Chapter 1342: Praying to the Gods... Not Opening Eyes

As Zi Qing's voice echoed, countless butterflies, emerging from the crumbling ink painting, covered Xu Qing, enveloping him from all directions. As they fluttered, three-colored dust spread from their bodies, permeating the surroundings. It transformed into… the Fate Cage!

The so-called cage views life as the trajectory of stars. It uses the divine authority of fate to intercept these star paths, folding them into a hexagonal prison. For those imprisoned within, all actions would be twisted and influenced by the power of fate. Whether divine abilities, spells, or any other action, they would return along the cycle of fate, forming a closed loop of "self-recursion." It was like being trapped in a labyrinth, unable to leave or find a way out. This was the definition of the cage, and with fate added… it imbued the cage with a self-sustaining cycle of fate!

At this moment, within the dense three-colored dust, Xu Qing faced this exact situation. Although his body clearly moved forward, shattering the void, it reappeared behind its original position. Even his constitutional laws behaved similarly. All actions became a closed loop.

Xu Qing furrowed his brows slightly, stopped walking, and ceased his attacks. He stood still, a deep glint in his eyes, perceiving the Fate Cage. It was at this moment that the cycle of fate within the cage silently manifested. It replaced the three-colored dust with a historical scene, materializing around Xu Qing as its center.

Blurry figures began to appear around Xu Qing, growing in number: men and women, old and young. The environment also rapidly changed, no longer a dust mist but instead showing the outlines of buildings. These figures and buildings increased at an astonishing rate. In just a few breaths… a city from Xu Qing's memory abruptly appeared before him! Along with its complete appearance came a bustling clamor!

“Excellent candied haws!”“I hope next year is a good one.”“Everyone, maintain order, don’t gather too closely!”“Folks passing by, come see my shop! Our sacrificial paper burns with three-colored smoke!”

Countless voices appeared simultaneously, flooding Xu Qing's ears and making his body tremble where he stood. Not far away, several children holding wooden carvings ran into the distance. “Time’s almost up, we need to hurry over.”

Watching this, Xu Qing’s body trembled. These scenes before him were none other than Wu Shuang City from his memories! His body, no longer that of an adult, reverted to his seven-year-old self with the appearance of the city.

The moment he fully comprehended all this, a gentle female voice came from behind Xu Qing. “Qing’er, why have you stopped? Are you waiting for your older brother?” This voice was both so familiar and so strange. Familiar, because it was an echo Xu Qing could never forget from his memories. Strange, because it had been a long time… since he had heard it again.

Thus, this gentle female voice, like a vast mountain capable of rivaling the sky, landed in Xu Qing's heart, stirring up endless, towering waves. It made Xu Qing turn around, trembling. He saw… behind him, the two most important figures from his life’s memories.

“Father… Mother…” Xu Qing murmured.

What he saw were a man and a woman. The man was middle-aged, bearing traces of hardship yet still handsome. The woman beside him was somewhat thin but had an incredibly gentle expression. Both looked at him with concern.

“This child, why are his eyes red again?” the man sighed helplessly. The woman beside him smiled and crouched down, gently stroking Xu Qing's head, her voice full of tenderness and doting affection. “Qing’er, you’re a big boy now, you can’t cry just because you see your brother leave. Come… let Mother hug you.”

As she spoke, the woman embraced Xu Qing with both hands, stood up, kissed his cheek, and said with a smile, “Don’t cry, Qing’er. Your brother went to buy you candied haws and will be back to find us soon. Look over there, today is the God-Praying Festival, and the sacrifice is about to begin.” The woman held little Xu Qing and looked into the distance.

In the distance, at the center of Wu Shuang City, on a tall wooden altar, hundreds of prisoners knelt with bowed heads. In front of them, a red-robed figure was shouting towards the sky, their voice, in a unique cadence, echoing in all directions.

“In the 135th year of Tianqi, the year of the Southern Phoenix, as the moon dwells in the Ghost Mansion and night approaches. We, mere ants, prostrate ourselves in the Dual Capital Land, daring to present this unclean ritual to the God of the Maimed Face: In ancient times, when the Azure Jade fell to earth, and the Black Tortoise broke its leg, when your eyes first opened, the crimson sun melted into molten iron, boiling the five lakes; stars shattered into fiery arrows, piercing the nine wilds. Now, ruins still bear ghost fires, the living consume graveyard soil, and the blood congealed between your lashes still reflects the struggling breaths of mortals. Oh, God! We pray that the residual breath leaking from your teeth will be the fuel for our meager survival; we pray that the shadow cast from your brow bone will be a shelter from calamity for the common people. Today, we offer a hundred prisoners, gouging out their eyes as candles to burn your eye slits; carving out their livers as oil to seal your eye corners. May God close His eyes! May God sleep long! We pray… God does not open His eyes!”

The voice echoed, and at that moment, all the citizens of Wu Shuang City lowered their heads, uttering the same words: “We pray… God does not open His eyes!”

But just as these countless voices converged and spread in all directions… suspended in the sky, that infinitely sacred, oppressively vast maimed face, its closed eyes suddenly… opened a slit! And what it saw was Wu Shuang City!

Then misery descended upon the world. All buildings dissolved, as if tens of thousands of years had passed in a brief moment, weathering away into the sky. Countless mortals instantly mutated, transforming into terrifying aberrant beasts, endlessly bloodthirsty, slaughtering in all directions. Life withered at an astonishing speed. Death swept over everyone. Those who weren’t mutated suffered an even more tragic fate; their bodies were torn apart, and everything became an offering in this dissolution.

What reflected in Xu Qing’s eyes was the futile struggle of countless beings, and the world’s color turning red. At this moment, the wails born from the fear and despair of countless deaths echoed through Wu Shuang City, accompanied by the falling blood rain. This also included Xu Qing’s father and mother. The middle-aged man dissolved before Xu Qing’s own eyes. Xu Qing’s body also fell to the ground at that moment. Because the gentle woman who had held him, her body had now turned into blood… The entire Wu Shuang City transformed into the Yellow Springs, and blood rain… poured down upon the human world.

In the blood rain, seven-year-old Xu Qing, covered in blood, stared blankly. He had experienced this scene before; it was vivid in his memory. “Father… Mother…” Endless sorrow, utterly beyond words, roared like a storm in his heart. So he wept, lowered his head, and looked at the blood on his body. It was formed from his mother’s dissolved body.

After a long time, amidst the weathering of countless buildings, the dissipation of countless aberrant beasts and corpses, and the pervasive blood rain, a figure appeared in the distance. He held a candied haw, walking through the dust, through the blood rain, step by step, treading on the sticky blood, until he reached Xu Qing. The blood rain fell on the candied haw, making its color even more crimson. Then, he bent down, raised his right hand, and reached out to stroke Xu Qing’s head. “Little brother, don’t cry.”

In the Zi Qing Empire, within the Imperial Grand Hall, Crown Prince Zi Qing softly murmured. Meanwhile, his counterpart from another timeline, outside the hall, had now reached the edge of the Fate Cage, raising his right hand and reaching deep into the three-colored dust. Watching this, the Crown Prince Zi Qing in the hall showed a deep glint in his eyes.

“As for your divine body, I shall take it.” As he spoke, Crown Prince Zi Qing’s gaze fell into the distance. That was the direction of Mount Zhaoxia.

Almost the instant he looked, within Fenghai County, Mount Zhaoxia… suddenly roared! An irresistible, immense divine might abruptly erupted from within Mount Zhaoxia, like a volcanic outpouring, surging outwards with endless struggle in all directions. With this surge, Zhou Zhengli and others responsible for the sealing array immediately trembled violently, each spitting blood and being flung backward. The seal reinforcement failed!

Without Xu Qing's restraint, Crown Prince Zi Qing's current move unleashed world-shaking divine power. The moment Zhou Zhengli and the others failed, Seventh Grandmaster on Mount Zhaoxia also trembled. Even if he was a Summer Immortal, he ultimately could not resist. The array beneath his feet shattered inch by inch. His inability to cast spells was useless.

The next instant, the entire array completely collapsed. A divine aura, overwhelming and vast, surged from within the shattered array. Appearing with the aura was Xu Qing’s divine body! This divine body shot into the sky, carrying terrifying pressure and astonishing momentum, transforming into a long rainbow, heading towards the Devouring Heaven Domain, towards the Zi Qing Empire… and instantly vanished!

When it reappeared, it was already within the Devouring Heaven Domain, in the Imperial Palace of the Zi Qing Empire, and before Crown Prince Zi Qing in the grand hall! Gazing at the divine body, Crown Prince Zi Qing sighed softly. “Little brother, you still weren’t ready after all.”

As he murmured, Crown Prince Zi Qing, seated on the dragon throne, raised his right hand and reached forward. Instantly, Xu Qing’s divine body flew directly towards Zi Qing, who grabbed it by the neck. He was about to absorb it.

But just then, an anomaly occurred! Crown Prince Zi Qing’s expression suddenly changed! His eyes revealed an unusual look, the first since this battle began. He released his grip without hesitation, tossing away Xu Qing’s divine body that he held. But it was a little too late! He had already absorbed some of it.

As his body trembled intensely, the discarded divine body of Xu Qing suddenly shone, its form instantly changing. It actually transformed into a lens! That was Mi Ming’s Constitutional Law! And the moment this lens appeared, a finger… astonishingly extended from within the lens at an incredible speed, striking towards Crown Prince Zi Qing with the force of lightning!

All this sounds like a long story, but it happened in an instant. A strong life-or-death crisis, the first to befall Zi Qing since his revival, swept through his entire mind. At that very moment, outside the grand hall, the other Zi Qing, whose right hand was already deep within the three-colored dust of the Fate Cage, his body suddenly vanished! When he reappeared, he was remarkably inside the grand hall, in front of the current Zi Qing! He blocked… the finger from within the lens for him!

The moment it touched the finger, this body of Crown Prince Zi Qing trembled violently, visibly beginning to disintegrate. In just a single breath’s time… this body, and that finger, both annihilated and dispersed. Meanwhile, Zi Qing, seated on the dragon throne, now coughed up a mouthful of golden blood, his breathing labored. He looked up at the Fate Cage outside the grand hall.

The Fate Cage was collapsing! The three-colored dust was dissipating. And within that dissipation, a seven-year-old child could be seen walking step by step. His figure rapidly changed as he walked, gaining a year with each step. The moment he fully stepped out of the three-colored dust, the one standing there was the adult Xu Qing!

He looked at Crown Prince Zi Qing in the grand hall and spoke slowly. “What a pity.”

Inside the hall, Crown Prince Zi Qing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His gaze towards Xu Qing showed ripples for the first time, finally turning into admiration.

And at this moment, within the Fourth Star Ring, on a massive star, Immortal Lord Mi Ming opened his eyes from his cross-legged position and retracted his finger. He sighed softly. “Just a little more.” Behind him, another figure sat cross-legged. It was none other than… Xu Qing’s true divine body, suppressed by him!