Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1080: Smoldering Immortal

It was a bow to offer thanks for the guidance given. The moment he formed the immortal body, the guidance given had provided incredible help to Xu Qing in walking the path of the pure immortal. It aided him in walking a more correct way.

After bowing, the immortal essence faded away, becoming a dandelion seed. The dandelion seed then faded away, disappearing completely from Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness.

The nine secret trove furnaces continued to erupt, and in one of them, Fishing the Moon in the Well swirled, emanating the power of the void and the will of space.

Xu Qing’s soul was waking up. When he opened his eyes, the five elements erupted from within them. He knew how to walk the path going forward.

The so-called Eight Extreme Daos.... That is the earliest natural law required for the birth of a star ring. The first five extremes are rather simple. The latter three... well, that cultivator called the Celestial Ancestor lacked the perception and ability to go back through space and time, and thus, had to fill in the empty spots after the first five. That was what got passed down.

The end result was a different version of the Eight Extreme Daos. The reality is that the true Eight Extreme Daos include metal, wood, water, fire, and earth... and after that... time and space.

Those are the seven in total. But there are still three more extremes....

Xu Qing thought back to the symbol of the crystal broken into ten parts. The last three of them had been blurry.

Is it possible that the complete technique should have a different name? Is it the Ten Extreme Daos?

The irregularly shaped pieces of broken crystal were the strongest evidence to support that conclusion as far as he was concerned.

If you put them all together, they would form a complete crystal.

Xu Qing’s soul shivered as he realized something. That completed shape was completely and utterly the same as his own violet crystal! That being said, Xu Qing was well aware that now wasn’t the time to sit around pondering his violet crystal.

What was most important right now was to complete the formation of his fleshly body. He had no time to waste. Though it had seemed like he spent a lot of time gaining enlightenment from ancient times, the reality was that he had only spent thirty breaths of time with the immortal essence. And in the real world, only an instant had passed.

Xu Qing’s soul surged, and his divine will became a voice that spoke, drifting out through his nostrils like a command that could not be ignored.

“Metal!”

This place was not the Revered Ancient mainland. Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities were isolated from the outside world. They were a standalone location, and they were completely sealed. Therefore, the five elements affected acted a bit differently here than they would outside.

If he used the energy of heaven and earth in this specific location to complete his five elements body to perfection, without any flaws, if he achieved his dao in this grotto-heaven... then he would be restrained here.

That was not what he wanted. He wanted to use his own five yin organs as the five elements!

If his five yin organs became the source of the five elements, then it didn’t matter if he was in this grotto-heaven or in Revered Ancient, or in the starry sky. It wouldn’t matter where he was. It wouldn’t matter what heaven he was in. He would not be bound. By cultivating his own body, he would be free. That was the pure path of the immortal. That was the dao of the extreme immortal.

Metal corresponded to the lungs, and the lungs related to the qualities of purification and restraint. It was a perfect complement to metal. Lungs related primarily to air, and they regulated breathing. They were also associated with the emotion of grief, and they opened into the nose.[1]

All of a sudden, his seven emotions and six sensory pleasures stirred, becoming an attracting force. Then, the lungs in his fleshly body emanated the pure power of metal, which merged into one of the secret trove furnaces. It melted within him, and in the blink of an eye, it made the dao of metal! The secret trove raged.

Next, Xu Qing felt the emotion of rage within him. Intentionally unleashing the anger, he used it as a bridge, and used his divine will to speak again.

“Wood!”

Wood corresponded to the liver, and the liver related to the qualities of growth, development, order, and happiness. It was a perfect complement to wood. The liver related primarily to unclogging and deflating, as well as the regulation of energy fluctuations. It was also associated with the emotion of rage.[2]

His liver vibrated as a sensation of growth surged out and returned to the secret trove furnace. It became the dao of wood. After that....

“Water!”

Water corresponded to the kidneys, and the kidneys related to the qualities of nourishment, descension, freezing, and obstruction. It was a perfect complement to water. The kidneys related primarily to fluid metabolism and the storage of vital essence. It was also associated with the emotion of fear, and opened into the ears.[3]

All of a sudden, a deafening sound erupted within his secret trove as the dao of water formed. At the moment, three of the five elements had been completed. Eyes shining, Xu Qing gave voice to the fourth of the five.

“Fire!”

Xu Qing’s tongue touched the roof of his mouth as he uttered the word. His heart suddenly thumped with thunderous loudness.

Fire corresponded to the heart, and the heart related to the qualities of actuation, warmth, and ascension. It was a perfect complement to fire. The heart was like the monarch governing the other organs. It was also associated with the emotion of joy, and opened into the tongue.[4]

Inside his secret trove, the dao of fire formed.

“Earth!”

Earth corresponded to the spleen, and the spleen related to the qualities of transformation, sustainment, and acceptance. It was a perfect complement to earth. The spleen was the source of all transportation and transformation in a body, could move and alter grain and liquid throughout the body. It was also associated with the emotion of thoughtfulness, and opened into the mouth.[5]

The dao of earth was complete. As of this moment, all of the five elements were there. Correspondingly, the five apertures of Xu Qing’s nose, eyes, ears, tongue, and mouth opened in unison. They were like five immortals standing guard to prevent any outside evils from invading.

Those five immortals had names. Grief. Rage. Fear. Joy. Thoughtfulness. But right now, there were only five elements. And that could not be described as extreme!

Xu Qing took a deep breath.

And then, all of the essence crystals that the wish had caused to form from the fleshly body of the Grand Emperor’s fleshly body turned into the highest quality nutrients possible. Sweeping together, they entered Xu Qing’s body and began to nourish his five yin organs.

As a result, the power of the five organs began to climb higher. So did the five elements, which began to burn with great intensity in the secret troves. In an instant, the crystals on the outside declined in number. They poured into Xu Qing, becoming boundless nutrients that made the five elements stronger, and at the same time, more extreme. Finally, that powerful refinement within the secret troves caused… An explosion of heavenly lightning!

Metal became extreme metal. Wood became extreme wood. Water became extreme water. Fire became extreme fire. Earth became extreme earth! Five elements. Five extremes. The dao was complete!

An astonishing aura surged from within Xu Qing, causing winds to scream around him as the world trembled. Inside his sea of consciousness, six of the nine secret troves were burning.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth. They are five extremes. And then, in the space formed from Fishing the Moon in the Well comes the sixth extreme. The dao of extreme space. As for the seventh extreme....

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered brightly as the gnomons on his sundial life lamps began to spin. In an instant, all nine gnomons unified, spinning in time within the seventh secret trove. They became time itself! This was the dao of extreme time!

That makes seven extremes!

His soul form rose in his sea of consciousness, standing above the secret troves. As of now, there were still two secret troves that were empty.

I’ll complete them sometime in the future. For now, it’s enough to have seven extremes burning. That will be enough to break through from Spirit Trove into Void Returning.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Not bothering to worry about the two empty secret troves, he focused his attention on the second dandelion seed from the immortal essence. It was the one that had an image of a true body being unified.

The true body part won’t be hard. But the unification part. Well, that person’s technique was ingenious. It required a fierce soul. And though I have access to fierce souls, none of them are inside this current body. That said, with my five yin organs as the five elements, my organs and my body are the same. So why would I need outside souls to attract the power?

Xu Qing looked up.

“In that case... unify!”

The moment the words left his mouth, all of his secret troves burned with the greatest intensity imaginable. Unprecedented rumbling sounds echoed out as they erupted like volcanoes.

They turned into trove gates. And the trove gates were all open!

What came out wasn’t pure fire. Rather, it was five elements power, time power, and space power. Seven extremes, unified!

They became a single beam of silver light that, backed by the secret troves, smashed out of Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness, stirring his fleshly body and causing his mind and soul to rumble.

Ultimately, the same scene played out that Xu Qing had witnessed in the first dandelion seed. It was a scene of world creation. It was the formation of a star ring.

It was... opening heaven and establishing earth! The returning heaven was opened, and the spirit void land was established! The illusory was turned into a void! It was as if mortal remains which had been buried in a grand necropolis were smoldering as they slowly turned into an immortal! The silver light made of seven extremes streaked through this Void Returning. Will surged, and they turned into immeasurable magical and natural laws as they swept through all of the levels of Void Returning.

It all happened very naturally. It was like the idiom: where water flows, a canal is formed. When walking the correct path, it seemed only logical that things would play out like this.

Finally... Xu Qing decisively tapped into the remaining essence crystals to start his final breakthrough. Heaven had been opened within him. The earth had been established.

The mortal remains in the necropolis were smoldering as they turned into an immortal. That meant that next... he needed to blast apart the earth within him, and shatter the heaven, all to break through the shackles of life. All smoldering aspects of an immortal needed to be awakened and turned into major worlds!

The necropolis erupted. The void soil surged. And they turned into a blast of force that caused the heaven within him to tremble.

Heaven... collapsed! Rumbling sounds filled him as the area that corresponded to lungs filled with a vortex that contained a majestic major world.

He was finally reaching Smoldering God! Put most precisely, the level Xu Qing was actually entering was called Smoldering Immortal!

As for this first major world, it was an extreme world. It was the most extreme form of metal. In fact, it could be called an extreme metal world!

After that first major world appeared, Xu Qing’s breakthrough continued. A world centered around an extreme world appeared in the location of his liver. It was an extreme wood world!

Things weren’t over yet. Next came the extreme water world, extreme fire world, and extreme earth world....

Five worlds had been established in the locations of his five yin organs!

As for the sixth world, the extreme space world, it was on his left shoulder! The seventh world, the extreme time world, rested on his right shoulder!

Seven worlds all rumbled loudly as a powerful aura erupted from them, filling Xu Qing’s body and stirring his will.

Atop the transparent sea, Xu Qing’s eyes snapped open! Immortal energy surged within him, and combined with his astoundingly good looks, it really was a perfect representation of the word ‘immortal.’ As he looked around, he felt like an entire lifetime had just passed.

He sensed his body. He sensed his cultivation base. And though he felt dazed for a moment, an instant later, his eyes gleamed with a desire to do battle.

He had just experienced a truly dangerous situation. He had lost his god clone, but as often happens, a great danger will often bring with it a destined opportunity. And if you grasp it, you can fly to the highest heights.

He had grasped the opportunity. He has stepped past the limitations of his god body and begun to walk his own path. He had taken the seven extremes and pushed them to an unheard-of peak level.

There were still some essence crystals around him, so he waved his hand and sent them flying toward the countless worms that surrounded the bone cauldron.

“Eldest Brother,” Xu Qing said calmly.

The innumerable worms seemed to all start laughing as they brashly absorbed all of the crystals.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the fight between the empress and the others was about to conclude.

At the same time, inside the bone cauldron, Netherflame could sense that things were happening outside. The cauldron started rumbling, and then a monstrous voice rang out from within.

“Manywonders smolderlife grotto-heaven! Activate!”

Land-shaking, mountain-rocking force shook all of the worlds in the secluded meditation facilities. At the same time, something even more dramatic was happening at the dao altar in the lands of the eastern Devilbirds. As countless Devilbird cultivators looked on, the dao altar filled with more and more cracks, before ultimately crumbling into ash.

Then a massive withered tree branch shot up from the rubble. As everyone looked on in shock, a withered fruit appeared at the end of the huge branch. It pulsed with a majestic sense of an accumulated dao. Inside of the fruit were blurry images of Xu Qing and everyone else. That fruit was the grotto-heaven where Netherflame had been waiting in seclusion!

1. In traditional Chinese medicine, lungs and metal are indeed connected. For more info, you can check out the wikipedia pages for the Five Elements and the Lungs in TCM. Subsequent organs have their own TCM reference link, but all of them are mentioned in the Five Elements article as well. ☜

2. TCM liver reference. ☜

3. TCM kidneys reference. ☜

4. TCM heart reference. ☜

5. TCM spleen reference. ☜

Deathblade's Thoughts

This was one of those chapters that was excruciating to translate. I think I spent three times as much time on it as an average chapter.

Many thanks to Whiskas, wuyxi, Lassey, SweGhostie, Tangedenor, spols, AzureZeph, Onideus, and Nukemega for the reviews. Wow, a lot of reviews came in during the past week!