Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 392: Jailers

It was quite unexpected for Ning Yan to rush over and drop to his knees.

However, Arch-Immortal Plumdark looked at him coolly, as though she were accustomed to his actions. “Dark Serenity Sect?”

“Brilliant, Matriarch! I am indeed a disciple from a Dark Serenity Sect. And back when I was in my sect, I always admired the matriarch who presides over all 3,700 of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture’s Dark Serenity Sects!”

The Captain had an odd expression on his face, and Xu Qing’s brow was furrowed. Both of them were thinking of the unique characteristics of the Dark Serenity Sects. Because of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity himself, there were many versions of the Dark Serenity Sect. Some were big, some were small. But as long as they had some connection to the Ancient Emperor, they would call themselves Dark Serenity Sect. Back in the Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains, the Captain and Xu Qing had run into one such sect. [1]

Obviously, Ning Yan was from a sect like that. All it would take was a glance from Arch-Immortal Plumdark to know that he cultivated Dark Serenity Sect techniques. As a result, he was essentially a fellow adherent.

Arch-Immortal Plumdark nodded. “You’ll come with us the rest of the way.”

Ning Yan suddenly looked a lot more flustered. He didn’t want to come along, but at the same time, couldn’t refuse. All he could do was shrink off to the side and avert his gaze from Xu Qing. He was so nervous he looked like a frightened bird.

Xu Qing looked him up and down and decided to find a time when the two of them were alone to settle accounts.

However, the Captain’s eyes glittered excitedly as he slowly circled Ning Yan. “Something’s off about you, ya little punk. You got snatched up by that big bird, yet didn’t die. What’s more, you’re not even wounded.”

“Elder Brother Chen,” Ning Yan quickly explained, “I achieved ancestral awakening when I was much younger, so my bloodline provides automatic defenses in situations like that.”

When the Captain heard that, he licked his lips, then threw his head back and laughed heartily. Throwing his arm around Ning Yan’s neck, he lowered his voice.

“You don’t need to be scared of Xu Qing. I’m his Eldest Brother. Back at the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar, you probably heard the rumors about how much Xu Qing respects me. Well, guess what? Those rumors couldn’t be more true. Going forward, you just do what I say and you’ll be fine. If you’re my bro, then that means Xu Qing is your bro too! And what’s the most important thing between bros? Camaraderie! Am I right? Am I?”

Not daring to disagree, Ning Yan nodded.

Xu Qing watched what was going on and got a sudden sense of déjà vu, as if he had witnessed this very scene play out before in the past. He looked over at Wu Jianwu.

Wu Jianwu was visibly stunned, and seemed to be recalling his own past misfortunes. He also seemed to feel bad for Ning Yan.

The Captain continued to work his magic on Ning Yan as the flying ship got closer and closer to the teleportation complex Chen Tinghao had mentioned earlier.

As it turned out, that specific location was the final point on the Eight Sect Coalition’s itinerary.

“After this teleportation we’ll be in the county capital,” Chen Tinghao said. “Xu Qing, I just got some details from a friend of mine in the palace…. And thanks to that, I just found out… that you got a 30,000-meter pillar of light!”

Chen Tinghao looked visibly taken aback. He had been out on a mission for so long, and had been so far away from the capital, that his transmission jade slip didn’t connect. Because of that, he wasn’t up-to-date on the latest news.

“There are still a lot of things about the capital I don’t understand,” Xu Qing said sincerely. “If I mess up in any way, I hope that you can give me some tips, Big Bro Chen.” He clasped hands respectfully.

“That goes without saying! Xu Qing, that 30,000-meter pillar of light is unprecedented in Sea-Sealing County. Do you know what that means?” Chen Tinghao’s eyes shone with a healthy envy.

Xu Qing shook his head.

“It means that you’re completely trustworthy and have a righteous heart. That’s going to have a big effect on your post assignment.” Chen Tinghao sighed.

“Post assignment?” Xu Qing said. He was aware that he would be assigned to hold a post when he arrived, but he wasn’t sure about the details.

“The rules state that all new swordsages must hold a post for three years before they can go on important missions. After you arrive, all of you will swear oaths of office and then be assigned posts. All assignments are different, and the military credits you can earn with them varies widely. That’s why your post assignment is so important.

“When all is said and done, we swordsages are inextricably tied to military credit! There are some departments such as Patrol or Inspection where it’s really easy to earn military credits. Intelligence and Law Enforcement are also great places. But there are some departments focused on internal affairs where there aren’t many chances for military credits.

“There’s one specific post where the military credits are even easier to earn. Usually they don’t assign new recruits to that post, only old-timers. And the post is only given out by official dharmic decree from the palace lord.” Chen Tinghao’s eyes gleamed with fascination. “That assignment required an absolutely clean background as well as a pure heart.”

Xu Qing looked curiously at Chen Tinghao.

“I’m talking about the jailers!” Chen Tinghao said.

“Jailers?” Xu Qing asked, not sure what he meant.

“Yeah, jailers. The jailers of the Corrections Division. Once you’re at the capital, you’ll understand. One of the biggest unique features of the capital is the Corrections Division’s massive prison!” Chen Tinghao smiled proudly. “The people the Corrections Division have locked up include the vilest fiends from all species imaginable. They also have grues in there. It’s Sea-Sealing County’s largest prison, and all the inmates are cruel, murderous villains. Yet the mere mention of the jailers will make their faces fall.

“You see, the people from the Corrections Division have a saying. ‘We’re only jailers.’ That’s why people took to calling them that. Their name strikes fear into the hearts of all villains.” At this point, the look in Chen Tinghao’s eyes became one of pure anticipation. “One of the patriarchs from my sect was once appointed by the palace lord to be a jailer. Sadly, a number of years ago the old man died in the line of duty.” [2]

Chen Tinghao shook his head. “There’s no way you’ll be assigned to the Corrections Division, Xu Qing. Though the jailers are special, you’re even more special than that. As a swordsage who provoked a 30,000-meter pillar of light, people are going to have high expectations for you. When I see you in the future, I’ll definitely have to hold my sword up in salute.”

Xu Qing looked off into the distance. He didn’t care much about posts and assignments. Now that he was on the verge of entering the capital, complex emotions tugged at his heart.

“Big Bro Chen,” he asked, “where is Mount Daybreak?”

“Mount Daybreak?” Chen Tinghao looked at Xu Qing. “It’s in Daybreak Prefecture, which is only one prefecture away from the county capital. That mountain has long been one of the Swordsage Palace’s training grounds, a place outsiders aren’t allowed to enter. And even swordsages who want to go there have to pay a good amount of military credit.

“The reason is that it’s also the location of a palace belonging to one of the ancient suns. That sun also perished there. As a result, streams of light from the final moments before the sun perished will occasionally emerge there from the River of Ancient Time. [3]

“Those streams of light contain dao resonances, and are inherently high-level ingredients for equipment forging and pill concocting. They’re not very common, and each time they do emerge, the information about them is recorded.”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly. Though he maintained a calm exterior, his heart was racing as he got the first concrete information about Mount Daybreak.

Chen Tinghao didn’t ask Xu Qing why he was interested in Mount Daybreak. However, he did offer a reminder. “If you want to visit Mount Daybreak, you need to build up a lot of military credit.”

Xu Qing nodded.

As they continued to chat, the flying ship reached the teleportation portal. Arch-Immortal Plumdark emerged again. Putting away the flying ship, she led the group of over a hundred cultivators down to the ground. There, they found an ancient teleportation portal that was shaped like an altar. It was huge, colored dark gray, and covered with a mesh of designs that glowed brightly.

The swordsages on duty were familiar with Chen Tinghao, and called out cheerful greetings when they saw him. A few of them even stepped over to embrace him. This display of affection gave Xu Qing a deeper understanding of what the swordsages were about.

Before long, all the arrangements were made and the coalition delegation stepped onto the portal. Bright light shone up, and the final teleportation of the journey began.

When they materialized, they were right outside of the capital itself!

The first thing they saw was a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering statue. It depicted Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, boundlessly spectacular, and large enough to prop up heaven and earth. In fact, the statue was so massive that they seemed like specks of dust in front of it. And any mortal who tried to take in the statue as a whole wouldn’t be able to; they wouldn’t be able to see to the top. Its feet were planted firmly on the ground and its head was in the dome of heaven. The clouds floated around its waist, requiring the eyes of cultivators to take in its full glory. The statue’s arms were outstretched as if to embrace heaven and earth. Astonishingly, between the two hands floated a massive city. It was the county capital. The city was so large that it could fit the entire Eight Sect Coalition within it several times over. And it glowed so brightly that it created a sea of light around it.

Floating in positions around the city were three palaces. Though they weren’t as large as the capital city itself, if they were placed anywhere else, they would be considered monumentally colossal.

When Xu Qing saw the city and the three palaces, he was shaken deeply.

What was even more shocking, though, were the lands below. Beneath the floating city, surrounding the feet of the statue, the land itself was smooth and reflective, almost like a mirror. And beneath that mirror… was a gargantuan subterranean prison. The prison was beneath the partially transparent mirror, so that anyone floating above would be able to see the prison, which had multiple levels, and sank down into the earth like a chasm.

That was the very same Corrections Division Chen Tinghao had just mentioned, which served as the number one prison in Sea-Sealing County!

Floating in between the prison and the city was an enormous bronze sword. It was majestic and world-shaking, with dazzling sword light that shone in all directions.

Carved on the sword was the character ‘yuan.’ Astonishingly, this was a swordsage sword. As the massive sword rotated in the air above the prison and below the city, it emanated terrifying pressure. [4]

There was more. There were also buildings on the ground which were equally eye-catching. They were pentagonal sword pavilions which were set up around the prison! The sword pavilions were arranged in concentric circles, in a very precise fashion. As for their height, they varied greatly. The tallest of the sword pavilions came close to touching the city itself, while the smallest were only a few dozen meters in height.

There were hundreds of thousands of them, each a few thousand meters away from the next, creating several dozen rings around the prison.

“Those are sword pavilions,” Chen Tinghao explained. “When new swordsages from various places in Sea-Sealing County come here to check in, they usually stab their command sword into the ground there to create a sword pavilion. That’s also where we swordsages usually reside!

“As long as a swordsage lives, their sword pavilion will stand. But if a swordsage dies in battle, then a special ceremony is carried out, and an honor guard will give a special speech. After that, the sword pavilion will fade away.

“Welcome, all of you, to the capital city of Sea-Sealing County, and the headquarters of the swordsages!”

Chen Tinghao laughed heartily, offered a salute, and was about to leave when he realized that the Eight Sect Coalition seemed to be waiting for someone. Specifically, they were waiting for people from the subsidiary sect to come receive them. For one thing, Arch-Immortal Plumdark was present, and decorum required an escort for her. But beyond that, it wasn’t permitted to simply come and go in the capital. New arrivals needed to be escorted in.

Based on the earlier arrangements that had been made, the subsidiary sect should have sent someone in advance to meet them. But even after they waited for a time, they didn’t see anyone.

Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s eyes shone with a mysterious light. Not even sending a message via transmission jade slip got any response.

“Something must have gone wrong,” Master Fifth said grimly.

The current leader of the subsidiary sect wasn’t at the patriarch level, and thus wouldn’t possibly dare to slight Arch-Immortal Plumdark. There was only one explanation. Something had indeed gone wrong in the subsidiary sect.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He had only just arrived, and things were already going wrong. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Is someone targeting us?

A cold, grim look appeared in the Captain’s eyes as he looked over at Xu Qing. Xu Qing looked back, his eyes narrowing further.

1. Xu Qing and the Captain ran into another Dark Serenity Sect in chapter 285. ☜

2. The Chinese character for ‘jailer’ here is unique, and by itself means “soldier” or “pawn (in the Chess sense).” By itself, this character is one of the pieces in Chinese chess. In case you weren’t aware, Chinese chess (which is not Go, incidentally), is a unique game played commonly in China. If you want to learn more about it, here’s the wiki entry. The “soldier” piece in Chinese chess is roughly equivalent to the pawn in Western chess. That said, when you take that character and combine it with the word for jail or prison, it is an archaic word for a prison guard or “jailer.” In some instances, the author uses this character by itself, and in other cases he combines it with jail/prison for the full term. ☜

3. Back in chapter 349, the Captain actually mentioned that there was a sun palace at Mount Daybreak. As mentioned in the footnote of that chapter, all of these references to sun palaces use the same specific word for ‘palace,’ which is ‘the sleeping quarters of the emperor (and/or empress).’ ☜

4. As described in chapter 370, the swordsage swords have the character ‘yuan’ on them. ☜𝓵𝒊𝒃𝙧𝙖𝓭.𝙘𝒐𝙢