Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 883: Ancestral Emperor’s Tomb

Tuo Shishan reacted with lightning decisiveness. He knew full well that, given the level of his cultivation base, he wasn’t anywhere near a match for Xu Qing in close quarters fighting. After all, though he hadn’t personally witnessed the death of Master Stillwinter, he had heard firsthand accounts and knew all the details. So he knew that if he didn’t make it immediately obvious that he wanted to help, he might never have a chance to do so.

And then there was the shifty-eyed fellow next to Xu Qing, who was obviously a scoundrel through and through. Now that Tuo Shishan thought about it, he realized that the sleazy-looking fellow had been with Xu Qing during their initial clash outside of the city. Any person who hung around with Xu Qing was obviously not going to be a weakling. All of that led him to the conclusion that he would be lucky to live through a conflict with these two.

Then there was the fact that these two had somehow provoked something as terrifying as this jellyfish. That... wasn’t something easy to do. It wasn’t as if just anybody could get a reaction from an entity like that, and then end up being chased relentlessly.

Because of all these factors, Tuo Shishan didn’t hesitate to wake up the old grandpa and throw him toward the jellyfish. That was enough to show his attitude.

The old grandpa shivered in the midst of his confusion. When he laid eyes on the huge red jellyfish, he shivered from head to toe.

That little brat... However, there wasn’t time for anything else, so he unleashed his Smoldering God power in a blow toward the giant jellyfish.

Rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth. The majestic jellyfish shivered slightly, but then just powered through the attack and kept coming.

This thing is like a miniature god! The old grandpa steeled himself and launched another attack.

Behind him, the Captain and Xu Qing had somewhat odd expressions on their faces as a result of Tuo Shishan suddenly showing up and helping. And they could see how strong that old grandpa was.... Given how things had developed, it wasn’t proper for them to take action against Tuo Shishan.

“Many thanks!” Xu Qing said with a nod, and then shot right past Tuo Shishan.

Tuo Shishan was also fleeing in the same direction, although he clearly wasn’t as fast as Xu Qing. All he could do was force a smile onto his face and say, “We’re bros, right? No problem!”

The Captain looked surprised to hear such words. He also shot a nod in Tuo Shishan’s direction, then sped after Xu Qing. And thus, the two of them vanished over the horizon.

Tuo Shishan was also fleeing for his life, but he wasn’t quite as fast. Meanwhile, the old grandpa was letting loose pained exclamations as he used a variety of methods to try to buy time.

Slowly but surely, Tuo Shishan managed to put some distance between himself and the jellyfish. When he was far enough away, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing that he was safe for the moment, he thought about the plight of the old grandpa and felt bitterness in his heart.

How did things end up like this?

In a different direction, Xu Qing and the Captain, despite having finally shaken the giant jellyfish, weren’t slowing down at all. They kept going for several more hours. Then the Captain waved his hand to sever the karma threads connecting them to the jellyfish.

Afterwards, they felt much more relieved. However, they kept flying for a few more days until all lingering traces of fear left them. The danger from the jellyfish was finally over.

At the moment, they were resting atop a magical mushroom some several dozen meters tall.[1]

Squatting there, the Captain exhaled softly. When thinking back to everything that had played out, he couldn’t help but sigh. “See? Didn’t I say earlier that that crappy Tuo Shishan is a good guy?” The Captain reached down, dug out some of the flesh of the magical mushroom, and swallowed it down. “Have some. This type of mushroom is one of the only safe things to eat in this god domain.”

Xu Qing took a deep breath and looked at the horizon. Only after confirming that there really wasn’t any karma connecting him to the jellyfish did he start to calm down. He looked at the Captain.

The Captain smiled wryly. “A mishap. It was really just a little mishap.”

The Captain dug out some more mushroom flesh and tossed it to Xu Qing.

Though Xu Qing had long grown used to the Captain’s crazy behavior, he still needed more time to regain his composure. Taking the mushroom flesh, he unhesitatingly swallowed it down. Though the mushroom flesh looked dark and unappetizing, it was actually very sweet, and even provided some nourishment to the soul.

“What do you think, little Junior Brother? See, I was being serious! This mushroom is pretty good. Believe me, there used to be a lot of magical mushrooms like this around here. After I figured out how to make use of them—”

“There were a lot fewer,” Xu Qing interjected bluntly.

The Captain chuckled. He was quite an expert in calming Xu Qing down, so he ignored his surly tone. Throwing his arm over Xu Qing’s shoulders, he proudly said, “Little Ah Qing, nobody understands me like you do. You’re right. I ate about seventy to eighty percent of the magical mushrooms around here. They’re really that amazing. And I guess they just don’t grow back, which is why you don’t see many of them now. Let’s keep eating. When we’re done, I’m going to take you to see another amazing treasure.”

The Captain took another bite.

And thus, the two of them ate mushroom flesh for about two hours.... By that point, the gigantic mushroom was gone. They had eaten the entire thing. The Captain ate less than Xu Qing, and as a result, Xu Qing’s mood was improving.

Eating that much of the mushroom flesh provided a direct boost to the strength of Xu Qing’s soul. In fact, it was about a forty percent boost, resulting in an even more clear understanding of the limitations of his cultivation base. Because he lacked heavenly daos, his progress had slowed. However, the boost to his soul did help him to improve his connection to his five secret troves. What was more than clear was that his troves were empty, with the exception of the god state trove and the mage trove.

My first god trove has the bluegreen dragon, and the mage trove doesn’t need a heavenly dao because... the antemage inside basically is a heavenly dao! In other words, I’m currently lacking three heavenly daos. [2]

Having spent time in this god domain, he knew that the tentacled fish could serve as heavenly daos... and so could that huge jellyfish.

Unfortunately, those two specific types would be too powerful for him to control.

The spiders would work, and maybe even those shell eagles. Except they’re too weak. Furthermore, one of the most important things to consider is my Emperor’s Sword secret trove....

As Xu Qing pondered such things, the Captain blinked a few times and then smiled.

“Thinking about heavenly daos?” he asked as he lay on the ground, rubbing his belly and burping occasionally. “The amazing treasure I’m going to show you next can help you get heavenly daos. So don’t put too much thought into it, little Junior Brother. The heavenly daos are just waiting for you!”

The Captain stood and pointed off into the distance.

The fact that the Captain had twice mentioned an ‘amazing treasure’ caused Xu Qing’s vigilance to skyrocket. He looked off in the direction the Captain was pointing.

The spider webs there were denser than in other places, and it was just barely possible to see a planet in their depths. It was wrapped up in countless spiderwebs, making it seem defeated. In addition, Xu Qing could see some plants that were new to him.

They were actually withered trees that were growing on the spiderwebs, and on their dried up trunks were faces with their eyes closed as if sleeping. As they got closer, more and more such trees became visible.

“That’s where your big job is going to take place?” Xu Qing asked coolly. He had already firmly decided that he wouldn’t be going in that direction. He would find somewhere else to get some heavenly daos.

“Little Junior Brother, I’m afraid I need to correct you. I’m not going on a big job. We are.” Seeing the determined look in Xu Qing’s eyes, the Captain cleared his throat and blinked a few times. “Little Junior Brother, I’ve looked at your god troves before, and... for secret troves like that, you need a heavenly dao that’ll cooperate!

“That said, in the final analysis, getting a heavenly dao for a god trove won’t be hard. What’s going to be hard is your Emperor’s Sword secret trove! There’s no heavenly dao that can qualify to enter a secret trove like that!”

The Captain’s expression was very serious as he looked at Xu Qing. “That’s why I need to take you to check out this treasure I mentioned. You can see it already. It’s that planet!” He once again pointed off into the distance. “You know what’s inside that planet? An emperor’s tomb!”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He had been thinking about the Emperor’s Sword secret trove, and had essentially come to the same conclusion as the Captain. Heavenly daos suitable for the Emperor’s Sword secret trove were anything but common.

Noticing Xu Qing’s thoughtful look caused the Captain to brighten up. “Based on the research I did, this god domain didn’t always look like this. This place actually used to be an entire world similar to the Revered Ancient mainland. Granted, it’s not a land mass like Revered Ancient, but if you take a bunch of planets and put them together, it’s almost the same thing.

“In the past, this place used to have cultivators, civilizations, and countless species. But one day the spider god came along, devoured everything, and changed it into a god domain. All the living things here became grues, losing their intelligence and transforming into godly entities.”

The Captain’s face was a mask of reminiscence. “As for our Revered Ancient mainland, its personhood exists on a much higher level. But in the future... it’s most likely doomed to become like this place.

“And that’s because the broken face of the god is far more terrifying than the spider god! Also, the tomb inside that planet is that of the ancestral emperor of this planetary system. In terms of his identity and status, well, just imagine him as being like Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity! They’re essentially the same.

“And that tomb definitely has something with the requisite personhood to serve as the heavenly dao for your Emperor’s Sword secret trove! I’m telling the truth, little Junior Brother. If you can’t find a suitable heavenly dao in there, then you can be the Eldest Brother from now on!”

The Captain didn’t avert his eyes. His tone was decisive. In order to get Xu Qing to join him, he was willing to throw caution to the wind.

Xu Qing was visibly moved. He knew his Eldest Brother, and was thus aware of the vicious nature of the promise he had just made. He looked at the planet wrapped up in countless spider webs, and a crazy look appeared in his eyes. A few breaths worth of time passed, and he burst into motion.

The Captain licked his lips and raced after him excitedly.

A moment later, the two of them were whizzing through the spiderwebs.

1. Because it’s not relevant to the plot, and is only mentioned in this chapter, I’m not going to get into the weeds when it comes to the specific type of mushroom mentioned here. Surely some of you are used to the ‘lingzhi’ mushroom that comes up in wuxia and xianxia a lot. The mushroom mentioned here is essentially a lingzhi mushroom, but it’s a specific type with a different name. Again, the point is that it’s an edible mushroom (that has magical properties if you’re superstitious or live in a xianxia universe), so I’m going to keep the translation simple in this case. ☜

2. In a previous chapter, the author very specifically said that Xu Qing had two ‘ordinary’ troves, and then three that are god, mage, and emperor specifically. However, starting in this chapter, he switches to calling them all “god troves,” at least most of the time. I didn’t even notice this change until it was pointed out to me in proofreading, so there may be some inconsistencies in upcoming chapters. This is one author mistake (or shall we say inconsistency), that I’m not going to attempt to edit away, as there are too many references, and frankly it doesn’t seem super important. ☜