Chapter 1740 Found!
(How are we doing this?] the frost giant whispered to ask.
Gu Qing Shan pointed in a certain direction and said: “See those guys over there?”
The frost giant asked: (The ones chanting their spell?]
“Yeah” Gu Qing Shan confirmed.
——in the direction he was pointing in, there were four heavenly beings each standing facing a cardinal direction with their hands clasped together to make a seal while mumbling an incantation.
In between them, a large illusory barrier was silently manifesting.
Through the barrier, one could faintly see beautiful towering buildings, tall pillars engraved with murals, and overall heavenly scenery.
The frost giant observed for a while and chuckled: (So it was a barrier-type passageway—— only these four have a barrier-type Divine Skill]
“The others don’t?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The frost giant swiftly scanned through all the heavenly beings with his gaze before confirming: (They don’t)
Shroud had lived through numerous eras, as well as faced numerous treasures, techniques, and secrets, so his discerning eyes were among the best within the Boundless Void.
He himself was also a cautious person, so he wouldn’t say anything without being sure of
it.
——which means his judgement was highly reliable.
[So you want to kill these four first to close the passageway, then eliminate all the heavenly beings here?) the frost giant asked.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head: “It’s unrealistic to try and kill them by cutting off their path of retreat. There’s a type of insect among them called the Heavenly Devouring Gu Insect, which has the capability to directly bypass the barrier between realms to travel here”
The frost giant was a bit uncertain: (Then how are we going to deal with them?]
“We’re heading through that barrier” Gu Qing Shan stared straight at the barrier, “Our goal is to go all the way through and destroy the entire Heavenly Palace on that side”
The frost giant’s eyes lit up.
(That’s a great idea… but I need to remind you that it’s their turf on the other side. It’ll be very dangerous if you try to go over there, what if I go by myself and kill them all?] he suggested.
Gu Qing Shan refuted: “The Heavenly Emperor isn’t someone we can underestimate, so I feel uneasy with letting you go alone. It’s best that we go together—— I’ve already used the Earth God’s power” [—– True Luck, was it?] the frost giant asked.
“That’s right” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The frost giant praised: (Then you definitely must come—– after all, the Four Saint Pillars only exist within our Boundless Void, and their powers are unimaginable. Even the Heavenly Emperor of the Samsara wouldn’t be able to come up with a way to deal with this kind of void power]
Gu Qing Shan nodded, feeling a bit surer of himself.
—–everything he had gone through up to this point had already proven Shroud’s words to be correct.
“Shroud, do you have a way to silently sneak through without alerting any of these people?” he asked.
(I have five methods] the frost giant answered right away.
“Then what are we waiting for, let’s go!” Gu Qing Shan said.
The frost giant seemed to have just recalled something and turned around, pointing his hand at the amalgamation monster.
(Be a good boy and stay]
After saying that, he tapped his finger towards the monster.
Layers of ice began to grow out of nowhere, crystalizing themselves around the monster’s body.
The monster was originally pinned to the wall by a large icicle spear, and now that it had been further encased within ice, it could no longer make a single move or sound.
The frost giant then began mumbling something under his breath.
He suddenly transformed into a cold misty fog that surrounded Gu Qing Shan and began flying towards the barrier.
The misty fog drifted slowly through the darkness.
In front of the Wraith realm’s shelter, a legion of heavenly beings had gathered, ready to face any enemy—- but none of them noticed this misty fog.
The misty fog simply flew past them and slowly approached the barrier.
It circled around the barrier several times, seemingly unable to find an appropriate method of entry, but still wasn’t willing to give up.
“Didn’t you say you had five methods?” Gu Qing Shan asked in a whisper.
(They all seem to be useless. This barrier of theirs is apparently one-sided, if we want to enter it, we need to use a different unique entryway] Shroud explained.
“Are there no other solutions?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
[Unless… if someone just happens to arrive from the other side, I would be able to take advantage of that moment to erode the barrier through Apocalyptic means and sneak through] Shroud replied. He sighed exhaustedly: [But they all seemed to have arrived already, I don’t think anyone else will be coming here in the foreseeable future]
As soon as he said that, the barrier started to fluctuate as some figures appeared on the other side.
“Someone is coming right now!” Gu Qing Shan immediately reminded him.
[…What a coincidence] Shroud muttered.
The four heavenly beings who were maintaining the barrier also noticed the approaching figures and spoke in unison: “We solemnly greet the Heavenly King[1]!”
The other heavenly beings also spoke in unison: “Solemnly greet the Heavenly King!”
The barrier then opened.
In that instant, a misty fog silently entered the passageway. Immediately following that, several figures emerged from inside the passageway. The man leading the group had his hands clasped behind his back as he asked: How are your preparations?]
“Heavenly King sir, all preparations are in place, all we need to do is wait for the Wraith realm’s successor to appear”
Hm, this Heavenly King had personally descended with my men to support you from the sideline, we will surely capture that person to soothe his majesty the Emperor’s worries] “Wise is the Heavenly King![2]”
As the misty fog went through the passageway, it directly appeared in front of a luxurious palace structure.
This place was relatively devoid of people, with only a few heavenly beings there to stand guard.
“Strange, how come they left so few people to guard their home?”
Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but wonder.
Shroud suddenly said: (Gu Qing Shan, this place isn’t the Heavenly Palace]
“Huh? How do you know that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Shroud replied: (Because I can sense that this isn’t a complete world. It’s most likely a sub-world created by some sort of great treasure, as I can tell at a single glance that there is a foundational lack of Laws that make up this place]
Gu Qing Shan fell into thought.
——in that case, it makes perfect sense.
From the information I collected so far, the Human realm has yet to be established, so the Beast King realm and Huang Quan realm are yet to be accessible, they can only temporarily manifest in the form of Phase Realms, not as complete worlds.
Furthermore, the Samsara had taken away the Divine Artifacts of all Chosen Saints, leading to everyone no longer having a Deific position.
Everyone should now be in the Human realm to stabilize the Five Elements, accumulate Merit, and train their Divine Skills.
Those who are exceptional should be in the Elements War Zone.
—–so the solution that the heavenly beings have come up with was to create a sub-world of their own!
They aren’t actually in the real Heavenly Palace at all!
Realizing this, Gu Qing Shan felt great.
“What… clearly everyone is on the same starting line, and you guys are all acting as if you’re some sort of heavenly troupe from above…” he muttered under his breath.
(What did you say? Should we completely destroy this place now?] Shroud asked with an excited tone.
“If we destroy this place, those heavenly beings would have no choice but to stay in the Human realm, right?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
[Should be, after all, it isn’t easy to create another sub-world outside of the Samsara like this] Shroud replied.
Gu Qing Shan looked around.
There really is no one else but a few heavenly beings here.
Then the results are already obvious.
He thought briefly and said: “Let’s not alert anyone else for now, let’s go find the Heavenly Emperor first”
[Are you saying——] “We’re going to try and see if we can directly eliminate him through an ambush”
[Let’s go!)
The misty fog swirled briefly before scattering into a faint cluster of smoke that drifted toward the luxurious palace up ahead.
The cluster of smoke quickly drifted around the entire sub-world once before stopping in front of a high tower.
(I can sense that this place is different from the other places] Shroud commented.
“Oh? What do you mean?” Gu Qing Shan asked with interest.
Shroud’s expression became a bit more solemn as he explained: (This place seems to be an exceptionally potent sealing ground, the seal here… feels familiar, almost like facing the monster at the bottom of the Eternal Abyss all those years ago) At the bottom of the Eternal Abyss was the Samsara Heavenly Emperor.
——did the Samsara Heavenly Emperor turn his power into a seal and use it on this tower?
Gu Qing Shan pondered: “What do you think is inside?”
[I’m not sure, from what I can see from the runes used on this tower, all of them are meant to contain and convert power——- most likely, right as the Samsara reset itself, the Heavenly Emperor had poured all the power remaining within his body into this tower]
The two of them fell into silence.
Something that the Samsara Heavenly Emperor had used all of his power to seal… what could it be?
Gu Qing Shan pondered this question for a short while before suddenly asking: “Shroud, can you destroy it?”
(Destruction is always easier compared to creation—— if I use the full power of the Apocalypse, I can do it]
As he answered that, Shroud’s voice contained a bit of hesitation.
“What’s the matter?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
(This seal is exceptionally strong, most likely something that the Heavenly Emperor had used everything he had in order to create—— even as I currently am, I would have to expend all of my power in order to destroy it] Shroud explained.
Gu Qing Shan immediately said: “Then we definitely have to destroy it”
Whatever it was that the Heavenly Emperor wanted to seal away, Gu Qing Shan wanted it to be uncovered!
It took so much effort to arrive here in this secret world of heavenly beings, I need to know everything I can find out about this place!
Shroud paused briefly and explained: (You have to understand, once I destroy the seal, I would be temporarily powerless——- aren’t you worried that there might be something ferocious or malicious hidden inside?]
Gu Qing Shan replied: “I’m currently using the power of the Earth God”
Shroud understood right away.
—–luck.
True Luck, the power of the Earth God among the Four Saint Pillars, the only one of its kind within billions of voids.
This power would lead everything we attempt to always end up with the best possible result.
Shroud sighed and complained: (The Samsara Heavenly Emperor had clearly arranged an airtight deathtrap, but ended up with you arriving in this world and discovering this tower—— you Four Saint Pillars bunch are always so unreasonable…]
“Alright, let’s pop this tower open and let us see what’s inside” Gu Qing Shan urged.
[Alright] Shroud replied.
The smoke descended from above and landed on the empty field right in front of the tower.
A giant finger covered in frost manifested from inside the smoke and lightly pressed against the ground.
Shroud whispered a chant:
(This is the blessing of frost, yet also the cessation of living beings]
(All shall return to silences]
Immense white frost and cold air erupted and started spreading in every direction.
In a short breath’s worth of time, the entire sub-world was transformed into an icy white realm.
All the palaces, towers, and heavenly beings were frozen solid.
The entire world has lost its vitality and returned to silence.
Deathly silence.
The frost giant silently manifested in full. He carefully placed Gu Qing Shan on the ground as he quickly approached the tower, then took a deep breath and shouted:
(Open—- up!)
He pressed both hands against the tower and began to radiate endless frost from his body, directing all of it towards the tower.
The tower then suddenly erupted with a colorful glow that shot all the way towards the sky.
(Don’t think about informing anyone about this!)
Shroud loudly declared and looked up into the sky, shooting white rays of light from his eyes.
Kri kri crick—-
The void of space itself was being frozen. Together with the colorful glow of the tower
in it.
(Aaaa—–hhhhh!]
Shroud uttered a resounding cry as mysterious chilling runes manifested all over his body.
(I am the Apocalypse that brings the end to all things and all living beings, and your power is——– dead——–]
He then headbutted the tower.
A resounding sound of impact reverberated in every direction.
Layers upon layers of light erupted from the tower, but as the frost giant continued to strike it, the light gradually started to turn dim.
Until eventually all the light was completely gone.
Boom——-
The tower had been completely destroyed.
The frozen walls of the tower had all been torn down by the frost giant, laying as ruins on the ground.
Gu Qing Shan stepped forward and looked at the inside of the tower.
There was a single individual standing in the center of the tower.
It was a woman.
Her body was restrained by numerous layers of chains, both her arms and legs were shackled by heavy sets of manacles, her eyes were tightly closed.
Even though she was in such a horrible state, simply by standing there, she had already surpassed all that was mortal.
Even if the Tianma were to stand in front of her, they would still pale in comparison.
“Shroud, undo her shackles!”
Gu Qing Shan’s heart started beating faster and loudly urged him.
The frost giant stepped forward and lightly tapped the chains with two fingers.
All the chains restraining the woman were instantly undone.
She slowly opened her eyes and silently observed Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan couldn’t contain the joy in his expression and stepped forward: “Shifu——“
The woman indifferently looked at him and frowned: “Shifu? I don’t remember ever taking a disciple, who are you?”
Gu Qing Shan was stunned.
At the same time.
The Human realm.
Within the wilderness.
“Stop!” A young girl’s voice resounded.
Two women stopped at her order.
“Shifu, what’s the matter?” one of the women asked.
“…We need to change directions, let’s go, we’re going to head towards the East!” the young girl said.
“What exactly happened? The clues we obtained just now clearly pointed us to the South” the other woman asked in confusion.
“The Heavenly Emperor is clearly not dead… but someone has already undone the seal and released my mising soul fragment” the young girl answered with a heavy tone.
“WHAT!?”” both of the women exclaimed.
[1] heavenly king as in ‘the four heavenly kings’, not an actual king
[2] This is difficult to translate properly, it’s basically what a person will say to someone in a higher position to praise their wits and ability while also expressing their willingness to follow their orders, it literally translates to ‘sir heavenly king is wise and considerate’
