Outside of Time - Chapter 1372

Chapter 1347 Praying to the Gods…

As the voice of Ziqing echoed without opening his eyes, countless butterflies flew out from the collapsing ink painting, covering the sky and enveloping Xu Qing.

As they fluttered, tri-colored dust emanated from them, spreading in all directions.

It transformed into… a cage of fate!

A cage, in essence, views life as the trajectory of stars, relying on the divine power of fate to intercept the stellar orbit and fold it into a hexagonal cage.

Those imprisoned within will have all their actions distorted and influenced by the power of fate.

Whether it be supernatural powers, spells, or any other action, it will all return along the cycle of fate, forming a closed loop of “self-return.”

Like being trapped in a maze, unable to leave, and unable to find a way out.

This is the definition of a cage; adding fate…

it is to give fate its self-cycle on the basis of a cage!

At this moment, within the thick tri-colored dust, Xu Qing faced precisely this situation.

His body clearly moved forward, shattering the void, but when he reappeared, he was behind his original position.

Even his constitution followed this principle.

Every action formed a closed loop.

Xu Qing frowned slightly, stopped, and ceased his attack. He stood still, a profound light in his eyes, sensing the cage of fate.

At that very moment, the cycle of fate within the cage silently manifested itself.

A scene from history replaced the three-colored dust, emanating from Xu Qing and spreading outwards.

Blurred figures began to appear around Xu Qing, increasing in number—men and women, old and young.

The environment rapidly changed, no longer filled with dust and mist, but revealing the outlines of buildings.

These figures and buildings multiplied at an astonishing rate; in just a few breaths… a city from Xu Qing’s memories suddenly appeared before him!

Along with it, a cacophony of sounds also emerged!

“Top-quality candied hawthorns!”

“Hoping for a good harvest next year.”

“Everyone, please keep order and don’t gather too much!”

“Fellow villagers passing by, come and see my shop! Our sacrificial paper burns with three colors of smoke!”

Countless voices suddenly appeared, flooding Xu Qing’s ears, causing him to tremble.

Not far away, several children were running towards the distance, carrying wooden statues.

“The time is almost up, we have to hurry.”

Looking at this, Xu Qing trembled. This scene before him was the Peerless City of his memories!

His body was no longer that of an adult, but had returned to the age of seven with the appearance of this city.

In the instant he saw all this, a woman’s gentle voice came from behind Xu Qing.

“Qing’er, why did you stop? Are you waiting for your brother?”

This voice was so familiar, yet so unfamiliar.

Familiar, because it was an echo that Xu Qing could never forget.

Unfamiliar, because he hadn’t heard it again for a long time…

And so, that gentle woman’s voice, like a vast boulder reaching the heavens, landed on Xu Qing’s heart, stirring up endless, towering waves.

Xu Qing, trembling, turned around.

He saw… behind him, the figures from the two most important memories of his life.

“Father… Mother…”

Xu Qing murmured. He saw a man and a woman.   The man was middle-aged, weathered but still handsome; the woman beside him was somewhat thin, but her expression was incredibly gentle.   They both looked at him with concern.   ”This child, why are your eyes red again?”

the man said   helplessly.   The woman beside him smiled and knelt down, gently stroking Xu Qing’s head, her voice filled with kindness and affection.   ”Qing’er, you’re a man, you can’t cry every time your brother leaves. Come… let Mother hug you.”   Saying this, the woman hugged Xu Qing, stood up, kissed his cheek, and smiled.   ”Qing’er, don’t cry. Your brother is going to buy you candied hawthorns. He’ll be back to find us soon.”   ”Look over there. Today is the Prayer Festival, and the sacrifice is about to begin.”   The woman held little Xu Qing and looked into the distance.   In the distance, in the center of Wushuang City, on a towering wooden altar, hundreds of prisoners knelt. In front of them, a person dressed in a red robe was shouting to the heavens, his voice carrying far and wide in a unique tone.   ”In the year 135 of Tianqi, the year was Nanhuang, and the moon was in the constellation Guixiu, about to fall at night.”   ”We, mere ants, crawling on the land of Shuangdu, dare to offer this foul offering to the god of the broken face:   Long ago, the Azure Jade fell to the ground, and the Black Tortoise broke its leg. When your eyes first opened, the scorching sun melted into molten iron, boiling the five lakes, and countless stars shattered into arrows, piercing the nine fields.   Now, the ruins still glow with ghostly fire, and the living devour the soil of graves, yet the blood congealed between your eyelashes still reflects the dying breaths of the common people.”   ”God!”   ”We pray that the last breath leaking from between your teeth is the fuel for our survival; we pray that the shadow falling from your brow bone is the refuge for the common people.”   ”We now offer a hundred prisoners, to gouge out their eyes as candles, to burn the slits of your eyes; to rip out their livers for oil, to seal your corners of the eyes.”   ”God, close your eyes!”   ”God, sleep forever!”   ”Pray to the gods… do not open your eyes!”   The voice echoed, and at that moment, all the citizens of Wushuang City bowed their heads, uttering the same words.   ”Pray to the gods… do not open your eyes!”   But just as these countless voices converged and spread in all directions…   the boundless, sacred, and oppressively vast ruins suspended in the sky, its closed eyes suddenly… opened a crack!   What it saw was Wushuang City!   And then, tragedy descended upon the world.   All the buildings were dissipating, as if a short time had passed through thousands of years, rising into the air through weathering.   Countless mortals were instantly transformed into monstrous beasts, endlessly bloodthirsty, slaughtering in all directions.   Life withered at an alarming rate.   Death swept across everything.   Those who were not transformed suffered an even more tragic fate; their bodies were torn to pieces, and everything became offerings in this dissipation.

What Xu Qing saw was the futile struggle of all living beings, the world turning red.

Countless cries of terror and despair before death echoed throughout Wushuang City, accompanied by a rain of blood.

This included Xu Qing’s parents.

The middle-aged man, before Xu Qing’s very eyes, vanished.

Xu Qing’s body fell to the ground.

The gentle woman who had held him was now a pool of blood…

The entire Wushuang City had turned into the underworld, and the blood rain… showered down upon the world .

In the blood rain, seven-year-old Xu Qing, covered in blood, stood silently, stunned.

He had witnessed this scene before, it was all too clear in his mind.

“Father… Mother…”

Endless sorrow, beyond words, roared within him like a storm.

Tears streaming down his face, he lowered his head, looking at the blood on his body.

It was the melting of his mother’s body.

Long afterward, amidst the weathering of countless buildings, the dissipation of countless beasts and corpses, and the endless rain of blood, a figure appeared in the distance.

He carried a candied hawthorn, walking through the dust and the blood rain, step by step, his feet treading on the sticky blood, until he reached Xu Qing.

The blood rain fell on the candied hawthorn, making its color even more crimson.

Then, he bent down, raising his right hand to stroke Xu Qing’s head.

“Brother, don’t cry.”

…

In the grand palace of the Purple-Azure Kingdom, the Purple-Azure Crown Prince murmured softly.

Outside the palace, in another dimension, he had already reached the edge of the cage of fate, raising his right hand and plunging it into the three-colored dust.

Gazing at this, the Purple-Azure Crown Prince in the palace revealed a profound light in his eyes.

“As for your divine body, I will take it away.”

With these words, the Purple-Azure Crown Prince’s gaze fell into the distance.

It was the direction of Chaoxia Mountain.

Almost the instant he looked, within Fenghai County, Chaoxia Mountain… suddenly roared!

An irresistible, vast divine power suddenly erupted from Chaoxia Mountain, like a volcanic eruption, surging forth in all directions with endless struggle.

Under this surge, Zhou Zhengli and the others responsible for sealing the formation were instantly shaken violently, spitting out blood and being thrown back.

The sealing attempt failed!

Without Xu Qing’s restraint, the Purple-Green Prince’s attack was awe-inspiring. At the moment Zhou Zhengli and the others failed, Seventh Master on Chaoxia Mountain also felt a tremor.

Even as a Xia Xian, he was ultimately unable to resist.

The formation beneath his feet shattered inch by inch, rendering his inability to cast spells futile.

The next instant, the entire formation collapsed completely.

A divine aura surged forth from within the shattered formation.

Accompanying this aura appeared Xu Qing’s divine form!

This divine body soared into the sky, carrying terrifying pressure and astonishing momentum, heading towards the Devouring Heaven Domain and the Purple-Azure Upper Kingdom, transforming into a rainbow… and

disappearing in an instant!

When it appeared, it was already in the Devouring Heaven Domain, in the Purple-Azure Upper Kingdom’s palace, before the Purple-Azure Crown Prince in the main hall!

Gazing at the divine body, the Purple-Azure Crown Prince sighed softly.

“Brother, you were ultimately not ready.”

Muttering to himself, the Purple-Azure Crown Prince, seated on the dragon throne, raised his right hand and grabbed forward.

Instantly, Xu Qing’s divine body rushed towards Purple-Azure, who grabbed it by the neck.   Just as he

was about to absorb it, a   sudden change occurred! The Purple-Azure Crown Prince’s expression abruptly changed!   His eyes revealed a strange light for the first time since the start of this battle.   Without hesitation, he released his grip, throwing away Xu Qing’s divine body.   But it was too late!   He had already absorbed some of it.   His body trembled violently, and the Xu Qing divine body he had thrown away suddenly shone brightly, its form changing in an instant.   It transformed into a lens!   That was Mi Ming’s constitution!   And the instant this lens appeared, a finger… suddenly shot out from within it with astonishing speed, striking towards Prince Zi Qing with lightning force!   All of this, though a long story, happened in an instant.   A profound life-or-death crisis descended upon Zi Qing for the first time since his resurrection, engulfing his entire being. Outside the hall, his right hand had already penetrated into the three-colored dust of the Fate Cage.   His body vanished abruptly!   When he reappeared, he was inside the hall, in front of the present-day Zi Qing!   He had blocked… the finger from within the lens!   The moment it touched that finger, Prince Zi Qing’s body trembled violently, visibly beginning to shatter—in the time it took to breathe…   his body and that finger annihilated and dissipated.   Meanwhile, Zi Qing, seated on the dragon throne, coughed up a mouthful of golden blood, his breathing rapid, and looked up at the Fate Cage outside the hall.   The cage of fate is collapsing!   The tri-colored dust is dissipating.   And within that dissipation, a seven-year-old child can be seen walking step by step.   His figure rapidly changes as he walks, each step adding a year to his age.   When he finally emerges completely from the tri-colored dust, standing there is the adult Xu Qing!   He gazes at the Purple-Azure Prince in the main hall and slowly speaks.   ”What a pity.”   Inside the hall, the Purple-Azure Prince wipes the blood from the corner of his mouth, and for the first time, a ripple appears in his gaze as he looks at Xu Qing, ultimately turning into admiration.   …   At this moment, within the fourth star ring, on a massive star, the Immortal Lord of Seeking Enlightenment opens his eyes from his cross-legged position and withdraws his fingers.   He sighs softly.   ”Just a little bit more.”   Behind him, another figure sits cross-legged.   It is… the true divine body of Xu Qing, whom he had suppressed!