Wind was howling by his ears.
Gu Qing Shan sped through the sky, randomly teleporting a few times ahead, soon he reached the Pillar To Heaven.
He turned around gazing at others and grinned: “Too slow, all of you”
The long-bearded old man who had a head start before anyone else was still several thousand meters away from his location.
The long-bearded old man opened his eyes wide and shouted: “Gu Qing Shan is temporarily in the lead, pixies, put your backs into it!”
The pixies loudly responded in kind.
Behind the group of pixies, the cultivators were half hesitant and half reluctant, flying in groups of 3-5 people towards the Pillar To Heaven.
“I kind of feel like the cultivator facing the Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation this time is a bit unreliable” one of the cultivators commented.
“Mountain climbing competition… does he think that Mount Sumeru is too easy to climb?” another cultivator followed up.
A female cultivator’s face was a bit flushed as she flew through the air as she said excitedly: “However, he’s truly strong, he’s the most impressive {Mahesvara King} realm cultivator I’ve ever met”
“That’s true, his spirit energy fluctuations are very impressive, I had almost mistaken him as a Star River Saint” another female cultivator commented as she was lost in thought.
The other cultivators turned to her.
The female cultivator scoffed and lifted her chin up: “What are you looking at? In my world, my father was a Star River Saint realm cultivator”
The cultivators immediately showed amiable smiles.
They continued to fly while loudly discussing their thoughts, while Gu Qing Shan stood leisurely on top of the Pillar To Heaven. With nothing to do, he casually put his hand on his Inventory Bag examining his spoils.
The Wraith realm where Cang Wu Zhang came from had fused around 70% of the original Wraith realm, so they naturally had many Wraith realm treasures.
Wraith’s Guise Hexes, Life Talisman[1] techniques, treasure tools, armors, weapons, pretty much anything you’d ever want.
However, all of them required the wraith’s techniques in order to use.
Gu Qing Shan scanned through the bag with his inner sight and soon found the wraith techniques.
How troublesome…
If I want to use these high-quality goods, I’ll need to practice the corresponding wraith techniques as well.
However, there are quite a bit of otherworldly spoils of war as well—–
When Gu Qing Shan was about to check further, he sensed something and looked at the void of space up ahead.
Only to see the void of space breaking apart as an invisible presence emerged.
Gu Qing Shan immediately knew what had arrived.
He silently sighed.
At the same time, the Earth sword and Chao Yin sword both appeared, silently hovering next to him.
Seeing that, the Six Paths Great Mountain sword also appeared.
“What’s the matter? An enemy?” Shannu’s anxious voice could be heard.
「 No 」 The Earth sword replied with its resounding voice, 「 It’s something else 」
It sounded like it was looking forward to seeing a good performance.
“Something else?” Shannu was a bit surprised.
At this point, the presence scattered into glittering light and manifested into the form of a woman.
The Sacred Chant Angel – Frost.
Her entire body was enveloped in pure holy light with a pair of wings behind her back, her visage was of such beauty that anyone who gazed upon it would find it unforgettable for eternities to come.
She had performed a super-distance connection with him through the power of Occultism.
She then displayed a resounding smile and gently spoke: [It is nice to see you again, the man who saved me from my curse, Gu Qing Shan]
Gu Qing Shan also bowed to greet her: “Greetings, the bravest and most combat-abled girl I’ve been acquainted with, we meet again”
Frost smiled and replied: [The same incapability to praise others as usual I see. It is fine, let us not mention that, I want to know something else; did you receive my letter?]
Gu Qing Shan replied: “I did”
[Then why——-]
“I don’t know how to read”
[…Is that so if I had known, I would have used a recorded image instead… I just thought that using a letter would have been more…]
“My apologies”
While they were talking, the pixies and the cultivators soon arrived.
In front of everyone, Gu Qing Shan chuckled a bit and said: “How inappropriate, I’m currently in the middle of something, do you think we can talk again later?”
Frost hurriedly said: [This technique of mine actually contains a certain power; as long as you are willing to, you can directly summon me to where you are, all you need to do is touch this image of me and recite ‘yes’ in your mind]
Gu Qing Shan was a bit surprised.
“Why did you want to come here?” he couldn’t help but ask.
Frost started mincing her words: [That great power, only that personage from 100 million years ago had been able to grasp it, followed by yourself and I]
Gu Qing Shan nodded in understanding.
She was referring to the power of Occultism, and in fact, Gu Qing Shan had not seen anyone else who was able to obtain this power.
Frost continued: [Because of that, I felt like I needed to exchange the experience and comprehensions of using this power with you]
Gu Qing Shan pondered a bit, then replied: “But I have a lot on my hands at the moment—— perhaps you should ponder it by yourself first, and I’ll contact you again when I have the time?”
Frost smiled and replied: [That is fine, I can come to help you. Whether you require help in combat or anything else——– in truth, in this world, only you and I are kins of the same kind…]
Her gaze fell towards Gu Qing Shan’s wrist.
——the purple length of twine tied on his wrist was fluttering in the wind.
Frost’s expression slowly became provocative and muttered: [Gu Qing Shan, I am the only one suitable for you, what do you think about us becoming one?]
The entire large group gasped.
The long-bearded old man glared at all the pixies and spoke in a threatening tone: “Pure pixies shouldn’t be watching this, cover your eyes!”
Including the pixie king, every pixie present put their hands over their eyes, leaving a gap just big enough to still look through.
The cultivators observed the holy angel, then turned to Gu Qing Shan.
A female cultivator muttered: “Is this love that transcends the difference between race? I seem to recall I came here to face a Tribulation…”
A tall lanky cultivator spoke seriously: “Perhaps this is part of the Tribulation? Cultivators like us lose meals and sleep for the sake of advancing ourselves, how could we have time to find a Dao companion? We’re all lonely people, so perhaps Heaven’s Tribulation had shown us this scene to test our willpower”
Another female cultivator was surprised: “Lonely? That can’t be true, we’ve all reached the peak of {Yama King} realm, this is exactly the point to enjoy the privileges of our long lifespans, shouldn’t everyone already have a Dao companion?”
She looked around.
Every cultivator around nodded to express that they all had a Dao companion of their own.
The tall lanky cultivator painfully closed his eyes.
In front.
Gu Qing Shan sighed as he continuously pondered his options.
——he did not want to fully rip apart the façade with this strange angel just yet.
“About that, although I have never gone through a fully proper relationship, I truly do not hold any romantic emotions towards you” Gu Qing Shan patiently explained.
The pixies all uttered a low gasp.
He directly answered her like that.
This woman was so pitiable.
Sure enough, Frost had frozen completely in place.
Gu Qing Shan smiled and told her with a gentle voice: “We can still be friends——— being mutual friends of respect with you is in fact nothing but my pleasure”
Frost thought for a bit, then replied: [Very well, then we shall be friends. Summon me to help you, I won’t take the position of your Dao companion]
She lowered her voice: [We can become one in secret]
Sha——-
A sword phantom flashed.
Frost’s projection immediately shattered.
The Six Paths Great Mountain sword stood in the air, silently exuding a cold gleam.
Shannu.
She had used her [Law Breaker] property to directly destroy the Sacred Chant Angel’s projection.
Feeling like he was saved, Gu Qing Shan wiped the cold sweat off his head: “Shannu, how perfect, you’ve done well”
Shannu coldly replied: “Do not worry gongzi, for shameless women like that, I’ll slash them no matter how many times they come”
Chao Yin sword copied her tone and coldly vibrated.
The Earth sword, on the other hand, circled around Gu Qing Shan and asked: 「 You seem like you were afraid of that woman? 」
Gu Qing Shan pondered: “That wasn’t it, I just instinctively didn’t want to see her… hm, that truly is strange…”
「 You aren’t happy with a woman like that, is her body figure not to your liking? Or is her voice not your type? 」the Earth sword asked.
“No, her figure—-”
Gu Qing Shan suddenly regained his sense and looked around.
The pixies and cultivators were all staring at him, clearly waiting for him to finish what he was saying.
Everyone was paying extremely close attention.
At the back, two female cultivators even had roasted watermelon seeds ready to eat.
Gu Qing Shan closed his mouth.
…
At the same time.
The secret passage to the Inner Plane.
As the Sacred Chant Angel’s technique was interrupted, her holy aura completely shattered.
“How regretful…”
“It’s all because of that detestable sword spirit!”
She grunted in annoyance; an endless terrifying aura exploded from her body to fully dispel her initial holy presence.
The strong wind howled like a surging tide all around the secret passage.
“Gu Qing Shan, although you have the Sacrificial Dance, you still haven’t practiced it to a high enough degree, you still cannot resist my power!”
“No, I have to find you”
“I must reach you!”
“That lost identity, a part of it should surely be mine!”
[1] The concept of Life Talismans was never properly explained, but the RAW suggests that they are talisman techniques that require the sacrifice of either life or life span in order to perform an exchange for greater power than what is normally achievable
