Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1221: Seal the Heavens

In the many heavens, there was a voice of admiration that said, “It is good.”[1]

There was a profound gaze full of something very wondrous. There was a paramount will, tranquil and calm. Thoughts converged peacefully, ultimately revealing a secret known only to the speaker.

“It is time for the Aurora Heaven to turn the next page of history, and let the next generation begin a new epoch. Aurora, you were exceptionally talented to be willing to give up everything. Your son was exceptionally broad-minded to be willing to abandon all…. Considering that father and son were both like that, I… simply cannot measure up.”

***

The will of the many heavens was not perceived by the masses. As of this moment in the Green Heaven, as the Aurora Immortal Palace became an immortal foundation and fused with Xu Qing’s immortal embryo, his aura skyrocketed. It became stronger and stronger, until it was so stunning it left its mark in the entire heaven beyond heaven.

Eventually, as everyone looked on in astonishment, an indescribable pressure emanated from Xu Qing, something that caused everyone to instinctively feel the urge to bow to him. It was a sensation similar to what gods gave off. After ringsource reached a certain level of density, it would provide a natural majesty to the lord of a heaven beyond heaven.

The majesty caused Sir Star Ring to bow his head without even thinking about it. He, who had the legacy of Fourth True Monarch, also had karma tied to the Aurora heaven beyond heaven. And now that karma was converging on Xu Qing.

Yuanshan Su trembled and tried to exercise self-restraint, but failed. The scenes from mirrored history flashed in her mind, and all of a sudden, Xu Qing became… Young Lord Aurora. Li Mengtu looked somewhat dazed as he thought back to his identity in the reflection of the Aurora Immortal Palace. Sir Vilespirit instinctively took a few steps back and put aside all thoughts of disloyalty.

If they reacted in that way, there was little need to mention the other ascendees. All were shaken to the core.

But the largest tempest was in the heart of Zhou Zhengli. His eyes shone as he produced a piece of metal that he squeezed his hand down onto. The metal pierced his palm, causing blood to flow out. He also bit the tip of his tongue.

Then he activated his canon. After sending the blood from his tongue into his eyes, turning them bright red, he sent the blood from his palm into the piece of iron. And then he activated a secret magic.

Using that secret magic, he looked at Xu Qing! Everything he had said before was true. He really did want to assist Xu Qing. He really did want to make a bet. And he really did know secrets. At the same time, he really did want to follow Xu Qing into the future, where he would make even more immense gains.

That said, although all those things were true, he had another objective. And that was… to get a clear view of Xu Qing! He wanted to see Xu Qing in his foresight.

Even if it was an abstract image. Even if it was blurry. Even if he just saw a bit…. He wanted to do everything he could possibly think of to catch that glimpse! That was his dao.

As soon as he looked at Xu Qing, a premonition of foresight filled him, deep and intense, until it formed an obsession.

I have seen. Seen the dao. My canon can break through. And my cultivation base can break through!

Zhou Zhengli knew that, ordinarily speaking, his powers of foresight couldn’t do anything like that. And thus, he had waited. He had been waiting until this moment, when Xu Qing was breaking through. At that moment, a tempest raged, heaven and earth sang, the starry sky shook, and the Green Heaven was radiant!

The moment an Imperial Sovereign became a Quasi-Immortal was like the opening of a closed door. Even if it was only a small opening, it was possible to get a clear view of the world beyond.

And so, Zhou Zhengli took advantage of this moment to open that door. And… he saw through the crack! When he did, he shook from head to toe, and his mind filled with a sound like heavenly thunder. His eyes, nose, mouth, and ears… gushed with blood.

Yet he was laughing. It was an excited laughter. Within that excitement was an extreme level of fear.

An unfamiliar star ring…. An indescribably terrifying broken face…. And on top of that face is a throne… Sitting on the throne is a person…. He’s looking at me. He’s….[2]

Zhou Zhengli shook as his aura skyrocketed. Because of what he was seeing, his canon was also rising to great heights. His cultivation base had previously been just on the verge of reaching Quasi-Immortal.

What he had lacked wasn’t ringsource, but canon. But right now, his canon was improving, and his immortal embryo was erupting. He was now rising to the level of Quasi-Immortal.

A thick fog was building up around him, which was a manifestation of his canon, and contained the same secrets as his dao. Because of it… no one could see his breakthrough. However, the other ascendees could sense what was happening, leading to even further astonishment.

Xu Qing didn’t care. He opened his eyes. They seemed to contain rivers of stars. Universes. His eyes held whirlpools of stars. It was extremely majestic.

The entire heaven beyond heaven was full of rumbling sounds. Countless species dropped to their knees in their ancestral lands. Everyone was shaking.

And that was because… when Xu Qing opened his eyes, a pair of eyes appeared within the heaven beyond heaven, above the heads of all living beings and all inanimate objects. They looked down on the Green Heaven! They were Xu Qing’s eyes. By means of his authority over the immortal palace, he was looking at all things. It was a gaze of omniscience.

Xu Qing saw countless things. He saw all the universes in the heaven beyond heaven, as well as all the species, the god prisons, and the resources. After a moment, he sighed in his heart.

He retracted his gaze.

The Aurora heaven beyond heaven had been without a lord for years, and thus, the local species had descended into chaos and disorder. Weak species had long since been wiped out, while the strong species eventually developed karma with other heavens beyond heaven.

As for the god prisons… there were varying circumstances with the wardens and jailers. For the most part… most were unsupervised. There were no longer any god prisons with True Gods in them. After all, ringsource was the first thing people would want to seize. And of course, it would be taken away to other heavens beyond heaven.

In some ways, the Helioterra Universe was like a microcosm of the entire heaven beyond heaven.

It seems that the Helioterra Universe had a True God imprisoned because of that Lower Immortal. For whatever reason, he didn’t feel like expending the effort to take it away, so he left it here.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. All the things that had been taken away… weren’t necessarily lost forever. He could theoretically take them back. Unfortunately, he would need to be a lot stronger to deal with such situations. And he needed time. Right now, he didn’t have either of those things.

After some thought, his eyes glittered. Then he spoke coolly, in a voice that filled the Green Heaven.

“In one hour, these heavens will be sealed. During that time, any species that wishes to leave may do so. I won’t force you to stay. However, though you may leave, you may not take any resources with you!”

It seemed meaningless to Xu Qing to force species to stay behind if they had backers in other heavens beyond heaven. The past was the past, and it had nothing to do with him.

What he wanted was a heaven beyond heaven that was devoid of chaos. If a lot of species left, this place would also be empty of life. But… at least it would be pure. It made a lot more sense to just let the species leave than try to force them to stay.

He then opened up the right to leave. Before long, many species had contacted their backers and were starting to leave.

Time passed by.

Although an hour wasn’t much time, it was enough for them to teleport out. The time limit arrived. The immortal palace within Xu Qing trembled. His voice echoed out.

“Heavens, be sealed.”

Light flowed through the heavens, spreading out from Xu Qing, moving at incredible speed through all of the universes. After the entire heaven beyond heaven was covered, the right to leave was closed. The starry sky was sealed. From then on, unless someone was given the right by Xu Qing, they couldn’t leave this heaven beyond heaven!

Around this time, the fog around Zhou Zhengli began to dissipate, and a figure emerged, step by step. He was no longer an Imperial Sovereign. He was a Quasi-Immortal.

And yet, he still had the same obsequious smile on his face as he bowed deeply to Xu Qing.

“Congratulations, Lord of Green Heaven!”

Everyone present, regardless of what faction they sided with, or what their background was, rose and bowed. It was a way of showing respect and approval of the entire heaven beyond heaven.

Xu Qing looked at Zhou Zhengli. A moment later, he coolly said, “We can leave now.”

Though he had the immortal palace as a foundation, and owned this entire heaven beyond heaven, they were reserve powers for Xu Qing. He still had an official assignment as an Acquisitioner.

Xu Qing waved his hand toward the starry sky. Ripples flowed out as a path emerged. He stepped onto it. Everyone else cleared their minds and followed.

That included Zhou Zhengli, although he followed closely behind Xu Qing. As he looked at Xu Qing in front of him, a tempest continued to rage in his heart. He just couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen.

The person seated on that throne, the one looking at me… was him!

Ducking his head, he hurried forward resolutely.

***

And thus, they walked along the path through the starry sky. The path bolstered them so that every step they took spanned universes. Eventually, they reached the far end of the heaven beyond heaven. They left. When they emerged, an unfamiliar starry sky met their eyes.

This was the space between heavens beyond heaven, and it was known as the Heavenless Zone. Normally speaking, the Heavenless Zone was a barren waste. But perhaps because of the Aurora heaven beyond heaven being without a lord for so long, powers from other heavens had spread to here.

The result was that it was a bustling place, with galaxies full of life and civilization.

All of a sudden, the kelp plant sent out some divine will. “There’s a god prison here with a lot of ringsource!”

Xu Qing turned to look in that direction. Sir Star Ring and everyone else did the same, their eyes shining. They had not yet eaten their fill. They were still inclined to continue their travels.

Now that they could sense the god prison, their hearts stirred with anticipation, and some of them turned to look at Xu Qing. This went beyond their mission description.

Xu Qing pondered the situation.

“There’s a lot of ringsource there,” Sir Star Ring said. “And maybe even nine-colored ice.”

No one said anything, but their anticipation built.

Xu Qing thought about it. “It’s not a good idea to use the same excuse too many times.”

Everyone stood there silently.

Then Zhou Zhengli’s eyes glittered, and he quietly said, “Well… what if there was a prison break to deal with?”

1. I’m putting his footnote here to explain the chapter title. Yes, the characters are the same as from the novel I Shall Seal the Heavens. So there were all sorts of ISSTH-related comments throughout this chapter from the Chinese readers. ☜

2. I’m sure some of you will want to check back to chapters 965 and 465 to the ‘chair’ reference. I’m not saying it’s the same thing, but I’m sure some of you will want to check the wording. Note that in those chapters, I used the word ‘chair.’ I was very tempted to use ‘throne’ in those chapters, but did not, because ‘throne’ is a different set of characters. In this chapter (1221) the specific word for throne is used. So… take all of this for what you will. ☜