Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 590: How Very Rare!

The white wind blew, stirring the sand and swaying the white plants.

Li Youfei lay on the ground, as still as a corpse. His fifteen-meter frame emanated a nauseating stench that the wind couldn’t dispel, and could be smelled from quite a distance away. Even from a distance it was possible to see parts of his flesh rotting away to reveal bones beneath. He was completely enveloped in an aura of death. He was in this state because of a combination of the gruish nature of the white wind and the flare-up of Crimson Mother’s curse. He was stricken both in his physical body and his soul. He wasn’t very far away from being actually dead. Or more precisely, he was already half a step into the Yellow Springs. Only a scrap of defiance within him kept hold of the very last bit of life force he had left. However, that defiance and struggle also inflicted more pain and suffering on him.

Xu Qing approached, checked his condition, and then shook his head.

Can’t be saved.

Xu Qing had some painquelling lozenges, but all they did was reduce the torment of curse flare-ups. They didn’t actually treat the curse itself. In fact, as far as Xu Qing could tell, they actually made it worse.

If Li Youfei ate a painquelling lozenge, it wouldn’t just fail to save him. It would probably overwhelm the last scrap of life that existed within him.

Since Li Youfei couldn’t be saved, Xu Qing took back the shadow eye and turned to leave. However, after taking only a few steps, he stopped walking, turned, and looked again at Li Youfei. A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

Hold on. Something’s off about this situation. He shouldn’t have lasted so long with a curse flare-up like this. And he also shouldn’t have a scrap of life force left in him. It doesn’t make sense.

Suddenly curious, Xu Qing walked back. This time he looked more closely. A moment later, he grabbed Li Youfei and sped away.

Leaving the Greenhair Badlands, he went to a mountain some 500 kilometers away, quickly hewed out a cave, and put Li Youfei inside. After going back to get rid of all traces of his passage and presence, he returned to Li Youfei and studied him even more closely. He even went so far as to cut some of the rotting flesh off him to study it.

The next day, Xu Qing’s eyes shone brightly. He had found the answer to the question.

It’s the white wind. That wind is a catalyst that actually bolsters life force and leads to the chaotic growths. The point of it is to nourish the bug eggs and facilitate their growth.

That’s why Li Youfei hasn’t died from the curse flare up. The white wind and the curse are actually at odds with each other. Although the white wind isn’t a match for the curse, it’s strong enough to keep him alive.

Xu Qing was visibly moved.

So, this white wind can actually resist the curse? What is it?

Eyes shining, Xu Qing squatted next to Li Youfei and started slicing his flesh open to extract the bug eggs and the dandelions. It was a gruesome process. He needed to make a lot of incisions, and much of the flesh was rotting so badly that merely touching it caused it to turn into a noxious black sludge.

However, Xu Qing was very patient. He was like an extremely focused artisan who paid no heed to the materials he was wasting as he carefully sculpted away. Before long, Li Youfei was covered with countless wounds. In some cases, Xu Qing just cut the flesh completely off.

With each bug egg that was taken away, less of his life force was being taken away by them, which meant he was able to resist the curse even more. Although that power couldn’t surpass the curse, at least the life force within him was able to last a bit longer.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to have much effect in the long run. From what Xu Qing could tell, it would only be between three to five days before Li Youfei’s life force ran out, and he was overcome by the curse. However, that gave Xu Qing some inspiration.

Li Youfei is actually lucky. Given his current state, it actually makes sense to try a painquelling lozenge.

After thinking it over, Xu Qing took out a painquelling lozenge and put it into Li Youfei’s mouth. Then he waved his hand, sending hundreds of violet threads out, which stabbed into Li Youfei. But the painquelling lozenge was only the first step. Xu Qing planned to thoroughly study Li Youfei, using the same methods he’d used to refine painquelling lozenges.

Chances are he’s going to die anyway. But if he lives, maybe I can consider using the white wind as a new direction in my research.

Sitting down cross-legged, he got to work.

The next day, he left the cave. Following the directions of the hapless parrot, he traveled and experimented on Li Youfei at the same time. Thanks to his work, the curse in Li Youfei was slowly fading. He was also able to make medicinal pills made from Li Youfei’s flesh. Every time the curse flared up, Xu Qing would feed one of those pills to him. The result was that the life force within him would be bolstered.

Xu Qing was absolutely delighted. It was like he finally had material to experiment with that he’d previously only dreamed of.

A month passed.

Xu Qing was now deep into the western part of the Moonrite Region. On one particular evening in a random valley, he finished experimenting on Li Youfei. Extracting all of the threads, he fed Li Youfei another painquelling lozenge made of his own flesh. This particular pill was different from the ordinary variety. Thanks to his research on Li Youfei, he had dramatically altered the painquelling lozenge formula. Although there was still more work to be done, he was close to being finished.

After feeding Li Youfei the pill, Xu Qing quietly said, “If you’re awake now, there’s no need to pretend to be dead.”

Li Youfei shivered. Having no other choice, he opened his eyes and looked fearfully at Xu Qing. The reality was that he had regained consciousness three days before....

He’d realized Xu Qing had been experimenting on him, but was too terrified to say anything. And then he realized that Xu Qing was actually feeding him strange medicinal pills that seemed to be dispelling the curse power within him. He was completely shocked. But at the same time, he wasn’t stupid. Given his wealth of experience in life, he quickly guessed what the medicinal pills were made from. It left him so stunned that even now he hadn’t fully recovered.

During the three days he’d been conscious, he’d counted how many pills Xu Qing fed him. Eight.

Even if I sold myself, I wouldn’t have enough to buy one of those pills... what exactly is his goal...? That was what Li Youfei had asked himself multiple times during the three days.

Now that he couldn’t fake death any more, he couldn’t hold back from asking about his speculations.

“Grandmaster, were you feeding me...?”

“Painquelling lozenges,” Xu Qing replied calmly.

Even though that was what Li Youfei had suspected, hearing the answer confirmed caused him to reel mentally. Shivering, he asked, “And... how many did you give me?”

Xu Qing did some calculations and then looked at Li Youfei. “It’s been a month. I gave you a bit over a hundred.”

Li Youfei’s eyes went wide and he twitched. He knew full well how expensive painquelling lozenges were. Even Spirit Trove experts would go crazy for them. And he’d consumed over a hundred....

He had no reason to doubt Xu Qing. After all, he knew for sure that he’d consumed eight pills in three days.

If news of this spread, it would cause pandemonium. At the moment, he felt like a beggar who’d been fancied by a rich businessman who casually gave him a billion spirit stones. All of a sudden, he didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to consider why Xu Qing had done this. Trembling, he got to his feet then immediately dropped to his knees to kowtow.

“Grandmaster! Sir, I’m not sure why you did this for me. But it doesn’t matter. Sir... you’ve done too much!”

Xu Qing looked at him and opened his mouth to speak, but then his eyes hardened and he looked toward the entrance of the valley.

They were in the depths of the western part of the Moonrite Region. The sky was dusky, and there was very little light. Because of that, it wasn’t possible to see much more than the weeds growing around the valley. The whispering night wind carried with it the sound of distant drums and gongs. It seemed like there was a large group of people heading in the direction of the valley.

Li Youfei noticed Xu Qing’s flashing eyes, and quickly jumped up to take a defensive position in front of him. Which was what Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior usually did.

The patriarch immediately flew out, glared scornfully at Li Youfei, and then turned his attention to the valley entrance.

The cacophony grew louder, and soon a group of people entered the valley. They looked like they were made from clay. However, they wore clothing, and there were over a hundred of them. Gongs were being beaten in the front of the procession, and drums were being banged in the back. In the middle, a group of a few dozen of the clay people were carrying a stone shrine. [1]

Inside the shrine was a fox made of clay, wearing a red robe. It had makeup on its face, and wasn’t moving at all, as if it were dead. [2]

The arrival of the procession caused a sinister wind to blow through the valley, stirring the weeds and leaves. However, the clay people didn’t pay any attention to Xu Qing and Li Youfei as they walked right down the middle of the valley.

Xu Qing looked them over. He was already used to the many freakish and grotesque things that existed in the world, so he wasn’t surprised. Beings like this were usually the type who would only bully the weak and fear the strong, so there was little point in paying attention to them. However, there also wasn’t any point in creating a conflict by blocking their path. Expression calm, he released some cultivation base fluctuations and then took a few steps back to make way.

And thus the procession passed by. However, when the shrine was going right in front of Xu Qing, the clay fox inside turned and looked at both him and Li Youfei.

The clay eyes rippled, transforming into something like glittering gemstones that could pierce all the way to the soul.

Then the fox spoke in the languid, sultry voice of a woman. [3]

“Primal yang? I can’t believe you have a Nascent Soul cultivation base, but still have primal yang! And it’s so pure! Completely unplucked! How very rare....” [4]

1. This is the same type of shrine that Xu Qing and the Captain encountered on their river inspection tour a few hundred chapters ago. It looks like this (the same picture I linked back then). ☜

2. The clay people and the clay fox would likely look like traditional Chinese clay statues like this. ☜

3. As I’m sure many of you know already, fox spirits (also known as fox immortals, fox gods, or whatever) are a common thing in Chinese myth and legend, and of course, that concept spread from China to places like Japan, Korea, Vietnam etc. There are many varieties, but one of the most stereotypical version has the fox spirit capable of taking the form of a beautiful but often malevolent or mischievous woman who tries to seduce men. Again, that’s not a rule, and of course, the fox in this chapter has its own unique qualities. However, the concept of fox spirits popped into mind for me when I read this part. Incidentally, the 2008 supernatural/wuxia movie Painted Skin all revolves around a fox spirit. That movie is awesome and I recommend it if you haven’t seen it before. ☜

4. What I’m translating as “primal yang” could also be translated as something like “original yang, originating yang, origin yang,” etc. In TCM, it’s supposed to be the origin of yang energy, or perhaps the original batch of yang energy that someone is born with. Obviously, things in xianxia aren’t necessarily going to correspond exactly with “real-life” TCM stuff. Regardless, “yang energy” is male energy. Given the context of the statement, this woman seems surprised that Xu Qing, despite being in the Nascent Soul level, still has this type of male energy. The unstated implication here is that someone in the Nascent Soul level would presumably be old enough to have a lot of life experience. I think ya’ll get the point.... ☜