Outside Of Time

Chapter 1744  The True Gods Close the Net

When Xu Qing returned, everything in the chamber had returned to normal, and the seductive atmosphere had dissipated.

What greeted Xu Qingʼs eyes was another bizarre scene.

The Starry Eye Goddess sat there with Her eyes closed.

The clay fox stood behind Her, combing Her hair. As the wooden comb passed through Her silky locks, the goddess remained motionless.

Xu Qingʼs expression turned strange. After a closer look, he noticed that the goddessʼ essence, which had previously been locked due to overexertion, had now become active.

Moreover, the amount of essence had increased significantly.

This made him turn his gaze to the clay fox.

The clay fox chuckled softly.

”Young Master, from now on, you mustnʼt be so rough with Starry Eye. She has agreed to fully cooperate with the extraction.”

”Isnʼt that right, Starry Eye?”

As the clay fox spoke, She leaned down and blew a soft breath into Starry Eyeʼs ear.

Starry Eye trembled and opened Her eyes, looking at Xu Qing.

This time, the hatred She felt for Xu Qing had unknowingly diminished greatly.

In Her perception, Xu Qing was no longer a nightmare.

Xu Qing was merely absorbing Her origin essence for cultivation. That was all. Their opposing stances had already determined this.

The real nightmare was the clay fox behind Her.

It was a demon, an abyss, an eternal evil that surrounded Her heart.

As a god with pure essence and noble bloodline, She had never experienced such blasphemy in Her life. The moment Her mind collapsed and Her emotions erupted…

She knew She was no longer pure.

Her heart was now filled with emotions and desires, countless unfamiliar feelings.

She had fallen from divinity.

And so, She raised Her hand toward Xu Qing.

Streams of essence flowed from Her hand, actively offering itself to Xu Qing. It entered his seven orifices, churning within his body and stirring his cultivation.

This scene made Xu Qingʼs eyes grow even more curious.

Active offering was different from forced extraction. It eliminated the need to refine the will, making the essence purer.

”How did you do it?”

Xu Qing asked the clay fox.

He wasnʼt asking about the clay foxʼs actions after the wax-dripping, but rather the logic and reasoning behind the entire process.

The clay fox gently stroked Starry Eyeʼs hair and smiled.

”Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for me to stir Starry Eyeʼs heartstrings, especially since She was once a True God. But the seal on Her body cut off all resistance, leaving Her defenseless.”

”Also, Young Master, you helped a lot. Your previous extractions had already brought Starry Eye to the brink, like a dam about to burst.”

”All I did was give a gentle push at the critical moment…”

”And Starry Eye fell into the mortal world. Naturally, the lock was released.”

The clay fox blinked at Xu Qing.

”So, Young Master, was your trip successful?”

Xu Qing glanced at the clay fox and Starry Eye, deciding not to delve deeper into the matter. He spoke indifferently.

”We can leave this place and go somewhere new. It should be a better place to hide.”

”As for the goddess… from now on, you will be responsible for Her. Can you handle it without any mistakes?”

The clay foxʼs eyes lit up.

”Young Master, donʼt worry. Iʼve never made a mistake before.”

With that, the clay fox waved Her sleeve, enveloping the silent Starry Eye in a stream of light, which then merged into Xu Qingʼs palm, forming a mark.

Xu Qing glanced at Her, then erased all traces of the cave. His body dissipated, transforming into a butterfly with colorful wings in the sky above the purple crystal mountain.

With a flap of its wings, it vanished into the void, carrying a trail of rainbow light.

The new location he had informed the clay fox about was naturally the temple of the scaled oxen.

Not long after, amidst the worship of the scaled oxen, the butterfly that was Xu Qing returned to the temple, reforming into a butterfly statue.

Divine power emanated from the statue, spreading beyond the temple and enveloping the entire nation.

Feeling this divine power, all the scaled oxen folded their wings, their eyes filled with piety, and they prostrated themselves in worship.

The priests among them let out excited murmurs, speaking of the divine miracle in their language.

Xu Qing sensed this and remained calm.

In the days to come, he planned to occupy this temple, using the skin of the butterfly god to become it!

This would deepen his concealment.

As for the timing of leaving this star, Xu Qing had also made a new decision.

From the memories of the butterfly god, he had not only learned about the layout of this star and its distance from the battlefield but also discovered a divine teleportation array.

This array was located within the divine clan that had once produced a True God and now governed this star.

Although, according to the butterfly godʼs knowledge, this clan no longer had a True God and was only led by a peak Divine Platform expert, it was still a clan that had once produced a True God. It likely possessed some powerful methods.

If Xu Qing were to force his way in, success would be ideal, but if something went wrong, he would undoubtedly be exposed.

Once exposed, True Gods would come after him, and the chances of successfully teleporting would be greatly reduced.

After some thought, Xu Qing decided not to act rashly.

Because… an opportunity was coming soon.

In the butterfly godʼs memories, a few months ago, the clan governing this star had issued a summons to all the gods on the star.

They were to join the clan in exploring a secret realm.

The location of this secret realm was deep beneath the starʼs surface!

Based on Xu Qingʼs divine sense, it was the source of the ley linesʼ breathing.

”The moment They enter the secret realm will be the best time for me to leave!”

”There are still two months…”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. As for how the butterfly god he had taken over would avoid participating in the secret realm, he already had a plan.

”Rather than leaving this star immediately and cautiously navigating the starry sea filled with gods, relying on the teleportation array is the safest method.”

”It will significantly shorten the distance, bringing me infinitely closer to the edge of the Fourth Star Ring.”

”As for breaking through the barrier…”

A glint of determination flashed in Xu Qingʼs eyes. He had the Star Ring Grass and the Holy Heaven Pagoda, giving him some confidence in breaking through the barrier and returning.

With this in mind, Xu Qing closed his eyes. Using the butterfly statue as his body, he silently absorbed the essence actively offered by Starry Eye and began his cultivation.

And so, time passed.

Since gods were independent beings with Their own territories, Xu Qingʼs possession of the butterfly god went unnoticed.

Additionally, many gods had already responded to the summons of the governing clan and had gone to the emerald rings in the sky to prepare in advance.

This, combined with Xu Qingʼs familiarity with gods, the clay foxʼs assistance, and the effectiveness of the disguise, allowed Xu Qing to weave everything together, creating a better concealment.

However, in the end, he could not avoid the divine sense of True Gods.

Thus, in the days that followed, whenever a True Godʼs divine sense swept through, Xu Qing would rely on the Immortal Lordʼs seal within Starry Eyeʼs body to evade detection.

But… as the day for the governing clanʼs exploration of the secret realm approached, perhaps because the True Gods who had received God Emperor Chiuzʼs decree had found nothing in Their searches… a new round of searches began.

This time, it was clearly more meticulous and frequent. Most importantly, the direction of the search had also addressed the flaw Xu Qing had previously discovered.

These True Gods were not only searching for the goddess and immortal aura but also began to investigate ordinary gods!

It was as if They were closing a net, and this net was incredibly fine, designed to catch any anomalies.

After experiencing this once, Xu Qingʼs heart sank.

This was no longer just about whether the clay fox would be exposed. Xu Qingʼs current disguise also carried the risk of exposure.

Unless both he and the clay fox hid within Starry Eyeʼs flesh.

But leaving Starry Eye alone outside, even though She had been obedient recently, was still something Xu Qing would not allow.

Thus, he was caught in a dilemma.

”Just the divine sense of two True Gods nearly exposed me…”

”Have they learned more about me? Do they know I have a god with me, or that I have a way to disguise myself as a god?”

Xu Qing frowned.

As if misfortunes never come singly, not only were the True Godsʼ searches more thorough, but the Immortal Lordʼs seal within Starry Eyeʼs body was also continuously dissipating under the repeated divine sense scans.

Only half of it remained.

”Seven more days…”

Xu Qing silently calculated, a flicker of firelight dancing in his eyes. The sense of unease in his heart was rapidly rising.

”I canʼt gamble on the chance that no more than two True Godsʼ divine senses will sweep through in the remaining time!”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint appearing. He stood up, about to make a decision, when the clay fox suddenly spoke.

”Young Master, I have a secret technique…”

Xu Qing paused.

”This technique is actually a prerequisite for casting a specific divine spell. It allows my divine aura to merge with the external environment, triggering a large-scale divine spell.

If the external environment is clear, then this technique would not be so effective.

But if the external environment is already filled with chaotic divine aura, then using this technique to merge with it… I become part of the chaos.”

The clay fox spoke urgently. She was clearly anxious. If Xu Qing were discovered, She knew that given what She had done to Starry Eye, Her fate would be far worse than Xu Qingʼs.

After all, Xu Qing was to be captured alive according to the Lord Godʼs decree…

So She racked Her brains to find a solution.

Xu Qingʼs eyes gleamed with curiosity upon hearing this.

”You mean, since we canʼt reduce our presence, we should find a place filled with other presences.”

The clay fox immediately agreed.

”Young Master, this way, we can indirectly achieve concealment. At the very least… we can increase our safety margin!”

”How confident are you?” Xu Qing asked immediately.

”Fifty percent…” The clay fox hesitated.

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, then nodded.

”Teach me this technique. Weʼll use it together when the time comes!”

The clay fox quickly transmitted the technique to Xu Qing through divine sense.

The technique wasnʼt difficult. After a brief moment of comprehension, Xu Qing understood it fully. Without further hesitation, he said,

”Thereʼs a place filled with chaotic aura.”

In an instant, Xu Qingʼs body flickered, disappearing from the temple and reappearing in the sky, heading straight for… the three hundred and sixty emerald rings above.