Outside of Time - Chapter 1383

 

Chapter 1357 Beyond Time (Final)

 

Time flows on.

 

Three hundred years have passed since Wanggu.

 

In these three hundred years, Wanggu has been peaceful, and there are no more alien entities in the world. Most of the gods of Wanggu also chose to depart three hundred years ago, following Xu Qing’s return.

 

Few remained.

 

The entire Ninth Star Ring, after the disappearance of the God-Emperor, had its divine system dissipate.

 

Only Shanghuang remained.

 

He still hangs high above Wanggu, his complete face always closed.

 

As for the old friends Xu Qing knew, they each had their own opportunities and fortunes in these three hundred years. Among them, Seventh Master, due to the special nature of his cultivation method and having reached the end of his cultivation, chose to do as before…

 

re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.

 

However, this time, he did not enter the reincarnation of Wanggu. He

 

went to Houtu to be reborn there.

 

This was his path.

 

After making this decision, he told Xu Qing.

 

“We will meet again in the future.”

 

Xu Qing didn’t stop him. After silently nodding, he personally escorted Seventh Master to Houtu, watching him disappear into the Houtu star ring, and bowed deeply.

 

Afterwards, Xu Qing went to Huangtian.

 

There, he looked at his still-sleeping senior brother.

 

With Xu Qing’s current cultivation and experience, he had a general idea of his senior brother’s origins.

 

“Unrelated to the original mother star, senior brother… should be related to the umbilical cord of the gods.”

 

Xu Qing murmured, turned and left Huangtian, returning to Chaoxia Mountain.

 

He continued his cultivation advancement that had been underway for three hundred years.

 

The Immortal Venerable realm was something Xu Qing had already touched.

 

The fusion of the twin stars would allow for true unification, which was also the path to Immortal Venerable.

 

But the time required was incredibly long.

 

However, Xu Qing was not in a hurry.

 

Even this cultivation was not something he completely immersed in. Instead, he calmly experienced life, witnessing the changes of time, spring, summer, autumn, and winter with Zi Xuan. Year after

 

year. One

 

day, many years later.

 

On Chaoxia Mountain, Xu Qing listened with a smile as Zi Xuan recounted their encounter years ago. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he looked up at the sky.

 

The next instant, he was still on Chaoxia Mountain, but another version of himself appeared in the heavens, before the high-hanging Shanghuang.

 

Gazing at the closed eyes of Shanghuang, Xu Qing sat cross-legged, silently waiting.

 

After several dozen breaths…

 

Shanghuang, motionless for a thousand years, slowly opened its eyes!

 

No longer one scarlet, the other vacant, as it had been then.

 

Clear light shone in its open eyes as it looked at Xu Qing.

 

“You’re awake,”

 

Xu Qing said calmly. Shanghuang remained silent.

 

After a long while, a deafening roar echoed throughout the entire Wanggu.

 

If one were to look at Wanggu from the starry sky outside, one could clearly see that the spine of Shanghuang, like a centipede, which had been coiled around the entire Wanggu, was now stretching out! In

 

an instant, it completely unfurled, no longer coiled, but rapidly shrinking as it stretched.

 

Along with Shanghuang’s complete face!

 

Everything vanished in an instant!

 

On this day, at this moment, the hearts of all living beings in the ancient world were in turmoil.

 

Because the remnant face hanging high in the sky, in the memories of their ancestors, had disappeared!

 

And in the sky, a figure appeared before Xu Qing.

 

Dressed in a black robe, with long black hair, he sat cross-legged in front of Xu Qing, raised his head, and revealed a face similar to Xu Qing’s.

 

“These past years, my appearance has caused trouble for you and your world. This is the karmic fire of my destiny, and it will accompany my destiny forever.”

 

“Therefore, on the day I became a god, I swore a divine oath… all the beings who perished because of me will, in the future, shine with me!”

 

The figure spoke softly.

 

Xu Qing looked deeply at the figure before him.

 

“Should I call you Zi Qing, or Shang Huang?”

 

“I don’t know who I am either. I may be Shang Huang, or I may be Zi Qing, or I may be a combination of both, but I prefer the name Zi Qing.”

 

Zi Qing looked at Xu Qing and smiled.

 

“Then, can you tell me now what my origins are?”

 

Xu Qing asked calmly.

 

A profound look appeared in Zi Qing’s eyes.

 

“You really want to know?”

 

Xu Qing nodded.

 

Zi Qing was silent for a long time, then looked up at the distant void.

 

The voice seemed to come from the past, echoing in Xu Qing’s ears.

 

“Your fusion has reached its end, and you may be able to complete the final step of ascending to the planetary rings at any time.”

 

“Whether it is a God-Emperor or the Immortal-Emperor path you have taken, there is actually no distinction between the preceding and following realms, only the strength of the power of comprehension. To a certain extent… once you reach it, you reach it.”

 

“This is the limit of ascension.”

 

“But it is not the limit for us and many predecessors. According to the most primitive records of the Ghost Realm, there is an even higher level after our realm.”

 

“The Ghost Realm calls it… Ghostly Enlightenment.”

 

“And the current ascending realm calls it Godhood.”

 

“As for you cultivators, you will also have a special name for it in the future, called Xi Yi, which is also the essence of the Dao.”

 

At this point, Zi Qing withdrew her gaze from the distance and fell on Xu Qing.

 

Xu Qing looked at Zi Qing, thoughtful, and slowly spoke.

 

“To reach the level you described, the only way is to leave the Ascending Realm and walk the Divine Umbilical Cord!”

 

Zi Qing nodded upon hearing this.

 

“The name ‘Divine Umbilical Cord’ originates from the Ghost Realm. In the era when the Ghost Realm occupied it, it was called the Strange Ghost Umbilical Cord.”

 

“It is the only path to leave the Ascending Realm. Only by walking that path can one pursue a higher realm.”

 

“And I, back then, walked to the deepest part of the Divine Umbilical Cord…”

 

“This process was also my advancement, or rather, every person who walks the Divine Umbilical Cord begins their own advancement the moment they step in.”

 

“If someone can completely walk out, they can become a god.”

 

“And I, I’m only one step away.”

 

Zi Qing sighed softly.

 

“Is it related to me?” Xu Qing suddenly spoke.

 

Zi Qing’s gaze deepened, and she slowly nodded.

 

“Deepest within the umbilical cord of the gods, I saw a long corridor with numerous doors. Each door represents a deity or a demonic being!”

 

“For every deity added to this world, one more door appears there.”

 

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed upon hearing this.

 

Zi Qing continued.

 

“Engrave your name on the door, push it open, walk out… and you can truly ascend.”

 

“And at the end of that corridor, there is a chair, and on it… sits a person, holding a purple crystal in his hand, accompanied by a woman’s skeleton and a withered blue worm, both long dead.”

 

“He sits there alone, emanating an ancient aura, seemingly tracing back to the realm of the undead… I don’t know who he is, but the moment I saw him, two words flashed through my mind: Si Yu!” “

 

He was dying, while I was at my peak. He prevented me from engraving my name, so a life-or-death battle ensued between us!”

 

“In that battle, I lost, only my mangled body escaping back, and he didn’t truly win either…”

 

“Because he passed away in the deepest part of the divine umbilical cord.”

 

“And before his passing, through my power of return, he sent forth a possibility.”

 

“Even now, when I recall it, perhaps he stopped me because he himself had reached his end before me, and my appearance gave him hope. So after my failure, he didn’t kill me, but deliberately let me go, just to… take away that one possibility of his.”

 

“That possibility merged with my possibility, and thus we went together to Huangtian’s primordial mother planet.”

 

“And then, I became you.”

 

Ziqing looked at Xu Qing.

 

Xu Qing remained silent, these words stirring ripples in his heart.

 

He thought of his purple crystal, the long corridor deep within his soul, that chair…

 

most importantly, the woman’s skeleton and the blue worm that Ziqing spoke of…

 

After a long while…

 

Ziqing stood up.

 

“Now that I have awakened, I must continue walking the divine umbilical cord.”

 

“This time, no one will stop me, and you… will you send me off?”

 

Ziqing asked with a smile.

 

Xu Qing nodded slowly upon hearing this.

 

…

 

The divine umbilical cord can exist anywhere in the upper planetary rings.

 

But to open it, the ascending will must open itself.

 

This opening is something the ascending will is unwilling to do.

 

For Zi Qing, this was not a problem. The moment he chose to walk the divine umbilical cord through the Eighth Star Ring, the will of the Eighth Star Ring trembled and opened itself to him,

 

releasing a massive vortex.

 

That was the entrance to the divine umbilical cord.

 

Zi Qing did not hide his departure, and on the day he left… all the divine beings of the entire Upper Star Ring appeared,

 

including the giant beast and the Black Tower.

 

They understood that if Shang Huang intended to intervene, their presence or absence would lead to the same outcome, so… it was better to face it openly.

 

Among them were the Immortal Venerable of the Fifth Star Ring and Master Bai beside him.

 

The two of them, along with all the divine beings, watched Zi Qing and Xu Qing.

 

Watching them, Zi Qing, having reached the entrance to the divine umbilical cord, suddenly spoke.

 

“Are there any among you willing to travel with me?”

 

His voice caused a stir among all the divine beings around him.

 

They were well aware of the dangers of the divine umbilical cord, but it was a path to a higher level.

 

Those who reach the level of God-Emperor all possess their own pursuits and ambitions.

 

Given the possibility, they would not be content to stagnate at this level.

 

Therefore, this was an opportunity!

 

Ultimately… some God-Emperors, driven by their own different needs and thoughts, chose to enter the Divine Umbilical Cord with Zi Qing.

 

But many more God-Emperors did not do so; they watched this departure with Xu Qing.

 

Xu Qing’s gaze lingered until the vortex of the Divine Umbilical Cord disappeared before slowly withdrawing.

 

He did not see the corridor Zi Qing had mentioned.

 

The other God-Emperors also departed.

 

At the level of God-Emperor and Immortal-Emperor, they would not easily attack each other, and the paths of gods and cultivators seemed insignificant before the Divine Umbilical Cord.

 

However, the Immortal-Emperor of the Fifth Star Ring and Master Bai reminisced with Xu Qing before leaving.

 

Afterwards, they returned to their respective star rings.

 

As for Xu Qing, he returned to Chaoxia Mountain, continuing to listen to Zi Xuan recount their past encounters, his smile gentle.

 

…

 

Time flowed on relentlessly.

 

Years passed silently.

 

The story of time continues to unfold, one event after another, each one a new cultivator rising, each old cultivator falling in despair.

 

The same is true for the gods.

 

The cycle repeats itself, seemingly unchanged since time immemorial.

 

As for the umbilical cord of the gods, it has opened several times since then.

 

Each time, a divine being chose to depart, to pursue the divine!

 

But no one knows whether Zi Qing and the others succeeded, nor whether those divine beings who entered the umbilical cord of the gods afterward are still alive.

 

Beyond the ascension, just as beyond time itself, lies an unfathomable void.

 

Until this year.

 

March, the Awakening of Insects.

 

Er Niu awoke.

 

The moment he awoke, the entire heavens roared, the sound echoing through the ages, accompanied by his boastful words and laughter.

 

“Little Qing, your senior brother is awake! I’m even stronger than before! That Zi Qing… I’ll take care of him for you!”

 

“And the Remnant Face… I…”

 

Erniu’s expression was arrogant as he spoke, his body breaking through the heavens and appearing in the sky above Wanggu, pointing a finger at the firmament… where the Remnant Face had been.

 

But the next instant, his eyes widened, his voice abruptly stopping, staring blankly at the empty sky.

 

After a long while, he quickly turned his head, his gaze circling the sky several times…

 

“Uh… what’s going on? Where’s the Remnant Face?”

 

“Senior brother…”

 

Xu Qing’s voice came from the void as Erniu remained bewildered.

 

Then, the sky rippled, and Xu Qing, holding Zi Xuan’s hand, appeared, smiling at Er Niu.

 

Er Niu stared blankly at Xu Qing, then gasped.

 

He sensed an aura from Xu Qing far surpassing that of a God Lord, an aura…

 

“God Venerable? Immortal Venerable?”

 

“What… what’s going on? How come everything changed after I slept… the remnant of the sky is gone? Zi Qing is gone too? How did Little A Qing become a Venerable?”

 

Er Niu was bewildered.

 

Xu Qing smiled, his voice gentle.

 

“Senior Brother, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. I’m going to cross the Divine Umbilical Cord. Will you… come with me?”

 

…

 

The Divine Umbilical Cord, in this endless time, opened for the seventh time since Zi Qing’s departure.

 

This time, it opened in the Ninth Star Ring.

 

The Immortal Venerable and Master Bai came to bid farewell, but they did not choose to leave.

 

Instead, they decided to stay in the Upper Star Ring.

 

So, outside the vortex at the entrance of the Divine Umbilical Cord, Xu Qing, with Zi Xuan, stood there with Er Niu, looking at the Immortal Venerable and Master Bai.

 

Master Bai nodded slightly.

 

“Do you remember what I said back then? Heaven and earth are a guesthouse for all living beings, and time is a passerby throughout history… Back then, you saw me off; today, I see you off.”

 

“As long as we don’t die, we will meet again.”

 

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing bowed deeply to Master Bai.

 

Then, he turned to look at Wang Gu.

 

With a swift movement, he retrieved the true spirits of countless people from his memories, including his parents.

 

After doing this, a resolute look appeared in his eyes as he looked at Zi Xuan and Er Niu.

 

Zi Xuan nodded gently, protected by Xu Qing.

 

Er Niu, transformed into a blue worm, perched on Xu Qing’s shoulder, emitting a clamorous sound.

 

“Let’s go! It’s just a broken umbilical cord, let’s go in and see if there’s anything good to eat inside!”

 

Xu Qing smiled upon hearing this, no longer hesitating, and took the final step towards the vortex ahead.

 

Stepping into the divine umbilical cord.

 

Pursuing a higher level… the elusive!

 

“I don’t know how many times this has happened, but this time, I will definitely succeed!”

 

—The

 

End.

 

Regarding the characters of Wanggu, I want to flesh out each person’s story more fully, but this is limited by length, concerns about pacing issues, and my own update frequency.

 

Therefore, please refer to the several epilogue chapters after the story is completed for more details about these characters.

 

I will write about them in detail in the epilogue chapters, which will be offered as free chapters.