Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1237: Lieutenant General!

The border between the staging areas of the eastern theater and the front lines consisted of magnificent, never-ending ramparts. The walls glittered with dazzling light as they spanned galaxies and universes. They served to completely isolate the staging areas from the front lines.

At a certain point along those endless ramparts, Xu Qing’s hoarse voice rang out. The exhaustion in his voice matched the exhaustion that the eighteen surviving members of his squadron couldn’t hide. They stood there quietly as the majestic will from the ramparts scanned them. And they could sense their identity medallions responding to the inspection.

From a distance, they were insignificant in comparison to the ramparts. After their identities had been verified, the will slowly retracted. Then the walls rippled, and an opening appeared. It was a small path.

On the other side of the path, beyond the opening, were over a hundred cultivators, just barely visible, but clearly looking closely at the group. They seemed surprised.

Xu Qing took little note of their facial expressions. He could guess why they were reacting this way. We’re probably the only squadron that made it through.

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing flew onto the path, followed by Zhou Zhengli and everyone else. After they were all on the path, the opening disappeared, and the ramparts went back to the way they were before, glittering and impassable.

***

Inside the ramparts was gentle starlight and strong immortal energy.

After Xu Qing and everyone was present, the more than one hundred cultivators unblurred, making their facial features and expressions clear. Their gazes were those of astonishment and curiosity, leaving Xu Qing and the others feeling like they were rare oddities.

Xu Qing became more convinced than ever of his theory. Looking at the assembled cultivators, he said, “Where do we hand over the ringsource?”

A middle-aged cultivator in black armor stepped forth, looked them over, and finally fixed his gaze on Xu Qing.

“The lieutenant general has summoned you. My squadron will escort you there safely.”

Xu Qing’s heart thumped in his chest. Given his previous experience in cultivator wars, he knew a bit about how the departments and ranks worked.

He was aware that Immortal Lord Deepgloom was in charge of the war effort, and made major strategic decisions. Beneath him were three ministers of war, who commanded the three major war zones, those being the eastern theater, the central theater, and the western theater. Responsibilities in each of the theaters was divided among several lieutenant generals.

In this part of the front lines of the eastern theater, the highest-ranking officer would be the lieutenant general. And now, right as they had arrived, he had summoned them for an audience. This just seemed to confirm Xu Qing’s theory.

Sir Star Ring and the others exchanged glances. Zhou Zhengli’s spirits seemed to lift.

Finally, Xu Qing said, “We shall follow the orders of the lieutenant general!”

The middle-aged cultivator nodded slightly. Then, after a moment of consideration, he instructed some of his subordinate cultivators to give some healing medicinal pills to Xu Qing and his people. After that, they blurred into motion.

Xu Qing and his people followed. And thus, under the protection of this group of cultivators, they made their way through the front lines of the eastern theater toward the lieutenant general’s camp.

After their journey through multiple universes, via many teleportations, moving through the front lines seemed like looking at a scroll painting. Along the way, they saw numerous heavenly bodies being gathered to serve as tents. They were packed densely and were too numerous to count.

Some heavenly bodies were being dragged across a swirling whirlpool that seemed like rivers, which tugged at the starlight to create a dazzling scene. The flame of the life force within them was astounding, and pulsed with an energy that left Xu Qing and the others shocked.

There were also terrifyingly huge dharma statues trudging through the starry sky, dao flags hoisted behind their backs. They pulsed with terrifying pressure as they went about various missions.

Xu Qing also saw numerous suns. Each sun had a huge face on it that seemed to absorb the heat and fire of the sun and turned it into nutrients. After taking in enough nutrients, the faces would fly up and transform into dazzling butterflies that flapped their wings and flew off into distant parts of the starry sky. Ths chapter is updatd by N0veI.Fiɾe.net

Overall, the cultivators seemed to be waiting in combat readiness. The mood was solemn.

If Xu Qing and his squadron had been sent directly to the front lines, they would probably be impressed. But they had just gone through the staging areas and experienced chaos and slaughter. So though these sights were intriguing, they were not shocking. After all, they had gone through a mish-mash of mutagen and immortal energy to get here, not to mention the grindstone of flesh and blood. As a result, this place seemed more like the rear echelon.

As they went along, Xu Qing and his squadron saw a lot of cultivators. Some stuck to themselves, but others stayed in groups. Everyone had responsibilities, and everything was very orderly. The vast majority of cultivators, after noticing Xu Qing and his group, stared at them as they passed.

Xu Qing and his squadron noticed but didn’t react. As they proceeded, they could sense a faint force of rejection coming from the starry sky. It seemed to indicate that they were guests here at the front lines, and had not been completely accepted.

About half a month later, they reached the heavenly body occupied by the lieutenant general.

It was an extremely bright, red-colored sun. It was larger than any sun Xu Qing had ever seen, so much so that the suns from his Inksun Universe seemed like dust in comparison.

It seemed unstable, as if it was constantly sucking in things from the void around it, all while simultaneously ejecting things at top speed. The result was that there was something like a cloud surrounding it. The pressure weighing down on it distorted the starry sky. The starlight in the area bent as if unable to sustain the force. The end result was that the sun seemed like it might explode at any moment and unleash terrifying power. Strangely, the sun actually wasn’t as intensely hot as one might expect.

“That’s a dying sun,” Zhou Zhengli said quietly. “It’s already gone through its primary life cycle, and has become a red giant!”

Everyone else looked at it, their hearts pounding in astonishment. The cultivators who had escorted them on the journey looked deeply at Xu Qing and the others, then clasped hands and left.

Soon, only Xu Qing and his squadron were left in front of the red giant. As the pressure from it weighed down on them, Xu Qing solemnly bowed to it, as did Sir Star Ring and the others.

“Our Acquisitioner squad has come to offer greetings, Lieutenant General!”

Rumbling sounds echoed out from the red giant, and a terrifying aura spread out. The surrounding clouds seethed. Then a black palace appeared, slowly emerging from the red giant into the clouds. A frigid coldness spread from the palace into the starry sky, along with streams of divine will that settled onto Xu Qing and his people.

It was another inspection. Each and every stream of divine will caused Xu Qing and everyone else to shiver mentally. It was immortal will!

The final stream… caused all the others to dim, as if it was far superior to them. Along with it came a calm voice from the hall of the palace.

“You’re the first group, and perhaps the only group, to make it here to deliver the ringsource you acquired. As such, I don’t want to forcibly probe your souls to see what you went through. Instead, I’d like you to simply explain. Tell me how you managed to escape that grindstone of flesh and blood.”

Sir Star Ring and the others instantly got nervous. The use of the word ‘escape’ seemed ominous. They looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s mind raced. But in the end, he chose to simply tell the truth. And so, he explained their experiences along the way, including why they made the decisions they did. He didn’t go into explicit detail, he just stuck to the basics.

After hearing Xu Qing’s explanation, the divine will of the lieutenant general said nothing. However, one of the other streams of immortal will spoke.

“It must not have been easy for your group to stick together through so many setbacks, and in the end, still reach this point to deliver your ringsource. It counts as a great service. Although the lieutenant general doesn’t wish to probe you with divine will, when it comes to the peak Altar God you encountered… do you have proof to back your claim?”

Xu Qing’s heart and mind stirred. On the surface, it seemed like their story was being questioned. But after everything Xu Qing had experienced in life, he could tell that there was a deeper meaning to the words. Their successful journey counted as a meritorious service, but at the same time, they were being asked to prove what they had done.

The real reason for this caused Xu Qing to look at the surviving members of his squadron. Ascendees all had important backgrounds. For any of them to reach this point would require significant backers, and those backers were now more important than ever.

The key to the whole thing is how he mentioned ‘sticking together.’

After some thought, Xu Qing waved his hand. His canon rippled, and Infinite Timelessness opened. The imprisoned peak Altar God was now visible for everyone to see. It was possible to see wounds inflicted by various types of canon. And the iron skewer embedded in the god’s forehead pulsed with fluctuations of suppression. This explained everything.

Xu Qing immediately said, “I could not have captured this peak Altar God on my own. We worked together!”

Suddenly, Xu Qing heard laughter. It was the lieutenant general in the palace.

“You’re an interesting bunch, I’ll give you that. You experienced a lot of twists and turns crossing the field of battle. It was obviously extremely difficult to deliver the ringsource and accomplish your mission. It definitely counts as a major service.

“Slaughtering a host of gods and capturing a peak Altar God counts as further service. Well then… you might as well stay here in the eastern theater army.”

As the lieutenant general’s voice echoed out, the red giant rumbled, and the black palace sank back down into its depths. All that remained behind was a command medallion that flew over and hovered in front of Xu Qing.

There was also a final bit of divine will that said, “Go to Planet Spirit Restoration and wait for an assignment.”

Xu Qing and the others bowed their heads.

“Yes, sir, Lieutenant General!”

Xu Qing reached out and took the medallion. As soon as he did, the force of rejection from the starry sky vanished. They were no longer just guests.

Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. So did Zhou Zhengli, Sir Star Ring, and everyone else. They exchanged glances. Given all that they had experienced, they now felt relief. They had been turned from Acquisitioners into Transporters, and had been sent to the field of battle. That mission had been accomplished.

They had paid a heavy price. They had started out more than a hundred strong. Now… they didn’t even have twenty.

“This is how ascendees are trained,” Zhou Zhengli said quietly. “Only those who survive until the very end can truly become dao seeds.”