Chapter 1284: I Cannot Be Fooled, Fool!

In countless universes in the Fourth Star Ring, living beings trembled. Even gods shook in the depths of their god souls.

Only a day had passed since Young Lord Aurora arrived on the primeval motherworld. But the events which had played out were astonishing. They were like an unrivaled tempest, the effects of which spread through the entire Fourth Star Ring. Temples collapsed. Gods withered. God kingdoms fell into ruin. Even god dynasties were swept up in the violence. The very foundation of the Fourth Star Ring was shaken!

That wasn’t even to mention that Young Lord Aurora’s true name was now forever a part of the Fourth Star Ring’s dao of gods, bringing with it the destiny aura of the Fifth Star Ring. That made the blow to the foundation even greater.

It was easy to imagine what would happen going forward. The Fourth Star Ring’s dao of gods wouldn’t be as pure. The resurrection ability of the gods would be obstructed. And even more terrifying... immortal energy could very well appear within the Fourth Star Ring! The gods would then feel pressure to survive both from inside and outside.

And there was another critical point. That was... that the God Paragon had abandoned the Fourth Star Ring and just left! Hē had given up on all the other gods in the Fourth Star Ring. Hē had taken advantage of thēir crisis, ensuring that hē would face no repercussions for choosing to enter the Living God Umbilical Cord.

Those actions were a huge blow to the gods of the Fourth Star Ring. Moans of grief swept out from the dao of gods and into the souls of all gods left behind in the Fourth Star Ring. It remained in place for a long time before fading away.

It was quite a contrast to the Fifth Star Ring. The destiny aura seethed as Young Lord Aurora achieved his breakthrough and returned. However poorly the Fourth Star Ring was faring because of the invasion, the living beings of the Fifth Star Ring were benefiting. In fact, the effects were more pronounced as the destiny aura grew stronger. Cheering filled the star ring.

Because of this incident, it was correct to say that the war was about ninety percent over. The end was in sight.

And the results... were astounding! Whether in terms of absolute power levels, or from the perspective of the star rings overall, there was no doubt that the Fourth Star Ring would have trouble turning things around. In fact, the Fourth Star Ring seemed to be doomed to have its fate devoured.

Now thēy were facing a countdown! That was because the Immortal Paragon had issued new orders. The Immortal Lords who had entered the Fourth Star Ring were to go all out to fight the God Lords.

With the wave of a hand, the Immortal Paragon opened up a host of huge teleportation portals all over the Fourth Star Ring. Armies of cultivators poured out of them and attacked the Fourth Star Ring forces! What seemed to be a very one-sided battle began to rage.

Standing there on the primeval motherworld, Young Lord Aurora could sense what was happening. Seeing that matters had essentially been decided, he reached up and plunged his hand into his own chest.

Grabbing the godhood that was now cut free of karma threads, he dragged it out. Silver blood sprayed out as the godhood... emerged from Young Lord Aurora. The moment he pulled it out, heaven and earth trembled, and a will of fate appeared clearly on the godhood.

Young Lord Aurora had no desire to keep it. He knew that the karma was not something he could sustain. According to the Immortal Paragon... there were only two people in existence who could bear that karma.

One of them was Xu Qing. The other had supposedly been set to arrive in the middle of the breakthrough process, at least according to the Immortal Paragon’s plan. But for some unknown reason, that second person was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah whatever....” Young Lord Aurora looked at Xu Qing. “Xu Qing, this thing has benefits and detriments! You surely understand its background. As long as that being has not perished, no god or human in the higher star rings can truly own it.

“Regardless, you can consider it a precious treasure! You can make your own decision about whether or not... to take this second gift!”

Xu Qing looked at the godhood in Young Lord Aurora’s hands. He could sense the strong connection between himself and it. Put precisely, it was actually connected to his god clone.

Therefore, he didn’t hesitate. He nodded.

Young Lord Aurora waved his hand, sending the godhood toward Xu Qing in a blur of prismatic light.

Xu Qing caught it. The moment he did, his mind spun, and he could clearly sense the fluctuations of the godhood. And he could sense the incomparably terrifying power within it. It was as if... he was holding an entire star ring in his hand.

“My god clone back in Revered Ancient should be able to contain this godhood....” Xu Qing took a deep breath and put the godhood away. Then he looked around. He knew that his time in this place was coming to an end.

“In that case,” Young Lord Aurora said softly, “do you want to fight in the war here in the Fourth Star Ring? Or would you like to come with me? Or is there somewhere else you’d like to go? I can send you wherever you want.”

Xu Qing thought for a moment. “I want to go back to the eastern theater in the Fifth Star Ring.”

He had not forgotten about the Fifth Ring Immortal Pill that Immortal Lord Deepgloom had promised to give him. He was now a peak Quasi-Immortal, but he lacked enlightenment of canon. That said... he still wanted that Fifth Ring Immortal Pill. He wanted to give it to Plumdark.

Young Lord Aurora waved his hand, causing ripples to spread through the void. Destiny aura converged, creating a vortex.

Young Lord Aurora smiled. “In that case, see you in the Fifth Star Ring.”

Xu Qing nodded. He bowed to Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix, then looked around wistfully one last time. Many images floated up in his mind, but in the end, he suppressed them all, leaving behind only his fixation on becoming a Summer Immortal. With that, he shot into the vortex. He disappeared inside, leaving the primeval motherworld.

After he was gone, Young Lord Aurora looked at Spirit Phoenix. He smiled warmly. “Sorry I put you through so much anxiety....”

Eyes puffy and red, Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix floated up to Young Lord Aurora’s side. “We have one more thing to do. Then we can settle down.”

Smiling faintly, Young Lord Aurora clasped her hand and turned. Together, they disappeared into the void.

***

Elsewhere in the Fourth Star Ring, the pocket realm Xu Qing had visited was now nothing but ruins. When Young Lord Aurora achieved his breakthrough and changed his dao, this place had been affected just like the rest of the star ring.

It was little more than rubble. The sky had been torn open, and looked like it wouldn’t stay intact much longer.

Two corpses could be seen on the ground. One was a black tumor, rotting and full of filth. The other was the local god who actually looked human. Hē was not rotting, but rather, was slowly dissipating as if by some process of purification. As the corpse dissipated, someone crawled out from inside.

Sheesh, I barely got half full! Why’s it dissipating all of a sudden? Well, I am a badass. I risked everything to unleash my Heaven-Devouring Earth-Consuming Reverse-Ancient Super-God Incantation. At least I got to eat a bit before this thing dissipated.

Hmmmphh! It’s not like I didn’t notice that teleportation portal pop into being next to me all of a sudden. It was very enticing, as if it was trying to lure me inside. It was obvious what was happening. This god knew it didn’t want me eating it, so it was trying to trick me into leaving! But I, Erniu, am not that kind of person! I cannot be fooled, fool!

His clothes were in tatters, and he looked very bedraggled. He was none other than Erniu. Despite looking to be in bad condition, his belly bulged out as if he had just eaten a big meal.

After crawling out into the open, he looked around. When he saw the world around him, his jaw nearly dropped. He even gasped in surprise.

What happened out here? The aura is in chaos! Why does it seem like a war broke out...? What’s going on...? Holy crap! Did I miss something? Did something incredible happen?

A moment later, Erniu’s eyes sparkled, and he slapped his thigh excitedly.

If a war broke out in this damned place, that would be a good thing! That would mean gods died! Don’t tell me that I’ve finally experienced some heaven-defying good luck! Can I finally get full?

Erniu licked his lips in anticipation.