The matters of the Dead Star Region could be considered settled for the time being.
Chen Xia did not hurry to return his Divine Soul back to his body, instead continuing to use his out-of-body avatar, and for the first time stepped out of the Dead Star Region.
He wanted to take a look at the current Blue Sky Sword Sea; if he could obtain the remaining half of the fairy swords, that would naturally be even better.
The Blue Sky Sword Sea was some distance away from the Dead Star Region. Fortunately, given Chen Xia's current level of cultivation, this distance was not too far.
His out-of-body avatar was currently at the first layer of the Heaven Mending Realm, still some distance away from the second layer. He estimated he would still need to stay in the Dead Star Region for a few hundred years.
The journey would take about two to three days.
Chen Xia traversed across the star river, and could finally see the faint outline of the former Blue Sky Sword Sea from afar.
The first thing that entered his eyes was the thick darkness that almost covered the entire Blue Sky Sword Sea.
The original Blue Sky had already been shattered, leaving only half of the Sword Sea behind, so the whole Blue Sky Sword Sea was extremely dilapidated and damaged.
Aside from the invasion of darkness, there was also a strong aura of death lingering around the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Chen Xia was familiar with this and also knew what this deathly aura represented.
It was not just the death aura left behind by cultivators, for ordinary cultivators the effects spread across the entire Blue Sky Sword Sea would already be quite major, almost comparable to that of the entire Dead Star Region.
Chen Xia was naturally unafraid of the death aura. With a step, he flashed straight into it.
But upon truly entering the Blue Sky Sword Sea, he immediately became wary.
Because he saw a row of broken and damaged heads.
Among them, the one with the strongest remaining aura was even at the Heaven Mending Realm level.
Tap, tap.
Heavy footsteps sounded.
Chen Xia's eyebrows furrowed. Black mists shrouded his body, protecting him like a thick robe.
The heavy footsteps suddenly stopped, and a pair of crimson eyes were revealed, accompanied by dense invading darkness that revealed an entire figure.
Chen Xia froze for a moment, opened his mouth, but did not speak in the end.
"Die," a bloody voice uttered from the Old Fisherman's mouth.
Chen Xia did not want to fight him. With a stomp of his feet he tried to flash away and escape.
But as he was escaping, the Old Fisherman closely followed right behind him. His withered palm was filled with invading darkness as he directly slapped out at Chen Xia.
Boom!
Chen Xia's body was sent flying back several thousand meters, crashing straight towards the interior of the Blue Sky Sword Sea and falling into the Sword Sea, scraping along its surface as he tumbled backwards uncontrollably.
His body turned as he landed firmly on the sea surface with one foot to steady himself. Then he clenched his fist and ferociously punched towards the Old Fisherman that had abruptly appeared before him.
The Old Fisherman's entire body emanated rolling dark auras. His crimson eyes flashing as both palms ferociously slapped towards Chen Xia's lone fist!
The tremendous spiritual energy fluctuations caused the entire Blue Sky Sword Sea to tremble as the seawater surged upwards then came crashing heavily back down.
Extremely distant meteorites even shattered into fine powder from the vibrations.
Chen Xia could not withstand the enormous might and once again flew backwards several thousand meters. This time he could no longer steady himself and crashed heavily into the Sword Sea, sinking a thousand meters down.
The Old Fisherman's silhouette flashed as he closely followed behind and drove his fist squarely into Chen Xia's chest before forcefully punching forwards.
Bang!
The seawaters originally above the sea surface began to collapse as surges of water started flowing vertically up towards the sky instead.
Chen Xia was left in the hollow cavity beneath the seawaters. His body was retreating at extreme speeds as the sparse scenery around him swiftly flashed backwards in retreat.
Perhaps he was the one flying backwards at an incredible velocity.
His consciousness had become somewhat scattered. All he felt was an enormous pressure on his chest followed swiftly by a world-encompassing agony that started spreading throughout every part of his body.
Crash!
He directly smashed into the broken Sword Sea again, boring straight through it and out the other side before crashing into outer space.
"Cough!" Chen Xia heavily coughed out a mouthful of blood, nearly all the spiritual energy protecting his body on the verge of total collapse.
Fortunately, the Old Fisherman did not immediately give chase, giving him some precious time to catch his breath.
Based on the current exchange, the Old Fisherman's might was clearly not something he could hope to match. At a minimum, the Old Fisherman was at the peak of the tenth layer of the Heaven Mending Realm, perhaps even comparable to the legendary Saint Realm.
If that was the case, there was no possibility of Chen Xia winning no matter what he tried.
After all, the disparity between their cultivations was far too vast. He was adept at crossing realms to battle, but not at this absurd level of difference!
While he was still gasping for breath, the Old Fisherman had already arrived at Chen Xia's side, his withered hand brimming with invading darkness as he drove it squarely into Chen Xia's chest.
Chen Xia felt strangely dizzy, almost as though he couldn't breathe properly.
Maybe I'm just tired.
He truly did understand self-comfort.
Bang!
An enormous sound once again resounded out as Chen Xia's body was smashed away, boring straight through the Sword Sea again, effectively punching a string of holes clear through it.
All the defensive black mists protecting his body had already started crumbling away, revealing his original appearance underneath as blood continuously flowed out. He was nearly beaten unconscious.
The Old Fisherman's silhouette once again appeared before him, his withered palm already pressing down towards Chen Xia's head, but this time it hesitated without actually striking even as Chen Xia landed safely.
With blood staining the corners of his mouth, Chen Xia bewilderedly turned to look at him questioningly.
The crimson color in the Old Fisherman's eyes faded somewhat as he silently stared straight at Chen Xia without saying a word.
Chen Xia once again vomited out a mouthful of blood. He gazed blankly at the Old Fisherman for a while before speaking in astonishment.
"Hello."
The Old Fisherman looked at him for a half a moment before nodding slightly, responding in a low voice.
"You too... Chen... Chen..."
He seemed unable to utter that last word, as the crimson colors surged intensely back into his eyes. With great difficulty, he spoke.
"I'm very happy you were able to return to the Blue Sky Sword Sea, however... please don't come back again in the future."
Chen Xia nodded, bowing as he replied.
"I truly apologize for disturbing you."
He had been utterly defeated. Furthermore, the Old Fisherman's seniority was higher than his to begin with, and they were already acquainted with each other. Chen Xia truly could not bring himself to desperately fight to the death here.
The Old Fisherman also said nothing in return. With a wave of his hand, he sent Chen Xia away, while also leaving a trace of his own spiritual power on Chen Xia's body to sense his location and life signs.
This was Chen Xia's first time returning to the Blue Sky Sword Sea after a long absence. In summary, the result was simply him getting brutally beaten up and exchanging a couple short sentences with the Old Fisherman.
Perhaps the biggest harvest was just in loosening up his muscles and bones.
The wounds on his body would take at least a few years to fully recover without proper rest and recuperation.
Back at the Blue Sky Sword Sea, the Old Fisherman's figure stood calmly amidst the surging tides as the seawater gradually flowed back into the Sword Sea, now flowing between the two blasted holes he had punched through earlier.
The Old Fisherman glanced back at them for a moment, silent for a long while, before raising his hand and easily restoring the two holes.
At the moment, he was in the midst of one of his increasingly rare moments of clarity. Yet as the invading darkness continued to strengthen its grip, these moments would become fewer and farther between.
By then, would he truly not even recognize anyone?
The Old Fisherman turned to gaze upon the deepest central region of the Sword Sea. There, stabbed into the depths, was a broken sword.
A sword without its tip.
This was none other than the other half of the legendary fairy sword!
"You should be at the Heaven Mending Realm in strength by now already right? Hurry, while I still have some lucid moments left, come quickly and retrieve the sword." The Old Fisherman muttered softly to himself.
His figure seemed to minuscule and insignificant within the vastness of the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Yet before him stood the entirety of the Blue Sky Sword Sea itself.
From past till present. For tens of thousands of years, never changing.