Chapter 1196: This Place, I Use Three Hundred Years

Chapter 1196: This Place, I Claim with Three Hundred Years

The title “Deputy Master” was self-explanatory—

an acting stewardship.

And his human lineage, coupled with quasi-immortal cultivation, rendered him fitting for such a role.

“Master,” spoke an elderly humanoid figure before the celestial palace, his forehead bearing a third eye. He bowed deeply toward Xu Qing, voice respectful.

“We have some conjecture regarding your identity. Only those dispatched by the Nine-Shore Immortal Palace to descend into this cosmos—and instantly granted a private universe…”

He paused, then continued carefully,

“Throughout history, only direct descendants of humanity who ascended from the Immortal Capital have ever received such privilege and honor.”

“I suspect, Master, that you are among this generation’s ascendants from the Immortal Capital.”

“As for Lord Kunwu… he, like you, is said to be one of the previous generation’s ascendants from the Immortal Capital, possessing his own universe. Yet, finding our realm particularly conducive to his cultivation…”

“He arrived a thousand years ago—and never left.”

“He is human, and the Nine-Shore Heaven is vast…”

Here, the elder glanced toward Xu Qing, who stood within the asteroid-bound celestial palace.

“In the Nine-Shore Heaven, any universe lacking a Celestial Palace Master is deemed masterless. Thus, it is common for human cultivators to settle within them.”

“For instance, before Lord Kunwu claimed the Moyang Universe, others had occupied it. But over the past millennium, he expelled them all.”

The elder spoke cautiously, unwilling to offend either Kunwu or the man before him, so he resorted to subtle implication.

Xu Qing listened, thoughtful.

“So ‘Deputy Master’ is merely a title—not true stewardship?”

The elder hesitated, then nodded.

“Yes.”

“The Moyang Universe has long been without a Celestial Palace Master. With the seat vacant, many have come and gone over the ages—it has always been thus. Hence, for the past thousand years, all have acquiesced to Lord Kunwu’s authority.”

A bitter smile crossed the elder’s face.

“In truth… the Nine-Shore Heaven contains countless universes. Even if every generation of ascendants receives one as reward, the odds of selecting Moyang are slim.”

“Your arrival here took us all by surprise—and surely surprised Lord Kunwu as well.”

Xu Qing’s gaze grew colder.

Now he understood the unspoken rules of the Nine-Shore Heaven.

Given its immensity and the sheer number of universes, not every realm could be assigned a master. Thus, numerous masterless universes existed—ripe for the taking.

Naturally, such realms drew covetous eyes. Intruders, leveraging their human status, could dominate them with impunity.

“This may even be tacitly permitted by the Nine-Shore Immortal Palace. After all, the Fifth Star Ring has always chosen the strong through competition!”

“Survival of the fittest.”

Xu Qing’s eyes settled upon the strange region of Ink-Soil.

“Yet my arrival was sensed by these alien races—so it’s unlikely he remained unaware.”

“Knowing I came, he chose not to leave—but instead crushed my stray thread of divine sense. He intends to play the unwelcome guest.”

“If he insists on being unwelcome, then he shall be driven out.”

Calmly, Xu Qing ignored the kneeling cultivators around him. He stepped forth from the celestial palace, off the asteroid, and into the starry void.

Space-time flowed beneath his feet; the void rippled around him.

Treading upon time itself, walking through nothingness, Xu Qing—amidst the terror gripping the hearts of alien chieftains across the realm—used his divine sense as a lure. He grasped the threads of time woven through the Moyang Universe, plucking them like harp strings…

A resonant hum.

In an instant, he vanished.

Though gone, the kneeling alien cultivators trembled inwardly, as if caught in a tempest.

Especially those at the peak of Sovereign cultivation—their minds roared with shock.

These were no ordinary beings. Were it not for the restrictions imposed by the Fifth Star Ring, they would have long since ascended to immortality. Their insight was profound.

And precisely because their insight was profound, their astonishment now surged uncontrollably.

“Space-time?”

“This Master’s Dao… is Space-Time itself!”

“Though his cultivation is merely Sovereign, and his immortal embryo still Illusory-True, that fleeting moment felt far beyond Sovereign level!”

“Just how high does this ascendant rank among his generation?”

As alien factions reeled in awe, deep within the Moyang Universe—at the edge of that enigmatic zone where divine sense could not penetrate, resembling both a black hole and a sun—

Sat a middle-aged cultivator in meditation.

Cold-faced, clad in brocade robes, his long blue hair drifting in the void, he sat with eyes closed.

In his hands rested a fishing rod!

The line plunged into the black hole ahead—he was fishing!

Then, in the next instant, his brow furrowed slightly. His eyes snapped open, fixing upon the distant starfield.

Almost simultaneously, that patch of starry sky wrinkled violently—

As if crumpling paper, folding upon itself countless times in a flash, forming a portal. From within, Xu Qing stepped forth.

Expressionless, Xu Qing’s gaze fell first upon the angler, then upon the ink-black hole swallowing the fishing line.

Behind him, the starfield smoothed back to normal.

“Primordial Essence?”

Xu Qing’s eyes sharpened.

Earlier, only a wisp of his divine sense had arrived—and was swiftly crushed—his attention wholly fixed on the unwelcome guest. He’d missed the black hole’s mystery.

Now, in person, he instantly sensed it: Primordial Essence pulsed within the Moyang black hole.

Yet perhaps due to the peculiar nature of the Ink-Soil—or the black hole’s own suction—the essence could not escape. Only through this method of “fishing” could it be drawn forth.

Still, Xu Qing’s spirit stirred.

Though the Primordial Essence remained tightly contained, difficult to extract, he knew its worth: it was the very root of the Upper Star Rings, the core energy of the entire Upper Star River—and the key to perfecting an immortal embryo!

Such energy was precious simply by existing!

“Is this why the Moyang Universe is classified as strategic resource?”

Xu Qing resolved to study it thoroughly later. Withdrawing his gaze from the black hole, he turned to the middle-aged man now watching him intently.

“Leave this place.”

Xu Qing’s voice rumbled low.

The middle-aged man was none other than Kunwu.

His gaze fell upon Xu Qing, his expression darkening as he spoke in a cold, indifferent tone.

"Are you an Ascendant of this generation?"

Xu Qing remained silent, merely observing the Kunwu before him with a tranquil detachment.

Kunwu narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Xu Qing with a careful intensity, finding him somewhat inscrutable; he could sense that although the man before him was not a Quasi-Immortal, he possessed the combat prowess of one, particularly noting the ripples of time and space fluctuating around him.

This aroused a sense of vigilance within him, and after a moment of deliberation, he allowed his voice to drift out slowly.

"This seat hails from a grand immortal sect, and though this universe was once exceptional, it has now degraded into the mundane... hence, I shall borrow it for a time."

"Not long, a mere three hundred years."

"As for the compensation..."

Before Kunwu could even finish his sentence, Xu Qing had already raised his right hand, and the Law of Time and Space within his body abruptly unfurled at that very instant.

It sought to seize control of the time and destiny of all living things and myriad creation within the Moyang Universe!

Had it been any other universe, with Xu Qing's current level of cultivation, he would naturally be unable to achieve this, for any given universe was near-infinite in its vastness.

Yet the Moyang Universe was different.

From the very moment of his descent, he had become the Master of the Immortal Palace of this universe, bound to it by a master-servant causality; this place... had become his private domain.

It was akin to the divine kingdom belonging to a deity within a pantheon.

Thus, his divine sense had previously been able to utilize this karmic tie to blanket the entirety of the cosmos.

And now, his Law of Time and Space acted in the exact same manner.

In a flash, the time of the entire Moyang Universe surged and churned in unison, overtaken by Xu Qing's Law as it manifested from the formless void.

Whereupon, the echoing sound of rushing water resonated through the cosmos.

The roar of crashing waves broke out.

A vast, boundless vein of water wound its way through the void, expanding ever greater until it ultimately coalesced into a colossal river of time that shook the universe, appearing... upon Xu Qing's upraised right hand in the briefest span of a breath!

That miraculous river astounded the world, harboring within it the shadows of all living beings and the spirits of all creation, as though it had been the cradle of civilization since time immemorial, nourishing the vast starry skies and the countless lifeforms dwelling within.

At this moment, governed by Xu Qing's Law, it descended into reality.

The instant Xu Qing lowered his right hand, it pressed down toward the space below with crushing weight.

The starry sky shuddered, and the void warped violently.

Every foreign cultivator who perceived this scene felt their souls gripped by sheer terror, and even the middle-aged man who had been sitting cross-legged and fishing underwent a drastic change in expression.

A powerful sense of impending crisis erupted abruptly within the depths of his heart; without any time to offer an explanation, Kunwu's Quasi-Immortal cultivation burst forth in its entirety, and in a mere instant, flowers bloomed, grasses sprouted, and trees emerged all around him.

Endless vegetation materialized out of thin air in a fraction of a second, growing at an astonishing velocity and blanketing all the surrounding void.

It was as if an boundless, primeval jungle had been painted directly onto the canvas of the starry sky.

Furthermore, it surged wildly toward the descending river of time.

It spread into the great river, growing amidst the rushing currents, seemingly intent on transforming that vast vein of water into a mere extension of the jungle!

It sought to completely envelop it!

This, was Kunwu's Law!

The Lord of Vegetation.

Xu Qing remained expressionless, his lowered right hand instantly forming a hand incantation.

Instantly, within the Moyang Universe, the countless stars all began to tremble, and the time belonging to them was forcibly extracted, transforming into... grains of sand within the river of time!

Every single grain of sand was a star.

Using stars as sand, the great river gained a "foundation" and acquired a crushing "weight."

It pressed down once more.

The vegetation within the river collapsed in an instant, and the jungle outside the waters began to exhibit signs of withering.

However, as a Quasi-Immortal, Kunwu was naturally extraordinary.

Thus, that which had collapsed began to restore itself, and that which was withering also attempted to reverse its fate.

As for his own body, he no longer remained cross-legged but abruptly retreated backward, a cold gleam flashing within his eyes.

He could see that Xu Qing was far from simple.

"The cultivation of a Sovereign, yet possessing the combat power of a Quasi-Immortal."

"No wonder you are unwilling to lend this place to me, but... you are ultimately not a Quasi-Immortal yet!"

As he spoke, a fierce and sharp light flashed in Kunwu's eyes, and he raised both hands, swinging them downward with sudden force.

"Inversion of Heaven and Earth!"

The moment the words left his lips, all the vegetation in this place ceased to recover from its collapse and stopped reversing its decay; instead... it chose self-destruction, choosing to wither and die of its own accord.

In the blink of an eye, the boundless expanse of flora perished completely.

And their demise generated a thick, dense aura of death, which instantly gathered together at the sound of Kunwu's voice.

"Borrowing the Law of Death, to snap the thread of life through mortality!"

The death aura condensed, forming a gray shroud of a canvas, within which Xu Qing's silhouette was currently being sketched out.

This canvas was like a death seal; whoever was painted upon it would have their life forcefully snapped away.

This was precisely Kunwu's ultimate trump card, a development and extension of his own Vegetation Law.

Confronting this Law, a cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes; sensing the danger, he waved his hand with a sharp motion.

Instantly, the river of time roared, altering its very form into a swirling vortex that rumbled as it turned, drawing in the wind to form... a space-time storm!

The Boundless Void emerged.

The canvas trembled violently, growing utterly chaotic within this boundless void, and Xu Qing's figure upon it blurred rapidly, unable to be sketched to completion.

Meanwhile, the storm born of the boundless void swept directly toward Kunwu at this very moment.

Seeing his lethal strike neutralized, Kunwu's expression shifted once more, his body retreating at maximum speed as his mind fluctuated violently with shock, prompting him to suddenly speak out.

"To be able to control the Law to such a degree, which rank do you hold among the Ascendants of this generation?"

Xu Qing gave no answer; though his battles against Quasi-Immortals were few, he understood perfectly well that any Quasi-Immortal possessed their own formidable traits, particularly the one before him, who was an Ascendant from a previous generation and a chosen talent in his own right.

Such a Quasi-Immortal was naturally even more powerful.

Thus, the Parallel Law within his body stirred into motion.

In an instant, layer upon layer of time and space crashed down with a thunderous roar.

Like the opening of a kaleidoscope!

Furthermore, the Heavenly Principles emerged!

The pupils of Kunwu's eyes contracted sharply, and a powerful sense of crisis exploded within his heart instantly; without the slightest hesitation, he immediately produced the immortal jade slip that would return him to his own universe, initiating a sudden teleportation.

He no longer wished to fight!

He had originally chosen to play the part of an unruly guest and remain here by relying on his own cultivation, while also knowing that most of the newly ascended individuals were merely Sovereigns.

With his own cultivation, though he had ranked only in the sixties among ascenders back then, he was now a quasi-immortal—bullying newcomers was perfectly natural.

He himself had once walked that very path.

Thus, he prepared to forcibly suppress this one.

After all, in his understanding, the Moyang Cosmos, despite its former glory, was now merely ordinary.

Yet he hadn’t expected that the one who had taken control of this cosmos would prove so obstinate—and terrifyingly powerful.

Especially that moment with the kaleidoscope—it had triggered an instant, overwhelming sense of mortal peril within him.

It felt as if even a heartbeat’s delay would mean death.

This filled him with utter terror. In that instant, his figure blurred and vanished—he had teleported away!

But Heaven’s Principle had already followed him.

Xu Qing gazed coldly in his direction. After a long pause, he raised his hand—and Heaven’s Principle returned, stained with blood.

At that same moment, every alien powerhouse in the Moyang Cosmos who had been watching the battle was struck with profound awe. One by one, they lowered their heads and bowed toward Xu Qing’s location in worship.

Just like Kunwu’s lingering doubt before his departure, these alien experts were all shaken to their cores—and each began to form their own guesses about Xu Qing’s true ranking…

…

At the same time, not too far from the Moyang Cosmos—only seven or eight universes away—in the starry void lay a realm called Tiandou.

Within the Immortal Palace of this Tiandou Cosmos, Kunwu’s form materialized from teleportation.

The moment he appeared, he spat out a great mouthful of blood, his eyes still haunted by terror.

His face had turned deathly pale; his once-blue hair had faded to gray, withering visibly strand by strand.

Even his aura grew unstable. Though he immediately sat cross-legged and recklessly burned his nascent immortal embryo to stabilize himself, his cultivation fluctuated wildly—and ultimately failed to settle at the quasi-immortal stage.

He withered rapidly.

Fortunately, the decline halted before it went too far, leaving him stranded at the peak of Sovereignhood.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and let out a bitter laugh.

Recalling that speck of dust that had suddenly appeared during his teleportation, his heart still clenched with dread.

“This person… is absolutely no ordinary being. Among this generation’s new ascenders, he must surely be one of the most renowned!”

Kunwu drew a deep breath. Regret flickered in his heart over his earlier decision to linger in the Moyang Cosmos. Sighing heavily, he sent out a mental transmission to inquire of his friends about the top ten names among this cycle’s ascenders.

After a long wait, the reply arrived—and Kunwu’s body trembled violently, his eyes widening in shock.

“Number one…”

He froze for a moment, then sighed resignedly, muttering inwardly about his rotten luck…

“No wonder he’s so strong!”

But the next instant, his brow furrowed again.

“That doesn’t make sense. Normally, someone like him should have been granted a special cosmos. As for Moyang—even if it was once exceptional, it’s now utterly mundane. Could it be… there’s something inside the Moyang Cosmos I don’t know about?”

Kunwu hesitated—but in the end, he shook his head, dismissing any thought of further investigation.

If Xu Qing had merely been an ordinary ascender, he wouldn’t have cared. Even if Xu Qing ranked among the top ten, Kunwu could have rallied fellow cultivators—after all, hailing from the Great Immortal Mountain, he had connections throughout the Nine Shores Heaven.

But number one? He knew full well that such a person was beyond his reach to provoke.

“The first among ascenders in every cycle draws the attention of the Nine Shores Immortal Lords… Such a person is simply untouchable.”