Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1182: The Stubborn Sir Star Ring

The Imperial Sovereign level was all about the process of forming the immortal embryo. With an immortal embryo and a corresponding canon, one could step into the level of the Quasi-Immortal Grand Emperor. After, the immortal embryo would become a mature immortal, and canon would become a tributary, and the Quasi-Immortal would become a Lower Immortal!

Countless cultivators dreamed of reaching those three levels. But it was extremely rare for people to actually succeed. Every major level was like a brutal elimination process. Each step along the way required destined opportunities and good fortune. You also need to build up impressive reserve powers.

What was more, because the Fifth Star Ring had outlawed gods, cultivators didn’t really have any natural predators. That was why there were more Imperial Sovereigns than in places like Revered Ancient. But if you looked at them as a proportion of the cultivator population in general, they were still rare.

In the Revered Ancient mainland, gods still wreaked havoc. Mutagen was everywhere, and life was hard. Even when it was in its heyday, the cultivator population there didn’t come close to the Fifth Star Ring. As a result, there were very few Imperial Sovereigns there.

The three phases of the level didn’t just require an impressive canon. It also required significant power from the star ring itself to act as nutrients for the immortal embryo to eventually become a mature immortal.

Xu Qing had been aware of that for a while now. Now, as he was breaking through, he was fully aware of the advantages and disadvantages he had. In the Smoldering God level, his canon had been strong, but his fleshly body had been a weakness…. He was now facing a similar situation in the Imperial Sovereign level.

The reason I was able to come into the fifth world, which is normally for Quasi-Immortal Grand Emperors, is my canon. The ninth extreme, that of parallel overlapping universes, is comparable to a Quasi-Immortal Grand Emperor’s canon in the great circle. But it’s definitely not anywhere close to being a tributary.

As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to the Imperial Sovereign level, and even the Quasi-Immortal Grand Emperor level, what I lack… is the immortal embryo, and its eventual mature form. What I have to do next is acquire more star ring power, which is really the origin power of a higher star ring. With that as nutrients, I should be able to rapidly mature my immortal embryo.

As for canon… I can’t give up on that. If I want to become a Lower Immortal, then my canon is lacking. What I need… is the tenth extreme!

As Xu Qing sat cross-legged, he sensed his cultivation base fluctuations, and at the same time, analyzed everything that had happened so far, and used that to speculate about the future. He had no idea what the tenth extreme was going to be. He didn’t even have a direction to pursue. At least he knew where his weaknesses lay.

I’m strong enough to fight a Quasi-Immortal. But because of the process of creating the immortal embryo, my fleshly body is as weak as an Imperial Sovereign. If I actually faced Quasi-Immortal power, it would be a problem.

Xu Qing thought about it for a moment.

An assassin?

Eyes gleaming, he cleared his thoughts and looked off into the void. There were ripples in the spot he was looking at. They were aggressive ripples, and they seemed to indicate that someone was trying to force their way into the fifth world.

Xu Qing knew exactly who it was. But….

He broke through on the outside?

He looked apathetically at the spot with the ripples. Gradually, a shape grew more distinct, and Sir Star Ring appeared. Instantly, the might of a Quasi-Immortal erupted around him.

“Xu Qing!!” he howled furiously. His eyes were completely bloodshot as he glared at Xu Qing. He really had achieved a breakthrough! There hadn’t been any other choice. After being expelled multiple times, he knew that he couldn’t possibly reach his goal of breaking through in the fifth world. He had no choice but to do it outside. Unfortunately, becoming a Quasi-Immortal in that manner was not ideal.

The killing intent within him grew even stronger than before. He wanted nothing more than to slaughter Xu Qing.

Upon sensing the killing intent and seeing Sir Star Ring’s bloodshot eyes, Xu Qing coolly said, “I’ve been waiting for you for a while now.”

As those words swept through the fifth world, a screaming wind kicked up, which sent out space-time fluctuations. The fluctuations reverberated in front of and behind Sir Star Ring, as well as to his left and right. They reverberated in his past, present, and future. They reverberated everywhere!

Xu Qing eyes glittered like heavenly bodies, as if the light of space-time was flowing within them.

To him, Sir Star Ring didn’t look like a single, unique entity. Xu Qing saw… countless versions of space-time, and in every one of them was Sir Star Ring, just in a different state. In some cases he was insane. In others, he laughed coldly. In yet others, he was silent, vicious, or in pain…. There were countless space-times, and countless Sir Star Rings. Xu Qing took them all in.

Of course ‘seeing’ was just the first step. The second was influencing. Xu Qing could clearly sense that he was able to influence, not just Sir Star Ring, but the space-time he was in. If his canon were at a higher level… he could truly erase him from existence. He could erase all versions of him, along with his karma, fate, and reincarnations….

That sensation made Xu Qing think back to what Yu Liuchen had told him about True Gods. The reasons True Gods always came back was because of thēir undying names. Even if thēy were killed, as long as there existed a memory of thēm, thēy could use that as a symbol to return to.[1]

Back then, Xu Qing didn’t quite understand what that meant. He just knew that True Gods were terrifying, and that there were too many unknowns regarding thēm. But now… he understood. When a True God came back, they were not the same as before. And that was because… what came back after thēir death wouldn’t be the actual god, but rather, a manifestation of that god from another space-time.

Sadly, my immortal embryo is still in the illusory reality phase, and my ninth extreme hasn’t reached the limit. So at the moment, I can’t influence all of the space-times.

Xu Qing lifted his right hand, pointed it toward Sir Star Ring, and opened it wide.

Sir Star Ring was currently looking directly at Xu Qing, and his heart was pounding. The look in Xu Qing’s eyes caused him to shiver down to the depths of his being. He even stopped breathing, as a sensation of deadly crisis erupted within him. It felt like someone was seeing every aspect of him. They could see his karma, his fate, his reincarnations, and thus… he instinctively felt immense crisis.

All of a sudden, a host of chains appeared around Sir Star Ring, and the terrifying power of his Quasi-Immortal cultivation base erupted. He was about to launch an attack….

Xu Qing closed his hand. “Infinite Timelessness!”

As the words echoed out and his hand closed into a fist… the various space-times that had appeared around Sir Star Ring rumbled loudly and unleashed an explosion of disorder. The explosions instantly reached a peak of intensity, transforming into a space-time tempest. Xu Qing had used Infinite Timelessness before, but could only unleash disorder. But now… with command of his ninth extreme, things were different.

Next, Xu Qing opened his fist and waved his hand, and the disorderly space-time tempest swept about like an angry wave. And it engulfed… Sir Star Ring and nine of the versions of space-time around him. Nine versions of Sir Star Ring were engulfed by the tempest, causing their fleshly bodies to wither up, and eroding the chains of order around them.

All of this seemed to indicate… that all of those instances of order had become a thing of the past in the timescape. Of the nine Sir Star Rings, three screamed as their bodies collapsed into dust, leaving behind only immortal embryos. They wouldn’t last for long, though, and were currently trembling violently.

The other six versions found the space-time around them crumbling. Their experience was affecting the real world, as Sir Star Ring was currently coughing up blood, and his body was withering.

This was Quasi-Immortal battle prowess! It could influence immortal embryos! No matter how dazzling a canon was, if it couldn’t do anything to an immortal embryo, then it wasn’t considered Quasi-Immortal battle prowess.

Different canons influenced things in different ways. In parallelism space-time, the fluctuations were parallel overlapping universes. It required the destruction of multiple space-times to affect the real world.

For example, if Li Mengtu were in this situation, then after his poison reached a certain level, his attacks would affect the body in the real world.

It was the same with Sir Star Ring. That was especially true considering he had achieved a breakthrough and become a Quasi-Immortal. Although it wasn’t the perfect breakthrough from what he could tell, his battle prowess was definitely extraordinary. He couldn’t see other space-times, but he could sense that his immortal embryo was being damaged. And he… had to launch a counterattack!

Countless chains of order whipped out, glowing with golden light. And they quickly converged into a tool. It was a scale! On one side was Sir Star Ring, while on the other side was Xu Qing! Above order, there was… balance!

The moment it appeared, there was an instant, mysterious connection! When that connection occurred, the intangible tempest Xu Qing had summoned weighed down on the scale, causing it to become unbalanced….

Because of the imbalance, a majestic force swept out of the void, landing on Sir Star Ring, gathering, becoming more boundless, until… balance was restored! It was like he was borrowing power! When Sir Star Ring became a Quasi-Immortal, his canon transformed.

The stronger his enemy was, the more outside power he could borrow. And it would eventually turn into a majestic, crushing force!

This canon caused Xu Qing’s eyes to glitter. “Interesting…. I guess we’ll have to see who reaches their limit first, you or me.”

Inside of himself, he plucked at his ninth extreme like a string on a musical instrument. The infinite timelessness caused by the space-time tempest surged toward the rest of Sir Star Ring’s space-times. In the blink of an eye, it devoured 11 of them. Then 12, 13, 14….

An imbalance resulted, only to be followed by another balance. Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed, and the tempest raged. 18 space-times had now been swept up. He was definitely using this fight to hone his canon.

Sir Star Ring eventually reached his limit when Xu Qing had swept up the 21st space-time. At that point, the scale… collapsed into nothing.

Xu Qing stood. 21 space-times wasn’t his limit. He could now see that if he fully unleashed his ninth extreme, he could cause fluctuations in space-time that would reach the level of about 50.

Sir Star Ring was coughing up blood like mad, and his immortal embryo was covered in wounds. He staggered backward. Inside, he was full of many complicated thoughts. He knew that he was in a disadvantageous position now. For one thing, his opponent’s canon was too strong. But also, he had not achieved a perfect breakthrough.

“Xu Qing, you’re definitely strong. But you have one obvious weakness. Your immortal embryo… is in the phase of illusory reality!”

Sir Star Ring lurched to a halt and looked up, his eyes full of killing intent.

1. Yu Liuchen talked about True Gods coming back in chapter 998. ☜

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