OUTSIDE OF TIME

374 Sword Holder

Xu Qing left the Sect Master Hall.

The instant he walked out of the Sect Master Hall, he immediately took out the Purple Heaven Infinite Crown from his storage bag and wore it.

Previously, he only felt that this item wasn’t ordinary and even the captain was envious. Now that he knew its uses and understood how to use it, Xu Qing didn’t want to wait any longer. After putting it on, he immediately performed a series of hand seals. Immediately, this very dazzling Purple Heaven Infinite Crown slowly dimmed and in the end, it became invisible.

Even his divine sense couldn’t sense it.

Xu Qing was satisfied.

He returned to his residence. As a highness, he had a cave abode on the Seventh Peak. However, Xu Qing was used to living on the sea. Although he no longer had a magic ship, he still temporarily stayed in a guesthouse in the port area.

He was waiting for Zhang San to finish his work.

After returning to the guest house, Xu Qing first checked the arrangements in the surroundings. After confirming that no one had arrived during the time he was away, he sat down and familiarized himself with the three techniques Old Master Seventh had taught him.

“The spell is very powerful. I need to be familiar with it to use it properly.”

“It’s the same for the bizarre art. I have to find a place with no one around and give it a try.”

“As for the secret technique…” Xu Qing sensed the imprint in his mind and a strange glint flashed in his eyes. This technique was extremely terrifying. He had never heard of the existence of a secret technique1 before.

“I wonder if there were any secret techniques among the spells Saintly Star displayed when he fought with me.” Xu Qing recalled and felt that there was a high chance that there weren’t any. Even if there were, it couldn’t be compared to this Under the Nine Springs.

“Nine punches to shatter a magic aperture. This secret technique is most useful when the enemy is evenly matched.”

At the thought of this, Xu Qing tried his best to imitate it in his mind. A day later, other than studying and nurturing the three techniques in his mind, Xu Qing also dripped a drop of his blood on the Life Substituting Ghost Baby.

The moment it landed, the rolling eyes of the ghost baby suddenly paused. It slowly yawned and fell into a deep sleep.

Xu Qing carefully kept it close to his body. An incomparable sense of satisfaction surged in his mind. After that, he fell into deep thought.

“The protection of the Infinite Crown can already block most life-and-death crises for me. Even then, it is only the first level of protection. If I encounter a huge danger that can destroy the Infinite Crown, I have the Life Substituting Ghost Baby. This is the second level.”

“However, this is still not enough.” Xu Qing thought about it and stood up. He then changed into ordinary clothes and left the Seven Blood Eyes’ city to head to the adjacent Heavenly Treasure Sect’s city area.

After searching there, Xu Qing finally found what he wanted.

Disorder teleportation talisman.

This item couldn’t be bought in the Seven Blood Eyes but the Alliance had it, especially in some large shops of the Heavenly Treasure Sect. However, the price was extremely high.

Xu Qing endured his heartache and bought three.

“The first level of danger, the Infinite Crown, will block most crises. The second level, Life Substituting Ghost Baby. If I face an irresistible force, the moment the ghost baby dies in my place, the disorder teleportation talisman might produce a miraculous effect.”

After buying the talismans, Xu Qing returned to the Seven Blood Eyes’ city. He walked on the streets and looked at the buildings that had been built on a large scale in the surroundings. Xu Qing was deeply impressed by the construction speed of the Seven Blood Eyes. Just as he was walking around, he received a voice transmission from Zhang San.

“Xu Qing, I’ve finished my sect mission here. Come over when you’re free. The captain and Huang Yan are also here. Also, someone left a letter for you and asked me to pass it to you.”

Xu Qing was curious when he heard this. Hence, he changed his direction and went to the new location of the Transportation Department where Zhang San was. When he arrived, he saw over a hundred huge warehouses there from afar. Compared to the Seven Blood Eyes’ Transportation Department, their scale was much larger.

Zhang San was still squatting on the goods. The captain was also squatting there and eating an apple. In front of them was Huang Yan, who was carefully reminding Zhang San.

Huang Yan was holding the merfolk lantern he had bought from Xu Qing.

They were all familiar faces.

When the three of them saw Xu Qing, they waved at him.

The captain chuckled, Zhang San’s eyes gleamed, and Huang Yan patted his stomach. His gaze swept across Xu Qing and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

“Xu Qing, I heard that you have two life lanterns now. Haha, congratulations.” Huang Yan smiled happily.

“I made a calculation. A certain someone took some good stuff from Master a few days ago. Come, come, come. Little Qing, let me take a look. Senior Brother will help you appraise them. Don’t be fooled by the old man.” The captain coughed and spoke to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing ignored the captain. After he smiled at Huang Yan, his gaze landed on Zhang San and he told him about building the magic ship.

“Destroyed again? Did you see the sense of participation that I designed?” Zhang San wasn’t surprised that Xu Qing’s magic ship was destroyed. Instead, he asked another question excitedly.

Xu Qing recalled and shook his head.

“This can’t be, was the design wrong?” Zhang San was a little depressed. After some thought, he decided to make it easier to activate this time. He then took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Xu Qing.

“Back then, there was someone called Li Zimei in the same batch as you. Do you remember her? Later on, I transferred her to the Transportation Department. This girl was really hardworking and serious.” Zhang San sighed with emotion.

“When the three heaven’s chosens from the Grand Affairs Immortal Sect were in the Seven Blood Eyes, they accidentally saw her. Later on, for some reason, they talked to the sect and took her away when they left. They said that her physique is suitable for cultivating the techniques of the Grand Affairs Immortal Sect.”

Under the captain’s curiosity and Huang Yan’s gaze, Xu Qing placed the letter in his storage bag without taking a look. The image of the young girl outside the restaurant who was scolded by the staff because she wanted to pack the food away appeared in his mind. She was so ashamed that her entire body was trembling.

Huang Yan saw that it was getting late, so he reminded Zhang San again.

“Senior Brother Zhang San, you have to help me forge it properly. It’s going to be the 3,344th day since Senior Sister and I met. I don’t dare to give too expensive an item. Senior Sister will think too much, so I can only give this. Help me transfer the fire in this lantern to the hairpin. I want to give this item to Senior Sister as a gift.”

Zhang San patted his chest and ensured that there would be no problem. Huang Yan sighed.

“Sigh, why do you think the Seven Blood Eyes came to this lousy place? Nanhuang Continent is so good, right, Xu Qing? Why don’t we return to the Nanhuang Continent? I will persuade Senior Sister to return too.”

When Xu Qing heard this, he pondered seriously. The captain also sighed and finished the apple in his hand before taking out a pear.

“Speaking of the Nanhuang Continent, I feel sad. I had a big plan previously and prepared for it for a long time. I didn’t hesitate to transfer to the Intelligence Department to find information. I was just on the verge of doing it. Sigh, forget it, forget it. I will just consider that Flame Phoenix’s luck is good.”

“Your big plan is related to the Flame Phoenix? What did you want to do?” Huang Yan, who was about to leave, was curious.

Xu Qing also looked over.

The captain coughed.

“I originally planned to go to the Flame Phoenix’s nest to get something. What a pity, but I have a new plan now.”

Huang Yan cast a deep glance at the captain and decided not to leave. It was as though he wanted to see what the captain would say next.

The captain looked around and spoke to Xu Qing and the other two in a low voice.

“Do you know about Sword Holder?”

Zhang San was at a loss, and so was Xu Qing. Back then, Saintly Star had muttered to himself, so this was the first time he was hearing about it. Huang Yan blinked and revealed a blank expression.

The captain glanced at Huang Yan suspiciously. He felt that this fatty’s performance was a little wrong but he didn’t think too much about it and whispered.

“The Sword Holder is the title of the members of one of the human race’s Upper Mystic Five Ministries, the Sword Holding Ministry. Its headquarters is located in the large region of the Imperial Capital. There are seven palaces in seven counties and each palace is divided into several courts. There is a Sword Holding Court in the Yinghuang Province.”

“If you can join the Sword Holding Court and become a Sword Holder, you won’t be restricted by the sect’s laws. As long as you don’t betray the human race, it’s fine if you betray anything. To put it bluntly, if you become a Sword Holder, you’ll be superior to others in the human race. You will be working for the Sovereign and get huge benefits. Although Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether went to the Holy Land, the sovereign’s might still exists. This banner of the human race still has the power to intimidate the foreign races.”

“If you become a Sword Holder, you can directly capture whoever you don’t like or put them on the wanted list. This is different from the sect’s wanted list. This is the human race’s wanted list.”

“If you don’t like Soaring Cloud Ancestor, just make him wanted! If it is a person of foreign race, you can directly kill them and no one would dare to touch you. Touching you is equivalent to killing a government official and losing their head.”

“Moreover, after becoming a Sword Holder, one can also cultivate the Mystic Nether’s secret magic. It’s said that it’s very powerful. In the past, someone used the secret magic and almost killed the Flame Phoenix with a single sword strike.”

Huang Yan was stunned.

Xu Qing’s expression was as calm as ever. He was already used to the captain’s deliberately mystifying way of speaking.

Seeing Xu Qing’s expression, the captain raised his brows.

“Little Qing, I recently heard that Saintly Star isn’t dead. I don’t know what secret magic the Soaring Cloud Ancestor used but he seemed to have paid a huge price. The Alliance Leader took action and finally saved him. I’m not sure if there are any hidden damages but I found out that his will didn’t collapse. He’s in seclusion now and wants to break through to the fifth life fire!”

When Xu Qing heard this, his expression was still calm but a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

“If you become a Sword Holder, you will just have to send an edict and Saintly Star will start trembling!”

“My plan is to become a Sword Holder!” After the captain finished eating the pear, he took out a tangerine, peeled it, and took a bite before speaking.

“This way, when we do big things in the future, I’ll punish whoever dares to cripple me again on behalf of the human race.”

“How can we become a Sword Holder?” Zhang San was tempted.

“The selection of the Sword Holders is extremely strict. They choose the best of the best and there are only five spots every ten years. Calculating the time, this time’s selection isn’t far away. The Sword Holding Court is at the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar. I’ll be preparing for it and tell you guys when the time comes.” After the captain finished speaking, he stood up and patted his butt before waving at Xu Qing and the other two and left the Transportation Department.

Huang Yan also left. After Xu Qing discussed with Zhang San about the magic ship, he left at sunset.

At the same time, in the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, in a secret place covered by countless array formations, there was a huge blood pool.

Inhuman cries came from the blood pool. These shrill and pained shouts could be heard day and night.

There were eight huge ancient swords erected around the blood pool.

On each ancient sword, there was a person sitting cross-legged. There were men and women and they didn’t look young. Their cultivation bases emitted the energy fluctuations of Nascent Souls.

They worked together to activate the ancient swords, causing the swords to emit streams of sword qi that transformed into a net of sword qi that suppressed the blood pool. On the large net, there was a huge Golden Crow phantom that was absorbing the blood pool.

An old man floated at the side. He was the Soaring Cloud Ancestor.

He looked at the blood pool below. His expression was ugly but at the same time, his heart ached as he muttered softly.

“Grandson, hold on a little longer. The poison that that b*stard poisoned you with is quite special. Grandpa has tried his best but it’s useless. Even maintaining your vitality has reached my limit. Only by borrowing the phantom of the Alliance Leader’s emperor-level cultivation art and infusing dense vitality in your body, causing it to vaporize the poison at all times, can the poison in your body be balanced.”

“However, because of this, it can be seen that the fortune that that commoner experienced isn’t small. Grandson, your name Saintly Star represents light. You were born with a natural phenomenon and are destined to walk the path of the ancient sovereign. You can’t give up. You have to persevere and take back the glory that belongs to you. Everything he has will belong to you!”

There was a skeleton-like person in the blood pool. Less than 30% of its flesh and skin were left. Its wails became increasingly inhuman, but there was madness in its eyes.

“Xu Qing, I will kill you!!”