During his years at Mount Morning Glow, Xu Qing had secretly transported his divine form out of Wanggu through his own thods, simultaneously using Immortal Lord Mi Ming’s Ordinance to create a mirror image.
Naturally, this required Mi Ming’s assistance to achieve a certain degree of concealnt.
There were two purposes for this.
One was to prevent the divine form from being controlled by Crown Prince Purple Green, becoming a resource for the other.
The other was Xu Qing’s plan to use it as one of his trump cards—creating an opportunity for Immortal Lord Mi Ming to strike at a critical mont when Crown Prince Purple Green believed he had succeeded!
After all, with Desolate’s fragnted-face present, approaching Wanggu was an extrely dangerous endeavor. For native powerhouses of the Ninth Star Ring, Venerable Gods dared not draw near, and Lord Gods were the limit.
As for powerhouses from other star rings, the risks were even greater due to the differing auras of their ho star rings.
Thus, Immortal Lord Mi Ming had only one chance to strike, and he could not afford to prolong the battle.
Hence, the series of events that had just unfolded.
"Pity..."
Xu Qing felt so regret, but he had anticipated this outco. He quickly suppressed his emotions, his eyes flashing with cold determination as he took a step forward—
Appearing outside the palace hall.
Another step, and he was inside the imperial palace!
Like a spear piercing through heaven and earth, he charged toward Crown Prince Purple Green, who sat on the throne with golden blood still staining his lips.
But the mont Xu Qing closed in, Crown Prince Purple Green’s eyes suddenly blazed with golden light. He rose from his seated position, his right hand lifting toward the sky as he uttered a divine proclamation:
"Divine!"
The instant this word left his lips, Wanggu trembled.
All living beings of the myriad races felt a sudden palpitation, instinctively looking up.
Because—high in the sky, the colossal fragnted-face spanning half the firmant began to tremble and rotate, turning toward the Sky Devouring!
Its withered, decaying hair swayed like rotten vines, dragging trails of apocalyptic destruction through the void.
Most terrifying of all—Its bluish-gray eyelids, frozen for millennia, began to crack like parched earth.
Its rusted iron-like lashes...
Began to lift!
The world shook.
All breath seed to halt.
Within the Sky Devouring Region, in the imperial palace, Crown Prince Purple Green stood from his throne. As Desolate’s eye trembled, an awe-inspiring divine might erupted from his body, using him as its vessel!
Like a storm sweeping across the land, the entire palace hall shattered instantly, reduced to flying ash.
The force was irresistible!
Xu Qing, mid-charge, was violently halted and sent flying backward by the impact.
He only managed to stabilize himself several thousand feet away, coughing up blood before sharply lifting his gaze to the sky.
At that mont—
Desolate’s eye...
Parted slightly!
The heavens roared.
The earth twisted.
Within that eye swirled not an iris, but shattered galaxies—as if billions of stars burned within, their golden light seeping through the slit between Its lids.
Wherever that gaze fell...
Clouds boiled into viscous pitch, mountains cracked like spiderwebs, and even spaceti warped.
Under the residual glow of that not-yet-fully-opened eye, every city in the Sky Devouring Region trembled like clay kneaded by a giant hand, showing signs of dissolution.
Corpses floated eerily, their bluish-black skin oozing phosphorescent flas.
Amid the dissipating dust of the forr palace hall, Crown Prince Purple Green stood with hair billowing, his golden eyes blazing.
Cultivation realms no longer seed relevant to Him.
He had beco a vessel, bearing Desolate’s will.
His gaze was no longer gentle, His expression no longer human—only absolute indifference remained.
As if, in this mont, He was no longer Crown Prince Purple Green Xu Qing knew!
"Manifest!"
An icy voice, devoid of all emotion, echoed across heaven and earth.
The mont it sounded, Desolate’s eye above...
Fully opened!
Within Its pupil churned a chaotic vortex, each contraction devouring the world’s light.
When the vortex reached its climax—
A dark golden pillar of light descended like judgnt, engulfing the Sky Devouring Region!
The plains it touched instantly boiled—soil, rubble, and corpses disintegrating into primal particles. Only a few crystalline fragnts persisted stubbornly, though not for long.
Beasts and even bizarre entities crumbled into dust, scattering like stardust.
This was no ordinary destruction, but dinsional corruption.
Under the fragnted-face’s gaze, the boundaries between reality and illusion shattered;
the lines between living and dead blurred.
Faint silhouettes began materializing within that light!
And the true focus of Desolate’s gaze was...
The Purple Green Kingdom, its imperial palace, and—
Crown Prince Purple Green!
Bathed in that divine radiance, He beca...
Divinity Incarnate.
Then, He raised His hand and pointed at Xu Qing.
With that gesture, spaceti warped, and the silhouettes within the light grew distinct—
Revealing themselves as projections of ancient gods!
These were all gods devoured by Desolate across the ages!
Though fallen, Their remnants lingered within that gaze, now summoned forth by Crown Prince Purple Green’s command.
Among them, Xu Qing even recognized the Venerable God from the bronze coffin in the Fourth Star Ring!
Though these projections lacked Their original power, Their divine nature made Their corrupting influence no less potent.
As They erged, anomalous substances surged violently, flooding the world.
Then—
They lunged at Xu Qing!
Seeking to corrupt his very being.
This wasn’t Xu Qing’s first encounter with Desolate’s gaze, but it was the most intense.
Previously, Its eyes had opened without will—re instinct.
This ti, it carried intent, and those countless projections!
Even with Xu Qing’s Ordinance Law at the Immortal Lord level and his cultivation as an immortal, his body began turning bluish-black under that gaze.
His flesh was being tainted;
endless anomalous substances invaded his form.
His Ordinance Law was being twisted—Desolate’s power of fate sought to forcibly alter it.
In an instant, Xu Qing faced mortal peril. His eyes burned crimson;
every inch of his flesh developed independent consciousness, seeking to break free.
At this critical juncture, Xu Qing’s right hand shot up, gesturing into the distance as he growled:
"Mirror of Wanggu!"
As these words echoed, the crystalline fragnts struggling under Desolate’s gaze within the Sky Devouring Region suddenly trembled—
Then shot skyward, hurtling toward Xu Qing!
They materialized around him—
These were the shards of the shattered Mirror of Wanggu!
Now glowing brilliantly, they released the Purple Green Kingdom’s fortune they had sealed within, channeling it to empower Xu Qing!
Yet this alone couldn’t withstand Desolate’s gaze. Without hesitation, Xu Qing summoned his ultimate trump card—
A bronze lantern!
The Venerable God’s eye within...
Snapped open!
Golden light erupted from it like a torrent, bolstered by the Purple Green Kingdom’s fortune from the mirror shards, clashing invisibly with Desolate’s gaze and the surrounding projections.
Amid the thunderous collisions, Xu Qing’s body shuddered—but the sensation of his flesh separating and the corruption’s advance slowed.
The Venerable God’s gaze ford a protective barrier around him, neutralizing Desolate’s power and blocking the encroaching projections.
However...
Desolate’s might surpassed all Venerable Gods. Even with Grandmaster Bai’s enhancents to the eye and the support of the mirror shards and kingdom’s fortune, it couldn’t hold indefinitely.
Cracks rapidly spread across the golden eye.
"Ten breaths at most before the lantern fails!"
"But... that should suffice!"
Releasing the lantern to float freely, Xu Qing imdiately sat cross-legged, forming hand seals as razor-sharp sword intent erupted from within!
He had simulated this battle countless tis on Mount Morning Glow.
He knew confronting Crown Prince Purple Green would inevitably draw Desolate’s attention, risking Its eye opening.
Thus, he had exhausted all ans to devise a unique counterasure.
"I survived Desolate’s gaze twice—in Peerless City and the ancient city—without the purple crystal’s intervention, since I discovered it later."
"Crown Prince Purple Green may be a factor, but..."
"My mories of Peerless City contain two contradictory versions—one where I lived, another where I died."
"This inconsistency suggests another possibility for my survival!"
"Having cultivated to this realm, only two uncertainties remain within : the purple crystal as an external object, and..."
"The mysterious corridor deep in my soul—the countless doors, and the unfathomable throne beyond!"
"This may be my only hope against Desolate!"
These thoughts flashed through Xu Qing’s mind in an instant. Without hesitation, his eyes hardened with resolve. He raised his right hand and slamd it onto his crown—
A sword aura erupted from his brow, materializing as the Emperor Sword.
Gripping it tightly, Xu Qing swung the blade toward his own forehead!
A massive wound split open across his body, slicing through flesh and skin from head to toe!
This sight—even Crown Prince Purple Green, observing through the gaze of Desolate—narrowed His eyes. His indifferent expression flickered with intrigue.
"You intend... to carve yourself open?"
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