Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 60: No Entry Without Invitation

Thunder shattered the heavens!

Deafening booms rolled across the sky, echoing between heaven and earth. The clouds hung in thick, oppressive layers, as if colossal entities from the void were locked in an endless bombardment.

Muffled rumbles gave way to chains of explosive cracks, jolting the residents of the main city from their slumber. Jagged streaks of lightning tore through the firmament, violently ripping the darkness apart. For a brief moment, the sun, long smothered by the storm, seemed to catch its breath, desperately pouring its light and torrential rain down upon the mortal realm.

By dawn, the deluge had only worsened.

The wind howled with a ferocity absent in the night, roaring like a maddened giant. Its gales swept in all directions, seemingly challenging the thunder above, echoing across the horizon in lingering, resonant blasts.

On the rain-swept streets, a lone figure walking beneath a black paper umbrella gradually blurred into the mist.

Torrents of water cascaded over the umbrella’s surface, drumming a frantic, pattering rhythm against the oiled paper. Unwilling to be halted, the rain clung to the edges, forming unbroken streams that plummeted to the earth, eager to reunite with the pooling water below.

The ripples of their reunion thoroughly scoured away the blood spilled the night before, yet no amount of rain could wash away the inherent sins of human nature in this cruel world.

“Everyone harbors a locked cage of sin in their heart. The chaos of this world simply makes that lock incredibly easy to pick.”

Captain Lei had sighed those words during a meal long ago. Xu Qing found truth in them.

As the tempest raged and the thunder roared, Xu Qing’s mind settled into a profound calm.

Unconsciously, he had navigated back to Port 79. Staring out at the violently churning sea, he performed his habitual perimeter check before lowering his Dharma Boat into the water.

He stepped aboard. As the boat’s protective shield hummed to life, sealing away the torrential downpour, Xu Qing sat cross-legged beneath the black awning. The vessel pitched and rolled violently on the waves, but to Xu Qing, who had long adapted to the harshness of this life, it brought no discomfort.

Instead, the rhythmic rocking, paired with the muffled roar of the storm outside, deepened his inner tranquility. Lowering his head, he began to refine his pills.

Over the recent period, he had made numerous trips to the apothecaries, investing heavily in medicinal herbs. His stockpile of White Pills had grown substantially, as had his reserves of Black Pills and lethal poison powders.

The small compartments lining the interior of his cabin were now densely packed, overflowing with a vast array of Yang-positive and Yin-evil herbs.

I need to find time to leave the city and secure a proper poison-refining site, Xu Qing thought, his gaze sweeping over the compartments. He raised his right hand, making a grasping motion. Several stalks of herbs flew into his palm. Amidst the howling storm outside, he continued his meticulous work.

Time bled away. Throughout the day, the storm escalated into a full-blown tempest, churning the sea into towering, roaring swells.

Relentless waves battered the harbor, tossing the moored vessels violently. Fortunately, the ships here were all Dharma Boats; with their defensive arrays active, they weathered the assault, though from a distance, they resembled helpless autumn leaves trembling on the water.

The extreme weather halted all maritime traffic. No ships entered the port, and none dared to leave. Consequently, most of the Sect’s departments suspended operations, and the disciples remained holed up in their residences.

The entire Seven Blood Eyes port district ground to a halt under the overwhelming force of nature.

Only the killing… continued.

When the second night descended, the storm reached a fever pitch. The heavenly thunder merged seamlessly with the howling gales, sending a frenzied roar echoing across the harbor. Inside his violently pitching Dharma Boat, Xu Qing’s eyes snapped open.

A sharp prickle of danger flared in his mind.

The threat didn’t stem from the raging elements, but from the docks just outside his vessel.

Though the torrential rain had washed away much of the poison powder he had scattered around his berth, trace amounts of the toxins were designed to cling stubbornly to the environment. This was his first perimeter alarm. If anyone approached, they would inevitably be tainted by the residue. Should they then step onto his Dharma Boat, that residue would react with the hidden toxic gases inside the cabin, instantly synthesizing into a lethal poison.

Furthermore, the surge in spiritual energy he had acquired during the Novice test, combined with his rapid advancements in the Sea Transformation Scripture, had honed his perception far beyond that of his peers.

Through this dual layer of security, Xu Qing knew with absolute certainty: someone was outside. And they were standing right next to his Dharma Boat.

A cold, murderous glint coalesced in Xu Qing’s eyes. He didn’t wait passively in the cabin. He stood and walked out onto the deck, standing just behind the shimmering barrier of the protective shield, peering into the gloom.

Through the sheets of rain and the strobe of lightning, he spotted a figure standing on the dock by his berth. The man wore a woven rush raincoat and held a wine jug in his hand.

He looked at Xu Qing. Xu Qing stared back.

After a long moment, the figure tipped up the brim of his bamboo hat, revealing a middle-aged face. He offered Xu Qing a warm smile.

“Junior Brother Xu, no need to be so tense. It’s just me. I was out buying wine and happened to pass by. Thought I’d ask if you wanted to share a drink? In this miserable weather, a cup of wine would hit the spot, wouldn’t it?”

Xu Qing recognized him. He was a disciple from the Homicide Department, assigned to the exact same squad as Xu Qing. He was also the man who had casually invited Xu Qing out for drinks a few days prior.

Xu Qing said nothing. He simply stared at the middle-aged cultivator with dead, unblinking eyes.

Meeting that chilling gaze, the man offered a helpless, self-deprecating smile.

“Fair enough. The cutthroat environment of this Sect makes it hard to trust anyone, but I swear I mean no harm. Junior Brother Xu, I just wanted to extend an olive branch. Half the squad has shared my wine by now. But since you’re not interested, I’ll take my leave.”

He shook his head and turned to walk away.

Right at that moment, Xu Qing’s voice cut through the rain.

“Alright. Come aboard.”

The man’s footsteps faltered. He looked back at Xu Qing in surprise, then glanced at the Dharma Boat. A dark, calculating gleam flashed deep within his eyes before vanishing. He shook his head again.

“Forget it. I don’t like forcing people.”

He quickened his pace, turning away. But he had barely taken five steps when a sharp, piercing shriek tore through the storm. A dagger, hurled with terrifying velocity, cleaved through the rain, rocketing straight toward his back.

In a blur of motion, the middle-aged cultivator twisted aside. His expression twisted into a snarl as he spun around, but before he could react, Xu Qing exploded out from the Dharma Boat. Gripping a black iron spike, the youth charged through the tempest like a demon.

“Junior Brother Xu, what is the meaning of this?!”

The man’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. He shot backward, his hands blurring through a one-handed incantation seal. Instantly, the falling rain around him froze in mid-air before whistling toward Xu Qing like a volley of arrows.

Yet, before the water could strike, Xu Qing simply waved his hand. The incoming rain arrows violently shuddered. In a terrifying display of control, Xu Qing hijacked the technique, reversing the trajectory of the water and sending it shooting right back at the middle-aged cultivator.

The man’s mind reeled, a suffocating sense of lethal crisis gripping his heart. He bit down hard on his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood that instantly vaporized into a crimson mist, forming a shield to block the rebounding rain arrows. He threw his weight backward, desperate to put distance between them.

But he was too late. He had severely misjudged Xu Qing’s cultivation.

Like a hot knife through butter, Xu Qing closed the distance. A crack of lightning illuminated the black iron spike in his hand, its cold, murderous edge thrusting directly toward the man’s forehead.

The killing intent was bone-chilling.

The middle-aged cultivator’s eyes went bloodshot. With a feral roar, he detonated his cultivation base. Multiple layers of glowing defensive barriers erupted around him. Worse, his chest suddenly bulged, tearing through his robes as a hideous, vertical maw of jagged flesh and teeth ripped open on his torso, unleashing a piercing, sonic shriek right at Xu Qing.

Boom!

The iron spike shattered the defensive barriers in an instant, but the concussive force of the sonic blast from the chest-maw forced Xu Qing’s strike to stall for a fraction of a second.

Seizing that microscopic window, the man hurled his wine jug at Xu Qing and pushed his speed to the absolute limit, rocketing backward in a desperate retreat.

The jug didn’t even reach its target before it detonated in mid-air. It hadn’t contained wine, but a highly concentrated, viscous poison. The corrosive liquid sprayed outward, hissing violently as it ate through the air itself, potent enough to melt even a Dharma Boat’s defensive shield in seconds.

Xu Qing’s eyes remained ice-cold. He had suspected a trap from the start. The man’s sudden appearance on such a hellish night was inherently suspicious. Driven by his ingrained paranoia, Xu Qing had simply decided to strike first and ask questions later.

Murderous intent flared in his gaze. He didn’t bother chasing the fleeing cultivator. Instead, he raised his right hand and made a vicious, crushing motion toward the empty air.

Sea Transformation Scripture—Erupt!

The spiritual energy within his unblocked meridians roared to life. His Dantian didn’t just circulate Qi; it unleashed a violent, churning ocean of pure power.

Instantly, the torrential rain within a massive radius violently shuddered. The water rapidly converged from all directions, coalescing into a colossal, translucent hand of liquid pressure. No matter how the middle-aged cultivator thrashed or screamed in terror, it was utterly futile. The giant hand clamped down.

BOOM!

The man was frozen in mid-air, crushed within the watery grip. His face was deathly pale, his eyes wide with absolute horror. He opened his mouth to beg, but Xu Qing was already there.

Closing the distance in a phantom-like blur, Xu Qing swept the dagger in his right hand across the man’s throat.

The strike was so brutally forceful that it cleanly severed the head from the shoulders.

A geyser of blood erupted into the storm. Yet, even as the head flew, the grotesque maw on the headless corpse’s chest lunged forward, its jagged teeth snapping viciously toward Xu Qing’s right arm.

Xu Qing didn’t flinch. The Sea Mountain Technique surged through his veins. A phantom silhouette of the Kui beast materialized over his arm, unleashing a silent, dominating roar as it slammed directly into the monstrous mouth. Simultaneously, the giant hand of rainwater clenched into a fist, exerting a terrifying, crushing pressure.

With a sickening crunch, the headless corpse imploded into a shower of pulverized meat and bone. The hideous maw was torn to shreds.

When the gore settled, only Xu Qing remained standing, his chest heaving slightly in the pouring rain.

The battle had ended in a flash, but the middle-aged cultivator had been no weakling. His combat prowess was astonishing—easily matching the absolute peak of Xu Qing’s strength before he had joined the Sect. Even Qing Yunzi, the ninth-level cultivator Xu Qing had crippled the day before, would have been slaughtered by this man. The disciples of the Seven Blood Eyes who cultivated the Sea Transformation Scripture were simply on a completely different level compared to the rabble of smaller sects.

Xu Qing’s cold eyes rapidly scanned the pitch-black harbor, searching the shadows for any hidden accomplices. But there was nothing. Only the howling of the violent wind, the torrential rain, and the intermittent, blinding flashes of lightning.

***

(Author’s Note: Last night, I had a dream. I actually transmigrated into Xu Qing’s world… and became the Ancestor of the Vajra Sect. I’m panicking a bit, not sure what to do. Waiting online for advice…)

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Last night, I had a dream where I actually ended up in Xu Qing’s world… I transmigrated and became the Vajra Sect’s Ancestor. I’m a bit anxious and don’t know what to do. Waiting online for help…