Chapter 1179: Lingering Fragrance

Chapter 1179: Lingering Fragrance

The tableau of history undulated within that crimson hue.

Countless grains of sand trembled and flowed, scattering luminous ripples through the hidden currents of time’s river.

Beyond the radiance, Young Lord Aurora stood transfixed, staring at everything before him.

Words he had once been unable to hear—his consciousness severed from them in those days—now reached his ears clearly as the historical vision shimmered anew.

So it was true: everything in the celestial palace of his childhood had been an illusion.

His father’s rebellion against the Dao had been a plea for death.

And that yearning for death? It had been protection—for him.

His body quaked as he watched his father charge toward the Celestial Sovereign in the vision, tears streaming down his face.

Once, he could not fathom why his father acted so; toward his grandfather, the Celestial Sovereign, he harbored unforgivable resentment.

But now, having glimpsed the truth, only bitterness remained.

Beside him, Immortal Lady Linghuang sighed softly, her hand clasped firmly around his—never once loosening.

As for Xu Qing, standing apart as a mere witness, his heart too churned with emotion.

In this revelation from history, there seemed no party truly in the wrong.

Was the Celestial Lord mistaken? Choosing rebellion and death to sever the divine curse within himself, refusing to pass on his agony to his descendants—that was the purest expression of paternal love. He bore no fault.

And was the Celestial Sovereign wrong? Sacrificing his own bloodline for the sake of the entire Fifth Star Ring—abandoning the lesser self to preserve the greater whole—this, too, held no error.

Indeed, gazing upon this historical scene, it was evident: the solution proposed by Celestial Lord Aurora was one the Celestial Sovereign had long foreseen.

He knew that when the appointed moment arrived, he need only strike down his son with his own hand to resolve everything—no need for generations of slow erosion.

With his power, he could have hastened that moment long ago, without waiting until now.

Yet, having already given nearly everything for the Fifth Star Ring, he deliberately ignored that choice.

Within that decision lay another kind of paternal love.

He could not bear to lose his son.

Thus, though a simpler, more direct path had always existed, he chose instead the path of generational attrition—

if only to keep his son alive a little longer.

“He loved his son, unwilling to slay him; and his son, loving his own child, chose self-destruction rather than perpetuate the curse.”

Xu Qing murmured inwardly.

Meanwhile, the historical vision continued its flow.

The Celestial Sovereign—vast as the starry sky—had spoken only those first words at the beginning.

Since then, he remained silent.

Even as Celestial Lord Aurora blazed with crimson light, drawing near to his desired death, the Sovereign stayed mute.

Even as thunder roared and the decree emanating from Aurora corroded all things, the Sovereign chose silence still—

allowing his son to act freely.

Until Aurora’s white hair slowly darkened to black.

Until his white robes gradually turned into black robes.

Until the aura of divinity erupted violently from within him…

Mad laughter swelled louder and louder; frenzied roars echoed heaven-shakingly.

Each cry of “Kill me!” rippled through the historical tableau, distorting reality itself—everything blurred.

It seemed the Divine Sovereign was about to return through Aurora’s body!

Only then did the Celestial Sovereign close his eyes.

Slowly, gently, he raised his hand—

and let it fall.

Just as he once had in that small world long ago, stroking his beloved son’s head with a smile: “When you grow up, I’ll take you to see the stars beyond.”

He had kept his promise.

Amidst the thunderous crash, as his palm descended, Celestial Lord Aurora’s body crumbled like ash, dissolving gradually into crimson motes that merged into the aurora filling the heavens.

Gone. Vanished.

Body and soul—utterly annihilated.

From this cycle onward, he would never exist again.

Within the fading light, the Celestial Sovereign kept his eyes shut.

He stood there in silence, his figure desolate.

After a long while, he turned and walked away.

That solitary silhouette—once unbendingly upright—now seemed, as he departed, to stoop heavily under invisible weight.

In that moment, he was no longer the Celestial Sovereign of the Fifth Star Ring.

He was merely an old man, bereft of his beloved son, drowning in sorrow.

Gradually, he blurred—until at last, he melted into the starry sky.

And from the stars themselves drifted a low, murmuring whisper:

“Aurora… sought to give you, the Sovereign, and all living beings a righteous reason—one that would allow the Sovereign to kill him without stain…

thus freeing himself…

freeing you…

and freeing the Sovereign…”

“Fulfilling everyone.”

As the voice faded, delicate threads began appearing within the historical vision—

fine, intricate strands weaving through the shifting sands, secrets buried deep in history.

They converged slowly, coalescing into a single figure who stepped forth into the scene—

before Celestial Lord Aurora and Immortal Lady Linghuang.

Celestial Lord Jiuan.

Aurora fell silent; Linghuang lowered her head.

“And this chapter of history…”

Jiuan shook his head.

“This chapter must remain unseen and unknown to any below the rank of Celestial Lord. Though the divine curse is severed, should anyone learn of it, they risk forging karmic ties—leaving traces behind.

Those at the Celestial Lord tier may yet evade such peril, but those beneath face grave danger.”

“That is why your father and I sealed you away.”

Jiu An spoke softly.

“And now, you have seen it, you have known it… So in truth, for the Venerable Immortal, erasing you both would be the best and safest choice—for the future of the Fifth Star Ring.”

“But on one hand, one of you is my daughter—his granddaughter-in-law.”

“The other is his grandson, bearing within him the Indestructible Sun and Moon, born alongside the destiny of cultivation at the very moment the Fifth Star Ring became fertile ground for cultivators—something that cannot be destroyed.”

“And there is yet another reason…”

The Sovereign Jiu An paused.

“He grew soft-hearted.”

“That old man, who would forsake everything for the sake of the Fifth Star Ring—he, in the end, still grew soft-hearted.”

“He chose to shoulder the karmic burden of you two himself.”

“Now, depart.”

Jiu An raised his hand and gave a gentle wave forward.

Instantly, the tides of history surged, waves rose upon the River of Time, and an irresistible force swept forth, ready to carry away the Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Maiden Linghuang from this place…

His own figure turned and walked toward the starry void, everything behind him blurring into obscurity.

Just as all was about to dissolve—

The Young Lord Aurora suddenly lifted his head.

“The karmic debt between Linghuang and me has been borne by the Venerable Immortal—but within me still lingers a strand of consciousness, my benefactor… he…”

“He is unharmed,” came the faint reply from the departing Sovereign Jiu An.

“The karma upon him is too great even for the Venerable Immortal to bear—and as for the Divine Calamity… even It dares not interfere.”

As these words echoed, great waves crashed across the River of Time, submerging everything—and sweeping out from its currents those grains of sand that did not belong, casting them onto the surface of a mirror floating upon the river.

Then, the mirror vanished.

…

When clarity returned, the Celestial Palace stood before them once more.

Not the ruins they had left behind, but preserved exactly as it had been at the moment of their grand wedding.

Only now, no clamor of guests remained.

Only the figures of the Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Maiden Linghuang—and… a hazy form shaped from consciousness alone.

It was Xu Qing.

The instant they returned, he had already separated himself from the body of the Young Lord Aurora. Now he floated midair, gazing at the Celestial Palace, at the two before him.

What had transpired here felt like a dream.

And all that had unfolded within the River of Time felt even more so.

Now, the dream was about to awaken.

And for Xu Qing, the gains were immense.

His Chrono-Constitution, having undergone all this, had now absorbed nearly complete understanding.

He could feel it—his breakthrough was near…

Only one direction remained.

A direction he himself must choose.

The moment he fixed upon it would be the instant he shattered through.

As for the truths revealed within the dream and the karma they stirred, Xu Qing cared little.

Even if Sovereign Jiu An had never spoken those final words, Xu Qing would have paid them no mind.

For the karmic weight of the Divine Fragment’s visage was enough to suppress everything else.

If the Divine Calamity truly sought him out, hoping to use him as a conduit for the Divine Sovereign’s return—then Xu Qing suspected the Fragmented Visage might even rejoice.

Yet, the emotional current stirred by learning the truth of history still rippled within him.

Thus, Xu Qing turned his gaze toward the Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Maiden Linghuang.

The two stood in silence.

After a long while, the Young Lord Aurora raised his hand. With a sweep, a stream of time-sand flew forth, coalescing before Xu Qing into an hourglass.

Its sands now far exceeded what they once held.

No longer measuring a single hour—but an entire day.

“Young friend,” the Young Lord Aurora said softly, looking at Xu Qing, “thank you… for walking this path with us.”

“I have no regrets left. From here, I shall depart—as my father wished—and live the life meant for me…”

As he spoke, he glanced toward Linghuang beside him.

Her eyes softened, and she gave a gentle nod.

A smile then appeared on Aurora’s face—one tinged with wistfulness for the past, yet filled with quiet release.

Together, they stepped forward, ascending into the sky, into the void.

And as they departed, the entire world began to blur, as if millennia of time were rushing through this place in a single breath, weathering all into dust.

Xu Qing lifted his eyes, watching the two vanish into the heavens, their voices echoing down from the firmament.

“Young friend, I cannot aid your Chrono-Constitution much further,” came the voice of the Young Lord Aurora.

“But I recall my father once saying: beyond spacetime…”

“…lies parallelism!”

The moment those words reached Xu Qing’s awareness, thunder roared within his mind, and his eyes blazed with sudden, piercing clarity.

Like a bucket of ice water poured over his soul—he understood!

And still the voice from the heavens rang out:

“I gift you this Celestial Palace—I leave everything here to you.”

“With your current grasp of spacetime, you should comprehend.”

“Until we meet again, perhaps.”

“And young friend,” added the voice of Immortal Maiden Linghuang, “thank you—for helping me, and for aiding my husband in all this. You may visit the River of Divine Blood afterward… I’ve left you a gift there.”

As their words faded and their forms receded, the decay of the Celestial Palace accelerated.

Within mere breaths—just as Xu Qing’s mind crystallized upon his chosen direction—the place lived through ten thousand years.

Every structure, and eventually the world itself, crumbled into ash, scattering into the wind.

The ripples of space and time from this fourth-layer world dissipated along with it.

Yet within Xu Qing’s heart, the river formed by his own spacetime decree

had already swelled from a trickling stream into a mighty, surging current.