Outside Of Time

1781  Time and Space in Chaos, Cause and Effect Reversed

'What exactly is a spacetime turbulence?

For the vast majority of cultivators, it is difficult to describe clearly.

To some extent, it seems like just a metaphor.

Literally, it refers to the infinite expansion and contraction of a singularity caused by the chaos of time and space.

Thus, it also contains infinite possibilities.

But to explain it in detail is challenging—limited by one's cognitive boundaries.

It seems only those whose Ordinances relate to spacetime can begin to describe the nature of spacetime turbulence.'

Xu Qing had originally thought the same.

Before entering, he believed spacetime turbulence should resemble his own technique of "Seamless," only more vast and mysterious.

With his Ordinance, he should have had a better chance than others to return from within.

But after entering, everything defied his expectations.

The scenes within left Xu Qing's mind filled with nothing but confusion.

Like now, as he raised his head and observed countless colorful vortices before him.

These vortices varied in size, boundless and endless—some regular, some chaotic, some static, some rotating, with many even intertwining together.

They formed an abstract and complex starry sky.

A single glance would overwhelm the mind with unbearable pressure, as if unable to process such information.

Prolonged exposure would induce a sense of fragmentation.

Yet the abstraction extended beyond just the surroundings—it also encompassed Xu Qing and Erniu's very existence here.

Xu Qing's body was no longer in human form.

Instead, it had transformed into a swarm of luminous insects pieced together from countless triangular fragments. Each insect lived only for a ten-thousandth of a breath—born in a flash of radiant light, only to die in an explosion of chaotic future images before burning into dust, extinguishing all light.

This cycle repeated infinitely.

As for Erniu, no longer nestled in Xu Qing's hair due to his transformed state, he manifested externally—his form even more abstract.

Like a kaleidoscope composed of a million flickering points of light, his shape constantly shifted.

Even his words carried a sense of disorder.

Like now, as his voice echoed:

He had meant to say:

"What's going on, Little Qing? Where is this?"

But what reached Xu Qing's perception was:

"Going what's on, Qing Little? This where is?"

Everything was in chaos—time, space, even their very selves.

All of it was distorted.

It was as if time held no meaning here, and space had no value in existing.

Xu Qing was bewildered.

This was nothing like his Ordinance!

Even concepts like "moving forward" or "perceiving" couldn't be applied conventionally here.

Perception was the same.

It was as if all secrets here were laid bare—if one could comprehend them, withstand them, then a single glance could grant omniscience.

Like now, as Xu Qing's perception extended through the disorienting flow of spacetime, he saw his human form in an unknown distance.

That "distance" could refer to the past or future in time, or different layers of space.

And when he focused on that distant version of himself, he soon realized he wasn't seeing just one—but countless.

Countless versions of himself, in countless states.

He even saw liquid planets—globes of molten iron drifting past in twisted forms.

Galaxies had become worms covered in rotting fruit, flickering by.

Starfields were now unknown words carved on tombstones, come alive and locked in battle.

Even universes appeared—like tattered burial shrouds riddled with holes.

Moreover, his and Erniu's existence fluctuated between radiant brilliance and near-extinction as his thoughts "moved" and "perceived."

Indescribable.

Pure chaos.

This was spacetime turbulence.

Xu Qing's confusion deepened. Time lost meaning—it could have been ten thousand years or just an instant.

Then, Erniu's distorted voice echoed again, carrying an eerie tone:

"I seen like before… looks familiar…"

"Like my past lives…"

These words, stretched and twisted by spacetime, landed in Xu Qing's perception like thunderclaps—each louder than the last.

The shockwave blasted through Xu Qing's insect swarm body.

Countless triangular insects shattered, releasing more future images, causing Xu Qing's consciousness to ripple violently, unable to coalesce.

Only the light remained, flickering intensely between brilliance and darkness.

By the time the disturbance from these words faded and Xu Qing's state stabilized, Erniu was gone—vanished without a trace.

Even the words he had spoken were strangely erased from Xu Qing's memory. He recalled hearing them, but their content was now blank.

Xu Qing fell silent.

He could clearly feel his thoughts slowing, his consciousness quietly dissipating.

A sense of impending death arose in his mind.

Yet the instinctive crisis that should accompany death never came.

This realization only surfaced after his earlier explosion.

Simultaneously, his body shifted from the insect swarm back to human form, and a cocoon woven from strands of his Ordinance suddenly enveloped him.

That was his Ordinance.

Only after all this did a belated thought finally form in his mind:

"I should use my Ordinance to create a state of 'Seamless' for myself—to resist the external chaos of spacetime."

"Use disorder against disorder!"

The moment this thought emerged, Xu Qing's spirit trembled. His eyes snapped open as he stared at the Ordinance cocoon around him, his gaze solemn.

Normally, the sequence would be: thought first, then action.

But here, it was reversed.

Cause and effect, logic itself—all were disordered here.

Or more accurately, there was no logic. Cause and effect were inverted.

"What a spacetime turbulence this is…"

Xu Qing murmured. Only now, isolated within his self-created Ordinance cocoon, did his existence begin to stabilize.

His thoughts regained some semblance of order.

Which led him to Erniu's disappearance.

"Normally, I should have activated my Ordinance the moment I entered this place…"

Xu Qing pondered, searching his memories for why he hadn't used his Ordinance immediately.

Slowly, he began to understand.

"Everything… was just an instant."

Xu Qing murmured.

He recalled now—everything he had experienced, the confusion, the exploration, Erniu's voice, even his own creation of the Ordinance cocoon—had all happened in the same instant he entered the spacetime turbulence.

Xu Qing fell silent.

11:51

That single instant contained all events across different timelines, overlapping and erupting simultaneously.

Xu Qing fell silent.

But soon, a strange light flickered in his eyes as he studied the Ordinance cocoon before him, recalling his experiences outside.

"Here, everything is disordered—no logic, inverted causality. Yet existence itself has meaning."

"In a way, this is just another manifestation of time."

"One that surpasses my 'Seamless'…"

Xu Qing's thoughts deepened. He suddenly realized why he had succeeded in comprehending the spacetime chaos within the God of Pain's illusion.

"Because this very chaos is itself a higher-order expression of a Space-Time Ordinance!"

A sharp glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes.

"Leaving this chaotic spacetime in the short term seems impossible. Senior Brother is missing, and I can't survive long outside this cocoon."

"Then I'll use this turbulence to temper my comprehension!"

"But first, I must understand—what is spacetime turbulence, and how does it relate to my Ordinance?"

"Only by understanding can I transcend it."

With this resolve, Xu Qing sat cross-legged, closing his eyes as his consciousness merged with the Ordinance surrounding him.

In this spacetime turbulence, he became like an island in a stormy sea—unmoving against the waves, his mind infinitely open.

Externally, this manifested as dense, fibrous growths covering his Ordinance cocoon—bizarre extensions of his thoughts in this disordered realm.

Yet this flow held no true continuity—everything was constrained, impossible to manifest concretely in the outside world.

Just as Xu Qing, in his meditations, found no breakthrough.

He couldn't locate an orderly thread in the external chaos, nor a point of entry for his comprehension.

Without that anchor, everything remained obscured—like viewing flowers through fog or the moon reflected in water.

The fibrous extensions from his cocoon stretched further into the chaotic spacetime, probing deeper.

But the outcome remained unchanged.

Xu Qing opened his eyes, frowning as he gazed outward.

"A tangled mess—no thread to grasp."

"Like countless shattered puzzle pieces without a reference image—impossible to reassemble…"

"I need that reference image to discern the essence of this spacetime turbulence."

Xu Qing murmured.

"That reference would serve as my entry point, the thread to unravel this chaos…"

"But what kind of reference would suffice?"

He pondered.

"This spacetime turbulence is uncontrollable, containing all possibilities yet bound by invisible constraints—almost like fate itself…"

Suddenly, his mind stirred.

"Fate?"

A brilliant light flashed in his eyes.

In the next instant, he raised his right hand and swept it over himself. A radiant divine aspect materialized in his palm.

The very divine aspect bestowed by the Young Master Aurora!

One that embodied fate!

As Xu Qing stared at it, the light in his eyes grew even brighter.

"Use fate as the reference—reconstruct the spacetime turbulence into a comprehensible framework!"

Yet fate itself was abstract.

Just like this spacetime turbulence.

If the turbulence was a sea of scattered puzzle pieces, then this "fate" would be the image guiding their assembly.

And for the first piece of this fateful puzzle…

Xu Qing chose himself.