Chapter 1264: Appetite Is Already Picky

The golden light in the Black Lotus Dwarf's eyes instantly intensified.

He was not born a deity; although his clan had True Gods, it was not a divine race in the true sense, but rather one that had achieved its status through advancement.

This was determined by the Fourth Star Ring's divine system.

While the primordial essence for a deity's growth could be absorbed from the Star Rings, there was an even better method.

That was to draw it from faith.

Therefore, for a deity to grow stronger, it required offerings from believers and sustenance and sacrifices from clans.

This was also the essence of deities invading myriad worlds.

They needed to enslave more beings and for all living creatures to be devout!

Just like the butterfly Xu Qing had previously taken over, as the Everlasting Underworld Butterfly, it naturally couldn't have any blood connection with the Scaled Ox clan; yet, the Scaled Ox clan's offerings were the foundation of its cultivation.

Moreover, those who offered sacrifices to it were not just the Scaled Ox clan on the star Xu Qing visited; on other stars and within many small worlds, there were similar clans making offerings to it.

If it had not fallen and had the opportunity to enter the True God realm one day in the future, then all the clans that offered sacrifices to it would naturally receive immense benefits.

All clans, including the Scaled Ox clan, could advance to become this type of divine race, with the character "True" added to their clan name.

By that time, the domains of these clans would also expand in their respective locations, becoming local hegemons.

But in essence, the beings within these clans would still be ordinary, not deities.

It's just that by offering sacrifices to a True God and having "True" in their clan name, it would be easier for them to gather divine power and become divine beings, receiving spiritual blessings from the True God to ignite their divine fire and ascend to godhood.

At that point, the newly born deities would be subordinate gods of the deity they worshipped, and would also have the right to go out themselves, seeking new clans to worship them and absorb their faith.

Ultimately, like tree roots, they would grow more and more numerous, their network spreading in all directions.

The True Yi family was an example of this.

They were not the only devout clan of their True God, but even so, after obtaining the character "True," their sphere of influence broke through their local nebula, and at its peak, it had spread across multiple universes.

Yet, such divine clans, though seemingly glorious, were actually only the lowest tier of divine clans within the Fourth Star Ring system.

To go a step further, the entire clan needed, over the passage of time and through the accumulation of ages, to have their bloodline change, with all members becoming divine. Only then could they truly be considered a divine race.

Across the entire Fourth Star Domain, the vast majority of divine clans belonged to these two categories.

If the latter type could continue to develop, increasing the number of True Gods until a Divine Lord-level being appeared who integrated all worshipping clans into a single clan!

Then... this clan's status would leap forward once more.

Becoming a Royal Clan!

This process was extremely difficult, and in countless years, few had achieved it.

Therefore, at this moment, within this world, the dwarf, an acquired deity, after realizing Xu Qing was the one sought by the Divine Emperor Li Zhu, had golden light intensely flare in his eyes, and his heart and mind were violently stirred by powerful ripples.

He clearly knew that this was probably the greatest fortune and divine opportunity of his life!

After all, Divine Emperor Li Zhu's bounty was simply too astonishing.

For discovering his whereabouts, a hundred units of primordial essence would be given.

If he could be captured alive... a Divine Lord's artifact would be bestowed!

So, in the next instant, the dwarf suddenly raised his hand and slashed towards the sky, while divine sounds roared from his mouth.

"All subordinate gods, this mission has changed! Act immediately and suppress this cultivator for me!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the heavens and earth changed color.

On the ground, all the deities involved in felling trees and splitting mountains simultaneously looked up, charged out, and headed directly for Xu Qing.

In the sky, around the giant tumor, several deities at the Divine Platform stage sitting cross-legged each had their divine bodies tremble as they looked towards Xu Qing, but their bodies couldn't move.

The True God forbade it!

But at this moment, the dwarf disregarded these matters. Although assisting his clan's True God was still extremely important, compared to that, if he could complete Divine Emperor Li Zhu's bounty and obtain a Divine Lord's artifact, then he might even be able to achieve True God status himself through this merit!

Furthermore, his clan's True God already held an advantage, and with many Divine Platforms sharing the burden, the situation remained favorable. So, it wouldn't be too late to help after he had completed the capture.

Thinking of this, the dwarf's body swayed as he stepped off the black lotus, leading three hundred and sixty ancient corpses. Unleashing his peak Divine Platform realm power, he charged towards Xu Qing.

Wherever he passed, decay spontaneously permeated his surroundings, distorting everything. The corpses behind him all opened their mouths, roaring strange sounds, and stirring up a corpse wind that permeated all directions.

This was precisely his divine authority power.

The power of decay, winds of death, and... words of soul-reaping.

Gathering together, they formed a terrifying dirge, spiraling through heaven and earth.

The melody, as if substantial, rushed directly at Xu Qing!

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. He knew that in the Fourth Star Ring, avoiding exposure could only rely on luck, so deep down, he was already prepared for it.

"Being exposed here is better than being detected outside, but the key to this battle is to leave."

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, his body swayed, instantly blurring.

Immediately, a sense of temporal disorder appeared around him, as if time flowed, separated from this world, forming distortions similar to those around the dwarf, causing the incoming dirge's sounds to become chaotic.

While using this to break the divine art, within the distorted time, an iron skewer broke through the void, shining with immortal spiritual energy between heaven and earth, accompanied by crisp ringing bell sounds.

As soon as that sound emerged, heaven and earth fell silent, and all arts completely paused.

The dwarf, charging at Xu Qing with killing intent, was even more shocked; he clearly perceived that the divine aura within his body had inexplicably lost connection with himself.

And that iron skewer was approaching him at an astonishing speed.

A strong life-or-death crisis erupted in his heart.

At this critical moment, the dwarf suddenly bit off his tongue and spat it out.

That piece of tongue, emitting golden divine blood, the moment it appeared, grew with extreme strangeness, instantly transforming into a giant tumor.

It seemed to form a subtle resonance with the tumor formed by his clan's True God in the sky.

In the next instant, the two invisibly connected.

A surge of True God power was borrowed and erupted within.

Causing this flesh sphere, formed from the tongue, to suddenly open like an eye.

With its gaze, it enveloped the whistling iron skewer that was nearing, wrapping it within and forming a power of isolation.

At the same time, its gaze fell upon Xu Qing's distorted time, causing the distortion there to return to normal and forcing Xu Qing's figure to appear.

Meanwhile, the dwarf's divine aura within his body recovered, intense killing intent flared in his eyes, and his trump card was instantly unleashed. The three hundred and sixty withered corpses behind him simultaneously ignited and dissipated.

And the void beneath Xu Qing's feet suddenly cracked with dozens of golden fissures!

Thirty-six three-eyed idols composed of withered flesh and blood stepped out of the fissures amidst golden light. They were precisely what the dwarf's three hundred and sixty withered corpses had transformed into.

Appearing at this moment, the instant their feet touched the void, crisp sounds of shattering glass echoed from all directions.

Then the vertical pupils on their foreheads opened, and dark golden divine light cascaded like a waterfall, directly engulfing Xu Qing.

Everything in its path solidified into amber.

Xu Qing's black robe billowed. Before this divine light reached him, he raised his right hand and pressed forward.

Instantly, spatial laws converged, merging with the remaining time around him to form spatio-temporal laws, unleashing a chaotic spatio-temporal storm.

This storm, in an instant, shook heaven and earth, sweeping simultaneously towards the dwarf above and the divine light below.

Within the storm, countless immortal spirit seals could be seen swirling.

It instantly erupted!

An earth-shattering sound made the world roar at this moment.

The divine light collapsed, the thirty-six idols simultaneously burst apart, and viscous black mist surged outwards. As for the dwarf above, his expression changed, and he rapidly retreated.

But in the blink of an eye, Xu Qing's true body had silently appeared behind him and pressed his hand onto the head of this dwarf deity.

At the same time, the iron skewer, which had been fixated by the flesh sphere's gaze not far away, also shone brightly at this moment, its bells ringing loudly. It actually broke free, transforming into a long streak, piercing through the void to arrive.

Instantly piercing into the dwarf's chest, it passed right through and appeared beside Xu Qing.

But Xu Qing slightly frowned.

The dwarf deity before him, his body trembling at this moment, actually transformed into a black lotus.

The black lotus shattered, seemingly able to substitute for his death.

In the distance, the dwarf deity's figure converged from the void. A look of lingering fear appeared in his eyes, but there wasn't much surprise.

He knew clearly that someone who could be wanted by Divine Emperor Li Zhu and evade the divine sense of True Gods outside was naturally not a weakling.

"But this place is my clan's True God's divine kingdom!"

As the dwarf spoke, nine burning flesh spheres appeared above Xu Qing's head, forming a cage to suppress him.

At the same time, the deities below had also arrived, each unleashing their divine arts and charging at Xu Qing.

But just as the deities made their move, and the nine burning flesh spheres formed a cage...

Xu Qing's body suddenly dissipated, actually transforming into thousands of blood-colored butterflies, flying in all directions.

These eerie red butterflies had pupil-like patterns covering their wings; each time they flapped their wings, a divine art was absorbed into the depths of a pupil.

Even more bizarrely, the instant Xu Qing transformed into thousands of butterflies, from the eye sockets of a small number of deities charging from below, dense swarms of blood butterfly larvae actually surged out.

In the time it took for only three heartbeats, these deities, amidst their pained wails, transformed into writhing insect nests, from which even more blood butterflies flew out!

This was precisely Xu Qing simulating the divine art belonging to the Everlasting Underworld Butterfly, derived from the butterfly deity!

It was just that when unleashed by Xu Qing, its range and horror far surpassed that of the butterfly deity.

At this moment, red butterflies fluttered across the sky, half rushing towards the nine burning flesh spheres, and half scattering around the deities below.

Those deities, who were merely in the Divine Flame realm, were now scattered with lingering fear, trying to evade, but Xu Qing's figure had already eerily appeared, inverted behind a goddess.

His right hand's five fingers were already deeply inserted into this deity's spine, his left hand grasping a ball of memory light torn from her divine source.

He crushed it with one squeeze.

At the same time, he took a fierce breath.

Under this deity's blue skin, spiderweb-like black marks appeared, and the meager primordial essence within her body was instantly absorbed dry.

After flowing into Xu Qing's body, her body trembled and transformed into a dried corpse.

"The primordial essence is too impure, and the quantity is very small."

After tasting the primordial essence of the Divine Maiden's Star Eyes, Xu Qing had somewhat come to disdain other primordial essences.

His palate had become refined...

So he waved his hand, flinging away the dried corpse in his grasp. At the same time, dozens of dried corpses similarly fell from mid-air.

Those were Xu Qings, each appearing from within the red butterflies!

They appeared consecutively in mid-air, and after each absorbed primordial essence, they converged together, transforming into Xu Qing's true body standing in the void.

Gazing around, Xu Qing was expressionless. He raised his hand and grabbed into the void beside him, pulling out a deity hidden there, whose entire body was crystalline.

Without waiting for this deity to say anything, Xu Qing crushed it with one squeeze, turning it into scattering crystalline fragments.

And each fragment now reflected the terrified faces of the other deities.

Among these faces also included the dwarf in mid-air, who had an extremely grim expression.

"Open the teleportation now and let me leave," Xu Qing slowly said. "It's still not too late."