Outside Of Time

Li Zihua's voice, carrying a profound weight, though softly spoken, caused the Moon Palace to tremble. The sound waves it stirred up even brought stillness to the blood sea around Crimson Goddess.

Xu Qing and the others also released a sigh of relief and swiftly retreated.

They were well aware that the upcoming battle was not one they could participate in, even Soul Accumulation didn't have the qualifications.

Crimson Goddess was expressionless. Two spheres of crimson fire rose in Her empty eyes as She looked at Li Zihua, as though She wasn't surprised by his revival and arrival.

"After Mystic Nether left, time has changed. Li Zihua, it's meaningless for you to wake up."

Crimson Goddess calmly spoke. Her voice didn't hold the slightest emotion, neither joy nor sorrow.

This image was different in the eyes of different people.

The images in each person's eyes were a result of their instinctive understanding altering to a form they could endure. For example, in the eyes of the heir and others, Crimson Goddess they saw was a fusion of human form and feathers, even more grotesque, more sinister, and more terrifying.

The fire in Her eyes wasn't flames either. They were two squirming stars.

This was a god. Due to Their high life levels, in the eyes of living beings, gods assumed countless forms.

Hence, when a god wished to destroy the world, it would be remarkably simple. They only needed to display Their true form into the eyes of living beings, and death would befall them.

From this, one could see how terrifying the god's broken visage was. This was because no matter what cultivation level the beings of the myriad races had, they perceived the same form when looking at It.

At this moment, Crimson Goddess' voice fell into the ears of Xu Qing and others, changing into a deafening thunder that rolled in their minds. In an instant, everyone lost all resistance.

The heir and the others each used their own methods to barely withstand it.

Xu Qing immediately took out a lump of clay and held it in his hand.

This was something the clay fox had left for him.

The captain also swiftly took out a strand of hair. This was the token of the Moon Flame High God. Although the other party had come and left, the captain still kept this hair.

Only Li Zihua didn't need to do anything. He silently stood in the Moon Palace and looked at Crimson Goddess. After a long time, his voice rang out gently.

"The mission remains."

These three words seemed to stimulate Crimson Goddess in some way. In the next moment, more blood flowed from Her, and the thorns entwining around Her tightened. Within the countless red spider lilies blooming on the blood sea behind her, numerous Her shouted with a resentful expression.

"Mission? Is it Brilliant Heaven's mission or Profound Earth's mission!"

"Li Zihua, have you forgotten what happened in Brilliant Heaven?"

"We were originally born as gods. Who sealed our ancestors and caused the later descendants to lose their divine seats?"

Li Zihua closed his eyes. After a long time, he shook his head.

"I haven't forgotten."

Crimson Goddess' entire body shone with a blood-red light. As the red light soared into the sky, she took a step toward Li Zihua.

"Who raised the so-called Heavenly Dao in our divine land to suppress us?"

"Who was the one who tabooed us under the Wanggu Continent and built the world of cultivators in our divine land!"

As the voice echoed, the appearance of Crimson Goddess underwent a change in Xu Qing's eyes. Her original exquisite appearance was now shattering, replaced gradually by blood-red feathers instead of flesh.

She continued.

"Li Zihua, I didn't make a mistake by choosing to become a god. Back then, when you left, you were just like me. But why did you later extinguish your divine fire and betray our bloodline?!"

"You came from Brilliant Heaven but have become one of Profound Earth!"

"I came from Brilliant Heaven and still represent it!"

By the time Crimson Goddess finished speaking, She had already appeared in front of Li Zihua. In Xu Qing's eyes, Her body underwent a violent transformation. The appearance of a woman completely disappeared, reverting back to the initial terrifying form of bloody flesh.

Moreover, at this moment, all the feathers rapidly spread out, revealing the interior of the mass formed by the flesh feathers. There… was a huge eye hole there. There was no eyeball, only endless blood seeping out.

Hearing Crimson Goddess' words and looking at Her, Li Zihua fell silent. In the end, he let out a sigh and lifted his right hand, pushing the sky.

With this push, the sky shattered into countless fragments.

Each fragment changed as it landed, forming earth-shattering auras and transformed into countless illusory figures.

There were the sun, moon, and stars, dragons and phoenixes, and all kinds of ancient spirits. Xu Qing even saw the Golden Crow among them.

As they appeared and their auras erupted, energy fluctuations that uniquely belonged to emperor-level cultivation arts rose from the phantoms formed by these fragments.

They were all emperor-level cultivation arts that included myriad races, there were no less than ten thousand of them.

They were all summoned by Li Zihua with a wave of his hand.

The instant they appeared, the ten thousand emperor-level cultivation arts each revealed their origins. In the blink of an eye, taboos appeared in the phantoms as though the seals had been undone.

One weapon after another, items after items. Among them was the Destruction Spear that Xu Qing had sensed in the Golden Crow. All of them were now revealed in the sky.

They were taboo weapons!

Their appearance triggered an extremely terrifying fluctuation, then they blasted toward Crimson Goddess!

Xu Qing had already sensed the secret of an emperor-level cultivation art from the Golden Crow's body. He knew that every emperor-level cultivation art was, in fact, a seal, restraining something that the Heavenly Dao forbade.

Now that he saw them with his own eyes, his mind was filled with endless thoughts.

Such a divine ability couldn't be grasped by even Soul Accumulation.

This was a terrifying power that only rulers could erupt with.

Regardless of whether it was Crimson Goddess' attack or Ruler Li Zihua's counterattack, they far exceeded the scope of everyone's understanding. At the next instant, Xu Qing and the others each spat out blood and retreated with shocked expressions.

The scene in their eyes also changed based on their limits.

The world reflected in Xu Qing's eyes no longer had Li Zihua or the Crimson Goddess. The shattered sky was now replaced by a huge image.

This image was formed by two colors, red and white.

These two colors intertwined and separated, spinning until they formed a huge vortex.

It had no pupils, replaced by a blood-red heart that was currently pulsating, emitting a sound akin to heavenly thunder.

Around the eye, numerous eyelashes grew, resembling tentacles that continually extended and swayed. At times, they touched each other, forming vague figures composed of a third color.

It was black, like a shadow. Its shape was irregular and would devour each other the instant it appeared.

This was a battle of gods in Xu Qing's eyes.

Because this battle had exceeded his level, in his eyes, the battle between Ruler Li Zihua and the Crimson Goddess was like an abstract painting.

The red color in the painting represented Crimson Goddess, and the white color represented Li Zihua.

As for the third color, Xu Qing didn't understand. It seemed to be the shadows of Li Zihua and Crimson Goddess.

This reminded Xu Qing of his shadow.

"Little Qing, remember the scene you are seeing. This is the peak collision between a cultivator and a god!"

The captain was beside Xu Qing. As he held the hair of the Moon Flame tightly, he looked at the sky in fascination and mumbled.

"One side is a manifestation of walking the path of cultivation to the extreme."

"The other side chose to become a god, the source of the great calamity that befell the Wanggu Continent."

"The cultivation of the former is a path leading to the pinnacle of life's levels. Cultivators who reach the utmost peak are bestowed with various titles; some universes call them 'venerables,' others label them 'immortals.'"

"In the Wanggu Continent, such peak cultivators are known as rulers."

"This is what cultivators yearn for in their entire lives and what they dream of."

When the captain's voice landed in Xu Qing's ears, it contained some age and vicissitudes.

"Junior Brother, do you know that there's actually an even more ancient legend in the Wanggu Continent…"

"Legend?" Xu Qing's heart stirred.

"Legend has it that a long, long time ago, the Wanggu Continent wasn't like this. There were no cultivators here, no laws, and naturally no Heavenly Dao.

Cultivators came from the lower realm.

After the peak cultivators of the lower realm reached the immortal realm, they traversed countless universes and worlds. No existence could threaten immortals.

They control all rules, comprehend all origins, traverse any point in time and space, altering everything. They can create and shape all living things as well."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing's mind trembled.

The captain looked at the sky and continued to mutter.

"Whether they are called immortals or rulers, to a certain extent, they are undying and eternal, sharing the same lifespan as the heavens. Their thoughts and desires have also changed. What they pursue is the Dao, the exploration beyond the end of the path of cultivation.

According to different experiences, different understandings, and different ideals, the paths they explored varied. Some immortals had ventured far, far away, while others are still moving around in their original positions.

Therefore, in the past era, the only ones who could threaten immortals were themselves."

"Until, as they moved forward… they broke through the boundary wall and came to the upper realm from the lower realm. Hence, an extreme existence like the god appeared in the comprehension of immortals.

At that moment, everything changed."

"They were told that these countless universes and countless worlds actually never belonged to cultivators.

Whether it's the past, present, or future, every definition ultimately stemmed from the gods.

It was the gods who divided the world into upper and lower realms.

Profound Earth in the lower realm, Brilliant Heaven in the upper realm.

A frog at the bottom of the well became the most suitable analogy for cultivators."

"Therefore, war… followed."

"That was the battle between immortals and gods, the battle between the lower and upper realms, and also… the battle between Profound Earth and Brilliant Heaven."

The captain spoke softly and paused for a moment.

Xu Qing instinctively transmitted his divine sense.

"What was the outcome?"

"In that battle, immortals won but also lost." The captain mumbled.

"The Brilliant Heaven sank and became a taboo that was sealed. The Heavenly Dao was raised and the rules were redefined. This was the manifestation of the victory of the immortals. However, it was also at that time that the immortals from the lower realm learned of a desperate truth.

The boundlessly vast Brilliant Heaven was just a god's great divine world.

In this vast upper realm, there were many such great divine worlds. Brilliant Heaven was only the tip of the iceberg and was far from the strongest.

This place indeed belongs to the gods."

At this point, the captain turned his head and looked into Xu Qing's eyes.

"Li Zihua and Crimson Goddess… came from Brilliant Heaven."