Beyond the Timescape

As Poison Monarch spoke, his voice transformed into numerous five-colored butterflies that appeared in front of Xu Qing and the other ascendees. They were very unique jade slips. As they flapped their wings, they transmitted information directly into the minds of everyone present.

The Department of Acquisitions was one of the 324 departments in the Reception Universe. The director was tasked with providing special materials for the war. Usually, the department was sent to a specific area with a specific deadline to acquire funds and provisions. They would then be sent back to the Reception Universe, where the profits would be transferred to the Department of Transportation, and beyond that, to the front lines. Because of the wartime situation, everything the Department of Acquisitions did was centered around the acquisitions.

In terms of what the department sought to acquire... it boiled down to one thing! It was something that all Imperial Sovereigns and higher desperately needed: ringsource! Unfortunately, the ringsource needs of the war effort surpassed those of individual cultivators. As a result, there was no way they could go about acquiring ringsource in the way Xu Qing had done in the Inksun Universe, in other words, by fishing.

The focus of the Department of Acquisitions... were the nonhuman universes in the heavens beyond heaven in the Fifth Star Ring. It was extracted from their blood and their life force. That included... the various god prisons located in large numbers in the various heavens beyond heaven.

Of course, there were different types of prisons. Some were operated on the universe-level, some belonged to the heavens beyond heaven. Others were run by clans, and were considered private ventures. The gods held in the prisons served as the origin of ringsource.

As the information poured into Xu Qing’s mind, his gaze hardened. Now he understood why the Acquisitioner squadrons had such strong auras of death. Their main job was killing and extracting! What was more, they did things in a very domineering fashion. After getting used to acting in that way, it was only natural that they would be filled with perverse energy.

The information also provided a clear explanation of who Poison Monarch really was. Poison Monarch had long since performed amazing services. Though he was indeed in charge of the Dao Immortal Sect in the western planetary system of the Immortal Capital, he was also the director of the Department of Acquisitions.

Thanks to the information from the butterflies, everyone now had a much better understanding of the Department of Acquisitions. Up in midair, Poison Monarch looked at the squadron that had clashed with Xu Qing and the ascendees.

“The lot of you go turn in your ringsource.”

The old leader of the squadron bowed along with the other cultivators, and then they flew off into the distance.

The cultivator who had very nearly been stabbed in the forehead by Xu Qing’s iron skewer stopped in the distance and looked back at him. His eyes flickered with both fear and defiance.

Xu Qing could sense that, and committed the man to memory.