Chapter 1294: Upper Wasteland Opens Eyes

A ripple, causing the Fourth Star Ring and even the entirety of the Thirty-Six Ascendant Star Rings to tremble, gently spread outward at that very instant.

Inside the rift, the rapidly intensifying scarlet glow in Lizhu's skeletal eyes flickered for a moment, like a candle flame buffeted by the wind.

And then… it rapidly, even frantically, pulled back sharply.

But it was already too late.

All the Ascendant Rings, at this very instant, suddenly fell into absolute silence.

Gods, cultivators, all living beings, countless stars—everything, at this moment, experienced a complete blankness of mind.

It was as if a pair of trans-dimensional eyes had shifted their gaze from their original focus and now looked towards… the starry sky!

It was a gaze that transcended time and space.

In the Ninth Star Ring, on the continent of Wanggu, the colossal fragmented face in the sky… at this moment… raised its head.

It fully opened its eyes!

And so, within the Fourth Star Ring, outside the rift, within the seams of warped space-time, a gilded pupil silently appeared.

Inside it, the entire rift was reflected.

The moment it gazed, Lizhu's skeletal body inside the rift froze, trembling as never before. Under this direct gaze, a piercing shriek emanated from its body, and the remaining divine rings on it shattered one after another.

And the Old God Venerable's power to conceal its consciousness also shattered at this moment, allowing God Lord Lizhu's consciousness to recover.

But the moment it recovered, its mind was enveloped by death.

Along with its body, it rapidly dissipated, as if erased or swallowed by nothingness.

At the same time, everything within this rift was undergoing drastic changes!

A sharp, roaring sound, like friction, arose. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared in the rift area, spreading rapidly, and each crack emitted a trembling sound, similar to breaking glass.

The entire space, like an eggshell gnawed by a giant beast, peeled away layer by layer at this instant.

It collapsed with a deafening roar.

The divine chains within it also trembled at this moment; the divine runes appearing on their surface burst one after another, completely disintegrating.

And space-time also surged, distorted by unseen forces.

Black holes, collapsing into vortices, appeared one after another within this distortion.

They violently tore apart all the space-time fragments present here, forcibly merging them illogically with each other.

Forming one after another illusory worlds that shouldn't exist.

This scene caused a tremendous shock in Xu Qing's mind, as he had not yet fully exited the rift.

He was startled to see his own figure existing within one of these illusory worlds.

There, he was clinking glasses and drinking heartily with Er Niu, but his expression… was filled with terror.

Before Xu Qing could see more clearly, the space-time within this rift crumpled like Xuan paper, and fragments from different timelines began to crisscross and overlap.

Er Niu, hidden in Xu Qing's hair, his mind was in turmoil at this moment. He seemed to see his childhood in this life appearing in the void, yet in another fragment, his adult self was simultaneously experiencing the intense pain of his soul shattering.

And all sorts of sensations converged and erupted upon him.

The resulting chaos overturned everything.

Xu Qing's heart also shook violently. His constitution had points of resonance with the current space-time distortion, and within this chaotic temporal vortex, he saw his past, present, and future.

Countless doppelgängers were making different choices, but every choice caused subtle changes in the universe.

These scenes caused his constitution to fluctuate rapidly.

And an even stranger scene also appeared at this moment.

In one of the fragments, crystal-textured branches unexpectedly grew on the divine bones forming the altar, rapidly transforming into fruit trees.

But the fruits they bore were miniature Xu Qings and Er Nius.

A miniature Er Niu on one of the branches suddenly turned its head and grinned eerily at its true self.

The moment he saw this smile, Xu Qing's left ear was scratched, and the spreading blood mixed with the surrounding space-time dust, instantly congealing into frost. From the sound of the freezing, he faintly heard his own screams three breaths into the future.

This was a sonic afterimage from the future.

Space-time was in chaos.

As for the distant bronze coffin, it also trembled violently amidst this series of drastic changes.

Seemingly trying to resist.

One could see the patterns on the coffin's outer layer collapsing, revealing the liquid divine source flowing within the middle layer.

And that divine source was also dissipating; countless pale, withered hands containing ancient intent stretched out from within, struggling outwards.

But under the gaze from outside the rift, they withered into dust one after another.

Until the next breath, the trembling coffin suddenly emitted a blinding white light, followed by a deafening roar.

The bronze coffin disintegrated and exploded!

Its fragments transformed into millions of bronze falcons, scattering in all directions.

A decayed figure burst forth from within!

Its exact form was unclear; one could only sense its decay while seeing golden, river-like light bands flowing around it, and each strand of light in the bands shimmered with supreme divinity.

And the moment it appeared, it did not hesitate for a moment, nor did it emit any divine sound, but instead, at its utmost speed, it shattered space and fled towards the distance!

At this instant, all the Supremes of the entire Thirty-Six Star Rings felt their minds surge and were gazing at this place, while within this rift area, space-time was chaotic and nothingness continued to collapse.

Everything was dissipating.

Even for Xu Qing, who had a karmic connection with Shanghuang and had not died multiple times under its gaze, the chaos of this space-time was still infinitely perilous for him.

He simply could not escape.

At the same time, the swirling black holes appearing here were all sources of space-time turbulence.

Xu Qing knew that if he were to be pulled in, it would be difficult to leave, and he would be trapped within.

Fortunately, his constitution possessed the concept of space-time and the power to merge and superimpose universes, allowing him to barely struggle and navigate through this chaos and distortion.

However, both his body and soul were out of control, being pulled apart in the distorted space-time, and Er Niu's screams in his ear became ethereal and illusory.

Even parts of Xu Qing's body had already turned into light particles, as if about to merge with the chaos here.

As for Er Niu, he was also in crisis; his body was dissipating, and only his teeth were clenched tightly onto Xu Qing's hair, but this did not stop his screams.

And now, one of the countless fragments that had burst forth when the coffin collapsed was pulled by the turbulence, striking Xu Qing, tearing through his flesh, embedding itself within his body, and scattering blood.

Xu Qing paid no mind to these injuries. He understood that this place was completely chaotic and continuously collapsing, on the verge of turning into nothingness, equally perilous.

At this critical juncture, Xu Qing's mind suddenly stirred.

"This scene feels familiar!"

Xu Qing's mind jolted. He suddenly recalled how, in the illusion of the God of Pain, he had been chased by a God Lord, forced by circumstances to enter the space-time turbulence, and how he had found the Xia Immortal's opportunity within it.

And this current scene, though not identical, was similar.

"Illusions contain truth… Could it be…"

Thinking of this, Xu Qing fell silent for a breath. Then, with determination in his eyes, he controlled his constitution, transforming it into countless fine threads which enveloped him, weaving into a cocoon.

And then, towards a swirling black hole, he charged.

Entering the space-time turbulence!