Translator: La0o9 Editor: La0o9
A ruinous battlefield.
20 minutes have pa.s.sed.
“If they really were fighting, it wouldn’t have continued for this long, Qing Shan must’ve thought of a way to coexist together with the sinful creature” Su Xue Er concluded.
Anna turned around, fuming: “d.a.m.ned G.o.d, he almost killed my Qing Shan, I’m going to leave the Holy Church of Death right now and find him”
“Wait a minute” Su Xue Er pulled her back.
“Don’t stop me” Anna angrily snapped back.
Su Xue Er wasn’t bothered by her tone and honestly spoke: “That world has already been sealed by the G.o.ds, how are you going to undo the seal by yourself? If a fight breaks out, what are you going to do? Do you have a way to win against the sin?”
Anna froze at first before declaring straight: “I don’t care, I want to go save him”
Su Xue Er once again held her back, speaking with a stern tone of voice: “You acting like this wouldn’t save him at all, instead you might draw the attention of the G.o.ds and cause more trouble for him instead, do you not understand such a simple thing?”
“Do you have any better idea then?” Anna asked.
“Of course” Su Xue Er replied.
She pulled Anna closer and whispered in a low voice: “If Qing Shan is still alive, then nothing will happen to him with his adaptability, you have to believe that he’s capable of that much”
Anna nodded.
Considering what Gu Qing Shan did in the past, that part was quite easy to believe.
Su Xue Er sincerely continued: “In truth, what we really should do right now is to think of a way to eliminate that guy who acts upon the will of the seven G.o.ds”
Anna froze.
She asked back: “You mean that figure of light?”
Su Xue Er softly nodded: “I do. Since it was the one that hurt Qing Shan, I won’t give up until I kill it. If the seven G.o.ds are somehow revived, I’d kill them as well”
“Why can’t we save Qing Shan first then kill it?” Anna asked, a bit unconvinced.
Su Xue Er patiently explained: “If we try to save Qing Shan now, what do you think is going to happen? Between the two of us, who actually has the ability to undo the seal? Even if we happen to undo the seal by chance, if we get caught by the figure of light, the three of us would all be in danger. And even if we happen to be able to escape, do you want us to be pursued by the people of the 7 Holy Churches as well as everyone in the Strife Zones? Doing that, the only possible outcome is our deaths”
Su Xue Er held Anna’s hand tightly and spoke with conviction: “You can’t leave the Holy Church of Death right now, and I can’t leave the Holy Church of Fate either. We need to use the powers of the Holy Churches to become stronger, to find out more about the figure of light. Ideally, I want to find the figure of light’s weakness, so that the next time it shows up, we can kill it in one fell sweep”
Su Xue Er then looked at Anna: “It will be nearly impossible for me to do this alone, so are you willing to work with me?”
Anna silently listened as she also fell into thought.
Faced with Su Xue Er’s hopeful gaze, she slowly nodded.
…
On the other side.
A few thousand meters away from where they stood.
Two squads of s.h.i.+ps had landed.
High-ranking members of both Holy Churches quickly got off the s.h.i.+ps.
“Where are they?” a Cardinal from the Holy Church of Death shouted.
“Over there, sir. They stopped fighting just now, but it looks like they’re currently arguing about something” the officers that were here from before quickly pointed towards the girls.
The high-ranking members glanced where they were shown.
And they were stunned.
They saw Su Xue Er and Anna standing side by side, seriously discussing something as they slowly walked back here.
Perhaps they themselves didn’t notice it, but they were still holding each other’s hands tightly.
“They look like they’re getting along to me”
The head knight of the Holy Church of Fate mumbled.
———
Within the seal.
The drifting sand was obscured by the overflowing darkness.
Countless razor-sharp blades of darkness surrounded Gu Qing Shan, ready to slice him to pieces with just a bit more force.
But all of them have completely stopped around Gu Qing Shan without going any further.
Gu Qing Shan reached his hand out and lightly tapped one of the blades.
“This att.i.tude wouldn’t help me get you out of here you know”
He was speaking using language from the age of Desolation.
In an instant, all the blades of darkness faded away.
A tidal wave of darkness slowly rose from the ground.
A figure slowly stood up from the darkness with light radiating from its body.
As Gu Qing Shan looked at the figure, he was slightly surprised.
Because the figure was the figure of light.
Exactly the same, not even a little bit different.
The figure of light spoke to him with the Desolation language: 「 Can you feel it, Gu Qing Shan, death is coming for your 」
Gu Qing Shan replied: “Really?”
「 You dared to go against Divinity, the results of which is your death 」 the figure of light spoke.
Gu Qing Shan calmly replied: “You are not it”
「 Why? 」 the figure of light asked.
“Because it would not trap itself here, not in front of you” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The figure of light became silent briefly.
Like molten steel, the entire figure collapsed back into the tidal wave of darkness.
A few moments later, another figure stood up from inside the darkness.
It was Gu Qing Shan.
Another Gu Qing Shan.
This Gu Qing Shan closed his eyes, seemingly to feel something.
He spoke with a gradual tone, muttering: “Underneath your cold and calm exterior is hiding unimaginable rage and sorrow”
“You can sense what I feel?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The other Gu Qing Shan opened his eyes and looked straight at him: “Rage for not being able to stop the scheme of Divinity, sorrow because the Angel of Condemnation was taken away, you feel a sense of urgency to become stronger, you want to kill the Divinity”
He spoke with a pleased tone: “Very good, very good, I agree with your decision, I share half of the emotions you are currently feeling”
“Which half?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“The first half” the creature answered.
Gu Qing Shan thought briefly and commented: “I heard that Little Dusk is the only thing to not fear you, so you don’t want her to be here”
“Of course, my ability couldn’t affect her”
Gu Qing Shan fell into thought: “You can read my emotions, sensing the deepest desires within my mind, from then turning into the exact same kind of existence I am”
The creature laughed: “Ahahahahaha, if it was so simple, why would the Divinities fear me and try to seal me away?”
“Then why?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The creature looked at him and grinned: “I’ve never been afraid of others knowing my ability. Because knowing it wouldn’t do you any good”
“All forms of living beings, as long as they have an intense desire, I will be able to seek out and follow that desire into their bodies, seal away their souls and take over their bodies”
“What about Divinities?”
“Divinities are no exception”
Gu Qing Shan quickly spoke: “So that’s the reason why, every living being has some kind of desire or obsession, but Little Dusk is a clean slate, so much so that she doesn’t harbor any desires of her own, so you couldn’t do anything to her”
Gu Qing Shan continued: “If that’s the case, your ability is extremely powerful, perhaps even invincible in one-on-one circ.u.mstances, but if there are too many enemies, you don’t have any other way to resolve them either, this was the reason why you couldn’t defend the labyrinth by yourself”
He then spoke with conviction: “Following that vein of thought, your ability couldn’t be the reason why Divinities are so wary of you, you must have been sealed away for another reason entirely”
The other Gu Qing Shan stared straight at him for a long while before sinking back into the tidal of darkness.
A figure of light covered in a glow of darkness appeared.
The dark figure of light spoke with a low and dejected tone of voice.
「 Gu Qing Shan, I know what happened outside 」
「 I also understand that you harbor the same killing intent towards the Divinities that I do 」
「 But I want to see your sincerity regarding the seal, otherwise no matter how much time we spent talking here, if I am still unable to leave, everything will have been for naught 」
Gu Qing Shan carefully listened to its words.
He said nothing in reply, but took out a sword from the void of s.p.a.ce.
An autumn-like water-blue steel sword.
The dark figure of light was surprise as it saw the sword: 「 This is a Samsara weapon, you actually obtained a Samsara weapon 」
Holding the sword in his hand, Gu Qing Shan lightly leapt upward and thrust towards the sky.
Golden light illuminated the world of darkness.
Countless layers of dignified Divine Scripts manifested like they were triggered all at once.
These sealing Divine Scripts only manifested briefly, then quickly faded as they found that no further attacks came
A single light thrust of the sword managed to trigger the automatic defense mechanism of the divine barrier, it could easily be seen what kind of power this sword holds.
Or rather, it was because this sword itself contained the power to break all Laws that the barrier reacted so intensely.
“This is my show of sincerity” Gu Qing Shan said.
He let go of the sword, letting it hover next to him.
The dark figure of light went silent briefly.
「 After countless years, being trapped inside this seal since birth, so I can finally leave 」it muttered in a low voice.
“It’s not a good time to leave just yet” Gu Qing Shan said.
The dark figure of light suddenly looked straight at him and asked: 「 Why not? 」
Gu Qing Shan pointed above his head and spoke: “Isn’t it obvious? It might still be right outside this world, silently observing this place”
The dark figure of light went silent.
Indeed, that guy was impersonating a Divinity.
He was no slouch one either.
Using the power of those three Divine Desolation Armaments, he can seal me again at any time.
Gu Qing Shan continued: “Once it discovers that we escaped, it will kill me first, that way if you’re sealed again, you wouldn’t be able to escape”
The dark figure of light paced back and forth impatiently.
Gu Qing Shan just watched as it do that for a few minutes before speaking up again: “You have to help me, I can’t let it kill me, otherwise everything will really be over”
The dark figure of light suddenly stopped: 「 How do you want me to help you? 」
“I need to know two things” Gu Qing Shan said, “first of all, that figure of light isn’t any of the seven Daemons, nor is it their combined will, correct?”
The dark figure of light asked him in return: 「 What do you think a G.o.d is? 」
“A kind of existence whose power has grown so vast that a mortal can’t comprehend it anymore” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The dark figure of light answered him: 「 That isn’t too far from the truth. According to our categorization, a powerful existence that can create living beings and a world are considered to be a Divinity 」
“Then what is the figure of light?”
「 It is the same kind of existence as a Divinity, the only difference is that it doesn’t have the ability to create living beings or worlds, but it’s more powerful than any Divinity and is much more dangerous 」
“Then why were you so easily sealed by it just now? Divinities should be afraid of you”
「 Because it found those three Desolation Divine Armaments. I have no way to deal with those three things 」
Gu Qing Shan said: “Great, then we’ve identified who the enemy is, next is a more crucial matter”
“When I entered the labyrinth, it gave me a coin. The coin can only be used once, allowing me to travel 5 minutes back in time”
The dark figure of light scoffed in contempt.
Gu Qing Shan acted like he didn’t hear it and continued: “Why did it give me such a thing to go against you? Why not armor, weapon, spell scrolls or anything that affects my offensive or defensive power, why did it give me that coin?”
Gu Qing Shan questioned further: “If the difference in strength is too great, even if I could travel 5 minutes back in time, if I couldn’t beat you before, I still wouldn’t be able to beat you, so why did it give me a coin that allows time travel?”
「 So you want to know? 」 the dark figure of light muttered.
“I have to know, this seems to aim specifically at something you could do that it was wary against, otherwise it wouldn’t have given such a precious thing to me” Gu Qing Shan concluded.
「 Precious? 」the dark figure of light spoke parroted sarcastically.
“Yes, at the end, it arrived specifically to take that coin back from me. This shows that it felt that coin to be extremely precious” Gu Qing Shan explained.
The dark figure of light went silent for a long while.
「 Because it believes that the coin could prevent me from doing a certain thing 」it finally said.
“What is it?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 s.p.a.ce-time Infiltration, a Mystic-type ability that I can activate only once in my entire life. In fact, it was the reason why the Divinities were so afraid of me in the first place 」the dark figure of light told him.
“s.p.a.ce-time Infiltration?” Gu Qing Shan still didn’t quite understand.
「 There used to be a prophecy, foretelling that this ability that I can only use once in my entire life will be able to threaten them 」
The dark figure of light then stared closely at Gu Qing Shan, its tone of voice seemed to be anxious and depressed: 「 Now, I have one question for you 」
“Alright”.
「 If you can return to any moment in time within the last 7 days, will you be able to find a way to safely leave this seal? 」 the dark figure of light asked.
Gu Qing Shan froze.
He just realized something.
So…
That’s why…
No wonder the figure of light specifically gave me that coin.
“Are there any restrictions with this return?” Gu Qing Shan’s voice now also became anxious.
His entire body was trembling uncontrollably.
This was an unprecedented emotion for him.
「 Naturally, you can only do things that you did not do in the past, in order to not disturb the flow of s.p.a.ce-time and allow you to return here alive 」the dark figure of light said.
“In other words, I can’t affect what has already happened and only do the things that I plan to do”
「 Correct, secretly go, secretly return, you mustn’t touch anything that already happened to yourself as well, otherwise the Law of s.p.a.ce-time will erase you to calm the dilation in the flow of time 」
“If you have such a great ability, why don’t you use it on yourself?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 Because I’ve been inside this seal for my entire life, it would be the same no matter what period of time I return to. In fact, what the Divinities fear the most is that I send their enemies back to the past. So now, I am doing exactly that 」 the dark figure of light explained.
“I understand”
Gu Qing Shan lowered his head in thought for a long while.
“I’ve chosen a point in time I can return to” he muttered.
「 One that will let you leave this seal safely? 」the dark figure of light asked.
“Yes, definitely” Gu Qing Shan said.
The dark figure of light looked straight at him and silently utter each word: 「 Keep in mind, if you deceive me, I will make you suffer the heaviest eternal torture 」
Gu Qing Shan offered a handshake: “Trust me, I will definitely lead you outside”
The dark figure of light hesitated briefly: 「 I heard those living beings on the surface said before, the promise of a human is the most untrustworthy thing 」
Gu Qing Shan told it: “You already saw my emotions and thoughts, you know what I want to do, so you only need to believe that I also want to leave this place alive”
The dark figure of light thought briefly and shook his hand.
「 Remember, you need to find the way to leave this place alive before you return here 」it spoke with a stern tone.
“I only have a single extremely dangerous method. So if I still haven’t returned, that means I already died in the past, in that case, I can only apologize to you” Gu Qing Shan said.
「 You can definitely return 」the dark figure of light told him.
“Why?” Gu Qing Shan asked doubtfully.
The dark figure of light explained: 「 During s.p.a.ce-time Infiltration, you will have 800 tries to do what you plan during the time period you chose, make sure to find a solution within that time 」
800 tries?
Gu Qing Shan smiled.
“Don’t look down on me, I can probably do it on the first try” Gu Qing Shan spoke with confidence.
The dark figure of light just silently stared at him.
Gu Qing Shan hesitated a bit, then add: “Maybe two tries top”
The dark figure of light then continued to explain: 「 Whenever you miss the chance so badly that you can no longer do anything to save it, kill yourself immediately. That way you will return here, and I can send you back into that node of time 」
“Got it”
「 When can we start? 」
“Right now”
Oong.
With a loud echo, the tidal wave of darkness swallowed Gu Qing Shan up.
He slowly fell into an endless abyss of glowing darkness, almost like he was in the middle of a boundless ocean.
There was only darkness here without a way to recognize the concepts of time or s.p.a.ce anymore.
Everything that happened in the last 7 days showed themselves as moving pictures to Gu Qing Shan.
The pictures were rewinding themselves.
Gu Qing Shan was immersed in looking at the reversing pictures, all the way until the 7th day.
He suddenly spat up blood and lost his life.
He opened his eyes.
Gu Qing Shan suddenly found himself still standing within the tidal wave of darkness.
“What happened just now?” he asked doubtfully.
「 You died 」 the dark figure of light replied.
“How?”
「 You went past the 7-day limit, so the Law of Time killed you. You have 799 chances left 」
“I’m sorry, I was too shocked that I made such an elementary mistake, it won’t happen again next time” Gu Qing Shan tried explaining himself.
The dark figure of light shook its head and asked: 「 Again? 」
“Again” Gu Qing Shan gritted his teeth.
Oom.
The tidal wave of darkness swallowed him up again.
Within the boundless tidal wave of darkness, he once again travelled through time.
While travelling, a gigantic jaw the size of a mountain suddenly appeared from the darkness, swallowing him as well as various other inexplicable creatures.
Gu Qing Shan’s eyes went dark.
He opened his eyes.
Gu Qing Shan suddenly found himself still standing within the tidal wave of darkness.
“What happened just now?” he asked doubtfully.
「 A s.p.a.ce-time Fog monster, you can think of it as a G.o.d of your Divinities, it ate you 」the dark figure of light replied indifferently.
“Can that really be considered a G.o.d?” Gu Qing Shan was in disbelief.
「 Living beings always wors.h.i.+p things that they don’t understand, it has always been that way, never changed 」the dark figure of light replied.
“I don’t think that’s the case at all” Gu Qing Shan refuted.
「 You have 798 tries left 」the dark figure of light curtly said.
Gu Qing Shan gritted his teeth: “Again”
「 Alright 」
Oom.
The tidal wave of darkness swallowed him up again.
Within the boundless abyss of darkness, he once again travelled through time.
Pictures of the past appeared before him one by one.
At a certain point, Gu Qing Shan finally found the crucial moment that he wanted to return to.
Using all this strength, he crashed into the scene.
Bam!
The picture shattered into tiny pieces.
Darkness.
Slowly there was sound, and then there was light.
Thunder was constantly echoing across the sky as lightning strikes illuminated the great hall.
He opened his eyes.
Gu Qing Shan found himself returned to Bai Hua hall.
Bai Hua Fairy was standing across from where he was, slowly sending her voice to him.
“If you want to repair the Earth sword, you must enter the Primordial Heaven realm and find the Earth sword’s twin sword”
“The sword’s name is Heaven, the Heaven sword”
“The twin swords Heaven and Earth, that which was made to kill the Divine”