Outside Of Time

Time flowed by and a month passed.

During this month, the atmosphere in the human capital was livelier than ever before. While not everyone had a smile on their face, most hearts were filled with a sense of excitement and upliftment.

The dark deeds in the streets had also decreased significantly. The level of public security in the Grand Imperial Capital Region had reached its highest point in hundreds of years.

There were four reasons for this.

Firstly, Xu Qing's glorious return had caused the commoners to spontaneously welcome him. That feeling of glory was very intense.

Moreover, as he was conferred the title of king, the feeling of festivity became even more intense.

After being suppressed countless years, although the appearance of the Sun of Dawn made the human race feel proud and elated, the depression and suffocation still existed.

It had been accumulated for tens of thousands of years. How could the Sun of Dawn break it instantly?

After all, regardless of whether it was human cultivators or mortals, they all deeply felt the strength of the foreign races.

Regardless of whether it was in terms of physical body or talent, the human race was clearly inferior.

This was especially so for the latter…

For some reason, other than a small number of humans possessing innate talents, the vast majority of humans didn't possess it. Moreover, even the ones with innate talents had different talents.

It was as though humans didn't have innate divine powers.

However, in the records of history, in the era of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether, the human race had their own race's innate talent.

Its name was… the Spirit Ancestor Transformation.

But now, it was as though it was isolated from the human race's bloodline.

Under such circumstances, Xu Qing's rise was naturally like a heatwave that impacted the hearts of the human race.

At the end of the day, the human race… needed a hero.

At the right time and with the right mindset, Xu Qing had stepped into the spotlight of the human race.

As for the second reason why the imperial city was lively, it was because of the emissaries from the Flame Moon Mystic Heaven's affiliated races, Baize and Si'e.

These two races had sent their higher-ups to the human race to sign a truce and a thousand-year agreement.

Such a thing was quite common in the era of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether until he unified Wanggu.

However, after the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether left, the human race's situation worsened. Most of the time, they were the passive party when signing agreements. This time was different.

Hence, regardless of whether it was cultivators or mortals in the imperial city, they couldn't help feeling excited.

This was especially so for the students in the Imperial Academy. All of them were in high spirits and their morale rose.

As for the third reason, Tomb-Sweeping Day was approaching, and it was common for ancestral worship to occur in the human race. Every family was preparing to pay their respects to their ancestors on this day.

And the imperial decree of the Human Emperor elevated this third reason to a level of extreme importance, thus creating a fourth reason.

The Human Emperor would perform the ancestral worship!

The Human Emperor's ancestor was the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether. The era he was in was the most glorious and peak of the human race. Hence, according to tradition, if there was nothing major, the human race would need to do a minor worship every thousand years and a grand worship every ten thousand years.

The last time was 800 years ago.

Now… the imperial decree made it that the ancestral worship was going to happen 200 years in advance.

In a short period, this matter spread throughout the Grand Imperial Capital Region, the seven counties outside, the Holy Wave, Black Spirit, and Black Heaven Regions.

Even the Moon Offering Region knew of it.

The date was set to be a hundred days later.

It was set to be early morning.

Now that a month had passed, there were only two more months left.

Hence, the entire human race was preparing for this.

As for Xu Qing, he only walked out of the high spiritual mansion today this month.

The place he went to was the Sword Holding Ministry.

As the headquarters of the Sword Holding Palaces, this wasn't Xu Qing's first time here, but the significance was entirely different this time.

All the Sword Holders in the Sword Holding Ministry, from bottom to top, stood solemnly and looked at Xu Qing with admiration.

Xu Qing had another identity in his series of glory.

He was a Sword Holder and the Sword Carrier of this generation.

He walked the world with the Emperor Sword.

With such an identity, his reputation in the Sword Holding Ministry could be described as vast.

The eight deputy swordmasters also solemnly bowed to Xu Qing.

The Great Swordmaster of the Sword Holding Ministry, who was also a Heavenly King, King Yun Wu, personally welcomed him at the Sword Holding Ministry.

"King Zhen Cang."

A smile appeared on King Yun Wu's face as he cupped his fists toward Xu Qing.

As a Heavenly King, Xu Qing naturally wouldn't be negligent. He also cupped his fists and returned the greeting. After that, he stated his intentions.

He wanted to pay his respects to the Sword Holding Great Emperor.

King Yun Wu would not agree if anyone other than the Human Emperor made this request.

Even the State Preceptor or King Zhen Yan wouldn't be given special treatment.

However, Xu Qing was different. To a certain extent, he could be considered the successor of the Great Emperor. From a relationship point of view, he was closer to the Great Emperor than the Sword Holding Ministry.

Hence, King Yun Wu only pondered for a bit before nodding. He personally accompanied Xu Qing into the restricted area in the depths of the Sword Holding Ministry.

King Yun Wu stopped outside the secret chamber and didn't step in.

Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked in.

He had many questions that he wanted to ask the Great Emperor.

Regardless of whether it was his thoughts about the Ancient Sovereign Planet or the fact that the emperor soul in his form could control the Emperor Sword, he needed to clear his doubts.

In the entire imperial city, the number of people Xu Qing trusted was limited. Eldest Senior Brother clearly couldn't answer and his master wasn't around, so Xu Qing wanted to consult the Sword Holding Great Emperor.

A few days later, Xu Qing left with a pensive expression.

He got some of the answers.

Regarding his first question, the Great Emperor fell silent for a day before answering Xu Qing.

"Continue watching."

As for the second question, the Great Emperor pondered for two days.

"Perhaps it's fate. Since that's the case, this sword… shall move according to your soul from now on. I hope you'll remember the words I said to you when we first met."

"I won't forget my original intention."

Xu Qing recalled those two sentences and came to a realization. At the same time, a hint of sadness and bitterness rose in his heart.

This was because this time, he could tell that the Sword Holding Great Emperor's state was even worse than back then.

Using the phrase 'an oil lamp that's running out of oil will eventually go out' to describe him, while not entirely fitting, was quite appropriate.

"The Great Emperor… He's forcefully holding on…"

Recalling the life of the Sword Holding Great Emperor, Xu Qing sighed softly and bowed deeply toward the secret chamber.

After leaving this place and returning to the high spiritual mansion, Xu Qing didn't go out for the next month.

In the first few days, Erniu came frequently and studied the Holy Heavenly Vine with Xu Qing. They even put some effort into trying to piece together those puppet parts. Unfortunately, they still failed in the end.

Erniu wasn't willing to give up, so he simply left with the parts. He was going to find someone to help him see if there was any other way to repair these puppet parts.

At the same time, he didn't give up on searching for Old Master Seventh.

As for Xu Qing, in the following days, he spent most of his moment in the spirit pool, comprehending the divine authorities in his nihility land.

At this moment, it had to be said that the effect of the liaoxuan holy liquid was great.

Its assistance in comprehension was as significant and profound as laying the foundation when in Qi Condensation Realm.

Under the repeated comprehension, Xu Qing's mind became increasingly ethereal. His foundation, which had just entered the Nihility, had unknowingly become much more stable. He had completely entered the ranks of the Nihility.

This kind of thing usually varied from person to person. Some needed decades, while others needed more than ten years to stabilize their realms.

However, the existence of the liaoxuan holy liquid sped up this process.

At the same time, as he continued to cultivate in the pool water, especially when he put enough liaoxuan holy liquid in it, a mysterious state would occasionally appear in his mind.

Every moment this state appeared, Xu Qing would unintentionally step into it.

When this state appeared for the sixth time, Xu Qing gained some understanding.

"I can now go to the Variant Immortal School and study all the inheritance jade slips about Variant Immortals."

He felt that his current state was very suitable for learning.

Learning had always been Xu Qing's obsession since he was young. Regarding knowledge, even though he had cultivated until now, he still respected and yearned for it.

Hence, when there were still 60 days before the ancestral worship, Xu Qing left his high spiritual mansion and arrived at the Imperial Academy, entering the Variant Immortal School.

His arrival naturally caused a commotion in the Imperial Academy and also excited the Variant Immortal School.

Under the adoring gazes of all the students of the Variant Immortal School, the school head of this generation personally welcomed him.

The moment he saw Xu Qing, the old school head, who had absorbed a wisp of Xu Qing's Variant Immortal soul seed to form his soul base, couldn't help but reveal shock on his face.

The waves in his soul churned even more.

A month ago, when Xu Qing returned, he had seen him from afar in the crowd.

At that time, the Xu Qing he saw was like a sharp blade with astonishing sharpness.

However, now that he saw Xu Qing again, he discovered that he actually couldn't see through Xu Qing's cultivation. No matter how he looked at it, Xu Qing was like a mortal with no spiritual energy at all.

In fact, when he got closer, he could even smell a faint fragrance on Xu Qing's body.

'Immortal Soul Purification?!'

The old school head gasped.

At the same time, he also sensed an indescribable profoundness from Xu Qing's ordinary body, as if it had merged into his soul, becoming innate.

He didn't know that Xu Qing also didn't understand it very well. The effect of the liaoxuan holy liquid wasn't just to assist in comprehension.

If one consumed it for a long time, under the subtle influence, there would be indescribable wonders.

However, the liaoxuan liquid was already scarce back then, let alone now. This was especially so since… it was the liaoxuan holy liquid formed after tens of thousands of years of precipitation!

Moreover… even if someone had the liaoxuan holy liquid, they definitely wouldn't have as much as Xu Qing. They would all treat it as a supreme treasure and consume a drop at the critical moment to help in comprehension.

Unlike Xu Qing, who could pour a drop into the pool water every date to soak his entire body.

Such extravagant action naturally hastened the other wonders of the liaoxuan holy liquid.

Just like that, under the lead of the shaken school head, Xu Qing arrived at the top floor of the Variant Immortal School's tower.

That place contained all the ancient records of the Variant Immortal School. Copies of some of them existed on the first level, but most of them were unique.

Looking at these jade slips, Xu Qing began his seclusion.

He studied every jade slip and records very carefully. His goal was to learn all the inheritances and records of the Variant Immortal School in detail.

"Only then can I pioneer…"

After Xu Qing mumbled, he took out the liaoxuan holy liquid, but it wasn't the original liquid; instead, it was diluted with drinkable spiritual water, making it into spiritual liquid.

After taking a sip, as his mind cleared, he immersed himself in his study.

Time flowed by and a month passed.

An imperial decree was issued to Xu Qing from the palace. It was brought by specialized guards to the Variant Immortal School's tower.

Xu Qing had to end his seclusion early because of this.