Beyond the Timescape-Chapter 1098: Outside of Karma

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying that outside of the Immortal Capital, the strongest cultivators in the Fifth Star Ring are Grand Emperors?”

The young man shook his head. “Not exactly. There are too many sects to count in the Fifth Star Ring. Same with clans. There is no shortage of Lower Immortals. The reason is that not all Lower Immortals who ascend to the Immortal Capital end up settling down there permanently.

“There are a lot of people in the Immortal Capital who end up getting appointed as heavenly inspectors on the outside. Some Lower Immortals like that are lone wolves, but most are the patriarchs of various sects and clans.”[1]

Xu Qing felt like he was finally starting to understand a bit more about how the Fifth Star Ring worked.

He had known from the beginning that the cultivators in the Fifth Star Ring were strong. But hearing the details was more than a bit shocking. After taking a moment to digest the new information, he looked at the young man.

“In other words, when it comes to the fighting and killing over the permission medallions... people like Grand Emperors and Lower Immortals can’t interfere?”

The young man immediately nodded. “The Immortal Capital has set rules prohibiting direct assistance. But as for indirect interference... well I heard that they tend to look the other way. Unfortunately, my level is too low for me to know the details.”

Xu Qing once again looked at the young man.

The young man shivered as a very foreboding sensation filled him, and he was about to start begging for his life.

Before he could, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing the young man to fly over to him. His hand clamped down onto the top of his head as he prepared to do a soulsearch to confirm all the information he had just been told.

The young man was now at the peak of anxiety, and could hardly breathe. He knew full well that he was just on the verge of dying. In the hopes of preventing his soul from being damaged during the soulsearch, though, he suppressed his fear, ceased any struggling, and allowed Xu Qing to search through his memories.

Afterward, Xu Qing looked thoughtful. Because of the great disparity in cultivation bases, the fact that the young man had not struggled ensured that the soulsearch went very smoothly. And the injuries the young man had sustained were not outside of the realm of what he could endure.

Xu Qing thought for a moment. Then, instead of killing him, he sealed his soul, his consciousness, and his perceptions, and put him in his bag of holding. He could think of further uses for the young man, and considering how truthfully he had answered all the questions, he was clearly an intelligent person.

Using divine will, Xu Qing said to the young man, “When I leave the Fifth Star Ring, I’ll free you. In the meantime... you’ll serve as a source of information.”

With that, he focused on the medallion. After some contemplation, he decided not to activate it. Instead, he put it away. He would first do some exploring before deciding whether or not to participate in the fighting leading to the Immortal Capital.

I suppose the time has come to leave.

With that, he scanned the spirit mine, including all of the tattered minor world bubbles. Most of them were about seventy percent destroyed, leaving them hemorrhaging a dense mist of spirit energy that was ultimately sucked up by the vortex overhead. Presumably, the severe damage to the minor worlds meant that something like this would never happen again. It wouldn’t be possible for the minor worlds to put out such an incredible amount of spirit energy permanently.

What was more, because the skies of all the minor worlds had been broken open, and the living beings inside weren’t having their life force absorbed, they were now essentially free. Unfortunately, the people inside were all very confused and in distress. What was more, because of the difference in pressure between their worlds and the outside, they couldn’t just fly out. And they had no idea what was going on outside.

That state of affairs wouldn’t last for long. Eventually, chosen individuals from those minor worlds would start trying to leave and see the real heaven that existed outside of their world.

Xu Qing chose not to interfere. There’s no karmic connection between me and them. It’s their destiny.

At the same time, his divine will scan confirmed what he had theorized about this place being a prison for gods. It was true. Each minor world bubble contained a sealed god. Some were already dead. Some were barely clinging to life. None were conscious. Clearly this god prison, or ‘spirit mine’ as it was called, wasn’t very high-quality. All of the sealed gods here were in the Godfire level. Xu Qing didn’t sense even a single Altar God.

That said, before I leave, it would make more sense for me to take all this spirit energy rather than just let that vortex take it.

Narrowing his eyes, Xu Qing opened his mouth and inhaled deeply. The dense spirit energy roiled in Xu Qing’s direction, entering his mouth and sweeping through him. Not only did it nourish his fleshly body, but it also nourished his seven extreme daos.

However, the huge lid sealing the place still had a vortex in it that was also absorbing the spirit energy. Xu Qing looked up at it, and after some consideration, decided not to destroy it. He clearly remembered how the Imperial Sovereign he had just killed had looked up at that vortex with fear in his eyes.

I’m afraid that the destruction of the spirit mine will affect the vortex. And as for where that vortex leads to....

Eyes narrowing, he sat down cross-legged and circulated the five elements within him. Time and space erupted, creating an even stronger stimulating force. The spirit energy in the place split into two parts. One part went to the vortex, while the rest went to Xu Qing.

In that manner, time passed.

As the spirit energy in the spirit mine grew thinner and thinner, Xu Qing’s cultivation base climbed higher. Meanwhile, the vortex in the lid above was taking in reduced amounts of spirit energy.

***

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The events that had just played out were very obvious in another heaven and earth in another part of the Fifth Star Ring. In that heaven and earth, the sky rumbled with thunder, while the lands were bright crimson. Two figures were currently fighting fiercely in midair.

Both were young men. One had red hair, the other white hair, and their killing intent was obvious with each and every blow they launched. Both contained great daos, and both contained authority. Shocking rumbling echoed out.

The red-haired young man was covered with dozens of swirling totem designs. Each one emanated strong spirit power that continuously bolstered his cultivation base.

But then one of the vortex totems went dim, and the spirit energy from there dried up. Normally speaking, he wouldn’t care if one of his clan’s spirit mines suddenly dried up. But this was a life-or-death battle, and his opponent was a top chosen. If he killed this person, then he would be able to add another Immortal Capital permission medallion to his collection.

Failure was not an option. But now something unexpected had happened.

Dammit, what happened at that spirit mine? And why did it have to happen at this critical moment...?

The red-haired young man’s face turned dour.

But he was in the middle of a fight and couldn’t check into the matter right now. Putting it aside for the moment, he went so far as to use some taboo techniques to fight as hard as he possibly could.

***

A very short distance from the spirit mine, a black flying boat zoomed along beneath a gloomy sky. It moved with astonishing speed. There were nine figures aboard, all of them chatting pleasantly. The boat was flying a white flag with a very unique design. The symbol was circular, and imparted a very specific meaning. As the flag flapped, the sound of their chatting and laughter drifted on the wind.

“Just up ahead is the clan spirit mine guarded by Senior Ling Feng. Once we arrive, we can settle down for some very nice cultivation.”

“Our clan mission went very well, and we got some great loot. We got the information we were looking for and delivered it to the clan just as ordered. Now we can just have some fun in the minor worlds in the spirit mine. We’ve been working hard, everyone. We really deserve this break!”

When someone mentioned ‘having some fun,’ it provoked a wave of laughter. Everyone had looks of anticipation on their faces. To elite clan members like this, the minor worlds in spirit mines were places where they could relax and amuse themselves however they wanted.

Just up ahead was an enormous sealing lid that was their destination.

“Finally here.”

The boat accelerated sharply toward the spirit mine.

1. The character for “inspector” makes you think of something akin to a police inspector, i.e. someone who goes on patrol to “inspect” for crimes or something like that. And it’s not like they “inspect heaven.” More like that they are “inspectors from heaven.” Of course, what the heavenly inspectors do has not yet been stated outright. I’m just talking about the initial impression given by the Chinese characters. ☜