Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 673: Archbishops of Moonrebel

Stunned, Xu Qing looked suspiciously at the temple door, then at the Captain in totem form. The last thing he remembered was successfully devouring the Crimson Mother projection alongside the Captain.

How come I feel like I’ve been cultivating that will domain of amnesia? Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing scanned himself but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Don’t tell me....

“No way!” the Captain said from the little totem on the door. “Little Ah Qing, I definitely forgot something. I’ve been influenced! What’s going on here? No way. I have to figure this out. This is terrifying!”

“Don’t bother, Eldest Brother,” Xu Qing said. Standing, he walked over to the door and prepared to push it open.

However, before he could, the totem flared with blue light, and then innumerable soul-shaking howling sounds echoed out from inside. Next, a stream of bright light appeared on the totem, which began to spread rapidly and turn it into paper.

Voice dripping with immense regret, the Captain anxiously said, “I-I-I, I remember now! I got hit with Crimson Mother’s curse! I shouldn’t be remembering this. No way! Hurry up, Little Ah Qing, hurry up! Make me forget!!”

Xu Qing’s gaze hardened. Quickly sitting down cross-legged, he once again unleashed the will domain of amnesia. About ten breaths of time passed, whereupon he opened his eyes. He looked around for a moment, somewhat confused.

The Captain also opened his eyes in totem form. “What? How come I feel like I’ve forgotten something? Interesting.... Okay, I have to think hard about this and remember what just happened.”

Xu Qing looked around thoughtfully. “Something’s off here, Eldest Brother. I suspect I used my will domain of amnesia. However, I wouldn’t just randomly do that. There’s got to be a good reason. I bet there’s something I want the two of us to forget. And if we remember it, something very terrifying will happen. Therefore, I suggest that you not try to remember.” With that, Xu Qing got back to his feet and put his hand on the door. “Eldest Brother, let’s push the door open together!”

The Captain hesitated as he considered Xu Qing’s explanation. After coming to the conclusion that it made sense, he decided that, although he was still curious about what exactly was going on, he would suppress that curiosity.

“Ah, whatever. I’ll figure it out later. Let’s open this door and become the Archbishops of Moonrebel!”

The Captain took a deep breath and then flared with light. Together, he and Xu Qing exploded with force, pushing on the door of the Moonrebel Congregation’s Paramount Temple, which hadn’t been opened for an entire epoch. And... they opened it!

The time of the Archbishops of Moonrebel was nigh!

***

The Bitter Life Mountains were in a very deadly situation, and the critical moment had arrived. The mortal husk of Crimson Mother, which was now a huge patch of skin, had fully stretched over that mountainous island in the middle of the sea of blood. Every time the patch of skin twitched, it would shrink a little bit, and the boulders, vegetation, and living beings that it touched would be devoured.

Because of that, the mighty Bitter Life Mountains had now shrunk down to about seventy percent of their previous scale.

The meal continued.

The cathedral cultivators on the sea of blood were fanatically kowtowing. The pontiff’s face was expressionless. However, the pontiff wasn’t actually looking at the situation playing out with the mountains. His gaze was fixed on the horizon.

“Are you coming, Heir Apparent?” The entire point of his operation in the Bitter Life Mountains was to force the Heir Apparent and his siblings into the open. If it weren’t for the Heir Apparent, there was no way the pontiff would have personally come with the cathedral’s reserve power. “If you don’t show your faces, this entire place is going to be food for my lady and mistress.”

Chuckling coldly, the pontiff cast his senses about.

As Crimson Mother’s mortal husk continued to shrink, the Bitter Life Mountains were reduced to thirty percent of their previous size. All of the surviving cultivators were gathered in that area.

Despair. Exhaustion. Confusion. Hopelessness.... Negative emotions flourished within all of these survivors. Their garments were ragged, their faces wan. Many of them had already drained their cultivation bases, and were now so weak they could do nothing other than wait to die.

No matter how hard they fought back, it didn’t do any good. Not even Fourth Vice-Bishop could do anything about Crimson Mother’s mortal husk. They had already done everything they could in the gloomy dusk cast by the skin that covered the sky. Magical technique and divine ability had been unleashed in all directions, yet that did as little good as throwing a stone ox into the ocean. It was literally impossible for mortals to contend with a god.

Blood rain fell constantly, creating rivers of blood that forced everyone to seek higher ground. Mutagen levels soared. There were even some cultivators who were already heading toward mutation. Eventually, their screams of agony ceased when their comrades-in-arms ended things for them.

Fourth Vice-Bishop looked around in despair. The sensation of fighting back, only to accomplish nothing, had put cracks even in his strong mind.

Grandmaster Saintlowe stood next to the vice-bishop, his face pale as he looked around at the agonized cultivators around him. He heard their cries, and yet, there was nothing he could do to help them. Medicinal pills weren’t going to do anything right now.

Also in the crowd were Grandmaster Pill Nine’s followers, whose bitterness was overwhelming their faith. They... had never found Pill Nine. Now that the desert was a sea of blood and the Bitter Life Mountains were about to collapse, it meant one of two things: either Pill Nine was already dead, or he had never been here to begin with.

“I hope the grandmaster isn’t here...” the heroic young woman said. She sighed.

Also present in the crowd were Ling’er, Ning Yan, and the others. The chickens and Nethersprite were there, as was Patriarch Inkrule. The Green Spirit Pharmacy... had been devoured by the mortal husk.

Big Bro Xu Qing... where are you...? Ling’er shivered to her core, and her face was as pale as death.

Ning Yan stood there quietly. Wu Jianwu looked alarmed. Every twitch of the patch of skin in the sky caused everyone to tremble with fear.

Rumbling sounds echoed again as the mortal husk shrank down again. More boulders disappeared. More areas vanished. The area left behind was even smaller.

And yet, the fighting continued. Fourth Vice-Bishop flew up into the sky and launched an attack. Everyone else who had even an ounce of strength left followed suit. It didn’t do anything. And yet, they still wanted to fight. Some cultivators who were on the verge of mutating chose not to seek help from their comrades. Chuckling bitterly, they flew up into the sky and self-detonated. The booms that rang out seemed particularly desperate.

The skin continued to shrink. Blood rained down. There wasn’t much of the gray wind left, only occasional whimpering gusts here and there. Crimson Mother’s mortal husk was devouring everything in heaven and earth.

As despair reigned supreme, time passed.

The Bitter Life Mountains grew smaller and smaller, until it was only ten percent of its previous size. The mortal husk wriggled with more intensity. There were even mouths visible now, dripping with crimson saliva and emanating a sensation of incredible hunger. Despair increased.

“Things are almost over,” Fourth Vice-Bishop said. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and smiled bitterly. Looking around at his subordinates, he clasped hands and bowed. “Fellow Daoists, if there’s another life after this one... then I’m going to do the same thing again! Gods are by no means eternal!”

“Hope exists from time immemorial and into forever!” the surviving cultivators howled defiantly. It was as if they were taking all of the dedication and regret in their lives and releasing them at once. As the sound echoed everywhere, Crimson Mother’s mortal husk shrank again as it prepared to devour the last of the mountains.

And that was when something explosively dramatic occurred!

A beam of light suddenly appeared.

It came without any warning whatsoever. It was golden, and as it appeared in midair, it rapidly expanded. In the blink of an eye it turned into something like a sun that filled the area with brightness. When the blood rain was touched by that light, it was blasted away. The sea of blood began hissing and steaming as it was driven off.

For the first time, the mortal husk couldn’t shrink down. The shapeless light became a very tangible support to the cultivators present.

Everyone was shaken. Fourth Vice-Bishop looked on in shock, as did Ning Yan and the others. Ling’er looked very excited, as her intuition was telling her that her Big Bro Xu Qing was on the way.

As everyone watched in astonishment, the light took the form of a bronze door. It was big enough to prop up heaven and earth, and it emanated mountain-toppling, sea-draining fluctuations.

Crimson Mother’s mortal husk shrieked, causing everything to shake, and sending huge waves rolling across the blood sea. The cathedral cultivators were absolutely stunned. The pontiff was no longer looking off into the distance as he waited for the Heir Apparent. Instead, he was looking at the mortal husk.

“That aura!”

The sudden development was noticed by all of the Moonrebel Congregation cultivators in the Bitter Life Mountains. Their hearts swelled and their eyes went wide. It shook them to the core to realize that they recognized that door.

“Is that...?”

“That’s the door of Paramount Temple!”

“I can’t believe the door of Paramount Temple is right here!”

“Isn’t the Moonrebel Congregation sealed right now?”

“Don’t tell me....”

Gasps, exclamations of shock, and cries of astonishment rang out as the door appeared in midair and stopped Crimson Mother’s mortal husk. And as everyone looked at it... The door slowly opened!

God-like chanting drifted out from inside, causing wild colors to flash in heaven and earth. As everyone looked on with complete incredulity, they saw... that within that opened door, framed by dazzling light, were two figures....

“Archbishops of Moonrebel!” blurted the stunned Fourth Vice-Bishop. His words crashed like heavenly thunder into the minds of everyone present.

As of this moment, the entire Moonrite Region was being shaken to the core, as an awakening will rose from the soil, the mountains, and all living beings!