Outside Of Time
chapter-1269

"Trying to enter 10,000 feet deep into the marsh with the physical body is too difficult, even with my current state."

"I have already reversed time and returned through the Sundial. There's always a limit to this matter, and frequent use will lead to its destruction."

"The failure of Fishing the Moon From the Well is partly due to the interference of the gray fog, and another major reason may be… the distance was too far, so it couldn't take direct effect."

"Based on this, if there's a way to form a tunnel on this marsh that penetrates 10,000 feet and form a connection with the space where the skulls are located, and I activate Fishing the Moon From the Well again…"

A look of contemplation appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. If this method could succeed, the danger to him would be reduced while increasing the chances of success.

"This passageway doesn't need to be too big. A crack or even a small hole will do."

Xu Qing lowered his head and stared at the mud under him. One method after another appeared in his mind.

However, this marsh was strange and there was gray fog. Hence, after he analyzed these methods, he gave up on them one by one. In the end, Xu Qing made up his mind and took out an item with a wave of his hand.

It was a brown flame!

It was something similar to divine fire formed by Little Shadow after devouring a forbidden zone.

This fire was terrifying and couldn't be tolerated by the world. If it appeared in the outside world, it would cause heavenly lightning to descend to extinguish it.

In the Jiuli Forbidden, even the Heavenly Dao was rejected, so its appearance didn't cause lightning. However, the gray fog seemed to have been stimulated and suddenly churned.

Vaguely, countless whispers gathered again, forming a roar that spread everywhere.

At the same time, the fog churned and rushed toward Xu Qing like an avalanche, drowning the smoke rings he was in. It wanted to extinguish the fire.

It was as though they couldn't coexist.

Xu Qing's gaze froze. He performed a series of hand seals and pointed at the bronze incense burner, speeding up its consumption and spreading out more smoke rings to block the surrounding fog that had become violent.

"The gray fog has such a reaction…"

Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He then lowered his head and looked at the marsh before looking at the fire.

He only had three such fires.

One was used on Ji Dongzi, so he only had two left.

"Let's give it a try!"

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and didn't hesitate. With a wave of his hand, he placed the brown fire on the marsh. The instant it came into contact, the marsh melted at a speed visible to the naked eye like snowflakes meeting hot water!

The flame fell incomparably smoothly and sank all the way.

Wherever it passed, the marsh would continue to melt. At the same time, the gray fog surrounding Xu Qingyan's smoke rings and the gray fog wandering in the marsh were immediately attracted. They fused into the marsh from all directions and headed straight for the fire.

They enveloped it, trying to snuff it out.

However, this flame was astonishing. Even though there were signs of it being extinguished, its sinking speed didn't change at all. All the mud that came into contact with it rapidly disappeared.

1000 feet, 3000 feet, 5000 feet, 7000 feet…

More fog rushed over.

This process repeated again and again. Moreover, the repulsive force emitted by the marsh was also extremely huge. It even surpassed when Xu Qing and Little Shadow were sinking earlier.

Hence, the brown fire grew dimmer and dimmer. However, the remaining power in it was enough for it to penetrate 10,000 feet!

However, the passage left in its trail was rapidly recovering and becoming smaller.

Finally, the flame passed through the layer of marsh and arrived at the cavern where Little Shadow had sent the image.

The moment it appeared there, the gray fog contained in the cavern suddenly erupted and rapidly swept over.

Endless gray fog surged forward. The brown flame was instantly extinguished and dissipated.

As it dissipated, the passage that it had melted instantly recovered.

This scene caused Xu Qing's expression to turn solemn.

During this period, he had thought of taking out the last flame and using Fishing the Moon From the Well. However, this wasn't a secure plan. There were very few opportunities, so he ultimately chose to wait and see.

He treated this as a probe.

Now, there was an answer.

"It's not that one flame isn't enough but there's a lack of follow-up. Hence, it's difficult for it to last for too long before it's extinguished by the gray fog."

"Also, it's difficult for the melted passage to continue existing."

"After I recover now, Fishing the Moon From the Well can still be activated once for a short period. However, if I want to activate it a second time, I still need to wait for my soul to recover."

Xu Qing fell silent and started to think of a way to deal with these two points.

A while later, he glanced at the marsh.

As for the marsh recovering slowly after being melted, he had a solution.

"Freeze it with the power of the Sundial!"

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. After experiencing the reversal of time under the marsh, he had a certain degree of confidence that this could be done. Hence, there was only one last issue left.

"How to make the flame burn more powerfully!"

Xu Qing looked at the incense burner. With a wave of his hand, he took out a piece of Crimson Goddess' flesh.

"The flesh of the Crimson Goddess can provide fuel for the incense burner. In theory, it can also augment the brown flame…"

At the thought of this, Xu Qing took a deep breath and took out the third wisp of brown flame. He controlled this flame and slowly put it close to the Crimson Goddess' flesh.

Xu Qing was extremely solemn as he did this.

This was his last hope. If he failed, he had no other ways left. He could only use all the flesh of the Crimson Goddess to see if he could break out of the Jiuli Forbidden.

Hence, under his full attention, the flame came into contact with the flesh of the Crimson Goddess.

The moment they came into contact, Xu Qing was prepared for an accident. However, luck seemed to have finally favored him after a series of reversals.

The instant the Crimson Goddess' flesh came into contact with the fire, sizzling sounds rang out. The Crimson Goddess' flesh actually showed signs of burning and melting.

As for that brown flame, it wasn't extinguished. Instead, under the continuous burning, the signs of the Crimson Goddess' flesh melting grew larger and larger.

Finally, a drop of golden oil-like liquid seeped out of the Crimson Goddess' flesh.

This oil was crystal clear. The moment it appeared, it emitted a dense god's aura that attracted the gray fog.

Xu Qing was about to take the drop of golden liquid away but after some thought, he chose to continue controlling the brown flame to burn. Very soon, the drop of golden liquid that had melted out continued to accumulate and fell to the marsh ground.

At the next instant, the marsh melted rapidly like when the fire came into contact with it, causing the drop of golden liquid to sink.

Seeing this, Xu Qing's spirits were lifted. Although there were some deviations from his plan, it was moving in the same direction. Hence, he didn't hesitate at all and continued to let the fire burn the flesh.

Very soon, when the first drop of golden liquid sank to thousands of feet and was about to dissipate when it was enveloped by the gray fog and the small hole it pierced through was about to close, the second drop of golden liquid fell!

At the same location and through the same small hole, the second drop of golden liquid shattered through all the mud instantly like a hot knife through butter. It fused with the first drop of liquid that was about to dissipate thousands of feet below, increasing its momentum.

The ground trembled.

After the golden liquid under thousands of feet was assisted, it emitted an even denser divine aura. They continued to sink, directly reaching a depth of 7,000 feet.

After that, the third drop, the fourth drop, and the fifth drop of golden liquid landed according to the same method.

The passage continued to open and the liquid continued to gather until it finally penetrated the 10,000-foot-long layer of marsh, forming a small hole that connected the surface to the bottom.

The instant this small hollow hole appeared, Xu Qing performed a sequence of hand seals with his left hand and pointed. Immediately, the Sundials emerged behind him. The freezing power instantly erupted and spread along the small hole, causing the recovery of the passage to pause for a moment.

Taking advantage of this time, madness appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. His cultivation and divine source erupted at once and the fourth god form instantly formed. He performed a series of hand seals with both hands and pressed toward the small hole.

The realm of heaven and earth was likened to a well.

In an instant, a vast force spread out in front of Xu Qing and ripples appeared in the surroundings. Everything became the surface of water.

Through this small hollow hole, it connected to the cavern ten thousand feet below and reflected everything inside on the surface of the water.

This time around, although it wasn't particularly clear, it was much better than before. At the very least… the skull closest to the small hole was reflected in Xu Qing's eyes.

However, Xu Qing's actions were essentially like a mayfly shaking a tree. He had used the golden oil to open the passageway and maintain it with the help of the Sundials.

However, it was still unstable in the end. At that moment, cracks emerged on the Sundials. The gray fog in the cave also pounced over like an ocean, about to completely drown the passage.

At this critical moment, Xu Qing lifted his right hand and scooped fiercely at the skull reflected in the water in front of him!

With this scoop, Xu Qing's entire body trembled. The strong resistance emitted by it prevented him from fishing it out and he even spat out a mouthful of blood from the backlash.

There were even more cracks on the Sundials.

The gray fog became increasingly dense.

The passage was about to close.

Xu Qing's eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth fiercely. He spared no expense and scooped again!

This time, his entire body rumbled and lacerations emerged on his body. Blood flowed out of his entire body and his entire body seemed to be about to collapse.

Finally, his trembling right hand scooped out a pool of water from the surface of the water.

There was a skull reflected in the water!

The moment he fished it out, Xu Qing's Sundials couldn't hold on anymore and disappeared. As for that passage, it was also washed in by the dense fog. No matter how the golden liquid landed, it couldn't stop it from closing.

Xu Qing spat out another mouthful of blood. The injuries all over his body were serious and his vision was blurry. However, he was excited as he looked at his broken right hand.

However, with a glance, Xu Qing's expression changed.

The skull reflected in the water stain on his right hand was quickly blurring, as though it would dissipate very soon.

He couldn't truly retain it, so he couldn't make it materialize!

Xu Qing was anxious. Seeing that the reflection of the skull in the water was about to completely dissipate, madness emerged in his eyes. He directly opened his mouth and sucked, swallowing the water in his palm along with the reflection inside. At the same time, he triggered his purple crystal.

The instant it entered his mouth, Xu Qing's body rumbled. A force of self-destruction rose uncontrollably. Just as it was about to erupt, a purple light shone from his chest and covered his entire body, followed by sealing power.

At the same time, an ancient voice that seemed to carry reluctance and bitterness, and separated by endless years, echoed in Xu Qing's mind.

"Father Magus, Li has let down our Mystic Heaven Great Magus Race!"