Chapter 1332: Truly Only One Step Away

Chapter 1332: True, Only One Step Away

Staring at the light in his palm, Xu Qing recalled the battle outside Wanggu against the Sovereign under the Mother River’s command.

Back then, he had borrowed the Sovereign’s divine authority, merging it with his own Constitutional Law to trace the origins of his own divine techniques.

Upon the Dawnlight, he had gained perception.

He understood: the Dawnlight was but one ten-thousandth of a mysterious radiance worshipped by the Huangtian Divine Clan!

And this mysterious radiance, when traced...

was the very first light that emerged when Wanggu took form.

“Viewing it now, the Huangtian Divine Clan’s veneration of this Wanggu light has its reasons. After all, their bodies crystallize, especially the light cones within their heads.”

“I wonder if they were always thus, or if worshipping that first light of Wanggu reshaped their forms.”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, fingers tightening.

Instantly, the light cones within his palm shattered into dust.

The light within them flowed along his arm, merging with his Dawnlight deep inside.

Having done this, Xu Qing lifted his head, gazing toward the Huangtian World, his eyes alight with strange wonder.

His anticipation for this journey deepened.

“When Huangtian Divine Clan members perish, they release such light.”

“We studied it long ago, found it peculiar. Most faded quickly, but occasionally, we tried fusing fragments with the sun rising over Wanggu, preserving them.”

The Seventh Elder stilled the turmoil within, turning to Xu Qing.

“The strand you possess endured thus until now.”

“Yet the light left by the dead Huangtian is merely one hundred-millionth of its source. The true origin has always been venerated by the Huangtian Divine Clan.”

“At least, when we of Thick Earth arrived, that was their stance. Investigations suggested this clan... seemed born from that very light.”

“They call it... Source Light.”

“Even when Huangtian fell, sealed by Thick Earth, they preserved that light.”

“And though our victory was hard-won, we chose not to push them to utter ruin. We did not seize it by force.”

The Seventh Elder’s voice drifted through the daylight, weathered by history, scattering like dust.

Then, glancing once more at the plain before them, as if severing a lingering bond, he stepped forward, striding far away.

“The old man misses his master. He waited long, but when the time came, the one who returned... was no longer that person.”

Second Ox drew near Xu Qing, watching the Seventh Elder’s retreating back, his tone uncharacteristically heavy.

“Such is the way of the world.”

Second Ox sighed, lost in thought, weary of spirit.

Xu Qing remained silent, recalling Second Ox weeping amidst the ruins within the temporal chaos.

“His master’s past is no longer shrouded, but as for the Eldest Senior Brother...”

Xu Qing studied Second Ox, not asking why the Eldest Senior Brother had been as he was within the temporal chaos.

Each was a separate soul, bearing secrets and bonds unique to themselves.

His master had them. Second Ox had them. Xu Qing, reflecting on his own life, knew he did too.

So in silence, Xu Qing walked to Second Ox’s side, following the Seventh Elder across Huangtian.

Step by step, the scene echoed the ancient catacombs.

Time flowed. Half an hour passed. As Zhou Zhengli and others clashed with deities across eight directions, churning Huangtian’s essence into greater turmoil, the trio reached their destination.

An endless sea!

Like a raging beast, roaring in fury.

The water’s hue was pitch black, reeking of blood, as if time itself could not bleach its color nor wash away its gore.

Moreover, dense divine might and immortal essence clashed here, repelling each other like fire and water, unseen collisions rippling through heaven and earth, stirring perpetual storms upon the sea.

Second Ox’s true form lay upon an island within this sea.

“This was the one place my divine senses could not pierce earlier, veiled by blinding radiance.”

Xu Qing’s gaze settled on the sea before him, thoughtful.

The Seventh Elder’s voice echoed now.

“Fourth, Eldest, remember this place.”

His expression was grave.

“This sea is where Thick Earth’s First Immortal fought the Huangtian Divine Emperor!”

“The battle raged long. In the end, the Emperor’s head was severed, his body shattered.”

“The head was taken by the Xia Immortal Palace. His corpse fell, becoming this Black Sea.”

“As for Thick Earth’s First Immortal... he perished here. Only his residual soul remained, later becoming Wanggu’s First Heavenly Dao.”

“Without him, Wanggu would never have been.”

As he spoke, the Seventh Elder bowed deeply toward the sea.

Xu Qing and Second Ox bowed with him.

At their reverence, the sea roared, waves surging higher. The immortal essence within flared violently, casting rainbows across the black waters, illuminating the heavens.

Only after a long while did the rainbows fade.

And as they vanished, an island faintly emerged in the distance.

“Master, the Eldest Senior Brother’s true form rests there.”

Xu Qing fixed his gaze upon the island.

The Seventh Elder glanced over.

“Quite the choice of location.”

Second Ox, recovered from his earlier gloom, opened his mouth to speak.

But the Seventh Elder had already stepped forward.

Second Ox blinked, then turned to Xu Qing.

“Little Qing, what follows will prove I never boasted about your Eldest Senior Brother!”

Xu Qing smiled, following Second Ox as they crossed the sea in a single stride.

They materialized beside the Seventh Elder upon the island, standing before a ruined temple.

Once vast, the temple now lay in rubble, its gates shattered, allowing a clear view inside.

Amidst the fallen statue’s debris, in a corner, rested a giant head.

There lay Erniu’s severed head!

Beside it sprawled an ancient rat, nearly hairless, lazing in the dust. Its tail flicked occasionally, nudging strips of dried meat—scavenged from who knows where—into the mouth of Erniu’s head.

The arrival of Xu Qing and the others caught the rat’s attention. Its eyes narrowed sharply; in an instant, it sprang up, snatched the head with practiced ease, and prepared to flee.

“Xiao Qing, don’t run—it’s me!”

Almost as the rat turned to escape, Erniu from outside the temple shouted urgently.

Xu Qing’s brows lifted in surprise.

The scruffy-furred rat hesitated, eyeing Erniu with suspicion.

Erniu hurried forward, his form dissolving into a streak of blue light that plunged directly into the head’s closed eyes.

The true body and the fragment merged.

At once, his mind trembled; the shut eyes slowly opened.

Seeing this, the rat burst into delighted relief.

“Where’s your flesh?”

Seventh Elder entered the temple then, gazing at the head on the ground with a sigh.

Erniu coughed, about to speak.

Suddenly, the roar of ocean waves beyond the island swelled violently, accompanied by a sound like the splitting of heaven and earth—a thunderous detonation as if countless bolts of celestial lightning had shattered the sky.

The entire island quaked; the sea beyond bellowed without end, waves rising more monstrous than before.

Then... the boundless sea began to recede!

The water drained at terrifying speed, vanishing as if sucked away in the unprecedented churning.

Within mere heartbeats... the entire ocean lay utterly dry!

Revealing the seabed in its entirety, revealing mountain ranges.

The island where Xu Qing and the others stood was merely the peak of a colossal mountain within this vast range!

Beneath these mountains lay an inconceivably immense corpse!

Headless, its body seemed pieced together.

Mountains grew upon its frame.

The sea had been drawn into it.

Divine might surged from it, overwhelming.

It stirred infinite alien energies, churning the vault of heaven.

Yet this was not the most astonishing sight...

Most astonishing were the countless blue worms swarming over the corpse!

Innumerable, impossible to count, some already burrowing through wounds into the flesh, all... tearing frantically!

At this spectacle, even Seventh Elder stood frozen.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Meanwhile, Erniu’s head on the ground leapt up, landing on Xu Qing’s shoulder, cackling with insolent triumph.

“Old man, you asked about my flesh? My flesh is all there now.”

“And Xiao Qing—you see, didn’t I tell you Master Brother never boasts!”

“Given enough time, I’d have devoured this Imperial Sovereign of Huangtian preparing for resurrection! Then wouldn’t I rule all Huangtian?”

“This—this is but the final step!”