Chapter 1178: From Now On, No More Me in Reincarnation!

Chapter 1178: Henceforth, No More I in the Cycle of Rebirth!

The crimson curtain, drawn back across the canvas of history, stirred the Aurora Prince’s heart like the auroras themselves. From memories long sealed away.

Though, after endless eons, those memories had begun to loosen; though the Aurora Prince, waiting silently within the Immortal Palace as time bled away, had long since gone mad for countless years, he had also, in some measure, already known the answer.

But… witnessing true history with his own eyes, he could not remain calm.

Thus, his grip tightened on Spirit Phoenix’s hand.

And Xu Qing, merged with the Aurora Prince in that moment, felt the tremor within the other’s spirit with crystalline clarity.

He could understand; he could only remain silent.

Truth and illusion of a life, years of despair and hope, the weaving of tears and laughter—ultimately…

All were paternal love.

Only the one who brought that love had dissolved into the flow of time.

He raised his hand; like sand at the riverbed, it slipped through his fingers.

What remained was to journey fearlessly beyond life and death through time, where dream-souls drift, bearing sorrow and grief, laden with yearning, crossing the threshold of mortality, traversing the ages.

Several times riding the wind, inquiring after your well-being.

Xu Qing sighed softly.

He thought of Wushuang City, of his parents’ figures, blurred in memory yet never fading.

He thought of Seven Blood Pupils, of his Master, of Thunder Squad, of Master Bai.

Finally, these images coalesced into a single voice, weathered and ancient, echoing within his consciousness.

“Come! Never cease!”

…

The tapestry of history continued to flow through time.

Drawing back the crimson curtain did not remove the red; thus, the hues of the grand wedding saturated this history.

Like blood.

Within the scene, the Aurora Immortal Lord smiled with contentment.

The Aurora Prince and Spirit Phoenix Fairy were bowing in the wedding hall.

Yet… in this true history, no one stood at this riverbank to extend the incense stick’s measure of time beyond the first bow.

And as the first bow concluded, the heavens and earth convulsed; the sea of light churned—

The sun and moon were plucked away.

Red became the Aurora Immortal Lord’s alone; thus, the sky… knew sun and moon no more. Henceforth, the crimson auroras became the sole celestial light.

Beneath that light, countless bubbles reappeared.

Alongside them, the ancient hand reappeared.

He crushed the bubbles; the sound of shattering echoed, stripping the Immortal Palace of its splendor… and leaving the two newlyweds, stunned amidst the ruins, their hearts storm-tossed, their consciousness dimming.

As if certain truths were meant hidden from the newlyweds, whether Immortal Lord or Immortal Sovereign.

Thus, they were severed, plunged into unconsciousness.

Before losing consciousness, the Aurora Prince in the vision cast one final upward glance—his father, choosing rebellion, seeking to amend the law, charging toward the starry void.

Rather be crushed than not battle the Immortal Sovereign!

Thereafter, the Aurora Prince in the vision lost all awareness.

Yet the historical scene continued.

The Aurora Prince and Spirit Phoenix, stepping from the mirror, still gazed on, to witness… the truth within history.

Thus, they saw.

The Aurora Immortal Lord charging toward the stars, though his entire form blazed with radiant crimson light, held… not a shred of battle intent!

He was laughing, weeping, shouting toward that ancient hand.

“Father, kill me!”

This cry thundered like millions of bolts within the Aurora Prince’s heart.

This was never a battle of suppression for rebellion.

This was…

“Father… seeking death…” The Aurora Prince trembled, whispering bitterly, when a weathered sigh echoed through history.

All the bubbles shimmered; their light converged, forming a vast, ineffable figure.

It appeared in the starry void, before the Aurora Immortal Lord, filling all space.

As if it were the starry void itself.

Its gaze was complex—shame, helplessness, sorrow—its voice emerging slowly, hoarse.

“Do you resent me… for sealing the Divine Calamity within you…”

The Aurora Immortal Lord lifted his head, gazing upon this familiar form.

His father. The supreme sovereign of the entire Fifth Stellar Ring.

The Immortal Sovereign!

He who led the cultivators of countless minor worlds in their uprising!

He who overthrew the gods’ rule, ending the suffering of all beings.

He who filled the Fifth Stellar Ring, making it henceforth cultivator soil.

His achievements in the Fifth Stellar Ring were unmatched by any before.

The hero revered and idolized from childhood by countless souls.

“I do not resent.”

“I know that in your battle with the Divine Sovereign long ago, though you seemed victorious, the Divine Sovereign, before death, left the Divine Calamity, tainting your very being.”

“The gods, after all, are born of the Upper Stellar Rings’ essence, part of the Upper Stellar Rings; thus, at the Divine Lord level, they achieve eternal immortality. As long as remembered, even across countless epochs, whenever called, they can return.”

“Let alone… the Divine Sovereign.”

The Aurora Immortal Lord gazed upon the Immortal Sovereign before him, crimson radiance rippling across his form, his voice resonating.

“And the ultimate curse born from the Divine Sovereign’s shattered divinity, gathering infinite divine might, was so potent that even you could not wholly erase it. One thread remained, branded within.”

“Thus, after that battle, you chose seclusion.”

“I know the reason: you discovered the Divine Sovereign… sought to use this Calamity to… resurrect through you.”

“Though the resurrection would require eons, if left unresolved, it would become inevitable. And at the moment of resurrection, the cultivator soil of the Fifth Stellar Ring would turn to dust.”

“To prevent this, you traversed all Upper and Lower Stellar Rings, manifesting countless avatars, seeking a solution, until you found one path.”

Here, the Aurora’s voice paused, tinged with bitterness.

"That is to say, the primordial self slumbers to evade the divine calamity’s grasp, thereby transferring it!"

"And this art of transference demands stringent conditions: It cannot be dispersed, and only the sole bloodline descendant may bear it. Henceforth, you shall have but one son, as must I, and my son the same."

"Through forty-nine hundred generations, it may be dissolved."

"And with each passing age, this calamity weakens, until it vanishes utterly."

"Thus, you chose, for the Fifth Star Ring’s sake, to transfer this divine calamity—by this very method—onto me, while your primordial self sank into slumber."

"This is why the Fifth Star Ring rotates its guardians each epoch: because your primordial self sleeps, and even your avatars, for most hours, must share that slumber."

"I know you sacrificed your own bloodline for the Fifth Star Ring, bearing this lineage’s suffering to seal, transfer, and diminish the divine calamity across generations."

"All this I comprehend, and have striven to accept."

Aurora Sovereign murmured.

"But… Father, the divine calamity’s merging was the very cause of Ming’er’s mother’s death. She… perished in my first loss of control."

"With my own hands… I tore her apart…"

"With my own hands… I slew my beloved…"

"Do you know? She did not flinch, held no resentment. Until her final breath, she gazed upon me with tenderness, her life rousing me from that frenzy."

"I could not face it. I chose only to sleep."

Tears streamed from Aurora Sovereign’s eyes. He stared at the Celestial Sovereign before him, his expression wracked with pain. That scene from long ago—he could not endure it, could not accept it, and found it hardest of all to forgive himself.

Yet he could not fail to understand his father, this Celestial Sovereign who sacrificed his own bloodline for the Fifth Star Ring.

Only, the more he tried to understand, the deeper his self-reproach grew—a black hole devouring all within him, moment by moment.

Thus, in this endless torment, he chose self-imprisonment.

For he feared that in this state, he might harm yet more souls.

This is why Aurora slept through history.

"A millennium later, I awoke. Believing I had mastered it, I released Ming’er’s seal… intending to spend my remaining years with him."

"Ming’er’s growth became, for me, a kind of healing…"

"But Father, I never imagined I had never truly mastered it. That day… I lost control again."

Aurora Sovereign’s body trembled, his voice trembling too.

"That day, I came so near… to tearing Ming’er apart. So near, so near…"

"Afterward, I built the subterranean vault, sealing myself within. I told Ming’er: When night falls, do not seek me."

"I meant only… to make my seal more unyielding."

"Until… I sensed Ming’er’s Decree had changed. I knew it was you who altered his Decree—from Mirror to… the Tripartite Decalogue Seal for transferring and sealing the divine calamity!"

"You wished me, when I could endure no longer, to shift this source of agony onto Ming’er."

"But how could I condemn him to suffer as I do—day and night—bearing the agony of slaying one’s beloved with one’s own hands!"

Aurora Sovereign laughed with crazed mirth, raising a hand to point at the Celestial Sovereign.

"Father, for the Fifth Star Ring, as Celestial Sovereign, your deeds are peerless in antiquity! Sacrificing your bloodline—I bear you no grudge!"

"But… I am a father too!"

"I am not as great as you. I will not, cannot, pass my torment to my child!"

"And I know another path exists to dissolve this divine calamity—one far simpler."

"In truth, once you transferred the calamity to me, you could have used your own plan to utterly erase it."

"That is: at the fitting moment, when ripe, slay me with your own hands!"

"Now… I and the divine calamity are one. The hour is come!

I have rebelled against the Dao, altered my Decree to Pattern. Divine Will stirs. Father, your time… grows short!

Therefore… slay me!!

Grind my flesh, shatter my marrow, annihilate my soul, break all of me—let past, present, and future hold no trace of my will!

Let all beings’ memories hold no mark of me!

Let this cycle know me nevermore—as if I… had never been!

As if you… had never had me!"

Aurora Sovereign rose, resolute!

Crimson auroras stained all of history…

The hue of wedding robes, and of blood!

And also… paternal love.

Faintly, as if carried on the wind, a phrase echoed through time.

"Ming’er, henceforth… you are the sun and moon of the Fifth Star Ring. Your heart holds boundless light, unstained by a single speck, with divine will ever before you. From this day, the divine calamity parts from you forever!"