Outside Of Time

Chapter 1742  The Goddess and the Clay Fox

It was the divine sense of a True God!

Within the purple crystal mountain, Xu Qingʼs expression darkened. A sense of foreboding surged in his heart, growing intensely in an instant.

His mind was in turmoil, and every hair on his body stood on end.

”Not just one True God, but at least seven!”

Xu Qingʼs pupils contracted. In his perception, the entire star was twisting at this moment, and all living beings were trembling.

The emerald-colored rings in the sky dimmed, as if about to lose their light, overshadowed by dark clouds formed from a powerful will that covered the heavens and everything below.

The divine sense of the multiple True Gods converged like a tidal wave, turning the starry sky into an ocean and this star into an isolated island. Now, the waves were surging, threatening to engulf the star.

The sense of foreboding grew even stronger.

Just as the divine sense was about to sweep over Xu Qingʼs location,

Xu Qing extinguished all his immortal aura and summoned the shadow to envelop him.

As for the clay fox, She didnʼt need Xu Qingʼs call. She had already appeared, releasing Her full divine aura to conceal Xu Qing.

With their combined efforts, along with Xu Qingʼs unique nature compared to other cultivators, the area around him was filled with intense anomalous substances.

But even this wasnʼt enough.

At the critical moment, Xu Qingʼs eyes flashed. He raised his right hand and grabbed the unconscious goddess from his storage bag, tossing Her to the clay fox.

The clay fox instantly understood Xu Qingʼs intention. She grabbed the goddess by the neck and covered Her eyes.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingʼs body shrank to the size of a speck of dust and rushed toward the wound on the goddessʼ collarbone, burrowing deep into Her flesh to hide.

He was gambling!

In Xu Qingʼs judgment, the True Godsʼ divine sense would focus on two main things.

One was searching for immortal aura to determine his location.

The other was using methods related to bloodlines or special divine essence to locate and find the goddess!

Although Xu Qing and the goddess were certainly together, these two methods of detection were different in direction and both had a flaw.

That is, they weakened the detection of other gods!

And the clay fox, both inside and out, was a god.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the two methods were combined, but even then, the flaw remained.

However, there was still a chance of misjudgment. But Xu Qing had no choice. He couldnʼt leave the goddess alone outside, as that would introduce too many variables. So, he needed the clay fox outside to restrain the goddess.

Even though the goddess was unconscious, Xu Qing didnʼt want to give Her any chance to alert others.

This would allow him to better hide within Her body.

As for whether his concealment would succeed…

Xu Qing wasnʼt entirely confident, but he had some assurance. This assurance came from… the Immortal Lordʼs sealing power within the goddessʼ body!

”Earlier, when I fought the jade-faced True God on the battlefield, It was shocked when I brought out the Dao Artifact. Until Its death, It never used any countermeasures, which means It didnʼt know about my possession of the Dao Artifact.”

”Yet, all the frontline cultivators knew about it. The most likely explanation is that my information was concealed by someone at the Immortal Lord level, making it impossible for gods to detect.”

”Concealing my information, granting me the Dao Artifact… and the seal left in the goddessʼ body…”

All of this flashed through Xu Qingʼs mind in an instant as the terrifying divine sense swept over, enveloping the purple crystal mountain.

Xu Qingʼs heart tightened, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. He was prepared to use his Space-Time Ordinance to flee if anything went wrong.

But in the next moment, an ancient will suddenly emerged from the goddessʼ body, spreading slightly and shielding all traces of Her.

This scene made Xu Qing narrow his eyes.

Then, the divine sense that had swept over the area passed through the purple crystal mountain without detecting anything. It soon covered the entire star, found nothing, and moved on to another part of the starry sky.

Xu Qing remained motionless, waiting for another two hours. The divine sense that had left suddenly returned, enveloping the nebula where this star was located.

It swept through the stars and dust in the nebula once more.

Finally, seemingly assured that nothing was amiss, it truly departed.

Xu Qing still didnʼt move, continuing to wait.

Four hours later, a third wave of divine sense swept through the nebula.

This divine sense was different from the previous ones, clearly not from the same group of gods.

Over the next few days, similar sweeps occurred daily, often abruptly and frequently, continuing for several days… before finally ceasing.

Xu Qingʼs nerves were on edge. After waiting for three days, he finally confirmed it was safe and flew out of the goddessʼ wound, returning to his normal size. He looked outside with a grim expression, then turned to the clay fox beside the goddess.

”Young Master, when the True Godsʼ divine sense detected my Divine Platform aura, they simply ignored me.”

”I suspect their main focus during the large-scale search was immortal aura.”

”Moreover, after this search, I can sense that if you hadnʼt hidden within the goddessʼ body, my concealment of you might not have been enough to escape detection.”

The clay fox had also been extremely tense these past few days. Now that She had relaxed, She glanced at the still-unconscious goddess and didnʼt speak directly but instead transmitted Her thoughts to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing remained silent.

He could also sense what the clay fox had perceived, so he clearly understood that the key to avoiding detection this time was the Immortal Lordʼs seal on the goddess.

”Was this anticipated? A life-saving measure left for me?”

Xu Qing pondered.

”However… even if it was anticipated, there must have been some deviation, because this seal… in the anomalous substances-rich Fourth Star Ring, is like water without a source.”

Over the past few days, the seal had been repeatedly activated, and Xu Qing could sense that it was being eroded.

”Each sweep erodes the seal. After a certain number of times, the seal will dissipate.”

”When that happens…”

A deep unease rose in Xu Qingʼs heart.

”However, these repeated sweeps were all at the True God level, and the Lord God only issued a decree without personally investigating. This suggests that the war is likely still ongoing, and the Lord God hasnʼt left the battlefield!”

”I still have time!”

”I need to fully recover my cultivation as soon as possible and find a star map to guide me back to the Fifth Star Ring!”

Determination flashed in Xu Qingʼs eyes.

”As for this place… after being swept so many times, it should be safe for a while.”

Xu Qing was deep in thought when suddenly… the divine sense of a god appeared again, roaring as it swept toward the purple crystal mountain.

Xu Qingʼs expression changed, and he once again shrank to the size of a speck of dust, flying into the goddessʼ wound to hide.

But soon, he became puzzled.

Because the intensity of this divine sense wasnʼt high—it wasnʼt from a True God but from a peak Divine Platform god.

Moreover, it was only passing through the purple crystal mountain, focusing its attention on the dust forest where Xu Qing had first appeared.

As long as it wasnʼt the divine sense of a True God, Xu Qing was confident he could ignore it without hiding in the goddessʼ body.

After carefully observing and waiting for the divine sense to leave, he flew out of the goddessʼ wound, his expression dark as he grabbed the goddess.

He slapped Her.

With a loud smack, half of the goddessʼ face swelled up. She opened Her eyes wide, glaring at Xu Qing, Her heart filled with intense resentment.

She knew why Xu Qing had slapped Her—he must have thought She had left some trace or used some method when they were teleported here.

But She knew She hadnʼt… not because She didnʼt want to, but because She hadnʼt had the chance before Xu Qing woke up.

This resentment boiled within Her, reigniting Her hatred to an extreme degree.

She was done holding back!

Previously, She was afraid because of the terrifying Dao Artifact. However, She had actually woken up long ago in the past few days. Although She couldnʼt alert anyone or call for help because of the clay fox, She had seen everything clearly.

She knew that this damned Xu Qing wouldnʼt let Her go, nor would he kill Her. He needed Her for concealment.

So, being afraid was pointless.

Now, Her hatred burned fiercely as She glared at Xu Qing.

”If you have the guts, kill me!”

”Do you dare!”

Xu Qingʼs gaze was icy as he looked at the goddess and spoke indifferently.

”Your fatherʼs decree only mentioned capturing me alive, not whether you live or die.”

The goddessʼ expression froze, and just as She was about to speak, Xu Qing didnʼt give Her the chance. With his right hand, he tightened his grip on Her neck and began to absorb. In an instant, the essence that had regenerated within the goddess over the past few days surged like a wild horse, rushing into Xu Qingʼs body.

It nourished his immortal embryo and soul, accelerating the recovery of his soulʼs injuries.

The goddess wilted, but the hatred in Her eyes turned into a silent curse.

But in the next moment, Xu Qingʼs Ordinance pierced through Her collarbone again, spreading throughout Her body. The intense pain caused Her to tremble violently, and Her body began to generate essence once more.

Xu Qing continued to absorb.

And so, time passed. After a few days… Xu Qingʼs injuries were almost fully healed, while the goddess had become skin and bones.

But now, a situation arose that made Xu Qing frown.

During this period of near-overdraft extraction, the goddessʼ body had entered a state similar to a deadlock.

The origin essence She generated was becoming less and less.

It seemed that the level of pain Xu Qing inflicted on Her no longer effectively stimulated Her.

If he increased the intensity, She would likely be unable to withstand it and die at any moment.

Realizing Her condition, the goddessʼs hatred and resentment finally found an outlet. She let out a nearly insane, shrill laugh.

”Xu Qing, what can you do now!”

”Have you reached your limit in tormenting me?”

”You donʼt dare kill me, and now youʼve exhausted your methods. So, this is all youʼre capable of!”

”But do you know, my methods against you are endless. One day, when you fall into my hands, I will repay you ten thousand times for all the torment youʼve inflicted on me!”

Xu Qingʼs gaze was cold as he looked at the hysterical goddess, narrowing his eyes.

He raised his right hand, about to put Her away, when suddenly, the clay foxʼs laughter reached his ears.

”Young Master, Iʼve been watching all along and have been meaning to tell you—your extraction method is too inefficient.”

Amidst the laughter, the clay foxʼs enchanting figure appeared beside Xu Qing, walking over to the goddess.

Looking at the goddess, She licked Her lips, Her eyes gleaming with excitement. She hooked a finger under the goddessʼs chin.

”I have a suggestion…”

The goddess, Her chin hooked, instinctively looked at the clay fox. The clay foxʼs gaze made Her heart skip a beat, and an inexplicable sense of unease rose within Her.