Beyond the Timescape [Wuxiaworld]

Xu Qing froze for a moment and looked at all the fruit. Especially noteworthy was that the pile included several very large apples. Xu Qing had to wonder why this Seazombie would have so many things like that stuffed into his robe.

The white-robed Seazombie had been in the process of retreating at full speed. But now he also froze in place. As he did, the hood of his robe shifted, and though it didn’t reveal his face, it did cause some of his hair to fall out into the open. At the same time, he looked down at the fruit.

The two of them looked back up, and their gazes locked. Xu Qing stood there quietly. The white-robed Seazombie also stood there quietly.

Then, the ground quaked, and the surface of the sea beyond the shores of the island exploded into motion. Off in the distance, a rumbling sound echoed out that could shake heaven and earth, like the roar of a god.

A violet light appeared off in the distance, like a violet sea, spreading out rapidly. Looking at it closely, it was possible to see that the source of that rumbling, and the light, was the Merfolk Isles. This had to be the Seven Blood Eyes Formation’s tideflow power that was mentioned in the mission description.

As the sea of light expanded, the Seazombie’s ability to suppress the teleportation portals in the Pearl Archipelago waned, allowing for teleportations to begin. Thus, the Fifth Peak disciples behind Xu Qing in the valley made some adjustments and activated the teleportation portal. The first wave of disciples stepped onto the portal and vanished. Similar things were happening on the other islands in the archipelago. Xu Qing didn’t pay close attention to all that, but he could sense that the second wave of teleportations would begin soon. Right now, what interested him more was this white-robed Seazombie.

A moment after their eyes locked onto each other, Xu Qing burst into motion. In the profound radiance state, he was capable of spectacular levels of speed, and the life lamp gave him immense strength. In the blink of an eye, he was closing in on the white-robed Seazombie. However, instead of aiming a blow at his abdomen, this time he aimed toward his hair.

For some reason, he seemed particularly interested in this Seazombie’s hair. The white-robed Seazombie gasped and again unleashed the power of his life flames. A terrifying wave of energy erupted out, allowing him to evade Xu Qing’s grasp. Then the two of them started fighting again, and booms echoed out.

Xu Qing moved so fast that the cultivators in the valley couldn’t even see him clearly. The Second Peak woman, who had not yet teleported out, nervously activated her own profound radiance state, but not even she was able to see exactly what was happening. All she could see was a host of blurred afterimages. The ground shook, and the terrifying crashing sounds made it obvious how dangerous this battle was.

The white-robed Seazombie also fought with deadly precision, although, as the battle raged, he seemed mostly interested in protecting his hair. He was so incredible that Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was incapable of doing anything to him; the patriarch couldn’t catch up to him, and in fact, could hardly see him. It was the same with Xu Qing’s shadow. Compared to the white-robed Seazombie, the shadow was slow.

However, Xu Qing attacked with brutal ferocity. On a number of occasions, he almost managed to grab some hair. At one point, he sent his dharma force into his fist, only to dodge to the side to avoid the Seazombie’s attack, then send his knee flying viciously toward his opponent’s lower half.

The white-robed Seazombie’s expression flickered. However, this Seazombie was a ferocious opponent. Blocking the knee with one hand, he opened his mouth and spat out a huge cloud of zombie poison.

The poison attack seemed like it would immediately start to melt Xu Qing. And yet, Xu Qing’s facial expression was the same as ever. With his knee strike blocked, he spun, sending his left leg flying toward the Seazombie’s head like a whip.

A boom echoed out, and the two separated. Not hesitating for a moment, Xu Qing performed an incantation gesture, causing black fire to rage out into the shape of numerous hands, which then shot toward the Seazombie.

By this point, the Seazombie was gasping for breath. Obviously this battle was very draining to him. Howling, he threw out a hand and performed an incantation gesture, then shoved his hand toward Xu Qing. Instantly, the air in front of him crumbled in on itself, the effect spreading rapidly toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s expression flickered, and he dodged to the side. As he did, the white-robed Seazombie suddenly accelerated, appearing right in front of him and shoving his hand out to hit him in the chest.

Xu Qing tumbled backward about 300 meters, blood oozing out of his mouth. Then he stabilized himself and shot back toward the fight. As he did, ten heavenly sabers appeared above him which he slashed down in an attack.

The Seazombie’s pupils constricted. There was no time for him to avoid the attack, and thus the attack slashed into him, sending him flying back 300 meters, blood spraying out of his mouth. However, he immediately shot back into the fight. The two opponents clashed again in midair, and this time Xu Qing’s knee again flew viciously toward his opponent’s lower half. It was almost as if Xu Qing knew that his opponent’s lower half was his weak spot.

The white-robed Seazombie cursed, but the sound of it was lost in the chaos of the combat. Then a crazy look appeared in his eyes as, instead of blocking the attack, he also sent a knee flying toward Xu Qing.

At exactly the same time, Xu Qing managed to reach out and grab a handful of his opponent’s hairs.

One of them let loose a muffled grunt, the other shouted miserably.

The muffled grunt came from Xu Qing, and the miserable shout came from the Seazombie. Although both exclaimed in different ways, as they backed away from each other, both of their knees were bent unnaturally. However, the awkward bend to the Seazombie’s knee made it obvious his injury was far more severe. Furthermore, sweat was dripping down his face.

Xu Qing backed up, his eyes gleaming. As the Seazombie watched, he held up the handful of hair. Then the hair turned into ashes. It was a very familiar scene, except this time, it was a handful of hair instead of a single strand. [1]

As the ash drifted away, Xu Qing prepared to charge forward again. However, that was when an urgent voice rang out behind him.

“Elder Brother, the tideflow is about to end. This is the last chance to teleport out!”

Hearing that, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. At the same time, it was possible to see that, on the horizon, a mass of black flames was approaching, spreading out through the sky. Within those flames was a Seazombie that appeared to be a young boy, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared at the Pearl Archipelago. As he moved along, the sea beneath him split, forming a valley with two huge cliffs of water on either side. The Pearl Archipelago trembled as terrifying might weighed down, and wild winds whipped over them.

Xu Qing’s gaze hardened, and without any hesitation, he retreated back into the valley. At this point, the second wave of teleportations had ended, and the third was beginning. The Seven Blood Eyes disciples on the portal had previously been closely watching Xu Qing’s fight as they waited for the portal. But now they were waiting for Xu Qing to join them. As soon as he appeared among them, the Fifth Peak disciples immediately activated the portal. Thanks to the continuing tideflow, light glittered on the portal.

The white-robed Seazombie didn’t give chase. His eyes were glued to Xu Qing, and despite the distance between them, and the teleportation beginning, they could both see the odd expression in each other’s eyes. Then, the teleportation light reached an apex, and their mutual gaze ended as Xu Qing was whisked away.

***

After Xu Qing and the other disciples were gone, the white-robed Seazombie looked up into the sky and realized that the incoming Gold Core Seazombie had gone to a different island. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he rubbed his knee vigorously, then touched the spot on his head where some hair had been ripped out.

What exactly is going on here? How could the brat have become so strong in such a short time? OUCH!

I think he recognized me, too. He was targeting my lower half! And it seemed like he was trying to rip out my hair out of revenge! This sucks! He has no respect for his superior! Besides, all I did last time was pluck out a single hair, right?

It’s not like this big mission of mine has been easy. If I want to get a high-level zombie heart, then I have to pay a lot of merit points. I freaking invested a lot to perfectly disguise myself as a Seazombie.

I was just trying to scare them, grab some pill furnaces, and then turn them in for merit points. And once I realized that brat was here, I was just planning to give him a good thrashing as payback for the poison in that tunnel in the Merfolk Isles.

OWWWW!

The white-robed Seazombie shook out his half-destroyed right arm, then used some unknown method to regrow the hand. Gasping for breath, he took a short time to recover. Cursing to himself, he lurched over to where his fruit had fallen to the ground. Most of the fruit had been destroyed. There was only half of one of the large apples left. Picking it up gingerly, he took a big bite. But then, his eyes went wide and he spat it out.

“It’s poisoned!” he shouted angrily. At this point, he realized this situation wasn’t acceptable. As a captain, he couldn’t allow himself to suffer such a loss of face. In fact he decided that he was going to find an opportunity to remove one of his seals and teach a good lesson to the brat. That was the only way to maintain dignity. Although he was loath to remove a seal, he would have to endure that pain to make sure he saved face. Having made that decision, he shot off into the distance.

***

Back on Meegah Island, a teleportation portal glittered as Xu Qing and the other disciples appeared. As Xu Qing walked off the portal, he noticed that the atmosphere in the frontline camp was tense. Numerous figures zipped overhead in flight.

The battle raged off in the distance, and everyone seemed busier than before. All of the disciples who had just teleported in from the Pearl Archipelago clasped hands and offered greetings to him. The Second Peak woman joined them. After exchanging contact information with him, she then hurried away.

Then Gu Muqing approached to say farewell. As she did, Xu Qing returned the taboo pill jade slip, and told her that he had activated them before leaving.

“Elder Brother Xu, my fellow disciples and I still have to complete this mission. We need to go to another location to activate more taboo pills. I heard my Master say that Seven Blood Eyes is prepared for this war to drag out for years, and that we have to win it. And there are going to be some big operations coming soon. Please be careful, Elder Brother.” At this point she hesitated for a moment, then edged a bit closer to Xu Qing, lowered her voice, and continued, “I’m a conclave disciple, so there are times when I have no choice but to go out on certain missions. But you don’t have to do that, Elder Brother. By the way, if you see any missions related to the Seazombies’ seven fortified islands, you absolutely must not take them.”

With that, Gu Muqing gave a curtseying bow and then left.

Looking thoughtful, Xu Qing took a look at his identity medallion. The mission he had been working on just now was complete, and more new missions were flooding in.

Meanwhile, he thought back to his fight with that white-robed Seazombie, who had seemed like a Seazombie in every respect, down to his zombie poison. But it hadn’t taken Xu Qing long to realize he seemed familiar. That was especially true of his eyes. And of course the fruit.

Why is the Captain disguised as a Seazombie? Is there some Seazombie loot he’s trying to get that requires it? I guess it’s also possible he just got unlucky and got killed by a Seazombie, and was turned.

If it were any other person, Xu Qing would assume the second option was the most likely. But with the Captain, it actually seemed like the first was more in line with his crazy personality.

Given how petty the Captain is, I bet he’s not happy with how our fight ended. His cultivation base really is unfathomable. He’s definitely going to try to get back at me. I need to open more dharma apertures!

1. I remember a scene similar to this one in chapter 138…. ☜

Deathblade's Thoughts

As I quasi-mentioned in the previous footnote, this development was foreshadowed in chapter 150.

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