Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1094: Fighting an Imperial Sovereign

“Spirit mine?” Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He had considered it likely there would be a guardian. And he had even predicted that it could be an Imperial Sovereign. After all, this was most likely the Fifth Star Ring, and he was dealing with someone who could suppress a Flawless God.

But what did come as a surprise was the term used by the guardian to describe this place. Mines were usually places to gather resources. Based on Xu Qing’s understanding, spirit mines usually contained veins of spirit stone. But in this place… the resources were gods. The life force of gods was being absorbed by the living beings of a minor world, filtered of impurities, and then filtered by powerful cultivators….

The resulting spirit energy would be immeasurably pure. Given that perspective, it did seem proper to call this place a spirit mine.

Those other cultivators mentioned some sort of clan. So did this Imperial Sovereign. This place… must be part of a clan. If this clan has an Imperial Sovereign working as the guardian of a mine, then what kind of cultivation base does the clan patriarch have? And what standing does the clan have in the larger world here?

Xu Qing’s eyes were shining. He was now convinced he had made the right decision, and it seemed more likely than ever that he had reached the Fifth Star Ring.

However, given the fact I got here through the Primeval Sea, why did I end up in that minor world? Was there some circumstance or meddling that sent me there? Maybe I can get some answers from this Imperial Sovereign.

Xu Qing looked up at the figure screaming toward him from the horizon.

Imperial Sovereigns were strong, but Xu Qing had come prepared. He had trump cards that could kill an Imperial Sovereign. But as for this Imperial Sovereign….

I could probably kill him. But he won’t just stand there and let me do it. Therefore… if I need to kill him, I’ll have to get the timing just right. Ideally, though, I’d rather resolve this situation without fighting.

His eyes narrowed as the sound grew deafening, and ripples appeared in the dome covering this place. An instant later, the newcomer arrived with such incredible speed that it looked almost like an eye had opened in midair.

A figure stepped out of it and hovered there. It was a middle-aged cultivator with a wan face, menacing eyes, and a skinny frame that was anything but muscular. He wore a long black robe and was surrounded by swirling red energy that flowed like water and was horrendous in appearance.

Most astonishing was his aura. It caused wild colors to flash, and sent crushing pressure down everywhere. Thunderous rumbling filled the area which made him seem even more majestic. At the same time, sludge rose up from the swamp in all directions and floated in the air toward him. The cultivator almost seemed like a black hole that could drag everything in his direction.

Xu Qing even felt like his gaze was being tugged toward the man.

Even as Xu Qing caught sight of him, the man saw Xu Qing. Looking him up and down, he said, “You’re not one of the slaves that inhabits the spirit mine. Nor do you have the life force of a god. And there are no signs that anyone broke in here.”

He looked down at Xu Qing from above for a moment, and something strange occurred to him. Then he looked at the minor world Xu Qing had emerged from, and his eyes narrowed. Suppressing the killing intent in his heart, he growled, “Looks like you accidentally got into our spirit mine and then killed some of the slaves in charge of assimilating the gods. I can accept that. But I need to know who you are and what you’re doing here. And I need to know how you got in here!”

His voice contained a threatening pressure that filled the area.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Given the way this person had shown up, he was obviously very perceptive.

It’s clear he’s trying to decide what to do with me. Well… I might as well try to get some information as well. After a moment of thought, Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed.

“I am your humble servant Sir Firedark. And you’re right, it’s only because of a random accident that I ended up in your noble lands—”

“What kind of accident?” the man interrupted, his eyes gleaming.

Xu Qing frowned slightly but stayed calm. “I was exploring a spatial rift.”

The middle-aged cultivator laughed, and his eyes gleamed with strange light. “Exploring? I doubt that. The minor worlds of this spirit mine are separated from the major world outside, in a different spatial dimension. The chances of you accidentally getting inside by means of a spatial rift might as well be zero.

“Now, you have a seventh-level Smoldering God cultivation base, so it makes sense you could kill those slaves before they could power up. But what is less logical… is that you could slash open the sky of that world…. That’s something you don’t see very often. In fact, only a truly spectacular chosen could possibly accomplish it.”

The gleam in the cultivator’s eyes grew more intense. “But a chosen cultivator… couldn’t possibly be ignorant of the rules governing spirit mines. And a chosen would know that spirit mines are very sensitive locations. That’s why my original question involved your background.

“It seems to me that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Add in the fact that the aura of a foreign star ring still lingers on you, and my guess is… that you’re not a local cultivator, are you?”

Xu Qing’s face remained expressionless in the face of the cultivator’s words. Instead of saying anything, he waited to see if this Imperial Sovereign would keep talking.

“According to what I’ve heard…” the Imperial Sovereign went on, “before this place dried up into a swamp, it was called the Primeval Sea. And very occasionally, cultivators from other star rings will try to get here to the Fifth Star Ring by going through the Primeval Sea. That said, in order to do that, you need to have a Lower Immortal cultivation base…. Of course, occasionally you’ll run into chosen cultivators who use other ways to get here. But most chosen like that will come with a dao protector.”

The middle-aged cultivator chuckled and looked at Xu Qing with a flash of greed in his eyes. “And yet there you stand avoiding my questions. That just proves that you’re nervous. You don’t want to reveal who you really are. And that goes to show that you don’t have a dao protector….

“You’re a foreign cultivator from another star ring, aren’t you? You must have a lot of information about that other star ring in your head. Such information would be very valuable to me.”

The cultivator laughed loudly. Eyes shining with even greater intensity, he extended his right hand and pointed at Xu Qing. A huge finger made of natural and magical laws formed in midair. It couldn’t have been clearer to see, and even had fingerprints on it. As the finger grew larger and larger, so did the prints, becoming like huge valleys.

It overtook the dome of heaven, then began to rumble toward Xu Qing like Mount Tai itself. The aura of an Imperial Sovereign erupted everywhere, creating astonishing pressure.

Looking at the finger through narrowed eyes, Xu Qing backed up quickly. The fact that this cultivator had deduced so much from the handful of words Xu Qing had spoken indicated that he was very shrewd. At the same time, Xu Qing had learned a lot based on how the man had reacted.

For one thing, he had indeed reached the Fifth Star Ring. There had been no mistake in his journey. That had been his biggest concern. Everything made sense now that he had learned that the Primeval Sea here had dried up. Now it made sense how he had ended up in this spot.

What was more, the middle-aged cultivator had confirmed something else for him. And that was… there weren’t other powerful experts from this man’s clan in the area. In fact, it seemed possible that this location was a good distance away from the clan itself. That would explain why the man was so interested in whether or not Xu Qing had a dao protector.

If there were other powerful experts around, or if the spirit mine was located inside the clan, then that wouldn’t really matter. After all, given that this Imperial Sovereign was a spirit mine guardian, it indicated that the clan patriarch was much stronger.

Those thoughts flashed through Xu Qing’s mind, and he suddenly felt very confident. As the finger closed in, his eyes shone brightly, and the five elements erupted within him. It formed a resonance with the five elements in this god prison, and then he waved his hand.

The minor world he had slashed open rumbled, and the dao of the five elements from within it emerged through the rift he had slashed open. It combined with the five elements power from outside, and the heavenly dao hand formed again.

Just when the Imperial Sovereign’s finger was about to hit Xu Qing, the heavenly dao hand swept up from below and grabbed it. It jerked it upward. A huge boom rang out.

The Imperial Sovereign’s finger trembled violently when the five elements hand grabbed it. The magical laws within it fought back, and the natural laws resisted. A string of popping sounds rang out in all directions.

The Imperial Sovereign didn’t seem surprised. He had known from the beginning that Xu Qing was extraordinary. So he lifted his right hand, not to unleash another finger attack, but instead to perform an incantation gesture with five fingers. Then he pushed his hand toward Xu Qing. His five fingers transformed into nine worlds, and the nine worlds became nine devils.

The vicious devils all had different appearances. One carried a mountain on its back and had an enormous belly. One had two heads and carried a sea on its back. One shouldered a world and had a body covered with spikes. One was surrounded by a host of living beings, all screaming in anguish. The others were similarly bizarre. The nine devils all howled and rushed toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was surprised, and immediately halted his forward momentum and fell back. At the same time, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture, causing Six Thieves Deceive Life to appear, and stirring Five Dogs Cleave Immortals within himself.

He attacked, using something that came from the cultivation system back when Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity was in charge of the Revered Ancient mainland. He used… immortal skills!

Xu Qing had an immortal body and immortal skills. During his nine days of study in the minor world previously, he came to realize that they were now even more gruish and powerful. After all, Grand Emperor Immortal Skill had invented those terrifying abilities specifically for cultivators.

This time, instead of the six desires turning into projected emotions, they turned into a massive sea of six desires! That giant sea spread out, becoming a whirlpool that spun faster and faster. The six desires interacted, building on each other to erupt in full fashion.

If humans have desires, then devils have even more intense desires. In the blink of an eye, the nine huge devils trembled head to toe. As the sea of six desires flowed over them, Xu Qing unleashed Five Dogs Cleave Immortals.

A formless will entered the Imperial Sovereign’s sea of consciousness. It tampered with his memories, hiding inside, eluding his senses. And then a white hair appeared in his sea of consciousness, which turned into a vortex. The gate opened.

The greedy dog cleaves to a place.

All of this caused the Imperial Sovereign’s heart to start beating faster. He frowned. He had never seen any magical technique like this.

“Very interesting. Is this some special daoist magic from your star ring?”