Chapter 402: That era
All the light on the Devil King Warden Rod disappeared.
A deck of cards appeared in front of everyone.
Cards?
This question popped up in everyone’s mind at the same time.
Wasn’t it time to compete between the 18 strongest in hell next? Why did a deck of cards appear?
Not believing their eyes, they tried a double take.
It was still a deck of cards.
The cards were stacked neatly on one another, but all showed the same ashen grey border.
The top card had already been turned over.
It depicted a scenery.
A wild forest.
And the sea.
With moonlight illuminating the night sky.
And a large ship anchored at shore.
18 powerhouses stood on the deck of the ship, surrounding a rod.
“What is this?” a few were unable to understand and muttered as they scratched their heads.
The card started to float up and hover in the air.
“It seems like some sort of Law related to God’s Chosen” one of them commented in a low voice.
“There’s no way a card managed to pull all of us in there, that’s impossible” another person denied.
“Hmph, what do you know…”
He only said that much before stopping himself.
But his expression was much grimmer than before.
Gu Qing Shan was also much more cautious.
Being able to use a card to form a miniature world, furthermore providing enough room for so many dead to come in and fight, this God’s Chosen Skill is unimaginably powerful.
The first card was still hovering in the air without moving.
Then 18 cards flew out from the deck, hovering in front of the 18 people here.
Everyone first looked at their own card, then at other people’s.
They quickly realized that the cards depicted their sleeping figure.
And naturally the others’ depict their own sleeping figures.
Even after finishing this, the Devil King Warden Rod remained silent.
It didn’t give any explanations.
This was very strange.
All 18 people here cautiously stared at their cards, not knowing what to do for the time being.
“So it’s a dreamscape card” Gu Qing Shan silently thought to himself.
Similarly, there are others who appeared to be thinking as well.
It was unimaginable for them that the Devil King Warden Rod was somehow related to the power of God’s Chosen.
Gu Qing Shan recalled his past life ——at the time, there really were a few God’s Chosen talented enough to manifest their power into cards.
But none had managed to do as much as what he saw here.
Everybody was taken into a card to fight, then new cards appeared inside this card that will take them into a dream.
A card within a card.
What’s going to happen next?
Gu Qing Shan slowly contemplated.
Then he suddenly broke into a laugh.
If someone had such unimaginable power that could even create worlds and dreams within a dream, it’s easy for them to kill everyone here with a flick of their hand.
In such a situation, there isn’t much to think about.
There’s no turning back now.
He reached out his hand to take the card in front of himself.
“This card is a dream, you need to go inside to know what’s in there” Gu Qing Shan gave a hint to the 7 leaders.
While the leaders were still hesitant, Gu Qing Shan had already disappeared without a trace.
He was sucked into the card in an instant.
The 17 remaining people were all shocked.
“How interesting, I’m taking a look as well” the female Asura declared.
She also touched her card and disappeared from sight.
The rest of them quickly followed and touched their cards as well.
Only 2 people were left of the 18.
“Why aren’t you going in?” one of them asked.
“This has to be a trap, if we go in, wouldn’t that make us lambs for people to chop as they please?” the other answered.
“You have a point… but the first card had already shown us that the other party has the power to even create worlds, so…” the first person commented as he was thinking out loud.
Then he reached forward and touched the card as well.
There was only one person left.
He stood alone on the deck of the ship.
The others are too careless, letting themselves get sucked in like that.
——maybe I should try taking a look as well?
While he was still hesitant, his figure disappeared from the first card that floated up.
The person also disappeared from the deck of the ship.
One person has been disqualified.
Inside the card.
Gu Qing Shan landed on the ground.
Dim light.
Soft relaxing music.
The sound of voices discussing, laughing and eating.
“What would you like to drink, sir?” the bartender asked politely.
Gu Qing Shan didn’t answer immediately and instead looked around.
This was a bar.
A familiar place that he seems to have been to before.
He’s currently sitting at the bar.
Then he noticed Ye Fei Li and Liao Xing.
The two of them sat on the sofa, talking and drinking in a low voice.
“Sir?” the bartender hesitantly asked.
Gu Qing Shan pointed at a small bottle.
“Very well, a moment please”
The bartender skillfully opened the bottle and poured him a glass.
Gu Qing Shan sat down in front of the bar.
All of a sudden, a hoarse, lazy voice came in his ears.
“Someone has already been disqualified”
Gu Qing Shan turned to look.
A black-robed man has already sat next to him before he noticed.
Gu Qing Shan recalled the situation just now.
This man literally appears out of nowhere without any signs or commotion.
Gu Qing Shan wasn’t too sure: “So you created this place?”
“That isn’t so, you and I created this place together” the black-robed man answered.
He received two glasses from the bartender and placed one of them in front of Gu Qing Shan.
“What do you mean?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“My Law is to create a location most comforting for you”
The black-robed man sighed: “But your life seems to be quite hectic, after a long time choosing, this was the only place that you could feel relaxed”
He raised his glass.
Gu Qing Shan also raised his and knocked it with the black-robed man.
Then they drank it.
“This is still the same violent flavors as I remembered, if I didn’t know, I would’ve thought this was reality” Gu Qing Shan commented.
The black-robed man smiled: “It’s good that you’re happy with it, this place right here is the reward for being the strongest of a layer of hell”
“That can’t be everything, I feel like you’re actually being cautious of something” Gu Qing Shan said as he looked into the man’s eyes.
At a corner of the bar, Liao Xing and Ye Fei Li’s eyes glanced past them, but didn’t react at all.
As if they were looking at strangers.
“So you noticed? This place is a secret room that only you and I can enter, no one else will be able to sneak a peek”
The black-robed man admitted it.
His expression seems to be tired and full of vicissitudes, the wrinkles on his face were reflected clearly under the dim light.
Gu Qing Shan placed his glass down: “So, what should we do now?”
“Answer a few questions, think of this as playing truth or dare”
Saying so, the black-robed hand lifted a thick book in his hand.
He then pulled out a card from the book.
He randomly placed this card on the table.
Gu Qing Shan glanced at the card to see a well-dressed man kneeling on one knee, lifting a bouquet of fresh roses to a beautiful woman, seemingly saying something to her.
The beautiful woman listened to him with a joyful expression, seemingly pleased with his flattering words, but she was holding a skull behind her back with both hands.
“Relax, as long as you tell the truth, this card won’t do anything” the black-robed man said.
“What if I lie?”
“Then you can take a look at the skull”
“Understood”
The man cleared his throat: “Now then, let us begin”
“Are you single?” he asked.
“Ah… maybe”
“Maybe?”
“We still haven’t officially established the relationship yet” Gu Qing Shan wasn’t too keen on talking about this.
The black-robed man looked down at the card on the table.
It did nothing.
“Then, do you have friends?”
“I do”
“Are they trustworthy?”
“They are”
“What kind of sports do you like?”
“Ball sports”
“Do you have a hobby?”
“I’m a decent cook, my beefsteak recipe got an award at a national convention”
“Quite talented, are your parents still alive?”
“They’re already passed”
“I’m sorry to hear that”
Seemingly noticed how trivial his questions seemed, the black-robed man explained: “I want to know how deeply you are connected to your world”
He then took out another card from the book and showed it.
The card was blank with only a number that keeps changing.
“Your profession” the black-robed man continued asking.
“Scientist”
The black-robed man was a bit confused: “On the ship, you seemed to have said that killing is part of your job, that’s why you’re different from the other mad killers…”
“Ah, sorry about that, my profession is a scientist, my battle profession is sword cultivator”
“Sword cultivator, hoh, it’s been a very long time since I heard that profession, how nostalgic”
Saying so, the black-robed man looked down at the card.
A number finally stopped on the card.
97.
“97 —-not bad, your bond with your world is very tight, so much that both of you are unwilling to lose each other”
The black-robed man smiled.
“Plus you’re a sword cultivator, hm, a sword cultivator strong enough to become the leader of a layer, you must be quite powerful as well”
“Very well, congratulations, you’ve passed the first round”
Gu Qing Shan was a bit surprised.
I passed just like that?
All I had to do was fight a bit in a card, then entered a dreamscape card in the first card.
After entering the dreamscape card, a man started to ask me a bunch of questions from a book of cards.
As he was thinking, the black-robed man drew 6 cards from the book.
He quickly arranged the 6 cards to form a larger card.
This card showed the scene of a great war.
The demons, Heavenly beings, Beast Kings and Asuras had formed an unprecedented army.
They were currently giving a military speech to the allied army before marching to battle.
A Divinity stood on top of a podium, saying something.
The soldiers of the four worlds all wore uniform armor, raising their weapons.
The next scene depicted their assault into Huang Quan.
The Grand Tie Wei Mountain that hasn’t moved for thousands of years split apart.
The dead from 9 layers of hell charged out from below.
The Vanguards of both sides clashed.
War had begun.
Despite only watching from afar, he could feel the blood-boiling spirit of war.
Countless heroes and sacrifices were being made every second.
As the man showed him this card, he appeared apologetic.
“I don’t know if you can handle this degree of war or not, but to become the Devil King, you have to enter this dream and witness the events of that era”
“This is the second round?”
“Indeed”
“Then let’s start”
Gu Qing Shan reached out his hand to touch the card.
