Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1191: Things Are Different in the East

The third round of the Immortal Capital’s Trial of the Hunt was about killing and plunder. There was no set time limit. On some occasions in the past, the third round lasted for a long time, while in other cases it ended quickly.

The reason was that the end of the round was determined by a number. Of the 10,000 Immortal Capital permission medallions that were given out, when only 1,000 remained… a one-month countdown would begin. At the end of the month, the Trial of the Hunt was over.

In terms of the ranking list, it was publicly displayed at all the major orthodox organizations in the Fifth Star Ring. In other words, it was visible to participants and non-participants alike.

As of now… there were 1,000 people with permission medallions. The countdown had begun.

As it did, the rankings became public, and the Fifth Star Ring was shaken. That list contained the combined results of all of the four major planetary systems, and if there were no unexpected changes, it was likely to be the final ranking list.

The most important thing about the list was the top 100. Going back through many Trials of the Hunt, everyone in the top 100 ended up going to the Immortal Capital. Exceptions were exceedingly rare. The top 10 were considered the chosen ones, and they were always the elites of the current generation in the star ring.

After scanning the top 100, just about everyone would focus on the top 10!

To the surprise of everyone, there were only three of the Shining Stars in the top 10. The others… weren’t even on the list! By now, it was no secret why this was the case.

Whether it was the big event in the north or the news from the south, just about everyone had heard about Xu Qing! Other people just tried to snatch whatever permission medallions they could. But he was hunting the Shining Stars.

Jiang Fan had lost to him. Yuanshan Su had chosen to bend the knee. Hordeslayer and Rampart had ultimately given him their medallions. With their light added to his, the star that represented Xu Qing was glittering more brightly than ever. When those Shining Stars were eliminated, they dropped from their high spots on the list, and cultivators that few people had heard of replaced them. But eventually, a familiar name popped into the top 5.

Li Mengtu took 5th place! As the lone Shining Star from the west, he had always been on an upward trajectory.

Above him was Sir Vilespirit, who was in 4th. There was no consensus on whether it was a good or bad thing for him to have such a high rank. At the very least, people agreed that he had earned his place there.

In 3rd place was Xu Qing! Opinions about him were mixed. Although he had collected some medallions from other Shining Stars, there were others on the list who had many more medallions than he did. Everyone was still trying to take advantage of every moment to rise in the rankings. That was why Xu Qing wasn’t in 1st place.

Above him was Zhou Zhengli, who was in 2nd! People weren’t sure what to think about Zhou Zhengli. He had always maintained an image of being kind, charitable, righteous, and strict. But he didn’t have a very impressive presence. For the most part, he always came up in the context of Sir Vilespirit, as if he was predestined to oppose him.

As for 1st place… it was occupied by a name that the vast majority of cultivators in the Fifth Star Ring had never heard of.

Chen Batian! It was a rather inelegant name, so it went without saying that people were taken aback to see it in 1st place.[1]

Because few people were familiar with this person, more people were talking about him than about Xu Qing and how he was hunting Shining Stars. Unfortunately, there was hardly any reliable information about him. Everything was rumor.

Some people claimed he hailed from the eastern planetary system. Others said he had an extreme personality, and that he was both ruthless and lascivious. There were people who said that he had ranked very low in the first and second rounds, and had suddenly risen to the top in the third, for unknown reasons. Yet others claimed that he was bloodthirsty, and had killed every opponent he ever fought. But in the end, those were all just rumors. As a result, the mystery surrounding him grew deeper.

Meanwhile, after the ranking list went public, there was something else that led to widespread astonishment.

Sir Star Ring wasn’t on the list! He was the number one chosen in the Fifth Star Ring, yet he wasn’t in the top 10. In fact, he wasn’t even in the top 100. He wasn’t there at all! A lot of people had speculations.

However, it wasn’t until a Quasi-Immortal finally emerged from the fifth world of the Aurora Immortal Palace that an explanation was provided. The fight between Xu Qing and Sir Star Ring in the fifth world was like a breeze that had long since passed. But now, that breeze returned and became a tempest that raged near and far. At that point, everybody started talking about Xu Qing.

As rumors raged, Xu Qing left the north. By the use of several long-distance teleportation portals, he reached the eastern planetary system on the seventh day of the countdown. There were now only 735 permission medallions left.

He went directly to Mount Taia.[2]

Expression placid, he stepped onto the mountain. Mount Taia was the ninth of the most prominent mountains in the eastern planetary system. It towered majestically into the clouds, its surface pitch black, making it look like a dark blade stabbing up into the sky.

If you looked at it closely, you would see a network of red filaments running through the mountain, almost like blood vessels. According to legend, this mountain… was actually a horn! Supposedly, it was the horn of God Emperor Starhorn, who had served as one of the nine generals of the Fifth Star Ring’s God Paragon! That particular god emperor’s godhood was related to stars, and he was known as the number one God Lord serving under the God Paragon. Of course, very few people knew whether or not that legend was true.[3]

At the moment, someone was seated cross-legged at the very peak of Mount Taia. He was a young man clad in black. There was a grave and stern look to him, as well as some sort of wretched energy. He seemed to exude killing intent. Stabbed into the ground in front of him was a broken sword. His aura was so interconnected with the sword that it was impossible to distinguish between the two of them.

He was none other than Sir Vilespirit. All of a sudden, his eyes opened, and he looked at Xu Qing approaching him.

Xu Qing’s expression was neutral as he took a step forward, placing him about a tenth of the way up the mountain. He stopped walking.

Sitting on a boulder just ahead of him was a small white bottle. The bottle was open, and it exuded an aura that seemed like that of an immortal, but wasn’t. It also seemed like that of a god, yet wasn’t. Swirling within it was some sort of liquid.

When Xu Qing looked at it, the illusory reality emanating from his soul rippled. Obviously, the contents of the bottle were something that could be very beneficial to an immortal embryo.

“Ringsource…” Xu Qing murmured.

Ringsource was the most fundamental power in the thirty-six higher star rings. It formed the origin of gods and the structure of the star rings. Whether it was the godly authority of the gods, or the cultivator authority of the cultivators, substructurally speaking, they all came from ringsource. It was the same with both godhood and canon. It was something higher star rings literally could not be without. When cultivators formed an immortal embryo and then upgraded it to become a mature immortal, they absolutely had to use ringsource!

When all was said and done, if a cultivator was working on converting an immortal embryo into a mature immortal, it was necessary to acquire ringsource, even if it was by stealing it! This bottle could help Xu Qing take his immortal embryo a step further. Although he couldn’t reach the undying level yet, it would still be immensely helpful.

“Well, isn’t this interesting.” Xu Qing waved his hand and collected the bottle. Looking up at the peak of the mountain, he took a second step forward and vanished. When he reappeared… he was in the middle of the mountain.

There on a boulder in front of him was a green bottle. Inside it was a fist-sized clump of crimson clay. It was called god clay, and it was one of the tools Fifth Star Ring cultivators would use to control gods. By molding it into the shape of a god, you could control that god. It went without saying that it was astonishingly valuable.

Xu Qing took it and then stepped forward a third time. When his foot fell, he was near the top of the mountain. Lying in front of him was what appeared to be the stalk of a plant. However, it glittered with faint starlight. Xu Qing was familiar with this type of plant.

“Star ring hemp!” Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Star ring hemp grew in the far reaches of the outer sea in various star rings, and it was exceedingly rare. If you burned it, you could open a passageway between star rings. Star ring hemp was how Xu Qing had originally come to the Fifth Star Ring.[4]

It was smaller than the piece he had used in the past, but it was still extremely valuable. After a long moment, Xu Qing picked up the hemp and took a fourth step forward. When he appeared again, he was at the very top of the mountain, right in front of Sir Vilespirit!

Sir Vilespirit reached out, grabbed his broken sword, and yanked it out of the ground. The entire mountain trembled. Countless red filaments then flowed up the mountain and converged at the peak. It was as if they were being absorbed by the broken sword. Eventually, the sword was pure red. And then, that redness converged on the tip of the sword, where it emerged… as a drop of blood!

The moment that blood appeared, the sky trembled, the winds seethed, and rumbling as loud as heavenly thunder echoed out. Everything in the area rippled and distorted. The rest of the red filaments on the mountain quickly turned dark, and eventually disappeared, as if their last power had been drained away. That drop of blood on the sword became the only color in all heaven and earth!

When Xu Qing looked at the blood, he heard the sound of heavy breathing in his mind. It was Starfire, who seemed very excited.

“That’s the blood of a God Lord! And it’s a God Lord with godly authority similar to mine!! Xu Qing, I must have that drop of blood! If I absorb it, then I’ll not only be able to reach the Altar God level very quickly, but it would make it vastly more possible for me to eventually become a True God!”

Just as Starfire seemed to be on the verge of speaking out loud, Sir Vilespirit waved his hand. The drop of blood flew off the broken sword toward Xu Qing.

“Fellow Daoist Xu, you helped me a lot in the fourth world. The three gifts you took on your way up the mountain are repayment for that. As for this drop of God Lord blood… I broke my promise regarding the fox madam, and am offering this as compensation.”[5]

With that, Sir Vilespirit got to his feet and bowed to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing didn’t respond.

Sir Vilespirit turned and flew off the mountain. The broken sword followed. Once in the air, he bowed again, then became a bright streak of light that shot off into the distance.

Xu Qing watched him go and did nothing to stop him. The four gifts were given in thanks and compensation. But Xu Qing knew that they were also the price Sir Vilespirit was willing to pay to keep his Immortal Capital permission medallion.

“I can’t take all these gifts and then demand the medallion,” Xu Qing murmured, shaking his head. However, he didn’t leave. Instead, he looked at the horizon in the opposite direction. “Isn’t that right, Zhou Zhengli?”

As his words echoed out, ripples flowed over the horizon as Zhou Zhengli appeared. He happened to be carrying an unconscious, burly man. The man was criss-crossed with bloody wounds, and pulsed with an aura of death. He almost seemed like a puppet and not a person.

Zhou Zhengli neared, landed on the mountain in front of Xu Qing, and then tossed the burly man onto the ground. Clasping hands, he bowed respectfully.

“Well met, Young Lord.” He pointed at the burly man. “That guy’s name is Chen Batian. After I left the Fallen Immortal Moors, I tracked him down here in the east. He’s my personal gift to you. Take him. You can then be the number one Shining Star, and you can also take 1st place in the Trial of the Hunt!”

1. Chen Batian: Chen is listed #5 on the list of the 100 most common surnames. Ba means “tyrant, lord, rule by force, usurp” and Tian means “heaven/sky.” I guess you could interpret it to mean something like “lording it over heaven” or something similar. Madam Deathblade’s reaction upon seeing the name was, “this is the name of a bully.” Her reaction conforms to what it says in the paragraph that his name is “inelegant.” ☜

2. I’m transliterating this name as that seems to be the intent of the author. In other words, there is no meaning to the name. Taia in Chinese seems to be an alternate set of characters to describe a sword named Tai E, which was a real sword from ancient Chinese history. Here is a link to an article that mentions it. I also clipped that section of the article to save as an image, because you never know how long websites like that will keep articles up. ☜

3. The term ‘god emperor’ came up previously in chapters 808, 963, 966, 967, and 1007. Back then and now, it is not treated as a cultivation level. God Lord is a cultivation level, and as you can see in this passage, it seems to indicate that this ‘god emperor’ was in the God Lord cultivation level. And if you go back to 1007, you will see that same information stated outright. In other words ‘god emperor’ is a title used by God Lords. ☜

4. Xu Qing used star ring hemp to open the way to the Fifth Star Ring in chapter 1089. ☜

5. Sir Vilespirit uses a slightly different and more respectable form of address than the one used back in the immortal palace, which I’ve reflected by calling her fox madam instead of fox maiden. ☜