Chapter 1356: The Prayer God Does Not Open His Eyes

As Prince Ziqing's voice echoed, the countless butterflies that had flown out from the collapsing ink painting spread across the sky and earth, enveloping Xu Qing's surroundings.

As they danced, three-colored powder scattered from their bodies, filling all directions.

It turned into… the Prison of Fate!

The so-called prison treats life as the trajectory of stars, relying on divine authority over fate to intercept stellar paths and fold them into hexagonal cages.

Those imprisoned within have all their actions twisted and influenced by the power of fate.

Whether divine abilities, techniques, or any other action, they all return along the cycle of fate, forming a closed loop of "self-return."

Like being trapped in a maze with no exit and no way to find liberation.

This is the definition of the prison, and with fate added…

It is to bestow upon the foundation of the prison the self-circulation of fate!

At this moment, within the dense three-colored powder, what Xu Qing faced was precisely this situation.

Though his body clearly moved forward, shattering the void, when he appeared, he was actually behind his original position.

Even his constitution was the same.

All actions became closed loops.

Thus Xu Qing's brows furrowed slightly as he stopped walking and ceased his movements, standing in place, his eyes revealing a profound light as he sensed the Prison of Fate.

And it was precisely at this moment that the fateful circulation within the prison silently manifested.

It replaced the three-colored powder with a scene from history, centered on Xu Qing, transforming outward.

Around Xu Qing, blurry figures began to appear, increasing in number—men and women, old and young.

The environment also changed rapidly, no longer a mist of powder, but the outlines of buildings emerged.

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

Along with it came the sound of bustling voices!

"Fine candied haws!"

"Hope next year is a good harvest."

"Everyone keep order, don't crowd too much!"

"Passing elders and villagers, come to my shop and see—our sacrificial paper burns with three-colored smoke!"

Countless voices suddenly appeared at once, surging into Xu Qing's ears, making the standing Xu Qing tremble.

Not far away, several children holding wooden statues carved from wood ran toward the distance.

"The time is near, we must hurry."

Seeing this, Xu Qing's body trembled; before his eyes, these scenes were exactly his memory of the Peerless City!

His body was no longer that of an adult, but as the city appeared, he had returned to the age of seven.

At the instant he saw everything clearly, a gentle female voice came from behind Xu Qing.

"Qing'er, why aren't you walking? Are you waiting for your elder brother?"

This voice was so familiar, yet also so strange.

Familiar, because it is an echo Xu Qing can never forget in his memory.

Strange, because he has long… not heard it again.

Thus, this gentle female voice, like a vast mountain stone that could rival the heavens, fell into Xu Qing's sea of heart, stirring up endless monstrous waves.

Causing Xu Qing, trembling, to turn around.

He saw… behind himself, the two most important figures from his life's memories.

"Father… Mother…"

Xu Qing murmured.

What he saw with his eyes was one man and one woman.

The man was middle-aged, though weathered, his appearance remained handsome; beside him, the woman was somewhat frail, but her expression was exceedingly gentle.

At this moment, both looked at him with concern.

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

The man said helplessly.

The woman beside him smiled, crouched down, raised her hand, and gently stroked Xu Qing's head, her voice filled with kindness and indulgence.

"Qing'er, you are a man, you cannot cry just because you see your elder brother leave… come… Mother hugs you."

Saying this, the woman embraced Xu Qing with both hands, stood up, kissed his cheek, and spoke with a smile.

"Qing'er doesn't cry; your elder brother bought you candied haws and will come find us soon."

"Look over there—today is the Prayer God Festival, the sacrifice is about to begin."

The woman held little Xu Qing and gazed into the distance.

In the distance, at the center of the Peerless City, a towering wooden altar stood, where over a hundred prisoners knelt with bowed heads. Before them, a person in red robes shouted toward the heavens, their voice with a unique tone spreading in all directions.

"In the year Tianqi 135, the year of the Southern Phoenix, the moon in the Ghost Mansion, approaching night."

We, like ants, prostrate ourselves upon the land of the Two Capitals, daring to offer this foul ritual to the god of the broken face:

"Long ago, the azure jade fell to earth, the black tortoise broke its leg; when your eyes first opened, the red sun melted into iron juice, boiling the five lakes, the stars shattered into flying arrows, piercing the nine wilds."

Now, the broken walls still emit ghost fire, the living all eat grave soil, and yet your eyelids still hold congealed blood, reflecting the last gasps of the myriad beings.

"O God!"

We pray that the last breath leaking from your teeth may be the firewood for our furtive survival; we pray that the shadow falling from your brow bones may be the refuge for the common folk to avoid disaster.

"We now offer a hundred prisoners as sacrifice: gouge out their eyes to make candles, searing your eye sockets; extract their livers to make oil, sealing your eye corners."

"May the God close his eyes!"

"May the God sleep long!"

"Pray to the gods... don't open your eyes!"

The voice echoed, and at that moment, all the citizens of Wushuang City bowed their heads, uttering the same words.

"Pray to the gods... don't open your eyes!"

But as these countless voices gathered together and spread outward...

Suspended in the heavens, that boundless, sacred, oppressive vast remnant face—His closed eyes suddenly... opened a slit!

What He saw was precisely Wushuang City.

Thus, misery descended upon the world.

All buildings were dissolving, as if in a short time they had endured countless ages, rising into the sky through weathering.

Countless mortals were instantly transformed into horrific beasts, bloodthirsty and endless, slaughtering in all directions.

Life withered at an astonishing speed.

Death swept over all.

Those who had not been transformed suffered an even more miserable fate—their bodies shattered to pieces, and in this dissolution, everything became offerings.

What entered Xu Qing's eyes was the futile struggle of all beings, and the world's color turned red.

The sounds of countless terrified and despairing wails before death, at this moment, accompanied by the falling blood rain, echoed through Wushuang City.

This also included Xu Qing's parents.

That middle-aged man, witnessed by Xu Qing with his own eyes, dissipated.

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

For the gentle woman who had held him, her body had now turned to blood...

The entire Wushuang City had become Huang Quan, and the blood rain... fell upon the human world.

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

This scene, he had experienced before, vividly remembered.

"Father... Mother..."

Endless sorrow, beyond words to describe even a little, in his heart like a storm, continuously roared.

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

This was formed from his mother's melted body.

Until long after, amidst countless buildings weathering, amidst countless monsters and corpses dissipating, within this sky-filling blood rain, a figure appeared in the distance.

He held a candied hawthorn skewer, walking through dust, walking through blood rain, step by step, stepping on sticky blood water, he came to Xu Qing's side.

Blood rain fell on the candied hawthorn skewer, dyeing its color ever more vivid red.

Afterwards, he bent over, raised his right hand, intending to touch Xu Qing's head.

"Little brother, don't cry."

In the palace hall of Zi Qing Shang Guo, Zi Qing Tai Zi murmured softly.

Outside the hall, another version of him from a different spacetime had now reached the edge of the Fate Prison, his right hand raised, delving into the three-colored dust.

Gazing at these, the Zi Qing Tai Zi in the hall revealed a glimmer of profound light in his eyes.

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

In his words, Zi Qing Tai Zi's gaze fell toward the distance.

That was the direction of Mount Zhaoxia.

Almost the instant He looked, Feng Haijun within, Mount Zhaoxia... suddenly thundered!

An irresistible vast divine might erupted from within Mount Zhaoxia, like a volcanic torrent, with endless struggle, surging fiercely toward the eight directions.

Under this surge, Zhou Zhengli and others responsible for the formation seal all suddenly trembled violently, each spitting blood, flung backward.

The formation seal failed!

Without Xu Qing's restraint, Zi Qing Tai Zi's strike this time shocked the world with divine might, and at the moment Zhou Zhengli and others failed, on Mount Zhaoxia, Ye Ye there also shuddered.

Even though he was Xia Xian, he ultimately could not resist.

The formation beneath his feet shattered inch by inch, leaving him unable to cast spells, and all were futile.

In the next instant, the entire formation collapsed completely.

A divine spirit's aura surged skyward from within the shattered formation.

Appearing alongside the aura was Xu Qing's divine body!

This divine body shot into the heavens, carrying terrifying pressure and astonishing momentum, toward the Tun Tian Great Domain, toward Zi Qing Shang Guo, transforming into a long rainbow...

and vanished in an instant!

Upon appearing, it was already in the Tun Tian Great Domain, in Zi Qing Shang Guo's palace, in the hall before Zi Qing Tai Zi!

Gazing at the divine body, Zi Qing Tai Zi let out a soft sigh.

"Little brother, you ultimately still aren't prepared."

In his murmuring, the Zi Qing Tai Zi seated on the dragon throne raised his right hand and lunged forward.

Instantly, Xu Qing's divine body rushed toward Zi Qing, who seized it by the throat.

About to absorb it.

But just then, an anomaly erupted!

Zi Qing Tai Zi's face changed abruptly!

In his eyes appeared, for the first time since this battle began, an unusual color.

Without hesitation, he loosened his grip and flung Xu Qing's divine body from his hand.

But it was already a bit late!

He had already absorbed some of it.

Amid the violent trembling of his body, the divine form of Xu Qing that He had flung away suddenly flared with light, and its form changed in an instant.

It actually turned into a lens!

That was the Constitution of Mingming!

And in the instant that lens appeared, a finger……suddenly shot out from within the lens at astonishing speed, heading toward Prince Ziqing, and with the force of thunder, it came crashing down!

Though this all sounds lengthy, it happened in an instant.

A powerful life-and-death crisis, the first to befall him since his revival, descended upon him in that moment, sweeping through his entire mind and spirit, while outside the hall, another Prince Ziqing, whose right hand had already plunged into the three-colored dust of the Fate Prison,

suddenly vanished!

Appearing, he was suddenly inside the hall, standing before the present Prince Ziqing!

He blocked……the finger coming from within the lens!

At the moment that finger touched him, the body of this Prince Ziqing violently trembled, visibly beginning to crumble, and in the span of a single breath……

This body, and that finger, each annihilated, scattering apart.

And the Prince Ziqing seated on the dragon throne at this moment spat out a large mouthful of golden blood, his breathing grew hurried, and he lifted his head to gaze at the Fate Prison outside the hall.

The Fate Prison was collapsing!

The three-colored dust was dispersing.

And within that dispersal, a seven-year-old child could be seen, walking step by step.

His figure, as he walked, changed rapidly, one step, one year.

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

He gazed at Prince Ziqing within the hall and slowly spoke.

"What a pity."

Inside the hall, Prince Ziqing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his gaze toward Xu Qing showed its first ripple, ultimately turning into admiration.

……

And at this moment, within the fourth star ring, on a massive star, Immortal Lord Mingming opened his eyes from cross-legged meditation and withdrew his finger.

He let out a soft sigh.

"Just a little short."

Behind him, another figure sat cross-legged in meditation.

It was……the true divine form of Xu Qing, whom he had suppressed!