The skeletal wall trembled nonstop, an invisible shockwave blasted the sea of skeletons, manifesting as an intense surging wave.
The entire sea of skeletons were swept backward.
Gu Qing Shan fell down and collapsed.
Hoh—–
Hoh—-
He was panting heavily.
Blood was dripping from every pore on his body but was immediately scattered by the violent air currents around his body into a bloody drifting mist.
No one was crazy enough to directly absorb the power of dragons this way.
But Gu Qing Shan was left with no escape route.
Another fierce howl resounded a considerable distance from within the sea of skeletons.
Gu Qing Shan struggled to raise his hands, then formed a hand seal.
The Heaven sword turned into a streak of light that traveled over a thousand miles in an instant.
That fierce howl immediately stopped.
Secret Art, [Ten Swallows Return]!
——this was a combination of [Heaven’s Choice] and his Secret Art, resulting in ten [Swallows Return] at once, practically impossible to parry, if you don’t die once, you’ll die by the tenth time.
Gu Qing Shan no longer had the leisure to care about the battle, he abruptly looked up, then violently rushed into the ground in front of him.
Boom!
A large chunk of the snow-covered ground caved in; bright red blood plastered all over the newly dug path.
The overwhelming power was essentially destroying Gu Qing Shan’s body, inflicting a kind of suffering on him that far surpassed the normal definition of ‘pain’.
For some reason, various illusory images suddenly manifested around him.
Falling flower petals, soft and gently female voices sung their aria as their beautiful visage fluttered in the wind.
These women wore skimpy clothing that didn’t even serve to cover their bodies, their voluptuous bodies and pinkish-white skin left exposed, leaving very little to the imagination. All the while they were staring at Gu Qing Shan.
Their gazes were filled with desires.
What delectable food!
As the women tried to approach Gu Qing Shan, a glowing red spear manifested behind Gu Qing Shan and vibrated by itself.
Evil Suppressor!
The women uttered desperate cries as their bodies turned into white skeletons one after another, which then gradually faded into the fog and disappeared completely.
Lines of notification appeared on the War God UI.
But Gu Qing Shan didn’t have the time to look at them.
He had fallen into a strange state of mind.
Various visions of the past appeared in front of his eyes.
…
“My father said as long as I get a good score in the university entrance exam, he’ll get me my own Mech as a reward!”
“Whoa, nice, my mom said that if I get into the general department, she’ll take me to the Fuxi Empire for a trip, where I can observe their Mech’s close combat techniques”
“Gu Qing Shan, your academic records are so good, your parents——-“
“Shhhh, stop talking, he’s the only person in his home…”
The voices slowly went away.
He looked down at his own personal Holo-brain.
[Your personal balance is: 17,981 Credits. 765 Credits from your tuition fees for the General University Mech Major. 1,815,631 Credits from purchasing a personal assault mech]
…
Another vision appeared.
“Qing Shan, I know that you were framed during the graduation ball, but there’s no other option. Both my family and a few other aristocrats wanted to get rid of you”
On the other side of the screen, a girl was crying.
“It was because I was too naïve that I hurt you like this”
“Qing Shan, go quickly! Remember, you can only survive in another country!”
…
Another vision.
“If you get your hands on some good liquor, come and find me, I’ll be at the 571th encampment”
The red-haired girl’s voice was transmitted from a Communication Talisman.
With a bit of boastfulness, she gently said: “I know a place with a really good view that I’ve never told anyone else. When you come here, I’ll show you”
The voice faded.
All of a sudden, an angry voice resounded: “Gu Qing Shan, that encampment is already lost to the enemy, you can’t go!”
Another commander grabbed his collar and shouted: “There is a Demon Lord there! You’ll just be throwing your life away if you go! Do you understand? Don’t you understand!!!?”
But in the end, he still came.
There was no view.
There was nothing.
The world was in ashes.
The vision became dim, then another flash.
…
By the banks of a great river, the westward wind sorrowfully blew.
“Strategist Gu, there are no other ways, only that technique…”
“No”
Gu Qing Shan heard his own voice.
“Using up my life and yours alone will not be enough for that sword technique to kill this Demon Lord”
Row after row of cultivators knelt down in front of him.
“Strategist Gu, I’m willing to ‘return’ with you”
“We shall ‘return’ with you!”
“That’s right, I as well, I am willing to ‘return’ with strategist Gu”
“Return!”
…
My heart, why does it hurt so much?
Vision after vision appeared in front of Gu Qing Shan’s eyes.
Gu Qing Shan gazed above as blood continued to drip from his forehead as he blankly stared forward.
The sea of skeletons had piled upon one another like a mountain, slowly manifesting as a fortress.
Below that fortress, the skeletons parted to reveal innumerable demons and demonic beasts of all shapes and sizes.
On top of the fortress, several commanding monsters were observing Gu Qing Shan.
Their gazes were either cold, cruel, emotionless, sarcastic, or they simply glanced at Gu Qing Shan before moving away.
They were looking at the vast expanse of ground behind Gu Qing Shan.
The human inner land is right behind this single cultivator.
——kill him!
A demonic beast raised its hand and gestured.
The army uttered a resounding roar and quickened their march.
They turned into an unstoppable iron tidal wave, crashing straight down on Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan looked at the demonic beasts in surprise.
He opened his mouth, apparently trying to say something, but the intense pain all over his body stopped him from uttering a single sound.
For a brief moment, another vision appeared.
…
“War God UI, can I use the three coins to return to this moment?” he asked.
[You cannot, this place does not allow redo…]
Shannu’s worried voice said: “Gongzi, they’re trying to surround and eliminate us”
Surround and eliminate.
“There’s not enough time! Either you stay here to face the Tribulation, or go save Laura and the rest!”
After that came the Earth sword’s sigh:
「 At noon… there’s definitely not enough time, you will have to choose between one or the other 」
…
One or the other.
To choose between one over the other.
Gu Qing Shan blankly stared at the approaching army of monsters, then heard his own bitter voice——-
…
“I’ve already understood a certain principle since a long time ago, but couldn’t predict that I’d still be bleeding all over because of it today”
…
That principle is too painful.
It is much more painful compared to the pain I’m currently suffering.
He held the Earth sword tightly, continuously coughing up a bloody mist.
“Power…”
A hoarse and dry voice resounded from his throat.
Lines of blood-red text were madly scrolling across the War God UI.
Gu Qing Shan paused for a brief moment, then wiped the blood that was obscuring his vision with his hand.
“POWER!”
He howled in his frenzy.
Boom!
The boundless blue and black aura overlapped, twisted around one another and spun around his own body.
The power of two dragons!
A mile-tall sword phantom manifested on top of his swords, pierced through the darkness and illuminated this entire world.
A sword phantom glowed like the blinding sun, as it crashed into the ground, it exploded into a resounding tidal wave.
Secret Art, [Torrent]
Combined with [Heaven’s Choice], 9 consecutive strikes.
Gu Qing Shan grasped the Heaven sword tightly.
“AAARRRRGGHH——”
As he uttered a furious roar, his sword swung down from above!
Secret Art, [Ocean Of Ten Swords]!
Innumerable sword phantoms howled like waves crashing at sea, quickly accumulating into a tsunami that crashed down upon the advancing army of demons and demonic beasts.
It was so easy.
All the demons and demonic beasts were swept away, their bodies either broke apart right away or slashed to dust by the wave of swords as they were sent flying.
The monster commander standing on top of the fortress drew its weapon and shouted: 「 Detestable, it seems we have to act ourselves! 」
It then noticed something amiss.
——no one responded to it.
The monster commander looked around, only to see the other commanders had been pierced through by a glowing red spear, pinned to the ground.
When it wanted to do something, its entire body suddenly became stiff.
A hand grabbed its neck and lifted it up.
「 You damned—– 」
The monster was about to curse but went stiff from the scene in front of its eyes.
Bloody mist drifted around the person’s body, while he appeared as if he had just been soaked in blood. Behind his back was a glow of both blue and black, which gradually manifested as two dragons that soared around him in the air.
“What exactly are you? Why are you trying to corrode the Divine Mountain?” the man asked.
The monster commander scoffed and said: 「 I will never—– 」
Pop!
Its head abruptly exploded; its body heavily collapsed with a ‘thud’ to the ground.
Gu Qing Shan pulled the headless body and pierced it with the glowing red spear as well.
“I’ve thought it through”
He watched these bodies and muttered.
“Actually…”
“Regardless of what you were, it doesn’t matter…”
The [True Crimson Demon Spear] vibrated.
All the corpses turned into dust, disappearing into the void of space.
More lines of warning blood-red text were flashing on the War God UI.
Gu Qing Shan didn’t bother to look.
He propped the glowing red spear on his shoulder and flew towards where the monsters came from.
