Chapter 1266: A Refined Palette

Atop the black lotus, the eyes of the dwarf glowed with an increasingly intense golden color. Hē had not been born as a god. Granted, hīs species had produced a True God, but they were not Godfolk in the most accurate sense. Rather, they had worked hard to produce gods.

That was just how things worked according to the rules of the Fourth Star Ring. The ringsource that gods needed could be extracted from the star ring itself, but there was an even better way to get it. It could be extracted from the faith of worshipers.

If a god wanted to get strong, that god needed believers that could make offerings and sacrifices. That was how gods could actually invade countless worlds. The more slaves thēy had, the more worship thēy could get from the masses!

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

That was the case with the butterfly Xu Qing had possessed. Everdoom Netherfly had no blood relation to the scaled oxen. But the scaled oxen worshiped the butterfly, and that was the foundation of hīs cultivation. In fact, it wasn’t just the scaled oxen on that one planet who worshiped hīm. There were other species on other minor worlds who also offered such worship. As long as hē didn’t perish, and had the good fortune to eventually step into the True God level, then all species who worshiped hīm would benefit as a result.

At that point, the scaled oxen as well as all of the other species who worshiped hīm would be able to add the word True to their species name. They would also be able to expand their territory and become powerful rulers of all the surrounding lands. And yet, substructurally speaking, those species weren’t gods.

They worshiped their True God and had the word True in their species name, which meant that it was easier for them to gather god power and godliness. By getting the blessing of their True God to ignite their godfire, then they could become a god.

Those newly born gods would be considered followers of the original True God, and could go out to find thēir own worshipers. It was like a tree sending out more and more roots in all directions.

The True Radiants were a good example. They were not the only species that worshiped this specific True God. However, after having the word True added to their species name, their sphere of influence expanded beyond the nebula. And at their peak, they had controlled many, many universes.

A species like that might seem glorious, but in reality, they were one of the most lowly types of Godfolk in the Fourth Star Ring. There was more progress they could make.... As time passed, if every member of the species could change their blood into that of the gods, then they would truly be Godfolk.

The vast majority of Godfolk in the Fourth Star Ring were one of those two varieties. As for the latter, if they could proliferate and produce multiple True Gods, or perhaps even a God Lord, then they could consolidate all of their worshipers into one unified species! And then... the personhood of their species as a whole would advance. They would become an imperial clan!

However, that was extremely difficult to do, and over the countless years that had passed, only a few species had ever done that.

The dwarf, who was a postheaven god, had guessed that Xu Qing was the very person declared wanted by God Emperor Death Departure. As a result, hīs eyes shone with golden light, and hīs heart was pounding. Hē was fully aware that this was likely the most amazing good fortune and destined opportunity that hē had ever encountered in life!

After all, any reward given by God Emperor Death Departure would be astounding. Even just providing clues would bring a hundred portions of ringsource. And capturing this person alive... would bring the weapon of a God Lord!

Therefore, the dwarf sliced hīs hand through the air overhead, and then spoke in a thunderous godly voice.

“All subordinate gods present have a new mission. Immediately attack and capture this cultivator!”

His words caused wild colors to flash in heaven and earth. All of the gods working with the trees and mountains looked up, then shot straight toward Xu Qing.

Up above, the handful of Altar Gods seated cross-legged around the tumor looked down at Xu Qing. However, none of thēm moved a muscle. The True God wouldn’t permit it!

The dwarf didn’t care. Although helping the True God was still important, comparatively speaking... if hē could get that reward from God Emperor Death Departure, the weapon of a God Lord, then for hīm to become a True God wasn’t out of the question! After all, coming from a species that had a True God provided inherent advantages. That wasn’t to mention that there were plenty of Altar Gods to offer support. Therefore, as long as hē captured this person quickly, there would still be time to offer help to the True God.

Having reached this point in hīs train of thought, the dwarf leaped off of the black lotus, bringing the 360 corpses along. Peak Altar God power raged as hē closed in on Xu Qing.

Withering corruption spread out in all directions as the corpses all opened their mouths and howled in gruish voices. It turned into a wind of corpses that filled the area. This was none other than hīs godly authority. The power of withering and a wind of death. It was... a voice that demanded life. It all combined into a terrifying dirge of death. The melody became like a physical object that shot toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s eyes flashed with cold light. He knew that, being in the Fourth Star Ring, avoiding detection was a matter of luck. And therefore, he had been prepared for it to happen at any time.

Actually, being exposed in this situation is better than it happening outside. That said, my main goal in this fight is going to be to escape.

Eyes narrowing, he suddenly shifted, causing himself to become a blur. Instantly, time seemed to become chaos around him, as though it were flowing differently than the surrounding world. At the same time, the area around the dwarf distorted, causing hīs dirge of death to suddenly become distorted.

As the god magic was broken, an iron skewer flew out of the distorted aspects of time. Immortal energy glittered in heaven and earth, along with the chiming sound of a bell. Instantly, all magical techniques in the area lurched to a halt.

The dwarf, who had been charging right toward Xu Qing, looked astonished. Hē could clearly sense hīmself suddenly losing connection to the godly aura within.

The iron skewer shot with astonishing speed toward hīm. An intense sensation of deadly crisis erupted within hīm.

As the crisis hit, the dwarf bit hīs tongue off and spat it out. As the severed tongue sprayed golden god blood, it grew larger in gruish fashion until it turned into a huge tumor. Apparently, it was able to call out to the tumor of the True God up in the dome of heaven. The two connected.

In that manner, the dwarf was able to borrow True God power and send it erupting out. The tongue-turned-tumor then opened like an eye. The gaze locked onto the incoming iron skewer, wrapping around it and isolating it. The gaze also landed on Xu Qing’s distortions of time, causing the distortions to fade into nothing. Xu Qing was revealed.

By this point, the dwarf’s godly aura was restored. Eyes blazing with killing intent, hē let loose hīs trump card. The 360 corpses around hīm erupted into flames.

What was more, the air beneath Xu Qing’s feet filled with dozens of golden rifts! Out of them emerged 36 three-eyed god statues, which were formed from the 360 corpses. The moment thēir feet touched the air outside, a crisp sound rang out like breaking glass. Vertical eyes opened on thēir foreheads, out of which poured dark golden light, like a corrupting waterfall heading right toward Xu Qing. Wherever it passed, everything became as solid as amber.

Xu Qing’s black robe fluttered as the godlight fell toward him. Then he extended his right hand and pushed out. Instantly, the canon of space converged, and the scattered fragments of time around him merged, forming space-time canon. A space-time tempest instantly erupted.

It was a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering tempest that shot up to meet the dwarf’s descending godlight. Within the tempest were innumerable immortal sealing marks. And they all erupted!

A massive boom echoed out in the world. Godlight shattered. The 36 god statues exploded. The thick black fog roiled, and the dwarf’s face fell as hē began to retreat at top speed.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing appeared right behind hīm. Reaching out, he put his hand on top of the dwarf’s head.

Simultaneously, the iron skewer, which had been halted in place by the gaze of the tumor, glittered brightly. The bell chimed again, and the iron skewer broke free, becoming a blinding streak that shot through the air. It stabbed right into the pit of the dwarf’s stomach, pierced all the way through, and then appeared next to Xu Qing.

However, Xu Qing was actually frowning.

The dwarf god in front of him was trembling and transforming into a black lotus. The lotus shattered; it was a case of death substitution!

Off in the distance, the dwarf god formed anew, eyes glittering with lingering fear. Truth be told, hē was not surprised by how things were going. Hē knew full well that if God Emperor Death Departure had marked someone as wanted, and that person could evade the divine will inspections of many True Gods, then he wasn’t going to be a weakling.

“But this is the god kingdom of a True God!”

As the dwarf’s words rang out, nine burning clumps of flesh appeared above Xu Qing’s head. Merging into a cage, they dropped toward him.

Meanwhile, the host of other gods had finally arrived, and were launching all sorts of god magics at him. And yet, even as those attacks closed in, the cage of nine lumps of flesh surrounded him.

Xu Qing vanished, having become millions upon millions of blood-red butterflies that flew out in every direction. On the wings of the bizarre red butterflies were countless designs that looked like eyes. And every beat of the butterflies’ wings caused a god magic to be sucked into the eyes.

Even more bizarre was that the moment Xu Qing transformed into millions upon millions of butterflies, something happened to the eyes of many of the gods below. Masses of blood butterfly larvae appeared there! And then, after only three heartbeats of time passed, the gods began to scream and howl as the larva formed hives, out of which flew numerous blood butterflies.

This was a god magic that Xu Qing had learned from Everdoom Netherfly. However, when being unleashed by Xu Qing, it had a range far more terrifying than the butterfly god had ever been capable of.

Red butterflies fluttered everywhere, with about half of them flying toward the nine burning clumps of flesh, while the others headed toward the host of gods. Those who were only in the Godfire level scattered in terror. And yet, Xu Qing suddenly appeared right behind a female god.

Reaching out with his right hand, he stabbed his fingers into hēr spine. And with his left hand, he grabbed hēr godsource and extracted a glowing orb that was hēr memories. He crushed it open and absorbed it. This god had blue skin with black marks like a spiderweb under the surface. Shē didn’t have much ringsource, so it hardly took a moment to absorb it all. It rushed into Xu Qing, whereupon the god withered into a desiccated corpse.

Very impure ringsource. And not much of it.

Having sampled the ringsource of Goddess Starryeyes, other ringsource... wasn’t very impressive to Xu Qing. He had a very refined palette now....

Waving his hand, he tossed aside the corpse. At the same time, dozens of other corpses dropped from the sky. They fell from the red butterflies that were manifestations of Xu Qing!

After absorbing the ringsource, the butterflies converged, turning into Xu Qing’s true form, hovering in midair. He looked around expressionlessly. Then he reached out, grabbed a god that was hiding, and dragged the god out.

This god was made of crystals. Before the god could speak, Xu Qing shattered the crystals into a host of fragments. Each fragment reflected the terrified faces of the other gods.

One of them was the unsightly face of the dwarf.

“There’s still time to start the teleportation and let me out,” Xu Qing said.