Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 808: Gains from Immortal Essence

Xu Qing’s heart was racing. How could he ever have imagined that something as fantastic as immortal essence could exist in the world? Immortal essence surpassed heavenly daos, which itself seemed almost unbelievable.

It’s the source of all techniques in Deep Earth....

Xu Qing took a deep breath and instinctively looked down. He knew that whatever was sealed beneath the surface of Revered Ancient had once been part of Brilliant Heaven. He also knew that the starry sky beyond Revered Ancient was actually a part of Brilliant Heaven. And what was sealed by Revered Ancient was only one of many god worlds of Brilliant Heaven.

Meanwhile, Deep Earth, which was even further down, was the homeland of the Summer Immortals, and was also the true origin of all of the countless species that lived on Revered Ancient. It was a boundless, majestic place, filled with unending life.

And now he knew that all of the divine abilities and magical techniques there actually came from the immortal essence created by the Summer Immortals. It analyzed, collected, organized, and disseminated. As a result, the flower of cultivation bloomed constantly in the countless worlds of Deep Earth. There were all sorts of techniques, and though most people acquired them by means of destined opportunities, the reality was that they all originated with immortal essence.

Xu Qing was shaken just thinking about how something like that could be used. It defied description to the point that he could only think to call it amazing. All of a sudden, Xu Qing found himself thinking about the methods used by the butterfly while she was in human form. Whether it was the Withering Flame Demon Magic True Self Dao or the Waterswamp Kingdom, both obviously came from immortal essence.

It’s easy to imagine how people who use divine abilities like that at their highest level would be outstanding figures in Deep Earth. Does that mean that the Revered Ancient mainland has something similar to immortal essence...?

As Xu Qing was lost in thought, the butterfly, apparently having guessed what he was thinking, said, “I bet you’re wondering if Revered Ancient has something akin to immortal essence. Well, I can explain. Because of the will of Brilliant Heaven, the reality is that immortal essence is of limited use in Revered Ancient. All it can do is collect. It can’t evolve or disseminate.

“What’s more, only the disciples of the Summer Immortal Palace from the various species have the authority to use it and seek enlightenment from it. Outsiders aren’t ever given that chance. In fact, even I have to provide something of value to get a chance like that. All rules regarding immortal essence are fair and balanced!

“Back when we clashed in the Star Emperor Preeminence Sect, I put everything on the line just to get a scrap of a treasure from the immortal essence. But you’re getting the chance so easily!”

From the butterfly’s tone, she was clearly not quite convinced that Xu Qing was worthy. Somehow, that made the temple seem a bit livelier.

Xu Qing looked at the palace lord. He looked at the butterfly. And then he started wondering if... the butterfly’s liveliness was one of the reasons why the palace lord had accepted her as an apprentice.

This place was immersed in a river of time. It had sunk deep into the past. It was extremely plain and simple, and at the same time, lonely and profound. Anyone who spent a long time in an environment like this would naturally develop a sense of ancientness. But with the mission in place, the successive generations of the Summer Immortal Palace had no choice but to continue on.

Maybe one day when this butterfly is the palace lord... she’ll become like the current palace lord, living in the present and existing in the past, traversing the ancient as part of her mission.

Xu Qing looked away from the butterfly. He wasn’t interested in bickering with her. Looking at the palace lord, he clasped hands and said, “I understand what you mean, Senior. I think... I can agree to that. But I would like to respectfully ask to see the immortal essence first.”

The palace lord didn’t say anything in response. She just waved her hand gracefully in the direction of the candles on the altar. Instantly, the flames on the six lit candles grew larger. Though they were only flames from candles, as they expanded, they turned into a spinning sea of flames. Rumbling sounds echoed out as they grew far brighter than before, driving away the darkness in the temple and illuminating everything brightly. The emperors in the frescoes seemed more lifelike than before, and emanated true imperial majesty. That majesty combined with the sea of flames, ultimately creating an image therein. It was hard to say where that image truly existed. It was almost as if it was visible through a window that gave a view into a resplendent void.

Growing there was an enormous plant. It was... a dandelion.

The stalk of the dandelion was covered with innumerable symbols, each of which emanated terrifying might. All of it combined to make the dandelion miraculous and one-of-a-kind.

There was soil beneath it, which provided it with nutrients. If you looked closely, you would see that the soil was actually made of flesh and blood. Astonishingly, it was actually formed from the corpses of countless gods. Apparently... those nine ancient and powerful Summer Immortals had overthrown one of the god worlds of Brilliant Heaven, then killed and buried all the gods there. Thēy had been turned into a dandelion that provided eternal power. The god souls of these gods were trapped, forced to bow, with no choice but to howl in terror and agony. Thēir godly voices just helped the dandelion to grow.

This was immortal essence. Nine Summer Immortals had buried a god world to create it. Immortal essence!

The soil made of the flesh and blood of gods still had well over a hundred corpses in it that had not fully decomposed. Apparently, they were such astonishing entities that it wasn’t even possible to calculate how much time they needed to break down. There was one corpse that caught Xu Qing’s attention. When he saw it, his mind spun, and his body shook so hard it felt like he might collapse. The godsource in him vibrated violently. He even gasped.

īt was the largest of the corpses stuck in the soil of flesh and blood. Unfortunately, because there was no frame of reference to gauge the size of what he was seeing, Xu Qing wasn’t really sure how big the corpse was.

But īts aura was the strongest Xu Qing had ever encountered. Compared to īt, Crimson Mother was like a firefly. In fact, even Grand Emperor Swordsage was like a firefly in comparison. That god had imperial energy!

“That was the former god emperor of this god world,” the palace lord said in her ephemeral voice.

Mind spinning, Xu Qing looked back at the dandelion. It was in full bloom, with countless fluffy seeds growing out of it. They weren’t white. Rather, the dandelion seeds were a mixture of red, yellow, and blue. And there were currently seeds detaching from the dandelion and drifting away into the distance. Presumably, those seeds were techniques and abilities that were being disseminated throughout the countless worlds in Deep Earth. Meanwhile, there were other seeds drifting from the void and merging with the dandelion. There, they would be absorbed, transformed, and then sent out again. It was an endless cycle.

As Xu Qing observed it all, his respect for immortal essence grew even deeper. Taking out one of his soul seeds, he sent it drifting in front of him.

The soul seed glittered with violet light. Under the command of Xu Qing’s divine will, it floated through the ‘window’ and into the void that contained the dandelion. Once it was through the window, its appearance became that of a dandelion seed. Moments later, it was absorbed by the dandelion.

Xu Qing’s divine sense in the soul seed was immediately blotted out, causing the soul seed to become blank. But then the palace lord waved her hand, and the candle light flared, interfering with the process and slowing it down.

“Outsiders can’t directly seek enlightenment from the immortal essence. But when you make a contribution, you have a chance, albeit a fleeting one. Given the scope of my authority, I can make the will from your soul seed last for ten breaths of time. Everything is in your hands. Whatever divine ability you acquire will be up to your personal good fortune.”

Xu Qing could hear the palace lord talking to him, but he couldn’t respond. That was because his mind was currently in chaos. It sounded like endless thunderbolts crashing in his mind. He had entered a state that he didn’t even know how to describe clearly.

He felt like he was in the void with the dandelion, with the soil of flesh beneath him. Compared to the dandelion, he was like one of the seeds: insignificant. He was surrounded by an infinitude of dandelion seeds, each of which contained a host of blurry images that were divine abilities and magical techniques being used.

It seemed that every one was available for him to study. However, there were simply too many, and what was more, all the different levels of techniques were mixed together. Looking through them one by one was obviously not a realistic option. There was just no way that he would be able to identify an appropriate selection in the time at hand. Therefore... Xu Qing had no intention of looking through each one.

Instead, he would survey them as a whole. Both those nearby and those far away were within the range of his divine sense, and thus, he scanned the dandelion seeds hoping to find what he was looking for.

After a few breaths of time passed, his eyes narrowed. He had found one dandelion seed that was different from the others. Instead of flying out into the void, it was returning.

There were figures inside, but unlike the other dandelion seeds which contained many figures, this only contained two. They were sitting cross-legged next to each other.

Furthermore, when Xu Qing looked closely at the dandelion seed, the violet moon power within him reacted. Time was limited, so there was no time to sit around thinking. Thus, Xu Qing decisively sent his divine sense toward that specific dandelion seed.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go smoothly. The seed was some distance away. Most importantly, it was floating along near the corpse of the god emperor. Though it wasn’t right next to the corpse, the corpse still exerted a huge influence in that area. If he waited for the seed to go along its natural course, he would run out of time. By means of his divine will, he could sense that time was running out.

Time to go for broke!

He accelerated rapidly, slipping past all the other seeds. As he got closer, the corpse of the god emperor became clearer. Now that he had a frame of reference, he realized that compared to the corpse, he was like one tiny hair! The might emanating from the god emperor corpse was terrifying. Despite Xu Qing being a good distance away, it still struck his mind like lightning, and caused his body of divine will to nearly collapse.

Before that could happen, he ignited himself, and used the destruction of his own divine will body to get even closer.

He touched the floating dandelion seed. The moment he did, an ancient voice echoed in his mind.

“This world of heaven and earth can be considered a well....”