Chapter 1341: Destined to Return as One

Chapter 1346: Destiny's Convergence

"Gods and Immortals are inherently different."

Xu Qing looked at Zi Qing and spoke calmly."But the moment you chose to ascend rather than remain as an earthly voyager, you became... essentially the same."

"Therefore, within the Ascendant Ring, Gods and Immortals, though seemingly distinct, share a common origin."

"Thus... I will die, and so will you."

"But compared to death, I actually want to see, at this level, whose destiny is more profound, or whose dimensional understanding is more infinite!"

As his voice still echoed, Xu Qing took a step, covering a hundred zhang, and directly approached Zi Qing outside the grand hall.

The Zi Qing outside the grand hall fixed his gaze on Xu Qing's approaching figure, his expression cold and silent.

Meanwhile, the Zi Qing inside the grand hall remained gentle, softly speaking, his voice passing through the main course of destiny to echo outside the hall, where the divergent destinies lay.

"Brother, what you think, I also think."

"Destiny... Superimposition!"

The moment the words were spoken, the expressionless Zi Qing outside the grand hall raised his right hand and gently pressed it towards the rapidly approaching Xu Qing.

With that press, the power of destiny descended silently, forming an ineffable meaning that settled around Xu Qing, transforming into layers of ripples.

And within those ripples, scenes began to form.

In those scenes, various figures of Xu Qing appeared. These were not parallels created by spacetime manipulation, but rather... branches separated from Xu Qing's main course of destiny.

One could also say they were countless possibilities arising from the natural decline of life!

Each possibility, at this moment, formed a scene.

"Time, inherently, does not exist. It is merely a concept created by living beings to calculate their own natural decay and that of all things."

"Therefore, your spacetime has flaws."

"As for me, I do not operate by spacetime principles."

The Zi Qing inside the grand hall spoke softly.

His voice, reaching outside the hall, stirred the scenes.

Everything within the scenes was full of contradictions: for example, in some scenes, Xu Qing was fighting someone, while in others, at the same point in destiny, Xu Qing was meditating.

In some scenes, he was dying within a certain destiny, while in others of the same destiny, he was gaining fortunate opportunities.

In other scenes, loved ones disappeared, while in yet others, there was warm companionship.

This was a superimposition of destinies!

This caused multiple mutually exclusive destinies to coexist within Xu Qing at this moment.

These interwoven destinies manifested around Xu Qing in fragmented forms.

His true body became blurred within these fragments, as if about to be erased, and with each step forward, countless transparent afterimages split off around him.

These afterimages, in turn, transformed into new possibilities of destiny.

Boundless.

It was as if he was simultaneously experiencing countless lives.

In this state, every action of Xu Qing, even every heartbeat, triggered a storm of probabilities, making his destiny extremely unstable, as if it could switch at any moment.

Uncontrollable!

This was the primary destiny being mixed with branching destinies.

This was his true self being usurped by his other selves.

Only his voice, amidst this mixing and usurpation, still echoed calmly.

"I have experienced a similar scene before."

"And my cultivation is not solely based on time or space. The Fundamental Law I have comprehended is..."

"Convergence into One!"

"Time converges into one, space converges into one, spacetime converges into one, parallels converge into one, destiny... also converges into one!"

The moment Xu Qing's voice emanated, his increasingly ethereal form raised its right hand.

The essence of his Fundamental Law suddenly erupted, spreading from his raised hand and transforming into a unifying line that sharply pierced outwards in all directions.

Piercing through all the destiny fragments, connecting them all together in an instant...

Xu Qing's right hand clenched fiercely.

All the destiny fragments around him roared at this moment, their internal scenes forcibly altered to all become him, exactly as he was in this very moment!

Then, these scenes converged towards Xu Qing, rapidly overlapping with his figure.

Because the Xu Qings in those scenes were identical to him in that very moment, this overlapping did not result in a superimposed ghost image, but rather a fusion.

This made Xu Qing's originally blurred figure appear to be outlined repeatedly, becoming increasingly substantial.

Until finally, when all the scenes vanished, the Xu Qing standing there was exceptionally real, exceptionally clear!

Then his voice resonated.

"Descend!"

The moment this sound was uttered, everything around him changed rapidly!

Accompanied by a booming rumble from heaven and earth, a towering sound, a layer of ink wash appeared where Xu Qing stood!

This ink wash, centered on Xu Qing, swept forth with Xu Qing's Fundamental Law, suddenly expanding in all directions.

Rendering everything!

Wherever it passed, whether the imperial palace, the imperial capital, or this entire Heaven-Devouring Grand Domain, everything instantly and rapidly devolved as Xu Qing became clear!

The concept of height was stripped away, three-dimensional existence was flattened; everything, in the blink of an eye, became an ink wash painting.

This was... dimensional reduction!

This also included the grand hall of the imperial palace, and the expressionless Crown Prince Zi Qing outside the hall.

All became part of the painting!

Only Xu Qing was the sole color in the world, standing upon this ink wash painting!

He raised his right foot, as if replacing the sky, and stepped towards the grand hall of the imperial palace within the ink wash painting.

This was indeed another manifestation of Xu Qing's Fundamental Law.

As his raised foot descended, Crown Prince Zi Qing, who was in front of the grand hall within the ink wash painting, raised his head, looking at the dark silhouette in his world that seemed to replace the sky.

He spoke coldly.

"In Peerless City, you died for the first time; your lifespan was seven!"

The moment these words were uttered, Crown Prince Zi Qing's left eye revealed the image of child Xu Qing in Peerless City back then.

That figure shattered instantly, turning into seven silver threads that materialized.

Each one represented one year of age.

"In Seven Blood Eyes, you experienced many transformations; your opportunities were five!"

As the second sentence echoed, Crown Prince Zi Qing's right eye reflected scenes of Xu Qing in Seven Blood Eyes, then five golden butterflies flew out from it.

Each one represented an opportunity!

"When the Empress altered your destiny, you died for the second time; your tribulations were two!"

The moment this third sentence was spoken, a scene materialized in the void before Crown Prince Zi Qing: it was the scene of Xu Qing's death in the Human Emperor's Capital back then.

The moment of death within it, two black chains flew out!

"Today, I will weave silver threads from your lifespan, mold golden butterflies from your opportunities, forge iron chains of death from your tribulations, and transform them into your Destiny Butterfly..."

The scenes intertwined, and the three colors of gold, silver, and black rapidly merged, forming a tricolored butterfly!

The moment this butterfly appeared, the entire ink wash painting rippled, as if the scroll was wrinkling!

And as the tricolored butterfly unfurled its wings, colors immediately spread from its center throughout the entire ink wash painting!

Making the ink wash painting no longer monochromatic, making it seem to gain vitality!

Then, this butterfly surged fiercely, flying straight towards the sky!

Wherever it passed, the painting melted. It flew higher and higher, eventually breaking through the world of the ink wash painting!

Bursting outwards.

The instant it appeared outside the painting, the entire ink wash painting began to shatter.

And that tricolored butterfly, with a flicker, split into countless copies, overwhelming the sky and covering the earth, all surging towards Xu Qing!

In Xu Qing's perception, each one was intimately related to him, as if... each one was himself!

Simultaneously, as the ink wash painting collapsed, the voice of the Zi Qing within the grand hall echoed.

"With your Destiny Butterfly, I forge your Destiny Cage!"

"Cage!"