Chapter 1184: The Number One Shining Star, Xu Qing

Sir Star Ring really wasn’t very far away. The moment Xu Qing cut down Sir Star Ring in the fifth world, a blurry figure appeared at the entrance of the immortal palace, right past the immortal foyer. This was one of the three paths leading to the immortal palace. Back at the beginning of the event, Xu Qing had looked at this location and just barely seen the bridge in the mist. The mist was currently seething as the figure staggered back from that spot and onto the immortal foyer.

Staggering, he coughed up a massive mouthful of blood onto the limestone. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe. He looked like someone who had just barely escaped from catastrophe with his life.

He was none other than Sir Star Ring. His aura was in shambles, and he looked extremely weak. In fact, it seemed that nearly half of his body existed in a state between real and illusory.

“Xu Qing...” Sir Star Ring’s expression was grim as he sped toward the exit. He was leaving the immortal palace.

The moment he appeared in the Fallen Immortal Moors, he saw a host of people seated cross-legged in the area. Glancing at them, he spotted Li Mengtu as well as Zhou Zhengli.

The seated cultivators sensed his gaze. That was especially true of Li Mengtu and Zhou Zhengli, who looked up at him. Li Mengtu’s gaze hardened. Zhou Zhengli looked thoughtful.

Sir Star Ring didn’t hesitate for an instant. He walked out, flew up into the air, and raced toward the horizon. He held nothing back in terms of speed. When he reached the border of the Fallen Immortal Moors, he turned to look back at the immortal palace. His body was already reverting from its state of half-illusory into being fully real.

That was the result of the lifesaving skill he had used, which was a secret magic of the Star Ring Pagoda. By sacrificing some of his dao, he could create a version of the Star Ring Pagoda to substitute for him in death. In that way, he could avert deadly crises. Over the years, he had made seven Star Ring Pagodas to serve in that capacity.

I can’t believe I had to waste one just now....

When he thought back to what had played out in the fifth world, he felt fear inside of him, and had to admit that his opponent’s understanding of canon... surpassed his own by a lot.

Whether in terms of deadliness or stealthiness, his canon is terrifying! If I want to crush him, I need to improve my own canon to the point of being able to destroy all of his space-times. Otherwise... it would be just too difficult to kill him. Unless....

Sir Star Ring’s eyes glittered.

The only other option would be to figure out how to crush his true body with heaven’s principle! His biggest weakness... is definitely his true body! He has an Imperial Sovereign cultivation base, and his immortal embryo is still forming. That means that the best option is to figure out how to identify his true body amidst the various space-times.... In other words, there definitely is a way to kill him!

Ultimately, Sir Star Ring shook his head. Theories were, in the end, nothing but theories. Besides, Sir Star Ring knew... that he wasn’t in the position to succeed right now.

He took a deep breath and then vanished into thin air. He had no idea of knowing whether his opponent would try to track him down, but he still felt a sensation of danger. He needed to get out of the western planetary system as quickly as possible and get back to the east. Only there would he truly be safe.

***

Meanwhile, in the immortal palace’s fifth world, Xu Qing looked at the scrap of energy in his hand. After a moment, he squeezed it into another instance of space-time, then looked at the surrounding Quasi-Immortal Grand Emperors.

Without a word, he took a step forward. He blurred. But then he reverted back to being clear.

I can’t get into the sixth world.

Although he knew that no one with battle prowess weaker than a Lower Immortal was supposed to be able to get into the sixth world, he figured he might as well do a test. After confirming that he couldn’t get into the sixth world, he took another step forward... but not to try to get into the sixth world. He was going back outside. He vanished, and when he reappeared he was on the immortal foyer.

At the moment, there are no more destined opportunities for me in the immortal palace.

As he stood on the immortal foyer, he looked back at the immortal palace. A host of images played out in his memories. It was as if the River of Time was rumbling past, sweeping up the sand from the bottom of the river.

For a moment, Xu Qing felt like he could see a young man in white clothing. He stood at the very end of that river of the timescape, a marriage contract in his hand. Standing next to him was a young woman in a wedding dress. Both of them looked at him, smiled, and then held hands as they bowed to him.

Their smiles contained indescribable reminiscence. Perhaps they were smiles of youth. Or maybe they were smiles of bitterness, or beauty, or pain. The froth of the raging river filled the image.

Xu Qing turned his head and saw himself standing at the end of the timescape river. He smiled and bowed. The wind and rain from yesterday echoed into today. The flowing river, and the sand that glittered like starlight, eventually dissipated.

Xu Qing straightened from his bow, turned, and walked off of the immortal foyer... and out of the exit.

Out in the Fallen Immortal Moors, he looked up into the sky and saw the crimson aurora. Because of the aurora, the scenery in the area was red, just like before. However, something about it seemed different now. In the past it had been many-colored, but now it was just red. However, the light seemed to be gentler. It seemed to contain the love of a father.

Xu Qing closed his eyes to experience the feeling. When he opened his eyes shortly after, he saw the crowd that was gathered outside the immortal palace. He saw Patriarch Diling, Li Mengtu, Zhou Zhengli, and other cultivators he recognized.

Most of the people who had come out of the immortal palace had chosen to stay behind until the immortal palace event concluded. The receding of the spirit tide that would mark the end of the event would provide opportunities to further their cultivation and seek enlightenment. After all, most of them were only able to operate in the third world, and though most had benefited in some way, their gains were limited.

Clearly, everyone present was hoping to benefit additionally, including Li Mengtu and Zhou Zhengli.

Li Mengtu had a complicated expression on his face, and it looked like he wanted to say something to Xu Qing. The events of the fourth world had affected him deeply, and at the moment, he wasn’t sure if he was himself or Zhong Chi....

Zhou Zhengli looked a lot more calm and collected than Li Mengtu. He was not thinking about the reflected version of history and how it related to the real world. To him, the most important thing was to take advantage of the moment to continue his relationship with Xu Qing, and make sure that it developed into the future. That was truer than ever considering he had seen how badly Sir Star Ring was injured when he came out. And he had noted how Sir Star Ring fled so quickly.

Therefore, when Xu Qing looked at him, he hurried forward. When he reached Xu Qing, he acted in the same manner he had in the fourth world.

Bowing very respectfully, he said, “Young Lord, congratulations on your cultivation breakthrough. In one fell swoop, you have become the number one Shining Star!”

Xu Qing looked at Zhou Zhengli. “This isn’t the reflection of history.”

Zhou Zhengli shook his head. “The person who won me over wasn’t Young Lord Aurora.”

Xu Qing looked deeply at Zhou Zhengli.

Meanwhile, Patriarch Diling flew over, bowed deeply, and excitedly said, “Welcome back, Senior! I was waiting in anxious anticipation this whole time. After all the kindness you showed me, I was very worried about your safety in the fourth world. Sadly, my cultivation base is too weak, so I couldn’t go to the fourth world to help you. Now that you’re back safely, I can finally rest at ease.

“Now I can see that you are truly a genius among geniuses, someone who plans out everything meticulously in advance. Presumably, you had already considered all of the challenges you would face in the fourth world. And thus, I had to wait out here, wondering how things would turn out. Clearly, things went very smoothly for you!

“Finally, Senior, I would like to thank you for saving my life. Your actions in the immortal palace are going to make you extremely famous. Congratulations on the glory you will enjoy going forward as one of the Shining Stars!”

Off to the side, Zhou Zhengli looked on with raised eyebrows. Even the shadow beneath Xu Qing’s feet seemed shaken by Patriarch Diling’s praise.

Before anything else could happen, ripples flowed through the sky above. The crimson aurora glittered more brightly than ever, and thunderous sounds as if from beyond the heavens rang out.

It wasn’t just the sky over the immortal palace that was affected.... The sky over the west filled with rumbling. The same happened in the east, south, and north. It was as if some enormous, invisible hand had lifted back the sky over the Fifth Star Ring, revealing a huge starry sky. Some of the stars were bright, others were dim. And that was because each star corresponded to a specific cultivator in the Fifth Star Ring. They were... reflected versions of the Immortal Capital permission medallions!

All of the cultivators in the Fallen Immortal Moors looked up in surprise. They weren’t the only ones. Vast numbers of cultivators throughout the Fifth Star Ring also looked up. It was because....

Zhou Zhengli’s eyes glittered as he said, “The third and final phase of the Immortal Capital’s Trial of the Hunt is going to start!”

This phase was about fighting, and it was an elimination phase! The arrival of the third phase meant that the final rankings were going to be established! All cultivators with permission medallions found that their medallions were shining brightly.

Xu Qing was no exception. At the same time, the sound of killing drums echoed through heaven and earth. The thumping was like heavenly thunder.

The cultivators who had been working on their cultivation outside the immortal palace all got to their feet and began to leave.

Zhou Zhengli took a deep breath and bowed to Xu Qing again. “Young Lord, it’s a foregone conclusion that you’ll make it to the Immortal Capital. But I have a lot of work to do if I want to catch up and make it there with you! Going forward, everyone with an Immortal Capital permission medallion needs to focus fully on the trial.”

With that, Zhou Zhengli shot up into the starry sky above.

Zhou Zhengli was gone, as was almost everyone else. At that point, Li Mengtu finally approached.

Sounding somewhat awkward, he said, “Er... when Hordeslayer and Rampart came out, they were both trying to flee faster than the other.... But based on what I could sense, their auras weren’t much different than they were in the fourth world. I suspect the events there affected them out here in the real world.

“As for me, I’ve experienced some changes to my canon. I never saw Sir Vilespirit. I think he was one of the first to come out, and he left immediately. Yuanshan Su had a strange look on her face when she left. I... have to go do some training. I definitely need to improve my permission medallion ranking. Young L... er, would you like to come along?”

Xu Qing smiled and shook his head. Lifting his hand, he revealed the swirling scrap of Sir Star Ring’s energy.

Li Mengtu’s gaze hardened. “Are you going—?”

“Sir Star Ring has something of mine. I’m going to go retrieve it.” With that, Xu Qing shot toward the horizon.