Black flames drifted endlessly around Gu Qing Shan’s body.
Standing in the circle of flames, he was looking towards the empty wilderness as if he was staring closely at something.
He seemed to be quite confused.
“What’s the matter?” Shroud asked.
Gu Qing Shan’s lips twitched a bit, then answered: “What do Law Behemoths usually look like?”
Shroud replied: “They have many forms. Humanoid, beast-like, grass and flowers, stars, elemental lifeforms, etc. However, the supernatural phenomena around you are black flames, which usually represent one of three Laws”
“Which three?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Shroud answered a bit excitedly: “Darkness, Destruction, and Death——– I’m currently heavily injured, so I am unable to enter the World of Laws to help you see which of them is descending, but you need to keep something close in mind. When the other party arrives, you have to refer to them as an Overlord—– after all, these Behemoths are sentient manifestations of the Laws of the world”
Gu Qing Shan closed his eyes, then said: “Overlord? I understand”
Shroud continued: “I’ve seen two out of these three Overlords—— the Overlord of Darkness appears as a man who could turn into a lion; the Overlord of Destruction appears as an elemental lifeform; when you enter the World of Laws, if you see a burning mountain of black flames, that would be it”
Gu Qing Shan then asked: “What about the Law of Death?”
Shroud paused for a bit, then replied: “Living beings cannot look straight at death. Unless the Overlord of Death shows itself on its own accord, you cannot search for it——- this is the common rule for all living beings”
“However, I have heard from the other Law Behemoths that the Law of Death manifests as a cloaked humanoid lifeform”
Gu Qing Shan paused briefly, before saying: “Then I’ll be going”
He abruptly vanished in front of everyone.
The young man commented with admiration: “Hah, I wonder when I’ll be able to head into the World of Laws and form a covenant with an Overlord”
Shroud smiled, then said: “Atley, the Laws have already recovered, why don’t you train your ability to communicate with the Laws of the World right away?”
Atley nodded: “You’re right, I need to seize my time and quickly grow stronger. When Reneedol heads out to face the enemy next time, I will definitely not stay behind”
Shroud was startled then asked: “What did you say about Reneedol?”
Atley replied: “When you fell unconscious, someone came to attack us, Reneedol volunteered to lead them away”
“WHAT!?” Shroud exclaimed in shock.
Suddenly, the other girl spoke up: “I’ve noticed this for a while now, but our current location is being protected by some sort of power that perfectly conceals it”
“When Reneedol returns, it would be very hard for her to find us” the girl who was healing Shroud added.
The young man named Atley said: “Now that we’ve regained our powers, how about we destroy this layer of protection to allow Reneedol to find us”
“Let’s hurry and destroy it!” Shroud struggled but still insisted.
The concealment formation array that Gu Qing Shan had set up was only meant to temporarily conceal them, so it was very easy to destroy the formation from the inside. As the three young people attacked it at the same time, they quickly managed to cause it to turn into a mass of light and shatter.
…
Right at that moment.
A few dozen miles away in the wilderness.
Reneedol abruptly turned around.
“Found you…”
She activated [Ground Shrink] and instantly vanished.
…
The World of Laws.
This was the manifestation of the source of all the forces in this world, it may appear as nothingness, but it was actually filled with innumerable kinds of Origin powers.
These Origin powers were silently and consistently operating in the background of the world in accordance with their respective rules and attributes, maintaining the world’s existence.
Gu Qing Shan didn’t have to stand waiting in the void of space for a long time before a dark humanoid figure clad in a battle cloak silently manifested.
Gu Qing Shan swiftly understood and bowed: “Venerable Overlord of Death, I have come here to seek a covenant with you”
The humanoid figure stood there without saying a word and only raised his hand to lightly touch the void of space.
Burning flames manifested in mid-air to form a series of text:
[Death cannot open its mouth, otherwise, all things shall wilt]
Gu Qing Shan nodded to signal his understanding.
The text turned back into flames, then manifested as different text:
[Rhode, countless living beings have died at your hands, you are the individual with the highest level of suitability to Death]
[Now, are you willing to form a covenant with me?]
Gu Qing Shan asked: “What is the content of the covenant?”
Another line of text appeared:
[You shall provide me sustenance; I shall grant you the power of death]
—–what a straightforward covenant.
After being granted the Law of Radiance’s favor, Shroud was able to fight me to a draw.
If I can obtain the Law of Death’s favor, my strength should also increase accordingly.
Gu Qing Shan silently pondered before asking a question: “Venerable Overlord of Death, may I ask how I would be able to provide you with sustenance?”
The burning flames manifested into another line of text:
[The deaths you bring shall become my sustenance]
Gu Qing Shan hesitated: “I usually don’t kill people”
The cloaked humanoid figure silently stared at him.
The text changed to form three words:
[Are you serious?]
Gu Qing Shan paused and couldn’t’ help himself recalling his past battles.
Sometimes…
Life doesn’t let you do what you want.
Gu Qing Shan explained: “I am more than happy to form a covenant with you, but I’m truly not a murderous person, I hope that you can understand this.
The Overlord of Death didn’t reply.
A cluster of black flames slowly drifted in front of Gu Qing Shan.
The flames unfolded to form a simple covenant with only two lines:
[You shall provide me sustenance; I shall grant you power]
[——Overlord of Death]
This was the simplest covenant that Gu Qing Shan had ever seen.
However, since the one he’s signing a covenant with was the manifestation of the Law of Death, no one would try to violate it.
Unless they want to die.
Gu Qing Shan praised: “A truly loose covenant, I will sign it”
He placed his hand on the covenant of black flames.
Hoh——
The covenant turned into a cluster of flames that entered Gu Qing Shan’s body.
Everything around him disappeared.
Gu Qing Shan suddenly felt his feet once again standing on the ground.
He had returned.
A surprised voice asked:
“Rhode, did you really form a covenant with an Overlord of Law?”
Gu Qing Shan’s heart felt heavy, but his expression was unchanged as he looked over.
Only to see Reneedol crouched next to Shroud while evaluating him with her eyes.
Gu Qing Shan rubbed his chin: “That’s right, I did. What happened after you led those people away?”
Reneedol raised her hand to show that it was bleeding, the healer girl was currently giving her first aid.
Reneedol explained: “Those people were acting on the orders of a swordsman called ‘Red Wraith’ who wanted to kill everyone who belonged to World Valley”
“Red Wraith? Why did he want to kill us all?” Gu Qing Shan appeared confused.
“Because he was wary of the World Valley’s power. He wanted to take advantage of his calamity of Law and completely eliminate all of us” Reneedol explained.
“Then you—–”
“I was no match for him and only barely managed to flee with my life. This place is most likely not safe either, we need to hurry up and flee” Reneedol’s voice contained a hint of fear.
“Hmph, we’ve already regained our powers, if that Red Wraith dare comes to us, we’ll kill him!” Atley angrily said.
Shroud still appeared calm: “Reneedol told me earlier that Red Wraith claimed to be the 7th strongest swordsman in the world, the few of us would most likely be no match for an expert of that level—— especially while my injuries have yet to fully heal. I’ll only become your burden”
Reneedol’s eyes were moist with tears as she lowered her head: “Shroud, don’t you worry. We’re going to flee this place with you right here and right now. The inheritance of the World Valley will not cease because of that swordsman”
“I, Reneedol, swear to ensure your survival!”
Shroud looked at her in surprise, then subconsciously took her other hand and held it tightly.
“Be at ease, Reneedol. I’m definitely going to remember this so-called ‘Red Wraith’ swordsman. When I recover, we’re definitely going to find him and take our revenge!” Shroud declared.
Reneedol wiped her tear and forced out a smile: “He’s too strong, we are no match for him”
“Reneedol, don’t you worry, there will eventually be a day where I will make him pay for what he has done” Shroud resolutely declared.
“Hm, I believe you” Reneedol softly embraced Shroud, resting her chin over his shoulder: “None of us can die, because we are already the last people of the World Valley”
“Let’s go!”
Her words were filled with helplessness and sorrow.
Even the three others appeared sorrowful and sympathetic.
Gu Qing Shan looked at everyone, then at Reneedol.
Suddenly from inside his Thought Sea, Shannu commented with a strange tone: “What this girl said just now, I feel…”
Luo Bing Li muttered in thought: “That girl’s expressions earlier… gave me a very familiar feeling”
The Earth sword’s heavy mountainous voice resounded: 「 Oh no, this girl just grasped Gu Qing Shan’s acting skills 」
“Ah——” the two girls exclaimed in sudden realization.
The Chao Yin sword uttered a curt ‘oong’, expressing that this one is going to be hard to resolve.
Hearing the sword spirits’ conversations, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but rub his temples while feeling exhausted for some reason.
A while later.
Reneedol carried Shroud on her back as they crossed the wilderness, heading North.
The others followed behind her.
The North…
Gu Qing Shan was silently speechless.
——-the North was a barren and desolate place without people, rumored to be where the ‘strongest swordsman in the world’ Mara Heavenly King was residing.
This was my lie to Reneedol.
Reneedol believed it.
She didn’t give up on Shroud but also didn’t give up on heading North in search of the truth.
—–and now, she has learnt how to kill two birds with one stone.
Once she learns how to scam—–
No, that’s not it.
Once she learns the art of strategically utilizing speech and language, wouldn’t she become even harder to deal with?
Could this terrifying woman have turned out to be as scary as she was through learning my skills during the Age of Immemorial?
Silently thinking this, Gu Qing Shan felt nothing but a huge headache.
No, I need to resolve this issue as soon as possible…
While he was following behind the group, Gu Qing Shan silently contemplated a solution.
Behind him, a cluster of flames was flickering in and out of existence.
