Splitting the Heavens

Shang Xia's External Avatar also reached the level of a Sage.

But in truth, he understood that his advancement was largely rushed, achieved by stacking solidified and sufficient origin qi to force a qualitative transformation. There remained plenty of room for refinement.

The current conditions in the depths of the void, however, were far less convenient than in the Tongyou Institution back in the Essence Luxuriant World, where a wide range of spiritual treasures could be readily gathered.

Still, Shang Xia was confident that once he returned to the institution and further improved his External Avatar, the combat power it possessed would advance even further, perhaps reaching the second, or even the third star of the Seven Star Realm.

For the time being, though, his External Avatar's strength at the peak of the first star was more than sufficient.

At least in such treacherous environments like the void currents, an External Avatar, capable of adapting on its own, was far superior to a clone that could only follow preset commands laid out by the true body.

Not long after, the Star Ship fleet arrived at the void coordinates where the Spirit Ruling World and Spirit Frost World had originally been. However, aside from the distorted and rampaging chaotic streams, there was no trace of the Spirit Worlds.

Even though they anticipated as much, when the fleet actually reached the site, Stargazers like Xin Lu and Zhang Yusheng still couldn't help but sigh. The strength of the void current's erosion had increased several fold, so much so that not even a hint of the two worlds' former existence could be found.

According to the initial plan, if the two Spirit Worlds had moved from their original positions, the four large Star Ships would split into two teams to search along the flow of the void current.

The Hai Continent, which was commanded by Xiao Yugang, was set to cooperate with the Bing Continent, which had newly come under Huang Jinghan's command. Accompanying them were the rank six Grand Stargazer, Xin Lu, as well as Shang Xia's external avatar, which had just reached the Seven Star Realm.

As for the Ji Continent, it was piloted by Song Zhen. while Shang Xia personally took charge of the Jiao Continent.

Since Shang Xia wasn't going to pilot the Star Ship himself, the Jiao Continent was temporarily placed under Gao Qin's command. Zhang Yusheng was stationed on their vessel.

However, just as the two groups were preparing to depart, a sudden transmission came from Xin Lu via Shang Xia's External Avatar. As a result, all four Star Ships were ordered to halt.

When everyone regrouped inside the Jiao Continent's command cabin, before the other True Immortals could even ask, Zhang Yusheng, clearly puzzled, spoke up first. "Stargazer Xin, why did you summon us again? Could it be that you've found traces of the worlds in the void current?"

Xin Lu shook her head and replied, "I only just realized something. The sudden amplification of the void current's erosion... Logically, the Spirit Ruling World and Spirit Frost World should've moved upstream against the current to escape the spatial vortex's influence to stay safe. However..."

Though her words appeared directed at Zhang Yusheng, Xin Lu's gaze had already shifted to Shang Xia. She continued, "I began to wonder... With the void current surging due to the changes in the spatial vortex, do the Spirit Ruling World and Spirit Frost World truly have the power to push against the overwhelming pull of the current to relocate?"

Her words caused a brief moment of silence among the experts who assembled. Even Shang Xia at the main seat rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

"That's right, how did I overlook that?" Unlike the others lost in contemplation, Zhang Yusheng slapped his thigh, an expression of excitement mixed with frustration spreading across his face. "Thank goodness Stargazer Xin reminded us in time. Otherwise, if we had searched upstream as planned, we'd probably have found nothing!"

Opposite them, Song Zhen asked, "So what you're saying is, we should search downstream, closer to the spatial vortex?"

His question immediately caused a shift in everyone's expression. The closer one approached the spatial vortex, the greater the dangers it posed.

More than that, if the worlds were too close to the spatial vortex, the difficulty of dragging them back out using the Star Ships they brought would drastically increase.

Worse still, if the worlds had already slipped too close to the vortex and were nearly devoured, any attempt to approach might result in the Star Ships being dragged into the vortex themselves.

And even if they managed to escape, the fall of the worlds would mean the complete failure of the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's reclamation plan. All their previous efforts would be wasted.

"No, no." Zhang Yusheng quickly shook his head, visibly energized. "The high-level figures from Spirit Ruling World and Spirit Frost World definitely wouldn't let their worlds fall without a fight. If pushing upstream wasn't viable, they would have instead tried to steer the worlds away from the center of the void and toward the edge. That would at least delay the inevitable plunge."

Song Zhen glanced at Xin Lu. Seeing that she didn't refute Zhang Yusheng's deduction and was nodding in agreement, he realized their thoughts had aligned.

In the end, Song Zhen asked, "Then how should we proceed with the search?"

Zhang Yusheng instinctively looked at Xin Lu beside him. Seeing her encouraging smile, he felt a surge of gratitude and went on. "We'll still split the four Star Ships into two groups. But this time, we'll navigate in a spiral pattern downstream along the void current, focusing especially on the edge of the vortex."

After he finished, the True Immortals once again turned to Xin Lu.

She responded with a calm smile. "Stargazer Zhang's assessment is largely accurate. But as we head downstream, we need to establish a limit. At what point, as we draw closer to the spatial vortex, must we halt and turn back?"

None of the True Immortals present had the authority to answer that, so all eyes turned toward Shang Xia.

In truth, Shang Xia had already begun considering this question the moment Xin Lu suggested a downstream search. Since she asked, he didn't hesitate to reply, "We can go all out. There's no need to hold back due to fear. My External Avatar and I will intervene to halt your advance when the time comes."