Chapter 1037: Ninth Star Ring

A ripple stirred in Xu Qing's heart.

This scene, naturally, was not present in Blood Dust's memories.

He had searched until now, and at this moment, staring at the stellar face, he understood completely in his heart:

This was undoubtedly the reason for the white dust appearing in Blood Dust's soul!

Although he didn't know what the white dust was, Xu Qing didn't hesitate. He suddenly raised his right hand, and in the next instant, a vast hand materialized in front of him.

It reached out to grasp the face appearing on the star.

It drew closer and grew larger, eventually expanding to cover the entire collapsing star as it neared.

But just as the hand enveloped the face and descended, an anomaly occurred!

Whether by coincidence or not, the collapsing star reached its critical point at that very instant. The entire star then suddenly collapsed, splitting into countless fragments!

It shattered outwards with a resounding roar!

The face shattered along with it!

The mountain ranges forming the nose were obliterated in an instant!

The lakes forming the eyes were instantly filled!

The ravines that made up the mouth directly collapsed!

The gigantic face was no more.

As the star collapsed, a world-destroying force erupted from it, unleashing a terrifying aura!

Xu Qing's materialized hand bore the brunt of this destructive storm.

The next moment, an earth-shattering roar erupted in the area, a deafening rumble. The aura of destruction swept through everything, and Xu Qing's materialized hand, unable to withstand it, shattered instantly!

He himself was instantly thrown backward, retreating a full hundred thousand zhang before barely managing to avoid the star's destructive force!

Looking back, the star had already turned to dust...

This dust was white!

Identical to the white dust on Blood Dust's thread of fate!

Xu Qing's heart jolted. He immediately raised his hand and attempted to collect it!

However, as soon as the white dust appeared, it rapidly began to vanish!

Furthermore, many methods proved ineffective in collecting this substance. After all, Xu Qing had previously tried to collect the white dust within Blood Dust's thread of fate multiple times, failing without exception!

But he was unwilling to give up!

Perhaps because this white dust had not yet integrated into a thread of fate, its state was different. So, after Xu Qing tried various methods, he finally managed to collect a small amount using a jade bottle imbued with both divine origin and authority!

He lowered his head, gazing at the jade bottle in his hand, thoughts churning in his mind!

He now knew the origin of the white dust within Blood Dust's fate!

Previously, he had witnessed the collapse of other stars and worlds in this area, but none had produced this white dust. Yet, the destruction of *this* star had yielded such a substance!

The difference was obvious!

"Stars or worlds that have had that face appear on them will only produce white dust upon their collapse."

"Unfortunately, I tried my best to collect it, but this mysterious substance dissipated too quickly, and the amount I managed to gather is too small..."

Xu Qing examined the jade bottle, noticing that despite the blessing of his authority and divine origin, the white dust inside was still irreversibly vanishing!

Although the speed was somewhat slowed, it would disappear completely in at most a day.

"One day..."

Xu Qing frowned!

There wasn't enough time!

His caution also meant he wouldn't integrate this mysterious dust into his own thread of fate before conducting experiments and research!

"So the key isn't actually this white dust, but that face..."

Xu Qing looked up, gazing in all directions!

"Is there another face?"

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, then sent a spiritual message to Little Shadow. Little Shadow quickly merged with Xu Qing, making Xu Qing's eyes turn completely black again!

He prepared to use his Shadow Sight to meticulously search the secret realm for a second face!

After the fusion, Xu Qing wasted no time. He sped forward through the secret realm, which had reverted to a series of images, carefully searching with his Shadow Sight!

Time passed!

Although this World Source Secret Realm had become a series of images, they were not static; they were dynamic and numerous!

Most importantly, because the red candle was still burning, both the light and heat, and the risk of being assimilated, increased with Xu Qing's continued exploration!

Two days later, Xu Qing had to retreat some distance, moving away from the red candle's fiery glow. After observing from afar, a somber feeling arose in his heart!

"Two days, and I've only searched thirty percent of the area, mostly the outer parts!"

"To explore the entire area, it would likely take at least ten days, and the closer I get to the red candle, the greater the risk of assimilation!"

"This won't do!"

After a long silence, a decisive thought arose in Xu Qing's mind: he had one more trump card to play!

"Then..."

Xu Qing closed his eyes. His divine origin roared within him, constantly surging, and a seed of divine authority shone with brilliant golden light on his desolate land!

This light grew increasingly intense, eventually illuminating his entire desolate land before spreading out from within Xu Qing's body. It then converged, forming a golden thread that wrapped around Xu Qing's finger!

Gazing at this golden thread, expectation gleamed in Xu Qing's eyes!

This was because the divine authority associated with this golden thread was none other than the Authority of Luck he had obtained from the Dragon-named cultivator of the Northern Fate Royal Clan!

As he squeezed it, the golden thread of luck began to burn!

But everything around him remained as it was!

Xu Qing's gaze swept over the surroundings; he saw nothing unusual. However, this was his first time using this divine authority, so he was also in the process of exploring its effects!

After a long moment, he took a deep breath and plunged into the fiery glow of the red candle, resuming his search!

This time, after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Xu Qing felt something different!

He saw traces of rules and laws!

It was known that the main benefit of this World Source Secret Realm for cultivators cultivating their divine souls was precisely these rules and laws!

The worlds and stars here were countless; they constantly collapsed and reformed, providing abundant references and insights for cultivators cultivating their divine souls to forge their own new worlds!

However, apart from some basic ones, rules and laws varied in every star and world!

Some were suitable, others were not, and what was needed also differed based on the divine soul realm of each cultivator. Furthermore, the timing of observation was crucial!

Being able to witness the complete transformation of a rule from its emergence to its destruction was ideal!

If only partial changes were observed, one would need to repeatedly seek similar rules to comprehend them.

And because one couldn't linger for too long, there was an element of luck involved!

Along his journey, though Xu Qing's primary focus was on finding the face, he occasionally observed the power of rules and laws appearing during the destruction and rebirth of worlds!

However, on one hand, he was just skimming, and on the other, what he saw was mostly incomplete, with only occasional full observations!

But now... a strange scene unfolded!

A complete thread of law unexpectedly appeared before him, actively demonstrating its evolutionary process!

And not just once...

As Xu Qing moved forward, similar occurrences happened frequently. A large number of rules and laws, as he approached, displayed themselves infinitely, like peacocks fanning their tails!

As if vying for his attention.

If an outsider had witnessed this scene, they would undoubtedly have been utterly astonished and found it inconceivable!

And this wasn't the most exaggerated part. What truly shocked Xu Qing himself was that some stars, which were clearly in the process of collapsing, actually, after he looked at them, due to some inexplicable coincidences, either collapsed slowly, or their rules and laws were exposed more than usual during their collapse!

Everything seemed designed to allow him to see more comprehensively and meticulously!

As for the shadows within this secret realm, they were also affected. They would often detect Xu Qing immediately and instinctively rush towards him, but each time, upon nearing him, they would suddenly be drawn away by something else and roar off into the distance!

Even more astonishingly, both the collapsing stars and the fleeing shadows indirectly shielded Xu Qing from the red candle's fiery glow!

This made Xu Qing's journey incredibly smooth!

And the second face he was looking for appeared in Xu Qing's sight several hours later!

Xu Qing's heart stirred. Suppressing the shock he felt from the Authority of Luck, he paused and looked into the distance!

There was a collapsing star there!

Within the star, a large portion of a continent remained intact despite the star's fragmentation!

Its mountains and lakes formed a face!

Originally, it would have been difficult for this continent to remain intact amidst the star's fragmentation, and even if it did, it would have been obscured, making it hard for passersby to see!

Yet, Xu Qing saw it!

But almost the instant he looked, the face blurred. In a flash, its mountains and lakes collapsed, and the face vanished!

At that moment, the star's collapsing storm spread in all directions, and within it, a blurred human face outline vaguely appeared, fleeing into the distance!

Xu Qing's gaze sharpened. He sped off at full speed, pursuing it!

The human face outline was astonishingly fast. Although Xu Qing moved at full speed, he was still a little behind. After chasing for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the human face outline suddenly vanished!

Three breaths later, Xu Qing materialized with a whoosh at the place where the face had disappeared. After quickly surveying the surroundings, his gaze locked onto a tiny spatial rift!

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. Instead of aimlessly searching around, he chose to explore this rift, which was most likely to conceal the human face. With a surge, he flew directly into the rift!

The moment he entered, a sight that deeply shook Xu Qing's mind appeared before his eyes!

Inside this rift was a realm of void, devoid of the red candle's light, but... it was also a lingering image.

The jade slip containing the World Source Secret Realm held not one layer of lingering images, but two.

Below the layer where the red candle was located, the second layer of lingering images that now appeared in Xu Qing's sight was, strikingly, a mind-shaking star map.

A magnificent map composed of thirty-six stellar rings of varying sizes.

Each stellar ring consisted of multiple star regions and countless stars, dazzlingly bright and too vast to describe with words!

The first stellar ring was blurry, but all the others were incredibly clear. In the center of the fifth stellar ring, a silhouette of an old man sat cross-legged!

That was a marker!

Xu Qing recognized him at a glance: this old man... was precisely the old man he and his Eldest Senior Brother had encountered in the Outer Sea.

But what stirred Xu Qing's mind the most was the Ninth Stellar Ring!

Because, right in the center of the Ninth Stellar Ring, he saw the mark of a fragmented face.

The moment he looked, a realization dawned on him!

This was... the Divine Desolation of Shang Huang, which naturally meant its location was the Wanggu Continent.

And within the Ninth Stellar Ring, surrounding the Wanggu Continent, there were other terrifying marks.

To the east of the stellar ring, a colossal beast slept!

To the north of the stellar ring, a golden river flowed!

To the south of the stellar ring, a black tower stood tall!

To the west of the stellar ring, a paper figure sat cross-legged!