Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1200: Daoforge Universe

“Sacrificial offerings….” Starfire’s words caused a profound look to appear in Xu Qing’s eyes. For a moment, he was lost in thought. Then he looked up and calmly said, “Since further exploration is going to be hard, let’s shelve this matter for the time being.”

With that, he floated back up through the Inkland black hole.

Starfire breathed a sigh of relief. After dredging up the memories that revealed what this place was, shē had begun to feel very uneasy about exploring it further. And the aroma of rust had stricken hēr with outright fear. After all, they had no idea who took the primeval higher star pin, nor when they would return…. If, by chance, that person happened to return when shē and Xu Qing were exploring the place, then they would definitely be wiped out of existence.

Of course, Starfire knew that things would most likely not play out that way. What shē was really afraid about was the unknown at the bottom of the Inkland. Whatever was down there, it was something mysterious and dangerous that surpassed hēr omniscience.

Seeing that Xu Qing was abandoning the exploration, shē breathed a sigh of relief and followed him away.

And thus, the two of them flew out of the Inkland. Once out in the open, Xu Qing tossed the fishing pole to Starfire.

Shē caught it, and being able to guess what Xu Qing meant by the gesture, shē looked at him begrudgingly. “What’s this mean, naughty boy? You’re going to go out and have fun while I stay behind fishing for you?”

Xu Qing nodded. That was exactly what he was planning to do. “I have ten months left before I need to go to the Reception Universe. Time is limited, and I still need to go cash in one of my ascendee rewards. If things go quickly, it’ll take a few months. If they go slowly, it might be half a year. I’ll return as soon as I’m done.

“In the meantime, High God, I’d like your assistance in the fishing effort. The more ringsource you can get, the better.”

Without waiting for Starfire to agree to the plan, he turned to leave.

Starfire watched him go with a cold harrumph that ended in a pout. Polite words, but he sounded like he was giving orders. The little punk… has really grown up. How dare he talk to me like that! Although, seeing him like that just makes me like him even more.

Starfire couldn’t help but lick her lips. Then she waved her delicate hand out, and immediately, a sea of flowers appeared outside the Inkland. The flowers bloomed, and out of them stepped a host of bewitchingly charming young women. They were all manifestations of her god magic, and they were extremely lifelike. A buzz of conversation and music drifted out.

It was almost like the Hundred Flowers Palace had returned. Naturally, luxurious divans appeared, along with immortal fruits and spirit alcohol.

Starfire already seemed to be enjoying hērself. Lying down on one of the divans like the senior consort of the imperial harem, shē flicked the fishing rod and sent the line down into the Inkland. Then shē popped an immortal fruit into hēr mouth, helped hērself to some spirit alcohol, and settled down to enjoy the music.

No one intentionally treats themselves badly in life.

***

As Xu Qing departed, he sensed what was going on outside the Inkland.

Everyone had their own likes and dislikes. He understood that. Starfire preferred to enjoy hērself. Shē liked a clamor of activity, while Xu Qing liked peace and quiet. But it didn’t matter the surroundings. As long as shē fished up some ringsource, he didn’t care what else shē did.

And thus, he used his immortal slip to leave the Inksun Universe and head in the direction of… the Daoforge Universe! Whether it was the possibility of upgrading the canon in magical treasures or having a Lower Immortal forge some equipment, both could happen in the Daoforge Universe.

Naturally speaking, the place was very special. In fact, it was definitely a universe that could be called a strategic resource. It was the heart of the equipment forging tradition in the Nineshores Heaven.

In fact, the mere structure of the universe itself was absolutely astonishing. There were no star domains in the Daoforge Universe. There were no galaxies, and there were no planets. There was only one magnificent and astonishing forge complex, which took up seventy percent of the entire Daoforge Universe. It was really that incomprehensibly large.

As for the fire that heated the forge houses in the complex, it came from… innumerable stars fixed in place below! All of the stars in the Daoforge Universe had been moved underneath the forge to heat it. That said, it wasn’t just Daoforge Universe stars that provided the heat. In order to ensure the forge flames were as hot as they could be, stars were plucked from other universes and added to the mix. Another source of heat was godfire. By combining all of those things, it was possible to power the countless subsidiary forge houses operated by millions upon millions of expert smiths that operated them.

From a distance, the forge didn’t look much different from a sun. It was just more astonishing and magnificent. And it ensured that this universe was one unified structure.

Emerging from the forge complex were countless glowing bands of light, stretching off in all directions. Each of those bands was occupied by hosts of cultivators. Anyone in the Nineshores Heaven who needed forging services, as long as they qualified, would come to this place. As a result, the Daoforge Universe was always filled with a clamor of activity.

When Xu Qing appeared, he was on one of those bands of light. As he looked around, he heard the rise and fall of conversation. He felt the waves of heat coming from the forge complex. And it was all a bit dazzling.

What an amazing place….

Without pausing for a moment, he started moving through the crowd along the band of light. Eventually, he reached a black altar at the end of the band of light where people were waiting in line.

There was a huge demand for the services provided by the Daoforge Universe, so on each of the bands of light, there were large numbers of people waiting for their turn. Of course, there were astonishing numbers of smiths working at the forge, so wait times usually weren’t very long. Most people sat cross-legged and worked on cultivation while they waited. When their turn came, they would get onto the altar, crush their jade slip, and turn into a beam of light as they were teleported into the forge entrance.

Days passed in flash.

Xu Qing spent some time observing the forge complex. It was divided into three overall sections: the Main Concourse with Landings 1-3; the Central Concourse with landings 4-6; the High Concourse with Landings 7-9. The Main Concourse had the most forge houses, and the higher you went, the fewer forge houses there were.

The vast majority of cultivators who teleported in from the bands of light would go to the Main Concourse or the Central Concourse. It was less common to go to the High Concourse. In fact, Xu Qing never saw anyone go there. He had some speculations about why that was.

A few more hours passed as various cultivators went to the altar and teleported away. Finally, it was Xu Qing’s turn. Taking a deep breath, he walked onto the altar and took out the immortal slip he had been given as a reward.

Just as he had seen everyone else do, he crushed the slip. There was a pop as the immortal slip crumbled and was absorbed into the altar. Then, a power swept out, turning into a beam of light that swept him up into the air. Astonishingly, the beam of light… took him toward High Concourse Landing 7!

A lot of people on the band of light noticed, and many shocked glances focused on the teleportation light. A buzz of conversation also rose up.

“Can you believe it! Someone just went to Landing 7!”

“The forge houses in the High Concourse are operated by immortal smiths!”

“Normally speaking, only cultivators who have made major contributions of service qualify to go there….”

“I bet you that was one of the new ascendees. The ones in the top ten get some very special rewards!”

Everyone sounded envious. The truth was that it was rare to get a chance to have a Lower Immortal forge equipment.

Of course, Xu Qing had no idea how the crowd outside was reacting. He was swept through the beam of light and soon found himself at the entrance of a forge house on Landing 7. He felt his face battered by heat as, to his surprise, he realized he was standing in front of a massive fire pit.

Seated cross-legged next to the fire pit was an old man in a red robe who pulsed with a terrifying aura.

Xu Qing’s expression became very somber. He could tell that this was, indeed, an immortal! He bowed deeply.

The old man didn’t open his eyes. In fact, he didn’t even speak with words. He just used divine will. “What do you want forged?”

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing took out the geomantic compass he had acquired that was a canon treasure. He also took out the mote of heaven’s principle. After a moment of thought, he also took out the Sageheaven Pagoda. [1]

With utmost respect, he said, “Senior, I would like to refine this geomantic compass, and use the materials, along with heaven’s principle, as well as your canon, to forge a treasure that corresponds to my personal canon!”

“What form do you want it to take?” the old man asked with divine will.

“A skewer!” Xu Qing waved his hand and summoned an illusory version of the iron skewer that had long been at his side.

Then he pointed to the geomantic compass. “Senior, I would also like your help extracting the canon from that geomantic compass and putting it into my pagoda.”

This time, the old man opened his eyes. Terrifying pressure radiated off him and onto Xu Qing. “Your reward was for one forging job.”

Xu Qing bowed his head. “Senior, I also was rewarded with one opportunity to augment a canon treasure.”

“That’s not my job,” the old man said coolly. He looked Xu Qing up and down. “Wait, you’re Xu Qing?”

Xu Qing nodded.

The old man smiled. “So, you’re the 1st place ascendee…. Well, fine then. I’ll help you, just this once.”

The old man waved his finger, and terrifying mightiness emerged from its tip. It landed on the geomantic compass, which trembled and collapsed into dust. The impurities within it were removed, leaving behind only its quintessence. As for the canon, he extracted it without damaging it, then waved his finger again to send it into the pagoda.

Next, a burst of flame emerged from the fire pit. It swept around the pagoda, causing the canon within to harmonize. Then the structure of the pagoda shattered, only to be put back together by the fire. Afterward, it was not only back in one piece, it was far stronger than before.

Having accomplished that, the old man started working on the magical treasure Xu Qing had requested. He took the purified geomantic compass as well as the mote of heaven’s principle, and he combined them. After some thought, he then took out a palm-sized piece of green stone to add into the mix. More flame emerged from the fire pit, which surrounded the new object, burning and refining it, until… an iron skewer appeared within it.

After it had taken shape, the old man suddenly said, “Your canon!”

Having watched the old man work, Xu Qing could tell that he was definitely a grandmaster. Without hesitation, he excitedly sent out his canon of parallelism. It entered the sea of flames and fused into the iron skewer. The iron skewer vibrated, and suddenly a kaleidoscope of images appeared around it.

Xu Qing’s eyes lit up. It worked!

1. Xu Qing got the geomantic compass in chapter 1145. ☜