Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 720: The Stars Fade; Suns and Moons Cower (part 2)

Blinding golden light spread out rapidly, causing Smoldering God pressure to weigh down heavily. The dome of heaven dimmed. The air blurred. The lands quaked. Hearts trembling, the Sea-Sealing County cultivators backed up. Though they were furious, their cultivation bases were being restricted, and their souls were being affected. That was how weak they were in the face of a Smoldering God aura.

“Do some piddling sparks dare to vie with the full moon?” the high commander said coolly from his white elephant. As he looked out coldly, a host of gigantic golden characters formed in front of him. “The people of Holytide Region are hereby conscripted to fight in the war.”

Twelve golden characters appeared, all of which pulsed with the aura of a Smoldering God, causing everything around them to shake.

That was the moment in which Xu Qing chose to again look up into the sky, clasp hands, and bow.

“Grandpa Ninth. Please.”

As the words left his mouth, a beam of heaven-sundering sword light dropped down from the dome of heaven. This was a dazzling sword that could overturn heaven and undermine earth! This sword could make the stars fade, and the sun and moon cower. Heaven split open, a massive rift appearing like a black hole. All light. All sound. All thoughts. All feelings. The sword tugged on all of them and pulled them into the black hole. Everything disappeared. Time went still.

The sword light descended noiselessly, filled with breathing, consummate power. And then it reached the Smoldering God energy coming from the jade pendant in the hand of the High Commander.

King Heaventide’s aura collapsed, and the golden light faded into nothing but normal light.

The twelve characters in front of the white elephant that had been shaking everyone to the core were suddenly made incapable of emitting light. They crumbled like dried weeds before turning into drifting ash.

The jade pendant was hit next. That pendant contained orders from King Heaventide, yet cracks spread out over its surface before it collapsed into dust in the hand of the high commander.

The high commander himself couldn’t stand up to the force. He started shaking, a look of astonishment in his eyes as he looked up into the sky. He saw nothing. But he could imagine what type of entity was up there.

“I—”

He tried to speak, but didn’t have the chance. A breeze hit him, and he collapsed into ash.

He was the only one that died. The white elephant wasn’t harmed. Trembling, the elephant dropped down in prostration. The warrior cultivators in blood-red armor were not harmed either.

That was how Ninth Sib operated. His sword skill was at such a high level that, with a single thought, it could eradicate entire armies. Or, it could bypass the army and kill a single person, leaving everyone else unhurt. Clearly, Ninth Sib valued humankind deeply, and didn’t want to see people die needlessly.

One was enough.

The sword light vanished. The high commander had been wiped away. Everything went quiet. The high commander’s subordinates shivered in obvious terror and astonishment. They had seen the sword attack, and they knew what it signified. And that realization left their minds empty of everything except fear.

It was the same with the forces of Sea-Sealing County. The swordsages, the cultivators from the three palaces, and the sect elites were all shaken to the core, their hearts pounding with astonishment. The gathered sect leaders, the palace lords, and the honor guards reacted the same. They were absolutely flabbergasted, and looked at Xu Qing with disbelief in their eyes.

Thinking back, they vaguely remembered that, just before the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sword descended, Xu Qing had bowed to the sky and called out to someone named Grandpa Ninth....

Plumdark was stunned, and looked at Xu Qing with a blank expression.

Marquis Yao’s heart was pounding. The name ‘Jicang’ written on the sail of Xu Qing’s ship had seemed familiar. He was from the aristocratic clan of a heavenly marquis, and though his clan was in decline, they still had a lot of ancient records. When he thought about where Xu Qing had been recently, he recalled that many, many years ago, the heir apparent of the Imperial Sovereign of the Moonrite Region was named Li Jicang! What was more, that Imperial Sovereign’s ninth son had been an expert in the sword.... Having reached this point in his train of thought, his heart started pounding even more.

Master Seventh had an odd expression on his face as he looked up into the dome of heaven. Looking wistful, he sighed, shook his head, and then turned to Xu Qing and his senior apprentice, his eyes filled with praise.

The Captain noticed that, though Xu Qing didn’t. Xu Qing was focused on the trembling warrior cultivators in blood-red armor.

Ninth Sib obviously didn’t want to kill them, but that left Xu Qing wondering what to do with them. After a moment of silence, Xu Qing looked back at the huge ship.

Ningyan and Wu Jianwu were there, crouching behind the rails and secretly watching what was happening outside. Noticing Xu Qing’s gaze caused Ningyan to blink a few times. Grimacing, he looked down, not daring to meet Xu Qing’s gaze. That said, he couldn’t pretend that he didn’t notice Xu Qing looking at him.

Seeing that caused Xu Qing’s eyes to grow colder. He frowned.

The Captain looked over and smiled enigmatically.

Ningyan’s heart raced. He feared the Captain, but he feared Xu Qing even more. The Captain might bite him, but even when they had only just met, Xu Qing nearly killed him. 

Considering that both of those people were looking at him, Ningyan knew that he had no choice but to follow orders. It seemed like a lose-lose situation, but he still sighed inwardly, gritted his teeth, and rose to his feet. He stepped off the ship.

Off to the side, Wu Jianwu blinked a few times. He knew what Ningyan was doing, and he immediately started composing some poetry.

At first, nobody had been paying attention to Ningyan. But as he stepped off the ship, his bloodline activated, causing a golden umbrella to appear over his head. His bloodline also caused a four-clawed golden dragon to appear, swirling in the air and roaring in a way that shook heaven and earth. That golden dragon was enough to shake everyone. But next, an imperial robe appeared on Ningyan, instantly making him the center of all attention.

The cultivators of Sea-Sealing County all looked at him, their expressions those of utter shock. Even more shocked were the terrifying Void Returning subordinates of the High Commander, plus the warrior cultivators in blood-red armor. That one sword move put them in an impossible situation. And now, seeing Ningyan, they were even more shocked.

Ningyan’s bloodline fluctuations, plus the four-clawed golden dragon, was something that they, people who had come from the Imperial Region, were completely familiar with. They knew the aura of the imperial clan.

The army cultivators weren’t sure what to do. None of them recognized Ningyan. Although he was one of the emperor’s sons, he had never stood out much. Therefore, Ningyan just hovered in midair feeling embarrassed. And since it would be strange for him to introduce himself, he just remained in place releasing as much of his bloodline aura as possible. Gradually, the aura grew stronger, and the imperial clan’s fluctuations spread out majestically in all directions.

That was when the Captain flew up to stand a few paces behind Ningyan. Glaring down at the army in blood-red armor, he snapped, “How dare you people! You’re looking right at Twelfth Prince but you’re not offering formal greetings?”

The Captain’s words only increased everyone’s shock. As for Ningyan, he breathed an inner sigh of relief. Maintaining a somber facial expression, he looked out at the army and coolly said, “I am indeed Guyue Ningyan, twelfth son of the human emperor. Presumably you people know my name.”

Ningyan’s words caused a stir among the imperial forces. That was especially true when it came to the Void Returning experts. When they thought about the imperial princes, they remembered that there was one whose mother died shortly after childbirth. That prince very rarely appeared in public, and he was Twelfth Prince. There was no way to fake his bloodline fluctuations, and what was even more noteworthy was that the huge monitor lizards were all bowing their heads to the golden dragon. No further proof was needed.

After a brief moment of hesitation, they also bowed their heads and clasped hands to Ningyan.

“Well met, Twelfth Prince!”

The forces of Sea-Sealing County were just as stunned, and they also offered formal greetings by bowing. Marquis Yao did the same.

Seeing all that caused pride to well up in Ningyan’s heart. He even stuck his chin up a bit. In fact, he almost forgot his standing in Sea-Sealing County until the Captain cleared his throat, bringing Ningyan back to his senses. Immediately squashing any feelings of arrogance, Ningyan looked over the imperial forces.

“My father the emperor issued orders proclaiming Sea-Sealing County as autonomous. Although you were tricked, you still committed grave offenses. Bind yourselves. I’ll submit an official request to the court and let my father make the final decision about what to do with you.”

The army was silent in response to his words. First came the shocking sword, then the sudden arrival of an imperial prince. Whether on an emotional level or a rational one, they had no choice but to follow orders.

The reality was that they were all breathing sighs of relief. If you ride a tiger, it’s hard to get off, and they had been in a very delicate and deadly situation. Following the lead of an imperial prince was obviously the best choice. Without the slightest hesitation, they sealed their own cultivation bases and began tying each other up. It didn’t matter that they were the trusted followers of a high commander. What was important was that... a single sword move had stricken them to the core.

Having accomplished that, Ningyan secretly glanced at Xu Qing out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that Xu Qing had no expression on his face got him worried, so he looked at the Captain.

The Captain threw his arm over Ningyan’s shoulders and chuckled grimly. It was a clear message that Ningyan had performed well.

Ningyan let loose a sigh of relief. Given the current circumstances, this was the ideal way to wrap up the situation. Before long, Marquis Yao had made arrangements for the Sea-Sealing County cultivators to take the captured imperial forces to the Corrections Division. They weren’t to be mistreated. After all, they were all humans.

In that manner, a big crisis in Sea-Sealing County was handled. Next, Marquis Yao made an announcement proclaiming to the entire county that Xu Qing would be acting as the new governor.

Because of the delicate political circumstances, there was no formal ceremony. But Xu Qing was the hope of Sea-Sealing County, and also its reserve power. So there wasn’t really a need for a ceremony. For all intents and purposes, he was now the governor of Sea-Sealing County.

Some of the cultivators from the various sects, or from distant parts of Sea-Sealing County, only had vague memories of how Xu Qing had acted in the past. In their hearts, they believed that someone with a cultivation base as low as his couldn’t possibly be the governor. But after seeing that sword fall from the sky, such doubts were shattered.

It just made Xu Qing seem more mysterious. And then there was the way Twelfth Prince treated Xu Qing. That made them even more curious. Xu Qing didn’t refuse the honor. He knew what kind of a responsibility it was to be the governor, and he was ready to accept it. After taking his rightful place in the Governor’s Mansion, he issued a string of dharmic decrees.

First: everyone in the county was to prepare for war.

Second: the taboo treasures were to be kept active.

Further orders were given, sending swordsages out to quell the unrest in the county. And preparations needed to be made for the arrival of Seventh Prince and King Heaventide.

Sea-Sealing County had been in a state of confusion. But the new orders brought life back to the county, and unified the hearts of the masses.

The great bird Qingqin chose to leave seclusion. That night, he soared in the sky above the county capital, where he looked down at the Governor’s Mansion and let loose a long, crisp call.

“CAAAAAWWWW!”