Splitting the Heavens

How many origin qi fragments did the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field ultimately harvest from their expedition into the great spatial vortex? Excluding the origin qi and fragments Shang Xia collected independently through the Crimson Soul Tablet, the fragments obtained by the Jiao Continent while assisting the other seven Sages in wearing down the Origin Pillar via their formations were already enough to support the World Origin Source of one continent in an Essence World.

Later, as part of the Origin Pillar collapsed and origin qi fragments dispersed, the Jiao Continent, thanks to Shang Xia, managed to withstand the impact of the explosion and stay in the area. They even managed to deploy void nets and capture numerous origin qi fragments, enough to potentially support two more continents in the Essence Luxuriant World.

When the cultivators on board had been casting the void nets into the void, Shang Xia had not been idle. Even though he stood on the bow of the Star Ship, he sent out his clone and even used Guided Dipper to gather fragments from deeper layers of the void. His progress had been remarkably efficient. Alone, he obtained the harvest equal to three to four nets.

Most importantly, with his cultivation level and strength, he never had to worry about his safety. The only limiting factor was the number and size of fragments available.

Altogether, the expedition into the spatial vortex allowed the Jiao Continent to collect enough origin qi fragments that, once fully dissolved into origin energy, could support the World Origin Source of four to five continents.

Of course, as the elite cultivators aboard the Jiao Continent had discussed earlier, this harvest could not all go to the Essence Luxuriant World alone. Some of it had to be shared with the other worlds that had contributed elite forces.

Currently, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's primary subordinate worlds include the Spirit Qing World and Azure Cheng World. There were many other Barbaric Worlds and Earth Stars that were also a part of them.

The Spirit Qing World had recently advanced and their foundations were stronger than the Azure Cheng World, but the Azure Cheng World used to be a part of the Spirit Tip World. They had many surviving experts and those in the Martial Void Realm still surpassed those of the Spirit Qing World.

Moreover, the Azure Cheng World was on the verge of ascension. The Essence Luxuriant World was keen to see it happen to boost their collective strength. Thus, once they returned, part of the origin qi would certainly be allocated to help them ascend.

Of course, the Spirit Qing World wouldn't be ignored and they would probably receive enough to open two or three new continents.

With all the assistance they would provide, the Essence Luxuriant World would probably only be left with enough to support the establishment of two or three continents.

Naturally, the situation arose only because the harvest from the had been so great that even the elite cultivators aboard had somewhat underestimated the true value of origin qi fragments.

If cultivators from other worlds, especially those from old and powerful Essence Worlds, heard that their expedition had enabled the creation of two or three new continents in one go, their jaws would have dropped to the ground.

Of course... Everything depended on one critical condition. The Jiao Continent had to return to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field safely!

After Zhang Yusheng gave his warning, the Jiao Continent immediately ceased harvesting and turned around. Yet from the constant updates Zhang Yuzheng transmitted to Shang Xia, it was clear he lacked full confidence in their escape.

Shang Xia understood the pressure Zhang Yusheng was under and quickly reassured him, "Just do your best. I'll deal with the rest."

"You may not know this, but before the Jiao Continent departed for the vortex, Song Zhen had already requested reinforcements from our Heavenly Field. At least two more large Star Ships and our rank six Grand Stargazer are waiting beyond the vortex, waiting to assist us at any moment." Shang Xia revealed.

This assurance calmed Zhang Yusheng somewhat, and he returned to looking for a path out.

It wasn't surprising that Zhang Yusheng was feeling the pressure. Shang Xia had also discovered the same thing as him when the vortex was about to collapse.

When Shang Xia extended his divine soul to inspect their surroundings earlier, the vortex had already started to crumble.

Because the relatively stable region of space in the core of the vortex had been destroyed, the vortex started to collapse inward. The region of safe space was rapidly shrinking and becoming increasingly unstable. That wasn't even the worst part. The most dangerous change was the sudden instability of the flow of the void currents due to the collapse. In the past, the great spatial vortex had been growing, and it remained relatively stable, causing the void around to rotate counterclockwise.

Now, the outer structure had become completely unstable. Void currents surged chaotically in every direction, becoming wildly unpredictable and dangerously volatile.

Even Shang Xia's strange divine soul would be devoured when he extended it too deeply. It was obliterated within moments.

"How is it looking?" Huang Jinghan found a rare moment to ask Zhang Yusheng.

The Jiao Continent was making its final preparations before leaving the collapsing core region of the spatial vortex and re-entering the even more dangerous outer vortex.

Zhang Yusheng thought for a moment and said, "We should be able to withstand it, at least for the short term."

Just as Huang Jinghan was about to speak again, Shang Xia's voice rang out from the deck. "Embed another origin qi fragment into the core of our defensive formation!"

At that moment, only Shang Xia still dared to stand on the deck. Everyone else, including Huang Jinghan and Gao Qin, had already entered the ship.

Even Zhang Yusheng had abandoned the wooden observation platform and relocated to a specialized chamber with observation windows on all sides.

Though the effect of his techniques was slightly reduced inside the cabin, the safety made it worthwhile.

Given how many fragments the Jiao Continent had harvested and the severity of their current predicament, using two origin qi fragments was justifiable. Otherwise, even someone like Huang Jinghan would have felt heartache.

Still, Huang couldn't help but ask, "Must it be embedded in the core of the formation?"

The core was designed to hold essence crystals. Lower-quality ones would be placed in the slots at the edges, and higher-quality ones would be placed in the center.

Placing an origin qi fragment at the very center meant using one of the largest and purest pieces. Huang Jinghan was naturally still a little hesitant to do so.

Just then, Gao Qin's voice added, "Sage Shang, placing a fragment in the core of the formation might force it past its limit. Over time, it might damage the formation, or even the Star Ship itself."

Shang Xia simply chuckled. "That's the point. I want the formation to be ready to enter an overloaded state at any moment."

At his command, the Jiao Continent, fully prepared and aligned, finally charged out of the collapsing spatial vortex. They flew straight into the most dangerous and chaotic part of the storm.