Outside Of Time

Chapter 1661: It’s Not Shameful to Lose to Him
Editor: Atlas Studios

The waves of the God Blood River churned violently, sending the thick scent of blood wafting through the air, carried by the wind to the riverbank of the Southern Starfield.

This eerie red mist intertwined with the aurora above, merging into a single crimson expanse.

Amidst this blood-colored haze, a lone ferry, empty of any passengers, drifted slowly into the boundless depths of the river until it vanished from sight.

Xu Qing stood on the pier, watching the departing ferry disappear into the distance.

The gift given by Fairy Spirit Phoenix couldn’t be taken away.

It could only stay on the God Blood River,

awaiting Xu Qing’s summons.

After a long time, Xu Qing retracted his gaze and looked at the speck of dust floating beside him.

“Heaven’s Law…”

Xu Qing mumbled softly.

This was the item he had obtained after killing Star Ring!

“It’s like an Ordinance or a law, yet neither an Ordinance nor a law, more like something imagined, existing and yet not existing.”

Xu Qing fell into deep thought as he stared at the speck of dust.

He didn’t fuse this item into his body but planned to use it as an external tool. During the time on the God Blood River, he had studied it to some extent.

As for Star Ring…

In this special environment like the God Blood River, he could only revive on the boat, and each time he revived, he became progressively weaker.

Hence, Xu Qing only needed to sit there and wait.

In the end, after the seventh death, Star Ring’s body and soul were destroyed.

“Although I have obtained Star Ring’s qualifying token, his death still has to be verified.”

“After all, there is something fishy about him really arriving at the blood river.”

At the thought of this, a dark glint flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. After that, he waved his hand and kept the Heaven’s Law’s dust away before leaving the bridge.

Far away from the blood river, he moved against the wind in the Southern Starfield.

As he sped, Xu Qing removed the cover on his qualifying token. At the next instant, a terrifying aura erupted from his body, transforming into a red pillar of light that soared into the sky.

When it landed in the aurora, it formed a vortex that could be seen by the naked eye.

As it rumbled, Xu Qing’s aura became astonishingly majestic. It distorted the void and blurred the surroundings.

Part of this aura came from himself, and the other part came from the qualifying token.

The eruption even triggered the star map beyond the southern sky, revealing it for an instant.

In that instant, the star map corresponding to the Southern Starfield and the qualifying token displayed countless brilliant stars, among which three shone the brightest. One belonged to Xu Qing, while the other two… represented the two stars of the Southern Starfield!

One of them came from Xu Qing, and the other two… were the two great stars in the south!

One was Jiang Fan, and the other was Yuanshan Su!

“Star Ring’s qualifying token doesn’t contain many marks, so after killing him, my ranking only entered the top 100.”

“Currently, I am 73rd in the entire Fifth Star Ring.”

Xu Qing was a little surprised about his ranking after absorbing Star Ring’s qualifying token but he soon had a guess.

Presumably, it was because Star Ring had placed most of his energy and focus on cultivation previously, so he didn’t collect the tokens of others too early.

He should have been planning to do it after he successfully stepped into the Quasi Immortal Realm in the Aurora Immortal Palace.

Xu Qing raised his head and looked at the sky.

“Unlike these two, their choices differed from those of Star Ring. Before reaching the third segment, they had already gathered enough marks. And now, in this third segment, they stand out even more.”

“The cultivators of the Fifth Star Ring have two ways to enter the Immortal Capital.”

“One is to enter the top 100 in the Immortal Capital’s trial, which would almost certainly secure their advancement. ”

“The second method applies to those who have not participated in the trial. For them, the path is even more challenging—they must not only reach the level of Quasi Immortal but also ascend to Lower Immortal within five hundred years of becoming a Quasi Immortal.”

“This second method has nothing to do with me.”

“For me, there’s only one way…”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes.

“Although there’s a high chance that everyone in the top 100 can advance, the difference in ranking will affect the resources they obtain after entering the Immortal Capital!”

Xu Qing was very clear that the focus of his next cultivation would no longer be the improvement of the Ordinance but the plundering of the star ring’s origin essence!

“A sufficient amount of origin essence can allow my immortal embryo to mature quickly. After reaching maturity, if I want the immortal embryo to be complete, I’ll still need more origin essence!”

“Therefore, my goal… is to be first!”

“I’ll step into the Immortal Capital as number one!”

As Xu Qing made his decision, his aura surged through the heavens and earth. After a moment, he gazed into the distance.

He was looking in the direction of the Great Immortal Mountain.

Among the two stars of the south, Jiang Fan… was there!

“Eliminate all the stars one by one and plunder their tokens. Then, I’ll naturally be first. This is the simplest path.”

“Then, heaven’s chosen Li…”

A sharp glint appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes as he rushed toward the location of the Great Immortal Mountain.

…

Ten days later, Xu Qing’s figure appeared at the core of the Southern Starfield.

From afar, Xu Qing beheld an endless expanse of awe-inspiring mountains stretching across the horizon.

Peaks upon peaks rose within the range, towering in vast numbers—possibly in the hundreds of thousands.

A perpetual veil of white mist shrouded the area, faintly revealing silhouettes of immortals within. Occasionally, as fierce winds swept through and thinned the mist, glimpses of opulent palaces with jade railings and carved stone walls flickered in and out of sight, their grandeur barely perceptible but breathtaking.

It gave off the feeling of an Immortal Land.

The immortal aura here surpassed the other areas in the South and was the strongest area in the entire South.

This place was none other than the orthodox Great Immortal Mountain of the Southern Starfield!

It was also Jiang Fan’s sect!

Xu Qing didn’t barge in. He knew that although his combat strength was powerful among his peers and he could fight against Quasi Immortals, there were many auras of Quasi Immortals in this Great Immortal Mountain.

There was also an aura that gave the feeling of extreme terror.

That was the might of a Lower Immortal.

“However, according to the rules of the Immortal Capital’s trial, Quasi Immortal Great Emperors who aren’t participants can’t interfere. It’s the same for Lower Immortals. Therefore, this battle… must be fought honorably.”

Xu Qing muttered to himself, then stood between heaven and earth. His aura surged like a tidal wave, and the aura of the qualifying token exploded, merging and intertwining into a formidable, earth-shaking battle intent.

It enveloped the Great Immortal Mountain and issued a challenge!

A cold voice rang out from his mouth.

“Jiang Fan, let’s fight.”

His voice echoed and his battle intent churned at the same time, rumbling in all directions.

In an instant, streams of divine sense rose from the Great Immortal Mountain. As they locked onto Xu Qing, there was also a sense of scrutiny.

Among these divine senses, there was no lack of Quasi Immortals.

However, none of them stopped him.

Xu Qing’s challenge was fair and square. Under the witness of countless people, the rules of the Immortal Capital’s trial couldn’t be shaken.

This was a trial battle, a battle for the Immortal Capital!

Xu Qing was as calm as ever. He allowed those divine senses to sweep over and stood in the sky, waiting for Jiang Fan’s answer.

At that moment, in a palace on the Great Immortal Mountain, Jiang Fan sat cross-legged in silence.

He sensed the aura of the outside world and also heard Xu Qing’s voice. He also sensed Xu Qing’s challenge.

In the sect, no one urged him to fight. He could choose to shrink his head and not accept the challenge.

This was because he knew that he wasn’t Xu Qing’s match.

However, he still stood up. His eyes gleamed and the aura on his body continued to rise, forming a majestic momentum. The moment he walked out of the hall, he saw a person standing outside.

Jiang Fan bowed.

“Master.”

This middle-aged man had an extraordinary appearance. He wore a long cloud robe and stood there like a heavenly mountain.

It was none other than… Lan Yun, whose status was only inferior to Immortal Lords in the Great Immortal Mountain!

He was also Jiang Fan’s master.

“You’re no match for him.”

Lan Yun calmly spoke.

“With your current ranking, you can choose to stay in the sect. After the third segment ends, you will have one spot in the Immortal Capital.”

When Jiang Fan heard this, he fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.

“Master, I can lose, but I can’t accept that I don’t even dare to fight.”

“Although entering the Immortal Capital is incomparably important to me… relying on avoiding battle to enter isn’t what I want!”

With that, he bowed again and took a step forward, walking into the sky and out of the Great Immortal Mountain.

When he appeared, he was between heaven and earth, in front of… Xu Qing!

Looking at Xu Qing, Jiang Fan felt as though he had returned to the fourth realm of the Immortal Palace. The scenes were reflected in his mind. After that, he took a deep breath and waved his right hand.

Immediately, the qualifying token that belonged to him separated from his body under the guidance of his Ordinance and flew out, landing at the side.

“If you defeat me, this is yours!”

As soon as he finished speaking, an astonishing aura rose from Jiang Fan’s body. Thick fog appeared out of thin air around him and continued to churn and sweep in all directions. After it enveloped the surroundings, it suddenly headed toward Xu Qing with the momentum to sweep through the world and suppress the universe.

Jiang Fan’s Ordinance was clearly much stronger than before he entered the immortal palace. At this moment, the might of the fog could devour everything and hide all living beings.

In an instant, it enveloped Xu Qing. In fact, it even began to penetrate his space-time.

This caused the space-time Xu Qing was in to be occupied by the fog.

However… at the next instant, when Jiang Fan was about to attack, he couldn’t help but stop in his tracks. Bitterness rose in his heart.

This was because what he saw… in the sky, on the ground, in the surroundings, the entire world in his eyes was Xu Qing’s space-time.

It was as though it had become a kaleidoscope!

Among the countless space-times, there was only one that was filled with fog. As for Xu Qing, who existed in the other space-times, he was calmly looking at him.

This lasted until Xu Qing, who was in one of the space-times, took a step forward and stood behind Jiang Fan. He then lifted his right hand and touched Jiang Fan’s shoulder.

He only patted it lightly.

At the next instant, Jiang Fan’s body rumbled and the sound of shattering came from under his feet. It wasn’t the sound of the void shattering or the ground shattering. It was… the shattering of time and space.

He didn’t continue, nor did he need to continue.

Xu Qing walked past the stiff Jiang Fan and picked up the qualifying token. With a wave of his hand, he dissipated all the space-times and walked into the distance.

He didn’t say a word.

This lasted until he was far away.

In the Great Immortal Mountain, on the highest peak, in the hall that shone with silver light and was as holy as an altar, everything remained peaceful and joyous.

The incense from the sandalwood burner still lingered in the air, curling in wisps, while the octagonal palace lantern hanging in the center of the hall continued to shine as brightly as before.

Sitting at the highest position, an elderly figure in a silver robe smiled faintly.

“First, comprehending space-time, then grasping the parallel, using the realm of Ruler to achieve the Ordinance of a Great Emperor.”

“This kid… isn’t an ordinary person. No wonder the Venerable Immortal values him.”

…

Jiang Fan was silent.

He knew that he wasn’t Xu Qing’s match but the difference was so great that he couldn’t even resist. This point caused the bitterness in his heart to be extremely intense.

After a long time, amidst the fluctuations in the void beside him, his master, Lan Yun, walked out and stood beside Jiang Fan. He glanced in the direction Xu Qing had left in and calmly spoke.

“It’s not shameful for you to lose to him.”