Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 525: Snatching Food From the Tiger’s Mouth (part 2)

As Xu Qing and the Captain observed these things happening in the projection in front of them, they were left reeling.

The eyes of all observers couldn’t help but be focused on the possessed Zhang Siyun, who was now a mere godly doppelg?nger of Crimson Mother. At the moment, shē was glowing with incredibly bright light.

The countless rifts in the sky that formed a magical symbol were glittering brightly. The entire canopy of heaven was bright red, and seemed to be stirring in motion. The sky spun, faster and faster, until it gradually became a blood-colored vortex. Rumbling sounds echoed out as moonlight emerged from within the vortex. It was as if the vortex connected to some unknown land, a place where, high in the sky there hung a huge blood moon!

This was the real red moon! On that moon was a kneeling statue with its hands covering its eyes. But now those hands were slowly lowering. The statue’s mouth stretched wide in a greedy grin.

This was Crimson Mother’s true form!

Entering the Land of Cruelmurk to devour a High God by means of a doppelg?nger wasn’t enough. Crimson Mother was actually coming in person. Shē rose to her feet on the red moon, and wild colors flashed in heaven and earth. Rumbling sounds echoed out, and destructive power rocked everything as shē strode forward. Every step surpassed space and time. The step surpassed the vortex, emerging from the other heaven and earth, to arrive... right in front of the well formed by the burning of the golden god fish.

The moment the true form appeared, the doppelg?nger blurred. Then, almost all of the energy within the doppelg?nger swept out of the top of its head in a haze. After taking most of the energy out of the doppelg?nger, Crimson Mother’s true form stepped into the ancient well, thus entering the Land of Cruelmurk!

Violent rumblings emerged from the well, mixed with the anguished howl of the fish, who was enraged at having been forced to create the well to begin with. This chapter made its debut appearance via n(0/vel(b)(/j)(n).

As for what exactly was playing out in the Land of Cruelmurk, no one knew. However, splatters of golden blood flew out of the ancient well, and horrifying chewing sounds echoed out through Forbidden by the Immortal and into Sea-Sealing County. It then spread through the entire Holytide Region, into Nightshade Region, and even into the Imperial Region.

They also echoed into the regions controlled by other major species. Over forty regions were all inundated by that sound which seemingly came from nowhere. That part of the Revered Ancient mainland was completely shaken.

Meanwhile, beneath the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, golden blood seethed. It was the same in the depths of the cavern at the bottom of the Forbidden Sea. In other prefectures, counties, and regions through Revered Ancient, there were over eight thousand ghast hollows, and in all of them, god blood seethed.

All living beings were left trembling and astonished.

That wasn’t the end of it, though. All of the forbidden regions and forbidden grounds were deathly silent. No sounds emerged from them. Countless streams of terrifying divine will from actual gods stirred in all corners of Revered Ancient, and they were all paying very close attention to what was happening. High above the dome of heaven, the broken face of the god, moved slightly, as if about to look down. However, the eyes did not open.

Thēy were paying attention, not to some location in Sea-Sealing County, but rather, what existed beneath it, yet it was not some location that could be considered simple to find.... The Land of Cruelmurk.

Not much attention was being paid to Forbidden by the Immortal in Sea-Sealing County, despite that being where everything started. The devouring of a god was noteworthy, but didn’t count for much when compared to the devouring of a High God.

After the red moon’s true self entered the Land of Cruelmurk, the doppelg?nger was left behind in Forbidden by the Immortal. Zhang Siyun turned, saliva flowing, and began devouring the fish god. Zhang Siyun’s mouth opened dramatically wide and gulped at least half the fish down, then began chewing. Next, Zhang Siyun turned toward the blood-colored portal, as if planning to take the god fish into it.

It seemed that everything was over. No one would dare to interfere with the red moon eating. Even the doppelg?nger, whose power had been taken away by the true form, wasn’t something anyone would dare to trifle with.

The human forces inside Forbidden by the Immortal were all in a daze thanks to the shockwaves of the event. Their mutagen levels were rising so quickly that some of them even died. So of course, none of them would dare to do anything. Even Seventh Prince and the others waiting outside of Forbidden by the Immortal were just standing there.

However, that was when something unexpected happened!

After Crimson Mother’s doppelg?nger swallowed half of the fish god, then prepared to return to the blood-colored vortex, a rift opened up in the sky. That rift created a very obvious contrast with the surrounding blood-colored sky, as its color was very different. It erupted with white light.

Then, a huge hand emerged, dazzlingly bright, and as white as fresh snow! The hand, fully 3,000 meters in size, couldn’t have been more pure and fair. In fact, īt was like white jade, and seemed just as holy as any god.

The surroundings pulsated in response to the presence, while at the same time, a mutagen that corresponded to the hand spread out in all directions. Without hesitation, the hand stretched forth and grabbed the fish that was currently clamped between the teeth of Crimson Mother’s doppelg?nger.

Off in the distance, Xu Qing was able to see this happening through the projection created by the Captain. And when he did, waves of shock rolled through him, the reason being that... he had seen this hand before! Back when he fought Chu Tianqun, the father of Master Shengyun, in the minor world of the Smokewights, his opponent had used a shocking god magic that summoned this very hand. Xu Qing would never forget that hand stretching out from Chu Tianqun’s body. Nor would he forget that he would have died at that time were it not for Ling’er sacrifice. [1]

Back then, the hand wasn’t as large, but from what Xu Qing could sense, they were one and the same.

As his mind spun, a word suddenly popped into his mind: Torchlight.

As Xu Qing reeled, the hand of white jade stabbed into the fish, grabbed some of its bones, then pulled viciously. It was an instance of snatching food from the tiger’s mouth!

Rumbling sounds echoed out as three of the fish’s twenty-seven bones ended up clumping together as the hand grabbed them.

Strangely īts actions didn’t attract the attention of Crimson Mother’s doppelg?nger. Now that the main course had been served, shē apparently didn’t care that much about the appetizer.

What was most noteworthy was that the white hand chose this exact moment to take action! It was a moment in which Crimson Mother’s true self was distracted while eating in the Land of Cruelmurk, and much of the doppelg?nger’s power had been extracted, resulting in a state of incredible weakness. Of course, there was another possibility, which was... that Crimson Mother tacitly approved of what was happening. As for what was truly the case, no one could possibly know.

In any case, whatever karma was involved, the white hand successfully grabbed the three bones and pulled them out. It was a completely astonishing scene for all the onlookers. That included everyone outside the entrance of Forbidden by the Immortal. Every one of them was visibly taken aback, with one exception. Seventh Prince. His eyes only narrowed very slightly.

After the jade hand grabbed the three bones, another dramatic transformation occurred in the canopy of heaven.

Another rift opened next to the fish god!

Rumbling sounds echoed out as more snow-white light erupted from that second rift. Then, another hand of white jade emerged, which looked just like the other, except much smaller, being only 300 meters in size.

The timing of arrival for this hand was even more precise. It appeared in a perfect time and position, right underneath the god fish, where the fish had an unhealed wound. The white hand jabbed into the wound, moving at the perfect angle and speed to grab a fish bone and then yank it out.

Rumbling echoed out as the bone was jerked out from inside the fish. That hand was obviously much weaker than the other. It immediately trembled as if it might collapse, yet it endured. With a surge of craziness, it threw everything to the wind as it pulled. Apparently, this hand was determined to get that bone even if it died in the process. After the hand dragged the bone out of the fish, it retracted into the rift. The process was so rough on the hand that much of it collapsed in the process.

But the craziness in the hand was so intense that before it crumbled, it successfully pulled the bone all the way into the rift.

Then, it disappeared!

It came quickly, and vanished even more quickly. And everything about its actions, from its timing to its position, had been perfect. It was only then that the much larger hand with the three fish bones realized what had just happened. īt paused for a moment.

At the entrance of Forbidden by the Immortal, the onlookers were visibly taken aback. And for the first time, a glitter of suspicious curiosity flashed through Seventh Prince’s eyes.

Xu Qing and the Captain both gasped. The way that white hand appeared, and its method of stealing the fish bone, had seemed very familiar to both of them. It seemed to correspond perfectly to the style of the Seventh Peak.... That, of course, was to wait in hiding until the right opportunity arose. When that opportunity came, it went crazy, snatched the target, then fled at top speed. The two of them looked at each other, and could see the suspicion and excitement in each other’s eyes.

After pausing momentarily, the first white hand above dragged the three fish bones back into the rift.

When the rift disappeared, Crimson Mother’s doppelg?nger leaped into the blood-colored vortex with the rest of the fish god and disappeared. The vortex slowed, and the deep red color faded. It gradually faded from view, and then the sky went back to normal.

Without the power of a god at play, the countless rifts in the sky shattered, and began to fall to the ground in pieces. The lands of Forbidden by the Immortal also seemed like they were about to collapse, and were almost immediately riddled with damage. In many areas, the lands were already in complete ruin. The one thing that didn’t weaken was the mutagen, which spread out rapidly, turning everything dark.

However, any sense of fear within Xu Qing and the Captain disappeared along with Crimson Mother. They both breathed sighs of relief.

“Hurry up and start absorbing, little Junior Brother! We don’t have much time. I bet Seventh Prince will be arriving soon. He’ll probably stabilize everything, but will also seal the place up and make everyone leave. The only other possibility is that the entire place will collapse!”

Xu Qing didn’t reply, as he had already come to the same conclusion. And thus, he opened himself wide and began absorbing all of the mutagen in the area!

1. The hand appeared in the Chu Tianqun fight in chapter 465. ?