Chapter 864: Start of Battle
The experts of the Azure Ascension World who were currently in the Azure Flame World obviously didn’t know the danger their home world was facing. However, they didn’t have time to care about that at the moment.
The number of Martial Dipper Realm experts who gathered in the Yanlin City finally numbered more than 30.
After the battles that took place, the experts of the Azure Ascension World took a huge hit and they had less than 30 Martial Dipper Realm experts left. However, they gained an advantage over those in the Azure Flame World during the battles, and they even raided the accumulations of the Yanlin Clan. They managed to gain a good number of Fate Dippers and high level herbs.
With everything they obtained, along with the transformation of world origin in the Yanlin Holy Land and City caused by Shang Xia, those who were injured during the battle earlier managed to restore their cultivation and combat strength.
At the same time, with Kou Chongxue and other peak-tier experts, they managed to produce several rank five advancement medicines. Along with the complete Origin Dippers, those Martial Extermination Realm experts who were at the peak of their realm managed to step into the Martial Dipper Realm.
Of course, the only reason they had so many resources available to them was because of the special situation they were in. It was the opportunity of a lifetime.
Naturally, when Kou Chongxue and the rest chose those who had a chance to step into the Martial Dipper Realm, they had their own considerations. For example, they would choose the juniors of those who died previously to attempt the breakthrough.
No matter how hard they tried, those who just broke through didn’t have much time to consolidate their foundations and properly get used to their new strength. Whatever it was, no matter how weak a Martial Dipper Realm expert was, they would be much stronger than those in the Martial Extermination Realm. Even if they were unable to take part in the battle immediately, they would be able to assist the Formation Grandmasters to control the grand formation to reduce the threat of those from the Azure Flame World.
When Shang Xia completed the refinement of his seventh set of fate dipper essences back then, a portion of those who were around the cauldron were those who just managed to advance.
...
In the Yanlin Holy Land, Shang Xia knew that the experts of the Azure Flame World had already surrounded the city and were starting their attack. However, his most important task at the moment was to control the Stellar Cauldron to continue absorbing world origin.
Despite the rumbling earth and shattering space caused by the battle outside, he maintained his current state while absorbing world origin. The battle was so intense that the fluctuations couldn't be completely blocked off by the defenses around the Holy Land, but nothing else mattered to Shang Xia at the moment.
Not only did he have to store the world origin he was absorbing, he would also have to complete the transformation and inject a portion into the Yanlin Holy Land.
Other than him, there was a Martial Extermination Realm who remained. They were those who received heavy injuries because of the battle outside. There was also Liu Qinglan who was still unconscious.
After considering those from the Azure Ascension World, there were also clansmen of the Yanlin Clan and Yanlin Ju whose cultivation had been sealed.
There were close to 100,000 members of the Yanlin Clan in the Holy Land. Their sheer numbers were also one of the reasons the experts of the Azure Ascension World chose not to kill them all.
According to what Yanlin Ju said, there were a lot more of them to begin with. They lost a portion due to the attack from the experts from the Azure Ascension World, and after that, another portion escaped. Those who remained were presently in the Yanlin Holy Land.
Shang Xia didn’t think that they would be able to cause any trouble at the moment. That wasn’t just because the cultivators among them had their cultivations sealed and were trapped inside some sort of formation. He was so confident due to the world origin that filled the Yanlin Holy Land. Because it contained the properties of the Azure Ascension World after being transformed by the Stellar Cauldron, it managed to weaken those from the Yanlin Clan.
No longer so focused on absorbing world origin after the scare he received back then, Shang Xia placed a good portion of his attention on the bronze book after shattering the layer of restriction on it.
However, he soon discovered that the restriction he got rid of was only on the cover of the book, and he was only able to flip open the first page!
Looking at it, he noticed tiny carvings on it that seemed pretty similar to the Star Observatory of the Celestial Remains before it was destroyed.
“Could this carving be of the Star Observatory itself?” Shang Xia pondered. He continued to examine the first page and noticed that there was a diagram of the sea of stars above the tiny observatory carved into the bottom of the page. There were several stars that seemed a little more eye-catching.
“Hmm... From the looks of it, these markings seem to be of a certain spot in space. Where do they actually lead to?” Shang Xia wondered out loud. He was unable to discern much from the first page and the carvings and he silently thought to himself, Do I need to return to the observatory in the Azure Ascension World in order to verify these things? Perhaps... Perhaps I need to continue breaking the restrictions to look at the information recorded in the other pages...
Reaching out slowly, he ran his fingers over the carvings. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to verify the information recorded even after he returned. If what was carved into the book were locations in the vast sea of stars, he would need the help of a Stargazer for sure!
The thought of breaking more restrictions to open the other pages flashed through his mind. However, he wasn’t sure if he should do it. After all, he could feel that he would need to use a lot more Five Element Dipper Qi if he wished to continue breaking the formations. It might affect the amount of world origin he could absorb from the Azure Flame World.
“Huh?” Shang Xia gasped suddenly. While running his fingers over the carvings, he faintly sensed a portion of his divine will being sucked into the page.
With his interest piqued, Shang Xia started to examine the book more carefully. He soon discovered that the page wasn't the thing affecting his divine will. Instead, it was the carving on the page itself.
After repeated tests to ensure there was no trap, he sent a trace of his divine will into the carving on the page.
He felt his mind going fuzzy the next second as his vision started to spin. By the time he could see clearly again, he noticed that he had already appeared on a Star Observatory.
“This...” It didn’t take him long to notice that he was standing in an observatory similar to the Ruined Observatory in the Celestial Remains.
“No... This isn’t merely similar... It’s exactly the same as the one carved into the page! Actually, it feels brand new... the Ruined Observatory was covered in debris, but this place is perfectly intact!” Shang Xia gasped while looking around him.
He soon noticed a gray mist surrounding the observatory with his divine will, blocking off everything past it.
The Starry Tree that existed in the Ruined Observatory was nowhere to be seen, and Star Essence Water was also absent.
However...
When Shang Xia raised his head, he noticed the amazing sight above him. Stars were sparking in the darkness and with a slight intention, they seemed to be pulled towards him. Several exceptionally bright stars appeared clearly in his sights and they seemed to point out their exact positions.
As he continued to reach his divine will further, those stars seemed to be pulled even closer to himself.
“Land of Star Origin... Reason for establishment... Communication between the worlds...” Several words appeared from the earth below and were detected by his divine will.
“There seems to be a location recorded in it called the Land of Star Origin. It seems to be a central location various worlds use to communicate with each other...” Shang Xia was slightly taken aback as he looked at his left palm instinctively.
Why is the Land of Star Origin so similar to the ‘Transit Grounds Huang Yu described?
The location of the Transit Grounds had been imprinted into his palm by Huang Yu in the past, but in order to get there, one would have to make use of the Star Observatory to lock down its position in space. Moreover, a long-range transfer like that wasn’t going to be easy.
Whatever it was, Shang Xia was sure of one thing after careful observation. The location of the Land of Star Origin recorded in the bronze book wasn’t the exact spot where the Transit Grounds was!
As such, Shang Xia examined the first page of the book again and thought to himself. If the first page of the book recorded the location of the Land of Star Origin, would that mean that every page after that would record special locations in space?
Other than the Land of Star Origin, could there be places like the Azure Flame World? Actually... Could there be more than Azure Worlds recorded in it? Could there also be Spirit Worlds, and even higher existences...
Shang Xia felt a wave surging in his heart. He had an impulse to fully concentrate on opening the restrictions in the bronze book so that he could learn of the secrets contained within.
Fortunately, his sense of reasoning quickly allowed him to close the book. He threw the thought of breaking the restrictions around the pages to the back of his mind as he continued to draw enough world origin such that the World’s Will wouldn’t go crazy. He also started to focus on the battle that was going on outside.
Naturally, the Yanlin Holy Land couldn’t stop Shang Xia from learning of the situation outside. When his divine will emerged, he could tell that the Yanlin City wasn’t in the best of situations at the moment.
Surprised, Shang Xia couldn’t help but extend his divine will even further. He noticed numerous ships floating in mid air as they surrounded the city.
Shang Xia knew that Sun Haiwei and the others managed to obtain a flying ship during their battle above the sea north of the city, but he didn’t think that the Azure Flame World possessed even bigger ships.
There was no need to compare the ship Sun Haiwei obtained to the ships surrounding them.
Soon after, another thought flashed in Shang Xia’s mind.
Is it even possible for the Yanlin Clan to not possess a single one of those ships? As one of the 3 superpowers of the Azure Flame World, there was no way they didn’t possess any!
From the looks of it, Yanlin Ju was still hiding a lot of secrets from them!
From how everything was looking, it wasn’t time to confront Yanlin Ju. Along with the giant ships closing in on the city, the experts of the Azure Ascension World seemed to be forced on the back foot and were finding it hard to resist the invasion.
If things kept up, even if Kou Chongxue and other peak-tier experts gave it their all, they wouldn’t be able to hold out for a long time.
None of them expected the Azure Flame World to hide such a powerful trump card!
They had to think of a way to turn the tables. If they were able to take down a single one of those flying ships, the experts of the Azure Flame World might reconsider their reckless attack. At the very least, the other ships might be too afraid to come close to the Yanlin City for fear of being shot down.
As Shang Xia thought of a plan, Kou Chongxue and the others had already started to take action.
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