Outside Of Time



Xu Qing shook his head and firmly grasped Ning Yan's neck before stepping in the teleportation array within the Sword Holding Palace. Ignoring Ning Yan's confusion, they stood at the center as the array ignited, bathing them in a brilliant glow. In an instant, their figures vanished.

At the next instant, Xu Qing and Ning Yan's figures emerged from a teleportation array of the county capital near the desert.

The Sword Holding Palace had many teleportation arrays in the county capital. Not all of them were built in cities. There were also some in the wilderness that required special methods to activate and had their own protective barriers.

This teleportation array was one of those special ones.

The moment they appeared, Xu Qing warily swept his gaze across the surroundings.

Although he had already confirmed that this place was safe through the Sword Holding Palace's array formation sensing before he teleported, his instinct made him confirm it once more.

It was only when he sensed that everything was fine that Xu Qing walked out of the protective barrier of the teleportation array. He stood on the stone slab that had many weeds growing on it and looked at the sky.

It was still late at night and the dark clouds that covered more than half of the county also enveloped this place. The rain pattered on the withered grass on the plains, emitting a bone-piercing cold.

Also, because there were no tall buildings in the surroundings, the wild wind blew over unscrupulously, stirring up rain and echoing in his ears.

"Senior Brother Xu Qing, w-where are we going?" Ning Yan was very nervous. He looked at the desolate plains and was filled with trepidation.

"Ning Yan, when we came to the county capital to report back then, I saw you nearby," Xu Qing calmly said.

"Ah?" Ning Yan was stunned and hurriedly nodded.

"At that time, you were in Senior Qingqin's claws. Now, bring me to the place where you met Senior Qingqin." Xu Qing's gaze swept across the black clouds in the sky as he spoke softly.

"Wha…" Ning Yan shuddered. He was afraid of Xu Qing and also that large bird. Back then, the other party looked like it wanted to eat him up, causing him to have nightmares for a long time.

He instinctively wanted to think of a way to tactfully refuse. Xu Qing turned his head and stared at Ning Yan with a solemn expression.

"Ning Yan, this matter concerns the life and death of the 100,000 Sword Holders and millions of human cultivators in the frontlines. Help me find Senior Qingqin. I'll report your contribution to the Palace Master!"

"But…" Ning Yan hesitated. Seeing this, Xu Qing calmly spoke.

"Otherwise, I'll get someone to send you to the Morning Glow Province to reunite with the joyflower."

Upon hearing this, Ning Yan spoke solemnly.

"Senior Brother Xu Qing, you're underestimating me. Since this concerns Fenghai County, I'll definitely do my best."

"Back then, I met Senior Qingqin when I was flying not far away from here. Senior Brother Xu Qing, I'll lead the way!" Ning Yan's expression was solemn, looking like he was worried about Fenghai County. His body soared in the rain and headed straight for the sky.

Xu Qing followed behind without any expression.

Just like that, the two of them sped through the sky and very soon arrived at the place where Ning Yan had met Qingqin. The surroundings were empty. There were no mountain peaks or jungles. It didn't look like the resting place of a large bird.

Xu Qing had a puzzled expression.

Ning Yan's heart trembled. He was afraid that Xu Qing would discover the truth and hurriedly spoke.

"Senior Brother Xu Qing, it's really here. Back then, when I flew past this place, I saw a storm and was captured."

Xu Qing glanced at Ning Yan who instinctively avoided his gaze.

Xu Qing fell silent. He had originally brought Ning Yan over to find Qingqin's traces and didn't have any other thoughts about Ning Yan.

However, now, he felt that he was a little too benevolent. Hence, after retracting his gaze, he took a deep breath and suddenly shouted at the surroundings.

"Senior Qingqin, I'm Sword Holder Xu Qing. I'm here to greet you!"

"In order to express my sincerity, I specially brought the Sword Holder Ning Yan who provoked you last time to apologize to you in person."

As soon as he spoke, Ning Yan's expression changed. He was indeed lying to Xu Qing and didn't bring Xu Qing to the place where he had really met Qingqin. On one hand, he was afraid of Qingqin, and on the other hand, it concerned his own secrets.

Last time, when Qingqin appeared and captured him, he told the public that he had encountered it randomly, but in reality, that wasn't the case… However, when he thought about how far he was from Qingqin's nest, Ning Yan calmed down and began to think about how he could explain himself later.

However, before he could think of an explanation, an extremely unpleasant and ear-piercing screech suddenly rang out from the black sky. It was unknown if it was because of him or Xu Qing.

As soon as this voice rang out, the color of the sky changed and a storm brewed.

The sky directly exploded and countless black clouds collapsed. When the rain fell crazily and roughly, a bird head that was ten thousand feet long was revealed from the collapsed clouds.

Its red eyes flickered in the sky and its gaze seemed to have materialized, locking onto the location of Xu Qing and Ning Yan.

Immediately after, a second head and a third head poked out from the black clouds in the distance. Each of them was ten thousand feet long and incomparably astonishing.

It was the large bird, Qingqin.

It was actually resting in the dark clouds.

Because the way it appeared was too intense, countless bolts of lightning formed and struck down, illuminating its 100,000-foot-long stomach in the clouds.

It was too big.

From what Xu Qing saw, half of the sky seemed to be enveloped by it.

Perhaps it was because it was disturbed from its slumber, Qingqin was a little irritated. As it let out a cry, it inhaled and the rain that fell down due to the collapse of the clouds actually flowed back, transforming into three long rivers that were sucked into its mouth.

This scene caused Xu Qing's heart to tremble. He realized that Qingqin was in its true form, so it was much larger than what he had seen in the past.

His cultivation base had increased by a large extent compared to when he came to the county capital back then. He had also experienced many things and could make some judgment on the strength of Nihility experts.

Right now, he saw that the eyes of Qingqin had countless Dao threads in them. There were even overlapping shadows on its body. In the lightning around it, small worlds formed and were destroyed one after another.

Although it hadn't reached the level of unity, the pressure emitted by its majestic body that was over hundred thousand feet long was enough to shake the world.

Great waves rose in Xu Qing's mind while Ning Yan's heart pounded fiercely. His eyes were filled with disbelief because this wasn't the place where he had discovered Qingqin back then.

Qingqin's nest was very, very far away from here…

"Why is it here? That's not right. Qingqin is very lazy and rarely goes out! Could it be… Could it be that it has its eyes on me!"

Ning Yan trembled. Xu Qing took a deep breath and withstood the immense pressure from the sky. He took a few steps forward and cupped his fists and bowed to the three huge heads in the broken clouds in the sky.

"Sword Holder Xu Qing greets Senior Qingqin."

As Xu Qing spoke, the three heads that were revealed in the black clouds let out a cracking sound at the same time. This sound was like countless lightning bolts exploding, rumbling in all directions and stirring up a violent storm, causing Xu Qing's body to involuntarily retreat. As for Ning Yan, he immediately wailed.

"We're done for. What Qingqin hates the most is being woken up from its sleep. We're done for!!"

"Shut up!" Xu Qing shouted. After barely stabilizing himself, he bowed to the sky again.

"Senior Qingqin, now that the Holy Wave Race has invaded and Fenghai County is in danger, I implore you to come out of seclusion. It's fine if you don't want to go to the battlefield or fight. You just have to follow me for the time being and allow me to take advantage of the situation."

Xu Qing's words were sincere. After he finished speaking, he bowed again.

However, Ning Yan, who was beside him, was about to cry. He couldn't care less about Xu Qing's reprimand and hurriedly reminded him.

"Senior Brother Xu Qing, it's useless. I guessed your thoughts earlier. It is said that Qingqin's ancestor followed the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether and eventually died in battle for him, but this is only a beautiful description given by the humans."

"The truth is that Qingqin's ancestor, as a peerless ferocious bird at that time, was originally enemies with the ancient sovereign. Later on, because of the situation and the ancient sovereign promised to protect its descendants, it died fighting for the ancient sovereign."

"When the god's fragmented-face arrived, the ancient sovereign left the Wanggu Continent and didn't fulfill his promise back then. The relationship between them has been severed."

"As for Qingqin, although it was friends with the previous County Governor, this is also because that County Governor had once helped it greatly. After he left, the karma between them was settled. This is also the reason why Qingqin didn't leave with him."

"I've read the records of Fenghai County for the past 800 years. Although Qingqin isn't hostile toward the human race, it didn't help much either. Everything is based on its personal preferences."

"Qingqin has always had a bad temper. This is a publicly acknowledged fact. Its ancestor was a ferocious bird famous for devouring all races in the world back then!"

"We disturbed its sleep and thus angered it."

"Also, back then, I didn't die from its claws not because of my strong body, but because it was wary of my bloodline, I…"

Ning Yan hurriedly explained everything he knew. His voice was trembling, and in his panic, he even said a little about some things he couldn't say.

Xu Qing's expression was solemn. He had many questions about Ning Yan's words but now wasn't the time to probe. This was because a huge sense of oppression came from the sky.

Qingqin's three huge and sinister heads hung outside the clouds and fog. With ferocious momentum, they moved closer to Xu Qing and Ning Yan.

At such a close distance, Xu Qing could clearly see that these three malevolent heads didn't have many feathers on them. Their wrinkled purple-red skin was filled with cracks, and looked quite ugly. Their red eyes also revealed frustration from being disturbed. Their huge and sharp beaks emitted a terrifying pressure.

Compared to the gigantic Qingqin, Xu Qing and Ning Yan were like ants.

Ning Yan hurriedly erupted with the power of his bloodline in an attempt to resolve his crisis. He couldn't care less about Xu Qing at this moment.

Xu Qing's breathing was hurried. He didn't move, but the Purple Moon in his body had already risen from the Heavenly Palace. Just as he was about to speak, the frustration in Qingqin's three heads dissipated after they smelled him.

The head on the right suddenly sank. After it reached under Xu Qing, it pushed up and gently carried Xu Qing's body on its head.

Xu Qing started.

Ning Yan's eyes widened so much that they were about to pop out. His mind was filled with monstrous waves of disbelief as he exclaimed out involuntarily.

"What… the hell…"

Ning Yan's mind was in chaos. He was so stunned that his mind went blank.

It was as though even his ability to think stopped at this moment.

The scene in front of him really shocked him too much.

His origins were mysterious. Hence, when he was at the Ten Guts Tree, he knew most of the things the captain took out and also knew many things that Xu Qing didn't know. He also understood Qingqin's ferocity and its relationship with the human race.

That was why he told Xu Qing that previously. From what he knew, to the extraordinary Qingqin, regardless of whether Fenghai County was controlled by the human race or not, there was actually no difference.

Even if the Holy Wave Race occupied this place, they wouldn't rashly make a move against it. Basically, there would be no change to its life.

Hence, he knew that Qingqin wouldn't help or fight.

But now…

He saw that the arrogant Qingqin actually lifted Xu Qing and put him on its head.