Chapter 1230: Alien Filth Spirit, Detested by Immortals and Gods

Chapter 1230: Heterogeneous Defilement, Celestial Spirits’ Aversion

The thirty-six ascending star rings, in truth, could be viewed as vast, independent star charts unto themselves.

Each ring held boundless, unfathomable immensity within.

Yet seen as a whole, these thirty ascending rings interconnected, forming an irregular colossal ring more awe-inspiring to all sentient beings.

At the heart of this giant ring formed by the thirty-six ascending star rings lay a sea—black, vast, and steeped in thick heterogeneous defilement!

Its scale surpassed all comprehension.

It was named the Origin Sea.

Shrouded in mystery beyond imagining, its core regions remained impenetrable even to Divine Lords; none dared trespass lightly.

It possessed thirty-six main currents flowing into the thirty-six star rings, branching further within each ring into countless tributaries—what cultivators and deities called the Outer Sea!

The war between the Fourth and Fifth Star Rings erupted along their bordering lands.

Part belonged to the Fifth Ring, part to the Fourth.

This conflict, born of the irreconcilable enmity between Celestials and Gods, had raged for eons.

Stalemate had long reigned, neither side able to overcome the other, so restraint held back Divine Lord-level clashes.

Until a new Divine Lord arose within the Fourth Star Ring!

Thus, under this Divine Lord’s command and presence, the war’s tempo quickened, intensifying beyond all prior fury.

Zhanlu, the Celestial Lord guarding the border, finally met his destined adversary!

Such battles transcended mere Daoist arts and divine spells; their exchanges eluded even the perception of ordinary deities and cultivators.

Even True Gods and Lower Celestials could scarcely grasp the struggle between Divine Lords and Celestial Lords, sensing only its faint echoes.

For at this pinnacle, the core of their clash lay in Momentum!

To the battlefield cultivators, Lord Zhanlu embodied their Momentum—a force far surpassing the Heavenly Dao, an extension of the Fifth Ring’s will, the apex thought upon the field.

His mere presence diffused the unique Celestial Spirit Qi of cultivators across all directions, purging every trace of defilement!

Should all defilement here vanish, leaving only Celestial Spirit Qi, the war’s tide would irrevocably shift.

Gaze upon the entire Fourth Star Ring: if one day its defilement too were wholly replaced by Celestial Spirit Qi…

Without defilement, without Divine Breath, gods would be as fish bereft of water—struggling perhaps, yet doomed like the Fifth Ring’s original deities.

This was the method the Fifth Ring had painstakingly devised to suppress deities.

Divine Breath defilement, poison to cultivators, defiles the spirit upon touch.

Celestial Spirit Qi, abhorred by deities, damages them upon contact.

This was Momentum itself.

The Divine Lord, of course, grasped this truth. Thus, the moment he appeared, boundless defilement born of thick Divine Breath saturated all directions.

With defilement, he sought to drown all—Celestial Spirit Qi included.

Hence, the war between the Fourth and Fifth Rings, viewed from above, was a clash of Divine Lord versus Celestial Lord, defilement versus Celestial Spirit Qi.

It was also a battle to forge Momentum for their respective sides!

Even if deities defied the rules and struck directly, the outcome remained unchanged; true suppression demanded defilement and Celestial Spirit Qi collide headlong.

For the Fourth Ring’s dense defilement mirrored the Fifth Ring’s potent Celestial Spirit Qi—any intruder into the opposing ring suffered invisible weakening.

Thus, gradual encroachment, seizing Momentum, became the war’s crux.

Consequently, the role of deities and cultivators below the Lord tier grew paramount.

They must consolidate and contest Momentum for their masters.

For the inscrutable clashes between Divine and Celestial Lords manifested entirely in the ebb and flow of Celestial Spirit Qi and defilement.

Cultivators must rush to regions where their Celestial Lord gained advantage, where Celestial Spirit Qi surged and defilement receded, erecting Fifth Ring Dao banners at the frontier’s edge.

These banners anchored the Celestial Spirit Qi, claiming the territory for the Fifth Ring.

Simultaneously, by decree, they infiltrated divine zones to shatter sacred foundations.

Like rolling snowballs, they seized more ground, building irreversible Momentum that nourished the Celestial Lord, tilting the high-level struggle.

The deities acted likewise—consolidating their Divine Lord’s gains, blocking banner placements, and spreading defilement to reclaim lost ground.

On the battlefield, viewed from the heights, it appeared as a stark fusion of black and white.

Black: defilement.

White: Celestial Spirit Qi.

Like an ink-wash tableau in perpetual motion, they surged and retreated, fighting inch by inch.

This was the war of gods and Celestials.

The Lords’ battle, centered on Momentum, shaped the lower field with every move, while the armies below fed back into their masters’ struggle.

Hence the ferocity.

Death was constant.

The weak falling to the strong, commonplace.

Now, within this battlefield spanning countless universes, behind the left flank of the cultivators’ zone, over a hundred squads from the Provisions Bureau materialized via successive teleportations.

Among them was the squad that had once clashed with Xinghuanzi and Xu Qing on the Provisions Bureau star.

Instantly upon arrival, their faces paled, expressions grave. Under the cold gaze of the armies guarding the teleport zone, they sped away in formation.

All who had transitioned from Provision Officers to Transport Officers bore a singular task: scatter like mist, traverse the battlefield, and deliver their gathered Origin Essence to the left-wing sector at utmost speed.

That sector thirsted for Origin Essence!

As the teleport glow faded, Xu Qing’s group arrived.

The moment they stepped onto the platform, the alien starfield, the grim aura, the palpable thinning of Celestial Spirit Qi, and the faint defilement drifting through space flooded their senses.

Many Ascended felt immediate discomfort.

To them, war had been distant.

Though they’d fought countless personal battles, true war was foreign.

Especially the distant roars that seemed to shatter multiple universes, the spatial chaos from all sides, the chilling aura born of mass death…

These filled their minds with disorientation.

Instinct drove them to scan their surroundings.

But before they could observe further, a deep, thunderous command erupted from the cultivator armies guarding the zone.

“You! Deliver the Origin Essence—now!”

This voice, louder than thunderclaps, exploded within their hearts as a tsunami of sound.

Its sheer force, like a cataclysmic storm, crushed all resistance.

The crowd’s expressions shifted yet again.

That was the Voice of the Lower Immortals!

Xu Qing’s pupils contracted, yet war was no stranger to him. Though he had never fought on such a scale, his composure remained far steadier than the others’.

Thus, he swayed his body and shot forward.

Behind him, the squad of cultivators rose one by one, trailing Xu Qing.

The closer they drew to the battlefield, the more perilous the surroundings became, the tighter their squad coalesced.

Such was the nature of humanity.

After all, Xu Qing’s combat prowess stood peerless among them, his status utterly distinct. To survive the battlefield, clinging to Xu Qing offered the greatest chance.

Yet within Xu Qing, a deep unease settled.

He raced onward, gazing toward the distant horizon, sensing the air around him.

To alien essence, he was far more attuned than the rest. He felt the region’s alien essence thickening almost imperceptibly with each step forward.

“Moreover, if source essence were truly urgent… whether through teleportation or dispatching elite warriors to transport it, both would be swifter, more efficient choices.”

“Why then… send those barely seasoned for war to carry it here?”

This doubt had haunted Xu Qing since the journey began.

Now, standing on the battlefield, feeling the drifting alien essence, the question burrowed deeper into his mind.

Faintly, a suspicion took shape.

And as that suspicion arose, a whoosh sounded behind him. Xinghuanzi, Zhou Zhengli, Xielingzi, and Yuanshan Su surged toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing slowed, letting them catch up, then narrowed his eyes and looked back.

Xinghuanzi’s face was grave as he whispered directly into Xu Qing’s mind.

“Xu Qing, my Order-sense detects the fabric of Order here fracturing. Chaos thickens—something is terribly wrong!”

Xielingzi licked his lips, his voice equally hushed.

“You know I differ from you. I did not awaken Order through insight, but wield a unique Order-artifact—the shattered blade I carry. It thrums with excitement now. From long experience, I know this blade only stirs thus when mortal peril looms.”

“This time… its fervor is unprecedented!”

Beside them, Zhou Zhengli’s expression turned equally severe. After Xinghuanzi and Xielingzi spoke, he turned to Xu Qing, his voice low and heavy.

“Master, our very arrival here defies reason. So I suspect…”

“Could it be… we are…”

Zhou Zhengli’s gaze swept over the group.

“Bait!”

“Not merely our squad—but every supply team sent here. The source essence we carry…”

“Will become the bait!”

As Zhou Zhengli’s words fell, each sank into thought.

Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with a dark light. The suspicion forming in his mind matched theirs exactly!

“To cast us as bait within territory still held by the cultivators’ forces means…” Xu Qing spoke slowly.

His words hung in the air before Yuanshan Su murmured in reply.

“It means… this region will fall!”

“Hence, they seek to lure out the hidden deities within this warzone early—securing greater stability once the cataclysm strikes!”

Two chapters tomorrow.

Apologies for the year-end busyness—tomorrow’s installment will make up for it.