Chapter 1280: Have No Fear

The Divine Venerable, the supreme being within the Fourth Star Ring, slowly emerged from their Divine Court after a long silence.

The celestial aura began to distort as innumerable rainbow-colored electrical arcs appeared out of thin air, weaving into a magnificent staircase in the void, which automatically floated beneath them. Allowing their steps to fall upon it, they advanced step by step. With each step, the starry sky fractured like delicate porcelain. Through these fissures, illusory scenes became visible.

In some scenes, all things began to reverse their growth: towering ancient trees shrank back into seeds, and mature life forms reverted to embryonic states. In others, stars withered and died, erupting with brilliant intensity, illuminating the cosmos with a tangible sheen. These scenes fully displayed their supreme reverence.

Furthermore, the entire Fourth Star Ring was affected. Some fragile beings, their bodies directly exploded, unfolding like lotus flowers, their brains transforming into rainbow bridges reaching the sky. All temples emitted earth-shattering hums, unable to withstand the supreme divinity, undergoing an instinctive metamorphosis, becoming transparent and gradually transforming into glimmering divine essence.

Even the celestial orbits, perpetually shifting between day and night, solidified into crystals. Ancient creatures, hidden in the deepest crevices of time, coiled their tentacles towards the Divine Court, trembling intensely. As for the Divine Lords, they too, at this moment, lowered their noble heads towards the Divine Court. All these were acts of worship!

At this moment, all gods watched intently! It was not until the supreme being descended step by step that their vast, unfathomable form, which no living being or entity could fully perceive, finally manifested in the starry sky. That form was astonishingly composed of three trillion overlapping phantoms! The outermost layer was a nebulous outline flowing with galactic debris; collapsing light spots gradually coalesced into a humanoid silhouette, only to burst into billions of stars just as it was about to take shape.

Anyone attempting to look directly at their face could only see a continuously collapsing nebular vortex, and within each fold, the cycle of birth and annihilation seemed hidden. Within it, energy turbulence ripped through dimensional rifts. Occasionally, streaks of light diffused outwards, transforming into stardust falling into mortal realms, becoming divine light stretching for billions of miles in the lands where the divine races resided.

Under the illumination of this light, the flowing winds on the stars instantly solidified, countless clouds transformed into dark glazed glass inlaid with gold edges. Simultaneously, the artifacts of the various gods began to seep dark golden liquid at this moment! They wailed. These artifacts, which should have been eternally indestructible, astonishingly began to undergo reverse decay under the divine might. This was the Divine Venerable!

And the divine sound reverberating throughout the entire star ring was the divine oracle that affected all living beings. "Divine Umbilical Cord, Infinite End... finally open! This path, indeed, was hidden deep within the divine way..." This sound did not echo in the ears of the gods; instead, it resonated deep within their bone marrow, like the booming vibrations of chimes! For all language lost its meaning the moment the divine oracle descended. All living beings, even the gods themselves, now received a change in rules directly imprinted upon the very source of their souls.

Subsequently, they began to collapse. Because within it were eight characters that constituted a great taboo! These external effects were not even intentionally caused by the Divine Venerable. This was merely the most subtle ripple of their descent, simply the overflow of their presence, and merely a single subsequent utterance. Yet it had already caused the entire Fourth Star Ring to tend towards transformation into a strange construct.

Whether true gods or Divine Lords, even the coffin within the forbidden zone of deep space, fell silent at this moment. It floated and sank within the vortex of divine rune chains. The Divine Venerable themself, from beginning to end, focused solely on the old man in straw sandals standing before them.

"Your journey, I did not obstruct. But now... will you obstruct mine?" The Divine Venerable's gaze fell upon the old man. A dazed look appeared in the old man's eyes as he perceived the open Star Gate beyond the location of the Original Mother Star. Then, he shook his head.

The Divine Venerable said no more, raising their left hand. What appeared in their palm was neither sun nor moon, nor chaos, but rather a "concept of existence" transcending physical form. Innumerable pupil-shaped light wheels flickered within it. Each light wheel reflected the rise and fall of entirely different civilizations. That was their supreme godhead, incomprehensible to those of unequal status!

Gazing at their palm, the Divine Venerable slowly closed their left hand, and then took a step forward. As this step landed, their vast body traversed infinite distances, appearing outside the Original Mother Star. There, they did not even glance at the Original Mother Star, their gaze fixed solely on the open Star Gate and the gray world within it. Without hesitation, this was the only opportunity they had awaited for countless eons! Thus, they stepped into the Star Gate to pursue the path of the gods!

As their immense body and terrifying status entered the Star Gate, the Star Gate immediately roared, seeming as if it could no longer hold. Furthermore, there was a struggle from the divine path of the Fourth Star Ring. Yet it was futile, because the gate was already open! So, in the next instant, the Divine Venerable's figure forcibly surged forward, fully entering, and in that gray world, charged towards the depths of the mist!

As for the Star Gate, it shattered into pieces and collapsed under this violent intrusion. Echoing with its collapse was the mournful cry of the Fourth Star Ring's divine path. The divine path, in decline!

However, earlier, the chain composed of Star Gate symbols had already extended outwards. So, though the Star Gate collapsed and its internal chains fractured, a segment of the external chain still fell towards the Original Mother Star. Instantly piercing all void, even the fortune of the Fifth Star Ring could not block it; it was directly torn open, appearing in the sky above the Original Mother Star. Like a world-devouring serpent, it abruptly shot towards the Aurora Young Lord below! This was an unexpected event!

The pressure from this segment of the chain caused the Original Mother Star to tremble, the sky to completely shatter, and Xu Qing and Fairy Linghuang's minds to roar. That was neither divine might nor immortal dao. It was formed from a more ancient mystery, surpassing the limits of comprehension. Like a catastrophe, the Aurora Young Lord was in peril.

"The Immortal Dao values life, the Divine Dao values death. I shall simply use your power to accelerate the stripping of my godhead!" Under this intense calamity, the Aurora Young Lord's eyes showed resolve. As he muttered, he raised his right hand and plunged it directly into his eyes. With a pull outwards, he actually pulled out the golden light from his eyes and severed it in his palm! His eye sockets immediately bled profusely.

Thereafter, without the slightest hesitation, using the dao bones currently transforming within him, he sought to retrieve the true 'Constitution' that was born with him in his youth! That was the Mirror Constitution! Then, using this most original Constitution of his own, he replaced his lost eyes. Thus, in the next instant, light reappeared in his eyes! His eyes revived!

The pupils of these eyes contained mirrors, reflecting the rivers of fortune from all directions of the sky, wherever his gaze fell, as if they were rising within him, causing the rivers of fortune to completely pour into his body. Amidst a roar, the power of fortune intertwined internally and externally, layering upon itself! This caused the Aurora Young Lord to erupt with earth-shattering power, completely merging with the fortune of the Fifth Star Ring. In the instant they became indistinguishable, his voice echoed.

"Xu Qing, I'm giving you a gift. Do you dare to accept it?!"

Hearing this, Xu Qing's eyes gleamed with a strange light. He had already guessed in his heart what the Aurora Young Lord's gift was! There was only one gift that the Aurora Young Lord, after transforming from a god to an immortal, could not be tainted by: the Divine Authority of Fate, plundered by the Aurora Young Lord from the Divine Venerable of the Fourth Star Ring during his process of becoming a Divine Lord! And the reason Xu Qing could guess some of it was because he knew the meaning of him being sent here by the Immortal Venerable!

Consequently, his mind was strongly shaken, his breathing instantly quickened, and he spoke with resolve. "Of course I dare to accept!" The karma of the Upper Wilderness, others dared not accommodate, but Xu Qing himself already had a very deep karma with the Upper Wilderness. His divine clone was forged from the flesh and blood of the Upper Wilderness. Although, in all this, the former was stolen by his Senior Brother, and the latter was unknowingly chosen for use by his Master. However, since facts were already so, what did it matter to take divine authority again? Thinking of this, a strong light shone in Xu Qing's eyes.

In the sky, the Aurora Young Lord burst into laughter upon hearing Xu Qing's reply. He raised his right hand, grasping towards the sky. Instantly, the fortune of the Fifth Star Ring, drawn by him both internally and externally, coalesced in his hand, forming a Blade of Fortune! Then, using the vibration of the dao bones within his body as power, the intertwining of his Divine Lord and Immortal Lord levels as energy, and the divine attraction from the Divine Calamity as a pull, he wielded the long Blade of Fortune, striking towards the approaching rune chain. He swung the blade!

As this blade descended, cracks appeared in the fate lines of the entire Fourth Star Ring, and the light and shadow of future and past intertwined into a crimson waterfall. The Fifth Star Ring was also turbulent; all living beings resonated. Accompanying the long blade, it collided with the chain. The sound of creation itself erupted on the Original Mother Star at that instant, affecting the surrounding Sea of Memories and sending colossal waves surging. The chain trembled!

The Aurora Young Lord also trembled violently, staggering backward, as if ten million universes had exploded within him. His physical body was torn with countless wounds, and divine blood transformed into crimson ice crystals flying everywhere. Each ice crystal reflected his previous projection of transforming from immortal to god. And these ice crystals, under the collision of fortune and chain, were rapidly melting, forming chaotic water that would reshape his immortal dao foundation, surging towards the Aurora Young Lord.

The instant it flowed into his dantian, his original divine sea began to collapse and restructure; the godhead deposited at the bottom of the sea suddenly rose, with countless threads visibly connecting to the Aurora Young Lord. They were actively resisting this incoming external force! Those threads were karma!

"It's not enough!!" The Aurora Young Lord spat out blood mixed with gold and silver. Seeing the endless threads, his expression turned grim. His pupils, at this moment, also revealed the pattern of yin and yang fish. His left eye contained a godhead entwined with karmic threads, undulating with the collapsing laws of the Fourth Star Ring. His right eye was a newly formed immortal essence vortex, reflecting all living beings in the Fifth Star Ring.

With a leap, he charged again towards the descending rune chain!