Beyond the Timescape [Wuxiaworld]

A rotting moon began to rise up from the seafloor, upon which was visible a face. It was that of a young woman. To Xu Qing, she looked similar to the young man he had seen when accepting the legacy of the golden crow, as if the two were brother and sister.

The rotting face pulsed with a death aura that formed netherworld chains, which pierced through it in a ghastly manner. At the same time, a terrifying godly might began to build up within it. Apparently, it wanted to emerge into reality. It was already affecting the world around it, even Xu Qing.

This godly might was different from the aura of any god Xu Qing had encountered before! It was different from the surrounding mutagen! It was as if... it had nothing to do with the broken face.

All gods in the modern Revered Ancient were connected to the broken face. Either they had been born because of the face or had come with the face. And all had traces of the broken face’s aura. They all had the same lineage.

But... not this moon. As soon as shē appeared, Xu Qing could sense that the surrounding sea water, seafloor sludge, and everything else, was filling with fluctuations. And it was because the god aura of this rotting moon... had the same origin as Revered Ancient!

Or perhaps it was most accurate to say... that it had the same origin as the Revered Ancient of the past. Putting all of that information together caused a realization to strike Xu Qing.

“Brilliant Heaven Godfolk!” he murmured.

Only one of the Brilliant Heaven Godfolk could create fluctuations that had the same origin as Revered Ancient. Only one of the Brilliant Heaven Godfolk had a different godly lineage than the broken face.

Xu Qing was understandably shocked, but didn’t have time to ponder the development. As the ghostly sound echoed out, the illusory dead moon erupted with terrifying might. Xu Qing was shoved backward, his godly authority flickering, his godsource in chaos, and his mind racing to come up with a course of action.

Although the violet moon was of the same category as the rotting moon, Xu Qing didn’t think that his currently godly authority of moons was strong enough to put up a fight. It didn’t matter that this moon was only an illusory projection of a dead god. His misfortune wouldn’t be of much help, and his god curse didn’t seem suitable. In that case... all he could do was target it with the godly authority of sound.

Therefore, it was without hesitation that he focused all of his godsource on that specific godly authority. At the same time, he sent his soul threads out to bolster it. He wasn’t holding anything back!

The target wasn’t the rotting moon, but rather, the summoning cry of the ghosts. He wanted to invade that sound!

The arrival of the rotting moon made everything extremely dangerous. Thankfully, due to all of the practice he had done recently, he was now quite skilled with the godly authority of sound. Plus, the personhood level was sufficient.

As the rotting moon was being drawn out into the world, and the ear-piercing, jarring Natural Sounds Welcome the Moon was performed by the ghosts, Xu Qing’s godly authority... clamped down hard! In accordance with his thoughts, the music of the hundred ghosts, or rather, their anguished howls, was taken away. Then Xu Qing used his godly authority to purify the complicated sound.

All of a sudden, Xu Qing’s mind filled with beautiful, entrancing music. It was like something that came from tens of thousands of years in the past that had drifted through the timescape to the seafloor.

Legend had it that Natural Sounds Welcome the Moon was the first music to exist in Revered Ancient.

The beauty of the music was indescribable. Īt was ethereal, mysterious, and beautiful, and there was really no other way to describe it than to call īt a sound of nature. In fact, it was even possible to say that īt was fundamentally a part of the godly authority of sound. Īt was composed, arranged, and played solely for the moon.

Inside the projected image of the rotting moon, the young woman’s face softened. The music drifted about, then slowly concluded. As it did, the moon faded away into the seafloor.

Xu Qing was left standing there recovering mentally.

So that’s what Natural Sounds Welcome the Moon sounds like.

When the golden crow returned to the palace, Natural Sounds Welcome the Moon was played to summon a moon that was actually one of the Brilliant Heaven Godfolk!

In that case, what’s the background of the golden crow’s personification, that young Ancient Emperor...?

Xu Qing already had some speculations. However, he couldn’t be sure of the answer. Stowing such thoughts for a later time, he looked off into the distance.

The severed hand was long gone. However, after this interaction, Xu Qing was now connected to it by karma. As long as it didn’t get too far away, it would be within the range of his god perception.

Xu Qing closed his eyes, identified the direction, then as sound itself, he vanished.

As for the spot where Natural Sounds Welcome the Moon had just echoed out, it slowly went still and quiet.

***

A place that was equally quiet was a pavilion in the immortal mountain that was the Vivifiend holy land.

There were eleven individuals seated in the pavilion. They all looked different from each other. In the middle of them all was the very same old man who looked like white jade, who had taken the bronze door from Forbidden by the Zombie.

None of them were speaking at the moment. It was because of something one of the people had said moments ago in their discussion.

“The continent of South Phoenix might have a Summer Immortal in it!”

Some time passed. Then the patriarch of the Vivifiend holy land, the old man who looked like white jade, finally broke the silence. “The situation in Revered Ancient is quite different from the way we understood it to be. Given that, our species must stick to the original plan. We won’t cause any trouble. We’ll wait until the earthly-level and heavenly-level holy lands arrive, and follow their directions.”

One of the other Vivifiend elders hesitated, then respectfully said, “Patriarch, we’ve already been waiting for months. Our people are getting restless, and won’t be able to hold out for much longer. There’s so much flesh and blood out there, but all they can do is look at it but not touch it....

“What’s more, our population is very limited, and we need to replenish our numbers. There are quite a few minor species in the nearby islands who would be perfectly suitable. Those species have been sufficiently nourished, and are ready to be parasitized. In a month at the most, the eggs they consumed will be ready to take them over.

“There’s no way anyone could have discovered our secret. Besides, that suspected Summer Immortal is currently in seclusion....”

When the elder finished speaking, he looked at Patriarch Vivifiend. The other elders did the same as they waited for the patriarch to make a decision.

The patriarch was silent for a moment. In the end, he shook his head. “Tell everyone to wait for a bit longer. The time isn’t right yet. At the very least, we need to wait for Floating Fiend to come out of seclusion. For the past hundred years, he’s been trying to break into the Imperial Sovereign level. He’s at a critical juncture right now and is just on the verge of a breakthrough. Now is not the time to cause any waves. If he succeeds, then our people will have two Imperial Sovereigns, and then I won’t have so much to worry about.”

“Yes, sir,” everyone said, and they departed to their various factions to spread the orders.

***

The undersurface of the Vivifiend holy land was now full of countless icicles, thanks to the earlier outpouring of frigid energy. At the same time, the surface of the water was like an icy sludge.

Atop that icy sludge was a young Vivifiend in expensive clothing, muttering to himself grimly as he walked along. “The patriarch said that we need to stick to the existing policy, and that there won’t be any changes until my father is out of seclusion. That’s far too conservative of a decision.”

He looked like many other members of his species, except that he had a closed third eye on his forehead. His expression was cold, and he had a profound look in his eyes that made them look as dark as the night. There was a craftiness in those eyes, as well as cold brutality.

There were nine dao protectors trailing him, all of them pulsing with terrifying auras. None of them responded to what he had just said.

The young man clearly wasn’t expecting an answer. Due to his status and bloodline, he was exempt from many of the rules that governed other Vivifiends. After walking a bit further, he stopped in a certain location.

Behind him, one of the dao protectors took a step forward and said, “The two scouts we sent were killed here.”

The young man looked at the icy surface below him, his eyes glittering. “How interesting. Based on what I can sense using our species' innate ability and secret magics, they were killed by heaven, earth, the wind, the sea, the birds in the air, the fish in the sea, and all sorts of animals.... There are a lot of clues, but all of it gives a very clean and simple sensation.”

The young man’s third eye suddenly opened, and a fiendish light emerged. He studied the area further. After a time, his third eye closed.

“Even the karma was destroyed,” he murmured. He seemed to be getting more and more interested in the situation. He then lifted his hand, causing a blood-covered needle to fly out of the flesh of his palm. It circled around a bit as if stitching the air together. “Well then, since this needle was left behind by a Grand Emperor, I’ll just use it to stitch the karma back together.”

The young man grinned as the blood needle did its work, then flew back to his palm. There, it left a mark on his palm print.

Looking at the mark, he said, “Next, as long as the killer shows up within the range of my senses, I can lock onto his position. Let’s go. This sea is a dirty place, but the ‘chosen’ materials we tagged earlier do have a lot of potential. Let’s go get some. Who knows, maybe things will go perfectly and we’ll just stumble upon the killer while we’re at it.”

He began moving along casually, followed by his silent dao protectors. Before long, they left the icy area and entered the Forbidden Sea beyond.