Outside Of Time



Fenghai County, Quzhao Province.

The azure sky stretched far and wide, and the sun's radiant light illuminated the expansive plains. The fields were adorned with patches of various colors, painting a vivid and picturesque scene.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that these patches covering the plains were all clothes. There were clothes of all kinds for men, women, old, and young. There were also many that looked like hats and gloves.

This was the territory of the Cloth Race.

From time to time, colorful garments belonging to children could be seen rising up into the air. They swirled and played in groups, flying around in the sky like cheerful birds, creating a peaceful and beautiful sight.

However, very soon, a crack appeared in the void of this gorgeous and beautiful world.

A blood-curdling howl pierced the air. At the next instant, a head rolled down and landed on the ground. After rolling a few times, it stopped with its face facing the ground.

As it fell and tumbled on the ground, the impact caused a gust of wind that scattered a multitude of clothes in all directions before they quickly drifted back. Despite its best efforts, the head struggled to adjust its orientation, its strength too feeble to do so.

However, this minor setback did not pose a challenge to the father of Heavenly Dao. The head stuck out its tongue and tapped the ground with force, using the momentum to turn around and stand upright. It looked around in surprise.

"Cloth Race?"

This head was none other than the captain.

The moment he saw the surrounding Cloth Race, the captain was pleasantly surprised. He knew that he had successfully returned to Fenghai County.

"I have a good friend in the Cloth Race."

The captain mumbled. Under the influence of his aura, a woman's glove flew over rapidly. It danced around him excitedly, as though it was very happy.

The captain laughed and recognized this glove as his good friend. Just as he was about to speak, a group of hats flew over from afar. Their appearance of fighting to be first caused the captain's expression to change.

Fortunately, his good friend hurriedly flew to the hats. It was unknown how the Cloth Race communicated with each other, but the group of hats circled the captain a few times and left reluctantly.

Watching the hats leave, the captain heaved a sigh of relief. With the help of the glove, he rose into the air and looked around with a smug expression.

"It went very smoothly this time, haha."

"I wonder how Little Ah Qing is. That kid isn't simple. He should be fine. I'll grow my body here first."

At the thought of this, the captain tried his best to lift his head and look at the glove that was grabbing his hair. He licked his lips and spoke in a low voice.

"Little Right, what delicious food do you people from the Cloth Race have? Bring me to try them… Also, is there anything fun that can broaden my horizons?"

When the female glove heard this, it lifted its index finger and bent it many times, as though it was nodding. With his eyes shining with anticipation, the captain flew further and further away.

Several days later, on the desert that the Seven Blood Eyes' flying ship had passed by several provinces away from here, the sunlight was like fire. There was no vegetation on the ground, only a dense heat wave that distorted the world permeated the surroundings.

There was no sign of humans in the entire desert. Only the occasional ray of light that flickered under the sunlight and the Smoke Race's Fog City were faintly discernible.

A moment later, a thousand-foot-long magic warship whistled past.

This magic warship was oval-shaped and looked very peculiar. It had more than ten pairs of translucent sails that were like long sabers or wings. The ship's color was a distinctive shade of purple-black and it emitted a chilling glow.

There was an evil ghost totem at the bow of the ship. It was a soul body formed by the souls that were suppressed in the magic apertures by the fiendish fire and fused into the magic warship.

All of this caused this magic warship to emit the energy of a Golden Core Realm.

In the cabin of the magic ship, Xu Qing, who had undone his disguise and returned to his human appearance, was sitting cross-legged and meditating.

It had been three days since he was teleported back. When he appeared, he was in the desert.

Although the weather here was bad and even cultivators didn't want to endure the extreme heat for too long, at least he didn't appear in an extremely dangerous place. This allowed Xu Qing to heave a sigh of relief.

He then immediately took out his magic warship and sat inside to avoid the high temperature. Over these three days, he also organized his gains from this trip.

"My cultivation base has directly advanced from five Heavenly Palaces to eight Heavenly Palaces. Half of the Ninth Heavenly Palace has also formed!"

"Brother Kong was able to kill an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator when he had the combat strength of nine palaces. I should be able to do the same now. If I go all out…" Xu Qing's eyes gleamed.

"It's not like I can't kill ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators even if their cultivation levels are deeper!"

"Now, there are only ninth, tenth, and eleventh Heavenly Palaces left. Once they are all completed, I can attempt to break through and advance to the Nascent Soul realm!"

Xu Qing mumbled and thought of his other gains. His mood fluctuated a little.

"3,142 Dao Fruits!"

"A life lantern!"

"All kinds of pill and weapon refinement materials that contain spiritual charm!"

"Investing in the Heavenly Dao!"

Xu Qing took a deep breath. After organizing all his gains, he was very satisfied with this trip.

"I wonder how Qing Qiu is doing."

Xu Qing recalled the teleportation earlier. After pondering for a moment, he felt a little worried. However, Xu Qing knew that the other party wasn't a weak woman. Someone who could survive the opening of the god's fragmented-face's eyes wasn't simple.

Hence, after some thought, he felt that there was no need for him to worry.

He didn't even consider Ning Yan. As for the captain…

Xu Qing felt that perhaps even if he died, the captain wouldn't die. Even if he only had a head left, it probably wouldn't be long before he would be up and kicking again.

"I don't need to worry about Eldest Senior Brother. He can return to the county capital himself. What I have to do now is to hurry back."

Xu Qing looked at the concealment talisman drawn by Zi Xuan on his body.

These runes had changed greatly. From the initial redness, their color was now extremely dim. In fact, if one didn't look carefully, they wouldn't be able to see them at all.

"Three months isn't up yet…" Xu Qing sighed. However, he could understand it. After all, the appearance of the Heavenly Dao, the descent of merit and the integration of the power of heaven and earth invisibly washed away this concealment talisman.

It was already quite amazing for it to still continue working.

"I have to return as soon as possible!" Xu Qing looked at the world outside the magic warship. He was aware that what he had done in the Holy Wave Race this time could be said to be earth-shattering.

It would definitely lead to a massive search.

Although he was in Fenghai County now, the concealment on his body was about to dissipate. This caused Xu Qing to feel uneasy. The Sixth Heavenly Palace also gave him this feeling.

This uneasiness caused Xu Qing to frown. Due to the distance and environment here, it was difficult for the command sword to transmit its voice. Hence, he performed a series of hand seals with both hands and pressed down on the magic warship, causing its speed to increase greatly. It also turned transparent and hid in the sky.

After doing this, Xu Qing felt a little more at ease. He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing.

Just like that, another seven days passed.

The last concealment rune on Xu Qing's body dissipated.

When it dissipated, it was night outside. Although the sunlight was no longer there, the high temperature was still there. Heat waves permeated the air outside the magic warship.

Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes. After he lowered his head to check his body, a look of doubt appeared on his face. He pondered and walked out of the cabin.

As soon as he stepped outside, the intense heat wave hit him like a physical blow. Within seconds, sweat poured down his face and soaked through his clothes. But Xu Qing pushed aside his discomfort and strode to the bow of the ship, his eyes scanning the barren, scorching desert. His expression grew increasingly grim.

"Something's wrong."

"Not only has the uneasiness in my mind not dissipated in the past few days, but it has become more intense. Especially when the concealment talisman disappeared earlier, my heart almost skipped a beat."

Xu Qing sensed the Sixth Heavenly Palace in his body and noticed that the Heavenly Dao Mosasaur was rapidly swimming inside, revealing anxiety.

This wasn't the first time the Heavenly Dao Mosasaur's warning had appeared. Xu Qing remembered that the first time it appeared was in the county capital before he and the captain left.

It had existed since then but it wasn't too intense. It was just a faint feeling.

However, at that instant earlier, this feeling of uneasiness instantly rose.

Xu Qing lifted his head and looked in the direction of Fenghai County. This place wasn't far from Fenghai County. With his current speed, it would take him about a month. After he arrived at Fenghai County, he could use any city's teleportation array.

If he didn't use the magic warship, he could shorten this time by relying on his own speed.

"Ten days!" Xu Qing mumbled and looked in other directions.

This desert's range was extremely vast. The information he knew during the Sword Holder's secret training appeared in Xu Qing's mind. Because Quzhao Province was formed from deserts, the high temperature wasn't suitable for the human race. Hence, few forces of the human race existed here. Although it had Sword Holding Court, it was in the distant oases at the edge of the desert.

It would take much longer to reach there than the county capital.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. After some thought, he put the magic warship away. He didn't fly toward the horizon but headed straight for the ground.

Since the human race's cities where he could use teleportation arrays were far away and this sense of unease was so intense, Xu Qing didn't plan to continue flying foolishly or change paths.

The former was dangerous, while the latter didn't have much meaning.

He prepared to take the unconventional path and attempt to use the teleportation arrays of other races.

After all, this was Fenghai County, the territory of the human race. In that case, logically speaking, the Smoke Race wouldn't make things too difficult for him.

With this thought in mind, Xu Qing sped toward the desert.

When dawn wasn't far away, he finally found a city of the Smoke Race. The instant he got close, fog rose from the Smoke Race and streams of unfriendly divine sense immediately locked onto him.

Xu Qing immediately took out the Sword Holder's command sword and cupped his fists politely.

"I'm the Sword Holder of the human race's Prison Department. I have an important mission on hand and don't dare to delay military matters. Therefore, I implore the Smoke Race to let me use your teleportation array. I will pay the fees accordingly and remember this favor as well as make sure it is recorded in the Sword Holding Palace's records. Please make an exception!"

The divine senses that spread out from the Smoke Race's city swept past the command sword in Xu Qing's hand. After a long time, there was a reply.

"Wait!"

Xu Qing lowered his head respectfully and waited silently.

This wait lasted for more than two hours. Xu Qing looked at the bright sky and respectfully asked again.

"Continue to wait!" The voice of the Smoke Race was cold.

"May I know how long it will take? Time is really tight and I don't dare to delay." Xu Qing spoke politely.

"Unknown."

When Xu Qing heard this, he no longer waited and immediately sped into the distance. A chill rose in his heart. It was normal for the other party to disagree. He could even understand if the other party directly rejected him.

However, to make him wait like this, there was some malice.

Xu Qing took a deep breath and his cultivation base erupted completely. The Blood Wing Lantern shone with a red light in his body. With its enhancement, his speed soared and he directly transformed into a rainbow that disappeared into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Time flowed by and six days passed.

After Xu Qing activated the Nether Spirit Blood Wing Lantern, he finally shortened the time by four days despite the huge consumption of the spirit energy in his body. Right now, he was close to the territory of the county capital.

The depth of his foundation was also revealed in these six days. His state was still at its peak at this moment. Only his spirit felt a little tired after being on high alert for so many days.

During this time, Xu Qing had considered finding a place to hide and see where the uneasiness came from. However, when this thought rose, not only did the Heavenly Dao's warning not decrease, but the anxiety emitted by the mosasaur also intensified.

At that moment, he was only two hours away from the province in front of him, but he didn't relax at all. His speed erupted again. However, at this moment, at the end of his vision, a figure suddenly appeared.

He was blocking his path!

He wore a rain cape and a straw hat, and his aura was cold.

"Just a little bit more and you would have escaped."

A deep voice filled with dense killing intent echoed in all directions.