Outside of Time-Chapter 1824: The Land Becomes a Book, Branch of Fate
"Our familyโs wealth is vast." ๐ป๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ธโฏ๐ท๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฃโฏ๐.๐ค๐๐ฎ
The Crown Prince Purple Green smiled faintly and raised his right hand, lightly flicking it toward the palace exterior.
With this motion, the rumbling across the Sky Devouring Region intensified to deafening levels.
Thenโan unimaginable scene unfolded!
The earth... instantly transformed!
Mountains, rivers, structuresโeven the imperial palaceโall morphed in that instant into...
A book!
The land had become a book!
Across the Sky Devouring Region, the Mirror of Wanggu in the sky was plundering the nationโs fortune, having already taken most of it, causing all things to grow increasingly indistinct.
Yet paradoxically, as the earth-turned-book turned a pageโ
Mountains and rivers reappeared, all things were restored, the capital returned, and the citizens revived.
That single page contained an entirely intact Purple Green Kingdom!
Even as the Mirror of Wanggu continued its plundering and Xu Qingโs reversed vortex kept absorbing, the page replicated everything perfectly.
Stranger stillโeven when the contents of that page eventually blurred from the mirrorโs theft...
The book turned another page.
The second page was identicalโstill the Purple Green Kingdom, unchanged.
"Little Brother, take as much as you desire."
The Crown Princeโs smile deepened.
"For Iโve recorded every breath of the Purple Green Kingdomโs existence as individual pages of fate. Eventually, they gained life and began propagating endlessly..."
"Even I no longer know how many exist."
This was the divine authority heโd once demonstratedโ
Fate!
Only now, the Crown Princeโs manipulation of fate was far more sinister and boundless than before!
As he spoke, the bookโs pages began turning fasterโno longer waiting for the mirror to drain them before flipping, but accelerating autonomously.
Each page was the Purple Green Kingdom.
Thus the mirrorโs plundering was forcibly accelerated.
Yet the kingdomโs fortune, through this rapid page-turning, became infinite.
A sense of futility grew inescapable.
The Mirror of Wanggu reflected this despairโit ouldnโt plunder endlessly, just as the reversed vortex couldnโt spin perpetually.
With a resounding crack, a fissure appeared on the mirrorโs surface.
More fractures spread, a series of shattering sounds echoing as the mirror shattered completely!
Countless fragments rained down across the land.
Simultaneously, on Wangguโ
The human Empress vomited blood, Her body withering as She weakly gazed toward the Sky Devouring.
All the human experts whoโd participated in the ritual suffered similarly.
The scene repeated across all racesโcultivators coughing blood, the entire Wanggu falling into stunned silence.
Only the Sky Devouring Regionโs book continued turning its pages, replaying scenes endlessly
as if time itself cycled.
Xu Qing sighed inwardly.
The Crown Prince had failed to seize his divine form earlier.
Now, Xu Qingโs attempt to plunder the Purple Green Kingdomโs fortune had likewise failed.
Yet the moment the mirror shattered, Xu Qingโstanding in the palace plazaโflashed forward toward the main hall!
If plundering wouldnโt work, then battle would decide everything!
Inside the hall, the Crown Prince lightly tapped the air.
Ripples of fate spread from his fingertip, forming a barrier against Xu Qingโs approach.
"Your opponent is another possible version of meโfrom fate."
As these words echoed, the turning pages abruptly stoppedโ
Revealing a branching tributary of fate!
This branch didnโt replace reality but coexisted with itโ
Inside the hall, the Crown Prince still sat upon the throne.
Outside, the world transformed!
A second Crown Prince appearedโ
Standing atop the fragmented-faceโs statue, arms outstretched, his expression chillingly detached as his earlier words reverberated through this fate-branch:
"...Sacrifice!"
With this utterance, fanatical cries erupted across this alternate Purple Green Kingdom:
"We gladly die for the Crown Prince!"
"We gladly die for the Crown Prince!"
The voices came from everyoneโcultivators, mortals, men, women, old, youngโall burning with fanaticism.
At their princeโs single word, they began immolating themselves!
Sacrificing everything to their Crown Prince!
This fate-branchโs prince was offering his entire kingdom to empower himself!
Countless lives became streams of light converging upon the statue, merging into his bodyโ
An endless tide.
Xu Qing didnโt interfere.
His Ordinance Law perceived the truthโthis was already an event that had occurred.
Changing this moment wouldnโt alter the outcome.
Only by changing the final result could causality be reversed.
So he watched intently, analyzing every detail.
Upon the statue, the Crown Princeโs body melted into blood under the sacrificial delugeโ
Dripping onto the effigy below.
Within breaths, this fate-branchโs kingdom stood emptiedโ
No citizens remained, not even the Crown Princeโ
Only his blood coating the statue.
Thenโ
A terrifying aura erupted from the effigy!
Divine might surged skyward, shaking heaven and earth, reversing wind and clouds as anomalous substances flooded the world.
Rules dissolved. Laws vanished.
Only divine authority remainedโsupreme and absolute.
The unmistakable pressure of a Lord God!
Amid this overwhelming pressure, the statue of Desolate began to transform. Its stone body awakened into flesh, writhing and reshaping Into a humanoid form.
Its face rapidly took shape, and in the blink of an eye... It bore the likeness of Purple Green!
Then, with a single step, It vanishedโshattering the voidโonly to reappear right before Xu Qing.
Amid the eruption of anomalous substances and Lord God-level suppression, It raised Its right hand and pressed toward Xu Qing.
Xu Qing unleashed his Ordinance Law, colliding with the Crown Prince Purple Green.
BOOMโ!
The heavens and earth quaked. The world itself trembled under the colossal impact.
Xu Qing allowed the force to propel him back, stopping a thousand feet away. Calmly, he observed Crown Prince Purple Green standing outside the palace hall.
At the same time, Crown Prince Purple Green outside the hall gazed back at him.
And inside the hallโthe other Crown Prince Purple Green did the same.
Both spoke in unison,
"Little Brother, this time... if youโre not prepared, you will die."
their voices weaving together across the intertwined threads of fate, resonating through the present moment:
Crown Prince Purple Greenโs divine authority was Fate!
This method of plucking a branch from destiny and materializing another possibilityโcoexisting with realityโwas something Xu Qing had experienced before.
Back in the Fourth Star Ring, within the turbulence of spacetime...
At the final point of convergence, Xu Qing had appeared beside that old painter.
The old painter was another version of Xu Qingโa possibility from a different timeline.
But the means by which they achieved this differed.
Crown Prince Purple Green relied on Fate.
Xu Qing relied on his Ordinanceโtransforming into dimensions, piercing through all timelines.
Yet both... had reached the same apex.
For gods, it was the level of a Lord God.
For immortals, it was the realm of an Immortal Lord.
