Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1233: A New God Arrives

Fighting raged in all the universes in the staging areas of the eastern theater. God armies poured forth from various locations, like unstoppable blades surrounded by mutagen. Intense fighting broke out around the dao flags in all the universes.

In some universes, the altars atop which the flags stood were reduced to ashes in an instant. The dao flags were contaminated by mutagen, and crumbled into dust. The cultivator armies in those locations were very unlucky. Some experienced mutation, some were enslaved by the gods, and some just died horrible deaths. It was a brutal scene.

However, in some universes, the altars stood strong. The dao flags continued to emit immortal energy, and the defending cultivators stood against the gods. But a price was paid. The battlefield soon reeked of blood and gore.

Taken in as a whole, the staging areas of the eastern theater were full of endless slaughter. The central army of the eastern theater arrived to provide backup. That army fought back and forth with the army of the gods. They were like dogs snapping at each other. Casualties were inflicted on both sides.

Death dirges rang out constantly! The eastern theater had turned into a brutal, blood-soaked grindstone.

As the grindstone turned, gods and cultivators alike were sucked in, their bones crushed, their flesh pulverized, their souls eradicated. Blood oozed out. And thus, everything became stained with red.

Eventually, it was like a blood-red lantern, flickering on the battlefield between the Fourth and Fifth Star Ring. Gradually… it attracted some attention. However, it was only a dimly flickering light, not enough to attract a lot of attention. The light needed to be brighter. The smell of blood and gore needed to be stronger.

More god armies arrived. More cultivator troops showed up.

Each side had different goals. But all of it served to make the fighting in the eastern theater grow more intense. There was no respect for life in war. There were only ideals and viewpoints that motivated each side to fight and kill.

To the gods, these cultivators were lower beings insulting their superiors. They were trying to overthrow the rule of the gods. If it had been something far, far away thēy might have ignored it. But the Fourth Star Ring was simply too close to the Fifth Star Ring. And the Sixth Star Ring was special. What was more, there was a new God Lord, and that meant thēy needed sacrifices. Because of that, the gods in the Fourth Star Ring had to wage war.

In contrast, the cultivators didn’t think of themselves as lower beings insulting their superiors. They were fighting for freedom. They were fighting to escape slavery. As humans, they were inherently strong-willed. Once they stood up, they would be unyielding! They would never bow down again!

And thus, the slaughter grew increasingly intense.

***

Because of the slaughter and fighting, time flowed a bit differently in the starry sky. Normally speaking, one’s frame of reference related to the planets and universes. Oftentimes, it would take days just to notice a change in the position of such heavenly bodies. In times when there was no war, traveling in the starry sky often seemed very slow-paced, as nothing around you moved. But with a war raging, and danger everywhere, it broke that illusion of stillness.

Zhou Zhengli’s hard work was paying off. His foresight didn’t just relate to matters of life or death. It related to heavenly bodies as well.

“This universe is dying,” Zhou Zhengli said grimly.

Sir Star Ring’s expression was grave. His order and balance, as well as the heaven’s principle that he had acquired in the Helioterra Universe, were all aspects of natural law. As a result, he could sense the same thing even more intensely. “Order is unraveling. Chaos is increasing.”

Xu Qing and the other fifty ascendees felt overwhelmed with danger.

“I can smell the blood…” Sir Vilespirit said. “There’s a massacre going on.”

Thanks to his broken sword, he was very sensitive to auras of death.

Everyone else instinctively looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. He could never have predicted that someone like himself would end up surpassing everyone else here. After all, Sir Star Ring understood order far better than him. But he was sensitive to mutagen. After all, he had dealt with mutagen from a young age. Besides, Starfire viewed mutagen the way that cultivators viewed spirit energy.

After taking a moment to assess the situation with his senses, Xu Qing said, “The mutagen here is unusually strong. The life… is proliferating dramatically.”

He offered no further explanations. He just sped on his way. Everyone else looked at him, their expressions more somber than ever.

Though he had not offered a detailed explanation, he had made things clear! The stronger the mutagen got, the more dao flags had been destroyed. For life to be proliferating indicated that more and more gods were arriving.

They really had only one option now. They had to get out of the staging areas! That was what everyone was thinking. The situation was so dangerous and serious that everyone was more determined than ever about what to do. And thus, they sped up.

Staying hidden and cautious, they continued toward the border between the staging areas and the front lines of the eastern theater. They ran into a few obstacles. But Xu Qing was like a sharp blade that could cut through anything they faced. Some people sustained injuries, but they were always able to continue onward at top speed.

Maybe they were lucky. Or maybe the gods were so focused on the dao flags that thēy didn’t bother to place many forces in the periphery of the action. Regardless, Xu Qing led everyone onward safely.

Unfortunately… they didn’t stay lucky forever. When they were very close to the border of the staging areas, only about three universes away from the front lines, they ran into something that completely halted their forward progress.

It was a squadron of gods about two hundred strong. There were many in the Godfire level, as well as Altar Gods. In leadership positions were two peak Altar Gods.

Originally, thēy had not been targeting Xu Qing and his people. Thēir original mission had been to serve as support troops. Thēy were simply passing through to serve as reinforcements for an army besieging a dao flag, to boost their morale.

But when the two Altar Gods noticed fluctuations in the surrounding mutagen, thēy didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the situation.

“Did a Transporter squad really make it this far?”

The two peak Altar Gods were actually the same species. Thēy were violet-black from head to toe, with six arms and a fiery, diamond-shaped scale on thēir foreheads. As those scales glittered, the two peak Altar Gods turned expressionlessly to look in the same direction.

“There must be something unusual about these cultivators. They shouldn’t have made it to this point.”

The two of thēm sent out messages of divine will, and thēir squadron changed directions to head toward Xu Qing and his people.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s pupils constricted as he sensed the mutagen stirring. Sir Star Ring, Zhou Zhengli, Sir Vilespirit, and the others all sensed the same thing shortly after.

“Some gods have locked onto us!”

“There’s an intense killing intent approaching!”

“The starry sky has been sealed!”

As everyone reacted with varying degrees of shock, Xu Qing said, “Everyone speed up!”

Acting on pure instinct, Xu Qing shot forward with greater speed. Everyone used different ways of following along.

Unfortunately, the surrounding mutagen was going wild, almost like an explosive storm that prevented them from escaping. The unique chanting of the gods filled the area. Their minds blurred, their flesh distorted, and their perceptions were overturned. They were all affected to varying degrees.

Xu Qing threw his hand up. Eyes filling with determination, he called out to Starfire. “I need to borrow your clay fox god form!”

Starfire could tell that it was a moment of crisis, and didn’t hesitate to open hēr mind and let Xu Qing’s divine will in.

Xu Qing currently had a pure immortal body. But he also had a god clone. He just hadn’t brought it to the Fifth Star Ring. But before leaving, he had gained enlightenment of a number of godly authorities. That included the godly authority of sound, the godly authority of blood, as well as his godly poison curse. And there was the godly authority of good luck, not to mention others.

The end result was that Xu Qing was not unfamiliar with gods and their godly magics. In fact, he was extremely familiar with them. The only difference was that his current body wasn’t suitable for such things. He needed a medium to be able to control mutagen!

But… things were different with Starfire’s body. That body could be a medium! With that body, Xu Qing could control mutagen.

In terms of god magics, he could imitate them perfectly using Xeno-Immortal School techniques. All in all, he wouldn’t be imitating someone else’s techniques. He would be imitating the magics of his own god body, with which he was extremely familiar.[1]

As for what happened next….

Xu Qing’s eyes glazed with an aggressive light as he stretched his hand out. It was a god technique that Xu Qing had not unleashed in the Fifth Star Ring. But now he was going all out.

The mutagen in the area surged as it became part of Xu Qing’s will. All sound in the area, including the chanting of the gods, ceased. He had seized sound as part of his god magic. Turning it around, he sent the voice of the gods back toward the gods in deadly fashion!

There was more. The mutagen in the area transformed, causing the blood of the gods to seethe. The gods that were chasing them suddenly found thēir god blood going wild. There was also a godly curse. It was a poison that struck with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.

It was as if a new god had arrived in the world!

1. I bet you thought the author forgot about the Xeno-Immortal School, didn’t you? Or maybe you forgot?? Well, the last mention of xeno-immortal stuff was in chapter 1042, and it was first mentioned in chapter 768. ☜