Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 564: Fierce Star Melts the Sun and Shatters the Sky (part 2)

The moment the gnomons were removed, the five sundials erupted with the power of Time Lag. As a result, time stopped around all six of the Spirit Trove experts.

Next, the heavenly dao bluegreen dragon appeared, and even as the Spirit Trove experts struggled against the daze inflicted by the violet moon, it lunged toward them with gaping maw. In one gulp, it swallowed both the violet moon and the six cultivators!

This was step four. And it was going to come with a heavy price. Xu Qing’s five sundials collapsed into pieces. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and his body withered. However, his cultivation base didn’t change at all, and that was because the true life lamps made from his blood were actually the five gnomons!

The sundials came from the violet crystal, and after what Xu Qing had experienced in the Heavenfire Sea, he knew that they would recover given enough time.

Using the power of the sundials was step four in his plan. The violet moon vanished, as did the six Spirit Trove experts. The bluegreen dragon let loose a howl of pain, and then began to expand, all while rumbling sounds echoed within it. It wouldn’t be able to hold out for very long. Although the bluegreen dragon was very unique, and had a heavenly dao blessing, it was still too weak. Even with the help of the violet moon, it couldn’t keep the six Spirit Trove experts trapped for long. What was more, Xu Qing didn’t have enough godly authority to fully activate the curse within them. He could only push the curse from its sleeping state toward a state of being awake.

Truth be told, even doing just that was completely spectacular. After all, he was doing this all with his own powers and abilities. In contrast, godheralds could only do it by making themselves vessels to channel the strength of a god. The outcome looked the same, but they were fundamentally different.

“Hold out for an incense stick of time!” Xu Qing said to the bluegreen dragon. Then he turned to the city, his eyes raging with uncontrollable killing intent.

He strode toward the city, his voice rumbling out in all directions. “Last month, the Mirrorlings brazenly harmed a Nightshade godherald. It is a crime worthy of the death penalty, and as a result, this species will be exterminated!”

Xu Qing lifted his right hand, then shoved it downward. Instantly, a red bolt of lightning shot out from the miasma behind Xu Qing. It headed straight toward the city with such incredible speed that it left behind a string of thunderous booms.

That red lightning bolt was none other than Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, whose eyes were bloodshot as killing intent raged in his heart. Having followed Xu Qing all this time, he often fought on Xu Qing’s behalf. Usually, he was a passive participant. But this time, he was the one who took initiative. He was here to avenge the deaths of his audience! When he thought back to the looks in the eyes of his fans, and their voices, it caused rage to burn within the depths of the patriarch’s being.

“DIE!” the patriarch howled, sending the unstoppable Spike of Misfortune viciously slamming into Holy City’s defenses.

Those defenses had just endured Heavenfire Skycrossing, and were already damaged to the point of falling apart. Though a few months of work had gone into repairing them, they were not back to their peak condition. They quickly dimmed, making it obvious they couldn’t stand up to the piercing power of the Spike of Misfortune. Then, a boom echoed out as the fish bone spike, surrounded by red lightning, pierced through the city’s defenses, leaving behind a tiny hole!

That hole created a chain reaction, causing cracks to spread out from that spot in all directions. Holy City’s defenses were extraordinary. Despite being weakened, and breached, they already glittered with light as they began to self-repair.

However, on his way here, Xu Qing had already thought out all of his plans. Therefore, as soon as the patriarch pierced through the shield, and before it could do anything to repair itself, a deafening rumbling swept through the dome of heaven. A massive mountain suddenly appeared in midair. From a distance, it resembled a figure seated in meditation. That figure looked like Xu Qing, except that it shouldered two major worlds, though they were dim and faint. Either way, the figure emanated shocking pressure. It was none other than Xu Qing’s Ghost Emperor mountain!

As soon as the mountain was out in the open, it dropped down viciously onto the city’s defensive shield. The ground shook as the city’s defenses quivered. Their repair functions had no choice but to slow down and stop, as the entire glimmering shield began to sink in on itself! That said, it managed to hold strong, though cracks spread out continuously from where the Ghost Emperor mountain had landed, and the spot where the Spike of Misfortune had stabbed through.

Right then, a sound erupted above Xu Qing that could shake the highest heavens. A pitch-black golden crow flew out, rapidly growing larger as it did. In the blink of an eye, it was 3,000 meters in size, with 200 tail feathers. It looked like a black phoenix, its wings spread out through the sky as it shot toward Holy City.

A moment later, it was directly over the city, looking down with cold eyes. It let loose a piercing cry, then opened its mouth, aimed toward the cracked and crumbling defensive shield, and exhaled... heavenfire!

It was formed from the lava the golden crow had consumed in the Heavenfire Sea, and it was unsurpassably hot. As it flew, it breathed fire, causing massive flames to spread out everywhere. From a distance, it looked like the whole city was covered in heavenfire.

It was almost as if Heavenfire Skycrossing had once again begun!

All of this takes some time to describe, but the reality is that from the moment Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior flew out until the golden crow started breathing fire, only about four or five breaths of time had passed.

Holy City’s defensive shield couldn’t last any longer. Popping sounds echoed out, then it collapsed. The Ghost Emperor mountain slammed down, shaking the city. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior flew forward, killing anyone in his path. The flames from above couldn’t be stopped, and they began burning the city.

All light dimmed in heaven and earth!

The members of the Twofold Alliance in Holy City had just personally witnessed their leaders swallowed up by a bluegreen dragon. That alone was shocking.

But even more astonishing was how the curse within them was stirring. And more than that, Xu Qing’s status as a godherald left them shaken to the core. Only a few breaths of time had passed, yet the defensive shield had collapsed, heavenfire was spreading everywhere. All of them felt like they were facing a brutal catastrophe.

That said, though the Twofold Alliance’s Spirit Trove experts had been captured, they still had many Nascent Soul cultivators as well as plenty in Gold Core as well. After the initial shocking development, those cultivators reacted, and shot out toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s expression was cold as he hovered in midair. Reaching out with his right hand, he pushed it down in the direction of the city. The dust storm full of poison became a shadowy haze that swept over the city. Each particle within the haze was backed by unstoppable momentum, and contained extremely high concentrations of poison. It also had mutagen.

The cultivators who had been attacking Xu Qing were hit first, and the bits of sand provoked roars of rage from them. Because of the taboo poison, their skin started melting. However, the sound of the poison dust storm was so intense that their agonized howls were hardly noticeable.

The storm raged with heaven-rending, earth-crushing power.

The city walls collapsed first, and then buildings in the city started falling apart. Members of the Twofold Alliance began dropping like flies. In the shortest of moments, the entire city was covered over by the 50-kilometer storm. From a distance, it looked like a case of a god exacting punishment!

Up in the sky, Xu Qing hovered, the god who was openly unveiling his godly might. Wherever he looked, the poison miasma covering the city brought about more death!

One scream might not be very noticeable. But when many of them combined, it was a different story. Cries of grief and agony echoed out in all directions. This was an unmitigated disaster for the Twofold Alliance.

And yet, there were still some of them who managed to break free of the poison storm. Even as their bodies rotted, they charged angrily toward Xu Qing. Their facial expressions were vicious, and their hearts pulsed with rage. In their eyes, he was a heinous, irredeemable fiend.

Xu Qing felt the same about them.

A moment later, they clashed.

The coldness in Xu Qing’s eyes surged as a dagger appeared in his right hand. He stepped forward, and before his opponent could unleash any magical technique, he attacked. He raised his hand. The blade fell. Blood sprayed as a head tumbled to the ground.

Five umbrellas appeared over Xu Qing’s head, which merged together to make a violet throne. That was the true manifestation of Xu Qing’s bloodline life lamp. When the throne appeared, winds screamed, and the power of blood sent out fluctuations that became mighty pressure. Everything around Xu Qing distorted.

Due to the boost to speed and strength, the enemy cultivators were like pieces of paper. They couldn’t stand up to any of his attacks. Corpses fell out of the sky left and right.

Screams filled the city as Xu Qing became a blur of afterimages. He appeared in front of a Skyface cultivator, then his dagger flashed as it slit the enemy’s throat. However, this enemy cultivator was no simpleton. He didn’t die. Reaching out with both hands, he grabbed Xu Qing. Meanwhile, the other surrounding cultivators unleashed attacks.

Seeing how dangerous the situation was, Xu Qing took the throne of umbrellas down to surround him. Booms rang out. The throne blurred, turning into five spikes that stabbed out in five directions. Screams resulted as the spikes flew out, circled around, and then formed the throne again.

Xu Qing burst into motion, his dagger slashing through the throat of a Skyface.

Just then, three figures appeared, racing toward Xu Qing, all of them pulsing with fluctuations of the great circle of Nascent Soul.

Xu Qing was knocked out of the sky. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and his internal organs vibrated painfully. Thankfully, he had a very tough physical body. Although he couldn’t match this level of strength, he could endure it without collapsing.

As the three enemies gave chase, Xu Qing blurred, turning semitransparent as he melted into the haze that filled the city. In that state, his aura would remain completely hidden. At some point, a blood-red mask had appeared on his face. The mask offered a peak level of concealment, and allowed Xu Qing to be like a specter, a dagger-wielding assassin that slipped through the haze, undetectable.

Whenever he saw any cultivators from the Twofold Alliance, he slit their throats. If that wasn’t convenient, he would stab their heart, or whatever other vital spot presented itself. He encountered some powerful experts. Those he could kill, he killed. Those he couldn’t kill, he fled from.

And of course, those Nascent Soul cultivators he killed provided some very nourishing nascent souls. After extracting and crushing them, he would absorb their heavenfate. At the same time, he sent his heavenfiend clones out into the miasma, both to distract the top experts and also to kill whoever they could.

Rotting corpses fell to the ground constantly. Miserable shrieks filled the haze. The top experts from the Twofold Alliance had no choice but to desperately charge through the haze.

One group shot toward the heavenly dao bluegreen dragon in the hopes of freeing their patriarchs. Even fewer flew up into midair and unleashed techniques that they hoped would clear the haze of the storm. Unfortunately, no such techniques could do that in a short time.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing was an elusive shadow of death that cut down everyone he encountered.

This was the plan he had come up with on the way. This was the battlefield he had prepared for himself!

When he encountered cultivators weaker than himself, he slaughtered them ruthlessly. When he encountered enemies stronger than himself, he would avoid them and let the poison continue to take its toll. If no cultivators got close to him, he would target the mortals. There was no way any of these enemies would be able to escape. The poison haze was too deadly, and any infected by it were marked for death.

In summary, Xu Qing had passed the death sentence on everyone and anything here! This was the battlefield he had created, and he roved about it like an invisible god of death! He was so ruthless and difficult to deal with that the cultivators from the Twofold Alliance were shaken to the core.

This was what it looked like when Xu Qing exacted revenge!