Chapter 1191: A Different Eastern Region

Chapter 1191: A Different East

The third stage of the Xian Capital Trial was one of hunting and plunder.

Its duration varied. Throughout the many trials held thus far, this phase had sometimes stretched long and sometimes ended swiftly.

It all hinged upon a critical threshold—quantity.

When the number of provisional Xian Capital Tokens dwindled from ten thousand to just one thousand… the entire Xian Capital Trial would enter its final countdown: one month.

Moreover, the official rankings would be publicly announced throughout the Fifth Star Ring by the orthodox sects of each star domain.

Thus, not only those who possessed tokens could sense it—even cultivators without tokens would become aware.

And now… the number of token-bearers had reached exactly one thousand. The final countdown had begun.

Simultaneously, the trial rankings—sensational across the entire Fifth Star Ring—were unveiled.

These rankings aggregated participants from the boundless regions of the Four Star Domains. Barring unforeseen circumstances, they were almost certainly the definitive standings.

Naturally, all eyes focused on the top hundred, for historically, securing a place among the top hundred in the Xian Capital Trial was considered a safe guarantee—

Admittance into the Xian Capital!

Even more coveted were the top ten—the celestial prodigies, the undisputed elites of this generation within the Fifth Star Ring.

Hence, after scrutinizing the top hundred, every gaze instinctively turned toward the top ten!

Yet among these ten, only three hailed from Stellar-ranked cultivators; the rest bore no such distinction.

The reason was no longer a secret.

Rumors from the North’s commotion and news drifting from the South had spread far and wide about Xu Qing.

Others plundered tokens.

He hunted stars.

Jiang Fan had fallen before him. Yuan Shan Su had bowed his head in submission.

Even Qian Jun, who once commanded legions to retreat, ultimately surrendered his token.

Their brilliance made Xu Qing’s star shine with blinding intensity.

Consequently, after their withdrawal, unfamiliar names filled the vacant ranks—until, at fifth place, a familiar name finally appeared.

Li Mengtu—ranked fifth!

This Western Star had been rising with relentless force. Above him stood Xie Lingzi—ranked fourth!

To most observers, this ranking was neither clearly high nor low, yet at least plausible.

Third place belonged to none other than Xu Qing—somewhat lower than expected.

Though he had gathered tokens from multiple stars, the gap among the top ten remained substantial, and each contender was racing against time to climb higher.

Thus, Xu Qing had not seized the top spot. Above him stood Zhou Zhengli—

Ranked second!

This placement surprised many. Undeniably, Zhou Zhengli’s longstanding image had been deeply misleading. Though charitable and righteous, his presence had always seemed faint.

Usually, he was mentioned only in passing alongside Xie Lingzi, as if bound by fate.

As for first place… amid the scrutiny of countless cultivators across the Fifth Star Ring, they beheld an unfamiliar name:

Chen Batian!

The name sounded crude—but undeniably, even the crudest name carried awe-inspiring might when placed atop the rankings. Moreover, its unfamiliarity sparked fervent discussion, eclipsing even the tales of Xu Qing’s stellar hunts.

Yet information about this Chen Batian was scarce—mostly hearsay.

Rumor claimed he hailed from the Eastern Star Domain.

Rumor claimed his temperament was extreme, his methods cruel, and his lust insatiable.

Rumor claimed that before the third stage, his rank hovered near the bottom—only to surge instantly once the stage began.

Rumor claimed he delighted in slaughter; none who crossed blades with him ever survived.

All of it—rumor.

Thus, mystery shrouded him like thick fog.

Meanwhile, as the rankings went public, factions across the realm noticed something astonishing:

Xing Huanzi’s name was absent!

The Fifth Star Ring’s foremost prodigy was nowhere in the top ten, not even in the top hundred—indeed, missing entirely from the full list!

This absence ignited endless speculation.

Amid the swirling conjecture, a provisional Xian who had once visited the Fifth Layer of the Aurora Immortal Palace revealed the truth upon returning.

Instantly, though the duel between Xu Qing and Xing Huanzi in the Fifth Layer of the Aurora Immortal Palace belonged to the past, it stirred a storm in the present—

Sweeping across every region.

Discussions of Xu Qing surged explosively, creating waves upon waves—just as Xu Qing departed the North.

Utilizing ultra-long-range teleportation arrays within the Star Ring, he shifted repeatedly, arriving in the East on the seventeenth day of the trial’s final countdown, when 735 provisional Xian Capital Tokens remained.

He appeared beneath Mount Tai’e.

His expression calm, he stepped onto the mountain path.

Mount Tai’e was the Ninth Peak of the Eastern Star Domain—towering into the clouds, vast beyond measure. Its body was pitch-black, resembling a black blade poised to pierce the heavens.

Upon closer inspection, fine crimson threads—like blood vessels—wove densely through the stone, hidden yet omnipresent.

Legend claimed this mountain… was formed from a horn!

A horn belonging to Xing Jiao Shen Huang—one of the Nine Divine Clans under the Divine Sovereign of the ancient Fifth Star Ring!

That Divine Sovereign bore the Star Godhead and reigned as the First Divine Lord beneath the Sovereign.

Such was the legend. Few truly knew its veracity.

At this moment, atop Mount Tai’e, a youth sat cross-legged.

Clad in black robes, his features sharp and cold, exuding an aura of sinister menace. Where he sat, killing intent permeated the air.

Before him stood a broken sword plunged into the earth.

His very essence seemed entwined with the blade—as if neither could exist without the other.

It was Xie Lingzi.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, fixing upon the figure ascending below—Xu Qing.

Xu Qing walked as usual. With one step, he covered a tenth of the mountain’s immense path.

Then his stride paused slightly.

For ahead of him, resting upon a rock, lay a small white vial.

Not divine.

Its mouth lay open, allowing its contents’ aura to seep outward—an essence neither fully immortal nor wholly divine.

Inside swirled a liquid, luminous and fluid.

As Xu Qing’s gaze fell upon it, the illusory truth woven by his soul rippled violently—as if this liquid were an incomparably vital nourishment for an immortal embryo.

"Source matter."

Xu Qing murmured.

Source matter was the foundational power of the upper thirty-six star rings, the fountainhead of the gods, and the essence of the star rings themselves; whether it was the divine authority of a god or the mandate of a cultivator, everything, at its core, originated from this.

Even the godhoods, even the absolute laws, were no exception. It was an indispensable force that comprised the upper star rings.

It was also the finest tonic for a cultivator to shape their immortal embryo, or even to bring it to grand completion and ascend into an immortal!

For when all was stripped away, the formation of the immortal embryo and the birth of an immortal was, in truth, a process of plundering and absorbing this very substance.

This small vial could directly elevate Xu Qing’s immortal embryo by a full step; though it fell short of achieving immortality, it was still a tremendous boon.

"Fascinating."

With a casual wave of his sleeve, Xu Qing stowed the vial away, glanced toward the mountain peak, and took his second step, reappearing… halfway up the mountain.

There, upon a boulder, sat a cyan bowl. Within the bowl lay a piece of clay the size of a fist.

It was crimson.

This item was known as divine clay, one of the many methods used by cultivators of the Fifth Star Ring to subjugate gods; it could be molded into the likeness of a deity to control them.

Hence, its value was staggering.

Xu Qing collected it and took his third step.

When his footing landed, he was already nearing the summit, and before him stood a stalk of grass, seemingly ordinary, yet infused with a faint starlight.

This was a plant Xu Qing knew well. "Star Ring Grass!"

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed.

Star Ring Grass grew only at the oceanic boundaries where the various star rings met, and its numbers were exceedingly rare.

When ignited, it could open a passage between star rings; Xu Qing’s arrival in the Fifth Star Ring years ago had been made possible precisely because he possessed a stalk of it.

The one before him now was much smaller than his previous one, yet its value was no less staggering.

Xu Qing fell silent, and after a long moment, he stowed the grass away. After a brief thought, he took his fourth step, materializing at the mountain peak, right in front of Xie Lingzi!

The moment he appeared, Xie Lingzi, who sat cross-legged there, suddenly raised his hand, driving the broken sword embedded in the ground fiercely downward, causing the entire mountain to rumble in that instant.

Countless intricate red threads flashed across the mountain body, ultimately converging at the summit, seemingly absorbed by the broken sword.

Until the broken sword turned crimson, and gradually, from the blade, exuded a single drop… of red blood!

The moment this blood appeared, the vault of heaven roared, clouds surged, and bursts of heavenly thunder came crashing down, echoing endlessly.

The surroundings warped, and all directions blurred.

As for the mountain itself, all the red threads rapidly dimmed until they vanished entirely, as if the very last vestige of its foundation had been drained away.

Only that single drop of blood upon the broken sword remained, becoming the sole color in this entire world! Gazing at this blood, a rapid, breathless sound echoed in Xu Qing’s mind.

It was the intense fluctuation of the Mud Fox's emotions.

"The blood of a God Lord! And a God Lord whose divine authority is similar to mine!!" "Xu Qing, I need this drop of blood!"

"Absorb it, and within a short time, not only can I ascend to the Divine Altar, but my future chances of becoming a True God will be infinitely vast!"

Almost at the exact moment the Mud Fox spoke in such urgency, Xie Lingzi raised his right hand and waved it.

Instantly, that drop of blood upon the broken sword flew straight toward Xu Qing.

"Fellow Daoist Xu provided immense help to me in the fourth-tier world. The three gifts before were my reciprocation."

"As for this drop of God Lord blood… in the fourth-tier world, I broke my promise to Lord Fox, so this gift is my compensation."

Having spoken, Xie Lingzi rose and bowed deeply to Xu Qing. Xu Qing remained silent.

After a while, Xie Lingzi slowly backed away, stepping off the mountain, the broken sword soaring up to accompany him by his side.

In midair, Xie Lingzi bowed once more, then transformed into a streak of rainbow light, vanishing into the horizon. Watching Xie Lingzi’s departing figure, Xu Qing chose not to stop him.

Those four heavy gifts were said to be gratitude and compensation, but in reality, Xu Qing naturally understood that this was the price Xie Lingzi was paying for the Quasi-Immortal Capital Decree.

"Having accepted these gifts, it would be inappropriate to take the token now."

Xu Qing shook his head, standing atop the mountain peak. He did not leave, but turned his gaze toward the void on the other side of the sky, speaking calmly.

"What do you think, Zhou Zhengli?"

As Xu Qing’s words resonated, ripples spread like waves in the sky where he looked, and Zhou Zhengli’s figure emerged from within.

Gradually growing distinct, he could be seen holding a comatose, burly man in his hand. The burly man’s vital energy was withered, laced with the aura of death, resembling a puppet. Then, Zhou Zhengli stepped forward from the edge of the sky.

With a single stride, he reached the summit, standing before Xu Qing. Casting the burly man aside, he offered a respectful and humble bow.

"Greetings, Young Master." He then pointed at the burly man. "This man is named Chen Batian."

"He is a gift I crafted with my own hands for you, Young Master, in the eastern region after I left the Land of Immortal Fall."

"Presented to the Young Master, to become the First Star, the number one person in the trials of the Immortal Capital!"