Beyond the Timescape - Chapter 1274: Peel the Skin Off!
Chapter 1274: Peel the Skin Off!
Peel the skin off! Xu Qing had experienced a lot of things in life, and had witnessed all sorts of freakish and gruish things. But the words he had just heard still struck him to the core with astonishment. His eyes shone. What style….
After all, this was the primeval motherworld of the Fourth Star Ring. To ‘peel the skin’ of an entire planet like that sounded like something absolutely incredible and extremely daring.
But then Xu Qing looked around and realized something seemed off. Over the past month, Xu Qing had been under the impression that all the resistance he had met was the will of the planet. But now he realized it seemed strange that there were no guardians here. The only thing here were the corpses and the sourcefiends.
“Based on my understanding,” Xu Qing said, “this place is extremely important to the Fourth Star Ring. So why…?”
Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix smiled. “First of all, it’s not possible to stay on this planet for long. It constantly absorbs ringsource. Also, it’s a very mysterious place that few people understand. Normally speaking, you can’t even get here. Though it exists, the reality is that it behaves more like a memory. In other words, it exists in the memories of the gods. Of course, that’s just how we describe it using the language of cultivators. The gods perceive things differently. Thēy emphasize what happens to the true name.
“Most importantly, you’re only seeing the present. According to the Immortal Paragon, the Fourth Star Ring’s primeval motherworld… has already died dozens of times. It’s happened for various reasons, both intentional and accidental.
“But no matter how it’s destroyed, the foundation of the gods isn’t affected. And that’s because… it always reappears, undamaged. And the resurrections it carries out will resume exactly in the manner they were going on before the destruction.
“To some extent, you can say… that as long as gods exist in the Fourth Star Ring, this planet will never disappear. And that’s why the place doesn’t have any sort of guardian. It doesn’t need one.”
Xu Qing looked again at Young Lord Aurora walking toward the canyon. “In that case… what’s the point of peeling the skin off?”
A complicated look appeared in the eyes of Spirit Phoenix. Looking at Young Lord Aurora, she sighed. “Your big brother wants to do something that his father was originally supposed to do. It’s something unprecedented that only the two of them can accomplish.”
As her words drifted out, Young Lord Aurora entered the valley. The moment he did, he performed a very strange and complicated hand sign that involved bending and twisting his fingers in a bizarre way. As he performed the hand sign, a very ancient will seemed to build up. Ripples flowed through the sky, and rumbling sounds filled the air.
Xu Qing’s immediate reaction was to try to memorize the hand sign.
Off to the side, Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix could see what he was thinking and explained, “That’s a legacy from the Immortal Paragon, a sacrificial seal!”
Xu Qing tried harder to memorize it.
As Young Lord Aurora continued with the sacrificial seal, the glaciers on either side of the valley rumbled loudly, as though an immense force were causing their foundations to move. Then, a deafening crash exploded out as the glaciers on either side collapsed. Many bronze doors were revealed.
Rubble flew out everywhere as the effects spread. On either side of the canyon, the glaciers emitted sounds like groaning beasts. Massive chunks of dark ice were sent flying, revealing the pitch black surface beneath. Dark green moonlight covered everything.
The area beneath the glacier was a dark haze, within which were innumerable sourcefiends. Those sourcefiends had been born down there and lived their lives doing nothing but devouring the flesh and bones of gods. Now, they looked up at the source of the dramatic events… and they howled shrilly.
The howls spread out, creating terrifying sound waves that became like the angry roar of the primeval motherworld itself. It wanted to wipe all invaders out of existence. And it quickly became an attack focused on Young Lord Aurora.
Seen from above, it was an amazing sight. Countless sourcefiends seethed in the hazy darkness, like a black tide, maddened and full of mountain-toppling, sea-draining force. Those among them who were mostly blue ice revealed terrifying strength that left Xu Qing reeling.
And yet, Young Lord Aurora just pushed his hand down. Instantly, a canon very familiar to Xu Qing erupted from Young Lord Aurora. It swept over the raging sourcefiends, and those it touched were instantly deprived of any height. They became… flat, with only width and length! They were like things in a painting.
Xu Qing reeled, but at the same time, his eyes were shining. It was just like the time back in the Aurora Immortal Palace when he first met Young Lord Aurora. It was also like the path he had walked when he first formed his space-time and realized the direction he needed to pursue.
As Young Lord Aurora continued walking, he said, “Xu Qing, this is your path. I’m just borrowing it for the moment. After you achieve your dao, you’ll be the only person who can use it!”
As he passed, the sourcefiends lost their height and became flat, and like talisman paper from the Yellow Springs, they floated about. The sourcefiends could offer no resistance. They could not block his way. They could do nothing other than allow Young Lord Aurora to continue to walk into their lands!
In the world below the glacier, heaven had previously been the glacier itself. As Young Lord Aurora descended, both of his hands pushed out in either direction. An aurora spread out from him, turning into a sea of light that spread out below, dispelling the haze and revealing all of the lands.
Those lands were actually… a dull purple layer of flesh-like rock! In fact, close examination would reveal that the rock was actually covered with a membrane that was very much like an epidermis! Slender tentacles spread up from it like grass reaching toward the stars! And at the end of every single one of those tentacles was a golden eye. All of the eyes were staring directly at Young Lord Aurora! This was the true skin of the primeval motherworld!
Xu Qing’s eyes shone as he stepped forth alongside Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix. At the same time, Young Lord Aurora thrust his hands out, with fingers curved like clawed hooks as he shoved them toward the rock! Then he viciously yanked upward!
A thunderous groan echoed out from the depths of the ground. Hands trembling, Young Lord Aurora began to rip up the planet’s skin, bringing broken ice chunks with it. This was peeling the skin!!
The ripping sound was like a furious roar. A fountain of blood filled with planetary rubble erupted, shooting up! It was like a blood rain, except instead of falling from the sky it was rising into it! It turned into sky-obscuring, sun-blocking red clouds that spread out to replace heaven!
At the same time, as the land was lifted up, the millions upon millions of golden eyes glared furiously, sending innumerable golden gazes shooting like arrows toward Young Lord Aurora. As they neared, a black vortex sprang into being in the blood eye on his forehead, and it devoured all of the gazes.
Next, he ripped the planetary skin upward! An intense ripping sound echoed out as two chunks of the skin rose higher! From a distance, it looked like an inverted 八 character.
The area involved grew larger and larger, and the ripping grew louder. Higher and higher it went, until finally it formed a relatively intact piece of skin! There it was in the dome of heaven. Wild colors flashed.
And then Young Lord Aurora said, “Seal the heavens. The fetal membrane becomes a world.”
The terrifying planetary skin writhed as it fused with the void, turning into an amber-colored fetal membrane! The gigantic embryonic skin was now the canopy of heaven in the primeval motherworld. The dark green moonlight native to the planet hit the membrane like a physical force, causing ripples to spread out. However, the light did not pierce it.
Looking up from below, the fetal membrane gave a sensation of being made of flesh and blood, complete with veins and arteries that formed a star chart. And the drops of blood flowing within were the rivers of stars. At the same time, it reflected the writhing of the flesh and blood that made the lands below.
Xu Qing was shaken to the core. The heaven of the primeval motherworld really had been changed!
Light from outside was obscured, and the world was cast into an eternal blood-colored evening. The motherworld had really been skinned like a huge beast. As for the land, it was made of dark red muscle covered with horrifying blood vessels that leaked viscous ringsource. The motherworld seemed to be twitching deep inside, causing the lands to quake. It was almost as if some ancient entity were inside, slowly waking up.
Xu Qing took a deep breath, his heart pounding as he watched Young Lord Aurora skin the planet.
When the young lord walked forward on the exposed flesh, his shoes were covered with sticky fluid. Surrounding him were 30,000-meter-tall waves of blood that sprayed out from the conglomeration of flesh. That provided the backdrop!
The motherworld seemed to call out in sadness. As countless sourcefiends crawled about in the blood, their cries joined in. It was a sound of unending grief and terror.
As for Young Lord Aurora, he seemed to be taking some measurements. Ultimately, they led him to a certain location.
“This is the place.” Reaching up to his forehead, he pushed his fingers down and then viciously dragged them out. A massive sword appeared, shining with silver light that drove away the color of blood. It was… the sword of the Immortal Paragon!
Young Lord Aurora didn’t hesitate for a moment. He stabbed the sword viciously down into the flesh below, then began to slash the sword forward.
The entire planet issued a scream of agony. More blood gushed out. The new wound spread rapidly, until… the planetary core was revealed! It was the planetary uterus that the primeval motherworld had used when that first god was born.
“Is he…?” Xu Qing said, his mind spinning as a seemingly insane notion occurred to him.
“You guessed it…” said Immortal Fairy Spirit Phoenix. “Your big brother has picked this spot… to reach godly ascension!”
