Outside Of Time

Chapter 1653: Memories

Editor: Atlas Studios

The scenes of history stirred within that crimson hue, creating ripples.

Countless grains of sand swayed and flowed, emitting resplendent flowing light in the undercurrents of the river of time.

Outside the light, the Young Lord stared blankly at everything in front of him.

Back then, because his consciousness was isolated, he couldn’t hear the words. At this moment, as the historical scenes flashed, he heard them all.

It turned out that everything about his childhood in the Immortal Palace was fake.

It turned out that his father’s rebellion was to seek death.

It turned out that the reason for seeking death was to protect him.

His body trembled and tears streamed down his face as he looked at his father rushing toward the Venerable Immortal.

In the past, he didn’t understand why his father did such a thing, and he couldn’t forgive his grandfather, the Venerable Immortal.

However, at this moment, after seeing the truth, there was only bitterness left.

At the side, Fairy Spirit Phoenix sighed softly and didn’t let go of his hand at all.

As a spectator, Xu Qing’s heart also fluctuated.

This truth didn’t seem to have any wrong sides.

Was the Immortal Lord wrong? In order not to continue the pain, he chose to rebel and seek death. This was to cut off the divine calamity from himself so that his child wouldn’t suffer as much as he did.

This was a manifestation of fatherly love, so he wasn’t wrong.

And was the Venerable Immortal wrong? For the sake of the entire Fifth Star Ring, he sacrificed his bloodline, forsaking his self to protect the greater whole—this, too, was without fault.

In watching this history unfold, it became clear that the method the Aurora Immortal Lord proposed was something the Venerable Immortal, with his powers, had likely foreseen long ago.

He knew that, when the right moment came, he could personally end the Aurora Immortal Lord’s life, resolving everything without the need to slowly wear down the curse through generations.

And with his ability, he could easily have brought that moment forward, avoiding this prolonged waiting.

Yet, even as he sacrificed nearly everything for the Fifth Star Ring, he chose to ignore that option.

The emotions contained in it were also fatherly love.

He didn’t want to lose his son.

Hence, even though he had a simpler and more direct method long ago, he would rather choose to wear it down for generations.

At the very least, that way, Aurora Immortal Lord’s life would continue.

“He loved his son, unable to bring himself to kill him, and his son, too, loved his own, choosing his own end rather than to pass on this curse.”

Xu Qing mumbled inwardly.

At this moment, the scenes of history were still flowing.

The Venerable Immortal, vast as the starry sky, had from beginning to end spoken only that one sentence at the start.

After that, there was silence.

Even though Aurora Immortal Lord’s eyes shone with a red light and he wanted to die, he remained silent.

Even though the Ordinance from the Aurora Immortal Lord was corroding everything, he still chose to remain silent.

He allowed the Immortal Lord to attack.

This lasted until Aurora Immortal Lord’s white hair gradually turned black.

This lasted until his white clothes slowly turned into black robes.

This lasted until the gods’ aura began to erupt from Aurora Immortal Lord…

A maniacal laughter grew louder, a hysterical roar thundered throughout the heavens.

Cries of ‘kill me!’ reverberated through the historic scene, distorting everything, and all turned into a blur.

It seemed as though the Venerable God was on the verge of returning, through the body of the Aurora Immortal Lord.

The Venerable Immortal closed his eyes and slowly lifted his hand.

It landed gently.

Just as he had done in that minor world so long ago, when he lovingly patted his child’s head, saying with a smile, “When you grow up, I’ll take you to see the stars beyond.”

And he did.

With a resounding crash, his hand descended, and the Aurora Immortal Lord’s body faded away like ash, until he became nothing but tiny red specks, merging with the boundless aurora above.

He disappeared, leaving no trace.

Form and soul, entirely extinguished.

From now on, he was no more in the cycle of reincarnation.

In the fading light, the Venerable Immortal kept his eyes closed.

He stood there silently, his figure looking bleak.

After a long time, he turned and walked into the distance.

That lonely figure’s originally straight back seemed to have bent a lot as he left.

It was as though he was no longer the Venerable Immortal of the Fifth Star Ring.

He was just a lonely old man who had lost his beloved son and was immersed in bitterness.

His figure gradually blurred and finally… fused into the starry sky.

In the starry sky, low murmurs echoed.

“Aurora… he did it to give you, the Venerable Immortal, and all beings a justified reason for the Venerable Immortal to kill him.

In this way, he freed himself…

Free you…

And he freed the Venerable Immortal…”

“He helped everyone.”

As the voice swayed, fine threads appeared in the scene.

These threads flowed between the sand. That was the secret of history.

They slowly gathered together, forming a figure in the scene of history… in front of the Young Lord and Fairy Spirit Phoenix.

Nine Shores Immortal Lord.

The Young Lord was silent and Spirit Phoenix lowered her head.

“And this history…”

Nine Shores shook his head.

“This part of history cannot be seen or known by anyone below the Immortal Lord Realm. For though the divine calamity is eradicated, if anyone learns of it, there exists the possibility of karma arising with it, leaving traces.”

“Immortal Lords can still avoid it, but the risk is enormous for those below the Immortal Lord Realm.”

“This is also the reason why your father and I isolated the two of you.”

Nine Shores spoke softly.

“Now, however, you have seen it, you have learned of it… Therefore, for the Venerable Immortal, erasing you both would indeed be the best and safest choice for the future of the Fifth Star Ring.”

“Yet, on one hand, one of you is my daughter, his granddaughter-in-law.”

“On the other, his grandson, who carries within him the undying Sun and Moon born with the Fifth Star Ring’s essence when it became the realm of cultivators—these cannot be destroyed.”

“There’s another reason. It’s…”

The Nine Shores Immortal Lord paused.

“His heart has softened.”

“The old man who gave up everything for the sake of the Fifth Star Ring, ultimately softened his heart.”

“He chose to shoulder the karma of both of you himself.”

“Now, leave.”

Nine Shores lifted his hand and waved it gently forward.

Immediately, the waves of history churned and the waves of the river of time rose. An irresistible force swept over, wanting to send the Young Lord and Spirit Phoenix out of this place…

His figure also turned and walked toward the starry sky. Everything behind him was blurry.

Everything was about to dissipate.

Young Lord suddenly lifted his head.

“Venerable Immortal can bear the karma of me and Spirit Phoenix, but there’s still a wisp of consciousness in my body. It’s my benefactor. He…”

“He’s fine,” the distant Nine Shores Immortal Lord calmly said.

“The Venerable Immortal can’t withstand the karma on his body, while the divine calamity… doesn’t dare to.”

As the words echoed, a great wave rose from the river of time, swallowing everything in its path. The wave swept away grains of sand that didn’t belong, lifting them above the river’s surface and casting them into the mirror above.

Then, the mirror itself dissolved.

…

When everything became clear again, the Immortal Palace appeared before them.

It was not the ruin they had left behind; everything remained as it was at the moment of the wedding.

However, the joyous crowd had vanished.

Only the figures of the Young Lord and the Spirit Phoenix remained, along with a faint, blurry form shaped by consciousness.

That was Xu Qing.

At the moment of return, he had already detached from the body of the Young Lord, now floating in mid-air, gazing at the Immortal Palace and the figures of the Young Lord and Spirit Phoenix.

The events that had unfolded here felt like a dream.

And everything within the river of time seemed even more dreamlike.

At this moment, the dream was about to awaken.

For Xu Qing, the gains were monumental.

After experiencing all of this, his understanding of the Space-Time Ordinance had been nearly completely supplemented.

He could sense that he was about to break through…

He was only missing a direction.

He had to choose this direction.

The moment it was set would be when he would make a breakthrough.

As for the truth he knew in the dream and the karma it inflicted, Xu Qing didn’t care.

Even if the Nine Shores Immortal Lord didn’t say that, Xu Qing didn’t care.

This was because the karma of the god’s fragmented-face was enough to suppress everything.

If the divine calamity really found him and wanted to bring the Venerable God back through him, then… Xu Qing felt that fragmented-face Desolate might be even happier.

However, after knowing the truth of history, the emotions that flowed in his heart were still spreading.

Hence, Xu Qing looked at the Young Lord and Fairy Spirit Phoenix.

The two of them continued to remain silent.

A long time later, the Young Lord raised his hand and waved it. Time sand flew out and gathered in front of Xu Qing, forming an hourglass.

The sand inside exceeded what it was before.

It was no longer two hours but a day.

“Young friend, thank you… for this journey.”

The Young Lord looked at Xu Qing and spoke softly.

“I no longer have any regrets. Now, I’ll leave and follow my father’s wishes to walk my own life…”

At this point, he looked at Fairy Spirit Phoenix beside him.

Spirit Phoenix’s gaze was gentle as she nodded gently.

A smile appeared on the Young Lord’s face. This smile contained melancholy about the past and also relief.

After that, they stepped into the void.

As they left, the entire world began to blur. It was as though time had flowed here for tens of millions of years, wanting to weather everything.

Xu Qing lifted his head and looked at the two people in the sky. The voice from the sky echoed in his ears.

“Young friend, I can’t help you much with your Space-Time Ordinance.”

“But I remember my father once said that beyond space-time… is parallel!”

The instant these words rang out and landed in Xu Qing’s consciousness, it was as though countless thunderbolts were rumbling, causing Xu Qing’s eyes to reveal an extremely intense light.

It was as though he had been enlightened.

He understood!

The voice from the sky still echoed.

“I’ll give you the ownership of the Immortal Palace and leave everything here to you.”

“With your current understanding of space-time, you should be able to understand it.”

“We’ll meet again if fate allows it.”

“Young friend, thank you for helping me and my husband. You can make a trip to the God Blood River in the future. I… left a gift for you there.”

The last sentence was said by Fairy Spirit Phoenix.

As their voices rang out and their figures left, the weathering of the entire Immortal Palace sped up.

In just a few breaths of time, while Xu Qing comprehended the direction in his mind, countless years passed in this place.

In the end, all the buildings, including the realm itself, turned into ashes and drifted away.

The space-time waves from the fourth realm also dissipated.

However, in Xu Qing’s heart, the water formed by his Space-Time Ordinance was already as majestic as a river.