Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1033: Immortal Skill: Five Dogs Cleave Immortals

In the east of Revered Ancient, the Devilbird holy land was suspended above the grand spell formation set up by humankind and the Firemoon Darkheaven people. The holy land looked incredibly magnificent. From a distance, it looked circular, and was so enormous it was akin to an entire region.

The holy land also featured two enormous statues, one on the east side and one on the west side. They resembled two huge wings! And they were angled up so that they looked exactly like wings would look when being unfurled.

Inside the holy land, Xu Qing and Erniu sped along. Looking at one of the enormous wing statues, Erniu said, “Those are the Grand Emperor dao altars of the Devilbird holy land! Based on information from the memories of Feng Lintao and Yue Dong, I have a pretty good understanding of how the Devilbird holy land is laid out.

“It’s divided into eastern and western lands. There’s a Grand Emperor dao altar on each side, which supports them culturally and spiritually. Unfortunately, in recent days, the dao altar in the east, that of Grand Emperor Netherflame, has begun to dim....”

As Erniu spoke, Xu Qing listened and eyed the distant dao altar. Though it was far off in the distance, the altar was so magnificent that it was clearly visible. Just as his Eldest Brother was describing, the wing-shaped dao altar seemed to be losing its luster. It was dark. Dull.

“Just like the eastern Devilbirds, it’s bleak and desolate.” Eyes narrowing, Erniu looked to the west and said, “Things are different in the west. Over there, Grand Emperor Devilbird’s dao altar is dazzling and eye-catching to the extreme. Its light shines over the entire holy land.

“Because of that, the western forces are dominant. The western Devilbirds are powerful and glorious. The eastern Devilbirds are dispirited and weak.” Erniu turned to look at Xu Qing. “Of course, that’s good news for us. The weaker the eastern Devilbirds are, the better.”

Xu Qing nodded in agreement.

“Of course,” Erniu continued, “you probably ought to know about the various factions and organizations to be found in the east. There are three ancient clans here. They were around when the holy land was founded, and they’ve lasted until now. The Lan Clan is one of them.”

Xu Qing had to admit he knew almost nothing about this holy land. What was more, Erniu was the one who usually handled intelligence reports. It was almost a routine for Erniu. Therefore, during the month that had passed, he had poured through quite a few reports.

“In addition to the three great clans, the east also has nine Imperial Sovereign mountains. Together, they form an allied faction.”

“Imperial Sovereign mountains?” Xu Qing said, looking at Erniu. Just the mere mention of Imperial Sovereigns caused his ears to perk up.

Erniu nodded. “A mountain that has an Imperial Sovereign is naturally referred to as an Imperial Sovereign mountain. There are nine of them, with six of those Imperial Sovereigns being apprentices of Grand Emperor Netherflame. Only people who achieve that Imperial Sovereign cultivation base breakthrough qualify to establish their own Imperial Sovereign mountain.”

Xu Qing thought for a moment, then asked, “Eldest Brother, remember that Lu Lingzi fellow? He called himself the tenth apprentice of Grand Emperor Netherflame. But now you’re saying there are only six apprentices with Imperial Sovereign mountains?”

Erniu grinned. “Yue Dong’s memories contain all the information about that. Lu Lingzi has three Elder Brothers who perished a long time ago. The Imperial Sovereign mountains only belong to living Imperial Sovereigns. If one perishes, the mountain goes away with them.”

Xu Qing nodded. It made sense.

Seeing that Xu Qing had no further questions about the Imperial Sovereign mountains, Erniu took a deep breath, and his eyes glittered with anticipation. “Alright, little Ah Qing. We’ve talked about the three ancient clans and the nine Imperial Sovereign mountains. There’s another superpower organization among the eastern Devilbirds. And it’s an organization you and I are actually familiar with. It's called the Immortal Skills Hall.

“It carries on the legacy of the immortal skills from the time of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity. In the holy land, they train certain cultivators to use those skills. Cultivators like that are called immortal adepts.

“Yue Dong’s Master was the grand immortal adept of the current generation, and ran the Immortal Skills Hall. However, years ago, after he accepted his legacy, and after Yue Dong mastered Six Thieves Deceive Life, he passed away into meditation. What’s more, because of the decline of Grand Emperor Netherflame, the eastern Devilbirds’ Immortal Skills Hall has also grown weak.

“Yue Dong’s original plan was to use Feng Lintao’s legacy to turn her immortal skill into authority. If she succeeded, then she could return triumphantly, become the grand immortal adept, and lead the Immortal Skills Hall to prominence once again. Obviously, accomplishing that would have given her a very different status than before.”

Rumbling sounds could be heard from the horizon. They started off weak, but gradually became like the beat of a drum, causing winds to scream as mountain-toppling, sea-draining force surged in their direction.

The wind was the color of blood. Within it was a young man in a blood-colored robe, pulsing with the cultivation base fluctuations of a seven-world Smoldering God. He had bright red hair that, combined with the stench of blood that surrounded him, made him seem unusually fierce.

As he neared, he shouted, “Prepare to die, Yue Dong!”

His voice echoed like thunder as he shot toward Erniu and Xu Qing.

Erniu’s lovely eyebrows shot up. However, instead of dodging out of the way, he took out a Wordless invisibility seal. At the same time, something glimmered within Xu Qing’s vacant eyes.

He wasn’t sure who this newcomer was, but the man had an extraordinary cultivation base. And given that he dared to directly attack Yue Dong, he was obviously someone important.

An instant later, the tempest arrived. The young man in the blood-colored robe pulsed with a killing intent that caused the blood-colored clouds to seethe around Xu Qing and Erniu.

Lightning cracked within the tempest. A moment later, the crimson clouds churned violently as a blood-red figure became visible within. It seemed like it was about to break out into the open, but then two god vines snapped out, wrapped around him, and jerked him back inside.

The figure struggled, but it was all in vain. And before he could cry out, a delicate hand reached around him from behind and clamped down onto his mouth. In the end, he couldn’t stop the vines from dragging him back inside.

Next, the fluctuations of Six Thieves Deceive Life pulsed out of the blood clouds, spreading in all directions. They grew increasingly magnificent.

However, that was when powerful ripples appeared off in the distance as a fancy war chariot pierced through the sky. Behind the chariot were numerous bodyguard cultivators, all of whom pulsed with the somber and desolate aura of war veterans.

Then, someone shot out of the chariot and flew toward the crimson clouds. It was none other than the young man in the fancy robe who was obviously an admirer of Yue Dong.

He looked very anxious as he shouted, “Sir Blood Dust! How dare you lay a finger on Miss Dong'er! I'll kill you! Cultivators, heed my command! This deranged and psychotic Sir Blood Dust has conspired against me! Lock down this area and put Sir Blood Dust to death!”

The surrounding warrior cultivators pulsed with killing intent as they shot toward the blood clouds.

By that point, the young man in the fancy robe was already on the edge of the blood clouds. “Fear not, Dong’er! I'm here to save you!”

1. There is some serious wordplay in Chinese when it comes to this technique that I’m rendering as Five Dogs Cleave Immortals. I’ve managed to convey some of that wordplay in the English rendering, but not all, as there are actually three levels of wordplay that cannot all be ported into English. Everything will be explained later in the narrative and by means of footnotes. ☜

2. I'm fairly certain this takes the record for the longest name for a magical ability in anything I’ve ever translated. ☜

Deathblade's Thoughts

You might remember a translator note many chapters ago in which I mentioned that some chapters take a lot longer to translate than others. This is such a chapter. Erniu’s explanation of the suite of immortal skills (some of which is based on some real Buddhist doctrines/sutras), was so complicated that translating that one section took probably 3 times as long as an ordinary chapter. And yeah, I’m just talking about that one section, not even the rest of the chapter. What’s more, I had to come back four or five times to make changes based on later wordplay of certain sections. Suffice it to say, this chapter was very frustrating. I don’t get paid more if I spend more time on a chapter, but that’s just how things work in this industry. I hope the effort I put into it made for a good reading experience. And yes, there are things in this chapter that will be important later, heh heh....