Chapter 1241: God Emperor's Daughter

Above the firmament, a crimson glow spread like an aurora, taking on a wispy form. Within it, scarlet moths fluttered, a sight of breathtaking beauty.

In mid-air, Xu Qing's long hair billowed. His figure, holding aloft a deity's head, was at this moment etched into the memory of every cultivator on the battlefield.

This battle had originally been a stalemate between cultivators and deities. However, the appearance of Xu Qing and his group introduced a decisive variable, akin to the final straw that broke the camel's back. Their influence ultimately tipped the scales completely, bringing this small-scale war to its conclusion.

Consequently, the sounds of battle and roaring intensified. On the battlefield, the deities' side suffered a crushing defeat, retreating continuously before the cultivators' overwhelming surge.

Zhou Zhengli, Xing Huanzi, and others naturally seized the opportunity, merging into the torrent to frantically harvest and collect. Xu Qing also descended from mid-air. For him, the collection of essence was paramount. Other corpse-scavenging teams also emerged, following like vultures.

The battle finally concluded half an hour later. The moment it ended, the battlefield was littered with the corpses of deities. Though the cultivators' side had paid a price, the victory achieved was immense: the deities were completely annihilated!

Amidst a mixture of exhaustion and exhilaration, they stood on the blood-soaked ground, their gazes fixed on Xu Qing's group, who were still moving through the battlefield, diligently collecting the essence from the corpses. Some among them were injured, some lightly, others severely. Yet, regardless of their wounds or fatigue, their movements showed little deceleration. Each was furiously collecting essence.

This time, none of the Nianlin Army cultivators present attempted to seize the essence. Their gazes towards Xu Qing and his group were filled with respect. Even the elder who had previously instructed Xu Qing on the rules of corpse scavenging, along with other scavengers, now paused, allowing Xu Qing's group to collect first.

As a result, the collection from thousands of deity corpses yielded immense gains for Xu Qing and his team. They continued until about eighty percent of the battlefield's resources had been collected, then ceased, gathering around Xu Qing. Xu Qing looked up at the surrounding military cultivators, then at the commander of the Nianlin Army.

As their eyes met, the Nianlin Army commander cupped his fists in a bow and spoke in a hoarse voice. "Thank you!"

Xu Qing returned the salute, then turned and vanished into the distance. Zhou Zhengli and the others followed close behind. They needed to hurry to the next battlefield.

As they departed, the eyes of everyone on the battlefield remained fixed on them. In their view, these nineteen individuals—each exuded a menacing aura and surged with vitality, extraordinary in their own right, truly like giant wolves. Indeed, this was true. After enduring such experiences, those of the ascendants who survived could each stand alone, excelling in any military legion. Half of them had reached the Quasi-Immortal cultivation level, with the rest extremely close. As for their combat prowess, it was formidable. Gathered together, they were like a pack of wolves. And at their forefront, leading them, was Xu Qing—naturally, the wolf king.

Time slowly passed in this manner. Several months flew by in a flash. Xu Qing's group continued their collection efforts throughout these months, becoming increasingly swift and ultimately perfecting their methods. Their figures appeared on various battlefields, consistently employing methods of forceful corpse collection.

This level of activity spread their reputation like a storm. Eventually, within the major war zone overseen by the Nianlin Army, almost every cultivator either witnessed firsthand or heard about this terrifying corpse-scavenging team. They numbered only nineteen, but the vast majority were Quasi-Immortals, each with extensive combat experience, particularly skilled in survival techniques. Despite being prodigies, they displayed no prodigal arrogance. Furthermore, despite their extraordinary combat power, they still preferred sneak attacks and assassinations. Their speed and thoroughness in collection were remarkable; wherever they passed, nothing was left behind. It could be said that they elevated corpse scavenging to a new level. This also changed the perception of all corpse-scavenging teams among the military cultivators. Other corpse-scavenging teams, in fact, paid even more attention to this, and gradually imitators appeared. While few were truly successful, the change was quite noticeable. However, ultimately, none could compare to Xu Qing's group.

Thus, gradually, this unique style of corpse-scavenging team, while making a name for themselves in this war zone, also acquired a designation unique to them. They were referred to as... The Funeral Team!

Meanwhile, as time continued to flow, the conflict in the left wing war zone also seemed to reach a critical juncture. In the central part of the left wing, the Flesh Mill had reached its peak intensity, becoming a beacon that drew all attention. On the left wing front line, the frequency of battles intensified. Both cultivators and deities, even the most unperceptive, sensed that something was amiss. Most believed it to be the calm before the storm. In reality, however, there was another possibility: that the storm had, in fact, already passed unnoticed.

At this moment, within the Fourth Star Ring, in their right-wing war zone, concentrated alien matter permeated all directions. Ancient stars, carved into statues, emitted a sacred aura as they floated in the stellar expanse. Their number exceeded ten million. Waves of ripples emanated from them. On each star, there were deities and their subordinate slave races. In the distance, an astonishingly vast galaxy coiled around an endless expanse. Within it, colossal beasts could be seen, as could ferocious, grotesque visages and numerous temples radiating terrifying divine power, pervading the void. As far as the eye could see, the stellar statues and temples here were densely packed, seemingly boundless, covering all directions. Occasionally, tentacles would rise from within the galaxy, appearing in the void and traversing interstellar space, accompanied by murmuring sounds, continuously echoing throughout the deities' right-wing war zone.

This was the deities' temporary encampment on the right wing. At the center of this deity encampment, there were nine colossal altars. These nine altars were all constructed from countless skeletons. Among these skeletons, some were pure bone, while others were flesh and blood remains. The races within were diverse, including cultivators, deities themselves, and their enslaved races. They exuded an aura of extreme gloom and death. On each altar, ghostly fires burned, their pallid flames spreading outwards in rings. Like candles of death, they silently illuminated the surroundings. Their lights overlapped.

And at the precise center of these nine altars, where the ring-shaped flames of all nine ghostly fires overlapped... a massive, lidless coffin was astonishingly suspended. The coffin's size, its length, was comparable to a star. Within it... lay the corpse of a deity, entirely purple! In life, this corpse had three heads and six arms, and was covered in divine markings, suggesting extreme nobility. For on its body, the numerous divine markings were astonishingly woven into a ring imbued with mysterious significance! However, this ring still had some subtle gaps, clearly just a hair's breadth from being entirely complete. Once complete, it would signify... a Divine Lord!

Such an existence, second only to a Divine Lord among deities, was certainly no unknown. It was precisely the deities' right-wing commander, responsible for the entire right-wing war zone and commanding tens of millions of deities! Peak True God!

But now... lying within the coffin, it was merely a corpse. The center of each of its three foreheads bore a shocking wound, piercing its soul and shattering its authority! It had fallen! A month ago, it was ambushed and killed instantly by a mysterious cultivator who had stealthily approached.

If Xu Qing were here and saw this scene, he would undoubtedly realize that this... might be the reason why the cultivators' left-wing war zone became a flesh mill, transforming into a life lamp to attract all attention, and why the entire war zone became bait! Using the cultivators' left wing as bait, and the beacon as a cover, to execute an assassination! Evidently, this assassination was successful!

However, if Xu Qing were present and grasped the cultivators' plan, he would also feel a sense of doubt. If the plan was already completed, why was the Flesh Mill in the cultivators' left-wing war zone still active and raging so intensely? Unless... the assassination of the deities' right-wing commander was merely one part of the cultivators' plan! If that were truly the case, then the cultivators' plan would undoubtedly be... unparalleled!

And at this moment, around the coffin, in what was previously an empty space, terrifying deities gradually emerged from the void, illuminated by the ghostly fire. Each of them was tall, possessed immense divine power, and held a distinguished status, all being True God commanders from the deities' right-wing war zone. Now revealed, these True Gods formed a circle, standing around the coffin. Then, they bowed in worship towards the starry sky above.

As they worshipped, the starry sky suddenly rumbled. A colossal rift appeared in the void, seemingly torn open by a supreme power from within. From the rift, divine light spread, showering all directions. Within the divine light, a magnificent divine realm was visible, an boundless universe, and countless deities... they too were worshipping.

Under the worship of both sides, a graceful figure in a blue robe slowly appeared within the divine light, walking step by step. Its appearance was blurred, impossible to gaze upon directly. Its attire was luxurious; the blue color was dyed from the convergence of countless seas within the Fourth Star Ring, and it wore a phoenix coronet adorned with dangling pearls. Within this coronet, a phoenix wailed piteously, and a fenghuang shrieked mournfully. As for the luminous pearls adorning it... upon closer inspection, they were distinctly formed from special eyes. Each eye came from the most beautiful deity of a different race. Numerous, they all blinked. Eerie yet beautiful. All of this indicated the high nobility of the divine maiden who was approaching.

Indeed, this was true. The moment its graceful figure emerged from the rift, all True Gods outside the coffin knelt in worship. "Star-Eyed Luan'xia!" The divine voice was immense, causing ripples in the starry sky, as if even the rules of the Fourth Star Ring at this moment bestowed endless favor, enveloping this divine maiden. For it was the sole divine descendant of the newly ascended Divine Emperor of the Fourth Star Ring! On the deities' side, a Divine Lord is a Divine Emperor! Its father-god was the supreme being responsible for the current conflict between the Fourth and Fifth Star Rings, and also the deity contending for power with the Immortal Lord Zhan Lu!

And it was originally impossible for it to appear here. The reason for its current appearance... was the sudden demise of the right-wing commander, who had been entrusted with a special mission and had not yet had the chance to complete it! This necessitated its presence here to activate its imperial bloodline's divine authority, accelerating the fallen commander's return! With its bloodline's divine authority, it could drastically shorten the return time for all True Gods under its father-god after death, from a long period to just a few months! Though there was a cost, it was not unbearable, as this was precisely the power of its father-god's divinity! Furthermore, since it was here, it also had a mission. Its mission was to remain here, continuously accelerating the return of fallen True Gods. And today marked its first such ritual.

At the same time, the moment the Divine Lord's daughter descended within the Fourth Star Ring, an immense distance away, on the front line of the cultivators' left-wing war zone, Xu Qing, who was scavenging corpses on a battlefield, suddenly paused his collection. Instinctively, he looked up, gazing in the direction of the Fourth Star Ring. His brow slowly furrowed.

"There..." Xu Qing mused. In that instant, he didn't know why, but a profoundly strange sensation arose vaguely within his heart and even his soul. This feeling was akin to palpitations, but more like a premonition. It was as if some destined events were gradually approaching, with an unstoppable momentum.