Chapter 1231: Weak but Strong

In response to Yuanshan Su’s words, they all exchanged glances. Everyone had different opinions on the matter.

But in the depths of his heart, Xu Qing knew one thing for certain. He had come here to the Fifth Star Ring to find resources to grow stronger. Therefore... he had to abide by the rules of the Fifth Star Ring. He had become an Acquisitioner and then a Transporter. And here he was on the front lines. He had to accomplish his mission.

Of course, the more he understood about the battlefield, the easier it would be to accomplish his mission. And also... the easier it would be to defend himself.

With that thought in mind, he said, “Everyone, keep your guard up. We’re going to split into smaller squads and advance in a staggered formation. Be ready to back up other squads at any moment. Zhou Zhengli, you handle the particulars.”

“Yes, sir,” Zhou Zhengli said. He knew the individual members of the squadron much better than Xu Qing, so it didn’t take him long to split up the more than eighty people into five smaller squads. Then they split up into a staggered formation. He also arranged for about a dozen of the fastest and stealthiest cultivators to spread out both ahead and behind to keep the main group informed of any sudden developments.

Sir Vilespirit and some of the others with canon treasures used those treasures to surround the group with a powerful concealing aura. At the same time, Xu Qing hoisted a banner that covered the group with an additional layer of concealment. In that way, they hoped to keep their passage as unnoticed as possible.

With those arrangements made, they started moving forward. Their caution was rewarded as their journey went on.

Half a month went by. During that period of travel, which included the use of teleportation portals, things went smoothly. Given the unknowns and the fact that they all felt something strange was going on, they took a more roundabout route toward their destination. Thanks to their efforts at staying concealed, they were able to travel smoothly and consistently.

At a certain point along the way, Xu Qing spotted a dao banner. They were behind the front lines of the eastern theater, which meant they were in cultivator territory. As a result, each universe had a dao flag planted in it.

In terms of appearance, they came in the form of a planet-sized altar, atop which was a silver war banner. The war banners were the dao flags of the Fifth Star Ring, and they emitted a constant stream of very pure immortal energy, as well as a mighty pressure that would cause all living beings to tremble.

With a dao flag in place, a given universe would have a constant supply of immortal energy. Mutagen wouldn’t be able to affect that area, and all things related to gods would be suppressed. It went without saying that large numbers of cultivators always gathered around the dao flags.

Xu Qing and his squadron passed through over a hundred universes, which meant that they saw the same number of dao flags. Some were large, some were small, depending on the size of the area they affected.

The dao flags served another function. They ensured that the forces of the cultivator army could communicate quickly and effectively. As they continued on their journey, Zhou Zhengli maintained communications, especially with other squadrons on missions similar to their own.

Time continued to pass. Another half a month went by.

As they advanced, Xu Qing and his squadron got passing glimpses of many universes. Eventually, they left the rear echelon of the eastern theater and entered the staging areas in the middle of cultivator territory. After they passed through the staging areas, which was made up of hundreds of universes, they would reach the front lines of the eastern theater.

Unfortunately, once they entered the staging areas, Sir Vilespirit’s broken sword started getting even more excited. And Xu Qing could tell that the mutagen levels were much higher than previously.

As they proceeded along quietly, Zhou Zhengli’s expression suddenly flickered. “Your Majesty, one of the Transporter squadrons I was in contact with disappeared.... Either they got cut off from communication, or... they ran into a deadly situation!”

The squadron members looked even more serious than before.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. “The bait is working. They hooked a fish.”

He didn’t need to issue any special orders. All members of the squadron were even more careful after that. They made sure to mask their spirit power fluctuations, they kept proper distance between each other, and they made sure to make the most effective use of their concealment techniques.

Every time they went through another teleportation, they made sure to exercise more caution. Occasionally, they would sense something strange, and would avoid a teleportation portal. They didn’t hesitate to take the long way around if it seemed safer. Of course, they all kept their cultivation bases rotating at peak levels.

A month went by.

Either they had been lucky up to this point, or all of their caution had paid off, and their concealments had not been penetrated. Everything went smoothly. Unfortunately, Zhou Zhengli kept getting news about dangerous situations.

The majority of the Transporter squadrons had been ambushed by that point! Some squadrons never had a chance to send out distress messages, and were simply wiped out. Some held on for long enough to ask for help before communication was cut off, making it impossible to determine what happened to them in the end.

Regardless, it quickly became clear who was doing the ambushing. Naturally, it was gods!

However, these were not gods from the front lines. Instead, thēy were spies who had somehow hidden themselves in the eastern theater. Thēy had been so deeply hidden that, normally speaking, thēy would never have revealed themselves. But now thēy were taking the initiative to target the various Transporter squadrons moving through the area. It was as if there was a huge spy network covering the entire eastern theater.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Despite how cautious Xu Qing and his squadron were, after months of safe travel, they eventually ran into some gods.

The first person to notice something unusual was Sir Vilespirit, who was scouting on the right flank. He was already a peak Imperial Sovereign, and was very close to being a Quasi-Immortal. By relying on his broken sword, he was confident that he could fight a Quasi-Immortal. What was more, he had puppet arts to rely on. As a result, he never scouted alone; he had two puppets with him at all times. That made him a particularly reliable scout.

As for his broken sword, it had a mysterious origin. Its karma was inextricably linked with Sir Vilespirit, so that when it suddenly got excited, and he felt himself shaking, he didn’t hesitate to fall back.

The moment he did, the aura of a god ripped through the void. Gods appeared out of nowhere, unleashing a mountain-toppling, sea-draining tempest. Dense mutagen and godly might instantly raged forth.

Although Sir Vilespirit’s two puppets fell back with him, they also unleashed attacks at full power. Unfortunately, they couldn’t deal with this many gods. The puppets shivered as they withered up and were destroyed.

Sir Vilespirit coughed up seven or eight mouthfuls of blood. Relying on his broken sword, he managed to survive the initial attack by the gods. Pupils constricting, he continued to fall back, all while sending a message to Zhou Zhengli.

“I ran into some gods. Seven Altar Gods and twenty-three Flawless Gods!”

Mutagen roiled in his wake as he fled. Terrifying godly fluctuations swept toward him to overwhelm him. He was just on the verge of being overwhelmed. His eyes were bloodshot from the sensation of deadly crisis that filled him.

Then someone blurred into position next to him, grabbed his shoulder, and threw him back.

Just before the wave of mutagen and godly fluctuations were about to sweep over the newcomer, he threw his left hand out in front of him.

“Crush!”

That single word caused space-time to rumble. Overlapping universes appeared, turning into a crushing bout of space-time. It blocked the path of the mutagen. When the collision occurred, raging shock waves swept out in all directions. After, the new arrival stood there tall and straight, while the tempest of mutagen collapsed.

Revealed in the spot where the tempest had collapsed were thirty gods, all of whom looked different, but all of whom were terrifying. Thēir eyes were all locked onto the person in front of thēm.

He had long hair, a black robe, and exquisite facial features. As he hovered there, his aura was immeasurably close to that of a Lower Immortal.

That aura caused all of the Flawless Gods to shift nervously. The seven Altar God’s eyes glittered with golden light.

At the same time, whistling sounds echoed out from behind Xu Qing. Chains of order swept out in all directions as Sir Star Ring arrived. Numerous huge trees soared through the starry sky, as if an endless forest had arrived. Atop the tallest tree in the forest stood Yuanshan Su, her eyes cold. There was also a gigantic eye hovering in the starry sky, within which, seated cross-legged, was Zhou Zhengli. At the same time, poison spread out, along with killing intent. The canon of other ascendees joined the mix, creating a massive pressure. There was also an enormous kelp plant, whose gargantuan body spread out to lock down the entire area.

It looked less like these gods carrying out an ambush and more like Xu Qing and his squadron hunting gods!

Moments later, the kelp began to shrink the perimeter. Inside, the ascendees unleashed trump cards. Sir Star Ring and the other top experts held back none of their power. As Hordeslayer and Rampart flew in as streams of sword energy, the gods were shaken to the core.

What was especially gruish was the manifestation of Zhou Zhengli’s canon, the huge eye. It seemed to be predicting the gods’ every move, as well as all the details of their godly authority. And he was informing everyone about how to deal with thēm. The gods were astonished.

But what shook thēm the most was Xu Qing. His bell was able to restrict all magics. His iron skewer killed any god it hit! The layers of space-time in the area seemed to contain the will of the many heavens.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the kelp plant removed the perimeter. Xu Qing and the squadron continued on their way. All the gods that had ambushed them... were nowhere to be seen. And close examination would reveal that the auras of the squadron members had all improved. They had powered up a bit.

“So,” said Li Mengtu, licking his lips, “it turns out living and healthy gods provide the most delicious ringsource.”

Sir Vilespirit had already recovered from his injuries. “There are a lot of unknowns, but if we stick out a bit, we could attract the attention of some more gods....”

Yuanshan Su looked thoughtful, while Hordeslayer and Rampart seemed itching to fight again. Sir Star Ring’s face was completely expressionless.

As for Zhou Zhengli, he shook his head. “We did well just now, thanks to His Majesty. My foresight is telling me that a True God is behind all of this. There are also multiple Altar Gods in the same group. If we run into a force like that....”

Li Mengtu said nothing.

Xu Qing looked at them calmly. “We continue on as before. We stay cautious and keep under cover. Let’s go.”