Chapter 1344: Oh, God, We Pray... That You Not Open Your Eyes!

As Zi Qing’s voice echoed out, countless butterflies swarmed out of the ink painting and obscured the sky around Xu Qing. As they flew, they scattered three-colored powder in all directions.

It became... a cage of fate! In this so-called cage, a person’s life was like the orbit of a planet. By means of the godly authority of fate, that planet’s orbit was intercepted and changed into a hexagonal cage. Anyone trapped inside, would find that the power of fate could tamper with anything they did.

Divine abilities. Magical techniques. Any actions taken would return along the orbit of fate and become a closed loop of “self-return.” It was like being stuck in a maze with no way out, and no exit in sight. When you took that concept of a cage and combined it with fate.... The cage was just the foundation, and the addition of fate created the cycle of the self!

Dense three-colored powder filled the area surrounding Xu Qing. He was clearly going forward, shattering everything in his path. But whenever he made progress, he would appear where he had just been. It was the same with his canon and statute. All of his actions became a closed loop.

Xu Qing’s brow furrowed slightly and he stopped walking or doing anything else. He stood in place, his eyes glittering as he sensed the cage of fate around him.

At that exact moment, the cycle of fate within the cage quietly became manifest. Scenes from history replaced the three-colored powder, forming images with Xu Qing in the middle.

Vague figures appeared around him, more and more of them including men, women, young ones and the elderly. The environment quickly transformed, until there was no fog of powder. Instead, images of buildings took shape. The people and the buildings filled in quickly. In the space of only a few breaths of time... a city from Xu Qing’s memories appeared all around him!

It was soon so complete that he heard the buzz of conversation!

“Fresh candied fruit skewers!”

“Hopefully next year will be a good year....”

“Maintain order, everyone! No crowding and jostling!”

“Passersby and fellow villagers, please come take a look at my shop! The sacrificial paper here actually burns with three-colored smoke!”

Countless voices reached Xu Qing’s ears as he stood there, shivering. A short distance away, a few kids jogged along, shouldering a wooden statue together.

“It’s almost time! We have to hurry!”

Xu Qing looked around and shivered. These were his memories of Peerless City! He was no longer a grown adult. Upon appearing in this city, he had gone back to being seven years old. As he looked around, the tender voice of a woman reached him from behind.

“Qing’er, why haven’t you left yet? Are you waiting for your big bro?”

The voice seemed both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It was familiar because it was a voice that Xu Qing couldn’t ever forget. It was unfamiliar because... he hadn’t heard that voice for a very long time. The woman’s tender voice hit Xu Qing’s heart and mind like a boulder from heaven, sending massive waves rolling out in all directions.

Trembling, he turned around. Standing there behind him... were the two most important people in all of the memories of his entire life.

“Dad... Mom...” Xu Qing murmured.

The man was middle-aged. He had clearly gone through a lot in his life, but he still looked quite handsome. The woman was a bit frail, with a very tender look in her eyes. Both seemed concerned as they looked at him.

“Aww, kid, why are your eyes so red and puffy?” the man asked.

The woman squatted down and tousled Xu Qing’s hair. Then, with her voice full of love and caring, she said, “You’re a tough guy, Qing’er! You can’t start crying the moment your big brother leaves! Come here... let mommy give you a hug.”

The woman wrapped her arms around Xu Qing and picked him up. Kissing him on the cheek, she said, “Don’t cry, Qing’er. Your big brother will be back in just a moment with that candied fruit skewer. Look around! Today’s the Prayer Festival, and the sacrificial offerings will start soon.”

Off in the distance, in the middle of Peerless City, a wooden sacrificial altar had been erected. A hundred prisoners knelt there, and in front of them was a person in a red robe, crying out to the sky in a very unique cadence.

“It is the year 135 of Heavenly Wonder, a date aligned with South Phoenix, with the moon traversing the Ghost Constellation in the night sky. We lot are like ants, prostrating here in Peerless City, offering this gory gift to send a message to the god of the broken face:

“In ancient times, when azure jade fell to the lands, when the xuanwu turtle’s leg was broken, your eyes first opened, melting the crimson sun into iron slag, boiling the five lakes and shattering myriad stars into arrows that pierced the nine wilds.

“Now the ruined walls flicker with ghostfire, living beings devour the dirt of graves, and the blood congealed on your lashes reveal the remaining gasps of living things.

“Oh, god!

“We hereby pray that the faint breath escaping your lips might be the kindling that stokes our survival; we pray that the shadow cast by your brow be the shelter for the commoners to persist in life.

“We hereby offer a hundred prisoners, gouging out their eyes to cauterize your eyelids; let the fat of their bodies serve as wax to seal the corners of your eyes.

“Oh, god, may your eyes remain closed!

“Oh, god, may you sleep forever!

“Oh, god, we pray... that you not open your eyes!”

As his voice rang out, the citizens of Peerless City bowed their heads and repeated his words.

“Oh, god, we hereby pray... that you not open your eyes!”

However, even as all of their voices joined together.... High above in the dome of heaven, the boundlessly holy and infinitely terrifying broken face... suddenly opened hīs eyes by a crack! And hē looked directly at Peerless City!

Misery came to the world. All of the buildings vanished, as if they had passed through millions of years in an instant, and had been wiped away by erosion. Countless mortals instantly mutated, causing the bloodthirsty screams of mutant beasts to ring out everywhere.

Life faded at an alarming rate. Death spread everywhere. Those who didn’t mutate experienced a more horrible fate. Their bodies were ripped to shreds as they became tributes in the sacrifice.

As Xu Qing watched, countless people struggled in vain as the world turned crimson. Innumerable individuals died screaming in terror and despair as a rain of blood began to fall on Peerless City.

Xu Qing’s mother and father were no exception. Xu Qing watched as the middle-aged man was ripped apart. Then Xu Qing fell to the ground as the tender woman who had been holding him melted into blood....

Peerless City became like the Yellow Springs, and blood... fell everywhere.

Seven-year-old Xu Qing stood in the rain, blood soaking him as he looked around blankly. This was exactly what he had really experienced.

“Dad... Mom...” The infinite grief welled up like a storm in his heart, so intense it defied description. Tears streamed down his face as he looked down at the blood soaking him. It was all that remained of his mother.

As buildings eroded, countless mutant beasts and corpses collapsed, and the blood rain fell, a figure appeared in the distance. He held a skewer of candied fruit as he strode through the dust and blood rain until he stood in front of Xu Qing. Blood fell onto the candied fruit, turning it bright red.

Bending over, he reached out and tousled Xu Qing’s hair.

“Don’t cry, lil’ bro.”

***

In the imperial palace in the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan, Zi Qing muttered something. The other space-time version on the outside was now standing in front of the cage of fate, hand inserted into the three-colored powder. Inside the hall, Zi Qing looked on with glittering eyes.

“And now I’ll just take your god clone.” Zi Qing’s eyes shifted to a different location off in the distance.

It was the direction of Mount Daybreak. The moment hē looked toward Sea-Sealing County, Mount Daybreak... began trembling! An unstoppable godly might erupted from the mountain, like a volcano, a force of endless struggle. As it surged out, Zhou Zhengli and all the others maintaining the spell formation sealing mark ended up trembling, coughing up blood, and tumbling backward. The augmentation to the seal had failed!

Xu Qing could do nothing to stop what was happening. This attack by the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan contained astonishing godly might. As Zhou Zhengli and the others failed, Master Seventh atop Mount Daybreak shivered.

But despite being a Summer Immortal, not even he could fight back for long. The spell formation under him crumbled, no matter how hard he tried to bolster it. And finally, it just collapsed completely.

The aura of a god erupted from within the fragmented remains of the formation. Along with that aura came Xu Qing’s god clone!

The clone shot up into the air, radiating terrifying pressure and astonishing momentum. The clone flew toward the Heaveneater Region and the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan, becoming a streak of prismatic light that disappeared in a blur! Upon reappearing, the clone was in the Heaveneater Region, right in front of Zi Qing in the hall of the imperial palace.

Zi Qing looked at the clone and sighed. “Your preparations have finally fallen short, lil’ bro.”

Zi Qing reached out from the Dragon Throne and made a grasping gesture. Xu Qing’s god clone shot forward to be grabbed by the throat by Zi Qing. Zi Qing was already prepared to absorb the clone.

But then something unexpected happened! Zi Qing’s expression flickered dramatically! It was the first unusual expression to appear on hīs face since the battle began. Without a moment of hesitation, hē loosened his grip and shoved Xu Qing’s god clone away.

Unfortunately, hē acted too late! Hē had already started absorbing the clone, even for just a moment. Hē began to tremble violently as the god clone erupted with dazzling light and changed form.

The clone turned into a mirror shard! It was Mi Ming’s canon!

The moment the mirror shard appeared... a finger stretched out of it with astonishing speed, moving like a bolt of lighting right toward Zi Qing!

All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but happened in the briefest of moments.

An intense sensation of deadly crisis filled Zi Qing, the likes of which hē had not experienced since being resurrected. At the same time, the version of Zi Qing on the outside, whose hand was inserted into the cage of three-colored powder... suddenly vanished.

Upon reappearing, hē was in the hall right in front of the original Zi Qing. Hē... was there to block the finger coming out of the mirror shard! The moment the finger made contact, the second version of Zi Qing shivered, then began crumbling into nothing. It took only one breath of time... for hīs body and the finger to both be wiped out.

The Zi Qing seated on the Dragon Throne coughed up a huge mouthful of golden blood. Panting heavily, hē looked in the direction of the cage of fate on the outside.

The cage was already crumbling! Three-colored powder collapsed in all directions.

As that happened, a seven-year-old child walked out into the open. With each step he took, he transformed. By the time all the three-colored powder had dissipated, the adult Xu Qing was standing there!

Looking at Zi Qing in the hall, he said, “What a pity.”

Zi Qing wiped the blood from hīs chin and mouth. As hē looked at Xu Qing, hīs gaze was first full of astonishment, then admiration.

***

On a huge planet in the Fourth Star Ring, Immortal Lord Mi Ming sat cross-legged in meditation. Then he opened his eyes and retracted his finger. He sighed.

“Almost got him.”

Behind him was another figure seated cross-legged. It was none other than... Xu Qing’s actual god clone, which he had been suppressing!