Chapter 1101: Who Is the Master of Rain

At that moment, within the city, on the second floor of a pavilion not far from Xu Qing's position, a middle-aged man in a white robe stood by the railing with his hands behind his back. His gaze, having just returned from the celestial aurora, swept over the crowd below and then looked into the distance.

Murderous intent flickered in his eyes.

The direction his gaze was fixed upon was precisely Xu Qing's.

This middle-aged man was of medium-to-tall height, slightly portly, but still maintained a certain robustness. His hair was slightly graying, showing traces of time, yet it was neatly combed. The crow's feet at the corners of his eyes and faint wrinkles on his forehead bore witness to the trials he had endured, forging a pair of steady eyes. Although his cultivation was not explicitly revealed, the surrounding rules and laws that encircled him, along with the shimmering Dao marks in his eyes, all attested to his power as a Dominator.

"I didn't expect there would actually be a second Quasi-Immortal Capital Token within my city."

"But it's dim, clearly not activated..."

"It seems either they are a coward, or it's a gift or goods intended for someone else."

"If it's the former, killing them is fine, but the latter..."

The middle-aged cultivator pondered, somewhat unable to make a decision.

The Quasi-Immortal Capital Tokens of the Fifth Star Ring, once in the second phase of the hunt, can sense each other within a certain range. However, this so-called sensing is actually relative. Only those who have integrated with a token can sense other tokens, even if those tokens are not activated. Conversely, if one has not integrated and activated a token, then they cannot sense others. Therefore, in the second phase of this hunt, holding a token but not activating it is disadvantageous. Few would do so.

Thus, this matter compelled the middle-aged man to think more deeply. After all, although he was an early-stage Dominator, which was fine in this remote small city, he always had to defer to powerful families and sects. Therefore, offending someone for a token would likely bring more disaster.

"But when I accidentally obtained the token, since I chose to integrate and activate it, I already committed myself."

"Such a life is truly boring. Rather than living peacefully in a corner, constrained from all sides, seeing the end of my life at a glance... I'd rather take a gamble!"

"Especially since my cultivation has been stagnant for a long time; under normal circumstances, I can barely make progress."

Thinking of this, a cold glint flashed in the middle-aged cultivator's eyes, and he spoke calmly.

"Come with me to suppress the external enemy."

As soon as he spoke, sounds of assent immediately came from all around him, and then illusory figures appeared by his side. The next moment, the middle-aged cultivator stepped forward, accompanied by dozens of figures. He directly ascended into the air and rapidly sped towards the location of the other token that his own token had locked onto.

At that moment, Xu Qing was also speeding. He was heading towards the city gate. The stars in the sky earlier made him feel that a storm was brewing, and the presence of a star nearby made him realize that danger could arrive at any moment. Especially as he was about to approach the city gate, he noticed that the guards there were significantly more numerous than when he arrived, and the city gates were closing.

This city had array restrictions forbidding flight. If he didn't want to be trapped inside and had to rely on other methods to break the restrictions, then the city gate would be the best exit. But now, the guards had increased, and the gates were closing. At the same time, a faint feeling of being locked onto began to rise in Xu Qing's heart.

All of this allowed Xu Qing to immediately form a clear judgment.

"Someone ordered the gates closed, and the person who gave the order must be the celestial star I saw earlier—either the token holder or someone connected to them."

"In any case, it indicates that this person's status and identity within this city are extremely high."

"Furthermore, I cannot sense the other party, yet I feel locked onto; clearly, the other party can sense me."

"This means that even if I haven't activated my Quasi-Immortal Capital Token, it can still be sensed in the second phase of this hunt."

"If that's the case... the other party can sense me, but I cannot detect them."

"Then, if I don't integrate with the token soon, it will be extremely disadvantageous for me."

All these thoughts flashed through Xu Qing's mind in an instant. The next moment, without the slightest hesitation, he resolutely took out his Quasi-Immortal Capital Token and squeezed it hard. With this squeeze, the Quasi-Immortal Capital Token immediately vibrated, but instead of shattering, it liquefied, melting in Xu Qing's hand and flowing into his body through his palm.

In the blink of an eye, a crimson aurora appeared in Xu Qing's mind. As this aurora flowed, it reflected the star map that had previously appeared in the Southern Region's sky! But this image had subtle differences from what he had just seen. The stars he saw earlier were dispersed throughout the Southern Region, with few overlaps. But now, quite a few had overlapped... Many were moving. One could imagine that each overlap must represent ongoing slaughter and conflict.

At the same time, in his mind, his own ranking also appeared: One thousand seven hundred and thirty-third. This was clearly not a rank within the Fifth Star Ring, but his rank in the entire Southern Region. The next moment, this image disappeared. It seemed that only upon the first integration and activation of a Quasi-Immortal Capital Token could one see the overall star map of the current domain.

Now that the overall image had faded, Xu Qing immediately noticed the benefits of integrating with the token. It was the ability to sense other tokens within a radius of 100,000 li through his own token! It was a sensing between tokens! Not within the range of cultivation spiritual sense! The tokens came from the Immortal Capital and were extremely special; if not integrated, they could not be detected.

At this moment, Xu Qing clearly felt that there were indeed two stars representing tokens near him! One was a bit far, at the edge of the 100,000 li range. It seemed to have noticed something and quickly moved away, disappearing from the range of other tokens Xu Qing could sense with his own token. The other one, however, was close by. It was rapidly approaching him.

While perceiving these, Xu Qing's cultivation exploded within him, and the power of the Five Elements spread, covering all directions and boosting his speed. He whistled towards the closing city gate like an arrow from a bowstring. The opponent was coming fiercely; battle was unavoidable. Without knowing the opponent's cultivation, Xu Qing could only consider the worst possible outcome. In such a battle, the choice of battlefield was especially important. Remaining within the city, with its array restrictions, would be disadvantageous to Xu Qing. Being trapped there, whether he tried to break the restrictions or counterattack, would leave him very passive. Therefore, if he could rush out of this city, there would be an opportunity for a more advantageous situation.

So Xu Qing's speed was astonishing, and the Dao of Space, refined under his recent study, now offered more methods of use, affecting both front and back. The space in front was being compressed. The space behind was being stretched. With this reciprocal effect, in an instant, Xu Qing's figure had already reached the city gate. The guards simply couldn't stop him in time, only feeling a strong wind whistle past. The next moment, Xu Qing had already burst out of the city gate. He then calmly raised his hand and squeezed the space behind him!

At the same time, behind him, the middle-aged cultivator and his followers had already caught up, but hindered by Xu Qing's spatial techniques, their distance had increased. So much so that they missed the best time to intercept Xu Qing. Furthermore, with Xu Qing's squeeze, the space where they were immediately fluctuated and instantly collapsed. A deafening roar erupted at this moment. One could see that on the street inside the city gate, space shattered, all directions collapsed, and a storm swept through. Utter chaos ensued.

Amidst the chaos, a cold harrumph suddenly emerged. Then the sky echoed with a clap of thunder, dark clouds appeared, and rain fell instantly, covering a considerable area, enveloping both inside and outside the city gate. Xu Qing was also within it. The moment he sensed this rain, Xu Qing's eyes narrowed.

"This rain is formed by authority Dao marks!"

"The opponent's authority is rain..."

Almost in the instant Xu Qing sensed it, the raindrops falling around him each turned into a sharp blade, whistling towards him. At the same time, in the heavy rain, the collapse of space within the city was not hindered by the rain. However, the illusory figures accompanying the middle-aged cultivator instantly vanished by means of the rain. When they reappeared, they had astonishingly crossed the collapsed space and were now surrounding Xu Qing. Each erupted with their cultivation, exuding the might of nascent gods, coordinating with the rain attacks, and desperately assailing Xu Qing.

"Puppets? Deathsworn? And primarily composed of rain!"

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes as his body rapidly retreated. Simultaneously, his gaze pierced through the rain curtain ahead, looking towards the white figure standing in the rain within the city. The opponent did not step out, but stood there, coldly staring at him.

"This is also a cautious person. Because they don't know my true strength, even if they can tell I'm not a Dominator, they still chose not to approach personally. Instead, they extended their authority from a distance and arranged for their puppet subordinates to attack."

"But caution is both an advantage and a disadvantage; at some crucial moments, opportunities can be missed."

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, his body retreating. His gaze, though retracted, did not fix on the puppet figures, but instead focused on the raindrops that were coming like sharp blades. Looking at those raindrops, a thought emerged in Xu Qing's mind at this moment of battle.

"I have authority, and also divine authority."

"Authority and divine authority: the former belongs to cultivators, the latter to deities."

"Authority comes from rules and laws, while divine authority is a trace from the ethereal realm."

"Both, in essence, have similarities and differences. The similarity is that both have origins; the difference lies in their mode of existence."

"Rules and laws are created by cultivators through the Heavenly Dao, evolved from the Heavenly Dao, and then comprehended by cultivators, thus giving rise to authority. This is a cycle."

"As for the origin of divine authority, it is more ancient and unknown to me."

"Erase, Immortal Arts, rain, and qi... all can become authority."

"Then, are my Five Extremes also authority?"

Xu Qing had actually been pondering this question during the thirty vortex days before coming to this city. At this moment, seeing the sharp blades formed by the rain, he suddenly retracted all his spells, only displaying his Extreme Dao of Water, which erupted powerfully around him.

The next moment, an incredible scene unfolded. The sharp blades formed by the raindrops in front of Xu Qing astonishingly paused instantly, motionless. Not only them, but all the falling rain throughout this heaven and earth suddenly paused in mid-air at this moment. Including the puppets, they also froze in mid-air.

Then, as Xu Qing raised his hand...

The sharp blades changed direction.

The puppets turned around.

All the rain in the heaven and earth trembled at this moment, then turned into sharp thorns, pointing towards the middle-aged cultivator within the city, whose mind was roaring and who was utterly horrified. In the eyes of this middle-aged cultivator, the young man in front was clearly covered and surrounded by the rain of his authority, yet it was he himself who was shocked. The other party, compared to him, seemed more like the master of this rain.