calmed down, Yi Jingzi reappeared with another member of the Heavenly Star Palace who she managed to protect in time.

“The space here has turned extremely weak. More and more battles are breaking out and I’m afraid this place will be destroyed before long!” Yi Jingzi seemed worried when she regrouped with the rest. She was afraid that they wouldn't get much time after they arrived at the Ruined Observatory.

After a short moment of silence, Yi Jingxu mumbled, “No matter what, we need to head over there. It’s where the Stargazer inheritance is most likely to be held!” He turned to Shen Baisong and muttered, “Martial Nephew Shen, if...”

“Martial Uncle Jingxu, please rest assured. No matter where we go, we’ll probably be in the same amount of danger. Since that’s the case, I would rather continue working with you. At the very least, there are 3 of us. We should be able to react accordingly if we run into any trouble.” Shen Baisong chuckled.

Yi Jingxu was a lot more assured after hearing his response. He laughed, “Martial Nephew Shen, there’s no need to worry. If the observatory is still there and we manage to obtain the inheritance, we’ll share it with each other!”

...

In the deserted spot Shang Xia left the members of the Tongyou Institution, Chu Jia handed jade plates to the others and said seriously, “Protect the plates well. If you run into danger, I will be able to use our formation to assist you as long as you’re within 5 miles of me. Even if you run into a Martial Dipper Realm expert, I should be able to hold off for some time!”

“Of course... It would be for the best if you don’t draw a Martial Dipper Realm expert over. If you run into danger, just rip the rank four Evasion Talisman Shang Xia gave you. However, you must not use the rank four Teleportation Talisman. You have to keep the talisman for truly critical situations. I believe that with the rank four Teleportation Talisman, you will be able to escape from a Martial Dipper Realm expert.” Chu Jia added.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Seeing everyone nodding, she still wasn’t reassured. She couldn’t help but remind them again, “You have to remember. Do not use the Teleportation Talisman in the Celestial Remains unless you have no other choice. Also, the range of your movements cannot exceed 800 miles from this place!”

After Dou Zhong, Yan Ming, Sun Haiwei, and Tian Mengzi left, Liu Qinglan sighed helplessly, “Did Little Shang expect this to happen?”

Chu Jia didn’t respond directly. Instead, she asked a question of her own. “Aren’t you going to head out there to take a look and try your luck?”

Shaking her head, Liu Qinglan mumbled, “I have already refined 4 extermination origins. All that’s left is for me to find a chance to comprehend my martial intent and try to push for the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm. There’s not much I can do with physical treasures. I should stay here with you.”

Chuckling softly, Chu Jia looked at the streaks of light disappearing into the distance. “All of them are proud cultivators whose blood is boiling with a sense of adventure. How can they be satisfied staying in this valley and being protected by others?”