Chapter 1280: Unprecedented Through the Ages

Chapter 1280: Unparalleled Through Time and Space

In the void of the Fifth Star Ring, an old man clad in straw sandals gazed at the luminous dust streaming from his palms, watching it vanish and return.

Memories of bygone days flowed before his eyes like a river.

It was the life of his son, Aurora.

It finally froze upon the image of his son’s bitter smile as he begged for death.

Then, a fierce light flared in the old man’s eyes, and an indescribable aura of authority radiated from his body.

The surrounding void trembled, giving rise to bubble after bubble.

Each contained the cycle of life and death, the rise and fall of karmic bonds—until they wove together into a fairy tale nearly real.

Then, the old man raised his withered right hand and reached toward that fairy tale!

As if to draw forth the figure from memory—from time itself, from illusion, from fairy tale into reality.

In the next instant, it actually came true!

Amid the trembling bubbles, countless forms of the late Sovereign Aurora began to coalesce. Guided by the old man, these bubbles converged…

Yet as they gathered, the very currents of the Fifth Star Ring suddenly stilled—and every living being, unknowingly, began to tremble.

An unspeakable terror sprouted within the Fifth Star Ring.

As though some mystery sealed away for ten million years showed signs of breaking free…

Thus, the old man’s outstretched hand involuntarily paused.

In the end, he lowered it, allowing the nearly formed Sovereign Aurora to dissolve once more.

The ripples across the Fifth Star Ring faded away.

Everything returned to how it had been.

Then, he closed his eyes.

Finally, a long sigh escaped him—laden with sorrow and regret.

“I cannot bring you back…”

Murmuring, he stared at his own palm.

“Give me a little more time…”

“And what unfolds now… is likely what you wished to see…”

The old man whispered softly, then raised his hand again.

This time, however, he did not reach to summon—but turned his palm toward the Fourth Star Ring.

In the next heartbeat, the lines upon his palm erupted into a gravitational vortex capable of devouring entire star rivers.

In an instant, it spread throughout the Fifth Star Ring.

Every Heaven Beyond Heavens, countless star domains, innumerable universes, uncountable stars—and all living beings—began, in that moment… to emit their own strands of destiny!

This force of fate rose ceaselessly, like dust flowing into the Hourglass of Celestial Decree, spiraling along its trajectory toward the old man’s palm.

And in this process, countless new stars were born; countless rays of starlight emerged.

Yet all this radiance, slipping through his fingers, transformed into gentle silver tassels—

mingling with the strands of destiny until they settled within his palm.

Then, in the next moment, the old man clenched his fist!

Instantly, the entire Fifth Star Ring—unknown and unnoticed by all living beings—under the crushing weight of absolute celestial might, became a painting upon the void.

All stars became mere specks of light embedded in that cosmic canvas; countless black holes, wailing in despair, shattered into drifting ash, forming the very patterns of the void-painting.

Trillions of sentient beings solidified into amber-hued crystals.

This was no destruction—it was the re-gathering of destiny, a phenomenon occurring each time a Sovereign ascended.

And today, the old man restored a thousand hidden years and released the chains of causality.

Thus, the Jiuan Era ended.

Thus, the Aurora Era began!

But the one who should have ascended—the Sovereign Aurora—had already perished. Therefore… the destiny of the entire Fifth Star Ring, guided by the old man, would descend upon the sole bloodline:

the Young Lord Aurora.

“I’ll wait for you to return…”

In the void, the old man spoke softly. The destiny of the entire Fifth Star Ring, gathered in his palm, surged forth as an unstoppable torrent—crossing star rings with supreme majesty, pouring into… the Primal Motherworld of the Fourth Star Ring!

At that very moment, on the Primal Motherworld of the Fourth Star Ring, Xu Qing listened to the Young Lord Aurora’s words and beheld the flourishing world around him. Most of the fog clouding his understanding lifted at once!

“First, one becomes a god… then a Godsovereign… so what comes next…”

“What comes next,” said the nearby Immortal Maiden Linghuang softly, “is something unprecedented—even across all thirty-six ascending star rings—a transformation… from godhood into immortality!”

Though Xu Qing had already suspected as much, his heart still roared with shock.

He had witnessed the path of godhood forged from cultivation—not once, but many times.

But never—never had he heard even a whisper of gods transforming into immortals!

This was tied to the nature of the thirty-six star rings above and below—for gods… were noble!

They neither could nor would conceive of walking the immortal path.

And surely, other factors existed that barred gods from such a transformation!

As Xu Qing’s thoughts churned, high above, the Young Lord Aurora—who had walked through countless blood-vessels to the firmament—cast his gaze downward.

He looked upon the Primal Motherworld, felt the divine essence of the Fourth Star Ring, tasted the richness of divinity—and suddenly smiled.

Though twisted, his words shook heaven and earth!

“The Path of Gods… is but cattle!”

As he spoke, he raised his right hand and swept it downward.

Instantly, the blood-vessels connecting him to the Primal Motherworld writhed violently.

Deep within the planet’s flesh, where those vessels joined the earth-veins, they tore free—no longer fused, but swiftly retreating.

At the same moment, the Primal Motherworld thundered, and the Young Lord Aurora’s voice echoed throughout the Fourth Star Ring:

“Cultivators seek enlightenment—transform gods… into immortals!”

With those words, the Primal Motherworld roared—and every civilization upon it, every living thing, withered in that single instant!

Not only the Motherworld—outside, the True Gods who had bowed in worship trembled violently; indeed, all deities of the Fourth Star Ring felt their divine souls struck by thunder.

Countless temples collapsed; countless god-statues shattered.

One utterance—and all creation trembled!

And in that very instant… the heavens changed!

A torrent of destiny surged from the Fifth Star Ring, piercing through to the Fourth Star Ring, appearing above the Primal Motherworld—replacing the very void!

Watching the radiant streams cascade from the sky, the last trace of mist within Xu Qing’s heart vanished completely.

He was a True Sovereign, inherently blessed by the fortune of the Fifth Star Ring—and so, gazing now at the heavens, he perceived with crystal clarity the very source of that fortune!

“I understand now…”

Xu Qing murmured to himself.

This—this was the true scheme the Fifth Star Ring had been meticulously preparing from the very beginning, executing step by step until this very moment!

The mastermind behind this grand design was none other than the Immortal Venerable.

Yet all along, it had remained mere groundwork, never fully enacted—because the Immortal Venerable still lacked one essential condition.

Until that day, long ago, on Wanggu Continent within the Fifth Star Ring, when the Immortal Venerable beheld Xu Qing—and Er Niu.

At that instant, the indispensable element of the plan was finally in place.

And thus began everything that followed.

“It also requires a special location: the Primordial Mother Star, the birthplace of the First Divine Being of the Fourth Star Ring.”

“And a special time as well: the very day Lord Jiuan stepped down and Lord Aurora ascended as Immortal Sovereign.”

“Only then… can it truly be completed…”

“Borrowing divinity to become Immortal Sovereign!!”