Chapter 1326: Suffering of the Spirit Emperor

Chapter 1326: The Suffering of the Spirit Emperor

The moment Xu Qing’s words echoed, the colossal serpent before him convulsed violently, emitting a soul-piercing shriek.

Ripples spread through the abyssal darkness of the Spirit Abyss, rolling outward like tidal waves.

Simultaneously, within the grand world above the serpent’s head, every Spirit Emperor’s eye—awakened within their palaces—narrowed sharply.

Mortal peril gripped the newly roused Ancient Spirit Emperor, making even his soul tremble.

Instinct screamed to flee. Instantly, spatial distortions flared around each Spirit Emperor’s eye.

These distortions erupted, swallowing the eyes whole. They vanished without a trace.

Xu Qing remained impassive, his gaze steady, voice calm.

“Return.”

All space had been sealed the moment Xu Qing stepped forward.

Time itself was bound.

None could depart freely before him unless their realm surpassed his own.

Thus, beneath his stare, his command, the vanished eyes reappeared.

Not within the grand world as before—but upon the serpent’s body.

Gazing upon the rotting leviathan, one saw Spirit Emperor’s eyes materializing from nothing, grafted onto its flesh, immovable.

Every eye snapped open, radiating raw terror.

None dared resist, as Zhou Zheng, Star Ring, and others roamed unchecked within his realm.

“Xu Qing, I have wronged you not!”

All Spirit Emperor’s eyes broadcast divine thoughts, merging into a voice thick with authority.

Yet beneath it lay anxiety, tension, the luster of old dimmed.

Beyond the serpent, in the void, Xu Qing stood. His right hand lifted, grasping toward the beast.

The serpent’s convulsions reached a fever pitch; its form blurred, shrieks twisting into wails.

Its vast body seemed to melt.

The ancient imperial eyes sprouting across its flesh screamed too, peeling one by one from the meat, drawn helplessly toward Xu Qing.

The scent of death surged to its zenith.

The Ancient Spirit Emperor’s wails turned desperate, pleading.

“Xu Qing, I aided you once!”

“Even when you were weak, provoking me time and again—I never truly struck you!”

Xu Qing heard the wails, said nothing.

He knew well the nature of their bond: a series of perilous bargains.

The Spirit Emperor had spared him only because he held value, and threats.

Hence the subsequent feedings, his role in the battle against the Crimson Mother.

So Xu Qing’s grasping hand wrenched hard.

A tearing sound joined the Spirit Emperor’s shriek. Every Spirit Emperor’s eye was ripped from the serpent’s flesh.

Ninety-nine in total, hovering before Xu Qing, crushed by irresistible force into a pulsating orb of eyes.

The pressure intensified.

“Xu Qing, I aided your consort!”

“I can aid her still! My existence shields her from future curses. I know you can do it—but I—”

“I can bear her curses in her stead!”

“My lineage bears bloodline curses. I can take them upon myself!”

All the Spirit Emperor’s eyes quivered. Amidst the crushing force, frantic divine thoughts surged.

These words seemed to pierce. The pressure eased, ever so slightly.

Before the Spirit Emperor could breathe, Xu Qing’s raised hand seized the void above the orb.

As the Spirit Emperor’s spirit recoiled, Xu Qing’s fingers closed upon empty space.

Every Spirit Emperor’s eye contracted in horror.

Xu Qing’s own gaze sharpened, fierce as a blade.

He stared at the void he gripped.

There, unseen by others, a golden filament gleamed!

A filament—yet truly, a single hair.

It both existed and did not, in a state beyond comprehension. One end anchored to the Spirit Emperor’s eyes; the other stretched into distant darkness.

“As I suspected.”

Xu Qing murmured inwardly. He’d long guessed the Ancient Spirit Emperor’s survival relied not just on will, but on outside aid.

After all, for a pawn, none ranked higher than the Spirit Emperor.

“And the hand behind this? This hair reveals it.”

Xu Qing seized the ethereal hair. Divine thought surged along it, lashing toward the far darkness.

The Spirit Abyss, under his mental sweep, blazed like falling starfire. All lay bare.

Guided by the hair, his search became a lock.

Instantly, Xu Qing’s mind beheld, deep within the abyss, a beastly form resting in mist!

Resembling a lizard, its body gleamed gold.

It slept.

The moment Xu Qing’s thought touched it, the lizard’s eyes snapped open.

Meeting Xu Qing’s gaze.

Invisible shockwaves erupted across the Spirit Abyss.

Boundless curses materialized with its awakening, churning outward in all directions.

It was the Beast, one of the Four Divine Lords beyond Wanggu Continent!

Yet clearly, only a thread of its divine thought resided here.

Still, even thus, its stare with Xu Qing strained the void to the breaking point. Cracks spiderwebbed across the entire Spirit Abyss.

Xu Qing ignored it. His face was cold as ice, fixed upon the lizard.

The golden lizard stared back, equally devoid of warmth.

“Yield the Ancient Spirit behind you,” the divine voice intoned, words carrying law, shaping will, bending soul and substance alike, “and I shall depart.”

Even here, where Xu Qing stood, the Xianlü itself shuddered beneath those words.

That was, after all, the divine thought of a Sovereign!

Yet Xu Qing knew the Sovereign well; almost the instant his own Xianlü wavered, a wisp of flame ignited before him.

Then, a lantern appeared.

Held aloft by Xu Qing, raised high.

Within the lantern, the Sovereign’s Eye—refined and sealed inside—suddenly snapped open.

A torrent of golden light surged forth, a tangible sea of radiance, pouring through the Sovereign’s Eye toward the golden lizard.

That single gaze collapsed the void, shattered all directions, heralding utter annihilation.

The golden lizard’s body roared, fissures spreading across its form as it retreated, its expression icy, its gaze sweeping over the lantern before fixing coldly upon Xu Qing.

Then, in its retreat, it shattered the void.

It had finally chosen to abandon its probing, seeking to leave Wanggu and return to its true form.

But…

Had it departed when Xu Qing first drew his line, he would not have intervened. Yet having been given the chance, having made its choice—now to leave unscathed…

This would inflict invisible damage upon the credibility of Xu Qing’s boundary.

No matter the perspective, Xu Qing had to act, to show the outside powers the consequence of lingering here.

Thus, lantern raised, Xu Qing watched the retreating golden lizard and spoke, calm as still water.

“Entropy!”

At that word, the lantern in his hand trembled violently. A faint, ancient, ragged breath seemed to settle upon the collapsing void.

It was the breath of the Sovereign once of the Fifth Star Ring, lingering in this world.

As the breath echoed, the golden light streaming from the Sovereign’s Eye within the lantern swelled beyond all prior measure, bathing the entire void in gold within a heartbeat!

Then, all within this realm transformed beneath the golden hue.

The void, the mist—naturally, even the golden lizard, poised to depart and return to its true form!

The lizard’s body trembled.

It felt… the divine authority of the Sovereign!

Entropy—the process by which all things move from order to chaos. And through this divine authority, one could alter all matter, increasing or decreasing its very essence.