Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1143: Let Me Finish Talking!

Xu Qing’s facial expression remained the same as usual. The insolent voice seemed to contain the marvelous ability to summon a mental image of the speaker. In his mind’s eye, Xu Qing could see the imp with the three words on his face, smiling very complacently.

“Senior,” Xu Qing said calmly, “you didn’t use me as the carrier to sneak yourself out of the second world for the mere sake of making fun of me, did you?”

The jade slip glittered. The imp cleared his throat. “Sheesh, you’re still mad? I’m the last scrap of will left behind by Immortal Lord Aurora when he died, a thought that existed in the second world. I needed your help to get out, and time’s limited. There’s a lot to do.

“So, of course I didn’t do it just to make fun of you. Calm down, son. Calm down.

“By the way, I’m not asking for a free ride. Look, if you were dealing with somebody else, you might not have made it out of the second world. Am I right, or am I right? How about I answer some questions as a way of saying thanks for taking me out of there?

“You’re wondering about my canon, right? I can explain. Basically… I had the same space-time as you a while back. I got about halfway through completing it before I realized it was just too hard. I couldn’t go all the way. I’m telling you this because I hope that you can continue past where I left off. Welp, that’s all, son. Bye-bye.”

Cracks snaked out across the surface of the jade slip. The cracks spread, and an instant later, the jade was completely covered with them. In the end, the jade slip collapsed into ash. It was as if it wasn’t permitted to exist.

Xu Qing frowned. The explanation he had just received seemed perfunctory at best. As for the jade slip disappearing…. Xu Qing couldn’t sense anything unusual in the area. And he hadn’t been the one to cause the jade slip to shatter.

What’s it aiming to do?

Xu Qing looked around for a moment. Suddenly, his heart lurched and he looked down at the palm of his hand. In that spot… the jade slip was quietly forming anew. Along with it came the insolent voice of the imp.

“Hahahahahahahahahaha! I bet you were feeling all depressed, weren’t you? You were cursing me for being perfunctory, and were then feeling completely and utterly disappointed. You were thinking about all the difficulty you went through just now, only to be rewarded with a few casual words. Am I right, or am I right?”

Xu Qing didn’t say anything.

“At a loss for words? I guessed right, didn’t I? Hahahahaha! Alright, I’m going to throw in a few more speculations. I bet that after I came back and said what I just said, you’re probably thinking that I’ll give you some sort of special legacy, or maybe tell you some juicy secrets.

“Ahem. Well, let me tell you. YOU. GUESSED. WRONG! The truth is that… I got nothin’ for ya! Hahahahaha! Bye-bye, son!”

The jade slip again crumbled into nothing.

Xu Qing frowned, but was actually feeling a bit more relaxed. This version of Immortal Lord Aurora was obviously off in the head. And it seemed like it was probably the right choice for the Immortal Paragon to kill him. Putting the subject out of mind, he looked at the palace hall up ahead.

Looking at the immortal palace from the outside, it seemed peaceful and harmonious, like a flourishing world. But it looked very different now. The hall was bleak and dilapidated, and the ravages of time were clearly seen. Some areas were in complete ruin, with nothing left there.

It’s been opened many times, and the successive waves of cultivators mostly come to the third world. It seems logical to conclude that seventy to eighty percent of the treasures and legacies are gone by now.

The only reason there are still some left behind is that the immortal palace is gargantuan. Add in the fact that it opens from a different spot each time, it makes sense that there are at least some things left to take. That said, the third world isn’t important to me. What’s important… is that I have enough canon to get into the fourth world!

As Xu Qing pondered these things, he continued on his way. His plan was to look around the third world for the entrance into the fourth world. As for the vanishing jade slip, he wasn’t inclined to waste time thinking about it.

However, his disregard for the jade slip seemed to have an unusual effect. He had hardly walked forward ten paces when the jade slip formed again in his palm. And the voice spoke again….

“Hahaha! I’m back! Now, let me make a few more guesses. I bet you’re thinking I’m off in the head. You were probably saying some mean things about me, maybe that the Immortal Paragon did the right thing when he killed me. Well, I—”

Xu Qing clenched his hand into a fist. A cracking sound rang out, the jade slip crumbled into ashes, and the voice was cut off. Xu Qing walked through the palace hall and looked off into the distance.

Except… the jade slip formed again. This time, before the imp could even begin speaking, Xu Qing forcefully crushed the jade slip again.

Next, he floated up into the air and cast his senses out. Although this was only one part of the immortal palace, it was still huge. Although it wasn’t on the level of a major world, it could definitely be considered a minor world.

Xu Qing’s senses revealed to him that there were innumerable palace buildings, numerous towers, spirit gardens, and the like…. There were even mountains and rivers. The structures were all in disrepair. Walls were falling down and warding spells were dysfunctional. Most of the mountains were crumbling and the majority of the rivers were dried up.

There were some locations that weren’t in such bad shape. That said, there were clearly warding spells that were still working. What was more, black threads would appear and disappear unpredictably in midair, slashing around and cutting anything they touched.

There were different climates in different areas. Some places had rain. In some places, there were constant earthquakes. Other locations had lightning and some were filled with tempest winds. Occasionally, certain areas would disappear, then reappear suddenly.

All of the interactions caused pure chaos. A person might be in one spot, then take a few steps forward and find themselves in a completely different location. Overall, the areas around Xu Qing were in a state of constant flux.

He eventually sensed some cultivators. Some were on their own, others were working in pairs or groups. They were scattered throughout this part of the palace, searching for destined opportunities. Xu Qing’s quick scan revealed that none of the Shining Stars were present. That included Li Mengtu. The vast majority of cultivators present did not have canon.

It seems like there are fewer people than there should be….

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he realized he couldn’t sense Patriarch Diling’s aura. He looked off into the distance.

There must have been some intense fighting before I got here. Either that, or there’s a way to get to more distant locations. That would make sense. The immortal palace has been opened enough times that people have surely figured out some of its secrets. Presumably the members of the Shining Stars are in the fourth world.

By linking certain details of his surroundings with the complete image of the immortal palace that he had seen earlier, he was able to determine that it was the eastern section of the palace.

From what I remember, there was a dao sermon going on in the east.

Even as he thought about such things, he again clenched his hand into a fist, and the sound of a shattering jade slip echoed out. After that, he flew off into the distance. Along the way, the jade slip worked very hard. It reappeared over and over again, only for Xu Qing to crush it over and over again.

All the while, the imp kept talking.

“This is outrageous, son. You—”

CRUNCH!

“Agh! Let me talk! I—”

CRUNCH!

“Agggghhh…. Let me finish talking—”

CRUNCH!

After about two hours of exploration, Xu Qing finally paused before crushing the jade slip.

“Wait! Stop!” the imp shrieked. “If you keep crushing me I’ll die! Look, I can help you. I can give you some advice! As long as you’re in this pocket realm, you can just call out, ‘Big Poppa Aurora!’ and I’ll give you a chance to get some advice about canon!!”

Face completely expressionless, Xu Qing prepared to crush the jade slip again.

“Senior!” the imp yelped. “You can just call out, ‘Senior,’ okay? How about that?”

Xu Qing thought about it and then nodded. “Deal.”

A sigh drifted out from the jade slip. Then the imp resentfully said, “But you have to promise not to crush me anymore. I just don’t get it. It’s like… you’ve actually got a lot of experience doing this kind of thing.”

Xu Qing ignored the imp as he pierced through the chaos to the spot where he’d seen the dao sermon going on. Sadly, there was nothing but rubble there. It wasn’t much of a surprise. After searching the area quickly to confirm there was nothing there, he decided to find someone who could tell him how to get to the third world.

Before he could, the imp laughed coldly from the jade slip. “What the hell good do you think it’ll do to go searching around randomly? Don’t you know what the third world is all about??”

Xu Qing had been about to crush the jade slip. However, the second sentence that had just been uttered proved to be its salvation.

“Oh? What is the place all about?” Xu Qing asked.

“Beg me to tell you!” the imp demanded proudly.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Qing said, “I beg you.”

“Huh?” the imp blurted in shock. “B-b-but… what about your integrity? What about your backbone? How could you resort to begging so easily??”

Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change as he looked at the jade slip. He had already started to get used to the imp, and truth be told, he did have relevant experience. He basically had to treat the imp in the same way he treated his Eldest Brother.

“You’d better prove yourself trustworthy,” he said coolly, and he squeezed the jade slip.

The imp seemed to sneer as he said, “Alright, I’ll tell you. To cultivators without canon, the third world is a place of destined opportunities and good fortune. But that stuff is all superficial.

“The really good stuff only comes later, starting in the fourth world! You see, you can only get into the fourth world if you have canon. BUT! If you want to get into the fourth world, then you basically have no choice but to use the third world. The fourth world is one of identity. And that’s what you have to get while you’re here in the third world: identity!

“That’s because the fourth world is actually set in the past. Whatever identity you get in the third world, you take it with you into the fourth world. Simply put, when you get into the fourth world, you return to the Aurora Immortal Palace of the past! And that’s where you can get some really amazing destined opportunities. So, to summarize, identity is the important thing here!”

Xu Qing was understandably surprised. “How do I get this ‘identity’ you speak of?”

The imp seemed very pleased with himself as he proudly replied, “I’m not telling you!”

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