Chapter 1234: The Dual Brilliance of an Immortal and a God

All gods had their own personal mutagen ready to release at any time! Mutagen was the manifestation of the aura of a god. And right now, the mutagen filling the staging areas of the eastern theater came from the aloof Gods and spirits, as well as all the other gods in the area.

And in the God Lord’s attempt to create a sense of unity among the various gods, hē had removed hīs will from hīs mutagen, which allowed it to commingle perfectly with the mutagen of the other gods. The result was that as the gods descended on the starry sky, their mutagen worked together to create a shocking godly might.

But if those gods could do that... then Xu Qing could do the same with Starfire’s clay fox body. As the two Altar Gods and thēir host of nearly two hundred god subordinates closed in on Xu Qing and his followers... his godly authority erupted.

The might of the godly authority had Starfire as the basis, but was drawn out by Xu Qing’s will. Back when Xu Qing used his god magics, he had been limited to the constraints of the Godfire level. But Starfire was an Altar God now. Combined with Xu Qing’s control using the Xeno-Immortal School techniques, his god magics were now on the level of an Altar God.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Rumbling sounds swept forth into the hearts and souls of the advancing gods. It became Xu Qing’s godly voice.

“Halt!”

The moment that word echoed out, the approaching gods’ expressions flickered. Only gods could hear that godly voice. Any cultivator who listened to it wouldn’t understand it. All they would hear was a chanting that would fill their bodies and souls with terror.

As Xu Qing spoke in his godly voice, the god blood inside of the gods seethed. Those in the Godfire level trembled. The Altar Gods immediately called on thēir own godly authority to suppress the effects. The gods immediately understood the karma at play.

But there was more. The mutagen around them went wild as a vicious god curse was unleashed. Many of the gods felt sudden sensations of intense crisis. Thēy knew that this entire situation could mean only one thing! And that was... there was a terrifying Altar God here.

However, thēy didn’t know who this Altar God was. All thēy could be certain of was that it wasn’t fake. This was a pure godly voice and true godly authority. What was more... they were full of extraordinary godly might.

The approaching gods slowed down, and the two peak Altar Gods’ eyes glittered. Thēy didn’t hesitate to unleash thēir own godly might into the area. It quickly made contact with the unfamiliar Altar God up ahead, allowing thēm to assess the mutagen at hand. Thēy quickly understood the situation.

And then the godly voice spoke again.

“These humans are my prisoners of war.”

Many of the approaching gods chose to stop in place and advance no further. There were rules in place in the army of the gods. For instance, prisoners of war were considered private property. It didn’t matter how many you took, they were yours.

The two peak Altar Gods stopped in place. After all, thēy were on a reinforcement mission, not a mission to seize resources. If these humans hadn’t already been taken prisoner, thēy would obviously attack them. But if they had been taken prisoner by another god already, that was a different story.

That said, ever since this war with the Fifth Star Ring began, it had become more common for thēm to encounter situations in which gods had been enslaved. It was always possible that this group of cultivators had done that. Although it would be hard to control a god this perfectly, one of the peak Altar Gods nevertheless stepped through the void to perform a closer inspection.

When Xu Qing sensed the resulting fluctuations in the mutagen, he sighed inside. That said, it wasn’t too much of a surprise. Borrowing Starfire’s clay fox form to unleash godly authority to hoodwink these gods had been a gamble. So he had been prepared for failure from the beginning. As the Altar God approached through the void, Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly.

Having made a decision, he shouted, “Attack!”

Without any hesitation, he fully unleashed all of the godly authority he had sent out. Just to make sure it was as deadly as possible, he didn’t target the two peak Altar Gods. Instead... he aimed for thēir subordinates, the Godfire gods and weaker Altar Gods!

The moment the peak Altar Gods began to move, the mutagen in the void thrummed. The chanting of the gods from earlier, as well as Xu Qing’s godly voice, and even the sound of the blood flowing within the gods, and the imperceptible noise of thēir cultivation bases... was seized by Xu Qing!

As of that moment, Xu Qing was the lord of all sound. Everything went silent, and then... a sound like thunder echoed out. It was a godly voice like a tempest, and it was directed straight at the Godfire gods and the Altar Gods. All such gods trembled. Thēir blood then flowed in reverse, as if it wished to explode out of thēm.

Next, the taboo poison curse erupted along with the roiling mutagen, melting everything it touched. That poison could strike fear into the hearts of cultivators, and it could shake gods as well.

At the same time, the void shattered as a huge rift was ripped open. The kelp plant shot out, heading directly toward the large group of gods. Next came chains of order as Sir Star Ring emerged, pulsing with killing intent. Then came huge mountains, immensely heavy. Yuanshan Su stood atop the biggest of the mountains.[1]

After breaking through to Quasi-Immortal, Zhou Zhengli’s canon manifested as an enormous eye, and he also appeared, shaking the souls of the gods. Li Mengtu unleashed his poison. Sir Vilespirit went all out. He was blood-red from head to toe as he unleashed slaughter with his broken sword, becoming a streak of red that shot with deadly force toward the gods.

In addition to all that, the remaining ascendees from Xu Qing’s squadron, knowing how deadly the situation was, unleashed all sorts of trump cards. In the blink of an eye, the void filled with booms and shock waves. Bloody fighting raged.

Of course, the two peak Altar Gods didn’t react with any emotional fluctuations at all. Thēy looked coldly at everything playing out, including the cultivators and thēir own subordinate gods. Thēy didn’t react visibly in any way. It was almost as if the deaths here were inconsequential to thēm, to the point of being uninteresting.

But what did excite thēm was... the rift that had been torn open. From inside of it... emerged Xu Qing, striding step by step out into the open. He pulsed with the powerful aura of a god, causing godly projections to appear around him. Streams of godly authority flickered around him, manifesting a pure godly aura.

But at the same time, immortal fluctuations rolled out from him. His immortal embryo formed, gigantic and pulsing with the pure will of a cultivator. He was manifesting the traits of both gods and immortals, all at the same time! He emerged from the rift to hover in the void.

The gazes of the two peak Altar Gods instantly locked onto him. Then thēir eyes shone with golden glows, as if thēy could see Xu Qing inside and out.

“So, you enslaved a postheaven Altar God, allowing you to manifest Godfolk authority.”

“That said, godly authority this pure is rare indeed.”

“I’ve heard that a lot of lesser species have tried to explore the dao of gods. But your godly authority is different.”

“Just like us Godfolk, you have the blessing of a higher star ring.”

“Don’t tell me, you... were once a god?”

“One look makes it all clear.”

The two gods spoke in very emotionless tones. Thēy didn’t seem moved at all. Thēy couldn’t have been more apathetic. This conformed to exactly what Xu Qing would expect of preheaven gods. Given his various dealings with all sorts of gods, he knew how gods could do this. It was... omniscience.

He was right. The moment he stepped out, the peak Altar Gods’ eyes glowed golden, which meant that thēy had activated thēir omniscience! And thēy weren’t just assessing his state, thēy were also attempting to see his past.... Thēy wanted to see his origin!

And that was exactly what Xu Qing had been waiting for! That was exactly why he had walked out as a mixture of immortal and god.

1. Quick reminder that Yuanshan Su’s surname literally means ‘distant mountain(s).’ ☜