Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 487: God Possession

An enraged roar drifted through the depths of the Abyssal Sea. As the painted body collapsed, the god’s finger shot out from within the haze of flesh and blood, pulsing with a will of destruction.

The head and stone lion had already collapsed, but Sir Inkwell had used some unique method to last a bit longer and yell those final words.

Instantly, the furious god’s finger swiveled to point in the direction of the fleeing Xu Qing.

Although īts mental faculties were impaired to a degree, and īt was a bit forgetful after being injured, īt immediately identified Xu Qing as bearing a perfect resemblance to the painted body. As a result, the finger didn’t bother chasing down Sir Inkwell, and instead shot toward Xu Qing.

When Xu Qing realized what was happening behind him, his expression turned dour. Truth be told, the moment he realized Sir Inkwell was painting that face to resemble him, he had guessed what was coming.

Unfortunately, Sir Inkwell had been in control of the painting, and the god’s finger was lurking nearby the entire time, so there was nothing he could do. The only thing he’d been able to do was influence the direction in which Sir Inkwell fled.

When Sir Inkwell saw the god’s finger pursuing Xu Qing, a very complacent expression filled his face. That said, he did feel some regret.

What a pity I wasn’t able to control a god. Even though it’s only the pinky finger of a god’s clone, it’s still on a higher level of existence than I can interfere with. That said, after this experience, I need to think more about how to make it work better next time. This world inside of a painting is a very interesting place. If I could control a god in here, then just imagine what I could do outside the painting....

That thought got Sir Inkwell fairly excited. He glanced back at the fleeing Xu Qing.

The jailer certainly showed up at just the right time. Without him, I might not have escaped. He’s one of the few good people in this painting. I’m going to miss him. All I can do is hope he ends up safe and sound.

Sir Inkwell chuckled and sped up. However, that was when he suddenly felt something extremely malevolent locking onto him. Face falling, he looked over his shoulder, whereupon his eyes went wide.

At some point, a gigantic bluegreen dragon had appeared behind him. It had a dark gray body covered with countless sharp scales, and it stared at him with ice-cold eyes. It was hundreds of meters in length, making Sir Inkwell seem like a bug in comparison. A tremor passed through Sir Inkwell, and his mind reeled.

“A heavenly dao??” he blurted. Waves of shock assailed him. Although he feared the god’s finger, there was a second thing he truly feared, and that was destiny aura!

Those were the two things he had been forced to deal with in D-132. D-132 was used to suppress a god and sever karma. But it had also suppressed the prisoners, who had all been transformed to a certain degree by the god’s finger. Though he feared the god’s finger, that fear wasn’t overwhelming. After all, he was something of a companion to that finger, and because of their dealings, had strong karma built up with it. As for the destiny aura... it could suppress that god’s finger. And given that Sir Inkwell was a companion to the god’s finger, it meant that destiny aura was like his nemesis!

And destiny auras came from heavenly daos!

As Sir Inkwell’s eyes went wide, he instinctively let loose a miserable shriek, as if he had just encountered the most deadly beast in the world. Turning, he fled at top speed away from the bluegreen dragon.

Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT. What’s a heavenly dao doing here? What is that bluegreen dragon, anyway? Don’t tell me the giant lake in this painting produced it because of the sun’s remains?

As Sir Inkwell fled, his scalp tingled as he realized the bluegreen dragon had opened its mouth.

Why is it staring at me?

Nothing that Sir Inkwell could do would mean a thing when dealing with a heavenly dao. Thus, he fled right back into the world of his painting, which lay on the ground nearby.

However, the bluegreen dragon followed, chasing him right into the painting. Inside of that painting was Sir Inkwell’s family. They all looked terrified when the bluegreen dragon appeared. Then they started disappearing one by one, as if they’d been devoured. A feeling of terror began to spread out from the painting. magic

However, Sir Inkwell obviously had some skills. Though he was facing his nemesis, a heavenly dao that he couldn’t possibly fight against, he was still able to buy some time.

That was one reason why Xu Qing didn’t make a move against him back when he was absorbing the sun’s remains. Back then, Sir Inkwell had been painting in the presence of the god’s finger, so making a move against him would have been counterproductive. But now the god’s finger was chasing Xu Qing. As it turned out, though Sir Inkwell thought he was plotting against Xu Qing, the reality was that Xu Qing was plotting against him. From a certain perspective, it seemed... that neither of them had come out on top.

Sir Inkwell was in mortal danger, but so was Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was currently fleeing at top speed. The godly might of the god’s finger seemed boundless, and considering it was capable of greater teleportations, it didn’t seem likely that Xu Qing could outrun it. After only about four or five breaths of time, everything around Xu Qing rippled and turned blurry.

The god’s finger raced with madness and determination right toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked over his shoulder and released an explosive poison mist. He unleashed the godsource of the violet moon, and summoned a projection of the Ghost Emperor mountain. The golden crow appeared, a dao soul within it, its eyes glowing brightly. There was also a seven-colored stream of light that spread out from Xu Qing, making him seem full of holiness. In addition, there was a bamboo slip that floated in front of him, releasing fluctuations exactly the same as the god’s finger.

Finally, he had a command medallion. Raising it overhead, he shouted, “Taboo treasure!”

The great net that covered Sea-Sealing County, including the Abyssal Sea, suddenly glittered brightly. Countless streams of blinding light then converged high above Xu Qing.

Taboo treasures were not things that any person could just randomly use. They required a certain level of understanding. Because of that, they often had limitations, and required great effort to use. In many cases, it was difficult to use much of their power. Using a taboo treasure wasn’t something that could be done intuitively. Taboo treasures were critical to any major organization, and that meant that most people would never get a chance to study or experiment with them.

Thankfully, Xu Qing had an advantage in that regard. Thanks to how much Master Seventh favored him, he had been appointed as a treasure custodian for a short time. That had allowed him to study and experiment with a taboo treasure, an experience which was now proving very handy. As a result, the light that gathered overhead was exceedingly dazzling.

The moment Xu Qing did that, the god’s finger appeared only a few dozen meters ahead. Its maddened divine will locked onto him, causing an enraged howl to fill his mind.

“You... took away... my body. Give it back!”

Xu Qing backed away cautiously, while simultaneously tapping into all his trump cards.

“I didn’t take away your body. That bastard Inkwell painted your body to look like me, all so he could escape. You should be chasing him!”

As Xu Qing backed away, the god’s finger rushed forward by nine meters, its divine will exploded out.

“Give... it... back!”

“My body is filled with a bunch of random stuff that’s not suitable for you. You can sense it, can’t you?” As Xu Qing struggled to control his breathing, he sent his shadow out. The shadow appeared, trembling, then shrank beneath Xu Qing’s feet.

“Give it... back!”

The god’s finger wasn’t listening to anything Xu Qing said. The finger’s divine will grew more insane as it got closer and closer.

Seeing that, Xu Qing’s eyes filled with a crazy look. His right hand dropped, and the taboo poison power within him erupted. A projection of the violet moon appeared, shooting right toward the god’s finger. Daybreak light erupted dazzlingly, creating a sea of light around the finger. The golden crow overhead held nothing back; one hundred tails rippled behind it as the power of a dao soul swept toward the finger. Things weren’t over yet, though. Xu Qing was going all out! Taking out some demonization symbols, he sent the Ghost Emperor mountain out with full force.

And then, Xu Qing pointed at the god’s finger. That was when he pushed down on the command medallion the palace lord had given him. The power of a taboo treasure descended. Brilliant light gathered in the net above, then shot downward in the form of a glowing hand some several thousand meters in size. As the hand dropped, the water shattered, spreading out in all directions.

As of this moment, Xu Qing was unleashing every scrap of battle prowess he was capable of. Intense rumbling sounds echoed into the sky. However... Xu Qing’s enemy was not a cultivator, but rather, a god. Maybe īt was only the pinky finger of the clone of a god. But the terrifying power emanating off of īt could shatter heaven and rock the earth.

His poison didn’t do much to the finger. Given īt’s maddened state, īt didn’t care about a bit of rot. What was more, īt was part of a god’s body, so īt naturally had defenses. The violet moon godsource was relatively negligible. To cultivators, it would be boundlessly powerful. But to this god’s finger, that small amount of essence was something īt could easily rebuff.

Even more noteworthy was that īt’s thinking was currently muddled; it was completely consumed by desire and madness. The finger pierced through the power of the poison and the violet moon. However, as īt neared Xu Qing, īt was resisted by the daybreak light. But that didn’t last for long.

However, Xu Qing took advantage of the time it bought him. His golden crow let loose a piercing cry and closed in. The Ghost Emperor mountain hurtled forward. And the hand of light descended from above with crushing power. As the taboo hand grew larger and larger, destructive power pulsed off of it. Then, it hit the god’s finger at the same time as Xu Qing’s other attacks.

Xu Qing didn’t bother to see what happened as a result. He just fled with all the speed he could muster, turning into a blur of afterimages that shot off into the distance.

Behind him, a deafening boom shook heaven and earth. A massive portion of the Abyssal Sea exploded, sending water spraying everywhere, and causing huge, destructive waves to roll out.

Xu Qing coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood, and his face went as pale as death. He staggered dramatically, but at the same time, kept fleeing.

However, after only a dozen or so breaths of time passed, a howl echoed out that could shake heaven and make ghosts and gods weep. And then, from the area where Xu Qing’s attacks had all landed simultaneously, a wriggling mass of shattered flesh slowly rose up.

As īt stitched itself back together, īt raced after Xu Qing. Xu Qing knew he couldn’t fight it, so as it closed in, his eyes lit with craziness as he tapped into the violet crystal! The wriggling mass of flesh neared, leaving behind a trail of blood. In the blink of an eye, īt was on top of Xu Qing.

“My... my.... Give... it... back!”

All of a sudden, Xu Qing was no longer visible. The spot where he had been was now covered with a mountainous mass of bloody flesh. And a terrifying, evil will spread out from that spot.