Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 184: Strange Seazombie Developments (part 2)

Soon the three days were almost up, and the warship was finally closing in on the Seazombie ancestral land.

As the massive island appeared in the distance, Xu Qing’s expression turned very serious. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at himself to make sure his disguise was in place. He also had his shadow emit a Seazombie aura. For all intents and purposes, Xu Qing was a Seazombie. Also, thanks to Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, he really did have one of the innate abilities of the Seazombies: zombie poison. With that addition, his disguise was perfect.

Though the Captain didn’t have such, he had obviously come prepared, so Xu Qing wasn’t worried about his disguise being seen through.

“Finally, we’re... home....” the Captain said, clutching his abdomen as he leaned weakly against the railing, the wind stirring his blood-soaked hair to reveal his delicately beautiful face. His pale skin and the mixed emotions on his face made it seem like the Captain really was Third Princess. It was as if he truly understood everything about her, down to the core of her being.

If it weren’t for the fact that Xu Qing had spent the past few days getting used to the Captain in this form, he wouldn’t have ever guessed who he really was.

“Thank you for your help on this journey,” the Captain said, swaying in place, his voice both weak and charming. Trembling, he reached out to steady himself on the rail. He seemed to be expending all of his effort on controlling inner wounds so serious that, if he lost control of them, he would die instantly.

There was an extremely vicious stab wound on his chest right next to where his heart was. From the look of it, the slightest instability would cause the heart to explode. Given that, it was obvious he had damage to his meridians.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s once-white daoist robe was splattered with blood, and his pale skin was even paler than normal. His aura seemed unstable, as if it were taking him a lot of effort to keep it under control. And his most severe wound was on his neck, where it seemed his windpipe had been ripped open.

Although he had recovered some, he wasn’t able to speak. At the same time, blood slowly pooled around his feet.

In response to the Captain’s words, Xu Qing ignored his own injuries and expressionlessly clasped his hands and bowed.

That was when powerful energy fluctuations swept over the entire ship, including Xu Qing and the Captain.

The ship instantly slowed to a halt. These fluctuations didn’t come from a cultivator, but rather, a spell formation! It was the Seazombies’ Grand Protective Spell Formation.

Considering the war going on, the Seazombies kept their grand formation operating at all times, not only to prevent outsiders from entering, but also to bolster the effectiveness of everything inside the formation.

As Xu Qing knew, these spell formation fluctuations were the first obstacle they needed to pass.

Of course, both he and the Captain were prepared. As the formation assessed them, the Captain released the correct fluctuations in response. Xu Qing did the same thing, using the contents of the small bottle to help. A moment later, the energy fluctuations vanished. The formation had corroborated their identities.

Xu Qing couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration for how well-prepared the Captain was. With that, he looked past the ship’s rail at the huge island that was the Seazombie ancestral land.

What he saw was an island so large it might as well have been a continent. It looked different than any other location he had ever seen before. The coastal area in front of him was covered with enormous growing plants that resembled magical lingzhi mushrooms. However, these magical mushrooms were pitch black and emanated zombie poison and a shocking pressure. Even the smallest of the black, magical mushrooms were several hundred meters in diameter. They grew both on the shore and in the water, and at first glance, he saw over a hundred in the area in front of him. [1]historical

Atop each magical mushroom were mooring facilities made of bleached bones. Docked there were countless warships that looked like coffins, ready to fly up into the sky.

Out of the stalks of the magical mushrooms grew innumerable tentacles, which burrowed into either the land or the water, depending on where the mushroom grew. Some of the tentacles were absorbing mutagen from their surroundings. Others had ropes attached to them to secure various boats that floated on the water’s surface.

Eventually, Xu Qing realized he was looking at a harbor. And up and down the coast, there were more harbors.

Meanwhile, the sky overhead was filled with endless dark clouds. Teleportation light flickered within those clouds as Seazombie cultivators teleported away or returned from afar. Seazombie warships as well as individual Seazombie cultivators were constantly moving about. There were constant rumbling sounds, but strangely, virtually no talking.

The lands further in had pitch black soil, and large growths that were similar to the coastal magical mushrooms, but with different colors. The inland types were bright red.

There were also huge trees that were very eye-catching and unique. The trees were rotting, and emanated powerful mutagen. And there were pitch black butterflies that flew around everywhere. Also, numerous rivers crisscrossed the lands, all of them filled with bright red liquid. This place seemed like it belonged in the Yellow Springs of the underworld. It was horrendous and appalling, and at the same time, indescribably terrifying.

As Xu Qing and the Captain remained stuck in their warship, undergoing the inspection of the spell formation, sixteen coffins shot up into the air from the shoreline. Nearing, they surrounded the warship, creating a formation of their own.

Black lightning bolts shot out, connecting all of the coffins and trapping the warship.

Then, the coffin directly in front of Xu Qing and the Captain opened, and a Seazombie emerged, wreathed in black smoke. His features were difficult to make out clearly because of the smoke, but he appeared to be of human stock. Eyes flashing like lightning, he looked at Xu Qing and the Captain. The fluctuations of Foundation Establishment were strong on him, making it obvious that though he wasn’t currently in the profound radiance state, he had about 90 dharma apertures opened.

Xu Qing’s heart sank. Obviously, this person was in charge of the harbor below, and had come personally to inspect the warship. Xu Qing bowed his head to show respect according to Seazombie etiquette.

This Seazombie was a three-flame cultivator, and after sizing up Xu Qing and the Captain, he said, “Well met, Third Princess.”

Gripping the rail, and face rather grim, the Captain said, “How’s my father, the king?”

“The king left for the battlefield and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Is that why you refuse to kneel to me, and even went so far as to lock my ship in place?”

The Captain lifted his left hand, within which was a black pearl that he instantly threw at the Seazombie cultivator. The pearl slammed into the Seazombie and exploded.

The Seazombie was caught by surprise, but wasn’t hurt. Face expressionless, he gave the Captain an unreadable look, then dropped one knee.

The Captain had exacerbated his wounds just now, and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Seemingly barely capable of standing, he grimly said, “Take me to the nearest zombie ancestor divine likeness. I need healing!”

The three-flame Seazombie coolly replied, “The king left orders that you’re to be confined to the palace of operations as soon as you return, and aren’t to be allowed to leave.”

He waved his hand, and the aura of cultivators drifted out of all of the surrounding coffins. At the same time, the black lightning which had been connecting the coffins reached out and began to guide the warship forward.

This development didn’t catch Xu Qing and the Captain by surprise. In fact, they already had a plan in place in case things played out this way.

The Captain coughed up another mouthful of blood, and sagged so badly it seemed like he was about to die. Staring straight at the three-flame Seazombie, he sweetly said, “That’s fine. If I die in the palace of operations, I’ll just get resurrected. Then I’ll have a good excuse to consume you and your entire little squad here. It’ll be fun. Okay, since the matter’s set, please get me to the palace ASAP.”

The Captain, in his disguise as Third Princess, smiled in a sweet and beautiful way that made him seem completely naïve and innocent. However, the words he spoke were incomparably nefarious. They seemed to conceal profound resentment and madness, and as their import sank in, the Foundation Establishment Seazombie cultivator stopped in place.

The Captain was familiar with Third Princess’s personality, and knew that on previous occasions she had repeatedly gotten herself killed. Furthermore, every time she was resurrected, her father would arrange for some other Seazombies to be given to her to consume, to speed up the resurrection process.

“Very well,” said the three-flame Seazombie. Then, after a moment of silence, he looked at Xu Qing. “But you can screw off.”

1. This isn’t the first time we read about structures resembling poisonous mushrooms. We also read about that back in chapter 115. ☜