Chapter 1179: Lingering Incense

Images from history swirled within the blood-red color. Countless grains of sand flowed within the brightly shining currents of the River of Time.

Beyond the glow of that light, Young Lord Aurora stared blankly. He had been rendered unconscious back then, so he had never heard that conversation. But just now, he had heard the entire thing.

As it turned out, his entire childhood in the immortal palace had been fake. As it turned out, his father’s rebellion was actually a plea to be killed. As it turned out, he had pleaded for death to protect his own son.

He began to tremble visibly as he watched his father charge toward the Immortal Paragon. Tears streamed down his face. He had never understood why his father did what he did. And he had always believed that the actions of his grandfather, the Immortal Paragon... were unforgivable. Now that he knew the truth, the only thing left behind was pain.

Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix sighed, but she did not loosen her grip on his hand.

Xu Qing was a mere observer, but he was also feeling deeply shaken. Based on what really happened in history, it didn’t seem like anyone was in the wrong. Was the Immortal Lord wrong... to wish to end his pain? To choose to rebel as a way to seek death? To end the godbane with himself, and ensure that his son did not experience the same pain he had? That was the manifestation of fatherly love, and there was nothing wrong about it.

Was the Immortal Paragon wrong... to sacrifice his bloodline for the sake of the Fifth Star Ring as a whole? To abandon himself for the greater good? There was nothing wrong about that either.

From these historical images, it was clear that the second method of dealing with the problem that had been mentioned by Immortal Lord Aurora... was something the Immortal Paragon had known about from the beginning. As long as the time was right, if he personally killed Immortal Lord Aurora, it would solve everything. And there would be no need to whittle down the godbane over many generations.

Given his skill and ability, it was only natural that he could have ensured that time came sooner, rather than waiting for it for such a long time.

But considering that he was almost solely responsible for the entire Fifth Star Ring, he chose to ignore that option. Traces of fatherly love were also evident in his choice. He did not want to lose his son. There had always been a simpler option, but he chose the longer and more complicated version instead. Because of going down that path, Immortal Lord Aurora stayed alive up until this point in history.

He loved his son, and couldn’t bear to kill him. But his son loved his own son so much that he would rather die than see him in pain.

The historical images continued to flow.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The Immortal Paragon, as grand as the starry sky, had still not spoken a single word. He had maintained silence the entire time. Even as Immortal Lord Aurora surged with red light and closed in seeking death, he said nothing.

Light glittered and rumbling sounds echoed out as Immortal Lord Aurora’s canon corroded everything. Yet the Immortal Paragon remained silent. He allowed the Immortal Lord to launch his attack.

Until Immortal Lord Aurora’s white hair turned black. Until his white robes became black robes. Until the aura of a god erupted from Immortal Lord Aurora.... Cackling laughter rang out, growing louder and louder until it was a roar that shook heaven. The words “kill me” echoed again and again, causing the images of history to ripple and blur. The God Paragon was trying to return by means of Immortal Lord Aurora’s body!

The Immortal Paragon closed his eyes and slowly extended his hand. He gently lowered it.

It was just like years ago in the minor world when he had tousled his son’s hair, smiled, and said,

“Wait until you’re all grown up. Then I’ll take you outside to look at the starry sky.”

He had done that.

As his hand dropped, Immortal Lord Aurora crumbled into ashes and vanished. He turned into red motes of light that spread out to become an aurora in the sky. He was gone. His soul was destroyed. His bones were eradicated. From that moment on, he did not exist in reincarnation.

As the light shone, the Immortal Paragon closed his eyes. He did not open them again. He simply stood there looking bleak and lonely. A very long moment passed, and then he turned and left.

He had previously stood straight and tall, but as he made his way off into the distance, he became stooped and lonesome. At that moment, he was no longer the Immortal Paragon of the Fifth Star Ring. He was just a father who had lost his beloved son, and was now bitter and alone. Eventually... he once again became part of the starry sky.

And then a faint murmur echoed through that starry sky.

“It was for the sake of you, the Immortal Paragon, and all life... that Aurora gave the Immortal Paragon an iron-clad reason to kill him. That was how he freed himself.... And that was how he freed you.... It was also how he freed the Immortal Paragon.... He helped everyone.”

A host of threads floated out of the historical images, drifting amongst the sand. They were secrets of history. They eventually formed into a figure within the historical images... right in front of Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix.

He was Immortal Lord Nineshores.

Young Lord Aurora said nothing. Spirit Phoenix bowed her head.

“This bit of history...” Nineshores said softly, and then he shook his head. “This bit of history should never have been viewed by anyone beneath the level of Immortal Lord. It cannot be known. Although the godbane has been done away with, if anyone found out the truth, it would give birth to karma, and then everything could be undone.

“Immortal Lords could avoid that, but for anyone under that level, it would be too great of a risk. That is why your father and I made sure you weren’t aware of what happened. But now you’ve seen it. Now you know.... Therefore, from the perspective of the Immortal Paragon, who must consider the future of the Fifth Star Ring, erasing you from existence would be the best option.

“Except there are other things to consider. One is my daughter, who is also his granddaughter-in-law. Another is his grandson, within whom is the undying sun and moon of the Fifth Star Ring, this land of cultivators, which cannot be destroyed. And the third thing to consider is that....”

Immortal Lord Nineshores paused briefly. “I’m soft-hearted. And though the old man might be willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Fifth Star Ring, in the end, he’s also soft-hearted. Therefore, he has chosen to bear the weight of your karma. Now, you may go.”

Nineshores gently waved his hand in front of him. The pages of history blurred. The River of Time surged with waves. An unstoppable force wrapped up Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix to send them away....

Nineshores turned back to the starry sky. Everything blurred. It would disappear in moments.

Young Lord Aurora looked up. “Perhaps the Immortal Paragon will bear the weight of my karma, and that of Spirit Phoenix. But there’s another stream of consciousness inside me, someone who showed me great kindness. He....”

“He’ll be fine,” Nineshores said coolly. “He has karma that the Immortal Paragon cannot bear. As for the godbane... īt wouldn’t dare to mess with him.”

Waves surged on the River of Time, covering everything. They carried with it that sand from elsewhere, and swept it onto a mirror. The mirror disappeared.

***

When everything became clear again, the immortal palace was there. When they left, it was in ruins. But when they came back, the wedding was going on. However, there was no clamoring crowd.

There was only Young Lord Aurora, Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix and... another consciousness that was now a blurred figure.

It was Xu Qing. On the way back, he had separated from Young Lord Aurora’s body. Now he floated in midair, looking at the immortal palace, and looking at Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix.

Everything that had happened seemed like a dream. The things in the River of Time were even more like a dream. Now he was waking up from the dream.

Xu Qing had benefited dramatically. After all that he had experienced, his understanding of space-time was nearly complete. He could sense that he was very close to a breakthrough....

All he needed was a direction. And when it came to that direction, he just needed to make a choice. When he did, the breakthrough would occur.

Xu Qing wasn’t concerned with the truth he had learned in the dream, and all the karma related to it. Nor was he concerned about the vague things Nineshores had said about him. He had already gotten the karma of the broken face under control. If the godbane came looking and tried to use him to bring back the God Paragon, well... Xu Qing got the feeling that Eminent Desolation would not be very happy. That said, the historical truths he had learned had still affected him emotionally.

He turned to look at Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix. They looked back without saying a word. A moment passed, and then Young Lord Aurora waved his hand to send some sand flying over to Xu Qing, where it took the shape of an hourglass.

Its capacity had increased. Its limit was not two hours, but rather, a day.

“Young friend... thank you for accompanying us,” Young Lord Aurora said softly. “I no longer have any regrets. Going forward, I have decided to leave this place. Just as my father wanted, I will live my own life....”

With that, he looked at Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix. Gazing back at him warmly, she nodded. A smile broke out on Young Lord Aurora’s face, a smile that contained a bit of melancholy, but also relief. The two of them rose up into the sky and away toward the void. As they departed, the world blurred. It was as if millions upon millions of years of time were passing by and eroding everything.

Xu Qing looked up at the two figures disappearing overhead, and as he did, a voice drifted down.

“I can’t help you much with your space-time canon, young friend. But I do remember my father saying that after space-time... Is parallelism!”

The moment Xu Qing heard those words, his mind filled with thunderous rumbling, and his eyes began to shine brightly. It was like his head had been anointed with the purest enlightenment. He understood!

The voice from above continued to drift down. “I’m giving the immortal palace to you. You can have everything in it. Given what you understand of space-time, you should understand what to do with it. And now... if we’re connected by destiny, maybe we’ll meet again.”

And then Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix said, “Thank you for your help, young friend. Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. Later on, take a trip to the God Blood River. I’m going to leave a gift for you there....”

As they disappeared into the distance, the immortal palace eroded more and more quickly. In only a few short breaths of time in which Xu Qing gained sudden enlightenment, the palace passed through millions upon millions of years. The buildings, and the entire world, crumbled into dust. The space-time waves of the fourth world vanished.

And yet, in Xu Qing’s mind, his space-time canon had changed. It had transformed from a trickling stream into a mighty river.