Chapter 945: First Step, Complete

Chapter 945: First Step, Complete

After Xu Qing’s hand went through the Gruegloom transformation to become transparent, there were still five drops of blood within it that formed a pentagonal shape. Even after the Gruegloom transformation, it wasn’t possible to hide those five drops of blood. Just a glance at them revealed that they were spectacular.

The moment Xu Qing’s hand entered the altar, the Plumdark Evergreen Lamp vibrated, then rose up into the air and flew toward him.

But then, the five coffins trembled, and corpse energy erupted out. Pulsing with the aura of the imperial bloodline erupted, it merged with the surrounding flames to make a large golden hand. It reached out toward the Plumdark Evergreen Lamp to grab it.

Meanwhile, howling sounds that sounded human drifted out from the coffins, and the lids began to shake as if they were about to break open. Simultaneously, the surrounding flames grew more intense. The terrifying heat was joined by a godly aura that could suppress the soul.

Xu Qing’s Gruegloom hand burst into flames. His Grand Darkheaven Armor and god body were already having a hard time dealing with the high temperature. And the flesh on his hand was starting to crumble into ash. Only his godly authority was able to stand strong. However, it couldn’t stop his right hand from slowly being destroyed.

It seemed that his right hand was just on the verge of turning into nothing but sparks. And yet, without pausing for a moment, Xu Qing unleashed the power of the five drops of blood.

The blood drops shot through the burning flames and toward the five coffins. As they did, an even purer and more ancient form of imperial bloodline fluctuations shot out from the drops of blood. They formed a bloodline suppression!

The golden hand formed from the energy from the coffins couldn’t do anything to stop the blood drops. They shot through the hand and landed right on the coffins. The shuddering of the coffin lids ceased, and the howling stopped. Everything went quiet. Then the golden hand went stiff.

As for Xu Qing, he used the crumbling remains of his right hand to reach out toward the Plumdark Evergreen Lamp!

Grabbing it, he pulled it back through the crevice. The moment it left the altar, the five coffins started shaking again, and the howling resumed, this time, with unparalleled levels of defiance. However, the five drops of blood glittered and kept the coffins suppressed.

Xu Qing’s right hand crumbled into nothing. But he quickly sent his left hand shooting out to grab the lamp before falling back at top speed.

All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but from the moment Xu Qing managed to make an opening into the fire until the moment he fled, hardly enough time passed for a spark to fly off a piece of flint.

Little Shadow couldn’t hold on any longer. It dimmed and collapsed into countless smaller shadows that scattered in all directions. The vine reached its limit. Looking very withered, it retreated. Without any power disrupting the flames, they went back to their original position.

Even more furious howling erupted from the five coffins, all while they shook so violently cracks started spreading across their surface. Fluctuations of instability were now surging out of the altar. The altar had lost its lamp. It had lost its immortal element. And the godly aura was going wild. Without any stability or balance... the ceremony was heading toward a destructive backlash! Terrifying pressure grew within the flames.

Seeing that caused Eleventh Prince to start laughing uproariously. The officials looked on silently. The court eunuch let loose a moan of anguish.

The court eunuch returned to the emperor. Standing there, he respectfully said, “Congratulations, Your Majesty, on successfully completing the first step of the godly ascension ceremony.”

His words resulted in numerous involuntary cries of shock. As of this moment, everyone realized that the court eunuch’s attempt to stop Xu Qing, whether by word or action, had all been an act. One of the most critical aspects of the entire thing was Xu Qing destroying the godly ascension altar!

Now Planet Ancient Emperor itself was erupting, which went to show that the destruction of the pentagonal altar wasn’t just something that the emperor had planned. It was also... a crucial element of the ceremony itself!

Xu Qing’s eyes were narrowed. Although it had seemed like he was in a dangerous situation, the reality was that he had sensed all along that things were going smoothly. Now he realized his senses had not been deceiving him.

And yet, none of that influenced his decisions. He was not going to actively participate in anything going on here, nor would he cast judgment on the parties involved. Getting the Plumdark Evergreen Lamp was enough for him. Backing up a bit, he sat down cross-legged.

As the chains on the emperor continued to snap and crumble, he maintained the same calm facial expression as he looked at the astonished Eleventh Prince.

“Anything else?” the emperor asked calmly.

Eleventh Prince’s face drained of blood, and his eyes turned very grim.

At his side, King Firecrusher coolly said, “There’s no need for a facial expression like that, Ningchang. All of this is within the realm of what we predicted could happen.”[1]

The strange look on Eleventh Prince’s face disappeared, to be replaced by a smile. “Although we did predict this possibility, I still wish it hadn’t presented itself. That said, he is the emperor. No matter what emotions I tried to reveal, he’s remained calm this entire time. How dull. In any case, there’s no need for dramatic emotional displays now.” Sighing, Eleventh Prince clasped hands and bowed to the emperor. “Father, if you want to see what else I’ve prepared, then... please allow me to proceed.”

Eleventh Prince then hit himself on the top of the head and spat out a massive mouthful of blood. Then he waved his hand, causing eleven little bottles to appear, which shattered, revealing that they all contained blood. Combined with the mouthful of blood he had just spat out, that was twelve globs of blood. The moment they were out in the open, the twelve globs of blood erupted with imperial bloodline fluctuations.

Further back at the very edge of the Temple of Heaven stood Grand Prince, Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, and Tenth Prince. All of them looked completely shocked. After all, they could sense the presence of their own blood. They weren’t the only shocked ones. All of the other children of the emperor who hadn’t entered Planet Ancient Emperor felt similar sensations.

“This,” Eleventh Prince said softly, “is the blood I secretly collected from my brothers and sisters over the years. Mine’s in there too. Today, I will use the blood of the imperial princes and princesses to open the way through the vortex of destiny aura, bypass the grand spell formation of humankind, and surpass the limitations of the imperial planet... to open a heavenly gate!”

Eleventh Prince performed a double-handed incantation gesture and then waved his hands out. Instantly, the twelve globs of blood shot up into the air over Planet Ancient Emperor, where they became a massive blood-colored vortex.

Deafening rumbling sounds swept out as a shocking gravitational force erupted from the vortex as a passageway opened up! A terrifying aura then spilled out.

1. Guyue Ningchang. We now know that Eleventh Prince’s given name is Ningchang, which means his full name is Guyue Ningchang. I’ve already explained Guyue before. Ning is the same as the character from Ningyan’s name. It means “peace, calm.” Chang means “prosperous, flourishing.” Madam Deathblade said, “It makes me think of peace and prosperity, like this is a calm guy with big hopes for a chaotic world.” Incidentally, since I haven’t mentioned it in a while, I’d like to reiterate that Madam Deathblade is not familiar with these characters or the story. Her reactions are basically instinctive reactions to what the names “sound” or “feel” like to her in Chinese. ☜