Outside of Time - Chapter 1285

Chapter 1263 The Alien Realm of the Star Ring

The sky, like a smoky curtain, stretched endlessly.

The sun and moon were invisible, as if there were no distinction between day and night. Only three hundred and sixty emerald-colored halos, like bracelets, floated above the dome, radiating a soft light.

This was a star in an unknown universe.

There was sea, land, mountains, and islands.

The sea, however, was a liquid, phosphorescent ocean.

The land was a wasteland of cosmic dust.

The mountains were heterogeneous forms of amethyst.

As for the islands, they were not in the sea, but outside the cliffs of amethyst mountain ranges.

These were suspended islands woven from the edges of the cliffs by light-eating vines.

These translucent plants seemed to have roots that could pierce the vacuum, drawing nutrients from the unknown, thus appearing as if they had appeared out of thin air.

Just like the figure that appeared out of thin air on one of these islands at this moment.

A figure, clad in a tattered Taoist robe, with disheveled long hair, a blood-stained face, and a weak, almost unconscious aura, suddenly appeared and landed on an island formed of vines.

The moment they touched, a wind from another dimension swept outwards from the figure, causing the vine island to shake violently and visibly corrode.

Ultimately, it couldn’t withstand the force and was pierced through by the figure.

With a deafening boom, the figure pierced through the island and crashed into the forest below the cliff.

The forest was vast, but for some reason, all the trees within a hundred-foot radius of where the figure landed instantly crumbled, turning into a vast cloud of shimmering starlight dust that rose high, engulfing the fallen figure. Within

the dust, it was vaguely visible that the figure wasn’t alone; in his hand… he was also gripping someone else.

Even unconscious, his grip was exceptionally tight, squeezing so firmly that the person being gripped also fell unconscious.

And soon, silence returned.

The dust that had been stirred up slowly settled, gathering again to fill the hundred-foot-wide void, making the forest complete.

The vegetation of this forest wasn’t actually real; it was formed from dust!

It inhaled and exhaled starlight from the universe, seemingly following some ancient law, drawing memories from this starlight and reenacting the scenes recorded within the starlight in the forest it formed.

Time slowly passed.

Rain began to fall from the sky.

However, this rain wasn’t in the conventional sense; it was formed from billions of phosphorescent flames floating in the thin atmosphere of this planet, drifting and falling.

From afar, it looked as if a deity in the void was tearing scriptures to shreds, turning them into fragments.

These fragments burned between heaven and earth, emitting light beyond the heavens, echoing with divine whispers.

“Radiant Candle… Radiant Candle…”

As the whispers continued, blurry figures emerged from the burning light of the fragments, gradually becoming clearer.

These figures all looked identical. Their

bodies were formed from a coalescing state of light, devoid of male or female distinction, woven entirely from light, with twelve pairs of luminous wings unfurling behind them in iridescent vortexes.

They formed from the heavens, murmuring as

they moved in all directions. Wherever they passed, dust billowed, the wind howled, creating waves in their wake.

Amethyst mountain ranges resonated, emitting ancient, flute-like hums, playing a welcoming melody for them.

The liquid phosphorescent ocean also bulged countless gelatinous pillars of light, coalescing into flowing staircases, dancing for them.

Even on islands composed of vines, the plants secreted golden sap, solidifying into hexagonal prism crystals seemingly recording the laws of the universe, which then rose into the air one by one, as if offering tribute.

The forests beneath the islands also disintegrated completely at this moment, becoming sandstorms, swirling in worship.

And within this sandstorm, only the fallen one lay motionless.

But soon… the woman held in this man’s hand trembled, her eyelashes fluttering, and she slowly opened her eyes.

After seeing her surroundings, she was first startled, then her eyes lit up with surprise, before her gaze quickly fell on the person beside her, seemingly hesitant and wary.

So she didn’t act rashly, but instead opened her mouth towards the departing lights and shadows in the sky, as if to transmit a divine message.

She was sealed, her divine sense unable to emanate, but if she could transmit a divine message now, she was confident she could instantly attract those spirits.

But just as the sound was about to escape her lips… the hand gripping her neck suddenly hardened, a powerful force surging within, locking her neck again, preventing her from making a sound.

The goddess trembled, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xu Qing beside her, who had now opened his eyes.

She dared not struggle, remaining motionless.

Xu Qing remained expressionless, equally motionless.

Only after the lights and shadows in the sky had completely disappeared, and everything around them returned to normal, did he look at the goddess, then inhale sharply.

The goddess was filled with despair. The terrifying suction force raged within her body, instantly draining away the newly formed essence within her, leaving her limp.

Then, with a wave of his hand, Xu Qing sealed her voice and reinforced other seals, finally binding her tightly and storing her away.

After doing this, Xu Qing carefully spread his divine sense to observe his surroundings.

Gradually, his expression darkened, and after a moment of silence, he spoke softly,

“Thank you.”

“Young Master, there’s no need to thank me. Our relationship is too formal.”

The mud fox’s voice was weak, but its alluring charm was still evident.

It naturally knew why Xu Qing thanked it, because the moment it fell into this star, it was it that, after sensing the anomaly, proactively released its own divine aura to shield Xu Qing.

At the same time, it was it that noticed the goddess’s distress and, at the cost of its own divine source, accelerated Xu Qing’s awakening, resolving the previous crisis.

“Next, I still need you to continue to bless me,”

Xu Qing said softly, then closed his eyes and began to meditate, starting to heal his injuries.

He had some guesses about the location of this place, but both confirming the location and leaving required cultivation.

Therefore, he understood that the most important thing before him now was to recover his cultivation.

His injuries were severe; both the cost of using the Dao artifact and the dangers of the spatial turbulence had left him extremely weak.

But fortunately… his source essence reserves were sufficient.

The reward for capturing the goddess was enough to restore his cultivation, not to mention that through the Aurora Immortal Palace, he could absorb the continuous source energy from the God of Pain, and… the goddess herself.

Especially the latter, which seemed inexhaustible to Xu Qing, both in the past and present—a true treasure.

And so, time passed.

Half a month passed in a flash.

During this time, under the cover of the Mud Fox’s divine aura, Xu Qing absorbed source essence and continued to heal his injuries in this dusty forest. During this period, the forest wove together more ancient scenes, and the sky rained again.

Looking at the light and shadow of those twelve-winged creatures, Xu Qing sensed the divine intent within them.

However, they seemed somewhat different from the gods he had seen before.

But before recovering to a certain level of cultivation, Xu Qing did not intend to investigate in detail, so he continued to heal his injuries.

Ten more days passed.

Xu Qing, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, which shone brightly. His cultivation… had recovered to 70%.

The remaining portion was the burden on his soul from using the Dao artifact, and its recovery would take much longer.

But Xu Qing had a feeling that once fully recovered, his soul would be refined, becoming even purer than before.

“Then, let’s see what this place really is!”

Xu Qing raised his head, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. In the next instant, his divine sense, concealed by the aura of the Mud Fox, suddenly erupted, sweeping across all directions in a flash, covering the entire star and even extending into the starry sky. A

dense, alien atmosphere, divine fluctuations.

This couldn’t possibly be the fifth star ring.

Although he had made a preliminary guess and judgment based on the surrounding environment when he first awoke, he still sighed inwardly after truly perceiving the entire area.

This was an unfamiliar starry sky.

Recalling the surprise after the goddess awoke, Xu Qing finally had to confirm that this was most likely the fourth star ring.

As for the star he was currently on…

Xu Qing’s divine sense looked down; the star existed at the edge of a dust nebula.

The star was entirely emerald green, and as it slowly rotated, one could faintly hear breathing, like that of living beings, rising and falling within the rock layers.

As for the surface, there was a crystalline plain where countless scaly cattle with bat wings roamed.

Their scales are unique, resonating with the earth’s veins, and when they flap their wings, they scatter tiny specks of light.

Even more strangely, they possess intelligence, have their own civilization, and have formed a kingdom.

They have built temples to worship their tribal deities, offering sacrifices daily.

The deity’s form is a luminous butterfly.

It is not a true god, but merely a shrine. Xu Qing witnessed a dying scaled ox prostrate before the temple, gradually transforming into a luminous butterfly-shaped creature and merging into the temple.

And the deities are not confined to this one place.

Far removed from the scaled ox herd, there exists a vast fluorescent fungal carpet!

They sing in the wind, using mycelium to construct a vast kingdom underground, bathing in celestial fire, burning themselves, and transforming into rising blue mist.

Within that mist, mayflies, feeding on sound waves, wander, and within their transparent bellies, one can see their tribal deities seated cross-legged.

Humanoid beings also exist on this planet.

They lived in the southwestern part of the star, where magnetic storms were frequent, building their dwellings on moving crystal forests.

These forests fed on lightning, and the arcs of light that erupted when they split were seen by these humanoid life forms as divine punishment.

Perhaps it truly was divine punishment, for Xu Qing clearly sensed within those lightning bolts the aura of gods.

Besides this, what concerned Xu Qing most were the three hundred and sixty emerald halos in the sky, the source of the twelve-winged light and shadow… seemingly containing ancient temples. However

, most of them were dim.

“No true gods…it’s suitable for hiding.”

After a long while, Xu Qing withdrew his divine sense. After pondering, he decided to fully recover his cultivation on this star before considering leaving.

So, his body flickered and disappeared into the dust forest.

When he reappeared, he was already in a purple crystal mountain range, where he had carved out a cave dwelling and was meditating cross-legged.

Time passed again.

Outside, the stars revolved, and celestial fire descended intermittently.

The sacrifice of the Scaled Bull was performed thirty times, and the spirits of its tribe shone ever brighter.

The chanting of the Fungal Carpet became a requiem for those who burned themselves in heavenly fire, causing the smog to churn and dance in the sky.

The Dust Forest also continuously revealed starlight memories, weaving them with stardust.

During this time, they absorbed images of an unknown human civilization from the starlight.

In the images, a white-haired cultivator, holding his dying wife, fell into madness in extreme grief, raising his head to angrily denounce the heavens, and then rose into the sky, as if fighting against the heavens!

His voice could not be heard, but the madness in the images turned the area around the Dust Forest crimson.

As for Xu Qing’s cultivation, it had recovered to ninety percent in this month.

And just as he was immersed in this cultivation, moving towards full recovery, on this day…

a strange voice suddenly appeared within the breathing of the earth’s veins deep beneath this star.

“Decree of the Divine Emperor of Li Zhu: A human immortal cultivator has absconded with a goddess. Within the billions of stars of the Fourth Star Ring, all gods who find this person will be rewarded with a hundredfold source essence; those who capture him alive will be rewarded with a divine artifact!”

Accompanying this announcement was a terrifying divine thought that swept across the starry sky towards this star!