Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 184: Strange Seazombie Developments (part 3)

Xu Qing’s expression was icy as he released a wave of zombie poison that swirled around him. Voice hoarse, he said, “Are you trying to take credit for my bodyguard work?”

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, one of the black coffins behind him opened, and a Seazombie cultivator emerged, bursting with the aura of two life flames. She had been a mermaid in life, and as she closed in, she released a crushing pressure. Clearly, the Foundation Establishment Seazombie in charge of the harbor really was trying to take the credit Xu Qing had earned from acting as the princess’ bodyguard.

Xu Qing’s eyes were as cold as ice, but his facial expression didn’t change. As the mermaid closed in, he suddenly lurched backward and slammed into her. A boom rang out as he then reached back to grab her viciously.

The mermaid’s face fell as the power of Xu Qing’s fleshly body power smashed into her, and then her life flames flickered as she tried to get away from him.

He was too fast, plus his hand seemed like it contained a gravitational force that slowed the mermaid down. In the blink of an eye, his right hand stabbed into her chest, where he grabbed her heart and squeezed down viciously.

A thud echoed out as the two-flame mermaid’s heart exploded. Seazombies didn't feel pain, but the injury caused her to scream nonetheless. However, this mermaid cultivator was a vicious woman, as the next thing she did was try to bite Xu Qing in the neck. This, of course, was standard Seazombie behavior. It seemed as if her sharp teeth were just about to bite into his flesh.

But then, Xu Qing smiled coldly and slammed his head into her mouth. Cracking rang out as her teeth shattered in a mass of blood and gore. As she screamed even more shrilly, Xu Qing’s expression turned vicious, and he opened his mouth and bit into her neck. He put an immense amount of force into his jaws, ensuring that his single bite nearly ripped the mermaid's neck in half.

Instantly, strong mutagen flowed out of the mermaid's body and into Xu Qing. She struggled violently, but Xu Qing held her tightly with both arms wrapped around her. It was a very brutal scene.

After six or seven breaths of time passed, the mermaid had been sucked dry of mutagen, and Xu Qing dropped her. Her life flame had been extinguished, her dharma apertures drained, and she looked like a desiccated corpse. Though not dead, she lay there convulsing.

“Ai,” the Captain said sweetly. Hips swaying, he walked over to the mermaid and licked his lips. “What lovely fun. But why does this sweet girl look so shriveled now?”

Meanwhile, Xu Qing turned to look at the three-flame Seazombie cultivator hovering in the air just beyond the warship. Blue blood dripping down his chin, he exuded cold, emotionless fluctuations as he said, “Give me nine more like that and you can have my bodyguard credit.”

A grave expression appeared on the three-flame Seazombie’s face. The truth was that though he had been considering taking the credit for the mission, he had also been testing out Xu Qing. In recent days, Seven Blood Eyes disciples were using all sorts of methods to try to sneak into Seazombie territory. Although all of them had been captured and killed, it was always possible that the princess’ return was part of some Seven Blood Eyes plot.

If things had played out differently, the three-flame cultivator would have notified his superiors, who would have dispatched people to investigate further.

Now, he had no intention of doing that. The spell formation had confirmed the identity of the princess, as well as that of her escort. Furthermore, the bodyguard’s method of devouring mutagen also proved who he was, as no one other than a Seazombie would do such a thing. What was more, the fact that he had so easily defeated a two-flame opponent went to show that he was very close to reaching the same level as the three-flame Seazombie himself. He waved his hand, and the lightning coming from the sixteen black coffins vanished, and the coffins flew back to their mooring spots.

“Escort the princess to the seventh zombie ancestor’s divine likeness!” he said.

Below, one of the magical mushrooms rippled, sending out black clouds that swirled into the shape of an enormous octopus. The octopus floated over, sent one tentacle to wrap around the warship, and then used the others to start carrying Xu Qing and the Captain off into the distance.

As they left, the three-flame Seazombie bowed his head respectfully and called out, “Princess, your humble servant is merely following orders. Please forgive me for any breach in decorum.”

With that, the three-flame cultivator put his hand in his mouth and viciously bit off his own finger, which he tossed toward the warship.

The finger exploded, transforming into a cloud of zombie poison that spread out over the warship to create a glittering sealing barrier.

“That sealing barrier will ensure that no one bothers you, Princess. Please forgive any offense.”

“You can screw off now,” the Captain replied tranquilly.

“Many thanks, Princess.”

The three-flame Seazombie ducked his head, then flew back down to the coastal area to resume his duties.

And thus, Xu Qing and the Captain remained on the warship as the enormous octopus ran along at full speed toward the location of the seventh zombie ancestor’s divine likeness. As a matter of fact, that was the exact location they had planned to be sent to.

The Seazombies had nine zombie ancestor statues located in different grottoes, all of which were all heavily guarded. The seventh zombie ancestor’s statue was closest to the sea, and also relatively far away from the royal palace.

Most importantly, according to the Captain’s intelligence report, because the Gold Core cultivator who cared for the seventh zombie ancestor statue was required to support the front line war effort, he wasn't even present. The person left behind in charge was only in the great circle of Foundation Establishment.

Xu Qing had been hesitant about that aspect, but the Captain had guaranteed that his intelligence report was accurate, and thus Xu Qing hadn’t pressed him on the issue.

As they proceeded forward, they got to see more and more of the inland areas of the Seazombie territory.

Just about everything was the color black. There were all sorts of black plants, all of them pulsing with astonishing mutagen. In fact, this place was far worse than any of the forbidden regions Xu Qing had seen. The mutagen made this place like a holy land to the Seazombies, while simultaneously making it a deadly land of poison for other cultivators who needed spirit power.

Any person like that who came here long-term would find themselves filling up with mutagen. And if they didn't suppress and control it, their chances of mutation would rise rapidly.

However, the Captain seemed prepared with methods that made him temporarily capable of ignoring the mutagen. Xu Qing wasn't sure about the details, but he guessed that it had something to do with godly flesh.

Obviously, the Joine incident wasn’t the first time the Captain had gone crazy. He had to have done similar things many times before.

In addition to the black vegetation and the magical mushrooms, Xu Qing saw more of the huge withered trees and bright red rivers. The sky was dark, but it was still possible to see, as the clouds had countless eyes within them. Whenever those eyes opened, they spilled red light that illuminated the lands. They opened at different intervals, ensuring that these dark lands always had some level of light. It was a dusky light, but it was more than enough for cultivators to be able to see.

Xu Qing quickly realized what those eyes were. When one of them became visible directly above him, he saw that it belonged to a massive, rotting fish. The fish had a tentacle on its head, at the end of which was the eye. When the eye was closed, it was hardly visible. But when it opened, it shone like a lantern.

Such fish filled the clouds in the skies above the Seazombie territory. There were too many to count, and they would occasionally sink down to provide light, then afterward, float back up into the cloud cover.

It all seemed very bizarre to Xu Qing. He also saw numerous Seazombies of countless species, many of which he had never seen before.

And up ahead, there was something that caused Xu Qing’s mind to reel. It was a huge area of land that had been cleared of trees and magical mushrooms. As the octopus led them toward it, Xu Qing saw that countless Seazombies were excavating the area.

The part that had been excavated so far seemed to reveal a huge hand. It was massive, being hundreds of meters from end to end, as if some ancient giant had been buried here. As the excavation work revealed its rotting flesh, Xu Qing noted that some Seazombies had gathered nearby and were performing a ritual of some sort.

After the warship passed that area, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar echoed out that caused Xu Qing to look over his shoulder. Back in that location, a several-thousand-meter-long arm was stretching up toward the sky.

“A resurrection!” Xu Qing took a deep breath.

There were other living beings in these lands. One of them was a type of butterfly that had ghost faces on their wings. Based on all the information the Captain had provided on their journey, Xu Qing knew that they were called ghost thirst butterflies. Supposedly, they were a native insect on this island.

They predated the Seazombies, and lived on all corners of the island. As Xu Qing and the Captain proceeded along, the butterflies would dance around them in the air. It should have been a beautiful sight, but the ghost faces on their wings seemed alive as they greedily lapped up the surrounding mutagen. They looked extremely sinister and creepy.

For some reason, the ghost thirst butterflies seemed to be gathering around Xu Qing. And some were flying toward him from off in the distance.

He frowned.

Behind him, the Captain delicately cleared his throat and said, “Well, my dao protector, I had no idea you were such a thirst trap.” [1]

1. I’ve tweaked the translation slightly to make this joke similar to the Chinese. Basically, the Captain uses a Chinese idiom related to butterflies that’s used to describe extremely attractive people ☜historical