Outside Of Time
chapter-1569

Editor: Atlas Studios

At that moment, in the city, on the second floor of a pavilion not far away from where Xu Qing was.

A middle-aged man in a white robe was standing beside the railing with his hands behind his back. He retracted his gaze from the aurora in the sky and glanced at the crowd below, looking into the distance.

Killing intent flashed in this person’s eyes.

He was looking in Xu Qing’s direction.

The middle-aged man was of average height but slightly portly, though he still maintained a certain robustness.

His hair had turned slightly white, showing signs of age, but it was neatly groomed.

The crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes and the faint wrinkles on his forehead bore witness to the hardships he had endured, crafting a pair of steady and composed eyes.

Although his cultivation base wasn’t specifically revealed, the surrounding laws and the glint of the Dao marks in his eyes revealed his power as a Ruler.

“I didn’t expect there to be a second qualifying token in my city.”

“However, it’s dim. Clearly, it hasn’t been activated…”

“It seems that the person’s either someone who’s afraid of death, or they are giving it to someone.”

“If it’s the former, it’s fine if I kill them, but the latter…”

The middle-aged cultivator fell silent, unable to make up his mind.

The qualifying tokens allowed the holders to sense each other within a certain range during the second stage of the hunt.

However, this so-called perception was actually relative.

Only those who had activated the token could sense the other tokens. Even if the token wasn’t activated, they would still be able to sense it.

On the other hand, those who didn’t activate the tokens wouldn’t be able to sense other tokens.

Hence, in the second stage of the hunt, it was disadvantageous to hold an unactivated token.

Very few people would do this.

Hence, this middle-aged man had no choice but to think too much.

After all, although he was a Ruler, he was only at the early-stage. This cultivation was still fine in this remote city but against those powerful clans and sects, he had to lower his head.

Offending someone for a token would probably bring about more calamities.

“However, after I accidentally obtained the token back then, since I chose to activate it, I’m already staking everything.”

“Such a life is truly monotonous. Rather than staying in one corner, constrained by other forces and seeing the end of my life from a single vantage point… I would rather take a gamble!”

“Moreover, my cultivation has been shackled for a long time. Under normal circumstances, it’s almost impossible for me to advance.”

At the thought of this, a cold glint flashed in the middle-aged cultivator’s eyes as he calmly spoke.

“Follow me to suppress the enemy.”

As soon as he finished speaking, sounds of agreement rang out in the surroundings. After that, illusory figures appeared beside him.

At the next moment, the middle-aged cultivator took a step forward and dozens of figures followed him. He directly stepped into the air and sped toward the other token that his token had locked onto.

At that moment, Xu Qing was also speeding.

He walked toward the city gate.

Previously, the stars in the sky made him feel that a storm was coming. Moreover, there was actually a star near his star. This made him understand that danger could descend at any time.

When he was about to approach the city gate, he noticed that there were much more guards at the city gate than when he arrived. Moreover, the city gate was closing.

This city had array formations that prohibited flight.

If he didn’t want to be trapped inside and use other methods to break the formation, the city gate would be the best exit.

But now, there were more guards and the city gate was closing.

At the same time, a feeling of being locked onto also faintly rose in Xu Qing’s mind.

All of this allowed Xu Qing to make a clear judgment.

“Someone ordered the gate to be closed. Moreover, the person who gave the order must be the star in the sky I saw earlier, the person with the token, or someone related.”

“No matter what, it means that this person’s status in this city is extremely high.”

“Also, I can’t sense the other party but I feel like I’m being locked onto. Clearly, the other party can sense me.”

“In other words, even if I didn’t activate that qualifying token, other token holders can still sense it during the second stage of the hunt.”

“In other words… the other party can sense me but I can’t sense them.”

“If I still don’t fuse with the token, it will be extremely disadvantageous for me.”

All these thoughts instantly appeared in Xu Qing’s mind.

At the next instant, he decisively took out his qualifying token and squeezed it ruthlessly.

The qualifying token immediately shook. It didn’t shatter but turned into liquid that melted in Xu Qing’s hand and fused into his body through his palm.

In the blink of an eye, a scarlet aurora appeared in Xu Qing’s mind.

As the aurora flowed, it reflected the scene of the stars that had appeared in the Southern Starfield’s sky!

However, this scene was slightly different from what he had seen earlier.

The stars he saw earlier were scattered in the South and rarely overlapped.

But now, many of them overlapped…

Many of them were moving.

One could imagine that every overlap meant that there was a fight and massacre.

At the same time, his ranking appeared in his mind.

i>733rd place.

This was not a ranking in the Fifth Star Ring but his ranking in the Southern Starfield.

At the next instant, this scene disappeared.

It was as though only by merging with the qualifying token for the first time could one see the starry scene.

After the scene disappeared, Xu Qing immediately sensed the benefits brought by merging with the token.

He could sense other tokens within a radius of 50,000 kilometers.

Xu Qing could clearly sense that there were two stars nearby!

One of them was a little far away, at the edge of the 100,000-meter range. It seemed to have sensed something and quickly left, disappearing from the range Xu Qing could sense.

As for the other one, it was extremely close.

It was rapidly approaching him.

At the same time that he sensed this, the cultivation base in Xu Qing’s body erupted. The power of the five elements spread out and enveloped the surroundings, augmenting his speed as he rushed toward the closing city gate.

The other party was aggressive and a battle was unavoidable.

Without knowing the other party’s cultivation, Xu Qing could only think of the worst case scenario.

In that case, it was important to choose a favorable battlefield.

Staying within the city posed a disadvantage for Xu Qing due to the city’s formation restrictions. Being trapped there, whether he focused on breaking the array or fighting back, would put him in a very passive position.

If he could rush out of this city, then there would be an opportunity for him to take the initiative.

Hence, Xu Qing moved quickly, even using the Dao of Space.

The space in front of him shrunk.

The space behind him stretched.

Xu Qing’s figure instantly arrived at the city gate.

Those guards didn’t have time to stop him at all. They only felt a strong wind blowing at their faces. At the next instant, Xu Qing had already rushed out of the city gate.

After that, he calmly raised his hand and pinched behind him!

Right at this moment, the middle-aged cultivator and his followers had caught up. However, under the obstruction of Xu Qing’s spatial technique, the distance between them became even longer.

As a result, he missed the best time to stop Xu Qing.

Under Xu Qing’s gesture, the space they were in immediately fluctuated and collapsed.

A deafening sound erupted at this moment.

One could see that on the streets inside the city gate, the space shattered and the surroundings collapsed. A storm swept over.

Chaos ensued.

Amidst the chaos, a cold snort rang out.

Following that, heavenly lightning rumbled in the sky. Dark clouds appeared in the sky and rain instantly fell. The area it covered wasn’t small, enveloping the inside and outside of the city gate.

Xu Qing was also enveloped.

The moment he sensed the rain, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed.

“This rain is formed by the Dao marks of authority!”

“The other party’s authority is rain…”

Almost at the instant Xu Qing sensed it, the rainwater that landed in his surroundings transformed into sharp blades that pierced toward Xu Qing.

Within the city, the collapse of space was not hindered by the rain. However, the illusory figures accompanying the middle-aged cultivator vanished into the rain in an instant.

When they reappeared, they had crossed the collapsed space and surrounded Xu Qing. Each of them unleashed their cultivation bases, radiating the power of Soul Accumulation, and launched a frenzied assault on Xu Qing, combining their attacks with the rain’s assault.

“Puppets? Death warriors? And they’re composed mainly of rainwater!”

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes as he quickly retreated. At the same time, his gaze passed through the rain in front of him and looked at the white figure standing in the rain in the city.

The other party didn’t step out but stood there, staring coldly at him.

“He’s also a cautious person. Even though he can tell I’m not a Ruler, because he doesn’t know my strength, he still chose not to approach me personally. Instead, he used his authority from a distance and arranged for his puppets to attack.”

“But caution is both a virtue and a flaw. At crucial moments, it can cause one to miss opportunities.”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and retreated. As for his gaze, although he retracted it, he didn’t look at the puppet figures. Instead, he stared at the rain that was coming at him like sharp blades.

Looking at the rain, a thought appeared in Xu Qing’s mind.

“I have authorities as well as divine authorities.”

“Authority and divine authority. The former belongs to cultivators, while the latter belongs to gods.”

“Authority comes from rules and laws, while divine authority is a trace within the unseen.”

“They share similarities but differ fundamentally. Both have sources, but their modes of existence are different.”

“Rules and laws are created by cultivators, evolve from the Heavenly Dao, and are comprehended by cultivators, forming a cycle.”

“Divine authority, on the other hand, originates from a more ancient source, which remains unknown to me.”

“Erase, immortal arts, rain, and air… They can all become authority.”

“Then, are the extremes of my five elements… also authorities?”

“However, their source isn’t the Heavenly Dao but me.”

During the thirty vortex days that he spent coming to this city, Xu Qing had been pondering this question.

Looking at the sharp blades formed by the rain, he suddenly retracted all his spells and only displayed his Extreme Water Dao.

At the next instant, an unbelievable scene appeared.

The sharp blades formed by the rain instantly stopped in front of Xu Qing.

They weren’t the only ones. All the falling rain in the surroundings suddenly stopped in mid-air.

Even those puppets stopped in mid-air.

After that, when Xu Qing raised his hand…

Those sharp blades changed directions.

Those puppets turned around.

All the rain in this area shook at this moment. After that… they transformed into sharp blades that faced the horrified middle-aged cultivator in the city.

In the eyes of the middle-aged cultivator, the young man in front of him was clearly enveloped and surrounded by the rain formed from his authority but he was the one who was shaken.

The young man seemed more like the master of the rain than him..