Chapter 1294: Lying in Coffin, Disaster from Outside

Chapter 1294: Lying Peacefully in the Coffin, Disaster Comes from Without

Erniu had gone mad.

Xu Qing’s words held for him a temptation surpassing all else—second only to that fateful day he’d stolen the flesh of Shang Huang.

Back then, stealing Shang Huang’s flesh had been pure happenstance—a stroke of luck made possible by the ascension of the Divine Realm—and even then, he’d taken only a few scraps. But now? Now lay half a Sovereign God!

Especially under the overwhelming pressure of Xu Qing’s sudden, staggering leap in cultivation, this half-corpse of a Sovereign God had become Erniu’s greatest desire.

“The power within Shang Huang’s flesh—I can only grind it down slowly, licking and absorbing it bit by bit. If I take too much at once, I’ll explode right where I stand and perish.”

“As for the Sovereign God… though I still can’t digest it fully, it should at least be easier than Shang Huang’s flesh.”

“And with Little A-Qing giving me this True God corpse—I’ve finally assembled a complete set of deities!”

“Good days are coming!”

Erniu’s eyes burned crimson, glittering with feverish light. Like a rabid dog, he charged through the mist inside the fissure toward the direction he sensed.

At this moment, he cared about nothing else.

Heaven and earth might be vast—but nothing mattered more than food.

“Big treasure, I’m coming!!”

Almost the instant Erniu lunged forward, the countless divine chains binding the bronze coffin deep within the fissure began to tremble violently.

As they shook, divine runes flared along their lengths, radiating an inexplicable aura of authority.

Yet for some reason, this power remained entirely contained within the chains themselves, never spilling outward—as if warning intruders: so long as you do not touch the chains, you shall remain unharmed.

And Erniu—whether in this life or his past lives—had always excelled at doing big things.

Though unfamiliar with the Fourth Star Ring, his experience in grand endeavors was unparalleled.

After all, in each of his previous lives, every failure had cost him his life.

Through such repeated deaths, his instincts had grown ever sharper.

Thus, the moment he entered the fissure, Erniu instinctively knew which places were safe to touch—and which would bring instant death.

From Xu Qing’s perspective, Erniu, though blinded by the thick mist, moved with astonishing intuition—racing at full speed yet never once brushing against any of the divine chains.

Like a rat darting through gaps between iron bars, he weaved swiftly toward the location of Li Zhu Sovereign God’s remains!

Seeing this, Xu Qing, worried for Erniu’s safety, stepped forward without hesitation—and in a flash crossed into the vast fissure, entering its inner world.

The moment he arrived, the divine chains of this realm shimmered once more. Xu Qing felt an intense danger emanating from them—and rising even more potently from the bronze coffin they bound.

His steps faltered.

Every hair on his body stood on end. A thick, alien essence seeped from both the coffin and the chains—and likewise from the half-corpse of Li Zhu Sovereign God.

This essence coalesced throughout the fissure-world into a terrifying divine breath, causing Xu Qing’s very flesh to show signs of mutation.

An overwhelming pressure crashed down like mountains collapsing, thunder roaring in his ears—

as if determined to pulverize every outsider into dust!

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the fortune of the Fifth Star Ring dwelling within Xu Qing activated, shielding him and neutralizing the oppressive force and divine breath.

Simultaneously, within his soul, his True Name blazed brightly.

The opportunity granted to him by Young Lord Jiguang back on the Primal Mother Star—to inscribe his True Name—now revealed its full effect.

As his True Name flickered, the invasive alien essence receded slightly. Xu Qing exhaled in relief—but his curiosity about Senior Brother deepened.

Because despite this crushing pressure, Erniu was still weaving through the mist.

His entire body glowed blue, allowing him—a mere Dominator cultivator—to somehow resist the alien essence of this place.

“Could Senior Brother truly be a Yuan Nie?”

“From what I’ve experienced, only a Yuan Nie could ignore the aura and corruption of gods—since the birth of gods is intricately tied to Yuan Nie.”

Xu Qing fell into thought. Yet according to his understanding, such strange beings could never leave their native Mother Star.

“Unless… Wanggu Continent is the Primal Mother Star of the Ninth Star Ring.”

His mind reeled at this absurd conjecture—but quickly dismissed it.

“Still doesn’t quite fit. If Senior Brother really were a Yuan Nie, and the Ninth Star Ring truly the Primal Mother Star… why could he leave at all?”

Xu Qing remained puzzled about Senior Brother’s origins, but knew this wasn’t the time for deep contemplation—because in his keen gaze, Erniu, lost in madness, had already navigated the labyrinth of divine chains and neared the remains of Li Zhu Sovereign God.

But in the next instant—disaster struck.

The moment Erniu found the correct path and tried to approach, his body exploded with a thunderous boom—shattering into pieces, transforming into countless blue worms.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed; he started forward—but in the blink of an eye, those worms, each bearing Erniu’s face and burning with frenzy, surged again toward Li Zhu Sovereign God’s corpse, desperate to draw closer.

Yet booming crashes echoed continuously. As they advanced, the worms kept disintegrating—vast swathes crumbling into dust.

But Erniu’s madness only intensified. With each pulse of blue light, the dust transformed into even more, even tinier blue worms—still charging forward.

Again and again, cycle after cycle—through endless shattering and collapse—the swarm of blue worms multiplied, wave upon wave surging ahead.

And through this relentless sacrifice—they finally reached the corpse!

Then, all the blue worms let out a piercing shriek:

“Little A-Qing, help me!!”

Even as the cry rang out, Xu Qing had already acted.

The power of his Immortal Embryo erupted. The Constitution of Cosmos surged upward. His Dao Artifact fingernail unleashed terrifying force—and with a flick of his wrist, he hurled it forth.

Straight toward the corpse—he struck!

Immediately, the swarm of blue worms, now shaped from Erniu, pounced from eight directions onto the remains.

Just as they were about to land, a pale golden light suddenly flashed from Li Zhu Sovereign God’s corpse.

With that flash, a horrifying pressure burst forth from within.

Though Xu Qing resisted it, his Immortal Embryo scattered, his Constitutional Law trembled—and the residual might of the Sovereign God’s corpse remained awe-inspiring.

Yet the power of the Dao Artifact proved effective—the golden light wavered.

Even so, Erniu’s cultivation was far too weak to endure it.

In an instant, every blue worm he’d become collapsed once more in that golden radiance—and this time, not even dust remained. They were erased as if they’d never existed.

But… Erniu did not truly vanish.

Pushed to such extremes—and consumed by bottomless greed for the Sovereign God’s flesh—Erniu somehow triggered some unknown, special technique, undergoing a new transformation!

From where the blue worms had disintegrated, strands of azure thread shimmered into existence, swiftly converging to form a single hand—crafted entirely of blue ice.

This hand bristled with icy spines. The moment it appeared, a primal sensation spread endlessly outward.

An ancient, primordial aura flooded the space.

Then, a slit split open in its palm—like a gaping maw—and it lunged forward, seizing Li Zhu Sovereign God’s remains!

The golden radiance outside the corpse made contact in an instant.

In the next breath, the hand of blue ice melted away, reverting into countless azure filaments that, guided by Xu Qing’s Daoist artifact, hurled themselves with desperate resolve toward the golden light.

Though ninety-nine percent perished in the attempt, a few still succeeded in piercing through.

Driven by greed and madness, they raced toward the corpse, seeking to envelop it entirely.

This scene appeared arduous—yet only so for Er Niu. In Xu Qing’s mind, the judgment was different.

His eyes flickered; a strange sensation stirred within his spirit.

“Though merely a corpse, it once belonged to a Sovereign God—and Lord Li Zhu’s divine core was unique. By all reason, this should not be proceeding so smoothly… even if Senior Brother is extraordinary.”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and suddenly lifted his gaze toward the void above the corpse.

Though nothing but emptiness met his sight, his intuition—sharpened by the fortune of the Fifth Star Ring—told him that something was likely hidden precisely where he now looked.

He spoke at once.

“Senior Brother, hurry!”

From within the golden radiance, the swiftly spreading azure threads replied with Yu Ming’s voice.

And Xu Qing’s intuition was correct.

At this very moment, within the emptiness upon which he fixed his gaze, there unmistakably existed a figure invisible to Xu Qing!

Its mode of existence was profoundly anomalous—its form spectral, insubstantial.

It was none other than Sovereign God Li Zhu himself!

And he was in the midst of returning!

After sustaining grievous wounds, he had fled here by virtue of his karmic link to the entity within the bronze coffin, intending both to conceal himself and to heal.

Yet his method of healing was most peculiar:

Using death as a catalyst, he enacted a rite of return, allowing his gravely wounded self—normally requiring eons to recover—to instantly revert to peak condition.

Such was the power of his innate talent and divine sovereignty!

As for the corpse, it served as his anchor—a vessel prepared for his returning consciousness to merge with.

Should the corpse be taken, the anchor would shift, disrupting his return.

His plan had been flawless, and the location ideal—yet plans falter before change. His omniscience did not encompass Xu Qing, who bore the Fate God Core, nor the bizarrely shaped Er Niu.

Now, watching helplessly as they seized his half-body before his very eyes at this critical juncture, Li Zhu’s consciousness turned toward the distant bronze coffin.

“Divine Sovereign, I beg your aid.”

The coffin remained utterly still.

“Divine Sovereign—”

“Silence!”

From within the coffin came a voice of cosmic rank—inaudible to Xu Qing and Er Niu—but crashing into Li Zhu’s returning consciousness like a tempest.

“I will not entangle myself in such karma! Cease your prattling!”

“A mere half-body—discard it and be done!”

Li Zhu fell silent.

Meanwhile, within the coffin, the Divine Sovereign’s thoughts churned, his vigilance soaring.

“One Upper Desolation karmic thread was already troublesome enough—now two have arrived!”

“The ever-hungry Upper Desolation can now use these two to gaze upon this place at any moment—”

“And that Fifth Star Ring Immortal Sovereign is also weaving schemes!”

“Therefore, the safest course is to surrender Li Zhu’s body and hasten their departure!”

As the Divine Sovereign within the coffin weighed this, Er Niu’s azure filaments—urged by Xu Qing’s warning—accelerated to their utmost limit and finally enshrouded the severed half of Li Zhu’s body completely.

They coiled inward, forming a sea of blue radiance that surged outward.

From within it rang Er Niu’s exultant cry:

“It’s done, little A-Qing! Let’s go!”

Hearing this, Xu Qing’s body swayed—he was about to depart—yet an inexplicable stirring in his heart made him pause. He turned his head, fixing his gaze upon the bronze coffin bound by countless iron chains!

The very instant he looked, the ancient Divine Sovereign inside—who had just breathed a sigh of relief—felt his heart lurch violently.

At the same moment, high above Wang Gu Continent in the Ninth Star Ring, the colossal, ruinous visage that loomed over all living things like a natural calamity

suddenly twitched its closed eyes—

as if about to open them!