Outside Of Time



Xu Qing patiently searched around.

After asking dozens of Door Walkers, he arrived in front of an even shorter wooden door.

This door was five feet long and looked a little dilapidated. As Xu Qing got closer, the door frame suddenly distorted. After it squirmed like a snake, a face appeared from the door and looked at Xu Qing.

"Fellow Daoist, can you teleport to the south?"

Xu Qing calmly spoke.

The face in the door sized up Xu Qing a few times and smiled.

"100,000 spirit stones!"

Xu Qing glanced at the face in the door. This price was too ridiculous. Moreover, he had given most of his spirit stones to Duanmu Zang and didn't have much left.

"Don't think it's too expensive. It's the peak season now and all the races are sending tributes. If I didn't plan to do business in the south, I wouldn't even be willing to go even if you gave me 100,000. It's too far."

The face inside the door spoke calmly.

Xu Qing fell silent and nodded.

"Calculate in heavenly fire crystals."

"No problem. 1,000 white fire crystals or one red fire crystal." The face's eyes lit up when it heard this. It preferred heavenly fire crystals.

Xu Qing nodded and communicated with it. However, the other party couldn't leave immediately. It still had a few batches of customers who hadn't finished teleporting. Hence, it said that it could teleport tonight.

Xu Qing frowned. He wanted to set off immediately. Hence, he left and went to the other Door Walkers. After searching for a while, he found that the quickest option would still take three days, and it seemed the best choice was the wooden door.

In the end, he chose this five-foot-long wooden gate.

There were still six hours before dusk. Hence, Xu Qing didn't walk around randomly. He found a corner and sat down cross-legged, waiting silently.

Very soon, time flowed by. After more than half of it had passed, Xu Qing saw Duanmu Zang's figure in the crowd.

Noticing Xu Qing, Duanmu Zang walked over.

"You didn't find a suitable Door Walker?" Duanmu Zang asked.

"I found it. We'll set off later." When Xu Qing looked at Duanmu Zang, the convoy from before was already gone.

Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, Duanmu Zang sat at the side and smiled.

"I've already sent them all to the temple."

"The matter has been resolved. You don't have to worry. Just leave in peace." Duanmu Zang's expression was as usual and there was nothing strange about it.

However, in reality, his heart was filled with worry. It wasn't because the two races had perished, but the Red Moon Shrine didn't even ask anything about this.

What worried him was the request given by the temple.

They asked him to go back and prepare another 500,000 tributes within a certain period of time.

This matter was very difficult but Duanmu Zang didn't plan to tell Xu Qing. Xu Qing had done enough for them. He was prepared to resolve the future matters himself.

Xu Qing looked into Duanmu Zang's eyes.

Duanmu Zang smiled. With the things he had experienced and the shrewdness he had accumulated over the years, his thoughts weren't something Xu Qing could instantly see through.

This was especially so when he deliberately hid them. He wouldn't reveal any flaws.

"Why? You don't believe me?" Duanmu Zang smiled.

"You have too many doubts. I will return after you're done teleporting."

Xu Qing fell silent. He indeed didn't see any clues, so he nodded. At that moment, the sky was getting darker and dusk had fallen. Xu Qing stood up and bade farewell to Duanmu Zang.

"If you have time in the future, remember to come back and visit us." Duanmu Zang's expression was filled with emotion.

"Definitely!" Xu Qing said softly.

"Definitely!" Ling'er also crawled out of his collar and replied crisply.

Duanmu Zang's eyes were filled with blessings. After nodding slightly, Xu Qing turned and walked toward the wooden door not far away.

He got close and took out the heaven fire crystals.

The face in the wooden door appeared and swallowed them in one gulp. After that, the door shone with the light of teleportation, forming a vortex. Xu Qing took a deep breath and was about to step in.

However, at this moment, a deep voice slowly rang out from behind him.

"Close the door."

As soon as this voice rang out, Xu Qing's expression changed. Just as he was about to take a step forward, the wooden door instantly closed. The teleportation fluctuations inside also instantly disappeared, making it seem like an ordinary door.

Xu Qing's expression was ugly. He turned his head and looked behind him. His gaze then landed on a figure walking over from afar and his pupils contracted.

She was a woman in red and her body emitted the fluctuations of the Spirit Repository. The surrounding crowd seemed to not be able to see her. Even Duanmu Zang didn't notice her at all.

It was as though their perception had changed and the world they saw was different from Xu Qing.

Xu Qing fell silent. He lowered his head and cupped his fists, bowing to the person.

"Greetings, Senior."

He recognized that the other party was a divine servant of the Red Moon Shrine whom he had sent into the abyss in the coffin. He could guess what happened easily since the person who had clearly died had appeared in front of him.

This was especially so because of the scene of everyone's perception being changed. This allowed him to be more certain of the identity of this person.

As for why the others or even the divine envoy didn't sense it, this matter was easier to explain.

Since the terrifying existence in the coffin could change one's perception, it must also be able to change the divine envoy's perception. Everything would make sense if it used some method to create a clone.

Xu Qing maintained a respectful expression as he thought of this.

The woman in red had a spurious smile on her face. Under the immense pressure that rose in Xu Qing's heart, she walked over step by step and finally stood in front of Xu Qing.

Seeing Xu Qing's attitude, the woman in red smiled. She wasn't surprised that Xu Qing recognized her.

"Little kid, you're always so polite, making me unable to harbor evil thoughts."

"Senior's status is noble, so it's only right for me to do so. This is also what my master taught me."

Xu Qing's expression was solemn.

"You're mentioning your master again?" The red-clothed woman's smile was deep.

Xu Qing's expression didn't change as he bowed again.

"Since Senior doesn't like me bringing it up, I won't mention him."