Beyond the Timescape

The species of ruling gods on this planet were called the True Radiants. According to the rules in the Fourth Star Ring, only species that had produced a True God could be honored by adding “True” to their name.

The memories of the butterfly god indicated that the True Radiants didn’t just rule this one planet. Thēy actually controlled the entire nebula, as well as a few nearby universes. Originally speaking, that should have lasted forever. After all, a True God that died could come back. So unless another True God came along to disrupt the balance, nothing would change.

But something unexpected ended up happening to the species. Thēir True God had perished some years earlier and had never returned.... The consequences of that situation slowly manifested as the True Radiants lacked the power to control all the species in the area thēy controlled. Gradually, thēir territory shrank, until only a dozen or so planets would heed thēir recruitment calls.

It wasn’t very common for True Gods to fail to return, but it also wasn’t unheard of. Normally speaking, it meant that thēy had suffered from some sort of targeted attack during thēir return.

Xu Qing himself had participated in things like that. The first time it happened, he had been the bait.... That was the time that Yu Liuchen wanted to hook a returning True God.[1]

So, the secret of how True Gods return isn’t some ironclad situation. Over the ages, both gods and cultivators have studied it.... Some glories only exist in the past.

Xu Qing in butterfly form got closer and closer to the 360 emerald-green halos. He could already sense that there were a lot of gods gathered there. This was enlistment headquarters for the now-shrunken territories controlled by the True Radiants. And it was the crowded location that Xu Qing felt was most suitable to use Starfire’s secret technique.

Hopefully it works!

Of course, he already had contingency plans ready in case it failed. So with a final burst of speed, he appeared right in front of the 360 halos. Emerald light spread out, along with godly might. Without pausing for a moment, Xu Qing flapped his wings and entered.

Everything was emerald-colored as far as the eye could see. Even the air itself seemed to be that color. It was like a giant painting unfurled in front of him. It was a painting full of exquisite detail, with countless lines forming a larger outline of something. The larger outline was somewhat abstract, making it difficult to identify it at first glance. It looked mostly like a conglomeration of random shapes.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he studied it. It didn’t take long for him to realize that there was something very strange going on.

That image....