Outside Of Time

Chapter 1625: Different Paths
Editor: Atlas Studios

Zhong Chi’s heart skipped a beat. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the heaven’s chosen Li who was shouting anxiously.

The other party’s actions didn’t match history!

In history, although the Young Lord indeed won this battle and obtained the fox beauty, that heaven’s chosen Li never lowered his head. Instead, he returned to the academy and turned this defeat into motivation, entering seclusion to attempt to break through his realm.

Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed even until his death a month later.

However, now, a different situation had occurred.

Zhong Chi didn’t know if such a thing had indeed happened in history or if someone had rewritten it later on, so he wasn’t sure.

However, he was certain of one thing.

He was the Young Lord’s only study companion.

Hence, the Young Lord’s answer was extremely important.

If he nodded, history would definitely be changed.

If he refused, everything would return to its original direction.

This scene caused Zhong Chi’s thoughts to surge.

‘This heaven’s chosen Li is very likely to be an outsider like me.’

‘It doesn’t matter who he is. The main point is that this might be a very good opportunity to see how others will pry open this fragment of history. By using their path as a reference, it will make things easier for me to follow later!”

As Zhong Chi’s mind raced with thoughts, he gazed intently at Xu Qing.

In this place, it wasn’t just his eyes focused on Xu Qing—almost all the spectators around the battle arena were doing the same.

On one hand, the battle between the two of them was at a truly high level.

On the other hand, it was rare for the arrogant heaven’s chosen Li to lower his head like this.

Hence, everyone was waiting to see what the Young Lord would choose.

However, Xu Qing didn’t speak immediately. Instead, his gaze swept past heaven’s chosen Li and he narrowed his eyes.

He was thinking.

‘If history were truly so easy to change, it would lose all meaning.’

‘Even though I suspect that the timeline I’m in now is likely just a mirror image of the real history, the fact that it involves the Immortal Lord means, in theory, any alteration should be immensely difficult.’

‘So, where is the difficulty?’

He pondered deeply, his eyes scanning heaven’s chosen Li. The height, the build, the demeanor of the man—all seemed to make him a fitting subject for testing. Testing whether there were hidden forces of resistance before any real change to history could be made.

As for heaven’s chosen Li, under Xu Qing’s gaze, he instantly felt anxious.

He had indeed intentionally said that he was willing to be a study companion if he lost before the battle.

He naturally knew that this didn’t match history.

However, this was related to his Ordinance.

His Ordinance was fog.

It wasn’t fog in the conventional sense but came from the void, the known , and the passage of time.

To be precise, it came from history.

The fog of history was the origin of his Ordinance.

Hence, developing his Ordinance was related to understanding the history.

The more comprehensive his knowledge, the more he could peel back the shrouds of fog covering the past.

As those veils were lifted, the fog became his to control, allowing his Ordinance to advance further.

He was fully aware that his path’s endpoint was the complete omniscience of true history.

Thus, in his battle against the Young Lord, half of his effort was genuine, while the other half was intentional—a calculated defeat that allowed Xu Qing to claim victory, like pushing the current of fate.

It was all for the sake of having an opportunity to get close to this Young Lord’s identity!

In order to ensure success and make his actions seem logical, he specially created momentum to attract a large number of spectators.

In that case, it would be reasonable for him to choose to lower his head after losing in front of everyone.

After all, everyone here was a witness.

As for the character he inhabited, he also attached great importance to promises.

This was the only opportunity he had, using the identity of his host, to follow the course of history and get close to the Young Lord.

Hence, it was incomparably important to him.

‘In this segment of history, two figures are key: one is the Aurora Immortal Lord, and the other is this Young Lord. Only by staying close to them can one fully grasp the history and uncover the hidden details.’

‘And since it involves the Venerable Immortal, the so-called rebellion that was publicly declared to have been eradicated must have hidden truths!’

‘Otherwise, there’s no way the Aurora Immortal Palace would have, during this recent opening, suddenly turned the fourth realm into an unprecedented window into the past.’

‘Clearly, certain secrets are meant to be unveiled… it’s just a matter of whether they can be found.’

‘Therefore, to fully understand the entire history and gain sufficient insight, one must remain by the side of a key figure. Only in doing so can the broader picture come into focus.’

Heaven’s chosen Li mumbled inwardly and looked at Xu Qing, waiting for an answer.

Unfortunately, before he got Xu Qing’s answer, a bright ray of light rushed over from the distant sky.

This light was like the most gorgeous brush stroke in the world, cutting through the sky, leaving behind a mark that would never fade.

It was filled with endless dignity and power. It was like the most primitive roar of the Heavenly Dao or the deepest sigh in the world.

It instantly got close.

Everything trembled and the mountains and rivers in the immortal palace paled in comparison.

After the light dissipated, it transformed into a tall and straight figure that walked into the battle arena.

The moment he appeared, all the spectators in the battle arena stood up and bowed respectfully to the person who had arrived.

“Greetings, True Monarch!”

The person who came was Aurora Immortal Lord’s fourth disciple.

The Fourth True Monarch was a renowned figure, whose early life was filled with legends. From a young age, he displayed extraordinary intelligence, particularly in strategy and chess. By chance, he caught the attention of the Aurora Immortal Lord.

The two played five games of chess, with the Immortal Lord winning four and losing one.

Impressed by the boy’s exceptional talent, the Immortal Lord took him in as a direct disciple.

This True Monarch lived up to the Immortal Lord’s teachings, demonstrating remarkable wisdom and talent in his cultivation.

With extraordinary aptitude, combined with relentless dedication, sharp insight, and unparalleled creativity, he quickly earned the recognition of the Immortal Palace.

His gentle temperament and approachable demeanor made others feel at ease in his presence.

And he became widely beloved within the palace

At this moment, they all greeted.

Xu Qing also smiled. In the host’s memories, he had an extremely good impression of this person. The relationship between the two of them was also very close. Moreover, the other party was like a biological brother most of the time and doted on the host very much.

Hence, seeing the other party, Xu Qing smiled and spoke.

“Fourth Senior Brother, why are you free today?”

The Fourth True Monarch first smiled warmly at the crowd, nodding slightly before turning to look at Xu Qing with a brotherly gentleness in his expression.

“Little junior brother, master has gone out to find a suitable betrothal gift for you. Before leaving, he instructed me to keep an eye on you and make sure you don’t cause any more trouble.”

As he spoke, the Fourth True Monarch shook his head with a lighthearted smile, a look of helplessness on his face.

“Though to be honest, no matter what trouble you get into, your senior brother here can always smooth things over for you. My main concern is keeping away anyone with ill intentions who might try to approach you with malice.”

“For example… heaven’s chosen Li.”

As the Fourth True Monarch spoke, his tone became cold and his gaze became sharp. It was like a sword as it landed on heaven’s chosen Li.

It was just a glance.

Heaven’s chosen Li’s body trembled and he retreated. He felt his body and soul trembling intensely at this instant. He even felt that his consciousness was about to be expelled from this body.

This scene instantly caused heaven’s chosen Li’s expression to change.

He could truly sense that this Fourth True Monarch in front of him had the strength to strip his identity away.

“Junior Brother, Master specified your study companion, so it’s not good to add another one.”

The Fourth True Monarch retracted his gaze and his expression regained its gentleness as he looked at Xu Qing.

“Especially not someone with unclear intentions.”

“After all, in just one month, it will be our master’s turn to oversee the Star Ring. During this time, there will inevitably be some cultivators with ulterior motives trying to get close to you.”

“So, heaven’s chosen Li, how dare you!”

“Now, scram back to the academy immediately. I’ll punish you with 30 years of closed-door cultivation as a warning to others!”

The Fourth True Monarch calmly spoke.

His gaze and words gave heaven’s chosen Li a tremendous pressure. At this moment, he couldn’t help but retreat again. He even felt suffocated and wanted to say something but couldn’t.

When Xu Qing heard this, he smiled and nodded. He didn’t stop him.

On one hand, this little wave of history couldn’t truly stir space-time.

On the other hand, Xu Qing’s harvest was enough.

The appearance of the Fourth True Monarch, whether intentional or not, made his purpose and significance quite clear.

On the other hand, it was also because heaven’s chosen Li was clearly frightened and had lost his fighting spirit.

If he forced it, it would be somewhat meaningless.

Hence, Xu Qing nodded happily.

“Fourth Senior Brother makes sense. I was negligent.”

When the Fourth True Monarch heard this, the smile on his face became even gentler. He took out a flask of wine and handed it to Xu Qing.

“Yesterday, I sent someone to Black Sky City outside the palace to get a jug of heaven’s dew from that wine shop you like the most. This wine is only available once a month, and I thought you might have missed your chance to buy it after being punished by Master, so I bought it for you and was just about to deliver it.”

When Xu Qing heard this, he was in high spirits. He took it and thanked him brightly.

The Fourth True Monarch also smiled and was about to speak.

However, at this moment, Zhong Chi, seeing that heaven’s chosen Li had lost his chance due to the shock, felt a surge of unwillingness in his heart.

He also wanted to see the results of the other party stirring up history, and he was even thinking about how he could obtain the other party’s Ordinance.

It would be a pity if the latter went into seclusion just like that.

Hence, he quickly weighed the pros and cons in his heart and made a decision.

‘If this Fourth True Monarch isn’t an outsider, it doesn’t matter what I say. On the contrary, if he’s an outsider, even if I keep quiet, I’ll still face him in the future. It’s even possible that my identity is no longer a secret to him.’

At the thought of this, Zhong Chi suddenly spoke softly to Xu Qing.

“Young Lord, this heaven’s chosen Li is quite amusing. Before the battle, he was all fierce and full of bravado, claiming he would be a study companion for a hundred years if he lost. But now he’s silent and looking utterly dejected—such talk of keeping promises is nothing but nonsense.”

“I’ll spread the word about this matter throughout the academy soon, so everyone knows how ridiculous heaven’s chosen Li is!”

As soon as Zhong Chi finished speaking, Xu Qing immediately sensed the fluctuations of space-time.

The Fourth True Monarch suddenly turned his head and looked at Zhong Chi with a cold gaze.

At the same time, when the shocked heaven’s chosen Li heard this, a hint of struggle appeared in his eyes. After that, he seemed to have thrown caution to the wind and suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned and knelt down in front of Xu Qing.

“Please, Young Lord, spare my reputation. Li here acknowledges the bet and accepts defeat. If I leave like this today, there will be a lingering regret in my heart!”

His words echoed, causing a space-time ripple that no one other than Xu Qing could sense to become even more intense.

The Fourth True Monarch turned gloomy and was about to speak.

Xu Qing laughed and looked like he didn’t care as he casually spoke.

“That makes sense.”

“However, it’s impossible for you to be my study companion. If you really want to fulfill your promise, go to my Myriad Beast Garden and take care of the spirit beasts for a hundred years.”

After saying that, Xu Qing looked at the Fourth True Monarch.

“Fourth Senior Brother, what do you think?”

The Fourth True Monarch revealed a speechless expression and shook his head with a smile.

“Forget it, I still have other things to deal with. I’ll leave this matter to you.”

As he spoke, his gaze casually swept past Zhong Chi. With a step, he left the arena and stepped into the void, disappearing from sight.

From the start to the end, Xu Qing’s expression was filled with a smile. At that moment, he looked in the direction the Fourth True Monarch had left in. Most of his guesses had been confirmed.

‘This person must be an outsider!’

‘And his actions… are somewhat interesting. To stop all actions that change history?’