Chapter 1256: One Side Violates the Treaty

The moment Xu Qing emerged from the flame pagoda, the black mutagen of the host of gods fluctuated so violently the starry sky shook. All eyes were fixed on him there by the red giant, including those of both gods and immortals. And then, all gazes shifted from Xu Qing to the cage he was dragging behind him.

Gazes could have weight, especially those of the gods. It was weight that could crush down on the body and suppress the soul. In an instant, Xu Qing felt like his soul was about to be shredded. The gazes of the immortals opposed that. So as the pressure from the gods built, the immortals looked over and dispelled the pressure.

Xu Qing proceeded, surrounded by loud rumbling sounds as the void rippled, shook, became clear, and then collapsed, over and over again. His face was completely expressionless as he continued to drag the cage forward. Soon he was beyond the borders of the red star, where he stopped and looked around coldly.

This spot was in between the Fourth and Fifth Star Rings, and had once been a battlefield. Because of the blue stellar clouds in the area, it was known as... the Blue Wastes!

Black and white filled the sky, while blue clouds swirled everywhere. The shattered remains of the planets that stretched out endlessly looked like the hulking spines of huge beasts. The surfaces of shattered planets had strange markings crawling across them that looked like bulging veins. The faceoff between the gods and immortals made the markings pulse, which in turn caused the shattered planets to glitter with rippling blood-red light.

Beauty and majesty coexisted! That was the backdrop for the scene!

Framed against that backdrop was an army of cultivators organized in ranks that seemed to conform to the overall structure of the entire Fifth Star Ring. It was so majestic and massive that the army seemed to never end. Seen from afar, it looked like dots organized neatly on a chart, but closer examination would reveal that each dot was made of 10,000 troops!

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

In the middle of it all was an enormous war drum covered with designs of gobblewocks and heaveneaters. When Xu Qing stopped moving forward, the drum echoed out with a thunderous roar.

On the other side of the same backdrop was the army of gods with their mutagen. They had numerous planets, shrunken down and covered with flesh, that spat out endless mutagen. Atop each of those planets were hosts of gods. Their forces also seemed to go on without end.

Behind that were enormous conglomerations of mutated flesh and blood that looked like bows made of space rock, with strings made of starry rivers. They were taut... and thrummed with a sound that made the atmosphere very tense.

What was more, there were golden shooting stars that flew back and forth on the side of the gods, following mysterious orbital paths that formed a defensive barrier. Whenever the sound of the cultivators’ drums threatened to invade the territory of the gods, black holes would appear on that barrier, and would swallow up the sound and the light that tried to pass them.

It was a dramatic and majestic sight. What was even shocking to the immortals and gods was the vast area overhead. That... was where a scroll painting and a godly river were at odds.

On the side of the scroll painting was the majestic figure of Immortal Lord Deepgloom, who commanded everything around him. Stretching out behind him was the scroll painting that covered half of a star region, its gilded designs featuring magical laws of heaven and earth.

Opposite of him in the black river of the gods was God Lord Death Departure, seated in a throne forged from the shattered remnants of countless universes. As the sharp tips of his fingernails pointed down, the water of the river froze.

Few people could see the two of them clearly. But the pressure they exuded was clearly sensed by all living beings. They were both looking at the same spot! It was the location in the very middle of this ancient battlefield, where the exchange was to take place.

There, the clouds swirled to reveal an enormous, majestic altar!

The altar was made from 360 coffins and 360 huge trees. The coffins were made from devil copper, and were covered with peeling rust, beneath which were symbols scrawled in blood. Whenever the stellar wind blew, the coffins would leak black mist that caused terrifying gruish figures to appear.

The trees were made from immortal crystal. Silver immortal symbols flowed across their surfaces, all of which pulsed with an incomparable and boundless power of life force. Whenever black mist would pulse out of the coffins, the immortal trees would produce the spirits of heroic immortals to wage war against it.

This jointly built altar was the spot where the hostage exchange would take place!

Even after all of the wars Xu Qing had participated in, this scene was still shocking, and he had to stop and take it in for a moment before continuing on his way. He left the red giant and entered the starry sky. The cage he dragged behind him left a dark red streak in the starry sky as he approached the altar.

On the side of the gods, the golden barrier shimmered, and as countless cultivators looked on, a god emerged. The god actually resembled a middle-aged human, except with a vastly larger fleshly body, being around 20-25 meters tall.

Hīs facial features were beautiful, and hē had long violet hair that swayed around hīm. Hē wore a golden suit of armor that perfectly accentuated hīs perfect physique. In terms of level... that had been determined by the nature of the exchange.

Hē was a peak Altar God. Hē came out with five emaciated old men with dull facial expressions, who were bound like captive dogs. All five of the old men were crisscrossed with cuts and bruises. They were wan and sallow, their life force faded and dull. Obviously, they had suffered torment in their years of captivity. These were the human cultivators who had performed meritorious deeds in the service of the Fifth Star Ring.

When the cultivators saw them, their emotions swelled, and the sound of the war drum became louder.

The pretty god sensed that, and with cold, apathetic eyes, hē jerked the rope binding the necks of the five captive cultivators. The five old men trembled, the pain obviously severe as the rope seemed about to break their necks. Hē looked at Xu Qing.

The atmosphere instantly grew even more tense.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with coldness. Though he didn’t know these five Lower Immortals, based on what the lieutenant general had told him, he knew that they had performed great services. What was more, he could tell that this pretty god was trying to provoke him.

Lifting his hand, he opened the cage of canon, then transformed it into a chain that bound Starryeyes’ arms and legs. Next, he dragged hēr out into the open and clasped his hand down onto hēr neck. As all the gods and even the god emperor watched, he started extracting ringsource!

Starryeyes shivered, and was instantly dragged out of unconsciousness by the pain.

The gods erupted into anger. Killing intent surged. To the gods, seeing Xu Qing extract ringsource from their goddess, right in front of them, was an unspeakable insult!

The pretty god looked at Xu Qing, then expressionlessly loosened the rope binding the five humans. Xu Qing also relaxed his hand and stopped the extraction process. Pulling on the chain, he placed Starryeyes in front of him.

Both sides proceeded toward the altar.

Every step Xu Qing took caused brilliant lotuses of light to spread out beneath his feet. His cultivation base stirred to its absolute peak.

As Starryeyes proceeded, the void around hēr contracted. God blood dripped out, but didn’t dissipate. Instead, it floated behind her like a path of bloody planets born in the void. Shē grew weaker with each step shē took, until walking forward became difficult. The chains around hēr feet tightened more and more, causing pain to stab through hēr. The clank of the chains were like cold winds blowing through the Nine Serenities, and made hēr think back to the pain shē had experienced. Perhaps because of all that animosity, hēr hair began to crumble and fall down like stardust.

Behind hēr, Xu Qing looked calm, but the truth was that his guard was up, and he was ready for something unexpected to happen. He actually felt uneasy.

Although he could sense the protection offered by countless gazes, as well as the pounding of the drum, after his discussion with his squadron, he felt that there had to be another reason why he had been selected for this assignment. And there was one distinct possibility that he kept thinking about....

If Starryeyes was aware this exchange was going to happen, then considering how much shē hates me... wouldn’t shē make additional demands?

He looked at the staggering goddess in front of him, and his eyes narrowed.

The moments ticked by as Xu Qing prodded Starryeyes forward. Soon, both he and the pretty god entered the asteroid belt on the way to the altar. Eventually... they were in the middle of the asteroid belt, only about 30,000 meters away from the altar.

Starryeyes suddenly spun in place. Because of the mutagen in the area, hēr eyes had regained some of the golden fire that had been extinguished before. “Every bit of ringsource you take from me will be a star that pierces your life force and turns into the biggest curse you can imagine, something that you’ll regret for the rest of your life!”

Xu Qing didn’t reply. He jerked the chain, causing immortal symbols to appear on it and release the power to extract ringsource. Starryeyes grunted as ringsource flowed out of hēr wounds. Shē staggered over a small asteroid. The black surface of the asteroid wriggled, causing the rust-colored stains covering hēr robes to grow more prominent.

Xu Qing’s daoist robe swirled despite there being no wind, as a vortex of stellar clouds began to spin around him counter-clockwise.

The ringsource coming out of Starryeye’s wounds flowed into the vortex, becoming specks of brightness like moonlight.

Then Xu Qing quietly said, “Keep your mouth shut.”

Starryeyes glared at Xu Qing, then gritted hēr teeth and tried to hurry onward. Xu Qing tugged back on the chains.

In that manner, Xu Qing controlled how quickly they covered the 3,000-meter distance to the altar. Upon arriving, he was able to get a closer look at the pretty god and the five cultivators.

He suddenly felt even more uneasy than before. Eyes flashing, he reached out and grabbed Starryeyes. Ignoring hēr struggles, he once again clamped his hand onto hēr throat.

Then he viciously extracted hēr ringsource. This time, he exerted far more force than before. After draining hēr, he eased up. But this time, the ringsource didn’t start coming back. It stopped. It was as if shē was about to become a corpse, so there was no need to continue.

The process was more painful to Starryeyes than anything from before, to the point where hēr mind was on the verge of breaking.

The gods seethed. Countless roars echoed out, and immense pressure weighed down. The pretty god’s face hardened, and hē rushed forward. The cultivators also stirred due to Xu Qing’s sudden action. It looked like something big was about to happen between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Starryeyes was struggling violently. Perhaps because of the mutagen, or perhaps because of secret assistance from somewhere, shē suddenly unleashed a terrifying power, as well as a scream that caused Xu Qing’s hand to shake.

All of a sudden, the chains binding hēr shattered. Shē was free! The weakened goddess had no time to think rationally. Shē just raced away, becoming a stream of light that disappeared behind the pretty god. Shē was returning to the camp of the gods!

Xu Qing scowled at hēr retreating figure and suddenly said, “You can run, but we’ll meet again!”

Starryeyes looked over hēr shoulder on the way back to the gods. Glaring at Xu Qing with the golden color of god blood in hēr eyes, shē forced herself to simply grind hēr teeth.

“You’re right, we’ll meet again soon! I’ve hated you this entire time, Xu Qing. Did you really think you were in control? What a joke! Don’t you realize that

you

are the point of this exchange? You’re the point of the treaty between my father and your Immortal Lord. And it was my idea!”

Because of the current situation, Xu Qing was able to tell how much of what shē was saying was true. All of the emotion on his face suddenly vanished.

“So that’s how it is.” Xu Qing waved his hand, and everything Starryeyes could see vanished like a popping bubble.

Shē was back at his side, with his hand clamped around hēr throat, still 3,000 meters away from the altar! Hēr jaw dropped as waves of fury battered hēr heart. Pupils constricting, shē incredulously said, “A True God’s illusory region? How could you have a True God’s illusory region??”

Xu Qing didn’t answer. Quickly sealing Starryeyes, he turned and sped in the opposite direction.

In the depths of the voice, an exclamation of surprise echoed out, and then the god river which had been frozen by God Emperor Death Departure’s fingernail suddenly turned into a host of icy chunks that flew up into the starry sky. Someone who could surpass space-time would see those chunks of ice turn into the eyes of a god, looking down on everything.

“Your side violated the treaty, Deepgloom.”