Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 555: If You’re So Strong, Why Didn’t You Say So Earlier!? (part 1)

There could be incredible differences between cultivators in the Nascent Soul level. Based on what reserve powers they had, how they had prepared for their breakthrough, and many other small factors, two cultivators could be on completely different power levels. For one thing, the number of tribulations had a huge influence on how strong a cultivator was. Different species had different traits, and personal experience also played into it. It was not as simple as things had been in Gold Core, where everything came down to heavenly palaces.

If two Nascent Soul cultivators were dramatically different, then their auras would feel different. Otherwise, careful examination would be required to see the differences. However, there was a rough standard that most species applied. The first tribulation propelled one from pseudo-Nascent Soul into the real Nascent Soul level. That was when a cultivator acquired a dao soul, and true Nascent Soul battle prowess. The second heavenfate tribulation would double one’s power. In other words, every nascent soul would be twice as strong. With the third tribulation, it became triple!

The Skyface cultivator Xu Qing had fought previously was considered a chosen in his species. Although he had no life lamps, he did have seven nascent souls, and had experienced two heavenfate tribulations. Because of that, he could be considered to have fourteen-soul battle prowess. It was for that reason that, after detecting Xu Qing’s thirteen nascent souls, he had chosen to attack. Based on that, it was possible to deduce that when he was in Gold Core, he had seven heavenly palaces. And when in Foundation Establishment, he’d possessed four life flames. That, in turn, meant he had 120 dharma apertures; he had never reached the ultimate limit of 121.

But Xu Qing’s path had involved reaching 121 dharma apertures. Other than Master Shengyun and Kong Xianglong, he had never met anyone else who accomplished that. Or if he had, that person hadn’t revealed their true strength, ensuring that Xu Qing had no way of knowing.

However, that was just the foundational aspect. Heavenly palaces were the easiest way to classify Gold Core cultivators, but when it came to fights between Nascent Soul cultivators, things changed.

Measuring Nascent Soul cultivators of a similar level also involved their treasures, their techniques, the innate abilities of their species, and their adaptability in combat. All of those things played vital roles in determining victory or defeat. In other words, Nascent Soul strength wasn’t the only thing that could be relied upon. It was more like a general reference. Sometimes, the only way to find out who was stronger was to fight.

That was how things worked with Xu Qing. His thirteen dao souls had experienced a single heavenfate tribulation, so theoretically speaking, he had thirteen-soul battle prowess.

But his dao souls were extremely unique. The factors included his imperial-class techniques, his connection to gods, his heavenly dao, the timescape bottle, the daybreak light, and his sundial life lamps. Because of all those reasons, Xu Qing’s battle prowess in the Nascent Soul level was far beyond that of an ordinary cultivator. In essence, his dao souls were already as strong as if they had experienced two heavenfate tribulations.

And that meant that he basically had twenty-four soul battle prowess!

The only reason it wasn’t twenty-six was that he still had two life lamps that he hadn’t melted and turned into an additional two sundials. When he did that, he would have twenty-six soul battle prowess.

That said, Xu Qing was always cautious. If he could push his dao souls to that level, then other people could do the same. And that wasn’t to mention that enemies would have treasures and techniques at their disposal. That was why things got so tricky in Nascent Soul.

Even as such thoughts swirled in his mind, he shot out from the lava, unleashing all the might of his thirteen dao souls, which turned into the terrifying battle prowess of twenty-four souls.

A moment later, he appeared in front of one of the one-tribulation Nascent Soul Mirrorlings.

The Mirrorling cultivator reacted with shock. Though all of his energy was being poured into the spell formation, he had ample fighting experience and good reflexes. As a result, he instantly shifted his attention and unleashed the power of six of his nascent souls. He also spat out a flying sword. At the same time, the mirror on his forehead glittered, casting light onto Xu Qing which caused the Mirrorling’s face to suddenly resemble Xu Qing’s.

This was one of their species’ innate abilities, and it instantly boosted the Mirrorling’s battle prowess to the level of eight souls. That innate ability was nothing short of amazing, and when used on ordinary one-tribulation cultivators, would almost always result in the victim being slaughtered. However, when the absolute level of power was too disparate, there would be too many factors at play that couldn’t be controlled.

And thus, the moment Xu Qing arrived, cold light flared, and the Mirrorling cultivator’s head flew off his shoulders.

Blood sprayed, and a scream rang out, but Xu Qing was already gone, rushing toward one of the Nascent Soul Mirrorlings. He also sent his taboo poison raging out, not to target the Nascent Soul experts, but rather, the Gold Core cultivators.

Xu Qing’s recent upgrade resulted in his taboo poison core becoming even more ruthless and terrifying. As it spread out, around seven Gold Core cultivators cried out in alarm. Before they could do anything in response, their bodies turned purple, and they started rotting. Terrified screams rang out everywhere.

Meanwhile, other Gold Core cultivators shivered, and then their eyes turned pitch black. Erupting with fiendish laughter, they rushed toward the giant spell formation mirror and then self-detonated.

As booms rang out, a streak of red lightning followed the Spike of Misfortune as it zipped back and forth with deadly accuracy.

The other Mirrorling cultivators in the area were visibly stunned. Chaos ensued almost immediately.

Duanmu Zang, who was still dealing with the pressure of the mirror, was also astonished. But when he saw that the Mirrorling cultivators had been poisoned, his pupils constricted. He knew exactly what was going on.

It’s that treacherous punk!

With that, he called out in a loud voice, “Stop wasting time. Finish the fight and kill those Nascent Soul cultivators. Without them powering the spell formation, I’ll be free. Hurry! The Mirrorling royal preceptor is on the way!”

The face in the mirror spun to look at Xu Qing. However, that was when Duanmu Zang laughed heartily, and ignoring the fact that it could exacerbate his injuries, tapped into the power of his cultivation base.

Eight nascent souls rose up, all of them pulsing with the shocking power of five tribulations. Even more astonishing than the eight nascent souls was an illusory secret trove! However, the secret trove had collapsed, and was withering, which was the evidence of a previous breakthrough failure. Even still, it was an impressive level of battle prowess. And the addition of the secret trove forced the face in the mirror to look away from Xu Qing and focus all its efforts on suppressing Duanmu Zang.

Rumbling booms echoed out as Xu Qing attacked with greater speed. He needed no advice from Duanmu Zang. From the moment he’d launched his attack, he’d known that it needed to be ended quickly, and that he couldn’t afford any delays. At the moment, he had unleashed his taboo poison, let the shadow wreak havoc, and sent the Spike of Misfortune flying around. While all that played out, Xu Qing closed in on another Nascent Soul Mirrorling.

Unfortunately, the Mirrorlings were finally reacting to the sudden development. With angry shouts, two of the two-tribulation Nascent Soul experts, and one three-tribulation cultivator, all shot toward Xu Qing.

As they neared, Xu Qing’s daybreak light flashed.

All the light in the area was replaced by a seven-colored glow, forcing the enemies to stop and back up. Meanwhile, Xu Qing entered his Gruegloom state, blurring into motion and speeding right through one of the Mirrorlings. When he came out the other side, he had two nascent souls in his hands, which he instantly crushed. Dozens of snarling heavenfiend clones pounced on the Mirrorling behind him.

Shrill, despairing screams erupted from the Mirrorling’s mouth as his body trembled and withered. Xu Qing lunged backward, and as he did, the spot he had previously occupied collapsed into a huge vortex sent by the three-tribulation cultivator.

“Have a death wish, you despicable human?” the Mirrorling shouted. Seven nascent souls appeared within him, five of which had three-tribulation power, with the remaining two having two-tribulation power. Overall, that caused him to thrum with close to twenty-soul battle prowess.

What was more, an illusory black mirror appeared behind him, which boosted him further. Inside the mirror was a huge black bat, bound in place and releasing powerful sound waves in all directions. He also had a long spear in his hand, which was surrounded by countless resentful souls howling in grief.

And yet, there was more. There were two of the three-tribulation Mirrorlings, and the other was closing in from the opposite direction. This one wore a black suit of armor and had seven balls of ghostfire floating around its head. Each was the manifestation of a nascent soul. In addition, he had a cape attached to his suit of armor that was made of countless eyes, all of them glaring angrily at Xu Qing. If that wasn’t enough, there were still four of the two-tribulation Mirrorlings approaching Xu Qing from all directions.

Duanmu Zang was paying close attention to what was happening. If he wasn’t trapped, killing those Mirrorlings would have been as simple as turning over his hand. And yet, there was something about Xu Qing’s battle prowess that seemed odd to him.

The little punk’s nascent souls seem unusually gruish.

As Xu Qing’s poison spread, agonized shrieks could be heard everywhere. But the six Nascent Soul Mirrorlings were still closing in.

That was when Xu Qing’s eyes turned as cold as ice. Inside of him, the gnomon on one of his sundials rose up, and he turned to look at the nearest three-tribulation Mirrorling.

Instantly, his first sundial stopped moving. That power of stoppage then traveled through his gaze to affect the Mirrorling he was looking at. The three-tribulation Mirrorling stopped in place, his expression vicious. It was as if time had slowed to a standstill for him specifically. It only lasted a moment before he recovered. But for cultivators in the Nascent Soul level, a moment can mean the difference between life and death.

Just as he recovered, Xu Qing’s knife slashed into his throat, and his head tumbled off his shoulders in a spray of blood.

Xu Qing didn’t have time to do anything other than grab the nascent souls and crush them. When he put the gnomon back in place, the sundial looked extremely withered. It was in far worse shape than when he’d tested it on Ling’er. Thankfully, it was already starting to slowly repair itself.

Now wasn’t the time to study what was happening, though. Xu Qing quickly looked at the other three-tribulation Mirrorling and removed the gnomon from his second sundial.

That other Mirrorling was completely astonished by what he’d just seen. For some inexplicable reason, his fellow Mirrorling had just stopped moving moments ago. He didn’t fight back or resist in any way. He seemed almost like a puppet as this human cultivator beheaded him.

“This....” Before the Mirrorling could process what was happening, Xu Qing’s gaze landed on him.