Outside Of Time

Chapter 1656: Stubborn Star Ring
Editor: Atlas Studios

Ruler Realm was the process of forming an immortal embryo.

Once the immortal embryo was formed, coupled with the corresponding level of Ordinance, one could step into the Quasi Immortal realm.

After that, the immortal embryo would transform into an immortal and the Ordinance would form tributaries. Quasi Immortals would advance to Lower Immortals!

These three grand stages were the lifelong aspiration of countless cultivators, though only a rare few truly managed to traverse them all.

Each of these stages represented a brutal test, a filter that weeded out all but the most exceptional. Advancing through each step required fortune, fortuitous encounters, and a profound accumulation of foundation.

Thanks to the suppression of the gods in the Fifth Star Ring, cultivators had been spared catastrophic threats, allowing their numbers to swell, which led to a seemingly high count of Ruler- level cultivators.

Yet, proportionally, they remained few.

On Wanggu, where gods rampaged and anomalous substances pervaded, mere survival was arduous. Even in its prime, the population of cultivators there had never been able to match the Fifth Star Ring’s vast numbers.

Thus, up to this point, there had been only a handful of true Rulers.

Progressing through these three stages required not only the continual strengthening of one’s Ordinance but also an immense amount of star ring energy to nourish and ultimately form the immortal embryo. Only then could one transform into an immortal.

Not a single one could be missing.

Xu Qing already knew about these beforehand.

At the moment of his breakthrough, he became acutely aware of both his strengths and weaknesses.

Just as in the Soul Accumulation realm, where his Ordinance was formidable but his physical body was a vulnerability, he now found a similar situation in the Ruler realm.

“The reason why I couldn’t step into the fifth realm is because of my Ordinance.”

“The ninth extremity’s overlapping universes is already comparable to the perfected Ordinance of a Quasi Immortal. It’s not much different from a tributary.”

“Therefore, for me, what I lack in the Ruler Realm, or even the realm of Quasi Immortals… is only the birth and growth of the immortal embryo.”

“In that case, my focus now should be to obtain more power of the star ring, which is the source energy of the upper star rings. I’ll use it as nutrients to speed up the birth and growth of my immortal embryo.”

“I can’t ignore the Ordinance either. This is because if I want to step into the Lower Immortal realm, my current Ordinance is still a level away.”

“In other words… the tenth extremity!”

Xu Qing sat cross-legged. As he sensed the fluctuations of his current cultivation, he muttered inwardly, summarizing the past and analyzing the future.

Xu Qing didn’t know what the tenth extremity was and didn’t have a direction yet.

However, he already understood how strong he was at this moment.

“My current combat power can fight against Quasi Immortals. However, because my body is in the process of forming the immortal embryo, its strength is only that of a Ruler. When facing the power of a Quasi Immortal, this is a flaw.”

Xu Qing fell into deep thought.

A dark glint appeared in his eyes and he ended his thoughts. He then lifted his head and looked at the void.

Where he was looking at, the void fluctuated and a sharp fluctuation erupted. It was as though someone was forcefully entering from outside.

Xu Qing naturally knew the identity of the person who came.

However…

“He broke through outside?”

Xu Qing’s expression was indifferent. When he looked over, the waves in the void had already become vast and Star Ring was suddenly revealed.

The moment he appeared, his aura spread out and the might of a Quasi Immortal erupted.

“Xu Qing!!”

A furious roar shook the sky and rumbled in all directions.

At this moment, Star Ring’s eyes were even redder as he stared fixedly at Xu Qing.

He had indeed broken through!

He had no choice but to break through. After being expelled many times, he already understood that it was impossible to advance in the fifth realm like planned.

Hence, he could only decisively choose to break through his cultivation outside and step into the Quasi Immortal realm.

This breakthrough was naturally not perfect.

The killing intent in his heart had long surpassed the killing intent he had for Xu Qing previously.

After sensing this killing intent and seeing Star Ring’s red eyes, Xu Qing calmly spoke.

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

These words caused waves in the fifth realm. It was like a storm whistling and thunder exploding, forming a series of space-time fluctuations.

These ripples echoed around Star Ring, resonating in every direction—before him, behind him, to his left and right. They reverberated across his past, his present, and his future, present everywhere and inescapable!

In Xu Qing’s eyes, resplendent stars appeared, shining with the flowing light of time and space.

Under this gaze, Star Ring in his eyes no longer existed alone.

He saw… countless space-times and Star Rings in different states in these space-times!

Some were crazed, some sneered, some were silent, some were sinister, and some were bitter…

In countless space-times, Xu Qing saw countless Star Rings.

‘Seeing’ was only the first step, and the second step was influence.

At that moment, Xu Qing could clearly sense that he couldn’t only affect the Star Ring in the main world but also the other party in other space-times.

In fact, if his Ordinance power was enough, then… he could truly kill him.

He would erase the other party in all space-times, regardless of cause and effect, regardless of fate, regardless of reincarnation…

This feeling reminded Xu Qing of the true god that Jade Flowing Dust had mentioned back then.

The reason why true gods could return was because Their true names weren’t destroyed. Hence, even if They died, as long as They were remembered, the names could become a mark of return.

Back then, when Xu Qing heard these words, he didn’t understand but he felt that it was impressive. He only felt that the true god was terrifying.

But now… he understood.

The one who returned might not be the same being… It was possible that the being who appeared after death was a manifestation of the god from another space-time.

The moment these realizations rose in his heart, Star Ring’s heart also fluctuated intensely.

“Unfortunately, because my immortal embryo is only an Illusion of Truth now and I haven’t reached the end of the ninth extremity, the current me can’t affect all the space-times.”

Xu Qing mumbled inwardly. He then lifted his right hand and faced Star Ring, opening it slightly.

At that moment, Star Ring was looking at Xu Qing. The charm emitted by Xu Qing’s eyes caused his heart to tremble and his scalp to feel a little numb.

At the same time that his breathing stopped, an intense sense of danger erupted.

It was a feeling of being seen through.

His karma, fate, and reincarnation were seen through. Hence… the feeling of danger instinctively arose.

At the next instant, iron chains of order appeared beside Star Ring. As they surrounded him, the terrifying power from his Quasi Immortal cultivation erupted violently.

Just as he was about to attack…

Xu Qing lifted his open palm facing Star Ring and clenched it gently.

A calm voice rang out.

“Seamless!”

The instant this word echoed and he clenched his fist… the space-times around Star Ring in Xu Qing’s eyes all rumbled and fluctuated, erupting in a disorderly manner.

This eruption became extremely intense in the blink of an eye, transforming into a space-time storm that rumbled on Star Ring’s body.

Before this, Xu Qing couldn’t control Seamless and could only let it activate chaotically. However, at this moment… after mastering the ninth extremity, it was no longer the same.

As Xu Qing opened his fist and waved it, the chaotic space-time storm was instantly drawn over and swept out like an angry wave… engulfing nine space-times where Star Ring existed, excluding the present.

In an instant, Star Ring of those timelines found themselves within the heart of the storm. Their bodies decayed swiftly, and every chain of order they held disintegrated under the relentless passage of time.

All of this seemed to be telling…

Any order would become the past with time.

Three of the Star Rings in the nine space-times let out heart-rending cries. Their bodies turned to ashes over the years. Only the immortal embryo was still there, as though it was molting.

However, it didn’t seem like it could hold on for long and was trembling.

The other six space-time bodies also began to collapse during these years.

Their experiences also affected the main world. Hence, Star Ring in the main world spat out blood and his body began to decay!

This was the combat strength of a Quasi Immortal!

It could affect the immortal embryo!

On the contrary, no matter how gorgeous the Ordinance’s performance was, if it couldn’t shake the immortal embryo, it couldn’t be considered the combat strength of a Quasi Immortal.

Different Ordinances had different manifestations.

In the parallel space-times, what caused waves was the overlapping universes. It relied on destroying many space-times to cause waves to appear.

If it was Li Mengtu, after his poison reached such a level, the one being corroded would be the main body.

As for Star Ring, it was the same, especially since his cultivation had already broken through and become a Quasi Immortal.

Even though this breakthrough wasn’t perfect in his opinion, his combat strength was still extraordinary.

Hence, even though he couldn’t see his other space-times now, after sensing that his immortal embryo was damaged, his counterattack… also began!

Countless iron chains of order shone with golden light. After they gathered together, they seemed to form a weighing tool!

It was a scale.

On one end was him and on the other was Xu Qing!

And above order… was balance!

In the instant this scale appeared, an unseen force linked them together.

At that moment, Xu Qing’s unleashed space-time storm pressed heavily upon one side of the scale, tilting it off-balance.

Yet as the balance was disrupted, a vast power from the void descended upon Star Ring, pouring into him with an unstoppable force. This immense energy continued to gather, its magnitude increasing until it restored equilibrium to the unsteady scale.

It was like borrowing strength!

This was the law formed by the change in Star Ring’s Ordinance after he stepped into the Quasi Immortal realm.

The stronger the enemy was, the greater the external force he could leverage. In the end, it could form a vast expanse and suppress everything!

Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with wonder at such an Ordinance.

“Interesting… Then let’s see if your limit comes first or mine.”

Xu Qing calmly spoke.

He flicked the ninth extremity in his body as though he was plucking the strings of a zither.

Immediately, the space-time storm that was created soared and swept toward the other space-times of Star Ring. In the blink of an eye, it swallowed the eleventh space-time, followed by twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth…

The imbalance formed once again, and the balance continued to arrive.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. A storm surged into the sky and the space-times affected increased to eighteenth.

He planned to use this battle to temper his Ordinance.

Star Ring’s limit gradually appeared. The moment the space-times Xu Qing swept up reached twenty, it arrived with a bang.

That scale… collapsed.

Xu Qing stood up.

Twenty worlds of space-time wasn’t his limit. From what he knew, if he opened the ninth extremity fully, the number of space-time waves he could cause could reach about fifty.

Star Ring was vomiting blood at this moment. A large number of cracks appeared on his immortal embryo and he was sent flying.

However, he didn’t have too many distracting thoughts.

He was clear that the reason why he was at a disadvantage was partly because the other party’s Ordinance was extremely strong and partly because his breakthrough wasn’t perfect.

“Xu Qing, you’re indeed very strong but your weakness is equally obvious. Your immortal embryo… is only in the Illusion of Truth stage!”

Star Ring forcefully stopped and lifted his head, killing intent flickering in his eyes.