Beyond the Timescape-Chapter 1110: The Boundless Path of Immortality

The wind blew across the majestic river, causing waves to roll across the god blood. The black boat floated across it. The boat wasn’t moving very fast, yet neither the wind nor the waves did anything to impede its progress. When the boat came, the waves calmed.

The blood rain that fell on the river ceased. It seemed as if this ferry boat was a paramount treasure on this river, and the ferry pilot who operated it apparently had limitless control over the river itself.

And yet, compared to the massive world it was in, this river... was nothing more than a prison for the ferry pilot. After all, there were many ferry pilots, and they came and went depending on when they were convicted and when their sentences ended. It made sense considering that all of them had been convicted of major crimes in the Immortal Capital, and had been sent to this place as a punishment.

That said, taking into consideration the Fifth Star Ring as a whole, there were few people who actually thought of them as being prisoners. No clan would dare to do so, nor would any sect.... Gradually, the ferry boats with their unique fare and offer of safety had become a lifeline to cultivators, and precious protection in key moments.

Xu Qing was the perfect example.

He sat at the stern of the boat, and within his mouth was the flower petal that Grandma Fifth had given him in the Moonrite Region just before he left Revered Ancient. That flower petal could restore him to perfect health, regardless of any injuries he had suffered. He could only use it once, as it was made from the precious life force power of Grandma Fifth herself. It was truly a blessing from her.[1]

Xu Qing didn’t want to use it unless it was completely and utterly necessary.

The Fifth Star Ring is full of danger everywhere.... Given the state of my cultivation base and battle prowess, I need to be very, very careful.

He sat quietly in meditation, relying on the violet crystal to heal himself and slowly grow the skin back over his currently blood-slick flesh. The skin was not really a big deal considering his injuries as a whole. In fact, it only took about a day before he went from looking completely terrifying back to how he had looked before. At the very least, he didn’t look so bedraggled.

Unfortunately, burning so much of his blood had weakened him severely. The final blow he had sustained from that red-haired young man had inflicted a dao injury, and that wasn’t something that would heal in a short time.

It’ll probably take about a month....

Back in the Revered Ancient mainland, taking a month to recover would be a bit dangerous, but Xu Qing would have had plenty of ways to stay safe. But in the unfamiliar Fifth Star Ring, which was full of powerful experts, it was impossible to say how many dangers he might have to deal with in that time.

Therefore, he wanted to take advantage of every moment of his six days on this boat to recover as much as possible. After all, he had paid the fare of six days of life force. Soon enough, he wouldn’t have any true moments of safety at all.

Time passed. Three days went by.

During that time, the ferry pilot would occasionally dip the oar into the water to adjust the course of the boat. Other than that, he just sat at the front of the boat smoking his pipe. He never spoke. Occasionally, he would look up into the sky. It was impossible to determine what he was looking at. The aurora? Something inside the aurora? Or perhaps... he was looking at the void beyond the aurora?

Eventually, another little vortex appeared in the aurora, which was the fourth since Xu Qing boarded. The fourth vortex-day had arrived.

The ferry pilot exhaled a mouthful of smoke, looked away from the sky, and peered into the blood of the river.

“What’s your name, boy?” he asked suddenly.

Xu Qing opened his mouth and was about to say that his name was Sir Firedark.

“Don’t give me a fake name,” the ferry pilot said coolly.

Xu Qing hesitated briefly. “Senior, my name is Xu Qing.”

The ferry pilot closed his eyes and said nothing further.

Xu Qing remembered what the ferry pilot said about how he didn’t like talking. So Xu Qing didn’t say anything further. After all, this ferry pilot was probably the most powerful expert he had ever seen. According to the information provided by the map, if this man was a convict from the Immortal Capital, he was most likely a Lower Immortal.

A Lower Immortal was sitting right here in front of him.... It wouldn’t be possible to guess that just from looking at him.... But the fact that he had noticed the clay fox, who was currently dormant, was very telling.

Even as Xu Qing pondered these things, the ferry pilot opened his eyes again and looked up into the sky.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

Xu Qing was surprised, though he tried not to let it show on his face. Keeping calm, he respectfully went into a story based on some places he had learned about from the map.

The ferry pilot listened, and at the end of the story, he grunted a laugh. However, he didn’t pry further into Xu Qing’s past. Instead, he looked Xu Qing up and down as if to assess him.

“You’re a seven-world Smoldering God. You have lots of authority, including that of space and time. Very unusual. You have plenty of unique techniques too. Because of all that, it’s going to be hard to form your eighth and ninth worlds.”

Xu Qing bowed his head. It was really no surprise that someone like this could easily assess all of his daoist magics. He said nothing.

“Considering you have lineaments for your space and time magics,” the ferry pilot continued, “it’s safe to assume you have a plan for your eighth world. So even though the eighth and ninth will be hard, I suppose you just need enough time to work with. Well, do you know what an Imperial Sovereign really is?”

Xu Qing’s heart was beating a bit faster now, as this turn of conversation was a bit of a surprise. It sounded like the ferry pilot was planning to give him some advice.... Xu Qing could guess why this was happening, but had no way to confirm his speculations. And though he wasn’t sure of the details, it was an opportunity he couldn’t just let slip by.

Taking a deep breath, he clasped hands and bowed. “I hope you can clear up my confusion, Senior.”

“The Imperial Sovereign level is after Smoldering God,” the ferry pilot said calmly. “That’s when you form an immortal embryo. That process involves an accompanying immortal dao. Immortal daos are superior to heavenly daos, and they manifest as authority, and by extension, dao lineaments. I suppose you know all of that already.”

Xu Qing listened intently, then nodded in the affirmative.

“But some things in the Fifth Star Ring,” the ferry pilot continued, “are only revealed to cultivators by their clan or sect, after they reach the required level.” He looked at Xu Qing. “What do you think the real point of the Imperial Sovereign level is?”

“The immortal embryo?” he said.

The ferry pilot nodded. “The immortal embryo is also called the undying illusory reality. The illusory represents your soul. The reality represents your fleshly body. And the Imperial Sovereign level is about the process of replacing and merging.”

It was Xu Qing’s first time hearing such things, and he was listening very intently.

“Based on how the process works,” the ferry pilot went on, “the Imperial Sovereign level is divided into the sub-levels of early, mid, and late. The early level involves releasing your soul externally, and using it to form a fleshly body. That is the illusory reality. During that time, the Imperial Sovereign cultivator can be considered strong, but is also weak.

“They’re strong because the external illusion is gradually made real. They come to understand authority, and can control all manner of things. Those abilities eventually reach an inconceivable level. The weakness comes from the fact that reality is concealed by illusion. Therefore, if something can harm reality, they can be killed easily. For example, that stream of sword energy you used serves the function of exterminating reality.

“It’s a formidable stream of sword energy. Though it couldn’t quite kill an undying mid Imperial Sovereign, I can tell that the person who gave it to you is very impressive.”

At this point, the ferry pilot paused for a moment to give Xu Qing time to digest everything up to this point.

Xu Qing was understandably shaken. He had been able to tell before that Grandpa Ninth’s sword energy wouldn’t work very well on a mid Imperial Sovereign, but only now was he getting concrete details from the ferry pilot about why that was. As he thought back to the Imperial Sovereigns he had killed so far, he realized that everything made sense. It was only his previous lack of understanding that prevented him from understanding exactly what was going on.

A short time later, the ferry pilot puffed his pipe again and then continued speaking. “After succeeding with the illusory reality, you can start proceeding through the mid level. That second level involves taking the fleshly body, which was concealed in illusion, and turning it into a soul. That is what is called undying. Imperial Sovereigns of that level can instantly shift between reality and illusion. To some extent, a person like that has no weaknesses, and can be called undying.

“As for the third level, the late level, that requires a dao lineament of authority. The dao lineament is like a thread weaved through the body, taking the illusory, reality, and undying aspects and combining them. Pluck down a star, make it one, and then form the immortal embryo! Success makes you a Quasi-Immortal, also known as a Grand Emperor.”

With this information combined with what he already knew, Xu Qing now felt like he had a clear understanding of the Imperial Sovereign level.

Having an opportunity to get instruction like this was a rare thing, so Xu Qing couldn’t help but ask, “Senior, after the Quasi-Immortal Grand Emperor is the Summer Immortal, right? How do you get to that level?”

The ferry pilot glanced at Xu Qing’s Emperor’s Sword for a moment before saying, “The Quasi-Immortal level is the same as the gods’ Altar God level. The unique thing about that level is canon!

“Canon is the sublimation of dao lineaments of authority. It is power, and will, and essence. It is a continuation of the power of command an immortal developed in life up to that point. As for Lower Immortals....”

The ferry pilot exhaled a stream of pipe smoke. The smoke plus the wide hat made his face almost impossible to see. Yet his voice continued to echo out softly over the river of blood.

“That is the peak for lower star rings. Any such individual can be considered without flaw. Omnipotent. But in the higher star rings where canon reigns supreme, there is further room for growth.”

Xu Qing took a deep breath. Heart pounding, he clasped his hands and bowed again. “Senior, what’s after the Lower Immortal level...?”

The ferry pilot didn’t answer for a long time. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. “After the Lower Immortals are the Immortal Lords! They who are lords to all other immortals!”

This made Xu Qing think back to something his Eldest Brother had said once. He said he refused to believe that there was no path going beyond Lower Immortal. He said that maybe there were things like Immortal Lords and Immortal Paragons....[2]

I bet Eldest Brother knew the truth even back then.

The ferry pilot was still talking. “Such levels are very difficult to reach. Some people even call them impossible. In all of the Fifth Star Ring, after all the countless years that have passed, there have only been eleven Immortal Lords. They reside in the eleven immortal palaces in the Immortal Capital, and they are all sources of canon.”

The ferry pilot chuckled. “Since we’re talking about this, I might as well tell you about the level after Immortal Lord. It’s Immortal Paragon, and there is only one such individual!

“The Immortal Paragon rules the star ring, and is equivalent to a God Paragon. And the Immortal Paragon in the Fifth Star Ring is actually the only one in all of the thirty-six higher star rings. Before becoming a paragon, he was known as the Fifth Forefather of Humanity.”[3]

1. Xu Qing got the flower petal in chapter 1088. ☜

2. Erniu speculated about higher levels in chapter 901. ☜

3. There were also Forefathers mentioned in chapters 940 and 950. I’m not saying they’re the same. Well, the Chinese characters are the same, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are literally referring to beings of the same cultivation level. After all, Plumdark has a title with ‘immortal’ in it, but she’s not an immortal. Neither am I saying the Forefathers in the past chapter aren’t the same type as mentioned here. Make up your own mind.... ☜