The sky stretched like a smoke-stained curtain, vast and boundless.
There was no sun or moon, as if this place had no distinction between day and night. Only three hundred and sixty erald-colored rings, like bracelets, floated in the do, emitting a soft glow.
This was a star in an unknown universe.
It had seas, land, mountains, and islands.
But the sea was a liquid ocean of phosphorescent fire.
The land was made of cosmic dust, forming a terrain of starry remains.
The mountains were crystallized into purple crystal, embodying anomalous substances.
As for the islands, they were not in the sea but hung off the cliffs of the purple crystal mountains.
These islands were woven from light-devouring vines that dangled from the cliff edges.
These semi-transparent plants seed to have roots that could pierce the vacuum, drawing nutrients from the unknown, making them appear as if they had materialized out of thin air.
Just like the figure that suddenly appeared on one of these islands.
Clad in tattered robes, with disheveled hair, a blood-stained face, and an aura of extre weakness, the figure appeared almost unconscious, landing on the vine-woven island.
Upon contact, a strange wind from another dinsion spread out from the figure, causing the vine island to shake violently and visibly corrode.
Finally unable to withstand the pressure, the island was pierced by the figure.
With a loud crash, the figure broke through the island and fell into the forest below the cliff.
The forest was vast, but for so reason, all the trees within a thousand-feet radius of where the figure landed disintegrated in an instant, turning into a cloud of shimring stardust that rose high into the air, engulfing the fallen figure.
Within the dust, it was faintly visible that the figure was not alone—he held soone in his hand.
Even in his unconscious state, his grip was tight, choking the person he held, who was also unconscious.
Soon, the surroundings fell silent again.
The dust that had been stirred up slowly settled, filling the thousand-feet void and restoring the forest to its original state.
The vegetation of this forest was not real but ford from dust!
It absorbed starlight that drifted through the universe, seemingly following so ancient law, extracting mories from the starlight and reenacting the scenes recorded within the starlight in the forest.
Ti slowly passed.
It gradually began to rain.
But this rain was not ordinary—it was ford from billions of phosphorescent fireflies floating in the thin atmosphere of this star, drifting down.
From a distance, it looked as if a god in the void had torn apart a scripture, scattering its pages.
These scattered pages burned in the air, emitting a light that surpassed the heavens, accompanied by murmurs of divine voices.
"Hui Zhu… Hui Zhu…"
As the murmurs spread, vague figures began to form from the light of the burning pages, gradually becoming clearer.
These figures all looked the sa.
Their bodies were made of light, with no distinction between male and female, woven entirely from light. Twelve pairs of light wings stretched out behind them, forming a rainbow-colored vortex.
They erged from the heavens and began to walk in all directions, murmuring as They went.
Wherever They passed, the dust on the ground rose, forming a mournful wind that stirred waves in Their wake.
The purple crystal mountains resonated, emitting ancient, flute-like hums, playing a welcoming lody for Them.
The liquid phosphorescent ocean also surged, forming countless glowing pillars that solidified into flowing staircases, dancing for Them.
Even the vine-woven islands secreted golden sap, which solidified into hexagonal prism crystals that seed to record the laws of the universe. These crystals then rose into the sky, as if offering tribute.
As for the forest beneath the islands, it also disintegrated entirely, turning into a sandstorm that swirled in worship of Them.
Amidst the sandstorm, only the fallen figure lay motionless.
But soon… the woman held in his hand trembled, Her eyelashes fluttering as She slowly opened Her eyes.
After taking in Her surroundings, She was first stunned, then Her eyes lit up with joy. Her gaze quickly fell on the person beside Her, showing hesitation and wariness.
She did not act rashly but instead opened Her mouth toward the distant light figures in the sky, as if trying to emit divine sound.
She was sealed, unable to release Her divine sense, but if She could just send out a divine sound now, She was confident She could instantly attract those divine spirits.
But just as the sound was about to leave Her mouth… the hand gripping Her neck suddenly tightened, a surge of force cutting off Her voice completely.
The goddess trembled, Her peripheral vision catching sight of Xu Qing, who had now opened his eyes.
She dared not struggle, remaining completely still.
Xu Qing's expression was impassive, and he too remained motionless.
Only after the light figures in the sky had completely disappeared and the surroundings had returned to normal did he turn to look at the goddess. Then, with a sudden inhale, he began to absorb Her essence.
The goddess despaired as a terrifying suction force ravaged Her body. In an instant, the newly ford essence within Her was drained, and She collapsed, limp.
Xu Qing then sealed Her voice and reinforced the other seals, finally binding Her tightly and storing Her away.
After completing this, Xu Qing cautiously released his divine sense, observing his surroundings.
Gradually, his expression darkened. After a mont of silence, he spoke softly.
"Thank you."
"You don't need to thank , Young Master. Our relationship is beyond such formalities."
The clay fox's voice was weak, but the coquettish tone was still evident.
She naturally understood why Xu Qing was thanking Her. The mont they had landed on this star, the clay fox had sensed the abnormality of this place and had actively released Her divine aura to conceal Xu Qing.
She had also noticed the goddess' unusual behavior and, at the cost of Her own divine essence, had accelerated Xu Qing's awakening to avert the earlier crisis.
"I will need your continued support."
Xu Qing spoke softly, then closed his eyes and began to ditate, focusing on healing his injuries.
He had so guesses about where they were, but whether to confirm the location or to leave, he needed his cultivation to be restored.
Thus, he understood that the most important task before him now was to recover his strength.
His injuries were severe. The toll of using the Dao Artifact earlier and the dangers of the spatial turbulence had left him extrely weak.
But fortunately… his reserves of essence were sufficient.
The rewards from capturing the goddess earlier were enough for him to restore his cultivation, not to ntion the continuous essence he could absorb from the God of Pain through the Aurora Immortal Palace, and… the goddess Herself.
Especially the latter. For Xu Qing, whether in the past or now, She seed to be an inexhaustible treasure.
Just like that, ti flowed by.
Half a month went by in the blink of an eye.
During this half-month, under the clay fox's divine aura concealnt, Xu Qing absorbed essence in the dust forest, continuously healing his injuries. During this ti, the forest wove more ancient scenes, and the sky rained once more.
Observing the twelve-winged light figures, Xu Qing sensed a divine presence within Them.
But They seed different from the gods he had encountered before.
However, without restoring a certain level of cultivation, Xu Qing had no intention of investigating further, so he continued to heal.
Another seven days passed… Another ten days passed.
Xu Qing, who had been ditating, suddenly opened his eyes, a bright light shining within them. His cultivation… had recovered by seventy percent.
The remaining recovery would take longer, as the toll on his soul from using the Dao Artifact was more severe.
But Xu Qing had a feeling that once he fully recovered, his soul would be tempered, becoming purer than before.
"Now, let's see where this place really is!"
Xu Qing raised his head, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. In the next mont, his divine sense, concealed by the cud fox's aura, erupted, sweeping across the entire star and extending into the starry sky.
The dense anomalous substances, the fluctuations of gods…
This could not possibly be the Fifth Star Ring.
Although he had made so initial guesses and judgnts about the environnt when he first awakened, now that he had fully sensed the area, he couldn't help but sigh.
This was a red starry sky!This was an unfamiliar starry sky.
Recalling the goddess' joy upon awakening, Xu Qing had to conclude that this was most likely the Fourth Star Ring.
As for the star he was currently on…
Xu Qing's divine sense looked down. The star was located at the edge of a dust nebula.
The star itself was erald-colored, slowly rotating, and faintly emitting a breathing-like sound from its rocky layers.
On the surface, there was a crystalline plain where countless winged, scaled oxen lived.
Their scales were special, resonating with the earth's veins. When they flapped their wings, they shed fine specks of light.
Even more peculiar was that they possessed intelligence and had their own civilization, forming a nation.
They had built temples to worship their god, offering daily sacrifices.
The god's form was that of a glowing butterfly.
It was not a True God, only a Divine Platform. Xu Qing witnessed a dying scaled ox prostrate itself before the temple, gradually transforming into a glowing butterfly-like creature that rged into the temple.
But gods were not limited to this area.
Far from the herd of scaled oxen, there was a vast expanse of fluorescent fungal mats!
They sang in the wind, using their mycelium to form a massive underground kingdom. They bathed in celestial fire, burning themselves and transforming into rising blue mist.
Within the mist floated sound-eating epherals, their transparent abdons revealing a god belonging to their species.
Humanoid beings also existed on this star.
They lived in the magnetically turbulent southwestern region, building their hos on moving crystal forests.
These forests fed on lightning, and the arcs of light they emitted when splitting were seen by these humanoid beings as divine punishnt.
Perhaps it truly was divine punishnt, for Xu Qing's divine sense clearly detected the presence of divine aura within those lightning bolts.
Apart from this, what caught Xu Qing's attention the most were the three hundred and sixty erald rings in the sky. They were the source of the twelve-winged light figures… and seed to house ancient temples.
However, most of them were dim.
"No True Gods… this is a suitable place to hide."
After a long while, Xu Qing withdrew his divine sense. After so contemplation, he decided to fully restore his cultivation on this star before considering how to leave.
With a flicker of his body, he disappeared from the dust forest.
He reappeared within a purple crystal mountain, where he carved out a cave and began to ditate.
Ti continued to pass.
Outside, the star rotated, and celestial fire occasionally fell.
The scaled oxen perford their sacrifices thirty tis, and their god grew increasingly radiant.
The fungal mats' chants beca a requiem of self-immolation in the celestial fire, causing the mist to churn in the sky like a dance.
The dust forest continued to manifest the mories of starlight, weaving them into starry dust.
During this ti, the forest absorbed the mories of an unknown human civilization from the starlight.
In the images, a white-haired cultivator, holding his dying wife, fell into madness in his grief. He looked up to the heavens, cursing the sky, then rose into the air, as if to battle the heavens themselves!
No sound could be heard, but the madness in the images dyed the surroundings of the dust forest in blood.
As for Xu Qing's cultivation, it had recovered to ninety percent over the past month.
Just as he was imrsed in his recovery, nearing full health, one day…
A strange sound suddenly erged from the deep breathing of the star's earth veins.
"God Emperor Chiuz decrees: A human cultivator has fled with the goddess. All gods across the billions of star systems of the Fourth Star Ring, whoever finds this person shall be rewarded with a hundred units of origin essence. Whoever captures him alive shall be rewarded with a Lord God Dao Artifact!"
Accompanying this voice was a terrifying divine sense, sweeping across the starry sky toward this star!
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