Chapter 1257: Reversal of Situation

Chapter 1257: The Tide Turns

This voice surpassed celestial melodies and transcended the very essence of Dao. It towered above all laws and principles.

As if countless deities whispered in unison, it carried the might to shatter starry skies, capable of overturning the souls of all beings and annihilating every existence—even the cosmos itself fractured in this instant.

From those ruptures surged endless black flesh, sprouting wildly as though intent on transforming every perceivable void into a realm of eerie strangeness.

The speaker was none other than… Divine Sovereign Li Zhu!

Seated upon a throne woven from infinite universes, He now opened His eyes, scattering divine will across every shard of broken ice, gazing down upon the myriad heavens.

In that moment, nearly every cultivator present felt their minds churn violently, their life-flames flickering as if about to extinguish.

Even immortals were no exception!

Countless fragments drifting through this ancient battlefield trembled thunderously; ancient remains slumbering since time immemorial rose into the air, crystallizing under the descent of the Sovereign’s will into a river of granular brilliance.

At the center, the altar stirred—its three hundred and sixty demon-copper coffins flung open simultaneously, unleashing torrents of black vapor that exploded outward, forming spacetime ripples sharp enough to rend divine souls.

All this unfolded from but a single utterance by the Sovereign!

Xu Qing, standing at the edge of the altar, felt it most acutely. His mind went utterly blank, his spirit sinking into silence, his entire being stripped of perception.

As though… he had become a speck of dust.

Before the Sovereign’s stature, he truly was nothing more than a grain of dust.

Just as the tide of battle shifted dramatically, a calm voice drifted softly from the vast scroll confronting the Sovereign:

“Breaking the pact—so what?”

With those words, the battlefield’s starry expanse convulsed once more.

The shattered ice rivers, the crystalline formations, the surging divine might and alien energies, even the endlessly proliferating grotesque flesh—all froze instantly.

They coalesced into boundless black mist, rushing toward the scroll and gathering onto the index finger of the Immortal Sovereign seated cross-legged within.

There, they vanished entirely.

Only a lingering afterglow remained upon His fingertip—a ring of void encased in black ice.

The Immortal Sovereign flicked His finger lightly.

The black ice melted in an instant, and white flame danced upon His fingertip, searing star-sand-like marks into reality.

Simultaneously, the battlefield transformed anew: the demon-copper coffins slammed shut, their spacetime ripples erased in a breath.

The crystalline river sweeping across the battlefield reversed course, erupting into a sea of fire that filled the eight directions, blazing with dense immortal qi!

On the cultivators’ side, clarity returned to every mind. Without hesitation, they beat their war drums.

Thunderous drumbeats shook the heavens.

Xu Qing, too, regained his senses—his spirit roiling violently—as he retreated without pause.

He did not naively assume he’d been betrayed by the Fifth Star Ring.

Nor did he simplistically believe himself so indispensable that betrayal would be unthinkable.

Ultimately, everything pointed to hidden depths beneath this exchange.

His role had merely been to appear—to ensure the transaction began smoothly…

These thoughts flashed through his mind just as, above the starry sky, the Divine River churned. Li Zhu, the Sovereign seated there, slowly rose to His feet—His form so towering that even the cosmos seemed too small to contain Him.

Terrifying divine might surged forth like collapsing mountains and surging seas, accompanied by His voice once more:

“To break covenant… for a mere quasi-immortal?”

The reply came not from Azure Lu, the Immortal Sovereign within the scroll—but from Ji Dao True Lord, who stepped forward from the ranks of cultivators.

Standing before the army, he gazed toward the Divine River and spoke in a low, resonant tone:

“Divine Emperor Li Zhu, at your level, there’s no need for such veiled words. Your aim was never truly a quasi-immortal. You added that clause only to make my master believe in the sincerity of this exchange.”

“And now that my master stands here, your purpose is fulfilled.”

“Your true goal was merely to tie my master down, allowing the long-concealed rupture in the right flank—already primed to erupt—to unfold unhindered. Yet… my master saw through it long ago and has already laid his plans. By now, the battle there must be raging—I trust even you, Omniscient Sovereign, perceive it clearly.”

Upon hearing this, the Sovereign upon the Divine River remained expressionless, silent.

“But for us,” Ji Dao continued, “your presence here is precisely what we desired. Here… we shall send you back to your divine homeland!”

“As for escalating the war by slaying you—yes, your words hold weight. But once you’re dead, our forces will rebalance. Full-scale war? So be it!”

“That is why my master agreed to your terms then—he had not yet fully grasped your divine essence. Now that he has… this is where we kill you!”

At these words, the cultivators’ war drums thundered even louder, spirits soaring, momentum surging.

The divine host fell into grim silence.

Within the Divine River, the Sovereign’s gaze grew profound as He turned toward Azure Lu inside the scroll.

“Azure Lu, it seems you have indeed uncovered the secret of this Sovereign’s divine essence—hence sending your disciple to speak your heart, rather than voicing it yourself.”

“But you discovered it too late.”

“You cultivators always presume too much. All your past schemes and stratagems—did you truly think this Sovereign remained ignorant?”

The Divine River roiled as the Emperor’s divine might spread, filling the eight directions.

“This Sovereign long perceived the mystery of your left flank’s beacon-lights, recognized the anomaly in my right flank commander’s death, and saw clearly it was bait to lure my daughter.”

“I also knew your desire to probe my divine essence!”

As He spoke, He stepped deliberately out of the Divine River, advancing toward the scroll.

Each footfall shattered the stars, made the battlefield roar, and overturned universes.

His divine voice echoed ceaselessly:

“So this Sovereign indulged your wish—pretending ignorance, allowing the Divine Princess to come, permitting her capture by your hands.”

“You, Azure Lu, sought to probe Me—and I, too, wished to probe You!”

“While you used Her to investigate My divine authority, I used Her to examine your Constitutional Law.”

“That is the true purpose behind My proposal of exchange—with Fei Yu as the condition, you could never refuse.”

“And I needed only one glance at Her on this battlefield, one word from Her lips, to know everything about Her—and through Her, gain the full results of My counter-investigation.”

“Now, you know My divine essence; I know your Constitutional Law. Azure Lu… how will you defeat Me?”

The Sovereign’s voice shook the cosmos. Astonishingly, the Constitutional Law belonging to the cultivators erupted from His body, manifesting as a shifting mask that shimmered at His fingertips.

This mask bore faces of men and women, young and old, of every cultivation level—yet all wore identical expressions: radiant smiles brimming with joy and happiness.

Gazing upon this Mask of All Beings, the Sovereign praised aloud:

“The cultivators’ Constitutional Law is indeed extraordinary—able not only to mimic divine essence but also to forge an entirely new path, splitting Source-Quality and Form into a second route!”

“Especially yours, Azure Lu… I never imagined your Constitutional Law would not be slaughter—but hope.”

“Gathering every hope you’ve ever witnessed in your life, to protect, to cherish, to never forget—because all extremes converge here, thus forging protective power into martial might!”

Admiration gleamed brighter in the Sovereign’s eyes—yet in the next instant, a faint smile curled His lips, and His fingertip flickered.

Black vapor sprouted instantly, weaving into the mask—transforming the joyful, smiling multitude into figures of utter despair, their faces twisted in anguished weeping!

For a moment, wails of agony rose—shrill, heartrending, surging like a tidal wave to the heavens.

He was brazenly defiling the Celestial Edicts of Zhanlu Immortal Sovereign!

At once, boundless darkness erupted from beneath His feet, thundering outward in all directions, unleashing alien corruption across every inch of space.

The battlefield was instantly tainted.

Then, with a single step beyond Lishu God-Emperor, He strode into the painted scroll of Zhanlu Immortal Sovereign!

“Let us see today—will you slay me, or shall I behead you?”

Black and white inverted; the scroll blurred.

An imperceptible battle erupted within.

And at that very instant, the clash between both vast armies erupted in full!

From both war formations came a cosmic roar, rippling through the void.

On the cultivators’ side, legions surged outward like countless scattered sparks, forming a sky-consuming tide of flame.

Within it shimmered innumerable magical treasures, blazing with prismatic radiance.

Even the crimson giant star slid forth, its solar flares transforming into True Sunfire, incinerating every nearby deity and alien essence into crimson mist.

Battle banners swept wide, unfurling curtains of star-burning fire, accompanied by soul-shaking war drums!

Their thunder shattered passing asteroids; before the dust could drift away, it coalesced into luminous dunes encircling the army.

As for the divine host—their bows snapped taut. Countless beams of utter annihilation and corruption rained down like meteors, their momentum unprecedented.

Especially their barrier—it now undulated, unfolding a vortex capable of swallowing entire cosmoses. Its overwhelming might dragged countless planets along the Fifth Star Ring off their orbits.

Innumerable deities charged forth.

Gazing across the field, the battlefield resembled a flesh-grinding mill, blooming instantly with countless sprays of blood.

Moreover, lingering vestiges of power from the Immortal Sovereign and Divine Sovereign within the scroll occasionally spilled onto the field—the former manifesting as ink-black traces.

Each trace twisted into a Great Wall of sword intent spanning the stars, crashing down upon the gods.

One after another, deities shattered, their flesh scattering.

Yet before those splattered fragments cooled, they were flash-frozen by the Divine Sovereign’s glacial aura, crystallizing into billions of inverted god-slaying spears that plunged into the cultivator ranks.

Wherever they passed, limbs and viscera flew.

Here on this battlefield, black and white no longer merely intertwined—they had grown tangible, each imbued with will, clashing violently.

Space-time itself cracked in shards, birthing and annihilating miniature universes without cease.

Even the central altar suffered the same fate—now, demonic bronze and immortal wood tore apart!

Coffins of demonic bronze collapsed one by one, spewing black mists that coalesced in the void into colossal divine visages, scattering to devour all.

Meanwhile, the great trees of immortal essence splintered into strands—threads of causality lashing across the battlefield, erasing any deity they touched, body and soul alike!

Chaos reigned supreme!

Spatial dislocations multiplied endlessly, time itself warped—the fabric of space-time crumbled.

And Xu Qing raced through this maelstrom of carnage!

Pouring forth every ounce of strength, he fled toward the distance.

But behind him, the violet-haired, golden-armored, jade-faced deity—originally meant to exchange places with him—now fixed golden light in his eyes, radiating sanctity as he inhaled deeply…

The five human cultivators designated for the exchange suddenly trembled, their hues draining away to reveal their true forms:

Five corpses, hollowed out and puppeteered by divine will!

They had long been dead.

What stood before them now were mere god-puppets!

With that single inhalation from the jade-faced deity, the five puppets instantly turned to ash, every drop of divine essence within them flooding into his body.

His cultivation exploded through barriers, restoring him to True Godhood!

Amidst the chaos, he charged straight for Xu Qing!

His mission: rescue the Divine Maiden—and kill Xu Qing!

Originally, had he drawn just a little closer moments ago, he could have accomplished both instantly. But Xu Qing’s sudden awareness and retreat had triggered the battle prematurely, throwing his mission off course.

Now, he would set things right!