Splitting the Heavens - Chapter 995: Final Battle
The Spirit Abundance World was the Spirit Luxuriant World’s mortal enemy at that point, and killing an expert from the Spirit Abundance World had already weakened them considerably. However… Who the hell was Kou Chongxue?
True Immortal Zhuang might be on his last legs, but Kou Chongxue wouldn’t give up any chance to gain even a little more advantage…
“So… You not only obtained a method of cultivation in the Martial Void Realm from him, but you also made him do something to himself that will allow you to observe his final stand?” Shang Xia wondered out loud while staring at Kou Chongxue with an incredulous look. He couldn’t help but continue asking, “Do you really have no way to help him leave? A living True Immortal who holds endless hatred for the worlds that invaded the Azure Oddity World might be able to draw their attention away and buy us even more time…”
“Do you think the experts of the Azure Oddity World wouldn’t know that the various worlds would have set their sights on the Azure Oddity World after Meng Yuanxiu’s injury in the Star Relay?” Kou Chongxue sneered.
“Oh.” Shang Xia grunted once before staying silent. After the incident, Meng Yuanxiu and True Immortal Zhuang probably knew that they would be targeted by the various worlds. However, they didn’t choose to escape.
Glancing at Shang Xia, Kou Chongxue continued, “That begs the question… We can disregard Meng Yuanxiu as he can’t leave his Elysium, but why didn’t True Immortal Zhuang escape?”
“Yeah… Why didn’t he run?” Shang Xia was curious, but he didn’t know the reasoning behind it.
Kou Chongxue continued, “That’s because it doesn’t matter if it’s True Immortal Zhuang or myself. Perhaps, most True Immortals who didn’t use the help of an Elysium to leave would also feel the same way. We might not be confined to our world, but we’re deeply influenced by it. If our world no longer exists, we’ll lose the ability to utilize the power of the world! A True Immortal who isn’t able to use the power of the world…”
Chuckling softly, Kou Chongxue turned to look at Shang Xia. “… Do you think a True Immortal who isn’t able to use the power of a world will be able to defeat a monster like you?”
With a trace of humility, Shang Xia mumbled, “They’re still True Immortals in the Martial Void Realm…”
Kou Chongxue didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he stared into the depths of the sea of stars and sighed, “He won’t be able to escape. Without the Azure Oddity World as his foundation, his Void Origin wouldn’t be able to deploy the power of a world. He wouldn’t even be able to hide himself in the sea of stars! Rather than turn into a human target who gets tortured to death, he might as well go out with a bang!”
Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Patriarch Kou, would True Immortals really be unable to rid themselves of the shackles of the world? Wouldn’t that mean that every True Immortal is bound to their world in some sense? What about the True Immortals of the Star Origin City? Where would they be bound to?”
“Do you think I know something like that?” Kou Chongxue snorted with disdain.
Shang Xia stared at the patriarch, dumbfounded by the response. He didn’t know what to say.
Then again… How long had Kou Chongxue entered the Martial Void Realm?
“Anyway, I might not know about the True Immortals of the Star Origin City, but I do know that if a True Immortal wants to get rid of the binding to their world, they would have to reach the fourth tier Martial Void Realm at the very least!” Kou Chongxue explained.
“Fourth tier of the Martial Void Realm?!” Shang Xia mumbled softly to himself.
He instantly thought back to Zhuge Xiang, the Star Origin Guard Commander! He was an expert at the fourth tier Martial Void Realm, and it was the only expert Shang Xia knew at that level.
Kou Chongxue spoke again, “Have you thought about it? How many fourth tier True Immortals have you seen? How could worlds like the Spirit Mammoth World and the Spirit Abundance World be at the peak of the Spirit World level if they didn’t have existences at that level?”
“Where are those experts then?” Shang Xia asked.
Shaking his head, Kou Chongxue sighed, “True Immortal Zhuang once had a guess. Since they were able to rid themselves of the shackles of their world, they should be able to create a world of their own with their Void Origin. They definitely possessed the qualifications to enter a higher world or touch onto the existence of a higher level…”
“Which would mean… One would only understand when they reach that level?” Shang Xia frowned and fell deep in thought.
“Yeah, probably.” Kou Chongxue glanced at Shang Xia with a strange gaze. The next second, he jolted back to attention. “They found him!”
Shang Xia turned serious immediately. He would be spectating the battle with Kou Chongxue, but that was the final stand of a Marital Void Realm True Immortal they were talking about! It was difficult to relax in such a situation.
Kou Chongxue formed a sword seal with his hands, and Shagn Xia could clearly feel the sword qi created from his Void Origin forming a curtain before him. The next moment, a different location in space could be seen on the sword curtain.
“Is that True Immortal Zhuang’s visual angle?” Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask.
“Visual angle?” Kou Chongxue thought for a second and muttered, “Yeah, that sounds appropriate. However, we’re not looking through True Immortal’s eyes at the moment. Instead, we’re seeing the battle through something he made…”
Shang Xia noticed the angle changing again as at least 4 True Immortals arrived.
There was no doubt about it. True Immortal Zhuang was completely surrounded.
“True Immortal Zhuang, are you really not willing to tell us the identity of the person who helped you kill True Immortal Shen?” An indistinct voice rang through the void.
Shang Xia couldn’t help but turn to look at Kou Chongxue. However, he saw the patriarch staring at the sword curtain without a change in expression. It was clear he wasn’t afraid his identity would be revealed.
“Hehe, all of you have been hesitating to make a move because you’re waiting for that person to appear so you can trap him, right? Sorry to disappoint. Actually, even I have no idea who he is. He never showed himself and from the way things are looking, I doubt he’s going to appear.” A slight out-of-breath voice came through the sword curtain. It most likely came from True Immortal Zhuang.
“Looks like rumors going around about you having your differences with True Immortal Meng Yuanxiu aren’t false. Otherwise, he would have been willing to hand you the Origin Holy Artifact of his Yuanxiu Elysium. Even if your Azure Oddity World is destroyed, you would still be able to escape…” A different voice came from the void.
When True Immortal Zhuang stared in that direction, Kou Chongxue snorted. “That’s probably True Immortal Fei Zhang from the Spirit Mammoth World.”
In the Star Relay, Kou Chongxue exchanged some pointers with True Immortal Fei Zhang and he recognized the man.
However, Shang Xia’s attention clearly wasn’t placed on the identity of the expert who spoke. Instead, he asked hastily, “Patriarch Kou, didn’t you hear that? Wouldn’t you be able to escape the shackles of the world with the Origin Holy Artifact?”
Kou Chongxue’s expression sank instantly. “Oh really? Do you think I should leave and let our Spirit Luxuriant World be wiped out or do you think our Tongyou Paradise should just throw away the chance to become an Elysium?”
It was true that Kou Chongxue would be able to maintain the fighting strength of an expert at the Martial Void Realm with the Origin Holy Artifact. However, he would need to bring the Stellar Cauldron everywhere he went. The Tongyou Paradise wouldn’t be able to use it to ascend into an Elysium that way!
Laughing in embarrassment, Shang Xia mumbled, “Of course not! Never mind what I said, it’s a bad idea…”
True Immortal Zhuang’s voice rang through the sword curtain once again. However, there seemed to be a trace of mockery this time. “All of you schemed against him to damage his Formation Divine Artifact. If not for that, his Yuanxiu Elysium would be in a perfect state… If he gave away the Origin Holy Artifact, how was he supposed to kill Yong Si?”
Shang Xia heard something new from what he said. It seemed as though the rank six Formation Grandmaster’s formation’s core seemed to be the Yuanxiu Elysium. That would explain why he couldn’t hand the Holy Artifacts of the Elysium to anyone else. The moment he gave any of them to True Immortal Zhuang, it would be possible for True Immortal Zhuang to escape into the vast sea of stars, but the Azure Oddity World would have been conquered way faster than it had been.
True Immortal Zhuang and True Immortal Meng were both experts of the Azure Oddity World, but they didn’t come from the same faction; Instead, they seemed to be at odds with each other.
Even in times of disaster when their world was on the verge of destruction, it would be hard for them to put away their enmity and sacrifice everything to let the other escape.
The voice of yet another True Immortal arrived suddenly. It seemed to confirm everything Shang Xia had been thinking of. “Hmph. True Immortal Yu Ji was too weak to begin with. I’m afraid Meng Yuanxiu probably forced her ascension in order to take the place of the Origin Holy Artifact… It’s a shame, we reacted too quickly. Moreover, your True Immortal Yu Ji seemed unwilling to be a part of his plan and was eventually killed outside the Yuanxiu Elysium. Maybe… Maybe Meng Yuanxiu really gave you the Origin Holy Artifact! If I’m not mistaken, the entire thing has been carefully planned out by the 2 of you!”
True Immortal Zhuang’s gaze shifted to the final True Immortal who hadn’t said anything. He stayed silent for a little longer than usual before finally speaking. “Brother Xiao, how much stronger is your Azure Qing World compared to us? Since True Immortal Yong Si of the Azure Beginning World has fallen, haven’t you learned your lesson?”
True Immortal Zhuang was clearly trying to sow discord among the True Immortals. He pointed out how the Spirit Worlds were using the opportunity to weaken the Azure Worlds. As for the point of that… The destruction of the Azure Oddity World was the perfect example of their schemes!
After some time, True Immortal Xiao Yugang’s voice eventually rang in their ears. “With the benefits we gain from your Azure Oddity World… Our Azure Qing World wouldn’t be far from becoming a Spirit World…”
“I understand.” True Immortal Zhuang sighed softly before glancing at all 4 of them. He also stared at the existences who were hidden deeper in the void before roaring with laughter, “Since we can’t change the ending, let me fight to my heart’s content! Fellow cultivators, who’s going to be the first to face me?!”
None of the 4 fought for the chance to fight him first. After all, they knew that True Immortal Zhuang had no way out. He was a cornered beast with nothing to lose. The first person to fight him would most likely face the strongest and most crazed retaliation True Immortal Zhuang could muster.
All of them present were confident of taking down the already heavily injured True Immortal Zhuang, but if they were heavily injured by some freak accident, or if True Immortal Zhuang was still hiding his final trump cards… Their losses would never be able to make up for their gains.
After all, True Immortal Zhuang’s conversion with True Immortal Xiao was still fresh in their ears. No one wanted to fall for the schemes of others.
Seeing the looks of hesitation on their faces, True Immortal Zhuang roared with laughter once again. “Since none of you are willing to make the first move, I’ll help you decide!”
The scene in the sword curtain started to twist as space was forcefully destroyed in the region. A burst of gray light filled the sword curtain as Shang Xia instinctively turned to Kou Chongxue for an explanation.
“This is a raw battle of Void Origin among Martial Void Realm experts. You can understand it as them creating a domain around themselves and smashing it into the domain of another Martial Void Realm expert. They would try to overpower each other’s domain with raw power!”