519: Two-step Taoist

Eight hundred years passed like a white steed flashing past a crevice.

For Mortals, this was the Reincarnation and succession of dozens of generations; but for an existence like Xu Qing, it was merely a slightly longer seclusion.

Deep within the Qiankun Dao World, beneath the firmament supported by the World Tree, Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes.

In his eyes, billions of stars seemed to be born and extinguished, and the Dao rhythm of Chaos seemed to flow.

The aura of the Great Dao emanating from him at this moment was even more profound and unfathomable than before his seclusion.

"Nine million six hundred thousand years..."

Xu Qing murmured softly, his voice stirring ripples of Dao patterns in the Void Realm.

While eight hundred years passed in the outside world, nine million six hundred thousand years had elapsed in the Qiankun Dao World, and this world had undergone earth-shattering changes.

Looking up—

Above the sky, seventy-two brand new Law rivers spanned east to west; deep within the earth, ninety-nine ancestral pulse coiled like giant Dragons; and in the four seas, Innate spiritual springs gushed like pillars.

Most astonishingly, more than seventy Half-Ancestor auras still intertwined between heaven and earth, illuminating all directions like brilliant stars.

The Ten Great True Monarchs had even reached the Half-Ancestor limit.

"The Great Dao is fifty, and Heaven's will is forty-nine..." Xu Qing's lips curved slightly, "Now my Cosmos World has seventy-two Half-Ancestors."

He knew better than anyone what this number signified.

The Qiankun Dao World had broken through the limitations of the Great Dao and had triggered an unprecedented transformation of heaven and earth.

"Boom!"

A primordial, world-opening roar suddenly erupted from within his body.

Xu Qing's Dao foundation completed its ultimate transformation at this moment, and the immense pressure of a Second-Step Dao Ancestor uncontrollably spread out.

On the Dao Tree behind him, the branch representing the Dao of all living beings, which was originally ethereal and illusory, suddenly solidified like mercury at this moment.

Eight hundred years of spring and autumn had cycled, and the Eclipse Sun Plan was finally drawing to a close.

Xu Qing stood with his hands behind his back in the Void Realm, overlooking the Fallen Star Ancient City, which had been Reborn from the ashes.

The crumbling ruins, once devastated by the Star Devouring Species, had now regained their former prosperity—glazed tiles reflected starlight, streets were bustling with people, and markets were filled with incessant hawking.

Yet, beneath this prosperity, a chilling stillness lurked.

"Let's enter the city in this guise."

Xu Qing's figure flickered slightly, transforming into a disheveled Star Devouring Clan member in a green robe.

The star patterns on his forehead were dim, appearing exactly like those Loose Cultivators who traveled abroad.

As he entered the city gate with the crowd, a strange golden flame flickered in the pupils of the xuan armor guards.

Tap, tap—

Footsteps echoed crisply on the bluestone slab.

Xu Qing walked seemingly casually along the long street, but in reality, his Dao sense had already enveloped the entire city.

From his perspective as a Dao Ancestor, the entire Ancient City was like a meticulously arranged altar, and in the Sea of Consciousness of ninety percent of the passersby, a cluster of eerie golden flames lurked.

"Candied hawthorn—"

"Fine star-patterned iron—"

The shouts of street vendors rose and fell.

Xu Qing paused at a stall selling star marrow cakes. As he took the oil-paper package, golden flames flickered in the vendor's turbid eyes.

Even more alarming was that tiny, invisible sparks of fire were hidden within the steaming cakes.

Crunch.

Xu Qing took a bite of the cake, allowing the spark of fire to vanish between his lips and teeth.

His gaze pierced through layers of houses, landing on the majestic complex of buildings in the center of the Ancient City.

That was the core Forbidden Ground of the Fallen Star Clan, but it was currently shrouded in a distorted starlight.

Even stranger, all the people on the street who had been implanted with the golden flame, though seemingly casual, would unconsciously turn their gaze in that direction as they walked, like Puppets controlled by invisible strings.

The source of the Eclipse Sun Plan came from there.

"It is the time, it is the fate."

A sigh dissipated in the wind.

Xu Qing casually fed half a cake to a stray star beast by the roadside, watching the little beast happily run away.

He knew better than anyone that when the Eclipse Sun Plan truly commenced, this Ancient City, along with the entire Fallen Star Clan, would transform into a tribulation fire illuminating the Chaos Sea.

The strong prey on the weak; this was the Law of the Chaos Sea, unchanging since ancient times.

Just like the wisp of golden flame lingering on his fingertip at this moment, seemingly docile, it had in fact secretly marked the destiny of the entire Fallen Star Clan.

As he turned the street corner, Xu Qing's figure faded like an ink wash painting.

Only the cake vendor suddenly shivered... Years flew by, and in a blink, several years had passed.

Xu Qing stood in the Chaos Void Realm, his robes fluttering, his gaze penetrating endless Star Domains, landing on the brilliant Fallen Star Ancient City.

At this moment, the Ancient City, though seemingly prosperous, had in fact already transformed into a giant altar, waiting only for the moment the Eclipse Sun tribulation descended, when it would completely burn, turning into tribulation ashes in the Chaos.

And outside this Ancient City, an invisible net had already been laid.

Tens of thousands of light-years away, Human Race powerhouses lay dormant in the Void Realm rifts, their auras retracted into a deathly stillness.

They were either xuan armor-clad generals, or Confucian Cultivators holding ancient scrolls, or great masters of talisman Dao hidden within Formations... Each one was an existence at the Half-Ancestor level, waiting only for an order to strike like thunder!

Xu Qing did not get too close.

He stood ten thousand light-years away in the chaotic currents, his aura merged with the Void Realm. Even a Dao Ancestor-level powerhouse would find it difficult to detect his presence without deliberately probing.

"Earth Sovereign... as expected, he had already made arrangements."

Xu Qing's eyes were deep, and his thoughts flowed.

Although he had already stepped into the Second-Step Dao Ancestor Realm, he still dared not be careless in the face of such a great tribulation, one capable of shaking the Chaos Sea.

Especially the previous gaze from the Tianyang aliens made him realize that rash intervention would very likely attract the focused fire of the Tianyang aliens!

Earth Sovereign's decision not to arrange for him to participate directly in the battle was precisely due to this consideration.

"Since that is the case, I shall be the final 'variable'."

Xu Qing whispered, lightly tapping his finger in his sleeve. A wisp of Chaos Qi quietly dispersed, transforming into an invisible net of Dao Laws, covering an area of one hundred thousand light-years.

If the battle situation changed, he could intervene at any time. If everything went smoothly, he would quietly observe, never rashly entering the fray.

In the distance, the starlight above the Fallen Star Ancient City gradually took on a blood-red hue... The tribulation fire was about to descend!

Chaos knew no years, and another year passed in a flash.

On this day, the star mist above the Fallen Star Ancient City suddenly surged, the city-protecting Formation silently activated, and a thick curtain of starlight descended, enveloping the entire city in a hazy starlight.

Even Cultivators below the Dao Ancestor Realm, no matter how far they gazed, could only see a blurry nebula. Only an existence like Xu Qing could pierce through the illusion and see the truth directly.

"Hiss—"

Tens of thousands of golden fire seeds burst forth from the core of the Ancient City, showering down like a storm upon the remaining living beings in the city.

Those uncorrupted beings had no time to react before the golden flames pierced their glabella, their eyes instantly losing their vibrancy, replaced by fervent and hollow golden flames.

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed slightly.

He saw a baby in its mother's arms suddenly stop crying, its pupils turning molten gold; he saw a Cultivator raising a cup in a tavern freeze, the wine evaporating into golden mist before touching his lips; and he saw the guards patrolling the city walls turn in unison, the clanging of their armor echoing like a death knell.

In just three breaths, this Ancient City, home to hundreds of billions of living beings, completely transformed into a golden sea of flames!

"Boom—"

All the corrupted beings simultaneously knelt, their heads bowed, but their spines held rigidly straight, like Puppets controlled by invisible strings.

Their gazes were all focused on the center of the Ancient City—there, the Fallen Star Clan Forbidden Ground had long disappeared, replaced by a golden nest as majestic as a mountain!

Liquid flames flowed on the surface of the nest, and countless golden threads extended from the light cocoon at its core, each connecting to the glabella of a living being.

Inside the light cocoon, a desolate humanoid silhouette, hundreds of thousands of miles tall, was vaguely visible.