Chapter 1183: Time and Space Indestructible

Chapter 1183: Time and Space Immortal

Within the Fifth Realm of the Immortal Palace, as Xu Qing battled Xinghuanzi…

Beyond the Immortal Palace, beyond the western edge of the Fifth Stellar Ring, atop the eastern stellar domain. A million towering spires stood sentinel there.

From afar, vast and endless they seemed.

Each spire shimmered with starlight, and their arrangement mirrored the constellations of the heavens. Between them, iron chains of cosmic order linked spire to spire.

At the heart of this million-spired array rose one tower, surpassing all others in height, its radiance illuminating the very firmament. This was one of the Stellar Ring’s principal towers.

Within it, an elder in Daoist robes stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing westward.

His bearing spoke of celestial grace, white hair rippling in the wind, an aura of transcendence enveloping him. Within his eyes, galaxies seemed to whirl. He was the Tower Master of the Stellar Ring!

Guardian of the entire eastern domain, a lower immortal! And… Xinghuanzi’s master!

“The fate of Xinghuanzi faces the calamity of the sovereign sun subdued!”

“This calamity did not exist before; years ago, it suddenly appeared… like an imperial decree descending, crushing the sovereign sun’s destiny!”

“Should he overcome this trial, he shall walk the path of the rising eastern sun.”

The elder murmured softly. His right hand lifted, fingers weaving an arcane seal. After a long moment, his eyes flashed with an unearthly light. “Without reversals within reversals, how could misfortune turn to boundless fortune?”

“Xinghuanzi, face the calamity!” The calamity comes!

Within the Fifth Realm of the Immortal Palace, Xinghuanzi shuddered violently. His organs churned; blood spurted from his lips as he staggered back seven steps. Each footfall ignited starlight.

Within him, a fierce resolve erupted.

He, Xinghuanzi, the peerless prodigy of the eastern stellar domain, the undisputed champion of this generation across the Fifth Stellar Ring. His life had been a blaze of glory.

From birth to cultivation, he shone like a star.

Even his name, Xinghuanzi, bore the legacy of the Stellar Ring Tower. Evil Spirit Master and Zhou Zhengli were but whetstones and nourishment arranged by his master. Until meeting Xu Qing, his fate, his momentum, his path—all flowed unimpeded, free from hardship.

Yet always subdued.

Whether defending order in the Fourth Realm or breaking through in the Fifth, it had been so. A sense of predestined fatedness had begun to stir within him.

But as that whisper of fate arose…

Xinghuanzi’s eyes flashed cold. A blade of will severed his doubts, shattered demonic veils, broke the chains of subjugation! “My fate is mine to command!”

Xinghuanzi fixed his gaze on Xu Qing. Quasi-immortal aura surged around him; imperial might erupted. Countless iron chains materialized, coiling about him.

The essence of cosmic order intensified, overwhelming. He had one final technique…

The moment he stepped into quasi-immortality, as his comprehension of the Order Charter ascended toward Balance, he had plucked a single grain… a Law… from the fabric of his own fate.

This Law was named…

“Cosmic Law!”

Xinghuanzi raised his right hand, grasping at the void. From his lips came a voice like the heavens.

“Come!”

At that sound, the Fifth Realm trembled. Xu Qing’s advance faltered.

His eyes sharpened, studying Xinghuanzi. In that instant, Xu Qing sensed the man before him had changed. If Xinghuanzi had once seemed tangible, he was now… blurred.

Not just the present world blurred, but the very time and space surrounding Xinghuanzi.

Past, present, future, all parallel existences—all dissolved into haze. A profound sense of peril surged within Xu Qing. Its source… Xinghuanzi’s hand, now clutching the void!

In his palm, a single mote of dust appeared.

Seeing that drifting speck, Xu Qing’s spirit recoiled. It felt like confronting the entire cosmos—unyielding, unassailable!

The watching quasi-immortal emperors exchanged glances, their expressions shifting. “This is…”

“Cosmic Law!!” “Well done, Xinghuanzi!”

The Order Charter ascended to Balance; mastering Balance could carry Xinghuanzi through quasi-immortality.

But to break through quasi-immortality, to become a lower immortal, Balance alone was insufficient. He must elevate his Order Charter to its zenith. Beyond Balance… lay Cosmic Law!

Yet for Xinghuanzi now, comprehending Cosmic Law was impossible. He must grope through quasi-immortality, seeking enlightenment as his immortal embryo transformed into a true immortal.

Only then would he become part of Cosmic Law!

Only then would he be a lower immortal. This was his destined path.

But now, he could not achieve it.

Still, as the foremost star, he was the only one among all stars who had forsaken the Charter bestowed by elders, forging his own path through personal insight. Thus, though Cosmic Law was elusive, at the moment of his breakthrough, he had plucked a single grain… a mote of Cosmic Law’s dust!

This dust, this drifting speck, was the source of Xu Qing’s peril. Now, as Xinghuanzi swept his hand, the mote… plummeted!

With supreme authority, it descended to bury all existence—leaving no room for survival!

Xu Qing’s pupils contracted. His sense of peril peaked. He recoiled desperately, but it was too late.

The mote, falling, manifested within Xu Qing’s world, above him. It descended.

Though but a mote of dust, its weight felt infinite. No matter how Xu Qing resisted, he could not budge it.

In an instant, his spirit roared; his flesh strained toward shattering, his soul cracking under the mote’s descent.

Xu Qing gasped, the taste of death flooding his being like a rising tide. He fled the Fifth Realm, fled the Immortal Palace itself.

He reappeared upon the Plain of Fallen Immortals outside the palace. But… the drifting mote followed.

Bound to his fate, it still fell.

His body shattered. His soul scattered, clutching his own Charter, racing across the Plain of Fallen Immortals. Yet under Cosmic Law, all ceased.

The next breath… Xu Qing’s soul dissolved.

As he faded, bitterness filled him. He recalled his life, the struggles in the Fourth Realm of the Immortal Palace, yet how he and Xinghuanzi—once allies—had succeeded in defending order.

He had earned the right to enter the Fifth Realm.

But for the opportunity it offered, he must now battle Xinghuanzi, once a friend, to the death. Such was fate.

Xu Qing sighed, and dissolved.

The very time and space he occupied fractured, then collapsed, erased.

Beyond this shattered realm, within the Fifth Realm of the Immortal Palace, another Xu Qing still retreated. Above him, dust fell once more.

Finally… flesh and spirit alike dissolved.

Yet the battle raged on, for a third Xu Qing also retreated.

This spectacle unfolded before the watching quasi-immortal emperors, their expressions altered. “This one… possesses the Time-Space Charter!”

“That is the Law manifested when the Time-Space Charter ascends!”

“Sacrificing selves from other timelines to shield the true self in this reality!”

As Xinghuanzi’s mote of Cosmic Law descended, the retreating Xu Qing’s form rippled with temporal waves. One by one, alternate timelines manifested—

Three realms shattered in an eyeblink.

Then seven more.

Then twelve…

As realm after realm crumbled, the mote of Cosmic Law grew lighter, fainter. Until, after forty-six realms had shattered…

The mote was reduced to drifting ash.

The remaining spacetime blazed at this moment. In one of them, Xu Qing lifted his head, gazing toward Xinghuanzi, his eyes flashing with revelation. "What a Heavenly Principle..."

His heart stirred.

Xinghuanzi tasted bitterness, watching Xu Qing speak ahead. His gaze shifted, scanning the surroundings of the other.

There, spacetime rippled endlessly. He knew not how many timelines existed, nor where the other’s limits lay. He could scarcely discern whether the Xu Qing speaking now was from another timeline or the true self of this reality.

This was Parallel Edict.

The method of overlapping universes allowed one to sacrifice alternate selves when facing fatal force. Theoretically infinite.

Yet Xu Qing had his own limits—bound by the immortal embryo, by his mastery of the Edict. His current limit stood at fifty-four!

This sacrificial method, because other selves merged with his true self in this reality, now held hierarchy. Thus, the death of those alternate selves affected his true self—but the impact was bearable, leaving his foundations intact.

To truly kill Xu Qing required... shattering every timeline he controlled, slaying every temporal self within. Only then could it be severed!

"I wonder," Xu Qing murmured slowly, his voice echoing through spacetime, "if severing you would tear that speck of Heavenly Principle from your life..."

He raised his hand. Instantly, towering sword intent blazed from his palm, erupting skyward to coalesce into an Imperial Sword!

And not in one timeline alone. At this very moment, Xu Qings from surrounding timelines all lifted their hands simultaneously, drawing Imperial Swords. All struck downward!

Impossible to tell which was reality, impossible to discern which sword aura held true force and which was illusion.

These auras pierced their respective spacetimes, converging within the Fifth Layer World to form a killing blade that shook all present, hurtling toward Xinghuanzi.

In an instant, it cleaved through his body!

Beyond him, the residual force struck the void, leaving a horrifying fissure in the emptiness itself.

Xinghuanzi trembled violently. His form visibly... crumbled, until reduced to ash. Then, timeline after timeline dissolved, including the Xu Qing who had spoken, all growing indistinct.

Within that blur, the true Xu Qing of this reality stepped forth from deeper spacetime, standing where Xinghuanzi had died. His gaze sharpened.

He felt no increase in his Semi-Immortal Capital Token. "Not dead?"

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, unsurprised. After all, the opponent was the First Star, his cultivation broken through—surely possessing unfathomable means of survival. "But that speck of Heavenly Principle..."

Xu Qing desired it.

He reached out. Spacetime empowered his grasp. Ripples formed where Xinghuanzi died, and finally a wisp of essence flew into Xu Qing’s hand—traces of the other.

Sensing it within his palm, a cold light flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. "Not far!"