Chapter 1040: Broken Supreme Divine Authority

Beyond Time!

His speed was astonishing. In an instant, he plunged into the crimson candlelight, advancing rapidly. From a distance, he looked like a meteor, whistling through the void, exuding an overwhelming presence. As he drew closer, his body rapidly turned crimson; an endless surge of light and heat assailed him from ahead. In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing was completely engulfed.

Furthermore, countless shadows from this place rushed towards him from all directions. Simultaneously, stars continuously collapsed and exploded, attempting to block his path. It seemed that everything was trying to prevent Xu Qing's approach.

This was illogical. Because according to the assimilation process of this place, with Xu Qing making such a choice, the red candle should not have obstructed him. After all, he was like a moth drawn to a flame! It should have simply allowed him to proceed!

Yet, this obstruction not only appeared, but also intensified with Xu Qing's rapid advance. More stars self-destructed, and even the red candle's own flame flickered wildly! Xu Qing's eyes flashed. Without any hesitation, he immediately sent forth a divine thought!

In the next instant, Little Shadow merged with him, his eyes turning pitch black. Everything before him collapsed, becoming a mere visual projection. This allowed him to avoid the self-destruction and collapse of the stars! As for the shadows that were previously invisible, many of them now appeared in Xu Qing's vision. And upon them, Xu Qing sensed anxiety and madness! Their obstructions came relentlessly, one after another!

Facing these, Xu Qing increased his speed, his cultivation circulating within him. All his divine authorities erupted, the power of his authority shimmering, and a great sun rose within his body, letting his flesh turn intensely crimson! Even his soul was burning, yet he still plunged forward fiercely!

"If you forbid me passage, then I shall pass regardless."

In an instant, amidst the dissipation of countless surrounding shadows and the flickering of the red candle's flame, Xu Qing's figure appeared directly a thousand zhang away from the red candle. At such close range, Xu Qing's physical body was still alright, but his soul could no longer endure. Countless intense fiery energies permeated his body through hidden fissures, converging in his Sea of Consciousness, scorching his soul! The assimilation and dissolution caused spread rapidly and extensively!

At this critical moment, madness gleamed in Xu Qing's eyes. His soul trembled, instantly transforming into tens of millions of soul threads, which spun within his Sea of Consciousness, forming a swirling storm to resist the seeping candlelight from outside! Using this method, he charged forward once more!

He reached five hundred zhang! Large swathes of his soul threads shattered and were incinerated into ashes, while others vanished, transforming into shadows of this realm! Yet, Xu Qing's speed continued to erupt! Whistling through, three hundred zhang, two hundred zhang... until over ninety percent of Xu Qing's soul threads were burned away or vanished, with only a small portion remaining. Xu Qing's body finally closed the distance, appearing atop the red candle, directly above its flame!

There, he closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, sinking fiercely into the candlelight below. He intended to extinguish this flame with his physical body.

At this moment, the candlelight also produced intense fluctuations. It seemed that its consciousness had completely failed to anticipate that Xu Qing's choice would be to approach it! This act of willingly walking into death, of voluntarily stepping into a desperate situation, was beyond its comprehension!

In the next instant, the red candle's flame roared violently, burning wildly, halting Xu Qing's descent. At the same time, flames many times more intense than before swept in all directions, engulfing Xu Qing's entire body! While his physical body was still alright, the fire surging into Xu Qing's body continuously gathered in his Sea of Consciousness and spread incessantly across his Sea of Ruined Earth! His Ethereal Immortal soul threads were rapidly diminishing in number, on the verge of being completely incinerated!

But at this moment, Xu Qing's eyes suddenly opened, and he gazed down at the red candle!

"I don't know your relationship with the mask. But I know you have consciousness, so I deliberately spoke of assimilation, hoping you wouldn't prevent my approach!"

"Though I still didn't deceive you!" Xu Qing's eyes flashed! "But you thought I had no other choice but to make a wish, didn't you?"

This entry into the Realm Source Secret Realm had brought Xu Qing immense gains! Firstly, he saw the map of the Thirty-Six Star Rings. This vast map had opened up his world! Secondly, he discovered the reason for the white dust appearing in Blood Dust Child's threads of destiny! That strange wishing mask.

For unknown reasons, the red candle exuded malice, refusing to let him leave. Yet, making a wish was still not Xu Qing's primary choice! Because a certain conjecture had long lingered in Xu Qing's mind! Everything was now laid bare! Given the situation he had faced previously, no matter how he analyzed it, the only way to leave seemed to be by making a wish! This was very likely the mandatory option the red candle had left for him.

Since that was the case, Xu Qing was even less inclined to make a hasty decision! He didn't want to use it before he had thoroughly researched that mask! After all, this object was strange, and according to Xu Qing's understanding, nothing in this world came without effort, especially the act of wishing, which would certainly demand a price! And clearly, depending on the magnitude of the wish, the price demanded would also vary! Especially since the mask possessed a certain degree of sentience and was not an inanimate object, it might harbor cunning and deception! All of these, including the price, were unknown!

The price of a wish could be his own lifespan, a catastrophe, or perhaps the people and things he cared about most, or even his memories and soul! Anything was possible! Therefore, he had to clearly understand what price he would have to pay! Otherwise, once a wish was made, it would be irreversible, and the consequences too immense! Only by understanding the price could he utilize it judiciously! This was also why Xu Qing had drawn it in and kept it, never uttering a wish!

Therefore, to leave this place, without being willing to follow the arranged path of making a wish, there was only one way to break the deadlock! That was, to charge towards the most dangerous source: the red candle itself. To extinguish it with his physical body. To move from death to life, seeking a chance at survival in a desperate situation...

However, to achieve this, he first had to contend with approaching it! So Xu Qing uttered the words "assimilation," attempting to make the conscious red candle let him pass! Besides this, his choice to break the deadlock had another reason! He believed in the formidable strength of his physical body. In the star map of the Thirty-Six Star Rings, the Upper Barrens, located in the Ninth Star Ring, could draw in the four terrifying markers from the east, west, south, and north. This further confirmed the terror of the incomplete face... Therefore, this physical body forged from his flesh and blood would surely be able to withstand the candlelight's incineration! The only flaw was his soul. His soul could not endure the candlelight! For this, Xu Qing had already made a decision.

"Then let's see whether it first incinerates my soul, or my physical body first extinguishes you."

As he spoke, amidst the fierce burning of the candlelight seeping into his Sea of Consciousness, Xu Qing showed no hesitation, his eyes filled with resolve. He caused all nearly a hundred faint traces of divine authority within his Sea of Ruined Earth to ascend! These traces of divine authority originated from the incomplete face's flesh and blood. Xu Qing had not yet fully comprehended each of them! They had raised Xu Qing's upper limit, but also restricted his breakthroughs. Therefore, for Xu Qing, if he truly incinerated them, it could be considered a choice balancing pros and cons!

However, Xu Qing's judgment was both right and wrong. Those nearly hundred faint traces of divine authority could indeed be burned to form a power to resist the candlelight, but they were not true divine authorities, merely illusory imprints, much like lingering images! No matter how they were burned, the imprints themselves could not be erased; at most, only some impurities would be incinerated! Consequently, under the roaring candlelight, the effect was lower than Xu Qing's estimation!

Xu Qing steeled his heart; he had a second layer of preparation.

"Fortune Divine Authority."

Xu Qing didn't hesitate, immediately summoning his Fortune Divine Authority and sending it into the candlelight! In the next instant, the Fortune Divine Authority instantly ignited within the candlelight, unleashing a vast amount of divine power. Resisting the candlelight, it also indirectly protected Xu Qing's soul! This approach was insane. Incinerating divine authority was something that had rarely occurred throughout history. On one hand, deities were reluctant to do so. On the other hand, the fire capable of burning divine authority was even more precious, requiring great fortune to encounter!

And at this moment, by incinerating the Fortune Divine Authority, Xu Qing gained more time to endure. His body roaring, he was now sitting directly on the candle's flame! The candlelight receded, swaying even more violently. It tried to incinerate this physical body, but couldn't, only able to watch the crimson body continuously sink! But the red candle's resistance didn't diminish; more of its power seeped into Xu Qing's Sea of Consciousness! Within Xu Qing's Sea of Consciousness, flames surged!

Under this continuous incineration, the Fortune Divine Authority eventually dissipated by ninety-nine percent, with only a wisp remaining! This wisp, shimmering with brilliant golden light, surprisingly could not be completely incinerated! Upon noticing this, Xu Qing's heart stirred. Without time for further thought, he immediately summoned his Calamity Divine Authority to encircle his body and resist the candlelight!

A roaring sound echoed in his Sea of Consciousness. More flames merged, intensifying the burning, causing the Calamity Divine Authority to rapidly dissipate until, similarly, only a wisp remained. After a moment of hesitation, the next divine authority Xu Qing summoned was the Purple Moon. The Purple Moon Divine Authority enveloped Xu Qing, fiercely resisting the candlelight!

Meanwhile, Xu Qing's physical body, outside, had completely submerged into the red candle's flame, sinking towards the wick below, continuously pressing down. The flame flickered even more intensely, as if in a final struggle. And reflected in Xu Qing's Sea of Consciousness was the rapid dissipation of his Purple Moon Divine Authority! Ultimately, like the previous two divine authorities, only a single golden thread remained.

Just as Xu Qing gritted his teeth, about to summon his Sound Divine Authority, to his surprise, a bizarre scene abruptly appeared, which would also have the greatest impact on the red candle.

Fortune, Calamity, Purple Moon!

These three golden threads, formed from the incinerated divine authorities, surprisingly, at this very moment, attracted each other and intertwined! The three golden threads interwove. Though not a true fusion, as they braided together, the golden light they emitted became even more dazzling! Causing even the candlelight to pause momentarily! An astonishing aura distinctly emanated from the interweaving of these three divine authority threads! This aura transcended space and time, controlling all beings and things, yet it felt faintly incomplete! But even incomplete, the emitted aura was still terrifyingly powerful, surpassing all divine authorities Xu Qing had ever witnessed in his life!

As for the specifics, before Xu Qing could sense it in detail, in the blink of an eye, this aura, like a fleeting ephemera, began to dissipate! Because they had only intertwined by a strange coincidence, unable to truly fuse! Now, after a brief entanglement, due to their lack of completeness, signs of separation began to appear!

Xu Qing's mind was jolted. He immediately sent these three intertwined divine authority threads, on the verge of separating, into the candlelight in his Sea of Consciousness, to bear the burning flames on behalf of his soul! The flames instantly surged. In the frantic anticipation of the outer candlelight's imminent extinction, the red candle erupted completely, burning wildly. As the candle itself diminished, the flames pouring into Xu Qing's Sea of Consciousness were also unprecedented! Under their incineration, the three divine authority threads, which would normally not fuse and only briefly intertwined, surprisingly showed signs of merging!