Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1273: Big Brother Is Taking You to Do Something Big

Xu Qing sped through the air over the black glacier. He looked like a hungry wolf!

During the time that passed, he had not found any way of leaving the primeval motherworld. And despite his contingency plans working so far, the constant drain on his ringsource was a source of great anxiety. After all, he had to worry about Starfire as well. And only a few days earlier… he had started to contemplate whether or not it would be worth it to give up on Starryeyes.

Draining those mangled corpses only brought in a meager amount of ringsource. And as time went on, the draining effect of the planet only increased. Over the past month, he had been searching for an exit while at the same time searching for intact corpses!

Unfortunately, the only intact corpses were those of True Gods, and such corpses didn’t fall very often. And when they did fall, they would sink down through the glacier in a matter of days. The result was that finding one was like fishing a needle from the sea.

It really came down to getting lucky. In fact, during the past month, Xu Qing had only encountered two. One was that very first one he had found, and the other was this one. That was why he felt such a sense of urgency.

Luck is on my side this time. This corpse fell pretty close to me, and I was able to rush over to it immediately. It should have a good amount of ringsource. With the Dark Serenity God-Assimilating Incantation, I’ll be able to collect quite a bit from it.

Xu Qing’s mind was spinning with all the possibilities. An hour later… he caught sight of a massive corpse with green skin and black crystals growing all over it. Despite being dead, the corpse still sent immense pressure out in all directions, causing the air to ripple and distort.

Down beneath the glacier, hordes of sourcefiends were gathering in anticipation of the corpse sinking down.

Xu Qing stopped in midair and studied the area. After confirming that the corpse really was dead, he shot through the distortions to arrive atop the corpse. He landed on the chest. Given his experience harvesting the mangled god corpses, he knew that the chest was where the most ringsource would be gathered.

Without a moment of hesitation, he unleashed the Dark Serenity God-Assimilating Incantation and put his hand down onto the surface of the chest. Assimilation via direct contact was the most efficient! His eyes glittered as the process started. Streams of ringsource immediately began to come out of the chest and into him.

His eyes lit up.

It’s good I got here so quickly. The planet hasn’t taken much of the ringsource!

Xu Qing was in very high spirits as he rapidly assimilated as much ringsource as possible, not forgetting to send some to Starfire as well, who reacted with an exclamation of joy and satisfaction.

The sourcefiends below the glacier were getting visibly antsy. Although it wasn’t possible to hear their calls, it was clear that they were instinctively angry at having their food stolen. In fact, some of them launched up into the air and smashed into the underside of the glacier.

Xu Qing completely ignored them, and focused fully on the assimilation effort. As the process went on, the spot where he was touching the skin of the god went from green to white. And it started to sink down.

When that happened, Xu Qing knew it was time to switch to another spot. However, that was when something completely unexpected happened!

A hand shot out from the white, sunken portion of the chest. There was no way for Xu Qing to avoid it! And before he could do anything, it latched onto his wrist!

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted. He had studied the area and the corpse thoroughly before beginning, and had confirmed that the corpse was indeed dead. How could he not be caught surprised? His immortal embryo appeared behind him, and his cultivation base roared to life. Starfire, startled, held nothing back to help him.

But then… a gentle ringsource flowed out of the hand and into Xu Qing. The hand loosened its grip. Uncertain of what was going on, Xu Qing backed away. That was when a familiar voice drifted out.

“How long have you been this hungry?”

Xu Qing’s jaw nearly dropped as he looked at the sunken area of the god’s chest. Two familiar figures emerged. One was a man, the other was a woman. The woman was smiling. Her oval face shone with a pearly luster, and her eyes were slightly upturned with full under-eyes, making her seem unusually gentle and friendly. The man, meanwhile, wore a black robe with silver embroidery. He stood tall, but was relaxed, with an enigmatic smile on his face as he looked Xu Qing up and down.

Xu Qing stared at them in astonishment. It was an expression rarely seen on his face. He really could not imagine why these two people would appear as he was assimilating a corpse.

“You two….”

In reaction to his facial expression, Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix cast an annoyed glance at Young Lord Aurora. “Why did you have to go and grab our young friend’s arm like that??”

Young Lord Aurora chuckled. “I guess I was just too excited to see an old buddy. I hope I didn’t startle you too much, Xu Qing.”

Xu Qing took a deep breath, and his eyes lit up with understanding. This must be why the Immortal Paragon had arranged for him to come here! He quickly clasped hands and bowed.

“Well met, Seniors!”

“Are you kidding me?” Young Lord Aurora said, his eyebrows shooting up. “You got the Aurora Immortal Palace, and the entire heaven beyond heaven. Yet you’re still addressing us as Seniors? Are we strangers or something?”

Young Lord Aurora’s eyes glittered much like they had when he was an imp back in the immortal palace. Spirit Phoenix laughed softly. After coming to the Fourth Star Ring, her husband had mostly acted very serious, and definitely not like this. She knew it was all because of Xu Qing.

Smiling, she said, “Oh, you! Why don’t you just come out and say it. You want lil’ bro Xu to call you big brother, don’t you?”

Young Lord Aurora smiled enigmatically.

Xu Qing blinked a few times and thought back to all the scenes that played out in the Aurora Immortal Palace. Given that, he had every reason to comply.

“Big Brother.”

Young Lord Aurora laughed heartily. He didn’t ask Xu Qing what he was doing here. Instead, he flicked his sleeve, causing the god corpse to collapse into a host of crystals that were packed with ringsource. He sent them flying over to Xu Qing.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Your big brother is going to bring you along to do something dramatic.”

With that, Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix flew up into the air, taking Xu Qing along with them. They headed… in the direction of the valley. Hearing their familiar voices, and seeing them in person, left Xu Qing feeling very moved. All of a sudden, he realized that this was a feeling he had experienced with someone else many times in the past.

I wonder how Eldest Brother is doing right now…?

Taking a deep breath, he put such thoughts aside and focused on keeping up with Young Lord Aurora and Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix. The three of them shot through the dark green sky and its dappled moonlight. Soon enough, the dark green moonlight merged into the black, cold wind. Snowflakes flew with the wind, piercing through the sky, before eventually reaching that huge valley. That was where the three of them stopped.

“This is the place,” Young Lord Aurora said, looking down into it.

The valley started in the extreme north and zig-zagged across the primeval motherworld. It looked almost like a massive, ghastly wound that cut down to the bone. The countless bronze doors Xu Qing had seen earlier responded to Young Lord Aurora’s gaze. They started trembling, and the sourcefiends outside of them all looked up and stared at the three of them. But it was a bit different from what Xu Qing had experienced before….

The sourcefiends looked scared. And what was even more terrifying was that they were making sounds like those animals would make when they were feeling threatened.

Xu Qing felt an instant sense of unease. He looked at Young Lord Aurora.

Young Lord Aurora hovered in midair, his black robe not moving at all despite the cold wind. A moment later, he plucked an alcohol flagon off his waist, lifted it, and took a drink. Then he splashed some alcohol out of it. Astonishingly, the alcohol seemed to contain the reflection of countless heavenly bodies.

“The Immortal Paragon said that this valley here on the primeval motherworld is evidence left behind when the first god was born in the Fourth Star Ring. It is a result of natural laws, and contains the secret of the origin of the gods.”

Young Lord Aurora lifted his pale right hand and pushed it toward the glacier on one side of the canyon. The glacier trembled as though a giant invisible hand had grabbed it.

“But from my perspective, if you consider this planet to be the mother of the gods, then that means that very first god must have cut open hīs mother’s belly and crawled out. And this is the wound left behind afterward.”

As Young Lord Aurora spoke, he lifted his left hand toward the glacier on the other side of the valley. Then he shoved both of his hands to either side with great force. Heaven and earth trembled violently.

A cracking sound rang out from the depths of the valley, so loud it would make one’s teeth ache. At the same time, the glacier on either side of the valley began to move, almost like a scab being ripped away from a wound. All of the bronze doors in the valley started shaking. A mist as black as ink poured out from the valley. At the same time, the sourcefiends howled and, seemingly driven by instinct, shot out of the valley along with the mist. They headed directly toward Young Lord Aurora!

“You mere vehicles dare to make such a ruckus?”

A vertical red eye appeared on Young Lord Aurora’s forehead, which erupted with massive force. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the mist from the valley was shredded into nothing. The sourcefiends within it howled in anguish from the pressure, and all scattered. Some of them were even ripped to shreds.

Xu Qing was shaken deeply.

It was a given that Young Lord Aurora was strong. After all, he was the grandson of the Immortal Paragon and was the son of an Immortal Lord. He had an extraordinary background and his shocking talent, and even though he had been sealed in the immortal palace for a long time, he still controlled the palace and everything in it that entire time.

He had developed the many worlds there, and had the destined opportunities necessary to become a Summer Immortal that entire time. And there was little need to mention the fact that, although Immortal Lord Aurora had perished, he had done it all for his son. Beyond all that, after the seal was broken, Young Lord Aurora was working to carry out this unknown plan created by the Immortal Paragon….

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered brightly. Peak Summer Immortal!

“Before your big brother came here,” Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix said softly, “we secretly passed through the fringes of the battlefield in the Fourth Star Ring. While we were there, he had the opportunity to attack and kill the commander of the gods’ eastern army.”

Her words struck Xu Qing like a tempest. After all, it suddenly made the events back on the Fifth Star Ring battlefield much clearer. Xu Qing had previously speculated that the grindstone of flesh and blood was serving as a lamp to attract attention. He had been unsure of why exactly it was being done, but he had assumed it was something big. Now it turns out that he was right! It had been a distraction to allow someone to assassinate the commander of the eastern army in the Fourth Star Ring!![1]

Because of that, Goddess Starryeyes came in person to use hēr bloodline innate ability to bring back that assassinated officer more quickly. That, in turn, led to the return of Spirit Jade, and Starryeyes suffering a grievous injury…. After that came the bounty on Starryeyes, and hēr capture at the hands of Xu Qing! Everything was connected!

Those things were only the first part of the Fifth Star Ring’s plan! The chaos in the eastern theater became that lamp of flesh and blood. It drew the attention of the gods, who moved in large numbers, giving Young Lord Aurora the opportunity he needed for the assassination. That was the first step.

The death of the commander, the return of Spirit Jade, and the arrival of Starryeyes was the second step. All of that was Immortal Lord Deepgloom’s attempt to probe the secrets of God Emperor Death Departure’s godhood. That’s why it seemed as if the entire point of the plan was to get at Starryeyes….

But at the same time, God Emperor Death Departure realized something was going on. Hē wanted to beat them at their own game, so hē let hīs daughter be captured, all in the hopes that when Immortal Lord Deepgloom took action, hē could use the bloodline powers of hīs daughter to get details about the Immortal Lord’s canon!

After that, they made a deal…. However, given how the deal worked out… it seems that everything, going back to the very beginning, revolved around brightening the lantern of flesh and blood.

If the lantern in the eastern theater was to distract the gods to make the assassination happen, then the arrival of Starryeyes onto the battlefield was a distraction to target Death Departure!

The deal they made was another lantern. So was my escape and the bounty the gods put on my head. All of it… was to distract the gods in the Fourth Star Ring! Plans within plans, getting more complicated the entire time!

And the entire point of everything… was to hide the fact… that Young Lord Aurora was coming here!

Xu Qing’s mind spun as all the puzzle pieces clicked together.

Just what I would expect of a plan put in place by the Immortal Paragon….

Xu Qing took a deep breath. He looked at Young Lord Aurora, then looked over his shoulder at Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix. “So what’s going to happen now?”

She looked at her husband as he started walking toward the valley. “Your big brother is going to peel the skin off this primeval motherworld.”

1. The assassination was mentioned in chapter 1231. ☜