Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 85: A Fierce God Lands on the Island

Gray-brown bone fragments littered the black sandy beach. Some were heavily weathered, worn down to a sandpaper-like grit, while others were fresh, still clinging to strips of rotting flesh.

The sea breeze swept across the shore, lifting grains of sand that swirled and settled into the empty eye sockets of human and beast skulls alike.

Through Xu Qing’s eyes, the entirety of Sea Lizard Island radiated a bleak, oppressive cruelty. Only the evening glow, settling over the beach like a falling crimson leaf, offered these remains a burial shroud.

A pity the shroud was also the color of blood.

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze from the scattered bones. As the world dimmed, he walked calmly toward the jungle, his silhouette swallowed by the dense foliage.

The moment he stepped beneath the canopy, night descended like a pair of massive hands smothering the sky. Daylight surrendered to the pitch black.

Within the jungle, Xu Qing moved like a phantom. He darted through the upper branches with blistering speed, his eyes sharp as a pseudodontornis, coldly assessing every shadow as he advanced.

He was no stranger to the jungle.

Though this was an island and not the forbidden zones of his past, the brutal rules of survival remained identical. Recognizing common medicinal herbs scattered among the undergrowth only deepened his sense of familiarity. He slipped through the dense vegetation like a fish through water, agile and silent.

Soon, however, he noticed a distinct anomaly.

Swaths of trees had been toppled, the path of destruction forming a jagged line leading directly from the ocean.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. Dropping down into one of the clearings, he inspected the splintered trunks and the direction of their fall, then scanned the churned earth.

“Scale fragments…” He picked up a palm-sized, gray-black flake from a shattered stump. It carried a faint, briny stench.

“Sea lizard skin. It’s been here a while.” The deduction formed instantly: massive sea lizards had dragged themselves from the ocean, bulldozing through the jungle.

“There are multiple paths like this. Every sea lizard coming ashore to molt carves its own route. That makes sense.”

“I just don’t know if their final molting grounds are random, or… if they converge on a specific area.”

Deciding to follow one of the older trails, Xu Qing accelerated. Guided by the swath of destruction, he moved faster and faster, though his internal threat assessment only grew more stringent.

He didn’t know if any cultivators beyond the Qi Condensation realm were on the island. While he had reasoned earlier that Foundation Establishment cultivators would likely disdain the value of sea lizard skin, assumptions in the wild were a quick way to die.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the trees, carrying the heavy stench of rotting vegetation. Xu Qing inhaled deeply, filtering the scents. Detecting no hidden threats, he pressed on without breaking stride.

Half an hour later, as the sky turned completely black near the mountainous interior, Xu Qing leaped up and crouched on a high branch. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he stared ahead.

A torn piece of sea lizard skin lay in the brush. It was entirely gray-black and brittle—clearly ancient, likely shredded during a violent struggle.

Xu Qing had studied the island’s lore before arriving. Sea lizard skin only held value if harvested and preserved with special methods the exact moment it was shed. If left to dry, its spiritual energy dissipated, rendering it worthless.

This was the root of the inevitable bloodbaths. Every scavenger on the island had to lie in wait, striking the very second the beast shed its hide.

Leaving his perch, Xu Qing expanded his search radius.

As he circled the foothills and climbed higher, he discovered more discarded skins. A pattern emerged: the molting sites were clustered near the mountains, and the higher the elevation, the larger and more abundant the fragments became.

The answer was obvious.

“They seek higher ground to molt.”

Xu Qing looked up, his gaze locking onto the tallest peak of Sea Lizard Island. His eyes sharpened.

“That peak is the true treasure trove. Any sea lizard capable of claiming that summit must be incredibly powerful. Their skins will be the most valuable!”

Without hesitation, Xu Qing shot toward the highest mountain at full speed. He wove nimbly through the terrain, noticing the silhouettes of cultivators staking out the lower ridges.

Most were Rogue Cultivators hovering around the fifth level of Qi Condensation. While their cultivation was mediocre, the ruthless desperation in their eyes was unmistakable.

Knowing their limits, they had settled for the lesser peaks. They tracked Xu Qing’s approach with high-strung paranoia, only exhaling in relief when he bypassed them entirely.

Xu Qing mirrored their relief. The presence of so many low-level bottom-feeders reinforced his theory: the odds of a Foundation Establishment cultivator being here were slim.

Still, he kept his guard up. If one did exist, they would be waiting exactly where he was heading.

Scaling the steep inclines with relentless speed, Xu Qing finally breached the highest summit of Sea Lizard Island. The moment he crested the ridge, multiple hostile auras erupted, locking onto him.

Xu Qing paused. After a meticulous sweep of the area, a strange look crossed his face. He still couldn’t detect a single Foundation Establishment aura.

Expression calm, he walked forward, noting the massive, fragmented sea lizard skins littering the peak.

The residual energy on these husks was equivalent to the fifth or sixth level of Qi Condensation, confirming his theory about the beasts seeking high ground.

Ignoring the probing auras, he stepped into the summit’s massive, tree-lined basin. Dozens of cultivators were scattered throughout the depression. Their cultivation bases dwarfed those on the lower slopes—most were at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Condensation, with several radiating the oppressive pressure of Grand Perfection.

But indeed, there was no Foundation Establishment cultivator!

The occupants of the basin glared at him with cruel, frigid eyes. They reeked of bloodlust; these were hardened outlaws.

Humans were the minority here, outnumbered by various non-human races operating alone or in packs.

Several exuded the heavy, suffocating stench of the sea—veteran pirates.

They watched Xu Qing.

As Xu Qing walked past, he casually cross-referenced their faces, immediately identifying three or five individuals from the sect’s wanted bounties. A dark light flickered in his eyes.

He didn’t strike. Instead, he found a sturdy tree, leapt into its branches, and sat cross-legged to rest.

Despite his earlier deductions, the complete absence of a Foundation Establishment cultivator still felt off. If there truly wasn’t one, the reason was likely far more complicated than he had assumed.

Settling into his spot, Xu Qing withdrew his gaze. He was intimately familiar with the ambient malice radiating from the crowd; it was no different from the slums or the Scavenger Camp.

He sat in perfect stillness. Just as he prepared to cycle his cultivation, he frowned slightly, his cold eyes locking onto a small crew of pirates nearby.

The group consisted of eight cultivators: two humans and six non-humans. The non-humans were a grotesque assortment—one possessed a body writhing with tentacles, another had three eyes, and a third sported a pair of leathery wings.

They stared at Xu Qing with naked hostility. The winged non-human muttered something to his crewmates. A moment later, the three-eyed pirate stood up and swaggered over.

“Disciples of Seven Blood Eyes aren’t welcome here,” the three-eyed non-human sneered, stopping just paces away. He deliberately flared his eighth-level Qi Condensation aura, attempting to crush Xu Qing with the pressure. “So either roll out of here right now, or stay and become fertilizer.”

Xu Qing studied the non-human with clinical precision, his eyes tracing the creature’s anatomy to confirm if the neck was still a fatal weak point. He then glanced at the rest of the crew. It was a standard probing tactic. If he showed weakness, he would be butchered and looted.

Without breaking eye contact, Xu Qing suddenly raised his right hand and snatched at the empty air behind his back.

*Crack.*

A semi-transparent silhouette that had materialized right behind him was caught dead by the throat.

As the figure thrashed violently, its camouflage dissolved, revealing a blue-haired, scale-faced non-human dressed in the same pirate garb.

Terror flooded the ambusher’s eyes. He tried to channel his spiritual energy to counterattack, but Xu Qing’s grip tightened like a vice. With a sickening crunch, the non-human’s neck shattered.

Xu Qing didn’t stop there. The power of the Sea Transformation Scripture surged down his arm. In a fraction of a second, he seized control of the blood within the non-human’s body, forcing it to violently reverse its flow.

*BOOM!*

The ambusher exploded into a shower of gore.

Chunks of flesh and bone rained down, yet not a single drop of blood touched Xu Qing’s robes.

Non-human internal organs were arranged differently; rather than wasting time identifying the heart or lungs, total bodily destruction was the most efficient method of execution.

Xu Qing’s expression remained utterly dead, as if he had merely swatted a fly. He slowly turned his cold gaze back to the three-eyed pirate.

The three-eyed non-human trembled, his breathing hitching in his throat. Behind him, the rest of the pirate crew scrambled to their feet, their arrogant sneers replaced by grim, hyper-vigilant dread.

“A misunderstanding,” the three-eyed pirate rasped, taking a slow, deliberate step back. He had realized too late that he had kicked an iron plate.

But he didn’t know Xu Qing. He didn’t know Xu Qing’s golden rule: *Any entity that threatens my life must be eradicated completely.*

The absolute millisecond the pirate shifted his weight to retreat, Xu Qing vanished.

His speed erupted with explosive force, leaving behind only an afterimage. The three-eyed pirate’s face contorted in horror. He threw his hands up, manifesting a thick spiritual energy barrier, but Xu Qing was already inside his guard. A fist lashed out.

*CRACK.*

The spiritual barrier shattered like cheap glass. The pirate’s three pupils shrank to pinpricks as he opened his mouth to scream, but Xu Qing’s fist drove forward with unstoppable, ruinous momentum, sinking deep into his sternum.

One punch.

The impact sent violent shockwaves through the pirate’s body. His chest caved in completely, his internal organs pulverized into paste.

The remaining pirates roared in alarm, drawing their weapons to swarm him. But Xu Qing was already moving. The moment he had decided to kill the first one, he had condemned the entire crew to death.

Moving with terrifying fluidity, Xu Qing plunged into the pirate formation under the stunned gazes of the surrounding Rogue Cultivators. Agonized shrieks and the concussive booms of colliding spells echoed across the basin.

In mere breaths, six pirates lay dead or dying. The final survivor—the winged non-human—screamed in unprecedented terror. Flapping his wings frantically, he launched himself into the sky to flee.

A sharp whistle pierced the air. A black iron dagger streaked upward, burying itself hilt-deep into the center of the winged pirate’s forehead. His body seized, plummeting from the sky and crashing into the dirt with a heavy thud.

Everything ended.

Sharp intakes of breath hissed from the surrounding cultivators. Their eyes were wide with profound dread as they watched the expressionless Xu Qing step out from the pile of butchered corpses.

Ignoring their stares, Xu Qing retrieved his dagger and methodically severed the head of every dead pirate. He carried the dripping trophies back to his tree and hung them from the branches as a clear boundary marker.

Task complete, he sat back down and cast his gaze toward the far end of the basin. Behind a massive boulder, a gigantic snake head was peering out. Beneath it sat a very familiar figure.

*He’s here too!* Xu Qing’s internal alarms blared. Knowing the old man’s bizarre and unfathomable nature, he narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting to the colossal serpent coiled behind him.

It was the old proprietor from the Banquan Road inn. Seeing Xu Qing, the old man felt a massive headache coming on.

*Why the hell is this kid here too?!*

Their eyes met across the basin, but both quickly looked away.

“What rotten luck,” the old man muttered. The giant snake beside him, however, visibly brightened.

*”Gulu gulu.”*

“What do you mean, ‘Hello, Senior Brother’? He can’t understand your gulu-ing,” the old man snapped, glaring at the serpent.

*”Gululu, gulu.”*

“What garbage are you spouting now? You want to ask him if he likes snakes or if he likes eating snake gall? Are you insane? Isn’t it obvious? Didn’t you notice how he glanced at your gall just now?”

*”Gulu!”*

“You don’t believe me?” The old man was speechless.

*”Gugulu.”*

“I’m not asking for you. Weren’t you the one who secretly signed up for the Seventh Peak’s Intelligence Division behind my back? Go back and check how many snakes that kid has killed yourself.”

The old man couldn’t be bothered with the snake anymore. He felt that ever since it laid eyes on Xu Qing, it had become obsessed, its brain addled.

“It insists he was checking out your figure. Hah.”