Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 465: What Did I Just See...?

The future exists in the imagination. But the past exists in memories. Therefore, if all vestiges of a person’s past were to be wiped out, and if those who cared about that person chose to forget them, then it would be the same as if that person never existed. There would be nothing left behind. At that point, would that person even have existed? And even if they did exist, what would it mean if no one knew about them and no one remembered them? Perhaps they would really disappear. They would have no name, no past, no future, no anything.

That was another ability of gods. The power over the past.

Forgetting.

As Chu Tianqun yet again burned his essence, the ancient world fragment of the Smokewights went absolutely still, like it had been paused. Chu Tianqun’s fleshly body also stopped moving, as did the descending Ghost Emperor mountain.

Everything went quiet, as if it had frozen in place. Only Chu Tianqun’s soul, which was surrounded by godly light, could do anything. It flew out of his forehead, becoming the only moving entity in the world. In that form, he looked up at everything, his expression one of reverence.

“This... is ‘leaving nothing behind’?”

Chu Tianqun murmured. This was his first time using the apex-level god magic. In his view, this version of heaven and earth looked different from the real version. The dome of heaven didn’t exist. The land didn’t exist. Nothing existed. Even the Ghost Emperor mountain was nothing. Not even his fleshly body seemed like it really existed.

There was only a wisp of fog, floating there... which was Xu Qing’s previously held location.

When Chu Tianqun saw that wisp of fog, he knew that was where he needed to go. All he had to do was find the ‘memory doors’ of people there that remembered Xu Qing, and close them. Then this god magic of ‘Leave Nothing of the Past’ would be a success.

Without any hesitation, Chu Tianqun in soul form rushed toward that fog and then entered it.

Within that boundless fog, he found innumerable doors. Some were large, some were small. Some were round, some were square. There were all types. Some were new, some were old. They all seemed to be made from different materials. They were densely packed, and almost resembled a long tunnel.

“This is the place!” Chu Tianqun threw out both his hands, and his soul erupted with godly light that became numerous sealing marks. Those sealing marks then flew toward the doors to close them.

Most of the doors started to fade beneath the sealing marks. They blurred. But other doors weren’t willing to be sealed. After fading briefly, they became clear. But the godly power was so immense that they had no choice but to darken.

Every single one of these doors represented memories of Xu Qing related to some living being. As they blurred, Chu Tianqun’s soul flew faster, following the tunnel of doors, emanating godly light to seal them. The process seemed to be going smoothly, causing visible excitement to appear in Chu Tianqun’s eyes.

But then, Chu Tianqun encountered one particular door that was round. As the sealing mark of godly light reached that door, it didn’t blur at all. In fact, when the godly light touched it, the door slowly opened wider.

Inside was a blood-red eye that, once the door was open, stared at Chu Tianqun.

At the same time, the entire path rippled and distorted. Godly power erupted out, causing Chu Tianqun’s soul to let loose an agonized shriek. In that critical moment, his soul’s right hand exploded, causing scintillating godlight to defend him as he shot backward.

When he reached safety, his eyes flickered with lingering dread.

He knew full well that the eye... was that of a god.

This was one reason why he had waited until the most critical juncture to use God Magic: Leave Nothing of the Past. The effects of the magic were far-reaching; some people might be more than willing to forget what they knew about that person, while others would be unwilling. The latter... would be obstacles to Chu Tianqun.

At the same time, it made him susceptible to notice from the outside world, which could cause big problems. Furthermore, it was also possible to provoke heaven-shaking, earth-shattering misfortune. After all, he knew quite a bit about Xu Qing, and he knew that if he encountered some terrifying entity by using the magic, it could cause a major backlash to him. He had to put all his trust in his godly essence, and hope that if Xu Qing did exist in the memories of some terrifying entity, that it wouldn’t influence his own god power.

After all, he didn’t need the effects to be permanent. He just needed the world to be temporarily bereft of anyone who remembered Xu Qing. That would give him the opportunity he needed to cut Xu Qing down permanently.

Xu Qing does have god magic, so it would make sense for his memory doors to link to a god. Thankfully, my godly light... helped me deal with it. Besides, I don’t need to seal all the doors. As long as I don’t fail with more than ten of them, my god magic will be complete, and I can inflict a grievous blow.

Eyes shining with determination, he continued on his way, sending out seals of godly light in all directions. But this time, he hadn’t even sealed thirty doors when, all of a sudden... he reached another door that slammed open.

Chewing sounds echoed out from inside.

The sound was nightmarish, to the point where those who heard it might turn insane, as if they were hearing themselves being devoured. An agonized shriek erupted from Chu Tianqun, and he instantly detonated one of his soul’s legs, turning it into dazzling godly light.

It’s fine! He has two types of godly authority, so it only makes sense that two of his memory doors would lead to gods!

Chu Tianqun trembled, but managed to break free. However... fifty doors later, there was another door, the color of blood, that slammed open.

Boundless redness erupted from inside.

How could there be another??

Astonished, Chu Tianqun detonated another of his soul’s legs. He was now starting to wonder if he should continue. Then, just up ahead, another door slammed open.

Breathing sounds echoed from within, causing Chu Tianqun’s soul to tremble. His eyes widened as he noticed something unimaginably large inside the door. It radiated might, and provoked a shrill scream from Chu Tianqun as he considered detonating his arm to defend himself.

H-heavenly... heavenly dao!

Chu Tianqun’s soul was now half gone. It had no limbs. In his terror, he looked at the tunnel and realized that he had barely progressed down ten percent of it. The portion beyond that almost seemed endless. It was hard to see what lay in the depths, but he was fairly certain he could see a huge chair.

What’s a chair doing there??

Trembling, Chu Tianqun decided he couldn’t continue onward.

Something’s off about this Xu Qing. Something’s very off!

Even as Chu Tianqun reeled in intense shock, another door up ahead opened of its own accord, and a gory hand stretched out, surrounded by blurry distortions. Chu Tianqun screamed as he detonated more of himself to flee. But then, something happened that filled his mind with a heavenly tempest of astonishment. Banging sounds echoed within the tunnel ahead, and they were coming from countless doors. They were... coming from the insides of those doors! It was as if there were terrifying entities behind those doors who had smelled something delicious, and were now going mad with the desire to emerge into the open.

Th-this... this....

Chu Tianqun in soul form trembled violently, and he looked over his shoulder, contemplating if he should flee or not. He reacted slightly too slowly, as... those countless doors slammed open. An agonized scream echoed from Chu Tianqun’s soul as he instantly exploded!

A moment later, Chu Tianqun returned to reality. A bloodcurdling scream escaped his lips as the other half of his body collapsed. The godly light couldn’t stop it from happening, and a moment later, all that was left behind was his head, which tumbled to the ground.

His expression was one of terror, shock, and disbelief as he screamed and screamed.

At the same time, everything that he had paused before... went back to normal.

Xu Qing shivered as he recovered, and then his face turned dour. He wasn’t sure what had just played out, but the sight of Chu Tianqun’s screaming head caused his eyes to turn icy. Then he sent the Ghost Emperor mountain smashing down toward Chu Tianqun again.

Chu Tianqun began to laugh bitterly. He knew he’d been defeated. He had lost his resurrection powers. He had lost his life. He had lost everything. All of the doors he had sealed with his god magic had been restored. His previous actions had done nothing.

I can’t fight back? I can’t win...? As Chu Tianqun’s vision began to blur, he yet again laughed bitterly. Then he cried out, “Xu Qing, you should know that I’m actually... just a vessel. When hē appears, you’ll still end up dead!”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed, but the Ghost Emperor mountain continued to descend, rumbling loudly. But then, Chu Tianqun’s withered forehead suddenly split open, and a semitransparent hand stretched out that did not belong to him.

The hand was as white as snow, and had no hairs on it. It almost looked like it was carved from white jade. It abounded with holiness, but was also completely gruish. That sensation of two things mixed together caused wild colors to flash in heaven and earth, and make the entire world tremble.

The hand waved toward Xu Qing three times, causing three gusts of wind to appear.

“God Magic: Always Cherish This Life!”

It was a calm yet unfamiliar voice. It contained boundless might, and it echoed from Chu Tianqun’s forehead. And after the hand waved three times, it dissolved into ashes.

Chu Tianqun’s head listed to the side, leaving him gasping. As for the three waves of the hand, they unleashed a devastating might that was difficult to put into words.

The first gust of wind noiselessly brushed against Xu Qing’s Ghost Emperor mountain. The Ghost Emperor mountain rumbled, and its energy consumption skyrocketed. In the blink of an eye, the demonization symbol was drained, and the mountain vanished, revealing Xu Qing sitting there cross-legged.

The second gust of wind caused Xu Qing to shiver. Inside of him, the taboo poison and the violet moon slowed down, and all of the color of life faded from him. He became only black and white. It wasn’t just him. Everything in the area lost its color, and turned completely black and white. It was like a painting. And Xu Qing himself looked like he was part of that painting.

An intense sensation of deadly crisis erupted in him, leaving him feeling extremely alarmed, as if death were approaching him. After becoming a part of that painting he began to wither. In the blink of an eye, he became skin and bones, as if his life force were about to be eradicated.

He couldn’t form the Ghost Emperor mountain. He couldn’t release taboo poison or the violet moon. His life lamps and everything else about him were part of that painting. The only thing that remained was his heavenly dao bluegreen dragon, which anxiously rose into the sky and transformed into a falling saber. Unfortunately, it was too small to do much, and was shoved away, screaming.

The third gust of wind landed on Xu Qing in the painting. And it began to spread through him like water spreading through canvas.

Xu Qing couldn’t move. His thoughts moved slowly. With great effort, he looked down and saw that the third gust of wind was spreading out, slowly turning him into nothing but a blotch of random ink. The piece of life-saving jade his Master had given him shattered. Yet it couldn’t stop him from slowly dissolving. The feeling of death filled him. 

Xu Qing was absolutely silent. He had used all the tools at his disposal. The current situation didn’t seem overly desperate. Yet he had exhausted his god magic. His other divine abilities were simply too weak to deal with something of this level. Taking everything into consideration, the fact that he could end things in mutual destruction with this enemy went to show how deep Xu Qing’s assets were.

Am I going to die now?

He was losing consciousness. His body was fading into nothing. Except right then, in that black and white painting, a thread of golden light flickered on his wrist. The golden light glittered as it grew brighter and brighter. Normally speaking, it wouldn’t have been so dazzling. It was hidden too deeply. But the painting contained only black and white, so it became extremely prominent. It was the third color in the painting.

The painting suddenly trembled. Golden light spread out over Xu Qing’s right arm, and in the blink of an eye, had covered his entire body. During that moment of extreme crisis, it dispelled the third gust of wind from him.

Then there was a dull thud. The golden light darkened. The painting ripped open, and an emaciated figure stumbled out, coughing up blood. The golden light faded as it returned to his wrist. Eventually, it disappeared from sight. However, just before it was gone, if you looked very closely at it, you would see that there were innumerable cracks in the golden thread.

Xu Qing gasped for breath. He had been severely injured. He was incredibly weak. But he still forced his head up and looked at his right wrist. His heart was pounding, and his face was a mask of complete confusion.

A moment passed, and his expression became extremely cold. He looked at Chu Tianqun.

Chu Tianqun was like a lantern flickering with its last bits of oil. As death neared, he forced his eyes open.

“You’re not dead yet?”

Xu Qing strode up to him. Standing over him, he sensed that Chu Tianqun had lost his ability of infinite resurrection. Looking very tired, Xu Qing lifted his foot high, then let it drop!
 

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