Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1194: A Reward from the Nineshores Heaven!

From the land of origin, a hundred ships had sailed into the Immortal Capital. It was the grand, majestic tradition of the four great planetary systems of east, west, south and north.

What they found out after arriving wasn’t necessarily top secret. After all, there were immortals in all four of the orthodox organizations, as well as some core Quasi-Immortals, who knew the truth.

The Immortal Capital was actually a project being carried out by cultivators after taking over the Fifth Star Ring. It was a project designed to nurture pureblooded humans. The project had gone on in the past, and it would continue to go on in the future.

To the upper echelons of leadership in the Fifth Star Ring, cultivators weren’t nourished and nurtured. They were born out of struggle. They went against the stream and fought to survive. It reflected how the cultivators from a minor world had eventually fought their way to the point of overthrowing the gods that had ruled the Fifth Star Ring.

They did not want to lose that spirit! They did not want greenhouse flowers. They wanted like-minded people who never let go of their killing intent and their determination to strive forward. Only cultivators like that counted as being pureblooded humans that could be responsible for the future, and could survive in the higher star rings, surrounded by gods.

Low-level cultivators might need special circumstances to develop such qualities. But it was built into these cultivators who had just ascended. The cultivators who had reached this point were resolute individuals who had developed their own ways of understanding and perceiving things. Those with similar ideals could walk together. Those with dissimilar ideals would not be forced to stay. It was a demonstration of the confidence of the Fifth Star Ring cultivators.

Unfortunately, the rest of the thirty-six higher star rings were lands occupied by gods, so those with dissimilar ideals… would have to become gods if they wanted to go somewhere else. The factions had long since been determined.

That was why the Immortal Capital’s Trial of the Hunt was held over and over again. It was also why Immortal Lord Nineshores had called them ascendees! They had ascended from their homeland.

The rules of the Fifth Star Ring stated that whichever Immortal Lord was reigning over the current epoch would accept all of the ascendees into their immortal palace. It was currently the Nineshores epoch. Therefore, Xu Qing and the rest of the cultivators responded to the voice of Immortal Lord Nineshores by flying off the pillars.

They shot… right toward Immortal Lord Nineshores’ heaven beyond heaven made of countless planetary systems, galaxies, star whirlpools, star domains, and universes.

The instant Xu Qing entered, a plethora of stars appeared before his eyes, like infinite star charts. There was no limit. There was no end. It was so vast, and the cultivators were so insignificant, that they felt like ants.

Then, someone spoke in a majestic voice.

“This, which occupies only a small percentage of the Fifth Star Ring, is… the Nineshores Heaven!”

It was not Immortal Lord Nineshores. The owner of the voice appeared in front of Xu Qing and the others, and he was an old man in a white daoist robe. He had the demeanor of a transcendent being, like someone who could tread through starry skies and universes.

“I am Xu Daoyun, a reception elder here in the Nineshores Immortal Palace. I am tasked with receiving you and offering a bit of an explanation along the way.”

His gaze swept over them, and all of them trembled inwardly. Those who had canon treasures felt such treasures dimming as if they were being suppressed. Those with true canon had it slightly better off, but still felt as if the gaze were weighing down on their canon and making it difficult to operate. It was a gaze that pierced into the depths of even Xu Qing and Sir Star Ring, and left them feeling powerless to resist.

Xu Qing had experienced something like this before. Back in Revered Ancient, he had stood with Grand Emperor Swordsage and faced a Lower Immortal who wanted to enter the mainland. The feeling was similar. The difference was that the feeling now was far more intense.[1]

Immortal…!

Xu Qing took a deep breath. Sir Star Ring also bowed his head. To him, this old man was giving him a sensation similar to his Master. If the two strongest members of the group of one hundred felt that way, there was little need to mention the others. All of them quickly bowed.

The old man’s expression remained the same as he continued, “There is no end to the heavenly bodies in the Nineshores Heaven. New heavenly bodies are born constantly, and old ones fall. The orbits are not eternal. The star domains are not fixed in place. The universes rise and fall.

“Assuming there are no setbacks, then this is where you will practice cultivation going forward. Furthermore, as cultivators who have ascended from the homeland, you will now be given a reward!

“Everyone here will be given a universe in the Nineshores Heaven to serve as your mansion grotto! All of the star domains, star whirlpools, galaxies, and planets within it belong to you!”

All hearts surged with excitement.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered at the generosity of the Fifth Star Ring, and the importance with which it treated ascendees! All the resources of a universe were being given to help one person grow stronger! It could well be imagined that even a relatively barren universe would still have vast amounts of immortal energy in it. That wasn’t to mention all of the other items and resources it would contain.

It was definitely proper to say that whoever got this reward would be… paramount in the universe they were given!

Even Xu Qing was moved by this reward. Yet the anticipation he felt in his heart continued to grow more intense. And that was because he had taken 1st place. It went without saying that his reward wouldn’t be limited to this.

The white-robed old man once again spoke. “The universe is only the first reward. But before moving onto the second, I need to address the 1st place ascendee….” His gaze shifted to Xu Qing. “There are certain special universes in the Nineshores Heaven, and each one is considered a strategic resource. Since you took 1st place… you are hereby rewarded with a first-class universe. The Inksun Universe! Later on, you can discover for yourself what’s so special about it.

“Now, as for the second reward…. Everyone will receive a treasure or canon augmentation. For those of you who have magical treasures with no canon, you can have canon added to them. Those who already have canon in a magical treasure can have it improved. Or you can request to have the canon taken out of the treasure and put inside of you! It will be your choice how to use this reward.

“In addition, those who made it into the top 10 will be given the chance to have a Lower Immortal personally forge you a piece of equipment. To take advantage of this reward, you can go to the Daoforge Universe! Few people can ever get a destined opportunity like this, so treasure it, all of you.”

At this point, the old man’s gaze shifted from the top 10 in general to once again focus on Xu Qing. “Since you took 1st place, you will be given one opportunity to visit the Heroic Immortal Tombs. Here in the Nineshores Heaven, the Heroic Immortal Tombs have served for countless years as a place to inter the bodies of Lower Immortals who fell in battle. There, you can find canon and immortal treasures, all of which can be acquired based on your own good fortune.”

As the old man spoke, Xu Qing could feel everyone else looking at him. Clearly, their gazes were full of envy. That was especially true of people like Hordeslayer and Rampart, who had once been in the Shining Stars, and had benefited from help and equipment provided by Lower Immortals.

Other than the universe, the other rewards weren’t very enticing to them. But when they heard about the Heroic Immortal Tombs, they couldn’t help but fill with longing. After all, though they might have benefited from the help of a Lower Immortal, there was no way that such a Master would pass on canon to them unless it was unneeded. And they wouldn’t give up their most powerful and useful canon treasures. After all, they were still alive.

But the Heroic Immortal Tombs were different. They contained the remains of dead Lower Immortals, and the canon there would be masterless. And any treasures they left behind… as long as they hadn’t been destroyed in the battle that led to their death, would definitely be spectacular.

Any other type of good fortune would be similar. The destined opportunities in the Heroic Immortal Tombs were like true legacies! Even Sir Star Ring was sighing inwardly.

It was only natural that Xu Qing understood how precious of an opportunity he was being given, so he ducked his head and bowed.

Looking away from him, the old man continued, “The Nineshores Heaven isn’t just the location of your mansion grotto going forward. You will also be given an official assignment here. However, you will be given some time to rest and enjoy your rewards. One year. A year from now, you will be summoned to the Reception Universe, where the relevant personnel will make arrangements for your assignment. And now, you’re all dismissed.”

The old man waved his hand, and a host of wooden immortal slips flew out toward the hundred cultivators.

In the vast majority of cases, each cultivator got two immortal slips. One was a teleportation talisman leading to the universe that they had been rewarded with, while the other would augment a treasure or canon. A handful of people got three immortal slips, with the extra one being the opportunity to have equipment forged by a Lower Immortal. Xu Qing was the only one who got four!

After distributing the immortal slips, the old man said nothing more. He simply faded away into nothing.

After he was gone, some people left excitedly. However, most of them didn’t leave. Instead, they hurried over to Xu Qing. They had all arrived together, and no one knew what post they would be assigned to. For all anyone knew, they might end up working together. And since Xu Qing had taken 1st place, he would surely start out with an important position. Obviously, the smartest thing to do was try to befriend him.

As people clustered around Xu Qing and made small talk, Sir Star Ring flew off looking proud and aloof. He soon disappeared. Yuanshan Su hesitated for a moment before making the choice to leave.

It almost wasn’t necessary to mention Hordeslayer and Rampart. They rushed away at the earliest possible moment, worried that if they didn’t get away quickly enough, Xu Qing might order them to come over to him. They definitely did not want everyone seeing them being under his control, or possibly rushing over to him excitedly…. The mere thought of such a scene left them feeling uncomfortable.

Xu Qing paid little attention to them as he exchanged words with the other ascendees. Then, after they had given each other transmission jade slip contact information, the ascendees began to depart.

Now that Zhou Zhengli and Sir Vilespirit had ascended to the Nineshores Heaven, it seemed that their previous violent animosity for each other had changed. Though they hadn’t been standing next to each other, it spoke volumes that they stayed behind after everyone else had left.

“See you in a year, Brother Xu!” Sir Vilespirit said, clasping hands before leaving.

Zhou Zhengli and Li Mengtu were the last to leave. The former smiled in the same self-deprecating way as always.

“Young Lord, my guess… is that a year from now, the whole lot of us are going to get the same assignment.” With that, he respectfully departed.

Sighing inwardly, Li Mengtu exchanged a glance with Xu Qing, then turned to leave. Just before departing, he said, “Any time. Just say the word. I owe you my life. And more.”

Xu Qing watched them all leave. Then he smiled and, eyes gleaming with anticipation, made his way off into the distance. Then he sent his divine will into the teleportation slip and… vanished.

He was heading to his very own… Inksun Universe!

1. Grand Emperor Swordsage and Xu Qing faced the Lower Immortal in chapter 1086. Remember that in Chinese, Lower Immortal and Summer Immortal are pronounced exactly the same. ☜