Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1286: The Karma of Coveting a Dao

A new era really had begun the moment Immortal Lord Nineshores stepped down.

Immortal Lord Mi Ming’s rise to prominence had already been transmitted back to the Fifth Star Ring by means of destiny aura. He carried on the legacy of his father Aurora, taking command of the Fifth Star Ring and becoming its leader. He now had incredibly high status.

And now… his performance on the battlefield in the Fourth Star Ring was outstanding. He had killed two God Lords and had taken control over the army! It caused a swell in destiny aura, and filled innumerable Fifth Star Ring cultivators with extreme excitement. Cheering could be heard on all of the supply depot planets.

At the same time, Xu Qing’s status also increased. He was the master of the Aurora heaven beyond heaven, and he had a very special relationship with Mi Ming. He had helped Mi Ming to change his dao to that of the gods, then back to that of an immortal. What was more, he had been the subject of Mi Ming’s very first imperial decree as an Immortal Lord, and had been blessed by destiny aura.

As a result, everyone in the Fifth Star Ring had heard the story… of Xu Qing, the person who Immortal Lord Mi Ming viewed as a younger brother.

True Monarch Xu Qing was going to be an extremely important person in the epoch to come in the Fifth Star Ring. The status, position, and destiny aura involved… left people who had gotten into conflicts with Xu Qing, whether directly or indirectly, shaking in fear.

One person who felt especially uneasy was Li Mengtu’s Master, Poison Monarch! He was also in the Fourth Star Ring at the moment. He had just finished a fight to the death with a True God, and he had won. He was currently seated cross-legged on a gray asteroid.[1]

Seated cross-legged around him were his subordinates. If Xu Qing were present, he would recognize those subordinates. They were the very same squadron that he had clashed with early on. There were fewer of them now. All the survivors were injured in some way, and they looked exhausted.

None of them were speaking any more than Poison Monarch was speaking. Occasionally, some of them looked like they wanted to say something to Poison Monarch, but in the end, none did.[2]

Poison Monarch didn’t look back at them. However, given the level of his cultivation base, he knew exactly what was going on. He felt just as bitter as them.

In the past, he had been able to avoid coming to the front lines. But orders had come through just a few days ago from the Fourth Star Ring, ordering him into service. The orders didn’t come directly from Immortal Lord Mi Ming. But they came from the Tower of War Affairs, so he couldn’t ignore them. Someone there had arranged for him and some of his subordinates to come to the Fourth Star Ring to carry out a specific mission.

Poison Monarch had speculations about who had issued the orders. Not that it mattered. In the end, there would always be someone willing to suck up to important people, and then use war powers to achieve their own ends.

You sucked up to Xu Qing, didn’t you…?

Poison Monarch’s bitterness grew deeper. If he had been assigned to ordinary war duty, he wouldn’t have been so bitter. But he had been given a very brutal mission.

He had been ordered to kill nine True Gods as strong as himself! In the days that had passed since he started the mission, he had only killed one![3]

A lot of people know about my history with Xu Qing…. Is that why this is happening? I had hoped to take his dao to benefit myself. It didn’t work, but the karma was sown. And now… I’m facing the backlash.

When Poison Monarch thought about the past, he felt a sense of defiance, but at the same time, got the feeling this was all fate. He felt like he had watched Xu Qing just get stronger and stronger, until now, when someone had sucked up to him to launch an attack on Poison Monarch himself. Having reached this point in his train of thought, Poison Monarch sighed.

The clone I sent should be arriving right about now. Hopefully, he can resolve this karma.

Shaking his head, he looked in the direction of the Fifth Star Ring.

***

In the Fifth Star Ring, a dilapidated figure had just appeared outside the yellow supply depot planet where Xu Qing was staying. He was an old man surrounded by a dark green cloud of poison. His facial features were exactly the same as Poison Monarch, and his aura matched as well.

He was a clone sent by Poison Monarch. Clearly he had run into stiff opposition on his way here, as he was severely injured. Within the cloud of dark green poison, he looked withered, and his canon emanated a sense of rot. His left arm had been severed at the shoulder, and the flesh around the wound wriggled.

The clone looked hesitantly at the supply depot planet, then gritted his teeth and flew forward. He had made contact with a friend on the planet ahead of time, but still had to go through a screening process. It was several hours later before he arrived at a stargazing tower in the southeast.

The tower was a pagoda made from a meteorite, constructed atop a mountain, and the area was full of strong immortal energy. This was where Xu Qing was staying.

Upon arriving, his friend stopped in place, and even took a step back. “You’re on your own from this point forward, Poison Monarch.”

The friend was an army officer stationed on the planet. After hearing about the matter between Poison Monarch and Xu Qing, and given that he owed a favor, he had helped out. But he wasn’t willing to do more than escort Poison Monarch to this location.

Poison Monarch nodded in response. And with that, he made his way up toward the stargazing tower. He stopped about 300 meters away from the pagoda. Without the slightest hesitation, he bowed deeply and said, “I’m an old friend. May I have an audience with the True Monarch?”

Despite how his voice rang out, there was no response from the pagoda.

A short time passed. Poison Monarch’s clone sighed. Then he produced a palm-sized bronze doll, held it out in front of him, and put it on the ground. The bronze doll looked exactly like Poison Monarch, and it even had a dark green heart pumping in its chest cavity.

Poison Monarch looked at the doll with determination in his eyes. Then used the nail of his finger to slash open his neck. Blood sprayed out, sizzling through the air before landing on the doll. The doll started moving. At the same time, the clone started to fade away.

Bowing once more to the tower, he said, “My true form is in the Fourth Star Ring, on a mission to kill nine True Gods as strong as myself. Because of that, I can’t come in person. In my stead, I’ve sent this tribulation-substitution doll. Activate the doll, and my true form will be teleported into your presence to fight for you. Whether I live or die, it will resolve the karma I sowed by trying to take your dao.”

As the voice echoed out, the clone disappeared. There was never any response from the tower. Off in the distance, the officer who had escorted Poison Monarch to this location sighed, bowed, and then left.

Sometime later… the bronze doll blurred and disappeared. When it reappeared, it was inside the tower in Xu Qing’s hand. He looked expressionlessly at it for a time.

If I use this, the karma will be resolved. If I don’t, the karma will remain. Everything depends on your fate.

***

Back in the Fourth Star Ring, Poison Monarch’s true form grunted. About fifty percent of the karma threads connecting him to Xu Qing had already snapped. Upon sensing that, Poison Monarch sighed again. He had always looked like an old farmer, but now, he looked even older than before.

I should never have made a move on him in the first place. I should never have coveted his dao….

1. Poison Monarch was introduced in chapter 1120. He was mentioned in quite a few other chapters as well, sometimes as Poison Monarch or sometimes just as Li Mengtu’s Master. I believe the last time he was mentioned by name was in chapter 1246. ☜

2. The main clash occurred in chapter 1205, although the people involved were introduced a few chapters before that in 1201. ☜

3. To provide some context, chapter 1202 gave some broader information about what it means to kill True Gods. When Xu Qing visited the Heroic Immortal Tombs, one of the stone steles had an epitaph in which the buried hero mentioned being proud of having killed seven True Gods, while another lamented about not being able to kill any. So being ordered to kill nine is obviously a very difficult task. ☜