A figure moved along the ground like flowing water, swiftly manifesting as seven figures.
Shroud observed, then shouted: “Found you!”
He casually tossed a mass of frost forward.
As soon as the frost left his hand, it turned into a glittering icicle spike that whistled as it flew through the air towards one of the figures.
Bang!
All the other figures disappeared, leaving only one figure who stopped the icicle spike.
The 8-year-old Gu Qing Shan.
“Why did you know that I was here?” Gu Qing Shan asked in surprise.
——-this was a movement technique Secret Art of the Hitman Guild, [Flowing Shadow Steps], yet it was seen through by Shroud at a single glance.
Shroud laughed: “Both your feet were on this world, of course, I would be able to sense which one was the real you”
As he said so, he had already leapt forward, now wielding a flaming saber in his hand.
Gu Qing Shan wielded a standard long sword from the Valley and parried his attack, then instantly activated a Secret Art——-
[Raising Despair!]
Gu Qing Shan unleashed three consecutive attacks in a row, each one faster and more ferocious than the last, striking Shroud’s saber again and again.
The first strike forced him back.
The second strike sent him flying.
And the third strike was a violent downward swing from above!
Shroud landed on the ground and used his flaming saber to block Gu Qing Shan’s third strike with all his strength.
With a resounding ‘dong’, both of them were forced to take a step back.
Evenly matched!
This time, it was Gu Qing Shan’s turn to be completely surprised.
Shroud was able to stop my Secret Art.
Although I wasn’t fighting with my full power, Shroud is still only 8 years old!
“How interesting, your sword is able to exert three consecutive strikes with different levels of power, you must have spent a lot of effort on it” Shroud pondered deeply.
“But you still managed to block it” Gu Qing Shan replied.
Shroud laughed, then replied: “That’s because I borrowed the power of the world. When you attacked, I stopped you together with the world itself”
He raised his hand and pressed down from above.
An alarm immediately rang in Gu Qing Shan’s mind as he began to swing his sword into blurred images.
Clang clang clang clang clang clang!
Innumerable frost converged to form blades of ice that unleashed a flashy rain of attacks thanks to the power of the wind.
After one whole breath’s worth of time, Gu Qing Shan swung a total of 700 times to completely defend against the attacks.
Shroud explained: “This is the power of Water and Wind, I am merely guiding them, but the power of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind in this entire world is gathered inside my body—— you were fighting against an entire world”
Gu Qing Shan shook his head: “Magic can’t be this powerful, what kind of technique are you using?”
“A World Technique” Shroud smiled and replied.
Gu Qing Shan was surprised.
Shroud told him seriously: “Rhode, you should listen a bit more carefully during the Elder’s lectures, if you are able to grasp the foundation of World Techniques, you’d be able to leave the Valley more easily”
“Hm, I understand” Gu Qing Shan replied.
——they teach World Techniques here?
World Techniques are abilities of unimaginable power.
Boss said that he brought me to this era because there was another path to reach the Sealing Tokens.
But now, it seems like I’ll be able to learn quite a few new things from this era…
A figure walked in from outside the sparring ring.
Reneedol.
“It’s time for class” she looked at the two of them, finally stopping her gaze at Shroud.
“Let’s go” Shroud patted Gu Qing Shan’s shoulder.
…
Just like that, the lesson was over.
Everyone went out towards the practice field and attempted to test what they had comprehended from class.
Gu Qing Shan tried a few times, but still couldn’t quite grasp the feeling.
“It’s ok, continue experimenting”
The Elder stroked Gu Qing Shan’s head and consoled him.
Gu Qing Shan looked towards the center of the practice field and saw Shroud with his eyes closed silently hovering in mid-air.
Four kinds of light were continuously circling around him almost like they were alive, pulsating and expanding.
“Shroud’s talent is truly terrific” Gu Qing Shan exclaimed emotionally.
“That’s right, he’s a member of the Realm race, capable of communicating with the world at birth; most likely, he will go on to become the strongest among you all—— that’s a good thing as well since that means the young girl that he saved would also become stronger with him” the Elder said.
Gu Qing Shan’s gaze flickered a bit.
He saw Reneedol standing just a bit away from Shroud with a book in her hand. As she chanted the incantations, she was easily able to unleash the power of various spells.
“This is the feeling of holding power in my own hands…” Reneedol muttered.
Gu Qing Shan stopped watching.
“Elder, is it really hard for normal people like us to communicate with the world?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“This would depend on how deep your understanding of the world is. If you are able to understand the world, it would naturally embrace you in return, but Shroud’s talent is one-in-a-million, his ability to communicate with the world has far surpassed anyone I’ve ever seen” the Elder replied.
Gu Qing Shan nodded.
Boss was naturally the strongest, otherwise, he wouldn’t have become the ‘Lord of Infinite Origins’ later on.
“He’s truly very strong” Gu Qing Shan commented.
The Elder smiled: “Indeed, he would eventually see through even more secrets behind the Laws, surpassing this old man”
The Elder patted Gu Qing Shan’s shoulder and turned to leave.
Gu Qing Shan fell into thought.
Let’s ignore Boss for now, I need to seriously study the knowledge of the World Valley.
—–I’ve already managed to create my own World Technique, and the Elder has already explained the corresponding knowledge earlier, so I should take this chance to carefully think about this.
With that in mind, he walked to a secluded corner of the practice field, sat cross-legged, then began thinking.
The Elder said that the essence of a so-called World Technique was to utilize the four Origin powers of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind to invite the descension of a thread of the world spirit, then use this thread to resonate with the world and unleash powerful techniques.
Before…
When I first created a World Technique, I had to specifically venture out to find a fragment of a world destroyed by [Chaos] and collect the remnant of the world spirit from it in order to complete that technique.
Which means the crucial point of this process is to communicate with the world spirit.
What methods do I have to communicate with the world spirit?
After a moment of silence, Gu Qing Shan reached his hand out and clenched tightly.
Invisible fluctuations began to radiate from his body.
—-[Blessings of the Past Worlds]!
From the deep unknown, Gu Qing Shan suddenly felt a suffocating sensation.
While sitting down, he had lost the ability to breathe.
The thing in front of him was the practice field, but Gu Qing Shan was able to see through that and witness the truth of the world underneath.
——-an immensely grand and unparalleled entity was moving through the void of space.
Its single thought, its mere act of flying could easily destroy the entire World Valley, but it had easily restrained this power, only exuding the tiniest bit of it to stimulate the growth of all things and all living beings.
“A Law Behemoth…”
Gu Qing Shan muttered.
Law Behemoths were life forms manifested from the Laws of Reality, branches of the world spirit.
The Elder had also mentioned that they were currently so young that it would already be impressive if they could establish contact with a branch of the world spirit.
Instantly.
The scene disappeared.
Gu Qing Shan began breathing heavily, his head soaked in sweat while exhaustedly trying to inhale air.
“Rhode!” Shroud called out to him from afar.
He flew in front of Gu Qing Shan and excitedly said: “In the world of Laws and Origin power earlier, I saw you—- you’ve finally succeeded!”
“Thank you” Gu Qing Shan slowly backed off to lean on the wall and slowly breathed heavily.
Seeing him like this, Shroud smiled: “It’s always like this the very first time, once you manage to control the degree at which you release your mental power, you’ll end up much better”
“Got it”
Gu Qing Shan was also feeling a bit ecstatic.
He had never imagined that he would be able to observe another face of the world.
That was the essence and truth of the world itself.
For people from Shroud’s era, this might only be a foundation of growth, but this was the first time Gu Qing Shan had even come into contact with it.
He benefited a lot from that.
Shroud suddenly lowered his voice and whispered: “Rhode, when you entered the world of Law just now, did you hear some sort of voice?”
“Voice?” Gu Qing Shan asked doubtfully.
“Yeah, did you hear someone talking to you?” Shroud appeared nervous.
“The Elder said that we wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation with the branches of the world spirit until we’re older, isn’t it still too early for that?” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Not the world spirit, I’m talking about another voice” Shroud said.
Another voice?
Gu Qing Shan pondered a bit, then shook his head.
Shroud instantly appeared disappointed, but then quickly regained his calm and said: “It’s ok, you’ve only just managed to succeed for the very first time, maybe you’ll hear them in the future”
“What kind of voice did you hear?” Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask.
Shroud hesitated, then looked up to observe their surroundings.
At this point, the Elder had already left, most of the children had also dismissed themselves from the practice field with only a few people left.
Shroud whispered: “I heard many desperate screams and cries for help, these voices sounded like they were full of despair, but they were too distant from us that I was only able to faintly hear them”
Gu Qing Shan frowned and appeared completely serious.
He asked in a soft voice: “Shroud, try thinking a bit more clearly, what were those voices saying?”
Shroud appeared confused and replied: “I couldn’t understand those languages, but the emotions mixed within those voices were the same, so I had summarized them all into a word that we rarely ever use”
“What word is that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Shroud pursed his lips a bit, then uttered a single word: “Apocalypse”
