Ao Shun had been standing at the edge of the Soaring Palace Hall’s plaza all the while. He showed a slightly complicated expression upon seeing how easily Gu Hai resolved all this.
This calamity happened because of him, but the Han Nation completely fell out with the Solar Divine Palace to protect him. Had the Han Nation handed him over, nothing would have happened. However, the Han Nation did not do that.
Gu Hai asked Gu Qin some questions before turning his head to look at Ao Shun. Then, he strolled over.
Upon seeing Gu Hai approach, Ao Shun took a deep breath, showing a somewhat serious expression. Should I answer when Gu Hai asks?
“Crown Prince Ao Shun!” Gu Hai greeted with a faint smile.
Ao Shun frowned as he looked at Gu Hai.
“Did you receive a fright? However, rest assured. I made a promise. Naturally, I will not let others take you away. You can stay on Nine-Five Island in peace.” Gu Hai smiled.
After speaking, Gu Hai asked someone to accompany Ao Shun back.
This slightly startled Ao Shun. “Aren’t you going to ask why they want to take me away?”
“Crown Prince Ao Shun is guarded against me. I believe you aren’t willing to tell me. Since you are not willing, why should I force you?” Gu Hai said with a smile.
This startled Ao Shun further. Was I that obvious?
But…but does Gu Hai really not care?
“Crown Prince Ao Shun, everything is fine now. You should return early and rest,” Gu Hai said with a smile.
A few attendants immediately came over to accompany Ao Shun back.
Ao Shun looked at Gu Hai with a complicated expression. Then, he looked at the injured people in the surroundings before sighing. “I’m really sorry for this incident. They came to capture me because of the upcoming Ten Thousand Sages Convention that will be held in the Qian Heavenly Dynasty.”
After saying that, Ao Shun did not say anything more. He turned away and left with the attendants.
The Ten Thousand Sages Convention?
Gu Hai raised his eyebrows. He wanted to ask further, but Ao Shun had already left, clearly unwilling to say too much.
The Ten Thousand Sages Convention? Gu Hai knew about it. He had gone to Major Metropolitan City to save Gongyang Sheng not long ago so that Gongyang Sheng could return to host the Ten Thousand Sages Convention.
Major Metropolitan City? The Solar Divine Palace’s people will be attending as well?
“Imperial Father!” Gu Qin frowned as he looked at Gu Hai, as though he had something to say.
“There’s no need to ask further. Judging by Ao Shun’s expression, he won’t speak,” Gu Hai said with a smile.
“Yes!” Gu Qin said with a faint, bitter smile.
“The Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Ritual Array? Although it is a simplified version, Nine-Five Island should not have that many spirit stones, right?” Gu Hai looked at Gu Qin.
“Imperial Father, you forgot about the Life Trapper Saber,” Gu Qin said with a smile.
“Oh?”
“Old Mister Guan Qi created the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Ritual Array in the first place. He formed it with the Heavenly Go Stone as its energy source. That is to say, if we had used the Heavenly Go Stone to lay the ritual array, it would require much fewer spirit stones. The Heavenly Go Stone can draw on the natural energy of the world. We forged the Life Trapper Saber with the Heavenly Go Stone fragments. Naturally, the drain on spirit stones is much less when the Life Trapper Saber is used to lay ritual arrays. We drained only about ten million superior-grade spirit stones this time,” Gu Qin explained.
“Only ten million?” This slightly startled Gu Hai.
Following Gu Qin’s description, Gu Hai made a rough calculation. Without the Life Trapper Saber, the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Ritual Array would take at least five hundred million superior-grade spirit stones. Yet, Gu Qin used only ten million?
“Unfortunately, there are too few Heavenly Go Stone fragments in the Life Trapper Saber. Otherwise, we would have drained even fewer spirit stones,” Gu Qin said regretfully.
“The more fragments there are, the fewer the spirit stones we drain?” Gu Hai showed a faint smile.
Heavenly Go Stone fragments? Gu Hai had brought back more than two hundred fragments this time. Most of it had come from when he laid the Thirty Line-Pair World Ritual Array in Major Metropolitan City. He had used Mo Yike to collect them in the name of the Yuan Nation.
“Since you can use the Life Trapper Saber to activate the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Ritual Array, it seems that you have already finished laying the spirit stones in the island, and we can already activate the Life Trapper Ritual Array?” Gu Hai looked at Gu Qin.
“Imperial Father, rest assured. It is ready. However, we need to make up for the drain from the earlier battle. We can activate it in less than three days,” Gu Qin said seriously.
“Three days? Excellent. We will formally activate the ritual array three days later. We want to bring Nine-Five Island out of the sea!” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Yes!” Gu Qin answered.
Then, Gu Hai turned his head and paced to the west of the Soaring Palace Hall’s plaza. There was a foggy region there with the image of a saber. It could only maintain a silhouette, remaining in an ethereal state, as too few Heavenly Go Stone fragments had gone into its creation.
Gu Hai then extended his hand and grabbed the Life Trapper Saber.
Gu Qin’s eyes lit up, as no one but his father could grab this Life Trapper Saber, not even himself. It was like a mirage.
“It is time to add more Heavenly Go Stone fragments to the Life Trapper Saber,” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Did Imperial Father obtain a Heavenly Go Stone fragment on your trip this time? No, Imperial Father must have found more than one. There should be several, right?” Gu Qin’s face lit up in joy.
After all, the Heavenly Go Stone fragments had been spread all over the world. It was already pretty good for Gu Hai to find even one.
Faint ripples appeared on Gu Hai’s forehead, and a fragment suddenly flew out from there. Gu Hai had already refined that fragment and just needed to fuse it into the Life Trapper Saber.
Buzz!
The fragment merged with the Life Trapper Saber, and the Life Trapper Saber trembled like it met a great nutriment. It immediately released a vast, surging fog.
Whoosh!
The fog rushed out in all directions as the Life Trapper Saber suddenly shot out countless transparent threads, faint and indistinct, everywhere. The threads quickly disappeared. Gu Hai understood that this was the network for the new ritual array.
“The Life Trapper Saber is now even stronger. Imperial Father, is there more?” Gu Qin asked excitedly.
Buzz!
Suddenly, ten more fragments flew out of Gu Hai’s forehead and merged quickly into the Life Trapper Saber.
Boom!
The Life Trapper Saber trembled intensely, and the fog surged out, instantly covering the entire imperial palace and spreading beyond.
“Eleven? Imperial Father, you managed to find eleven?” Gu Qin said in pleasant surprise.
Gu Hai discovered that the Life Trapper Saber perfectly absorbed the fragments he had refined. Perhaps due to them having been one in the first place, they did not reject each other. If that is the case, then let’s do it all in one go.
Buzz!
Just as Gu Qin felt shocked at the eleven fragments, one hundred more fragments came out from Gu Hai’s forehead.
Gu Qin: “…”
Buzz!
Another one hundred-odd fragments appeared.
Gu Qin: “…”
Two hundred-odd fragments merged into the Life Trapper Saber.
Rumble…!
The Life Trapper Saber trembled intensely once more. The fog spread out in all directions amid rumbling, covering the entire Nine-Five Island in the blink of an eye.
How many places did Imperial Father rob? Gu Qin felt shocked.
Since Gu Qin received Old Mister Guan Qi’s inheritance, he was privy to some information. The Heavenly Go Stone had been split into more than a thousand fragments. Collecting them was like searching for needles in a haystack.
Gu Qin initially felt despair over it. Unexpectedly, his father brought back more than two hundred fragments in one go. That was nearly a fifth of the Heavenly Go Stone collected.
At this speed, perhaps they could complete the Heavenly Go Stone soon?
Boom!
The Life Trapper Saber flared with a dazzling green light as countless threads shot all over Nine-Five Island like a network linking heaven and earth.
Buzz!
Suddenly, the Life Trapper Saber shook, and the fog withdrew, strangely sucked back in an instant.
The illusory Life Trapper Saber now looked much more distinct, flashing with lush green color. It looked extremely strange. Now, it trembled gently as though happy about growing stronger.
Most of the fog disappeared, but some remained around the blade, disappearing and reappearing like it was breathing.
Gu Hai held the Life Trapper Saber and opened his eyes. The Life Trapper Saber sent a scene to his mind.
It showed Gu Hai everything about the Life Trapper Ritual Array.
“The spirit stones buried to the east are somewhat off!” Gu Hai said after closing his eyes again.
“Ah?” Gu Qin felt slightly startled.
“Go and correct those personally. At the same time, replenish the spirit stones at the various places. Perhaps this will be the last replenishment. In the future, the Life Trapper Saber will use the Life Trapper Ritual Array to draw on the natural Spiritual Energy to replenish its spirit stones,” Gu Hai explained.
“Imperial Father, the ritual array gained intelligence?” Gu Qin goggled.
Gu Hai smiled faintly and nodded.
However, Gu Qin stared at the Life Trapper Saber with a trace of awe. “Imperial Father, are you trying to give life to the Life Trapper Saber?”
“Go on. We will formally fly out of the sea three days later. It is time for Nine-Five Island to enter the Divine Continent,” Gu Hai instructed, not explaining.
“Yes!” Gu Qin answered with some shock.
Gu Hai looked at the Life Trapper Saber in his hand. Then, he returned it to its original position with a faint smile.
Buzz!
The Life Trapper Saber trembled and vanished, appearing to have merged into the void.
The ritual array would activate three days later.
——
Two days later, Tengen Island, Thousand Islands Sea:
The Heavenly Go Pavilion stayed in the Innate Puzzle World that opened on Tengen Island every two centuries.
Dark clouds surrounded the skies of Tengen Island. The heavenly wrath had not eased yet. As long as a Heavenly Go Pavilion member came out, a heavenly tribulation would immediately destroy them.
At this moment, three four-winged angels circled Tengen Island before landing behind a transparent man in the middle.
The man seemed to be made of water, completely transparent. Standing upright with his hands behind his back, he looked at the entrance to the Innate Puzzle World.
“Second Young Master, we have been observing this place for three days already. Can this entrance be opened?” a four-winged angel asked out of curiosity.
The transparent man frowned slightly. “It would be hard to open it unless Father does it personally.”
“The Innate Puzzle World? What secrets did Old Mister Guan Qi leave behind?” another four-winged angel asked out of curiosity.
“My father once said that while Old Master Guan Qi died, his heart did not,” the transparent Second Young Master said indifferently.
“My master said that? Old Mister Guan Qi’s heart is not dead?” the surrounding four-winged angels exclaimed in shock.
“Humph! That old fox, Old Mister Guan Qi, refused to rest in peace even after dying. What a pity we came late! The Innate Puzzle World’s entrance has closed already. If we destroyed the Heavenly Go Pavilion, perhaps we could find something and share Father’s burden,” Second Young Master sighed softly.
“Second Young Master has already done pretty well. Although your body has yet to arrive in the Thousand Islands Sea, you sent your projection from a long distance away. Furthermore, we discovered that Ao Shun is also in the Thousand Islands Sea. It would be easy for Jiu Ming to capture a sealed Ao Shun. With Ao Shun in hand, Second Young Master will ease Master’s load,” that four-winged angel said with a smile.
“Speaking of which, Jiu Ming should be returning soon. Why is he so slow?” another angel said with a frown.
As the angels discussed this, a crimson beam shot over from the horizon.
“Second Young Master! Second Young Master!” Jiu Ming’s cry for help came from the crimson light.
Bang!
A bloodied Jiu Ming landed before everyone.
“Jiu Ming? Why are you in such a sorry state, completely covered in blood?”
“Where are your wings? The Angel Wing Burning Art?”
“What happened?”
The various four-winged angels’ expressions changed.
Second Young Master suddenly narrowed his eyes coldly at the incredibly miserable Jiu Ming.
