Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 279: Seductive

Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s voice was both flirtatious and bewitching. It was like the song of an oriole or the cry of a phoenix, being both clear, strong, soft, and gentle all at the same time. What was more, it was deeply alluring.

Xu Qing shivered and his scalp tingled as he stood in place, completely unmoving. He did nothing to stop her from lifting his chin, and in fact, simply looked into her playful, glittering eyes. Feeling somewhat in a daze, but at the same time nervous, he noted the unusual fragrance suddenly filling the area. It came from Arch-Immortal Plumdark, and it caused his heart to race.

This was his first time experiencing anything like this in his entire life. It was like a sense of deadly crisis that made it impossible for him to speak or express himself. He felt like he was a tasty snack that someone else was about to take a bite out of. That was especially true considering this woman’s cultivation base, and the way her gaze also seemed like that of a predator looking at prey.

Off to the side, the Captain gasped. Huang Yikun, you bastard! It’s just a Dark Serenity Finger! Did you really have to freaking bring your matriarch in for backup??

Even as the Captain reeled, he also realized that something about his assessment didn’t make sense. Huang Yikun was a chosen, but that didn’t mean he should be able to get his sect’s matriarch to deal with two low-level people such as the Captain and Xu Qing. The only way he might have that pull was if he was like Master Shengyun and was the grandson of a leadership figure in the sect.

Based on what the Captain knew, Huang Yikun wasn’t like that. Suddenly calming down, he measured up Arch-Immortal Plumdark. He noted the way she held herself, and then thought back to the words she’d just spoken. Then his eyes went wide as a wild possibility struck him like a bolt of lightning.

Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! The Captain immediately shut his eyes and pretended that he hadn’t seen anything. Waves of shock battered him inwardly. Little Ah Qing’s face... has dealt a winning blow!

Meanwhile, two people were flying along at the base of the mountain. One was Huang Yikun, and another was a person who looked very similar to him, just a bit older. They moved like shooting stars across the land.

Gritting his teeth, Huang Yikun said, “Big brother, you have to make sure I get justice today. Those people are completely out of line. They literally ripped my fingers off my hand! It was brutal! Actions like that will enrage both men and gods! It really makes your hair stand up in anger!!”

“Don’t worry, lil’ bro. As your big brother, I’m— huh?”

The older young man was Huang Lingfei, Huang Yikun’s big brother, a Gold Core cultivator with one heavenly palace. As they closed in on the meeting location, he had been about to say something when he suddenly cut himself off. His eyes went wide. [1]1

Stopping in place, he looked at the scene playing off in the distance, his expression one of utter disbelief. Clearly visible just up ahead was his sect’s matriarch, flirtatiously lifting Xu Qing’s chin in her hand. Standing next to Xu Qing was the grand highness from the Seventh Peak, obviously closing his eyes because he didn’t dare to look at the matriarch and the object of her flirtation, Xu Qing. However, the astonishment on the grand highnesses’ face was clear, and it was exactly what Huang Lingfei was also feeling.

Though Huang Lingfei stopped in place and gasped, Huang Yikun was slower on the uptake.

“That’s Xu Qing!” he shouted. “Big brother, help me go over there and—”

Their arrival attracted the attention of the Captain, who opened his eyes and looked over at them. Simultaneously, the alluring Arch-Immortal Plumdark slowly dropped her hand and looked over at Huang Lingfei and Huang Yikun.

The moment she looked at Huang Lingfei, his heart pounded, and he instantly spun and slapped his brother on top of the head, cutting off his words and knocking him out.

Like hell I’m going to help you! Huang Lingfei howled inwardly. His younger brother had always been off in the head. Not very quick-thinking. That was one reason why he’d been assigned to the Seven Blood Eyes mission. Not one other person from the Dark Serenity Sect had gone on that mission. But Huang Yikun had foolishly, and very excitedly, rushed to join. That was bad enough, but if he lost some fingers, so be it. Yet after returning he had allowed himself to be scammed in the most ridiculous fashion….

Huang Lingfei’s heart pounded as he thought back to what he had just seen, and he cursed Huang Yikun viciously. Of all the people in the world to provoke, why did he have to provoke someone the matriarch had taken a liking to?

“What are you two doing here?” Arch-Immortal Plumdark asked.

Huang Lingfei was a quick-thinking person, and therefore, it was without the slightest hesitation that he grabbed the unconscious Huang Yikun, flew over, and threw him on the ground. Dropping into a kowtow, he loudly said, “Matriarch, I arranged a meeting with this, er... F-Fellow Daoist Xu Qing! My insensible little brother actually provoked Fellow Daoist Xu, so I brought him here for the punishment he deserves.”

In his nervousness, Huang Lingfei had stumbled over his words. In the heat of the moment, he forgot whether he should call Xu Qing ‘Junior Brother’ or ‘Elder Brother.’ Neither had sounded quite right, and worrying that the matriarch would misunderstand, had used the only form of address that occurred to him right then: fellow daoist.

Looking up at Xu Qing with a very sincere expression, he continued, “Fellow Daoist Xu Qing, my little brother isn’t a very quick thinker. In fact, he’s an idiot.”

Off to the side, Huang Yikun’s eyes fluttered open, and he looked around, confused. Then he heard his brother talking. However, before he could fully regain his senses, Huang Lingfei quickly slapped him again, yet again rendering him unconscious.

“Please, take no offense, Fellow Daoist Xu Qing.” Huang Lingfei was sweating, and his heart was pounding. He didn’t dare get to his feet.

The alluring Arch-Immortal Plumdark smiled. Without saying a word in response, she took a step forward and floated up into the air. As the moonlight cascaded down her alluring form and fair snow-white skin, she looked like a beautiful, violet flower. [2]

She had a mature beauty to her, but at the same time was incredibly charming and graceful. As she hovered in midair, she slowly turned, looked down, and smiled.

“Come visit the Dark Serenity Sect any time, child.”

The moon framed her, enhancing her splendor, accentuating her slim waist, and making her seem like an immortal from the highest heavens, her smile comparable to starlight. Before her words had even echoed out, she was gone.

After the matriarch of the Dark Serenity Sect left, Xu Qing could move again. He staggered backward a few paces, gasping for breath. Thinking about the words she had spoken, and her terrifying status, his mind reeled. He simply couldn’t calm himself down.

Off to the side, the Captain was reacting similarly.

It was the same with Huang Lingfei.

The three of them stood in silence for a very long moment. Not a sound could be heard from Huang Yikun.

Finally, the Captain cleared his throat. “So... is the deal still on?”

Huang Lingfei breathed deeply as he slowly regained his senses. Shaking his head, he clasped hands to Xu Qing and the Captain, then grabbed his brother and hurried away. Huang Lingfei was feeling very worried. He was sure he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen, and had interrupted the matriarch in a pleasing moment.... That thought made him very anxious.

As Xu Qing watched Huang Lingfei leaving, he still felt jittery. Then the Captain said they should leave. After they were back in Seven Blood Eyes, the Captain breathed a long sigh.

“I can’t believe we ran into the matriarch of the Dark Serenity Sect. Arch-Immortal Plumdark!”

Xu Qing didn’t respond. He was thinking back to what had just happened, especially Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s eyes. The mere thought got him breathing heavily. It was his first time experiencing such a sensation.

“Little Ah Qing, I have to thank you for today,” the Captain said with another sigh. “I know a bit about Arch-Immortal Plumdark. Back when she was young, her name rocked all of the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. Countless people wooed her, but even to this day, she’s never had a single daoist partner. Of course, there are a lot of stories about her, and it’s hard to say which are true and which aren’t.

“My guess is that she sensed the both of us, but took a liking to me. She probably lifted your chin to get my attention. You really endured a lot of humiliation just now, little Ah Qing.” Without even a hint of a blush, the Captain slapped Xu Qing’s shoulder.

Xu Qing looked at the Captain. “Elder Brother, you should eat more grapefruit going forward!”

“Huh? Why?” The Captain looked stunned.

Without any further explanation, Xu Qing left for his berth in the port district. A moment later, he hopped onto his dharmaskiff. [3]

The Captain sighed as he watched Xu Qing leave. Then he started thinking about what Xu Qing meant by what he said. Why should I eat more grapefruit?

Meanwhile, Xu Qing scattered more poison around his dharmaskiff, and also activated several layers of defense. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. Sitting down cross-legged, he analyzed the event which had just played out. It was very bizarre, and was unlike anything he had ever gone through before or even thought about. His first inclination was to think that there must have been some sort of sorcery involved.

Someone with cultivation of that level definitely doesn’t do things without a reason. Did Arch-Immortal Plumdark notice something wrong with me? She and Master are from the same generation, right? Maybe it had something to do with that?

After thinking about it for some time, he couldn’t come up with even a single good theory. Finally, he took out his identity medallion and sent a voice message to his Master to ask for input. It took a while to get a response.

When Master Seventh finally sent a message back, he said, “Years ago Arch-Immortal Plumdark wooed me stubbornly. I refused her over three hundred times. Perhaps seeing you made her think of me. It makes sense. In any case, don’t spread word about this. All of that is in the past. I’m in the middle of something now, so I can’t go into any more details. Talk to you later.”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Master’s response seemed... very similar to the Captain’s assessment from before.

***

Meanwhile, on the summit of the Dark Serenity Sect mountain headquarters, in a grand hall, Arch-Immortal Plumdark sat on a reed mat, stretching. Her servant, an old woman, had just served ‘cloudsnow lotus seed soup’ brewed from the morning dew of a hundred lotus flowers. Just as the matriarch was daintily taking a sip, she frowned and looked off to the side. [4]

Her old servant wasn’t moving at all, as if she was frozen in place, her expression like stone. Behind her, a figure materialized out of thin air.

He was a middle-aged man in a green robe, with hair flowing past his shoulders. He looked scholarly and refined, with eyes that sparkled, making it seem like there were layer after layer of stars within them. In fact, his gaze alone seemed to contain immense power, as if anyone who looked at it would be dragged in. He was the president of the Eight Sect Coalition.

“You don’t have much time left, Junior Sister,” he said. “Have you decided how to respond to my proposal?”

Frowning, Arch-Immortal Plumdark replied, “You inquire every month, and every month I say no. Won’t you ever give up?”

“Why do you always say no? You’re still looking for someone with ‘light in their heart’? People like that don’t exist in this chaotic world. And even if they did, once they realized how truly vicious people can be, the brutality of the world would change them. That light would fade, and it wouldn’t be what you’re looking for. All you have to do is agree to accept some of my divine will. Borrow my power to make up for the final thread of magical law that you’re missing. When you reach the great circle of Space-Shattering 1,000 Daos, you’ll finally have hope of breaking through into the second stage.”

“Go find someone else if you want a pill cauldron,” Arch-Immortal Plumdark said calmly, not backing down an inch. “Others might not know what you’re like inside, but I do.”

The president looked deeply at her, then smiled faintly. “You don’t have much longevity left, Junior Sister. I’ll be back next month to ask again.”

The president transformed into countless specks of starlight that faded into nothing.

After he was gone, the old woman started moving again. She clearly had no idea of what had just happened.

Arch-Immortal Plumdark looked down into the broth and frowned slightly.

1. The Captain mentioned Huang Lingfei by name in chapter 236.

2. Specifically the flower mentioned here is Matthiola incana, which is also known by the common names: Brompton stock, common stock, hoary stock, ten-week stock, and gilly-flower. It looks like this (note the color). Is this specific flower important? Not really. But I went to the trouble of looking up all the details so I figured I’d share.

3. The joke about the grapefruit (which could also be translated as pomelo, but grapefruits are more common where I come from, so I chose to go with that translation), is never explained. Based on the comments in Chinese, and on input from Madam Deathblade, I think the joke is related to the thick skin of a grapefruit/pomelo. In Chinese, saying that someone has “thick skin" or especially "thick facial skin” means that they are shameless/brazen. It's not the same thing as saying someone is "thick-skinned" in English.

4. Using lotus seeds as an ingredient in soup or congee is a common thing in China. In fact, Madam Deathblade has lotus seeds in the pantry which she uses for that very purpose. Supposedly, such broth has health benefits, and usually it would contain some other ingredients like various beans, legumes, etc. It usually looks something like this. That said, the fancy description of this soup, such as it being made with the morning dew of a hundred lotus flowers, makes it sound very high-class. Madam Deathblade said, “she sounds fancy, like she’s drinking something really luxurious that people would drink before they had coffee or boba tea.” Take that for what you will lol.

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