OUTSIDE OF TIME

1211 Flower Blooming in the Lantern

The chaos of the Imperial Academy ended just like that.

The face of the Great Emperor on the Ancient Sovereign Planet slowly sank and disappeared. The head of the Great Emperor’s statue also slowly turned back and stood in front of the rainbow bridge, stopping again.

The light from the palace also returned to normal.

In the Mortal World Forgetful Tower, the clay fox chuckled and closed Its eyes, transforming back into a statue.

The crack in the sky also completely disappeared.

Although this chaos caused by the Dao discussion ended, its impact remained significant, leaving a lingering suspense in the hearts of various factions. Its effect on the students of the academy was profound and far-reaching.

Countless students had varying degrees of injuries.

Thus, silence and complexity became the prevailing theme of the present day at the academy, especially evident in the sky above, where signs of vulnerability were visible in several areas, portraying a scene of desolation.

Some areas resembled melting ice, revealing what seemed like corroded black holes, akin to festering ulcers on skin, unable to heal on their own.

Moreover, the land fared no better; while not riddled with holes, many regions were visibly collapsing.

Overall, there was a pronounced sense of collapse.

Witnessing all of this, the wrinkles on the Principal’s face seemed to have increased. He sighed softly and lifted his right hand, pointing at the sky.

“Reshape!”

In coordination with the Principal, all the heads of the schools, including the head of the Variant Immortal School, also raised their right hands at this moment, activating the authority granted to them as heads of their respective schools.

In an instant, the white towers emitted white rays of light which formed energy waves that spread to the ground. At the same time, white pillars of light rose from them and rushed into the sky of Imperial Academy.

At the next instant, a large number of rune marks appeared in the sky, shining with white light. Every rune was octagonal, spreading across the sky and covering the ground.

These rune marks were arranged in patterns, forming a gigantic octagonal shape.

Encircling within, they rotated according to some kind of pattern, and with each complete cycle, the shattered space of the academy underwent repair.

The same applied to the earth, with the same octagonal formation and the same rotating circles.

Amidst the rumbling of the world, the recovery of the entire Imperial Academy Space was sped up. After about fifteen minutes… the sky was clear and all the cracks disappeared.

The ground was clean and all the collapsed areas were restored.

Everything returned to its previous state.

“The Dao discussion is over.”

“The Variant Immortal School has won!”

The Principal swept his gaze across all the students and finally looked at the Dao Platform of the Variant Immortal School. The focus of his gaze was Xu Qing, who had sat down cross-legged again.

His gaze was deep and contained a hint of sharpness, as though it could see through people’s hearts.

His words marked the end of this Dao discussion.

After he finished speaking, he flew away. As for the Third Prince, who had been following behind him, if it was before he witnessed this incident, he would at most smile on the surface and give the students some encouragement before leaving.

However, now, he respectfully bowed to Xu Qing before daring to leave.

As they left, after a short period of silence, the Imperial Academy erupted with enthusiastic cheers. All the voices came from the students of the Variant Immortal School.

These students who didn’t dare to acknowledge the Variant Immortal School before the Dao discussion were now excited.

This was because they knew that after this Dao Discussion, with the defeat and exposure of the Divine Fusion School, the Variant Immortal School no longer had any obstacles and would definitely soar into the sky.

The time of the Variant Immortal had arrived.

This could be seen from the rainbows shining in all directions from the Variant Immortal School’s Dao Platform.

In fact, many neutral students were filled with yearning for the Variant Immortal School after witnessing today’s events.

Compared to the rising Variant Immortal School, the defeated Divine Fusion School was already on the verge of death. All the students of the Divine Fusion School, from the chief disciple to the ordinary disciples, were uneasy, confused, and regretful.

All of this eventually turned into anger toward Bai Xiaozhuo.

What they would face next was undoubtedly an investigation by the Imperial Academy and even the Imperial Capital regarding Bai Xiaozhuo. This was especially so for the higher-ups of the Divine Fusion School. None of them could escape scrutiny. Unless they could withstand the investigation, death was the only outcome.

This was indeed the case. As the cheers rose, the black guards and the personal guards of the Imperial Family arrived together.

They took all the higher-ups of the Divine Fusion School away in front of all the students.

Moreover, they forcefully prevented the students of the Divine Fusion School from going outside, causing them to have no choice but to stay in the Imperial Academy for some time and wait for further investigation.

As for the white tower of the Divine Fusion School, it was sealed just like the Variant Immortal School some time ago.

Xu Qing stood up and walked down the Dao Platform with the school head and Chen Daoze. He was escorted by the students all the way back to the Variant Immortal School’s white tower.

Outside the white tower, the school head of the Variant Immortal School took a deep breath and announced to the students that the Variant Immortal School would reopen tomorrow.

Amidst the cheering, the school head bowed to Xu Qing. Chen Daoze also bowed.

Xu Qing understood that they had many questions for him. Hence, he walked into the white tower.

The two of them followed behind and stepped in. The gate of the white tower slowly closed.

The students also knew that it wasn’t convenient to disturb them at this moment. Hence, they all bowed to the white tower with excited hearts and chose to leave.

The white tower was completely silent.

Under the bright lights, Xu Qing stood in front of the jade slip shelves and looked at the densely-packed ancient books. Behind him, the Variant Immortal School’s school head and Chen Daoze stood respectfully.

They had too many questions in their hearts but now that they were standing here and facing Xu Qing, even though they had a thousand words to say, they didn’t know how to start. The source of the Variant Immortal lineage was with Xu Qing, and this caused them to be worried about gains and losses.

When someone could decide the rise and fall of their most precious thing with a single sentence, then it was inevitable that they would feel perturbed and hesitant.

This was a big shot.

Most of the time, the words ‘big shot’ weren’t absolute but relative.

Xu Qing understood their feelings. The experiences in the Seven Blood Eyes and Fenghai County had allowed him to mature and grow rapidly.

Hence, Xu Qing’s voice echoed in the white tower.

“The Variant Immortal Dao seed is formed by my soul seed.”

“The pros and cons of this soul seed were clearly stated in the jade slip when I gave it to the school head for the first time.”

“I can indeed retrieve this soul seed with a thought and take back all the cultivation progress brought by the soul seed.”

“However, I’ll only do this in one situation. That would be… if you go against humanity.”

After Xu Qing finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the Variant Immortal School’s school head and Chen Daoze with a sharp gaze.

The two of them lowered their heads and cupped their hands.

If they didn’t know about Xu Qing’s identity, these words would have been met with skepticism, caution, and vigilance. Even if they eventually acquiesced, it would have been merely a strategic move, a calculated choice of mutual benefit and exploitation.

However… things were different now.

Among Xu Qing’s identities, one of them was extremely heavy, and that was the identity of the Sword Carrier.

To be recognized by the Great Emperor and become the Sword Carrier, his words naturally held weight.

Hence, the Variant Immortal School’s school head and Chen Daoze trusted Xu Qing.

Xu Qing waved his right hand and took out three more of the remaining 98 purple soul seeds in his body, handing them to the two of them.

“You can choose the right people to absorb these purple soul seeds. As for the specific rules of the Variant Immortal School, you can decide for yourself.”

“In the future, I’ll draw a new reference map and send it here. In the future, the students can cultivate using it as a direction.”

“I obey the decree!”

The Variant Immortal School Head took a deep breath, spoke solemnly, and then carefully put away the three purple soul seeds. After a moment of contemplation, he bowed again.

“Senior Xu, my identity outside is the advisor of the Observance Palace. If you need anything, please instruct me.”

Xu Qing didn’t ask about his identity in the outside world. However, as the person who was the core beneficiary of the benefits, the Variant Immortal School’s school head felt that he should disclose it.

Chen Daoze also fell silent before speaking in a low voice.

“Lord Xu, I haven’t left the Imperial Academy for two thousand years. It was all thanks to the soul seed that I regained my consciousness and regained control of my body. Back then, my identity outside was one of the head elders of the Star Emperor Supreme Sect. Now that the matter of the Variant Immortal has come to an end, I plan to return to the sect.”

“Star Emperor Supreme Sect?” Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He thought of the Star Emperor Branch Sect that the captain had gone to and nodded.

As Xu Qing took the initiative to speak, the Variant Immortal School’s school head and Chen Daoze also asked Xu Qing about the cultivation art of the Variant Immortal soul threads.

Xu Qing didn’t have anything to guide on cultivation arts. However, he had his own comprehension of the core of the Variant Immortal School. Coupled with his god form, he told the two of them his thoughts.

His words were of profound significant to Chen Daoze and the school head, causing their hearts to stir.

“The effect of the soul threads is to simulate the divine source…”

“Burn the divine image and break through the barrier!”

“The so-called Variant Immortals can be gods or immortals with a thought…”

The two of them had a myriad of thoughts in their minds and time slowly passed. When Xu Qing left the white tower and entered the Imperial City, it was already late at night. The sky was enveloped by a black curtain, looking exceptionally deep and quiet.

The stars dotted the night sky like pairs of mysterious eyes peeping at the world.

A breeze blew past and the two sides of the quiet street emitted the rustling sound of trees swaying. When it landed in Xu Qing’s ears, he stopped in his tracks and calmly spoke.

“The assassins who tracked me in the Imperial City before have already died without a complete corpse.”

As soon as Xu Qing finished speaking, the moonlight behind him revealed the figure of a woman.

The woman wore a mask and there became a hint of surprise and provocation in her eyes.

“You can try.”

It was the mysterious woman who possessed appeared in the Star Emperor Branch Sect!

Xu Qing turned around and the moonlight instantly soared, turning into purple moonlight that enveloped the long street.

…

At the same time, a strange change happened on the Ancient Sovereign Planet.

On the Ancient Sovereign Planet, the clouds spread and slowly flowed.

In the depths of the palace, on the vast pentagon-shaped altar, five golden coffins emitted terrifying imperial qi.

These imperial qi seemed to have been corroded and invaded. They were pitch-black like black dragons that emitted a wail of death. They circled the lantern in the center and rotated rapidly.

As for this purple lantern, it was originally extinguished. However, at this instant, a lump of swaying fire surfaced at the wick.

It became a pair of golden and red flames. They were very weak, as though they would be extinguished by the wind.

In the fire, a flower with the characteristics of the heavenfate and spider lily became faintly discernible.

This flower became precisely the final display of Bai Xiaozhuo, as well as the last… exhibit of his life.