Outside Of Time

The ground was completely silent. Only the sound of breathing formed by the surging emotions could be heard.

Most of the people felt waves in their minds when they heard this.

All of them had their own stories and experiences.

Regardless of whether they were born high and mighty or in the mud, in reality, in this cruel world, in this tragic world, in this miserable world where humans ate humans, there wasn't much difference.

They all faced calamities and experienced bitterness.

As for the Sword Holder's mandate, it was like heavenly lightning. As it rumbled and exploded, it also allowed Xu Qing to truly understand the Sword Holders.

Regardless of whether the current Sword Holder could really accomplish the mandate, at least it had existed.

This was also an important aspect of the Sword Holder ritual.

The solemn atmosphere, solemn words, the holy light, and the deafening mandate. All of this was to continue the mission of the Sword Holder.

At that moment, just as the minds of all the humans were fluctuating, the multicolored light in the sky flickered again and flowed toward the ground. As it continued to spread out, it directly arrived under the feet of Xu Qing and the others.

In front of them, the resplendent light that represented the mission of the Sword Holders formed a long staircase that was tens of thousands of feet wide!

The staircase appeared in front of everyone in the city. Countless humans were paying attention to it but only 10 people could truly approach this vast staircase!

This was the path to heaven for the ten of them.

It appeared between heaven and earth and at the end of it was the Great Emperor's statue.

From afar, it was as though one could walk all the way to the Great Emperor by stepping on the steps in front of them.

That holy intent became even more intense at this moment.

This was especially so for the rainbow light on the staircase. Upon closer inspection, the staircase had a total of 9,999 steps.

Xu Qing stared at all of this. Just as his expression became increasingly solemn, he heard the solemn voice of the Sword Holder Great Elder.

"The Sword Holder Lineage founded the supreme glory of the human race and created prosperity and peace for all ages. Therefore, the staircase is 100,000 feet wide."

"Sovereigns who are represented by 10,000 are superior to monarchs, and thus there are 9,999 steps. Therefore, the 9,999th step represents my Sword Holder Ministry. We can kill anyone below the sovereign!"

His voice rang out in the world, and an intense glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. If what he said earlier was the soul of the Sword Holder's lineage, then these two sentences now were the bones of the Sword Holders!

The soul was the mandate, while the bones were the skeleton!

The Sword Holders could cut down anyone below the sovereign!

The captain's eyes gleamed with desire.

It was the same for Qing Qiu. Under the mask, her eyes gleamed brightly.

The Sword Holder Great Elder lifted his head and looked at the emperor's statue. He seemed to take a deep breath and had a solemn expression as he bowed deeply, and said in an even more solemn tone.

"Emperor, please grant me the Sword."

As soon as he spoke, all the Sword Holders lined up in the sky cupped their fists and bowed to the sky in unison.

With this bow, the light of the emperor's statue instantly spread out like a red sun rising from the sea, dispersing all the darkness in the world. As this light swept through the world, three rainbows flew out of the large sword on the emperor's statue.

It instantly landed at the top of the 100,000-foot-wide staircase, on the 9,999th step.

With a buzz, the three large swords pierced into it. There was a distance of 10,000 feet between them, and they emitted a green light that flowed like water on their sword bodies, emitting a heavy and profound sound.

Just a glance was enough to tell that they were not ordinary.

These three swords were both a sword and a command. They were the symbol of the Sword Holders and also the Sword Holder Command of the Sword Holders!

"The Sword Holder is also the bearer of the command. With the sword as the command, he protects the myriad beings."

At this moment, all the Sword Holders in the sky spoke in unison. Their voices were like a large bell, shaking the world, surpassing lightning and suppressing the ages.

"Out of the ten, the winners are the ones who obtain the swords. All of you, listen up!" As the lingering sounds of all the Sword Holders echoed, the ancient voice of the Sword Holder Great Elder suddenly rang out.

As soon as the voice rang out, everyone's hearts skipped a beat.

A sharp glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. He was determined to obtain this Sword Holder position.

The others were the same. Regardless of whether it was the captain, Qing Qiu, Zhang Siyun, the human youth who had offended Xu Qing before, or several others, their eyes were shining.

Just as the ten of them were fully focused, a solemn voice rang out from the sky.

"Qing Qiu, there are 40 battle marks in your body. Go up 400 steps!"

Qing Qiu's body trembled and she quickly climbed the stairs.

Under countless gazes, she reached the height of 400 steps and stood in the sky.

"Chen Erniu, there are 127 battle marks in your body. Go up to the 1,270th step!"

The captain rushed out in an instant and continued to climb until he reached the 1,270th step.

"Zhang Siyun, 63 battle marks, move 630 steps."

"Ning Yan…"

As the voice echoed, everyone climbed different steps according to the battle marks in their bodies.

Until it was Xu Qing's turn.

"Xu Qing, there are 279 battle marks in your body. Go up to the 2,790th step."

Even at this extremely solemn moment, the crowd below couldn't help but let out a commotion. Previously, the captain's battle marks had already shaken their hearts but they could still hold it in. However, Xu Qing's battle marks surpassed everyone's imagination and had already reached an unprecedented level.

Immediately, numerous gazes filled with disbelief gathered on Xu Qing from all directions.

Regardless of whether it was the cultivators in the city or Qing Qiu and the others who were standing at different heights, all of them were shocked.

Xu Qing lifted his head with a calm expression and walked forward.

Under the gazes of everyone, he walked toward the sky like a youth king, toward the emperor.

He surpassed the others, the human youth, Ning Yan, Qing Qiu, who had a complicated look in her eyes, the cold-looking Zhang Siyun, and the captain who had an incredulous expression.

After surpassing everyone, he walked for a very long time until he reached the 2,790th step, the peak of everyone.

He was far ahead!

At this moment, he was still 7,209 steps away from the emperor!

Behind him were the other nine people, and behind them were countless human cultivators.

Standing at this position, Xu Qing completely understood that after coming to the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar, every place with bonus points was meaningful.

Their meaning might not be the same every time, but this time, it was here.

The assessment had actually been going on from the start.

This was because after he stood at this height, the ancient voice of the Sword Holder Great Elder rang out again with solemnity.

"Xu Qing, Chen Erniu, Zhang Siyun, the three of you are ranked first in the pillar. You reached 30,000 feet and can ascend 3,000 steps.

…

As the names were called out one by one, Xu Qing and the other ten continued to move forward. Xu Qing was still first place without anyone being able to shake his position.

He looked at the statue of the emperor at the top and the three dazzling swords under it. At that moment, he was still… 4,209 steps away from there!

The Great Elder's sound resounded again.

"Zhang Siyun, you have obtained 48 weapon essences from the ghost cave. Climb 480 steps!"

…

"Qing Qiu, you have obtained 213 weapon essences. Go up 2,130 steps!"

"Chen Erniu, you have obtained 301 weapon essences. Climb 3,010 steps!"

"Xu Qing, you have obtained 421 weapon essences. Climb 4,210 steps!"

Under this earth-shattering voice, the ten people on the stairs moved forward one after another. However, other than the captain, the others looked at Xu Qing's back view in front of them with extremely complicated gazes.

This was especially so for Zhang Siyun. His expression was gloomy and his killing intent toward Xu Qing was intense. This was because if Xu Qing hadn't interfered, it was impossible for him to only be ninth.

Previously, in order to escape, he had no choice but to use a secret art and sacrifice one of his bodies to escape. However, he also lost his storage bag and the fragments inside.

In addition, other than Xu Qing and Chen Erniu above him, there was also Qing Qiu. Moreover, the distance wasn't close.

Xu Qing wasn't interested in paying attention to Zhang Siyun's resentment. At that moment, he walked the stairs in front of him and walked toward the peak step by step.

There was no one beside him.

As he moved forward, all the human cultivators on the ground broke into an uproar. There was no one else in their eyes but Xu Qing.

This was because Xu Qing only had 4,209 steps left, which was less than the steps he had obtained!

At that moment, as Xu Qing moved forward, he reached the 8,000th step, the 9,000th step, the 9,900th step, and the last 9,999th step!

After stepping on it, he walked in front of the command sword in the middle.

Behind him, the person closest to him was the captain, who was at over 7,000 steps. Qing Qiu was at over 5,000 steps, and then Zhang Siyun was at over 3,000 steps.

At that moment, he had reached the peak but he still had one step left.

At that moment, not only did countless gazes gather on him from the ground, but even all the Sword Holders in the sky lowered their heads and looked at Xu Qing.

This kind of thing had happened before. However, the earliest time it happened was thousands of years ago, and it wasn't in Yinghuang Province.

This was the first time in the Yinghuang Province!

Hence, even the nine Sword Holder Elders' gazes landed on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing's expression was calm. He stood at the peak and there were no more steps in front of him. There was only the emperor's statue.

Hence, he transformed the last step into a bow.

Under the gazes of all the cultivators and Sword Holders, he cupped his fists and bowed deeply to the human emperor.

"Virtuous." In the sky, the Sword Holder Great Elder in the middle nodded slightly and issued a decree.

"Everyone, hold your swords!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone on the steps erupted with all their speed at this moment, unleashing their limits.

All kinds of secret arts appeared endlessly as they rushed toward the 9,999th step.

They were sprinting with their full strength.

Xu Qing stood at the highest point and pulled out the command sword in front of him. He then looked down at everyone below.

He stood there and the command sword in his hand shone with a resplendent light. At the same time, the statue of the emperor behind him was enveloped by multicolored light.

In an instant, in the eyes of everyone below, Xu Qing seemed to have overlapped with the emperor's statue.

His astonishing temperament and jade-like face looked like the return of an emperor!