Chapter 1180: The Ninth Pole!

Chapter 1180: The Ninth Apex!

The river churned, its thunderous roar rising with the spray, echoing across the expanse.

Xu Qing sat cross-legged upon the water’s surface, the ashes of the Fourth Layer World swirling around him like snowfall.

A silent blizzard, drifting through the air.

But… this realm did not shatter; it did not vanish.

Though the celestial palace’s structures, even the heavens and earth, had dissolved into nothingness,

the world itself endured.

For Xu Qing was here!

Now, by the Aurora Prince’s gift, he held dominion over the celestial palace.

He bore the mantle of its sovereign.

His Time-Space Constitution, perfected, manifested as a river of epochs, propping up this world that should have crumbled.

He understood, too, that he could depart at will, or in a single thought, return to any of the first three layers—

the present of the Third Layer, the visions of the Second, or the lines of the First.

Wherever he willed, he could arrive in an instant.

Yet… ascent was barred.

Not by authority or title, but by the tier of his Constitution.

Entering the Fourth Layer required a Constitution-bearer or one wielding a Constitution Treasure; the Fifth demanded more.

His Constitution’s tier must rise, its laws surging with power, until he wielded the might of a quasi-Emperor.

Now, Xu Qing sensed it: he stood but a hair’s breadth from the Fifth Layer.

“To elevate the Time-Space Constitution one tier higher—to shatter all barriers!”

“This pinnacle shall be my Ninth Apex!”

Xu Qing’s eyes blazed with fierce light.

He felt it deep within: when his Ninth Apex emerged, so too would his Ninth Divine Realm.

And with that apex, he could step into the Fifth Layer—a realm reserved only for Emperors or those whose Constitutional Laws had reached their zenith.

There, drawing power from that world, he knew…

“One step to Sovereignty—able to battle Emperors!”

Xu Qing drew a deep breath, murmuring through the storm of his thoughts.

“As for my Ninth Apex… after Time-Space… comes Parallel…”

The Aurora Prince’s parting words had struck him like lightning, their echo still crackling in his bones.

Clarity surged, sharpening with each heartbeat.

At last, seated upon his river of time, Xu Qing lowered his gaze to the water’s surface.

There, his reflection stared back.

He watched it, long and still…

Then the Xu Qing on the river closed his eyes.

But the reflection beneath the water opened its own!

It sank downward, plunging toward the riverbed, the silt, the deepest abyss—until it vanished.

Only the Xu Qing above remained, cross-legged, unmoving.

…

Wind swept in from the distance, thick with immortal mist, swirling around the cultivators, seeping into the ancient stone stele of the Celestial Palace’s Welcome Terrace.

The stele, black and veined with verdant moss, exhaled the weight of ages.

Its blurred characters spoke of three paths awaiting those who entered the palace.

Here stood the gateway—the first sight for every cultivator stepping into the Celestial Palace, where choices were made.

Now, Li Mengtu and the Earth Spirit Ancestor, flanked by a shadowy figure, hurtled toward the terrace.

As they landed, most cultivators already surged leftward.

There lay the First Path: mist-light, yet dimmer than the terrace, its ground slick with drizzle, squelching with mud.

The Second Path lay straight ahead, veiled in thick fog. Through the haze, a bridge seemed to stretch,

and upon it, a lone figure receded into the distance.

“That is Xing Huanzi. When he appeared, I saw him take this bridge.”

Li Mengtu’s voice was grave. “I wonder which path Xu Brother will choose. If the trail, we’ll go together.”

Beside him, the Earth Spirit Ancestor turned, eyes bright with hope, toward Xu Qing.

Standing with them was Xu Qing himself.

Yet this moment—the instant the Immortal’s Demise Lands opened, when all first entered—was twisted.

Neither Li Mengtu nor the Earth Spirit Ancestor showed a trace of recognition,

as if they had never walked this ground before.

Or rather, as if their selves from other times had.

More uncanny still, Xu Qing here held no memory of it either.

Like a true newcomer, he gazed up at the three entrances:

the trail, the wooden bridge, the river.

“I’ll take the bridge,” the Earth Spirit Ancestor said, glancing at Li Mengtu.

Li Mengtu nodded, clasped fists in salute to Xu Qing, and shot toward the leftward trail.

The Earth Spirit Ancestor hesitated, then bowed to Xu Qing and followed Li Mengtu’s path.

Soon, both vanished.

Only Xu Qing remained on the Welcome Terrace.

He turned first toward the right—

then, after a pause, drew his gaze back, fixed it on the bridge ahead.

With a sway of his form, he stepped forward… and crossed.

Time flowed.

Beyond the bridge lay the Second Layer.

As the world of images embraced him, Xu Qing lived its trials—yet met no sword-wielding figure.

Instead, he slept within the Great Demon King’s vat.

Then, amid an unknown upheaval, the Demon King roared in fury, hurling all within the vat outward, flooding the void.

And Xu Qing, caught in that chaos, barely escaped with his life.

Within the Third Realm.

There, he encountered Li Mengtu, and together they secured passage into the Fourth Realm.

Then, side by side, they stepped into the Fourth Realm.

No longer the Aurora Heir, but now a guardian disciple of the Repository of Arcane Tomes.

He sought to alter history, to stir ripples; he achieved minor success, yet no great waves arose, for Xinghuanzi stood there, upholding cosmic order.

Thus the grand wedding unfolded, thus the cataclysm descended, all aligning with the recorded past.

Thus the cosmic bubble shattered, the denizens of the Immortal Palace dissolved, and with them, he too.

At the moment of dissolution, Xu Qing opened his eyes.

A thread of water murmured at his side; beyond, as if across time and space, he saw another self.

That self, surrounded by a river vast and boundless.

"So it is..."

This Xu Qing murmured, cross-legged upon his own slender stream, closing his eyes.

The reflection continued to sink.

Then... upon the Welcoming Immortals Platform, the prior scene replayed.

This time, Xu Qing, appearing there yet unaware, mindful of the peril of this place, guided by prudent thought, chose to enter the rain-slicked path alongside Li Mengtu and the Earth Spirit Ancestor.

Walking this path, he bypassed the First and Second Realms, instead clashing and entangling with Xielingzi there.

Ultimately, he met Zhou Zhengli.

The three, including Li Mengtu, together found passage into the Fourth Realm, where they witnessed history’s shifting currents.

When all concluded, as the Fourth Realm dissolved, Xu Qing opened his eyes to see... two selves.

After a long silence, he felt a daze.

"So it is..."

Then he closed his eyes; the river beside him was scarce, barely a trickle.

Yet the reflection still sank.

Stirring a chain of undercurrents, sending concentric ripples outward, forming countless Xu Qings appearing at the Immortal Palace’s threshold across different times and spaces.

Moving toward their chosen paths.

Like the most primal grain of sand in the desert of time, each shift from the wind forged divergent timelines, birthing distinct fates.

Thus, some figures perished along the way!

Their timelines crumbled into void.

Some figures acted in ways shattering Xu Qing’s own frameworks.

Slaughter, bloodshed, plunder...

Each path unique.

Experiences naturally diverged: some met Xielingzi, some met Qianjun Biyi, some never even chose the Fourth Realm.

Others, Xu Qing befriended Xinghuanzi, choosing order alongside him.

Countless variations, countless journeys, ultimately manifesting as Xu Qing upon the boundless river, surrounded by ever more streams—though waters varied in volume, each bore a self upon its surface.

Finally, a vast, dense multitude.

Innumerable Xu Qings, innumerable rivers, filling the entire void.

Until the wind stirred, the primal grain of sand shifted, and the primal Xu Qing opened his eyes.

Whispering softly.

"Return to Unity!"

The instant his eyes opened... the moment the words left his lips...

Countless realms, countless selves across all time, suddenly opened their eyes, all... turning to gaze upon him!

All gazes converged in that instant, wove together in that moment, merged in that breath...

Then, countless rivers surged instantly, flowing toward the primal Xu Qing!

Thus the waters grew ever more turbulent, and Xu Qing’s mind roared with violent, endless thunder.

As if the heart had opened!

As if the eyes were no longer veiled!

Countless selves became the True Self.

Countless streams became the Ocean!

The Ninth Apex was born in that instant!

The Parallel Extreme!

Like the splitting of heaven and earth, as the world trembled, Xu Qing’s Ninth Realm emerged, achieving perfection in a flash.

His cultivation soared!

From the Eighth Realm of Spirit Nurturing, he stepped into the Ninth, reaching the pinnacle of Spirit Nurturing.

And his Constitution shattered its tier!

At the moment of breakthrough, Xu Qing rose upon the Sea of Time and Space, lifted his gaze upward, and took a step... walking into the void!

He would go to the Fifth Realm, reachable only by those with the might of a Quasi-Immortal Emperor, to complete his final transcendence!

As his foot fell, the surroundings blurred, twisted, as if crossing shackles, breaking through barriers.

Stepping into... the Fifth Realm!

Gazing in all directions, a dazzling spectacle.

Countless vortices, large and small, like galaxies, like eerie eyes.

Boundless.

Yet strangely, though vast, within Xu Qing’s perception, every vortex, every detail, could be *seen*.

In the profound mystery, he even discerned within a few of these vortices, figures seated in meditation.

Those figures included Xinghuanzi, and other cultivators unknown to him; their auras unmistakably Quasi-Immortal.

Around each, dreamlike, wondrous illusions flowed.

Xinghuanzi there seemed on the verge of breakthrough.

As Xu Qing’s gaze fixed upon him, Xinghuanzi sensed it, eyes snapping open, scanning the expanse.

The instant he saw Xu Qing, his expression shifted utterly, disbelief flooding his features uncontrollably.

"How have you come here?!"