Chapter 1212: Snatching Food from the Tiger's Mouth

Chapter 1212 Snatching Food from the Tiger's Mouth

The sheer volume of this source substance had reached a level that was thoroughly earth-shattering.

After all, this was a true god!

And a true god, within any upper stellar ring, was a favored child of that ring, the confluence wherein all upper rules and laws converged in adoration.

Thus arose the innate talent of true deity immortality, a trait distinct from the lower immortals!

As long as the true name endured, as long as it was remembered, then a true god… would never truly die.

This was the fundamental nature of the upper stellar ring, an unshakeable truth.

Even an Immortal Sovereign could not alter this reality.

Though he could raise a hand to suppress countless true gods, he remained powerless to prevent their eventual return.

This, after all, was the upper domain of deities!

Innate nature decreed that immortals… were inferior to gods.

And of Immortal Sovereigns, there was only one.

Furthermore, beyond a Divine Sovereign lay the legendary gods of myth, yet within the system of the immortals… the Immortal Sovereign was already the absolute end.

Above the Immortal Sovereign, there was no road.

Or perhaps one existed, but it had yet to be found.

Therefore, to fundamentally destroy a true god from its very essence, the only way was for an Immortal Sovereign within the immortal system to find that path, successfully take that step forward, and attain that legendary immortal realm equivalent to the stature of a deity.

Only then could it be achieved!

It was precisely because of this talent, bound tightly to the essence of the upper domain, that the method of imprisonment through suppression came to be.

It kept a true god suspended between life and death, stripping away its freedom yet denying it true death, meaning there could be no talk of resurgence.

Only in this manner could the number of true gods manifesting in the world be, to some extent, continually diminished.

Thus came this very moment, where three low-tier existences—whom He could have crushed with a casual wave of His hand during His peak—were now like lice, frantically absorbing His source substance!

The Mud Fox drew in a sharp breath.

It felt that all of this was simply too thrilling!

Never before this moment had It truly faced a true god!

Within Its divine soul, embedded deep within the inheritance of the deities, was branded a profound awe and longing toward true gods; all of this instinctively compelled It to bow Its head.

It would not even entertain the thought of plundering.

Just as back then when Xu Qing and Erniu plundered the flesh and blood of the Residual Face, the three gods of the sun, moon, and stars were horrified, yet dared not steal it away for fear of generating karma.

The present situation was much the same.

The difference was that this true god was imprisoned; even if karma were generated, it would not pose a major issue.

Another difference was that the Mud Fox itself no longer possessed the flawless divine fire of the past; It had already stepped onto the divine platform. If It could raise Its cultivation by one more major realm, there was no saying It, Xing Yan, might not one day become a true god as well!

Furthermore… Xu Qing was actively absorbing!

With someone demonstrating right before Its eyes, the Mud Fox inhaled deeply, gritted Its teeth fiercely, and chose to ignore the reverence for true gods inherent in Its divine soul's legacy.

Madness ignited within Its eyes as well.

It abruptly began to devour.

In an instant, a thick torrent of source substance rushed directly into the Mud Fox's body, replenishing Its divine corpse, nourishing Its divine soul, and perfecting Its divine authority, causing Its status to continuously rise, and Its divine authority… to forge ahead toward a divine throne!

That sensation of pure euphoria, that feeling of becoming increasingly powerful, that perception of life leaping forward, caused the Mud Fox to let out a few involuntary groans.

It was deeply moving.

Yet unfortunately, neither Xu Qing nor the Seaweed showed the slightest ripple of emotion in response.

The Seaweed was consumed by excitement.

Its life was highly peculiar; though an alien race, it was the sole survivor of its species within the entire Fifth Stellar Ring.

In other words, it alone constituted an entire race.

Moreover, it had no need for cultivation; from the very moment of its birth, it would instinctively absorb the drifting source substance in the starry sky to grow.

As for exactly how large it could grow, it did not know itself.

It only knew that the source substance it required was incomparably vast, and over the years, even though it had embezzled from its own guard posts, it had never reached maturity.

And maturity, in its cognition, was comparable to a lower immortal, comparable to a true god.

Thus it had always been striving, until this very moment when it beheld hope, finding itself right in the midst of it.

Consequent to this, its devouring was done without sparing any effort.

Compared to them, Xu Qing at this moment had already staked everything he possessed.

He understood perfectly well that time was short!

Even by combining the strength of all three parties, they could not persist here for too long, so within this brief window, how much could be absorbed depended entirely on their respective capabilities.

In the next breath, outside Xu Qing’s body, the Constitutional Law of Time and Space opened fully, and amidst the overlaying universes and stacked epochs, versions of himself from various times and spaces all manifested, joining together with the Xu Qing of this timeline…

To absorb!

Using this timeline as a node to connect with other times and spaces, drawing upon his various selves from every timeline, the speed of Xu Qing's absorption instantly reached a terrifying and unheard-of degree.

In a mere flash, seventy percent of the source substance erupting from the solar wound where the great sword had pierced came whistling directly toward Xu Qing.

Swallowed down by him.

Though unable to digest so much in an instant, Xu Qing had come well-prepared; those portions that could not be immediately absorbed were sent by him to his alternate selves in other timelines.

Cooperating with one another, the devouring continued unabated.

Such dense source substance brought unprecedented nourishment to Xu Qing's immortal embryo.

His mind instantly roared, his soul soared, his physical body ascended, and his immortal embryo swelled explosively!

His immortal embryo had originally reached the stage of immortality, and now, under this extreme ascension, it grew visibly more solid, filled to the brim with dense source substance, shining with a resplendent light.

As this light circulated, the aura of immortality upon the immortal embryo grew increasingly grand.

Achieving direct, grand completion of immortality!

Xu Qing’s entire body shook as a gleam of exhilaration flashed through his eyes.

He knew very well that the next step beyond the immortal embryo's immortality realm was the true fusion of Illusionary Reality and Immortality after both achieved mutual perfection, a fusion that required a massive replenishment of source substance.

And once the fusion successfully unified them, it would allow the immortal embryo to be truly sculpted.

That would signify… Xu Qing’s true cultivation would break through the Sovereign realm and step into the Quasi-Immortal stage!

This sort of opportunity, this kind of fortune, drove Xu Qing into an even greater frenzy.

And the grand completion of the immortal embryo in the realm of immortality also made Xu Qing’s Constitutional Law of Time and Space more robust, increasing the number of parallel timelines he could master.

In an instant, it reached one hundred realms!

One hundred realms, one hundred of himself.

Thus, the force of this devouring grew even greater.

Everything had now become a virtuous cycle.

The mud fox and the seaweed, in that moment, grew even more frenzied, staking everything they had to seize still more.

And so, through the combined efforts of these three parties, the first gush of primal essence began to thin. Seeing this, Xu Qing’s eyes flashed with resolve; he thrust the wooden slip in his right hand deeper downward.

This drew forth yet more primal essence, once again pulling it into motion—on the verge of another eruption.

The mud fox and the seaweed, now trembling with excitement like starving fledglings, readied themselves for another ravenous feast.

But just as the second surge of primal essence was drawn forth and began surging upward… suddenly, from the wound where the great sword had pierced, a silvery light flared violently.

In an instant, that radiance became blinding, surging skyward and forming a circular halo centered on the great sword—a seal that slammed down upon the wound below like a lid sealing a cauldron.

With that single motion, the erupting primal essence was instantly blocked.

A thunderous roar echoed through the void—the essence… could no longer break free!

At the same time, a deep, furious voice boomed forth from within the silver light, overwhelming as a tidal wave:

“Who dares be so bold as to steal this immortal’s divine grain!”

With those words, murderous intent erupted, sweeping outward with irresistible force.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

He recognized the silver light as a seal—and upon sensing it, realized it did not share the same origin as the great sword. Rather, it had been added later, artificially imposed.

But there was no time for contemplation. The moment that killing intent burst forth, he was already retreating.

Chrono-Edict before him, Parallel Edict shielding him.

The Fox Beauty’s manifested sigil exerted itself fully, bolstering Xu Qing’s speed until he barely grazed the edge of that murderous aura as he recoiled backward.

Even that glancing contact was enough—the terror of that killing intent instantly annihilated several of Xu Qing’s temporal avatars.

Blood poured from his mouth, one mouthful after another.

He wasted none of it. Each spurt of blood fueled his Blood Escape Technique, propelling him through successive leaps. Amid a cascade of thunderous detonations, he finally retreated to a relatively safe distance.

There, breathing heavily, Xu Qing fled once more—

until, in a flicker, he shot out through the entrance by which he’d come.

Standing beneath the starry sky, his mind finally eased somewhat. He first examined his own condition, then probed the stores of primal essence within his parallel timelines.

“If I fully digest all this, it should barely suffice to bring my Immortal Embryo to completion—to step into Quasi-Immortality!”

“But ‘barely’ is precarious. If I could gather just a bit more, success would be assured…”

“Once I become a Quasi-Immortal, my combat prowess will leap forward dramatically!”

Xu Qing licked his lips, his gaze deepening as he looked toward that sun.

That killing intent… was far beyond what any Quasi-Immortal could wield.

“That was a Lower Immortal…”

“This place was once arranged by a Lower Immortal as his personal harvesting ground—a prison marked by his own decree. My arrival was like plucking a ripe fruit… thus triggering the seal.”

Thoughts churned in Xu Qing’s mind. Then he turned his head, shifting his gaze from the sun to the enormous seaweed.

After its recent absorption, the seaweed had sprouted a new leaf—still tender, yet clearly richer in aura than before.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Xu Qing spoke suddenly.

The seaweed remained silent for a long while, then finally sent forth a thought:

“He was the last Warden of this cosmic prison within Aurora Outer Heaven. Back then, he was a Quasi-Immortal; later, he ascended to Lower Immortal and changed allegiances. But his ascension encountered complications—he cannot leave his secluded cultivation site.”

The seaweed answered truthfully. Having tasted the primal essence, it too desired more, and thus held nothing back.

Xu Qing pondered deeply.

Though the fall of the Aurora Immortal Sovereign had dimmed the Aurora Immortal Palace and caused the high ranks of Aurora Outer Heaven to meet their karmic reckoning, that fate had befallen only immortals.

Many who lacked the standing to attend the wedding or witness the rotation of duties had survived.

“So unless this seal is dealt with, further absorption will be nearly impossible. To abandon it now… would be hard to accept.”

A cold glint flickered in Xu Qing’s eyes.

Though the opponent was an immortal, the Fifth Star Ring was not lawless.

“If I rally everyone and leverage my authority as Provisioner… even an immortal cannot act with impunity within the ordered domain of the Fifth Star Ring!”

“And with more people, the burden of the seal can be shared. Moreover, I’ll need Yuan Shan Su and Xing Huan Zi—their cultivation levels would provide tremendous aid.”

Having reached this decision, Xu Qing prepared to summon them—

when suddenly, the seaweed rippled, and the jade slip on his person transmitted a message.

The sender was Xing Huan Zi!

“There’s a secret within the Huntian Imperial Clan—and I sense something I desperately need inside. But this clan also possesses an Exemption Decree granted by Lingguang Outer Heaven.”

“This decree shields them from Provisioner requisitions. Furthermore, powerful cultivators reside within the clan!”

“Now, they block us externally with this decree and intimidate us internally with their strength. Xu Qing, I’ll give you half of whatever I obtain.”

“Do you dare join me?”

The message was clearly a plea for help—

though phrased with such blunt arrogance, perfectly fitting Xing Huan Zi’s proud temperament.

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow.

His thoughts turned: if Xing Huan Zi had chosen to ask for help, it meant the item he sought was truly vital—and the “powerful cultivator” he mentioned must indeed be formidable!

After a moment’s consideration, Xu Qing transmitted his reply:

“I, too, have a matter requiring your cooperation afterward.”

“Deal!” Xing Huan Zi responded instantly, without asking for details.

“Deal!” Xu Qing tucked away the jade slip and turned to leave—but after a pause, he glanced back at the seaweed, his eyes gleaming strangely, and suddenly asked:

“Can you… leave this place?”