Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 76: Ba Burns All Living Beings (4000-Word Apology Extra)

The morning wind swept across the harbor, snapping the sails of the anchored ships.

A few errant gusts, unsatisfied with merely rattling canvas, clawed at the sea’s surface to churn the shimmering blue waves. But the ocean was far too deep. The wind swept over it, powerless. If it wasn’t careful, it would be swallowed whole by the swelling tide.

Like a fish overestimating its own strength, provoking an opponent it had no business challenging.

The dawn’s light was far more composed than the wind. Devoid of such restless ambition, it spilled quietly over the fleet of boats, bathing Xu Qing as he walked back with an impassive expression.

Whether butchering a man or gutting a fish, the outcome was set in stone the exact second his opponent bared their killing intent.

He intended to survive. Therefore, any entity that threatened his life crossed a fatal line.

He knew that the value of life was never equal among the living.

The old teacher in the slums had once mocked this disparity, telling the children that in prosperous eras, those in power might drape a fig leaf over the inequality. But in this chaotic age, the brutal hierarchy was a deeply ingrained truth.

Yet, as Xu Qing carved his path through the world, he learned that it was, in its own twisted way, perfectly fair.

Death stripped away everything. In the end, all paths converged on the same destination.

Dying in a forgotten alleyway was no different from perishing in a pool of wine and jewels.

“The Second Highness was right. It really is fishy,” Xu Qing murmured, withdrawing his gaze from the rising sun. He entered the cabin, washed his body until the stench was gone, and lay down.

Today was not a duty day, so he didn’t need to report to the Homicide Department. A sense of relief, like a thorn being removed, settled over him. He felt he could sleep soundly.

But before sleeping, Xu Qing sat cross-legged, took out the bamboo slip, and crossed out the words “merman youth.” He then looked at the name listed first—the Vajra Sect’s Patriarch—and a deep killing intent rose in his eyes.

“Soon…”

Muttering to himself, Xu Qing took out the Storage Bag the merman youth never had a chance to open.

He was very curious about what items it contained.

He weighed it in his hand, then narrowed his eyes in thought. The Spiritual Energy within him instantly surged, flowing into the Storage Bag. There was no resistance as he imagined; the imprint had already dissipated after the owner’s death.

This allowed Xu Qing’s Spiritual Energy to flow in smoothly, inspecting the contents.

After a while, Xu Qing unconsciously drew a sharp breath.

“So wealthy?” he whispered. The Storage Bag contained over a hundred Spirit Stones, but more impressively, there were twelve Spirit Notes bearing the Sixth Peak’s mark.

Each note was worth a hundred Spirit Stones.

Such a sum made Xu Qing’s heart race, as it was wealth he had never possessed before.

But he understood that, for safety’s sake, he couldn’t exchange these notes for a while.

After calming himself, Xu Qing checked the other items. Besides the Spirit Stones, there were three to five precious treasures in the Storage Bag. With a wave of his right hand, two talismans appeared before him.

One was yellow, the other blue.

The appearance of these two talismans emitted a terrifying aura that made Xu Qing’s heart skip a beat. Judging by their imprints, they were nearly new, clearly having been used only a few times.

Xu Qing sensed them and confirmed that the blue talisman was for defense, while the yellow one was for attack.

“If that fish had opened the Storage Bag…” Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. He could imagine that if such a situation had occurred, although he could still have killed the merman, achieving a swift victory would have come at a great cost.

“So the use of the shadow can actually be more versatile.” Xu Qing glanced down at his own shadow, a flicker of dark light passing through his eyes. He recalled the moment when the merman youth was entangled by the shadow—for an instant, the shadow seemed to come alive.

“Was it an illusion?” Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, studying the shadow deeply. He touched the spot on his chest where the Purple Crystal was embedded, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He had sensed it many times before; he knew the Purple Crystal had a restraining and suppressing effect on the shadow.

Regardless of whether it had truly come alive, Xu Qing decided to try suppressing it first.

He attempted to channel his Spiritual Energy into the Purple Crystal. The process was somewhat awkward, and he tried several times before succeeding. The moment he succeeded, purple light erupted from his body, forming a suppressing force that thundered toward the shadow on the ground.

The shadow instantly twisted and faded slightly.

Xu Qing examined it carefully, feeling satisfied.

He didn’t want to waste energy speculating on whether the shadow had come alive. Even if he was wrong and the shadow had no potential for animation, the worst outcome was merely wasting some Spiritual Energy. He repeated the suppression several times before stopping.

Finally, he withdrew his gaze, acting as if nothing had happened, and stored the two talismans.

He then inspected the Storage Bag again, eventually taking out two items. The first was a sea chart, marked in great detail—far more comprehensive than the standard-issue charts given to Seventh Peak disciples.

It even marked the location of the Merman Island. After examining it, Xu Qing felt its value might not be less than that of the talismans.

After all, for disciples who cultivated through the sea, a more detailed chart meant lower risks and greater rewards.

Information often held greater value than Spirit Stones.

The last item captured his attention even more than the talismans because he had seen it before—and he owned one himself.

It was a palm-sized metal block, resembling a box but not quite.

Looking at the block before him, Xu Qing opened his own Storage Bag and took out his.

His block had been obtained from Ma Si at the Scavenger Camp. Later, Fat Mountain had deliberately given Xu Qing an opportunity to act out of greed for this item, only to meet his end.

Placing the two blocks side by side, Xu Qing observed them closely and found they were identical in every way.

“What exactly is this?” Xu Qing was deeply curious, his eyes slowly narrowing.

He had visited most of the shops in the harbor recently but hadn’t seen such an item. However, both Fat Mountain’s earlier greed and the merman youth’s careful storage suggested this metal block was far more extraordinary than it appeared.

“I need to find an opportunity to investigate its purpose.” After pondering, Xu Qing stored everything away. He glanced at the sky outside, lay down on his small bed, and closed his eyes to rest.

He didn’t rest for long. Two hours later, as noon passed outside, Xu Qing opened his eyes and stretched. His spirit was refreshed, and his physical condition was quite robust.

Most importantly, after last night’s actions and today’s relaxation, he had a strong feeling that his Sea Mountain Technique… was on the verge of a breakthrough.

“The seventh layer has already reached Grand Perfection. What will happen after the eighth layer… I wonder if I’ll possess the combat strength to kill the Vajra Sect’s Patriarch by then.” Xu Qing’s eyes shone with anticipation. He felt that the time from the seventh to the eighth layer of his Sea Mountain Technique had been extremely long.

It was as if the Sea Mountain Technique had been brewing some kind of transformation all along. Only today did he sense the aura of an impending breakthrough.

Thus, Xu Qing sat cross-legged, activated the Dharma Boat’s Spirit Gathering Formation, replaced the Spirit Stones, closed his eyes, and began cultivating.

Time passed. As he immersed himself in cultivation, the afternoon slowly faded, and as night fell, Xu Qing, who was meditating cross-legged, suddenly shuddered. All the flesh and blood in his body tightened violently, as if contracting.

The sound of bones growing echoed from within him. Blood vessels bulged instantly, spreading across his refined body like sinister serpents, a terrifying sight. At the same time, a vast surge of blood and Qi power swelled within him, growing stronger with every heartbeat.

With each beat, the blood and Qi intensified. As the dense blood and Qi power gathered around Xu Qing, the Kui phantom above his head materialized, roaring silently at the sky, its expression twisted as if enduring immense torment, as if undergoing a metamorphosis!

When ordinary people cultivated the Sea Mountain Technique to the Grand Perfection of body refinement, the Kui phantom would fully mature. But Xu Qing’s Sea Mountain Technique had already reached Grand Perfection at the seventh layer. Afterward, he continued cultivating according to the technique, but he himself didn’t know what would happen, nor what changes the eighth layer of the Sea Mountain Technique would bring after the breakthrough.

But he could feel that during his time at the Seven Blood Eyes, as he cultivated the Sea Mountain Technique, his physical strength had been increasing. So he wanted to see what would happen when this growth reached its limit.

After all, the cultivation of body refinement was the accumulation of strength, speed, and recovery.

In truth, even the creator of the Sea Mountain Technique probably never imagined that someone like Xu Qing would achieve Perfection early. So even that person wouldn’t know.

After all, the Sea Mountain Technique was a low-level technique prepared for those with Mutagen in their bodies. No one had ever cultivated it like Xu Qing, who had no Mutagen within him.

Now, as time passed, the veins on Xu Qing’s body multiplied. Cracks seemed to appear inch by inch on his skin, and copious amounts of blood seeped out. An even denser blood and Qi threatened to burst his body apart!

It was as if Xu Qing’s body had become an earthen jar, with the blood and Qi inside erupting, on the verge of shattering.

But at that moment, purple light bloomed for the first time during Xu Qing’s cultivation, spreading from his chest and covering his entire body. It repaired him rapidly while compressing with all its might.

His body became even more refined, but an indescribable, intense agony erupted within him, resonating through his mind and body.

His bones cracked, his flesh crumbled, his entire body seemed unable to hold on, but the Purple Crystal’s light continuously repaired him as it enveloped him.

This cycle repeated, and the blood and Qi grew stronger. Even the cabin’s Formation couldn’t contain it, allowing much of it to diffuse outward. From a distance, Xu Qing’s Dharma Boat seemed dyed crimson.

The dense blood and Qi spread continuously, catching the attention of the disciples in Port 79. They were all astonished when Xu Qing, inside the Dharma Boat, suddenly opened his blood-red eyes.

The moment his eyes opened, a deafening roar, containing a single syllable, exploded like heavenly thunder in Xu Qing’s mind. This world-shattering sound made his entire body tremble violently. The Kui phantom above his head let out an even fiercer roar, its illusory body tearing apart to reveal… a newborn form!

A tall figure, entirely cyan, exuding a savage aura and an eerie sense of abnormality. All visible skin was withered and cracked, covered with clear, drought-like fissures. Disheveled, dry hair cascaded over its shoulders. A pair of crimson eyes burned with madness.

Fanged mouth, and a single black horn atop its head, wreathed in crackling lightning, all exuding its ferocity and brutality. As it roared at the sky, it seemed intent on tearing apart the heavens that loomed over all living beings.

As if polarities had reversed, what surrounded it was no longer moisture but a black flame that incinerated everything in all directions, as if it could burn all existence.

To be precise, it wasn’t fire but a state of extreme desiccation after absorbing moisture to its limit, causing all things to wither!

“Ba!” Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with intensity as he murmured the word—the syllable that had just echoed in his mind, and the blood and Qi phantom that had spontaneously appeared after his Sea Mountain Technique broke through its original level!

It had surpassed the Kui!

The Xiao could move mountains, the Kui could shift seas, and the Ba burned all living beings.

At this very moment, as Xu Qing spoke, a force far more vigorous than before erupted within him, spreading throughout his body.

Xu Qing raised his head and stood up abruptly. Within his slender frame, the refined physical power broke through its previous constraints, reaching a realm that surpassed the Qi Condensation level!

The Dharma Boat’s protective Formation couldn’t withstand it any longer, shattering with a crash. Even the cabin itself fractured in many places.

This caused the disciples in Port 79 who were watching to change expressions completely, their eyes widening in shock and fear. Their minds reeled as they all turned to look at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing fell silent. He hadn’t expected his Sea Mountain Technique breakthrough to cause such a commotion. Moreover… he could feel that his Sea Transformation Scripture, stirred by the Sea Mountain Technique’s eruption, was also circulating within him, as if it too was about to break through.

“Congratulations, Senior Brother Xu Qing!”

“Congratulations, Senior Brother!”

Amid Xu Qing’s silence, the disciples on the surrounding Dharma Boats, breathing rapidly, cupped their fists and spoke respectfully.

Respect, born of strength.

The title of Senior Brother was no different.

To cause such a disturbance while cultivating, even shattering the protective Formation of a sixth-grade Dharma Boat, spoke volumes of his might. Especially at this moment, the Pressure emanating from Xu Qing in their eyes was so intense that it made their bodies and minds tremble violently!

It was a Pressure… from a true powerhouse!