Chapter 1290: Praying to the God Not to Open His Eyes

As Ziqing's voice echoed, the countless butterflies that flew out from the collapsing ink wash painting covered the sky and earth, shrouding Xu Qing's surroundings.

As they fluttered, three-colored dust scattered from their bodies, permeating all directions.

It turned into... a fate cage!

A so-called cage is to view life as the trajectory of stars, relying on the divine authority of fate to intercept the star tracks and fold them into a hexagonal cage.

For those imprisoned within, all actions will be distorted and influenced by the power of fate.

Whether it is divine abilities, techniques, or any other action, everything will return along the cycle of fate, forming a closed loop of "self-return."

It is as if one is trapped in a maze, unable to leave and unable to find a way to escape.

This is the definition of a cage, and after adding fate...

It is bestowing the self-circulation of fate upon the foundation of the cage!

At this moment, within the thick three-colored dust, what Xu Qing was facing was precisely this situation.

His body was clearly walking forward, shattering the void, but when he appeared, he was behind his original position.

Even his Constitution was the same.

All actions became a closed loop.

Thus, Xu Qing frowned slightly, stopped his steps, and also stopped attacking. He stood in place, a deep glint appearing in his eyes as he perceived this fate cage.

And it was precisely at this moment that the cycle of fate within the cage manifested silently.

A scene from history replaced the tricolor dust, and with Xu Qing as the center, it manifested toward the surroundings.

Blurred figures began to appear around Xu Qing, more and more of them—men and women, the old and the young.

The environment also changed rapidly; it was no longer dust and fog, but the outlines of buildings appeared.

These figures and buildings increased at an astonishing speed, and within just a few breaths... a city from Xu Qing's memory appeared before him!

Appearing completely along with it were the clamorous sounds!

"Fresh candied haws!"

"I hope next year will be a good year."

"Everyone keep order, do not gather too much!"

"Passersby, come to my shop and take a look; the sacrificial paper we make can burn with three-colored smoke!"

Countless voices appeared simultaneously in an instant, pouring into Xu Qing's ears, causing Xu Qing, who was standing in place, to tremble.

And not far away, several children holding wooden statues were running toward the distance.

"The time is almost up; we have to run over quickly."

Watching this, Xu Qing's body trembled; this scene before his eyes was precisely Wushuang City from his memory!

His body, at this moment, was no longer the appearance of an adult, but as this city appeared, it returned to the age of seven.

The moment he saw all this clearly, a woman's gentle voice came from behind Xu Qing.

"Qing'er, why have you stopped walking? Are you waiting for your big brother?"

This voice was so familiar, and yet so strange.

Familiar, because this was an echo in Xu Qing's memory that could never be forgotten.

Strange, because it had been a long time... since he had heard it again.

Thus, this gentle woman's voice, like a vast mountain stone that could compare in height to the firmament, fell into Xu Qing's heart-sea, stirring up endless, heaven-toppling waves.

Causing Xu Qing to turn around while trembling.

He saw... the two figures in his memory that were most important in his life behind him.

"Father... Mother..."

Xu Qing murmured.

What he saw were a man and a woman.

The man was middle-aged, and although he had the vicissitudes of life, his appearance was still handsome; the woman beside him was somewhat frail, but her expression was incomparably gentle.

At this moment, both were looking at him with concern.

"This child, why are his eyes red again?"

The man sighed helplessly.

The woman beside him smiled, squatted down, raised her hand to gently stroke Xu Qing's head, her voice carrying kindness and doting love.

"Qing'er, you are a man, you know. You can't cry just because you see your brother leaving. Come... let Mother give you a hug."

Saying this, the woman hugged little Xu Qing, stood up, kissed Xu Qing's cheek, and smiled.

"Qing'er, don't cry. Your brother is going to buy you candied haws; he will come to find us very soon."

"Look over there; today is the Prayer 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 this Wushuang City, on a high wooden sacrificial altar, over a hundred prisoners were kneeling. In front, a person wearing a red robe was shouting toward the firmament, the voice spreading in all directions with a unique tone.

"In the 135th year of Tianqi, the year is in Nanhuang, the month is in the Ghost Mansion at night."

"We ants, crawling in the land of the two capitals, dare to offer a bloody and filthy ceremony to the God of the Remnant Face:

In the past, the blue jade fell to the earth, the mysterious turtle broke its feet; when your eyes first opened, the red sun melted into molten iron, boiling the five lakes, and the stars cracked into flowing arrows, piercing the nine wilds.

Now the broken walls still emit ghost fires, the living all eat grave soil, and the blood congealed between your eyelashes still reflects the remnant breath of all living things."

"Oh God!"

"We pray for the remnant breath leaking from your teeth, which is the firewood for our survival; we pray for the shadow falling from your brow bone, which is the hut for the common people to avoid disaster."

"We now 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 your eyes!"

"May God sleep long!"

"Pray to the God... not to open his eyes!"

The voice echoed, and the subjects of the entire Wushuang City also lowered their heads at this moment, uttering the same words.

"Pray to the God... not to open his eyes!"

But the moment these countless voices gathered together and spread in all directions...

Hanging in the firmament, that infinitely sacred, oppressive, and vast remnant face suddenly... opened a slit in its closed eyes!

What it looked at was precisely Wushuang City!

Thus, misery descended upon the world.

All the buildings were dissipating, as if they had gone through ten thousand years in a short time, rising into the sky in a way of weathering.

Countless commoners were instantly alienated, becoming shrill alien beasts, bloodthirsty and slaughtering in all directions.

Life withered at an astonishing speed.

Death swept through everything.

Those who were not alienated had an even more miserable end; their bodies were torn apart, and everything, amidst this dissipation, became a tribute.

What was reflected in Xu Qing's eyes was the futile struggle of all living beings, and the color of the world turning red.

The sounds of countless wails from terror and despair before death, at this moment, accompanied by the falling blood rain, echoed in Wushuang City.

It also included Xu Qing's father and mother.

The middle-aged man, under Xu Qing's own eyes, dissipated.

And Xu Qing's body, at this moment, also fell to the ground.

Because the gentle woman who had held him now had a body that had become blood...

The entire Wushuang City turned into the Yellow Springs, and blood rain... fell upon the human world.

In the blood rain, seven-year-old Xu Qing, covered in blood, stared blankly.

This scene, he had experienced; it was vivid in his memory.

"Father... Mother..."

Endless sorrow, indescribable in words, roared in his heart like a storm.

Thus, he shed tears, lowered his head, and looked at the blood on his body.

That was what his mother's body had melted into.

Until a long time later, amidst the weathering of countless buildings, amidst the dissipation of countless alien beasts and corpses, and in the blood rain filling the sky, a figure appeared in the distance.

He held a candied haw, walking in the dust, walking in the blood rain, step by step, stepping on the sticky blood, and walked to the front of Xu Qing.

The blood rain fell onto the candied hawthorn, rendering its color increasingly bright red.

Afterward, he bent down, raised his right hand, and went to stroke Xu Qing's head.

"Little Brother, don't cry."

Inside the Ziqing Upper Kingdom's imperial palace hall, Prince Ziqing murmured softly.

And outside the hall, the other version of him in another space-time had already walked to the outside of the fate cage, raised his right hand, and reached into the three-colored dust.

Watching this, Prince Ziqing inside the hall revealed a deep glint in his eyes.

"As for your divine body, I will take it away."

During his words, Prince Ziqing's gaze fell toward the distance.

That was the direction of Mount Zhaoxia.

Almost the moment he looked, within the Feng Haijun, Mount Zhaoxia... suddenly rumbled!

An irresistible, vast divine might erupted from within Mount Zhaoxia, like a volcanic eruption, rushing toward all directions with endless struggle.

With this rush, Zhou Zhengli and the others who were responsible for the array seal were shaken violently, each spitting out blood and rolling backward.

The seal reinforcement failed!

Without Xu Qing's containment, this attack by Prince Ziqing was world-shaking, and the moment Zhou Zhengli and the others failed, on Mount Zhaoxia, Seventh Uncle's body was also shaken.

Even though he was a Summer Immortal, he was ultimately unable to resist.

The array under his feet shattered inch by inch, and even though he could not cast spells, it was of no avail.

In the next instant, the entire array collapsed completely.

A divine aura rose into the sky from within the broken array.

Accompanying the aura was Xu Qing's divine body!

This divine body soared into the sky, carrying terrifying pressure and astonishing momentum, turning into a long rainbow toward the Swallowing Heaven Domain, toward the Ziqing Upper Kingdom...

And went instantly!

When it appeared, it was already in the Swallowing Heaven Domain, in the Ziqing Upper Kingdom's imperial palace, and in front of Prince Ziqing inside the hall!

Gazing at the divine body, Prince Ziqing sighed softly.

"Little Brother, you were ultimately not prepared."

While murmuring, Prince Ziqing, who was sitting on the dragon throne, raised his right hand and grabbed forward.

Immediately, Xu Qing's divine body headed straight for Ziqing and was grabbed by the neck by Ziqing.

He was about to absorb it.

But just at this moment, a sudden change occurred!

Prince Ziqing's expression changed suddenly!

In his eyes appeared the first unusual color since the beginning of this battle.

He did not hesitate to let go, throwing away the divine body of Xu Qing in his hand.

But it was a little too late!

He had already absorbed some.

As his body trembled violently, the divine body of Xu Qing that he had thrown away suddenly shone, and its form changed in an instant.

It actually transformed into a lens!

That was the Constitution of Mi Ming!

And the moment this lens appeared, a finger... actually stretched out from within the lens at an astonishing speed, falling fiercely toward Prince Ziqing with the speed of thunder!

All of this took a long time to say, but it all happened in an instant.

A strong life-and-death crisis descended upon Prince Ziqing for the first time since his resurrection, sweeping through his entire mind. At that moment, outside the hall, the other Ziqing, whose right hand had already reached into the three-colored dust of the fate cage...

His body disappeared suddenly!

When he appeared, he was actually inside the hall, in front of the Ziqing of the present!

He blocked for him... the finger from within the lens!

The moment he collided with that finger, this body of Prince Ziqing trembled violently, visibly beginning to shatter, and in the time of just one breath...

This body and that finger annihilated each other and dissipated.

And Ziqing, who was sitting on the dragon throne, spat out a large mouthful of golden blood, his breathing became rapid, and he raised his head to look at the fate cage outside the hall.

The fate cage was collapsing!

The three-colored dust was dissipating.

And amidst that dissipation, a seven-year-old child could be seen walking over step by step.

His figure changed rapidly during the process of walking, one year per step.

When he walked completely out of the three-colored dust, standing there was the adult Xu Qing!

He looked at Prince Ziqing inside the hall and spoke slowly.

"What a pity."

Inside the hall, Prince Ziqing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; the gaze he cast at 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 withdrew his finger.

He sighed softly.

"Just a little bit off."

Behind him, another figure was still sitting cross-legged.

It was precisely... the true divine body of Xu Qing, suppressed by him! ===== CHAPTER 1293 =====