Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1222: The Strongest Squadron

The Calm Holiness God Prison was in the Heavenless Zone in between the Aurora and Spiritlight heavens beyond heaven.

It looked like a statue of an enormous spider. The prison was inside the statue, while the outside had numerous palace structures. From afar, the palaces looked almost like nails, and they seemed to serve a sealing function.

The statue itself was pitch-black and as large as a planet. It was located inside of a dusty whirlpool of stars, and by means of its eight long, furry legs, it would slowly absorb the scattered ringsource that floated in the Heavenless Zone.

The prison had been located there for thousands of years at this point. It was originally constructed when seventeen imperial clans from different universes in the Spiritlight heaven beyond heaven pooled their resources. All seventeen of those clans still had controlling interests in the prison.

The gods inside had been collected by various means, from theft to purchase. In fact, many of the imprisoned gods were originally from the Aurora heaven beyond heaven. They were almost like trade goods that the Spiritlight clans had managed to get their hands on one way or another.

It had been constructed in the Heavenless Zone because of the unique characteristics of the prison. The gods inside of it had to be kept conscious to a certain degree. They couldn’t be put into deep states of sleep. As such, it was not possible to build the prison in one of the heavens beyond heaven, where there was strong immortal energy everywhere. Were the prison in an environment like that, the gods would have slipped into deep slumber.

The purpose of it all was to study the undying qualities of the gods. The results were then sent to the Spiritlight heaven beyond heaven, and were also recorded in reports in the Nineshores heaven beyond heaven.

This also meant that the two heavens beyond heaven had joint jurisdiction over the place. That was why construction had been authorized to begin with. Because two heavens beyond heaven had jurisdiction over it, and because of the special research going on there, the Department of Acquisitions had no authority there. In recent years, no Acquisitioners had been sent there on a mission. That resulted in the place being very peaceful and quiet.

The place was staffed by two wardens, as well as thousands of cultivators from the seventeen clans that had built the place.

At the moment, the sound of music and revelry drifted out of the biggest palace on the surface of the spider statue. Nonhuman servants were dancing and singing. There were even godslaves who had the blood of gods running in them, who were currently performing on very ancient musical instruments. There were also servants in chains serving fine, ringsource-infused alcohol.

There were a few dozen cultivators present, two of whom were human, and the rest of whom were nonhumans. All of them were having a wonderful time.

As for the two humans, one was an old man, the other was middle-aged. The former was from the Spiritlight heaven beyond heaven, while the latter was from the Nineshores heaven beyond heaven. They were the wardens of the prison, and they were currently toasting each other and chatting merrily.

“Day after day, year after year, the two of us really do have carefree lives, Daoist Brother.”

“There’s no end to the ringsource, we have servants attending to our every need, and we’re far, far away from the war. This place is like a paradise.”

“Hahaha! Living the quiet life. That’s really the way to live.”

They had been on duty here for about three hundred years, and things had been quiet and peaceful the entire time. They had benefited a lot, allowing them to reach the mid Quasi-Immortal level. In fact, they were very close to the late level.

“Unfortunately, all good things come to an end eventually. We only have one sixty-year-cycle left, and then our term in office will end. We’ll have to part then, and who knows when we’ll run into each other again.”

“Let’s not worry too much about the future. We might as well just enjoy ourselves in the moment.”

Laughing, they raised their drinking vessels in another toast. The surrounding nonhuman prison guards smiled and joined in on the toast. Everyone was about to drink when, all of a sudden, a wind swept in from outside, filling the hall. It instantly cooled the bustling atmosphere inside.

An ethereal nonhuman came in with the wind, eventually converging on a spot inside and transforming into a graceful female cultivator. Bowing, she said, “Exalted Wardens, we’ve detected the auras of roughly a hundred humans outside the prison. They’re getting closer as we speak. The guards on duty outside told them to stop, and even activated the prison’s defenses. But—”

All of a sudden, a deafening boom interrupted her. The defenses had been shattered. Next, a powerful aura swept in from the outside. The cultivators in the hall reacted with surprise. The two human Quasi-Immortals frowned, then suddenly blurred and disappeared. They reappeared a moment later outside. When they saw the clothing worn by the intruders, their expressions turned grim.

Numerous streaks of prismatic light were shooting toward the prison, pulsing with extraordinary auras. They moved with seemingly unstoppable momentum.

Eight individuals arrived with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force. They slammed down right in front of the two wardens, causing the statue to tremble. A blast of wind spread out in all directions, all while more streams of light arrived.

The nonhuman prison guards were arriving now as well, and they looked like they were ready to repel an invasion of enemies. Whether in terms of the number of people arriving or the level of their cultivation base, this was a shocking development. What was most noteworthy was that the arriving cultivators’ expressions were unperturbed and even cruel.

The one in the middle pulsed with a vile energy; he was the most terrifying of the group. The group immediately spread out into formation. It seemed clear that this group of cruel cultivators was a team of some sort, and they were waiting for something. It was the same with the fellow with the vile energy.

More beams of light were falling onto the statue, all in formation. When they had all arrived, one final stream of glittering light appeared, pulsing with an aura that seemed to be that of a Lower Immortal.

The nonhuman cultivators seemed astonished, and the two wardens were visibly taken aback. In the face of the mountain-toppling, sea-draining aura, they instinctively fell back a few paces.

“Lower Immortal?”

“No, it’s not…. But this aura….”

They struggled to control their breathing as the terrifying beam of light slammed into the ground.

It resolved into the form of a young man. He wore black clothes and had long, violet hair. As for his aura, it was terrifying and soul-shaking.

The entire prison was trembling. As the prison guards and the wardens trembled in fear, the cultivator who had arrived first, the one with the vile energy, stepped forward.

“I’m Sir Vilespirit,” he said in a raspy voice. “My exalted lord received a secret message indicating that a prison break is underway here. We came to get the situation under control.”

The prison guards grimaced. The two wardens looked fearfully at the cruel cultivators and the young man in black. However, they were still hesitating.

“As the Department of Acquisitions knows,” one of the wardens said, “this prison is under the joint jurisdiction of Nineshores and Spiritlight. There is no uprising at the moment.”

Standing next to Xu Qing was Zhou Zhengli, who smiled warmly. “I take it you’re one of the wardens, sir? Be at ease. We’re only here to inspect things. If there’s no uprising, we’ll just leave.”

The two wardens were about to start yelling angrily, but then they looked at Xu Qing and hesitated.

That was when Sir Star Ring stepped forward, bristling with a baleful aura. “We have a duty to perform. There’s no need to waste words. Everyone, follow me inside. Inspect everything thoroughly!”

Ignoring the prison guards, he led the way into the statue. A nod from Xu Qing was all it took to ensure that dozens of ascendees followed him.

The prison guards’ auras were in chaos. As for the wardens, they gritted their teeth and prepared to take action.

That was when Zhou Zhengli cleared his throat softly. Just as had been planned, the ascendees either unleashed unique energy fluctuations, took out identity medallions, or made loud exclamations.

“Our Master is the Lower Immortal known as Blue Mallard!”

“The director of the Department of Acquisitions is our teacher! Some people call him Poison Monarch!”

“Our bloodline goes right back to Old Man Talisman Sage!”

“I have an agreement with the Chen Clan to serve as a dao seed!”

“I was made a disciple of the Human Immortal Sect!”

“I’m in a dao contract with the Divergent Mountain Heaven!”

Many voices and numerous beams of light from identity medallions shook the starry sky. The warden’s faces fell.