Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1230: Mutagen Infects All; Gods Hate Immortals

Each of the thirty-six higher star rings were like massive, independent star charts. The interior of every star ring was boundless. But viewed as a whole, the higher star rings were actually connected, and they made an even larger, irregularly shaped ring that would astonish anyone who could see it.

In the middle of the gargantuan ring formed by the thirty-six higher star rings, there was a vast, black sea of mutagen! The enormity of it surpassed all other things.

Its name was the Primeval Sea. It was a mysterious, unimaginable place. In the middle of it was a place that only God Paragons could enter, and even then, they would do so with great caution. It had thirty-six main streams which led to the thirty-six star rings. And within each star ring, there were even more tributaries, and they formed that which the cultivators and the gods called… the outer seas!

The war between the Fourth and Fifth Star Rings was being fought on the border between those two locations. It was a place that was part of the Fifth Star Ring, but at the same time, part of the Fourth Star Ring.

Neither the gods nor the immortals were willing to back down, so the war had dragged on for years in a deadlock. Neither side could do much to the other, and for the most part they had held back from taking the fighting to the level of the God Lords.

But then a new God Lord appeared in the Fourth Star Ring! That God Lord was deployed to the front lines, and the tide of battle instantly shifted. Immortal Lord Deepgloom had met his match for the first time in his life!

The fighting reached a point where it surpassed the level of mere daoist magics and god magics. The fight between the God Lord and the Immortal Lord was something that ordinary gods and immortals couldn’t even see clearly.

Even True Gods and Lower Immortals couldn’t fully comprehend a fight between a God Lord and an Immortal Lord. They could only vaguely sense what was happening. That was because the core of a battle on the level of God Lords and Immortal Lords came down to momentum!

To the cultivators in the war, Immortal Lord Deepgloom provided the momentum. He surpassed the heavenly daos, and was part of the determination of the Fifth Star Ring itself. His will was paramount on the battlefield. As he stood there, he represented the unique energy of immortal cultivators, which could drive away mutagen! If all of that mutagen were to be driven away, and replaced by immortal energy, then the situation with the war would completely change.

In fact, if the day came when the mutagen of the Fourth Star Ring were to be driven out, and replaced by immortal energy, then…. Without mutagen, without the aura of the gods, well, the gods… would be like fish out of water. No matter how they struggled, they would basically end up the same as the gods in the Fifth Star Ring. That was the line of research the Fifth Star Ring had been pursuing in their hopes of subduing the gods.

The aura of the gods was mutagen. It was poison to cultivators, and could infect all things. Immortal energy was the aura of immortals. It was anathema to gods, and could harm them without even touching them. That was the source of a powerful momentum.

Of course, the God Lord was aware of that. So when the new God Lord arrived at the front lines, the result was boundless mutagen spreading everywhere. It overwhelmed everything, including the immortal energy.

And thus, the war between the Fourth and Fifth Star Rings, viewed from the highest of levels, was a conflict between a God Lord and an Immortal Lord. It was a clash between mutagen and immortal energy. And both sides were trying to build up their own momentum!

Even if the gods didn’t follow the conventions of war and went on the offensive, it wouldn’t change anything. In order to fundamentally do anything, they needed to affect the clash between mutagen and immortal energy. The mutagen in the Fourth Star Ring was very strong, but so was the immortal energy in the Fifth Star Ring. If either side tried to invade the other, they would become much weaker. And thus, they nibbled away at each other, each side trying to build up momentum to create a critical moment.

Therefore, both gods and immortals in the Lord level were extremely important in the war. As Lords, they could both consolidate and fight over momentum. Because no one else could understand a fight between a God Lord and an Immortal Lord, all they saw was a swirling mass of immortal energy and mutagen.

As for the cultivators, they were watching to see their Immortal Lord gain the upper hand. When that happened, the immortal energy would spread and drive away the mutagen. The moment that happened, they would rush out to plant special dao flags from the Fifth Star Ring. The dao flags would mark an area as being occupied with immortal energy, and it would signify an expansion of Fifth Star Ring territory. Then, orders would be given to advance into the territory of the gods to destroy their foundation. It was a snowball effect, as the more territory fell, the more momentum they built up. That, in turn, supported the Immortal Lord, and shifted the tide of battle in his favor.

However, the same thing happened on the side of the gods. When the God Lord gained the upper hand, the cultivators were prevented from planting dao flags. In fact, dao flags could be destroyed, and mutagen would spread far and wide.

The end result was that, viewed from high above, the field of battle was an interchange between black and white. The black was the mutagen. The white was the immortal energy. It was like a black and white ink painting that was constantly shifting and flowing back and forth. That was how war was waged between the gods and immortals.

The war was about momentum. Every attack influenced the field of battle, and the two armies’ actions influenced the battle between the Lords.

It was very intense. Deaths occurred constantly. That was just what happened when the strong clashed with the strong.

In the rear echelon of a battlefield that was as wide as countless universes, over a hundred squadrons from the Department of Acquisitions were arriving at a teleportation portal.

One of them was the same squadron that had caused some trouble for Xu Qing and the other ascendees back to the planet that was the home base of the Department of Acquisitions. Upon materializing, they looked around with very serious expressions. Then, under the cold gazes of the warriors guarding the teleportation portals, they hurried off into the distance.

The Acquisitioners were now Transporters, and their mission was to disperse through the battlefield and deliver ringsource to the eastern theater of the war. There was a desperate need for ringsource there!

The light of teleportation faded away, and Xu Qing appeared with his squadron. An unfamiliar starry sky stretched out overhead, and the atmosphere was somber. The immortal energy was scarce, and it was even possible to see wisps of mutagen floating here and there.

Many of the ascendees felt out of sorts. To most of them, war had been some distant thing. Though most of them had experienced a lot of fighting in their lives, virtually none of them had experience in war. They could even hear occasional booms coming from the front lines, or indescribable roars coming from other universes. Chaotic fluctuations rolled through space, and there was a unique and sinister coldness that only death could bring….

Most of the ascendees were in a daze. Instinctively, they looked around to take in their surroundings.

However, before any of them could see much, a warrior cultivator on guard duty yelled at them.

“You lot, hurry up and get on with your delivery!”

The voice boomed louder than thunder into the hearts and minds of the squadron. It contained a mountain-toppling, sea-draining force, like a tempest that could crush anything in its path.

Everyone was visibly taken aback. It was the voice of a Lower Immortal!

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted. He was no stranger to war. Though he had never fought in a war this massive, he was naturally more prepared mentally for what war was like. He immediately flew off the teleportation portal. The other cultivators in the squadron followed.

The closer they got to the battlefield, the more dangerous things would get, and by extension, the more they felt the need to stick together as a team. That was just how human nature worked.

Xu Qing had the strongest battle prowess of them all, and his status was far above theirs. Sticking close to him was their greatest chance of surviving.

As for Xu Qing, his heart was sinking. As he sped along, he looked off into the distance, and took time to sense his surroundings. He was more sensitive to mutagen than the rest of them, and he could sense that the mutagen was getting stronger as they made their way forward.

If they need ringsource so badly… then why don’t they send stronger people to deliver it? That would be much more efficient. Why send people as weak as us to the front lines?

The more he thought about the situation, the less it made sense. And as he felt the mutagen getting stronger, his speculations went wild. After a while, he had a theory.

Around the time that the theory coalesced in his mind, he heard a whistling sound behind him as Sir Star Ring, Zhou Zhengli, Sir Vilespirit, Yuanshan Su, and everyone else caught up to him. Eyes narrowing, he looked at them.

Sir Star Ring’s expression was grim as he said, “Xu Qing, my canon senses are telling me that the order in this area is fractured. Everything is chaotic. Something isn’t right!”

Sir Vilespirit licked his lips and added, “As all of you know, I’m different from the rest of you. My canon isn’t the result of enlightenment. I have a special canon treasure. My broken sword. Well, whenever I’m about to run into a deadly crisis, it gets very excited. And right now, it’s more excited than it’s ever been!”

Zhou Zhengli looked extremely serious. After Sir Star Ring and Sir Vilespirit were done talking, he lowered his voice and said, “Your Majesty, it doesn’t make sense for us to be sent here. I have a theory. Is it possible that we—” He glanced around at everyone “—are bait?? It’s not that our squadron is being targeted specifically. Rather, the Acquisitioner squads are being sent here with ringsource… to turn them all into bait!”

Everyone scowled. Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. That was the exact same theory he had come up with!

“Right now,” he said, “we’re in cultivator territory. If we’re being thrown out as bait here, it implies….”

He trailed off, only to have his sentence finished by Yuanshan Su.

“It implies that something big is about to happen here!” she said. “They want to lure out any gods that are hidden in this area, all to make sure things here are more stable after that event occurs!”