Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 671: Red Moon Authority Cannot Have Two Masters!

Before Crimson Mother reached godly ascension, the Imperial Sovereign of this region removed hēr head with the God Decapitation Altar. On the day of that event, the severed head collapsed into ashes, leaving behind nothing but a headless corpse. That corpse eventually disappeared into the river of time.

Later on, after Crimson Mother somehow became a god, shē came back and conquered the region. Using a god magic, shē fished her mortal husk out of ancient time, then set it up as a reserve power for the Red Moon Cathedral. It was an extraordinary item that, previously, only the godchild had been able to use. Yet here it was, having been summoned by the pontiff.

Īt shook the entire desert as it descended, causing the desert floor to sink down by hundreds if not thousands of meters.... The quaking ground crumbled and the sky shattered. A never-ending blood rain fell, pooling together to form a huge blood-colored sea. Waves rolled out in all directions. In fact, the desert wasn’t even visible at this point. It was only the seething sea of blood.

Converting a desert to the sea was as much of a subversion as changing heaven to earth. And in the middle of it all there was an island formed by the Bitter Life Mountains. The gray wind had collapsed, and now clung to existence in the mountains. Anyone who could see it would be able to tell it lingered on the verge of complete destruction.

In addition to the wind on the sea of blood, there were numerous cathedral cultivators, their faces masks of zeal as they chanted. In the dome of heaven, the pontiff clasped hands and bowed as the headless corpse emitted incredible pressure. The influence spread, filling the Moonrite Region. All living beings trembled. Every life form shook. All areas of the region quaked. Only a god could do something like this.

In the Bitter Life Mountains, both Fourth Vice-Bishop and his subordinates were astonished. All local cultivators felt deep shock. And of course, they couldn’t hide their despair. There was no way they could fight back against this, or stop it.

It was the same with the people in the Green Spirit Pharmacy. Ning Yan trembled as he looked outside at the sea of blood, and the mortal husk hovering in the air. His mind was a blank. Wu Jianwu was not spouting any poetry. He was too flustered. In the backyard, the chickens were all hiding in the corners. Li Youfei trembled uncontrollably, and even Nethersprite was having a hard time keeping calm.

The only one who acted differently was Ling’er. She trusted Xu Qing so deeply that it could almost be called blind devotion. She believed that it didn’t matter what difficulties came, as long as Big Bro Xu Qing was around, things would work out. And yet, things were reaching a point of extreme danger.

High above, the pontiff of the Red Moon Cathedral looked coldly at that island on the blood sea. Extending his right hand, he pushed out, whereupon Crimson Mother’s mortal husk vanished, then reappeared right above the Bitter Life Mountains.

The skin stretched out, quickly becoming a canopy full of mountains, stars, and the anguished howls of living beings. It took hardly any time at all for it to completely cover the Bitter Life Mountains.

“Please enjoy yourself, milady!” the pontiff said, his voice thrumming with piety.

The cathedral cultivators on the blood sea heard his words and echoed them. They all bowed their heads and chanted. One could not simply watch as a god benefited from enjoyment. As they averted their gazes, the mortal husk emanated a boundless sense of evil, as well as a deep hunger. After covering the mountains, the patch of skin twitched and started shrinking down.

Īt was going to devour the entire mountain range.

The gray wind struggled. The local cultivators felt despair turning into madness within them. Fourth Vice-Bishop howled and released the power of his cultivation base. By this point, he and his subordinates looked upon death as going home, and thus they attacked. They might be in the position of a mantis trying to stop a war chariot, but the spirit of the Moonrebel Congregation was one of resistance.

Muffled booms rang out. Waves swept out across the blood sea. And the chanting of the cathedral cultivators grew louder.

Meanwhile, the pontiff slowly looked up at Crimson Mother’s mortal husk, which had stretched out to cover the Bitter Life Mountains.

“There’s no point in fighting back here. Food... will always be food.”

He turned to look at the red moon on the horizon, his expression one of deep devotion.

The cultivators in the mountains looked up at the skin stretched overhead. Blood rain fell from the sky, splashing down everywhere. Mutagen levels skyrocketed. Howls of grief spread out everywhere. Mountain peaks crumbled, and mudbrick cities collapsed.

Even the Pill Nine statue started falling to pieces. The Pill Nine followers looked around with bitter confusion. As for the valiant and formidable young woman, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything but look on silently.

The mountains were completely covered over by the wriggling flesh. And as it shrank down, the mountains vanished. They were being devoured and made part of the skin.

It seemed entirely plausible that the mountains, suns, moons, stars, heavenly bodies, and living beings which had previously been visible on the skin had probably been sealed there in this same manner. That said, the speed at which this was happening couldn’t be described as very quick. The storm created by the hair of High God Moonfire was suppressed, but not completely.

Unfortunately, unless a miracle happened, nothing could stop the inevitable. Before long, the storm would die, and then the skin would be able to devour everything. The Bitter Life Mountains would disappear without a trace.

As catastrophe bore down on the cultivators in the Bitter Life Mountains, and they began to fight back futilely, the banging coming from Paramount Temple in the Moonrebel Congregation grew even louder.

The door shook violently, and the banging was so loud it sounded like thunder. It was even louder inside the temple.

Xu Qing and the Captain were going all out. As they burned the godchild blood, the totem on the door grew fainter and fainter. It was now only about ten percent as strong as it had been originally. That final ten percent, however, was the source of its power, and was incredibly tough. Even burning godchild blood wasn’t going to get rid of it quickly.

Yet the Captain wasn’t ready to give up. Lunging forward in totem form, he took a big bite. A loud crack rang out, and the Captain tumbled backward. The ten percent core had not been harmed.

Seeing that, the Captain sighed. “This crappy thing is just too tough, little Ah Qing. We need more time.”

Xu Qing looked tired. Although he wasn’t literally inside the door like the Captain was, he was constantly burning godchild blood, which was inherently tiring.

“We’re running out of time,” Xu Qing said. He hadn’t returned to the Green Spirit Pharmacy. But his connection to Ling’er made it so that he knew exactly what was going on right now. “The Red Moon Cathedral has already arrived, and they brought Crimson Mother’s mortal husk. The situation is critical.”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain.

The Captain looked back at him, stunned. “Mortal husk? That’s the Red Moon Cathedral’s biggest reserve power. They must be really anxious to be using it already!”

“It doesn’t matter why they’re using it. It’s already here.” Xu Qing’s eyes shone with determination. “Eldest Brother, I’m preparing my violet moon power to devour the last bit of the totem. Back me up.”

The Captain’s eyes gleamed. He knew full well that they were in a critical moment. “If you devour it, your body won’t be able to take it.”

“If I become the Archbishop of Moonrebel, then I can use the power of the Moonrebel Congregation to help me suppress it.” This was the only way Xu Qing could think of to speed things up.

The Captain thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “That’ll work. Come on, let’s do it together!”

Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to perform a double-handed incantation gesture. Pointing his palm in the direction of the door, he sent violet moon power erupting out. Blood droplets spread out from all over his body. They quickly created a seething lake of blood with an illusory god trove in it, pulsing with the power of blood authority.

The blood seethed as it raced toward the door. The Captain also held nothing back to assist, causing his small totem form to spin rapidly, creating a vortex to meet Xu Qing’s blood. In the blink of an eye, they slammed into each other, and Xu Qing in blood form swept into the vortex and, through it, the door itself. Without pausing, he shot right toward the Crimson Mother totem.

Xu Qing could sense that this core part of the totem was a blood sealing mark. It glittered with red light, and pulsed with godly might. No type of personhood could come close to matching this.

However, Xu Qing’s authority came from the red moon, the same as Crimson Mother. And thus, he only accelerated. A huge boom rang out when he slammed into the totem. The door shook. At the same time, the Captain closed in with his mouth wide open.

The massive noise filled the entire Moonrebel Congregation. Meanwhile, Xu Qing in blood lake form was sent spinning backward. The Captain howled in pain. But then the blood lake slammed into the totem again.

The Captain was going absolutely crazy. His totem flashed with blue light as he viciously launched attack after attack.

Godchild blood burned away at the sealing mark, corroding it. As Xu Qing and the Captain went all out, time passed. A few hours later, the sealing mark was still there. However, it had cracks on it.

Xu Qing was exhausted, and the Captain’s howls had weakened significantly. Given that they could see evidence of their progress, they didn’t slow down. Rumbling booms exploded out over and over again, until finally, the sealing mark collapsed.

As it did, a stream of golden light exploded from within. And it came from an illusory figure. It was just barely possible to see a young woman there, clad in a dilapidated robe, covering her eyes with her hands. Blood flowed from beneath those hands. As for the golden light, it made the woman seem incomparably holy. This was none other than Crimson Mother!

The sound of chanting could be heard as mutagen flowed everywhere, becoming godly might that weighed down on Xu Qing and the Captain. Xu Qing in blood lake form vanished. The Captain also blurred away as if he were about to be erased. At that point, the Captain’s craziness truly erupted.

“Let’s devour hēr, little Ah Qing! See what happens!”

The blood lake had turned back into Xu Qing, who was now looking at the projection of Crimson Mother. Inside, he felt intense desire rising up uncontrollably within him. There was also a deep hunger. In that moment, his human nature vanished, and godly nature spread out. Xu Qing’s balance was about to be disrupted. He didn’t do anything to stop it. He let the godliness rise up and take over his consciousness. And then he spoke in a very cold voice.

“Red moon authority cannot have two masters!”

The moment the words left his mouth, blood-colored light exploded off him, slamming into the door and heading toward the projection of Crimson Mother with greed, hunger, and calmness.

Laughing heartily, and eyes burning with a crazy look, the Captain opened his mouth and lunged in for a bite!