Chapter 1192: Stepping on the Rainbow, Viewing the Mountains

Chapter 1192: Tread the Rainbow Bridge, Survey All Mountains

The name Chen Batian was no stranger to Xu Qing.

After all, this very individual had manifested upon the Trial Star Chart at the moment of the Immortal Capital Trial’s one-month countdown, drawing the gaze of multitudes; among the cultivators of the Fifth Star Ring, none were scarce as hen’s teeth who knew him not.

Indeed, rumors and speculations surrounding this man grew ever more numerous.

Yet within those many whispers, even the boldest imaginings bore no semblance to the true facts.

Verily… no soul could conceive that the so-called First of the Immortal Capital Trial was but a gift.

And not merely any gift, but one meticulously forged by hand, shaped from nothingness into being.

And now, the artisan of this gift bowed low in deference, his smile humble.

This was the terror of Zhou Zhengli.

Before, with Star Ring Zi’s suppression, he had moved with utmost caution, concealing his edge; even Xu Qing had thought this man might harbor no such dire enmity with Evil Spirit Zi, no fatal impasse.

Perhaps all things, every gesture, were merely acts both Zhou Zhengli and Evil Spirit Zi understood they must perform—contrivances they needed to stage, personas they required to wear.

Only thus would the great ones be pleased.

Even if those great ones knew they played a part, the very willingness to perform, to become jesters in their eyes, was itself an act of submission.

Xu Qing deemed himself no great one, nor did he fancy himself a second Star Ring Zi.

For he felt no need to subdue others.

The Fifth Star Ring, the Immortal Capital he would soon tread—both were but stations along his life’s journey.

Within this station, his nature remained cautious, and… all flowed as his heart willed. Whatever hidden purpose Zhou Zhengli harbored, Xu Qing cared not.

For a serpent, before baring its fangs, is pleasing enough to behold. And when the fangs flash forth, as Xu Qing had once told Zhou Zhengli… he relished serpents; the more venomous the snake, the sweeter its flesh.

Childhood memories, the trials of Wanggu Continent, the legacy of his master’s sect, and the sights witnessed alongside Er Niu—all had steeped Xu Qing in deeper venom.

Thus his gaze lingered but a moment upon Zhou Zhengli before shifting to Chen Batian beside him.

“This Chen Batian was my careful choice; no deep karmic ties cling to him,” Zhou Zhengli murmured softly.

“Moreover, his sins are ripe, his vice chiefly lust.”

Zhou Zhengli understood well that to act, to present a gift, was to ensure the receiver’s comfort. Hence his chosen vessel bore no karmic weight in lineage, and was himself a soul worthy of death.

Only thus could the gift be received with ease.

Further, to set the receiver’s mind at rest, he had bowed once, then stepped back several paces, placing greater distance between himself and Chen Batian than between Xu Qing and the man.

For Chen Batian now breathed his last; the flame of life guttered low.

On the journey here, Zhou Zhengli had worked his arts upon him, ensuring a natural death, and the hour… drew nigh.

Thus no misunderstanding would arise.

None would suspect a needle hidden within the gift. The death was his doing, indirect; no taint touched the receiver.

And for such a cultivator, at the moment of passing, the Quasi-Immortal Capital Token would scatter, absorbed by the nearest soul.

Hence his retreat. Xu Qing spoke no word.

Thus, after dozens of breaths, Chen Batian’s final sigh dispersed.

In that instant of death, a Quasi-Immortal Capital Token soared from his body, blazing with radiant light.

As it rose, it sped straight toward Xu Qing; the moment it merged with his form, the Firmament roared, the Star Chart manifested, and the rankings shifted.

First place now bore Xu Qing’s name!

Zhou Zhengli then prostrated himself before Xu Qing.

Slowly he retreated, until he vanished beyond Mount Tai’e, soaring into the heavens, unseen.

Xu Qing made no move to stop him. His gaze lingered on the horizon, then withdrew after long moments; his form blurred,

stepping through the fabric of time and space.

By the art of spacetime, he departed soundlessly, leaving no trace of karmic residue.

After a while, the Firmament rippled faintly; Zhou Zhengli reappeared where he had left, gazing down at Mount Tai’e, deep in thought.

“Truly unlike Star Ring Zi.”

“Were it Star Ring Zi, possessing such advantage, such might, his caution would wane greatly; most likely he would choose to remain here, awaiting the Trial’s end.”

“But this Xu Qing… though armed with such supremacy, having subdued all stars, with both myself and Evil Spirit Zi offering gifts in humility—he remains thus vigilant.”

“This feels not contrived, but… instinctive!”

Zhou Zhengli sighed softly. “Not one to be trifled with.”

Then his form shimmered and vanished once more.

Time flowed; the Immortal Capital Trial’s countdown dwindled to seven days.

In this span, as the Star Chart rankings shifted and sect rankings realigned, the name Xu Qing stirred tempests across the Fifth Star Ring, storms earth-shattering.

Chen Batian vanished; Xu Qing stood first!

Thus rumors of Xu Qing multiplied in these days.

And the impact of his ascension upon those who had crossed his path was no small thing.

In the Western Starfield, Li Mengshi still labored.

Though now ranked fifth, his entry into the Immortal Capital assured,

he chose still, after silent contemplation, to gather Quasi-Immortal Capital Tokens.

“Though surpassing him is impossible, I must not fall too far behind.”

Similar voices arose in the Southern Starfield.

From the Far Mountain Clan. From the Great Immortal Mountain.

Yuan Shan Su sat in secluded cultivation, striving to break through to Quasi-Immortal before the Trial’s end—her sole path now into the Immortal Capital.

“I shall succeed!”

As for Jiang Fan, he chose the same path as Yuan Shan Su, giving his all.

In the Northern Starfield, Qianjun Biyi, owing to their master’s influence, found their path far smoother than Jiang Fan or Yuan Shan Su.

They held new tokens, starting anew.

With their cultivation and might, the task was not arduous, yet demanded repeated battles; time pressed close, so these days saw the brothers ceaselessly occupied.

Each rise in rank spurred them to curse Xu Qing’s name, fueling their resolve.

Yet the Eastern Starfield differed from all others.

Evil Spirit Zi and Zhou Zhengli held steady ranks—second and third. Both had ceased striving upward, needing only await the Trial’s conclusion. Yet in their respective domains, their gazes turned most often… toward the Star Ring Tower!

If this Immortal Capital Trial held one final variable, in their eyes, it surely resided within the Star Ring Tower!

Now, within the Star Ring Tower, in that boundless spire, at its central heart, upon the highest level, endless starlight streamed inward.

Within this tower, starlight cascaded, merging with an impossibly intricate formation etched upon the floor.

Seated in lotus posture within the formation sat a youth.

As starlight descended, channeled through the formation, it flooded the youth’s body, tracing luminous meridians across his skin.

His form and the Star Tower itself seemed to merge in that moment.

Thick immortal essence rose from him, swirling visibly—a radiance born of the Immortal Embryo upon his flesh!

The perfected Embryo, forged through Illusion-Truth and Undying Resilience. The mark of a quasi-immortal.

With starlight as veins, the Star Tower as bone, the Immortal Embryo as flesh and blood!

Reshaped anew… the Starcircle Disciple!

“Without chaos within calamity, how could fortune bloom from ruin?” A hoarse voice echoed through the tower.

“Disciple, you faced the tribulation and perished within it. Such was your fate.”

“Thus, this body I reshaped for you shall now unveil the cosmos, smoothing your path to immortality!”

As the words reverberated, the Starcircle Disciple, seated cross-legged upon the formation, snapped his eyes open.

Boundless starlight blazed from his gaze, setting the tower ablaze with brilliance.

“He waits beyond. Always has.” The hoarse voice returned.

The Starcircle Disciple fell silent. After a long pause, he shook his head.

“I will not go.”

“Why refuse?”

“Still outmatched. And having lost my stellar name in our last clash, I need not force it. Our reckoning… awaits in the Immortal Capital!”

“Well said.”

Beyond the Starcircle Tower stood a mountain. Nine Heavens Peak.

There, atop Nine Heavens, Xu Qing sat cross-legged before an endless sea of star-ringed towers.

Beneath crimson auroras, the starlight drawn by those spires gleamed fiercely—its convergence point the very spot Xu Qing watched.

He awaited the Starcircle Disciple.

The moment he entered the Eastern Stellar Realm, he had vaguely sensed the other’s presence. Known the Starcircle Disciple had returned.

So he came to the tower’s edge, sat here, waiting for battle.

Yet time passed. None came. Xu Qing’s expression remained calm.

If he would not come, no need to insist. He closed his eyes.

Let days flow like water.

Until the final day of the Immortal Capital Trial’s countdown. The last hour. The final minute.

Slipping away.

Thunder split the Fifth Star Ring’s sky.

Soft at first, then roaring across the East, across all realms, shaking the entire Fifth Star Ring.

The thunder stunned the world. Billions of cultivators dropped all tasks, instinctively hushed, lifting their eyes.

A solemn voice rolled through the storm.

“The Immortal Capital Trial ends! Top hundred enter the Immortal Capital!”

As the words rang out, amid the fervor of countless Fifth Star Ring cultivators, beneath envious gazes, prismatic rainbows arced down from the aurora-streaked heavens.

Ninety-nine in all, falling to different lands across the Four Stellar Realms—each marking a chosen one.

Landing before them! The Bridal Rainbow!

The path to the Immortal Capital—every cultivator’s lifelong dream.

Before those rainbows, warriors who had slain and survived cataclysms, who had risen through blood and battle, now trembled. Breaths quickened. Hearts surged.

This was the moment they fought for.

They stepped forward, feet touching their rainbows.

Just as they began to ascend, thunder cracked anew. The Fifth Star Ring shuddered.

Before countless eyes, a colossal rainbow blazed—a river of light dwarfing all others.

Compared to this torrent, the rest were mere trickles.

It surged with cosmic force, radiating blinding majesty as it plunged from the sky.

Falling upon the East. Upon Nine Heavens Peak. The world stood awestruck.

Xu Qing opened his eyes. Gazed at the radiant path before him. Rose. Took one step.

Stepped onto the rainbow. Began climbing toward the heavens.

Joining the other ascendants across distant lands, soaring like immortals reborn, rising toward the celestial gateway… to the peerless Immortal Capital.