Outside of Time

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

To Feng and Lan Yao, it seemed that this oriole was Yue Dong.

At that moment, in the canyon of Liaoxuan County, the fog churned intensely and rumbling sounds rang out endlessly. Sharp cries pierced through the fog, containing heart-rending cruelty.

A long time later, as one heavy object after another landed on the ground, a storm erupted at the bottom of the canyon.

With a sweep, the fog at the bottom of the canyon was instantly torn apart. It was as though an invisible palm was waving inside, causing the dense fog here to rise.

The bottom of the canyon, previously obscured by the fog, was revealed!

It was a vast expanse of ruins.

Within the ruins lay numerous buildings with ancient designs, ranging from tall towers to streets and houses, all over the place.

More precisely speaking, this was a small city.

One could imagine that many beings had lived here in the past.

However, most of the buildings here had collapsed, with few remaining intact. The traces of the anomalous substances invasion were clearly visible.

However, there were no ancient corpses to be found. Instead, scattered throughout the ruins were the corpses of a hundred or so two-headed strange birds, bleeding profusely.

Some of them were still struggling, emitting mournful cries.

A figure rushed down from the fog above and landed in the ruins, standing on top of a struggling strange bird.

The moment he stepped on it, the strange bird's body directly turned into minced flesh and blood.

This person was none other than Feng.

Immediately after, two figures rushed down and landed behind him.

They were Lan Yao and Xu Qing.

Looking at the surrounding ruins, Xu Qing's expression was as calm as ever but he was secretly even more vigilant. His gaze swept across the surroundings and glanced at the captain in Feng's hands.

The captain was still unconscious.

Xu Qing quietly retracted his gaze and looked at the corpses of those strange birds.

Previously, in the fog, the three of them were moving smoothly at the start but they soon encountered attacks. Those existences who attacked them seemed to be able to fuse with the fog.

They hovered between reality and illusion, posing a formidable challenge.

Xu Qing naturally wouldn't go all out. However, it was obvious that Feng was quite anxious. He took out the five-colored feather fan, and with one wave, he forced out most of the entities attacking them, and killed quite a few, causing their flesh to collapse.

After that, Lan Yao also made a move. Xu Qing assisted from the side and killed another hundred before they were able to break out of the fog.

The ones attacking them were none other than these strange birds.

"This world is dirty but also filled with dangers. Even ordinary sparrows have mutated into such forms under the invasion of the god's aura."

Feng spoke gloomily.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, there might be many similar beasts along the way. If you continue to hesitate like earlier, I'm afraid our journey will be significantly delayed, and then… other unforeseen events may occur."

Feng then looked at Xu Qing.

"Also, Fellow Daoist Flame Mystic, if I keep charging ahead and encounter some troublesome existences, it's hard to guarantee that I won't use your eldest senior brother as a shield."

When Xu Qing heard this, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He stared at Feng and slowly spoke.

"I don't mind continuing the life-and-death battle with you here!"

Feng narrowed his eyes and a chill instantly spread out from his body, enveloping the surroundings. At the same time, he tightened his grip on the captain's neck.

The captain's legs twitched and he had a pained expression.

Xu Qing's expression turned even uglier.

Lan Yao, who was at the side, noticed the hostility between the two of them. She chuckled and walked between them.

"Alright, Fellow Daoist Flame Mystic, you indeed didn't contribute much previously, so you can't blame Fellow Daoist Feng for being dissatisfied."

"However, Fellow Daoist Feng, since everyone has chosen to cooperate, you don't have to be so cautious all the time."

"How about this? For the next stretch of the journey, if it's as tough as before, we'll team up, otherwise, each one of us takes a turn."

When Feng heard this, he snorted and flew forward.

However, the hand that was grabbing the captain's neck still relaxed a little, and the captain's legs stopped twitching.

Xu Qing looked at Feng's back and didn't say anything. Lan Yao cast a meaningful glance at Xu Qing.

"Let's go, Fellow Daoist Flame Mystic."

Xu Qing understood that it was impossible for the two of them to let him follow from behind. It was the same in the fog earlier. Hence, he silently moved forward.

Just like that, the three of them sped above the ruined city with Feng in the lead.

However, there was a deliberate distance of thousands of feet between them, especially Feng, he was ten thousand feet away.

As he moved forward, this ruined city was even clearer in Xu Qing's eyes. He saw that between the buildings here, there were a large number of withered tree roots.

They were densely packed, but many were broken.

At the edge of the city, countless roots penetrated deep into the rocks in the canyon.

It was as though this city was built among the roots.

In Xu Qing's mind, a scene emerged: there had once been a giant tree that grew outside the canyon, perhaps reaching the sky, its branches spreading like the sky.

Its roots extended into the ground.

As for the location of this city, it should have been a catacomb back then.

One day, perhaps a mighty being appeared, and with a single move, the earth split open, giving birth to this vast canyon, exposing the catacomb to the outside world.

'Then, what about that tree… Maybe it was moved away by the Liaoxuan Race or maybe it dissipated in time? However, there are still traces of its roots. Even if the tree trunk disappeared, there should still be traces.'

'However, there's no trace of it outside, so there's a high chance that it was moved. As for the movers… they were either from Liaoxuan or another race.'

Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He naturally wouldn't believe what Feng had said outside the canyon earlier. Xu Qing's personality determined that he would only trust his observations and judgment when it came to unknown things.

Unless it was said by the people he trusted.

In his contemplation, Xu Qing's gaze fell upon the ruins of the buildings. These structures, judging by their style, bore similarities to human culture, yet some details diverged.

This was understandable. In the era of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether, the human race was the supreme race in Wanggu, and all other races instinctively imitated human culture as their standard of aesthetics.

Just as he was observing and moving closer to the center of the ruined city, a rumbling sound suddenly rang out from Feng's place at the front. At the same time, an extraordinary energy fluctuation spread out.

Xu Qing immediately focused and rose into the air. Lan Yao, who was behind him, also made the same choice.

From this height, everything ahead became clearer to Xu Qing's eyes. In an instant, he noticed that in the center of the ruins, where there had been no apparent change, a grotesque face had appeared.

This face grew on the ground and seemed to have been hiding, so it wasn't discovered earlier. As Feng flew past, it suddenly appeared and stretched out its rotting tongue to attack him.

However, Feng grabbed its tongue. As his Soul Accumulation cultivation erupted, Feng's body swayed and actually transformed into a five-colored peacock. He let out a cold snort and charged toward the face.

A rumbling sound pierced through the face. At the next instant, this strange ferocious beast looked incomparably fragile as it directly crumbled under Feng's attack.

After its body and soul were destroyed, a deep pit was revealed.

As for Feng, he returned to his normal form. He stood there but didn't step in. Instead, he looked at Xu Qing and Lan Yao.

"Next, it's your turn."

Feng calmly spoke.

Lan Yao smiled and rushed into the deep pit.

Feng didn't move and coldly looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing didn't say a word and also flew into the deep pit.

After looking at the two of them entering, Feng entered as well.

This deep pit was even colder than outside. Crystals emerged on the surrounding walls. As they went deeper, the cold air became more intense and the surroundings became pitch-

black.

However, the three of them weren't ordinary cultivators. No matter how pitch-black this place was, they could see their surroundings clearly.

This time, their progress was much smoother than before.

They shifted for about fifteen minutes without encountering any danger. However, this pit was too deep. Although they weren't moving at full speed, they still hadn't reached the bottom.

However, this smooth progress was short-lived. When about twenty five minutes passed, petals suddenly spread out from Lan Yao's side and scattered in all directions.

These flower petals gazed fragile but each of them contained terrifying might. The instant they spread out, a rumbling sound immediately rang out. There was also a snake-like creature that flashed past Lan Yao.

This creature had clearly been hiding and trying to launch a sneak attack on Lan Yao. However, for some reason, Lan Yao sensed it and forced it out with the eruption of the flower petals.

At that moment, its shocking appearance was revealed.

It wasn't a snake but a weird existence that gazed like an intestine. It was squirming and trying to escape, but with a scoff from Lan Yao, the petals in the surroundings gathered and transformed into a seven-colored peacock!

It had a white horn!

As a result, the peacock had eight colors!

Regardless of whether it was its aura or the purity of its bloodline, it was clearly superior to Feng's by far.

After appearing, it headed straight for that intestine.

Xu Qing didn't help. Instead, his heart stirred and he suddenly swiveled to look at Feng.

With a glance, he saw a flash of greed in Feng's eyes.

Xu Qing's sudden turn of his head caused Feng's expression to sink.

Xu Qing calmly retracted his gaze. As he pondered, the eight-

colored peacock's entire body shone with resplendent light. It directly approached the strange intestine and tore it apart before returning to Lan Yao's body.

Lan Yao paused. She swiveled and gazed at Xu Qing and Feng with a spurious smile. Finally, her gaze landed on Xu Qing as she uttered softly.

"Next, it's your turn."