Chapter 1319: Behind the Scenes!

Chapter 1319: Behind the Scenes!

The Immortal is the Law!

And once the Law shatters, it is as though the mountain is stripped from the Immortal script, leaving behind...

Nothing but mere mortals.

Just like the Ancient Immortal at this very moment, stumbling backward through the vault of heaven.

He looked down at his own dissolving hands, realizing that the karmic traces of the Dao which once rendered him omnipotent were now turning into the light of a setting sun, bleeding the last of their brilliance across his ruined flesh.

Within that radiance, ten thousand luminous butterflies could be faintly seen, each one a manifestation of his past karma and destiny, yet now... as they fluttered outward, they struggled, seeming to lose their source, beginning to fade away.

Beholding this, the Ancient Immortal smiled bitterly.

It was as though the very essence of his soul had been extracted, and so, decay descended upon him once more.

The wrinkles on his face cracked open anew, the karma he had once replaced erupted again, and his head of silver hair withered, twisting and falling away strand by strand!

Even the colossal Immortal physique behind him began to violently shudder.

His aura, which had reached its zenith during the eruption of the Law, collapsed in an instant like a bursting dam.

Simultaneously, mouthfuls of Dao-blood, thick with his Immortal source, sprayed uncontrollably from his lips.

That blood scattered into the midair, releasing a foul, putrid stench, and as it fell, it dissolved into countless crimson mists, vanishing into the eight directions.

This sight caused the hearts of all who perceived it among the myriad races of Wanggu to surge with exhilaration.

The Empress's breathing grew rapid, and Seventh Master felt a sharp jolt within his chest.

Zhou Zhengli and the others all watched with strange, flashing glints in their eyes.

Truly, this manner of contest over the Law could sever the opponent's very foundation; unless fueled by a vendetta of absolute life and death, Immortals would never choose such a path against one another.

Therefore... this kind of Law-struggle was exceedingly rare.

Only Er Niu licked his lips, staring at Xu Qing and the Ancient Immortal upon the sky-curtain, muttering in the depths of his heart.

"Isn't this just a war of words? I'm an expert at that. If you look at it this way, on the day I become a Xia Immortal, won't I be invincible among Immortals?"

While Er Niu was lost in his wild fantasies, up in the firmament, Xu Qing's gaze fell upon the Ancient Immortal, his voice echoing with profound meaning.

"At this moment, you still have one choice left."

Hearing this, the Ancient Immortal slowly turned his head, his expression steeped in vicissitudes, his eyes reflecting the deep sighs of time.

He did not look at Xu Qing, but instead gazed down at the earth of Wanggu.

He looked upon this world that was both familiar and strange to him, looking at the myriad races here, and especially at the human race.

Ultimately, his gaze settled upon Seventh Master.

Seventh Master remained silent.

And the Ancient Immortal closed his eyes, as the vast Immortal physique condensed behind him began to break apart.

Fissures rapidly spread across the Immortal form, but at the exact instant these cracks blanketed his entire body, the Ancient Immortal's closed eyes snapped open.

He seemed to have reached a resolution, having made his choice.

The moment his eyes opened, a dense, silver Immortal fire erupted violently within him, filling his entire body in an instant, and spilling along those cracks into the surrounding void.

His entire being seemed to transform into a blinding sun.

Within those endless flames, his left hand clenched into a fist, holding within his palm his own Immortal source that was on the verge of extinguishing.

His other hand extended flat, and resting within its palm was the entirety of the karma he had accumulated through one hundred thousand years of cultivation.

Sensing both hands, he took a deep breath, and without any further hesitation, he used the Immortal source in his palm as firewood, and all of his own karma as fuel, completely...

Merging them into himself!

In an instant, the Immortal source dissolved, and the karma was annihilated.

The silver fire emanating from his own Immortal body swelled boundlessly, overflowing from his form and rising continuously toward the vault of heaven, the conflagration towering.

During this process, an earth-shattering roar rumbled forth.

This sound seemed to carry a certain final farewell, surpassing thunder, ripping through the heavens and the earth.

It exploded within the lineage and blood of the living spirits of the myriad races!

And as his Immortal fire climbed continuously, touching the Wanggu seal at the peak of the nine heavens, the entire sky was dyed silver.

Yet this silver was impure, carrying a pale, ghostly quality.

It was as if singing a dirge for the end of this Ancient Immortal.

For what he burned was not merely his Immortal power, but also the merit he had gained when he led the Thick Soil Star-Ring to conquer Wanggu all those years ago!

These crowns that had once made him dazzling now transformed into medals to buy back his life.

By this means... he traded the destruction of his Law for the preservation of his mortal self!

The moment the burning was completely exhausted, the silver fire lost its luster, returning to his body to fill the cracks, making him appear ordinary once more, still an old man.

Only, there was no longer any hint of the Immortal about him.

As the flames vanished, a nascent sun rose in the distance against the sky.

The first ray of morning light pierced through the thin sea of clouds, shining upon the old man's tattered Daoist robe.

"In the end, I have fallen from the Immortal stage."

"From this moment forth, this old man has no further connection to Wanggu..."

The Ancient Immortal murmured.

Subsequently, the light in his eyes coalesced once more, looking toward Xu Qing.

"Junior, this old man has granted your wish!"

"And now, this old man also has a wish!"

"Back then, the one who left a remembrance in the firmament with the power of a sword, his sword was breathtaking."

"You were by his side at that time; did you learn his sword?"

Xu Qing looked at the Ancient Immortal and nodded.

The light in the Ancient Immortal's eyes grew even more intense.

"Draw the sword!"

Xu Qing's right hand suddenly lifted, pressing down slightly toward the earth below, his low, deep voice spreading to all eight directions.

"The Great Emperor's path of a lifetime was entirely the sword."

"He created a total of five swords."

"The first form is named... Ksitigarbha."

As the words fell, the human earth rumbled, and with the integration of Xu Qing's Immortal intent, this rumbling grew louder and louder, its scope instantly sweeping across Wanggu, raising a muffled roar that caused the vault of heaven to change color.

Deterring the mind and soul.

And Xu Qing's voice echoed through the rumbling of this earth.

“The so-called Earth-Treasure art draws forth the earth’s vital breath as its core, substituting sword intent for the will of the land, transforming that terrestrial essence into sword qi.”

“Gathered together, it coalesces into the Earth-Sword!”

As these words rang out, the land of Wanggu trembled with a deafening roar, as if countless earth-dragons had erupted. Waves upon waves of terrestrial energy surged skyward, converging at blinding speed…

Forging a sword of heaven-shaking magnitude!

Its hue was dark yellow, standing tall against the firmament—

Yet it did not descend.

“The second form is called Skyrend!”

Xu Qing raised his right hand and gently pressed downward toward the heavens.

At that very instant, the sky dimmed, and the void itself grew indistinct.

A terrifying force descended seemingly from nowhere, enveloping every corner of Wanggu’s emptiness, siphoning away all traces of the void’s essence!

“This sword was forged by the Great Emperor long ago, when he waged war on behalf of the Ancient Sovereign against the myriad races.”

“It can shatter the void—and each fracture left behind becomes a sword-mark.”

“These sword-marks stretch boundlessly; gathered together, they form the Skyrend Sword!”

As Xu Qing spoke, the void abruptly collapsed.

Countless spatial fissures continuously emerged across Wanggu’s celestial dome—

Dense, endless, innumerable.

Each fissure was also a sword-mark!

With a fierce clench of Xu Qing’s raised right hand, those countless sword-marks converged from every direction, assembling before him into a second world-shaking blade!

Its radiance spread far and wide, its sword qi annihilating all decay, its intent subduing heaven and earth alike.

Gazing upon these two swords, humanity was deeply moved—especially the Empress, whose eyes shimmered with memories.

The same held true for the myriad races.

Indeed, when the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor had drawn his blade in ages past, he had bought half a jiazi—a sixty-year reprieve—for all living beings of Wanggu. Without that grace period, the great calamity would have been utterly unalterable.

As for the Ancient Immortal, his expression carried a trace of wistful sighing.

Though he knew full well that the sword-cultivating Great Emperor of old had once threatened to awaken with a shattered visage, he could not deny—even now—that the man’s sword remained breathtakingly brilliant.

“Continue,” the Ancient Immortal murmured in a low voice.

Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with profound meaning as he waved his hand.

“The third form… is named Heavenly Palace.”

“This technique embodies slaughter—it targets only cultivators… Thus, even after the descent of the divine, the Great Emperor employed it but once.”

“And this ‘Heavenly Palace’ originates from the inner palaces formed within every cultivator who has reached Core Formation or higher!”

Speaking calmly, Xu Qing suddenly brought his raised right hand crashing down.

All the Core Formation cultivators and above from the sacred lands—who had previously scattered throughout Wanggu—now, wherever they stood, felt their minds thunderously shaken.

Within each of them, their Heavenly Palaces trembled violently, as though seized by an unseen force. From those palaces emerged illusory swords, bursting forth from their bodies!

These blades merged into a sea of swords, roaring through heaven and earth, surging toward Xu Qing like tidal waves from every horizon.

From afar, the sight was awe-inspiring beyond measure. At last, before Xu Qing, they coalesced into a third world-shattering sword!

“The fourth sword bears the name Starlight!”

The moment these words left his lips, the heavens roared—and daylight instantly gave way to night.

In that darkness, countless stars blazed brightly.

Innumerable rays of starlight transformed into beams of sword-light, becoming myriad longswords that descended from the starry sky, cascading upon the mortal realm.

Thus formed the fourth world-shattering sword!

The divine beings of Wanggu fell silent; the Ancient Immortal gazed upward intently.

And the Empress trembled slightly.

For in that starlight, amidst the radiance of the four great swords, Xu Qing’s figure blurred—and for one fleeting instant, in her eyes, he seemed to transform into the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor himself.

“The final sword…”

Amidst the sword-lustre, Xu Qing recalled the voice of the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor from long ago, and softly spoke:

“This sword was created by the Great Emperor to protect humankind. Hence, its name… Mortal Realm!”

The Mortal Realm after Dongsheng’s defeat—hard-pressed and struggling.

The Mortal Realm during the Shengtian Era—fighting desperately to survive.

The Mortal Realm under Jingyun’s stewardship—slowly awakening anew.

The Mortal Realm in Daoshi’s reign—undaunted and defiant.

The Mortal Realm through ten thousand years of Xuanzhan—chaotic yet enduring.

The Mortal Realm after Empress Lixia—rising once more!

“This… is the Mortal Realm he guarded. He has departed—but I remain.”

Xu Qing whispered gently.

Just as in days of old—his heart questioning truth across ten thousand zhang!

Astonishingly, it rose.

In the heavens, it overlapped with the previous four swords, merging into one true… Mortal Realm Sword!

And with that, he sent it hurtling toward the Ancient Immortal!

The Ancient Immortal closed his eyes.

But the Mortal Realm Sword, just as it neared him, abruptly veered aside—plunging instead into the emptiness behind the Ancient Immortal!

Ripples stirred in the void—and a single drop of golden riverwater emerged from within the emptiness.

The instant it touched the sword, the droplet let out a sound that startled even the gods—then exploded violently, multiplying into streams, then rivers, then seas…

In an instant, it became a vast divine river that shook Wanggu and churned the starry skies!

This river was not truly physical—merely a phantom projection—yet within it floated countless stars, all living beings, and blooming lotuses.

Upon those lotuses sat innumerable figures in meditation—aliens, humans, cultivators, deities…

And deep within the river’s flow, a cold, golden colossal eye slowly opened.

It was none other than… the Divine Mother River of the Ninth Star Ring’s northern quadrant!

“You are precisely whom I have awaited!”

In that very moment, Xu Qing’s eyes blazed with an ice-cold, peerless light he had suppressed until now!

Request leave.

Apologies, everyone—I’m off to Shijiazhuang on a business trip and will be taking one day off.

The update will be delayed.

I’m at the airport now; my flight departs tonight. After landing, I’ll head straight to writing, so the update likely won’t come until after midnight.