Splitting the Heavens

Chapter 1628: Fifth Star Chart, All’s Good! Pt.3

After approaching the Mizar position and with less than 100,000 miles from the sun, Shang Xia had to shield Yan Ming with his domain due to the intense energy fluctuations.

At that distance, Shang Xia could clearly see that 2 suns were incredibly close to each other. Due to their observation angle, parts of the suns had overlapped.

The intense light made it impossible for even Shang Xia to look directly at them with his naked eye, leading him to mistakenly think the 2 closely adjacent suns were one.

He wasn’t the only one. After all, Yuan Qiuyuan and Xin Lu failed to notice it when observing the position from the Star Observatory in the Tongyou Elysium.

In reality, 1 of the suns was much larger than the other, which was only about a third of its size. However, the distance between them was less than 100,000 miles.

"How are you planning to handle this close proximity?" Yan Ming asked, somewhat disheartened, though she expected Shang Xia to be even more disappointed. Surprisingly, she found him calm when she looked at him, prompting her question.

Shang Xia replied nonchalantly, "What else can I do? I’ll treat them as a single entity!”

Yan Ming didn't immediately grasp his meaning and exclaimed, "How can you do that?! Even if the suns are so close that although the larger is 3 times the size of the smaller and their core energy has already blended together, you don’t just have to refine their origin light during your ascension process, right?! I’m sure the position of these suns play a huge role and with the 2 of them affecting each other, it could lead to unexpected changes when you try to break through…”

Shang Xia smiled in response. "Since the core energy of both suns has already merged, there is no need to separate them. I’ll treat this as a single entity when breaking through and it will be fine.”

Shang Xia glanced at her and felt the need to explain further, "Actually… There should be 2 suns in the Mizar position. 1 should be bright while the other should be darker, making them appear as 1.”

Yan Ming replied irritably, "You made that up, right? This sounds too coincidental.”

However, Shang Xia was serious. "It's not a joke; it's true."

Seeing how sure he looked, Yan Ming was half convinced. "The chart you provided didn’t mention it that way though…”

Shang Xia chuckled helplessly, "Finding 7 suns in the Big Dipper pattern is already very difficult. If I mentioned that the suns located in the Mizar position had to possess such special properties, how difficult will it be to even create a single chart?”

Yan Ming, who was a rank five Grand Stargazer, also understood how difficult it would be. Still, she couldn't help but say, "When you provided the conditions, didn’t omitting such an important factor bother you? Could it not affect your ascension to the Seven… Seven…”

“Seven Star Realm.” Shang Xia smiled.

"Right, the Seven Star Realm. Could it not affect your ascension to the Seven Star Realm?" Yan Ming questioned.

Shang Xia confidently assured her, "Don’t worry, it won’t affect anything. Now that this auxiliary star is included, maybe the effect will even be better!"

Yan Ming still felt this approach was too frivolous. “So, we're really ignoring the core energy that has fused?”

"Yeah. We’ll just harvest them as they are." Shang Xia confirmed.

Yan Ming hesitated but nodded eventually. "Alright then! Actually, if we only consider the larger sun of the Mizar position, it ranks lowest among the suns identified in the fifth Star Chart. But if we include the smaller sun and treat them as a whole, then the Mizar position’s sun quality ranks just below that of the Alioth position and on par with the Merak position’s."

Though still uncertain about Shang Xia’s decision, Yan Ming did not stop him. Although… She still occasionally murmured reminders for caution.

In response, Shang Xia simply laughed it off.

After helping Yan Ming complete the extraction of origin light from both suns, Shang Xia’s External Avatar returned from patrolling the surroundings.

"Perhaps due to the 2 suns being so strangely close, there aren’t any strange worlds or floating continents nearby. Even the stars with life are fewer in number and those with life are rare.” Shang Xia’s External Avatar reported.

Shang Xia looked at Yan Ming and smiled, "It seems safe here. Now, the last sun in the Alkaid position awaits us!"

Yan Ming stared at him for a moment before mumbling, "You seem too eager. Didn’t you have at least 6 months for this trip? You still have over 2 months left."

Shang Xia’s expression turned solemn as he shook his head. "We don’t know the exact situation inside the Heaven Observation Field right now. Even though every faction needed to recuperate after that great battle, I have an uneasy feeling. It’s as though we’re ignoring the influence of the worlds outside the Heaven Observation Field.”

"External forces?" Yan Ming thought for a moment and continued, "I remember you mentioned that Sages outside the Heaven Observation Field cannot enter, and those under the Martial Void Realm need an invitation and a guide before they can enter. Both the Spirit Mammoth World and Spirit Abundance World seem very cautious about this. Are you suspecting the Spirit Tinkle World and Spirit Thistle World?”

Shang Xia just shook his head, not elaborating further.

Seeing his response, Yan Ming then sighed, "Anyway, after we deal with this, I need to return to our Spirit Luxuriant World to prepare to enter the Martial Void Realm. Once I reach that level… I will finally be able to contribute to the major events our world will be dragged into!”

Shang Xia hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.

In fact, several experts in the Tongyou Institution, including Tian Mengzi, Yan Ming, Yuan Qiuyuan, and Hai Yuanyuan from the new generation, had the ability to enter the Martial Void Realm to become True Immortals.

The only problem they were facing at the moment was that they didn’t have enough slots available for ascension.

After Dou Zhong became a True Immortal, 5 advancement slots possessed by the Tongyou Institution had been taken up. The You Continent, Jiao Continent, Bing Continent, Hai Continent, and the Tongyou Elysium could no longer be used. Only the new Elysium in the Jiao Continent and the Ji Continent could be used for new advancement.

To solve the upcoming shortage of advancement paths for the Tongyou Institution, besides seizing territorial rights from other continents and factions to obtain more advancement quotas, the fundamental solution was the world ascension.

Once the Spirit Luxuriant World became an Essence World, a single continent would be able to support at least 3 True Immortals. The pathway to becoming a True Immortal would no longer be as limited as before.

Since only the last sun remained to be surveyed in the fifth Star Chart, Shang Xia was increasingly looking forward to it. Their journey became a lot less stressful.

Of course… Accidents usually happened when one least expected it and as they were nearly two-thirds their way to the final sun, they were interrupted by a pack of Star Beasts.