Chapter 1256: "Broken Moon" Dao Artifact

"Your name is Xu Qing, right?"

Within the chaotic battlefield, an abstract scroll, twisted and undulating, its form almost indiscernible, hovered above. As it unfurled, black and white swirled within, emanating supreme power. A pervasive force spread across the battlefield below, bringing death wherever it touched.

On the battlefield, the armies of cultivators and deities roared ceaselessly, like countless rivers of dust. Blood permeated the air, and corpses lay scattered. The sight was horrifying! The tearing of the starry sky and the collapse of space-time further augmented the dangers of this already chaotic battlefield. This universe seemed on the verge of collapse!

Amidst this great turmoil, the Jade-faced True God, adorned in golden armor, with a mane of purple hair and a beauty so exquisite it was almost demonic, spoke as he advanced. His divine voice echoed, clearly reaching Xu Qing, who was speeding far away. In an instant, it transformed into a straight, astonishing cutting mark that sliced through the starry sky before Xu Qing.

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed, sharp light gleaming. As his left hand formed a seal, his immortal embryo surged forth, surrounded by streams of power—metal, wood, water, earth, time, and space—like encircling meteors. His own form was overlaid with shifting shadows, representing the surging power of space-time and parallel existences.

Gathering his strength, he suddenly lunged forward. A deafening roar instantly erupted, shaking the heavens. With that lunge, he crashed directly into the cutting mark blocking his path. His form flashed, and the mark dimmed. His figure suddenly burst through.

In the early stage of Quasi-Immortal, he could contend with cultivators at the peak of the Divine Platform. Now, in the mid-stage, though his combat power still couldn't bridge the chasm between Divine Platform and True God, he possessed the qualification to resist. After breaking through, his face was slightly pale, but his speed increased.

"The battlefield is chaotic," Xu Qing thought. "Even if I return to the cultivator army, I'll still be fighting. So... I need to leave the battlefield, to escape this area."

Xu Qing made his decision. But even as he burst through the long mark, no matter how fast he was, the Jade-faced True God behind him twisted through the void, pursuing him as if embedded in his very bones. Rapidly closing the distance, the True God raised a hand, and a second long cutting mark appeared, tearing through the void to block Xu Qing's path. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth...

A total of ninety-nine cutting marks appeared simultaneously, encircling Xu Qing from all directions, leaving his position riddled with holes, as if he were isolated. The formidable power of a True God was thus evident.

Immediately after, the Jade-faced True God abruptly clenched his right hand. Instantly, the ninety-nine tearing marks that had intercepted and isolated Xu Qing seemed to come alive, detaching from the starry background and transforming into individual lines. They converged sharply towards Xu Qing! Wherever they passed, sealing power, cutting might, and the True God's inherent divine pressure erupted in full force, heading directly for Xu Qing!

In this critical moment, Xu Qing's pupils contracted. If he weren't in this location, he might have been able to fight the opponent head-on. But the variables and fluctuations on this battlefield were too great; being stalled was the worst possible outcome. As for his trump card, although he possessed an Immortal Lord Dao Artifact, its power was immense. With his current strength, activating it even once, with the aid of fate energy, would leave him weakened. Therefore, on this chaotic battlefield, he didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary.

So, in this perilous instant, Xu Qing's gaze flickered. With a void grasp of his right hand, he directly seized the unconscious Star-eyed Divine Maiden, whom he had previously taken into his possession. He used the Divine Maiden to block the surging cutting marks coming from the front.

This scene instantly caused the Jade-faced True God's eyes to narrow. His raised right hand involuntarily paused. The cutting marks ferociously heading towards Xu Qing also halted. Utilizing this momentary pause, Xu Qing's speed erupted once more. His overlapping forms became particularly distinct as various space-times materialized around him. At the cost of fragmentation, he burst out of that area in an instant.

He moved through the battlefield, swiftly traversing one area after another. Behind him, golden light shimmered on the Jade-faced True God's face, a decision already made in his mind. "Even if the Divine Maiden dies, she can be resurrected. So, if I continue to hesitate, the opponent will exploit this, and I will become incredibly passive."

"Very well!" the Jade-faced True God stated calmly, stepping forward. As he traversed the battlefield, his voice echoed around Xu Qing once more. "Do you know why I am the one who came for this exchange? Because the more chaotic the battlefield, the richer my divine essence becomes."

Upon hearing this voice as he sped away, Xu Qing's expression darkened. The opponent had no need to speak, yet conversation kept coming, both before and now. The words seemed deliberate. "Is it related to his divine authority?" Xu Qing wondered.

As Xu Qing considered this, a sudden surge of danger erupted within him. He noticed that although the Jade-faced True God was still far away, golden threads had inexplicably appeared around him after the deity's words. They were similar to the previous cutting marks but also subtly different. What made Xu Qing's pupils contract was that these golden threads, upon appearing, rapidly dispersed, targeting not him, but... the floating corpses of deities and cultivators around him.

Instantly, almost every golden thread connected to a fragmented corpse. There were thousands of threads, densely packed, and thousands of corpses. Then... each corpse connected by a golden thread trembled and simultaneously opened its eyes, revealing a golden glow. Their state was identical to that of the five human cultivators the Jade-faced True God had absorbed earlier.

Xu Qing's expression sank. He immediately recognized them as divine puppets! "This is his true divine authority!" Xu Qing thought. "Turning thoughts into threads, threads into puppets. Whatever they ensnare, be it deities or cultivators, they become his puppets."

Xu Qing frowned. This kind of divine essence power clearly held even greater might on this battlefield. At this moment, as soon as those corpses revived, they all flew up, rushing towards Xu Qing from all directions. As for their cultivation, while not at full strength, a portion was retained, and combined with such numbers, the destructive power generated was astonishing.

Xu Qing rapidly retreated, acting amidst the chaos. He conjured a space-time storm to block the corpses, while simultaneously stepping onto a skull-shaped meteorite. But the moment he landed, the meteorite beneath his feet suddenly glowed with golden patterns, then rapidly writhed, forming facial features as if it had come alive. The meteorite had also become a puppet! It opened its mouth, spewing out a mist of curses. But the instant it touched Xu Qing, he, aided by the power of the Mud Fox, unleashed his own divine curse, which immediately collided with the incoming curse. Silently, the entire surface of the meteorite collapsed, instantly crumbling into scattered dust.

But with this delay, the surrounding corpses had already approached, and the Jade-faced True God in the distance became clearly visible. Xu Qing's expression was grim. He sensed the dreadfulness of the opponent's curse and gained further insight into the bizarre nature of this divine authority. "Can everything be turned into a puppet?"

As Xu Qing raised his hand, an iron skewer flew out, sweeping with sharp force. The sound of bells instantly echoed, causing the corpses to pause, and many were pierced by the skewer. As for himself, he didn't stop at all, activating a secret technique to increase his escape speed. From a distance, his robes flapped in the turbulent currents. Wherever he passed, fragments of stars and individual corpses suddenly glowed golden, then revived. They charged forward one after another, ceaselessly.

"Mud Fox!" Seeing this, Xu Qing roared inwardly. Instantly, the Mud Fox once again opened its mind, serving as Xu Qing's immortal-god conduit. Then Xu Qing let out a low cry. His voice became a divine sound. It was the divine art: Sound Seizure!

The battlefield suited the Jade-faced True God, but it also suited Xu Qing's Sound Seizure divine art. Thus, in an instant, Xu Qing's sound authority erupted. Divine sounds transformed into ancient talismans, emerging from every source of sound around him. The roar of the battlefield became his sound, the cries of slaughter became his sound, the mournful wails of death became his sound. These divine sounds surged skyward, forming a mysterious array of incantations that coiled around all the corpses, including the Jade-faced True God who was pursuing from behind.

This scene was unexpected for the Jade-faced True God, causing a strange gleam to appear in his eyes instantly. "He knows a divine art?" Muttering, he raised a hand and pressed. Instantly, more golden threads appeared from the void, penetrating the incantations formed by Xu Qing's sound authority, and astonishingly... turned them all into puppets too! Then, they raced after Xu Qing!

However, this pursuit was fraught with too many unpredictable events. Whether it was the dense clashes of armies or the turbulent currents swept forth by God Lords and Immortal Lords, both would affect the speed of both parties and could even endanger their lives. Just then, a cross-current from a God Lord swept past. Even though Xu Qing was somewhat distant, he still spat out blood, his mind trembling. Even the Jade-faced Deity had to dodge.

Thus, Xu Qing and the Jade-faced True God, one in front and one behind, fought and flew through the battlefield, across the void. Among the countless floating star fragments and corpses of deities and cultivators on the battlefield, a portion silently disintegrated under Xu Qing's deliberate actions, crumbling into fine cosmic dust. The portion that could not be destroyed, however, instantly became puppets of the Jade-faced True God and charged towards Xu Qing. As this continued, the distance between them was inevitably and steadily reduced.

At the same time, a scene that made Xu Qing's heart sink appeared. In the distance, yet another True God was striding towards him. Fortunately, in an instant, a Lower Immortal from the cultivators' side intercepted.

However, Xu Qing's sense of danger grew stronger. He swiftly scanned his surroundings, and after locking onto a position the next instant, his mind stirred. He then turned, cold light flickering in his eyes, a decision already made. His body suddenly stopped. Instead of fleeing, he stood still, calming his breath and focusing his mind, placing his right hand on his brow. His soul surged, transmitting a Dao thought.

"Waning Moon!"

A crescent moon shadow distinctly appeared on Xu Qing's brow. What he summoned was precisely... the Immortal Lord Dao Artifact, drawn forth by the fate energy of a True Monarch! Moreover, at the moment of the summons, numerous parallel space-times emerged around him. Within each, every version of himself raised a finger and pressed it to his brow at that very instant, and uttered the same words!

"Waning Moon!!"

As the voices from different space-times echoed, within the current battlefield's space-time, a section of a blood-red crescent blade distinctly emerged from the moon shadow on Xu Qing's brow, as if piercing the starry sky! It resembled a piece of shattered armor peeled from the finger bone of some colossal being, its surface covered with billions of hair-thin vein-like patterns. Within each pattern, the starlight of different eras seemed to flow. Some were pale purple star marrow that had long since dissipated eons ago; others were eerie green stardust seemingly submerged in the primeval sea. As for what surged within the central main vein, it was astonishingly the solidified, gel-like backdrop of the Fifth Star Ring! The sight was utterly shocking!

The moment it appeared, an eerie crimson light, representing death and bloodshed, instantly enveloped all directions. Star fragments, meteorites, and corpses within its range were all suffused and melted by this light... as if shedding tears of blood.

Not far away, the Jade-faced True God, who had already caught up, watched this scene, and for the first time, his mind... fluctuated violently.