Chapter 1255: Situation Reversal

This sound transcended all celestial melodies, surpassed the essence of the Dao, and soared above every rule and law.

It was as if countless deities whispered together, possessing the power to shatter the starry sky, to overturn the souls of all beings, to annihilate all existence. Even the universe fractured at this moment.

Countless black flesh and blood emerged from these fractured points, proliferating madly, as if to permeate all perceptible voids, transforming them into a realm of strangeness.

The speaker was none other than... Divine Emperor Li Zhu!

He sat on a throne composed of countless universes, now opening his eyes and spreading his divine consciousness across every fragmented ice shard, as if looking down upon all realms.

Immediately, the minds of nearly all beings on the cultivators' side churned, their flames of life seemingly on the verge of extinction.

Even Immortals were no exception!

The countless scattered stones floating across this ancient battlefield also trembled violently. Innumerable remnants that had slumbered here since ancient times all floated up, transforming into a river of granular crystals with the arrival of the Divine Lord's will.

As for the central altar, the lids of its 360 demonic bronze coffins all lifted, releasing surging black energy that burst forth thunderously in all directions, forming spatiotemporal ripples capable of tearing apart souls.

All of this was caused by a single word from the Divine Lord!

Xu Qing, at the edge of the altar, felt the impact even more intensely. His mind went blank, his consciousness seemed to fall silent, and his entire being felt as if it had lost all sensation.

It was as if... he had become a speck of dust.

Before a Divine Lord, he was indeed nothing more than a speck of dust.

Witnessing the drastic change in the situation, a calm voice lightly echoed from within the vast scroll that confronted the Divine Lord.

“So what if it’s a breach of contract!”

As the words spread, the battlefield's starry sky dramatically changed once more.

Whether it was the fractured ice river, the formed crystals, the churning divine might and anomalous matter, or the proliferating bizarre flesh and blood—all solidified in this instant.

They transformed into endless black mist, rushing directly towards the scroll, converging on the right index finger of the Immortal Lord who sat cross-legged within it.

Ultimately, they dissipated.

Only a lingering glow remained on his fingertip, appearing as a layer of black ice that formed a void ring.

The Immortal Lord flicked his finger gently.

The black ice on his fingertip instantly melted, and a white flame danced on his finger, leaving behind scorch marks like stardust.

Simultaneously, everything on the battlefield shifted. The lids of the altar's demonic bronze coffins were instantly re-sealed, and the spatiotemporal ripples they had formed vanished in an instant.

As for the river of crystals that had swept in all directions, it reversed, transforming into a sea of fire that engulfed all sides, burning with a dense essence of immortal spirits!

At this moment, the cultivators' side collectively regained their composure, and one by one, they unhesitatingly pounded their war drums.

The drumbeats surged to the heavens, thundering through the starry sky.

Xu Qing's consciousness also returned, his mind turbulent. He continued to retreat without hesitation.

He would not simply conclude that he had been betrayed by the Fifth Stellar Ring.

Nor would he naively believe that he was so important as to be someone who could not be betrayed.

Ultimately, everything indicated that there were other hidden secrets within this exchange.

His significance was merely to appear, to ensure a smooth start to this exchange...

As these thoughts emerged in his mind, above the starry sky, the Divine River churned. Divine Lord Li Zhu, seated there, slowly rose to his feet, his figure so immense that even the starry sky seemed unable to contain him.

He unleashed terrifying divine might that could overturn mountains and seas, as his voice resonated once more.

“Breaching a contract for a mere quasi-Immortal?”

Responding to him was not Immortal Lord Zhan Lu from within the scroll, but True Monarch Jidao, who stepped forth from the cultivators' army.

As he strode, he stood at the front of the army, gazing at the Divine River, and spoke in a low voice.

“Divine Emperor Li Zhu, at your level, there’s no need for these veiled words. Your true objective was never a quasi-Immortal; you merely added that condition to make my master believe in this exchange.

With my master’s presence here, your goal has been achieved.”

“Your true aim was simply to tie down my master, allowing the rift in the right-wing battle zone—which had long been hidden and sought an opportunity to erupt—to form smoothly. However, my master was already aware of that and had made preparations. Given your omniscience, Divine Emperor, you must surely be fully aware of the war currently unfolding there.”

At True Monarch Jidao’s words, the Divine Lord on the Divine River remained expressionless and silent.

“But for our side, your presence here, Divine Lord, is precisely our objective. In this place... we shall send the Divine Lord back to the Divine Realm!

As for provoking an escalation of war after your demise... your words certainly have merit, but after we slay you, the balance of power between our two sides will be re-established. What then if total war breaks out?!”

“That is why my master agreed to your exchange demands. At that time, my master had not yet fully grasped your divine essence, but now he has completely mastered it, precisely to... slay you here!”

Upon these words, the cultivators’ war drums pounded even more intensely, their emotions surged, and their momentum rose.

As for the Divine Spirit side, they fell silent.

Meanwhile, the Divine Lord in the Divine River, with profound eyes, looked towards Immortal Lord Zhan Lu in the scroll.

“Zhan Lu, it seems you have indeed uncovered the secrets of my divine essence, which is why you had your disciple voice your thoughts instead of speaking yourself.”

“But, you discovered it too late.”

“You cultivators always fancy yourselves clever. Did you truly believe I was unaware of all your previous schemes and calculations?”

The Divine River churned, and within it, the Divine Emperor’s might spread, filling all directions.

“I, the Divine, have long understood the secret of your left flank’s beacon, knew there was something anomalous about the death of my right-wing commander, and perceived it as your strategy to lure my daughter.”

“And I also knew of your desire to probe my divine essence!

As he spoke, he stepped out of the Divine River, advancing towards the scroll.

With each step, the starry sky shattered, the battlefield roared, and the universe was upturned.

His divine voice continued to reverberate.

“Therefore, I simply indulged your wish, feigning ignorance, allowing the Divine Maiden to come here and be captured by you.”

“You, Zhan Lu, wished to probe me, and I too wished to probe you!”

“You investigated my divine authority through the Divine Maiden; in reality, I was investigating your constitutional law through her.”

“This, then, was my purpose in proposing the exchange. With Fei Yu as the condition, you surely could not refuse.”

“And I, merely by glancing at her on the battlefield and hearing a single word from her, gained complete knowledge of her, which also included the results of the reverse investigation I had set up.”

“Now, you know my divine essence, and I know your constitutional law, Zhan Lu... How can you defeat me!”

The Divine Emperor’s voice shook the universe, and furthermore, the constitutional law belonging to the cultivators erupted from his body, transforming into a constantly changing mask that shimmered on his fingertip.

That mask depicted men, women, young, and old, of various ages and cultivation levels, yet their expressions were uniformly smiling, brimming with joy and radiating happiness.

Gazing at this mask of all beings, the Divine Lord praised.

“The constitutional law of Immortal Cultivators is indeed extraordinary, capable of mimicking divine essence... and forging a new path, splitting into a second form of prime matter!”

“Especially yours, Zhan Lu, your constitutional law... unexpectedly, it is not slaughter, but hope.”

“It gathers all the hope you have witnessed in this life—to protect, to cherish, to never forget. Because everything is concentrated here, for protection, it forges the power of battle and slaughter!”

The Divine Lord’s admiration deepened, but in the next instant, a smile played on his lips, and he flicked his finger.

Immediately, black energy proliferated, mixing into the mask, causing the beings within it, who had originally radiated joy and happiness, to instantly change. Their smiles vanished, replaced by cries of despair!

At once, wails of anguish rose to the heavens, piercingly shrill.

He was, astonishingly, corrupting Immortal Lord Zhan Lu’s constitutional law!

Simultaneously, endless blackness erupted from beneath his feet, spreading thunderously in all directions, causing anomalous matter to descend across the entire area.

Instantly polluting the battlefield.

Then, Divine Emperor Li Zhu took a single step, entering Immortal Lord Zhan Lu’s scroll!

“Let us see today, whether you slay me, or I cut you down!”

Black and white inverted, the scroll blurred.

A battle beyond perception erupted within.

The conflict between both great armies also fully commenced at this moment!

The battle formations of both armies simultaneously emitted roars that rippled through the universe.

The cultivators’ side spread out, like countless dense points forming a sky-engulfing wave of fire.

Within, countless magical artifacts shimmered, unleashing multicolored power.

Furthermore, a colossal crimson star drifted forth, its emitted solar flares transforming into searing solar true fire, incinerating all surrounding divine spirits and anomalous matter into crimson mist.

War banners swept across, raising a star-burning curtain of fire, accompanied by soul-suppressing war drums!

Their sound shattered passing shattered stars, and before the dust could dissipate, it was gathered into a long river of shimmering light that encircled the army formations.

As for the Divine Spirit side, strings snapped open, and countless divine lights, imbued with ultimate destruction and corruption, fell like meteors, their momentum unprecedented.

Especially their barriers, which rippled at this moment, unleashing devouring cosmic whirlpools whose mighty power caused countless planets at the edge of the Fifth Stellar Ring to be collectively pulled off their orbits.

Countless more divine spirits surged forth to kill.

Looking out, the battlefield was like a meat grinder, instantly blooming with countless blood blossoms.

Furthermore, residual power from the Immortal Lord and Divine Lord within the scroll occasionally descended into the battlefield. The Immortal Lord’s power transformed into streaks of ink.

Each streak of ink morphed into a Great Wall of Sword Intent spanning the starry sky, pressing down upon the divine spirits.

Causing divine spirits to collapse one by one, their flesh and blood scattering.

However, before the scattered flesh and blood fragments could cool, they were frozen by the Divine Lord’s descending icy divine might, solidifying into hundreds of millions of inverted Immortal-slaying spears that rained down upon the cultivators’ army.

Wherever they passed, flesh and blood flew.

Black and white, on this battlefield, were no longer merely interwoven; they had become solidified, containing mutual will, clashing fiercely.

This caused the spatiotemporal structure here to crack piece by piece, with miniature universes constantly being born and then annihilated.

The central altar was no different; at this moment, the demonic bronze and immortal wood separated!

The demonic bronze coffins collapsed one by one, and the surging black mist condensed into giant divine faces in the void, spreading out to devour everything.

As for the colossal immortal wood, it too shattered into fragments, breaking into countless causal lines that swept across the battlefield. Any divine spirit they touched was utterly annihilated, body and soul!

The entire battlefield erupted into chaos!

Within it, space continued to misalign, even time was affected, and spacetime was collapsing.

And Xu Qing, amidst this chaotic battle and crisis, sped forward!

Unleashing his full power, he rushed towards the distance.

But behind him, the purple-haired, golden-armored, jade-faced divine spirit, who was originally intended for the exchange, now showed a golden gleam in his eyes. His entire being exuded divinity, and with a single breath...

The five human cultivators, who were the objects of the exchange, all trembled violently, as if their colors faded, revealing their true forms.

They were five corpses, refined by divine power!

They had long since died.

What appeared now were merely divine puppets!

With a single inhale from the jade-faced divine spirit, these five divine puppets instantly turned to dust. All the divine essence their bodies contained instantly merged into the jade-faced divine spirit’s body.

This caused the jade-faced divine spirit’s cultivation realm to shatter open, returning him to the True God realm!

On this chaotic battlefield, he headed straight for Xu Qing!

His mission was to rescue the Divine Maiden and, simultaneously, kill Xu Qing!

Originally, had he been a bit closer earlier, he could have accomplished this instantly. However, Xu Qing’s earlier awareness and retreat caused the battlefield to erupt prematurely, leading to a deviation in his mission.

Now, he intended to set things right!