Outside of Time [Webnovel]

Editor: Atlas Studios

Western Starfield, Dao Immortal Sect.

Amidst the vast expanse of fertile fields, the struggle between the two plants also came to an end.

One stood tall, blossoming with vibrant life, its leaves swaying gently as they reflected starlight.

Beside it, the other herb lay withered and fallen, its leaves dried up and its flowers wilted, seemingly merging with the muddy earth.

However… the Poison Lord was still staring.

He wasn’t looking at the seemingly victorious herb, but at the one gradually merging with the mud.

“Reborn through death?”

The Poison Lord murmured, a strange light flickering in his eyes.

At the same time, in the sky of the Western Starfield, Li Mengtu’s face was pale as he sped through the air, his internal injuries surging uncontrollably. Occasionally, he would cough up blood, and no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, his condition had reached a critical point.

This battle was the most intense life-and-death battle in his life.

Though he had narrowly won, his injuries were more severe than ever before.

“Even against other stars, this would be the worst the battle can reach.”

Li Mengtu mumbled. Even though he had won now, he still had lingering fears when he recalled the battle.

It was also this mentality that caused him to not relax at all.

“There will always be variables in this world, and variables… especially love heaven’s chosen.”

Li Mengtu took a deep breath. He wouldn’t allow variables to appear in this incident, so he was aware that his speed was still too slow.

In the next instant, he raised his right hand and pressed it against his forehead. With a roar, his face turned unnaturally flushed as if he had triggered his potential, burning a portion of his authority.

This exchange granted him an even faster speed, allowing him to teleport in the blink of an eye.

Just like that, in three days, he borrowed the power of his teleportation and the ancient teleportation array to finally return to the Li clan before the fourth aurora vortex day arrived.

He didn’t go to the restricted area to the east but the true ancestral land of the Li clan.

Li City!

This city was majestic, prosperous, and there were countless cultivators.

Below the city, in the depths of the ground, there was an astonishing underground palace.

This underground palace was like a separate world.

To be precise, this was indeed a minor world.

There was sky and earth inside but no living beings.

The entire world was silent. Only the wind whistled here, blowing past the river, the plains, and a mountain peak.

At the top of the mountain, there was a wooden hut.

The door was tightly shut.

In the courtyard stood a cauldron, with incense burning and its smoke spiraling upward. The fragrant tendrils rose steadily into the air, unwavering in the wind.

A long time later, the sky of this small world silently rippled as Li Mengtu’s figure walked out.

After arriving here, he took a deep breath and walked to the courtyard of the wooden hut. Looking at the closed wooden door, his expression revealed a solemn expression.

He knelt down.

This place was their Li clan’s sacred land and the residence of the ancestor in his later years.

After the ancestor passed away, it became the ancestral hall of their Li clan.

According to the clan rules, unless it was the day of the ancestral worship, clansmen were usually not allowed to come here.

“Descendant Li Mengtu from later generations disturbs the peace of his ancestor.”

Li Mengtu spoke in a low voice, then touched his forehead to the ground, solemnly bowing his head in reverence.

After a long while, Li Mengtu stood up, his gaze shifting from the hut to the cauldron in front of him.

This cauldron was the main point of his trip here.

With a wave of his hand, the scroll painting that sealed Xu Qing flew out and headed straight for the cauldron.

The moment it fell into the cauldron, the entire cauldron trembled violently, causing the minor world to quake with a thunderous roar.

Endless flames surged up from the depths of the earth, illuminating the world while the formation began to glow.

The entire world became part of the formation, with the earth’s fire serving as the boundary, channeling power into the cauldron. The cauldron transformed into a smelting furnace, amplifying the power of the scroll, and its refining might surged dramatically.

“In this way, there will be no variables. That Xu Qing will have no possibility of turning the tables—his death is certain!”

Looking at everything in front of him, Li Mengtu’s heart finally relaxed.

After bowing once more to the wooden hut, he ascended into the sky, preparing to leave this place and return to Dao Immortal Sect, where he could heal his wounds with the sect’s abundant immortal energy.

“When I recover from my injuries and return to this place, Xu Qing’s souls will have already scattered in the Profound Earth. The inheritance that belongs to me will also return.”

Li Mengtu lowered his head and glanced at the scroll in the cauldron again.

The Li Clan’s ancestor left behind this scroll before he passed away. The contents of it were unknown to most descendants.

They only knew that this scroll was the clan’s supreme treasure and came from a place called Profound Earth.

That was the ancestor’s hometown.

It was said that the scroll could seal even a Lower Immortal.

Only Li Mengtu, who paid the price of his lifespan to open the scroll a crack, knew more about it.

“Body withered and hollow, soul goes through reincarnation, gradually eroded, and ultimately… spirit scattered into Profound Earth.”

As he muttered, Li Mengtu’s body swayed and he disappeared.

As he left, after the peace of the small world was broken, it fell into endless rumbling flames. This sound… echoed for a long time.

…

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The sound of heavenly lightning seemed to come from the distant sky, passing through the real world and landing in the illusory sky, becoming muffled thunder.

It exploded in the ears of countless people sleeping in the capital.

It woke up all the living beings in this city.

It also woke up an old man. He silently opened his eyes and coughed softly.

To a certain extent, this voice seemed to surpass heavenly lightning, causing the old man’s residence to be instantly lit up. Countless servants immediately rushed over.

They didn’t dare to delay at all.

This was because the lightning in the sky killed people based on fate.

While the old man killed based on his mood.

Hence, his cough surpassed the heavenly lightning.

The old man wore a luxurious silk inner robe, indicating his high status.

Despite his head full of white hair, wrinkles on his face, and prominent age spots, his long-standing high position endowed him with an aura of authority. This presence was so commanding that it made one forget the fact that he was nearing the end of his life.

People only remembered the thunderous decisiveness he had demonstrated throughout his life.

“What time is it?”

The old man spoke hoarsely.

One of the several servants who had hurried over, speaking cautiously, replied.

“Master, it’s the fourth watch of the night1.”

The old man fell silent. After a long time, he lay down again and calmly spoke.

“All of you can leave.”

All the servants heaved a sigh of relief inwardly and carefully left.

The room fell silent again. Only the muffled thunder in the sky occasionally echoed.

In the pitch-black darkness, the old man didn’t close his eyes. He looked into the darkness and felt the withering of his life, the weakness he wasn’t willing to accept, and the approaching death.

“I’m old… but I keep feeling like I’ve forgotten something important.”

The old man mumbled. After a long time, he finally closed his eyes.

In the 79th year of the Noble Sky Era of the Great Ning Dynasty. Great Ning’s capital city, Heavenly Treasure City.

The Chancellor Xu Jinfeng, who wielded immense power, assisted Emperor Noble Sky in ascending the throne, waged wars against twenty-five nations, and established an unprecedented foundation for the Great Ning Dynasty… has passed away.

That night, lightning continued to strike.

It was like the cycle of reincarnation, continuous and unbroken.

Yet in the cycle of time, some people are remembered by history, while others remain mere ripples.

On this very night, in another world, Xu Hong was born.

His father, a merchant, spent his life striving to become a prosperous businessman.

Thus, the eldest son born into the family that night was named Hong1.

Xu Hong dedicated his life to fulfilling his father’s dream, abandoning his studies to take over the family business and pursue his ideals.

Day after day, year after year.

In this journey, he became known for his kindness and generosity, earning the reputation of a great benefactor among others.

Unfortunately, a deception set up by someone close to him shattered his family’s dreams.

A plague then dashed his own hopes.

The wealth that had once been vast became nothing but emptiness.

His family was torn apart, and he was left in extreme misery. In his final moments, he was wrapped in a mat and discarded among the piles of corpses in the city, where he was reduced to ashes by a fire.

Regrets…

Xu Shan wasn’t sure; he only felt a deep sense of gloom. Trying to suppress his headache, he glanced at the burning remains ahead and spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

Surrounding him were broken-down carts on the official road, scattered gold ingots, trembling women, and, amid the flames, eyes filled with greed.

He, too, was one of them.

As a bandit on Yunlai Mountain, he was unwilling to live this way. After all, Third Master Xu Shan had always enjoyed a carefree life; he was a wanderer who valued freedom.

While staying on this mountain, he robbed the passing caravans, and occasionally faced life and death situations. But in the end… others got the meat while he got the soup.

He was growing increasingly impatient with such days.

The main issue was that his head was hurting more and more.

It was an old problem from his childhood; his mother used to say it was because he was growing his brain.

At that time, he believed it.

However, as he grew older, his headache became increasingly intense. However, his brain didn’t seem to have grown much.

He was always deceived and wronged. His mother was also killed by someone. He seemed to have taken revenge for it…

He didn’t remember. He only remembered that he hadn’t killed enough.

So, he gave his head a hard knock and then bandaged the wound on his leg. Thinking about how the escort guard had nearly cut off his vital parts before dying, Xu Shan felt even more unlucky.

“I need to find a time to leave this place and better yet, find a physician to see what’s wrong with my head.”

Just then, a laugh came from afar, followed by a trembling woman being thrown in front of Xu Shan.

“Foolish Third, you did well today. How about I reward you with a woman?”

Xu Shan’s whole body shook at the words. The sentence seemed to make his headache vanish, and he breathed more quickly, staring intently at the trembling woman. Suddenly, he thought that being a bandit here didn’t seem so bad after all.

He hurriedly spoke to the second leader who had offered him the reward.

“Ah, thank you…”

A stone flew swiftly, landing squarely on Xu Shan’s head.

The force was considerable, causing him to stumble back in pain. As he looked up, he saw the second leader sneering at him.

“You really want it?”

Accompanying this sentence were countless laughter from the surroundings.

“No, no…”

Xu Shan also smiled. Under his nonchalant appearance, there was an intense pain several times worse than his headache.

It was so painful that he wanted to kill someone, or… kill himself.

Hence, on the way back to the stronghold, he pounced in front of the second leader and stabbed him amidst the other party’s ridicule.

Unfortunately, he missed.

What greeted him was a storm of pain, leaving him like a ragdoll with countless wounds, drenched in blood.

However, even while dying, he had a smile on his face.

Under the shocked gazes of the second leader in front of him and amidst the gasps of the surrounding people, he swallowed the meat in his mouth.

That piece of meat was the flesh on the second leader’s throat.

The world became blurry.

Amidst this blurriness, Xu Shan suddenly realized that his head no longer hurt. A sentence that didn’t seem to be in his memory appeared in his mind.

“The world is the guest house of all living beings…”

“What does it mean?”

Xu Shan had never studied before. He didn’t understand the meaning behind this sentence, and when he tried to figure it out… his life had already withered.

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