Chapter 1228: Time Amber

Chapter 1228: Amber of Time

Xu Qing’s childhood had been one of upheaval and wandering, marked by countless human sufferings—yet through sheer will to survive, he had fought his way through every trial with everything he had.

Such experiences forged in him a cautious nature, a ruthless disposition that repaid even the slightest slight, and a cold-blooded capacity for slaughter. Yet within him also burned an unquenchable yearning for knowledge and beauty—a light that never dimmed in his heart.

Still, his inner world remained locked away, rarely opened to others.

In the years that followed, his path twisted and turned, yet overall it grew far smoother than the torments of his youth, and slowly, his heart began to open once more.

Yet even on this road where flowers bloomed, there were also withered petals.

As Xu Qing matured, he gradually opened his heart to the world—and within it appeared figure after figure…

His heart stirred.

And within it arose a storm known as Ultimate Wrath!

The first time such fury consumed him was upon Lei Dui’s death.

Afterward came Master Bai’s murder.

Then came the moment his elder brother hurled Sixth Uncle’s severed head before him—and the revelation of Wushuang City’s truth.

The fourth eruption came with the fall of the Sword-Bearing Emperor.

Now, this was the fifth.

Everything within the illusion, viewed upon awakening, bore many flaws—but while immersed within it, his senses perceived it as utterly real. He felt as though he had truly lived through it all, experiencing the unbearable agony and soul-crushing emptiness left behind when everyone he knew vanished without a trace.

Now, as Xu Qing awoke, the intensity of that remembered pain transformed directly into a towering, cataclysmic rage.

Thus, facing the voice of this True God—not yet fully returned, still mid-process—Xu Qing offered no verbal reply.

His aura, the bloodshot veins in his eyes, and the violent fluctuations radiating from every pore had already coalesced into pure, absolute killing intent—infusing his Immortal Embryo, merging into the Aurora Immortal Palace.

And then—it erupted!

The starry sky roared; even the Outer Heaven rippled. Here in the void, Xu Qing’s Immortal Embryo stood supreme, and within it, the Aurora Immortal Palace fully manifested, gathering earth-shattering power as it suddenly crashed down upon the half-human, half-spider deity!

The resulting boom surpassed all previous sounds.

Bathed in infinite immortal radiance, the Aurora Immortal Palace descended—and the returning True God attempted to evade, but…

At this moment, He was exceedingly weak, caught mid-return.

Moreover, the backlash from His own divine techniques inflicted excruciating torment upon His very soul, forcing cries of agony from His mouth that He could not suppress.

Added to this was the crushing pressure from the Outer Heaven—something a weakened True God like Him could never withstand.

All these factors combined ensured His evasion failed utterly.

The colossal Immortal Palace struck Him directly.

With a single blow, the True God trembled violently, His body sinking uncontrollably as golden blood spurted forth. Cracks spiderwebbed across His vessel-form, unleashing even greater suffering like a tempest sweeping through Him.

He sought to retaliate—

But in the next instant, Xu Qing, consumed by peak fury, would never grant Him such an opportunity.

Once more, the Aurora Immortal Palace blazed with light, its brilliance piercing the starry expanse, drawing in even greater forces as it smashed down again!

Thunderous crashes echoed alongside the True God’s anguished shrieks.

More fissures split open across the returning deity’s form—especially across His spider-half, which now teetered on the brink of disintegration, leaking dense streams of primal essence.

Yet He still struggled, attempting to weave divine arts from the escaping essence.

But Xu Qing, having just escaped death itself, was far too wary to allow this. In a single step, he entered the Aurora Immortal Palace and seated himself cross-legged within its grand hall.

To the outside world, the Palace might seem illusory—but here in the Outer Heaven, it was undeniably real.

Seated within, wielding full authority, Xu Qing became, in this moment, the sovereign of the Outer Heaven.

Though his cultivation remained insufficient and his methods lacked true efficacy against a True God… the Palace itself was the ultimate weapon!

He needed no arcane arts—no technique could possibly vent the depth of his wrath as thoroughly as pure, unadulterated violence!

Thus, at his mental command, the Aurora Immortal Palace slammed down once more upon the returning True God!

Again! And again! And again!

Xu Qing was unleashing his fury!

Deafening booms drowned out the True God’s wails.

Cracks multiplied across the deity’s body until, amid final screams, half His spider-form shattered completely—splintering into fragments.

Only the human half remained, its eyes now dimmed with profound weakness.

Yet neither soul-rending agony nor bodily torment was what this True God feared most in this moment.

What truly terrified Him… was the black hole below!

That abyss was the prison formed from the concentrated might of the entire Outer Heaven—the ultimate cage of damnation. Should He fall into it, any hope of future return would be nearly extinguished forever!

With each successive impact from the Immortal Palace, His body drew ever closer to that void.

In this dire moment, His eyes suddenly blazed with golden fire—not burning outward, but flowing inward, engulfing His entire form.

He had chosen to burn Himself alive!

To self-destruct!

For though destroying His vessel meant failing to return, it would also erase every trace of His presence.

Thus, some chance of future return might yet remain.

But if His vessel survived only to be imprisoned within the black hole, all hope would vanish entirely.

So without hesitation, He ignited not only His vessel but also the half-returned divine core within—burning even that to ash.

Even if it cost Him eons to recover, time was the one thing gods possessed in abundance.

He could wait.

His self-immolation was decisive, swift—almost impossible to stop.

In the blink of an eye, He neared total annihilation—precisely the moment of His utmost vulnerability.

But He had underestimated Xu Qing!

Seated cross-legged within the Palace, Xu Qing stared fixedly at the burning deity, his eyes still icy with resolve.

He knew well: True Gods could not truly die.

Thus, his aim had never been mere destruction—he sought to inflict upon His enemy the most exquisite suffering imaginable!

How could he possibly let Him escape so easily?

This ending… wasn’t yours to choose!

In the next instant, Xu Qing abruptly raised his right hand and uttered a single Daoist syllable:

“Seal!”

The Azure Heaven trembled. Across infinite realms—countless stars, galaxies, universes—all obeyed in that instant, bound by Xu Qing’s authority over the Palace and his dominion over the Outer Heaven…

Instant Seal!

This Heaven Beyond Heaven was severed in an instant, cutting off all connection between inside and out!

The entire Heaven Beyond Heaven had become a vast, boundless prison!

Yet this Heaven Beyond Heaven belonged to the Upper Planetary Ring, and True Gods were immortal—their True Names returning or departing was merely the Ring’s own affection for its deities, like fish darting freely through the sea.

Thus, this isolation was not absolute—it resembled a fishing net cast wide, yet riddled with gaps.

But Xu Qing’s methods would never be so limited.

At that very moment, another object shot forth from his Immortal Palace!

It hovered in the starry void beyond the palace—

an hourglass!

The very same temporal treasure he had claimed from the mirrored history of the Aurora Immortal Palace!

Within it lay one transcendent hour—an extra measure of time detached from this continuum!

An hour that could be forcibly inserted into any moment, immutable and indelible!

It existed outside time itself, beyond the flow of ages,

unbound by any temporal law,

ready to be wielded at will by one who commanded the Chrono-Edict—whether to let time flow normally, hasten it, or slow it down.

Its limit: precisely one hour.

Now, as it appeared, it shattered with a sharp crack.

Its sands burst forth in a cascade of iridescent light, spreading instantly—

just as the burning True God’s body and divine core began to dissipate…

those sands enveloped Him!

Granting Him one additional hour—

an hour unbound by causality, untethered from this spacetime!

Under Xu Qing’s mastery of the Chrono-Edict, its effect was clear:

to stretch His departure and self-immolation into agonizing slowness,

transforming that single breath into a full, tangible hour within reality.

If sealing Heaven Beyond Heaven was like casting a net upon the ocean,

then these temporal sands were the force that slowed the fleeing fish itself—

robbing His escape of swiftness,

prolonging His state of utter vulnerability!

The sight rippled through the cosmos.

Somewhere in the unseen depths, a whisper of True Name echoed—laden with disbelief.

At that moment, Xu Qing rose from within the Immortal Palace.

His eyes glacial, he stepped forth, appearing amidst the stars—

standing before the True God, now stretched thin across an hour of excruciating weakness.

“You enjoy others’ suffering?”

Xu Qing spoke slowly—the first words he’d uttered since their clash began.

His voice dripped with ice.

“Then taste it yourself.”

He raised his hand.

A colossal ice coffin materialized.

Frost radiated from it in nine shifting hues—

the very same coffin Xu Qing had taken from the Huntian Imperial Clan,

once used by the Aurora Immortal Sovereign and his consort to preserve their child,

keeping the young heir frozen eternally in infant form.

It sealed not just flesh, but soul—and even time itself.

After all, it was crafted by Immortal Sovereigns; its power was staggering.

Now, Xu Qing unleashed it.

With a gesture, the coffin shot toward the burning deity, encasing Him completely.

The lid slammed shut with thunderous finality—

completing the seal!

Thus, the True God—still mid-return, still aflame—was locked within.

Time itself was imprisoned alongside Him.

In this way, the deity became trapped in perpetual limbo:

neither truly departed nor fully returned.

Like… a temporal amber!

From this moment on, He would drown in endless agony,

lost in a torment without beginning or end.

His immortality—once the Upper Planetary Ring’s blessing—

had become His curse.

And in this state, He endlessly exuded pure Source Essence,

like an inexhaustible vein of spirit stones!