Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 583: You’re Scared? Me Too (part 1)

The Green Spirit Pharmacy was absolutely still and silent.

Sprouty swayed back and forth a few times. Then, sensing that no one was around, it curiously sent its branches out to get a closer look. A moment passed in which Sprouty waited to see if anything would happen. When nothing did, it very carefully pulled its roots out of the soil. It was as if it had been waiting for just such an opportunity to flee.

However, after it pulled its roots up and jumped out of its flower pot, but before it could leave, it suddenly sensed killing intent from the rafters.

The Spike of Misfortune appeared right in front of Sprouty, with the bone tip almost touching it.

Sprouty shivered, then slowly climbed back into the flower pot. After putting its roots back in place, it started swaying back and forth fawningly.

The Spike of Misfortune flew a few circles around it, then returned to the rafters.

If the little miscreant escapes, the Fiendish Xu will definitely vent his anger on me when he gets back. Chuckling inwardly, the patriarch glanced at the back room.

Because of the concealing magics Xu Qing had left in the room, it wasn’t possible to see many details about it. However, due to the innate connection between them, the patriarch could tell that Xu Qing’s aura was no longer present. No one was in the back room at all. What had entered the rift in the mirror were not streams of divine sense, but the true forms of Xu Qing and Ling’er. That was one of the mysterious aspects of the Moonrebel Congregation.

However, the path to that mysterious location had Xu Qing feeling a bit uncomfortable. He felt like he was in an extremely cramped location, with lots of pressure weighing down on him. Glittering light around him formed walls that hemmed him in.

The walls were curved, forming a concave floor and an arched ceiling above him. It was almost like a big circle, and it was so tough that Xu Qing couldn’t even move. He was wedged in place. The more he struggled, the tighter he was stuck. It was as if he was being given no option other than to go back.

Xu Qing frowned and wondered why the rift would take him to such a forsaken place.

Could this be the third subtest?

During his study of the mirror fragment, he had come to a general understanding of the first two subtests, but hadn’t gleaned any details about the third. After mulling the matter over, he experimentally sent out some divine sense. It wasn’t easy, as the pressure restraining him didn’t just affect his fleshly body, but also his senses. What was more, the glowing walls were too tough for his divine sense to pierce through. Thankfully, he was able to send his divine sense forward, though it was difficult. With some work, he was finally able to get a sense of where exactly he was.

I’m in a pipe?

His divine sense didn’t have the range to see the end of the pipe. However, based on the fluctuations coming from ahead, he was fairly certain that was the direction of the Moonrebel Congregation.

Interesting. I guess this is the third subtest. If you aren’t able to follow the pipe to the end, you don’t qualify to enter the Moonrebel Congregation.

From the very beginning, he had wanted to join the Moonrebel Congregation because, as Duanmu Zang had told him, members had done research on the curse for generations, and understood many things about it. Xu Qing wanted to go there to get information. After all, it seemed a lot more efficient for a bunch of people to consider a matter over many years, compared to one person trying to figure it out on their own. The ability to save time in that way was key to Xu Qing’s confidence in being able to do something about the curse. Of course, in addition to information about the curse, he was also generally curious about the Moonrebel Congregation.

No wonder Eldest Brother wants to get in here.

Eyes gleaming with determination, Xu Qing tapped into his cultivation base. He also tapped into the explosiveness of his god body to fight back against the pressure.

Rumbling sounds echoed out, and Xu Qing trembled. The light walls seemed to grow stronger; no matter how much force he used against them, it didn’t do anything. And he could only physically grow to a height of a bit more than two meters. The sense of pressure on his body and soul was causing a perverse energy to build up in him. He quickly huddled up so that he was back to normal height.

The walls around him also shrank down, but there was some gap left.

Taking advantage of that gap, Xu Qing reached out with his right hand and tapped into his cultivation base. Leaving out his violet moon nascent soul, he went full force with everything else to launch a fist strike. The blow contained the power of taboo poison, the Ghost Emperor mountain, the heavenly dao, the timescape bottle, the golden crow, as well as his personal life lamps.

Cracking sounds could be heard as Xu Qing shot forward by several meters. Then he felt himself being restrained again. Gritting his teeth, he used the same method to continue forward.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he used that method to force his way forward. Although progress was slow, he eventually reached the point of 300 meters. At that point, he was exhausted. Sensing how far away the end of the path was, he had no choice but to sigh and give up. After going back to the medicine shop to rest for a bit, he returned.

The path he had cleared so far was still there when he went back. At the 300-meter mark, he gritted his teeth and started blasting his way forward again.

In that way, days passed.

Ling’er didn’t need to come along. With her mark on Xu Qing, he could come and go as he pleased while she worried about keeping the Green Spirit Pharmacy open for business. Of course, she would occasionally look toward the back room to see how her Big Bro Xu Qing was progressing in his efforts.

It’s so hard to get to this Moonrebel Congregation! Even considering how hard Big Bro Xu Qing is working, he still hasn’t gotten there! While Ling’er sighed in her heart, similar sighing rose up in Xu Qing.

Half a month of rumbling booms later, Xu Qing had progressed 9,000 meters along the path to the Moonrebel Congregation. At that point, he returned to the medicine shop, where he sat down cross-legged to catch his breath.

I’m only about thirty percent of the way there. There’s still about 21,000 meters to go. The existing members must be so amazing. Are they all in Spirit Trove or something?

Xu Qing was more interested than ever in reaching this group. After all, considering how difficult this third subtest was, it seemed clear that every member must be an incredible individual.

I can do it too!

Looking very determined, he rested for a short time, then went back in to continue forging ahead.

The constant repetition was actually useful training for Xu Qing. The pressure weighing down made him tougher physically, and it also improved his ability with his transformed state. He could now transform all the way to a size of three meters. Because of that, his progress improved. Another half a month passed, during which time he successfully reached a distance of 24,000 meters.

As he stood there and looked back at the path he had traveled so far, all he could think about was how hard it had been. Then he looked ahead. 6,000 meters away was the Moonrebel Congregation, whose members he only continued to revere more and more.

Another 6,000 meters. I really hope that’s where the Moonrebel Congregation is!

After forcing his way almost to the very end of the path, he realized that it was indeed just up ahead!

***

The Moonrebel Congregation existed as a standalone dimension, within which was a massive, majestic mountain. Hundreds of thousands of ancient temples covered the mountain, closely packed together with paths running between them.

Some of the temples glittered brightly, while others were pitch black. Those which were lit apparently had stone statues in them that shone with splendorous brightness. Occasionally, a statue would walk out of a building, take to flight for a time, then return to its spot. They were usually surrounded by softly glowing light that made them seem extremely holy. At the same time, they all had their own shape and look, and from a distance, it made them seem like a horde of devils.

There were more temples at the base of the mountain than further up, half of them bright, half of them dim. One of the temples seemed much brighter than the others. Before, it hadn’t stood out much. But over the past month, it had attracted the attention of the statues in other nearby temples.

The reason was: it was too loud.

As Xu Qing was inside the tunnel battering his way forward, loud booming sounds erupted from that temple, spreading out in all directions.

“He’s at it again!” Four or five statues walked out of some of the nearby temples and glared at the temple with the loud noise coming from it.

“Dammit, this guy’s still not done? What’s he doing?”

“A whole month! If he’s going to come in, he might as well hurry it up. Is he banging around constantly to attract more light? Just what is he thinking?”

“He must be insane!”

“Yeah, he’s definitely got mental problems.”

The banging grew louder, and more statues walked out to see what was happening.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. People like us should be able to just go right through the entry channel. What’s he banging around for?”

“Don’t tell me he’s trying to show off his battle prowess?”

“How exactly does that count as showing off? The Moonrebel Congregation has been masterless for years now. The spirit automaton is asleep and only provides the most basic functionality to maintain operations. The guiding light is supposed to be based on the cultivation base of whoever’s taking the test. And it’s supposed to just lead them inside.”

“This fellow could just come in, but instead he’s banging around with each step he takes. It’s almost as if he’s having trouble!”

As the discussion raged, the booms got more intense.

The statues frowned helplessly. Before a new temple was officially opened, they couldn’t go inside. So the only thing to do was go back into their own temples to avoid the racket.

This time, the booms didn’t last for very long. About four hours later, things got quiet again.

***

Xu Qing was tired. Gasping for breath, he looked at the final 3,000 meters, then turned and went back. Outside in the medicine shop, his eyes glittered with resolve.

Three days. Four at the most. Then I’ll reach the end!

The idea of finally being able to pass the third subtest made him sigh inwardly. It really had been a very difficult process.

Once I’m inside, I’ll have to be very cautious and vigilant. The other people inside... are not to be trifled with!

Looking very serious, he settled down to meditate and catch his breath. At the same time, he used divine sense to scan the medicine shop and its surroundings. There were people lined up outside.