Splitting the Heavens

Chapter 1157: The Rapidly Strengthening Heavenly Star Palace.

After Yan Ming’s reminder earlier, Shang Xia realized that if Xin Lu was able to notice what happened in the void outside the Spirit Abundance World with so little help and the Tongyou Institution’s less mature Star Observatory, the Heavenly Star Palace was very likely to be able to do the same since they had a grander Star Observatory with more experts who had knowledge of the Stargazer inheritance.

As soon as Shang Xia left the Elysium, Kou Chongxue’s clone immediately delivered news that Yin Jingxu was gathering the True Immortals of the Spirit Luxuriant World.

In the void above the Jiao Continent, Shang Xia’s appearance caused the others to shoot him with strange looks.

“True Immortal Little Shang, why are you the only one today? Where’s Patriarch Kou?” Yang Taihe asked while chuckling. As usual, he was the spokesperson of everyone present.

What truly surprised him was the fact that the aura Shang Xia was emitting was extremely mysterious, and even he couldn’t make sense of it immediately.

It wasn’t something that would happen when one intentionally concealed their cultivation realm. Instead, it was something that happened when someone tried to feel out an expert stronger than themselves!

That would mean that Shang Xia’s cultivation was no weaker than his own, and it might even have surpassed him completely!

After Yang Taihe asked the question, Zhang Xuansheng also turned to look at Shang Xia. As the other third tier True Immortal, he also quickly noticed the changes to the kid.

How long has it been?!

Shang Xia acted as though he didn’t see the quiet exchange between Yang Taihe and Zhang Xuansheng. He laughed softly in response, “The patriarch is in secluded cultivation. He planned to send a clone over, but I stopped him so that he wouldn’t be distracted.”

After he spoke, he glanced at those present and mumbled, “Everyone is here, except for the person who called the meeting?”

Liu Jingsheng smiled in response. “I’m 80 percent certain the Heavenly Star Palace discovered something… For True Immortal Yin to be so late… It can only prove that what they found wasn’t simple!”

After he spoke, he turned to Shang Xia. “From what our disciples mentioned, after True Immortal Yin entered the Martial Void Realm back then, he has been planning to move the Star Observatory to the Yi Continent. True Immortal Little Shang, do you know anything about it?”

“Is that true?! I didn’t hear anything about it.” Shang Xia frowned while gasping softly.

Everyone showed strange expressions, but no one would show their stance at that moment.

Eventually, Liu Jingsheng laughed and tried to diffuse the situation. “When True Immortal Yin comes later, True Immortal Little Shang, you should ask him about it.”

Shang Xia chuckled twice and remained silent. He easily avoided giving a response immediately. He was starting to wonder if the Heavenly Star Palace was truly planning to move the Star Observatory, or if it was mere rumors spread by the others.

The reason the Heavenly Star Palace reconstructed the Star Observatory in the Jiao Continent was that the heavenly screen above the Jiao Continent had been royally fucked by the invasion of the Spirit Abundance World. They had been trying to restore it, but it was difficult to do so.

It was extremely beneficial for them to keep the Star Observatory in the Jiao Continent as it was easy to observe the vast sea of stars.

In the past, the Heavenly Star Palace had intentions of getting closer to the Tongyou Institution, which was also why Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue didn’t mess with them too much. Kou Chongxue advanced to the Martial Void Realm with the support of the spirituality of the Jiao Continent, and with his protection, the Heavenly Star Palace’s activities in the Jiao Continent naturally went smoothly.

After the Star Observatory was successfully reconstructed, it started to show its worth and it brought numerous benefits to the Jiao Continent.

However… After Yin Jingxu successfully broke through to the Martial Void Realm, the Heavenly Star Palace’s relationship with the Tongyou Institution became a little strange.

Actually, it wasn’t that both factions were in conflict with each other, but it was because the Star Observatory was located in the Jiao Continent. The Jiao Continent was under the influence of the Tongyou Institution, and it was where Kou Chongxue’s soul was branded to the world. For Yin Jingxu to remain there… The Void Origins of both True Immortals would definitely clash even if they didn’t intend to do so.

As time passed, both True Immortals wouldn’t be able to benefit from it. For Yin Jingxu, whose cultivation level was lower, he could only remain at a disadvantage.

It wasn’t difficult to solve their problem. As long as Yin Jingxu left the Star Observatory and returned to the Yi Continent, there would be no problem.

If the Heavenly Star Palace was still planning to take advantage of the situation with the heavenly screen above the Jiao Continent, it would eventually come to an end. After all, with the Spirit Luxuriant World’s growth, especially since it absorbed many smaller fragments of land from other worlds, the heavenly screen was showing signs of recovering.

The heavenly screen above the Jiao Continent wouldn’t be able to provide the advantage to the Star Observatory for long.

However… In his current state, Yin Jingxu wasn’t really able to leave the Star Observatory as he wished. He was in a dilemma and the situation was pretty awkward.

Liu Jingsheng speaking about the Heavenly Star Palace’s plan to move the Star Observatory probably contained a shred of truth. It probably wasn’t a wild rumor, and he definitely had a purpose for bringing it up.

Everyone continued to chat among themselves for some time, but Yin Jingxu was still nowhere to be seen. All of them couldn’t help but feel a little displeased.

If they had to speak about experience of being a True Immortal… Yin Jingxu was the last to break through to his current level.

When everyone was starting to get annoyed, Shang Xia, Yang Taihe, and Zhang Xuansheng turned to stare at a certain spot in the void at the same time.

“Oh? This…” Yang Taihe caught everyone’s attention.

The next moment, in the void tens of thousands of miles away from the heavenly screen, an unassuming spatial gate opened up and 4 Star Ships emerged.

All of them could tell that those Star Ships were responsible for patrolling the region outside their world, and from the looks of it, they weren’t doing too well. It was especially so for the 2 ships at the back. One of them suffered heavy damage to its mast and rudder, and it was basically dragged out of the spatial gate by the other ships. The other suffered damage throughout its hull and it looked as though it had been corroded by something.

However, what those True Immortals were concerned about weren’t the damaged ships. They were looking at the better-preserved ones.

That was because there were 2 massive Star Beasts wrapped up and dragged along the side of each of the ships. From their experience killing Star Beasts during the invasion back then, it was clear all 4 Star Beasts were of the fifth rank.

The True Immortals present knew the value of those Star Beasts. It could be said that any part of a Star Beast was extremely valuable. Capturing 4 of them was more than enough to make up for the damages the 2 ships suffered.

After the Star Ships left the spatial gate, they raced towards the Spirit Luxuriant World.

The True Immortals could tell that even though those ships didn’t seem to be moving too quickly, they seemed to be guided by faint starlight as they went straight to the heavenly screen above the Jiao Continent.

Watching the ships enter the heavenly screen, the True Immortals present seemed to forget their dissatisfaction.

A moment later, Liu Jingsheng raised an eyebrow and wondered out loud, “Why do these Star Beasts look different from the ones we hunted back then?”

“It’s normal… Star Beasts have been roaming the vast sea of stars, and there are different types. I heard people talking about them before, and those they ran into looked different from those that invaded us. Now, these 4 also look different…” Shang Xia explained while chuckling.

Liu Jingsheng glanced at Shang Xia and mumbled, “True Immortal Little Shang, it’s great to be able to roam about the vast sea of stars. All of us are trapped in here and we won’t be lucky enough to get to enjoy the great sights out there…”

Shang Xia didn’t say more. He simply smiled in response. Of the True Immortals present, only himself and Lu Wuzi were Free True Immortals. The others were Elysium True Immortals who were shackled to their Elysiums.

The next moment, Li Jidao spoke suddenly, “From the looks of it, the Star Observatory can not only draw over Star Beasts, but it also has the ability to look for their tracks in the vast sea of stars…”

Shang Xia thought hard about what he said, but his expression didn’t change.

Lu Wuzi started complaining all of a sudden, “The 2 disciples in my Ice Essence Sect I sent to the Heavenly Star Pavilion to learn the ways of being a Stargazer seem completely useless. They said that they needed a Star Observatory to showcase their skills, but my Ice Essence Sect has only been in existence for several years! I don’t have the ability to build one… Even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to!”

Shang Xia quickly nodded along with the rest.

Other than Lu Wuzi, none of the rest knew about the existence of the Star Observatory of the Tongyou Institution. Shang Xia needed to play along if he didn’t wish to reveal the secret.

Also… Lu Wuzi might know about their possession of the Star Observatory, but he didn’t know how much the Tongyou Institution struggled to make use of it when they only had 2 rank three Astronomers. Even if he managed to get his hands on one, it might not be as useful as he had thought.

The other True Immortals forced a laugh, but they didn’t care about his complaints at the moment.

If they were in Yin Jingxu’s shoes, there was no way they would teach others the true essence of being a Stargazer either.

… It was true that a Stargazer needed to use a Star Observatory to showcase all their skills, but it wasn’t true that they were only useful if they had access to one. If they learned the true essence of being a Stargazer, they would be able to put their skills to use one way or another.

In the fragmented inheritance the Tongyou Institution gained back then, they learned 2 secret arts low-ranked Stargazers could use. Now that Xin Lu was brought back, they could restore the inheritance and allow their Stargazers to learn a lot more.

Shang Xia might have brought away the core inheritance of the Heaven Observation Sect, but if he didn’t have Xin Lu to help him make sense of it, Yan Ming and Yuan Qiuyuan might spend countless years trying to grasp a basic understanding of them. There was also a lot of knowledge and hidden secrets only real Stargazers would know and could pass down.

It was then that Shang Xia noticed another strange fluctuation in the void. Finally, Yin Jingxu’s voice rang in their minds.

“Fellow True Immortals, my apologies for being late!” Yin Jingxu appeared and cupped his hands as a show of apology to those present. “I didn’t think that my disciples would send news of them capturing Star Beasts the moment I sent the transmission to call everyone over. That was why I was late…”

Zhang Xuansheng didn’t beat about the bush. “Let’s drop the pleasantries. Why are you looking for us?”

The smile on Yin Jingxu’s face faded and he quickly turned serious. “I was in a rush to call everyone over because the Stargazers of my Heavenly Star Pavilion discovered a massive battle happening close to the Spirit Abundance World. There is very likely True Immortals involved, and it’s very possible there are more than 2 of them!”

Yin Jingxu’s revelation was explosive.

However, to Shang Xia, who already knew about it, his attention wasn’t placed on what Yin Jingxu said. Instead, he discovered that even though Yin Jingxu seemed to be the last to enter the Martial Void Realm, his cultivation was rising rapidly and had already surpassed Zhang Jianzi and was closing in on Huang Jinghan’s level before they took part in the war of the Spirit Faith World.