Within the realm boundaries.
Wang Yangzi felt his cultivation had been progressing much faster recently, as if everything was falling into place naturally. He quickly reached the level of Second Path Sage, and was even approaching the Great Saint of Second Dao.
"You've broken through, you must have!" Wu Saint offered his sharp assessment.
Wang Yangzi looked up at the sky, "It may not be because of me. It's very likely due to Chen Xia - his merger with the realm seems to have made further progress."
Wu Saint was so envious that he immediately called out to the heavens respectfully:
"Brother Chen, I'm your faithful follower too. How about some rewards for me as well?"
Naturally, there was no response.
"The relationship still isn't close enough, it seems." Wang Yangzi chuckled lightly, his hand resting on the scabbard at his waist. He continued:
"It may not be long before the realm reopens. By then, Chen Xia will likely be at least a Great Saint, and of the Fourth Dao at that."
"Goodness gracious." Wu Saint raised his eyebrows in surprise. "A Great Saint of the Fourth Dao? The All Heavens World hasn't seen such a figure in ages. He could probably match an ordinary Great Emperor in strength."
"Think about it more carefully," Wang Yangzi shook his head and continued: "With the Way of the Sword, Time Dao, Heavenly Dragon Dao, and Heavenly Thunder Dao - these four supreme Daos at his disposal, do you really think he'd merely match an ordinary Great Emperor?"
Wu Saint swallowed hard before speaking again: "He might even be able to overpower an ordinary Great Emperor."
"That's about right," Wang Yangzi nodded, then added with an admiring sigh:
"But this is Chen Xia we're talking about, after all."
If one doesn't defeat enemies above their level or shock the world, how can they be called the number one genius of the All Heavens World?
They say time flows like water, and that's certainly true.
Three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye, catching people somewhat off guard.
The matter of the Eight Saints of the Blue Sky Sword Sea was still ongoing, and Chen Xia continued to construct the grand formation. Now with fifty million spirit stones empowering it, it could summon heart demons and even slap Great Emperors.
Everyone had their own tasks to attend to, all at crucial stages, leaving no time to spare.
In the three thousand years that had passed, many changes occurred in the Star Region.
Zhou Jia of the Great Zhou Dynasty had reached the peak of the Heaven Mending Realm. It was said that with one moment of enlightenment, he was only a step away from becoming a Quasi-Saint.
He was one of the two figures Chen Xia was keeping an eye on. The other was Bai Lu.
Bai Lu had gained enlightenment through chess, forcefully comprehending the Way of Chess at the Mahayana Peak realm. Though his cultivation speed wasn't as fast as Zhou Jia's, his understanding of the Dao surpassed Zhou Jia's.
These two were the rising geniuses of the Star Region.
Chen Xia planned to provide them with cultivation resources, grooming them as reserve forces for the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Besides this, other events were unfolding in the Star Region.
A Great Saint from outside the Star Region had come, asking the Saints and Great Saints within to gather and resist the increasingly fierce Heavenly Dao Reckoning and Dark Invasion.
The other Great Saints were unwilling to deal with this, so they recommended the visiting Great Saint to Chen Xia.
"Do you really have any say in this matter?" the Great Saint from the outside world asked Chen Xia skeptically.
"Just tell me what you have to say," Chen Xia waved his hand dismissively.
The Great Saint then began: "You should be aware of the current situation outside. The Way of Heaven has begun its great reckoning, and may even cleanse the All Heavens World anew. If we don't want to die, we can only resist together."
"As long as we can hold out for ten thousand years, waiting for this great era to pass and for the Way of Heaven to fall into slumber, we might successfully weather this calamity."
"The Star Regions that still exist have already issued a call to arms, led by the Great Emperors. They plan to gather the forces of the entire Great Heaven to resist the Heavenly Dao Reckoning together. My mission is to recruit cultivators and confirm the Star Regions."
The Great Saint paused here and asked Chen Xia curiously:
"Are you the leader of this Star Region?"
"Not yet," Chen Xia shook his head, "but I will be soon."
The Great Saint frowned, "Then just give me the name of the Star Region for now. I'll report it back to the Great Emperor."
"Blue Sky Sword Sea," Chen Xia replied directly.
"Alright," the Great Saint nodded, committing it to memory before turning to leave.
Chen Xia narrowed his eyes, feeling that time was becoming increasingly pressing. He hoped everything would be ready in time.
Among the Saints of the Blue Sky Sword Sea, Hu Linye was the first to return. He arrived on a small boat near the Great Death Realm, reached out his hand, and tossed out a group of old men from a Small World.
"They're all here," Hu Linye pointed out.
"Mercy, mercy, great Saint, have mercy," the old men pleaded. They were already cowards, which was why they had fled from the Blue Sky Sword Sea in the first place. Now they dared not act tough.
Chen Xia glanced at them and waved his hand.
"Set up a retirement home and keep them there for now. We'll deal with them on the day of the regression."
"Understood," Hu Linye nodded.
The second to return was Emperor Capital and his three companions.
Emperor Capital ran up to Chen Xia angrily, took out a recording spirit stone, and projected an image with the words "Execution List" at the top.
Then, as if he had suffered a great injustice, Emperor Capital complained bitterly:
"Brother Chen, it's these people. They were completely uncooperative, with the worst attitudes imaginable. I suggest we execute them all to improve the overall quality of our Star Region!"
Chen Xia was slightly taken aback, then turned to Chi Yu behind him and asked:
"How many Saints and Great Saints did you all talk to in total?"
Chi Yu pointed at Emperor Capital's "Execution List" and said:
"Pretty much everyone on that list, maybe one more. Emperor Capital even added Jia Bai's name to it, probably because he thought Jia Bai was too noisy."
"So you can actually say this much?" Huang Can remarked in surprise from the side.
Chen Xia nodded, indicating he understood. It seemed they hadn't managed to persuade a single Saint or Great Saint.
However, he had anticipated this outcome. Sending them out was merely to spread the news that the Blue Sky Sword Sea was about to regress.
The last to return were Qiu Li and his two companions, reporting that the formation had been initially consolidated and could use the Mysterious Dao to protect most of the Star Region.
With this, the groundwork was considered complete.
Chen Xia lowered his head, looking down, and muttered to himself:
"Three thousand years left. When I awaken, when the divine sword returns to its rightful place, the Blue Sky Sword Sea will regress, and this Star Region will also be called the Blue Sky Sword Sea."
In the depths of the cosmos, there seemed to be a response.
The realm boundaries trembled slightly.
The sword intent began to stir.