Although Xu Qing only had a limited understanding of godly authority, he did have significant experience with it, whether because of his own godly authority, or by means of interacting with other gods.
For instance, he knew that godly authority and essence were different. Godly authority was much more ancient, and it was an authority that was unique to gods. Thēy could influence all things. They could affect any living being. And they were spread throughout the thirty-six star rings in the starry sky. That was because this was a universe of gods.
Simultaneously, godly authority was divided into two levels. The first level was the type that was split between those who qualified to use it. The other was the type that was unique to an individual. When it came to the former, it led to a situation in which various gods were forced to either cooperate or compete over it. Only by devouring all other gods with the same type of godly authority could the second level be reached. Anyone who succeeded at that would be the sole possessor of that type of godly authority.
Based on Xu Qing’s earlier understanding, the rare individuals who reached that level were the True Gods. Furthermore, based on Xu Qing’s previous understanding, godly authority wasn’t classified as being weak or strong. Rather, it came down to the level of control one had over it. And also... the range! Range was a very important factor when it came to godly authority.
However, just now, that previous understanding within Xu Qing was shaken. And that was because those three types of godly authority had weaved together to form a unique godly authority that emanated a terrifying aura that surpassed anything he had ever encountered. And it was enough for him to be able to easily distinguish the difference between weak and strong.
Xu Qing wasn’t sure what this new type of godly authority was. The best he could do was make an educated guess based on the characteristics of good luck, misfortune, and the violet moon.
Of course, there wasn’t time right now to delve into the details. As the candle flame erupted, his fleshly body sank down further toward the wick, pushing the candle ever closer to being extinguished....
Within Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness, the red candle’s flame was fighting back ferociously, and the flames were going absolutely wild.
This fire had no choice but to try to incinerate those three strands of godly authority. After all, those three types of godly authority had weaved together to make an unfamiliar godly authority that had surrounded his soul protectively. It was resisting the fire.
Despite that, the intensity of the heat was still harmful to Xu Qing’s soul. His soul threads were disappearing rapidly. And when their number dropped to 10,000… his clothing was completely burned out of existence! His body, bright red from the heat, landed onto the candle wick. RUMBLE!
The moment he landed on the wick, a heaven-rending, earth-crushing boom swept through the World Origin Pocket Realm, causing everything to shake violently.
The candle flame was extinguished!
When it happened, the fire in Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness suddenly disappeared. His void soil, pockmarked with severe damage, and the unfamiliar godly authority formed from three strands of other godly authorities, then experienced a dramatic transformation.
Before, thēy had been unable to fuse, but thanks to the heat of the fire, they now appeared to be ten percent fused. A majestic aura of godly authority rose up from them, filling Xu Qing’s entire sea of consciousness.
Meanwhile, the extinguishing of the fire caused external transformations as well. As the last bits of light flowed out, the planets outside vanished. Some that were visible to the naked eye simply collapsed. Others, visible to the shadow eye as paintings, went away as if they had been erased. Simultaneously, all of the grieves faded away like smoke in the wind. It was as if the entire illusory world had become a thing of the past once the candle flame went away.
Everything sank into complete darkness. It was as if the entire World Origin Pocket Realm were vanishing into nothing.
Sometime later, Xu Qing, who was still in a cross-legged position, slowly opened his eyes. They were bloodshot and full of exhaustion. His soul was so weak that he felt like his head was spinning. He was surrounded by darkness. He couldn’t see anything in the distance, nor anything near him. There was no light, and even using the eyes of a god would reveal nothing but a void.
There was no trace of the candle beneath him. However, the sensation of having just barely survived a deadly crisis filled Xu Qing.
When the candle flame disappeared, the snapshot vanished....
He reached into his sleeve, felt the mask there, and then relaxed a bit.[1]
Xu Qing was not interested in staying in this place any longer than necessary. For all he knew, the candle might reappear soon, and everything might go back to exactly the way it had been before. He quickly took out the pocket realm medallion to leave.
But then, his expression flickered, and he looked over his shoulder. Other than the darkness, there was nothing out there behind him.
But Xu Qing was a vigilant person. And just now, he had sensed... something that indicated the candle had reappeared.
“Wait. No!”
He reached behind himself to touch his back, and as he did, his fingernails scraped against something unfamiliar. His heart lurched. The red candle actually hadn’t disappeared! For some unknown reason, the candle had been imprinted onto his back. To Xu Qing, it felt almost like a tattoo that filled his entire back. Thankfully, after feeling around a bit, he could confirm that the candle on his back was extinguished.
He frowned. Then, mind abuzz with countless thoughts, he pushed down on the medallion. Unfortunately... there was no response from it.
Previously, there had at least been a reaction from the medallion. The problem had been the candle interfering. But right now, it was as if there wasn’t even a connection between the medallion and the World Origin Pocket Realm.
“World Origin Pocket Realm...” he murmured. He pushed down on the medallion again.
***
Outside of the World Origin Pocket Realm, some astonishing things happened when the candle was extinguished.
First, the massive jade slip that contained the World Origin Pocket Realm, which usually shone with dazzling light, suddenly went dim. At the same time, the lands around it, which were usually lush and verdant, dried up so badly that the ground cracked. In fact, ravines spread out through the entire basin, and when they reached the mountains at the end, the mountains crumbled. It was as if the spirit energy had been sucked away.
As for the sealed area that housed the jade slip, it disappeared. As of now, any cultivator, even those who didn’t have entrance medallions, could look in and see the jade slip.
The Devilbirds who had gathered in the area to practice cultivation in the strong spirit energy were shocked to the core as they looked inside.
“The spirit energy here just vanished....”
“The sealing mark protecting the World Origin Pocket Realm just disappeared!”
“What just happened?”
***
On the tenth Imperial Sovereign mountain, ‘Lu Lingzi’ opened ‘his’ eyes in the hall at the top of the mountain. A frown appeared. Then, ‘he’ surreptitiously sent some divine will toward the location of the World Origin Pocket Realm to lock the area down. In the blink of an eye, the heaven and earth surrounding the World Origin Pocket Realm went still.
The divine will then entered the jade slip itself. And then, the empress, who despite being an extremely valiant person, was stricken with astonishment. It was only natural that shē had gone into the World Origin Pocket Realm, so shē knew a good deal about it.
But now, scanning the place with divine will revealed nothing but pitch black. The red candle was gone. The planets had vanished. Everything was a void.
However, there in the spot where the red candle had existed was Xu Qing, hovering cross-legged, clutching the medallion and trying one thing after another to get it to work.
The empress was taken aback. Then a moment passed, and hēr voice echoed into the void.
“What are you doing?”
Xu Qing went still. Inside, he was feeling very pleased. Looking out into the void, he said, “Well met, Your Majesty! Some strange things happened here earlier, so I tried to use this medallion to leave. Unfortunately, the medallion... just didn’t work.”
Xu Qing got to his feet, clasped hands, and bowed. He was well aware that the empress’ arrival meant that he had a way to get free now.
The empress didn’t respond to his words. It was only when Xu Qing was starting to formulate some more words that he heard a sigh.
“You didn’t listen to a thing I said, did you?” the empress said. “After you’re out of here, come see me immediately!”
At the same time, a majestic force swept through the void, swirled around Xu Qing, and turned into a huge vortex. A gravitational force sprang into being, dragging Xu Qing into the vortex. Then he and the vortex both disappeared.
After Xu Qing was gone, the empress appeared in blurry form. It was only a divine will clone. After looking around for a while, shē shook hēr head.
I used to think the Eldest Brother was the only one I had to worry about. I never could have guessed that Xu Qing’s just as bad.
The empress took a step forward and vanished. Upon reappearing in the outside world above the jade slip, shē pushed hēr hand down. Instantly, the jade slip lit up again. The sealing barrier once again sprang into being. Everything looked exactly as it had looked before. However, if anyone was able to enter and look inside the jade slip, they would find... that the World Origin Pocket Realm wasn’t there.
Of course, the empress couldn’t let that state of affairs continue to exist. Therefore, it wasn’t long before a dharmic decree was issued from the tenth Imperial Sovereign mountain. The World Origin Pocket Realm had run short of spirit energy, and would need a hundred years to recover. During that time, no one would be permitted entry. The World Origin Pocket Realm was now the property of the tenth Imperial Sovereign, and thus, Lu Lingzi’s dharmic decree would be honored.
It was a time of war, and though the World Origin Pocket Realm had been listed as a reward, the fact that Lu Lingzi was a new Imperial Sovereign meant that no one would bicker over such a dharmic decree. Imperial Sovereigns naturally had special privileges.
Of course, in order to truly cover up what really happened to the World Origin Pocket Realm would require further work on the part of the empress.
***
Xu Qing appeared on a plain about 50 kilometers away from the World Origin Pocket Realm. He looked nervous. As soon as he materialized, he once again assumed the form of Sir Blood Dust, then looked over his shoulder in the direction of the World Origin Pocket Realm.
At the moment, he wasn’t really sure how much he had benefited. He had the mask, but apparently, had also ended up with that gruish candle imprinted on his back. He had also made things more difficult for the empress, which he already regretted. That was his personality. He was the type of person who knew whom to show gratitude to, and whom to feel resentment against. And he didn’t like being in the debt of others.
After a moment he took a deep breath.
I need to go help the empress in whatever way I can. At the very least, I do whatever shē asks me to do.
With that, he shot off in the direction of the tenth Imperial Sovereign mountain.
Along the way, he focused on the unfamiliar godly authority within him. Good luck was easy to understand based on its own name. It was the same with misfortune.
As for the godly authority of the violet moon, it involved violet moonlight shining down on living things, looking for flaws in their life force, and upon finding them, invading them with taboo poison.
It’s command of fortune, and also command of the flaws in life force. When thēy combine, thēy become a godly authority....
As Xu Qing raced along, he suddenly lurched to a stop. Hovering in midair, he struggled to control his breathing, all while his eyes shone with a bizarre light. All of a sudden, one word was echoing in his mind.
Is this... fate? [2]
1. His clothes were destroyed earlier, but apparently they are back now. ☜
2. This footnote gets into some nitty gritty stuff that most readers probably won’t care about. There is a bit of wordplay going on here, the type that often frustrates me. In this case we have a term (fate) that is actually made of two Chinese characters. The author has used this term for multiple series and thousands of chapters without doing a wordplay explanation (at least, not that I remember). Then, all of a sudden, he throws in some wordplay. Well, it is what it is. In this case, ‘fate’ is made up of two characters. Both of them can be interpreted in different ways. The first one could mean life, but also can mean fate/destiny/command as well as other things. The second character can mean even more things, but among them are fortune/fate/luck. So in the paragraph above we have multiple levels of wordplay, in which Xu Qing mentions command, life, fortune, etc. Long story short, all of his thought process revolves around the two characters that I normally render as ‘fate.’ That’s why his conclusion in Chinese seems to make more sense than it does in English. Of course, all of this is further complicated by the fact that there are a host of Chinese words and characters that all mean fate/fortune/destiny, etc. The next chapter will have more information about the wordplay explanation of ‘fate’ as used here. And incidentally, later wordplay makes it very clear that the correct interpretations are the ones I’ve picked (life and fortune), although the ‘fortune’ one is more open to translator preference. ☜