Splitting the Heavens-Chapter 2068: Interrogation?
Shang Xia kept a calm demeanor, but he sighed to himself. With the passage completely collapsed, it was no longer likely that he could draw the strange energy from within the Desolate Forbidden Region.
What consoled him slightly was that his connection to the Star Origin Talisman carried by Wanggui still existed, though the connection had grown extremely faint.
Shang Xia had also tried to activate the talisman, but that required Wanggui’s cooperation on the other end, and Wanggui clearly wasn’t going to do it.
By then, the great battle around the breaches in the Desolate Forbidden Region had gradually subsided. The high-level Sage of the Taming Star Field, whose body bore several avian and bestial features, was finally captured alive by several Sages of the Floating Star Region. However, Shang Xia noticed that although the man had already fallen unconscious, not only had his dantian been sealed by at least four or five different secret techniques, but even his mouth, ears, nose, and hands had been sealed or bound.
It was clearly deliberate on the part of the Sages of the Floating Star Region.
Shang Xia asked curiously, "Why are you all being so cautious?"
Chen Hu smiled and explained, "Sage Shang may not know, most cultivators of the Taming Star Field are adept at controlling spiritual beasts. Their methods are not limited to sound, scent, hand seals, and so on. Thus, even though we have captured him, we must eliminate every possible hidden risk, lest he use a secret art to summon a Beast Tide to save himself, or take us down with him." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Shang Xia nodded. "It seems you are all no strangers to their methods. When I first saw his true face, I even instinctively thought I had encountered a Beast Warrior."
The Sages of the Floating Star Region showed little reaction to the term.
Shang Xia swept them with his gaze and then said, "I see none of you share my confusion. Is it because you are so familiar with them, or because there is some essential difference between them and Beast Warriors?"
The Sages of the Foating Star Region looked hesitant while glancing at each other. After a moment, Xin Zhi spoke up. "It is not actually difficult to tell the two apart. The animalistic traits of those in the Taming Star Field serve their martial cultivation and make it convenient to command spiritual beasts. In essence, they are still human. Beast Warriors, however, can no longer be called human."
Shang Xia thought for a moment, then nodded. "You mean they retain human reason, while Beast Warriors are driven more by bestial nature?"
Xin Zhi sighed lightly, "That is indeed one difference, but the more important point is that the cultivators of the Floating Star Region develop some avian or bestial traits through their own cultivation, and the degree of transformation is not high. Beast Warriors, by contrast, are the result of forced remodification. From their appearance alone, it can already be hard to tell human from beast."
Shang Xia smiled. "Sage Xin Zhi seems very familiar with them?"
Xin Zhi neither affirmed nor denied Shang Xia’s probing and only said blandly, "Perhaps the earliest origin of the Beast Warriors who were modeled after those in the Taming Star Region, appeared within the Desolate Forbidden Region."
Shang Xia’s eyes narrowed. "Then do you know who it was that led and promoted the emergence of the Beast Warriors?"
Xin Zhi turned to look at Shang Xia, his deep gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny.
Shang Xia was unmoved and simply met his eyes with calm.
In the end, Xin Zhi looked away and said faintly, "I am just an ordinary Sage of the Floating Star Region. How could I know secrets of that level? Sage Shang has asked the wrong person."
Shang Xia was not about to let Xin Zhi’s evasive words pass. He pressed on, "Then how did you know that the original source of the Beast Warriors were those of the Taming Star Region?"
Who in the Floating Star Region would dare address Xin Zhi in such a tone?
Even Lu Xin, who was also a high-level Sage and increasingly able to stand as Xin Zhi’s rival in recent years, always styled himself a junior in public.
Across the entire Chaotic Sea of Stars, Xin Zhi stood almost at the very peak.
Yet faced with the relentless questioning of the young Sage before him, Xin Zhi found it difficult to keep a stern face.
After all... Neither he nor Lu Xin knew what method Shang Xia had used to shift a high-level Sage of the Taming Star Field from within the Desolate Forbidden Region to the outside as if out of thin air.
That was a high-level Sage, one who probably wasn’t much weaker than Lu Xin or Xin Zhi.
Yet, such a figure had been unable to struggle or resist against Shang Xia.
If it had been them, would they have fared any better than the expert of the Taming Star Field they had captured together?
Under the strange gazes of the Sages of the Floating Star Region, Xin Zhi finally said slowly, "Because I once broke into the forbidden region and found a space that had been abandoned not long before. Inside were piles of bones from high-level cultivators and spiritual beasts. Among the cultivators were those from the Chaotic Sea of Stars and the Taming Star Field whose corpses retained various avian and bestial features, yet without exception, the bodies were incomplete. The bones of high-level spiritual beasts... And even Star Beasts were the same, carrying abundant traces of splicing and grafting to the remains of the cultivators’ corpses. The methods looked exceptionally crude and brutal. Moreover, when I found it, beast warriors had not yet appeared on a large scale in the Chaotic Sea of Stars. I therefore had reason to suspect that the secret realm I discovered was where the mastermind first experimented with creating Beast Warriors."
Xin Zhi’s account astonished not only Shang Xia but also the other Sages of the Floating Star Region. They had not expected that Xin Zhi had once ventured into and out of the Desolate Forbidden Region, nor did they know it concealed secrets about the Beast Warriors.
Of course, how much of their surprise was genuine and how much was theater was something only they knew.
Even so, the existence of a secret realm in the Desolate Forbidden Region for making Beast Warriors, and Xin Zhi’s conjecture about their origin, did not seem fabricated.
Although Shang Xia felt that Xin Zhi still had to be hiding much regarding the Beast Warriors, he had never intended to fall out with Xin Zhi and the Sages of the Floating Star Region over this.
After a brief contemplation, he smiled and said, "My thanks for clearing this up for me, Sage Xin."
The next second, Lu Xin asked abruptly, "Sage Shang, what do you plan to do next? Will you question the cultivator of the Taming Star Field about what they discovered there?"
Shang Xia considered, then shook his head. "I will not get involved. However, I still need to rest and recover nearby for a time. If you learn anything, please share them with me.”
Whether it was only Shang Xia’s impression or not, after he clearly refused to participate in the interrogation of the expert of the Taming Star Field, the Sages of the Floating Star Region all seemed to heave a sigh of relief.
Just as Shang Xia felt matters had reached a conclusion and was about to take his leave, Chen Hu suddenly asked, "Sage Shang, forgive my impertinence... Have you comprehended your martial intent and reached the grand completion stage?”
"Of course, I am merely curious. You don’t need to answer..." Chen Hu added quickly, his expression tinged with apprehension.
Shang Xia merely smiled. He actually had nothing to hide about that and he revealed, "I was fortunate to gain something upon returning from the depths of the void."
Everyone revealed looks mixed with reverence and envy, as though they had already expected as much.
Those who looked at Shang Xia with looks of reverence were mostly mid-level Sages. The sixth and seventh star was already far out of their reach, let alone the grand completion stage. Lu Xin and Xin Zhi were the ones who stared at Shang Xia in envy. Though they were also high-level Sages, it was precisely for that reason that they understood more deeply how difficult the next step would be.
After bidding them farewell, Shang Xia first returned to the Spirit Ark parked in the void not far from the forbidden region. The Sages of the Floating Star Region, meanwhile, withdrew from the area with the captured high-level Sage of the Taming Star Field in tow. They needed a suitable place to interrogate him. Lingering near the forbidden zone might invite a surprise rescue by those of the Taming Star Field.
Time, however, was clearly short.
Though they had severed the passages connecting the forbidden region to their Star Region and cut off the link between the Beast Tides and their handlers, it was all only temporary.
Once the experts of the Taming Star Field reopened the passages, not only could the Beast Tides that had slipped out of control be brought back under their command, they could even drive an even larger Beast Tide to invade the Floating Star Region.
What mattered most was to learn from the prisoner the plans for their invasion, and to know what were merely feints so they could respond in time.
As for Shang Xia, after returning, the first thing he did was not to probe the memories in the crystal sphere Wanggui had left him. Instead, he used his Big Dipper Star Origin in his dantian to communicate with the Dipper Star Formation, then invested and amplified his senses over the Desolate Forbidden Region so he could precisely locate Wanggui’s talisman.
Perhaps because so much time had passed and Wanggui had managed to find a temporarily safe foothold within the jungle of restrictions, his attempt to reach the talisman quickly received Wanggui’s response.
Moreover, Wanggui understood that Shang Xia intended to use the talisman to siphon the special energy within the forbidden region, and he agreed to assist as best he could.
After a period of communication and adjustment, and with Wanggui’s cooperation, the Star Origin Talisman finally transmitted a strand of energy to Shang Xia as he unleashed Shifting Dipper and received the assistance of the Dipper Star Formation deep in the void.
