Outside Of Time

Chapter 1750  The Excited Erniu!

Xu Qing stood there in the array formation formed by the star ring grass.

He now possessed all conditions necessary for teleportation. The star ring grass bestowed by the Venerable Immortal was clutched in his hand, while the aura of the golden rat swirled around him.

 A single thought would activate the teleportation.

In this state, he lifted his head, gazing intently at the crimson-hued sky.

He awaited an answer.

Soon, a sound tinged with antiquity—and a slight undercurrent of bewilderment—resounded through the small world:

”I… do not know.”

”Long ago, I perished once. When I returned, my memories held both the remains of a deityʼs existence and broken recollections of a cultivatorʼs life.”

”These dual memories intertwined, plunging me into ceaseless disorientation.”

”Amid this turmoil, a sound occasionally resounded through the conflicting memories within my consciousness.”

”That sound told me that he left a mark in my memory. One day, he will use this mark to do something.”

”Thus, it urged me not to dwell on my identity, but to continue walking my path until I encountered a cultivator capable of vibrating with that mark.”

”The moment you entered this secret realm, I sensed the markʼs resonance. I knew… the awaited one had arrived.”

”As for your question, I cannot answer definitively. I may be a deity… or perhaps, a cultivator.”

”I possess no proof to substantiate my claims. Therefore, whether you believe me… is your choice.”

”Yet I shall not conceal this: The secret art I imparted to you for absorbing the Zhen Yi True God carries risks. It may stir disturbances beyond this secret realm, potentially drawing the attention of external forces.”

”However, the secret art is real and so is the absorption.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing glanced down at the formation beneath his feet. After several breaths, he spoke calmly:

”Give me the secret art.”

In the next instant, streaks of lightning crackled across the sky, intertwining to form a jade slip that descended before Xu Qing.

Xu Qing swept his divine sense over and a secret art called the Mystic Nether Soul Refinement Art instantly surged into Xu Qingʼs heart.

The moment he sensed this secret art, Xu Qingʼs eyes narrowed. The first two words of the secret artʼs name caused waves in his heart.

”This art existed within the fractured memories of my cultivator self. Only those imbued with immortal energy may wield it.”

The voice of the earth god echoed in the world.

Xu Qing suddenly spoke.

”In those fragmented memories of your cultivator self… did his name remain?”

”…”

After a long time, the earth god spoke softly.

”No.”

Xu Qing fell silent. The Mystic Nether Soul Refinement Art in his mind formed densely-packed rune marks. As his divine sense swept over, he analyzed them one by one. Finally, a silver glint flashed in his eyes.

At the next instant, the void behind him rumbled and a vast immortal embryo that could support the sky appeared between heaven and earth.

Waves of runes transformed from the Mystic Nether Soul Refinement Art were also dyed silver. They flowed on the huge immortal embryoʼs body and finally gathered in its right hand.

It probed toward the sky of this small world!

In an instant, the sky shattered and a large hole was pierced through by the large hand.

At the same time, in the secret realm outside where the sky and earth were fighting intensely.

The mountain range was erupting, the withered trees were soaring into the sky, and a rain of blood was falling from the sky. The huge black tumor was trembling intensely.

At that moment, all the fungal umbrellas shone with silver light.

This light instantly enveloped the entire secret realm and dyed the surroundings. At the same time, it formed a vast silver hand.

That was the hand of the immortal embryo Xu Qing had stretched out!

He grabbed at the black tumor in the sky!

Silver runes erupted from the colossal hand like a torrential flood, engulfing the black flesh-sphere in argent light. Seizing the moment of the godʼs fierce clash with the earth god, the runes clamped down—and began devouring.

In the blink of an eye, a tsunami of origin essence—terrifying in its magnitude—was siphoned into the silver runes. The energy surged back into Xu Qingʼs immortal embryo, while his physical body frantically refined the essence.

He was refining the origin essence that was absorbed into immortal energy that nourished the immortal embryo!

His cultivation base also rose at this moment, continuously advancing toward the late-stage Quasi Immortal Realm…

The black tumor in the sky shuddered violently. A godʼs oppressive might erupted, accompanied by a voice that cracked the heavens:

”Insolence!”

The roar fractured the secret realmʼs sky, fissures spider webbing across it. The tumor split open, revealing a single golden eye.

It didnʼt have any emotions. If It were a cultivator or a postnatal god, Its anger would have reached an extreme right now.

However, having no emotions didnʼt mean that It didnʼt know how to weigh the pros and cons. Hence, It was very clear that during the process of It devouring the earth god, the absorption from Xu Qing was equivalent to plundering Its foundation, Its future, Its very survival.

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for a Quasi Immortal to plunder It.

The root causes of this… aside from the uniqueness of the plundering secret art, the most critical factor was…

Its rival, the earth god, was struggling, resisting, seizing this final opportunity to erupt with all Its remaining power.

The moment Xu Qing had started absorbing, all the mountains on the ground transformed into spine-shaped blades that shot skyward. With deafening roars, they pierced the heavens.

Meanwhile, the withered trees burned themselves without hesitation, empowering the silver giant hand conjured by Xu Qing. Golden light suppressed divine authority, ensuring the silver handʼs unimpeded movement.

At this critical juncture, the tumor in the sky shuddered. Its outer layer of flesh shattered and ignited, exchanging destruction for terrifying power that erupted violently.

This was Its method to repel Xu Qingʼs absorption!

Though the earth god neutralized most of this outburst, the residual force remained devastating. When it struck Xu Qingʼs immortal embryo hand, the limb fragmented instantly.

It collapsed.

Showers of True God origin essence spilled forth.

Within the small world, Xu Qingʼs colossal immortal embryo form also crumbled with a thunderous boom.

Inside the formation, Xu Qing vomited silver-tinged blood—a result of the unrefined origin essence he had absorbed.

His rising cultivation was forcibly halted, even triggering backlash.

Yet Xu Qing was ruthless. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as the spilled blood transformed into mist before hitting the ground. He inhaled sharply, reclaiming it.

Veins bulged across his body as his immortal embryo roared back to life. The giant hand reformed, and with a ferocious expression, he thrust it outward again!

Outside, the silver hand reappeared. A torrent of silver runes engulfed the black tumor once more, resuming the plunder—but this time, the method differed entirely.

The speed and intensity far surpassed before.

This was because Xu Qing… had abandoned refinement!

Normally, absorption and refinement formed a complete cycle, transforming the essence into immortal energy.

But after what happened earlier, Xu Qing realized his refinement speed couldnʼt match his absorption rate.

This delay hindered the overall process.

Now, with cold determination, he abandoned refinement entirely, using himself as a mere vessel for raw absorption.

There were a few drawbacks to doing this.

Firstly, Xu Qingʼs capacity was limited.

After all, that was the peak of the True God Realm. If It was compared to the sea, Xu Qing could only be considered a lake now.

Secondly, too much essence was wasted in the process and what he was absorbing wasnʼt pure.

Yet Xu Qing ignored these concerns. Faced with this rare opportunity, he resolved to devour as much as possible—ideally taking extra to store for later!

With this ruthless resolve, he absorbed at full force!

His body reached saturation instantly, yet the absorption continued.

What couldnʼt be contained spilled outward!

A portion of the black tumorʼs surface showed signs of shriveling. Though small compared to Its whole, this flaw—combined with Its ongoing battle against the earth god—left It with limited countermeasures.

This defect became a fatal weakness, empowering the earth godʼs retaliation.

After all, the balance between Them had never been overwhelmingly tilted.

What worsened the black tumorʼs predicament was Xu Qingʼs overflow—akin to puncturing a balloon.

All of this formed a huge crisis for It.

At this critical moment, the black tumor shuddered violently. Another portion of Its flesh burned away, releasing a world-sundering roar that shook the void.

It sought to tear open the secret realmʼs spatial fabric, intending to leak its aura outward.

This would create an exit while alerting external forces—a last-resort move It had wished to avoid, as It invited greater unpredictability. But under Xu Qingʼs relentless plunder, It had no choice.

Use variables to resolve crisis.

Yet… the instant It began tearing the void…

The silver runes surrounding It disintegrated abruptly. The silver hand and Xu Qingʼs immortal embryo in the small world vanished simultaneously.

Xu Qing had decisively abandoned the plunder!

Without hesitation, he activated the teleportation formation and disappeared instantly!

He left this place!

Though he had agreed to the earth godʼs deal, his nature prevented blind trust.

From start to finish, he never intended full cooperation.

He only had one goal.

That was… to make the imbalance here regain its balance!

This way, neither entity could spare the effort to pursue him.

”Gone?”

The black tumor ceased Its spatial tearing immediately. As Its mind churned, the earth god launched another assault, reigniting the sky-earth conflict.

Meanwhile, as the secret realm quaked, the star ring grass formation where Xu Qing had vanished began disintegrating rapidly.

Just before the formation dissipated completely…

A finger-length blue worm with a human face squirmed out from a sudden flash of residual teleportation light.

The moment it appeared, the star ring grass fragments of the array formation completely dissipated, leaving no traces.

The blue worm was left staring blankly at its surroundings.

”Where the hell is this?”

The blue worm was at a loss. The human face on it…

If Xu Qing was here, he would definitely be shocked and extremely happy.

That was actually Erniu!

Currently stupefied, Erniuʼs nose twitched suddenly. He whipped his head toward the distance, eyes blazing as he instinctively cried out:

”Thatʼs the aura of flesh and blood of a peak Divine Platform!!”

”Damn, what is this place…”

Quivering with excitement, Erniu vanished in a flash, darting through the small world. Soon, he arrived at the battlefield where Xu Qing had clashed with the gods.

Corpses of gods littered the ground—including multiple Divine Platform-stage remains, even Peak Divine Platform remains.

Erniu trembled with exhilaration, nearly weeping from joy.

”Has my luck finally turned?!”

”I barely escaped alive after stealing a single Divine Platform in that damned Brilliant Heaven realm—yet here… a feast lying unattended!”

”Iʼm rich!”

He pounced greedily, though a thread of wariness lingered.

”These gods died recently. Who slaughtered Them? The methods are really brutal.”