Beyond the Timescape-Chapter 1103: Who’s the Lord of Rain?

In the same city as Xu Qing, and not too far away from him, was the two-story city magistrate’s office. The magistrate himself was a middle-aged man wearing a white robe, who was currently standing at the balcony, his hands clasped behind his back. Looking away from the sky, he glanced at the crowd below, then looked off into the distance.

Killing intent flickered in his eyes. He was looking in the direction of Xu Qing.

The man was of medium height and was slightly pudgy. But he clearly had a bit of muscle on him. His hair was a bit white with age, but was neatly combed. He had faint crows feet at his eyes and wrinkles on his face. That, coupled with his sunken eyes, bore testament to the hardships he had faced in life.

It wasn’t possible to assess his cultivation base, but given that he was surrounded by natural and magical laws, and had dao lineaments in his eyes, meant that he obviously had the strength of an Imperial Sovereign.

I couldn’t possibly have predicted that a second Immortal Capital permission medallion would show up in my city. However, it’s dark, which means it hasn’t been activated.... The person who bears it is either a coward, or they’re planning to give it as a gift to someone else. If it’s the former, I might as well just kill them. But if it’s the latter....

The city magistrate wasn’t sure what to do. In the second round of the Trial of the Hunt, it was possible to detect other medallions. But it worked both ways. Anyone who had fused with their medallion would be able to sense other medallions, even if the other medallion wasn’t activated.

In contrast, someone who hadn’t activated their medallion wouldn’t be able to sense other medallions. That was why carrying around an unactivated medallion during the second round could be dangerous. In fact, few people ever did that.

All of those factors gave this magistrate a lot to think about. After all, he was an Imperial Sovereign, but he was only an early Imperial Sovereign. In this remote little city, that was fine. But it didn’t mean much when dealing with big sects and clans, which was why he had always kept his head down over the years. If he ended up offending the wrong people by going after a permission medallion, he could end up bringing disaster on himself.

But when I got that medallion early on, I activated it. And that means I’ve thrown caution to the wind! Life has become tedious. Why live in a rut, boxed in from all sides, just waiting to die...? Why not put everything on the line?? Besides, my cultivation base has been shackled for long enough. If things keep going on like they have been, I’ll never make any more progress.

With such thoughts on his mind, the city magistrate’s eyes flashed with cold light. “Come with me to crush an enemy.”

“Yes, sir,” voices chorused in response, and a host of figures became visible around him.

The city magistrate strode off of the balcony, flanked by several dozen attendants. Locking onto the position of the other medallion, he started moving.

***

Xu Qing was moving quickly toward the city gate.

When he saw the stars appear in the sky earlier, he had been struck with a sense of deep foreboding. And considering how one of those stars had been so close to him, he knew that danger was just around the corner. It got worse as he neared the city gates, only to notice that there were a lot more guards present than normal. What was more, the gates were currently closing.

Thanks to the spell formations and warding spells in the city, flight was prohibited. If he wanted to avoid being trapped in the city, he would either need to negate the formations and spells, or get through the gate. He felt like he was being hemmed in from all sides. It took only an instant for him to realize what was going on.

Someone ordered the gates closed. And the person who gave the order is probably connected to that other star that was close to me. It’s someone with a permission medallion. Either that, or someone close to that person.

Regardless, it indicates that the person has a high standing and status in this city.

Furthermore, I can’t sense this person, but they can sense me. Or rather, they can sense the medallion. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t activated the medallion, now that the second round has started. In that case, holding back from activating the medallion is putting me at a big disadvantage.

These thoughts ran through Xu Qing’s mind in a flash. It was without any further hesitation that he quickly pulled out the Immortal Capital permission medallion and pushed down on it. The moment he did, the medallion vibrated, then turned into a liquid that fused into the palm of his hand and entered his body.

An instant later, Xu Qing saw an image of a red aurora in his mind’s eye. Within the aurora, he could see the very same image of stars that he had seen earlier in the sky!

That said, there were some differences. Earlier, there were very few instances in which the stars in the southern planetary region were overlapping. But now, quite a few of them were....

And many of them were moving. It was no stretch of the imagination to say that the ones that had overlapped represented different people trying to rob and kill each other.

What was more, Xu Qing could now see his own ranking. He was #1733. That wasn’t his ranking in the Fifth Star Ring as a whole, but rather, his ranking in the southern region.

An instant later, the image vanished. Apparently, the only time you could see a full image of the entire region and all the stars was when you activated the permission medallion.

However, even after the image was gone, Xu Qing could tell that he had the ability to sense any other medallions within 50,000 kilometers of himself. It was a function of the medallions, not anything to do with cultivation base or divine will. The permission medallions were from the Immortal Capital, and they were extremely unique. Without absorbing one, you couldn’t unlock any of its functions.

As of right now, Xu Qing could actually sense two different medallions! One of them was a good distance away, right at the edge of the 50,000-kilometer area. In fact, it seemed to be moving away from him, and disappeared only a moment later.

The other one was very close and getting closer. It was flying right toward him.

Instantly, his cultivation base erupted. The power of the five elements spread out in all directions, and he bolstered his speed, shooting toward the closing gate like an arrow released from a bow. His opponent was approaching aggressively and clearly wanted to fight. There would be no avoiding it.

Xu Qing didn’t know what level of cultivation base he was dealing with, so he could only plan based on the worst-case scenario.

If he had to fight, then the choice of battlefield was going to be very important. If they fought inside the city, the formations and spells would be a detriment to Xu Qing. He would be trapped, and whether he focused on breaking free or fighting back, he would be in a passive position. But if he could break free of the city, then he would have a chance to seize the initiative.

He moved with astonishing speed thanks to how hard he had worked at coming to understand the dao of space, and the methods he had come up with to use it.

The space ahead of him shrank. The space behind him stretched out. Thanks to that effect, in the blink of an eye, he was outside the city gate. The guards couldn’t react in time to block him. They felt a gust of wind, and he was past them.

Then he coldly stretched his hand behind him and pinched his fingers together.

The city magistrate and his attendants had just arrived on the scene. But thanks to the hindrance of Xu Qing’s spatial manipulation magic, they were now much further behind. They had missed their best chance to intercept him.

When Xu Qing pinched his fingers together, the space around him rippled and then collapsed. A deafening boom shook everything. The space outside the city gate completely shattered in all directions, giving rise to a gale force wind. Everything was thrown into chaos.

Within that chaos, a cold snort echoed out. Next, a thunderous rumbling filled the sky, and black clouds appeared. Rain started to fall, turning into heavy sheets that soaked everything inside and outside the city gate.

Xu Qing was included. The moment he sensed the rain, his gaze hardened.

This rain is the manifestation of the dao lineaments of authority! My opponent’s authority... is rain....

Even as Xu Qing sensed that, the surrounding rain transformed, becoming sharp blades that whistled toward him.

At the same time, the shattered space inside the city gate wasn’t blocked by the rain. However, the city magistrate’s attendants took advantage of the rain itself to disappear from sight. When they reappeared, they had passed through all the shattered space and had surrounded Xu Qing. Unleashing Smoldering God might, they coordinated with the rain attack to unleash fatal blows on Xu Qing.

Puppets? Are they unliving dirt? Or are they made primarily from rainwater?

Eyes flashing coldly, Xu Qing shot backward. At the same time, his gaze passed through the sheets of rain to lock onto the white-garbed figure inside the city. He wasn’t launching any attacks, but rather, was just standing there looking coldly at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing considered the situation. He’s obviously a cautious person. He doesn’t know how strong I really am, so even though he can tell I’m not an Imperial Sovereign, he still doesn’t want to face me in person. He’d rather fight from a distance using his authority and his puppets. However, caution can be a strength and a weakness. If you’re cautious at the wrong time, you can lose the initiative.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing shot backward again, this time focusing, not on the puppets, but on the blades formed from rain. All of a sudden, an idea popped into his head.

I have cultivator authority. And I have godly authority. Cultivator authority comes from natural and magical laws. Godly authority comes from something else. The two types of authority have similarities and differences. They’re similar in that they both have an origin. They’re different because they’re used in different ways.

Natural and magical laws come when cultivators create heavenly daos. The heavenly daos produce the natural and magical laws. When cultivators gain enlightenment, they have authority. It’s a cycle. The origin of godly authority is even more ancient, and not even I know the details.

Erasure. Immortal skills. Rain. Energy.... All of those things can become authorities. In that case, what about my extreme five elements? Are they... all types of authority? They do not originate with heavenly daos, though. Their origin is me.

Xu Qing had been considering this question during the entire thirty vortex-days in which he traveled to this city.

Then he saw this rain turn into blades, and decided to forget about all of his other magical techniques. Instead, he unleashed his dao of extreme water.

Something unimaginable happened. The water blades shooting toward him suddenly stopped in midair. In fact, all of the falling rain around him suddenly came to a complete and utter halt. The puppets also ceased moving.

Then Xu Qing lifted his hand... and the blades turned around. The puppets spun in place. All of the rain water vibrated... and turned into blades that pointed back toward the city at the shocked city magistrate.

The city magistrate had been watching as the young man he was targeting was surrounded by the water of his authority. But now he was the one who was shocked.

Clearly, this person was a true lord of the rain.