Chapter 1247: Utilizing Fate

The old god was already severely injured, having barely survived an encounter with Immortal Lord Lingke. Escorting the Goddess all this way had strained their cultivation, which could now only barely maintain the True God realm.

Like a dam that had been desperately patched up!

Internally, they were already riddled with holes.

Previous interventions had further weakened them, especially the nail-like killing blow formed by Xu Qing and the others. This nail had directly pierced the spot where Immortal Lord Lingke had gravely wounded them. The resulting impact seemed to shatter the dam, becoming the final force that collapsed the ice surface.

Consequently, the divine temple collapsed, and the god could no longer maintain their realm. Their divine essence dimmed, and they regressed from True God. They were infinitely close to the end of their power.

From the distant starry sky, the aura of cultivators rapidly approached. Among them... was the aura of a Lower Immortal!

All of this made their current mission incredibly perilous.

They had originally intended to retreat, escape with the Goddess, and continue their protection. But at this moment, the Goddess's divine voice echoed, bidding them... to sacrifice themselves.

After a pause, they looked up at the Goddess, their eyes showing complexity for the first time.

Deities are without emotion. They knew this, yet in that instant—perhaps due to their fallen realm, or the severity of their injuries—their divine nature stirred. Amidst this stirring, they seemed to see the Goddess as a child. They had watched her grow, watched her ascend to the peak step by step, watched her become the focus of countless gazes.

"This, then, must be emotion."

The old god fell silent, then slowly turned, facing Xu Qing and his group, who were rapidly retreating. With resolute determination, they took a step forward.

In that instant, an intense golden light erupted from their eyes, forming a sea of golden radiance that suddenly dispersed across this expanse of stars. Within this golden sea, a terrifying divine power churned. Faintly visible within the golden light, the old god's tattered body continuously expanded, growing larger and larger, their aura becoming increasingly terrifying, rapidly reaching its peak.

Moreover, soul-shattering whispers echoed, deafening in that instant. It was a sound that propelled the golden sea, scattering its might. It shone across the starry sky, a ripple in the universe! It was their... self-destruction!

Although their cultivation had fallen, their divine essence dimmed, and they were now merely a divine platform, they had, after all, once been a True God!

Thus, with a colossal roar that could shatter the cosmos, as if countless suns had, in that instant, unleashed all the light and heat of their lives, they erupted with a devastating force capable of destroying everything!

It became a light that illuminated the entire universe, spanning across the interstellar void! It enveloped everything, radiating infinitely in all directions! Wherever it passed, cloud masses instantly vanished, utterly destroyed, erasing all traces left by the departing Goddess. This ensured that others could not use the remaining traces to locate or find any sign of the Goddess.

As for Xu Qing and the others, who were ahead of it, no matter how fast they retreated, they could not outrun the golden light formed by the old god's self-destruction. This light suddenly engulfed everything. Wherever it passed, stars shattered, the starry sky collapsed, and all existence seemed to turn into void!

Even at this moment, among the cultivators rapidly arriving from afar, a Lower Immortal's aura erupted, unleashing dense immortal spiritual energy that surged into the area, mitigating the power of the old god's self-destruction. However, Xu Qing and the others were too close, and inevitably... experienced a life-and-death catastrophe that seemed fated, merely occurring sooner than expected!

Xu Qing's mind reeled, and everything before his eyes was replaced by gold. He unleashed his cultivation entirely, defending with all his might, and his Immortal Embryo enveloped everyone—not just himself, but also the other Ascendants beside him. All of them united their strength once more to resist together!

Yet, in the instant the golden light swept past... His Immortal Embryo trembled, twisted, dissolved, and finally collapsed. Amidst the fluctuations of his physical body, fragments of space-time materialized, from which multiple versions of himself rapidly emerged. They resisted with all their might. Star Ring and the others were also desperate, sparing no cost in this life-and-death crisis!

Until, an unknown amount of time later, the light dissipated, and the roar faded into the distance. They had finally endured the golden light formed by the old god's self-destruction.

The cultivator reinforcements from afar had all arrived... As they approached, these cultivators looked at Xu Qing and the others with respect, and were deeply alarmed by the fierce destruction they witnessed. The leading Immortal gazed at the dissipating cloud masses, then looked at Xu Qing, and spoke in a low voice.

"Discovering the Goddess's whereabouts and forcing a True God to self-destruct... I will report this matter to the commander. You all... have achieved great merit!" He then added, "Go back... and recuperate."

This Lower Immortal was an old man; he looked at Xu Qing and those around him, letting out a soft sigh. He then took out some medicinal pills and left them, before his body flickered, heading straight into the distance to search again, trying to find any traces. The cultivators he led also took out their pills and then departed with him.

Soon, silence fell around them.

Xu Qing stood in the starry sky, his clothes tattered, his face pale, spitting out a large mouthful of blood. His body and soul were overcome with intense weakness and exhaustion. He turned to look at those beside him...

On Star Ring's forehead, an imprint was dimming; it was a life-saving charm given by his master. But now, as it dimmed, this imprint crumbled. Countless wounds appeared on his body, and blood ceaselessly flowed, turning him into a blood-soaked figure.

Beside him, Zhou Zhengli's body trembled, and black blood flowed from his eyes. His eyes... had become bloody holes. He was blind. That was where his essence lay.

Li Mengtu had lost half his body, was already unconscious, and his life hung in the balance. Yuanshan Su was in the same state. And Qianjun Piyi's consciousness was extremely weak; at the last moment, he abandoned his physical body, transforming into an immortal sword, barely preserving his soul. Evil Spirit Child's arm had turned to ash, the broken blade before him was now riddled with cracks, and he himself was severely wounded.

As for the other Ascendants, every one of them was in an utterly horrific state, their bodies incomplete, all unconscious, and having lost the ability to fight again.

And the number of people... was seven fewer! Those seven had been utterly annihilated, body and soul, in the previous golden light...

This was their collective resistance; they had shared the damage and each paid a heavy price. From nineteen previously, they were now twelve.

Seeing all this, Xu Qing silently withdrew his gaze and looked into the distance. A profound chill filled his heart. He sent a telepathic message to Xiao Ying, instructing it to search for traces of the Goddess. He was somewhat unwilling to give up.

At the same time, Zhou Zhengli, who had lost his eyes, spoke hoarsely. "I said before, this time... it was incredibly dangerous. That was a True God, after all. If not for Young Master, I fear it wouldn't have been just them who perished today! But cultivators of our generation inherently contend with heaven, with others, and with gods... so falling in battle can be called 'the fading of the Dao'. In the process of striving for destiny, death is commonplace! And a True God buried with them, it was worth it!" Zhou Zhengli smiled, but his smile also carried a hint of unwillingness.

Evil Spirit Child's eyes were also bloodshot; upon hearing this, he slowly spoke. "What a pity, we couldn't capture that Goddess!" His tone was filled with regret.

Hearing their words, Star Ring suddenly looked at Xu Qing. "Xu Qing, you found the Goddess once, so now, can you find her a second time?"

Xu Qing looked up, meeting Star Ring's gaze. Star Ring's eyes gleamed with intense killing intent, and he continued in a low voice. "Seven have died, and most are crippled. So, whether for them or for myself, I want to capture that Goddess! You must want to as well, right?" Star Ring's eyes held deep meaning. He had naturally noticed the Goddess's strange behavior; it seemed that the moment she saw Xu Qing, her killing intent locked onto him.

Hearing this, Xu Qing's gaze swept over the group. At present, only he and Star Ring were still able to fight. So he looked at Star Ring and spoke slowly. "The power of the True God's self-destruction erased all traces. The Goddess's teleportation is untraceable, and she must be extremely far from here... beyond my spirit pet's sensory range."

Star Ring fell silent. Xu Qing turned his head, gazing at the distant starry sky, his eyes slowly narrowing. "But I... have a method we can try."

As he spoke, Xu Qing raised his hand, took out a teleportation jade slip, and adjusted it from “ordered” to “unordered”! Ordered teleportation allows one to transmit to a designated location. Unordered, however, is random; it's difficult to predict the direction of teleportation or the exact arrival point. It is left to fate to decide.

This was the method Xu Qing had conceived. He couldn't find or sense the Goddess's traces, but since fate had brought her before him once before... What if, this time, he didn't passively wait, but chose to act proactively? Xu Qing's eyes gleamed with a deep light. If everything was fated, then Xu Qing believed this unordered teleportation would yield the result he desired.

Holding the teleportation jade slip, he looked at Star Ring. Star Ring glanced at the teleportation jade slip in Xu Qing's hand, looking thoughtful but not asking any questions. Instead, with a single step, he moved to Xu Qing's side, standing within the teleportation range.

As for Zhou Zhengli and Evil Spirit Child, they bowed to Xu Qing and Star Ring. They were no longer able to participate in the coming battle and each needed to heal, especially those who were unconscious, who required proper treatment as quickly as possible. Therefore, they would immediately return to the Nianlin Army's outpost.

"Young Master, Star Ring, we will await your triumphant return at the outpost, with the Goddess captured!" Zhou Zhengli spoke hoarsely.

As his voice echoed, Xu Qing nodded, and the next instant, crushed the jade slip. The teleportation light immediately spread from his hand, enveloping Star Ring beside him. As the light shone intensely, accompanied by a rumbling sound, their figures vanished instantly!

At this moment, in the starry sky of the left flank's front line, not far from the divine realm's border, the Star-Eyed Goddess's figure transformed into a black streak of light. She was traversing the void, moving stealthily in an extremely hidden manner. Because this area was very close to the Fourth Star Ring, anomalous energy already permeated the starry sky, which would make her concealment even smoother. Her luck, it seemed, was very good this time; she had actually teleported to this area.

"In a few days at most, I can return to the Fourth Star Ring!" she thought. "But for some reason, there has been no response from Father God..."

As she sped along, Star-Eyed Goddess mused, then recalled her previous experience, her eyes filled with indifference. She didn't care about the old god's self-destruction; in her perception, self-destruction at that moment was the optimal choice. It could both erase her teleportation traces and attempt to kill the human cultivator who had made her feel an inexplicable dread. Thinking of that human cultivator, killing intent rose in Star-Eyed Goddess's heart once more.

"Who was that person..." Regardless of whether the other party had died in the old god's self-destruction, she had already decided that as soon as she returned, she would report the matter to Father God. She believed that with Father God's might, he would surely resolve her confusion.

Thinking this, the Star-Eyed Goddess was about to further increase her speed. But just then, a scene appeared that made her body tremble, her heart roar, and her pupils contract! In the void before her, ripples suddenly appeared. An aura of unordered teleportation dispersed, and from within it, two figures strikingly emerged. One of them was precisely the person she had just been thinking about... that individual!

"You..." The Star-Eyed Goddess's expression changed dramatically. This sudden appearance completely flustered her, causing even her divine nature to fluctuate. This scene, in truth, caused her dread to intensify instantly. She had used unordered teleportation, and a True God's self-destruction had erased her traces. So, theoretically, even if a powerful being could sense her, they would need to search; it was impossible for them to appear so precisely and so quickly. Especially... the teleportation by which the other party appeared was clearly also unordered! It was a random arrival! And randomly... they had bizarrely appeared right before her! This scene caused the divine nature of the Star-Eyed Goddess to churn violently.