Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 802: Emperor, Please Brace Yourself

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted, but his facial expression didn’t change. In the blink of an eye, he entered his third-level god state, and was even able to summon part of his fourth-level god state.

It was also possible to see a shadowy sundial. The ancient sun rested atop it, glittering as it released terrifying pressure.

Up in the sky, The Emperor’s Sword shifted to point in the direction of the black sphere of flesh emerging from the god domain rift. Because of the godly power of the black sphere, the emperor’s huge hand began to collapse. Pressure from the god domain spread through the dimension containing the Imperial University. Most cultivators present coughed up mouthfuls of blood, and though their minds reeled, they were unable to move.

Bai Xiaozhuo had crafted a very specific opportunity, and moved with lightning speed to take advantage of it. He appeared right in front of Xu Qing like a heavenly mountain, his tentacles pulsing with the blessing of Smoldering God battle prowess. That, combined with his terrifying godliness, made him extremely deadly. However, even if he had been more specific in creating this opportunity, and even if he had moved faster, and with more deadliness, there was just no possible way that he could kill Xu Qing.

Truth be told, Bai Xiaozhuo knew that. Therefore, even though this seemed like a deadly strike, the reality was that he had a different goal. He wanted to see who would try to save Xu Qing. The Grand Emperor was preoccupied by the lord of the god domain, and had no attention left to spare. As Bai Xiaozhuo’s lord and master had suggested, there was likely a third party hidden in the imperial capital ready to take action. Or perhaps someone was present in the university.

Regardless, this attack by Bai Xiaozhuo would hopefully force that person to reveal their identity, and thus give a slight advantage to his lord and master.

Bai Xiaozhuo turned out to be completely right. As he closed in on Xu Qing, the face of a Grand Emperor appeared on Planet Ancient Emperor, eyes blazing. Inside the shrine hall of the Red Dust Emotional Suppression Pavilion, the clay fox started glowing with bizarre, demonic light. Simultaneously, the students surrounding the dao altars in the Imperial University were not all immobilized by the power of the god domain. One of them strode forward with eyes shining coldly.

However, there was one group whose interest in Xu Qing’s survival surpassed all others. And as things reached a head, they would do whatever was necessary to make sure no one killed Xu Qing. Therefore, they acted before anyone else could.

An angry voice echoed within the Imperial University, almost like thunder from heaven.

“Stop!

“Retreat!

“Collapse!

“Enfeeble!

“Safeguard!

“Accelerate!

“Forever undying!”

Eight words were spoken, and each one crashed louder than thunder. They contained the will of great daos, making them almost like the words of a heavenly thunder. The natural and magical laws they contained existed at the most exquisite level, making these words the embodiment of the idiom once given, the orders will be strictly enforced.

Bai Xiaozhuo had Smoldering God battle prowess, but even he shivered as he lurched to a stop. Then he had no choice but to retreat a full step.

As the associated word rang out, a tremor passed through Bai Xiaozhuo, and he suddenly started to collapse. That was when his godliness erupted. Though he was being affected by the words spoken, the power of his momentum created an illusory finger in front of him that shot toward Xu Qing, shattering everything in its path.

However, an instant later, Bai Xiaozhuo was enfeebled, causing his strength to instantly drain by at least half.

The next word spoken caused an extremely tough suit of armor to appear on Xu Qing to help safeguard him against the power of Bai Xiaozhuo’s finger attack.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the armor collapsed, taking the damage in Xu Qing’s place. It also boosted Xu Qing’s speed significantly, allowing him to accelerate rapidly as he backed away by about 3,000 meters.

The final spoken word contained godliness. It caused the forever undying will of a god to settle over Xu Qing, becoming a golden light that formed a face in front of him. The face bore the brunt of the remainder of the finger attack from Bai Xiaozhuo.

From a distance, it was possible to see the face’s forehead slam into Bai Xiaozhuo’s finger attack. As the face collapsed, a host of thousands of voices howled in grief. However, Bai Xiaozhuo’s finger couldn’t remain whole. It fell to pieces.

Xu Qing hovered in midair, completely unharmed. Truth be told, everyone was surprised by this development, not necessarily that Xu Qing was unharmed, but rather, by who it was that intervened....

“Xu Qing... is a godchild of our church!” someone said in a soft and feminine voice that came out of thin air right in front of Xu Qing. A rift opened up in front of him which revealed an astonishing altar.

The altar seemed to be located in a huge, open-air cave. High above the cave was the dome of heaven, within which hung the broken face. As for the altar itself, it was huge, with 999 steps leading up to it. Standing at the highest position on the altar was a cultivator in a black cloak. On the steps were more black-garbed cultivators. And there were even more of them seated cross-legged in the cave surrounding the altar.

There were thousands of people in the cave, all of them had pools of fresh blood in front of them. Shockingly, they had sustained the force of Bai Xiaozhuo’s finger attack in Xu Qing’s place.

Meanwhile, the black-cloaked figure on the altar took a step forward, thus stepping through the rift and into the Imperial University. The figure stood in front of Xu Qing. All of a sudden, the power of a Smoldering God swept forth with dramatic brilliance, along with a scrap of the aura of the broken face. When this person stood in front of Xu Qing, it provoked quite a reaction from the various onlookers.

“That’s one of the Words of Truth’s grand sacrificers!”

The group which had intervened to save Xu Qing was the Words of Truth!

Bai Xiaozhuo frowned. Though it might seem like Torchlight and Words of Truth were similar, the reality was that they had completely different ideals, and to the former, members of the latter were insane.

The emperor in the imperial palace looked on with narrowed eyes. He could have interfered earlier as well, but he had also chosen to observe. He also wanted to see who would step forward to save Xu Qing. At the moment, the emperor was even more surprised than Bai Xiaozhuo.

Meanwhile, the grand sacrificer from the Words of Truth stood between Xu Qing and Bai Xiaozhuo, clad in that black cloak, which made it impossible to see any facial features other than two glowing red eyes.

“No one can touch a godchild of ours!” the figure said, and then turned to look at Xu Qing. The red eyes glowed with greed, and it was even possible to hear the sounds of salivating. The figure continued to speak, and by now it was possible to determine that the voice was that of an old woman. “I was late, godchild. Sir, are you hurt? If so, it’ll influence the flavor. Adding in extra energies leads to a disgusting flavor.”

The sound of salivating grew more intense. Meanwhile, a similar sound could be heard coming from the other black-cloaked figures inside the rift. All of them were looking up greedily at Xu Qing.

The creed of Words of Truth involved searching for people who survived the gaze of the broken face. They believed that such people were cherished by the broken face, and thus called them godchildren. Devouring a godchild would help them get closer to the gods. From ancient times until now, that was how they had operated. However, they had only ever been able to consume people who had survived the gaze of the broken face once. Never had they devoured someone who survived twice. There were rumors that in other distant places, Words of Truth had managed to devour such people. But in the congregation here, they never had.

Xu Qing was currently scowling. He could never have imagined that Words of Truth would step out in a moment like this. What was more, he could sense that, while he had used a god magic to look back through time and learn about Words of Truth, it was clear that others had done the same to him. And the result was that this pack of lunatics had shown up.

The black sphere of flesh in the dome of heaven howled. Because of the threat of The Emperor’s Sword, īt didn’t dare to go on the offensive. Apparently, all of īts actions from before had been mere probing. Now that the probing had produced results, īt was ready to retreat. The god domain rift wasn’t growing larger. Instead, it was slowly shrinking and fading.

As for Bai Xiaozhuo, the current developments were completely outside of what he had predicted. He looked up at the emperor. The emperor looked back calmly, as if saying that he was still watching and waiting. As their gazes met, Bai Xiaozhuo suddenly found himself thinking of what Xu Qing had said back in Sea-Sealing County.

“You just don’t deserve to be a follower of the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan.” [1]

Bai Xiaozhuo closed his eyes. “You’re right. Because I’m... not pure.”

Bai Xiaozhuo’s aura seemed to become ancient, but at the same time, livelier. His eyes became clear. Then he reached out and viciously slapped himself on the chest. The heart from the god domain collapsed, and a huge shock wave of godsource power swept out. None of it remained. His body burst into flames. Sparks flew around him like moths as his last bit of glory in life was revealed.

That eruption, that conflagration, pushed him to the peak. His aura erupted, boundless mutagen flowed everywhere, and the sensation of a god grew intense. Because of the mutagen, the canopy of heaven over his head blurred, and within that blurriness, a fiery flower appeared.

It was... a lifespan flower! It started out with one petal. Then two petals appeared, and then three.... In the blink of an eye , the sky over the Imperial University turned into a huge lifespan flower. Looking up, it almost seemed like a massive scroll painting had been unfurled. It was boundless and endless, and also impossible to see clearly. It was made completely of golden fire, each thread of which was exquisitely put together.

Fire flowed down from the flower, spreading out on the land below. That fire was also a flower, but not a lifespan flower. Instead, it was a pāramitā lily. Its color was red.

Boundless. Endless.... As the wind blew, ripples spread through the fire from the pāramitā lily. It was almost like the music of reincarnation played on an ancient zither.

Lifespan above. Pāramitā below. They created a sea of red and golden fire, constantly emerging, erupting, and burning! There were different ceremonies that led to godly ascension, and this was one of them. Once these fires came to exist eternally, that would be the moment godfire was ignited!

Bai Xiaozhuo was blurring. And every time an observer blinked, he would look different to them. With the seas of flowers around him, his battle prowess was soaring. Sadly, igniting godfire wasn’t exactly a simple task. In contrast, it was incredibly difficult.

The red moon godchild failed. And Bai Xiaozhuo... was in too much of a rush for success to be even remotely possible.

The edges of the fiery seas of flowers began to show signs of being extinguished. That much made it clear what was happening. That said, there was no question about how impressive Bai Xiaozhuo’s battle prowess was right now. Everyone looking on was astonished.

It was hard to say if it was because of the fire, but the emperor’s eyes were shining brightly.

That was when Bai Xiaozhuo spoke, and his voice echoed like the chanting of a god through the imperial capital.

“Heaven and earth as the furnace. All living beings as the fuel. Flames of gold and red to activate the fire of a god. Emperor, please brace yourself.”

Bai Xiaozhuo swept up the lifespan flower, the pāramitā lily, and the flames of red and gold. Then, like a burning meteor, he shot toward the emperor! Clouds seethed as the lifespan flower and pāramitā lily combined with the red and gold fire, casting brilliant light for 5,000 kilometers in all directions.

1. Xu Qing uttered these words in chapter 533.1. ☜