Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 570: Look, Everyone! Who’s That on the Nail? (part 1)

There was no true sun in the Moonrite Region, which existed in year-round dusk. It was only during the three months of Heavenfire Skycrossing that the region received significant light. What was more, that light represented death.

However, not all species were adapted to living in endless darkness. Therefore, after the living beings in the region were culled, and regrowth had begun, there were always certain big species who produced talented and courageous individuals. The artificial sun that was being discussed was the result of a very powerful species who, after generations of replenishment, managed to raise a sun for their own species.

That said, the light and heat of suns like that wouldn’t travel very far, and generally only illuminated the species in question. They were nowhere near as mighty as the Dawning Suns. Even still, just being able to do that was enough to guarantee a certain level of protection for their species.

Usually, more godheralds came from such species than others. As a result, when Crimson Mother came, though such species would suffer from the fate of extermination like all the others, their sun would remain. And because of that, they could recover more quickly. The cycle would continue for years and years.

There were originally nine species in the Moonrite Region who had their own suns. Due to unexpected circumstances, three of them ended up being wiped out, leaving six. The Lonesuns were one of those six, and they were also the most recent addition. Reportedly, they had mysterious assistance back when they originally created their sun.

Months earlier, their sun suddenly vanished, seemingly of its own accord, despite the Lonesuns having extremely strict security. It almost seemed like the sun had intentionally gone into hiding.

Right now, that very sun appeared in the sky of the major world fragment.

“Those old Lonesun bastards borrowed my things years ago and never gave them back. Hmmmphh! Little do they know I let them do that on purpose!” The Captain looked up at the sun, feeling superlatively comfortable. “They took good care of it for me.”

The sun the Captain had released into the sky unleashed dazzling, blinding beams of light, as well as intense heat. Instantly, heaven and earth shifted into the warm season.

The temperature increased, and was continuing to increase. After only ten breaths of time had passed, it reached shocking levels. Mist roiled off of the ice, and the seemingly eternal glacier was already showing signs that it might melt. That said, this one sun wasn’t enough to melt all the glaciers in the entire major world fragment. That was why the Captain had come to this specific ice mountain.

“I just need this place melted! That’ll be enough!” The Captain’s eyes glittered as he lifted both hands into the air. “Little Roundy, this is the place to let it shine!”

The sun in the sky vibrated, causing the light and heat to contract. Wherever it passed, the ice slowly melted, revealing the ruins beneath.

Eventually, all of the light and heat was focused on the ice mountain the Captain was standing on.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu were fully aware of how mighty this sun was, so they had long since picked a safe spot off in the distance to watch from. Meanwhile, the Captain’s hair was melting away, leaving him looking very strange. He didn’t seem to care. His clothes weren’t affected by the heat, and he looked very calm and relaxed.

“It was so nippy. Finally it’s warming up a bit.”

The ice mountain beneath his feet was starting to melt. Rivulets of black water rolled down its side until it eventually evaporated into steam. The mountain was rapidly shrinking, until all that was left was a 300-meter cavern in the ice shelf, out of which emerged steam and an ancient aura.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu watched fearfully as an intense rumbling sound also emerged from the huge cavern.

The melting continued until the bottom of that huge cavern was visible! Now it was possible to see something that had been concealed for countless years: the true surface of the ground. That said, compared to the endless black glaciers in this area, that 300-meter cavern was like the eye of a needle. Though it had been opened, the frigid energy in the area was so strong that the cavern was already showing signs of icing over.

The Captain didn’t care. He just looked down excitedly into the cavern.

Thanks to the sunlight, the depths of the cavern were clearly visible. There was black soil there, as well as numerous blood-colored furrows arranged in a very precise fashion. If you took them all in together, you would realize they resembled a huge fingerprint. It was as if some paragonic entity had slammed a palm down onto this area to wipe out all living things, and had left behind a blood-colored palm print. The markings, here, though, were just those from a single finger.

After confirming this was the right spot, the Captain bellowed, “Little Ningning! Big Jianjian! Hurry up. Help me handle this treasure!”

Using his outstretched hands to control the sun, he sent more heat into the area, preventing the cavern from being sealed over again.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu didn’t dare to dally. They burst into action, with Ning Yan waving a hand to produce a patch of golden flesh. The patch of flesh was large enough to be able to cover dozens of people at once. And once unfurled, it was obvious that it had actually been stitched together with many smaller pieces. Because of that, it would be very difficult to determine where it came from. Wu Jianwu quickly gripped the side of the flesh opposite of Ning Yan. Then the two of them stretched it out and sent it toward the bottom of the cavern.

“Hahaha! I like this skin patch treasure more and more!” Up in midair, the Captain’s eyebrows danced up and down as his eyes burned with excitement.

Ning Yan looked like he wanted to say something, but ultimately held back. He glanced at Wu Jianwu. Wu Jianwu kept his mouth shut.

Next, the excited Captain performed a double-handed incantation gesture, then pointed up into the sky.

“Let it shine a bit more, Little Roundy! Help me get a good image of this fingerprint!”

The sun above seemed to shift in place, and then it erupted with light that was vastly more intense than before. It abruptly stopped, only to reappear a moment later. That happened about a dozen times, so quickly in succession that the entire area was bathed with dazzling light.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu kept a firm grip on the patch of skin, and as the light flared, an image of the fingerprint appeared on the skin. It was a perfect copy of the fingerprint in the cavern, although much smaller. As it became increasingly clear, it emanated an astounding level of pressure.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu were ready for that, but it still caused them to tremble. And as the patch of skin transformed it seemed to become so heavy that it started to slowly sink down.

That was when Ning Yan unleashed the power of his bloodline. At the same time, a host of little animals appeared around Wu Jianwu and released bloodline fluctuations. As a result, they managed to keep the patch of skin from falling. About ten breaths of time later, the sun darkened, and the fingerprint was clearly visible on the patch of skin.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu struggled to control their trembling as they quickly rolled up the patch of skin. When it was put away, both exhaled sharply in relief, then looked up at the Captain.

The afterglow of the sun landed on the Captain, making him look very imposing, and perfectly highlighting the emotion on his face as he sighed.

“It’s too bad the only people here to witness this majestic event were us three. Little Ah Qing had no way to see it.” The Captain clasped his hands behind his back and sighed loudly. “Later on when I explain what happened, he’ll definitely have mixed emotions. What a pity. What a pity!”

The Captain shook his head and was about to continue speaking when, all of a sudden, something very dramatic happened.

The sky in the major world fragment glittered, and wild colors flashed left and right. Then, blue light appeared in the canopy of heaven. It wasn’t just a small section of the sky. It filled everything! It was as if the entire dusky sky had turned light blue. What was more, that light grew more intense, all while terrifying ripples spread out.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu were visibly stunned, but the Captain was taking it in stride.

“Presumably we’ve been discovered. They’ll be here soon. But that’s fine. This is all within the realm of what I predicted. The two of you can make your escape according to the method I explained earlier. We’ll meet back up at Mount Heavenly Ox. Once we’re there, I can promise you that even more good fortune will appear!” The Captain waved his hand to produce a jade slip. “Starting now, we just let things play out naturally and—”

Before he could finish speaking, a heaven-sundering, earth-crushing rumbling sound spread out through the blue-lit sky. The deafening sound stirred the clouds as a massive rift opened up in the icy canopy of heaven.

As the fully 5,000-kilometer rift opened, the sound continued to echo out, shaking the lands. There wasn’t just one rift. In the blink of an eye, a second opened. Then a third and a fourth....

Dozens of rifts opened in the icy canopy of heaven. Looking up, the sky almost seemed like a shattering mirror. As rifts continued to open, the rumbling sounds were like thunder.

Meanwhile, the blue light continued to shine dazzlingly, and the faint blue in the sky became deeper and deeper. Then light emerged from all of the rifts, in narrow beams that shone onto the glaciers below. The black glaciers couldn’t do anything to stop the blue light, and thus, the lands also turned blue. In the blink of an eye, everything in heaven and earth was blue. The terrifying pressure that came from beyond the icy sky grew even more intense.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the canopy of heaven started crumbling. Countless chunks of ice fell like blue meteors. As they slammed into the ground, everything started crumbling. Deafening rumbling rolled out everywhere. As the sky collapsed, the tip of a 30,000-meter nail appeared!

It was only the tip, but it shattered the canopy of heaven around it, with those effects spreading rapidly in all directions. As the sky fell, the huge blue nail descended! The entire major world fragment was shaking violently. Not even the Captain had caused something as dramatic as this to happen.

The countless deceased souls in the major world fragment, regardless of whether they drifted aimlessly or were sleeping in the ice, all let loose terrified screams. As far as they were concerned, doomsday had come!

Ning Yan was completely and utterly stunned, while Wu Jianwu looked like he might start crying.

“We’re finished! I said before we came in here that I had a bad feeling about this! Why’d you have to drag me along??”

“Chen Erniu!! What are you doing? What’s going on?”

The two of them had already crushed their teleportation talismans. Unfortunately, thanks to the dramatic situation, the talismans that the Captain had said would ‘never, ever malfunction’ were somehow not working.