Chapter 1249: Use Fate!

Chapter 1249: Exploiting Fate!

This ancient deity was already grievously wounded—having barely survived the clutches of Immortal Lord Lingke, then escorting the Divine Maiden across perilous realms, his cultivation could scarcely sustain even the barest threshold of True Godhood.

Like a dam patched together with desperate hands!

Beneath the surface, he was riddled with cracks and hollows.

Each prior exertion had drained him further, especially that killing blow—a nail forged from the combined might of Xu Qing and the others.

That nail struck precisely where Immortal Lord Lingke had shattered him, its reverberations like the final hammer blow that burst the dam, the last tremor collapsing an ice sheet already on the verge of ruin.

Thus, the temple of his divinity crumbled. His realm could no longer hold. His godhead dimmed, and he fell from True Godhood—

teetering on the very brink of exhaustion, his flame nearly spent.

From the distant starry void, cultivator auras surged closer at blinding speed—and among them… the presence of a Lower Immortal!

All this converged into a crisis beyond measure for his sacred duty.

He had intended to retreat, flee with the Divine Maiden, and continue his guardianship!

But in that moment, her divine voice echoed through the heavens—

commanding him… to die.

He hesitated, then lifted his gaze toward her. For the first time, complexity flickered in his eyes.

Gods were not meant to feel emotion.

He knew this well. Yet in that instant—perhaps due to his plummeting realm, perhaps because of his grievous wounds—his divine nature rippled with something unfamiliar.

Within that ripple, he seemed to see the Divine Maiden as a child once more.

He had watched her grow, witnessed her ascend step by step to the apex, seen her bathed in the adoration of countless multitudes.

“This… must be emotion,” he murmured.

The old god fell silent. Then slowly, he turned his back on her, facing Xu Qing and his companions, who were retreating at full speed.

Resolve hardened within him. He took a single step forward.

In that instant, golden radiance erupted from his eyes—a luminous sea of gold that exploded outward across the starry expanse.

Within that golden tide churned terrifying divine might.

Faintly visible amidst the brilliance, his broken body began to swell—growing ever larger, his aura ever more dreadful, surging rapidly toward its ultimate peak.

And echoing through it all came whispers capable of shattering souls—deafening, overwhelming.

It was a voice that stirred the golden sea, scattering divine authority within its waves.

It was a radiance that lit the cosmos, sending ripples through the universe itself!

It was… his self-destruction!

Though his cultivation had fallen and his godhead dimmed—now reduced merely to a Divine Platform—he had, after all, once been a True God!

With a detonation powerful enough to shatter the cosmos, it was as if countless suns released their entire lifetime of light and heat in a single instant—unleashing a force so annihilating it could obliterate everything!

It became a beam of light blazing across the universe,

sweeping through the interstellar void,

racing outward in every direction without end!

Wherever it passed, nebulae vanished in an instant—utterly erased—erasing every trace the departing Divine Maiden had left behind,

ensuring no outsider could ever track or locate her through these remnants.

And ahead of it, Xu Qing and his companions—even retreating at their utmost speed—could not outrun the golden radiance born of the old god’s self-immolation.

In a flash, the light engulfed them all.

Stars shattered. The void collapsed. All existence seemed destined for oblivion!

Even as, in that same moment, the approaching cultivators from afar unleashed the power of a Lower Immortal—their dense immortal energy surging forth to absorb and disperse some of the blast’s fury—

Xu Qing’s group was simply too close. They could not avoid what felt like a preordained calamity, merely hastened into being!

Xu Qing’s mind reeled; everything before his eyes drowned in gold.

He unleashed his full cultivation, shielding desperately—not only himself but also the Ascenders beside him—with his nascent immortal embryo enveloping them all.

Together, they joined forces once more,

resisting as one!

Yet the moment that golden light swept over them—

his nascent immortal embryo trembled, warped, dissolved—and finally shattered. His flesh rippled violently, fragmenting into layers of illusory spacetimes, from which countless versions of himself emerged in rapid succession,

each straining with all their might to resist.

Xing Huanzi and the others likewise fought like madmen, sparing no cost in this life-or-death crisis!

Time lost meaning. At last, the light faded, the thunder receded into distance.

They had endured the golden cataclysm born of the old god’s self-destruction.

Reinforcements from afar arrived in full…

As they drew near, these cultivators gazed upon Xu Qing and his companions with profound respect—and awe at the sheer devastation they beheld.

At their forefront, the leading immortal surveyed the dissipating clouds, then fixed his eyes on Xu Qing and spoke in a low, solemn tone:

“You uncovered the Divine Maiden’s trail—and forced a True God to sacrifice himself unto death. This deed… I shall report directly to the Grand Marshal. You have rendered great service!”

“Return… and rest.”

The Lower Immortal was an elder. He glanced at Xu Qing and those around him, sighed softly,

then left behind several medicinal pills before vanishing in a blur toward the distance, resuming his search for any lingering traces.

His entourage followed suit—each leaving medicines before departing swiftly.

Soon, silence reclaimed the void.

Xu Qing stood alone in the starry expanse, his robes torn, face pale. He coughed up a torrent of blood.

His body and soul trembled with profound weakness and exhaustion. He turned to look at those beside him…

On Xing Huanzi’s forehead, a protective mark bestowed by his master was fading—now crumbling into nothingness.

His body bore countless wounds, blood flowing uncontrollably until he resembled a figure carved from crimson.

Beside him, Zhou Zhengli trembled violently, black blood streaming from both eyes—now hollow sockets.

Blinded.

That was where his constitution had anchored itself.

Li Mengtu had lost half his body and lay unconscious, his fate uncertain.

Yuan Shan Su fared no better.

And Qian Jun Biyi—his consciousness grown faint—had abandoned his physical form in the final moments, transforming into an immortal sword to barely preserve his soul.

Xie Lingzi’s arm had turned to ash. The shattered blade before him was now riddled with cracks, and his own body bore grievous wounds.

As for the other Ascendants, each lay in utter ruin—bodies mangled, limbs missing, all unconscious and stripped of any strength to fight further.

And their numbers… seven fewer!

Those seven had already been utterly annihilated within that golden radiance earlier—body and soul erased without a trace.

This had been their collective resistance: sharing the burden of harm, each paying a terrible price.

Nineteen had become twelve.

Watching this scene, Xu Qing silently withdrew his gaze and looked toward the distant void.

A deep chill coiled within his heart. He sent a mental transmission to Xiao Ying, ordering it to search for traces of the goddess.

He felt… unwilling!

At the same moment, Zhou Zhengli, who had lost both eyes, spoke in a hoarse voice.

“I warned you before—this time… would be perilous beyond measure.”

“She is, after all, a True God.”

“Had it not been for the Young Master, more than just those seven would have perished today!”

“But we cultivators have always contended against Heaven, against mortals, against gods themselves… So to fall in battle—to vanish along the Dao—is but part of the struggle! Death is commonplace in our fight for fate!”

“And to take a True God down with us… that alone makes it worthwhile!”

Zhou Zhengli laughed—but even that laughter carried a tinge of bitter reluctance.

Xie Lingzi’s eyes burned crimson. Hearing Zhou’s words, he slowly opened his mouth.

Not a single word was wrong—one sentence, one breath, one thought, one expression—all perfectly aligned!

“If only we’d managed to capture that goddess!”

His tone brimmed with regret.

Hearing them, Xing Huanzi suddenly turned his gaze toward Xu Qing.

“Xu Qing, you found that goddess once before. Can you find her again now?”

Xu Qing lifted his head and met Xing Huanzi’s eyes.

Xing Huanzi’s gaze blazed with killing intent; his voice dropped low as he continued.

“Seven are dead. Most of the rest are crippled. For their sake—and for my own—I want to seize that goddess!”

“You must want that too.”

Xing Huanzi’s eyes held hidden meaning. He had clearly noticed the goddess’s strange behavior—how her murderous intent had locked onto Xu Qing the moment she saw him.

Xu Qing glanced around at the others. Of them all, only he and Xing Huanzi remained capable of fighting.

So he looked directly at Xing Huanzi and spoke slowly.

“The True God’s self-detonation erased every trace. The goddess’s teleportation left no trail—and wherever she went, it must be far beyond my spirit pet’s range of perception.”

Xing Huanzi fell silent.

Xu Qing turned his eyes toward the distant starfield, narrowing them gradually.

“But I… have one method I can try.”

As he spoke, Xu Qing raised his hand and drew forth a teleportation jade slip. With deliberate motion, he altered its setting—from ordered to unordered!

An ordered teleportation sends one to a predetermined location.

But unordered… is random. One cannot predict the direction or destination—it leaves everything to fate.

That was Xu Qing’s plan.

He could not track the goddess’s path, nor sense her presence. But if fate had once swept her before his eyes…

Then perhaps now, instead of waiting passively, he should act.

A faint, shadowy glint flickered in Xu Qing’s eyes.

If destiny truly governed all, then this chaotic teleportation—he believed—would deliver him exactly what he sought.

Holding the jade slip, he turned to Xing Huanzi.

Xing Huanzi studied the jade in Xu Qing’s hand, thoughtful but silent. Without asking further, he stepped forward and stood beside Xu Qing within the teleportation radius.

As for Zhou Zhengli and Xie Lingzi, they bowed deeply to the two.

They were spent—too wounded to join the next battle, needing urgent healing, especially those still unconscious. They would return immediately to the Nianlin Army’s encampment.

“Young Master, Xing Huanzi—we’ll await your triumphant return, with the goddess captured!”

Zhou Zhengli’s rasping voice echoed through the void.

Xu Qing nodded. In the next instant, he crushed the jade slip.

Teleportation light erupted from his hand, swiftly enveloping Xing Huanzi beside him. As the radiance blazed to its zenith, accompanied by thunderous rumbling,

both figures vanished instantly!

…

Meanwhile, near the Left Flank Frontline—not far from the boundary of the Divine Realm—the Star-Eyed Goddess streaked through the void like a bolt of black lightning.

She moved with utmost secrecy, cloaking her passage through space.

Because this region lay close to the Fourth Star Ring, anomalous energies already permeated the starfield—making her concealment even smoother.

And fortune, it seemed, favored her this time: her teleportation had landed her precisely within this zone.

“In a few days at most, I shall return to the Fourth Star Ring!”

“But… why has Father God remained utterly silent all this while?”

As she raced onward, the goddess pondered, then recalled the recent events—her eyes turning cold.

She cared nothing for the old god’s self-destruction. In her view, his detonation at that moment had been the wisest choice:

it erased her teleportation trail and gave him a chance to kill that unnerving human cultivator who’d stirred dread in her heart.

Thinking of that human, murderous intent surged anew within her.

“Who… was that man?”

Whether or not he’d perished in the old god’s explosion, she had already resolved: the moment she returned, she would report everything to Father God.

She trusted fully in his might—he would surely unravel this mystery for her.

With that thought, she prepared to accelerate further—

but at that very instant, something struck her like a thunderbolt, shaking her entire being, sending shockwaves through her mind, making her pupils contract violently!

Before her, the empty void rippled.

Chaotic teleportation energy swirled outward—and from within it emerged two figures.

One of them… was precisely the man she’d just been thinking of!

“You…”

Xingmou’s expression twisted in shock.

This sudden appearance shattered His composure entirely, sending even His divinity into turbulent unrest.

The sight before Him struck a chord of primal dread—so sharp, so immediate.

His teleportation had been chaotic, utterly random—and further obscured by the self-detonation of a true god erasing all traces. In theory, even if some formidable being could sense anything at all, they would still need time to investigate. There was no way anyone could appear here so precisely, so swiftly.

Especially… because the other’s arrival had also been through chaotic teleportation!

A random descent!

And yet—by some uncanny twist of fate—that randomness had deposited them right before Him!

The sight sent waves of divine essence churning violently within Xingmou, scion of the Star-Eyed Phoenix.