Up ahead.
The tomb river was enveloped in fog, so much so that even the grass and trees around the riverbank were also obscured.
As the fog stretched further and further, the surrounding scenery gradually became so blurred they couldn’t be seen anymore.
Two people and a sword stopped at this point to observe their surroundings.
“Is it here?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The fog here was so thick that it was practically a wall, obscuring the sky and ground while also blocking his sight and Inner Sight.
——it was impossible to tell what might be behind the fog.
The Delimitation Divine Sword flew around and muttered: 「 This fog… is actually a Phase Realm. This should be a world that was created through the power of my sword hilt, how strange— 」
“What’s strange?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 Who exactly was it that could invoke my sword hilt’s Phase Realm Thaumaturgy without my permission? 」the Delimitation Divine Sword appeared confused.
Barry glanced at the flying sword and couldn’t help but comment: “You don’t even know which of your weaknesses was taken advantage of?”
The Delimitation Divine Sword trembled a bit and answered with a slightly raised voice: 「 There are infinite possible abilities within the Boundless Void, what do you know, you diarrhea-ridden fellow! 」
Barry couldn’t take the insult, so he started cracking his knuckles and neck: “My fists have already beaten down too many Professionists to count, and I’ve dealt with thousands of strange and unusual fellows, I’m sure I know just as much if not even more than you do”
The Delimitation Divine Sword scoffed: 「 Those in power use their minds, desperate people use blades, women use firearms, small-fries use knives and daggers, do you know what kind of people use their fists? Hot-blooded 8-year-old children who only knows how to cry and get beaten up 」
Barry raised his eyebrows and was about to snap back, but Gu Qing Shan pulled him back.
“Alright, alright, let’s not fight among ourselves for something so minor, we need to go inside and take a look regardless” Gu Qing Shan pulled Barry to one side and said: “I feel like something is amiss, this place is definitely not as simple as it seems. Before going in, we need to prepare some common countermeasures among ourselves”
“What do you think is amiss?” Barry asked.
“The fake sword spirit once gave me a handful of sand that was specifically created to kill artifact spirits, it wanted me to head into the Wraith realm and kill the Delimitation Divine Sword’s real spirit” Gu Qing Shan recounted.
「 —–However, you were smart enough to not act so recklessly 」the Delimitation Divine Sword flew over and casually said.
“Yeah, what I’m interested in is that handful of sand. It wasn’t just incredibly rare, but also contained immeasurable power, it wasn’t something that any laymen can simply get their hands on—– I’m worried that the fake sword spirit still has other objects of similar power” Gu Qing Shan explained.
Barry became serious and asked: “So what should we do now?”
Right as Gu Qing Shan opened his mouth and was about to speak, the situation changed——
The fog up ahead of them suddenly rushed forward like a wave, swallowing the two people and the sword.
At the very next moment, the world around them spun.
Gu Qing Shan suddenly found himself standing on solid ground once again.
Around them was an ocean of clouds and fog, which made it impossible to see literally anything else.
“What is this place?” Barry asked.
“I don’t know” Gu Qing Shan replied.
「 It’s the world inside the sword hilt—- it’s been altered! 」the Delimitation Divine Sword exclaimed.
They all suddenly turned towards the same direction in unison.
The layers of fog around them then started to gather into the shape of a wraith’s head, which silently hovered in the air.
——the fake sword spirit!
“It’s you” Gu Qing Shan said.
「 I gave you the sand, why didn’t you use it? 」the wraith stared straight at Gu Qing Shan.
“When the Samsara reset itself, I lost the sand” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The wraith turned towards the Delimitation Divine Sword and sighed: 「 I couldn’t eliminate you, how regretful… 」
「 Even if I had been eliminated, you would still not have been able to become the sword spirit 」the Delimitation Divine Sword replied.
「 I wanted to give it a try 」the wraith said.
It then turned around and flew away, its form gradually scattering into fog once again.
“It ran away?” Barry muttered with surprise.
“It’s probably not that simple” Gu Qing Shan replied.
They looked around their surroundings, only to see the fog gradually dissipating.
Some gusts of wind started to blow.
The wind was strong and howled loudly.
Everything around them gradually became clear.
—-this place was actually the top of a mountain.
“Look!” Barry exclaimed.
As Gu Qing Shan turned his sight, he saw countless monsters standing from the foot of the mountain all the way up until near the top where they stood.
Each of those monsters radiated an intense destructive aura.
“They’re all Apocalyptic monsters—– there are a lot of them” Gu Qing Shan frowned.
He then turned to the Delimitation Divine Sword and asked: “Just now, how did that guy control so many Apocalyptic monsters?”
「 No, it doesn’t control these monsters, it merely left us in this monster-filled place to try and kill us 」the Delimitation Divine Sword replied.
More and more monsters began to take notice of the mountaintop.
They began to scramble and rush towards the top of the mountain.
Looking down at them, Barry asked in a low voice: “What’s the plan?”
Gu Qing Shan mused briefly before replying: “Mixing sugar with salt”
He then quickly told Barry his plan by sending his voice.
After hearing it, Barry grinned:
“Ever since after Shroud became the King of War, I’ve been feeling irritated, now I finally have a chance to surpass him”
While standing on the edge of the mountain, he abruptly leapt forward and dove downwards.
Boom!
The ground shook intensely as numerous impacts could be heard all around them.
Barry slowly stood up back, now covered in a solemn suit of armor and declared: “Follow my lead!”
He then rushed into the hoard of monsters while throwing punches so rapidly he looked like a mountainous wave, which sent the Apocalyptic monsters around him flying like shooting stars.
A total of 12 metal soldiers had appeared around him.
Four of the soldiers held tower shields in their hands to help Barry block ranged attacks.
Four other soldiers wielded large gatling guns whose barrels continuously flared as they gave Barry cover fire as he charged forward.
Three of the soldiers were wielding cold weapons while standing in Barry’s blind spots to defend him.
The final soldier slowly faded away into the void of space and remained hidden, whenever they chanted an incantation, a layer of holy light would appear around Barry’s body.
In this way, Barry continued to move forward through the hoard of monsters, up until he was blocked by a wall of hundreds of Apocalyptic monsters.
『 KILL HIM! 』
The monster roared in chaotic unison.
Destructive spells and techniques eclipsed the sky above as they became concentrated into a ball of light, which then violently fell to the ground.
Barry was struck by the attack.
Almost immediately, all the metal soldiers around him were erased without exception.
The earth was completely torn through, leaving a shocking bottomless hole.
“Hoh… Gahahaha! You wanted to kill me?”
Barry was still hovering in the air while laughing maniacally.
His body was riddled with ferocious wounds, but he didn’t show any signs of dying.
——while in combat, it was impossible for him to die.
His figure flashed and reappeared within the hoard of monsters, throwing hundreds and thousands of punches in a single blink of the eye.
After his barrage of attacks, the bloodied and broken extremities of the monsters had formed a bright red circle of blood on the ground with him as the center.
A golden light appeared from the void of space and gently entered his body.
In an instant——-
His silver armor had transformed into gold.
Barry was shocked, then started laughing heartily:
“Gahahaha, I’ve finally reached the King of War rank”
“Shroud you old brat, just watch as I beat you up the next time we play battle chess!”
Within the encirclement of monsters, his figure gradually became faint.
——and then he disappeared.
The monsters rushed forward and looked around, but couldn’t find him no matter what they did.
They paused briefly before suddenly recalling that there was another person.
——there was still one more person on top of the mountain!
Roar!
The monsters uttered a resounding roar and rushed to the top of the mountain as fast as they could.
The mountaintop was also empty.
There wasn’t a single person here.
Not a single soul.
A monster with blades for wings cawed in anger and swung its wings wildly, cutting off the head of some nearby monsters.
Unable to find the person who originally stood here no matter what they did, the monsters had no choice but to begrudgingly retreat.
Time slowly passed.
About an hour later.
The blade-winged monster separated itself from the hoard of Apocalyptic monsters.
After a few more hours, it had traveled to a vast barren desert devoid of any living creatures.
Some structures could be seen up ahead.
The monster’s eyes displayed a look of ponder before it spoke in a low voice: 「 Hide well 」
A faint sound of sword ringing could be heard next to it.
The monster then silently approached those structures.
…
The Human realm.
The Green Building.
“Shifu, these are 36 sets of breakfast dishes that I’ve just made, please enjoy yourself, I’m going to prepare for today’s opening” Qin Xiao Lou bowed and said.
“Hm, you may go” Xie Dao Ling replied.
Just as Qin Xiao Lou was about to leave the room, Xie Dao Ling abruptly stood up.
“Shifu, what’s the matter?” Qin Xiao Lou asked.
“Finally… arrived” Xie Dao Ling muttered.
“Arrived? Who?” Qin Xiao Lou subconsciously asked that before he realized what she meant.
He swiftly ran out of the room and flew down towards the Green Building’s main gates.
Three people were standing at the gates.
Two beautiful women that were so beautiful that even blooming flowers felt inferior in comparison, both of which were following a single little girl.
“Junior sisters, as well as—– Shifu!”
Qin Xiao Lou exclaimed, his voice containing a stifled sense of joy.
He rushed forward and knelt in front of the little girl while prostrating himself: “Shifu, I miss you so much, uuuuu”
He started crying for real, his tears mixed with mucus dripped down his face.
The little girl smiled gently and evaluated him, then suddenly appeared surprised: “Strange, why did you already break through a cultivation realm? That’s not how you usually are at all”
The two women behind her also appeared shocked.
Qin Xiao Lou instinctively clenched his legs tightly and puffed out his chest: “Shifu, you shouldn’t look down on me too much, I’ve always been hard-working”
“That’s not true, even if I whip you I still couldn’t get you to cultivate properly, something must have happened”
The little girl said while shaking her head.
Just as she was about to continue, she suddenly noticed something and turned her gaze away from Qin Xiao Lou towards behind him.
She saw another woman silently observing this scene from a short distance away.
“Another Shifu!? Could it be her incarnation?” Wan Er exclaimed in surprise.
“No, if she was Shifu’s incarnation, how would Shifu have taken so much time to search for this place with us?” Qing Rou appeared cautious.
“It’s fine, she really is me” the little girl said.
“Indeed, finally this day has arrived” Xie Dao Ling muttered.
She walked up to the little girl and asked: “Should I be the primary one, or should you?”
The little girl answered: “Do you think this Xie Dao Ling would be someone who yearns for the past?”
“That’s true, then you’ll be the primary”
As the two of them walked towards each other, they gradually overlapped and became the same person.
“Shifu?” Qin Xiao Lou worriedly asked.
“Everything is fine, it’s only now that my soul is complete, I’ve escaped from all restraints and is no longer under any limitations”
As she said so, the little girl’s body gradually changed to grow older.
But her body stopped growing as she became an adolescent.
An indescribable presence began to radiate from her body, which spread across this entire world.
