Chapter 1259: Goddess and Mud Fox

That was the consciousness of a true god!

Inside the Amethyst Mountain Range, Xu Qing's expression darkened. A powerful sense of dread immediately surged within him, intensifying to an extreme degree in mere moments. His heart pounded violently, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

“It’s not one true god, but at least seven!”

Xu Qing's pupils contracted. In his perception, the entire star seemed to warp and all living things trembled. The emerald halo in the sky dimmed, seemingly losing its luster, as black clouds formed by an overwhelming will obscured the firmament and everything beneath it. Indeed, the divine consciousness of multiple true gods converged, like colossal waves transforming the starry sky into an ocean. This star, an isolated island in that ocean, was now about to be engulfed by the sweeping tides.

The sense of dread grew incredibly strong. As the divine consciousness spread, it was on the verge of reaching Xu Qing's location.

In this critical moment, Xu Qing extinguished all his immortal spiritual energy and summoned his shadow to appear and envelop him. As for the Mud Fox, it appeared without Xu Qing needing to call, unleashing its full divine aura beside him to completely conceal him. Their combined efforts, along with Xu Qing's own unique qualities different from other cultivators, made the anomalous energy in his location intensely strong.

But this alone was not enough.

At that crucial moment, Xu Qing's eyes flashed. He raised his right hand and instantly pulled out the unconscious goddess he had placed in his storage bag, tossing her to the Mud Fox. The Mud Fox instantly understood Xu Qing's intent, raising a hand to grab the goddess by the neck while simultaneously covering her eyes. Meanwhile, Xu Qing's body flickered, shrinking to the size of a speck of dust, and he darted towards the wound on the goddess's collarbone. In an instant, he burrowed deep into her flesh, concealing himself with all his might.

He was taking a gamble!

In Xu Qing's judgment, the true gods' divine consciousness probes focused on two main categories. One category was searching for immortal spiritual aura to determine his location. The other category was using methods similar to bloodline tracing or special divine origin techniques to locate and find the goddess! Although Xu Qing and the goddess must be together, these two types of probing methods had different directions, and both had a flaw. That is, they weakened the probing of other gods! And the Mud Fox, internally and externally, was a god. Of course, it was also possible that the two types of probes were mixed together, but even so, the flaw remained.

There was also a chance of misjudgment, but Xu Qing had no alternative. He wasn't comfortable leaving the goddess alone outside, as that would introduce too many variables, so he needed the Mud Fox to restrain her. Even if the goddess was unconscious, Xu Qing didn't want to leave her any possibility of signaling for help, to facilitate his own better concealment inside her body.

As for whether his own concealment would succeed...

Although Xu Qing wasn't entirely certain, he had a degree of confidence. The source of this confidence... was the Immortal Lord's sealing power within the goddess's body!

“Previously, when fighting the Jade-faced True God on the battlefield, she was very shocked when she saw me take out the Dao artifact, and she never took out a countering treasure even until her death. This indicates that she didn't know about me acquiring the Dao artifact.”

“However, this matter was widely known among frontline cultivators, yet she didn't know... So the greatest possibility is that my information was obscured by the Immortal Lord's level, making it undetectable by gods.”

“Obscuring my information, granting me a Dao artifact... and the seal left within the goddess...”

All of this flashed through Xu Qing's mind just as the terrifying divine consciousness swept over, engulfing the Amethyst Mountain Range.

Xu Qing's spirit tensed, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. He was ready to immediately use his Spacetime Constitution to escape if anything went wrong. But the next instant, an ancient will suddenly emerged from the goddess, subtly dispersing outwards and shielding all traces of her. This scene made Xu Qing narrow his eyes. Subsequently, the divine consciousness probing the area swept through the Amethyst Mountain Range without detection, quickly covering the entire star. Finding nothing, it departed to continue its probe in another part of the starry sky.

Xu Qing remained still. He waited another hour, and surprisingly, the divine consciousness that had left abruptly returned, once again enveloping the nebula where the star was located. It swept through each star and dust particle within this nebula again. Finally, seemingly confirming there was no issue, it truly departed.

Xu Qing still didn't move, continuing to wait. Two hours later, a third wave of divine consciousness suddenly swept through this nebula. That divine consciousness was different from before, clearly not from the same group of gods. For the next few days, similar sweeps occurred daily, appearing abruptly and frequently, continuing for several days... before finally ceasing.

Xu Qing remained tense, waiting for three days until he was certain it was safe. Only then did he fly out of the goddess's wound and return to his normal size. With a grim expression, he looked outside, then turned to the Mud Fox beside the goddess.

“Young master, the true gods' divine consciousness, after perceiving my divine presence, automatically ignored it.”

“I assume their primary focus for large-scale probing was immortal spiritual aura.”

“And after this probe, I can feel that if you, young master, hadn't hidden inside this goddess, I'm afraid my concealment of you would have been insufficient to escape detection.”

The Mud Fox had been incredibly tense these past few days. Now, as it relaxed, it glanced at the still unconscious goddess and, instead of speaking directly, transmitted its voice to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing remained silent. Xu Qing could also sense what the Mud Fox perceived, so he clearly understood that the key to avoiding this probe was the seal left by the Immortal Lord on the goddess.

“Was this foreseen? A method of survival left for me?” Xu Qing fell into thought.

“However... even if it was truly foreseen, it seems there was a deviation, because this seal... in the Fourth Star Ring, where anomalous energy is dense, is like water without a source, unsustainable.” In the past few days, the seal had been activated repeatedly, and Xu Qing could sense it was being worn down. “Each probe wears it down; after a certain number of times, this seal will dissipate.”

“By then...” A deep unease rose in Xu Qing's heart.

“However, the multiple probes here were all at the true god level, and the God Lord only issued a decree, not personally probing. This indicates that the war is likely still ongoing, and the God Lord has not left the battlefield!”

“I still have time!”

“I must fully restore my cultivation as soon as possible, and at the same time, find the guiding star map to return to the Fifth Star Ring!” Determination showed in Xu Qing's eyes. “As for this place... after multiple probes, it should be safe for a short period.”

Xu Qing was deep in thought when, suddenly, the divine consciousness of a god reappeared, sweeping towards the Amethyst Mountain Range with a rumble. Xu Qing's expression changed. He once again transformed into dust and flew into the goddess's wound, continuing to hide.

But soon, confusion showed in his eyes. Because the strength of this divine consciousness was not high; it wasn't a true god, but at the peak of the Divine Platform. It merely passed through the Amethyst Mountain Range, focusing primarily on the Dust Forest where he had first appeared. As long as it wasn't a true god's divine consciousness, Xu Qing was confident he could ignore it without hiding inside the goddess.

So, after carefully observing and waiting for it to leave, he flew out of the goddess's wound. With a grim expression, he raised a hand and grabbed the goddess. He slapped her. With a thud, half of the goddess's face swelled up. She suddenly opened her eyes, glaring intently at Xu Qing, her heart brimming with an intense sense of grievance. She knew why Xu Qing had slapped her; he clearly thought she had used some method or left a trace when she was teleported over. But she knew perfectly well that she hadn't... It wasn't that she didn't want to, but Xu Qing had woken up before she could complete it. Thus, her grievance churned, further rekindling her malevolence, making it intensely strong. She had thrown caution to the wind!

Previously, she had been afraid due to the terror of the Dao artifact, but she had actually woken up days ago. Although the Mud Fox's presence prevented her from signaling for help, she understood the situation clearly. She knew that this damned Xu Qing would not let her go, nor would he kill her; he needed her for concealment. So, there was no point in being afraid. Therefore, her malevolence intensified at this moment, and she glared angrily at Xu Qing.

“If you have the guts, kill me!”

“Do you dare?!”

Xu Qing's gaze was cold as he looked at the goddess and spoke indifferently. “Your father god's decree only ordered my capture alive; it made no mention of your life or death.”

The goddess's expression stiffened. She was just about to speak when Xu Qing gave her no chance. He forcefully drew from her neck with his right hand, and the primordial essence the goddess had regenerated during this time instantly surged towards Xu Qing like an unbridled wild horse. It integrated into his body, nourishing his immortal embryo and soul, allowing his soul wounds to continuously recover.

The goddess wilted, but the hatred in her eyes turned into a silent curse. But the next instant, Xu Qing's power once again penetrated her collarbone and coursed through her entire body, creating intense, trembling pain that stimulated her primordial essence to form anew. Xu Qing continued to absorb.

Days passed like this. Xu Qing's injuries were nearing full recovery, while the goddess was reduced to skin and bones. However, at this moment, a situation arose that made Xu Qing frown. During this period, under his almost exhaustive extraction, the goddess's body began to show symptoms similar to a shutdown. The primordial essence was regenerating less and less. It seemed that Xu Qing's stimulation was something she had gradually adapted to. This level of pain seemed unable to effectively stimulate her. But if he continued to increase it, she would likely be unable to bear it and could die at any moment.

And after realizing her own situation, the hatred and malevolence in the goddess's eyes finally found an outlet to erupt, and she shrieked almost maniacally.

“Xu Qing, what more can you do now?!”

“Have you reached your limit in tormenting me?!”

“You don't dare to kill me, and now your methods are exhausted. So this is all you're capable of!”

“But do you know, my methods against you are infinite. Sooner or later, you'll fall into my hands, and I will repay all the torment you inflicted on me ten thousandfold!”

Xu Qing's gaze was cold as he looked at the hysterical goddess before him, narrowing his eyes. He raised his right hand, about to put her away, when suddenly he heard the Mud Fox's laughter in his ear.

“Young master, I've been watching this whole time, and I wanted to tell you earlier, your method of extraction is too inefficient.”

Amidst the laughter, the Mud Fox's alluring figure appeared beside them, walking over to the goddess. Looking at the goddess, it licked its lips, its eyes showing excitement, and its jade-like finger hooked the goddess's chin.

“I have a suggestion...”

With her chin hooked, the goddess instinctively looked at the Mud Fox. The other's gaze startled her, and a deep, inexplicable unease rose in her heart.