Splitting the Heavens - Chapter 1070: Divine Weapon!

Shang Xia learned from Chu Jia that during their expedition to the Star Beast Nest, there seemed to be a general plan. They didn’t go crazy and run around looking for treasures the moment they were sent over.

“Gathering star crystals is the main job of cultivators in the Martial Intent Realm. Most of the Martial Extermination Realm experts are supposed to go around exploring the region and getting rid of any dangers. They are also in charge of gathering precious resources other than star crystals.” Chu Jia introduced the task for cultivators of different levels before she continued, “As for Martial Dipper Realm experts, their main task isn’t inside the Star Beast Nest. They have to leave the secret region and explore the space around them. The clones of the 4 True Immortals are there to protect them.”

Shang Xia nodded as everything was within his expectations. He chuckled, “Looks like the True Immortals of the various factions are also very serious about this.”

“Of course they’re taking a secret region out there seriously. Everyone already knows the importance of strengthening our world. Locating, conquering, and devouring other worlds will allow us to speed up the process, and we can also grow stronger that way. A single Azure Flame World managed to benefit us twice, and after the world ascension back then, 5 True Immortals were born! Even those who were already in the Martial Void Realm managed to grow stronger. The number of experts in the Martial Dipper Realm and Martial Extermination Realm also increased quite a bit!” Chu Jia muttered.

Shang Xia couldn’t help but interrupt, “That might be the case, but the sea of stars is limitless. Finding a world is like looking for a needle in a haystack! We can only rely on luck if we search aimlessly.”

Actually, the greatest use of a Star Observatory was to look for worlds in the vast sea of stars. It could also be used to locate asteroid belts, broken landmasses, Earth Stars, or secret regions of value!

In the Star Map the Tongyou Institution possessed, it was highly likely there were locations of other worlds recorded. However, the number of people who know about its existence is few and far between.

For example, Chu Jia, who was already part of the upper echelons of the institution, only knew about the existence of the bronze book. She took part in a battle to obtain it back then, but that was all she knew. She didn’t know what it actually was, and the contents recorded within. In fact, Kou Chongxue and Shang Xia were the only 2 people in the institution who knew what the book contained. Not even the deputy patriarchs knew.

Chu Jia’s eyes spun around slightly and she mumbled, “Looks like the True Immortals came to a decision. They probably plan to make the Star Beast Nest a long-term land of trials.”

“Oh,” Shang Xia grunted once before turning to look at the others. He continued, “From the looks of it, there should be other living Star Beasts in the nest. Right?”

Kou Chongxue’s reply came swiftly. “Yes. We discovered several stone caves in the depths of the nest and there are many young Star Beasts present. They are all in the third rank and lower. There seem to be other rank four Star Beasts, but those had already been surrounded and killed.”

From the looks of it, they managed to form a stable connection with the cultivators on the other side as they received prompt news of whatever was happening.

“Looks like they came to an agreement to only kill rank four Star Beasts or higher?” Shang Xia asked.

“No clue. We don’t know how to handle the situation right now and we can only do this for now. After all, even the members of the Heavenly Star Palace can’t determine how long it takes for the Star Beasts to mature. They can only give a rough estimate for now and we can open the spatial tunnel in set internals to send our experts over to train themselves and harvest resources.” Kou Chongxue shook his head while speaking.

Chu Jia thought for a second and continued, “I’m afraid we won’t be able to open the spatial tunnel too quickly. We also need to beware of backlashes…”

“It’s unavoidable. To make the Star Beast Nest into a land of trials where we can harvest benefits constantly requires taking some risks.” Kou Chongxue sighed.

“Did we gather the skin and essence bone of the beast? We need to be careful in case other people snatch our benefits…” Shang Xia reminded.

“Do you think they’re stupid or something? Don’t forget, every Star Beast that was killed would leave behind a piece of skin and their essence nucleus,” Kou Chongxue roared with laughter.

“Oh, right, you probably don’t know what an essence nucleus is yet!” Kou Chongxue muttered. Before Shang Xia could start asking, Kou Chongxue already started to explain, “An essence nucleus is a part of the body left behind that contains the essence of the beast. It can be any part of the beast, like the bone you retrieved back then. It can also be a piece of its organ, like an eyeball or something. It might even be a single tooth.”

“An essence nucleus can be considered the highest ranked treasure in its rank. I don’t dare to speak for the rest, but at the very least, Blacksmith Grandmasters have been fighting over the essence nucleus of the rank four and five Star Beasts that were killed.”

Shang Xia couldn’t help but gasp, “Is there anyone who set their sights on my rank six essence nucleus?”

“Heh.” Kou Chongxue simply snorted without giving a proper answer.

Shang Xia could only mutter a little awkwardly, “It’s fine if there isn’t! We already have a way to get our hands on a divine brush!”

Chu Jia gasped in shock. “The Starry Pavilion really agreed?! What’s their condition though?”

“Pavilion Master Tong Yutang seemed to be joking when he said it, but he said that if I am able to bring out the essence nucleus of the rank six Star Beast, he will immediately craft a divine grade brush for me. However, I rejected it. He revealed that he was joking after and said that I’ll only be able to learn of a way to obtain the divine brush after I complete crafting his talismans.” Shang Xia shook his head slowly.

Chu Jia sneered instantly. “Old fox! He’s dreaming! I have been staying in the Tianya Pavilion for some time and I’ve been interacting with the Blacksmith Grandmasters there. Even though I don’t know too much about crafting weapons, I still learned a thing or two! A divine weapon can also be split into different grades!”

“Oh?” Shang Xia glanced at Kou Chongxue.

Kou Chongxue chuckled softly and explained, “I might have heard of something similar in the past, but not many people can differentiate them for real. I would like to hear how the Hundred Weapons Mill classifies them?”

Chu Jia shook her head slowly and sighed, “From what I heard, the different grades of divine weapons are extremely complicated. The quality of the weapon, the strength of the artifact spirit, or compatibility with its user… Every aspect has to be taken into account. Blacksmith Grandmasters who aren’t in the fifth rank or higher are unable to evaluate the quality of a divine weapon. Even I can’t be sure of the different grades. I can only listen to the 2 Blacksmith Grandmasters evaluate the divine weapons known in our Spirit Luxuriant World.”

“What about the Five Element Ring…” Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask.

However, he was interrupted by Chu Jia who already knew what he was going to ask. “It’s a low-grade divine weapon!”

Taken aback, Shang Xia wanted to continue asking, but he recalled that Chu Jia mentioned something about her not knowing how it’s graded.

“However…” Chu Jia’s tone changed all of a sudden, “The Five Element Ring was made for you, and your path of cultivation is what it’s aligned towards. As such, when you’re using the weapon, it can unleash the power of a mid-grade divine weapon.”

Shang Xia nodded instinctively, and he continued to ask, “What about Patriarch Kou’s Hidden Frost Sword?”

“It’s a mid-grade divine weapon.”

Chu Jia spoke about how the Blacksmith Grandmasters thought highly of the weapon and spoke well of it. The weapon was basically made naturally, and it was very suited to Kou Chongxue’s sword art. It can be said to be a superior mid-grade divine weapon.”

“What about the Yuanchen Heavy Sword?” Kou Chognxue raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Low-grade divine weapon! However, they said that the material used to craft the Yuanchen Heavy Sword is impressive. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been long since it was made and it hadn’t been nourished enough by high-level experts. After its weakness has been patched up, it might be able to reach the level of a mid-grade divine weapon!” Chu Jia explained.

Kou Chongxue and Shang Xia asked about several more well-known divine weapons in the Spirit Luxuriant World and Chu Jia repeated everything the Blacksmith Grandmasters told her. All of them were basically low-grade divine weapons. There were only 2 to 3 that reached the mid-grade standard. As for high-grade divine weapons… Even though they might not have seen it, the Blacksmith Grandmasters said that they definitely exist in ancient factions like the Eternal Palace, Divine Capital Sect, and Northern Sea Mystic Sect.”