Chapter 1218 - Different Paths Lead to the Same Goal

"Forward!" At the same time, he raised his hand and pointed towards Xinghuanzi. Almost at the instant Xu Qing's words were uttered, Xinghuanzi reacted with incredible speed, all the Chains of Order moving in unison to block in front of him. Yet, it was still a fraction too slow. A formidable force surged terrifyingly before those chains, like stars exploding, like galaxies churning. The sound was deafening, Xinghuanzi's face turned pale, blood spurted out, and his body tumbled backward like a kite with its string cut. All the Chains of Order before him shattered completely, each link breaking apart. And where the chains collapsed, a figure was revealed. This figure was blurry, and in a flicker, it was about to pursue Xinghuanzi. But as Xu Qing's finger descended, an invisible force of spatial law arose, transforming into a sealing power to obstruct it. However, this spatial seal couldn't truly restrict the terrifying speed of that figure, but combined with Xinghuanzi's previous obstruction, it ultimately bought Xinghuanzi a moment to catch his breath. This allowed Xinghuanzi, who was retreating and spitting blood, to manifest his own balance law, granting him the speed to temporarily evade the life-and-death crisis! Thus, the figure paused in the starry sky, revealing its full appearance. It was the Middle-aged Cultivator still outside the palace gates, clad in a crimson robe! However, the figure standing outside the palace was now blurred, reduced to a residual image. His true form had, at such an extreme speed, appeared before Xinghuanzi just now, shattering everything. If not for Xu Qing's warning and assistance, Xinghuanzi would have been either dead or severely injured by now. "To be able to discern my speed, no wonder you had the courage to steal my master's divine grains." The Middle-aged Cultivator turned his head, looking at Xu Qing, and spoke calmly. Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, a cold gleam flashing in them. The person before him was the strongest Quasi-Immortal he had ever encountered, yet his law... was not mysterious, but rather extremely simple. It was speed! That was ultimate speed, even surpassing time itself! And the law, regardless of its strength or weakness, depended on who could walk further, who could delve deeper. "I intended to slay this person, so you would retreat and surrender what you have stolen." "But since you interfere... then I shall kill you instead." The Middle-aged Cultivator gazed at Xu Qing, his voice still echoing, yet his figure had already appeared three zhang in front of Xu Qing! His speed exceeded perception, his right hand raised, about to press down on Xu Qing. In that instant, the starlit space around Xu Qing was seized, suddenly forming a vortex, a force of tearing about to erupt. But in the next moment, the Middle-aged Cultivator's eyebrows twitched, and he uttered a soft 'hmm'. His body, instead of advancing, retreated. At that moment, killing intent erupted in Xu Qing's eyes; he had already prepared. As the opponent spoke, Xu Qing's Spatial Edict layered upon itself, his Temporal Edict entangled everything, merging into the Temporal Edict, becoming seamless. Thus, the opponent's arrival, and the sudden vortex, the tearing force directly collided with Xu Qing's Temporal Edict. Silent and without a trace, it vanished in an instant. Xu Qing's body shuddered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, yet his raised hands suddenly formed a seal towards the front. "Suppress, Solidify, Seal!" Suppress the space, solidify the time, seal the spacetime! In the next instant, the Middle-aged Cultivator's figure froze in the starlit sky, his timeline suddenly solidified, the formed spacetime naturally sealed, his entire being and surroundings becoming like amber. Simultaneously, Xu Qing's body shone with a silvery light, his nearly perfected Immortal Embryo manifested in this moment, infinitely vast, forming a true form akin to divine beings, standing in the starry sky. His right hand lifted, five fingers spread, forming the five elements! Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, these five extremes all transformed into primal essence, resembling five stars, his palm like a galaxy. As if embodied by five divine beings! With ultimate force, he directly descended upon the suppressed, solidified, and sealed Middle-aged Cultivator! At the same time, Xinghuanzi, without hesitation, activated his own Balance Edict, unleashing fully without reservation, transforming the starry sky into a scale. Not to bolster himself, but to... bolster Xu Qing. At the cost of himself, to bolster Xu Qing, causing Xu Qing's combat power to surge at this moment, continuously ascending to bridge the gap with the Quasi-Immortal peak. Immediately, a blinding roar erupted from the Seaweed, all its leaves rushing forth, fully unleashing the innate power of its clan. The inherent talent of this clan is sealing. Not the sealing of space, but of... primordial essence! At this moment, everything was set in motion, one side enhancing Xu Qing, the other enforcing the seal. In this ebb and flow, Xu Qing's raised five fingers descended like the might of the heavens. Yet, the Middle-aged Cultivator who was sealed, slowly lifted his head, gazing at Xu Qing with a peculiar look, a depth of meaning in his eyes, and spoke hoarsely. "I think I know who you are. You are that... Xu Qing!" As he spoke, the Middle-aged Cultivator licked his lips, similarly raising his right hand before him, clenching it fiercely. With this grip, a cracking sound suddenly emerged. Space shattered. Time shattered. Space-time crumbled. Then, his palm slowly loosened and clenched again forcefully. This time, Xinghuanzi shuddered violently, spewing blood, and the balance that had transformed into scales began to collapse. But Xinghuanzi was no ordinary person; immediately, threads of starlight appeared outside his body. The source of each thread was a Star Ring Tower! At this moment, all were activated, causing the starlight to shine brilliantly, exchanging for sustaining power, slowing the collapse of the scales, and continuing to maintain the balance enhancement on Xu Qing. Meanwhile, over at the Seaweed, all the leaves tore apart, trembling violently, and countless red tendrils sprouted from those torn leaves, winding toward the Middle-aged Cultivator, transforming the seal into a bind! Not only that, Mud Fox also appeared in the starry sky, the divine platform transformed into golden light, forming a giant divine statue, unleashing its full power. It caused the body of the Middle-aged Cultivator to appear as if made of mud, with countless stars shining above his head, also suppressing him. They were all creating opportunities for Xu Qing! Truly, the speed and combat prowess of this Middle-aged Cultivator were exceedingly astonishing. This was the pinnacle of the Quasi-Immortal stage, just one step away from the Summer Immortal! Although this step is extremely difficult to cross, it must be said that once a cultivator reaches the pinnacle of the Quasi-Immortal stage, it is beyond ordinary power to obstruct or destroy them. Especially, this person's law was the simple yet terrifying law of speed. The reason this law is simple is because it can connect to many other laws, with numerous directions, and now this Middle-aged Cultivator was clearly only showcasing a part of it. Therefore, since this battle had commenced, Xu Qing, being the most powerful among them, naturally served as the sharp blade. Creating opportunities for the blade is the method of battle. And all of this, though described slowly, actually happened in the blink of an eye. In the next moment, in the desperate restraint by Xinghuanzi, Seaweed, and Mud Fox, Xu Qing's five fingers had already completely descended. The starry sky roared, the eight directions trembled. Those five fingers, like divine beings, like stars, under the push of a galaxy-like force, pressed down on the place where the Middle-aged Cultivator was. Yet, there was no deafening boom! Whether it was the fingers or the palm, at the moment of descent, the power of the five elements instantly entwined. This seemingly lethal strike was actually not a killing move! It was also a seal! This was Xu Qing's strategy. Using the five extremes and five elements as the foundation to form the descending star ring, combined with time, space, coordination with the balance of order, and the restraint on the primal essence. Achieving the ultimate seal! This scene caused the Middle-aged Cultivator's pupils to contract for the first time. Instinctively sensing a danger, his body blurred instantly, and his law of speed was displayed without hesitation to another level. That was... beyond time, beyond space, beyond time and space... …a path that is not parallel! His law, to some extent, is astonishingly similar to Xu Qing's, reaching the same destination via different routes! However, he did not choose the complex parallelism but instead marched straight ahead! All of this could be understood by a Lesser Immortal, but below that level, only Xu Qing, whose direction aligned with its end, gained some insight, and his heart surged like a storm. "His path, his path..." Xu Qing breathed heavily. He had always been searching for his own tenth extreme, but unfortunately, he never had a direction until this moment, when he felt as if a light had appeared in a world of darkness! But unfortunately, the current situation left him no time to ponder further, forcing him to bury this inspiration. Then, his true killer move finally erupted at this moment! It was the sound of a bell. A bell containing a trace of divine majesty, capable of silencing or shattering all laws! As this sound emerged, the starry sky became blank! The Quasi-Immortal peak Middle-aged Cultivator also trembled all over. Following that, there was something containing the principles of heaven, the essence of parallelism, and the great accomplishment of Xu Qing's Immortal Body law, perfectly matching his Immortal Embryo... iron skewers! Returning from each parallel space-time. A total of four hundred and seventy-nine! Like meteors, transforming from illusion to reality! Finally, appearing in the present world, in Xu Qing's raised hand, four hundred and seventy-nine combined into one. Forming a lethal strike! Whistling straight towards the Middle-aged Cultivator! The middle-aged man retreated. His speed was extreme, retreating from space, from time, from past and future, from fate, from cause and effect, from traces to even memories... ...Retreat from all directions! Yet, the iron spike formed by forty-seven merging into one, under the guidance of the bell's sound, crushed everything in its path! It tore through space! Shattered time! Collapsed past and future! Pierced destiny, penetrated cause and effect! Swept away traces and even memories! From all directions, it pursued relentlessly! Until it caught up and pierced the brow. But just as the iron spike touched the brow of that Middle-aged Cultivator, a ripple appeared at the spot, as if transforming into a water surface, revealing a vague silhouette. To be precise, it was a silhouette of a back, and the moment it appeared, the aura surpassing that of a Quasi-Immortal immediately caused the entire universe to roar. It was an Immortal! It was the life-protecting shadow planted by the master of this Middle-aged Cultivator. At this moment, the silhouette slowly turned its head. It glanced at the iron spike. With that glance, the iron spike trembled violently and recoiled. Xinghuanzi spewed blood, Mud Fox's divine platform became unstable, and Seaweed continued to shatter. Xu Qing's mind resonated with thunder. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Middle-aged Cultivator finally evaded the clutches of life and death, immediately retreating and widening the distance, staring intently at Xu Qing with a mix of lingering fear and rising apprehension from the previous scene. Suddenly, he spoke. "Huntian Emperor, I command you and your clan to assist and act!" The Huntian Emperor's expression changed, hesitation filled his heart. If it was merely acting against the human race, he would dare, but clearly, today's matter was more than just taking action. This was about killing! And just as this Huntian Emperor was caught in internal conflict, Xu Qing had already dispelled the roaring in his mind, coldly looking towards the Middle-aged Cultivator. "You have no chance anymore." Having said that, Xu Qing's gaze lifted, falling upon the starry sky. Almost at the instant his eyes landed, the starry sky roared, and an enormous rift was torn open invisibly. Figures surged out from within, the foremost being Zhou Zhengli! Behind him were Far Mountain Su, Li Mengtu, Xie Lingzi, and others. All the ascendants, all the Provision Envoys, had arrived at this moment! This was the command Xu Qing had given to Zhou Zhengli on his way here, as a precaution and also to break the seal on the true god later. Xu Qing had Zhou Zhengli gather everyone to converge here! Now, under Zhou Zhengli's lead, they tore through the starry sky and descended one by one!