Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 888: Northyear Greenwood

As the trees with faces wailed, the statues awoke, and the vortex formed overhead, the planet that was the emperor’s tomb was still covered with a terrifying storm. It was apocalyptic, like a heavenly punishment that caused the entire planet to tremble.

Dammit, what bastard messed with the godwardings here??

A person was currently seated cross-legged in a hide tent that offered protection from the wind. It was hard to say what beast the hide was from, but it allowed the tent to stand tall despite the storm. In fact, it kept the wind completely locked down in that specific area.

Of course, the tent couldn’t lock down the heart of Fan Shishuang. As he sat in the tent, he gnashed his teeth and looked outside, his eyes glittering with apprehension. He had two main goals in this god domain. The first was to push his cultivation base to the great circle. The other was to hunt the beings that lived here. Both goals centered on the planet that was the emperor’s tomb. His clan had prepared long and hard for this event. And thus, as soon as he entered this god domain, he had rushed without stopping to this specific place.

How could he have guessed that, as soon as he arrived, the entire planet would suddenly wake up? What was more, he still had not yet completed all the steps to carry out his plan to get inside.

I just have to go for broke!

Gritting his teeth, Fan Shishuang looked down and performed a double-handed incantation gesture as he unleashed a secret magic his clan had prepared.

He wasn’t the only one doing something like that. There were two people elsewhere on the planet who were also cursing whoever had stirred up the godwardings.

They were Sir Heavenink and Tuo Shishan. The former had arrived earlier, while the latter expended a huge amount of effort to escape that huge jellyfish.

When you included Sir Firedark in the mix, it was clear that the top five chosen from the Firemoon Darkheavens’ echelon all had chosen this place as their goal. Each had different ways of getting into the emperor’s tomb, and had prepared years in advance for this moment. But because of the dramatic developments, all were having trouble dealing with the planet. Now, they had to pay a steeper price and also deal with far more danger.

The person they were all cursing was Xu Qing, who, in the interests of pleasing his second god trove, had entered the seventh vortex in the cave.

The moment he entered, it was like stepping through a membrane into a vast void. It was dark, cold, and unfamiliar, and it seemed to go on forever.

None of the senses that worked on the outside seemed to be present here. There were no directions. No paths. No heaven and earth.

Xu Qing even felt his consciousness slowly fading, as if everything around him were turning into darkness and gloom. The natural and magical laws were different from the outside.

It was as if sleep and dormancy were the great daos here, and every person who entered had to conform to this place’s will.

Xu Qing was no exception. He felt his divine will fluctuations fading into nothing. It was as if his mind was falling asleep. The only thing that burned with any intensity was the desire from his second god trove. It was like a bright fire that served as a focal point for Xu Qing’s senses.

Relying on those senses, Xu Qing made his way forward on instinct, like a fish swimming through the darkness.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed. Maybe a century. Maybe a single breath of time. But the longing from his second god trove grew more and more intense, until eventually that little fish breached the surface of the water. He had passed through the void and had now arrived at a scintillating starry sky.

The moment he saw the starlight, his senses all went back to normal. His divine will stirred again, and his dormant thoughts returned.

As he looked into the starry sky, he saw two beings that were so majestic they were almost impossible to describe.

One was an enormous tree that seemed to represent life. The other was a majestic beast that personified terror and evil.

The tree was so huge it took up half of the starry sky. Its gnarled surface was covered with vein-like markings. Branches spread out in all directions, all of them covered with lineaments that seemed to contain natural laws and great daos. There were dao fruits on the tree, as large as planets. Or perhaps it was correct to say that they were planets.

From a distance, it was possible to see its branches spreading out as if to fill the starry sky, while its roots anchored it firmly to the universe around it. That said, it wasn’t a lush tree. It was withered, including both its branches and the planet fruits. It was as if its life force was in decline. Despite being withered, each branch of the tree still radiated a terrifying might that shook the starry sky and influenced the universe.

As for the huge beast, it wasn’t as large as the tree. In fact, it was about half the size. It had the body of an ox and was surrounded by a poison miasma. Appallingly, each of its hairs had a corpse tied to it, creating something like a suit of armor. Its head was the color white, which created a bizarre contrast with the starry sky. It had a single eye that covered most of its face, with a vertical pupil that radiated something nefarious. In addition, it had a tail that was a gigantic snake whose howls could destroy planets.

The huge beast was locked in combat with the tree. The fighting was nearing a peak, with each clash shattering portions of the starry sky, and making it seem like the end of days had come.

Xu Qing looked around, stunned.

Whether it was the huge tree in the starry sky or the terrifying beast, to him they were like gods that he couldn’t possibly resist or affect. He wasn’t sure why they were fighting, but the longing from his second god trove was clearly focused on... the enormous beast!

The moment that Xu Qing’s gaze took in the battle taking place, the terrifying beast’s snake tail whipped around and glared at Xu Qing briefly before striking at him. Its mouth was open as if it wanted to devour Xu Qing and everything around him.

Pupils constricting, Xu Qing shot backward. At the same time, the huge tree stirred, and an enormous leaf dropped down in front of Xu Qing. The leaf was like an entire landmass, but it was mostly withered, with only about twenty percent of it containing life force.

As it passed in front of Xu Qing, his vision swam, and he heard an echoing roar that faded into nothing. When he could see clearly again... the starry sky was gone. The tree was gone. The beast was also gone.

A world stretched out in front of Xu Qing. The sky and lands alike were the color gray. He saw mist in every direction, but nothing alive. Only ruins.

Xu Qing looked around as a thousand thoughts ran through his head. He remembered what he saw after stepping into the seventh vortex, whether that was the icy void or the starry sky with the tree and the beast. Even now, the world in front of him almost didn’t seem real. The only real thing for him was the longing of the second god trove.

That beast elicited a response from the taboo poison god trove.... As for that leaf that dropped down in front of me....

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed.

He wasn’t sure if this world was that leaf, or if it was just the next stop on the journey through the vortex. After a short time passed, he cleared his thoughts, looked around at the gray around him, then cast his senses into the mist. The mist was poisonous.

Xu Qing started moving quickly. A few days later, Xu Qing stopped on a listing tower in some ruins.

This is a withered world with no life. I’d say it’s highly likely it’s actually that leaf.... What’s causing the world to wither is the poison. Long ago, this world was a flourishing place. But now... it’s just collecting dust.

Xu Qing looked down at the mist. He looked around at the ruins. He saw the broken pathways, the skeletons of the buildings, the collapsed temples, and the crumbling statues. Taking it all in, he could almost visualize what this world had been like in its heyday. Now, it was empty and bleak.

Eventually, his gaze came to rest on rubble that had been piled in front of the tower. It was possible to see inscriptions on some of the stones. He waved his hand, and the rubble floated up into the air and pieced together into an enormous, 30,000-meter-tall stone stele. It wasn’t easy to put all the pieces together correctly, but gradually, the stele took shape. From a distance, it was like a beacon of civilization within a world of pure poison.

As that glimmer of civilization appeared, the symbols on the stele became clear. It was hard to make sense of the symbols by just looking at them. But by examining them with divine sense, they became possible to understand.

They explained the history of this place.

This world had once been called Northyear Heaven. It was one of the nine heavens subordinate to the immortal emperor. The immortal emperor made the Greenwood the dao of Northyear, charged with protecting the world and all the countless living beings in it. But the immortal emperor perished. Gods invaded, the nine heavens collapsed, and catastrophe came to all worlds.

Later, an evil spirit tainted the world. It tormented the living beings, caused a plague to spread, filling Northyear, enfeebling its heavenly dao in an attempt to devour it. Most of the living beings in the world fell to the plague, including the cultivators.

There was resistance, including three full-scale revolts. But they all ended in failure.

In the end, the leaders of the world went all out to try to break open the sky. When the rift opened, a beast descended. It had a white head, the body of an ox, and a serpent for a tail. The moment it appeared, the entire world withered and fell into destruction.

As Xu Qing stood atop the listing tower and took in the information from the inscriptions, he came to understand this world, and why it was withered. As for the immortal emperor that the histories mentioned, it seemed likely that he was the one buried in the tomb.

“Northyear and the Greenwood...” he murmured, thinking about the enormous tree he’d seen.

The description of the evil beast was also the same as what he had seen out in that starry sky.

Xu Qing waited a bit longer to see if anything further was going to happen. When nothing did, he prepared to retract his divine will.

But then an ancient voice spoke, from the sky, the land, the air, the stele, and from everything else in this world.

“That evil spirit had a name. Hellfei. When the immortal worlds collapsed and the outside gods invaded, the seven negative emotions from all the living beings that died converged. Young friend from the outside, you’re the first cultivator to come here since the immortal emperor died.... Please. Can you help me?” [1]

Xu Qing’s expression remained neutral. He didn’t look surprised at all. Looking up into the canopy of heaven, he said, “Who are you?”

“The immortal emperor gave me the name Greenwood. I was to protect Northyear as this world’s heavenly dao.”[2]

1. The creature being described is a “fei” or “fei beast” from Chinese mythology. The author adds the hell/underworld character to it to create a somewhat unique name for it. The mythological description is exactly as is described in this chapter, a white head, the body of an ox and a snake for a tail. Here are a few images of artistic depictions. Incidentally, my original novel Legends of Ogre Gate has an entire section of the story about a fei beast. The fei beast in my novel is not the size of a planet lol, but other than that, it’s very similar to the mythological version and the version in this chapter. It’s ox-like, with a snake tail and a poison miasma around it. ☜

2. There was a ‘Greenwood’ tree in I Shall Seal the Heavens. Same Chinese characters, which is why I’m rendering the name the same here. It was relevant in many chapters (too many to list as links), and had some wolves connected to it. I don’t see anything indicating the Greenwood tree in this chapter is supposed to be the same or be connected to the one in ISSTH. Although ‘Greenwood’ seems fairly unique in English, in Chinese, it’s less so. That said, anything is possible. For example, there is also “green wood” mentioned in Renegade Immortal in a few chapters. What’s more, in RI, there is a section in which Wang Lin assumes the name Qing Mu (occasionally incorrectly rendered as Qian Mu), which is the transliteration of this term. ☜