After Ying Chong walked out of the inner hall, he looked at the fiery red sunset on the horizon. Clouds stretched ten thousand miles, dyed like blazing fire across the vast plains, while the azure canopy of heaven intertwined with golden-red radiance in a spectacle of brilliant magnificence.
Yet as he gazed upon the boundless beauty, his heart was heavy.
Ever since learning from Lone Yang and the other two that Celestial Xia had used a severed branch left outside to locate Upper Firmament Heaven, he had known that Upper Firmament Heaven's gravest hour of crisis had arrived.
The entire main celestial domain clung to the Azure Spirit Heavenly Branch, and the branch Celestial Xia had obtained had likewise come from it. The two had originally been one.
Moreover, all Azure Spirit Heavenly Branches shared a connected vitality. No matter how immeasurably far apart they were, they would draw one another in. That was why, even when he had severed the heavenly branch, he had first reclaimed its vitality.
He had taken every step with the utmost care before, ensuring that no branch had been left outside. Yet Celestial Xia had still outdone him. He did not know how Celestial Xia had accomplished it, but there was no point delving into that now.
All he could do now was find a way to withstand Celestial Xia's attack.
He had considered whether he could throw the heavenly secrets into disorder once more, but Lone Yang and the other two had told him that, under the influence of the Clear Vault Aura, that branch would grow ever stronger. If Celestial Xia wished, it could continuously stimulate it and turn it into another Azure Spirit Heavenly Branch. The pull between the vitality of the two sides would then become unstoppable.
Although Celestial Xia