Chapter 1272: Peeling Star Skin

"Skinning a star!"

The moment Xu Qing heard those words, his mind was profoundly shaken, despite his extensive experiences and countless encounters with the bizarre, strange, and inconceivable. His eyes gleamed. Such a monumental undertaking…

One must understand, this was the primordial mother star of the Fourth Star Ring. The very idea of skinning this star sounded immensely grand and profound, imbued with an indescribably vast and formidable spirit.

"I have another question," Xu Qing said, his gaze sweeping around. "From what I've gathered, this place is clearly extremely important to the Fourth Star Ring, so why..."

Whether it was during his more than a month here or at this very moment, the primordial mother star's resistance and struggle seemed inconsistent with its very purpose. Especially now, no guardians had appeared. The entire primordial mother star seemed to consist only of corpses and those Source Abominations.

The Spirit Phoenix Immortal smiled faintly upon hearing his question. "Firstly, this star is not suitable for prolonged stays; its essence constantly draws away Source energy. Secondly, this star is mysterious and difficult to explore; conventional methods cannot reach it. It appears to exist here, but in reality, this area is like a memory."

"In other words, it exists within a deity's memory. Of course, this is how we cultivators articulate it. In a deity's perception, it's different; they perceive it as the ultimate end of a True Name."

"And most importantly, what you see is only the present."

"According to the Immortal Venerable's understanding, this primordial mother star of the Fourth Star Ring has actually perished dozens of times due to various accidents and reasons."

"However, no matter how it's destroyed, it won't shake the foundation of a deity. It will reappear, perfectly intact, and even its intended resurrection will revert to the moment before its destruction."

"To some extent, it can be said that as long as deities exist in the Fourth Star Ring, this star will never truly disappear."

"This is also why there are no defenses here. There's truly no need for them."

Xu Qing pondered this, then turned to look at the Aurora Young Master, who was heading towards the gorge. Another question arose in his mind.

"Then what's the purpose of this skinning?"

The Spirit Phoenix's eyes held a complex expression as she, too, looked at the Aurora Young Master nearby, speaking softly.

"Your brother is about to do something that was originally meant for his father to do. It's an unprecedented feat that only they, father and son, can accomplish."

As the Spirit Phoenix's words echoed, the Aurora Young Master had already entered the gorge.

The moment he stepped in, he formed a strange hand seal. This seal was complex and defied the natural bending of finger joints, requiring several fingers to twist in unnatural directions. As he formed the seal, an ancient aura rose. The sky rippled, and the earth reverberated with a dull roar.

"That's a sacrificial seal passed down from the Immortal Venerable!" Xu Qing watched, instinctively trying to commit the sealing method to memory. The Spirit Phoenix Immortal, noticing his intent, offered an explanation.

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing immediately intensified his efforts to commit it to memory.

Simultaneously, as the Aurora Young Master's sacrificial seal took effect, the glaciers on both sides of the gorge, amidst the earth's dull roar, seemed to be struck by an immense force, shaking to their foundations.

With a deafening boom, the glaciers on both sides collapsed directly! This exposed numerous bronze gates. The collapse then transformed into a rapid fragmentation, spreading swiftly outwards from the gorge. As it spread, the glaciers on both sides of the rift groaned like dying behemoths.

Countless colossal blocks of dark ice were torn apart by an invisible force and flipped outwards, revealing the original darkness beneath. The eerie green moonlight then smoothly streamed down, making the darkness under the glacier appear hazy.

In this haze, countless Source Abominations became visible. They had existed here since their formation, feeding on the flesh and bones of deities. Now, amidst this dramatic cosmic upheaval, they all let out shrill roars towards the source of it all. These roars shook all directions, transforming into terrifying sound waves, like the furious roar of the primordial mother star itself. They aimed to utterly devastate all outsiders.

Subsequently, they all charged towards the Aurora Young Master.

Viewed from the sky, this scene was truly magnificent. Countless Source Abominations, in the hazy darkness, surged forward like a black tide, overwhelming everything with their insane frenzy. Among them were many whose entire bodies had turned into blue ice, exhibiting terrifying power that made Xu Qing's heart pound.

But the Aurora Young Master simply raised a hand and pressed down. Instantly, a phenomenon familiar to Xu Qing erupted from the Aurora Young Master, sweeping across the charging Source Abominations. Upon contact, the Source Abominations instantly lost their height, becoming mere two-dimensional planes, possessing only length and width! They seemed to have become figures in a painting.

This sight profoundly shocked Xu Qing, and a bright light shone in his eyes. This was precisely the state the Aurora Young Master was in when Xu Qing first encountered him in the Aurora Immortal Palace. It was also the direction Xu Qing had explored for his own next path after his Time-Space Constitution had formed.

"Xu Qing, this is your path. Though I can borrow it now, once you achieve your Dao, among all Immortals in this world, only you will be able to master this path!"

As the Aurora Young Master's voice reached him, he continued to stride downwards. Everywhere he passed, waves of Source Abominations lost their height and became flat, like paper offerings for the dead, continuously fluttering down. Thus, the Source Abominations no longer posed an obstacle, and the haze could not impede him. The Aurora Young Master could only sink step by step into the earth below!

This world beneath the glaciers, where the glaciers once served as the sky, also had earth beneath it! Now, as the Aurora Young Master descended, he raised both palms and pressed them down as if into the void. Instantly, auroras blazed around him, transforming into a sea of light that swept in all directions, completely dispelling the haze and clearly revealing the earth below.

It was... a dark purple, fleshy rock stratum!! Upon closer inspection, one could clearly see a membrane resembling skin on this rock layer! It was covered in countless delicate tentacles, stretching boundlessly like a prairie, or like the star's synapses! And at the end of each tentacle grew a golden vertical pupil. They were staring intently at the approaching Aurora Young Master! This primordial mother star truly had skin!

Xu Qing's eyes gleamed with surprise. As he descended with the Spirit Phoenix Immortal, the Aurora Young Master raised his hands, curling all five fingers of each hand into hooks, and inserted them into the rock layer below, as if grabbing through the air! Then he ripped outwards fiercely, followed by a shake!

From within the earth, a dull, thunderous roar of pain echoed, shaking the heavens and earth. Moreover, with the Aurora Young Master's tearing and shaking, the star's skin, stretching endlessly, rolled up like a great wave, bringing with it fragmented ice, and was violently peeled away. It was indeed skinning!

The sound of tearing and a shrill roar surged forth at this moment. Furthermore, fountains of blood mixed with stardust erupted from where the earth was peeled, like crimson rain flowing upwards, shooting straight into the sky! In the air, they quickly coalesced into a crimson cloud that blotted out the sky, as if to replace the very heavens here!

Simultaneously, as the earth was lifted, the billions of golden vertical pupils on the star's skin, now detached from its body, flared open in anger, emitting countless golden beams of light that shot like an arrow shower towards the Aurora Young Master. As they approached, a blood-colored eye opened on the Aurora Young Master's forehead. A swirling black vortex deep within its pupil instantly erupted, devouring all the eye-beams from every direction.

Then, grasping the star's skin through the air with both hands, he flung it violently in the desired direction! Immediately, the sound of tearing intensified within these two sections of star skin, continuing to peel away from both sides of the Aurora Young Master! As it continuously peeled away, it surged powerfully into the distance. From afar, it formed an inverted 'eight' shape! Its scope grew larger and larger, tearing and lifting in this manner, finally rising to a considerable height, forming a relatively complete skin that spread out across the dome!

The heavens and earth changed color!

The Aurora Young Master's voice echoed distantly. "Seal the heavens, the placenta forms the boundary."

Instantly, that terrifying star skin intensely writhed in the sky, merging with the void to become an amber placenta! Like a colossal biological membrane, it became the primordial mother star's new sky curtain. Outside, the eerie green moonlight from space impacted the placental membrane as if solidifying, creating ripples but unable to penetrate it in the slightest. Looking up from below, one could see the clear texture of flesh and blood within this placental sky. The patterns of blood vessels seemed to form a star map, and dripping blood beads created flowing rivers of stars across the dome. While horrifying to behold, it also reflected a distorted image of the fleshy earth below.

These scenes profoundly shook Xu Qing's mind. At this moment, the primordial mother star's sky had truly been replaced! The external light was completely obscured, plunging the entire world into an eternal blood-red twilight. The mother star itself was like a colossal beast being flayed alive. The ground, as far as the eye could see, was dark red muscle tissue, covered in startling nerve pathways. One could even see ruptured blood vessels from which golden liquid Source essence flowed. Furthermore, strange pulsations emanated from deep within the mother star, causing the entire earth to tremble, as if some ancient entity, agitated, was about to awaken.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, his heart churning. The Aurora Young Master, who had just peeled the star's skin, now had a cold glint in his eyes. He stepped onto the exposed flesh of the mother star below. As he walked forward, strands of star marrow could be seen sticking to the soles of his boots. Around him, towering waves of blood surged from within the fleshy earth, seemingly providing a magnificent backdrop for him!

At the same time, the lament of the mother star intertwined with the shrill cries of countless Source Abomination larvae crawling out from within the flesh, growing ever more intense. They formed terrifying sound waves, like the boundless, tragic wails of all living things.

The Aurora Young Master walked through the flesh, seemingly measuring it. He quickly found his target location.

"This is the place," he murmured. He raised his right hand to his brow, then fiercely pulled outwards after touching it. Instantly, a great sword, shimmering with silver light that suppressed all the crimson in the world, abruptly appeared!

It was... the Immortal Venerable's Sword!

The moment he drew it, the Aurora Young Master didn't hesitate. He savagely plunged it into the flesh beneath his feet, then fiercely ripped it open! Immediately, the entire star let out an even more piercing shriek. More viscous blood plasma erupted. The resulting wound spread rapidly, eventually revealing – the pulsating star core below!

That was the Star Palace the primordial mother star had used when it first gave birth to a deity!

"He's..." Xu Qing watched all this from mid-air, his mind surging with powerful emotions. An incredible and bold conjecture rose in his mind.

Beside him, the Spirit Phoenix Immortal glanced at Xu Qing and spoke softly. "You must have guessed it."

"Your brother is going to achieve godhood—right here!"