Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 568: Secrets of Revered Ancient (part 2)

At the bottom of the lake, one of the ‘corpses’ in the coffins opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing the surrounding lake water, he suddenly looked extremely pleased with himself. Then he glanced at the seven-colored tentacles that were dragging down the coffins, and he looked even more pleased.

Foolish Gloomites. Getting into this place was as easy as putting a hand in my pocket and pulling something out. Next, I need to get into this species’ minor world. Then I can enact my real plan. I wonder how little Ah Qing is doing nowadays. I doubt he’s having as much fun as I am. He’s probably already at Mount Heavenly Ox, shivering and trembling as he waits for me to show up....

That ‘corpse’ was none other than the Captain.

Oh, little Ah Qing. Eldest Brother didn’t intend to be late. But that’s just how things worked out. For the sake of this big job, you need to stay put for a little bit. Besides, you’re the one who decided not to stick close to me.

Feeling very lofty, the Captain closed his eyes and continued to pretend to be dead.

***

The entity in red sped up as he led Xu Qing away from the lake and across the glaciers. Eventually, he waved his hand to sweep up Xu Qing and move even faster.

Because of the shocking speed, it only took about fifteen or sixteen hours to reach the very depths of the glaciers. It was extremely cold here, and the power of the red moon warding spells was intense.

The warding spell fluctuations caused Xu Qing’s eyes to narrow as he realized where they were heading. Just as he expected, the entity in red soon stopped at the edge of a glacier, and looked down, his eyes full of grief. His grief was so intense that it affected the surroundings, so that it was just barely possible to detect the faint sound of weeping.

Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever. Recalling what he had said back in the east, he followed his line of sight into the ice below. It was dark in this area, and that was even true of the interior of the glacier. But as Xu Qing looked down into that darkness, he realized he was looking at some colossally monstrous entity.

“Want to see more closely?” Without waiting for an answer from Xu Qing, he waved his right hand gently through the air. All of a sudden, countless pinpricks of light appeared inside the glacier, almost like fireflies. Individually, their light was weak. But collectively, they illuminated the entire area.

With that light, Xu Qing could see clearly what was under the surface of the glacier. His heart leaped into his throat. A corpse lay inside the glacier.

It was fully 30,000 meters from end to end, and wore a brown suit of armor. Despite being dead, the corpse emanated a baleful aura that filled Xu Qing’s mind with a sound like an angry roar.

Xu Qing shivered and took a few steps back. After calming his heart, he again looked more closely. The corpse was that of a handsome young man with a determined facial expression. He had eyebrows like swords and a heroic disposition. However, pierced into his forehead was a black nail. Blood dripped from the wound down his face, making him look very fierce.

But his body was even more shocking. It was largely desiccated, and those few places that weren’t withered emanated a blood energy that contained an aura of death as it spread throughout the glacier. That alone caused countless speculations to arise in Xu Qing. He looked over at the grieving entity in red.

“This was my third little brother. When we were small, he loved following me around. As the Heir Apparent, I helped my father deal with the politics of the court, and was always busy. Wherever I went, my little brother followed along. Sometimes when I got frustrated I would send him off to the side, and he would cry out to me. ‘Big brother, big brother....’

“Being an impulsive person, he never got along with my ninth little brother. They were always fighting. And I always tended to side with Ninth Sib.” [1]

Xu Qing said nothing. He could sense the deep sorrow in the entity.

“That nail in his forehead is the weapon of my father, the king. My fourth younger brother took it and stabbed him with it. You know, my fourth younger brother was actually trying to kill me. Instead, my third younger brother died in my place.”

The Heir Apparent smiled.

“Boy, I still haven’t explained who my fourth younger brother is. He did all of this as a blood tribute for when Crimson Mother arrived. And as a result, he’s very famous nowadays. He’s the godchild of the Moonrite Region.”

When Xu Qing heard that, he was stunned. He had heard about a godchild related to the Red Moon Cathedral in the Moonrite Region, and had assumed that such a person would be extraordinary. But he could never have guessed that individual's origin. The current red moon godchild used to be the fourth son of the region’s Imperial Sovereign!

“Over the years that have passed, he’s the one that’s kept us fed.” The Heir Apparent laughed. “He was worried that his brothers and sisters would die too quickly. Therefore, he harvests common citizens to keep us fed. In the past, he would occasionally slice skin off us and feed it to the others. Later on, he stopped appearing in person. See? Didn’t he treat us other brothers and sisters sooo well?” The Heir Apparent was grinding his teeth, and his eyes shone with killing intent. “Do you know where my third younger brother’s energy and blood is now? You’ll find out soon.”

Xu Qing wasn’t sure what to say, so he just sighed softly.

As they walked along and Xu Qing heard all of this information, he began to gain a much better understanding of the Moonrite Region. However, the more he understood it, the more he felt the pressure that weighed down on all living beings here.

“Boy, can you help me open a hole in the red moon warding spells? Just a tiny one will do.” The Heir Apparent looked calmly at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing nodded. Sitting down cross-legged, he activated his violet moon nascent soul. Instantly, the surrounding red moon fluctuations grew stronger. The power of the warding spells surged, and tiny red threads appeared everywhere. The red threads spread out, creating a huge net that covered everything. Then one of those many threads changed colors, turning violet. As soon as that happened, the red moon warding spells slowly shivered to life.

Xu Qing struggled to control his breathing. As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t too hard to manipulate the warding spells in a simplistic way. But to open a hole in them was something far more difficult. Right now, all he could do was absorb the red moon power in the area, causing the warding spells to weaken. Then, by tapping into the authority of his violet moon, he could slowly create an opening. That was the limit of what he could do now.

Three days passed.

During that time, Xu Qing continuously absorbed from his surroundings. On the evening of the third day, he had reached his limit. Eyes opening, he extended his right hand and pushed down toward the ground.

The red moon warding spells seethed as a vortex formed.

The moment the vortex appeared, the Heir Apparent blurred. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared, turning into a stream of blue energy, within which was a discarnate soul. The soul actually looked like a young man, and his facial features resembled the man in the glacier below. However, he seemed more dignified as he flew into the vortex.

The red moon warding spells surged as they formed a barrier. Xu Qing went all out to resist them. He felt like he was a little pony pulling a massive war chair, and it made his soul feel like it was about to be ripped to shreds. His violet moon nascent soul shivered, and its facial expression was one of pain.

And this was the reaction for a discarnate soul. Given that, if this wasn’t a discarnate soul, and it was something trying to break from inside to outside, then Xu Qing couldn’t have succeeded no matter how hard he tried.

What was more, Xu Qing could only do so much, even right now.

The fact that the Heir Apparent picked this place meant that he had a lot of confidence here. The soul shadow flickered with blue light as it ignited itself, pushing its power to the maximum as it pushed into the vortex Xu Qing had created.

Rumbling sounds echoed out, and Xu Qing coughed up seven or eight mouthfuls of blood. His violet moon nascent soul looked dangerously listless. However, the discarnate soul of the young man finally managed to break open the barrier, make a hole, and enter it.

Once past the warding spells, the discarnate soul started fading. It clearly couldn’t last for very long. Without any hesitation, it shot toward the nail in the forehead of the third younger brother.

Just before it faded from existence, it reached the nail and merged into it.

Xu Qing wiped blood from his mouth. Walking back a few paces, he sat down cross-legged. He had already done everything he could. As for whether the overall plan would succeed, all he could do now was wait and see. There was no way he was strong enough to drag the discarnate soul back out.

***

Back at the bottom of that lake, the seven-colored tentacles had dragged the hundreds of coffins all the way to the bottom of the lake. There was a vortex there, pulsing with greed and longing. And the coffins were being pulled right toward that vortex. Once through the vortex, they were in a strange world.

Laying inside one of those coffins was the Captain. His eyes snapped open, and they gleamed with anticipation.

“I’ve finally arrived! Hahaha! Okay, little birdies, grandpa is here!”

1. Normally speaking I wouldn’t capitalize Heir Apparent. However, this is going to serve as this character’s name in addition to his title. ?