Chapter 1255: The Time Has Come

Chapter 1255: The Hour Has Come

Within the Crimson Giant Star, inside the Tower of Flame.

A celestial and a deity, fated once more to intertwine.

Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with strange light; the Goddess’s spirit drowned in despair.

He believed this detested human would speak upon seeing him.

Thus, instinctively, he sought to speak first.

“You—”

But before the word left his lips, Xu Qing wasted no time, spared no words. His right hand rose; with a single grasp—

The Star-Eyed Goddess’s body was wrenched by an immense force, hurtling straight toward Xu Qing, seized firmly in that familiar place.

Her throat, gripped tight!

The instant contact sparked terror within her soul, yet Xu Qing had already begun instinctively siphoning her divine essence.

Strands of divine essence surged into his right hand as the Goddess trembled violently, that sensation of her very soul being torn away returning.

Fusing into his body, nourishing his celestial embryo, his spirit, every fiber of his being.

This long-missed sensation filled Xu Qing’s heart with exquisite delight.

The taste of the Goddess—he had often reminisced and savored it these past days.

Now, tasting it again, his cultivation surged, the silver light in his eyes blazing ever brighter.

For the Goddess, the return of agony was not merely physical; her divine soul shuddered more fiercely. This relapse into nightmare shattered the fragile composure she had painstakingly rebuilt.

Thus, hatred flared anew—tenfold, hundredfold more potent than before.

This gaze, Xu Qing knew well.

He ignored it utterly, continuing his absorption.

Half an hour passed. The Goddess’s skin, which had just regained a faint luster, now withered into desiccation; the divine essence she had painstakingly gathered within her emptied once more.

Her vitality sank to its nadir.

Only then did Xu Qing cease, satisfied, releasing his grip. The Goddess collapsed before him, limp as mud.

Weak though she was, her hatred burned fiercer. She fixed Xu Qing with a death stare, then drew a deep breath, closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the hatred had vanished, replaced by bitter resignation.

“I met your Lord Celestial, Xu Qing. You obtained what you sought. Now, with the exchange imminent, I understand your resentment.”

“To drain my essence—I cannot resist. Celestials and deities stand eternally opposed. Were one of your immortals in my grasp, they too would face torment.”

“This I accept. It is the will of our positions, not personal enmity. Ultimately, my capture stems from my own flawed divine arts!”

Her voice, hoarse, carried a trace of self-mockery, as if the days spent with the Lord Celestial had clarified her thoughts.

This was the first time Xu Qing had witnessed such a transformation since capturing her.

He glanced at her.

Calm, she projected an air of candor.

Meeting her gaze, Xu Qing spoke suddenly.

“Your unveiled hatred before sprang from despair—you believed death certain. Now you mask it, for hope lies before you. You fear provoking me, lest I end you and shatter that hope anew.”

As his words fell, the Goddess’s pupils contracted sharply.

Xu Qing’s voice continued, calm and resonant.

“The exchange draws near. I know it; you know it. I cannot kill you, so such feigned weakness is unnecessary.”

“I prefer your hatred to this posture. What you will do upon your return needs no stating—you will not let this pass.”

“Yet your words remind me…”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. His right hand lifted; the Ultimate Metal Force blazed suddenly in the void, forming golden threads, then the Wood Force spread, reinforcing them.

Next came Water, Fire, and Earth—the Three Forces united.

Through the Five Extremes Dao, a prison forged from the void!

Time sealed its bounds; space shaped its cause, anchoring it in all four directions, rendering the cage infinitely more intricate. Finally… Xu Qing’s Temporal Edict descended at that very moment.

Locking the cage!

With a thunderous roar, it enveloped the Goddess, imprisoning her within this illusory cell.

Having done this, Xu Qing deemed it insufficient. He waved his hand; Heavenly Principle emerged, adding weight, making the cage tangible.

Then, as the Goddess’s expression shifted, Xu Qing formed hand seals, pointing to his brow. His celestial embryo manifested, vast immortal energies erupting, expelling the Aurora Celestial Palace from within.

Overlapping the cage!

Thunderous booms echoed; the Goddess’s face paled utterly.

Yet this was not the end.

Beyond the Eight Extremes Dao composing the cage, Xu Qing’s Ninth Extreme—the Parallel Edict—suddenly appeared.

Causing all to converge, weaving dozens of temporal forces into chains of divine restraint, flying forth from the void toward the Goddess.

Amidst her piercing shrieks, these chains from disparate eras pierced her shoulder bones, lifting her bodily!

The Star-Eyed Goddess struggled, but each movement ignited immortal inscriptions upon the chains.

Intense agony transformed her inner turmoil into a tempest, shattering her composure, unleashing anew the boundless hatred capable of filling an abyss.

“Xu Qing! I will kill you—not just you, but all your kin, all your bloodline, all your friends! They shall perish horribly because of you!!”

Xu Qing watched, impassive, observing the divine essence within her.

Soon he saw it: the depleted essence now replenished by this very torment.

Satisfied, he nodded, lifting his hand to absorb once more.

This act revealed the truth to the Goddess—the prior ordeal had merely been to provoke her essence anew. Such memories reignited the terror of her journey under Xu Qing’s escort.

Her shrieks turned razor-sharp.

“You are a nightmare! You are no celestial—you are a demon!!”

“I wonder,” Xu Qing said calmly after draining her again, “what true source fuels this divine essence within you, endlessly renewed, never exhausted.”

His fingertip traced the Goddess’s pallid nape, unconscious yet deliberate. A sliver of divine thought seeped through the crevice into her being.

Wandering her flesh, bones, even her divine soul and the divine core hidden within…

Xu Qing had tried this before, but his cultivation had failed him.

Now, stronger, and knowing the Goddess had been sent to the Lord Celestial, he suspected the Lord’s probing might have left traces.

He sought to find them, to glimpse her secrets.

This time… the path felt smoother. His divine thought swiftly entered her soul, revealing fractured scars within.

Once, this place had been impregnable, inviolable to his probing.

Yet now it lay riddled with wounds!

This allowed Xu Qing’s divine consciousness to flood inward with sudden ease.

It spread swiftly into the depths, where he dimly sensed a crystalline core—neither wholly void nor wholly form!

Resembling the manifestation of cosmic fortune, yet somehow distinct.

Mysteriously wreathed within, yet fissured throughout…

Though poised to shatter at any moment, it granted Xu Qing a mere glimpse—a vision of the Fourth Stellar Ring’s entirety.

A crushing weight of terror, an oceanic breath of power.

This sight shook Xu Qing’s spirit, yet after a hesitation, resolve hardened within him. His divine consciousness plunged inward like a spear!

The crystalline core convulsed violently. An indescribable, colossal force erupted within, sweeping outward as if to annihilate all.

Xu Qing’s consciousness shattered instantly. His finger sprang away from the goddess’s nape.

Simultaneously, the goddess, seemingly roused by this provocation, surged with new strength. She whirled her head, her pupils transformed into burning stellar vortexes.

“How dare you steal the divine mandate bestowed upon me by the Father God!”

The voice thundered—not the goddess’s own, but a fusion of countless voices, now divine decree.

As it echoed, nine golden lightning bolts tore through the surrounding void, hurtling toward Xu Qing. Yet the instant they touched him, an ancient will emanating from the goddess shattered the bolts.

Then the goddess collapsed, life ebbing, barely breathing.

As for that emanating will, Xu Qing instantly recognized its essence: an ocean of immortal essence, surpassing even the Lower Immortals.

“That… is the seal left within the goddess by the Immortal Sovereign!”

Xu Qing pondered, lowering his gaze to his right index finger, now sprung away.

Upon its tip lingered a tiny fleck of darkness, dissolving even as he watched.

Magnified, it revealed intricate patterns of shadowed gold.

Faintly, within that speck, countless stars seemed to die and be reborn.

Staring at the fleck, Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with revelation.

“This… is the secret of His infinite divine source.”

Meanwhile, beyond…

As the appointed hour neared, the Marshal’s voice resonated within every cultivator’s mind.

“Time is upon us. The host advances!”

At his words, the crimson giant star roared, shaking the starry void!

It… began to move!

Surrounded by over a thousand legions, dense as locusts, it advanced as one.

The spectacle was vast, its momentum shaking heaven and earth.

The starry void rippled, the cosmos trembled, star realms warped.

A stellar-realm-scale grand transference erupted at that very moment…

This colossal exchange occurred in the Left Wing Combat Zone between the Fourth Stellar Ring and Fifth Stellar Ring. The chosen site brimmed with shattered stars and countless asteroids.

Stellar detonations bloomed like cosmic wounds, spreading ceaselessly here.

Beyond this, black and white churned across the endless expanse. Within the black, innumerable deities were visible, their alien essence thickening the darkness into substance.

The convergence of divine mandates created a weight the very void seemed unable to bear, fracturing the space beneath.

On the white side, vast armies gathered, their grim aura and surging immortal essence palpable.

Countless soldiers, dense as stars, each stern-faced, each radiating fierce martial intent.

Gathered here were not merely the Left Wing’s vanguard, but the entire Left Wing host, reinforced by Central Wing forces.

Even Ji Dao Zhenjun, the foremost disciple of the Zhanlu Immortal Sovereign, and the returned Ling Ke…

stood among them!

Above the opposing hosts, black and white swirled together, laced with thunder and lightning, constantly rumbling.

Vaguely, two figures capable of subduing all existence seemed to loom within, their silhouettes blurred, their pressure peerless.

Just as the two sides stood in silent confrontation, the cultivators’ starry void rippled. The crimson giant star, along with its encircling host, suddenly… translocated!

The moment this star appeared, it drew the gaze of every immortal and deity!

Simultaneously, within the star’s fire tower, Xu Qing sat cross-legged in meditation when a stern voice reached his ears.

“Xu Qing, escort the goddess out!”

Hearing this, Xu Qing rose calmly. Raising his right hand, he grasped the air. The iron chains forged from his will settled into his palm.

Dragging the cage… he stepped out of the fire tower.