Chapter 2854: Starry Sky Shatters

**The Winds of Kyushu**

The Thunder Pool surged, as the supreme treasure unleashed the thunderous power that had accumulated within this marvel for countless millennia. Such a ferocious might was beyond human resistance.

Zong Shenliang was mangled, and Lu Ye was no less so.

The fierce battle had reached a point of mutual destruction.

Lu Ye, who had been preparing for a temporary retreat, suddenly saw his chance. He realized that as countless tiny cracks appeared within the marvel, the power of the Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal had significantly diminished.

By activating the power of the Azure Mirror, he could now barely contend with it.

This was undoubtedly due to the marvel's impending shattering. The Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal's terrifying power was originally derived from its ability to harness the marvel's energy; with the marvel's current transformation, its power was greatly affected.

Lu Ye's retreating figure abruptly halted. He took a step, and his body vanished from his original position.

Zong Shenliang's eyes narrowed. A flash of blade light sliced towards him in his vision. Even as he ferociously unleashed the supreme treasure's power, he found it difficult to block the force of this strike.

As the blade light flashed and faded, Zong Shenliang's body recoiled. The sharp blade sliced past his waist, cutting through his mangled flesh and leaving deep marks on his spiritual bones, nearly cleaving him in two.

A denser sealing power invaded his body. Zong Shenliang felt his strength weaken once more, and even his aura dropped a notch.

Fear showed on his face; he knew his end was near and was filled with bitter unwillingness.

He had never imagined that after traversing the Star Abyss for so many years, he would die so ignominiously in a place like this today, especially after just having refined a supreme treasure and significantly increased his power.

Lu Ye's eyes gleamed as he flashed forward to kill. Zong Shenliang was a spent force; the next blade strike would certainly take his life.

*CRASH...*

It was as if a mirror had shattered.

Lu Ye's eyes instantly widened in fury. No longer caring about anything else, he fiercely slashed his blade forward, while spatial power surged.

However, this normally fatal strike only managed to sever one of Zong Shenliang's arms. The reason for this unexpected turn of events was not Lu Ye himself, but because the entire stellar realm had completely shattered at that moment.

The entire stellar realm, amidst the resounding crashes, transformed into countless fragments, large and small, scattering throughout the Star Abyss.

As the epicenter of the stellar realm's collapse, the Thunder Pool shattered even more severely.

The vast marvel shattered into countless even smaller fragments, and the positions of Lu Ye and Zong Shenliang completely disintegrated.

Space within the marvel was distorted. Had Lu Ye not timely activated his spatial power, that blade strike might not even have wounded Zong Shenliang.

"Hahahaha!" Zong Shenliang undoubtedly realized what had happened and burst into laughter. Immediately, the spatial fragment he was on vanished into thin air from Lu Ye's sight.

Lu Ye only managed to grab Zong Shenliang's severed arm before the world spun around him.

If the Star Abyss were likened to a giant pool, then that Stellar Realm was a water balloon within it. After the water balloon shattered, numerous fragments would merge into the Star Abyss, scattering in all directions.

Currently, this stellar realm was undergoing that very process.

Amidst the disorienting shifts, the surrounding space became chaotic, and he could no longer detect any trace of Zong Shenliang's aura.

Lu Ye tightened his grip on his blade, his knuckles turning slightly white, filled with extreme frustration.

He had only just managed to corner Zong Shenliang, needing only one more blade strike to end his life. Yet, at this critical moment, the stellar realm shattered, allowing Zong Shenliang to escape with his life. How could he possibly be reconciled to this?

Although it was not without gain, as he severed one of Zong Shenliang's arms, the Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal that Zong Shenliang held was also left behind.

But to leave a snake alive is ultimately a hidden danger. As one of the ten great city lords, and with the Star Abyss Gate of the Illusory Demise Galaxy located within Senluo City's territory, Zong Shenliang's continued existence concerned the safety of Lu Ye's stellar realm. Lu Ye naturally wanted to eradicate the problem at its root.

The integration of the stellar realm fragments into the Star Abyss seemed to be a very long process.

The fragment Lu Ye was on had been constantly tumbling. His divine sense reached out in all directions, but he could only perceive an empty void.

Upon closer inspection, the fragment was only about a dozen zhang in circumference, effectively trapping him within it.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment and gave up the idea of forcefully breaking out.

He couldn't be sure what the outcome of forcefully breaking out would be. He might return directly to the Star Abyss, or he might get lost in the void crevices.

The fusion of space involved profound mysteries; even powerful Phoenix Clan experts had gotten lost in the past, let alone him, a mere external practitioner of the Phoenix Clan.

Within the fragment, there seemed to be no sense of time passing; Lu Ye couldn't feel its flow either, which left him deeply puzzled.

As he was investigating, Soul Scarcity suddenly appeared and asked with concern, "How are your injuries?"

Soul Scarcity had watched the previous battle from beginning to end and was utterly astonished.

Although he had long known Lu Ye's current strength was formidable, he never expected it to be to this extent. He had only recently ascended to the Harmony Dao realm; under normal circumstances, even if Lu Ye personally demonstrated his power, he wouldn't be able to fully comprehend it.

But being in an attached soul state was different. During the battle with Zong Shenliang, he had felt Lu Ye's immense strength clearly.

"Nothing serious," Lu Ye slowly shook his head. The injuries he sustained from battling Zong Shenliang were merely superficial.

Even the corrosive damage inflicted by the Thunder Pool's rampage had been completely refined by the Talent Tree. His missing flesh was now regenerating, and he would recover completely in no time.

Soul Scarcity felt relieved, then turned to look around. "This place is a bit strange," he commented.

Lu Ye nodded. He also found it strange, feeling it much more clearly than Soul Scarcity, though he couldn't quite articulate what exactly was odd about it.

He had never personally experienced the shattering of a stellar realm, nor had he ever been trapped in a fragment of one about to merge into the Star Abyss. Back when the Mechanicus Stellar Realm shattered, he and Jiu Yan, among others, had been taken away by the ghost palanquin.

Quietly sensing his surroundings, after a long while, Lu Ye finally raised an eyebrow. "The time and space within this fragment... are static!"

Soul Scarcity was puzzled. "Why would that be?" he asked.

Lu Ye pondered silently, a faint guess forming in his mind.

Time and space are fundamentally one. Without space as a carrier, the passage of time is meaningless; conversely, without the flow of time, space would just be dead silence.

If time and space were likened to a flowing river, then the time and space within this fragment were like the river being frozen in place, which is why this strange situation had occurred.

Had he not simultaneously possessed the power of chronology and space, he probably wouldn't have been able to perceive these profound mysteries.

As for why this situation occurred, he faintly felt it was because, after the stellar realm shattered and before merging into the Star Abyss, the time and space within the fragments were stripped away.

That's why this peculiar phenomenon appeared.

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Soul Scarcity asked.

"Naturally, it's not a bad thing," Lu Ye slowly replied. "This fragment will eventually merge into the Star Abyss, and when that happens, we will be able to escape. Before then, no matter how long we spend here, only an instant will have passed outside."

Soul Scarcity couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "If that's the case, then it really isn't a bad thing."

This meant gaining some extra cultivation time for free compared to others.

"It shouldn't be too long," Lu Ye said. The merging of such a small fragment into the Star Abyss shouldn't be too difficult.

Given the current situation, impatience was useless. He could only suppress his thoughts and quietly wait for the fragment to merge.

While recovering from his injuries, Lu Ye also began constructing the Pillar of the World. Regardless, the cultivation of the Small World Secret Art could not be delayed. Earlier, during the battle with Zong Shenliang, if he had cultivated the secret art to the ninth complete stage, it wouldn't have been so arduous. It was likely that the Lord of Senluo City wouldn't even have been able to withstand one of his blade strikes.

He then split his attention to check on Liao's transformation.

After Liao's awakening this time, it had not only ascended from a subordinate treasure to a supreme treasure, but also inherited the power of Shang.

This was undoubtedly good news for him. Back then, after being wounded by Ba Qiu and personally experiencing the terror of Shang's power, Lu Ye had been extremely envious of it.

He had never expected that one day he would acquire Shang's power in this manner.

However, there was one thing Lu Ye couldn't figure out: both were powers of supreme treasures, and the purifying thunder of the Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal could dispel the venom of the Myriad Poison Pearl, so why couldn't it dispel Liao's power and Shang's power?

If it was simply said that the Myriad Poison Pearl's power was countered by the Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal, it didn't seem to make sense either.

"What's there to not understand?" Liao's voice suddenly echoed in his mind. "The grades are different, so the powers are different, that's all. Sister Shang's power is much higher than the Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal. How could that broken seal dispel it?"

Lu Ye was stunned. "You can sense what I'm thinking?" he asked.

Liao didn't have this ability before; it must have come with its ascension to a supreme treasure.

"So don't go thinking strange things from now on," Liao's voice was still listless, as if it had no interest.

Lu Ye chuckled.

"Supreme treasures also have grades?" he asked again.

He knew that supreme treasures varied in power, but he had never heard of them having different grades.

"Ba Qiu himself categorized them," Liao slowly replied. It had inherited Shang's power and everything Shang knew.

In this world, perhaps only Ba Qiu would dare to classify the grades of supreme treasures. Ordinary cultivators were already incredibly fortunate to subdue even one; who would dare to covet more and care about grades?

"Tell me more in detail," Lu Ye said.

Liao then explained, "The mystery contained within supreme treasures is 'rules'. Those with dense rules have higher grades, while those with sparse rules have lower grades. You currently possess quite a few supreme treasures. If the Stellar Chessboard is a first-grade supreme treasure, then the Myriad Poison Pearl and the Azure Mirror are barely second-grade."

This was because Lu Ye had previously enhanced the power of both the Myriad Poison Pearl and the Azure Mirror using the Talent Tree.

This was also why Zong Shenliang had previously felt the Azure Mirror's power was greater in Lu Ye's hands.

The reason they were 'barely' second-grade was because during the process of devouring supreme treasures, the Talent Tree also retained a portion of the mysteries to nourish itself.

This was something Lu Ye had only recently discovered; therefore, the more supreme treasures the Talent Tree devoured, the greater its own power would become.

"Sister Shang has followed Ba Qiu for so many years, shattering many supreme treasures and devouring all their mysteries. How can its grade be compared to that Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal?"