Chapter 1255: The Time Has Come

In a flame pagoda by the red giant, an immortal and a god were apparently linked by predestination. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛ ꜰʀᴏᴍ noveⅼfire.net

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. Starryeyes’ expression was one of despair. Shē had assumed that this human shē hated so much would actually say something to hēr. So shē wanted to say something first.

“You—”

Shē had no chance to finish what shē was going to say. Xu Qing was not a fan of wasting time, so before shē could finish, he reached toward

It was as if a gravitational force latched onto Starryeyes and dragged hēr toward Xu Qing. When shē arrived, his hand latched onto a very familiar location. Hēr throat!

The moment his hand clamped down, shē felt terror explode within hēr. Acting with instinctive speed, Xu Qing began to drain hēr ringsource. As the ringsource flowed out, shē felt that same sensation, like hēr soul was being extracted.

The ringsource flowed into Xu Qing’s hand to nourish his immortal embryo, his soul, and everything else about him. A sensation he had not experienced in some time filled him, and his mood immediately improved. It was a flavor he had sighed about many times in the past few days. Now that he could experience it again, his cultivation base rotated rapidly, and the silver light in his eyes glittered.

Pain once again struck Starryeyes, filling hēr body and soul. Shē was in a nightmare again, and the mental stability shē had worked so hard to recover was once again upturned. Venomous hatred appeared in hēr again, and this time, it was dozens of times stronger than before.

Xu Qing recognized the look in hēr eyes. He ignored it and continued to extract the ringsource. It lasted for about an hour.

At that point, Starryeyes’ skin was no longer lustrous. It was anemic again. All the ringsource shē had built back up was gone. Shē was extremely listless.

Xu Qing was satisfied. He released his hand, whereupon the limp Starryeyes sagged in front of him. Shē was weak physically, but the hatred in hēr heart was extremely intense, and shē glared murderously at him. But only a moment later, shē took a deep breath and closed hēr eyes. When shē opened them again, the venom was gone, having been replaced with bitterness.

“I met your Immortal Lord,” shē said. “You people got what you want. With the exchange at hand, I can understand why you’re not willing to give up. I can’t stop you from extracting my ringsource. After all, gods and immortals are polar opposites. When one of you immortals falls into our hands, they can’t avoid torment. I understand all that. From an objective perspective, there is no enmity between the two of us. In the final analysis, the reason you captured me is that my god magic wasn’t pure enough!”

Hēr voice was hoarse and a bit self-deprecating. During hēr recent days in captivity, shē had thought through many things.

This was the first time Xu Qing had ever seen Starryeyes behave like this. He looked at the goddess. Shē looked back at him calmly.

“Before, you couldn’t hide your hatred,” he said suddenly. “That was because you were in despair and thought you were going to die. Now you’re masking it because you have hope. You don’t want to take any risks. But you’re also worried you might anger me, and that I’ll kill you, transforming your hope back into despair.”

Starryeye’s pupils constricted.

“The exchange is upon us,” he said calmly. “You and I both know that I can’t kill you. In other words, you can stop trying so hard to seem weak. I can tell how much you hate me. And there’s no need for you to explain what you plan to do after you get back. You’re not going to forget this or let it go. That said, I’m glad you reminded me of something….”

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing extended his right hand, and the power of extreme metal glittered, turning into golden threads. Next, the power of wood bolstered it. After that came water, fire, and earth. The five extremes turned into a cage! Time made the seal, and space was the justification, making the cage even more profound. And finally… Xu Qing’s space-time descended. It made the lock for the cage!

Rumbling sounds surrounded Starryeyes as shē was imprisoned in the illusory cage.

Yet Xu Qing didn’t think that was enough. He extended his hand, and the weight of heaven’s principle caused the cage to materialize.

Then Starryeyes’ expression flickered as Xu Qing performed a double-handed incantation gesture and then touched his forehead. His immortal embryo unleashed majestic immortal energy as it exhaled the Aurora Immortal Palace.

The cage overlapped! Rumbling sounds echoed out, and Starryeyes’ face fell. And yet, things weren’t over yet.

After the cage was made with the eight extremes, Xu Qing’s ninth extreme appeared, the canon of parallelism. As the overlaps appeared, the power of numerous space-times became chains that could restrain gods. They shot out of nowhere toward Starryeyes.

A shrill scream echoed out as dozens of chains flowed from different space-times to pierce into the goddess’ scapulas! Starryeyes wanted to struggle, but hēr every attempt just caused the chains to glitter with immortal inscriptions. A profoundly irritating sensation swept through hēr like a storm, wiping away the veneer of weakness. Boundless, unending hatred suddenly erupted again within

“I’m going to kill you, Xu Qing! And not just you. All your loved ones! All your relatives! All your friends! They’ll all die miserably because of you!!”

Xu Qing looked at the goddess expressionlessly, all while assessing hēr ringsource. He soon realized that, thanks to the stimulation of the cage and chains, more ringsource had appeared within hēr. Nodding in satisfaction, he reached out to extract it.

Now Starryeyes realized that he had been doing it all on purpose to provoke hēr into producing more ringsource. All of a sudden, shē thought back to the terrifying memories of hēr original journey with him.

“You’re a nightmare!” shē screamed shrilly. “You’re not an immortal! You’re a devil!!”

When shē finally took a breath, Xu Qing spoke. “I’m very curious,” he said calmly, “about why you continuously produce ringsource after being drained.”

He sliced his fingernail across hēr pale forehead and, eyes glittering, sent some divine will into hēr. It passed through the blood, flesh, and bones, all the way into the godhood in hēr god soul…. He had tried something similar in the past, but had failed due to his low cultivation base.

Now his cultivation base had reached a higher level. What was more, Xu Qing was convinced that the Immortal Lord must have left traces behind of his own search for information. He wanted to see if he could find such clues, and learn more about Starryeyes’ secrets. This time… things were working a lot more smoothly. And so, it didn’t take long after he sent his divine will into hēr god soul, he found the clues.

Xu Qing’s previous probing was too weak to do anything. But now he saw the damage that had been done by the Immortal Lord! As a result, Xu Qing’s divine will was able to enter easily.

As he went deeper, he sensed that there was something ahead that wasn’t illusory. It was material. It was something… crystalized! It looked like it was something made of destiny aura, but at the same time, wasn’t. There was something mysterious swirling in it. At the same time, it was covered with cracks….

It looked like it was on the verge of collapsing. But at the same time, it gave Xu Qing the sensation he was looking at the entire Fourth Star Ring. Terrifying pressure radiated out of it.

Xu Qing was initially stunned, but after a bit of hesitation, he decisively sent his divine will inside! The crystal suddenly started rumbling, and a majestic, indescribable force swept outward, eradicating everything in its path.

Xu Qing’s divine will collapsed, and his fingers were shoved away from her neck. At the same time, the provocation caused new power to surge within Starryeyes, who looked up at him, hēr pupils transformed into a vortex of stars.

“You actually tried to take the godly authority my father gave to me!” shē roared in a voice like thunder. It wasn’t actually hēr original voice, but rather, a chaotic combination of countless voices that became a godly voice.

Suddenly, nine bolts of golden lightning appeared around hēr, which shot toward Xu Qing. However, just as they touched him, they were shattered by some ancient will coming from the goddess. Starryeyes sagged listlessly, all while gasping for breath.

Xu Qing instantly identified the mysterious will. It contained boundless immortal energy that surpassed that of a Lower Immortal.

It’s a sealing mark left inside of hēr by the Immortal Lord!

Xu Qing looked thoughtfully at the tip of his index finger. There was a black spot there that was fading away. Looking at it closely, it was clear that the spot was made up of countless intricate golden designs. Looking at it seemed like looking at the destruction and rebirth of countless planets.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. This is the secret of hēr never-ending ringsource.

***

In the outside world, the hostage exchange was about to happen, and the lieutenant general was speaking into the minds of all cultivators.

“The time has come! Men, move out!”

A rumbling sound emerged from the red giant that could shake starry skies! It… was about to leave! And the entire massive army camped in the area was going with it.

The sight of it was astonishing. The starry sky trembled, universes shook, and star regions distorted. A massive teleportation the size of an entire star region… was beginning.

The incredibly important hostage exchange was taking place in the eastern theater between the Fourth and Fifth Star Rings, in a place filled with innumerable asteroids. There was also dust that formed stellar storms which covered everything.

There was black and white roiling in all parts. Within the black part, there were unending gods, all of them pulsing with so much black mutagen that it was corporeal. There were so many gods that the starry sky almost couldn’t take it, and rifts were starting to break open.

Within the white color were numerous cultivator armies, all of them brimming with somber auras and immortal energy. Each and every cultivator in the massive group was an accomplished killer.

There weren’t just troops gathered from the front lines of the eastern theater. All of the armies were there, united. That included Immortal Monarch Silent Dao and the newly returned Spirit Jade…. Everyone was there!

Above the armies was the chaotic mixture of black and white, wherein thunder boomed. Up there, it was just possible to see two blurry figures who emanated pressure onto everyone else. As the two sides faced off, the starry sky on the cultivator side rippled as… the red giant and the armies that had camped around it appeared!

Its arrival attracted the attention of all the immortals and gods!

Inside the giant red star, Xu Qing sat cross-legged in his fire pagoda.

“Xu Qing, bring out the captive goddess!”

Upon hearing that, Xu Qing calmly stood. Grabbing the chains of canon, he dragged the cage… out of the fire pagoda.