Chapter 1265: True Yi True God

Chapter 1265: The True Yi True God

This was a world steeped in darkness.

Thick, viscous blackness clung like solidified tar, encasing the entire realm and forming its very walls.

Within this world, across the vault of heaven, dark crimson veins spread like a spider’s fractured web, covering the entire sky.

From the fissures between these veins, droplets of blood seeped out, falling upon the scarred and pockmarked earth below—

like rain.

And at the heart of this celestial downpour of blood, where those veins converged and intertwined, a monstrous growth bulged from within the firmament!

It hung there like a dead sun—aloft yet parasitic, an aberrant god embedded in this world, radiating an aura of profound strangeness and dread.

Xu Qing—and all the gods who had vanished within the halo—now reappeared one by one amidst this rain of blood.

They had been transported here.

The moment they materialized within this eerie deluge, every deity instinctively probed their surroundings. Clearly, for each of them, this place was entirely unfamiliar.

As for Xu Qing himself, his scrutiny was even more thorough—not only examining this world but also remaining wary of what lay beyond it.

Fortunately, the danger that had pursued him before the teleportation seemed to have been severed by the uncanny nature of this place.

The divine consciousness from the starry void had not followed him here.

This realization brought a faint measure of relief to Xu Qing’s heart—but simultaneously stirred within him a deep sense of wonder about this world.

“Could it be… this isn’t the center of the earth veins?”

Xu Qing lifted his gaze toward the heavens, observing the sky-spanning crimson patterns and the enormous, grotesque orb suspended above. His pupils contracted slightly.

He sensed something hidden within that tumor-like mass.

Then he lowered his eyes to the land beneath.

The ground here, too, was black. Where the blood-rain fell, it formed mire resembling festering wounds.

Countless tiny crimson figures sprouted from those wet patches—faceless, numb creatures spreading outward in all directions, beginning their labor.

In the distance rose layered mountain ranges, like the flayed skeletons of colossal beasts. Within every ravine flowed thick, clinging black mist.

Amidst that haze grew twisted, unnatural trees—each deformed, their gnarled trunks a sickly gray-white, as if assembled from countless broken spines. Their branches stretched long and thin, twisting upward toward the sky like myriad grasping hands striving to touch the firmament!

Yet the falling blood-rain corroded them, causing them to weep black viscous fluid that glued together into clusters of umbrella-shaped lingzhi mushrooms.

These fungal canopies varied in size; the largest ones Xu Qing saw were formed from the convergence of many withered trees, spanning areas comparable to entire cities.

Beneath each canopy hung countless blister-like sacs, densely packed like grapes.

Upon the surface of the caps grew fine crystalline fragments, refracting a shimmer where illusion and reality intertwined.

It was this glimmer that caught Xu Qing’s attention.

For within those crystals flickered miniature worlds—ruined realms whose secrets remained unknown, blinking in and out of existence across the crystal facets.

This sight deepened Xu Qing’s sense of awe.

“It’s as though heaven and earth are locked in battle!”

he murmured inwardly.

For he saw that the little crimson beings emerging from the blood-rain performed their so-called labor by shaping their arms into axes, hacking away at the withered trees—each strike leaving visible scars upon the bark.

Others struck the mountains themselves—and when axe met stone, sparks flew, mingled with tiny teeth and fingernails.

As if both the trees and the mountains were alive!

Moreover, this labor carried grave peril.

Xu Qing witnessed firsthand how, at one mountain range, after countless tiny beings hacked away, the surrounding dead trees suddenly convulsed in unison.

In the next instant, the lingzhi umbrellas growing on those trees—large and small—saw their grape-like blisters burst open one after another!

The splattered viscous liquid coalesced midair into tens of thousands of threads, piercing through the tiny beings.

Wherever touched, their skin cracked like charred wood, revealing dim crimson light through the fissures—quickly crumbling into ash.

All this caused Xu Qing’s mind to sharpen instantly.

He now perceived the truth of this world.

“These are two terrifying True Gods—both likely at the peak of True Godhood!”

“One above, one below—they are locked in combat through some other state.”

“This state is strange… seemingly stuck in stalemate.”

“So the heavenly True God has torn open the sky of this realm, shedding divine blood that becomes these little beings, sending them to chop trees and cleave mountains.”

“And the mountains and trees belong to the other True God—who struggles still, but appears to be losing ground after enduring this conflict for so long.”

“Then the purpose of the Zhen Yi clan…”

Xu Qing’s wariness intensified as his thoughts raced. Meanwhile, the other gods around him were also making their own discoveries.

Then came a voice echoing through the air—the dwarf seated cross-legged atop a black lotus, a member of the Zhen Yi clan.

“Though you serve under my clan’s dominion as subordinate gods, since you answered our summons, I shall no longer conceal the truth from you.”

“The outside world claims our Zhen Yi True God perished long ago and cannot return—but in truth… He lives! There He is!”

The dwarf rose from the black lotus, raising his right hand to point directly at the massive black orb hanging in the sky.

“He is entangled in fusion with another True God!”

“Your task here is to aid our True God by clearing away these trees and mountains—to ease His burden and allow Him to complete the final stage of fusion.”

“When He awakens, you subordinate gods will receive your due rewards—and more. Each of you shall be granted a divine sigil, bestowing upon you one instance of our True God’s protection.”

The dwarf’s divine proclamation resonated across the black lotus.

Among the gods newly arrived via teleportation, most—bound by the rigid hierarchy of the divine order and already loyal servants of the Zhen Yi clan—raised no objections.

Hearing his words, they immediately dispersed, unleashing their divine arts: some shaking the dead trees, others quaking the barren mountains.

Only those who had reached the Divine Platform realm possessed the standing to weigh risks against gains.

Such as the few deities Xu Qing had earlier noted closely.

Yet even they, under the subtle pressure of the dwarf’s divine will, soon nodded in agreement and joined the effort to assist the Zhen Yi True God.

But rather than chopping trees or breaking mountains, they soared upward, circling the great black orb in the sky. There, they sat cross-legged, opening their minds and channeling their divine breath into the orb—

establishing a connection with the True God, helping to disperse the immense pressure weighing upon Him.

Though their individual contributions were but drops in an ocean compared to a True God’s might, in this critical juncture, any external force that could share His burden served to strengthen the Zhen Yi alien god’s advantage.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing felt the dwarf’s divine message resonate within his own mind:

“I was summoned here by our True God through bloodline rites—His fusion draws near, hence this gathering.”

“As one who has attained the Divine Platform, lend your divine power to the firmament. Connect yourself to our True God. When He awakens, He shall grant you a fragment of a shattered divine core!”

Such a reward was already exceedingly generous.

But Xu Qing… could offer no aid.

He was, after all, no deity.

In his present state, he could not establish a connection with a true god without revealing his identity.

After all, that being stood at the apex of divinity.

Even drawing too near filled Xu Qing with a profound sense of peril.

Thus, deep within, he sighed—a sigh heavy with the suffocating dread of being trapped between wolf and tiger upon the divine star-rings, unable to take even a single step forward. So now, voice low and somber, he spoke:

“O Supreme Deity, this matter is of utmost gravity—failure is unthinkable. Yet my cultivation remains insufficient; I am useless here. Pray, open the portal—I shall depart at once.”

As he spoke, Xu Qing raised his hand, summoned forth the True God Stone, and sent it floating toward the dwarf.

Entering this place had been an act of last resort. Now, requesting leave—even knowing the other’s consent was unlikely—was still a gamble worth taking. If fortune favored him, all would be well.

If not… a chill coiled in Xu Qing’s heart.

Now, amid the crimson rain, only Xu Qing and the black-lotus dwarf remained suspended in midair.

The dwarf listened expressionlessly, then lifted a finger and tapped the True God Stone before him. Instantly, the black stone trembled—and in the next breath, crumbled into ash, scattering into nothingness.

Then, with eyes icy cold, the dwarf fixed his gaze upon Xu Qing.

“Submit… or perish.”

A flash of killing intent flared in Xu Qing’s eyes.

But in the next instant, upon the blood-veined firmament above—like a vast spiderweb—the enormous black orb suddenly twitched. A fissure split its surface, wrenching open like an eye!

In that moment of opening, a turbid gaze plummeted from within the orb… and fell squarely upon Xu Qing.

Instantly, the dark-red sky grew thick and viscous. The entire world roared, twisting violently in every direction.

And through heaven and earth echoed whispers—divine murmurs resonating with ancient power.

Xu Qing’s body shuddered. That gaze felt tangible—as if in that instant, he heard his own blood surging backward, heard the brittle snap of bones fracturing in vacuum, felt the agonized shriek of his butterfly spirit burning away.

In but a breath, the butterfly-shell encasing his form wrinkled violently, unable to withstand that gaze. It cracked inch by inch—then shattered utterly with a thunderous boom, scattering into fragments.

His true form lay exposed.

At that same moment, within the black orb on the firmament, sensing Xu Qing’s unveiled essence, a muffled throb echoed—like the heartbeat of a fetus. Each pulse sent tremors through the mountain slopes, rattling loose stones into trembling submission.

An even greater pressure surged from within the orb, threatening to descend—but in the next heartbeat, the mountains and trees below seemed to seize their chance. The earth roared; peaks swayed, then tore themselves upward, straining toward the heavens.

Even the withered trees forced new growth, stretching desperately for the sky.

Thus, the black orb upon the firmament hesitated—then let out an indistinct roar, compelled once more to shut its eye, refocusing all its will upon fusing with its ancient rival.

Heaven and earth clashed anew.

Meanwhile, the dwarf’s divine eyes narrowed sharply—as though receiving some unseen command. Divine aura erupted around him. Three hundred and sixty ancient husks orbiting his form snapped open their eyes in unison, locking onto Xu Qing.

“You are no god—you are a cultivator!”

“The Divine Edict of Li Zhu Shenhuang has proclaimed a warrant for the one who abducted Xingmou Luanxia… Could it be… you?!”