Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1271: Motherworld Chronicles

When Xu Qing heard the voice of Goddess Starryeyes, he scowled, lifted his right hand, and made a grasping gesture. In that manner, he dragged Starryeyes out by the neck and placed hēr on the black glacier in front of him. Then he loosened his grip so shē could speak.

“Tell me everything you know,” he said. “Very accurately.”

His cold gaze coupled with everything shē had experienced after being captured, plus what shē had gone through with Starfire, ensured that Starryeyes’ defenses had all crumbled. Shē knew that hiding things wouldn’t benefit hēr at all.

After a moment of thought, shē said, “Everything here matches the description of a very secret location. It’s… the Fourth Star Ring’s primeval motherworld.”

“Continue,” Xu Qing said tranquilly.

“Supposedly,” shē continued, “the primeval motherworld is the place where the very first god was born in the Fourth Star Ring. Legend has it that before that primeval god, the Fourth Star Ring didn’t have gods at all. It was only because of hīm that gods came to be here.”

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered.

His gaze caused Starryeyes to shiver. After a brief moment of hesitation, shē continued, “It’s a very old story. I heard about it from my father. And not all the gods in the Fourth Star Ring accept it as truth. I guess you can say that the story of the primeval motherworld is just one of the stories that explain the origin of the gods.”

“Tell me some things you know to be true,” Xu Qing said coldly.

Starryeyes nodded. “There’s one thing that’s certain. When gods develop the godrot, and thēir bodies wither, thēy’ll sense a call from the motherworld. At that point, thēy will float through the starry sky, following a prescribed trajectory until thēy arrive here and land on the motherworld. That journey cannot be detected or perceived, so even after countless years have passed, very few gods know the actual location of the motherworld. Only the dead come here.”

“Godrot?” Xu Qing asked.

Starryeyes seemed hesitant to explain what were obviously secrets of the gods, but in the end, shē didn’t hold back. “Gods under the level of True God are not undying. It’s only after becoming a True God that one acquires a true name and becomes undying. However, that undying aspect refers only to the true name, not the god’s body. The bodies of all gods, True Gods or not, will eventually develop godrot after enough time passes.

“It ends in complete withering…. When thēy sense the call of the motherworld, thēy come here and die. Those gods that don’t have a true name become nutrients. As for those who do have true names, well, the motherworld is like a womb where they can develop a new god body.

“Then, by combining that new body with the true name, thēy can be resurrected. It’s a slow process, but it’s just one of the ways the natural laws governing the return of True Gods works.”

Hearing this, Xu Qing frowned. “That doesn’t conform to my previous understanding of this subject!”

Starryeyes quickly explained, “It’s because there are two additional ways for gods to be resurrected. The first way is for a god to return to the body thēy died in. The other is to be summoned by a God Lord. But those two methods only work on gods who have not developed godrot. For example, maybe thēy died in battle…. For the godrotten, the only option is to answer the call of the motherworld.”

Xu Qing looked thoughtful. This was the first time he had heard any information like this. But thinking back to instances in which he watched True Gods reviving, he realized that all of them had been killed in battle. That said, he still wasn’t sure how trustworthy this information was, so he checked with Starfire.

Unfortunately, Starfire was a postheaven god, and was not yet a True God. In contrast, Starryeyes was nobility. In the end, there was no way for Starfire to answer the question.

After some thought, Xu Qing pointed down at the black glacier with his left hand. “What are those gruish things underneath the glacier?”

“They’re sourcefiends…” Starryeyes replied immediately. “Sourcefiends are beings unique to the motherworld. They devour the corpses of gods, as they’re a part of the motherworld itself. They are born here and die here. And ultimately, they become elements in the new god bodies that form.”

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing thought for a moment, then asked, “Can the sourcefiends leave the motherworld?”

Starryeyes shook hēr head to indicate the answer was no. “At least, I’ve never heard of that happening. Based on my understanding of the motherworld, there has never been a sourcefiend seen anywhere but here.”

“Is the Fourth Star Ring the only place that has a motherworld?” he asked. “Or do all the other thirty-six higher star rings have them?”

“They all do,” Starryeyes said quietly. Shē wasn’t holding anything back. These matters were secrets that few under the True God level knew about. In contrast, upon reaching the True God level, the information would become apparent to that god, as it was contained in thēir blood. Given that Starryeyes’ father was a god emperor, it made sense that shē would know all the details.

“How do we leave here?” Xu Qing asked, looking at hēr coldly.

Shē shivered and shook hēr head. “I don’t know…. I just know that living beings shouldn’t be able to come here….”

There was one thing shē didn’t ask, and that was why Xu Qing would come to a place like this.

Xu Qing frowned and was about to ask another followup question. But then something shocking happened.

Starryeyes, perhaps because of just spending time in this place, was starting to wither and rot.

At the same time, Starfire spoke into Xu Qing’s mind, sounding alarmed. “Young Lord, my body is weakening, and my godsource is fading away!!”

Apparently, Starryeyes had also sensed the change in hēr, as shē started trembling in terror. “This is the primeval motherworld! It can break down and absorb all living things!”

Xu Qing checked himself, but didn’t notice anything unusual. Looking at the terrified Starryeyes, he said, “Are you sure there’s no way to leave?”

Shē trembled as shē searched hēr memories. Unfortunately, shē really didn’t know any way to leave.

Xu Qing waved his hand to put the goddess away. Then he scanned the area, all while simultaneously checking his ringsource and analyzing the information he had learned.

The primeval motherworld. It’s supposedly the place where gods were first born in the Fourth Star Ring. Gods who develop godrot all come back here….

Living beings can’t come here…. Then why would the Immortal Paragon arrange for me to be teleported here? Also… the so-called sourcefiends look very similar to whatever Erniu has inside of him. If Erniu really does have a sourcefiend in him….

Xu Qing had long speculated about Erniu’s secrets. But even to this point he didn’t have much concrete information to work with. However, now wasn’t the time to ponder that. Xu Qing looked up into the dome of heaven.

Regardless of why the Immortal Paragon sent me here, the most important thing to do right now is figure out a way to leave. I tried the bronze door in the temple, but I couldn’t use it to leave. In that case, I guess I need to check the canopy of heaven. Maybe that’s where I’ll find a way out.

With that thought in mind, he flew up into the sky. Moving with astonishing speed, he went higher and higher.

Time passed.

Unfortunately, heaven here was massive, and no matter how Xu Qing climbed, he never got more than halfway up. It was like there was no end. At a certain point, he stopped, hovered there, and looked down. The black glacier was still beneath him, and it seemed to stretch forever. When Xu Qing saw that happening, his heart sank.

Given the speed I’m capable of, I should have been able to fly through an entire universe at this point. But I’m still only halfway up!

Xu Qing could sense that Starfire and Starryeyes were both getting weaker and weaker. He didn’t care much about Starryeyes. But he did care about Starfire, so he sent hēr some of his own ringsource to help.

It doesn’t matter how high I get. As long as I’m in this location, thēy will keep getting weaker.

After some consideration, he kept moving at top speed. Not much time passed before he stopped, his pupils constricting.

A hair-raising sensation had struck him, like a mountain-toppling, sea-draining force assailing him. At the same time, a cold, prickling sensation filled him. It was as if every scrap of his flesh and blood, as well as all aspects of his divine will, were screaming that he was in danger. It was coming from the boundless sky above him. Apparently, if he kept going up, something unimaginably terrifying would happen.

I can’t keep going!

Reeling, he dropped down. After going back down to a certain elevation, the terrifying sensation vanished.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t actually relax, as a new danger suddenly manifested. After bolstering Starryeyes and Starfire, Xu Qing realized that his own ringsource was starting to disappear. That caused his expression to darken.

It wasn’t happening very quickly, and he still had plenty in the stockpile from the black tumor. But nothing he did to try to stop it from happening had any effect.

When Starfire realized what was happening, shē got extremely nervous. “Young Lord, it looks like it’s speeding up. If things keep going on like this….”

“I know,” he replied. With that, he blurred into motion, heading down toward the glacier so fast that a sonic boom echoed out in all directions.

He was moving in the direction of the True God corpse that he had seen falling earlier. It didn’t take very long before he reached the spot. There, embedded halfway into the ground, was the huge god corpse.

Despite being embedded in the ground, it hadn’t shattered the glacier. It was almost as if it had melted into it. Down beneath, there were hordes of sourcefiends already feeding on the corpse.

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing touched the corpse. Silver light flashed in his eyes. Gradually, a feeble stream of ringsource emerged from the corpse and poured in to replenish both himself and Starfire. He was yet again using the Dark Serenity God-Assimilating Incantation!

“Oh, I see…” he said, his eyes glittering.