Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 294: The Golden Crow Devours the Ravagemist

The bowl shattered. As lotus seeds tumbled out across the white jade tiles, Arch-Immortal Plumdark inhaled sharply. Her beautiful eyes filled with incredulity as her heart began to race.

“Was that light I just saw?”

***

Arch-Immortal Plumdark was correct. For a fleeting moment, she had indeed seen light.

The door atop Mount Dark Dao had shimmered briefly, in a way that was different from what had occurred in the crown prince’s mansion back in South Phoenix. During that fight, the light had spilled out in all directions, burning everything, and seriously injuring Xu Qing due to its immolating heat. Were it not for the violet crystal’s healing powers, and the blessing to his fleshly body provided by the golden crow, the light of that door would have scorched him into ashes.

It made sense considering it was a fragment of a magical treasure. Not only did it reflect what was in a person’s heart, but also, it contained deadly, harmful power. Of course, due to its gruish nature, it had a different deadly power for each person it was used on.

But that wasn’t what happened this time. Master Shengyun had performed a twofold ensorcelling on the door, and therefore, the light didn’t shine out in a sustained manner. Instead, it became momentary. And its might manifested in a different way.

The light flashed, then vanished.

It happened so quickly that anyone who could observe it might think they were seeing things. That was especially true considering that Master Shengyun had covered the area to prevent people from seeing what was happening. Only someone observing from the right vantage point, with a very high cultivation base, would notice it.

As for its power, it wasn’t something that burned, but rather... something that sealed with ice! That brief flash of light was immeasurably cold, and when it hit Xu Qing, it became a layer of ice that rapidly spread over him. Based on what Xu Qing was feeling, the light cast by the door was some sort of indescribable divine ability related to frigid coldness. Almost instantly, he was frozen in place.

His body. His soul. Everything about him was frozen.

Except for the fact that he had been sealed while using only three-flame power. His eyes narrowed as he prepared to ignite his fourth life flame. With that flame lit, he would have battle prowess at the peak of the seven-flame level, and he was confident he could break the surrounding ice.

However, before Xu Qing could ignite the life flame, he noticed something very odd. The icy sealing didn’t seem to have much effect on his shadow. It made sense. The shadow was also incomparably frigid, and devoured other grues as food.

To Xu Qing, this level of cold was unusual, but to the shadow, it seemed comfortable, even pleasurable. In fact, the moment it appeared, the shadow was so excited it started carefully absorbing the cold. As a result, Xu Qing wasn’t completely immobilized. Although it looked like he was frozen in place, all it would take was a thought on his part, and the shadow would absorb all of the ice, freeing Xu Qing.

However, Xu Qing didn’t issue any such order. Nor did he move. He could tell that the opportunity he had been waiting for was coming soon.

“You had this coming, Xu Qing!” Master Shengyun said, and then he burst out laughing. He made no effort to conceal the vicious excitement on his face as he rushed toward Xu Qing. This had been his plan all along. Everything he had done up to this point had been in the hopes of dispelling any suspicion about him summoning the Darkspirit Everwill Door.

He had also hoped to prevent someone from interfering when he used this move. After all, Patriarch Soaring Cloud wasn’t the only one ready to jump in and stop the fight. Sir Bloodsmelter could do the same thing.

Master Shengyun didn’t believe for a minute that Seven Blood Eyes would respect the rules of the fight, just as Xu Qing didn’t think the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect would do so. And the truth was that both of them were right. As soon as Master Shengyun started moving toward Xu Qing, the huge projected face of Sir Bloodsmelter’s eyes flickered imperceptibly before he started moving in the direction of Mount Dark Dao.

His countenance was one of complete disregard, as if no set of rules were more important than his apprentice’s apprentice.

However, as he neared, a stream of sword light shot out to block his path, resolving into Patriarch Soaring Cloud.

“Rules are rules, Sir Bloodsmelter!”

Patriarch Soaring Cloud wasn’t convinced that Xu Qing was actually frozen in place, but before he could check thoroughly, Sir Bloodsmelter took action. All he could do was rush to block Sir Bloodsmelter, and prevent him from saving Xu Qing.

Sir Bloodsmelter appeared to be furious, and even seemed to be thinking of forcing his way past Patriarch Soaring Cloud. Patriarch Soaring Cloud prepared to stop him with full force. Rumbling sounds echoed out as their cultivation bases got close to each other. Although Patriarch Soaring Cloud was actually a bit weaker, he could definitely buy time if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Captain’s eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a shout as he prepared to rush forward. However, that was when a beam of sword light shot in front of him as one of the Gold Core cultivators from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect blocked his way.

At the same time, Master Seventh stepped out from Seven Blood Eyes, moving with blinding speed toward Mount Dark Dao. In response, the sect leader of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect rushed to impede him.

As everyone from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect moved to interfere, Master Shengyun closed in on Xu Qing, his eyes glittering with greed. His ravagemist bird appeared behind him, crying loudly as it dove toward Xu Qing. Master Shengyun was so close to Xu Qing that he was able to reach out and grab his shoulders. At the same time, the ravagemist bird snapped at the golden crow.

“Nobody’s going to save you today, Xu Qing!”

The greed in Master Shengyun’s eyes couldn’t have been more profound. Just as he was about to devour the golden crow, Xu Qing suddenly looked up. And his eyes were scorching hot!

Master Shengyun’s face fell. Based on all of his plans and calculations, Xu Qing shouldn’t be able to move a muscle. The sealing power of the Darkspirit Everwill Door should have been able to immobilize someone with three life flames for at least ten breaths of time, even if they did have life lamps. That was enlightenment he had gained after ensorcelling the door. But so far, only five breaths of time had passed.

He had planned this all out very meticulously. But then Xu suddenly looked up and shattered all those plans.

“You!!” An intense sensation of deadly crisis filled him, and having no time to consider the matter, he prepared to fall back. Except, that was when Xu Qing’s hands shot up and grabbed Master Shengyun. At the same time, his fourth life flame ignited.

Four-flame power raged, sending intense flames out everywhere. Two shining umbrellas appeared overhead, adding to the heat. And the golden crow the ravagemist bird had been about to bite suddenly flared with more flame. The intense heat was absolutely shocking.

“Looks like you’re the one who got fooled,” Xu Qing said softly. Baring his teeth, he bit deeply into Master Shengyun’s neck. Then he inhaled, and balefire erupted from his 120th dharma aperture, spreading out rapidly to cover Master Shengyun.

The golden crow also opened its beak wide, and as the ravagemist cried out in terror, it bit its head and started absorbing it!

Xu Qing had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He wanted to kill Master Shengyun, or at the very least devour his ravagemist bird to improve his own imperial-class technique. He had been suppressing his battle prowess for this entire time, just to wait for this opportunity.

Xu Qing’s eyes blazed as balefire covered Master Shengyun. The golden crow’s expression was also one of deep longing as it absorbed the ravagemist bird. Master Shengyun let loose an agonizing scream that rose into the sky.

The sudden turn of events caused many in the surrounding crowd to gasp.

The Captain chuckled darkly, and smoothly switched places with the Gold Core cultivator from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, preventing him from interfering. Master Seventh flicked his sleeve, wrapping up the sect leader from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. And Sir Bloodsmelter laughed heartily as, instead of trying to rush forward, he blocked the astonished Patriarch Soaring Cloud. All of those three things happened so smoothly they almost seemed rehearsed, as if they had known ahead of time what was going to happen.

As howls of rage echoed out from the outside, Xu Qing’s eyes shone brightly, and he focused fully on absorbing Master Shengyun. Master Shengyun screamed as his quintessence blood flowed out of him. The ravagemist was also screaming in unprecedented agony as the golden crow savagely devoured it.

Xu Qing’s ruthlessness was now on display for everyone to see. All of the coalition disciples present were astonished, and looked at Xu Qing with intense dread in their eyes.

“Xu Qing!!” screamed Master Shengyun. Being absorbed in this manner, having his aura weakened so rapidly, caused him to struggle. But he didn’t quite have seven-flame power, so there was no way he could do anything against Xu Qing, who was at the peak of the seven-flame level. He could only watch as his ravagemist bird shrank and shrank. Then, golden light suddenly erupted from Master Shengyun.

It was a jade slip with Nascent Soul defensive power. Obviously, the life-saving item he had thrown away earlier had been just for show, and he had saved the real item to use in a moment like this. But then the Violet-Heaven Supreme-Limitless Crown atop Xu Qing’s head erupted with power, and the Nascent Soul protection power was driven away.

Master Shengyun was stuck in place, and Xu Qing continued to absorb him. In the shortest of moments, Master Shengyun shrank down into little more than skin and bones. And the ravagemist bird was so weak and transparent it was almost impossible to see it.

The golden crow in Master Shengyun’s eye flickered a few times, but wasn’t able to do much.

Xu Qing was still holding back from using Within the Nine Springs. He hadn’t forgotten what his Master had instructed, that he wasn’t to use the killing move when people could see it. However, he could still put more effort into absorbing Master Shengyun. Burying his teeth further into Master Shengyun’s neck, he yanked to the side. It wouldn’t be long before he ripped Master Shengyun’s neck apart!

Master Shengyun screamed in agony as massive amounts of blood flowed out of him and into Xu Qing’s mouth. Intense brutality was on display!

However, that was when a figure in a green robe appeared out of nowhere. Wherever he stepped, ripples spread out, like the fluctuations of heavenly daos and magical laws. Taking advantage of the fact that Sir Bloodsmelter and Patriarch Soaring Cloud were keeping each other locked down, he stepped onto Mount Dark Dao, landing right next to Xu Qing.

“You’re very vicious for someone so young,” he said coldly. “Given how ruthlessly you attacked a fellow disciple, I hereby command you to spit out what you just devoured!”

He waved his hand, and a boom rang out as Xu Qing and Master Shengyun were thrown apart. Then, the green-robed figure waved his hand again, this time directly at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s mind spun, and his eyes became completely bloodshot. He couldn’t see this person’s face clearly, but he could sense that the level of power was like that of the patriarchs. There was no way he could fight back against something like this. His mind went blank, and the quintessence blood he had swallowed suddenly surged up into his throat, as if it were about to be forcibly extracted!

However, that was when a violet beam of light descended, landing in front of him, bringing with it a fragrant aroma. Arch-Immortal Plumdark appeared. She waved her hand, and the power from the man in green vanished.

The man in green didn’t say anything. He just grabbed Master Shengyun and backed up a few paces without causing any more trouble for Xu Qing.

“Given your age, I’m shocked that you would act like this,” Arch-Immortal Plumdark said coolly. “The younger generation should fight their own fights. Since when did the Lunisolar Dao Palace start doing things this way?”

The cultivator in green backed up until he was outside of the bounds of Mount Dark Dao. Only then did he reveal his face. He was a middle-aged man who was none other than the patriarch from the Lunisolar Dao Palace. Looking deeply at Arch-Immortal Plumdark for a moment, he then turned his attention to Patriarch Soaring Cloud and Sir Bloodsmelter, who had by now backed away from each other.

Sir Bloodsmelter’s expression was unsightly as he glared at Patriarch Lunisolar. Next to him, Patriarch Soaring Cloud had a very odd expression on his face for a moment, which then turned into one of faint realization. Finally, it became a bitter smile.

“Cloudsoaring, old pal, you once saved my life, so it’s only natural that I would save your grandson. Of course, you’ll compensate me for the punishment I’ll receive for breaking the rules. Isn’t that right?”

Patriarch Lunisolar kept his grip tight on the gasping and shriveled Master Shengyun, who had already lost his imperial-class technique.

Sir Bloodsmelter’s eyes glittered, while Patriarch Soaring Cloud suddenly seemed a lot older. The latter nodded.

Xu Qing’s expression was also unsightly, and his narrowed eyes glittered with killing intent as he stared at Patriarch Lunisolar. He could tell that there were things going on that he didn’t understand. However he wasn’t going to forget this. Without any hesitation, he shot over to the Darkspirit Everwill Door, and not even paying attention to any of the coalition experts in the area, took it for his own.

Then he waved his hand, collecting up the two entropic teleportation talismans and the jade slip Master Shengyun had thrown to the side. Finally, he gulped back down all of the quintessence blood! He didn’t spit a single drop back out!

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