The green glow flashed briefly in the middle of a palace before vanishing.
Several people showed themselves.
Gu Qing Shan, Ye Ru Xi, Zhang Ying Hao, Ye Fei Li, the Soul Shrieker, and the Raging Flame Traveler.
Ye Ru Xi crossed her arms: “Now, you may begin attempting to communicate with the Awaitings”
Everyone examined their surroundings.
The entire palace was forged out of solid bronze, completely empty and deep enough that one could not see the other end.
Inside the bronze palace, various statues stood silently.
These statues each had a different appearance, some were humanoid, some looked like monsters that had never been seen before, as well as some who weren’t humanoid or monsters, no one could even tell what they were.
Gu Qing Shan even saw a sphere surrounded by spikes on all sides, fully encompassed inside a 3D triangular frame of bronze.
This is an Awaiting as well?
Everyone was silently surprised but quickly calmed themselves down.
——-they are unimaginable entities, the Awaitings who created [Chaos].
With that thought in mind, everyone no longer found it hard to accept how strange these statues were.
Soul Shrieker questioned: 『 「 Is there anything to pay attention to? 』」
Ye Ru Xi replied: “Nothing at all, the only thing is to hope that you will be favored when you touch a statue”
The Soul Shrieker and Raging Flame Traveler were a bit unconvinced.
Ye Ru Xi became silent again, refusing to say another word.
She silently used telepathy to tell Gu Qing Shan’s trio: “You must remain respectful while wishing for power in your mind when you touch the statues, and also wish to accomplish more for the Era of [Chaos]”
The three of them understood without expressing it.
For now, no one moved a muscle.
At a glance, everyone was silently judging each statue, as their apotheosis into a Deity of [Chaos] depended on this single opportunity.
——-it was an unimaginably still moment.
A second later.
Someone finally moved.
Gu Qing Shan circulated spirit energy throughout his entire body and suddenly shot towards a certain direction.
Before anyone could react, he had already arrived in front of a destroyed statue.
“Ye Ru Xi, this was the statue you mentioned right?” Gu Qing Shan loudly asked.
Even as he did so, his hand was reaching towards the destroyed statue.
In the blink of an eye——-
Fwoom!
A jet of heat shot from afar to push Gu Qing Shan several meters away.
The Raging Flame Traveler had replaced Gu Qing Shan in front of the destroyed statue.
His powers had been fully released, even though he was under a restriction from [Chaos] to not kill Gu Qing Shan, it was quite simple for him to push Gu Qing Shan away.
Gu Qing Shan appeared to stagger a bit as he regained his balance from the jet of heat.
He angrily shouted: “There are so many statues, why are you stealing the one I chose!”
「 You chose? 」
The Raging Flame Traveler looked at him, then turned to Ye Ru Xi and smirked: 「 I knew that you were definitely hiding something 」
He flashed a triumphant smile and put his hand onto the destroyed statue.
A faint, dim glow slowly manifested from the statue.
In a flash, the Raging Flame Traveler was enveloped by this faint glow and whisked away.
Gu Qing Shan sighed and mumbled to himself: “He took it first”
Everyone remained silent.
Ye Ru Xi silently sent her voice: “I never mentioned anything about that statue——”
“I know” Gu Qing Shan cut her off, “But you did say that it would be very hard to obtain a seed of power from a destroyed statue, didn’t you?”
Ye Ru Xi confusedly replied: “Yes”
“So I let him go” Gu Qing Shan said.
It was only now that Ye Ru Xi managed to understand what just happened.
——-Gu Qing Shan just fooled the other party.
…What a sly guy
Ye Ru Xi silently thought.
All of a sudden, the sound of clapping could be heard.
Everyone turned back to see that it was the Soul Shrieker.
While clapping, it spoke with both its male and female voices: 「 『 What a good act that was, Gu Qing Shan 」』
Gu Qing Shan didn’t mind and casually smiled: “How did you find out?”
『 「 Your friends’ expressions 』」
The Soul Shrieker replied: 「 『 All of your comrades were completely stunned, as well as this Deity of [Chaos], when you mentioned that destroyed statue, she appeared confused 」』
『 「 Because of that, she did not tell you about that statue 』」
「 『 You were trying to deceive us 」』
It shrugged with two of its hands and continued: 『 「 To be frank, you might have been able to fool me if you tried that when you’re alone, but thanks to your friends, I’ll know right away whenever you’re trying to pull something 』」
“How impressive” Gu Qing Shan praised.
Zhang Ying Hao and Ye Fei Li finally realized what just happened.
“I can’t believe we weren’t able to follow up”
Zhang Ying Hao sighed and took out a few pairs of sunglasses from his pocket.
“This is standard equipment for those who travel the infinite worlds, it can hide the changes on one’s expression”
He wore one of them himself, then gave one to Ye Fei Li.
Ye Fei Li said: “But we’re already exposed”
“Better late than never” Zhang Ying Hao replied.
Ye Fei Li accepted the sunglasses and put them on.
Zhang Ying Hao then offered Ye Ru Xi one pair as well.
Ye Ru Xi said: “I have an eyepatch and a mask”
“But your emotions were exposed earlier as well” Zhang Ying Hao replied.
Ye Ru Xi reluctantly accepted them and put them on.
Zhang Ying Hao looked at Gu Qing Shan, then put the last pair away, saying: “You don’t need one, you’re the cinema king”
“…” Gu Qing Shan.
He then turned to Soul Shrieker and said: “You already noticed, but you didn’t try to warn the Raging Flame Traveler about it at all, how perplexing”
The Soul Shrieker started to speak in its male voice with a deeper tone: 「 I am he who ushered in [Chaos], the strongest True Deity, other than that useless God of Life, I don’t need another piece of garbage to compete for my authority 」
It suddenly sat down and closed its eyes.
『 「 Before you all choose your statues, I won’t move a muscle 』」it stated.
Everyone exchanged glances as they heard that.
How to say this——
Without knowing any information, the only way to obtain trustworthy information would be to observe the choices of Gu Qing Shan’s group.
This was the only solution, but the most under-handed one.
——–they honestly didn’t think the Soul Shrieker would immediately resort to this shameless mean.
“Alright, let’s ignore it and choose by our instincts”
Gu Qing Shan sent his voice.
Ye Ru Xi also said: “That’s right, each of you should search by yourself, sense and examine the Awaiting that is most suitable to yourself”
“An Awaiting that suits you might not necessarily suit that monster—— so let’s get to it. You will need to experiment and choose on your own”
Since these words made sense, the other three slightly nodded.
“I’ll take a look around” Zhang Ying Hao started walking in a certain direction.
“Then I’ll go this way—— I think I can feel something attracting me over here” Ye Fei Li said.
He turned around and walked as he studied the statue of each Awaiting.
Gu Qing Shan stood still.
He could also sense a faint voice calling out to him.
This is a very familiar feeling.
Who exactly would be in a place like this…?
The Soul Shrieker’s eyes were opened just a bit, silently observing the group’s movements.
At this point, Ye Ru Xi turned to Gu Qing Shan and doubtfully asked: “Gu Qing Shan, aren’t you going?”
Gu Qing Shan regained his senses and turned to the Soul Shrieker who was sitting on the ground.
Their gazes met.
At this moment, although everything was peaceful and there was no danger to be seen, both sides clearly understood a certain thing.
——-this would be the final bout to decide their life and death.
Gu Qing Shan smiled: “Of course I am”
He no longer cared about the Soul Shrieker, sorted out the direction of the beckoning and walked through the silent palace.
…
In the palace, numerous statues were lined up one after the other
Gu Qing Shan’s footsteps never stopped, continuously walking past each one.
This calling sensation… where exactly is it coming from?
He silently pondered.
It was as if there were countless beings whispering in his ears, whenever he walked in the right direction, the voice became louder, and weakened as he went down the wrong direction.
Gu Qing Shan slowly followed this guidance and reached a secluded location in the palace.
There was also a statue here.
——-a humanoid figure made out of gravel and sand stood on top of a pedestal.
However, this statue was so thoroughly destroyed that not even the humanoid figure’s visage could be made out.
The faint calling voice from earlier came from this statue.
Even after observing for a while, Gu Qing Shan could only recognize the statue to be of a feminine form.
But, who could it be?
His gaze fell onto the gravel and sand.
“Sand…”
Gu Qing Shan pondered, then suddenly recalled a certain person.
The Unextinguishing Sand, the Wielder of Time, the Sovereign of Elemental Fairies, the Legendary Lady.
Fusi.
She is also the one who holds my secret.
As long as she exists, no one would ever find out that I am the Earth God of the Four Pillars Gods of the void.
But, why would her statue be in this place?
Is she perhaps also an Awaiting?
Countless questions appeared in Gu Qing Shan’s mind, causing him to be unable to reach the truth.
“Regardless…”
Gu Qing Shan muttered, then reached his hand out to touch the destroyed statue.
The gravel and sand that made up this statue completely scattered.
An invisible gust of wind began to manifest.
The gravel and sand quickly swirled around to envelop Gu Qing Shan.
In the blink of an eye, Gu Qing Shan had vanished from the bronze palace.
…
At another location in the bronze palace.
The Soul Shrieker suddenly stood up.
It was originally observing all three people but paid the closest attention to Gu Qing Shan.
Never did it think that Gu Qing Shan would choose a destroyed statue and directly vanish.
Could it be…
He had already awakened an Awaiting and is undergoing their trial?
The Soul Shrieker clenched its fists.
Once Gu Qing Shan passes the trial, what awaits me would be…
I can’t wait any longer!
The Soul Shrieker quickly moved around to choose a statue from the palace.
While walking around, it analyzed all of Gu Qing Shan’s movements ever since he first entered the bronze palace.
Gu Qing Shan.
The first time, he chose a destroyed statue to fool the Raging Flame Traveler.
The second time, he also chose a destroyed statue.
——-a destroyed statue!
The Soul Shrieker slowly understood.
Perhaps this was an instinctive human behavior, even while deceiving others, he couldn’t help but choose the more correct choice.
The Soul Shrieker glanced around the bronze palace.
Although there weren’t many destroyed statues here, there were still quite a few.
『 「 Very well, I shall make my choice from within these destroyed statues… 』」
The Soul Shrieker finally made a decision.
