Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 983: A Wind Picks Up On the Forbidden Sea

Late at night, the blackness of the Forbidden Sea grew even deeper. Using the naked eye, it was impossible to see more than a foot or two before everything was swallowed by inky darkness. Stretch out your hand and you would have a hard time seeing your fingers.

It was similar with the temperature. As night fell, the wind over the sea grew colder, screaming between the sea and the heaven as it blew northward. The cold wind carried a fishy smell, plus something rotten and decayed, almost like a sick old person with one foot in the grave, whose every exhalation contained an aura of death. That aura swirled about, combining with the cries of various unknown sea beasts. The night was full of mystery and fear.

It was the same with the dark currents under the surface of the water. They were more violent than they were during the daytime. On the surface, they gave birth to huge waves. Under the surface, they created numerous powerful vortexes. Over the countless years that had passed, nights were always like this on the seafloor. No one knew why the whirlpools formed. They only knew that they were essentially a natural occurrence in the Forbidden Sea. It happened that way over and over again, seemingly without end.

At the moment, a whirlpool rumbled through a particular area, kicking up silt to reveal numerous marine trenches that were almost like scars on the seafloor. Deep in one of those trenches was a huge bubble in the mire. Inside the bubble was a dilapidated pagoda. Outside of the pagoda was a god vine, which sent out fluctuations of anxiety and hostility.

Inside the pagoda... was a horribly mangled corpse. It looked almost chopped to pieces as it lay there, motionless. Whatever blade had been used to chop the corpse hadn’t been a sharp one. As a result, the flesh hadn’t been fully sliced apart. What was more, it was connected by drooping strands of a silver substance.

As time passed, the silver strands slowly began pulling the separated pieces of flesh back together. There was also a violet light shimmering faintly within the corpse.

A few days passed....

When the pieces of the corpse had all been pulled back together, it looked a bit more human. However, it was still covered with numerous cracks, and was appalling to look at. But then bits of life force began to pulse within it, as if it were being called back from the netherworld. The closed eyes slowly opened, and though weak, they pulsed with incomparable coldness.

The fact that I’m here, and alive, proves that I made the right decision. The Imperial Sovereign from the Vivifiend holy land was unable to get through the bubble and into this pagoda. I got back that slight time advantage.

Xu Qing looked calm on the outside, and was, in fact, very calm on the inside. He still maintained a certain level of godliness, giving him the ability to analyze the situation with cool rationality. His god perception was weak, but he sent it out to check the situation outside.

Eventually, he sat up. As he did, his body and soul ached with intense pain, such that most people would go mad or pass out. But filled as he was with godliness, Xu Qing apparently didn’t even notice it. However, it did take him quite a bit of time. In fact, it was only after twelve breaths of time passed that he was able to fully sit up.

Taking out some of the broken face’s blood, he consumed it, then closed his eyes and began meditating. He wanted to speed up his recovery as quickly as possible, and get his cultivation base back to its peak level. Simultaneously, he would use the time he had bought to wait for help to come.

***

Floating Fiend was seated cross-legged on the other side of the bubble, his face completely expressionless. A pair of rusty shears hovered overhead, shining with dim light. A terrifying mightiness circulated within them. They created a power that could cut off anything from the outside world, and erase all signs of everything. It made it so that anyone observing the area would see nothing at all there. Even the shears were fundamentally not there.

This is quite an extraordinary defensive barrier. The only way to get past it is with that sageheaven god vine.

Three days had passed in which Floating Fiend had tried a variety of methods to break into the bubble. All had failed. With great force, he could walk twelve steps inside, but couldn’t get any further. At that point, the force of rejection from the bubble was too much for him to sustain.

That doesn’t mean there’s no way to break inside, though. I just need to temper my Imperial Sovereign authority a bit more. All that will require is time. A hundred days should be enough. There’s another possibility that could work right away, which would be to use the essence power of the shears.

Forcibly using the essence power of the shears would wear them down much more quickly. Or, if the effect was too severe, it could result in the shears disappearing entirely and returning to become part of a great dao. That was something he couldn’t accept. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Most importantly, when he was chasing Xu Qing, he had seen too many karma threads that he feared. He simply didn’t dare to sever them directly. Besides, he had already tapped into some of the essence of the shears, specifically, the Grand Emperor might. That was how he had erected the temporary barrier of concealment.

If he did more than that, the shears would likely melt, once again becoming part of a great dao. Then he would never be able to use them again. And all the barriers he had created between himself and those terrifying karma threads would vanish.

If that happened, powerful experts would definitely show up right away. What’s more, assimilating his fleshly body will take time. Time that I wouldn’t have in that scenario....

After a lot of thought, Floating Fiend focused his gaze on the dilapidated pagoda inside the bubble. Gradually, his eyes started shining.

I can’t quite accept failure. That’s the flesh of the broken face! His body... is probably the only one like it in the world! Combine that with the stories I’ve heard about immortal mercury, and it means that his fleshly body, despite having so much karma....

Is probably the work of a Summer Immortal or possibly someone even more powerful than that! If I can get it, then I just need to stay hidden until the Emptystar holy land arrives. And then, even if that almighty individual gets greedy, he won’t risk getting involved with Eminent Desolation’s karma. In other words, chances are he’ll just let me do my thing....

With his protection, then this brat’s karma can be wiped out easily. And the Vivifiend holy land will rise to new heights!

After a bit more thought, he made his decision.

I have three options. Maybe it’ll be risky, but those who search for the dao are born in the morning and die in the evening. It’ll be worth it. When destined opportunities are born, anything is possible.[1]

Having reached this point in his train of thought, Floating Fiend closed his eyes. Almost at the exact same moment, a tremor passed through him, and a host of bloody flesh strands began to seep out of him and extend toward the bubble. They were so densely packed they were difficult to count, but there were definitely no less than 10,000,000.

Soon, the bloody flesh strands had wrapped up the entire bubble, whereupon they started slowly pulling it toward him. It was as if they were trying to pull the bubble right up to him so he could absorb it!

Floating Fiend paid very close attention to the process. However, what he was looking most closely at wasn’t the absorption process. Instead, he was keeping an eye on the Grand Emperor’s treasure floating overhead, as well as the surroundings. He was also checking to see if Xu Qing was doing anything.

In that manner, time passed.

***

The following day in the port at Seven Blood Eyes, Second Elder Sister sat in a Seventh Peak pagoda handling various sect matters.

Because of the arrival of the Vivifiend holy land, and the interactions with the people from there, the situation in the Forbidden Sea seemed to be going smoothly on the outside, but in reality, was very tense. Seven Blood Eyes was active both in the continent of South Phoenix and in the Holytide Region, and was considered an apex power. As a result, they had more responsibilities to handle than before.

Xu Qing was out training, Erniu seemed reluctant to leave his nonhuman friends, and Third Sib... was roaming the mainland, sowing wild oats and disinclined to come back to the sect. Their Master was in seclusion, and the patriarch was experiencing young love for a second time....

That meant that the only person left behind in Seven Blood Eyes to handle things was Second Elder Sister. Although the other mountain peaks offered a lot of support, it was obvious that the Seventh Peak was in charge of things.

Second Elder Sister was busy every single day.

It pained Huang Yan to see his beloved wife in such a situation. He kept her company constantly, and the flattering look never left his face. He would occasionally kneed her shoulders, would sometimes kneel to massage her legs, and would find time to put fresh fruit on her desk. He would even carefully peel pieces of fruit and place them in Second Elder Sister’s mouth. He took care of her in every possible way. At the moment, he was also cursing her fellow apprentices.

“The first time I laid eyes on that Chen Erniu, I knew he was a scoundrel. Now he just can’t bear to part with those nonhumans, which directly leads to you being so busy, Elder Sister. Damn him! And then there’s Third Sib. He’s just as bad as Erniu. He’s definitely going to die of exhaustion sooner or later! As for Ah Qing....”

Huang Yan was going to continue speaking when Second Elder Sister suddenly looked up at him.

Huang Yan cleared his throat. He knew that his wife wasn’t very articulate or expressive, but deep down, she cared deeply for her Master and fellow apprentices. He quickly changed his tone.

“Well, Erniu isn’t that bad. And Third Sib is alright too. Ah Qing is the best, of course.... Speaking of which, I haven’t been in touch with him for a few days.”

Before Huang Yan could say anything else, his transmission jade slip vibrated. It wasn’t just his. Second Elder Sister’s jade slip also received an incoming message. They took their jade slips out simultaneously, checked the message, and then looked at each other with serious expressions.

The message was from Erniu. The Garmentfolk were a great distance away from South Phoenix, so Erniu had sent a message that needed to be routed through transmission portals in multiple prefectures before it finally arrived.

“I recently had an inexplicable uneasy feeling. It’s like something really big happened. Second Sib and Second Brother-in-Law, is Little Ah Qing doing well with you two? I can’t get in touch with him!”

Second Elder Sister immediately sent a voice message to Xu Qing. When she didn’t get a response, she sent a message to Sir Bloodsmelter asking for any information. Her last interaction with Xu Qing had been a request for him to go check on their Grand-Master.

The patriarch quickly responded. When Second Elder Sister saw the message, her expression turned grave, and she looked at Huang Yan.

“Fourth Sib went chasing after a godly entity and now nobody can get in touch with him!”

Huang Yan yawned and smiled placatingly. “It’s fine, really. There are a lot of things on the seafloor that can disrupt transmissions. It’s totally normal. There aren’t any godly entities that can pose a threat to that little punk. Besides, I gave him one of my feathers. If he runs into anything really dangerous, he would reach out to me. But since you’re worried, I’ll see if I can track him down.”

Huang Yan cast his senses out to his feather. An instant later, his eyes went wide, and flames were visible within them. He couldn’t sense his feather at all. Just looking at Second Elder Sister, he could sense the emotions roiling within her, so he plastered a relaxed smile onto his face.

“Don’t worry. I found him! The little punk ran into a sea beast that’s on the verge of igniting godfire. I’ll go take care of it right now.” With that, he turned to leave.

“Huang Yan,” Second Elder Sister said.

He stopped in place and turned to look at his wife with a genuine smile on his face.

“Bring Fourth Sib back,” she said softly.

“Don’t worry.” With a hearty laugh and a relaxed facial expression, Huang Yan turned back around and kept walking. As soon as he was facing in the other direction, his expression turned extremely serious. An instant later, he was gone.

***

Out on the Forbidden Sea, in a location not visible from Seven Blood Eyes, dark clouds roiled in the sky, obscuring the sun, and casting the sea into shadow. Endless lightning crashed in the clouds, and something that looked like a phoenix and an eagle could just barely be seen flying overhead. Its brown torso looked like a mountain boulder, and its feathers were like burning flames. Wherever it passed, the sky ignited.

It was none other than Flame Phoenix. What powerful entity is out there that blocked my senses?

1. The saying about ‘those who search for the dao’ has been used by the author before. Unfortunately, in past translations not even I maintained consistency in how I rendered the phrase, much less the other translators. In any case, it came up in I Shall Seal the Heavens in chapters 597, 631, 1144, 1145. It also comes up in Pursuit of the Truth in chapter 1422, as well as 12 times in Renegade Immortal, even being the chapter title of chapter 317. It didn’t show up in A Will Eternal or A World Worth Protecting. ☜