《Apocalypse Online For All Worlds》 Chapter 1 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio It had rained for an entire day and night. A hand stuck out from the mass grave outside the barracks. The night patrol soldier was so frightened that he threw his lantern aside and scrambled back to the barracks to report this to the Squad Leader. The Squad Leader walked out with the soldier to check out the situation with his saber and a lantern in hand. Both of them looked over and saw a figure sitting quietly in the pile of dead bodies through the heavy, sloshing rain. The Squad Leader used the lantern to illuminate the figure. It was a soldier wearing leather armor and leaning against a pile of skulls with his back facing the light. The Squad Leader gripped his saber tightly and asked in a low voice, ¡°Who are you?¡± The reply was a little muffled through the rain. ¡°I¡¯m a soldier from the Vanguard Battalion. I¡¯m severely injured and I can¡¯t move anymore.¡± He couldn¡¯t move anymore? The Squad Leader¡¯s expression relaxed. He carried his saber and went to the front as he said, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re one of our brothers from the Vanguard Battalion. Come, let me help you up.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Go to hell.¡± The saber cut through the rain and gave off a cold flash of light as it swung toward that soldier¡¯s neck. The Squad Leader swung his blade with no mercy, and he had timed it accurately. The soldier¡¯s head was lopped off with one swing and rolled further into the grave. One swing settled this matter! The Squad Leader smiled maliciously as he pulled his arm back. Then, his expression suddenly changed. ¡°What the¡­¡± A figure suddenly jumped up from beneath that decapitated soldier¡¯s corpse, and the cold glint in his hands passed through the Squad Leader¡¯s arm. The arm, along with the saber it was holding, was cut off and sent flying. Blood instantly sprayed from the wound and disappeared with the raging wind and rain. The terrible pain hit him, and there was a look of disbelief on the Squad Leader¡¯s face as he saw a figure leap up high. A short knife was right in front of his eyes. Then, the short knife was stabbed into his eyes. The tremendous pain only lasted for a moment before everything went dark. After a few moments¡­ The young man pulled the short knife out from the Squad Leader¡¯s eyes. The Squad Leader¡¯s dead body fell backward into the mud. The young man held onto the short knife and quietly stood where he was. The night rain continued to beat down, and it washed off the mud on the young man¡¯s face to reveal a pair of bright eyes. Suddenly, the young man¡¯s eyes became sharp. The stomach of the Squad Leader¡¯s body at his feet swelled up violently, and there was an eerie rumbling sound coming from inside it. The young man took a deep breath, held his knife with both hands, and used all his strength to stab it into the Squad Leader¡¯s stomach. An inhuman shriek could be heard as the Squad Leader¡¯s stomach released a black mist. The skin on the stomach kept heaving up and down unsteadily as if something was struggling inside with all its might. With a ripping sound, the Squad Leader¡¯s stomach burst open, and a blackened, dry, and skinny claw came out. Before this terrifying claw could do anything, the young man held the handle of his knife with both hands and used all his strength to twist it. ¡°Die!¡± The young man spat out this one word. The corpse that had been wriggling wildly suddenly froze. The demonic-looking claw also slowly fell and no longer moved. Everything fell silent once more. The stench of black blood slowly started seeping out from beneath the Squad Leader¡¯s corpse. The young man finally breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw the black blood and took some effort to pull his short knife out. He looked down at the creepy looking corpse on the ground and started murmuring to himself. ¡°This is such a strange scene. I wonder what the mission reward will be.¡± The young man looked forward to this and called out, ¡°System!¡± One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths. Time slowly passed, but nothing happened. In the dark night, he heard nothing else but the sound of the wind blowing and the rain falling. The young man tilted his head in surprise and looked at what was around him. Behind him was the mass grave, beneath his feet was that demon corpse, and not far ahead of him was a soldier who had collapsed to the ground in fright, and even his lips were trembling. ¡°That¡¯s strange.¡± The young man was puzzled. ¡°Could it be that I haven¡¯t completed the mission?¡± The system remained silent, which normally meant that the mission wasn¡¯t completed. The young man looked at the frightened soldier in front of him and suddenly felt that he had missed something. After thinking about it for a while, he tried hard to take a step forward but nearly ended up falling into the mud instead. Earlier, he had focused all his energy into killing that demon off and didn¡¯t feel too much. But now that he had calmed down, he realized that there was pain all over his body, and the pain was killing him. His legs felt like they were carrying lead weights. Every step he took required all the strength in his body. There was something very wrong. When the apocalypse had been about to fall on them, he had used all his strength to kill the Ultimate Demon Lord. But instead of getting out of the game, he sustained all his injuries and came to this strange place. What place was this? The young man frowned and slowly staggered his way to the frightened soldier and saluted him. ¡°Gu Qingshan, reporting from the Valiant Cavalry Battalion.¡± ¡°You¡­ you¡­ you killed the senior officer!¡± stammered the soldier. ¡°He wasn¡¯t human,¡± replied Gu Qingshan as he looked the soldier up and down. This soldier was wearing an ancient sort of leather armor, and this sort of armor didn¡¯t even have any Spirit-Powered Devices. Even the least-respected troop in the army wouldn¡¯t wear such an outdated thing. Gu Qingshan looked back at himself to find that he was wearing the same type of outdated armor as well. All those devices and weapons he used to have had all vanished into thin air. This was really strange¡­ The soldier took a quick glance at the mass grave. The Squad Leader¡¯s strange corpse was still lying in the mud without moving at all. The soldier asked a little suspiciously, ¡°But¡­ but when you killed him. How did you know he wasn¡¯t human?¡± Gu Qingshan shrugged and said, ¡°I was just being cautious, but he made the first move.¡± Gu Qingshan walked back and pulled the Squad Leader¡¯s body back to where the soldier was so that he could have a good look. ¡°See, this is a Skinning Blood Demon.¡± Gu Qingshan used the short knife to open up the Squad Leader¡¯s stomach to reveal a completely blackened creature with vertical eyes and a vicious looking face. When he saw this strange corpse for himself, the soldier was in greater shock. When he thought about how his fellow soldiers had mysteriously died for no reason over the past few days, he felt a chill in his heart, but he also finally started feeling grateful toward the young man. The soldier calmed his heart down and asked, ¡°Your name is Gu Qingshan?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°From the Valiant Cavalry Battalion?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your waist tag?¡± Gu Qingshan pulled out his waist tag and took a look at it himself before throwing it to the soldier for inspection. This waist tag was heavier than he¡¯d imagined it to be. Current forging technology could make identity waist tags as light as a piece of paper, but for some reason, the waist tag he¡¯d just taken out was as heavy as a steel weight. The questions in the young man¡¯s heart continued to pile up. The soldier caught the waist tag and looked at it carefully. It did have the five words ¡°Gu Qingshan, Valiant Cavalry Battalion¡± on it, and the surface of the waist tag was surrounded by a glow that seemed alive. This waist tag was a genuine one. The soldier exhaled deeply. The tension on his face faded and was replaced with fatigue. ¡°Finally, a human who¡¯s still alive. Hurry inside. It¡¯s no good to stay outside for too long. Come with me to the barracks.¡± This was the correct reaction. Gu Qingshan nodded slightly and replied, ¡°Okay.¡± The soldier threw the waist tag back to Gu Qingshan and turned to walk toward the barracks. Gu Qingshan caught the waist tag and looked at it carefully again. This waist tag wasn¡¯t just heavy. The entire thing was actually made from bronze, and the few words on it had been carved rather crudely. It was ugly and clumsy, and the style was so outdated. The style was so outdated¡­ Gu Qingshan felt a light flash through his heart, and there was an indescribable fear that filled it. He suddenly lifted his head and fixed his gaze on the soldier in front of him. Ancient leather armor. The answer was so incredulous that Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t help but yell out, ¡°Bro, what year is it?¡± The soldier turned and looked at him strangely. ¡°It¡¯s Cheng Ping 681 now.¡± Gu Qingshan was completely stunned. Suddenly, a rush of data poured down in a mass of blue light like a huge wave, flashing across Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes. HHOOONNGG¡­ An icy, robotic voice suddenly rang out. ¡°The year is confirmed to be the last year of Cheng Ping.¡± ¡°Time Stream is stable. Confirmed to have left Space-time Turbulence.¡± ¡°Analysis: Successfully escaped apocalypse.¡± ¡°Identity reset successful. Current identity: Soldier from Valiant Cavalry Battalion, Human Army Vanguard.¡± The system was finally activated, but there was no joy in Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart. He only felt that everything he was seeing was difficult to believe. How could it be the last year of Cheng Ping? The game hadn¡¯t even started yet! This was a time that was just part of the game¡¯s background and history, and the humans of the real world hadn¡¯t officially entered this horrific game realm yet. Players would only enter the game one year later. Had he returned to a time before the game started? What about the real world? Had he also gone back in time there? Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart tightened, and he started looking around him. The soldier in front of him had walked quite a distance ahead and had passed through the main gate of the barracks. The Concealment Magic Formation on the barrack gate occasionally gave off a Spirit-filled glow. He looked beyond the barracks and could roughly make out a huge shape in the dark and distant empty plains, but it disappeared in the heavy rain. Gu Qingshan slowly lifted his arm and bit down hard on it. A row of teeth marks appeared on his arm, and the part that his teeth had sunk in further was beginning to bleed. It hurt! This wasn¡¯t a dream! Gu Qingshan stood in the heavy rain without moving as if he was a statue. He let the icy, cold rain fall from the sky and drench his body. Chapter 2 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio A fire was lit, and the cold, wet room within the barracks started feeling warmer. Gu Qingshan stabbed the short knife into the ground next to him. He sat on a mat on the floor against the window, his wounds all bandaged up. His face looked fairly grim. He would go into a daze now and then. He tried hard to recall many things, but everything was a blur. The soldier¡¯s name was Zhao Liu. He brought a pot of water and put a lid over it after hanging it above the fire. Zhao Liu pulled out a pretty little box and held it out to Gu Qingshan. He said, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you that I didn¡¯t have to die at the hands of that creature.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± asked Gu Qingshan as he took the box from Zhao Liu. Zhao Liu replied, ¡°It¡¯s the last two healing pills in this camp.¡± Gu Qingshan asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you keep them for yourself?¡± Zhao Liu shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not a cultivator, so I can¡¯t use these things.¡± Gu Qingshan opened the box, and there were really two pills inside. Gu Qingshan took one out and inspected it carefully in his hand. The pill was in one, good piece, and even the thin layer of sealing wax around it hadn¡¯t peeled off at all. There was a faint fragrance coming from the pale green pill, making him feel more energetic by just smelling it. This was a healing pill. Healing pills were the poorest type of healing potion, so Gu Qingshan had never taken a second look at them in the past. But after he¡¯d went through a character reset, everything he¡¯d cultivated before had gone right back to zero. He was now wounded all over, so these two healing pills had become priceless treasures. Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Is the entire camp only left with these two healing pills?¡± Zhao Liu sighed and replied, ¡°That¡¯s right. After everyone died, no more supplies came in. Not just pills¡ªwe¡¯re not left with much of anything.¡± Gu Qingshan was silent for a while, then he suddenly thought of one thing. ¡°Are there anymore Spirit Stones here?¡± Zhao Liu replied, ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Then, we¡¯re doomed,¡± sighed Gu Qingshan. Zhao Liu hurriedly asked, ¡°Why?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°The Concealment Magic Formation around this place is already very weak. If you don¡¯t supplement it with more Spirit Stones, it¡¯s going to disappear in no time.¡± Zhao Liu shuddered. Then, he got up and dashed out like a lunatic. If the Concealment Magic Formation disappeared, the demons would discover this camp and they would both die for sure. No wonder those two captains had had despair in their eyes when they¡¯d left a few days ago. Gu Qingshan watched him dash out, and after counting to ten, there was a faint buzzing sound from outside. This sound meant that new Spirit Stones had been added to the formation and it was being reactivated. Gu Qingshan let a small sigh of relief out when he heard this sound. Zhao Liu had some Spirit Stones hidden away after all. In this world, every single person was real and made of flesh and blood. If you treated them as dumb NPCs, you would be the one on the losing end. Gu Qingshan had come to understand this a long time ago. After a while, Zhao Liu dragged his feet along and came back. He leaned against the wall and slowly sat down, then he held his face and started crying. Gu Qingshan asked, ¡°What are you crying about?¡± Zhao Liu replied, ¡°This time, we really don¡¯t have anymore Spirit Stones. Once the formation uses up all these Spirit Stones, we¡¯re going to be killed by the demons.¡± Gu Qingshan fell silent for a moment, then he broke the seal on the pill and swallowed the Healing Pill whole. He started trying to feel the Spirit inside his body. Initially, he was a little doubtful and wasn¡¯t sure if he would be able to sense the Spirit. But, surprisingly, everything went well. The Spirit inside his Dantian immediately responded to his call and cooperated with him to disperse the medicinal components of the pill to all parts of his body. Gu Qingshan felt nice and warm all over, and his wounds started feeling a little numb and itchy. His wounds were beginning to heal. By the time Gu Qingshan opened his eyes again after all of the medicine had been used up, it was already well after midnight. Gu Qingshan stood up and moved around for a while. He realized that his body felt much better, and there were new scabs over many of his wounds. Zhao Liu was still standing guard on one side, his head nodding off from drowsiness. He noticed that Gu Qingshan had woken up, so he looked at him with bleary eyes and asked, ¡°How are you feeling? Feeling better? Can you take me along to escape this place?¡± The last question was the question he¡¯d really meant to ask. Otherwise, he probably wouldn¡¯t have taken those healing pills out. Gu Qingshan replied to him honestly, ¡°I¡¯m feeling better, but it will take several more days before I can recover enough to fight.¡± ¡°Then, you¡¯d better rest.¡± Zhao Liu was disappointed as he stood up, then turned and left. After Zhao Liu walked away, Gu Qingshan sat by himself on the ground and fell into deep thought. In the time he came from, the demons of the game had already entered the real world and destroyed the civilized order of the human race. The remaining humans had only been able to linger around and keep breathing as they¡¯d waited for the end of the world to fall upon them in front of their very eyes. Everything had reached its final destination. When he thought about it now, there were actually a lot of questionable areas back when the game had first started. At that time, the various nations of the real world had gone all-out to promote this game. They¡¯d been willing to give you anything¡ªfood, money, women, power¡ªas long as you¡¯d become strong enough within the game. Many strange things had happened all over the world too, but the authorities had covered up everything, so ordinary folk hadn¡¯t known anything at all. It had only been when someone had actually brought a weapon from the game back into the real world, that ordinary folk had realized that this had not been a game. It had been a completely different realm. Everyone had started entering the game like crazy. But the demons inside the game had been so terrifying, many had despaired. Even though there¡¯d been nearly a billion players inside the game to help the humans in this different realm to fight against the demons, the humans had lost time and again in the final deciding battle. In the final deciding battle, the game had made a public announcement that, once the humans had lost this last battle, the demons would take over the realm in the game, as well as invade the real world. The real world was going to have been completely destroyed by the demons. The entire real world went insane. Every human above the age of five had been ordered to set up an account and enter the game. Like what many people had said, even if one had been at a low level and hadn¡¯t had any attacking powers, they could¡¯ve helped to defend against at least one attack from the enemy. But in this last battle, the humans had still lost. Only the National Guild, led by Gu Qingshan, managed to complete the mission given to them by the system and had made their way to the Ultimate Demon Lord. After the other players had died in the battle, Gu Qingshan had struck the Ultimate Demon Lord off its Blood Throne of Myriad Bones, and he¡¯d finally had a chance to kill off this final boss. But at this moment, a solemn message from the system had resounded twice in a row. ¡°The last Deity of the humans has fallen, and the defense of the empire of the humans has been broken through. Battle result: Humans have failed.¡± ¡°The game will now end. The protective force field will be broken, and the real world will begin its destruction.¡± BOOOM¡­ There had been a loud blast as everyone was forced to leave the game and watch the end of the real world fall upon them. Just before he¡¯d been forcibly ejected from the game, Gu Qingshan had raised his weapon without caring about anything else and stabbed his weapon into the heart of the Ultimate Demon Lord as hard as he could. Before he had been able to see the result, everything had gone dark before Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes, and he¡¯d been forced to leave the game. But he hadn¡¯t ended up returning to the real world that had been facing its doom. Instead, he completely lost consciousness. Even though he hadn¡¯t been conscious, Gu Qingshan still had been able to hear a robotic voice. ¡°Player Gu Qingshan has killed the Ultimate Demon Lord, leaving one last spark for the world that has fallen into the great chasm of despair. He will be specially given the ultimate reward.¡± Gu Qingshan had felt that there was something new in his hands, then he didn¡¯t remember anything else. When he woke up again, he was in that mass grave outside the barracks. When he came to this point in his memories, Gu Qingshan shook his head and let out a long sigh. It was such a pity. The game had been ongoing for about ten years, but he had never heard anything about any ultimate reward. He really wanted to know what that was. Wait. That wasn¡¯t quite right. Gu Qingshan suddenly recalled one thing. When he woke up in the pile of corpses, there seemed to be something in his hand. It was that short knife! Gu Qingshan suddenly looked down. The short knife was still in the ground next to him. This was a gold-colored, short knife. There weren¡¯t any additional carvings on the blade, and it gleamed sharply in the light. When Gu Qingshan focused his eyes on it, he could still see a gold gleam appear from time to time on the knife. Gu Qingshan started to recall, bit by bit, what had happened earlier, and his heart started beating faster and faster. This knife had already been in his hands before he¡¯d killed the Squad Leader. For some strange reason, he felt that wielding this knife came rather naturally to him, so he didn¡¯t bother searching the other corpses for other weapons. Had this knife already been buried with the corpses? Or had he brought it out from the final battle? Gu Qingshan held the short knife and hesitated for a moment before directing the Spirit in his Dantian into the knife. After the Spirit entered the short knife, the gold gleam spread through the place, becoming a huge, gold brightness. A faint sense of rugged majesty started emanating from the gold knife. ¡°Weapon successfully smuggled over. Activating now.¡± An icy, robotic voice rang out. Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t sure if it was just him, but he felt that this system¡¯s voice seemed to be a little unable to control its excitement. In the next moment, the gold knife in Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand burst into countless shiny, gold bits. These bright gold bits floated in the air, went two rounds around Gu Qingshan, and then flowed in between his brows. Gu Qingshan heard a loud booming sound in his ears. His mind went completely blank, and he was frozen on the spot, unable to move at all. After a long while, the icy, robotic voice sounded extremely tired as it made this announcement. ¡°Activation is successful. War God Operating Interface activated.¡± Chapter 3 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The interface with a bluish glow that appeared in front of Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes wasn¡¯t too different from what he was used to seeing, but there was an additional row of buttons at the bottom of the interface. The interface with a bluish glow that appeared in front of Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes wasn¡¯t too different from what he was used to seeing, but there was an additional row of buttons at the bottom of the interface. These buttons were like black holes and gave off a black mist every now and then. A row of luminous blue words appeared above this row of buttons: ¡°War God Operating Interface activation is successful. You can activate the first function for free.¡± ¡°Confirm activation?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± After Gu Qingshan made his confirmation, the first button among the black-hole-looking buttons slowly revealed a label. ¡°War God Techniques?¡± Gu Qingshan looked at that button¡¯s label and quickly read the information on it. After a few moments. Gu Qingshan walked over to the weapons rack in the corner and inspected the few weapons that were placed there. There was a long spear that had rusted away, a broken curved knife, and a military-grade bow covered in dust. Unfortunately, there were no swords. There had been more than ten million players who¡¯d chosen to be a swordsman in the game, and Gu Qingshan had been a Grand Sword Immortal and one of the top ten Swordsman Cultivators. This was already an extremely high rank, for only the best. Gu Qingshan had also been the commander-in-chief of the National Guild, so he had to take care of all aspects of the battle. The moment a battle started, he hadn¡¯t had any free time at all. Even back in the real world, he¡¯d had to meet with various country leaders and foreign countries¡¯ guilds to strategize together. He¡¯d had a huge and complex responsibility on his hands. There had been many other top-ranking players who¡¯d thought it was a pity that Gu Qingshan had had to attend to so many other matters. Otherwise, his swordsmanship wouldn¡¯t have just been in the top ten, and he might have had very well been the top swordsman. Since there was no sword on the weapons rack, Gu Qingshan could only shake his head regretfully and pick up the curved knife. A message immediately popped up on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°Military-grade curved knife (broken). Previous techniques used were: 1) Total Annihilation. Last to use technique: Wang Jin. 2) Cut to the Chase. Last to use technique: Zhang Kuo. Comprehension of both knife techniques requires 1 point of Soul Power per technique.¡± This message was so shocking, even Gu Qingshan was frozen for a few moments. He could just comprehend a technique like that? So this was what War God Techniques could do? This was only the first function of the War God Operating Interface. The remaining functions were blacked out and couldn¡¯t be selected at the moment. But this was good enough. If he could just exchange points for any technique out there, then there wasn¡¯t any technique out there in the world that he couldn¡¯t attain. Gu Qingshan took a deep breath and waited for his heart to calm back down before trying another question. ¡°What is Soul Power?¡± A bunch of words appeared on the interface immediately. ¡°Soul Power can be obtained by killing any living thing. You have killed one Skinning Blood Demon and gained 4 points. Current Soul Power: 4/5.¡± Killing off one Skinning Blood Demon got him 4 Soul Power points in one shot. Skinning Blood Demons weren¡¯t ordinary demons. Their actual ability went beyond most demons and cultivators, and they were excellent at hiding themselves and ambushing their enemies. Thankfully, Gu Qingshan had decided to scheme against the Squad Leader and killed off this demon with one move. Otherwise, given how Gu Qingshan¡¯s cultivation level had reverted to zero¡ªif they had continued to fight each other, the dead one now wouldn¡¯t have been the Skinning Blood Demon. Gu Qingshan nodded. So that was how it worked. But since his Soul Power was at 4/5, did that mean the upper limit of his Soul Power was only 5 points? That was way too little. Just as he thought about this, another row of words appeared on the interface. ¡°The higher the cultivation level, the higher the upper limit of Soul Power.¡± Soul Power was relative to his cultivation level? Gu Qingshan immediately glanced at his own level, only to find four large and bright words on the top: Qi Refiner Level 1. This was the Qi Refining stage that everyone started at when they first entered the game. His stage progress from his previous life was gone. Gu Qingshan sighed again as he quietly put the curved knife away and pulled out the rusty long spear. The long spear only had one basic attack move. He shook his head and threw the spear aside. Then, he picked up the military bow. ¡°Military-grade bow. Previous techniques used were: 1) Stabilization. Last to use technique: Zhang Yu. 2) Rapid Shot. Last to use technique: Zhang Yu. 3) Precision. Last to use technique: Zhang Yu. 4) Double Flying Swallows. Last to use technique: Zhang Yu. Comprehension of Stabilization and Rapid Shot requires 2 points of Soul Power per technique. Comprehension of Precision requires 4 points of Soul Power. Comprehension of Double Flying Swallows requires 6 points of Soul Power.¡± According to his current memory, Zhang Yu had been the human general guarding this very barrack. He¡¯d been highly skilled in archery and had died at the hands of a Blood Drinking Demon in the last defense battle. Gu Qingshan glanced through the four techniques and looked hard at Double Flying Swallows. This technique actually needed 6 points, and it exceeded Gu Qingshan¡¯s upper limit. ¡°Gosh, I¡¯m only at Qi Refiner Level 1. Looks like I have to start cultivating all over again and increase my Soul Power¡¯s upper limit as soon as possible.¡± Gu Qingshan shook his head helplessly. Qi Refining Stage was the lowest stage of all cultivators. Above Qi Refining was Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation stages, and more¡ªbut that was not important now. The good news was that players could take their cultivation level back into the real world. Someone at Qi Refiner Level 1 could already sense and use Spirit. If he had really gone back in time in this state, then even if he couldn¡¯t get back any of the weapons he¡¯d had, and lost all the skills and techniques he¡¯d used to have, Gu Qingshan was more than happy to have a restart of everything. After all, there was too much regret and unfairness in life. Every time Gu Qingshan went to sleep, he could only quietly lick the wound deep in his heart that refused to heal. If he could really start over¡­ Gu Qingshan shook his head, tried to control his emotions, and started to think quickly while still holding the military bow. The most important thing now was to survive. At Qi Refiner Level 1, he couldn¡¯t escape from a demon. Swords, knives, and spears required close combat, but he was already all wounded and at the lowest level of cultivation. How could he fight a demon head-on, all by himself? When faced with demons, one would lose easily if one wasn¡¯t careful. He was no longer that Great Sword Immortal from his previous life, and he definitely wasn¡¯t that legendary leader of the National Guild either. The camp he was standing in right now was left with only himself and another soldier, and that other soldier was an ordinary man who wasn¡¯t a cultivator. It would be really hard to do anything with just one person at Qi Refiner Level 1. The Concealment Magic Formation there wouldn¡¯t last too long. In another one or two days, it would disappear after consuming all the Spirit Stones. Once the Concealment Magic Formation disappeared, all sorts of demons would push through and keep coming. Gu Qingshan suddenly realized that he was in a fairly dangerous situation. He had to give up close combat and choose a long-range weapon. He was going to rely on the Concealment Magic Formation around this place and try to increase his level quickly. After that analysis, Gu Qingshan made a decision. ¡°I choose to comprehend Stabilization and Rapid Shot.¡± A warm flow immediately rushed from the military bow right into Gu Qingshan. It went around his body once before flowing into his consciousness. Gu Qingshan was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly picked up the bow, pulled an arrow back, and shot it out. Thwack! The arrow went deep into the wooden beam of the room. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t stop shooting. The arrows shot out in quick succession like beams of light. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Gu Qingshan shot out 12 arrows in one shot, but his arm was still as steady as a rock and hadn¡¯t moved a single bit. This was Stabilization and Rapid Shot. Gu Qingshan felt blood rushing in his body. This ¡°War God Technique¡± was incredibly powerful! All he needed was sufficient Soul Power, and he could instantly pick up any technique tied to a weapon. If this went on, then there was no technique in the world that he couldn¡¯t learn. Chapter 4 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan suddenly thought of something. ¡°War God Operating Interface, I have a question.¡± DING! ¡°Please say it,¡± replied the system. ¡°Why can¡¯t I recall the battle techniques and experiences that I had?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve just traveled through Space-time, and you¡¯ve created a storm-like disturbance in the Space-time Turbulence.¡± ¡°There are many other malicious parties that have sensed this anomaly and they are now looking for the source of the problem.¡± ¡°So part of your memories must be sealed and hidden away for now. Once everything settles down, I will find a suitable time to break the seal on your memories.¡± Gu Qingshan quietly sighed after hearing this. He suddenly felt a dull ache in his body. He looked down to find that the white bandages on himself were now stained with fresh blood. Indeed, his wounds hadn¡¯t fully healed and were still in the first stages of healing. Doing such vigorous activity would definitely cause the wounds to split open. Gu Qingshan put the military bow down and found a cot to sleep in. He told himself that he must not be in too much of a hurry to do anything and that he had to remain calm and patient. Gu Qingshan took out the last Healing Pill and swallowed it without hesitation. He closed his eyes and started to use his Spirit Power to disperse the medicine. The rest of the night went on in silence. The rain was even heavier the next morning. The weather was slowly becoming colder, and the raindrops were icy cold as they drenched the ground. Winter was coming in less than two weeks. Back in the barracks. Gu Qingshan woke up from the cold. He got up and moved about for a bit, feeling that the wounds on his body had started healing up already. The Healing Pills that the military used were really high-quality items. They were quite effective for healing wounds. A few moments later, the door was pushed open. Zhao Liu had cooked a pot of porridge and carefully brought it in. Gu Qingshan looked at the steaming pot and smelled the fragrance of plain porridge as he asked, ¡°How much food do we have left?¡± Zhao Liu sighed. ¡°It¡¯s only enough for another one and a half days.¡± After saying that, he stole a glance at the storage bag on Gu Qingshan¡¯s waist. Gu Qingshan noticed it but didn¡¯t say anything. After traveling through Space-time, his storage bag had been emptied as well. Gu Qingshan ladled out some porridge and quietly finished his breakfast. ¡°How are your wounds?¡± Zhao Liu looked a little hopeful. ¡°Much better,¡± Gu Qingshan stretched his arms and legs. Then, he asked, ¡°Zhao, which battalion are you from? What type of soldier are you?¡± Zhao Liu had an awkward smile on his face as he said, ¡°I¡¯m from the army kitchen, so I can cook for a few hundred people at any time.¡± So he was an army cook. No wonder he could make even a simple bowl of porridge delicious. In such a situation, if Gu Qingshan hadn¡¯t appeared, an ordinary person like Zhao Liu would have despaired in the face of impending doom. But what Zhao Liu didn¡¯t know was that Gu Qingshan was only a Qi Refiner Level 1 cultivator. If they ran into a small group of demons, Gu Qingshan would also be killed off immediately. Gu Qingshan continued to ponder quietly and looked at the hourglass at the top of the interface. There wasn¡¯t much sand left in the hourglass; it was close to finishing. This seemed different from the official game. There were a few luminous words beside the hourglass to explain this: after players stay one full day in the cultivating world, they will be sent back to the real world. Now Gu Qingshan really wanted to know very badly what year it was in the real world. They were halfway through breakfast when both of them stopped what they were doing at the same time. ¡°Bro, there seems to be some movement outside,¡± whispered Zhao Liu as he started shrinking back. ¡°I¡¯ll take a look,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. He grabbed the military bow and walked out. The hourglass looked like it was left with about another ten or fifteen minutes, so he hoped nothing terrible would happen during this remaining time. Gu Qingshan walked out of the room, nocked an arrow to the bow, and narrowed his eyes as he looked around him carefully. His eyes quickly scanned every structure around him and didn¡¯t miss a single corner. Generally speaking, if the campsite had a Concealment Magic Formation around it, demons wouldn¡¯t come in so easily. So what was it? Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. It was that sound again. It was coming from the entrance to the camp. Gu Qingshan kept close to the wall and quietly moved toward that direction. A large demon about twice the height of a human appeared in Gu Qingshan¡¯s line of vision. This demon shook its head and its tail as it stood at the edge of the mass grave and looked around itself very carefully and warily. Even though the continuous heavy rainfall washed away many things, the smell of blood from the mass grave still attracted a demon anyway. Gu Qingshan hid in the shadow of the roof. He raised his military bow and slowly drew the arrow. He knew what this creature was. This was a low-level demon that looked fairly clumsy. But if it started getting wild and angry, its ability to crash into things and tear things apart was quite terrifying, so it was normally impossible to get close to it even if you had two or three soldiers together. Gu Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He was so glad that he had chosen a long-range weapon. With the cover of the Concealment Magic Formation around the camp, he might succeed in attacking from afar. The demon ran around the mass grave and rolled on the ground from time to time. It was trying to check if there were any traps around this grave, or whether they were other demons waiting in ambush. There were ten minutes left on the hourglass. Gu Qingshan quietly held onto his drawn bow and didn¡¯t move. Sniff! Sniff! The demon stopped and snorted as its large head continued to look around warily. Five minutes left. Gu Qingshan continued to stay still. The demon finally slowly lowered its head and was going to start munching on one of the corpses. Its nose smelled the body for some time before it finally opened its mouth full of sharp teeth. NOW! Gu Qingshan drew the bow to its maximum and loaded Spirit Power into the arrow. A shapeless wave emanated from the arrow. Spirit Power could increase an arrow¡¯s damage to five times higher than an ordinary arrow. These arrows were all made from a special material, so it wasn¡¯t just able to take in Spirit Power, but it was even able to take the in Five Elements. Once the bow was fully drawn, Gu Qingshan remained quiet for two breaths, then released his fingers. WOOONG! The arrow shot out with a whoosh and landed in the demon¡¯s mouth, causing it so much pain that it collapsed and started rolling on the ground. After one arrow was shot, Gu Qingshan immediately drew the bow and shot another one in quick succession. Rapid Shot! The arrows were shot out so quickly from the military bow that they just became shadows. The demon immediately gave a terrifying roar as it started pouncing toward the camp. But after taking a few steps, the demon turned its head and decided to make a run for it. There were more and more arrows burying themselves into it, and they were all on vital areas like its sensory organs, joints, and its stomach. Its injuries were getting more severe at a terrifying rate, so the demon¡¯s initial outburst of anger had become deep-seated fear. If it had chosen to run when it¡¯d been first attacked, then it might have made it out alive. But it had chosen to attack first before trying to run, so it was too late. Throughout this entire process, there had been no expression on Gu Qingshan¡¯s face at all. His hands were as steady as a rock as he continually pulled out arrow after arrow, drew the bow, and shot out the arrows. The hourglass was down to its last minute. The demon collapsed onto the ground and didn¡¯t move anymore. Its entire body was filled with arrows, so fresh blood started flowing from its wounds, dyeing the ground red. Gu Qingshan was only left with 40% of his Spirit Power. Even so, he continued to pull out arrows, fill them up with Spirit Power, and aim them at all the vital points of the demon. These demons were intelligent; none of them seemed stupid. Some of them were even more sly than humans. They knew how to play dead and lure their enemies too. After several moments, there were more and more arrows in the demon, so it couldn¡¯t pretend to be dead anymore and leaped up from the ground. But it was met with an even wilder stream of arrows. The demon tried its best to run about five or six meters, but after it hit a large tree, it collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud. This time, it was really dead. Two rows of luminous blue words popped up in front of Gu Qingshan. ¡°Soul Power +1, Current Soul Power: 1/5.¡± ¡°Experience has reached maximum. Current XP: 5/5. Level up is possible. Confirm level up?¡± He had earned 4 XP earlier by killing off the Skinning Blood Demon, and now he had earned 1 XP, so he had fulfilled the requirements for leveling up. Gu Qingshan replied without hesitation, ¡°Level up.¡± After he said that, the XP field went from 5/5 to 0/10. To move from Qi Refiner Level 2 to Qi Refiner Level 3, he needed twice the amount of XP. Gu Qingshan¡¯s profile label also changed from Qi Refiner Level 1 to Qi Refiner Level 2. There was a bright and majestic glow that emanated from Gu Qingshan¡¯s body. A warm flow wrapped itself around Gu Qingshan before finally gathering at his Dantian and became a huge amount of Spirit Power. Chapter 5 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan did a check on his Dantian and found that the Spirit Power in his Dantian had become stronger by quite a bit. The military bow in his hand seemed lighter now, but this was an illusion that came with an increase in physical strength. Gu Qingshan nodded satisfactorily and glanced at the hourglass at the top of the interface. There was no more sand flowing through the hourglass. A row of words quickly appeared in the middle of the operating interface. ¡°Player Gu Qingshan has spent 24 hours in the other world and will now return to the real world.¡± ¡°All weapons have been stored in the storage bag and can be used anytime.¡± ¡°Returning now.¡± He felt a little dizzy. Gu Qingshan opened his eyes to find that he was kneeling on one knee on a soft and expensive carpet and looking at a beautiful girl in front of him. The hall was decorated fairly luxuriously and looked like a place where high society held their social gatherings. The only thing that stood out was the noisy and chaotic sound of people cheering and clapping amidst the soothing ballroom music. ¡°Say yes to him!¡± ¡°Dude, hurry up and say it!¡± One voice called out after another. Gu Qingshan looked around him, and his gaze finally stopped at the girl in front of him. It was true that she looked good no matter what she wore. Even if she didn¡¯t have any accessories on and was wearing a plain, white, long dress, anyone would spot her even in a crowd of other girls. Su Xue¡¯er. That was a name that was etched deeply into his memory. A name he never forgot. Gu Qingshan closed his eyes, then opened them again. There were some concern and anxiety in the girl¡¯s eyes, but she mostly looked like she didn¡¯t know what to do. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t change the expression on his face as he quickly looked around him. This was a familiar place to him. The scene that he remembered hadn¡¯t happened yet. So he had really traveled back in time. This was the turning point in his life. Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder hard and encouraged him. ¡°Qingshan, go for it! Bravely tell her what¡¯s in your heart!¡± Gu Qingshan turned to look at that person. Zhang Ye, his best friend from high school. ¡°Su Xue¡¯er, Gu Qingshan has something to tell you!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, he¡¯s prepared this for a long time and wants to tell you how he really feels.¡± ¡°Gu Qingshan, say it! We¡¯re all your witnesses.¡± There were people who continued to shout among the crowd. Seeing that Gu Qingshan remained silent, Su Xue¡¯er finally opened her mouth to speak. ¡°Gu Qingshan, you don¡¯t look like you have anything to say to me. Did you come up because other people dared you to?¡± The moment she started speaking, everyone quieted down. Everyone wanted to see if Gu Qingshan was really going to confess his love at the graduation ball like what they heard. Gu Qingshan listened to what she said very seriously and smiled faintly. This girl was still as clever and considerate as always. She had even thought of a way to help him out of this awkward situation. Unfortunately, in his previous life, he had fallen into someone else¡¯s trap. Gu Qingshan stood up and dusted his knees off. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s like this. I sincerely hope that you could promise me one thing,¡± said Gu Qingshan calmly. ¡°What is it?¡± The girl suddenly became nervous. What was wrong with him today? Couldn¡¯t he tell what she was trying to say? Gu Qingshan was very serious as he replied, ¡°Come to my BBQ stall tomorrow and try my cooking.¡± Su Xue¡¯er was stunned. All the people who had been cheering earlier were also stunned. Everyone watching couldn¡¯t believe this. ¡°BBQ? Just a meal? Nothing else?¡± Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Of course,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. Su Xue¡¯er widened her pretty eyes and looked out at the crowd as she said, ¡°But your best friend Zhang Ye said that you wanted to tell me¡ª¡± Gu Qingshan cut her off, ¡°I didn¡¯t tell him anything.¡± Su Xue¡¯er immediately understood what was going on. ¡°Oh? So none of this came from you.¡± She seemed to be relieved, and there was a smile on her face. Zhang Ye noticed that this wasn¡¯t going the way he¡¯d planned it to go and hurriedly said, ¡°Qingshan, didn¡¯t you tell me that you were going to confess to Su Xue¡¯er today?¡± There was an uproar in the crowd. Gu Qingshan turned to look at Zhang Ye coldly. Zhang Ye was just like himself. They had both been born poor and made it into this top high school because of their stellar results. After three years in high school, the two of them had forged a deep friendship. Gu Qingshan had thought that Zhang Ye was a brother close to his heart. But yet at the graduation ball, Zhang Ye had slipped a drug into Gu Qingshan¡¯s drink. So in the end, the drug had started taking effect in the middle of his confession to Su Xue¡¯er and he had tried to violate Su Xue¡¯er in front of everybody. Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s bodyguards and a group from the student council had managed to press Gu Qingshan down to stop him. This matter had shocked the entire school. Gu Qingshan had had good results, had been fairly talented, and had had a kind personality, which had been how he¡¯d caught Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s eye. But after this incident, Su Xue¡¯er had been utterly disappointed in him. She¡¯d slapped him in front of everyone and left crying. The Su family had been enraged and had declared that they wanted to kill Gu Qingshan. The school had expelled him without hesitation and hadn¡¯t even given him the chance to sit for the college entrance exams. The head of the Su family had spared his life only because Su Xue¡¯er had begged her family pitifully for three days. The patriarch of the Su family was the magistrate of all of Changning County, and there were nine magistrates in the whole Federation. After that incident, everyone had laughed at Gu Qingshan, and they all had looked down on him. He had been working part-time at a technology research company, and they had immediately fired him. He had gone around trying to find a school, but no school had dared to take him in. He¡¯d tried to find work to make money, but he hadn¡¯t even been able to find a part-time job; he nearly starved to death in the slum. All this had been thanks to his best friend, Zhang Ye. Gu Qingshan had struggled in between despair and aimlessness until the other world had been connected to the real world, and he¡¯d found a chance to make a comeback. He¡¯d eventually left for Fuxi Empire, a place far from home. But in that life, Gu Qingshan had recalled what had happened that fateful day countless times in the middle of the night and clenched his teeth so hard whenever he¡¯d thought about it. Gu Qingshan had also reflected on it before. There was a tacit sort of understanding between himself and Su Xue¡¯er. But he really shouldn¡¯t have hoped that the two of them could¡¯ve advanced in their relationship before acquiring any power of his own. Doing that would¡¯ve only put Su Xue¡¯er in a spot, and it would¡¯ve also put Gu Qingshan in danger. Thankfully, he got a second chance in this life, and Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t going to let this happen again. So Gu Qingshan looked at Zhang Ye and quietly replied in front of everyone, ¡°You got it wrong. The one I really like is Xie Shuangyan.¡± Everyone burst out laughing, and even Su Xue¡¯er pursed her lips and tried to hold her laughter in. Xie Shuangyan was the main vocalist of the world¡¯s most popular female idol group. From Saint Olanka Empire in the north to the vast nation of Fuxi Empire, and even Freedom Federation in the south, countless men and women¡ªold and young¡ªwere all fans of Xie Shuangyan. There were too many people in the world who liked Xie Shuangyan, so when Gu Qingshan said this, even Su Xue¡¯er wasn¡¯t bothered by it. There were even some big male fans in the crowd who shouted, ¡°Gu Qingshan! Do you want to join Xie Shuangyan¡¯s fan club?!¡± Zhang Ye¡¯s expression kept changing, and his heart slowly sank. He hadn¡¯t expected Gu Qingshan to be able to defend himself and gain the upper hand, and he had wrapped up this matter so easily. But there was no way Zhang Ye was going to let him off. He would never get such a chance again. Gu Qingshan was his last chance at climbing up the social ladder. Zhang Ye clenched his teeth and walked over as he whispered into Gu Qingshan¡¯s ear, ¡°Gu Qingshan, your happy days are over.¡± He then slammed a palm hard on Gu Qingshan¡¯s shoulder. There was a faint stinging pain. That was from the needle hiding in Zhang Ye¡¯s hand. Gu Qingshan looked at him seriously until Zhang Ye had finished doing what he wanted to. ¡°Oho, so you¡¯ve still got this move,¡± exclaimed Gu Qingshan. But Zhang Ye seemed relieved. The drug on the needle was even stronger, and it would only take another minute before Gu Qingshan would lose control of his own body. ¡°Why did you do this to me? I remember that we were friends,¡± asked Gu Qingshan curiously as he continued to stare at Zhang Ye. Zhang Ye subconsciously looked down and murmured, ¡°Don¡¯t blame me. In this world, poor people have to seize the correct opportunities in order to live a better life.¡± With that, he gathered up all his strength and pushed Gu Qingshan violently toward Su Xue¡¯er. The heat within Gu Qingshan was getting hotter and hotter, his breathing heavier and heavier, as he staggered all the way to where Su Xue¡¯er was. The drug was starting to take effect. Gu Qingshan started to feel a chill in his heart. He suddenly remembered what Su Xue¡¯er had seemingly carelessly remarked about Zhang Ye. ¡°Qingshan, the way Zhang Ye looks at people is different from you.¡± Gu Qingshan nodded in his heart. Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s judgment was always so brutal. Instead, he was the one who had been too na?ve. Gu Qingshan shifted his consciousness to make the Spirit Power in his Dantian rush out and suppress the effects of the drug, so his heated body gradually cooled down. Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes became alert again as he called out, ¡°Aunt Su.¡± A mature and attractive lady appeared with a white-haired old man without making a sound. These two were Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s bodyguards. Su Xue¡¯er was the heiress to the Su family and was the only child of the eldest child of the Su family. She was adored and pampered by the entire Su family, so it was only normal for her to have two bodyguards protecting her at all times. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± The mature lady glared at Gu Qingshan. She was by Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s side every day and knew who this young chap was. Initially, she had felt that this boy was talented, intelligent, and had a good personality, but she hadn¡¯t expected him to actually try to make a confession today. This sort of rash action put tremendous pressure on Su Xue¡¯er, and even a bodyguard like her was disappointed in Gu Qingshan. Furthermore, she was supposed to be protecting Su Xue¡¯er secretly, but now he had called her out, and she was even angrier inside now. Chapter 6 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Aunt Su, it¡¯s just that I suspect someone is using me to harm Su Xue¡¯er.¡± Aunt Su raised an eyebrow in surprise. The white-haired old man also kept away the kindly smile on his face. ¡°What do you mean?¡± whispered Aunt Su as she swiftly scanned the area. ¡°Because something very strange happened today,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Zhang Ye secretly added a drug to my soup, then kept insisting that I confess to Su Xue¡¯er.¡± Gu Qingshan noticed that the two bodyguards were listening intently to him, and even Su Xue¡¯er was quietly listening too, so he continued to slowly explain the situation. ¡°If I refuse, then he might find some other method. So I went along with him and set up this whole thing to see what he was trying to do.¡± ¡°So you mean, you¡¯ve taken that sort of drug?¡± asked Aunt Su as she narrowed her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s right. And this too,¡± Gu Qingshan stretched his hand out. There was a bloodstained black needle in his hand. ¡°What?!¡± Zhang Ye exclaimed in surprise. He was sure that he had removed this needle, so when did Gu Qingshan take it from him? Aunt Su¡¯s expression really changed after looking at this needle. She exchanged glances with the white-haired old man, and they both had stern expressions on their faces. Ever since the Young Mistress of the Su family had gotten to know Gu Qingshan, the Su family had done a detailed background check on Gu Qingshan, and they knew his character well after interacting with him for more than two years. So the two bodyguards weren¡¯t very concerned when Gu Qingshan came close to Su Xue¡¯er like he normally did. But it turned out that he was problematic now. ¡°Are you feeling strange anywhere?¡± Su Xue¡¯er walked over and asked in a gentle voice. She looked calm, but Gu Qingshan could hear the anxiety in the way she spoke quickly. ¡°It¡¯s probably an aphrodisiac of sorts,¡± replied Gu Qingshan calmly. ¡°What? Why is it that sort of drug?¡± Su Xue¡¯er felt her face redden as she said this. No matter how intelligent she was, Su Xue¡¯er was a young lady after all. Aunt Su pulled a dagger out, made a cut on Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand, and then licked the blood from the cut. ¡°Yup.¡± Aunt Su clicked her tongue. ¡°It is a sort of aphrodisiac all right, and it¡¯s a pretty potent one.¡± She looked at Gu Qingshan strangely. ¡°Young man, you actually managed to endure this?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I¡¯m trying my best to endure it.¡± He was using the Spirit Power in his Dantian to suppress the aphrodisiac with all his might. Since there was no such thing as Spirit Power in the real world at this point in time, Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t want to reveal his secret either. Su Xu¡¯er gasped and she tugged at Aunt Su¡¯s hand as she said, ¡°Aunt, please save him.¡± Aunt Su took out a small bottle and poured out a white capsule. She held it out to Gu Qingshan. ¡°Eat this.¡± The way she looked at Gu Qingshan had become fairly gentle now. She hadn¡¯t expected this young chap to be so mature and detailed. He had done well this time. Gu Qingshan took the capsule and swallowed it. Then, he said, ¡°From the looks of it, he wanted me to embarrass Su Xue¡¯er and myself in front of everybody.¡± Many people started turning around to look at Zhang Ye. Zhang Ye could see that he had failed and started to panic. He suddenly turned and tried to escape. The two bodyguards became even more furious when they saw this. The truth of the matter was quite clear now. Gu Qingshan was in close and frequent contact with their Young Mistress, so the two of them weren¡¯t too wary of him. At a formal occasion like this graduation ball, they were more cautious when it came to faces they did not recognize. So if Gu Qingshan suddenly did anything out of line, they were likely to be unable to stop him in time. If Gu Qingshan were to try to violate Young Mistress in front of everyone, then her reputation would be tarnished, and the two bodyguards would go all out to stop this from happening. So if there were other accomplices hiding in this hall, they might take this opportunity to assassinate Young Mistress in the mess. The white-haired old man moved swiftly and blocked Zhang Ye¡¯s way. ¡°Come along, young chap. The world out there is tough, so why not fall into a dark and deep sleep?¡± The old man chanted as he used his large and rough hands to hold onto Zhang Ye¡¯s head and slowly closed his eyes. A strange thing happened. When the old man shut his eyes, Zhang Ye also shut his eyes. The old man continued to chant in a strange tone, like the devil tempting an ordinary person, ¡°Come now, come now, as long as you tell me your secret, I will grant you anything you wish.¡± Zhang Ye had a foolish smile on his face as he murmured, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you. I¡¯ll tell you right now.¡± This strange sight caused the people watching to start murmuring among themselves. Gu Qingshan was also surprised. ¡°Is this a skill of a Chosen One?¡± Su Xue¡¯er stood next to him and whispered, ¡°That¡¯s right. Grandpa Li is a Chosen One who specializes in seeking the truth.¡± Chosen Ones were those who had a special sort of skill. The type of skill was very mysterious and often slowly appeared as the person grew older. The skill they had were skills that cultivators were never able to acquire, and it was impossible to predict who would have them, so it was like these people had been destined to have these skills. That was why the people who had these skills were called Chosen Ones. In the real world, humans were split into four categories of fighting abilities: Chosen Ones, Martial Artists, Elemental Art Experts, and Deity Descendants. Each category of people specialized in a different aspect. Besides these categories, there were also mechas and intergalactic battleships that were powerful fighting machines and were weapons of war that could cause major damage and fatalities. Since Su Xue¡¯er confirmed that the old man was a Chosen One, then the skill he had was a sort of hypnosis. Everyone was focused on what the old man was doing, so Su Xue¡¯er dropped her voice to a low whisper. ¡°Thanks for today.¡± ¡°No need,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°I did it for myself too. If I did anything to you in a place like this, I¡¯d meet with a tragic end.¡± What he said was the truth, and that was what had happened to him in his previous life. Su Xue¡¯er shook her head and said, ¡°Qingshan, reputation is very important to a girl. I still have to thank you for protecting it.¡± ¡°Also, if anything happens to you from now on, I will do my best to protect you too.¡± Gu Qingshan only listened and didn¡¯t say anything. There were some things that didn¡¯t need to be explained. What he was interested in right now was why Zhang Ye did what he did. Gu Qingshan was quietly thinking about this but didn¡¯t notice the pretty girl next to him secretly glancing at him from the side. After a few seconds, Su Xue¡¯er looked away, and there was a strange feeling in her heart. She felt that there was something different about Gu Qingshan today. He was being too calm. Chapter 7 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Just at this moment, Zhang Ye finally started speaking. ¡°Someone offered me ten million dollars to drug Gu Qingshan and get him to confess to Su Xue¡¯er.¡± The old man continued in a soft hypnotic voice, ¡°Who was that person?¡± Zhang Ye replied, ¡°He used an anonymous online account, I don¡¯t know who it is either.¡± That was the truth. Unfortunately, the clues stopped here. The old man¡¯s expression started to become grave. Whoever did this was very careful and on very high alert. But this person dared to use Young Mistress¡¯s friends to attack her from a different angle and had done it in such an airtight manner, so this matter wasn¡¯t simple at all. After all, they were in Changning County, which was governed by the Su family. The old man took his hand back and Zhang Ye immediately woke up. He fell to his knees with a thud and cried miserably, ¡°I was blinded by money, Qingshan. I¡¯ve let you down.¡± Gu Qingshan looked at him. Zhang Ye continued kneeling on the floor as he slowly started moving toward Gu Qingshan and pleading, ¡°Qingshan, we¡¯ve been friends for so long. I was the one in the wrong this time. I beg you, please forgive me.¡± He was an intelligent boy too. He knew that, on the surface, the only person he had harmed was Gu Qingshan, so he immediately went begging for mercy from him. Gu Qingshan was always kindly and an old buddy of Zhang Ye¡¯s. Since Zhang Ye had gone begging for mercy in front of so many people without caring about whether he was embarrassed or not, it would be hard for Gu Qingshan to deal too harshly with him. Su Xue¡¯er was even more soft-hearted. As long as Gu Qingshan forgave Zhang Ye, Su Xue¡¯er would probably just consider this matter as settled. This whole incident hadn¡¯t caused any serious consequences, so as long as Su Xue¡¯er didn¡¯t pursue it, then the Su family wouldn¡¯t bother trying to torture a poor student like himself. As expected, Su Xue¡¯er looked toward Gu Qingshan and said hesitantly, ¡°What are you going to do? He¡¯s¡­ a classmate after all.¡± Aunt Su immediately cut in, ¡°Young Mistress, this matter is not so simple. We ought to get to the bottom of it.¡± She scanned Gu Qingshan with a steely gaze. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t say anything. He just lifted a leg and kicked Zhang Ye¡¯s chest hard. Zhang Ye flew several meters out from the kick, knocking two dining tables over, and was covered by all the dishes on the table. He then fainted. Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Aunt Su, I¡¯ll have to leave the rest to you. Please find out who¡¯s behind him.¡± Aunt Su looked him up and down and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± She waved her hand, and a sleek flying shuttle landed. This steel flying shuttle had a special engraving on it, and it was a symbol of how distinguished the Su family of the nine counties was. The old man dragged Zhang Ye into the flying shuttle. Aunt Su said, ¡°Young Mistress, it is not good for us to stay here any longer. Let¡¯s go back as well.¡± Su Xue¡¯er nodded, then turned to Gu Qingshan before leaving as she calmly said, ¡°Tomorrow night, I¡¯ll go to your stall for BBQ.¡± That meant she had agreed to his request. Gu Qingshan was a little stunned as he replied, ¡°Sure.¡± This was the last minute ridiculous request that he had used when he was supposed to confess earlier. He didn¡¯t think Su Xue¡¯er would take it seriously. But Gu Qingshan had nothing to worry about. He really did set up a BBQ stall after school every day to earn enough money to live. Su Xue¡¯er nodded slightly at him, then went into the Su¡¯s flying shuttle with Aunt Su. The flying shuttle quickly left. After Su Xue¡¯er left, several other representatives from powerful families also left, so this grand graduation ball came to an end just like that. This was probably the worst graduation ball in Changning Exclusive Private High School¡¯s history. But to Gu Qingshan, this was the best ball he had attended in his life. He had finally avoided that tragic situation of him being completely unable to defend himself, so he wasn¡¯t going to be expelled from the school like what had happened in his previous life. He would now be eligible to take the Federation¡¯s college entrance exams. Judging from his usual results, he could definitely use this entrance exam to get into a university of his choice. After the apocalypse came, some of these universities would become a place where many players would gather. Many of the high-level players had come from these places. On a different note, Zhang Ye was going to end pretty badly. Su Xue¡¯er wasn¡¯t close to Zhang Ye, plus this incident had been orchestrated by Zhang Ye and it had targeted both Gu Qingshan and Su Xue¡¯er. Su Xue¡¯er wouldn¡¯t plead for Zhang Ye, and the Su family would interrogate Zhang Ye in order to find out who was behind him. The terrible things that had happened to Gu Qingshan in his previous life would land even harder on Zhang Ye. In this life, everything had changed. Gu Qingshan was in a good mood as he took confident strides out of the school. He was an orphan from the slums, so he couldn¡¯t afford to buy a flying shuttle nor take a cab. He had to rely on his two legs to walk between home and school every day. After half an hour. Gu Qingshan walked out of the developed area and was about to reach the slum area when he suddenly stopped walking. There was a nine-meter-long, streamlined flying shuttle quietly parked in front of the next street. A middle-aged man in a white shirt and black bowtie stood next to the flying shuttle and politely bowed at Gu Qingshan. ¡°Mr. Gu, my Young Master is waiting for you inside the flying shuttle,¡± said the middle-aged man. Gu Qingshan looked quietly at the closed-circuit cameras at the corner of the street to find that its usual blinking red light was off. There wasn¡¯t a single person around this entire area, either. ¡°Who¡¯s your Young Master?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. The middle-aged man didn¡¯t explain and stepped aside as he held an arm out. ¡°This way, please.¡± Gu Qingshan thought this was very interesting. He smiled and walked straight into the flying shuttle. The interior of the flying shuttle was fairly luxurious, and there was a young man seated on the wide leather sofa with two girls kneeling in front of him and gently massaging his legs. In the bar on the side, a girl wearing cute bunny ears made a cocktail in record time and placed it in front of Gu Qingshan. ¡°Thanks,¡± Gu Qingshan took the glass and thanked her. ¡°Qingshan, come and sit here,¡± said the young man. Gu Qingshan sat across from the young man and put the glass down on the table as he laughed and asked, ¡°You¡¯ve been waiting here for me?¡± The young man replied, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± This young man was the chairman of the student council of Changning Exclusive Private High School, Nie Yun. Nie Yun was a descendant of a large aristocratic family, the Nies. He was the Nie family¡¯s current patriarch¡¯s precious grandson. When it came to distinguished people in the school, he was the only one besides Su Xue¡¯er. Nie Yun clapped his hands and said, ¡°All right, all of you can leave.¡± The few girls quickly packed up and left the flying shuttle. Nie Yun then picked up a piece of paper that was on the table. He looked at it and said, ¡°Qingshan, your results are really outstanding¡ªcrushing Su Xue¡¯er and myself at the final exams every year.¡± ¡°Look at it. Basic Mecha Construction, full marks. World War History, full marks. Optical Computing, full marks. Battleship Operation, full marks. Even the topic you chose, Mecha Dynamics, full marks. Only Physical Education got a Pass.¡± Nie Yun put the paper down and continued in amazement, ¡°At the same time, you¡¯re an employee at the Changning Steel Mecha Research and Development Department. You didn¡¯t rely on your friendship with Su Xue¡¯er to get there but reached that level with your own effort. I suppose many within the Su family look at you differently now.¡± Gu Qingshan replied honestly, ¡°I just want to ensure a better life in the future.¡± Nie Yun shook his head and said, ¡°Every poor kid in Changning County wants to get a place in the Su family¡¯s Changning Steel Mecha Tech, but you are the only one who made it there, so I suppose this can be called talent.¡± ¡°I respect people like you, so I want to give you a chance.¡± Nie Yun pulled an envelope from inside his coat pocket and put it on the table in front of Gu Qingshan. ¡°What is this?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°Open it up and see.¡± Gu Qingshan picked up the envelope and pulled out the document inside. He read it out, ¡°Nanshi County College, notice of guaranteed admission?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Yun smiled. ¡°As long as you¡¯re willing, you can go to this college without going through the entrance exams.¡± Gu Qingshan put the envelope down and politely refused, ¡°I¡¯m grateful for your kindness, but I don¡¯t intend to attend this particular college.¡± Nanshi County College was a pretty good college too. But Nie Yun must have something else in mind by doing this for Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan had a few universities in mind already. His results could get him into several top universities in the Federation, so he didn¡¯t need to use his future to strike a deal with anyone. After the apocalypse started, some of the universities had special advantages¡ªin particular, those top universities that had a program to conduct research on cutting-edge military weaponry. Nanshi County College wasn¡¯t one of those schools with that program. ¡°Qingshan, don¡¯t be in such a hurry to refuse me,¡± said Nie Yun. Gu Qingshan looked at him and waited for him to continue. ¡°As a poor student and an orphan, knowing your place will help you stay alive,¡± said Nie Yun. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°Let me be honest with you. Every single powerful family in the Federation wants to marry the daughter of the Su family, Su Xue¡¯er.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the reason?¡± asked Gu Qingshan immediately. He felt that this whole thing was very strange. Su Xue¡¯er came from an aristocratic family and was of very high standing. But among the nine counties, there were countless women just like her. But Su Xue¡¯er had attracted too much attention and was different from other women with similar backgrounds. Nie Yun kept quiet, and he looked a little unnatural. He wasn¡¯t too sure about that himself. But someone had asked him to do this. Those were people that he had to please. Nie Yun said, ¡°Those unethical, lower-class families dare to kill ordinary folk over a barren mine, and Su Xue¡¯er is even more valuable than ten mines.¡± He picked up the notice of guaranteed admission on the table and held it out to Gu Qingshan. ¡°Take it and don¡¯t have any more contact with Su Xue¡¯er, otherwise those people would take some action.¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t take the notice. ¡°What sort of action are you referring to?¡± he asked. ¡°They¡¯ll kill you,¡± replied Nie Yun. Gu Qingshan laughed and patted Nie Yun¡¯s shoulder. ¡°These people you¡¯re referring to seem to have been mistaken about something.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If they really like Su Xue¡¯er, then they can just woo her.¡± ¡°What about you? What do you intend to do next?¡± Nie Yun smiled faintly with a look of disdain. ¡°That¡¯s my business.¡± Gu Qingshan then walked out of the flying shuttle. Nie Yun stood by himself for a while and shook his head. ¡°What a joke.¡± He pressed the button on the table. The middle-aged man standing guard outside the flying shuttle came in and bowed his head. ¡°Young Master.¡± Nie Yun said, ¡°How¡¯s that matter going?¡± The middle-aged man replied, ¡°All good to go.¡± Nie Yun asked, ¡°Will anything go wrong?¡± The middle-aged man smiled and replied, ¡°I¡¯ve found professionals to do it, so it will definitely look like an accident. That will be the only conclusion even after an investigation is made.¡± Nie Yun said, ¡°Go ahead with it.¡± ¡°Yes, Young Master.¡± The middle-aged man looked at his watch and said, ¡°Within an hour, Gu Qingshan will die in an accident.¡± Nie Yun nodded and murmured, ¡°That way, this whole matter is settled.¡± Chapter 8 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan walked along the empty streets and quietly recalled what had happened earlier that day. Gu Qingshan walked along the empty streets and quietly recalled what had happened earlier that day. Nie Yun¡¯s reaction proved that he wasn¡¯t the one behind Zhang Ye. Perhaps it was really like what Nie Yun had said. Gu Qingshan had become too close to Su Xue¡¯er, and all those people who had had their eyes on her hated him to the core. He was going to graduate soon, so some of these rich young men with more vicious ideas had started to think about how to deal with him. These people were really disgusting too. If they were so great, then they should go and woo Su Xue¡¯er themselves. What were they doing, attacking poor students like himself? Gu Qingshan was filled with contempt for them. But after a while, his thoughts started to wander further away. It was still a year away from the start of the game, so this period of time was the last peaceful days that the human world would see. One year was enough for him to gain a strong footing in the other world. As for the time he spent in the real world, Gu Qingshan thought about it and felt that he would really like to spend it at university. The environment in the universities was good, with many important mecha research institutions set up within the universities. Even the universities set up by the military invented and developed many weapons. The first batch of players that had entered the game had been made up mostly of university students and lecturers, so he had a higher chance here. He could prepare for the coming of the apocalypse in the university and rest in between battles, or find a few people to make unique discoveries. Gu Qingshan was thinking about these things when he suddenly noticed five or six drunk young men across the street from him. These young men were covered in tattoos, with hair dyed bright yellow and staggering toward him under the dim streetlamps. The pavement on this street wasn¡¯t very wide, so they took up all the space by walking side by side. Gu Qingshan frowned and tried to let them pass. Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t sure if it was on purpose or not, but when the two sides were about to pass each other, one of the blonde young men turned and was going to knock into Gu Qingshan. As a cultivator with ten years of battling experience involving countless deaths, there was no way Gu Qingshan would allow an ordinary person to just walk into him like this. Gu Qingshan turned and avoided the oncoming party. The blonde young man staggered a few steps out before regaining his balance. Gu Qingshan had actually dodged him. The young man yelled, ¡°You little punk! How dare you knock into me?! Bros, whack him!¡± Once he¡¯d shouted that, all the drunken stupor on these young men completely disappeared. ¡°Now!¡± The few of them gave a low shout as they pulled out daggers and charged toward Gu Qingshan. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what¡¯s happening.¡± Gu Qingshan immediately understood when he saw this. These people were obviously here to attack him. If they really just wanted to fight because they were drunk, they wouldn¡¯t pull knives out. Even if one was groggy from having too much to drink, it couldn¡¯t be that all of them were like this. These young men moved very quickly. With one breath, the first one had already dashed forward and swung his dagger toward Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart. This swing was quick and fierce, so if he really had stabbed it into Gu Qingshan, he would¡¯ve died immediately. These were professionals! Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He quickly moved a few steps to avoid the dagger and ran into the young man¡¯s chest. ¡°Ha!¡± He opened his palm and used it to strike the other party. The young man spun and flew out, knocking into all the men behind him. The few of them howled in pain as if they had just been hit by a flying cow, then fell to the ground and couldn¡¯t stop groaning. They looked at the young man who had been sent flying toward them. There was a huge indention in his chest, and he wasn¡¯t breathing anymore. Gu Qingshan was also shaken by this. ¡°Crap, I forgot, we¡¯re not in the last days yet¡­¡± he mumbled. The only young man left standing tried hard to suppress the fear in his heart as he shouted fiercely, ¡°Whack him!¡± What sort of strength did this guy have? He used only one palm to kill this Martial Arts practitioner, and the others behind had also all collapsed onto the ground. This was no joke. These accomplices were all One or Two Star Martial Arts practitioners, but they were all sprawled on the ground and didn¡¯t even have the strength to move anymore. This guy was a monster! The scarier part was how he hadn¡¯t even seen how this guy had managed to do this. Judging from his terrifying ability, this guy was probably at least a Seven Star practitioner. Or maybe he was a Martial Arts Master who had surpassed the Nine Star stage. What he didn¡¯t know was that the only thing that¡¯d happened was that Gu Qingshan had forgotten to hold himself back and added Spirit Power to his own palm. Without Spirit Power, a cultivator at Qi Refiner Level 2 was only equivalent to a Four Star practitioner. But because he had used Spirit Power, the level of damage had increased by several times. The few young men¡¯s expressions had all changed, and they started pulling guns out. They had initially planned to create a scene where they got into a fight after getting drunk and accidentally killed someone in the process. That way, nobody would smell a rat. But they hadn¡¯t expected this normal looking student to be this ferocious when he attacked! Under such circumstances, they couldn¡¯t continue with their original plan anymore. They were just going to kill him first. Gu Qingshan immediately knew what they were going to do when he saw their actions. A bow appeared in his hands from nowhere. His movement was always faster than these people. Pak pak pak pak pak pak! Gu Qingshan¡¯s hands became mere shadows as he shot out six arrows in a flash. Rapid Shot! Five of them weren¡¯t even sure who had been shot first, but the arrows penetrated their heads. Only the last young man behind was shot through the palm, and he dropped the gun in his hands as he barely managed to remain standing. He realized Gu Qingshan was going to kill him, so the young man quickly knelt down to beg for mercy. ¡°Spare me, please spare me! I admit defeat! Please, leave me a way to escape death! Tell me how I can redeem this lowly life of mine! I¡¯ll do it for you!¡± Gu Qingshan asked, ¡°Who sent you?¡± After hearing this question, he glanced at the five headless corpses on the ground and his heart was filled with fear and anger. The fear was because their target had been so coldblooded and finished off everyone on his side. The anger was because the person who¡¯d hired them obviously hadn¡¯t gotten his information right, or he was trying to kill off cheap assassins like them. Regardless of what the actual situation was, he wasn¡¯t going to let that guy who hired them off lightly. With this thought in mind, he trembled and replied, ¡°The person who hired us to attack you was Ferocious Tiger from the Nie family.¡± ¡°Very good. I like honest people.¡± Gu Qingshan slowly walked over and took back all his arrows. These were special arrows made for battle and could be filled with Spirit Power, so it was a little bit of a waste to use them on ordinary people. If Gu Qingshan¡¯s cultivation level hadn¡¯t been so low, he wouldn¡¯t have used the bow. Qi Refiner Level 2 wasn¡¯t able to dodge bullets yet. But the truth of the matter was clear. It was Nie Yun, all right. But since the Nie family was a large aristocratic family in Changning County, there were countless highly skilled fighters in their house. They didn¡¯t just have Martial Arts Masters, but they also had Chosen Ones and Elemental Arts Experts. ¡°Nie Yun¡­ given the way he does things, he¡¯s not going to let this go.¡± Gu Qingshan thought about what he remembered about Nie Yun and mumbled this to himself. If this sort of person was bent on attacking him, then things would become very difficult. At such a time, everything would be solved if he only had a sword in hand. The sort of sword that was found in the cultivation world. Suddenly, Gu Qingshan went into a daze. He was confused for a moment. He seemed to be nearly able to recall some of his past battles. He was trying to recall some old memories when an external force stepped in. Then, Gu Qingshan went into the daze. ¡°System, did you seal my old memories?¡± After he asked this question, a row of words appeared on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°I still have not shaken off those keeping a close eye on the Space-time Turbulence. If discovered, the consequences are difficult to predict. Please be careful with your words and actions.¡± ¡°When can I recover my memories?¡± ¡°You have to travel to the cultivation world one or two more times.¡± Gu Qingshan whacked his forehead. Rebirth had brought about some unforeseeable consequences. So he could only take one step at a time. He used Spirit Sense to scan his surroundings as he dumped all the dead bodies into his storage bag. Storage bags could store anything that wasn¡¯t alive. It was originally meant for cultivators to carry supplements and weapons, but now it was just nice for storing dead bodies and to get rid of all evidence. Then, the next time Gu Qingshan went to the other world, he would throw these dead bodies into the mass grave and nobody would be able to find any sign that these people had even existed before. Chapter 9 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio This was already within the slum area. There weren¡¯t any closed-circuit cameras around here; there wasn¡¯t even a single pedestrian. Those professional killers had chosen a really good location and time to silence him. Ironically, this also removed any concerns Gu Qingshan had had. The ear-piercing sound of police sirens rang out from afar. Gu Qingshan lifted his head to look and saw a small police shuttle flying over quickly. Since there wasn¡¯t a single person around, nobody could have called the police. The timing of the police was also way too coincidental, so this had definitely all been arranged beforehand. If everything went according to plan, then Gu Qingshan should have been stabbed to death by the road. Then, when the police came, they would find a dagger and consider it as evidence before simply closing the case. By the time Su Xue¡¯er would have gotten the news and sent people to investigate, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to find anything. By the next day, someone would turn himself in and say that he¡¯d got into a drunken fight with Gu Qingshan and accidentally killed him. Since Gu Qingshan would be already dead, there¡¯d be nothing that Su Xue¡¯er could do. So this whole thing would have come to a close. Gu Qingshan looked coldly at the flying police shuttle, then picked up the last surviving young man before disappearing swiftly into the darkness. On the other side. At a casino. Nie Yun looked at the cards in his hand and said, ¡°Deal the cards. I¡¯ll continue to follow.¡± The female croupier couldn¡¯t help but wipe away the perspiration on her forehead. She took a deep breath before dealing the cards to the two players. ¡°Young Master Nie, there¡¯s no need to risk so much,¡± said the man wearing sunglasses with slicked-back hair sitting across him. There was a beautiful figure hiding behind the chair that the man wearing sunglasses was sitting on. She didn¡¯t even dare to peek her head out. Nie Yun wasn¡¯t bothered by any of this. ¡°It¡¯s just two million. If you can¡¯t afford to play, then don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Two million doesn¡¯t count for much, but you¡¯re asking for the top beauty in my hands, and I can¡¯t bear to part with her,¡± replied the man. ¡°I can increase the amount of money,¡± said Nie Yun. The man could feel the beautiful figure behind him tremble slightly, so he laughed bitterly and said, ¡°This beauty isn¡¯t for sale. Why don¡¯t you let her off and I¡¯ll send you two amazing beauties?¡± Nie Yun said, ¡°This woman dared to splash wine into my face, so I want her to understand a few things about etiquette.¡± The middle-aged man in a white shirt and black bowtie walked in and whispered a few things to Nie Yun. Nie Yun immediately slapped him and asked in a cold voice, ¡°And who was the one who said there would be no problems?¡± The middle-aged man hung his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Young Master. Please give me an hour¡¯s time and I¡¯ll send someone to settle this matter.¡± Nie Yun said, ¡°You have only half an hour.¡± The man paused for a while, then said, ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll go personally.¡± He turned and left quickly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Young Master Nie? Something troubling you? Why don¡¯t I help you settle it?¡± said the man wearing sunglasses with slicked-back hair. Nie Yun scoffed and replied, ¡°What do you want?¡± The man with sunglasses put up a hand. ¡°Very simple. I help you settle this problem, and you let my girl off.¡± Nie Yun thought about it for a while, then he suddenly smiled. ¡°Why don¡¯t we do something more exciting?¡± The man grimaced in his heart, but kept a smile on as he replied, ¡°Tell me more.¡± He normally didn¡¯t bother entertaining these men who only cared about spending money and having fun, but Nie Yun belonged to the most powerful aristocratic family other than the Su family within Changning County. The man wearing sunglasses had spent many years mixing with people on both sides of the law, so he knew very well that if he wanted to do anything in this territory, he must never offend this young master in front of him. Nie Yun turned on his own communications optical computer and projected the image on a blank, white wall. Nie Yun said, ¡°The image you¡¯re seeing right now is from my subordinate. I just instructed him to turn on the live recording function, so we can now see him moving quickly.¡± The man wearing sunglasses nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Nie Yun said, ¡°He¡¯s going to kill somebody, so let¡¯s bet on how many moves he¡¯ll need to kill the other party.¡± The man wearing sunglasses asked hesitantly, ¡°Who¡¯s the other party?¡± ¡°A poor student. By the way, I¡¯m betting on one move only,¡± said Nie Yun as he gave this instruction into the communication device. The man wearing sunglasses laughed hollowly. ¡°Your subordinate is a Martial Arts Master, which means he will only need one move to kill any Martial Arts practitioners below Five Stars.¡± Martial Arts practitioners had to reach Nine Stars in order to break through the Martial Arts Master stage. Once one reached Martial Arts Master level, this person would bid goodbye to being an ordinary person. Even the army couldn¡¯t deal with such a person. Unless they used a group of battle-ready mechas, they couldn¡¯t win against such a person. Martial Arts Masters were as highly regarded as those from powerful families. Everyone respected them, and everyone treated them with great reverence. ¡°Are you going to bet or not? If you don¡¯t want to bet, then this deal is off, so don¡¯t blame me for becoming nasty,¡± said Nie Yun impatiently. ¡°All right then.¡± The man wearing sunglasses took a deep breath. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll bet that he won¡¯t be able to kill that poor fellow with one move.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the way. If you win, this two million is yours.¡± There was a smug look on Nie Yun¡¯s face. ¡°If I lose?¡± Nie Yun replied, ¡°Then both the money and the girl is mine.¡± The man flinched, and he was about to refuse this offer when a voice behind him who said, ¡°Bet with him.¡± He whispered back, ¡°What if we lose?¡± The beautiful figure behind him stopped trembling and whispered, ¡°If we lose, then kill everyone in the Nie family, pull all his clothes off, and put him up for sale.¡± She added, ¡°At most, I¡¯ll just give up this mission and go home.¡± The man wearing sunglasses felt a chill in his heart. This lady behind him wasn¡¯t going to take any more of this behavior. He looked back at the arrogant and rude Nie Yun and sighed in his heart. ¡°All right, deal.¡± Nie Yun snapped his fingers then smiled as he picked up his wine glass. ¡°Excellent. Let¡¯s quietly watch Ferocious Tiger go on a hunt, then. Watching Martial Arts Masters kill others is a sort of enjoyment too.¡± On the other side, the Martial Arts Master on an assassination mission was moving at high speed. It was late at night, so the dim streetlamps whizzed past him continuously. The whole city was now asleep, and his movements were light and nimble, so he didn¡¯t make a single sound as he moved and didn¡¯t disrupt anybody¡¯s sleep at all. He was the Lead Hired Expert of the Nie family and had a vicious and cruel personality. He had remained the head of all the Martial Arts practitioners of the Nie family and had made a huge name for himself many years ago. So the Martial Arts world had nicknamed him ¡°Ferocious Tiger¡±. That poor fellow lived in a block within the slum. 22nd story, third room from the left. Ferocious Tiger was very clear on his mission. He would open the door, rush in, kill the boy. That was it. But he definitely couldn¡¯t be careless about it. After all, there was no news from the entire group of men he had hired earlier. He couldn¡¯t contact them and couldn¡¯t locate them either. This was very strange. Just as he was thinking about it, his communication device suddenly rang. ¡°Ferocious Tiger, the boy you want is with me.¡± Ferocious Tiger was surprised. He replied, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to kill him off on the spot?¡± ¡°Oh no no, I think you should increase the price.¡± D*mn it. Ferocious Tiger cursed in his heart. So that¡¯s what happened. These pieces of trash from the lowest rung of society dared to actually increase their price at the last minute. Was the reputation of Ferocious Tiger not sufficient to scare them into obedience? Ferocious Tiger had a sinister smile on his face and tried hard to sound calm. ¡°Of course we could discuss the price further. Where are you guys?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for you at the boy¡¯s place. I believe you know where he lives.¡± He hung up. Ferocious Tiger roared angrily and punched the advertising board by the roadside so hard that it exploded. Ferocious Tiger couldn¡¯t believe these people dared to negotiate for a higher price with him. He was going to make sure they knew that he wasn¡¯t named ¡°Ferocious Tiger¡± for nothing. He increased his speed of movement and looked like a gray shooting star zooming through the night sky. After five minutes, Ferocious Tiger stood on the 22nd story of that building. He checked the unit number, then kicked the door open. Chapter 10 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The entire room was dark. There was one lonely light hanging from the ceiling, and the broken lightbulb was covered with dust. Ferocious Tiger narrowed his eyes and did a quick scan of the place. The space wasn¡¯t split clearly between the living area, bedroom, and kitchen. It was just a rectangular room that barely fit a bed and a cupboard. Everything else had to be piled on the side, otherwise, there was nowhere to put them. There wasn¡¯t even a bathroom. These sorts of living conditions were considered very poor, even in the slums. There was a person leaning sideways against the window across from Ferocious Tiger. That was the leader of the assassins he¡¯d hired. The other men weren¡¯t around, and his target wasn¡¯t around either. These guys were trying to be smart, but unfortunately, they didn¡¯t understand that this attempt to be smart when faced with absolute power would ultimately increase their own pain. Ferocious Tiger took large strides over and grabbed the young man¡¯s neck. He lifted him with his hand and said, ¡°You little piece of trash! Hand that boy over, otherwise, I guarantee that all of you are going to die horribly.¡± The young man glared fiercely at him but didn¡¯t say anything. Ferocious Tiger¡¯s eyes widened, and he was about to bash the young man up. Suddenly, he had a bad feeling. Ferocious Tiger suddenly turned himself around. Every part of him wiggled, and his entire body became taller and stronger. In an instant, he had turned into a bulky giant that stood at three meters tall. ¡°Haaa!¡± Ferocious Tiger let out a war cry, and he slammed his hands upward hard. There was a muffled sound, and Ferocious Tiger flew up, staggered several steps backward, and crashed hard on the wall next to the window. There was a crack in the wall from that crash. Ferocious Tiger looked down at his own two hands. ¡°Bow and arrow? What a rarity.¡± Ferocious Tiger looked at the arrow he was holding on to tightly and wondered out loud. He then looked up with a start to see a figure standing at the door in the dark, and there was an old fashioned longbow in his hand. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re that poor student?!¡± Ferocious Tiger realized who it was and he felt a tremendous shock in his heart. It had taken all his strength to block that arrow earlier. This sort of archery technique was certainly extraordinary, and it definitely wasn¡¯t the standard a high school student should have. He told himself that he had to fight him at close range so that he could get a chance to kill the boy off! Ferocious Tiger then stomped on his feet and flew forward with a loud boom. Gu Qingshan also made his move. He shot another arrow. This arrow was aimed for his chest, and Ferocious Tiger couldn¡¯t avoid it in time since he was charging forward at high speed. He had no choice but to stretch his hands out again and swing them down fiercely through the air. PAK! He managed to hit the arrow aside, but he had also moved back two steps from the immense impact of the arrow. But Ferocious Tiger smiled as if it didn¡¯t bother him at all. ¡°This arrow is pretty powerful, all right, but since you have such a tiny and skinny body, I suppose you can¡¯t draw the bow back anymore, right?¡± Ferocious Tiger rotated his neck a bit and jeered at Gu Qingshan, ¡°How many more of such attacks can you make?¡± Gu Qingshan paused for a while before replying, ¡°Oh, plenty more.¡± He drew the bow as he spoke. Rapid Shot! It was as if there were streams of gray lightning between them, shooting out from Gu Qingshan and hurtling toward Ferocious Tiger. Ferocious Tiger leaned against the wall and used all his strength to defend himself. The narrow room didn¡¯t give him any space to hide. The arrows had a powerful impact, and they were almost as powerful as a full-blown attack from a Martial Arts Master. If Ferocious Tiger didn¡¯t try to defend himself, then he was going to end up with a body filled with arrows. Ferocious Tiger really never dreamt that he, as a Martial Arts Master, would actually be losing to a high schooler. And this embarrassing scene was being sent to where his Young Master was via holographic image. ¡°D*mn you, little punk! You can¡¯t kill me! Once you finish using all your arrows, prepare to meet your death!¡± roared Ferocious Tiger angrily. Gu Qingshan¡¯s hands never stopped. He said, ¡°That time will never come. Goodbye.¡± He made all the Spirit Power within his Dantian flow into the arrow. SWOOOSH! The arrow whooshed over, and there came the sound of the arrow rubbing against the air around it. Ferocious Tiger¡¯s hands couldn¡¯t contain this arrow, and it punctured his chest with a thud. The wall that Ferocious Tiger was leaning against couldn¡¯t take the impact. It cracked with a terrible sound and crumbled down from the 22nd story. The entire face of the wall had fallen, so there was nothing but the billowing night wind behind Ferocious Tiger¡ªnothing left for him to lean on. ¡°D*mn it!¡± Ferocious Tiger tried his best to regain his balance and remain steady. But what made him despair was that another arrow had already come whooshing toward him. This aggressive arrow finally forced Ferocious Tiger to fly out from the 22nd story, drawing a parabola in the sky and falling to the bottom. Never mind a Master¡ªeven a Grandmaster would definitely die after having fallen from the 22nd story. Unless one had reached the Martial Arts Prime stage and had a body that could take tremendous impact as if it were made from iron and steel, one wouldn¡¯t survive this fall. Gu Qingshan walked over to where Ferocious Tiger was standing and picked up the communication device that had fallen on the floor. ¡°Nie Yun?¡± Nie Yun¡¯s nasty voice was heard through the communication device. ¡°When you killed my family¡¯s Hired Expert, didn¡¯t it ever cross your mind that I would prepare something else for you?¡± Gu Qingshan looked at the video displayed on the communication device and suddenly said, ¡°You look like you¡¯re in the largest casino in the city area. In that case, could you stay where you are?¡± Nie Yun froze. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Give me a minute, I¡¯ll come over immediately to kill you.¡± Gu Qingshan then flung the communication device out from the 22nd story. He looked at the young man all curled up in a corner, then turned to leave. The young man saw this and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°I¡¯m no longer of use to you now. You¡¯re really not going to kill me?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done everything I asked you to, so you¡¯ve earned your life back.¡± Gu Qingshan then continued on his way out and disappeared into the staircase. There was a conflicted look on the young man¡¯s face as he sighed, then climbed to his feet and ran out. He yelled, ¡°Wait up! Don¡¯t go there and end up dying! Why not escape with me?!¡± In the casino. Nie Yun continued to stare blankly at the communication device and couldn¡¯t say anything for a long time. ¡°Young Master Nie, I¡¯m sorry. It seems like I won,¡± said the man wearing sunglasses from before. Nie Yun got up with a start and started running out. Soon enough, a beautiful, streamlined, flying shuttle rose from the casino and flew out at top speed. The man wearing sunglasses watched the flying shuttle leave and chortled, ¡°He looked like he was pretty powerful, but he¡¯s actually been frightened off by one sentence.¡± His face suddenly became very solemn as he turned around and bowed. ¡°Your Highness, please control yourself while you¡¯re still on a mission.¡± The beautiful lady behind him slowly got up and looked down at the burning flames dancing in her hand. The flames in her hand gathered to form a quiet and lifeless skull that exuded a heavy feeling of death and darkness. The beautiful lady looked at the skull in her hand and spoke up after a long while. ¡°Hiding my identity is really a troublesome thing.¡± She clenched her fist, and the flames instantly disappeared. Chapter 11 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio After a long while, the beautiful lady quietly gave instructions, ¡°Get a copy of the closed-circuit camera in the room. I want to watch the footage of what happened in the battle just now.¡± The man wearing sunglasses finally breathed a sigh of relief, then asked out of curiosity, ¡°It¡¯s just a Master-level fight. You still want to watch?¡± The lady was silent for a moment before she replied, ¡°There¡¯s something strange about that poor fellow, so I have to watch again.¡± The man got a copy of the footage and started playing it from the front. ¡°Stop,¡± said the lady. The man wearing sunglasses pressed the pause button, and the image on the screen froze. This was the final moment when Gu Qingshan had loaded all his Spirit Power into the arrow. ¡°Take a look,¡± the lady narrowed her eyes and pointed to the arrow. ¡°The atmosphere is always the most sensitive. If there¡¯s any force in the air, the air would react to it.¡± The man looked at the screen seriously and noticed two transparent, bent waves around the head of the arrow. He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before. Could it be some sort of supernatural power we haven¡¯t discovered yet?¡± ¡°How very interesting. This force seems weak, but it gives me a very special sort of feeling,¡± mumbled the beautiful lady as she continued staring at the screen. ¡°We need to find a way to get close to this boy.¡± The long night finally went by. South of the city, in an expensive residential area. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to avenge your buddies?¡± Gu Qingshan looked at the young man with a strange smile. Wang Ming shook his head. ¡°We were just all attracted to the reward and agreed to do this together. We didn¡¯t know each other before this.¡± Wang Ming threw a set of keys at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°You spared my life, so the only thing I can do for you is to provide a hidden place like this for you to rest. The Nie family is really too powerful, after all. Gu Qingshan caught the keys and looked at Wang Ming in surprise. ¡°Thanks for your kindness. I have to make a move first.¡± Wang Ming was stunned for a moment before he quickly asked, ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°Going to work.¡± ¡°Going to work?¡± Wang Ming still couldn¡¯t figure it out. ¡°Yup. I have to work and earn enough money to eat. Besides, I¡¯ll need some money after I go to university,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. Besides the aristocratic families of the nine counties, every citizen in the Federation was under the watchful eye of the Impartiality Goddess. He had been reborn, so if there were any sudden or strange changes in his behavior now, he would definitely attract unnecessary attention to himself. So, for the time being, it was best if he continued his usual lifestyle and lived the same old way. After all, this had been the way Gu Qingshan had lived when he¡¯d been this age. Wang Ming wondered if his ears had a problem and heard Gu Qingshan wrongly. The young man in front of him had killed off five killers at one shot, and even a Martial Arts Master had fallen for his trap and from the 22nd story to become mush. This sort of person actually needed to work and earn a living?! Wang Ming thought that this was incredible but didn¡¯t ask anymore. He was a killer himself, and he knew that everyone had their own secrets. ¡°I¡¯ll keep the keys,¡± said Gu Qingshan as he kept the keys away. ¡°Let me give you a piece of advice. Escape from Changning County right now and head east until you reach Fuxi Empire.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked Wang Ming. ¡°I¡¯m sure whatever happened last night has already been made known by now. I¡¯m a student and a proper employee, so I¡¯m covered under the Su family¡¯s jurisdiction. Since the Nies didn¡¯t succeed this time, they won¡¯t try to attack me again unless they¡¯re absolutely sure. But you¡¯re different. You¡¯re an illegally hired killer who can¡¯t see the light of day. If you don¡¯t leave now, you might die at any moment.¡± Gu Qingshan added, ¡°Your personality is more suited for opening a business with some friends, and not a cold-blooded job like being a killer. If you stay here, even if the Nies don¡¯t finish you off, someone will kill you eventually.¡± He suddenly laughed. ¡°Thankfully, Nie Yun won¡¯t dare to talk about what happened today, otherwise the first person the Impartiality Goddess is going to deal with would be him.¡± Wang Ming nodded and said, ¡°Then, I¡¯ll get going. I¡¯ll see you again if our paths cross.¡± He was decisive, didn¡¯t hesitate, and wasn¡¯t wishy-washy at all. This young man¡¯s resolve was pretty strong. Gu Qingshan nodded in approval and left the room. After half an hour, he arrived at a large tech building that was so tall that it seemed to reach the skies. He scanned his card like he always did and entered the building. He scanned it again and went into the basement. After he had gone through an iris scan and a fingerprint scan, he changed into his uniform before finally putting on his work tag. Then, he entered the elevator and went fifty stories below the ground. The elevator doors opened, and a familiar electronic voice spoke. ¡°Changning Steel Mecha Research and Development Department welcomes you, Number 41157.¡± Gu Qingshan walked in with large strides. Right before him was a steel mecha standing at five meters high. Many others wearing the same uniform as himself were busying themselves around the mecha and having discussions. This was Changning County¡¯s largest mecha development institute and was the Su family¡¯s core business in Changning. If a family member of the Su family didn¡¯t have what it took in this area, he couldn¡¯t get into the company either. Gu Qingshan looked up at that cold and unfeeling weapon of war, and a feeling of excitement started filling his heart. This was a product of human civilization, and it was the result of countless amounts of research and study. This represented the greatest power the world had in battling. Flying shuttles and the like were so weak when placed in front of the strong and invincible mecha. This cold and unfeeling machine that seemed to only exist in a fantasy world held a fatal attraction for every man. ¡°Number 41157 applying for topical research,¡± said Gu Qingshan. ¡°Please describe the content of your work so that the Intelligent Computer can make arrangements,¡± replied an electronic voice. ¡°Power control of Machine 2¡¯s electronic hydraulic drive.¡± ¡°Number 41157, your application is approved. Your time limit is six days, and your room number is 4009. Please remember to eat your meals regularly, balance your work and rest, and keep your body in shape. ¡°Thank you.¡± Gu Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Just as he had predicted, he could stay here for six days in a row. If he completed this topic well, then he would even get a reward at the end. This place was definitely safe unless the Fuxi Empire came to attack the Federation and all of Changning County fell to the enemy. There was no way the Nie family could reach this place. Six days later was the college entrance exams. Then, he could finish the exams and go anywhere he wanted to. As for now, he was going to conduct research on mechas in peace! Gu Qingshan started skipping as he went toward one of the mechas with great anticipation. In his previous life, he had tinkered with several things, plus there had been advancements over the next ten years. He had never given up research on mechas, so this decade of studying and research has been way beyond the time he was living in right now. The conditions here were excellent, so it was a good chance to try out some ideas. At the top of a tall skyscraper outside Changning Steel Mecha Technology. The man wearing sunglasses with slicked-back hair was standing at the highest point and glumly reporting Gu Qingshan¡¯s movement through his communication device. ¡°So he¡¯s actually a legitimate mecha researcher?¡± A clear and cold female voice came through the communication device along with the rattling of a computer keyboard. ¡°That¡¯s right, Your Highness. This place is highly protected, so even if I were to unveil my powers and force my way in, I might not be able to bring him out and might even start a war.¡± ¡°Okay enough. Come back first. There¡¯s no need to go through such a troublesome method; we can go in the legal way,¡± said the female voice ponderingly. ¡°What are you referring to when you say ¡®the legal way¡¯?¡± The man was very cautious when he asked this question. You couldn¡¯t blame him for being so careful. The last time Her Highness said this, her ¡°legal way¡± had turned out to be declaring war on the other party. The man shuddered when he thought about what had happened after that incident. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m going to officially pay a visit. That way, we don¡¯t even need to hide our identities,¡± replied the female voice. The man was greatly relieved. He asked, ¡°Then, what about our mission?¡± ¡°What mission?¡± ¡°The mission to capture a few top talents from the Federation, Your Highness.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re doing.¡± He had disbelief all over his face. ¡°This young punk can be considered a top talent?¡± On the other end of the communication device, a lady of incomparable beauty used both hands to control two virtual screens and replied, ¡°I¡¯ve already made a calculation. That unknown power and amount of force he applied to those arrows is pretty shocking. Also, you really should read the paper he published in the Federation¡¯s tech journal about making mechas move like humans.¡± The lady looked at the information on her screen and gently licked her lips. There was an excitement on her face as if she was a cat who was going to catch a fish. Chapter 12 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The lady thought for a while before saying, ¡°Set up a surveillance robot at your position.¡± The man wearing sunglasses hesitated. ¡°This sort of robot is quite costly, and we don¡¯t have many left.¡± The lady insisted. ¡°Put one there. He¡¯s worth it.¡± ¡°As you wish, Your Highness.¡± The man shook his head as he carefully took a little silver-colored box out and gently placed it on a hidden part of the rooftop. The moment he put the box down, it became invisible. The man shrugged and pulled out his mini optical computer. ¡°Let me take a look at Changning Steel Mecha Tech¡¯s staff records.¡± Countless profiles scrolled past on his optical computer. Then, the man suddenly clicked on one of the profile pictures. This was a young and handsome face that exuded youthful and promising energy. ¡°Yup, that¡¯s our boy.¡± The man flew over the keyboard until a progress bar finally appeared on the screen. The mini optical computer began to transfer Gu Qingshan¡¯s records out. The man wearing sunglasses looked at his watch and scoffed, ¡°It actually takes 15 seconds for the system to track me down. This security system is really trashy. The Su family of Changning doesn¡¯t love their staff enough, huh?¡± After just 7 seconds, the man had already taken the information he needed and shut down the infiltration program. He clicked through Gu Qingshan¡¯s profile several times and quickly understood his biological makeup and characteristics. ¡°Gu Qingshan, you¡¯re not getting away from us.¡± The man smiled faintly and transferred Gu Qingshan¡¯s information into the surveillance robot. In the evening, Gu Qingshan finished an entire day of research. After dinner, he went for a stroll in the company¡¯s soccer field. He looked up and saw that the moon was high in the low, night sky, and every star was shining like diamonds. The gentle wind was very soothing, and the night was very pleasant. Gu Qingshan quietly narrowed his eyes and moved the Spirit Power in his Dantian. It instantly covered his eyes. The scene in front of his eyes suddenly changed. There were wisps of grey smoke floating in the air, swirling quietly like silk strands. Gu Qingshan frowned. This dull grey air was Qi of the Netherworld. So there were already signs that the apocalypse was coming. ¡°There¡¯s less than a year left,¡± murmured Gu Qingshan. He quickened his steps and went back to the room that the company had arranged for him to stay in. It had been almost a full day since he¡¯d returned to the real world the night before, so it was time to enter the other world again. Gu Qingshan made the game interface pop up and glanced at the time left in the hourglass. Just in time¡ªthe last grain of sand fell to the bottom. There was a great flash, and Gu Qingshan completely disappeared from the room. It was early in the morning. Gu Qingshan was standing under the roof as if he had only left for one moment before returning to the other world once more. The demon¡¯s corpse was still lying outside the camp, and its wounds, full of arrows, were still bleeding. Gu Qingshan realized that he was still holding the bow while kneeling on one knee and looked like he was about to shoot toward the entrance of the camp. Everything was as if he had never left. Gu Qingshan stood up and yelled, ¡°Zhao Liu!¡± There was no movement, and nobody responded to him either. Gu Qingshan yelled in frustration, ¡°Zhao Liu, it¡¯s over. You can come out now!¡± After a long while, Zhao Liu finally scuttled over and stood behind Gu Qingshan. He poked a head out from above Gu Qingshan¡¯s shoulder and looked out. ¡°D-d-dead?¡± ¡°Dead. Come on. Let¡¯s go drag it in.¡± Zhao Liu looked at that demon, then looked again at Gu Qingshan before he bit his tongue and said, ¡°Bro, I didn¡¯t think you were this amazing.¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Stop saying useless things now. Go get some tools. We have to get this demon back into the camp.¡± Zhao Liu gathered up his courage and took a look at the demon as he happily exclaimed, ¡°My goodness, such a large one would be enough to feed us for another month!¡± Gu Qingshan nodded and felt a little more settled in his heart. Demon meat was filled with plenty of health benefits for cultivators, and even if an ordinary person ate it, it was helpful in strengthening the body and increasing vitality and blood flow. He had used two healing pills to heal the wounds on his body, but after he¡¯d returned to the real world, he¡¯d gone through two battles. The second battle even involved a Martial Arts Master, so it had consumed all of his focus and strength. Gu Qingshan could feel a dull ache throughout his entire body right now. The wounds that had just closed up started to split a little again. Under such circumstances, if he could keep eating demon meat and resting for a while, it would be extremely beneficial to his body. Zhao Liu ran into the kitchen to grab a large net, long rope, and carving knife. The two of them got themselves ready and started making their way out of the camp. Gu Qingshan asked as they were walking, ¡°Why didn¡¯t anyone cover up the mass grave outside? They¡¯re all your fellow soldiers, after all.¡± Zhao Liu started to complain, ¡°The Squad Leader didn¡¯t care about it at all, so what was an army cook like me going to do? If I left the camp area to bury them properly and ended up meeting some strange creature out there, I¡¯d definitely be dead meat.¡± Gu Qingshan patted his shoulder and said, ¡°After we get the demon in, let¡¯s go and bury the dead bodies.¡± Zhao Liu hesitated and didn¡¯t say anything. Gu Qingshan added on, ¡°The smell of blood from the mass grave is too strong. If it attracts some powerful demon that breaks through the Concealment Magic Formation around the camp, then both of us will be dead for sure.¡± ¡°Er, okay then!¡± After Zhao Liu imagined that scene in his mind, he clenched his teeth and finally agreed. The two of them walked to the entrance of the camp, and Zhao Liu was just about to take one step outside of the camp when Gu Qingshan pulled his collar and held him back. He nearly fell backward on his butt. Zhao Liu asked in annoyance, ¡°Bro, what are you doing?¡± Gu Qingshan raised a hand and motioned for him to stop talking. Zhao Liu wanted to continue arguing, but when he saw how Gu Qingshan looked very solemn, he felt his heart drop and he didn¡¯t manage to utter all the grievances he had just moments before. He got to his feet and whispered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Gu Qingshan pointed at a pool of water outside the camp. It had poured heavily for several days in a row now, so water had accumulated in a depression in the ground about the size of a grindstone. The rain had already stopped, but the surface of the water kept rippling as if there was something shaking beneath it. Gu Qingshan dragged Zhao Liu seven or eight steps back. It was completely silent outside the camp. After several seconds, the surface of the pool of water had also become calm again. Zhao Liu had been holding his breath for so long, but nothing happened in the end. He exhaled and smiled as he was about to speak. But he still couldn¡¯t get a single word out. Gu Qingshan used a hand to cover his mouth, then ran 30 meters back into the camp, stopping only when they had reached the other end of the camp. Gu Qingshan then pressed Zhao Liu into the mud before getting into the mud too and kept rubbing mud all over himself. The many days of rain had made the mud very soft, so he could get quite a lot of it in his hand. Gu Qingshan continued to rub the mud on himself while motioning to Zhao Liu to do the same thing as him. Zhao Liu was an army cook who had to do all sorts of things, but he had never had to go through so much filth. He tried to stand up because he couldn¡¯t stand being in the mud. But just as he bent forward, he suddenly lost his balance and fell back into the mud. This time, he was all covered with mud and didn¡¯t have to rub any on himself anymore. Zhao Liu pushed both his palms against the ground, but he felt that the entire ground was shaking and he simply didn¡¯t have enough strength to push himself back up. The entire ground was shaking violently. Zhao Liu opened his mouth wide in fright and fell back into the mud again. Could it be an earthquake? Zhao Liu looked at Gu Qingshan questioningly, only to find that Gu Qingshan was staring in the direction of the mass grave, and his expression was very grim. Zhao Liu followed Gu Qingshan¡¯s gaze and saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life. He saw a foot. That was a foot that was so large, it filled his entire field of view. It was larger than the entire army barrack by several times. This one foot stepped on the forest outside the camp and completely flattened all the trees. As he looked upwards from the foot, the thick and strong legs extended into the dark clouds above, and he couldn¡¯t see the other end of it. Zhao Liu gaped at this sight. Now, he suddenly realized that the shaking earlier was no earthquake. The shaking was from this foot landing on the ground, and the impact it created caused the earth to vibrate like that. Then, an even crazier thing happened. Chapter 13 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Another gigantic foot came down from the clouds. It landed hard right next to the mass grave and caused the earth to shake and resonate violently. The two hiding in the mud nearly flew up from the shockwaves. A large, terrifying hand reached down from the clouds and scooped up the entire mass grave, along with the demon that was as large as a small hill. The large hand pulled back and returned to the clouds. There was a dull chewing sound that rumbled like muffled thunder. The sky darkened, and cold, black blood started pouring down. It rained down, again and again, causing the empty space in front of them to be drenched in black, and it gave off a stench that made one feel like puking. After a long time, the chewing sound from the clouds stopped, and the black blood eventually stopped raining down. The two gigantic feet started walking and moved away with a thunderous sound. It only took a few steps for it to vanish from Gu Qingshan and Zhao Liu¡¯s line of sight. Zhao Liu was completely stunned as he said, ¡°What was that monster?¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart completely sank as he murmured, ¡°Even that demon has appeared¡­¡± Zhao Liu continued to repeat to himself, ¡°What was that monster? What was that monster?¡± Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t be bothered with him and started pondering this matter in his heart. That was an extremely rare demon¡ªa Faceless Giant. It was an incredibly powerful creature of the Chaos Species. Faceless Giants would not appear just like that. It would only receive a call for help when demons simply couldn¡¯t conquer the humans it had surrounded, and it would come to the battleground to attack the humans. According to his memories from his previous life, since this year was only the last year of Cheng Ping, that meant that the first battles between man and demon had just started. So why were there Faceless Giants already? The first time a Faceless Giant had appeared was in the first year after the players from the real world had entered the game. At that time, a huge war had broken out between mankind and demons. The war lasted an entire year before ending, and Gu Qingshan remembered this very clearly. In the final deciding battle of that year, there were tens of millions of players, but they couldn¡¯t do anything about the Faceless Giant, so they just had to watch as the Faceless Giant broke through the border. The players then had only entered the game for a short period of one year, and they hadn¡¯t reached a high level of skill or cultivation yet. The appearance of the Faceless Giant had made all the players feel deeply helpless. In the end, it took one of the Three Saints, Xuanyuan Heavenly Prime, to personally come out and kill off this demon. But by the time that had happened, the border was already half-ruined, the human army had already collapsed, and they had to move farther back to allow a huge area of land to be their buffer zone. In this first battle, the humans had lost here. But! This was the last year of Cheng Ping, so the battle had just started, and humans and demons were still sounding each other out. So for a Faceless Giant to appear at this time didn¡¯t seem to make sense in terms of the timeline. Unless something that even Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t know about had happened. Gu Qingshan felt that there was a fog covering his heart, but he couldn¡¯t seem to clear it away and couldn¡¯t see the truth hiding behind it. Zhao Liu¡¯s eyes had lost their soul, and he was still repeating that same line. ¡°What monster was that¡­¡± With a loud slap, Gu Qingshan hit Zhao Liu on the back of his neck and he lost consciousness. Zhao Liu had been too severely traumatized earlier and seemed to be going crazy, so it was better that he took a rest first. When the players saw a Faceless Giant for the first time, many of them were also deeply terrified. But this realm was real, and Zhao Liu was just an ordinary person. After seeing such a demon all of a sudden, it was very possible that he could go mad from fright. Gu Qingshan carried Zhao Liu back into the room and flung him onto a cot before returning to the entrance of the camp. Since a Faceless Giant had appeared, then there might be armies following it. After just a few minutes, a demon army appeared. A Gloomy Fire Evil Snake with one horn slithered through the forest, meandering its body across the surface of the ground without a sound, leaving a burnt trail behind it. Seated on its back was a creature that looked like a human and that was fully covered in a gray armor. But its hands and feet were more like claws, and there were no other features on its face besides a huge and bloodied mouth that could open up 180 degrees. That was the insanely bloodthirsty Blood Drinking Demon. If it managed to find its way into a human army, it could massacre a small group. After that first Gloomy Fire Evil Snake had appeared, even more Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes appeared one after another. There was a Blood Drinking Demon sitting on top of each snake. One, two, three¡­ there were twenty in total. Gu Qingshan held his breath and stood in the camp as he quietly counted them. The demon army quickly passed the camp, went in the direction of the Faceless Giant, and disappeared into the forest. Throughout this entire process, the camp had not been discovered, and this was a good thing. But Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t find it in himself to be happy about that. Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes were the best at killing stealthily. They moved without a single sound, naturally came with fire¡ªone of the Five Elements¡ªand were extremely difficult to deal with. Never mind how terrifying the Blood Drinking Demons that rode on them were. The commander-in-chief of this particular camp had died at the hands of several Blood Drinking Demons. Within the army, there was an unspoken agreement between all the soldiers that if anyone ran into a Blood Drinking Demon during their mission, they could give up their mission right away and they wouldn¡¯t be punished by their officers. Only generals were able to go up against this sort of demon. Twenty Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes and twenty Blood Drinking Demons could start an ambush. They followed the footsteps of the Faceless Giant and left quietly. Something big was going to happen. Gu Qingshan was just thinking about this when he suddenly noticed a small bird perch itself on a tree branch outside the camp. This bird had a human face. It took a short rest on the tree branch and was going to continue in the same direction as the Faceless Giant. ¡°I¡¯m so tired¡­ so tired. I¡¯m almost catching up!¡± The strange bird whined. It spread its wings and shook the blood off itself. Then, it used its short beak to tend to the long wound under its wing. This wound was very deep and continued to bleed now and then. Gu Qingshan looked intensely at the strange bird¡¯s wound and only considered the situation for one second before he raised his military bow and took a shot. Rapid Shot! He shot three at once, then another shot of six arrows, and finally a slew of twelve with no pause in between. After Gu Qingshan finished shooting these 21 arrows at one go, his hands were still trembling, despite having the skill of Stabilization. In those few moments, Gu Qingshan had used all the strength he had. Since he had made an attack, he was definitely not allowing his target to leave this place alive. Otherwise, a strange bird with this sort of intelligence would definitely draw a demon army to this place. The sharp arrows became flashes of death as they flew out of the camp and aimed straight for that strange bird. Out of the first three that flew out, one of them hit the strange bird, causing it to struggle and start flying. It spread its wings wide immediately and managed to dodge the next six arrows, but was surrounded by the last twelve arrows and became fatally injured. ¡°Soul Power +2. Current Soul Power: 3/5¡± ¡°You have fully grasped the skill of Stabilization and made a breakthrough in the battle. This skill will upgrade in level: Steadiness.¡± A warm rush flowed through Gu Qingshan¡¯s arms and took a while before it went away. A Growing Skill? Gu Qingshan was shocked. He nocked an arrow to the bow and drew it. His arms didn¡¯t move at all and weren¡¯t even trembling. Gu Qingshan tried moving forward, backward, left, right, sprinting, moving suddenly¡ªno matter how he moved, it didn¡¯t affect his arms¡¯ steadiness at all. His arms were so steady that it was as if they had been in a position to aim accurately right from the start. This skill was not bad at all! Gu Qingshan reached a conclusion after putting down his bow. It wasn¡¯t that sort of legendary Growing Skill but rather just an ordinary improvement of a skill. But that wasn¡¯t too bad either. Stabilization was a basic level skill, while Steadiness was a slightly higher-level skill. War God Techniques could make a basic level skill turn into a higher level and more powerful skill, so this capability was pretty incredible. Steadiness seemed like it only increased the stability of one¡¯s movements, but it was extremely useful in practical situations. From now on, Gu Qingshan¡¯s hands wouldn¡¯t tremble at all even if he was moving extremely quickly. He could maintain a repeated attack under all sorts of battle circumstances. When it came to powerful creatures that moved slowly, he could attack them while running and wouldn¡¯t have to worry that his position would change as a result of his movement. Gu Qingshan kept his bow away and took the demon bird into the camp. He started a fire and threw the bird in to be burnt to ashes. No matter how strange a demon was, it could no longer pull any funny tricks once it was completely burnt. ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s this?¡± Gu Qingshan exclaimed when he looked at the pile of ashes after the fire had completely burnt up the bird. There was a blood-red Jade Plate lying quietly among the ashes. Chapter 14 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan picked up the blood-colored Jade Plate. After carefully inspecting it, he filled the plate with Spirit Power and gently started it up. A strange, otherworldly voice rang out from the Jade Plate immediately. ¡°Target is moving toward the south, east 726, south 94. Instruction: Faceless Giant, Blood Drinking Demon army to chase and attack target.¡± Gu Qingshan immediately understood what was happening. This was a dispatch order for the demon army, and it was a message to guide the direction of the army¡¯s movement. So this strange bird was really a messenger for the demon army, and it was here both to send a message as well as to move them in the right direction. This messenger was moving at an extremely high speed and could fly at the speed of lightning when it went at full speed. If it hadn¡¯t been so severely injured, Gu Qingshan wouldn¡¯t have been able to shoot it down. Without the information and instruction from this strange bird, the demon army was definitely going to end up going way off from the target they were chasing after. Gu Qingshan pressed the blood-colored Jade Plate in his hands, then put it into his storage bag. He hadn¡¯t expected himself to coincidentally ruin the movement of a demon army. Since the demon bird was dead, the Faceless Giant and the Blood Drinking Demons would probably be hampered for the time being. His cultivation level was too low, so that was the most he could do. Gu Qingshan sighed quietly. He couldn¡¯t go on like this. He had to find a way to change his situation as quickly as possible. Power! He needed more power! Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes were filled with determination and desire. He washed away the mud on himself, then went to look at Zhao Liu, who was still unconscious. Gu Qingshan then grabbed a whole bunch of arrows, slung the bow on, and left the camp. Gu Qingshan finally dragged a demon back to the camp in the evening. Actually, he hadn¡¯t gone very far. His cultivation level had been too low, so he¡¯d had no choice but to use all the stealth moves he had to take a walk around the camp, narrowly dodging several fierce demons and finally killing a few small and low-level ones. All these demons were at the lowest level among the demons, so they were very suitable for refining Qi in the early stages. Since he was only at Qi Refiner Level 2 and was fairly weak, he¡¯d had to use all the arrows in his quiver as well as sustain more wounds on himself before managing to kill a few demons. It was hard to blame him for being in this state. In his previous life, players had formed large teams and used all their might to kill off one demon when they¡¯d first started hunting demons. Even a small demon could weigh nearly 200 kilograms, so it was hard for an ordinary person to move that sort of weight by himself. There was limited space in the storage bag, so in order to allow freedom of movement, Gu Qingshan had only brought one of the demons back. He¡¯d just given up on carrying the rest of them. There were dangers everywhere in the forest. The stench of the blood on the demons¡¯ dead bodies quickly attracted several predators. The War God system didn¡¯t seem to care for low-level demons. After spending the entire day hunting, the system only awarded Gu Qingshan with 1 point of Soul Power. Now he had a total of 4 points in his Soul Power. But his XP side was doing well and had finally hit 10 points. He could advance in level now. That small demon he¡¯d brought back was enough for him and Zhao Liu to eat for several days. The two of them could stick around for another two weeks if not for the fact that there weren¡¯t enough Spirit Stones at the Concealment Magic Formation. By the time Gu Qingshan had returned to the campsite, Zhao Liu had woken up. Zhao Liu stood at the entrance of the camp and looked out despairingly until he saw Gu Qingshan and the dead body of the small demon behind him. He was immediately filled with life again. Zhao Liu bent down and stared intensely at that small demon without being able to look away at all. He then said, ¡°Bro, thanks for everything you did earlier. You¡¯d better go take a rest, I¡¯ll deal with this beast and I promise you¡¯ll enjoy tonight¡¯s dinner.¡± ¡°You can take it.¡± Gu Qingshan left the demon there and went back to the room. He sat down cross-legged and shut his eyes. ¡°XP is now 10/10. Confirm level up?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Once Gu Qingshan had made his choice, the breath and blood flowing within his body started rushing, and even his Spirit Power started to move, but there were parts of his body where Spirit Power was stuck and didn¡¯t allow anything to pass through. Since he could feel where it was stuck, it meant that it was time to break through these barriers. This was his chance for a breakthrough! Gu Qingshan allowed himself to enter into a state of breakthrough. HOOO! Gu Qingshan felt much better after he spat out a mouthful of filthy Qi. He had finally successfully reached Qi Refiner Level 3! Gu Qingshan immediately pulled his Spirit Power together and carefully sent it out into his meridian channels to slowly heal his body. There were too many tiny wounds on his body, so he couldn¡¯t be too hasty about things. He used his Spirit Power to nourish his body and peeked at the interface at the same time. ¡°Current XP: 0/15¡± He had to go out and continue hunting to level up again. Gu Qingshan felt a pressure building up in his heart that he had never felt before. Faceless Giants were equivalent to completing the Nascent Soul stage, which was something that Gu Qingshan could only dream of from afar now. The Faceless Giant should have been powerful enough to discover this camp, but because the camp only contained two weaklings, the Faceless Giant wouldn¡¯t have been bothered to attack them. This feeling of having his life in the hands of demons felt really terrible. Gu Qingshan paced the room for a while and finally came to a decision. He had to start cultivating right now until he reached Foundation Building. When one moved from Qi Refiner to Foundation Building, or from Foundation Building to Golden Core, or basically whenever one moved from one stage to another, there was a chance to obtain Magical Power, but of course, one could fail to obtain it as well. There were four types of Magical Powers in this world, and they corresponded to the ones in the real world. They were split into Guicang Martial Arts, Extraordinary Elemental Arts, Chosen Ones, and Deity Descendants. Guicang Martial Arts dealt with increasing the strength hidden in the body. The area for expansion was fairly large, so it was the best for Sword Cultivators and Physical Cultivators. Extraordinary Elemental Arts dealt with the Spirit type of the body. It developed the Spiritual Root of the Major Five Elements or the Peculiar Five Elements so that one could use the power of these elements to go into battle. Chosen Ones had skills of all types, and Gu Qingshan knew of thousands of different skills they could have. This sort of Magical Power was a gift from birth and randomly developed in a person, so it was difficult to predict and wasn¡¯t necessary to mention. As for Deity Descendants, that was just a name used to call anyone with divine skills. Divine skills included the creation of things, doing supernatural things, changing the course of nature, altering fate, making the stars fall, bringing an end to all things, and more. This sort of skill was something that all ordinary players could only dream about and never obtain. Even in this other world, only the strongest human cultivators could have divine skills. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t think about attaining a skill of a Chosen One, and definitely didn¡¯t think about reaching the point where he could obtain divine skills. He didn¡¯t even hope to develop elements. He just wanted to activate the power of Guicang Martial Arts and increase his battling skills as much as possible. He had to obtain this Magical Power and keep himself alive! Gu Qingshan was filled with a desire to become stronger, but he continued to remain patient and continued to use his Spirit Power to nourish the wounds on his body. His wounds were not all healed up, and his mind and body were both very tired, so he couldn¡¯t force himself to go out and hunt demons for the time being. As the saying goes, the time taken to sharpen the axe is not a waste of firewood chopping time. He had to give himself some time to recover first in order to be able to carry on. After two hours, Zhao Liu came into the room. He placed a sumptuous meal consisting of barbequed demon meat and plain porridge on the table. Gu Qingshan and Zhao Liu quickly and happily ate up everything, then sat around the fire to chat after they had cleared everything away. ¡°Are there any swords within the camp?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. He had reached Qi Refiner Level 3, so he could start practicing his swordsmanship. Bows were for long-range attacks, while swords were for close combat. This was the ideal that Gu Qingshan had for his battle strategy in this life. ¡°Swords?¡± Zhao Liu shook his head. ¡°Only officers get to have swords, but they¡¯re all dead and their weapons were thrown into the mass grave along with them.¡± The entire mass grave had been swallowed whole by the Faceless Giant and hadn¡¯t left a single trace behind. Gu Qingshan sighed helplessly. He was a Sword Cultivator but couldn¡¯t even get his hands on a sword since his rebirth. He didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Chapter 15 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t give up and continued asking, ¡°What about the camp itself? Everyone¡¯s dead, but there¡¯s still an armory here, right? You mean there are no weapons left?¡± Zhao Liu caught on and said, ¡°I have the keys to the armory, but because I don¡¯t know how to use any of the weapons, I¡¯ve never gone in before. Why don¡¯t we have a look?¡± Gu Qingshan happily agreed, ¡°Sure.¡± The two of them opened the door of the armory and looked around with torches in their hands. All the racks of weapons were empty. The two of them walked through the entire place and finally found a curved saber that was half broken on the last rack in the room. Gu Qingshan frowned. They continued to search the walls and finally found a place that had a hidden lock. Behind the hidden lock would be a place where the highest-ranked officers of the camp would store items. This part was the same as his previous life. In his previous life, whenever players had noticed anywhere that had been abandoned by cultivators, the first thing they would do was to search for treasure. Eventually, knowing how to find such treasures had become an expertise of sorts. Toward the end of the game, there were even players who¡¯d specialized in finding treasures. Gu Qingshan took one look at the hidden lock and had a rough idea of what type it was. He said, ¡°This hidden lock is of a higher level, so I suppose only the general guarding this camp has the keys.¡± Zhao Liu was surprised as he looked at the hidden lock and couldn¡¯t help but exclaim, ¡°But the general died in battle a long time ago.¡± Gu Qingshan asked, ¡°Then, do you know where his room is?¡± ¡°That much I know.¡± ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go and have a look.¡± The two of them went out and searched the general¡¯s room for a long time before Gu Qingshan finally managed to find the key. Gu Qingshan took the key back to the armory and opened the lock on the wall. There were only a small book and a very filthy, round plate. There were several crack lines on the round plate, and a lot of it had already been chipped off. ¡°A formation disk?¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he immediately picked the round plate up. ¡°Low Level Formation Disk (Damaged), for creating and stabilizing Psychedelic Magic Formations.¡± ¡°Comprehension of how to create Psychedelic Magic Formations requires 17 points of Soul Power.¡± 17 points. That was way above Gu Qingshan¡¯s Soul Power upper limit, so this was impossible. But this wasn¡¯t what Gu Qingshan was concerned with. Gu Qingshan flipped the formation disk over and pressed a button in the center of the disk. The formation disk was immediately opened. Faint light blue sparkles fell from the formation disk and spilled all over the floor. Gu Qingshan pressed down on another part of the formation disk, and even more countless sparkles fell to the floor. ¡°Spirit Stones!¡± Zhao Liu exclaimed as he fell to the floor and scrambled to pick everything up. Gu Qingshan was relieved inside. The formation disk was damaged, but it seemed like none of the Spirit Stones inside had been used before, and even the reserves hadn¡¯t been used either. It was probably because the commander-in-chief here had died unexpectedly and nobody knew about this, so the Spirit Stones were left behind as a result. This was a pleasant surprise. The two of them picked up all the Spirit Stones and counted them to find that there were 75 Stones! Now, the Concealment Magic Formation around the camp could sustain for another two weeks. Gu Qingshan put the formation disk down, picked up the small book, and flipped through it. Military Qi Refining Instruction Level 1: Qu Chi Level 2: Yin Men Level 3: Shao Shang Level 4: Tai Yin Level 5: Shu Zhong Level 6: Ling Xu Level 7: Shen Tang Comprehension of Levels 1-3 requires 1 point of Soul Power. Comprehension of Levels 4-5 requires 2 points of Soul Power. Comprehension of Level 6 requires 3 points of Soul Power. Comprehension of Level 7 requires 6 points of Soul Power.¡± This was the cultivation approach in the military and was considered the most ordinary way of cultivation among all the cultivation techniques. It really couldn¡¯t be compared to the secret techniques that those sects and aristocratic families practiced. But this sort of cultivation approach was good in that it created a very firm foundation that was beneficial for reaching Foundation Building stage. Also, there were plenty of others who cultivated the same way, so he wouldn¡¯t stick out or seem strange. This was really a gift that he hadn¡¯t even asked for. But didn¡¯t leveling up require XP? How was he able to use Soul Power too? Gu Qingshan thought about this, and a row of luminous words appeared on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°A complete set of cultivation approaches has appeared. War God Operating Interface is already prepared for this.¡± ¡°From now on, the player can choose to use Soul Power to replace XP for leveling up.¡± ¡°Soul Power can only be used by itself. Once you decide to use Soul Power, you will not be able to use XP to level up anymore. Please choose carefully.¡± This system was really quite flexible. Once he had cultivation approaches on hand, then leveling up was like comprehending skills and only required Soul Power. That way, Soul Power became even more important. Gu Qingshan looked at the War God Techniques Interface and fell into deep thought. ¡°What is Soul Power exactly?¡± he asked. The interface replied, ¡°It is the root power of all living things, and it comes from the source of the soul.¡± The words ¡°root¡± and ¡°source¡± rarely appeared in the game, and it represented a sort of extreme. This extreme sort of power must have its own special characteristics. Gu Qingshan immediately started paying attention. When it had come toward the end of the game, the amount of XP needed to level up had been at an astronomical figure, and it¡¯d become a terrible problem for players. But Soul Power seemed to be a greater sort of power. Choosing Soul Power could help him avoid the limits of XP, but nobody knew what the way ahead looked like. But so many amazing and incredible players couldn¡¯t reach the highest standard of battling in this world in the end partly because of this XP problem. He had been given a second chance, so was he going to let history repeat itself? Why not take a chance? Gu Qingshan thought about it for a while, then said decisively, ¡°I choose to use Soul Power to level up.¡± ¡°Player has chosen Soul Power. You have made another step toward becoming a War God. Please continue to work hard.¡± As the system rang out coldly, Gu Qingshan¡¯s XP field on the interface completely disappeared, and he was left only with Soul Power. Gu Qingshan quietly looked at the War God Operating Interface and stuffed the little book into his pockets. The two of them walked out of the armory and back toward the room. Zhao Liu was so happy that he couldn¡¯t stop grinning. The two of them split ways and went into their own rooms. Gu Qingshan closed the door behind him and sat down on the ground, then placed the book of Military Qi Refining Instruction on his knees. Gu Qingshan had gone past the Qu Chi, Yin Men, and Shao Shang levels, so he skipped these levels and looked at the fourth and fifth levels. Since he had actually gotten a book of cultivation approaches, if he wanted to increase his capabilities and increase his Soul Power¡¯s upper limit, then this was his best option. Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t an indecisive person, so once he reached this conclusion, he didn¡¯t hesitate any further. ¡°I choose to comprehend the way to break through to Level 4 Tai Yin.¡± ¡°Comprehension starting. 2 points of Soul Power will be deducted. Remaining Soul Power: 2/5¡± A warmth flowed out of the small book and into Gu Qingshan¡¯s consciousness. In just a few seconds, the Spirit Power movement, breathing rhythm, and transfusion of Qi and blood techniques that were required to break through to this level were all clearly etched onto Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart. Gu Qingshan closed his eyes and quietly gathered his Spirit Power to push it through the barriers in his body. He was like a Qi Refiner Level 4 cultivator coming back to go through this process again. The military way of refining Qi was a little simplistic and coarse, but it had no loopholes and wouldn¡¯t cause the cultivator to lose his soul in it, so he could safely continue cultivating in peace. The Spirit Power started spinning at the barrier, then it suddenly shrank and expanded, bursting through Shao Shang in an instant. Gu Qingshan checked himself to find his Spirit Power slowly spinning within his Dantian, but it was now much more than before. Chapter 16 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°Soul Power upper limit +1. Current upper limit: 6. Current Soul Power: 2/6.¡± With the complement of Soul Power, Gu Qingshan had used cultivation to break through to a new level just like everyone else in this world. Not needing XP to level up had never happened before in the history of the game. Gu Qingshan was a little worried that something might have gone wrong, so he carefully checked himself and was surprised to find that his Spirit Power was fully charged. After using XP to level up, players always needed a long time for their Dantian to recuperate and fill up to the increased volume of the new level. But this time, he had used Soul Power to break through to the next level, and his Spirit Power was completely filled instantly! Soul Power was indeed a superior sort of strength. He had made a good bet this time. In that case, given his foundation, he could continue making more breakthroughs. ¡°Gotta make full use of the time here. Again!¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t waste any more time thinking about this. He directed his Spirit Power to spin within his body, and based on the comprehension he¡¯d gained earlier, he managed to find the fifth barrier. This barrier was the Shu Zhong acupoint. Gu Qingshan tried and was nearly able to break through the barrier several times, but it always ended in failure. He stood up, walked around the room a few times, then he calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and sat down cross-legged on the ground again. ¡°2 points of Soul Power to be deducted. Comprehending Level 5: Shu Zhong.¡± ¡°Points deducted. Remaining Soul Power: 0/6.¡± This decision didn¡¯t disappoint him. He followed the approach that his consciousness understood and broke through the fifth barrier easily. Once the Shu Zhong barrier was crossed, Gu Qingshan felt the Soul Power in his Dantian becoming stronger very quickly and then get stronger again. When everything finally calmed down, the amount of Soul Power he had now was twice the amount he¡¯d had when he¡¯d been at Qi Refiner Level 4! Back when he¡¯d killed Ferocious Tiger, Gu Qingshan had to plan his moves carefully. If he went to kill Ferocious Tiger now, he could probably take him down with just one arrow. He was now a Qi Refiner Level 5 cultivator and had managed to catch up with cultivators of this world that were the same age as himself. That was already quite impressive since it was already quite difficult for a 16 or 17-year-old to hit Qi Refiner Level 5 in this cultivating world. ¡°Soul Power upper limit +1. Current upper limit: 7. Current Soul Power: 0/7.¡± His Soul Power upper limit had gone from 6 to 7. Gu Qingshan looked at his current Soul Power and thought about the last two techniques of his military bow. Since the upper limit of his Soul Power had gone up, then he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to comprehend Precision. If he could get 6 points of Soul Power, he could comprehend the last technique, Double Flying Swallows! Gu Qingshan hadn¡¯t managed to bring over his cultivation level from his previous life, but his knowledge and foresight were still around. Precision could increase the fatality rate and accuracy level of his shots and was a necessary move to comprehend, but Double Flying Swallows was clearly a powerful archery move. To players, even if their level was very high, they couldn¡¯t wield huge amounts of Spirit Power without a powerful move that required it. So Double Flying Swallows was a very important move to have. Gu Qingshan thought about this in his heart as he stood up. He felt like he had an unlimited amount of strength now and felt like he could punch through the earth with just one fist. This was the illusion that came with breaking through cultivation levels too quickly. And this feeling meant that his foundation was a little shaky now. But it was also true that it was rare for someone in the cultivation world to break through two levels at one shot. Gu Qingshan threw a few air punches in the room but didn¡¯t see any effects of his cultivation, so he picked up the military bow and quiver and left the room. He walked past Zhao Liu¡¯s room to hear his loud snoring. Zhao Liu could finally have a good night¡¯s rest. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t make any other stops. He quickly walked out of the camp and disappeared into the night. He was going to hunt down some stronger demons to solidify his cultivation level by putting himself in danger and obtaining some Soul Power points. In the forest. A brownish-gray Demonic Python fell from the tree. Its body was as wide as a grindstone and made a thunderous sound as it crashed to the ground. This was the top predator of this forest¡¯s food chain, and it never failed to catch its prey. Those demons that were bigger and stronger than it would also collapse from its poisonous fangs after a long battle, and soon became the food in its stomach. When hunting, Demonic Pythons were never short of patience. But today, it had run into a very impatient hunter. In just the first few minutes of the battle, both its eyes had been shot blind, and its body was filled with sharp arrows. It used all its strength but was still unable to cause any major damage to its enemy. The Demonic Python eventually breathed its last in indignation. ¡°Soul Power +5. Current Soul Power: 7/7.¡± Gu Qingshan came out from the shadow of the branches and looked at the Demonic Python in front of him. He came here before when he had only been at Qi Refiner Level 2. The Demonic Python had chased after him for several kilometers, and he had to use all sorts of tricks in order to escape. This time he had reached Qi Refiner Level 5, and his capabilities had gone up by more than double, so he could finally come back and kill off this Demonic Python. Among the ordinary demons, snakes were considered rare, and you might not find a second one in the entire forest. They weren¡¯t mere animals like how they were in the real world. In the cultivation world, their existence was very special. A python could evolve into a kraken and a kraken into a dragon. Demonic snakes were always absorbing the Spirit Qi from both the heavens and the earth, so it took in the best energy from the universe. Its entire body was filled with treasures. Its gallbladder was the antidote for hundreds of poisons and could treat severe wounds; its blood could heighten the five senses; the meat could strengthen one¡¯s body; the fangs were good material for making knives and arrows. This Demonic Python had lived for quite a while, so the quality of its body wouldn¡¯t be poor for sure. Gu Qingshan pulled a dagger out and stabbed it accurately into the snake, then slit the side of the body. Two gallbladders the size of an infant¡¯s head came rolling out, and Gu Qingshan caught them. The gallbladders were shiny and slightly translucent, and they gave off a cloudy and milky white glow. This was definitely good stuff. It was so effective and beneficial, so it was something that every cultivator wanted to have but couldn¡¯t always get their hands on. Gu Qingshan carefully kept one of the gallbladders away, then ate up the other one with just a few bites. In no time, the wounds on him started to feel a little numb and itchy. Gu Qingshan was pleasantly surprised. He hadn¡¯t expected it to take effect so quickly. The gallbladder of a Demonic Python could get rid of all the toxins in the body and increase its rate of regeneration. At this rate, it would only take another two hours or so for all his wounds to be completely healed. Gu Qingshan made sure the other gallbladder was safely kept away, then he pulled the dagger out and plucked out all its fangs. This place was too far from the camp, and it was night time, which was the time when demons came out to hunt. It would be ridiculous for him to bring the entire snake back by himself. So Gu Qingshan could only quickly take the chance to pick only the parts that were most useful to himself. After he kept away the gallbladder and fangs, Gu Qingshan took out a water bottle. He emptied the bottle and filled it up with snake blood. He tried one mouthful, and the stench filled his mouth. Gu Qingshan clenched his teeth, then drank another mouthful. He then filled it back to its maximum and kept it away. It wasn¡¯t good for him to drink too much of this stuff. A cultivator who was only at Qi Refiner stage couldn¡¯t take so much of it. After he had finished harvesting everything that he wanted, the next thing was the highlight of the night. This Demonic Python had been the most difficult demon to kill the whole night, but it had given him 5 points of Soul Power at one shot. After adding on the few demons he killed earlier, he had finally reached the moment where he could reap the benefits. Gu Qingshan took a deep breath, then looked at the War God Operating Interface and said, ¡°Deduct 6 points of Soul Power. I want to comprehend Double Flying Swallows.¡± ¡°Double Flying Swallows comprehended. Current Soul Power: 1/7.¡± Warmth flowed from the bow into Gu Qingshan¡¯s arms, then spread throughout the rest of his body. Various aspects, including techniques on strength control, methods of directing Spirit Power, hand positions, grasping the wind direction, and target distance flowed continuously in Gu Qingshan¡¯s mind. After the warmth had gone one round in Gu Qingshan¡¯s body, it finally flowed into his consciousness and disappeared. It hadn¡¯t been easy, but he had finally mastered this powerful move. Chapter 17 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan opened his eyes and pulled out two arrows quietly. He nocked them to the arrow, drew back the bow, and released it gently. The two arrows shot out in a crooked, arched trajectory, pinning a tree leaf onto a branch. The path of the arrow was arched! Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. This was exactly what he had imagined. That way, his attacks would become unpredictable. ¡°If I use Spirit Power to guide the arrows¡­¡± Gu Qingshan mumbled this to himself as he tried to use the Double Flying Swallows technique again. The two arrows went in two different directions, arching high over rows and rows of trees before finally shooting down a sprinting rabbit a few hundred meters away from him. Even though Gu Qingshan had seen much of the world in his previous life, he was deeply attracted to this archery move. This was the archery technique of a human army general. Gu Qingshan walked about for a bit and mumbled to himself. Then, he picked up his bow again. Activate Rapid Shot! Activate Double Flying Swallows! The bow was drawn back, again and again, sending the arrows shooting out in a mess and none of them hit the target. Gu Qingshan frowned and fell into deep thought. Double Flying Swallows was a good technique, but why couldn¡¯t it be used in quick succession? Was it necessary to pause in between when using such a powerful technique? That didn¡¯t make sense. He tried again but it still didn¡¯t work. Double Flying Swallows was an amazing archery technique, but once he tried to use it in quick succession, it lost all its accuracy. No, it shouldn¡¯t be like this. Gu Qingshan kept trying and trying like he was possessed, and without realizing it, he had even tried to throw in Steadiness too. After an hour. Two arrow paths became a grey shadow, like flying snakes that had come to life, cutting through the air in a crooked arc, and finally shooting through the same tree leaf. The path of the arrows was completely impossible to predict, and with the addition of the frequency of the rapid shots, anyone that was a target of Gu Qingshan¡¯s arrows would have no idea how to dodge this mess of arrows in front of him. Gu Qingshan nodded slightly and put the bow down. It was indeed possible. It was just a matter of whether one really thought hard enough about it and to try and improve the technique. DING! The sound of the system suddenly rang out and shocked Gu Qingshan. There was a message above the round halo around the War God Techniques label on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°Player Gu Qingshan has merged three archery techniques and created a new archery technique: Volley.¡± ¡°Volley (Elementary Level): Shoot 5 arrows with an unpredictable arrow trajectory in extremely quick succession at target.¡± There was even something like this! Gu Qingshan¡¯s mouth was open wide as he looked hard at the words ¡°Elementary Level¡± and didn¡¯t say anything for a long time. Since there was such a thing as elementary level, that meant that there were higher levels to reach. He hadn¡¯t expected himself to create a Growing Skill on his own. He was still in shock when a luminous row of text appeared on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°Growing Skills are rare to come by. Please continue to improve your techniques so that you can increase the level of each technique as soon as possible.¡± That¡¯s right, the amount of power and force of an ordinary technique was based on how much Spirit Power was used. The amount changed according to how much Spirit Power one had. But Growing Skills were different. This was a special skill that could keep advancing in power. So as the player gained more insight into the technique, the technique¡¯s basic power would keep increasing until it hit nearly celestial limits. This was a skill that was hard to come by. Towards the end of the game, after Growing Skills reached their limit, they were known as Secondary Divine Skills. People who had Growing Skills were the envy of everyone. Gu Qingshan took a deep breath and picked up his bow very seriously. Volley! BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG! Five resonances in a row sent five fleeting shadows flying out, like a dragon and a serpent were dancing together! These arrows seemed to be alive as they followed different paths through the air, avoiding all obstacles in between, and landing neatly together on a tree branch about 200 meters away. Gu Qingshan was stunned. He was completely speechless by this shot. After a long time, he suddenly thought of something and asked, ¡°System, can I merge other ordinary techniques to continue creating Growing Skills?¡± The War God Operating Interface paused for a moment before another row of luminous text popped up: ¡°Comprehension of others¡¯ techniques is only the foundation. Helping the player to keep creating Growing Skills is the aim of War God Techniques.¡± Gu Qingshan sighed and murmured to himself, ¡°So I had gotten it wrong earlier. This is the true value of War God Techniques.¡± He looked at the row of black holes at the bottom of the interface. Only War God Techniques was lit up. But this function alone already shocked him beyond words. If one day, all the techniques he had could become Growing Skills¡­ That was simply too shocking. Gu Qingshan held his bow tightly and was suddenly filled with more confidence than before. He now had Growing Skills and Soul Power, and these two things were very special. Using Soul Power to increase his level and techniques was more worth it than using XP. At least at the moment, he had only needed a few points of Soul Power to grasp cultivation approaches in the Military Qi Refining Instruction book to level up. Gu Qingshan could now use his Soul Power alone to level up and didn¡¯t need to work so hard to accumulate XP like the other players in his previous life. Toward the end of the game, the amount of XP needed to level up was always some astronomical figure, and it greatly curtailed the leveling up of the players¡¯ abilities. Besides that, the War God Operating Interface could help him to create his own Growing Skills. Gu Qingshan suddenly felt that he could definitely go a much longer way than he had in his previous life. After he had been surprisingly reborn into this current life, Gu Qingshan had always felt a heavy and pressing feeling on his heart. This was a depressing time, and it was a time in the game¡¯s history when there were no players. After his rebirth, many strange things were different from what he remembered from his previous life. Many things were happening quietly which he had never known before. Even a Faceless Giant¡ªan almost invincible Chaos Species monster¡ªhad already appeared. Gu Qingshan could feel somewhere within him that death was slowly approaching him. This was an intuition that he was born with, and it had saved him countless times in his previous life. His plan now was to try his best to become stronger, so that in the near future, he might have a chance to live when death was imminent. Gu Qingshan exhaled. His eyes scanned the War God Operating Interface and stopped at his skills field. At the moment, the skills field was already populated with the three skills: Steadiness, Rapid Shot, and Volley (Elementary Level). Double Flying Swallows had disappeared, having been replaced by Volley. The difference was that Volley needed much more Spirit Power to control the path of the arrows and was still at Elementary Level. That was fine, really. The more powerful a skill was, the more Spirit Power it consumed. His next step was to spend more time improving this particular skill so that he could level up Volley. Gu Qingshan quickly packed his things and got ready to leave. There were some demons not too far off that had smelled the stench of the Demonic Python¡¯s blood, and their howls were coming closer and closer. PFFFT! Gu Qingshan suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood without warning. He opened his eyes wide in surprise, then spat another two mouthfuls of black blood uncontrollably. Gu Qingshan wiped some of the blood away and sniffed it. There was a faint stench. This was poison. That didn¡¯t make sense. Why was there poison in his body? And how did it get forced out? Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t dare to be too careless. He moved his Spirit Power to flow through his body and checked himself carefully. There was nothing unusual happening in his body at all. In fact, it was regenerating quickly thanks to the Demonic Python¡¯s gallbladder. Even the Spirit Power in his Dantian flowed more naturally and smoothly. This was the effect of this rare Demonic Python gallbladder. He was thankful that there wasn¡¯t anything unusual inside him. So he had been poisoned by the Demonic Python in the battle earlier after all. Gu Qingshan was really quite speechless this time. This Demonic Python wasn¡¯t simple at all. It had actually poisoned him without him knowing. If they had continued fighting, it would have been hard to say which side would die first. He was glad that he hadn¡¯t dragged the fight on and used the fastest way to kill the python off. If he hadn¡¯t killed the snake off and eaten the gallbladder immediately, it might have taken a long time for him to discover that he had been poisoned, and it was hard to say what might have happened after that. These types of rare demons were really creatures with solid predatory powers after all. Gu Qingshan felt a chill in his heart. Chapter 18 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio One day passed very quickly. When Gu Qingshan returned to the real world, only one hour had passed. The communication device on the bed kept ringing. He picked it up to find 7 missed calls, and they were all from Su Xue¡¯er. Gu Qingshan called her back, and she picked up immediately. Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s face appeared on the device. ¡°Qingshan, I have good news to share with you.¡± There was a faint look of joy on Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s face. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s the good news?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°I¡¯ve been accepted by Capital University in advance, so I don¡¯t have to go through the college entrance exams, and I¡¯m going to report to the university right now!¡± Gu Qingshan replied happily, ¡°Capital University is the best in the Federation, congratulations.¡± Su Xue¡¯er replied regretfully, ¡°My family has packed everything for me already, and they¡¯re hurrying me to leave now, so I can¡¯t visit your stall tonight.¡± Gu Qingshan said, ¡°That¡¯s all right. I can always cook for you after you come back.¡± He thought about it seriously and continued, ¡°After you turn 18, you can take alcoholic drinks, so I¡¯ll make you some drinks. That¡¯s your privilege, okay? Not everyone gets to drink the drinks I make.¡± These words didn¡¯t seem out of the ordinary to Gu Qingshan. He had been influenced by someone in his previous life, so he would cook and make some drinks for himself whenever he had nothing to do. He had spent some time and effort into making drinks, so he had reached a very high standard. Later, he even learned how to use ingredients from the other world to make wine, and this wine was very beneficial to one¡¯s health. Many high-level players wanted to befriend him, but they weren¡¯t eyeing his commander status. They were eyeing the addictive tasty wine he made. But when Su Xue¡¯er heard him mention alcohol, she turned red and quietly whispered, ¡°Qingshan, you must work hard for the college entrance exams. I¡¯ll wait for you in the capital.¡± Gu Qingshan was now a Qi Refiner Level 5 cultivator and even the slightest movement in the air couldn¡¯t escape his ears, what more such a gentle voice. Gu Qingshan had gone through two lifetimes now, and he could hear the emotions she had for him through these words. He was a little stunned and wondered how the topic had changed so quickly from talking about food and drinks. But his heart couldn¡¯t help but start pounding loudly when he heard these words. Gu Qingshan was about to say something, but Su Xue¡¯er avoided eye contact with him and didn¡¯t even dare to look at him anymore. She switched off the communication device with her little hand. It was so embarrassing for her to say something like that. Su Xue¡¯er felt like she was going mad. Back when she¡¯d heard that Gu Qingshan had been going to confess to her in front of all the teachers and students at the graduation ball, it had caused her great pain inside because she couldn¡¯t have agreed to go out with him. If she had agreed in front of everyone, then it wasn¡¯t just her family who wouldn¡¯t have let Gu Qingshan off. Many other heirs to aristocratic families would also have secretly tried to harm Gu Qingshan. That wasn¡¯t what Su Xue¡¯er wanted to see. In the end, it all turned out to be a misunderstanding, and someone else was behind it all. At the ball, Gu Qingshan had faced this situation so calmly and resolved the entire incident rather perfectly. Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s heart had relaxed, and she liked Gu Qingshan even more. That¡¯s why she took the initiative to call him today. On the other end, Gu Qingshan stared into space for a long time. He snapped back to reality only when he saw a notification on his communication device. It was a message from Su Xue¡¯er. ¡°Gentle reminder. It¡¯s my birthday next week.¡± Gu Qingshan closed his eyes and thought for a while before replying: Okay. He had to admit that he didn¡¯t know what to do at first. But everything was still going well. Gu Qingshan quickly reached a decision. He walked out of his room, swiped his pass at the elevator, and pressed the button for the 99th floor. The elevator went upward until it reached the top floor of the Changning Steel Mecha building. Gu Qingshan walked out and stopped at the processing machine in the middle of the top floor. He placed his hand on the scanner. An electronic voice rang out, ¡°Identity authentication passed. Number 41157, please state your business.¡± This was Changning Steel Mecha Tech¡¯s mainframe optical computer, and it was in charge of everything within the company. Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I would like to connect to the Impartiality Goddess.¡± After he replied, the electronic voice immediately spoke, ¡°Connection to the Impartiality Goddess will require the system to go through an extremely detailed identity authentication process and to calculate your Personal Meritorious Service points in order to ensure that the credibility and reputation of Changning Steel Mecha Tech will not suffer any damage as a result of your personal actions. Do you still wish to connect to the Goddess?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°As per your confirmation, the authentication will begin after one minute.¡± The electronic voice faded, but there were many mechanical arms that rose from the ground and gleamed coldly in the light as they surrounded Gu Qingshan to carry out a series of authentication checks. At the same time, the 99th floor was now sealed off and nobody else could enter at this point. ¡°Iris scan passed.¡± ¡°Blood test passed.¡± ¡°Biological characteristics match 99.1759%.¡± ¡°Checking for clone characteristics. Confirmed to be not a clone. DNA test passed.¡± ¡°Unique frequencies of life match records. Passed.¡± ¡°Checking recent activity, confirmed to be non-dangerous person.¡± ¡°Credit records in good condition.¡± ¡°Calculating Personal Meritorious Service¡­¡± Gu Qingshan stood where he was and waited quietly for the complicated and complex authentication process to end. The Impartiality Goddess was the main AI processor of the entire Federation. She controlled the operation of the Federation, oversaw all citizens, and carried out all actions in accordance with the constitution of the Federation. The Impartiality Goddess was the product of the best of the Federation¡¯s technology advancement. She was the most glorious and splendid result of human civilization. Because the Impartiality Goddess was too fast at calculating the future, and her intelligence level and logic was far beyond many other countries, no other country had dared to attack the Federation for the last few decades. After ten minutes. The electronic voice spoke again, ¡°Your Personal Meritorious Service has hit the minimum requirement and you have passed the authentication check. Changning Steel Mecha Tech optical computer will now officially request to connect to the Impartiality Goddess. Number 41157, please remain where you are and do not move.¡± Personal Meritorious Service referred to the contributions that citizens of the Federation made to advance human civilization and improve human society. The more one contributed, the higher the number of Personal Meritorious Service points, and that corresponded to better benefits or special privileges. Even some important universities looked at this index and didn¡¯t accept students who hadn¡¯t reached their minimum, despite having excellent results. Personal Meritorious Service points didn¡¯t matter if you were part of one of the nine magistrates¡¯ families. Freedom Federation was a country founded by the nine magistrates, so they naturally had special privileges that ordinary citizens did not have. ¡°Impartiality Goddess has accepted your request.¡± The electronic voice suddenly changed and became a solemn female voice. This female voice used a unique way of enunciating each word, so there was a special rhythm to it. ¡°Dear Federation citizen Gu Qingshan, I am the Impartiality Goddess. Please state your request.¡± ¡°Please take note that all actions that waste my time will lower my review score of you.¡± Chapter 19 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan knew that the Impartiality Goddess was now on the line with the mainframe optical computer, so he bowed and replied, ¡°I would like to request material and technical support from the Impartiality Goddess so that I can create a mecha.¡± ¡°Confirmed that citizen Gu Qingshan has the ability to create a mecha.¡± ¡°Confirmed that citizen Gu Qingshan¡¯s Personal Meritorious Service points are sufficient.¡± ¡°Request granted.¡± The Impartiality Goddess then said, ¡°I would like to remind citizen Gu Qingshan of one thing. Chang Ning Mecha Tech¡¯s mainframe optical computer here is able to take on 87.159257% of the world¡¯s mecha research and creation work. With this in mind, do you still want to spend your Personal Meritorious Service points and seek my personal help?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Yes.¡± The Impartiality Goddess said, ¡°To activate my personal help in creating a mecha, you will need to use up 2,000 Personal Meritorious Service points. Calculating citizen Gu Qingshan¡¯s Personal Meritorious Service points now.¡± Every Personal Meritorious Service point was important to a citizen of the Federation because the Impartiality Goddess used that to decide on one¡¯s social standing, benefits, and the way one was treated. Gu Qingshan had gone all out to accumulate points partly because he wanted to get into a good university, but also partly because he wanted to use these points in exchange for a mecha while in university. Mechas were something that ordinary citizens couldn¡¯t get their hands on at all. The aristocratic families wouldn¡¯t generously contribute any unless you signed your life away to them. He was only able to use his precious Personal Meritorious Service points to exchange for a mecha by connecting to the Impartiality Goddess. Of course, his records had to be clean and he had to fulfill a string of conditions the Impartiality Goddess had. In no time, a screen appeared in front of Gu Qingshan. All the merits that Gu Qingshan had accumulated since his birth were all listed on the screen in front of him. ¡°Submission of a mini model to test the upper overload limits of power cores, +30 points.¡± ¡°Acceptance of Gu Qingshan¡¯s original BBQ beef seasoning by gourmets, +2 points.¡± ¡°Published thesis: Making mechas move like humans, +10 points.¡± ¡°Volunteering to evacuate people during the fire in Changning County¡¯s east area, +9 points.¡± ¡°Representing Changning County in the Federation¡¯s intergalactic battleship fleet command competition and receiving the first-place prize, +5 points.¡± ¡°Attempted to save a girl who tried to commit suicide by jumping into a river. The attempt failed because of poor physique, but the spirit behind it is commendable. +0.5 points.¡± ¡°Raising making mechas move like humans as a hypothesis and advancing research in mechas, +80 points.¡± ¡­ ¡°Citizen Gu Qingshan, your total Personal Meritorious Service points stand at 2002.41. Do you wish to proceed with using 2000 points so that I will help you create a mecha?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Qingshan replied without hesitation. He had nearly used up all his points with this decision. ¡°Points successfully deducted. Starting preparations.¡± The Impartiality Goddess paused for while before continuing. ¡°The Intergalactic Fortress, ¡°Shrine¡±, will be flying past Changning County in 1 hour and 25 minutes. Please prepare to board the fortress.¡± With that said, a three-meter tall mecha walked out from an opened wall. The mecha stopped next to Gu Qingshan, and the various electrical wires that were plugged into the mecha retreated into the wall and the cockpit of the mecha slowly opened. Gu Qingshan glanced at it and said, ¡°I have another request.¡± ¡°Please say it.¡± ¡°Please keep this matter a secret for me.¡± ¡°According to the constitution of the Federation, any citizen that does any form of invention, creation, or research will be granted privacy rights to ensure that this citizen is safe from any harm, and his knowledge will not be misused. Your request is granted, so from this moment onward, I will keep this secret for you.¡± Gu Qingshan said, ¡°Besides you, please don¡¯t let anyone else retrieve the results of my research. I¡­ would like to live quietly.¡± ¡°I will keep your research progress a secret according to the constitution, but I also have the right to make a request to use any research results by Federation citizens. Citizen Gu Qingshan, are you agreeable?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Everything was set in place, so Gu Qingshan smiled. Even though the technology of this era was way behind how it would advance ten years later, he could probably fulfill some of his ideas with the personal help of the Impartiality Goddess. This was going to be his birthday present to Su Xue¡¯er, and it was the greatest kindness he could contribute to this world that was on the verge of being destroyed. Time went by very quickly. Gu Qingshan got into the mecha and made it leap out from the open roof all the way until it reached the sky. In the high skies, there was a medium-sized battleship waiting for him already. There was nobody on this battleship; it was completely controlled by the Impartiality Goddess. The battleship allowed Gu Qingshan¡¯s mecha to board and immediately flew into outer space. One hour later. In the dead quiet of outer space. There were countless lights flashing within the huge Intergalactic Fortress. Gu Qingshan stood alone in a completely sealed off space. This space was as large as four soccer fields, and there was a holographic projector quietly floating in front of Gu Qingshan in this huge, empty space. ¡°Begin mecha creation,¡± he said. The voice of the Impartiality Goddess resounded from all sides, ¡°Mecha creation will begin. Please describe your design.¡± Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s beautiful face appeared in Gu Qingshan¡¯s mind. He went into a daze for a while before finally saying, ¡°I hope that this mecha can give its pilot the hope to keep living, even in the face of cruel destruction.¡± The Impartiality Goddess replied, ¡°This description is too abstract. Please use mecha technical terms in your description.¡± Gu Qingshan went quiet for a while, then said, ¡°Activate Life Configuration Algorithm.¡± The Impartiality Goddess immediately cut in, ¡°Activation is not possible. The Life Configuration Algorithm is now merely a hypothesis. According to current mecha technology, there are two theorems that cannot pass, seven formulas that cannot be proven and twenty-nine technical issues that are unresolved.¡± Gu Qingshan scratched his head. It had been too long, and he didn¡¯t know which issues hadn¡¯t been resolved yet in this era. Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Please list all of them out.¡± Rows and rows of screens appeared in front of him in an instant. Each screen had one unresolved issue about the algorithm. Gu Qingshan walked to the first screen and took a look at it. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a problem on multiple neuron transmission metric standards. I remember that this problem was solved just before the apocalypse arrived.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s begin, then.¡± He rolled his sleeves up and started calculating in front of the screen. This problem was extremely difficult, and it took Gu Qingshan took a full half an hour just to solve it. ¡°Please test these equations,¡± said Gu Qingshan. ¡°Testing in progress,¡± replied the Impartiality Goddess. The screen slowly sank into the ground and disappeared. Ten seconds later, the Impartiality Goddess¡¯ voice spoke again. ¡°Equations are correct. Metric standard has been established.¡± That was good news. Once the metric standard had been established, the rest were easier to resolve. Gu Qingshan nodded satisfactorily and walked to the next screen. He looked very seriously at the problem that appeared on the screen and said, ¡°Oh, this one. Please help to create a model, and I will match the formulas.¡± ¡­ Gu Qingshan spent the next few hours continuing to solve the rest of the problems and slowly perfected the Life Configuration Algorithm, bit by bit. In a place deep in the fortress that he couldn¡¯t see, there was a massive screen calculating all the formulas, theorems, and structural ideas that Gu Qingshan had put forward. When Gu Qingshan¡¯s research had reached the halfway mark, there was a special hint that popped up on the massive screen.¡± ¡°Confirmed that target matches the 5th constitution of the Federation. The corresponding plan has been activated and will initiate a request for permission.¡± ¡°Contact the Senior General of the Army, Martial Arts Saint, Zhang Zongyang.¡± ¡°Contact the Commanding Officer of the Navy, Sea Emperor, Li Dongyuan.¡± ¡°Contact the Commander-in-chief of the Space Force, Song Tianwu.¡± Three invisible waves shot out from the Intergalactic Fortress, ¡®Shrine¡¯, and headed out in different directions. ¡°General, a highly classified call has come in.¡± ¡°Hmm? The president?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s the Impartiality Goddess.¡± Chapter 20 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio At the president¡¯s residence in the capital county of the Federation, there was an unusual flurry of activity slowly spreading throughout the place. Three men from the military in neat uniforms met with one another and quickly made their way to the president¡¯s office. ¡°General Li, why are you here?¡± ¡°Greetings, General Zhang.¡± ¡°General Song!¡± There were many people who greeted them along the way, and everyone looked surprised. The three commanders of the military had appeared together here. Did something serious happen? Had Fuxi Empire made an attack? Were they about to go to war? Everyone had a lot of questions and felt uneasy inside. The three generals never stopped walking and kept moving forward. It was unlike how they would normally stop to greet and chat with the staff they were familiar with. The door to the president¡¯s office was already open. The three generals walked in and saluted at the same time. ¡°Mr. President, the Impartiality Goddess requests that you connect to her immediately,¡± said General Li. A gray-haired old man turned around to look at the staff next to him questioningly. The leader of the staff standing next to him responded, ¡°Mr. President, it¡¯s an urgent call, but it¡¯s not a war.¡± The old man¡¯s expression relaxed a little, then he gave an order, ¡°Generals, connect us.¡± One of the generals saluted then opened the heavy suitcase in his hands and placed the Portable Space Communicator in front of the president. The Space Communicator immediately lighted up. The Impartiality Goddess¡¯ solemn voice rang out from the communicator. ¡°A highly classified call will begin soon. Please ask all unrelated persons to leave immediately, otherwise, all persons who are not authorized to be in this call will be wiped out according to the Federation¡¯s security act.¡± Everyone¡¯s expressions changed. To be wiped out meant to be killed off. What matter was so severe that the Impartiality Goddess was willing to kill for the sake of maintaining secrecy? Many people quickly left the room. The entire office was only left with the three generals and the president. The Impartiality Goddess started speaking again. ¡°I am about to activate the highest level of security measures for the Intergalactic Fortress, ¡®Shrine¡¯, so I am officially requesting authorization from Mr. President and the three commanders.¡± ¡°Why do you need to activate the highest level of security measures?¡± asked the president. The Impartiality Goddess replied, ¡°In accordance with Article 5 of the Constitution of the Federation, anything that concerns the fate of humans or major advancements in human civilization will gain the highest level of protection from the country.¡± The president¡¯s expression became stern as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening on the Shrine?¡± The Impartiality Goddess replied, ¡°To maintain secrecy, this will not be revealed at the moment.¡± The president and the three generals were stunned. They were the highest-ranked persons in the Federation, but the Impartiality Goddess wouldn¡¯t even tell them. The Impartiality Goddess was rarely so cautious. What exactly had happened? Theoretically, advancement in civilization should only be something good, but history told them that things weren¡¯t always so simple. The president thought for a while and said, ¡°If I remember correctly, the last time we activated the highest security level was thirty years ago.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± affirmed General Song. ¡°That was because there was a major breakthrough in warp drive technology. But eventually, when the battleship fleet tried the warp drive for the first time, they ran into aliens.¡± Thirty years ago, the Federation¡¯s intergalactic battleship fleet had gone into warp drive for the first time. They had gone through a wormhole and found themselves in some galaxy 500 million light-years away, only to have witnessed a shocking scene. There was an enormous, soft creature hugging a planet tightly and absorbing something from the planet greedily. This horrifying incident, as well as warp drive technology, had been classified as top-secret information. These high ranking men exchanged glances, and their expressions grew even grimmer. Advances in civilization were often accompanied by the risk of the unknown. So actually it was only natural for the Goddess to behave this way. The president sighed and said, ¡°Since the Impartiality Goddess is treating this so seriously, let¡¯s begin the authorization process then.¡± The Impartiality Goddess immediately started, ¡°Intergalactic Fortress ¡®Shrine¡¯ has finished creating an SSS grade security plan. Request for authorization from the president to proceed.¡± The president replied, ¡°Authorization granted.¡± ¡°Request for authorization from the Commander-in-chief of the Space Force.¡± General Song replied, ¡°Authorization granted.¡± ¡°Request for authorization from the Commanding Officer of the Navy.¡± General Li replied, ¡°Authorization granted.¡± ¡°Request for authorization from the Senior General of the Army.¡± General Zhang replied, ¡°Authorization granted.¡± ¡°Authorization process complete. SSS level mission will begin now.¡± The Space Communicator projected the view from the vast outer space in front of everyone. ¡°Intergalactic Fortress ¡®Valiant¡¯ to turn back and remain close to Shrine and cruise around the fortress.¡± ¡°Intergalactic Fortress ¡®Brightness¡¯ to leave the bottom of the sea and go into outer space. It shall remain close to the Shrine and it will be responsible for remaining on guard.¡± ¡°The 1st, 7th, and 16th Intergalactic Fleets shall take flight and guard the flight of these fortresses.¡± ¡°Intergalactic Special Mecha Battle Group to be on standby. Start testing weapons and prepare to gather at the edge of outer space in one minute.¡± ¡°To avoid any unnecessary trouble, I ask Martial Arts Saint, Zhang Zongyang, to guard the border.¡± When the Impartiality Goddess said this, everyone looked at General Zhang. General Zhang laughed bitterly and said, ¡°I¡¯m already an old man with tired arms and legs, but I still have to take on tasks?¡± The president consoled him, ¡°You¡¯d better go. After all, you¡¯re the only Martial Arts Saint in the whole Federation.¡± General Zhang sighed, then he opened the balcony door of the president¡¯s office and walked out. In the next moment, he leaped into the sky, making a boom that broke through the sound barrier, and flew off into the sky like a flash of lightning. ¡°In order to avoid any spying or disruption from other countries in our seas, I ask Sea Emperor, Li Dongyuan, to guard the waters.¡± General Li shook his head and said, ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the Goddess say everything at one shot. This Zhang thought he was the only one who got it bad.¡± The president replied, ¡°You¡¯d better go, I¡¯ll tell him.¡± General Li pulled a few bottles out very slowly and looked at each one of them. ¡°The one closest to this place should be the Yellow Sea.¡± He opened a bottle that was labeled ¡®Yellow Sea¡¯ and poured out the seawater inside. The seawater floated in the air and quickly combined to become a ball of water. General Li held onto the ball of water and said, ¡°I¡¯m off.¡± Then he disappeared with the ball of water. The president¡¯s office was only left with the president and the Commander-in-chief of the Space Force. The Impartiality Goddess spoke again, ¡°I ask General Song to protect the capital and make sure that everything runs normally.¡± General Song breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Oh not so bad, not so bad. At least I don¡¯t have to hurry off.¡± In outer space. On the Intergalactic Fortress, ¡°Shrine¡±. Gu Qingshan had no idea what impact he had made. In his previous life, he had already left for Fuxi Empire by this point in his life, so he had no idea about the Federation¡¯s highest security operations. After he had continuously worked on the problems for seven hours, he finally worked out all the formulas and structural methods. Gu Qingshan exhaled and said, ¡°Now I will begin to build the mecha, and Life Configuration Algorithm will be its foundation.¡± ¡°Understood. Algorithm ready. Materials ready. Please build a model of the mecha.¡± ¡°A model of the mecha¡­¡± Gu Qingshan thought about it for a while, then turned on his communication device and typed a message. ¡°What sort of mecha do you like?¡± There was no reply after sending the text out for some time. Gu Qingshan shrugged and said, ¡°Let¡¯s just wait for a while more.¡± The Impartiality Goddess remained silent. But beneath the sky, in the capital county of the Federation, at a singer¡¯s live concert. ¡°Xie Shuangyan!¡± ¡°Xie Shuangyan!¡± ¡°Xie Shuangyan!¡± The crowd was cheering and chanting wildly. The young lady on stage that was adored by billions had a microphone in her hand and was about to respond to the chants of her fans. Suddenly, more than a dozen mechas flew in from the sky, and more than twenty special troops landed among the crowd from all directions. The young lady closed her mouth again and stared in shock at this scene in front of her. A huge, intergalactic battleship that seemed to cover the sky was parked right above the concert venue. ¡°Silence! All are to remain silent!¡± ¡°The concert will be paused temporarily. We will start to search for criminals hiding among the crowd.¡± ¡°All are to remain silent, otherwise, you will be arrested immediately and handed over to the Impartiality Goddess for further investigation. The special troops started to search the crowd, one by one. Initially, the crowd was in an uproar and many people were cursing loudly at them. But the moment the words ¡°Impartiality Goddess¡± had been mentioned, everyone knew that this wasn¡¯t a joke. Tens of thousands of people shut up immediately in less than a minute¡¯s time. The sound system was turned off, and there was no more sound from the stands, so the noisy live concert had gone completely silent. Su Xue¡¯er was seated in the VIP area. She could finally hear the ringing of her communication device now that everything was silent. Before she could notice anything, the caller information on the communication device had changed from ¡°Impartiality Goddess¡± to ¡°Gu Qingshan¡±. Su Xue¡¯er picked up her device and smiled happily when she read the message. ¡°Are you making a mecha model for me?¡± she asked. Back in outer space. Gu Qingshan received this voice message immediately. He smiled too. That¡¯s right. He was making something for her, but it wasn¡¯t just a model. Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Tell me, what sort of mecha would you like to pilot?¡± Su Xue¡¯er thought about it very seriously and replied, ¡°I like seraphs.¡± Gu Qingshan was surprised. ¡°An angel? Why do you like that sort of thing?¡± ¡°Seraphs signify love and dreams, stupid.¡± She added a glaring emoji at the end. ¡°Got it, I¡¯m making your birthday present now, bye.¡± ¡°Qingshan, are your handicraft skills good enough? If the model looks terrible, I¡¯m going to laugh at you.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know when the time comes.¡± Chapter 21 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan put aside his communication device and started to use his hands to make a model of a seraph mecha. Back on Earth, there was a hidden command being given. ¡°Mission completed. All to retreat.¡± The huge, intergalactic battleship fleet left the concert. The Mecha Battle Group moved away, and the special forces checking the crowd also left quickly. Su Xue¡¯er put down her communication device and remarked strangely when she saw this sight in front of her. ¡°Didn¡¯t they want to check the crowd? Why are they all leaving now? What¡¯s going on with the Federation?¡± The entire concert venue was filled with people who were as puzzled as she was. Only the young lady standing on the stage gently raised her head and looked into the distant space. Four hours later. Gu Qingshan had already quietly returned to Changning Steel Mecha Tech. He was lying in his room 55 stories below ground and taking a rest. Continuous, intense work would make even a Qi Refiner Level 5 cultivator like him quite tired, too. The seraph mecha was already completed, and the Impartiality Goddess would send it for testing before sending it straight to Su Xue¡¯er. Due to the sensitivity of the technology involved, this mecha could only be used by Su Xue¡¯er and nobody else. The Impartiality Goddess had made a request to test this mecha out and to ensure that none of the technology was leaked, so she was going to send her own secret forces to protect both the mecha and Su Xue¡¯er. In that way, Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s safety was guaranteed. This was a pleasant surprise, and Gu Qingshan happily agreed to this request. Besides that, all the techniques and technology that he had provided earlier were going to be tidied up by the Impartiality Goddess and made into a classified research result. Since he had settled Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s birthday present, Gu Qingshan stretched his arms lazily. Then, he sat cross-legged and started to circulate his Spirit Power. Moving Spirit Power within his body was of great benefit to his limbs and his bones, and it could help to slowly nourish his physical body. Gu Qingshan slowly entered into a deeper realm of meditation. At this moment, the whole world was in an uproar. Many countries made an urgent call to the Federation to ask about why they had suddenly moved so many of their troops. The president used all his energy to try to hide the real reason and spent a lot of time and effort on convincing each and every country so that they would believe him. At a casino in Changning County. The man who wore sunglasses was standing in a hidden room with the beautiful lady he accompanied, and both of them had their eyes fixed on the information coming through from the communication device. The man exhaled deeply and said, ¡°What a fright. I thought the Federation was declaring war.¡± The lady continued to look intensely at the screen. ¡°You believe what the president of the Federation said?¡± The man replied with disdain, ¡°These politicians are full of lies. What was that about rehearsing for the Federation¡¯s 300th Union Day military parade? Who would believe him?¡± The lady replied, ¡°It¡¯s a full 21 days before the Federation¡¯s 300th Union Day, so that¡¯s a bit of a stretch, all right.¡± She then asked him, ¡°But what would have mobilized two intergalactic fortresses, three intergalactic fleets, and the Intergalactic Special Mecha Battle Group all at the same time?¡± The man added, ¡°Martial Arts Saint, Zhang Zongyang and Sea Emperor, Li Dongyuan were also mobilized. The two of them were on the frontlines, and the nearest body of water, respectively, for five whole hours, and they¡¯ve both just retreated.¡± The two of them exchanged glances and felt that this was very puzzling, indeed. What happened at the Federation? At this moment, the communication device suddenly lit up and there was a hoarse, coughing voice on the other end. Both of them tensed up and immediately straightened up as they greeted together, ¡°Your Majesty.¡± The hoarse voice coughed for quite a while before slowly speaking, ¡°Greetings. It¡¯s been hard on two of you out there, especially for my dear princess.¡± The lady replied quietly, ¡°Father, this is part of my duty.¡± The hoarse voice started laughing and said, ¡°Go and investigate what the Federation is up to. Go find out why they suddenly gathered so much of their military together only to dismiss everything in a matter of a few hours.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°By the way, my child, my dear Anna, I will give you the authority to make the final decisions in any crisis. You shall be fully in charge of whatever work you have on hand.¡± The authority to make final decisions in a crisis was an authority that only military generals were eligible to receive. Anna opened her eyes wide, and she tried her best to make her trembling voice sound calm. ¡°Thank you, Father.¡± The hoarse voice replied, ¡°So take good care of yourself, and stay safe.¡± The call was disconnected after that. ¡°Princess Anna, congratulations,¡± the sunglasses-wearing man said sincerely. Anna continued to stare at the communication device in a daze. She suddenly felt all sorts of feelings overwhelm her. She had left the palace and wanted to rely on her own abilities and hard work to contribute to the country because she didn¡¯t want to end up being sacrificed in a political marriage. The king hadn¡¯t made things difficult for his daughter. He¡¯d only said that if she found it too hard, then she would have to obediently go back to the palace and go through with a political marriage to Sacred Religion. The king had made her start working from the bottommost rung and hadn¡¯t given her any special privileges at all. It was very risky to work at the bottommost rung, so even though Princess Anna¡¯s capabilities were beyond most, she had still nearly lost her life several times. Thankfully she¡¯d managed to pull through every crisis, and now she had received an affirmation from the king. She quickly suppressed her emotions and became calm again. ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± After an entire night of work, the two of them still had no clue. The Impartiality Goddess¡¯ calculations were virtually flawless. It was pretty much impossible to discern the truth from the movement of the military forces. After all, even the three commanders and the president of the Federation had no clue what happened, either. Anna tiredly rubbed the spot between her eyebrows, but her gaze never left the screen of her intelligent computer. ¡°Your Highness, have some coffee.¡± ¡°If you want me to feel more awake, please pass me a bottle of brandy.¡± ¡°Can you drink a little less?¡± ¡°No.¡± Anna turned and smiled as she took an unopened bottle of brandy and continued to immerse herself in her work. There were seven or eight empty bottles neatly placed at her feet. Suddenly, she froze for a while as she turned back and looked at the image on the projection screen. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked the man. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± she asked him. ¡°I¡¯m looking at all the closed-circuit cameras in all the counties of the Federation.¡± Anna narrowed her eyes and said, ¡°What about our mission to get talents? How many surveillance robots did we send out?¡± The man smacked his forehead and replied, ¡°We sent out 691 robots. Stupid me! I totally forgot that these robots could also record real-time video besides just spying on one particular person.¡± The two of them quickly started watching all the video footage from these robots, one by one. Time passed slowly. Anna suddenly tapped the man and pointed to the screen. ¡°Look at this.¡± The man looked at Anna¡¯s screen to see a mecha flying out from the highest floor of Changning Steel Mecha Tech¡¯s building. The man immediately got to work at his intelligent computer, and his two hands started flying all over the keyboard. ¡°Retrieving images from the sky satellite.¡± It took some time to retrieve all the images from the surveillance satellite in the sky, so the two of them quietly waited. After a while, the images came out. They saw that a midsized, intergalactic fleet had picked up the mecha and headed toward outer space. ¡°That was the time when the intergalactic fortress, Shrine, was going past Changning County.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. This intergalactic fleet is probably sending someone into the intergalactic fortress.¡± The man mumbled to himself, ¡°The problem now is, who on Earth is inside that mecha?¡± Princess Anna suddenly asked, ¡°Where was Gu Qingshan at that time?¡± The man quickly got to work. ¡°Let me take a look.¡± A row of words soon appeared on his optical computer. ¡°Bio waves detected moving upwards slowly. After reaching 19,217 meters above sea level, the radar signal was unable to continue tracking.¡± When the two of them saw this, neither of them spoke for a while. After a long time, Princess Anna finally started speaking in a slow voice, ¡°Send out a message that the Princess of Saint Olanka Empire will make an official visit to Freedom Federation at 9 AM the day after tomorrow. Her first stop will be Changning County of the Federation.¡± The man hesitated before responding, ¡°Your body double is now conducting some charity activities at the furthest end of the Empire and was just on the news. Two days isn¡¯t enough time for someone to zoom over three countries to get here.¡± Princess Anna replied, ¡°Then, add one more statement to say that the princess is going to try taking an Ultra High Speed Flying Shuttle for this visit.¡± The man wearing sunglasses asked, ¡°Won¡¯t that make you look like you¡¯re in too much of a hurry?¡± Princess Anna stared at the surveillance robot¡¯s report on the screen and replied in a quiet voice, ¡°No. In fact, I think it¡¯s too slow.¡± Chapter 22 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Early the next morning. Gu Qingshan put on his work uniform, had breakfast in the staff canteen, then reached his own laboratory soon after. He took about five minutes to complete the topic that he had used to request for this lab, then he started to daydream. Something wasn¡¯t quite right. He just couldn¡¯t remember certain things. He had forgotten so many things, including those battles that had pushed him to the verge of death, and how he had commanded the human troops to fight fiercely against the demons. He had forgotten several sword techniques and battle experiences, too. All he had left were a bunch of pointless life experiences. He could remember those vividly. Did he have to remain an idiot? ¡°System, can¡¯t you unseal my memories earlier?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. DING! ¡°Going through Space-time will attract the surveillance of dangerous parties, so the system has to seal both your memories and abilities so that you won¡¯t attract any attention.¡± ¡°When can I have my memories back?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°Please wait patiently. You will need to travel between the two worlds about two more times before you can regain all your memories,¡± replied the system. Gu Qingshan sighed. If even his memories had been sealed away, then he was like an incomplete person. The price of being reborn was too costly. What was the War God Operating Interface afraid of? Just as he was thinking about this, an electronic voice suddenly started speaking. ¡°Greetings, Number 41157. Director Su has asked you to wait in the office lobby.¡± Gu Qingshan sat up, then got up and walked out. Any researcher in the midst of doing research would not like to be interrupted unless someone from the company¡¯s upper management wanted to see them. But that didn¡¯t make sense. The Impartiality Goddess had personally promised him to keep whatever happened the day before a secret, so she definitely wouldn¡¯t have told anyone. So why was someone from the Su family looking for him? Gu Qingshan took the lift and reached the office lobby. Two men wearing black uniforms approached him. ¡°Are you Gu Qingshan?¡± asked one of them. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Come with me. Madam has called you over to a banquet.¡± The only person they would call Madam would be the eldest daughter-in-law of the Su family, Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s mother. Gu Qingshan was a little taken aback. He replied, ¡°Okay.¡± The two of them walked out of Changning Steel Mecha Tech with Gu Qingshan and headed for the Su residence in a flying shuttle. After traveling for about twenty minutes in the flying shuttle, it landed near a vast lake. Gu Qingshan walked out from the flying shuttle and looked around. All he could see was the shimmer of the lake from the wind blowing against the water. There was an island in the middle of the lake, and that was where the Su residence was located. The Su family of the nine counties was one of the founders of this country. ¡°Please take the small boat and head for the island in the middle of the lake,¡± instructed the men who had brought him to the lake. Then, they left him there. Gu Qingshan thanked them and walked over to the side of the lake. He didn¡¯t raise any objections since he knew the rules around this place. Flying shuttles and other flying objects were not allowed to fly over the island in the middle of the lake. Part of this consideration was for safety, but also for decorum. There was a small boat waiting by the lakeside. There was another young man already standing in the small boat. ¡°You must be Gu Qingshan, right?¡± the other young man greeted him with a smile. ¡°I am, but may I ask who you are?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°My surname is Bai. My name is Bai Hongyu. I¡¯m from Baisha County,¡± the young man replied with a tinge of arrogance on his face. The magistrate¡¯s family of Baisha County was also a Bai. Since this young man could stand here and have an opportunity to be on a boat headed for the Su residence, then he was very possibly from that Bai family¡ªone of the nine major aristocratic families that ruled the Federation. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± Gu Qingshan replied and started getting into the boat. Bai Hongyu blocked his way. ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Gu Qingshan paused and looked at the other man. Bai Hongyu had his nose in the air as he continued, ¡°It¡¯s that for a low-class fellow like you doesn¡¯t attend the Su family¡¯s banquet. Otherwise, you might make all the aristocrats at the banquet feel very uncomfortable.¡± Gu Qingshan calmly said, ¡°It¡¯s Mrs. Su who invited me over.¡± Bai Hongyu laughed with a mocking face, ¡°Go back. I¡¯ll tell Mrs. Su that you¡¯re unwell and didn¡¯t turn up.¡± Gu Qingshan said, ¡°And if I don¡¯t go back?¡± Bai Hongyu replied, ¡°I¡¯m from the Bai family of Baisha County, and the head of the Bai family is my father. That¡¯s all I will say. You should know what will happen if you don¡¯t listen to me.¡± Gu Qingshan said, ¡°Please, step aside.¡± Bai Hongyu looked straight at Gu Qingshan as if he were looking at an idiot. He shook his head and said, ¡°We¡¯re at the Su residence, so I don¡¯t want to do anything impolite. But I will guarantee you that you¡¯re going to regret this for the rest of your life.¡± Gu Qingshan broke into a smile and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll make you regret this for the rest of your life right now.¡± On the island in the middle of the lake. In the Su residence gardens. There was a middle-aged woman seated upright in the pavilion and focused on brewing her tea. ¡°Reporting to Madam. Bai Hongyu and Gu Qingshan have both reached the lake¡¯s shore, but there¡¯s a little problem.¡± ¡°What problem?¡± the middle-aged woman asked without even turning her head back. ¡°The two of them seem to have gotten into a conflict. Only one person has managed to get onto the boat and is on the way here right now.¡± The middle-aged woman had a faint smile on her face as she murmured to herself, ¡°Bai Hongyu has matured, after all, and knows how to make someone give in to him without putting up a fight. That¡¯s good. That makes him worthy to be an aristocrat.¡± ¡°Madam, that¡¯s not what happened. The one on the boat now is Gu Qingshan.¡± The middle-aged woman asked in surprise, ¡°Then, what about Bai Hongyu?¡± ¡°Gu Qingshan pulled all his clothes off and kicked him into the lake.¡± The subordinate reporting continued in a low voice, ¡°The Bai family and their guards have all come to the island in batches, and as per the custom for anyone here to ask for a daughter¡¯s hand in marriage, Bai Hongyu has waited for a boat at the lakeside. That¡¯s how he ended up being confronted by Gu Qingshan.¡± ¡°Outrageous!¡± The middle-aged woman shut her eyes and spoke again after she calmed down. ¡°Tell Gu Qingshan to see me. Bring Bai Hongyu to the back to get changed and let him attend the banquet. I¡¯ll go over and explain things to him personally later.¡± ¡°Yes Madam.¡± The middle-aged woman was no longer in the mood to brew her tea. She laughed coldly and murmured, ¡°This little toad dares to dream of climbing up the social ladder, eh?¡± She quietly sat where she was and waited for that irritating, young punk to come over. Gu Qingshan recognized her the minute he walked over. Mrs. Su looked just like Su Xue¡¯er, and since she often appeared in the news, it was impossible for him not to recognize her. ¡°Hello, Mrs. Su,¡± Gu Qingshan bowed. Mrs. Su threw a glance at him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t talk. Just listen.¡± Gu Qingshan froze and started to hear many sounds from a place not far from where they were. This was the back garden. Not far in front was the banquet hall and hunting grounds. The wind brought the voices of the people in those places over and they could be heard clearly. In the noisy chatter, there were some speaking eloquently about world politics, while some were quietly exchanging business opportunities. As for the ladies, they were discussing which clothes and bags were more fashionable, or which holiday destination they were headed for. Mrs. Su let Gu Qingshan listen to all this for a while before speaking again. ¡°What did you hear?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I¡¯m hearing a lot of information on military movement and business dealings.¡± Mrs. Su said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Those talking about the military are all military officers that are of higher rank than a Major. Those talking business are all descendants of the Su family and the Bai family. They¡¯re now preparing to invest more than ten billion into starting a new company.¡± ¡°Everything they are doing will not only help the Federation to advance but will also improve the lives of the millions of ordinary citizens in this country.¡± ¡°As for the ladies, any piece of clothing or bags they mentioned are luxury items that you could never afford to buy even if you worked hard for several years.¡± Mrs. Su turned to look at Gu Qingshan. ¡°You are of such a lowly class¡ªso poor and so weak. If Su Xue¡¯er hadn¡¯t spoken up for you, did you think you could really enter the Su family¡¯s Changning Steel Mecha Tech yourself?¡± Gu Qingshan was quiet for a few moments before replying very seriously, ¡°Mrs. Su, based on my own capabilities, I am qualified to be part of the Research and Development Department.¡± ¡°You still don¡¯t get it?¡± Mrs. Su shook her head. She turned on her communication device and gave instructions, ¡°Terminate Gu Qingshan of Changning Steel Mecha Tech¡¯s Research and Development Department. With immediate effect.¡± The moment Mrs. Su finished speaking, Gu Qingshan¡¯s communication device started ringing. The other party only said one sentence. ¡°From today onward, you have been terminated from work.¡± Chapter 23 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Mrs. Su sighed quietly and said, ¡°We¡¯re fine with Su Xue¡¯er making friends since she likes doing that. But I¡¯m definitely not going to allow a poor student like you near my daughter since you actually wanted to confess in public and dreamt of latching onto Xue¡¯er.¡± Gu Qingshan looked up and said, ¡°That was Zhang Ye¡ª¡± Mrs. Su cut him off. ¡°The Bais were the ones who arranged that incident with Zhang Ye, but so what? The Bai family was annoyed with you long ago since you were always hanging around Su Xue¡¯er all day.¡± She continued in a more severe tone, ¡°I had thought of allowing Xue¡¯er to mix around with people from all walks of life so that she could get to see different sorts of people, but now, even I can¡¯t stand it anymore.¡± Gu Qingshan asked, ¡°What is it that you cannot stand?¡± Mrs. Su looked at Gu Qingshan with a completely calm face. ¡°It¡¯s my daughter¡¯s birthday next week. Bai Hongyu has given her a resort island worth more than 80,000,000 credit points. And you? That pitiful mecha model?¡± Her voice was flat and stable, without even a tinge of emotion. ¡°You eavesdropped on our conversation?¡± Gu Qingshan narrowed his eyes for the first time but still tried to explain himself, ¡°That¡¯s not a mecha mode¡ª¡± ¡°Enough. It doesn¡¯t matter what stunts you pull, and whatever you¡¯re giving her isn¡¯t important anymore,¡± Mrs. Su cut him off with an expressionless face. She stood up and looked down at the young man in front of her. ¡°I forgot to mention, my daughter has already discovered she has one of the Peculiar Five Elements and will develop the Spirit Power of Wind.¡± Gu Qingshan looked up with a start and he was pleasantly surprised. Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth were the Positive Five Elements, while Wind, Thunder, Light, Darkness, Sound were the Peculiar Five Elements. The Spirit Power of Wind was not bad at all and very useful. It was a superpower that many people dreamt of having. In his previous life, Su Xue¡¯er had eventually discovered and developed the Spirit Power of Wind, but that only happened two years later. This time she had actually discovered it earlier, so it was a good thing. Because the earlier someone with Extraordinary Elemental Arts discovered their ability, the greater their potential to mature and develop their element became. Mrs. Su leaned forward a little and looked at Gu Qingshan as she asked, ¡°What are you happy about? Don¡¯t you feel that the difference between the two of you is even greater now?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t have any comparable ability, then don¡¯t go after something that you shouldn¡¯t get. That would cause you to fall from a greater height, and you might even lose your life in the process.¡± ¡°This is a piece of advice I will give you as the mistress of the Su Family, and this will also serve as a warning.¡± She didn¡¯t look at Gu Qingshan anymore. She elegantly turned and started to walk out of the pavilion with quick steps. After settling this small matter, she had to rush to attend the banquet. This was a banquet hosted by the Su family, after all, and the mistress of the house had to go and host it. ¡°Mrs. Su, wait a moment.¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s voice came from behind her. Mrs. Su turned and looked at him coldly. Gu Qingshan stood up and said, ¡°I have to tell you something.¡± ¡°Say it.¡± Gu Qingshan started, ¡°I respect some of the opinions that you have.¡± Mrs. Su looked at him, and there was a faint smile on her face. So this young fellow was going to back off? So he was a clever boy who knew how to behave at the right time after all. That wasn¡¯t a bad thing. Those were Mrs. Su¡¯s thoughts, but Gu Qingshan cleared his throat and spoke seriously, ¡°Since the ancient days, besides the Extraordinary Elemental Arts, Martial Artists and Chosen Ones have also been considered heroes of this world.¡± He touched a part of his body and pulled out a bow from nowhere. Then, an arrow appeared in his hand seemingly out of nowhere too. Mrs. Su¡¯s heart tightened when she saw this. Someone had already searched him secretly several times before this young fellow could reach the island and had confirmed that he didn¡¯t bring any weapons with him. But he had actually managed to pull a bow and arrow out from the air. He couldn¡¯t be faking it; what sort of power was this? Was he a Chosen One who could materialize things? If that was so, then he was rarer than most others now. Mrs. Su slowly went through these thoughts as her heart suddenly tightened even more. There were people guarding her from afar, but since this boy had materialized a bow and arrow at such a close distance to her, he could just kill her right now. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Mrs. Su asked in a low voice. Before she could finish her question, she suddenly saw a blur in front of her as a sharp and shrill noise rang out. That was the sound of an arrow rubbing against the air at an extremely high speed. What a fast arrow! As the wife of the Su family¡¯s eldest son, Mrs. Su wasn¡¯t an ordinary person either, and she could see that the arrow had flown out from Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand. She watched as the arrow flew out in an arc, went one round around the pavilion, and then finally landed back neatly in Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand. It was a perfect shot! What sort of archery technique was this?! All the guards who had come rushing over from around Mrs. Su were all stunned by what they saw. Gu Qingshan shook his hands gently, and the longbow and arrow disappeared together. He placed his hands behind his back and quietly said, ¡°Mrs. Su, I think there are some things that you could reconsider.¡± ¡°I take my leave.¡± He turned and left the pavilion. Mrs. Su watched him from the back for a while, and her gaze grew deeper and more and more distant. This boy was a really an outstanding young man. That materialization technique was one thing, but that curved archery technique was something that Mrs. Su had never seen before. This young man had just graduated from high school! Mrs. Su sighed quietly. It was a pity¡­ Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s fate was already sealed. Even with this thought in mind, Mrs. Su finally had to clap her hands quietly to call her subordinate. ¡°Go,¡± she said with some coldness in her eyes, ¡°and tell the Bai family and the Nie family that Gu Qingshan is going to leave the island soon.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± ¡°Also, I don¡¯t care what they do; just make sure it doesn¡¯t happen around this island.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± After she had given these instructions, Mrs. Su¡¯s mood finally improved. She shook her head and murmured to herself, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have mattered if you wanted to be with any of the other girls in the Su family. But just not Xue¡¯er. Definitely not Xue¡¯er¡­¡± The sky grew dark quickly. Gu Qingshan returned to the slum to find that his old house had been sealed off with police tape. Even though the Nie family had covered up what exactly had happened with Ferocious Tiger, an apartment on the 22nd floor with one wall missing was definitely too conspicuous. Gu Qingshan stood where he was for a while. Since he had lost his position at Changning Steel Mecha Tech¡¯s Research and Development Department, he didn¡¯t seem to have anywhere he could go. He searched himself and found that the key that his assassin, Wang Ming, had given him was still around. He then turned and walked toward the residential estate where this house was. After he had walked into a smaller and lesser-used alley, Gu Qingshan suddenly looked down at his own shadow. The shadow waved at him, then left his feet and ran toward another small alley. ¡°A skill of a Chosen One¡­¡± Gu Qingshan immediately recognized this sort of strange skill. This method of saying hello was considered very polite. Since the other party had already revealed his skill, then he probably didn¡¯t have any ill intentions. Regardless of the situation, it was good to have a look. Gu Qingshan followed the shadow out of the alley and walked into a bar at the corner of the street. The moment he walked in, the door of the bar closed behind him and a ¡°Temporarily Closed¡± sign was put on it. There was low and quiet music in this dimly lit bar, filled with the faint smell of tobacco. There were two people seated on one side of the bar. One of them was a muscular and large-built man wearing sunglasses who had his hair slicked back. The other was a tall and slim, beautiful lady with long hair that was fiery red, and she didn¡¯t have a disguise on. The two of them looked at Gu Qingshan and smiled kindly at him. ¡°Oh? It¡¯s you,¡± said Gu Qingshan in surprise. These words caught the other two by surprise. They exchanged glances and thought it strange of Gu Qingshan to say this. ¡°Oh, no it¡¯s nothing. I just feel like I¡¯ve seen you somewhere.¡± Gu Qingshan explained it away without changing his expression. When he said this, the other two suddenly understood what was going on. The beautiful lady with red hair stood up, stretched a hand out, and said confidently, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m the eldest princess of Saint Olanka Empire, Princess Anna. You must have seen me in the news.¡± She was still that straight-talking person who said whatever she wanted directly. Gu Qingshan¡¯s lips twitched as he stretched a hand out, shook it quickly, and took his hand back. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Gu Qingshan,¡± he said. In his memory, she had was a germaphobe and hated other people touching her skin. Anna raised an eyebrow in surprise, and the smile on her face was even more sincere now. ¡°Mr. Gu, please have a seat.¡± Gu Qingshan sat across from the two of them. He looked at her again. He hadn¡¯t thought that he would see her again after so many years. And this time, she was still a young lady. Gu Qingshan sighed in his heart. This lady was the eldest princess of Saint Olanka Empire, Anna Medici. She was known as the Rose of Thorns of Sacred Religion, Grim Reaper in Flames. She was an Elemental Arts Expert, naturally born with the Spirit Power of Fire, and also had that famous nickname. World Annihilation Queen. She was part of the resistance that had met with a terrible end¡ªa beautiful soul that was lost in the midst of fighting despair. When Gu Qingshan had first entered the other world in his previous life, she¡¯d already been a legend in both worlds. There was one time when she¡¯d happened to save his life. To her, it was just something she¡¯d happened to do, but Gu Qingshan had always remembered this favor. Many years later, after Gu Qingshan had become equally legendary, he¡¯d found her and wanted to repay this favor. ¡°I don¡¯t want to owe anyone favors, so if there¡¯s anything I can do for you, please tell me.¡± But she had only burst out laughing and replied, ¡°Sure! If you want to do me a favor, why don¡¯t you make me a really good glass of alcohol?¡± He really had gone looking for those rare recipes and become an excellent brewmaster and barista, intending to look for her once more. But she had already fallen to the enemy by then. Chapter 24 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan hadn¡¯t expected to have met Anna so early in his new life. His mood improved instantly, and he threw Mrs. Su¡¯s incident to the back of his mind. The man also stood up and shook Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Von Hord. You can call me Von, or you could also call me Hord.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Gu Qingshan looked at him. He felt like he had heard this name before and had some impression of who he was. He faintly remembered that this person had fallen to the enemy quite early on, but he couldn¡¯t remember any details. He decided to forget about trying to remember. It didn¡¯t matter now. ¡°Let¡¯s just have a drink first.¡± Gu Qingshan walked behind the bar and looked carefully at all the alcohol that was displayed neatly. At this moment, he had regained all his charisma, so it was as if he had gone back to the last days where he¡¯d been that Great Sword Immortal who¡¯d swiftly repaid favors and enacted vengeance¡ªthat national battle commander-in-chief who had led millions to war. Von Hord glanced at Gu Qingshan and whispered to Anna. ¡°There¡¯s something not right about the way he looks. Do we try to persuade him as planned, or do we just take him away?¡± Anna looked at the young man across from her, looked at the alcohol, then whispered back. ¡°Wait a moment and see what he¡¯s trying to do first.¡± By the time the two had finished speaking, Gu Qingshan had already picked a whole bunch of different bottles. He turned around and put all six or seven bottles onto the bar counter at the same time with a thud. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t seem enough.¡± He muttered these words as he turned back to pick a few more bottles before he was satisfied. ¡°Bro, what are you trying to do?¡± Von Hord couldn¡¯t help asking. Gu Qingshan glanced at him, then took three glasses from the bar counter as he said, ¡°Since this is the first time in my life that we¡¯re meeting, then I think we should have a drink to celebrate.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea too.¡± Anna showed a little bit of interest. A little bit of interest in something besides working. The World Annihilation Queen loved to drink, and she particularly loved cocktails. In Gu Qingshan¡¯s previous life, there¡¯d been a barista who¡¯d caught her eye by creating a cocktail named Scorpion, and he¡¯d very nearly become her first boyfriend. But the barista hadn¡¯t succeeded in doing so. Because she had died by then. Gu Qingshan had traveled non-stop for two days and two nights to rescue her back then, but he hadn¡¯t made it in the end. He could only see those flames that she had used to annihilate her enemies from afar. She had used the last bit of strength she¡¯d had to kill off countless demons, but she had ended up perishing along with them. Gu Qingshan shook his head and kept away his emotions. He started to mix a cocktail together seriously. Three minutes later, a blood-red cocktail was placed in front of Anna. This cocktail looked like burning flames, but if you looked deeply into the middle of the raging flames, all you would see was a darkness that was impossible to see through. Anna looked down at the cocktail in front of her, then looked back up at Gu Qingshan. ¡°Drink it.¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s lips twitched, and he tried hard to push them upward. ¡°What¡¯s this cocktail called?¡± Anna picked up the glass. Gu Qingshan looked at her and managed to say it out. ¡°Scorpius.¡± This was the improved version he made after he had tried Scorpion. This was made in memory of Anna after she had died, and it was the cocktail he had used the most effort to create and was most satisfied with. ¡°Why did you choose to call it this?¡± ¡°The celestial scorpion is part of the zodiac, and it is made up of many stars, so it¡¯s a constellation that will never fizzle out.¡± ¡°That is such a¡­ dumb explanation.¡± Anna said those words disdainfully, but for some reason, all the years of pain and ache rushed to her head suddenly. She picked up the glass and drank everything down in one shot. It was bitter and strong, and it burned. It brought to mind destruction, loneliness, and sorrow. There was finally a deep and sweet longing at the end. Anna closed her eyes for a while, then opened them and looked straight at Gu Qingshan. ¡°You. I like you,¡± she said. ¡°Your Highness!¡± Von Hord exclaimed and stood up. ¡°Really? Then, let¡¯s have a glass of Blood Thirster.¡± Gu Qingshan lowered his head and didn¡¯t let her see what expression he had as his hands quickly mixed the next drink. In a matter of minutes, he had made two glasses. The two of them clinked glasses and drank everything down in one shot. ¡°You¡¯re really not bad at all!¡± Anna laughed loudly and reached out to pat Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan pushed her hand away and said seriously to her, ¡°Be good. I still have one more glass of Blazing Hell. Do you want to drink it?¡± He couldn¡¯t resist the urge to give her all the best cocktails that he had ever made. Anna immediately looked at him with a sparkle in her eyes, and she sat up straight. ¡°I¡¯ll drink it!¡± She watched the young man mix everything together at top speed and asked, ¡°But why haven¡¯t I ever heard of the name Blazing Hell before?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my new cocktail. I only created it in the last few years.¡± The last few years of his previous life, that is. Gu Qingshan said those words as he added a piece of ice into the glass and pushed it over to her. Anna took the glass, picked it up, and had a look. It was completely black. She threw her head back and drank everything down at once. ¡°It¡¯s really strong. Looks like you¡¯ve been in a poor mood for the last few years,¡± Anna remarked as she smacked her lips. Gu Qingshan smiled faintly but didn¡¯t say anything. Von Hord was by the side and was getting so anxious that he didn¡¯t know what to do anymore. They had come here on behalf of the Empire to investigate what the Federation was hiding from the world and to try to scout for talents. But he didn¡¯t expect that the princess would have succumbed to this boy before they had even captured him. But Gu Qingshan noticed him. ¡°Relax,¡± Gu Qingshan said as he passed Von Hord a bottle of whiskey. ¡°We¡¯re just having a drink. We¡¯ll discuss matters seriously when it¡¯s time to discuss things.¡± Von Hord took the bottle of whiskey and sighed helplessly. ¡°Well! I¡¯m not very hopeful.¡± Anna put down her glass and looked carefully at Gu Qingshan again. Suddenly, there was a loud ding. Then, there was another loud ding. The three of them looked at their own communication devices, but the one that was ringing belonged to Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan placed his communication device on the table and turned it on. ¡°Federation citizen, Gu Qingshan, we suspect that you are connected to a murder case. Please stay where you are. The police are on their way right now.¡± ¡°Mr. Gu Qingshan, since you are connected to a murder case and you have also been accused of theft by several aristocrats, Changning Exclusive Private High School has officially expelled you from the school with immediate effect.¡± The light on the communication device slowly faded. Gu Qingshan sat where he was, motionless like a statue. ¡°Tsk.¡± Anna patted his shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t be sad. Not everything works out in life. Why don¡¯t you follow me back to the Empire? I promise to give you the best treatment. In fact, I¡¯ll personally make you a Duke. How¡¯s that?¡± Since Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t respond, Anna continued. ¡°It seems like there are a lot of people outside. You want me to settle them for you?¡± Von Hord¡¯s eyes widened and stared in shock at the princess. The cold and icy Princess Anna was actually willing to do this for a man. This was really crazy! Von Hord wondered if this boy might carry the princess off with him. Gu Qingshan suddenly smiled and said calmly, ¡°Actually, I just wanted a quiet and peaceful life.¡± The ear-piercing sound of police sirens started coming in from outside. There was a lot of noise all of a sudden. There were shouts, people running, and the revving of flying shuttles. All these sounds were slowly coming closer and closer to the bar. Gu Qingshan stood up and said, ¡°I even dreamt of entering a university.¡± ¡°Entering a university? You want to study?¡± Anna asked in surprise. ¡°Oh no. I just wanted a nice place to rest while I¡¯m fighting for my life.¡± Gu Qingshan laughed bitterly at himself. ¡°Looks like I was wrong after all. There is no place to rest at all in this world.¡± A bow appeared in his hands from nowhere, and then there were suddenly three quivers on his back. He held the bow and started making his way out of the bar. Every step he took made him seem a little brighter. By the time he reached the doorstep of the bar and opened the door, there was an invisible rush of air that covered his entire body, and a bright aura of pure Spirit Power surrounded him. He was like a sharp sword that had just been released from its sheath. Chapter 25 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°You guys should leave now and not get dragged into this. We¡¯ll talk another time.¡± Gu Qingshan said these words and walked out of the bar with large strides. Anna immediately sobered up. ¡°D*mn, he¡¯s so cool,¡± she murmured to herself as she looked at Gu Qingshan from the back. Von Hord said, ¡°Your Highness, there are a lot of people around, so we¡¯d better leave first.¡± ¡°Why should we leave? This is such a good chance,¡± Anna¡¯s expression immediately turned serious. ¡°Start the evaluation right now.¡± Von Hord had a wry smile as he replied, ¡°Isn¡¯t it a really bad time to start evaluating his battling ability? If you are accidentally discovered, there will be serious consequences for our diplomatic relations.¡± Anna¡¯s expression became stern as she looked seriously at Von Hord and said, ¡°Our mission is to investigate what made the Impartiality Goddess suddenly stir up so many troops, and Gu Qingshan is the key person in this entire incident.¡± She emphasized the next line, ¡°His Majesty is still waiting for our answer.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± Von Hord¡¯s expression became serious again as he pulled out a small machine from the cabinet behind the bar. He placed it on the floor and started working on it. ¡°Uploading Gu Qingshan¡¯s bio waves. Lock onto Gu Qingshan¡¯s physical characteristics and start tracking. This is an order: 270 surveillance robots and satellites need to be on standby now.¡± ¡°On standby now,¡± replied many voices coming from the small machine on the floor. ¡°Secret satellite in the sky is on standby now,¡± an electronic voice rang out. ¡°Excellent. Comrades, this mission is very important. Please ensure that all surveillance equipment is working properly.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start, then.¡± Von Hord clicked the button to confirm. ¡°Full evaluation of the target is now activated. System will start collating data.¡± ¡°27 April 3091, 2137h. Federation citizen, Gu Qingshan, male, 18 years old. Evaluation of potential will start now.¡± A projection appeared in front of the two of them. The image projected was Gu Qingshan walking out of the bar at this very moment. Everyone in the vicinity had already been evacuated, and there wasn¡¯t a single person on the empty street. The sound of the police sirens was getting nearer, and four patrolling, flying shuttles were flying toward this place in the air at high speed. Before the flying shuttles arrived, they had sent an announcement that boomed through the entire neighborhood. ¡°Listen up. You are now a suspect in a murder case, so remain standing where you are and do not move. Otherwise, we will have to take action.¡± Gu Qingshan stood where he was and looked at the flying shuttles coldly. Suddenly, there was a flashing red light on one of the flying shuttles, and it caught Gu Qingshan¡¯s attention. ¡°The laser designator has been activated.¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression froze. Just as he had predicted, there was a boom from the mini railgun attached to the bottom of the flying shuttle. A blue light cut through the skies, and the railgun sent a projectile toward the street, creating a huge abyss in the ground. Dust flew everywhere, and there was smoke all around. In the sky, another flying shuttle sent a stern query, ¡°Police Shuttle 172033, why did you suddenly open fire? I demand an explanation.¡± ¡°I have authorization to do this. Officer, please check the latest instruction.¡± The flying shuttle that had opened fire didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by this. The other flying shuttle fell silent and finally spoke up after a while, ¡°Check the situation immediately and confirm for dead bodies.¡± The four flying shuttles slowly came near. The smoke and dust slowly cleared, and the situation on the ground could be seen clearly. There was no dead body on the ground. Their murder suspect was standing high up on the top of a streetlamp and looking very coldly at them. ¡°D*mn it, he¡¯s still alive! Prepare to fire together!¡± But they had no such chance. Gu Qingshan pulled his military bow back, filled it up with Spirit Power, and shot four arrows out at the same time. Everything was a blur to the ones in the flying shuttles. BOOM! All four small police patrol flying shuttles caught fire and quickly tried to land elsewhere as smoke billowed from the flying shuttle. The arrow had shot through their power engines; the flying shuttles would explode if they didn¡¯t quickly land and turn off the engine. Anna whistled and said, ¡°He¡¯s very professional.¡± Tons of data flashed wildly on the optical computer across from Anna and Von Hord as the evaluating system was using everything it had to calculate the results of its observation. Gu Qingshan stood on the streetlamp, and his expression was all calm. He was now a Qi Refiner Level 5 cultivator. So after he had filled the arrows with so much Spirit Power, the damage they could cause had gone up. His capability had gone up by more than double since the time he had killed Ferocious Tiger. ¡°Hahaha! Gu Qingshan! As a citizen of the Federation, you didn¡¯t just resist arrest in public, but you even tried to kill the police!¡± There was suddenly a gleeful shout from afar. Gu Qingshan turned to see Nie Yun standing on the rooftop of a building. His beautiful flying shuttle was also parked there. There were more than ten muscular and imposing-looking men standing behind Nie Yun. Nie Yue folded his arms and pretended to sound like he had no choice but to do something like this. ¡°Even though we are classmates, as one of the aristocratic families of Changning County, I am bound by my duty to help the police to nab a murderer.¡± Gu Qingshan looked at Nie Yun and asked very seriously, ¡°Why do you continue to create trouble for me?¡± Nie Yun replied with hatred in his voice, ¡°You made me lose $2,000,000 at the casino and killed off my hired expert. Did you think I was a pushover?¡± He turned around and instructed, ¡°Go and kill him. Whoever manages to chop his head off gets $10,000,000.¡± All the muscular and imposing men looked at Gu Qingshan at the same time after hearing this. This boy¡¯s head was worth $10,000,000! All of them started abseiling down the walls and jumped from the building¡ªcompeting with each other to make their attack in Gu Qingshan¡¯s direction. Nie Yun elegantly picked up a glass of red wine and laughed loudly. ¡°These are thirty genetically modified Martial Arts Masters, so there are enough of them to kill you by just sitting on you. That¡¯s the power of the aristocratic families!¡± Gu Qingshan scanned the Martial Arts Masters that kept drawing closer and closer to himself and he quietly raised his military bow. His hand movements became mere shadows, and there was a continuous muffled sound coming from the military bow. BOONG! BOONG! BOONG! BOONG! BOONG! BOONG! The muscular man who was in the front of the pack trembled violently, and his expression instantly changed. A grey shadow flew past where he¡¯d been originally standing. ¡°So na?ve.¡± There was a cruel smile on the muscular man¡¯s lips, but he only had time to say that one sentence before another arrow shot right through his chest. A huge hole appeared in his chest. The hole was so large that you could see the buildings behind him if you looked from the front. The muscular man collapsed on the ground and never breathed again. There were more and more arrows in the sky, and the arrows started flying faster and faster. Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression was completely icy while his hands never stopped shooting. He was like an arrow-shooting machine. The arrows rained down, and the martial arts practitioners quickly tried to duck and find cover. None of them had any more energy left to rush forward. Soon enough, they realized that they couldn¡¯t avoid these arrows at all. The grey shadows had become grim reapers, ready to take their lives from them. One of the Masters realized that this situation didn¡¯t bode well, so he pulled a box out from behind him and pressed the top of the box. An Individual Exoskeleton Armor extended from the box and started attaching itself onto the Master. An Individual Exoskeleton Armor provided pretty good defense and could increase the wearer¡¯s strength. It also carried a firearms system meant for an individual to carry, so it was standard armor in the army. Since he was a Martial Arts practitioner who had reached Master level because of genetic modifications, he was like a fruit that was artificially ripened. He had reached the level of Master, but had not truly comprehended the real power of a Master and didn¡¯t mind using ammunition at all. A real Martial Arts Master would rather fight barehanded, even in the midst of bullets. They looked down on weaponry and would never use something like this. Gu Qingshan immediately noticed this man. He turned the longbow and started shooting rapidly. DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! A series of bright sounds coming from the arrows hitting metal was mixed with flying sparks. That Martial Arts Master threw up a mouthful of blood toward the sky before collapsing onto the ground and didn¡¯t move anymore. There was a deep hole in that Exoskeleton Armor. This level of armor was stronger than the steel plates on those mini flying shuttles the police used, but it was still no match for Gu Qingshan¡¯s arrows that were filled with Spirit Power. Chapter 26 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio But the death of this man created a rare opportunity for the other Martial Arts Masters. Three Master level Martial Arts practitioners came flying forward, and they had reached the bottom of the streetlamp. They exchanged glances, then leaped up the streetlamp at the same time and started throwing fatal punches and kicks toward Gu Qingshan. They were rather well-coordinated and worked well as a team, so they surrounded Gu Qingshan and it was impossible for him to get out of this. Gu Qingshan held the longbow in one hand and used his other hand to press down gently. ¡°HA!¡± Gu Qingshan let out a shout, and the Spirit Power in his dantian came rushing out like a flood. A visible, blue glow surrounded him, then rose from his body and violently scattered itself in all directions. This was the most basic way of exerting Spirit Power; it was known as Spirit Suppression. In the other world, cultivators who had reached Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation Stage could use Spirit Suppression to press down on a whole city¡¯s worth of people, and press them down so hard that they couldn¡¯t move anymore. But since Gu Qingshan was only a Qi Refiner Level 5 cultivator, his Spirit Suppression could only serve as an invisible push. But Gu Qingshan was counting on the fact that these people had never seen a power like this before. The three Masters had no idea what had just happened. They were suddenly pushed out by an invisible force, and they flailed as they flew off the streetlamp. ¡°Great target practice.¡± Gu Qingshan narrowed his eyes, then pulled out an arrow. He filled it with Spirit Power and shot it out without even using any of his techniques. The three Martial Arts Masters were filled with arrows in mid-air and had become cold, stiff, dead bodies by the time they hit the ground. Gu Qingshan remained standing on the streetlamp and looked around while still holding his bow. All thirty Masters had been killed off cleanly, and their dead bodies were strewn everywhere. ¡°You little b*stard! These were thirty Masters¡­¡± The expression on Nie Yun¡¯s face kept changing, and his legs were trembling so hard that he looked as though he would collapse soon. He clenched his teeth, then ran to the door of his flying shuttle. He bowed politely and said, ¡°Uncle Ma, it looks like I will need your help now.¡± An old man with a hunched back placed his hands behind his back and alighted from the flying shuttle. He looked over at the street. He looked very carefully at every dead body. ¡°The attack was really vicious. But things like arrows are exactly what I¡¯m able to overcome.¡± As the old man said these words, he bent his knees slightly, then suddenly propelled himself up, shooting himself toward Gu Qingshan like a missile. Since he dared to fly through the air from such a far distance, this old man was probably at Grandmaster level, and he had quickly analyzed Gu Qingshan¡¯s level and capability. The old man suddenly clasped his fists together and pushed them forward. Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression changed, and he jumped back without hesitation to land on another streetlamp. At the same time, the old man sent out two punches despite the fact that he was still mid-air and was more than ten meters away from Gu Qingshan. ¡°Arm Impact Cannon Strike!¡± Paaa¡­ BOOOM! There was a gentle sound followed by a huge blast. The streetlamp was only left with its bottom half after that attack. ¡°This fellow can run pretty quickly,¡± muttered the old man as he gave chase. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t say a word. He raised his bow and shot arrows out. The old man casually waved his arms about and deflected the arrows easily. Gu Qingshan frowned and was a bit vexed by this situation. ¡°His arms could send out an attack in mid-air, so a power of this level must be the power of Guicang.¡± Since there was a chance to activate Magic Power when one reached Martial Arts Grandmaster stage, this old man must have activated Guicang Martial Arts, and his arms had attained the special power of Guicang. The old man was right to say that he only needed to raise his two arms and use the power of Guicang to overcome the arrows that were shot his way. Gu Qingshan kept running, while the old man kept giving chase. As they continued like this, all the streetlamps along the way became collateral damage. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Streetlamp after streetlamp fell, and the old man was catching up. ¡°Just die, you little punk! Your head is definitely mine!¡± The old man made a ferocious pounce toward Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan continued to remain silent and pulled the military bow to its maximum quietly. He suddenly turned, and there was a continuous sound of the bowstring being released, each sound resounding like thunder. Gray shadow after gray shadow started to fly through the air like dragons and serpents in a projectile that was impossible to predict as if they had come alive. ¡°How is this possible?!¡± The old man exclaimed in a low voice as his feet landed hard on the ground and he looked around him warily. Five arrows reached him at the same time! The old man¡¯s body was as agile as a swimming fish. He kept twisting and turning and managed to dodge all the arrows that flew toward him. The power of those arrows was much stronger than the ones earlier and was beyond what he had expected. On top of that, he had to dodge the arrows by twisting and turning at various angles, so the old man really had to use all his strength. Martial Arts Grandmasters would have some Spirit Sense, so every time an arrow was about to hit him, he could react in time to either turn and avoid the arrow, or use both arms to deflect the arrow. It was shocking, but not fatal, so he finally managed to dodge all the arrows. ¡°What archery technique is this?¡± The old man was panting when he asked this question. He started to regret it a little in his heart. If he had known that the arrows could be shot at curved angles, then he wouldn¡¯t have tried to attack Gu Qingshan so anxiously. It would have been safer if he had dragged out the fight and approached Gu Qingshan slowly. But now the two of them had reached the plaza, and there was plenty of space all around, so it was an excellent place for Gu Qingshan to use that sort of strange archery technique. The distance between the two of them was also just right for Gu Qingshan to make his attack. Had this young punk had this all planned out already? The old man suddenly felt fear in his heart. ¡°It¡¯s an archery technique for killing other people,¡± replied Gu Qingshan as his hands paused for a while before suddenly using this technique in quick succession. Volley! Volley! Volley! After using Volley three times in a row, the myriad arrows became a furious flurry of shadows, wrapping themselves around the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster already had a lot of trouble dodging just one round of Volley. So this time, he really couldn¡¯t dodge the arrows anymore. Pu! Pu! Pu! The sound of the arrows stabbing into his flesh wasn¡¯t loud, but on a silent and lonely night, the sound could be heard clearly, even from afar. A cloud of blood burst from the Grandmaster¡¯s body as he staggered and collapsed onto the ground. His body looked like a porcupine from all the arrows stabbed into him. The Spirit Power from the arrows entered his body and had destroyed any chance of surviving. The Grandmaster never closed his eyes even until the moment he died. There were deep regret and indignation in his eyes. Nie Yun was completely bewildered. The old man was a Grandmaster. He was a powerful person who was superior to all ordinary Masters and was someone who had activated the power of Guicang. Even Elemental Arts Experts dared not offend a Martial Arts Grandmaster. This was the Nie family¡¯s strongest weapon, and the old man had been brought out because the Nies had wanted to gain the favor of the Bai family. D*mn it! Why was this young fellow so terrifying?? Nie Yun felt a cold sweat cover his body. But at a time like this, it was more important to save himself. Once the Bai family had made their move, Gu Qingshan was still going to die. After all, the Bai family was one of the nine magistrates¡¯ families, so they were much more powerful than the Nie family. When he thought about it this way, Nie Yun raised his hands and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m a descendant of the Nie family and I¡¯m going to surrender now. Gu Qingshan, you¡¯d better¡­¡± SWOOSH! An arrow came flying and flew straight into Nie Yun¡¯s chest. Nie Yun clutched the arrow in his chest as he staggered backward, then finally stumbled and collapsed onto the ground. Fresh blood kept flowing from his nose and mouth. Nie Yun suddenly realized that he was going to die. His comfortable life, his immense wealth, his bright future. All of this was going to leave him forever now. No! It shouldn¡¯t be like that! Nie Yun didn¡¯t understand why he had to die. He suddenly started shrieking like a vengeful spirit, ¡°Gu Qingshan! Actually, you¡¯re just like me, killing off anybody who gets in your way because you have the ability to! The more people you kill, the nearer to death you are! I¡¯m going to curse you now! You shall suffer tremendous torture before you die, and there will be no place to bury you after you¡¯re dead!¡± ¡°We are not the same,¡± Gu Qingshan shook his head and lowered his bow. ¡°I repay good with good and evil with evil, so I have killed countless people as a result. But I have never used my advantage to bully others.¡± After hearing this, Nie Yun opened his mouth and seemed like he still wanted to curse Gu Qingshan. But no words came out of this mouth. He was dead. Chapter 27 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Inside the bar. Princess Anna rubbed her eyes and looked back at the projected image. The dead body of the Grandmaster was still lying on the ground. ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense¡­¡± Her eyes were filled with disbelief. The young man in the projected image had shocked her deeply. Until the moment he had walked out to face his enemies, she was still thinking to herself that she would go out and save him if his life was in danger. She hadn¡¯t expected things to end this way. Gu Qingshan seemed to have a mysterious cloak over himself, so she couldn¡¯t see through it, but she was very attracted to him. ¡°Indeed, this doesn¡¯t make sense at all. He¡¯s improved too quickly unless he had hidden some of his real capabilities the last time,¡± Von Hord added on. He twiddled with the optical computer and projected the results of the evaluation. ¡°Current evaluation of capability stands at Grandmaster level. Powers unconfirmed. Suspected to be either a Chosen One or an Elemental Arts Expert, details unknown.¡± ¡°Downloading target¡¯s life case file¡­¡± ¡°Target has not used any genetic modifiers.¡± ¡°Conclusion: Gu Qingshan, male, 18 years old. Potential power evaluation: S.¡± Von Hord looked at the image and exclaimed, ¡°He could actually fight a Grandmaster at 18 years old. I really want to know what Chosen One¡¯s skill this god-defying body has.¡± Suddenly the communication device next to them started ringing like crazy. Anna pressed the button and asked, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Mole reporting, Baisha County¡¯s mecha troop is approaching quickly and will reach this place in seven seconds. Baisha County¡¯s intergalactic battleship fleet is gathering about 100 kilometers away as well.¡± Anna slammed the communication device shut and stood up. ¡°I¡¯m going to save him.¡± Von Hord quickly stopped her and said, ¡°Your Highness, you can¡¯t appear now. If the Empire¡¯s princess ends up going on a killing spree in the Federation, that would become the worst political dispute in history and you will definitely start an all-out war!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Anna said this as she put her hands together as if she was praying. ¡°God of death! I call for Roaring Flames¡­¡± Von Hord slapped her hands apart with a loud PAK! ¡°Your Highness, let me go and bring him to safety. You should leave first,¡± said Von Hord with a very stern expression on his face. ¡°No! You may be a Chosen One with a shadow skill, but it¡¯s not a high enough level, and you¡¯re not going to escape detection when the intergalactic battleships scan for lifeforms.¡± The communication device started ringing like crazy again. Von Hord was already restless with anxiety. He slapped the button on the communication device and roared, ¡°What is it?!¡± There was an uncontrollable exclamation of shock from the communication device, ¡°Flying Bird reporting! Flying Bird reporting! The Martial Arts Saint of the Federation has arrived!¡± ¡°What?!¡± Anna¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Where did he come from? Why didn¡¯t I detect him at all?¡± ¡°He¡¯s landing now! Landing now!¡± Gu Qingshan pulled an arrow out and narrowed his eyes as he looked intently at the mecha troop approaching him at high speed. ¡°091 ¡°Harrier¡± Assault Mechas. Pretty high damage,¡± remarked Gu Qingshan as he pulled his bow back to its maximum. ¡°Just that it¡¯s not very cleverly built.¡± He released the arrow and the bowstring bounced back. The arrow was covered by a barely visible layer of Spirit Power as it flew out. With a flash. There was a loud PAK! The arrow hit the mecha but was off the target and flew out of sight. ¡°Tsk, let me try again.¡± Gu Qingshan quickly pulled the bow back and shot another arrow out. BOOM! The arrow pierced through the joint of the mecha¡¯s knee section. Once the arrow had shot its leg, the strong steel mecha collapsed in a mess onto the ground. Gu Qingshan quickly retreated and dodged all the mini missiles that the other mechas shot at him. He pulled another arrow out and drew the bow back. The arrow shot through the air. A mecha had just lifted a heavy-duty, rotary autocannon, but the arrow went in from the barrel and went all the way through, causing the highly explosive laser-type ammunition inside to explode. These highly explosive shells were very powerful, so it blasted off one side of the mecha. The parts fell to the ground, and the mecha couldn¡¯t move anymore. ¡°My God, is this seriously something a bow and arrow can do?!¡± Von Hord clenched his teeth and uttered this as he watched the projection in front of him. Anna continued to stare intensely at the projection and said, ¡°He hit the hidden weak spot of the 091 ¡°Harrier¡± Assault Mecha. We have records of this in our research database too.¡± ¡°It was just a coincidence, right? How would he know something so classified?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a coincidence. I watched him aim at it.¡± ¡°Crap, the Martial Arts Saint is here!¡± The two of them stopped talking and even held their breath. Anna clasped her hands together and nervously watched what was happening on the projected image. Outside. Gu Qingshan took aim, then pulled his bow back and continued shooting arrows. Suddenly he sensed something and withdrew his attack as he looked up at the sky. There was a black shadow falling from the sky. It was falling so quickly! Gu Qingshan quickly retreated and hid behind a high wall. There was a loud DOONG! And there was now a crater about ten meters in diameter on the streets. All the mechas stopped and became wary. ¡°Enemy¡¯s arrow power is too strong. We suspect he is an Elemental Arts Expert. Calling for backup! Calling for backup!¡± The mecha leading the troop quickly took this chance to make a report. ¡°Backup?¡± A voice rang out from the crater. ¡°Looks like the situation isn¡¯t too bad.¡± A figure leaped out from the crater as he spoke. It was a middle-aged man. He had thick brows, eagle-eyed and dark-skinned. His body was so straight he resembled a javelin. He was wearing a dark green military uniform with black army boots. There were a long sword and armor badge on his shoulder. A long sword and armor meant that he was a general in the military. He turned to face the wary mecha troop and said, ¡°I am Zhang Zongyang.¡± All the mechas stopped immediately. The soldiers jumped out from the cockpit and bent their heads and bowed. ¡°Martial Arts Saint!¡± ¡°God of the military!¡± ¡°Baisha County Special Troop 477 reporting.¡± Zhang Zongyang looked at the men in front of him and said, ¡°As soldiers, who allowed you to operate these mechas, make a mess of this place, and kill someone?¡± All the soldiers were antsy. The leader among them replied, ¡°We have an instruction from Baisha County¡¯s magistrate.¡± They were part of the troops guarding Baisha County, so they had to wait upon the magistrate of Baisha County. ¡°These rubbish aristocrats.¡± Zhang Zongyang spat this out and didn¡¯t blame the soldiers anymore. He turned to where Gu Qingshan was hiding and shouted, ¡°Gu Qingshan, come out.¡± Gu Qingshan thought about it for a while, then walked out. Zhang Zongyang looked at this young man with a conflicted expression and said, ¡°The president wants to see you.¡± Just a few minutes earlier. In outer space. On the Shrine. It was that huge room that Gu Qingshan had spent several hours in the last time. There were symbols and numbers pouring down hundreds of screens, and it never seemed to stop for even one second. The screens formed a circle around a very special mecha, surrounding it tightly and analyzing every detail of this mecha. The mecha stood where it was, quietly, without moving. It didn¡¯t look as bulky or clumsy like most mechas, and it wasn¡¯t filled with advanced weaponry like those special mechas either. It looked much more agile than those mechas. The gentle, white light of the screens was reflected on the surface of the mecha like water flowing down its side. The mecha¡¯s head moved a little. After a while, it changed to another position. The mecha was quietly looking at its surroundings. It was as if it was sentient. Suddenly, the hundreds of screens shut off at the same time. Only the screen closest to the mecha was still lit up. One word appeared on the screen. ¡°Perfect¡± After this word disappeared, it was replaced by another four words. ¡°Ahead of its time¡± After that, several rows of text appeared. ¡°As per our verbal agreement, Gu Qingshan¡¯s personal data will be hidden, and the Impartiality Goddess will have the sole right to use his research results.¡± ¡°Increasing citizen Gu Qingshan¡¯s Personal Meritorious Service points. With respect to the 21 major breakthroughs in research that he has completed, the calculation is as follows:¡± ¡°Gu Qingshan¡¯s Personal Meritorious Service points total stands at 799,873,957,281,439 points.¡± ¡°Increasing Gu Qingshan¡¯s individual rights level.¡± ¡°Calculation of Gu Qingshan¡¯s individual rights level in accordance with the contribution he has made to improving human civilization.¡± ¡°Calculation complete. Gu Qingshan¡¯s individual rights level has now been increased to Supreme Leader.¡± ¡°Gu Qingshan has been accused of murder and theft. Analysis of crimes starting now.¡± ¡°Gu Qingshan found not guilty and was only acting in self-defense. All charges dropped. Further analysis of situation now.¡± ¡°Changning County is gathering its military troops, target confirmed to be the Supreme Leader.¡± ¡°Current situation level raised to Extremely Dangerous.¡± ¡°As Gu Qingshan is now at Supreme Leader level, safety measures to be activated.¡± ¡°Safety measure proposals: 1, 2, 3, or 4.¡± ¡°Proposal 3 has been chosen as the one with the highest chances of succeeding. Contact the president.¡± ¡­ Chapter 28 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°It¡¯s fine for me to come out and protect him, but what is this arrangement for?¡± The president looked at the message on his screen, and there was a strange expression on his face. The Impartiality Goddess¡¯ voice came in through the screen, ¡°According to mankind¡¯s history of war and conflict, it is necessary to get someone as powerful and reliable as yourself to protect a young man who has not come of age over a long period of time.¡± The president sighed deeply and said, ¡°Then, surely you could tell me why I even have to protect this person?¡± ¡°According to our agreement, I cannot tell you. But you can ask him yourself.¡± The general standing by the side thought about this for a while and asked, ¡°Then, could you at least tell us his Personal Meritorious Service level?¡± The president¡¯s eyes lit up. This was a good way to find out more about the other party without making the Impartiality Goddess go against her agreement. As expected, the Impartiality Goddess replied, ¡°The president¡¯s classification level is at Supreme Leader, while General Zhang is at Leader, so both are you are privy to this knowledge.¡± ¡°Gu Qingshan¡¯s Personal Meritorious Service level has been calculated to be at Supreme Leader.¡± The president was taking a sip of his tea while she said this, and he sprayed all the tea out of his mouth. The Impartiality Goddess continued, ¡°Gu Qingshan¡¯s life is currently in danger. I request for the president to make arrangements immediately.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible to stop the Bai family by just talking to them.¡± The president tried his best to calm down and took out a handkerchief to wipe away the tea that was all over himself. ¡°Martial Arts Saint Zhang, you¡¯d have to go over personally to have a look. If we take too long, I¡¯m afraid he might not survive.¡± ¡°Since when did the Federation have another president? All right, then. I want to see for myself what sort of person this Gu Qingshan is.¡± ¡­ When Gu Qingshan arrived, the Federation¡¯s president¡¯s residence was already very busy. Within the president¡¯s office, the president stood alone at the window and looked out at the capital covered by the night sky. From afar, he looked like an ordinary elderly man reminiscing about the good old times. ¡°Mr. President, I¡¯ve brought him safely back,¡± reported General Zhang. The president snapped out of his daze, and the air around him immediately changed. He was now filled with authority and solemnness. He looked at Gu Qingshan, then smiled and said, ¡°Hello. Should I address you as a student or as a young man?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve just been expelled by the school, so you can just call me Mr. Gu now,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°Mr. Gu, I¡¯ve brought you here because that¡¯s what the Impartiality Goddess has asked of me. I hope you don¡¯t mind?¡± asked the president. ¡°Not at all. In fact, I¡¯m very grateful that you have saved me,¡± said Gu Qingshan very sincerely. His ability was still at a growing stage, so if he would have had to take on a vigorous battle right then, he would not have been able to completely annihilate the other party. He was all by himself against two aristocratic families. The other party definitely had more strong fighters that hadn¡¯t joined the fight yet. He would be able to enter the other world soon, so if the fight went on, he would probably have to hide in the other world first. Then, when he came out to the real world again, one hour in the real world would have passed. After that, he would have to leave Changning County and leave the Federation. The president smiled. Then, his expression became stern as he asked, ¡°Mr. Gu Qingshan, I don¡¯t know if this is appropriate, but as the president of the Federation, I have to know why the Impartiality Goddess is so concerned about you. The Goddess has never been so concerned over a 17-year-old citizen, so I have to make sure that you are not a threat to the Federation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy to settle,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°Please connect us to the Impartiality Goddess.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± A solemn female voice rang out. All three of them looked down and saw that only Gu Qingshan¡¯s communication device was lit up. The Impartiality Goddess could automatically connect herself to any communication device she wished, so none of them was surprised. Gu Qingshan went into deep thought for a while, then said, ¡°Please show our final product to Mr. President and this general here.¡± ¡°Citizen Gu Qingshan, please authorize this action.¡± ¡°Authorization granted.¡± There was no harm in seeing it. This mecha would finish its final testing and be sent to Su Xue¡¯er in a few days¡¯ time anyway. When that happened, the mecha would be seen by the rest of the world. So he might as well let the president see it first. According to historical records, this president was of fairly good character and was a good politician. If Gu Qingshan could be on good terms with this president, he didn¡¯t mind revealing some of these futuristic mecha technologies. Then, when the time was right, he could rely on the power of the government and make preparations in advance by the time the game started in a year¡¯s time. That way, much fewer people would die. A projected image appeared in front of all three of them and displayed the seraph mecha deep inside the Shrine. ¡°What is this? A mecha?¡± Martial Arts Saint Zhang stared at the image, and he couldn¡¯t tear his eyes away. ¡°From the looks of it, it doesn¡¯t seem quite the same as a normal mecha.¡± The president put his glasses on and started to observe the image carefully. ¡°I authorize you to show its movement and to show the weapons system,¡± said Gu Qingshan. ¡°Authorization acknowledged. Display will now begin,¡± replied the Impartiality Goddess. Ten minutes later. The door of the president¡¯s office was already open, and there were people running in and out to set up a live broadcast from the office. ¡°General, could you pass him to me for a while?¡± asked a lady who was dressed stylishly. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll go out for a walk. Call me when it¡¯s about to start,¡± replied Zhang Zongyang. That lady dragged Gu Qingshan over to a dressing table with bright lights and got him to sit down. The lady studied his face for a while and nodded. ¡°The outline of your features is not bad, but given the occasion, it¡¯s better to look a little more solemn.¡± She took some pressed powder and added some shadows on Gu Qingshan¡¯s face. Then, she got an assistant to bring over a few suits and called another assistant to bring over a box filled with different colored ties. ¡°Come. Let¡¯s pick one that fits you well and make sure that everyone likes you from the first time you appear on camera,¡± said the female makeup artist very excitedly. Gu Qingshan sighed helplessly and had no choice but to sit there and let the makeup artist do whatever she wanted. At the top of a skyscraper outside the president¡¯s residence. Martial Arts Saint Zhang Zongyang was puffing away at his cigar. It seemed that was the only way for him to calm down. As the Federation¡¯s Senior General of the Army and a Martial Arts Saint of Guicang Martial Arts, he had seen his fair share of crazy and strange things in his life, but he still couldn¡¯t contain his excitement at this moment. ¡°With that sort of technology and that sort of mecha, why did that bunch of idiots want to kill him?¡± said Zhang Zongyang as he shook his head. A thought suddenly struck his mind. He pulled his communication device out and dialed a number. ¡°You¡¯re all gathered at home for a party today? Very good. Turn the TV on and watch the president¡¯s speech later.¡± ¡°Remember to get into the good books of the person next to the president and make friends with him. That¡¯s right. Try to find a way to get him into the military college.¡± After he put down the phone, another person immediately called in. ¡°Hello? Oh, Sea Emperor, what is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious, I¡¯m not pretending. I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡­ Fifteen minutes later, the president of the Federation was going to make a speech, and it was broadcast live throughout the country. He carefully detailed the history of the Federation, saluted the heroes who died in the war, then suddenly moved the topic to the time he was in the army and also remembered his comrades who had sacrificed their lives in the war. In the end, he finally expressed that he was going to take care of and sponsor an orphan of the war. Gu Qingshan went onstage at this point. The Federation took very good care of veteran soldiers and were extremely kind toward the families of those who perished in battle. Everyone in the country respected the military. That was because everyone knew very well that if they didn¡¯t have the military to stand at the front lines and fight for the country, then the Federation wouldn¡¯t be enjoying the peace and harmony it had at that time. So when the president came out personally to show his gratefulness and respect, it improved his approval ratings among the people. The Impartiality Goddess also came out to personally testify that Gu Qingshan was indeed the child of one of the president¡¯s comrades who¡¯d died in battle, so there was no mistake. ¡°In another twenty days, the Federation will celebrate its 300th year. So I would like to call on everybody to remember all the soldiers who perished in battle. These are the people who had quietly protected our homes, so please do a little something for their families.¡± On the projected screen at the bar, the live broadcast ended after the president finished these words. ¡°This is really crazy. Half an hour ago, he was still a murder suspect. How did he suddenly get the support of the president of the federation?¡± Von Hord muttered to himself. Anna replied, ¡°Quite apparently, the Federation has discovered him. If I didn¡¯t guess wrongly, this is a protective measure of the Impartiality Goddess.¡± ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°His parents passed away when he was very young, but they were both ordinary folks and had never fought in battle before.¡± Anna clicked open Gu Qingshan¡¯s profile and saw that all the information inside had been completely changed. Gu Qingshan¡¯s parents had passed away in a car accident together, but now they had both died in the war. ¡°The only person who can simply change a citizen¡¯s personal profile is the Impartiality Goddess,¡± explained Anna. ¡°So he¡¯s the Impartiality Goddess¡¯ son now?¡± Von Hord tilted his head and was still quite confused. Anna slammed the table hard and stood up to walk out. ¡°Your Highness, where are you going?¡± asked Von Hord. ¡°I spotted him first, but now the Federation is snatching him away!¡± Anna ran out at high speed. Chapter 29 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Back at the island in the middle of the lake. An old man, wearing a long robe that men used to wear in the olden days, was seated on the chair meant for the highest position of the family. He gave instructions, ¡°You can turn off the screen.¡± The president had just finished his speech. After the screen was turned off, the entire living room was silent. Nobody spoke. ¡°Father¡­¡± A middle-aged man opened his mouth and wanted to speak up. Mrs. Su sat next to this middle-aged man. From the looks of it, they were Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s parents. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything first.¡± The old man raised a hand to stop him from talking and said, ¡°Replay the fight scene for me.¡± ¡°Yes, Old Master. We will retrieve the footage right now,¡± replied one of his men. After a short while, the screen lit up again. Gu Qingshan had walked out of the bar, and his body, brimming with Spirit Power, attracted the old man¡¯s attention. ¡°Peculiar Five Elements, Spirit Power of Wind?¡± The old man started to look interested. But after Gu Qingshan had shot an arrow at the police flying shuttle and busted it, the old man was surprised and remarked, ¡°This sort of damage looks like the Spirit Power of Metal. How strange.¡± By the time Gu Qingshan had used Volley and turned the Grandmaster into a porcupine, the old man had fallen into deep thought. One of the Su family¡¯s hired experts quietly remarked, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth, nor Wind, Thunder, Light, Darkness, or Sound. It¡¯s neither the Positive nor the Peculiar Five Elements. Perhaps he¡¯s not an Elemental Arts Expert but a sort of Chosen One that we¡¯ve never seen before?¡± When Martial Arts Saint, Zhang Zongyang, appeared, everyone¡¯s expression became very grim. ¡°Gu Qingshan, the president wants to see you.¡± Once the Martial Arts Saint had said these words on the screen, that was the end of the fight. Nobody said anything in the large living room. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. After thinking about this for a while, the old man asked, ¡°Whose idea was it to use the Bai family and Nie family to get rid of him?¡± Mrs. Su¡¯s face paled, but her husband patted her shoulders and quickly replied first, ¡°It was our idea.¡± The old man glanced at his own son, then took a communication device out. After a while, the call went through. ¡°Grandpa, why did you suddenly think of calling me? You¡¯re out?¡± Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s pleasantly surprised voice rang out from the communication device. ¡°That¡¯s right. I have something to ask you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That boy named Gu Qingshan. Why did you think of being friends with him?¡± Su Xue¡¯er immediately calmed down and asked in a quiet voice, ¡°Why are you asking about this?¡± ¡°Well, since he¡¯s a friend of my granddaughter, I would like to know a little more. If you don¡¯t want to tell me, then I¡¯ll go and investigate him myself.¡± ¡°Oh, no, don¡¯t do that. I¡¯ll just tell you myself.¡± Su Xue¡¯er became anxious. Her grandfather was the head of the Su family. Since he had asked her personally, it was best to answer him honestly. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ very hard working and very talented.¡± ¡°For example?¡± ¡°During one of our mecha research classes, we had a practical lab session, and there was a problem with the mecha¡¯s weaponry system. It actually aimed a laser gun at us. All of us got a shock and screamed and ran, but he was the only one who ran up to it and yelled at the mecha to say that it was targeting ordinary citizens.¡± ¡°As you know, this sort of ordinary mecha meant to maintain security in the country is built to place ordinary citizens¡¯ safety above all else. So the moment he said the two words ¡®ordinary citizens¡¯, the mecha immediately raised the laser gun and shot the laser upward into the sky.¡± ¡°I started noticing him from then on. Then, later, I found out that he had started going into several mini-research projects, and it really changed my opinion of him.¡± The old man nodded after hearing this. ¡°Very good. I hope that both of you will get along well. I¡¯ll call you another day.¡± He put down the communication device and gave instructions, ¡°Check on Gu Qingshan¡¯s mecha research status. I remember you mentioned before that he¡¯s from our Changning Steel Mecha Research and Development Department.¡± ¡°He¡¯s been terminated,¡± someone said in a low voice. ¡°What? What¡¯s the reason for doing so?¡± The old man suddenly turned, and his voice had gone up in volume. His question wasn¡¯t angry but was clearly threatening. The person who responded shuddered as he looked toward Mrs. Su. Mrs. Su hung her head and replied, ¡°I terminated him. I didn¡¯t want him to latch onto the Su family¡¯s company and use this as an opportunity to get closer to Xue¡¯er. ¡°Latch onto us?¡± The old man¡¯s brows were deeply furrowed as he considered these words. The person who had been instructed to check on Gu Qingshan made a puzzled noise and reported, ¡°It¡¯s very strange, but my classification level isn¡¯t enough to read his personal profile.¡± The old man replied, ¡°He¡¯s no longer part of our company, so of course you can¡¯t read it. Use my classification level.¡± He went up and pressed his palm against the optical computer. ¡°Welcome to the Federation¡¯s Citizen Personal Profile Database, our honorable Mr. Su Xingchao.¡± ¡°I would like access to the research status of Gu Qingshan, a 17-year-old male citizen residing within my jurisdiction, Changning County.¡± The screen suddenly froze, and a row of bright, red words popped up on the screen: ¡°This information is at the highest classified level.¡± A robotic voice spoke at the same time, ¡°I am sorry to inform you that your classification level is not sufficient to access this information. However, since you are of high standing, I suggest that you request this information directly from Gu Qingshan.¡± ¡°My classification level isn¡¯t high enough?¡± The head of the Su family, Su Xingchao, widened his eyes instantly, and there was a glint in his eyes. ¡°Father, something must have gone wrong. Your classification level is just below the president and the three generals of the military, so how could it be that you can¡¯t access the file of a poor, young boy?¡± said Mrs. Su. ¡°No, the Impartiality Goddess would not make such a low-level mistake.¡± Su Xingchao picked up his communication device and made a call. ¡°Hello, Old Master Su,¡± a deep voice came through from the other side. ¡°Martial Arts Saint Zhang, there¡¯s something I need to ask you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re too polite. Please go ahead and ask; I will try my best to answer you.¡± ¡°Gu Qingshan¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Old Master Su. I can¡¯t tell you anything about him. This would result in extremely severe consequences. I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Su Xingchao put the communication device down and went into deep thought for a while before he suddenly remarked, ¡°This wily old fellow. He must know something.¡± Su Xingchao felt the words ¡°This information is at the highest classified level¡± on the screen was an eyesore. He suddenly slammed the table and said, ¡°Transfer 100 million credit points to the Federation¡¯s research department immediately. Tell them to donate it to Gu Qingshan, and we¡¯ll prepare someone to follow up with this matter.¡± The person in charge replied, ¡°Will do. Please grant your authorization.¡± ¡°Authorization granted.¡± ¡°Connecting to the research department¡­ huh? We¡¯ve been disconnected.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± It was strange for connecting to be a problem, so Su Xingchao couldn¡¯t help but walk over and stare at the screen. There was a row of words on the screen: From this year onward, the Impartiality Goddess will provide all research funds that Gu Qingshan requires. Donation or help of any kind from anyone else is not necessary. Su Xingchao¡¯s pupils narrowed instantly. He said in a low voice, ¡°Then, we¡¯ll donate it directly to the boy and help him to further his studies.¡± The person in charge wiped his sweat away and started typing away furiously. ¡°The system has rejected it!¡± he exclaimed in shock. How could a donation be rejected? This had never happened before. All the higher-ups present started to stretch their necks out. They all wanted to see what was going on right now on the screen. But another row of words appeared on the screen. ¡°From this year onward, citizen Gu Qingshan¡¯s personal living expenses will be entirely borne by the Impartiality Goddess and the president of the Federation. No other person is allowed to interfere.¡± Su Xingchao remained silent for a long time. Nobody dared to even breathe too loudly, and they all quietly waited for instructions from the head of the family. ¡°A pity, what a pity. A person whose research has reached the highest level of classification was actually fired by the Su family,¡± said Su Xingchao as he shook his head. Mrs. Su didn¡¯t know what to say, so she tried to defend herself, ¡°You know about Xue¡¯er¡¯s fate.¡± ¡°You bloody fool!¡± Su Xingchao suddenly roared violently like thunder and sent Mrs. Su flying with a hard slap across the face. He couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore and roared, ¡°Use your brains and think! How many years has it been since someone¡¯s research had reached the highest level of classification in the Federation? When was the last time? What level of research results were those? Have you ever checked?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you right now! That was thirty years ago, and it was Warp Drive Technology¡ªa technology that changed the world!¡± ¡°Xue¡¯er¡¯s fate? Humph!¡± Su Xingchao was still angry and continued sarcastically, ¡°The president has come out personally to protect him, the Martial Arts Saint doesn¡¯t even dare to utter a single word about him, and the Impartiality Goddess? The Impartiality Goddess is using our taxes to feed the boy!¡± He looked at Mrs. Su, who was visibly shaken and in shock. He continued shouting, ¡°And you¡¯re afraid that someone like that would get together with your daughter? You¡¯re afraid of him latching onto us? What a joke! Open your eyes wide and see for yourself! Now even I am not able to latch onto him!¡± ¡°Father, Xiaoling was just anxious about our daughter and didn¡¯t consider these things carefully.¡± Mrs. Su¡¯s husband took a step forward and tried to explain things to his father. Su Xingchao¡¯s anger dissipated slightly, but there was disappointment in his eyes as he replied, ¡°Anxious about your daughter? Oh my, so anxious that she needs to kill someone? So you¡¯re really good at getting someone killed but terrible at capturing one¡¯s heart! Don¡¯t you know that killing someone will only cause more misfortune? Understanding the hearts of people is the way to keep the family going!¡± He shook his head. ¡°So your daughter is a million times stronger than both of you in this aspect, it seems.¡± Su Xingchao rubbed the spot between his eyebrows tiredly and gave instructions, ¡°From now on, nobody is to interfere in whatever Xue¡¯er does. Don¡¯t try to push her life in a particular direction either as that would probably have a reverse effect and make her upset.¡± ¡°Also, about the arranged marriage to the Bai family, leave it aside for now; don¡¯t respond to them.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Make arrangements for me. I¡¯m going to the capital to visit my granddaughter.¡± ¡°¡­got it.¡± Chapter 30 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio On the other side. The head of the Nie family was having a chat with the head of the Bai family. The head of the Nie family was a capable old man. When he got agitated, the veins on his neck would pop out slightly, and his entire face would turn red. ¡°My dearest eldest grandson died just like that. Even the president can¡¯t stop me from being angry.¡± The head of the Bai family was a middle-aged man with a small mustache. He had black, leather gloves on. He clenched both his fists and placed them on his crossed legs. He quietly said, ¡°This person stripped my son¡¯s clothes and flung him into the lake. It was extremely embarrassing for my family.¡± ¡°Tell me what you¡¯re thinking about. You¡¯re one of the nine counties¡¯ magistrates, after all, so I really hope that you could speak up for us,¡± said the old man as he looked at him. ¡°Tell you what. As long as that boy is no longer under the protection of the president, the Bai family can definitely deal with him,¡± replied the head of the Bai family. The head of the Nie family looked intently at the other party and asked, ¡°Why do you want to deal with him? Don¡¯t try to fool me; I¡¯m someone with nearly one foot in the coffin already, so there¡¯s no point in pulling tricks.¡± The head of the Bai family laughed and replied, ¡°According to the information I received, that boy seems to have achieved some pretty amazing research results.¡± He sighed and continued, ¡°My family has checked already. According to the Federation¡¯s laws, as long as he¡¯s still alive, these research results will belong solely to him.¡± The head of the Nie family narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°How selfish. Aren¡¯t you happy about these research results?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not happy at all.¡± ¡°But what method do you have to get these results that even shocked the president into your hands?¡± The head of the Bai family relaxed his hands and said, ¡°We can discuss that further.¡± After an hour had passed. The head of the Nie family was satisfied and left. The head of the Bai family lit a cigar. After he was halfway through, he suddenly called for one of his men. ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Arrange for someone to watch over the Nie family. Once they¡¯re done with their part, kill the entire clan. Make sure none of them survives.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Back at the president¡¯s office. Everyone had left, and even Martial Arts Saint Zhang Zongyang had left. The room was left with only the president and Gu Qingshan. ¡°Given your age, I was wondering if you should continue your studies,¡± said the president. ¡°Do you mean going on to university? I¡¯m fine with anything,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. The president nodded and said, ¡°Even though I publicly made you my godson in accordance with the instructions from the Impartiality Goddess, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good to just do things for show. If you do things like that too often, it¡¯s easy to forget why you did them in the first place.¡± He smiled warmly, ¡°When it comes to your studies, I can settle that. So let me do my duty.¡± Gu Qingshan replied sincerely, ¡°Thank you for your understanding and help.¡± The president picked up the communication device on the office desk, smiled, and said, ¡°But of course, when it comes to you, we¡¯d better check with the Goddess before making any arrangements.¡± The communication device connected quickly. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to assure Gu Qingshan a place in Capital University. What do you think?¡± asked the president. The unique rhythm of the Impartiality Goddess¡¯ female voice rang out from the communication device, ¡°After playing through various scenarios and considering your opinion, the best place for Gu Qingshan is in the area of mecha technology research, so the best university for him is Federal Defense University. Capital University is ranked first in the country, but mecha configuration and its defense mechanisms is not the best place to use Gu Qingshan¡¯s research.¡± The president looked at Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan shrugged and showed that he didn¡¯t have objections and he could accept this arrangement. Federal Defence University was one of the top three universities in the Federation. It wasn¡¯t ranked as highly as Capital University, but mecha technology research was certainly their strong suit and was more suitable for himself. More importantly, it was a good place to rest whenever he came out of the cultivation world. When the president saw this, he also quietly nodded and started to like Gu Qingshan even more. After all his experiences in life, he had seen many gifted people. These people were usually foul-tempered, complacent, condescending, rebellious, and rash. Gu Qingshan was young, but he was willing to listen to others¡¯ opinions and was able to think objectively about everything. This was an important point because it was directly linked to Gu Qingshan¡¯s future path. ¡°We¡¯ll go with that, then. I¡¯m agreeable,¡± said the president. The Impartiality Goddess said, ¡°Please grant your authorization.¡± ¡°Authorization granted,¡± replied the president. The Impartiality Goddess replied, ¡°Preparing to retrieve file and make arrangements. Calculating Gu Qingshan¡¯s Personal Meritorious Service points.¡± ¡°Currently confirming arrangements.¡± ¡°As this process is highly classified, it will take several minutes to go through certain special processes and will be completed later.¡± Since everything was all set in place, the president nodded and looked away from the communication device. Then, he looked back at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°Come to my place tomorrow for lunch and meet my family.¡± Gu Qingshan nodded, ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll have to trouble you then.¡± The president laughed, ¡°No trouble at all. I¡¯m so busy every day, all my meals are prepared by the chef. I don¡¯t have time to cook, okay?¡± Gu Qingshan laughed too. ¡°After you enter university, make more friends. It¡¯s our military school, after all, so after you graduate, all of you will be comrades in battle and you¡¯ll meet each other again sooner or later,¡± instructed the president. ¡°Sure, I will,¡± replied Gu Qingshan seriously. Since the president didn¡¯t want to just take him in as a godson for show and was so sincere toward him, Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t a hypocritical person, either. Someone knocked on the door at this time. ¡°What is it?¡± asked the president. ¡°The parliament session already started ten minutes ago, Mr. President. It¡¯s your turn to speak soon.¡± ¡°Oh I nearly forgot about that,¡± the president smacked his forehead and stood up. Gu Qingshan got up too and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for giving you trouble.¡± Someone else walked over and quietly asked if the president was in his office. The president then said, ¡°I have to leave now. Remember to come to my place at noon tomorrow.¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Yes I will.¡± The two of them walked out together. The president went with his subordinates to attend the parliament session while someone else led Gu Qingshan out and sent him out in a specially arranged car. After everyone had left the room, the president¡¯s office door was shut and everything went quiet again. After a few minutes, the communication device on the president¡¯s desk lit up. The Impartiality Goddess¡¯s voice rang out from the device. ¡°According to Gu Qingshan¡¯s Personal Meritorious Service points, classification level in the Federation, level of technology research, as well as the general principles for grooming research scientists in the Federation, all suitable arrangements have been made.¡± ¡°Final arrangement: Federal Defense University, Mecha Department, Special Professor, to receive a special allowance from the Federation.¡± ¡°Changes in Gu Qingshan¡¯s personal profile completed.¡± After she read through all these details, the Impartiality Goddess disconnected the call. Chapter 31 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The night passed, and the sun began to light up the sky in the east. It didn¡¯t rain today. The sun slowly rose and hung itself high up in the blue and cloudless sky. Gu Qingshan¡¯s body suddenly appeared in the middle of a dense forest. The carcass of the Demonic Python was still lying at his feet. There were dozens of arrows stuck on branches within a 200-meter radius. After staying 24 hours in the other world, one hour would have passed in the real world. But when he came back into the other world, not even one second would have gone by in the other world. It was a very strange time flow. Gu Qingshan checked his storage bag. The Demonic Python¡¯s blood, teeth, and other items were all still intact. He had eaten one of the Demonic Python¡¯s two gallbladders. The other one was still quietly lying inside his storage bag and would give off a gleam every now and then. This was really good stuff. Gu Qingshan could still feel that his qi and blood was getting stronger and stronger, and he was reaching the level where he could become a Martial Arts cultivator. Should he become a Martial Arts cultivator? Gu Qingshan started to hesitate. He decided not to think about these things for the moment. It was more important to get back to the camp. He hadn¡¯t eaten anything the whole day. Zhao Liu didn¡¯t know how to do much, but at least he was a really good cook. Gu Qingshan tidied up all his things and quickly returned the way he came. He didn¡¯t stop along the way at all. If he saw any demons, he avoided them in advance. He had spent a night killing demons, then he¡¯d gone back to the real world to complete the creation of a mecha, meet Anna, fight a Grandmaster, meet with the president and the Martial Arts Saint, and he¡¯s even gone on television. He was now feeling really tired, both physically and emotionally. He thought it would be a good idea to just rest the entire day inside this other world. When he got back to the camp, Zhao Liu was standing at the entrance of the camp and waiting for him anxiously. The moment he spotted Gu Qingshan, he quickly said, ¡°Bro, something bad has happened.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°A lot of demons appeared last night. They just kept appearing, one after another.¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s going on?¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression grew tense when he asked this question. Zhao Liu didn¡¯t understand anything about the military, so after stuttering for a long time, he still couldn¡¯t explain exactly what had happened. Gu Qingshan could only patiently ask. It took three or four questions before Zhao Liu would finally reply with one statement based on his memory. It took nearly fifteen minutes before Gu Qingshan had finally gotten a clear picture of what had happened. The night before, the demon army hadn¡¯t sent out large troops. Instead, they¡¯d sent out many small groups of special troops. All these troops were well prepared and were all powerful demons. In Zhao Liu¡¯s words, they ¡°looked so scary that I wanted to die¡± and ¡°were even fiercer than the weird thing we saw the last time¡±. The demon troops were all moving at high speed, speeding past the entrance of the camp. In order to make sure that they were not discovered easily and could move quickly, the demons grouped together in small numbers and moved silently. If Zhao Liu hadn¡¯t gotten up in the middle of the night to pee, he wouldn¡¯t have discovered them at all. After he finished listening to Zhao Liu¡¯s recounting of the night before, Gu Qingshan started thinking about the Faceless Giant and the Blood Drinking Demons he¡¯d seen the day before and started raising more questions in his heart. The demon army was sending out so many special troops at such high speed. What were they trying to do? This was supposed to be around the time when the first battle had just begun. The demons and humans were still trying to sound each other out and make sure they got a clearer picture of the enemy. So neither side had sent out their most powerful troops to fight to the very end yet. These were all powerful demons that should have appeared only toward the end of the battles, but they had all appeared now. Gu Qingshan murmured to himself and started to dig through his memories very seriously. He had a bad feeling about this. In his previous life, he had been commander-in-chief of the National Guild and the head battle strategist of the combined world forces, so he was very sensitive to the movement of army troops. He had studied every battle in the game very seriously, too. When he had just transmigrated, his cultivation level was too low, and he was also wounded, so Gu Qingshan focused all his energies on leveling up. But now that things had changed, he could start to think about everything from the viewpoint of a battle commander again. Gu Qingshan put aside his distractions and started to focus on thinking about this situation. Since the troops that were on the move weren¡¯t the main troops of the demon army, then whatever was going to happen wasn¡¯t going to occur at the frontlines of the battle. So that eliminated the possibility of an actual battle. Could it be an ambush of sorts? Gu Qingshan shut his eyes and looked through the map of this world in his mind. The army camp he was at was part of the front lines, and this area had already been lost to the demons. What around here would have been worth the demons¡¯ while to send out such powerful and elite troops to attack the human army¡¯s side with so much force? The next human army barrack was outside the border city and was nearly 500 kilometers away from here. There weren¡¯t any targets worth ambushing around here. So an ambush could also be eliminated. After eliminating these two possibilities, Gu Qingshan became even more nervous. Could it be some sort of assassination attack? Gu Qingshan continued to think about this quietly. Many top human cultivators had died in battle in this year in history. So which important human cultivators had been assassinated by demon troops before the battles suddenly broke out? Many names appeared in Gu Qingshan¡¯s mind. He started to think through them and narrowed his list down. Suddenly Gu Qingshan thought of two people. These two had shocked the world with how incomparable they were in power and had contributed greatly to the history of mankind. Many historians had said before that if at least one of them hadn¡¯t died before the battles began, they would have rewritten history. Gu Qingshan suddenly asked, ¡°What day is it today?¡± Zhao Liu scratched his head and replied, ¡°June 7th.¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. That matched up! The Supreme Elder of the Sacred Path Faction, Formation Grandmaster Gongsun Zhi, had fallen to the enemy on June 8th. The Celestial Pole Sacred Lady of the Celestial Pole Sect, Ning Yuechan, had fallen to the enemy on June 9th. Gongsun Zhi had been surrounded by 3,000,000 demons and died within his own formation. Ning Yuechan had been attacked by five demon generals and had fallen after battling them for one day and one night. Many players were all dumbfounded when they read this part of history because they couldn¡¯t understand what had happened at all. Formations were the best way to hide from the enemy, and even the lousiest one could still help one to run from the enemy. Among all the sects and factions, Gongsun Zhi¡¯s formation technique was the best in the world and was a Grandmaster who was nearly able to attain the way of heaven and understand all things on earth. So it didn¡¯t make sense that someone with such a high level of formation technique would be trapped by millions of demons and eventually die like that. The fall of the Celestial Pole Sacred Lady, Ning Yuechan, was particularly tragic. The Celestial Pole Sect was one of the most powerful sects in the cultivation world. Ning Yuechan had become a Celestial Pole Sacred Lady at a very young age, so her constitution and cultivation levels were considered one of the highest in all of the cultivation world. Such an outstanding lady ended up being surrounded by five powerful demon generals, and she fought with all her strength for one day and one night and finally died after she had finished using up all her strength. If she had sent out even just a small cry of help, then highly skilled fighters from the human army would definitely have gone to help her during her fight. But the higher-ups of the human army hadn¡¯t known she had battled the demons for one day and one night until she had already fallen. There had been a mighty cultivator who¡¯d said before that if Gongsun Zhi hadn¡¯t died, then the humans might not have lost the first battle. And if Ning Yuechan hadn¡¯t died, then she might have stood a chance to fight the Nine Nether Demonic Lord a decade later and change the fate of mankind. But these were all regretful what-ifs. History had already been written, so it was meaningless for the people who came after to say such things. Gu Qingshan paced up and down and thought about these things quietly. Today was the 7th of June. That meant that in just two days¡¯ time, these two legendary people would fall to the enemy one after another. So this was probably why the demon army had sent out all these elite troops. The place where these two legends had fallen was¡­ Gu Qingshan started to recall where they had fallen and quickly found the position recorded in history on the map in his mind. As expected, it wasn¡¯t too far from here. It was only about 50 kilometers out. Once he had confirmed his suspicions, Gu Qingshan felt more relaxed inside. The moment these two powerful human cultivators showed up, the demons would definitely go crazy trying to surround them. As a Qi Refiner Level 5 cultivator, there was no way Gu Qingshan could even go near such a fierce battle. Just the demon troops covering their comrades¡¯ back would kill him off easily. The only thing he could do now was to take this chance to quickly escape to the human army¡¯s base camp. Since all the demons were now focused on attacking those two legendary people, he had to take this chance to get out of this danger zone. Gu Qingshan quickly reached a decision. Under such circumstances, he could leave in the opposite direction, and that would be the way to avoid the most danger. It would take a day and a night to get to the base camp outside the border city from here. This amount of time wasn¡¯t short, and there were many dangers on the way, but it was better than waiting to die within a camp that had already fallen. So if he wanted to leave, then he had to quickly run for it while the two legends were still battling the demons. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t think about resting anymore. He quickly checked all the things he had on him. The Demonic Python blood, fangs, and gallbladder were still intact, and his military bow was still in good shape. He didn¡¯t have many arrows left, so he would need to get more later after leaving. The curved saber wasn¡¯t of much use, but it was better to bring one along. At least he¡¯d have a weapon if he would need to fight something up close. ¡°Pack your things, we have to leave right now.¡± Gu Qingshan said this to Zhao Liu while packing his own things. ¡°Leave? Where to?¡± Zhao Liu replied with wide eyes. He had just finished waxing some demon meat and was about to hang it under the roof to dry. ¡°Of course, we¡¯re getting out of this fallen zone. We¡¯re headed for the human army¡¯s base camp,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. Zhao Liu hesitated and said, ¡°But, but we¡¯ve already found Spirit Stones, so we can still hide for a while more within this formation.¡± Gu Qingshan said, ¡°This Concealment Magic Formation is only effective against anything at Golden Core level and below. Anything above Golden Core will be able to see through this formation easily.¡± He continued, ¡°That strange creature called a Faceless Giant we saw the other day had already discovered us long ago, but because it had a mission to complete and we¡¯re not powerful fighters, it just ignored us.¡± Zhao Liu took a step back, then took another step back. He shook his head and said, ¡°Bro, why are you saying such scary things? Why do you want to lie to me?¡± Gu Qingshan continued to explain to him patiently, ¡°If my judgment is correct, this area is going to become a battleground soon, so if you want to live, we have to leave as soon as possible.¡± Zhao Liu said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just go hunting? How did you know all this?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I know from the movement of the demon troops. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m very sure about this.¡± But Zhao Liu kept shaking his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not right! You must have made a mistake! It¡¯s so dangerous outside and I could die anytime! If you want to leave, go ahead! I¡¯m staying here!¡± Gu Qingshan thought about how Zhao Liu had given him a Healing Pill and sighed. He continued to try to persuade Zhao Liu, ¡°Come with me. You really can¡¯t stay here anymore or you¡¯d definitely die.¡± Zhao Liu continued to shake his head vigorously and said, ¡°Going out from here is even more dangerous. There¡¯s a formation here, and I¡¯ll be safe here. Besides, the human army will take this area back sooner or later.¡± Gu Qingshan tried to persuade him further, but he noticed that Zhao Liu was very firm and even started looking at Gu Qingshan with some anger in his eyes, so Gu Qingshan gave up. ¡°I hope that you understand,¡± Gu Qingshan said very seriously, ¡°the moment the demons arrive, you won¡¯t even have the time to regret it.¡± Zhao Liu stiffened his neck and refused to say anything. Since that was the case, Gu Qingshan had no choice but to turn and leave the camp without even turning back to look. After Gu Qingshan disappeared from sight, Zhao Liu spat hatefully. ¡°Tsk! Leaving this place is the most dangerous thing to do! Those soldiers left the camp, and that¡¯s how they died at the hands of demons!¡± ¡°Everyone ended up in that mass grave while I alone survived.¡± ¡°I thought he was here to rescue me, but he¡¯s turned out to be some newbie who got lost. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve only realized this after serving him for so many days.¡± ¡°What a joke. He can go ahead and die if he wants, but he actually tried to convince me to die as well.¡± Zhao Liu cursed all the way back to his room. Chapter 32 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Gu Qingshan ran swiftly through the forest. When he saw a huge piece of empty land, he then carefully went around it. After he had run several hundred meters out, he came to another piece of empty land. Gu Qingshan paused for a moment, then went around the empty land again. After walking for a while, he pushed the dense branches in front of him aside, and there lay yet another piece of empty land. He looked out and realized that there were random pieces of empty land everywhere. Gu Qingshan exhaled, then clenched his teeth and leaped to a higher place to look. He raised his military bow and shot an arrow toward the ground. The arrow stabbed deeply into the surface of the ground, and only its feathers could be seen. After a while, a human face the size of a football field appeared on the surface of the ground. The human face spat the arrow out and stared at Gu Qingshan. It asked in a low and slow voice, ¡°How¡­ did you¡­ know¡­ I¡­ was¡­ here?¡± Gu Qingshan looked at the other party up and down, then said, ¡°The mud is too fresh.¡± ¡°Fresh¡­ what does¡­ that mean?¡± There was a confused expression on the human face. This was a demon that moved along the ground¡ªan Earth-traveling Demon. It could naturally withstand some attacks from Elemental Arts Experts, and if it ran into a sword cultivator, it would just disappear into the ground. Ground Escape was a powerful Magical Power, and very few were able to grasp this power. Earth-traveling demons seemed to be able to make armies fall before them very easily, and they were once a great headache to human cultivators. It had taken a very long time for the players to discover that it had a fatal flaw: it wasn¡¯t very intelligent. As long as someone said something that could pique the interest of an Earth-travelling Demon, the Earth-travelling Demon would think it was true. So Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°You should bring some mud along from where you came from; then, it would be the same shade of brown as your body. He continued, ¡°If you did that, then I wouldn¡¯t have been able to discover you. In fact, nobody would be able to discover you.¡± The human face on the ground said, ¡°Nobody¡­ would be able¡­ to discover me? Rea¡­lly?¡± ¡°Rea¡­lly?¡± ¡°Rea¡­lly?¡± ¡°Rea¡­lly?¡± ¡°Rea¡­lly?¡± Countless similar voices started speaking at the same time. Gu Qingshan tried his best to stay calm as he stood on the tree branch he was on and looked out. There were countless giant faces emerging from the surface of the ground. There was some excitement on their faces as they looked at Gu Qingshan at the same time. There were so many human faces densely packed together, they seemed to cover the entire mountain. This was an army of Earth-travelling Demons, a core strength of the demon army. Faceless Giants were powerful but few in number. If the demons wanted to surround their enemy, they still had to send out an army of Earth-travelling Demons. ¡°Of course it¡¯s true. Nobody would find you,¡± Gu Qingshan laughed loudly as he looked around him. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can bring the mud over and try, I¡¯ll wait for you here.¡± The human face looked excited and raring to go. It said, ¡°All right, you¡­ wait for me¡­ here.¡± With that, the human face sank into the ground and disappeared very quickly. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going too.¡± One giant human face after another giant human face disappeared from the surface of the ground and went far, far away. These demons must have come from the huge demon base camp that was thousands of kilometers away. So based on their usual traveling speed, these Earth-traveling Demons would probably require quite a bit of time before they would come back here. The moment the Earth-travelling Demons left, Gu Qingshan turned and immediately made a run for it. The movement of such a large army of Earth-travelling Demons might shock or alarm the demon army, so this large army might be stopped halfway back to the main camp and ordered to come back here. And if they really returned, then he was doomed. Gu Qingshan was about to make himself scarce when he heard a voice call out from somewhere not too far from him. ¡°Young man, thanks for getting us out of this. How may I address you?¡± Gu Qingshan immediately turned around to see an old man smiling at him. Gu Qingshan placed a hand on his military bow and quickly replied, ¡°My name is Gu Qingshan, and I¡¯m a soldier from the Valiant Cavalry Battalion. Who might you be? Do you have a waist tag?¡± The old man threw his waist tag over. Gu Qingshan caught it and held it as he unleashed his Spirit Power. The waist tag immediately lit up, and flames shot out from it. The flames came together to become lines, and slowly formed a few words. ¡°Dingyuan General Gongsun Zhi¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart sank with a thud. This was the Dingyuan General of the human cultivators¡¯ combined forces, the Supreme Elder of the Sacred Path Faction, Formation Grandmaster Gongsun Zhi! Why was it him? Gu Qingshan had already left the army camp, and he had gone way off from where Gongsun Zhi had been surrounded and killed in history. So why had he ended up running into Gongsun Zhi anyway? Gu Qingshan tossed his own waist tag over so that the other party could inspect it as well. Both parties slowly felt their hearts calm down. Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t help but speak first, ¡°So it is General Gongsun. Why are you here all by yourself?¡± Gongsun Zhi sighed and pulled out a small formation disk. He pressed both hands on it and shouted loudly, ¡°Six Combined Formation, open up!¡± Suddenly, the scenery in front of Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes changed completely. Everything he¡¯d seen earlier disappeared in an instant, and the next thing he knew, he was standing in front of a temple. There was absolutely nothing surrounding the temple, no matter which direction he looked. He couldn¡¯t see the end of this vast nothingness. Gongsun Zhi had actually used a formation to hide this huge temple within this mountainous forest! Gu Qingshan followed Gongsun Zhi into the temple, only to find someone seated on a sitting mound in the middle wearing gold armor and a white cape. This person didn¡¯t appear bulky, despite wearing armor. Instead, the armor showed how slim and exquisite her tall and beautiful figure was. She was looking down and only raised her head slightly when Gongsun Zhi came in with Gu Qingshan. When she realized that Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t even at Foundation Building stage, she looked back down again. When she¡¯d raised her head earlier, Gu Qingshan noticed that she was wearing a silver mask that completely covered her face. ¡°My little friend, Qingshan, I¡¯m so glad you managed to chase away the army of Earth-travelling Demons. Otherwise, we¡¯d have been stuck here forever.¡± ¡°He? He chased away the army of Earth-travelling Demons?¡± A delightful-sounding female voice started speaking. The woman in gold armor sounded shocked, but nobody could see her expression under the silver mask. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± replied Gongsun Zhi. ¡°Earth-travelling Demons can activate the element of Earth and can control mud easily, which had a great impact on the formation I had created. But he¡¯s managed to fool them into leaving.¡± ¡°Fooled them into leaving?¡± The woman in gold armor was even more confused. Gongsun Zhi recounted what had happened earlier to her. The woman in gold armor finally looked straight at Gu Qingshan and asked, ¡°How did you know the weakness of this sort of creature?¡± Gu Qingshan had already thought of how to answer this question, so he calmly replied, ¡°I am a soldier from the Vanguard Battalion and I have to fight demons every day. I enjoy taking note of these demons¡¯ characteristics, so that¡¯s how I knew about this.¡± ¡°Vanguard Battalion? That makes sense too,¡± the woman in gold armor muttered to herself. ¡°But from what I know, the Vanguard Battalion has been overtaken by the demon army, and they¡¯ve practically wiped out the entire troop. You might be the only survivor.¡± Gu Qingshan made sure he put a sad face on when she said this. But Gongsun Zhi¡¯s eyes lit up at this. He asked, ¡°Then, do you have an understanding of other demons?¡± When the human army generals had fought with the demons for the first time, they¡¯d ended up suffering major losses because they¡¯d had no idea what the special characteristics of each demon were. Many troops had been completely wiped out and hadn¡¯t had the chance to send any information back, so nobody had even been able to even know how powerful some of these demons were. If just one soldier from the Vanguard Battalion managed to survive and could point out the characteristics of various demons, this would be of great help to future battles. ¡°I know a bit,¡± replied Gu Qingshan confidently. The two in front of him seemed to look very grim and Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t sure how they would deal with him, so he decided to prove that he could be valuable to them. As expected, Gongzun Zhi and the woman in gold armor exchanged glances, then nodded their heads. Chapter 33 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°How do I address you?¡± Gu Qingshan was quite curious and decided to ask the woman in gold armor for her name. The woman hesitated for a while, then replied in a quiet voice, ¡°My name is Ning Yuechan.¡± It was really her! This was Ning Yuechan, a name that everyone knew. Ning Yuechan, the Celestial Pole Sacred Lady. Ning Yuechan, a cultivator whose gifting shocked the world. Ning Yuechan, the woman of every male cultivator¡¯s dreams! Ning Yuechan fell silent for a moment. She was waiting for the usual gasp, the usual passionate gaze, as well as the usual mushy and grandiose oaths. Every time she met a young male cultivator, every single one would do this, regardless of who they were. These male cultivators seemed to have forgotten that Ning Yuechan was much more powerful than most people and didn¡¯t need them to try so hard to protect her. But it was hard to blame them. The person standing in front of them was Ning Yuechan, after all. Gongsun Zhi waited a while to allow Gu Qingshan to go through this process as well. After all, he¡¯d managed to get rid of the army of Earth-travelling Demons and had gotten them out of this sticky situation, so he had to repay this favor. But after waiting for a while, Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t do anything nor say anything. He didn¡¯t even react. Wait, what? The two of them looked at him strangely, only to find that Gu Qingshan was still standing where he was with a grim face, and his thick eyebrows were deeply furrowed. Ning Yuechan concluded that this boy was a strange fellow. But it was hard to blame Gu Qingshan. Everything happening right now wasn¡¯t within his expectations. It didn¡¯t match what he knew from history. He had fallen into deep thought. These two people were going to fall to the enemy, one after another. Why were they together? What had happened back then that historians didn¡¯t know about? Besides Gu Qingshan, none of the players knew that these two had actually been together before falling to the enemy. According to historical records, they had died pretty far from one another. But what he was seeing now didn¡¯t match his memory. Gu Qingshan became anxious now. This twist in history was filled with a strange and unimaginable mystery, while the shadow of death was coming closer and closer. Since the army of Earth-traveling demons had surrounded these two people, that meant that the demon army had discovered them long ago. Gu Qingshan was bent on escaping, but even if Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan were to let him go, he wouldn¡¯t get far either. So the moment the demon army launched their attack, it wouldn¡¯t take much for them to kill off a mere Qi Refiner cultivator like Gu Qingshan. What could he do to keep his life? Gu Qingshan forced himself to calm down. Sacred Path Faction and Celestial Pole Sect were very far from one another, and these two major sects didn¡¯t interact much with one another. Gongsun Zhi was much older, while Ning Yuechan had only started to rise later. From the historical records, the two of them had practically no dealings with one another and might have never even seen each other before. If that was the case, then these two were together right now likely because they had to complete the same mission given by the military. That must be it. They must be on some mission, or perhaps they completed something. This matter must be extremely important. Otherwise, there would be no reason why the demon army would have sent out such powerful numbers of demons to hunt them down. When tomorrow came, Gongsun Zhi would fall to the enemy. He was going to fall within this huge formation that he had set up himself. That probably meant that he had purposely distracted the demon army so that Ning Yuechan could escape. Unfortunately, Ning Yuechan had fallen to the enemy one day later at a spot very close to the safety of the human army base camp. She had nearly reached the safety zone of the human army, but the five demon generals had caught up with her, and she¡¯d died after fighting for one whole day and one whole night. She had spent the whole day and whole night fighting without even sending out a single messenger talisman, and that¡¯s why nobody had come to save her. Gongsun Zhi had sacrificed himself so that Ning Yuechan could escape, while Ning Yuechan had been surrounded by her enemies and perished without anyone coming to her rescue. It was such a strange string of events that nobody would believe it if Gu Qingshan hadn¡¯t known all this history beforehand. And the biggest mystery of all¡ªwhat had they done to make the demon army hunt them down so hard? In his previous life, these shocking secrets had been buried in the great river of history after they had both fallen to the enemy. But! However! Something was still not right. This place was still way too far from where they would eventually fall to the enemy. Even if Gongsun Zhi used all his strength and power to run, there was no way he would have reached the place he should have. It was too ridiculous and didn¡¯t make sense at all. Wait a minute¡­ A light flashed across Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart. ¡°Greetings, Sacred Lady,¡± Gu Qingshan clasped his hands together and asked anxiously, ¡°When I was at the army camp, I saw a Faceless Giant and some Blood Drinking Demons go past. Were they after the both of you?¡± Ning Yuechan had waited for his reaction for so long, but in the end, this was his first question. She couldn¡¯t help but be stunned for a few moments. She didn¡¯t think too much about it and answered, ¡°They were hot on our heels initially, but for some reason, they eventually went past us, so we switched directions and came here instead.¡± Gu Qingshan thought about it for a long time before finally reacting. He pulled out the blood-red jade plate in his hands. So that¡¯s what had happened. That demonic bird that he had killed was carrying the latest information on these two people in front of him now. He had killed the demonic bird and even burnt its body to ashes, so the Faceless Giant never got the latest information on their target. So Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan had managed to escape that hunt down purely by coincidence. And that was why the two of them had landed here, far off from where they were supposed to have gone to according to history. So he was the cause of this problem in the first place. He was like that butterfly that kept fluttering its wings and caused a small change in the historical events that should have been set in stone. Gu Qingshan shook his head and smiled bitterly. His cultivation level was too low, and so he had planned to avoid them so that he could survive the escape of the army camp. But fate was so ironic. He had actually done something that would turn his plans upside down. Instead of avoiding them, he¡¯d ended up meeting these two legends. Even if he wanted to leave now, it was probably too late. These two people¡¯s lives seemed to be sealed in fate. The moment they would die, there would be absolutely no way that Gu Qingshan could find a way out from the surrounding demon armies. He was definitely doomed to die. The moment Gu Qingshan took that blood-red jade plate out, Gongsun Zhi¡¯s expression changed. He waved his hand, took the blood-red jade plate from Gu Qingshan, and filled it with Spirit Power. An eerie and inhuman voice rang out from the jade plate. ¡°Target is moving toward the south, east 726, south 94. Instruction: Faceless Giant, Blood Drinking Demon army to chase and attack target.¡± Gongsun Zhi was a very intelligent man and asked only after a few moments of thinking, ¡°This Faceless Giant and those Blood Drinking Demons were coming after us. So does that mean you killed off their messenger?¡± ¡°It was purely by coincidence. The messenger was already hurt when I saw it,¡± replied Gu Qingshan honestly. Gongsun Zhi inspected the jade plate carefully and slowly exhaled. He said, ¡°This jade plate is real.¡± He looked over at Ning Yuechan. Ning Yuechan nodded and replied, ¡°He¡¯s not lying. My demonic beast did injure the messenger but wasn¡¯t able to kill it or capture it.¡± She then asked Gu Qingshan, ¡°I see that your cultivation level hasn¡¯t even reached Foundation Building, so logically speaking, you couldn¡¯t have even caught up with that messenger. How did you manage to kill it?¡± Gu Qingshan patted his military bow and said, ¡°I have a habit of using a bow, so I have some pretty good archery skills and thus I was able to kill the messenger from afar.¡± The two of them looked at him suspiciously, so Gu Qingshan knew he had to gain their trust. Gu Qingshan took his military bow out, nocked an arrow on the string, then raised his arm to shoot. Volley! Rapid Shot! The grey shadows became a bright trail of light, flying like dragons and serpents. DOOONG! More than ten arrows made a sound at the same time, and they all landed on the statue on the rooftop. Chapter 34 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°It¡¯s little wonder you made it to the vanguard of the Valiant Cavalry Battalion,¡± complimented Gongsun Zhi. Ning Yuechan nodded quietly. One had to practice battling techniques, but what one needed more was a natural gift. There were people with no gift who spent their whole lives cultivating and practicing but never grasped high-level battling techniques until the day they died. The young man in front of them was clearly quite gifted in the first place. They exchanged glances. Their level of trust in him had gone up by quite a bit. They did believe him, but they also weren¡¯t sure whether to laugh or cry at themselves either. They were at a much higher level of cultivation and had almost reached the highest level, but they ended up being saved by this young fellow who was only at Qi Refiner stage, and then he had also gotten them out of a fix earlier. So the Faceless Giant and the trail of Blood Drinking Demons behind it were wandering around with no proper direction, while the Earth-travelling Demons had been fooled into moving back to the demon army¡¯s base camp. The two of them had been saved from a desperate situation and could finally breathe a small sigh of relief. Gongsun Zhi then slapped his thigh and said, ¡°Excellent, my dear Qingshan. Let¡¯s leave right away. We might actually be able to make it back to the human army base camp alive.¡± He then asked another question, ¡°Sacred Lady, are you able to walk?¡± Ning Yuechan shook her head and said, ¡°No, I really can¡¯t hold out anymore.¡± Gongsun Zhi pointed at Gu Qingshan and said seriously, ¡°Qingshan, help support Ning Yuechan. Let¡¯s hurry along.¡± Gongsun Zhi needed both hands to set up a formation, so if this boy helped support Ning Yuechan, then Gongsun Zhi had both hands free to set up a formation if they ran into any trouble. Ning Yuechan knew the situation they were in and didn¡¯t say anything. She just quietly held her hands out. Gu Qingshan looked over at her and saw that her slim and elegant shoulders were completely covered by gold chainmail, and the deep, crimson-colored wrist guard on her arms covered her wrists, making her long and pretty hands seem even fairer than they already were. So many young male cultivators wanted to hold this hand, and they would do anything and pay any price to do so. But of course, that was just their wishful thinking. Ning Yuechan was of high moral standing and had extremely high standards. She never liked to speak too much normally, so what more have such close contact with others? If she hadn¡¯t been faced with a life-threatening situation where she couldn¡¯t even stand properly, there was no way she would have let a man help her up. But Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t even budge. What? What was wrong with this fellow again? The two great cultivators who had nearly reached the peak of cultivation looked at Gu Qingshan together. But Gu Qingshan was frowning and still in deep thought. He didn¡¯t seem excited or happy about being able to be near a beautiful woman. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Gongsun Zhi. ¡°What¡¯s happened to her? Why does she need me to support her?¡± Gu Qingshan pointed at Ning Yuechan. Ning Yuechan¡¯s self-confidence started taking a tumble when he casually pointed at her like that. Seriously? Would this fellow die if he supported her? Ning Yuechan wondered if she had insufficient charm. She was slightly annoyed by this, but Ning Yuechan had no choice but to bite her lip and explain the situation herself, ¡°I¡¯ve been through many days of fighting, so now I have four different types of poison in my body, and there are twenty-seven wounds on myself of varying sizes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not supposed to happen,¡± Gu Qingshan looked at her and replied in puzzlement. ¡°Don¡¯t both of you carry rations on you all the time? Surely your storage bags would have some pills for healing and purging poisons, right?¡± Ning Yuechan looked away and said, ¡°We¡¯ve finished using them up a long time ago.¡± Gongsun Zhi smiled bitterly and added on, ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to investigate the secrets of the demon army, but we were discovered by the Nine Nether Demonic Lord. So after we¡¯ve been chased down for more than twenty days, everything we had has been used up. I don¡¯t even have a healing pill left on myself.¡± Gu Qingshan suddenly understood what had happened. So the great Celestial Pole Sacred Lady, Ning Yuechan, was in such a poor condition, and she didn¡¯t even have any more supplies on hand. It was little wonder that she had eventually been surrounded by the five demon generals and sadly fallen to the enemy after hanging on for an entire day and night. In the history of mankind, her fall had been one that everyone had thought was a terrible pity. Gu Qingshan started patting himself down to find something that could help her. Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan watched him and their eyes lit up when they saw him do this. Why hadn¡¯t they thought of it? This boy might have some pills. Just as they thought about this, Gu Qingshan put his hands down and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t have any healing pills for wounds either.¡± Both of them were immediately a little disappointed. Ning Yuechan was even a little annoyed. If he didn¡¯t have anything, why did he take so long to look for one then? ¡°Let¡¯s go. We should hurry while we can,¡± said Gongsun Zhi as he turned. ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Gu Qingshan suddenly thought of something he had on hand. He pulled a leather pouch out and poured out a gleaming, python gall bladder pill. This gall bladder had been mixed with thirty-seven special medicines and had been properly treated already. The immense medicinal power had been mixed in with the gall bladder to become one, and it had now become an incredible medicine for purging toxins and healing wounds. The treated gall bladder had been made into a pill, so it could be safely consumed. This was a method that Gu Qingshan had learned in his previous life, and it was very handy in times like this. ¡°Demonic Python gall bladder. It¡¯s rare and it should be useful for the poison in your body as well as your injuries.¡± Gu Qingshan said these words as he held up the gall bladder pill. Gongsun Zhi took it from him, rubbed a bit off, and tasted it. There was joy on his face as he said, ¡°This is exactly what you need! Demonic Python gall bladders are good for nourishing your blood and flesh, and since it¡¯s been mixed with a good amount of other medicines, it has become even better at purging toxins. It¡¯s really what you need right now! It¡¯s exactly the right type of medicine!¡± Gongsun Zhi hurried her, ¡°Sacred Lady, there¡¯s hope for you! Quickly take this pill.¡± But Ning Yuechan continued to stare at the Demonic Python gall bladder in his hand. She knew very well that this gall bladder pill was very precious and important given her current condition. But this scene had also successfully reminded her of a painful past that she had buried deep in her heart. Ning Yuechan suddenly asked, ¡°If you give this gall bladder to me, then what about you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Gu Qingshan froze for a while before patting his own chest and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ning Yuechan was as quiet and calm as water. She quietly said, ¡°Your cultivation level is very low, so anything could happen to you anytime. Why don¡¯t you leave it for yourself in case your life is threatened?¡± Gu Qingshan was stunned. She just said that his cultivation was very low. And that something might happen to him. Did this lady know how to hold a conversation at all? Gu Qingshan glared at her silver mask and replied in annoyance, ¡°Are you going to eat it or not? If you¡¯re not eating it, I¡¯ll throw it away.¡± No matter how good Ning Yuechan¡¯s temperament was, it didn¡¯t stop her from glaring back at the young man hatefully from behind her mask. What sort of attitude was this? How could he say something like he¡¯d throw the pill away if she didn¡¯t eat it? She bit her lips hard and wasn¡¯t sure if she should accept the pill or reject it. This Demonic Python gall bladder was more precious than an Antidote Pill. This gall bladder could purge any toxins or poisons within the body and could also increase the rate of her qi and blood regeneration. Demonic Pythons weren¡¯t very powerful, but it would hunt for food once a year, and after it had eaten its fill, it would hide deep in the mountains and sleep for the next year. After 360 years, the Demonic Python would start evolving into a Kraken. It would leave its usual hiding place and start to absorb the five elements in order to evolve further into a Dragon. It was actually a very difficult thing to run into a Demonic Python by coincidence. The color of this Demonic Python gall bladder looked like it was nearly 300 years old, so it was even rarer than most. But yet Gu Qingshan had taken it out so casually. If this scenario had happened at a different time, or if Ning Yuechan wasn¡¯t now all battered and bruised and had poisons running through her body, or if Gu Qingshan hadn¡¯t happened to have a Demonic Python gall bladder that could solve her current problem, then Ning Yuechan wouldn¡¯t have become emotional. But this scenario had made her think of that deep pain in her memory. At that time, Ning Yuechan had just entered the Celestial Pole Sect and had attracted a lot of attention because she was so impossibly gifted in cultivation. As she had grown older, her stunningly beautiful looks had also been exposed to the world. Eventually, there¡¯d been a male disciple in the sect who would profess his love for her almost every single day. In the end, she had been moved by another excellent older disciple when she¡¯d been thirteen or fourteen, and she¡¯d tried to interact with him. But once when they had gone out to practice their skills, the two of them had been trapped in the midst of ancient ruins filled with poisonous air, and they hadn¡¯t been able to find their way out, even after several months. That other disciple had secretly set a trap to kill her off so that he could take the last Antidote Pill from her storage bag. Ning Yuechan would always remember the threatening face of that disciple and how he had roared like he had gone mad. ¡°You bloody little slut, hand the Antidote Pill over to me!¡± That day had been Ning Yuechan¡¯s birthday, and it had also been the first time she had killed someone in her life. From then on, Ning Yuechan never opened her heart to anyone ever again and concentrated on cultivation. Now she was in a desperate situation and also heavily poisoned. But a young man had casually pulled out a Demonic Python gall bladder and even said in annoyance, ¡°Are you going to eat it or not? If you¡¯re not eating it, I¡¯ll throw it away.¡± Chapter 35 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Ning Yuechan stood where she was like a wooden puppet, not saying anything. Gongsun Zhi suddenly thought of something and started looking around anxiously as he quietly muttered, ¡°Did she lose her soul? Could it be a Heaven Demon¡­¡± He took out a maroon-colored, small formation disk and used his fingers to press on it several times in a row. There was no reaction from the formation disk. Gongsun Zhi was relieved. He looked at Ning Yuechan, then at Gu Qingshan, then he kept quiet. Since it wasn¡¯t a Heaven Demon eating at her heart, there was nothing wrong with Ning Yuechan. This matter was between Ning Yuechan and Gu Qingshan, so Gongsun Zhi wasn¡¯t going to interfere. There were consequences to all choices made. Choosing whether to accept Gu Qingshan¡¯s kind gesture of saving her life or not had huge consequences, and Ning Yuechan had to make her own decision on this matter. Nobody else could make this decision on her behalf. But Gu Qingshan was getting anxious as he looked at Ning Yuechan. The demon army was already on their way, but this woman was still in a daze instead of quickly choosing to treat her injuries. The moment the demon army got there, things would get tricky, even if just a Faceless Giant got there, never mind the rest of the army. The moment Gu Qingshan thought about this, he couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He grabbed Ning Yuechan¡¯s pretty hand and put the Demonic Python¡¯s gall bladder into it. He said loudly, ¡°Why are you still in a daze? If you don¡¯t want to die, then you need to treat your injuries right now!¡± Gongsun Zhi¡¯s face twitched as he looked nervously at Ning Yuechan and was all prepared to step in and counsel her if necessary. This boy had actually grabbed Ning Yuechan¡¯s hand. Did he really not know what Ning Yuechan did to men who touched her? All these years, any man who dared to do something like that had all been rendered useless by her and couldn¡¯t cultivate any more. After the two of them stared so hard at her, Ning Yuechan finally started moving. She looked intently at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°Give me five minutes. I¡¯m going to meditate and treat my injuries.¡± Gongsun Zhi raised an eyebrow in surprise. Since when was the Celestial Pole Sacred Lady, Ning Yuechan, so cooperative? Gongsun Zhi shook his head quietly. Women were always so fickle-minded and were even harder to understand than formation techniques. But Gu Qingshan was satisfied with this answer. He quickly replied, ¡°That¡¯s the right thing to do.¡± To him, that should have been the first reaction she¡¯d had. She would have the energy to fight only after her body was all healed up. He didn¡¯t know how powerful Ning Yuechan was, but since she could still fight five demon generals for an entire day and night despite being so heavily wounded and without supplies in his previous life, then her battling ability couldn¡¯t be poor. Ning Yuechan hung her head and quietly started speaking, ¡°Thank you for the¡ª¡± But before Ning Yuechan could finish speaking, Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t look at her anymore and pulled Gongsun Zhi to one side instead. He started speaking to Gongsun Zhi. ¡°Since we¡¯ve got a bit of time, General Gongsun, I have some experience with combat strategy, and I know a bit about this, so I have some questions I was hoping you could help me with.¡± Gongsun Zhi was a Formation Grandmaster and a strategist of the human combined army. He was a very famous legend in history. There were many historians who said that he had passed on too early. Otherwise, the battles wouldn¡¯t have ended the way they had. Gu Qingshan had also been a battle strategist in his previous life, so when he met with Gongsun Zhi, it was like meeting a rival chess player, and he really wanted to have a round with Gongsun Zhi. Gongsun Zhi was a little stunned when he saw how intensely Gu Qingshan was looking at him and said, ¡°Sure.¡± Gu Qingshan immediately started asking, ¡°When the battle first started, why did you arrange for the Five Element Mages from both the southern camp and western camp?¡± Gongsun Zhi replied, ¡°Well, to answer your question, I felt that placing them this way had three benefits¡­¡± The two of them quickly started getting into deep conversation. Ning Yuechan sat down in front of the sitting mound. She hesitated for a while before removing the silver mask on her face. She used her Divine Sense to watch the other two men carefully. But neither of them turned to her and neither had used their Divine Sense to watch her either. Gongsun Zhi was famous for being obsessed with formation strategies and techniques all his life. He didn¡¯t even bother himself with finding a partner because he said it was a waste of time. It wasn¡¯t surprising that Gongsun Zhi wasn¡¯t distracted by her. But why didn¡¯t that young fellow turn either? Ning Yuechan consumed the gall bladder in small bites and would steal a glance every now and then. But Gu Qingshan continued to ask Gongsun Zhi about military strategies very seriously. Ning Yuechan pricked up her ears to listen carefully for a while to find that Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t just putting on an act. He was asking very serious and difficult questions, so even Gongsun Zhi took a while to think about his questions carefully before answering. But this had successfully caught Gongsun Zhi¡¯s attention, and he started to discuss various battle strategies with Gu Qingshan. Gongsun Zhi was much more senior in this aspect and always held extremely high standards, so he normally didn¡¯t even bother talking to people from other sects. But now he was having a very serious discussion with this young boy about battle strategies, and they seemed to be getting more and more excited as they exchanged words. This was really rare. Besides being surprised, Ning Yuechan was also a little depressed. She wasn¡¯t wearing her mask now. There were so many cultivators who had yearned to see her face so badly that they were distracted in battle, made mistakes, and some even lost their lives as a result. She wore a mask to prevent others from seeing her face. She had taken it off now, so why didn¡¯t he turn to look? After Ning Yuechan had finished eating the gall bladder, she quietly put her silver mask back on. She only felt confusion in her heart that she didn¡¯t know how to describe. But after a short while, Ning Yuechan closed her eyes and started to heal her injuries, so all these messy thoughts slowly disappeared from her mind. At the army camp. Zhao Liu had taken apart half a small hut and piled the wood up neatly. Winter was coming, so he was going to use this as firewood. There weren¡¯t any supplies, but there was plenty of clean water and condiments for cooking. He also had quite a bit of demon meat stocked up. Gu Qingshan had only taken a little when he had left, so Zhao Liu took the time to marinate and wax the rest so that he could keep it for a long time. The formation was working well. Zhao Liu counted the days carefully and added Spirit Stones when necessary. Zhao Liu felt that life was good and he felt at ease. As long as the human combined army made one or two attacks in the next few days, he would be rescued. If a mere cook like him managed to be the sole survivor at a frontline army camp that had fallen to the enemy, he would probably be the talk of the town. If he became a hero, then all his relatives back in the village would definitely welcome him with great fanfare. Then, with this reputation, he could even marry a pretty good woman, and then he would have lived a fairly glorious life. Just as Zhao Liu was thinking about these things, there was a huge blast outside the camp. A titanic foot stepped down from the clouds, and the ground kept shaking. Soon enough, another massive foot landed on the ground. After a while, the booming sound faded. Zhao Liu watched the giant creature walk away and suddenly felt that he had become bolder after he had seen more of these things. That boy said that this was a Chaos Species demon¡ªa Faceless Giant. But regardless of what terrifying demon it was, Zhao Liu was confident that he was safe within the Magic Concealment Formation. After seeing it so many times, Zhao Liu didn¡¯t think this demon was anything great. But strangely enough, this creature seemed to have come around more and more often. It seemed to be trying to look for something but simply couldn¡¯t find it. Just as Zhao Liu was still deep in thought, that was a huge boom from afar again. The footsteps drew near again. Zhao Liu sighed in annoyance and was prepared to wait for the footsteps to disappear before going back to rest in his room. After a while, those footsteps disappeared again. Zhao Liu yawned and started making his way back to his room. He happened to glance at the entrance of the army camp and immediately froze on the spot. That pair of terrifyingly huge feet were now standing at the entrance of the army camp without moving. The sky suddenly turned dark, and the entire army camp was shrouded in darkness. Zhao Liu looked up to see a horrifying, enormous hand coming down from the sky and blocking all the light. The thin, glowing layer around the army camp flickered, then burst like a bubble as the huge hand approached. Oh no. Zhao Liu watched as that terrifying, huge hand came closer and closer, and he suddenly remembered what Gu Qingshan had told him. An immense feeling of regret overwhelmed him, and Zhao Liu started screaming in despair. ¡°No! Don¡¯t eat me!¡± That was the last thing Zhao Liu was able to shout. Chapter 36 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio 5 minutes was up in no time. Ning Yuechan opened her eyes to hear Gongsun Zhi speaking. Gongsun Zhi said, ¡°The moment we came back, we sent out a messenger talisman to call for help.¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°That¡¯s strange. I was in the army camp for several days, but I never saw any human troops go by.¡± Gongsun Zhi sighed and said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing strange about it. When we made our investigation this time, we happened to find out that there¡¯s a traitor in the high ranks of the human army.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s what happened!¡± Gu Qingshan suddenly understood everything. No wonder these two legendary people had been surrounded by the demon army and killed without any human troops coming forward to assist them. Their messenger talisman had probably been taken away by the traitor long ago and nobody had known about their dire situation. Worse still, the traitor might have even moved the human troops away so that it made things easier for the demon army. That meant that the three of them were really in grave danger. Gongsun Zhi looked Gu Qingshan up and down and suddenly asked, ¡°Young man, have you joined a particular sect yet?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I¡¯m a Wandering Cultivator now, but if I make it out alive, I¡¯ll enter next year¡¯s annual examination.¡± Gongsun Zhi told him, ¡°When you go for it, you can tell them that you¡¯re from Sacred Path Faction, and you can use my name.¡± Ning Yuechan looked at Gongsun Zhi in surprise. What did this young boy do to catch the eye of Gongsun Zhi? The two men realized that she had woken up and looked at her with questions written on their faces. Ning Yuechan told them, ¡°I¡¯ve already purged all the poisons, and my injuries are healing now.¡± Gongsun Zhi replied happily, ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± As long as she wasn¡¯t hindered by the poisons, Ning Yuechan¡¯s cultivation level plus the regeneration boost given by the Demonic Python¡¯s gall bladder would help her to recover very quickly. Ning Yuechan slowly stood up and bowed respectfully toward Gu Qingshan. ¡°I want to thank you for saving my life!¡± To be able to purge all the poisons in her body and allow her injuries to heal in such a dangerous situation was as good as giving her a new life. Gu Qingshan quickly waved his hands and said, ¡°We can talk about these things another time. We have to leave now.¡± ¡°Do you want to consider using a flying ship?¡± suggested Gongsun Zhi. ¡°No,¡± Ning Yuechan replied. ¡°Once the flying ship rises into the sky, the demon army would be able to spot us. We¡¯re being hunted down right now, so it would be even harder to escape if they know exactly where we are.¡± Gu Qingshan cut in, ¡°General Gongsun, you¡¯re a strategist as well as a Formation Grandmaster among the human army. I believe you have other sources of help besides the combined troops.¡± Gongsun Zhi glanced at Ning Yuechan and hesitated before speaking, ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve reached that stage yet though. We do have one more very reliable messenger talisman that we could send out, but it¡¯s one that we should not use lightly. Sacred Lady, what do you think?¡± Ning Yuechan was about to speak when the ground suddenly started shaking. Gongsun Zhi waved his sleeve, and the image of what was happening outside appeared in front of the three of them. There were two terrifyingly huge feet coming over from afar. They could only see these two feet, while the legs and the rest of its body were hidden by the clouds, so they couldn¡¯t see what this thing really looked like. It was a Faceless Giant! So that¡¯s how it all happened! Gu Qingshan cursed himself for being too slow and stupid to realize what was going on. Gu Qingshan could finally see through the fog and mist and understood what had really happened. Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he yelled, ¡°General Gongsun, send that messenger talisman out now! Once the Faceless Giant comes nearer, the messenger talisman won¡¯t be able to reach its destination!¡± Gongsun Zhi asked curiously, ¡°Why won¡¯t it reach its destination?¡± Those two huge feet were coming closer and close as they spoke. Gu Qingshan yelled anxiously, ¡°Just believe me this once! Quickly send that talisman out now!¡± Gongsun Zhi was still hesitating when Ning Yuechan suddenly slapped her storage bag and pulled out a messenger talisman that was shrouded in mist, saying a whole string of words. ¡°Ning Yuechan from Celestial Pole Sect already knows who the traitor among the human combined army is and has successfully located the Shenwu World. I sincerely hope that a Saint will come and rescue us.¡± With that, she relaxed her hand, and the talisman rose up from her hand. When Gongsun Zhi saw this, he sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid both of our sects will have to answer for suddenly disturbing the Saints.¡± Saints were the most powerful cultivators in the world. In the cultivation realm, the lowest was Qi Refining, then Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, and finally Sanctification stage. Those who made it to the Sanctification stage were called Saints. There were only three such cultivators amongst the humans, and they were known collectively as the Three Saints. Under normal circumstances, very few people had the right to contact the Saints. Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan had a messenger talisman that could reach the Saints, and this was something that their sects had used 300 years of credit to exchange for. Their sects had given this talisman to them so that their safety would be assured as they infiltrated the demon army. Both sides had instructed them carefully not to use it unless there was something really terrible happening. Ning Yuechan looked at Gu Qingshan and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll bear all responsibility if anything happens.¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t relax just yet. He watched as that messenger talisman flew into the sky and was headed out into the distance. But there was a black shadow in the clouds above the messenger talisman that blocked the sunlight. The next second, that black shadow suddenly came down and slapped the messenger talisman out of the sky. That was the hand of the Faceless Giant. Gu Qingshan immediately caught the talisman in mid-air without caring for anything else. But the Spirit Power glow on the talisman flickered a few times before the talisman crumbled into paper bits with a loud snap. Gu Qingshan¡¯s mind went blank immediately. They were doomed now. Ning Yuechan and Gongsun Zhi were behind him and their expressions changed. ¡°How did that happen? That¡¯s the Saints¡¯ talisman,¡± said Gongsun Zhi. Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°The Faceless Giant will eat anything that has Spirit Power in it. When the messenger talisman reached the sky, the Faceless Giant absorbed all of its Spirit Power and it became a useless piece of paper.¡± He sighed deeply. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t run from this.¡± So besides the traitor in the higher-ups of the human army, the demons had sent a Faceless Giant to prevent the two of them from getting help. No wonder they couldn¡¯t escape at all. The more they struggled, the tighter the net around them would become. This situation had reached a stage where they were now on the brink of death. Had history just taken a different turn but was still going to follow its original course? Gu Qingshan refused to acknowledge this. He had to do something. But he had just transmigrated, and his cultivation level was so low. What could he do? Gu Qingshan started thinking hard. Gongsun Zhi suddenly understood what was going on and said, ¡°So that¡¯s what happened. No wonder there was no effect even after I tried to use a Five Element Formation against it.¡± Ning Yuechan slowly got up and stood next to them as she said, ¡°Since we can¡¯t run, then we¡¯ll have to fight it.¡± Ning Yuechan suddenly pulled a longbow out from her storage bag and put it in front of Gu Qingshan. She said, ¡°Your military bow is too lousy. This one is for you.¡± Gu Qingshan was shocked. He asked, ¡°Why are you giving it to me?¡± Ning Yuechan replied to him seriously, ¡°You killed off the demon army messenger, and you also gave me the gall bladder to heal me, so I¡¯m giving you this bow as a small token of appreciation.¡± Gu Qingshan looked down at the bow. It was half an arm longer than his military bow and looked very simple and practical, so he couldn¡¯t see what was good about it. Gu Qingshan just continued to look at it, but his expression became grim as he looked at it. This longbow was not flashy at all and didn¡¯t reveal a single bit of its killing intent. At one glance, he couldn¡¯t even feel a single thing coming from the longbow, as if it didn¡¯t even exist. If he used this bow to attack, nobody would feel it coming. This bow had already reached a godly level of existence, and it was worlds apart from the military bow he took from the camp. Since he was offered such a bow in such a crisis, Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t going to refuse it. Ning Yuechan knew how to return the favor and picked something that was suitable for his use, so she was actually rather detailed and considerate. This lady was a good person to become friends with. With that in mind, Gu Qingshan took the longbow and replied sincerely, ¡°Many thanks.¡± Ning Yuechan quietly observed him and found that he did not pretend to be modest and refuse her, neither did he become overwhelmed with joy. Instead, he remained calm and collected and had thanked her very sincerely. Ning Yuechan nodded her head in her heart. Her rating of Gu Qingshan had gone up by another level. Her voice became gentle. ¡°This bow is called Night Rain. My father gave it to me, so I hope you will put it to good use.¡± Chapter 37 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°I will.¡± Gu Qingshan replied Ning Yuechan as he started inspecting it carefully. He found two words at the place where his hand was holding it: Night Rain. Gu Qingshan started moving the Spirit Power in his dantian and filled Night Rain with it. The longbow instantly became a blur before disappearing from Gu Qingshan¡¯s sight. Gu Qingshan could feel that he was still holding onto the longbow, but he couldn¡¯t see it. He couldn¡¯t feel it even after sending his Divine Sense out. That was not it. Soon enough, Gu Qingshan¡¯s presence had also disappeared quickly. He was standing where he was but felt as if he was separate from the world. If nobody was looking at him, then nobody would have felt his presence. ¡°This is a good bow!¡± Gu Qingshan exclaimed. The Faceless Giant was fast approaching them, and there were a few dozen Blood Drinking Demons riding Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes coming toward them at high speed from the forest. Ning Yuechan pulled out a bright and long knife. She looked at the Faceless Giant and said, ¡°Since a Five Element Formation was useless against it, then I¡¯m going to fight it.¡± Gongsun Zhi nodded and replied, ¡°I won¡¯t attack this demon then. Leave the rest of the demons to me.¡± ¡°Yup. You protect him.¡± Ning Yuechan added one more sentence as she wielded her knife and didn¡¯t even look back. Gongsun Zhi glanced at Gu Qingshan and tried his best not to laugh. ¡°But of course.¡± Ning Yuechan used a knife? Gu Qingshan looked at the long knife in her hands. This knife was two inches longer than most knives and was very narrow. So the handle of the knife all the way to its tip was just one long and straight line. This was a straight knife used by female cultivators. It was much narrower and allowed for better movement compared to the wide curved knife that male cultivators usually used. ¡°Wind Radiance Afterimage!¡± ¡°Buzz Cutting!¡± Ning Yuechan shouted out in a low voice. A blue glow shot out from her straight knife and surrounded both Ning Yuechan and the knife. Many thin, gold lines appeared around the blue glow, then suddenly disappeared again, and made a buzzing noise like bees from time to time. In this instant, she had become a long knife gleaming with a cold intention to kill. Gu Qingshan got a shock when he saw this. She had two Elements out of five! And this was the rare combination of Metal and Wind! The Spirit Power of Wind from the Peculiar Five Elements was split into several levels. The lowest was Agility and Celerity, followed by Hyperspeed Combo, then Wind Radiance Afterimage, Hardwind Volley, and Annihilating Wind Tribulation. Ning Yuechan had already reached the third stage of her development of the Wind element, and this was a fairly amazing accomplishment given her age. There were many Nascent Soul cultivators who had managed to activate their Spirit Power of Wind, but that was about it. That was not the end either. Ning Yuechan had also developed her Spirit Power of Metal to the Buzz Cutting level. There were very few who could activate two elements in the first place, and even if they did, they would usually only be able to concentrate on developing one of them. It was hard to keep both on par, much less combine the two to make them an even greater power. But Ning Yuechan had attained this. Since she still looked calm and steady, this move clearly didn¡¯t take too much energy out of her. Gu Qingshan sighed inwardly. This lady really had a god-defying sort of gifting. No wonder many historians had said that she could have fought it out with the Demonic Lord if she hadn¡¯t died. The only sad thing was that there weren¡¯t many techniques regarding knives, and the cultivators hadn¡¯t developed much along this line. They would rather use another weapon than to use a knife. Ning Yuechan raised her long knife as she stared intensely at the Faceless Giant coming her way, and the power in her body continued to rise. Gu Qingshan¡¯s gaze fell on the long knife and couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. He had to ask, ¡°Why did you choose a knife as your weapon?¡± ¡°Spears and lances are too clumsy while swords are too hypocritical. Knives are like martyrs, moving ahead without fear.¡± ¡°I understand why you would think spears and lances are too clumsy, but why would a sword be hypocritical?¡± asked Gu Qingshan curiously. Ning Yuechan glanced at him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare use a sword ever.¡± She then bent down and shot up into the sky until she was beyond the blue. Then, there was the ground-shaking roar of the Faceless Giant from among the clouds. ¡°Don¡¯t mind her,¡± Gongsun Zhi patted Gu Qingshan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Once upon a time, she used a sword too.¡± ¡°Then why did she switch to a knife?¡± ¡°There was a fellow male disciple who was very close to her, and he practiced with her every day and even guided her on sword techniques. Eventually, this man betrayed her, and from then on, she hated swords and hated sword cultivators. Each time she saw one, she¡¯d attack him.¡± Gu Qingshan remarked, ¡°What on Earth? Nobody stopped her?¡± Gongsun Zhi smiled bitterly and replied, ¡°As elders, we all wanted to do something, but she¡¯s Ning Yuechan, after all. Those sword cultivators kept coming and kept trying to get close to her and couldn¡¯t resist trying to touch her, so they deserved to be attacked.¡± ¡°So she attacked each one¡­ until they died?¡± asked Gu Qingshan as he started thinking hard. ¡°Not so extreme. As long as the other party knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, she would let him go,¡± replied Gongsun Zhi. Gu Qingshan tried to imagine himself kneeling in front of Ning Yuechan and begging for mercy, and he immediately shook his head. When Gongsun Zhi saw how horrified Gu Qingshan was, he thought for a few moments before consoling him, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid. You¡¯re not a sword cultivator, so it¡¯s fine.¡± But Gu Qingshan had been a sword cultivator¡­ Then again, he hadn¡¯t touched a single sword since he transmigrated, so in this short time, he wouldn¡¯t offend this incredibly powerful lady. He saved her life, so he probably wouldn¡¯t be hit so hard that he had to kneel and beg for mercy. If that didn¡¯t work out, then he would have to hide far away until he had restored his previous sword cultivation levels. Just as these thoughts were running through Gu Qingshan¡¯s head, there was a loud boom that came from the sky. BOOOM! A black figure fell from the clouds and crashed hard against the ground. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Gu Qingshan ran over and asked her anxiously. Ning Yuechan stood up and quietly replied, ¡°I¡¯m fine. You¡¯d better hide.¡± The next second. The glow of the knife surrounded Ning Yuechan and her white cape started flapping in the wind. She flew up from the crater in the ground wearing her gold armor, and she made her way to the space above the clouds. ¡°Demon, prepare to die!¡± Her feminine voice rang out from the sky. There was a loud and deep howl of pain that came from the clouds. That was the scream of the Faceless Giant. Ning Yuechan could actually fight against a Faceless Giant when her power was fully restored. That was crazy. The exciting and heart-stopping action was still happening in the clouds. Gu Qingshan sighed and muttered to himself, ¡°She seems so demure and quiet, but when it comes to fighting, she really goes all out. All these people who use knives really don¡¯t seem to care about their lives.¡± ¡°You are the one who doesn¡¯t care for your life! An angry voice resounded in his head. That was Ning Yuechan¡¯s voice. Gu Qingshan was stunned for a moment, then felt a little upset. He looked up and the thick layer of clouds blocked his view. But he felt like he could still feel Ning Yuechan glaring hatefully at him from somewhere high up in the sky. Damn it, he had completely forgotten. If she could fight a Faceless Giant head-on, that meant that she was at least an Interim Nascent Soul cultivator. At such a high level of cultivation, her Divine Sense could reach very far and everything he said could be heard extremely clearly by her. Gu Qingshan shut his mouth after that. In this life, Ning Yuechan was free from being hindered by poisons and her injuries were recovering well. So her fate would be quite different from what had happened in his previous life. Just as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly noticed Blood Drinking Demons appearing from the forest in front. Below these Blood Drinking Demons were stealthy killers that naturally had the Spirit Power of Fire: Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes! The ambush party from the demon army had made it here too! They were quietly moving at a tremendous speed toward Gu Qingshan and Gongsun Zhi. That famous encirclement attack in history was now about to start. Gongsun Zhi¡¯s face was now cold and frosty as he pulled out an intricate-looking formation disk from his storage bag. ¡°I can¡¯t kill a Faceless Giant, but I won¡¯t have a problem with these things,¡± he muttered quietly. Gu Qingshan was about to raise his bow when his entire body stiffened up and he couldn¡¯t move from where he was at all. Countless amounts of data poured down in front of his eyes like a waterfall as the cold robotic sound of the system prompt sounded. ¡°Player has initiated Special Historical Event.¡± ¡°Current conditions are suitable for activating.¡± ¡°Activate: Battle of Fallen Heroes.¡± Chapter 38 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio What was going on? Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression changed and quickly made the War God Operating Interface pop out. He saw a light cut across the War God Operating Interface, and it became several rows of large, red words in the middle of the screen. ¡°Break the chains of fate and change the course of history that has already been set. Player Gu Qingshan has entered the Mission of Destiny.¡± ¡°Mission description: Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan are fallen heroes buried deep in history. If you can change their fate, you will change the course of history.¡± ¡°Mission target: Rescue Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan.¡± ¡°Upon completion of the mission, player will receive a special reward: War God Magical Power (1/1).¡± ¡°If player fails the mission, player will be wiped out.¡± Gu Qingshan read everything at one shot and was completely dumbfounded. ¡°Me? Rescue them?¡± he couldn¡¯t help but laugh bitterly. ¡°And the system will wipe me out if I fail the mission? How interesting. As if the demons would let me off if I fail this mission.¡± Gu Qingshan looked up into the sky. It was definitely impossible for Gu Qingshan to be involved in a battle with something like a Faceless Giant since his cultivation level was so low. But if he had to escape, he couldn¡¯t do it alone since there were more and more demons coming from all directions. But now that the system had already given him this mission, it meant that even if he could escape, he couldn¡¯t be the sole survivor of this attack. If Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan died, he would be wiped out with them. Gu Qingshan looked in front again. The demon army was rushing over like crazy, and they were going to be able to launch an attack soon. They were now in a crisis. Gongsun Zhi hit the formation disk quickly like a butterfly fluttering through the flowers as he yelled out loudly, ¡°Mountain Burial Formation!¡± The ground started shaking, and five mountain peaks rose from the ground, causing the dozens of Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes and Blood Drinking Demons to be stuck and squashed in between the mountain peaks. The higher the mountain peaks rose, the higher the pressure in between the peaks became, and most of the Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes were squashed into a bloody mess of flesh. Suddenly, one Gloomy Fire Evil Snake fell from in between the peaks, crashed on the ground, and was close to death. Gu Qingshan¡¯s gaze shifted. He pulled an arrow out and nocked it on Night Rain, then released it. This was a special arrow because the arrowhead had been made from one of the venomous fangs Gu Qingshan had pulled out from the Demonic Python he killed, and its power was way higher than a normal arrow. There was just one swoosh. The arrow struck the Gloomy Fire Evil Snake and sank into its body. The poison from the Demonic Python¡¯s fangs immediately took effect, and this unlucky Gloomy Fire Evil Snake was going to die really soon. Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes were high-level demons, and it should have a heightened sense of danger. But when it was faced with Night Rain, it didn¡¯t feel that death was coming its way at all. Gu Qingshan gripped the longbow tightly and gave Ning Yuechan a few more brownie points. Gongsun Zhi turned to nod approvingly at him and said, ¡°Excellent. Get more arrows and don¡¯t let them have a chance to attack us.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Gu Qingshan pulled out another arrow when there was a movement in his mind. A system prompt appeared in his subconscious. ¡°High-level creature killed: Gloomy Fire Evil Snake. 20 Soul Power points awarded. Current Soul Power: 21/7.¡± You mean this was possible? Gu Qingshan was surprised. The amount of Soul Power points he had was way more than the upper limit of his Soul Power. When he was hunting low-level demons, his Soul Power refused to accumulate further once he had reached the upper limit. That was something that gave Gu Qingshan a slight headache. Gloomy Fire Evil Snakes were high-level demons and were equivalent to a human Foundation Building cultivator, which was way over Gu Qingshan¡¯s cultivation level. After killing the Gloomy Fire Evil Snake, his Soul Power point total had hit 21 points, and he could now comprehend many techniques at once. So it seemed like the War God Operating Interface encouraged players to challenge others who were stronger than themselves. Once the player had won against an enemy stronger than himself, then the system would ignore the upper limit and allow the player to accumulate more Soul Power points. After Gu Qingshan had started to understand this, he kept Night Rain away and switched to the military bow. He could now comprehend the technique ¡°Precision¡±. ¡°I choose to comprehend Precision.¡± ¡°Precision comprehended. 4 Soul Power points consumed. Current Soul Power: 17/7.¡± A warm flow rushed out from the military bow into Gu Qingshan¡¯s mind. After several seconds, Gu Qingshan had fully comprehended Precision. He took an ordinary arrow and aimed at another dying Gloomy Fire Evil Snake that had just fallen from the mountain peak. SWOOSH! This Gloomy Fire Evil Snake had felt the danger and tried to avoid it. But it was too badly wounded to even move. The arrow sank into the Gloomy Fire Evil Snake¡¯s eyes, piercing deeply through its cranium and taking its life in an instant. So that¡¯s how it worked. Precision improved how accurately he hit the target. Gu Qingshan understood this immediately. ¡°High-level creature killed: Gloomy Fire Evil Snake. 20 Soul Power points awarded. Current Soul Power: 37/7.¡± Gu Qingshan put away the military bow and switched back to the longbow, Night Rain. He opened the War God Operating Interface and looked through every technique Night Rain had. ¡°Bow: Night Rain, Previous techniques used were: 1) Bombardment. Last to use technique: Ning Annan. Comprehension requires 10 points of Soul Power. 2) Accuracy. Last to use technique: Ning Annan. Comprehension requires 6 points of Soul Power. 3) Sharpshooter. Last to use technique: Ning Annan. Comprehension requires 15 points of Soul Power. 4) Gallop in Wind (Passive Technique). Last to use technique: Ning Annan. Comprehension requires 5 points of Soul Power. Ning Annan was Ning Yuechan¡¯s father¡¯s name. So this longbow was indeed a bow passed down in the Ning family as Ning Yuechan had said before. Gu Qingshan quietly looked through the techniques again and thought through it carefully. Accuracy could increase the fatality of Precision shots, while Sharpshooter increased the fatality of Accuracy. Gallop in Wind was a passive technique, and it would increase the speed of the arrow¡¯s flight without calling on it. Bombardment was a powerful archery technique that could greatly increase the damage each arrow could cause. This was a gift from Ning Yuechan to thank him for saving his life. The demons were here to attack, and according to history, the Celestial Pole Sacred Lady, Ning Yuechan, was going to fall into a crisis and eventually die after fighting a hard battle for one day and one night. But now history had been pushed slightly off its original course because of Gu Qingshan¡¯s help. So now the poison in her body had been purged, and her injuries were healing at a high speed. In this life, Ning Yuechan¡¯s doomed fate might finally see a glimmer of hope in such a despairing moment. As a result of these actions, Ning Yuechan had also given such a powerful bow that was passed down in her family to Gu Qingshan. With this bow and the powerful techniques tied to it, Gu Qingshan could become stronger too. Gu Qingshan looked at Night Rain, and his heart started pounding. Most cultivators would not teach others such powerful techniques without a good reason. But now, he had the chance to learn such high-level archery techniques instantly. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t hesitate any more and made a decision. ¡°It¡¯s a total of 36 Soul Power points, right? I choose to comprehend everything!¡± After he made that decision, the system¡¯s icy voice rang out: ¡°Comprehension complete. 36 Soul Power points consumed. Current Soul Power: 1/7.¡± ¡°Precision has been upgraded to Accuracy. Accuracy has been upgraded to Sharpshooter.¡± ¡°Player has comprehended Gallop in Wind.¡± ¡°Player has comprehended Bombardment.¡± A hot and fiery flow rushed out from Night Rain and went straight into Gu Qingshan¡¯s consciousness. After three breaths, he suddenly opened his eyes, and he exuded a sharp intent to kill as if there were knives all around his body. Chapter 39 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio At the moment, Gu Qingshan had five archery techniques: Gallop in Wind (Passive Technique), Bombardment, Sharpshooter, Rapid Shot, and Volley (Elementary Level). Among these, Sharpshooter was a technique with an extremely high level of accuracy, and Gallop in Wind was a passive technique that was constantly used and increased the speed of the arrow¡¯s flight. Rapid Shot and Bombardment were very practical archery techniques. As for Volley, this was a unique Growing Skill, and he hoped that it would become a Secondary Divine Skill. These were all techniques that were hard to come by. Even a powerful cultivator, who was an army general, might not be able to grasp such high-level techniques. After comprehending the techniques of Night Rain, the only problem Gu Qingshan had at the moment was his cultivation level. A Blood Drinking Demon fell from the five peaks, rolled, and got up again. It spotted the formation the moment it looked up and started running toward the formation. It was fortunate enough to have escaped with few injuries and had about 70% or 80% strength left in it to fight. Breaking through formations was something these particular demons were very good at. Gu Qingshan lifted up Night Rain and took a deep breath. Gallop in Wind! Bombardment! Sharpshooter! The arrow shot out like a shooting star and landed on the Blood Drinking Demon before it even had the chance to react. The Blood Drinking Demon was instantly blasted more than ten meters out. It crashed hard against a huge tree and spat a whole mouthful of blood out. Gu Qingshan was so shocked that he forgot to keep shooting. Blood Drinking Demons were equivalent to an Initial Nascent Soul cultivator. One arrow was powerful enough to increase Gu Qingshan¡¯s power by two stages and blasted a Blood Drinking Demon aside. It was definitely god-defying for an archery technique to be this amazing. Gu Qingshan forced himself to calm down and quietly checked how much Spirit Power he had used. This shot alone had used up 90% of his Spirit Power. This wouldn¡¯t do. It consumed too much Spirit Power. Given the total Spirit Power that Gu Qingshan had, he could only strike like this one more time. Then he would have to just wait to be killed. In reality, Bombardment was an archery technique meant for a Nascent Soul cultivator. Cultivators at that stage would have been better able to use the power of Bombardment. Since Gu Qingshan had prematurely comprehended such a high-level archery technique, he was naturally unable to keep using it since he was only at Qi Refining stage. Even Gongsun Zhi looked at Gu Qingshan in surprise. ¡°This young boy has such an incredible talent for archery? How interesting.¡± Gongsun Zhi¡¯s rating of Gu Qingshan went up inside his heart. The Blood Drinking Demon was bleeding all over. It roared and got up, ready to make a mad dash to tear that irritating human to pieces. But a slew of arrows came flying its way, and it had to keep stopping, so it couldn¡¯t even take a single step forward for a long time. But this time, Gu Qingshan hadn¡¯t used Bombardment. His archery technique had reached a fairly high level, so even an ordinary shot was pretty powerful in itself. Technically speaking, Gu Qingshan was only at Qi Refiner stage and there was no way he could kill off a Blood Drinking Demon. But because the Blood Drinking Demon had been injured from the formation, then injured further by a powerful archery technique, and then attacked by a downpour of arrows, the demon couldn¡¯t move any further ahead. Blood Drinking Demons were very powerful in close combat, but it was very far off from Gu Qingshan now. These demons were not able to activate any of the five elements and didn¡¯t possess any long-range fighting skills. It was also blocked by a few of Gongsun Zhi¡¯s formations, so it wasn¡¯t able to rush over in a short time either. Each arrow powerfully pierced through its body, and every single one landed on target. As its injuries worsened, the Blood Drinking Demon also began to feel fear. This human¡¯s arrows were too powerful, so it had to use all its strength to fight back! The Blood Drinking Demon curled itself into a ball, then a chilling and evil air started to seep out from its body. Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyelid twitched a little when he saw this happen. Gongsun Zhi¡¯s expression also changed. He pressed both hands on the formation disk and quickly set up a defensive formation. Gongsun Zhi yelled loudly, ¡°Be careful! It¡¯s going to use Nether Fire Explosion!¡± Nether Fire Explosion was a Fire Element technique that mixed in the dark Qi of the Netherworld. It had a great impact and could blast a hole in any formation. Every Blood Drinking Demon had dark Qi of the Netherworld accumulating inside of it since birth. So when they were pushed into a corner, they would sacrifice their lives in exchange for their only chance to use one of the Elements. The dark Qi of the Netherworld would ignite as a result of the Fire Element used. Blood Drinking Demons could only attack like this once when they were about to die. This move had caused Gongsun Zhi quite a big headache in the last few days when he fought them. Gu Qingshan quickly pulled out one of his arrows that had python fangs on it and shot it from Night Rain. Sharpshooter! Volley! Five arrows became gray shadows as they swiftly flew through the air. Their unpredictable flight path went around the defending arms of the Blood Drinking Demon in front of itself and struck the back of its head at the same time. PUUUUUUU! The arrows stabbed in at the same time and made only one sound. Dark green blood started bleeding from the Blood Drinking Demon¡¯s ears. With a muffled sound, the Blood Drinking Demon collapsed onto the ground, and the dark Qi of the Netherworld that was around it started dissipating. ¡°High-level creature killed: Blood Drinking Demon. 30 Soul Power points awarded. Current Soul Power: 30/7.¡± He had obtained 30 points of Soul Power, but after thinking about it, he realized that there were no more techniques left for him to learn. Gongsun Zhi stared at Gu Qingshan in shock and complimented him, ¡°That¡¯s an amazing archery technique! Since you¡¯ve learned so many fatal archery techniques at such a young age, when your cultivation level is high enough, it should enough to become a General.¡± Gu Qingshan waved the longbow and poison laid arrows in his hand and said, ¡°I just have good weapons on hand, and of course, the cover of your formations.¡± He didn¡¯t have many python fang arrows. Every time he used one, he would have one less. But in a time like this, Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t think about saving them anymore. Gongsun Zhi shook his head and said, ¡°You¡¯re definitely capable of this. When I was your age, I was still hugging a formation disk and trying to figure out elementary level formation techniques.¡± BOOOM! There was a thunderous roar from the clouds that filled the earth. Gongsun Zhi and Gu Qingshan looked up to see Ning Yuechan retreating quickly in the sky. Her gold armor was shimmering, and her white cape was flapping violently in the strong winds. Gu Qingshan looked intently at this while thinking. Then he asked, ¡°General Gongsun, do you have any other method left to contact anybody else?¡± Gongsun Zhi felt a little guilty when Gu Qingshan asked this question. If he hadn¡¯t hesitated, that messenger talisman might have been sent out by now. They wouldn¡¯t have had to worry about their lives once the Saints arrived. Now that the Faceless Giant was already here and could absorb anything with Spirit Power, then it would probably be impossible to send any more talismans out. Gongsun Zhi hesitated for a while, then sighed and said, ¡°The only way now is to go to Shenwu World. Our Teleportation Formation is set up there.¡± Shenwu World? What was that? Gu Qingshan stared at Gongsun Zhi and couldn¡¯t understand. He was instantly covered in a layer of cold sweat. At this moment, he felt like Gongsun Zhi was bringing him to look behind the long-lost history of mankind to witness a shocking secret. Gongsun Zhi said, ¡°You probably don¡¯t know, but that is a destroyed world.¡± Gu Qingshan was shocked. ¡°You mean besides this world, there¡¯s another one?¡± In his previous life, he had never heard of another world until the apocalypse had fallen on them. When the game had arrived in the real world, it was called Apocalypse Online for All Worlds. In the initial stages, this name had attracted a lot of attention and was highly debated. The people had only known about the cultivation world that was within the game and the real world they lived in. Since there had been only two worlds, could they have been considered ¡®all worlds¡¯? Eventually, after people had been familiar with going in and out between the two worlds, nobody had bothered looking for an answer to this question. Furthermore, the situation within the game had become worse with each passing day, and there¡¯d been thousands of people dying at the hands of the demons every single day. Fewer and fewer people had had time or energy to bother with this question. Gongsun Zhi replied, ¡°That¡¯s right. There is a Space-time Turbulence behind the Demonic Lord¡¯s Royal Chamber that will reach that destroyed world.¡± Gu Qingshan asked, ¡°You¡¯ve been there?¡± Gongsun Zhi replied, ¡°Yes. After going in, we found the bodies of dozens of very powerful fighters, and our preliminary conclusion is that these are cultivators who have reached the peak of Martial Arts.¡± The peak of Martial Arts¡ªthose were Martial Arts Deities! Martial Arts Deities were legendary people. They were extremely rare, even in this cultivation world. Out of the Three Saints, one of them was a Martial Arts Deity. Even though Gu Qingshan had seen all sorts of horrors that the apocalypse had brought, he still couldn¡¯t help but go into a slight daze at this moment. He murmured to himself, ¡°More than a dozen dead Martial Arts Deities¡­ with such an incredible level of fighting power, their world was still destroyed¡­¡± Gongsun Zhi sighed, ¡°That¡¯s right. We don¡¯t know why, either. So the Demon Lord had already targeted us, then, and made sure that we didn¡¯t run into anyone else and tell them this secret.¡± He looked over at Gu Qingshan and said in a low voice, ¡°Running into you was something that neither they nor we expected at all.¡± Chapter 40 ¡°So the only way to survive now is¡­¡± Gongsun Zhi hit his storage bag and pulled out a dull, iron ball. ¡°Take the chance to go to that other world while you haven¡¯t been discovered by the Demon Lord yet. Find the large Moving Magic Formation that I¡¯ve set up there and place this token on it.¡± Gu Qingshan hesitated. ¡°General Gongsun, since you are so powerful, you could go there yourself instead¡­¡± His voice slowly faded. Gongsun Zhi undid his top, and a terrifying wound appeared in front of Gu Qingshan. There was a deep, green flame that started from his shoulder, moved down to his chest, and then continued all the way to his lower back. This wound was so deep, even his heart had been cut in half. The flames were still burning quietly, and there were clusters of runes all around the flames to stop it from creating further damage. These flames were Nine Nether Flames, the most powerful type of Demonic Fire. Gu Qingshan looked at it and reached this conclusion quietly in his heart without saying it out loud. These flames were like a drought, and just a small spark would burn up thousands of miles of river water. It was a miracle that Gongsun Zhi was still alive after such an attack. Gongsun Zhi explained, ¡°I¡¯ve used an Omnidirectional Sealing Formation to keep myself alive, so I won¡¯t die just yet. But the Demon Lord inflicted this wound on me personally, so it will be able to sense me wherever I go.¡± Gu Qingshan asked, ¡°How long can you hold out for?¡± Gongsun Zhi replied, ¡°Half a day. The Omnidirectional Sealing Formation will collapse after half a day, and I will die.¡± Gu Qingshan looked straight into Gongsun Zhi¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°Who can save you from this sort of wound?¡± Gongsun Zhi smiled brightly and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t think I can be saved unless I make it back to the human army base camp and get some Saint-level doctor to treat me.¡± Gu Qingshan sighed. He looked back up at Ning Yuechan fighting in the sky, then clenched his teeth and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go, then.¡± Gongsun Zhi was so happy to hear this. He placed the iron ball in Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand and said, ¡°We have some men in Shenwu World, but the Demon Lord has discovered them already, and I think they¡¯re almost all dead by now, so don¡¯t be too bothered by it.¡± He pulled out a formation disk and placed it very solemnly into Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand. Gu Qingshan looked at it, but this formation disk was split into several pieces, and there were complicated-looking formation runes around each piece. Gongsun Zhi held the formation disk in his hands and explained how to use each one of them before finally saying, ¡°This is an All-Purpose Formation Disk, so there are many useful formations on it, but there¡¯s a limit to how many times you can use each one. Use them wisely.¡± ¡°And here¡¯s a map.¡± After he had finished all his instructions, Gongsun Zhi took out a tortoise shell and told Gu Qingshan to stand on it. ¡°While you¡¯re in the Space-time Turbulence, ignore everything you see and don¡¯t do anything at all. If anything happens while you¡¯re in there, even the Three Saints wouldn¡¯t be able to save you.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Gu Qingshan nodded in agreement. ¡°Go!¡± Gongsun Zhi patted Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan vanished into thin air. There was a loud thud as Ning Yuechan was blasted onto the ground by the Faceless Giant and created a deep crater in the ground. ¡°Humph.¡± Ning Yuechan scoffed and leaped out from the deep crater. ¡°You sent him to Shenwu World?¡± she asked. Gongsun Zhi replied, ¡°That¡¯s right. Both of us are well tracked by the Demon Lord¡¯s Divine Sense, so it would never let us go anywhere near that Moving Magic Formation.¡± ¡°You want to help him escape?¡± Gongsun Zhi sighed and replied, ¡°I¡¯ve already told him the secret. So if he manages to live, then he will help us to send the message out on our behalf.¡± Ning Yuechan stood in the wind, and her cold gaze slowly became gentler. She wiped away the blood on her lips and said quietly, ¡°Then, I¡¯ll have no regrets.¡± She swung her arm, and the long knife reappeared in her hands. ¡°If I manage to finish off this monster, then I¡¯ll die with no regrets too.¡± Ning Yuechan then flew back into the sky as she held the long knife in her hands. Gu Qingshan felt like he had become a missile and was flying faster and faster through this vast and limitless empty space. It was hard to gauge how much time had passed because one¡¯s senses would feel like everything was taking a long time. One might feel like several days had passed when actually it was only the blink of an eye. The nothingness around him slowly disappeared and was replaced by nothing but darkness. This was the outermost layer of space. Once he got out of this layer, he would hit the Space-time Turbulence. Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart felt tighter and tighter. When he transmigrated, he had gone through this process, and he knew how terrifying it could be. Even though he had gone through hundreds of battles and met with countless evil and dangerous people, he started hoping for good luck on the way. ¡°The best would be to run into absolutely nothing along the way.¡± That was what Gu Qingshan thought in his heart. In the next moment, the entire world vanished. Gu Qingshan had burst through the final layer of space and had gone right into the Space-time Turbulence. A sudden force rushed out and wrapped itself around Gu Qingshan, hurtling him through the time layers between certain parts of the past and the future at an unimaginably high speed. Everything in front of Gu Qingshan¡¯s eyes became a blur as this force pushed him into a scene. There was a gigantic, bronze pillar that went through both the sky and the earth, standing by itself on the vast and boundless empty land. A dead body was nailed firmly to the middle of the bronze pillar with five nails. This dead body¡¯s head was drooping, covered from head to toe in black armor, and was about ten stories tall. But even so, the dead body still looked very small compared to the gigantic bronze pillar. There were countless black skulls wandering around at the bottom of the bronze pillar, and they wanted to climb up the gigantic bronze pillar. They stacked themselves up and they were nearly stacked high enough to reach the toes of that corpse. Gu Qingshan suddenly appeared from the nothingness. He flew through this weird space and continued on. ¡°Help me.¡± There was a voice that rang out in Gu Qingshan¡¯s consciousness. Gu Qingshan clenched his teeth and continued flying forward without even looking back. He couldn¡¯t stop at this point. Any movement he made would affect the layer of mysterious force surrounding his body. This force was bringing Gu Qingshan to Shenwu World. If anything happened along the way, he couldn¡¯t predict what sort of consequences he would face. He might land in some unknown world, or he might be torn to pieces in the next moment. But the most likely thing to happen was that he would remain in this world and never find a way out again. ¡°Help me, and I will grant you eternal life.¡± That voice continued to speak, and it even sounded a little authoritative. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t bother with it at all. Finally, everything went dark as he entered another layer of space-time and left this strange world. After a long time. The dead body on the gigantic, bronze pillar shifted a little, opened its mouth, and blew out a mouthful of air. This mouthful of air carried a huge amount of deep, green flames, and it completely consumed all the black skulls stacked below it. ¡°D*mn it. A lifeform finally came after 200 million years, but he got away.¡± The corpse tried hard to struggle free, but the nails that nailed him to the gigantic pillar didn¡¯t budge at all. After a while, the dead body was tired from struggling and was calm once again. Black skulls started emerging from the mud below the gigantic bronze pillar. In no time, the skulls covered the entire space again. They looked up at the dead body on the bronze pillar and slowly started moving again. Gu Qingshan continued to fly through this disorderly time-space, and there was suddenly an exit after a long time. Gu Qingshan went out head first and instantly felt a cold wind blow on him. The layer of force surrounding him slowly thinned out and slowly formed a shape in the air. This was a milky white ball with Gu Qingshan in the middle of it. It was like a giant soap bubble floating through the air. There was a gray mist outside the ball, and it covered the whole sky and earth. This gray mist was very strange. It was so thick that it almost appeared black, but at the same time, it seemed transparent, and he could even see far objects clearly through it. Gu Qingshan lifted his head and looked out at the world outside the bubble. He could see nothing but countless demons, and they covered the land as far as he could see. Extremely far off, there was a Faceless Giant stuck somewhere in the clouds as it fought hard with a demon that was exuding an extremely cold air around it. This entire world had been destroyed, and an immense number of demons had taken over. Chapter 41 Gu Qingshan was still looking around him when a luminous row of text popped out from the system. ¡°You have stayed for 24 hours in the other world. Returning to the real world now.¡± Gu Qingshan was stunned for a few moments. He was pretty sure that he had only spent about half a day since he¡¯d entered the other world. Why did the system say that he had already stayed for 24 hours? He raised this question. The system replied to him quickly. ¡°Space-time Turbulence causes losses in time that are unpredictable and cannot be controlled.¡± ¡°Returning now.¡± Gu Qingshan understood what had happened after the system explained things. He had been within the Space-time Turbulence for possibly ten-odd minutes, but it turned out to be equivalent to half a day. He looked out at this destroyed world intensely. There was a flash of light, and Gu Qingshan completely disappeared from Shenwu World. At the capital of the Federation. Carefree Holiday Hotel. Gu Qingshan¡¯s body slowly appeared on the highest floor of this building. It had only been an hour since he had left the president¡¯s residence and was arranged to stay at this famous hotel. Gu Qingshan stood at the highest floor of the hotel and looked out at the brightly lit capital of the Federation quietly. Suddenly, his mind went completely blank. Gu Qingshan frowned. Every time he tried to recall some past battles or tried to remember some of his past memories, he would slip into a daze. ¡°System, how much longer do I have to wait before I can recover all my memories?¡± The War God Operating Interface replied to his question with a row of words. ¡°We have not shaken off those watching the space-time dimension, so please watch your words and actions carefully.¡± Gu Qingshan sighed deeply when he saw this row of words. He felt like he was an incomplete idiot. He looked around him. The night was quiet, and everything was at peace. After coming back from the destroyed world, the vast difference in the conditions of both worlds made him start to long for the real world. But it was a pity. The real world was going to be embroiled in destruction sooner or later. After a long while, Gu Qingshan kept Night Rain away, put his quivers away, and sat on the balcony railing of the top floor. There was a bottle of beer in his hands. He had just bought it that night but was whisked off to the cultivation world before he had a chance to drink any. Gu Qingshan bit off the cap and chugged the beer down. The beer was cold and refreshing. The alcohol level was very low, and it wasn¡¯t easy to get drunk on beer, but it made him feel relaxed. Gu Qingshan really needed some time to relax for a while. From the time he designed the seraph mecha, he had been fighting battle after battle, and it had been a long time since he got to rest. Gongsun Zhi, Ning Yuechan¡­ In his previous life, these two people had been hunted down and killed by the demons without mercy. After having killed them, the demons had also swiftly covered up the secret that these two humans had discovered. Now that history had restarted, the fate of these two people had suddenly changed dramatically because of a small, unknown variable called Gu Qingshan. This dramatic change carried the risk of Gu Qingshan losing his very own life. So Gu Qingshan had to tread very carefully. ¡°The mission reward is the Magical Power of the War God¡­¡± Gu Qingshan murmured this to himself, and his eyes became more and more determined. He gripped the bottle of beer, then chugged the rest down at one go. Rest time was over. Gu Qingshan swung his legs over the balcony railing and back into the room. He sat down cross-legged and quietly started maneuvering his Spirit Power. It was midnight, then. It would take about six hours for his Spirit Power to wash away all the tiredness in his body. Gu Qingshan quickly got into the right state of mind. Nobody would have noticed that there was a young man sitting at the top floor of Carefree Holiday Hotel cultivating with all his might for the sake of staying alive. It was a full six hours before Gu Qingshan finally regained all his strength. Gu Qingshan opened his eyes and exhaled white air. This stream of white air flew out about 20 meters before slowly dissipating. ¡°Excellent. Now that I¡¯ve regained my energy, I can try to break through to the next level.¡± Gu Qingshan said that as he pulled the Military Qi Refining Instruction booklet out. He also made the War God Operating Interface pop out and quickly made a decision. ¡°Comprehension of Military Qi Refining Instruction Level 6, Ling Xu, requires 3 points of Soul Power. Confirm comprehension?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Comprehension complete. Current Soul Power: 27/7.¡± A warm flow rushed out from the Military Qi Refining Instruction booklet and went straight into Gu Qingshan¡¯s body. It went round and round his limbs and bones before finally heading for Gu Qingshan¡¯s consciousness. Enlightenment appeared within Gu Qingshan¡¯s mind. He immediately knew what he had to do in order to break through to the next level. ¡°I still need a bit more Spirit Power¡­¡± Gu Qingshan looked into his own dantian and started to think about what he could do about his Spirit Power level. If he didn¡¯t have enough Spirit Power, he was likely to fail at breaking through to the next level. If he wanted to increase the total amount of Spirit Power, he would have to spend time and effort in cultivation. Gu Qingshan clenched his teeth. But he really couldn¡¯t wait anymore. The next time he entered the other world, he would appear within the lost Shenwu World immediately. If he didn¡¯t find a way to quickly strengthen himself and increase his power before going back, then he would die without even knowing what hit him. Gu Qingshan patted his storage bag and found the large bag of python blood. He gulped down two large mouthfuls of it. Python blood was able to intensify his senses and Divine sense, as well as help him to adjust his Spirit Power accurately within a short span of time. Gu Qingshan wiped his mouth, put his hands together, then stopped moving altogether. He was like a stone statue as he went into deep meditation. After a short while, Gu Qingshan suddenly sprayed a mouthful of blood and water out violently. ¡°I didn¡¯t make it. What a pity! I was just left with a bit more to go.¡± Gu Qingshan mumbled these few words out before quickly calming himself back down and then trying one more time. After another short while, he sprayed out yet another mouthful of blood. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I can¡¯t do this. Let me try one more time.¡± Gu QIngshan clenched his teeth and gulped another large mouthful of python blood. His body was now extremely tense and was near its limits, so it could only take one more attempt within a short time like this. He inhaled and exhaled. He inhaled again and exhaled again. He calmed himself back down. He was going to try again. This time, it took a much longer time. Gu Qingshan sat motionlessly in the night until the sun started to rise in the sky, and there was morning dew all over his clothes. He finally opened his eyes. There was a look of glee in his eyes. Gu Qingshan put his hands together gently and quietly commanded, ¡°Spirit Power Shield!¡± A layer of flickering Spirit Power appeared and surrounded his entire body. This move required a lot of Spirit Power, but it was very weak at actually defending the cultivator. So it was a move that was nice to have yet completely useless at the same time. In a real battle, cultivators weren¡¯t willing to use Spirit Power Shield at all. They were more willing to use armor or some other magical treasures that could be used as a defense instead. But this was a move that only Qi Refiner Level 6 cultivators could conjure up. Gu Qingshan had finally made a breakthrough to the next level successfully. He stood up and stretched himself out, and all his bones and joints cracked loudly. Gu Qingshan was fairly satisfied with being able to break through to the next level after an entire night of cultivating. Once he had reached Qi Refiner Level 7, he could try to attain a Magical Power while trying to break through to the Foundation Building stage. Gu Qingshan returned to the bed and took a while to rest. At twelve minutes past nine in the morning. Gu Qingshan woke up. He pulled the blinds open, and sunlight immediately filled the room. There were a lot of vehicles outside, and loud chattering filled the streets. Gu QIngshan suddenly realized what was going on after thinking about it. It would be the Federation¡¯s 300th Union Day celebration in 19 days. Also, it was now the time where the universities were taking in the students that were guaranteed admission. So almost everybody in town was getting busy. But all of these things had nothing to do with him. He wondered what he should do. Since he had nothing to do in the morning, he thought of finding a place to practice his archery skills. He had to go to the president¡¯s residence in the afternoon to have lunch with the president. As for night time, it would be time to give Su Xue¡¯er her birthday present. Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t help but crack a smile when he thought about how happy Su Xue¡¯er would be. He picked up his communication device and sent one sentence out. ¡°I¡¯ve reached the capital already.¡± He got a reply immediately after sending the message out. Gu Qingshan picked up the communication device and pressed the button. Su Xue¡¯er¡¯s excited voice immediately came through. ¡°You irritating fellow! You¡¯ve already gone on TV and even stood next to the president, but you didn¡¯t tell me anything in advance!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know beforehand, either.¡± ¡°So the president is going to sponsor your university studies?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ll be at Federal Defense University, and the president will sponsor my fees.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great! I was still thinking of secretly saving up some credit points to help¡­¡± Su Xue¡¯er realized that she was about to say the wrong thing, so she quickly cut herself off. But she had already said too much upfront. Gu Qingshan only needed a moment to understand what was going on, and his smile became wider and wider. This was Su Xue¡¯er, all right. She had quietly made preparations for him but didn¡¯t want to tell him anything because she didn¡¯t want to hurt his male pride. But she might have been too excited this time and accidentally let the cat out of the bag. Chapter 42 ¡°Your birthday present is ready,¡± Gu Qingshan changed the topic. ¡°Oh! I want my present! When are you giving it to me? I want to see it as soon as possible!¡± Su Xue¡¯er had regretted saying too much earlier, and now she was suddenly excited again when she heard about her birthday present. ¡°Do you have time tonight?¡± ¡°Sure. Students who have been guaranteed admission are here early just to familiarize ourselves with the school compound and greet the teachers earlier, but actually I¡¯m really quite free every day.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll look for you tonight, then.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you.¡± After Su Xue¡¯er had said this, she suddenly felt that those last words sounded too forward. Her face blushed, and she quickly disconnected the communication device. Gu Qingshan laughed soundlessly as he pushed another button on the communication device. ¡°Impartiality Goddess?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here. I have already noticed your conversation. The Seraph has completed its first round of testing, and it is currently undergoing its second round of testing.¡± ¡°Can you not eavesdrop on my conversations?¡± ¡°Please do not worry. The Impartiality Goddess does not interfere with anybody¡¯s right to fall in love.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I¡¯m asking you not to eavesdrop on any of my conversations.¡± ¡°In accordance with the wishes of citizen Gu Qingshan, Su Xue¡¯er will be on the list of classified contacts, and I will stop all secure surveillance.¡± ¡°¡­what were we talking about earlier? Oh yes. I want the Seraph.¡± ¡°The testing is not complete yet. Are you sure you want to give Su Xue¡¯er the Seraph as a present?¡± ¡°Yup I¡¯m sure. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already tested all sorts of scenarios on it.¡± He had tested all these in his previous life, that is. But Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t say this part out loud. ¡°The Seraph is being prepared right now.¡± ¡°Su Xue¡¯er will be on the list of the Federation¡¯s highly protected people.¡± ¡°The Seraph will be ready to go after three hours.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great! Thanks so much.¡± Gu Qingshan disconnected the call. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t know why, but he realized that, recently, he didn¡¯t need to make any request and he could connect directly to the Impartiality Goddess anytime he wanted to. He figured that it was probably because he had become someone around the president, and so the Impartiality Goddess had taken note of him as well. In his previous life, he had left the Federation earlier on and went to Fuxi Empire. So he¡¯d had very little interaction with the Impartiality Goddess and wasn¡¯t very familiar with how the Impartiality Goddess operated. After taking a shower, he changed into a set of clean clothes and left the room. Since he had the morning free, it was just nice for him to practice his skills during this time. Gu Qingshan went to ask the hotel receptionist and was told that there was an archery range at a nearby sports club. Archery was a sport taken up only by the aristocrats. In this era, such ancient weaponry had become fancy sports for the upper class. That meant that it would cost him quite a bit. Gu Qingshan suddenly remembered that he wanted to check how many credit points he had left. The president was sponsoring his studies, but Gu Qingshan was not a greedy man, and he wasn¡¯t going to take money from the president for everything he wanted to do. Gu Qingshan picked up his personal optical computer and went to his personal profile page. ¡°Oh, I still have 19,200 credit points. If I use them wisely, it¡¯ll last me a pretty long time.¡± This was money that he had saved since he had started working in high school, and he had intended to use this money to pay off his first year of university fees. Gu Qingshan scanned the screen of his optical computer when his eyes stopped at one of the fields. ¡°Personal Meritorious Service Points: 799,873,957,281,439 points.¡± Gu Qingshan froze for some time and then used his hand to hit his optical computer gently. But that row of digits didn¡¯t change at all. ¡°After using this optical computer for seven or eight years, it¡¯s finally giving me problems now.¡± He quietly sighed to himself. He had used up 2,000 points to get the Impartiality Goddess to help him with making a mecha for Su Xue¡¯er, so he hadn¡¯t been left with much. So this ridiculous number was probably because there was a problem with his optical computer. Or could it be a reward from the Goddess for the techniques used? He wasn¡¯t very sure, so he decided that he would ask the Impartiality Goddess another time. Gu Qingshan walked out of the hotel and hopped onto a flying bus. After half an hour. Gu Qingshan squeezed himself out of the extremely packed flying bus, and he staggered a few steps forward before he regained his balance on the street. ¡°The capital is really different. There are so many people here.¡± Gu Qingshan wiped away the sweat on his forehead. Once he turned, he spotted the sports club¡¯s signboard. Starry Sky Club. Gu Qingshan walked right in, and several receptionists stepped forward to greet him. ¡°Good morning, sir, do you have our membership card?¡± asked one of the female receptionists politely. ¡°No, I don¡¯t. It¡¯s my first time here,¡± replied Gu Qingshan honestly. The receptionist moved aside, and a lady who resembled a manager took over instead. She looked him up and down, and her attitude became cold. Gu Qingshan was wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of black slacks. He looked clean and well-groomed, but there was some wear and tear at the edges of his clothes, causing him to look rather plain. In order to cover his storage bag and Night Rain, he even carried an extra-large bow case. The female manager saw many people come and go every day, so her eyes were very sharp and knew with just one look that Gu Qingshan was just a poor student. ¡°The free trial area is on the right, basement two.¡± The female manager looked away and said this very flippantly as she kept her smile away. ¡°May I know where the archery range is?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°The archery range?¡± The female manager suddenly smiled. Archery had always been a popular sport among the aristocrats. A fairly good set of bow and arrows would cost upwards of 10,000 credit points. If you wanted to customize your own bow, then you would need to prepare at least 500,000 credit points. Most people didn¡¯t have the money to buy a good set of bow and arrows. Even rental of the club¡¯s set required a minimum rental of three months, and it didn¡¯t come cheap either. ¡°Sir, do you have your own bow? If you don¡¯t, you can purchase one from us.¡± She believed that this sentence would be enough to dispel any dreamy ideas the other party might have. ¡°Yes, I have my own bow. I just need a place to practice my techniques,¡± replied Gu Qingshan as he nodded. The capital was a forest made of concrete and steel. It was so hard to find a place where he could display and practice his skills. ¡°The archery range is behind the club, and you need to pass through two other clubs before getting there. Why don¡¯t I bring you over?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble you,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°This way, please.¡± She brought Gu Qingshan past the firing range and the swimming pool before reaching an automatic door. She took two steps backward quietly and smiled as she said, ¡°We have arrived, sir. You may go in.¡± ¡°Ah, sure.¡± Gu Qingshan walked over to the door. The door remained shut. Gu Qingshan pushed it a few times, but the door was still locked. He turned around to look at the female manager. The female manager looked on coldly as she said, ¡°In order to enter the archery range, I will need to verify your personal details through your optical computer. Only people who have met the minimum requirements are allowed to enter.¡± Gu Qingshan replied with some frustration, ¡°My optical computer seems a little problematic, so maybe forget it.¡± The female manager smiled soundlessly and replied, ¡°Why don¡¯t we give it a shot? Maybe you might meet the requirement?¡± She waved her hand, and several security guards surrounded them in an instant. Gu Qingshan had made the wrong move this time. Under normal circumstances, anyone who refused to let himself be verified was either a fugitive or a gangster. Either way, he now looked questionable. He shook his head and had no choice but to pull out his optical computer and allow the verification process to begin. DEEE! ¡°Verification passed.¡± ¡°We welcome you, Your Excellency. It is Starry Sky Club¡¯s honor to have you visit us today.¡± An electronic voice rang out and sounded both humble and reverent. These were pre-recorded voices that would choose a different greeting depending on the status of the guest who had come. The main door of the archery range was unlocked and slid open. ¡°Your Excellency, this way, please.¡± The female manager¡¯s attitude made a 180-degree turn as she now smiled and spoke in a friendly manner. She was really professional in this aspect. The security guards were very sharp, too. They quickly bowed together and quietly made themselves scarce. Two staff members came running over from inside the archery range and bowed deeply toward Gu Qingshan. ¡°Welcome to the archery range. Please come this way.¡± Chapter 43 ¡°Is it him?¡± ¡°¡­got it. After all, Su Xue¡¯er is the only legitimate granddaughter of the Su family, and she will eventually know about that secret. We can¡¯t let that young fellow interact with her anymore.¡± ¡°What should I do? Should I find a few brainless aristocratic bums and make it look like an unintentional fight of sorts?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Once those bums act rashly, nobody can control them, and they would actually get things done easily.¡± ¡°The Federation belongs to us, the nine magistrates, after all. So what if he¡¯s the president¡¯s godson¡­¡± The voices slowly faded out. ¡­ Gu Qingshan looked around him and took a look at the way the archery range was setup. There were 20 lanes, side by side. Some people were standing in front of the lanes and practicing their aim. Some of them had coaches standing next to them to correct their posture and guide them on the techniques. The staff noticed what he was looking at and asked, ¡°Do you need anybody to help with archery techniques? All our coaches are professionals.¡± ¡°Ah, no, I don¡¯t need anybody.¡± ¡°Are you using your own bow or are you using the club¡¯s?¡± ¡°I¡¯m using my own.¡± Gu Qingshan replied as he pulled Night Rain out from the bow case on his back. ¡°I¡¯ll start practicing then.¡± ¡°Please, go ahead.¡± He didn¡¯t dare to use any Spirit Power at all. Gu Qingshan just casually took an arrow out and shot it. BOOM! The target board that was 50 meters away exploded into a few pieces, and there was even a small hole in the wall behind the target board. The entire archery range fell silent. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°A bomb?¡± ¡°No, I think there¡¯s a problem with the target board.¡± Many people looked over and wondered what was going on as they murmured among themselves. All of them were aristocrats, so even if something happened, they wouldn¡¯t become panicky. The two staff members standing next to Gu Qingshan were completely bewildered. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I think I¡¯d better use the club¡¯s bow,¡± Gu Qingshan quickly said. One of the staff members barely managed to convince herself by saying that this man here was of high standing and it was only normal for him to be different from other people. She said, ¡°No problem. Do you want to share the lane with other people or would you prefer to have your own private lane?¡± ¡°Private lane, please,¡± replied Gu Qingshan after considering it for a while. She replied, ¡°First-time rental of our bows will cost 800 credit points. A private lane will cost 1,000 credit points per hour.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Gu Qingshan finally quietly breathed a sigh of relief after he watched the two staff walk away with strange looks on their faces. Night Rain was too powerful a bow. If he used Spirit Power, then it would become invisible and would also erase the user¡¯s presence at the same time. Gu Qingshan had taken all these things into consideration earlier already. So to avoid attracting unnecessary attention, Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t use any Spirit Power at all and only used 3% of his usual strength. In the end, the target board had exploded into pieces even though it was something that could take tremendous pressure. After he put Night Rain away, Gu Qingshan picked the leftmost lane and waited for the staff to set up everything for him. After a while, the staff members brought three bows over. ¡°Please try these out.¡± Gu Qingshan picked up each bow and weighed it in his hands. He eventually decided on the heaviest one. ¡°I¡¯ll use this one,¡± he told the staff. ¡°No problem. Have fun!¡± The staff members then politely left him. Now he could finally start practicing. He just had to be careful about how much strength he used. Gu Qingshan pulled out one of the club¡¯s arrows. He only used 10% of his strength and lightly released the arrow. Everything went on normally. Gu Qingshan took out another arrow, pulled the bow back, and released his hand. The arrow shot out like a flash of light. Gu Qingshan breathed a small sigh of relief and continued shooting arrows. After half an hour, he had finished shooting two quivers worth of arrows. But he felt uncomfortable somehow¡­ Gu Qingshan put down the club¡¯s bow and hesitated for a short moment before taking Night Rain out again. The club¡¯s bow was too ordinary, and Gu Qingshan was very bored from training with it. It was better to use Night Rain. That way, he could practice his technique as well as familiarize himself further with Night Rain. He just needed to make sure he didn¡¯t use any Spirit Power and he had to be careful about how much strength he used. Spirit Power would cause a supernatural thing to happen, while too much strength would explode another target board. Either way would attract unnecessary attention. Gu Qingshan carried Night Rain and walked to the lane. He used only 1% of his strength and shot an arrow out immediately. This practice session lasted for a full hour. Gu Qingshan had a good time practicing and was covered in perspiration. He was now even more familiar with Night Rain. Even though he hadn¡¯t used any special skills, it was still beneficial for him to accumulate some feeling and instincts for archery, and this was something he had wanted to do through today¡¯s practice session. He was so absorbed in practicing that he didn¡¯t notice that someone had been staring at him all this while, and this person eventually started concentrating on Night Rain itself. ¡°Hello there.¡± A voice came from the side. Gu Qingshan looked over to see a young man standing next to his lane and was looking at him seriously. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Gu Qingshan as he put his bow down. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask if you would like to sell your bow.¡± ¡°Sorry about that, I¡¯m not selling it,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. That man¡¯s eyes fell on Night Rain and said loudly, ¡°Name your price. Young Master Hui said that money is no problem.¡± ¡°I have no intention of selling it,¡± Gu Qingshan repeated himself. The man shook his head and turned to walk toward another lane. He walked to where a group of young men were standing and repeated Gu Qingshan¡¯s words to the person who was the leader of the group. After hearing these words, the leader smiled and said something in return. Then, the entire group walked over to where Gu Qingshan was. Gu Qingshan continued to pull his bow back and shoot arrow after arrow as if he didn¡¯t sense them coming his way. ¡°Your bow is not bad.¡± The leader of the group stared at Night Rain, and there was an appreciation of the bow in his eyes. ¡°It is not bad, indeed,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°I would like to buy your bow,¡± that man continued saying. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to sell it,¡± replied Gu Qingshan.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be like this. Sell me the bow. We could be friends.¡± ¡°No, thanks.¡± That man thought for a while, then said, ¡°Or why don¡¯t we have a gamble? I¡¯ll bet 100,000 credit points.¡± Archery was a type of sport that involved some amount of chance and guessing, so besides the aristocrats, some wealthy ordinary folks also liked to bet on this sport for fun. Gu Qingshan looked around him. More than half the entire place was filled with these people. It didn¡¯t seem possible to resolve this situation nicely. So Gu Qingshan smiled and replied, ¡°Sure, but I have one condition.¡± ¡°Tell me. I¡¯m listening.¡± Huang Hui cracked his neck. Every time a fish was about to take the bait, Huang Hui would subconsciously crack his neck to hide the rising emotions in his heart. His elder brother, the current head of the family, had instructed him to deal with this person. So he had to come. He thought he would just challenge Gu Qingshan, but he ended up making a surprising discovery. He had a hidden skill of a Chosen One and could see some strange things. But nobody knew about this at all. He could see a woman in this particular bow. She was dressed like she came from ancient times and was shooting an arrow with this bow. That woman was extremely beautiful. That woman seemed to have an inseparable connection with this bow. This was a bow with history! Besides this, Huang Hui himself was passionate about archery. He had developed his skills in this area for more than ten years now, and he could see that this was a good bow. If only this special and powerful bow was his. As long as the other party agreed to the bet, Huang Hui was confident that he would win. He just needed to use a few moves. But while some of these moves looked good, some of them were dirty moves. If he could complete his mission and reap a priceless reward at the same time, then that would be a truly wonderful thing. Chapter 44 ¡°You have to transfer the number of credit points you¡¯re betting me first,¡± said Gu Qingshan. Huang Hui glared at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°We haven¡¯t even started and you want to take the amount I¡¯m betting first?¡± Gu Qingshan shrugged. ¡°Look, there are so many people on your side here. If you lose and you don¡¯t hold up your end of the bargain, I can¡¯t do anything about it.¡± ¡°And if I lose,¡± Gu Qingshan used a hand to point at his own chest, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to get away from all of you either.¡± Huang Hui fell silent. ¡°Why, if you¡¯re so stingy with money, then why bet in the first place?¡± Gu Qingshan laughed. He could tell that this man was obviously here to create trouble for himself. Gu Qingshan thought it strange that a rich man¡¯s son whom he didn¡¯t know at all had come to cause trouble for him. But Huang Hui didn¡¯t say anything. His daily expenses were very high, and because of his poor reputation at home, his family seldom arranged for him to do anything, so he didn¡¯t have much money in the bank either. He hadn¡¯t expected Gu Qingshan to be so sharp and be able to stump him with just mere words. But his reputation was at stake now, and reputation was even more important to an aristocrat like Huang Hui. Since Gu Qingshan had said something like that already, Huang Hui had to take the money out if he wanted to continue playing this game. Damn it. He was determined to make sure this fellow didn¡¯t get away with it. Huang Hui finally clenched his teeth and said, ¡°I¡¯ll bet with you.¡± After saying that, he felt that something didn¡¯t seem quite right. He was the one who was forcing Gu Qingshan to bet on his archery skills. Why did it now seem like Gu Qingshan was forcing him to bet? Huang Hui took a card out and passed it to Gu Qingshan. ¡°Here¡¯s a cash card, transfer the credit points yourself.¡± That was all the allowance he had. Gu Qingshan took the card, scanned it with his personal optical computer, and transferred the credit points. Even the tiniest mosquito was still meat. Nobody ever felt that they had too much money. Gu Qingshan returned the card to Huang Hui, and his mood improved. ¡°How do you intend to compete?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. Huang Hui replied, ¡°We¡¯ll shoot as many times as we like for one minute and count the total number of points. The one with the most points wins.¡± Then, he snapped his fingers loudly. A middle-aged man wearing the club¡¯s uniform squeezed through the crowd. ¡°Young Master Hui, leave it to me,¡± said the middle-aged man. He looked toward Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°Hello, I am the champion of the Federation¡¯s National Archery Competition for three years in a row now, Wu Sheng.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be very soon,¡± said Gu Qingshan as he scanned him carefully. Gu Qingshan and Wu Sheng took their places in their own lane. ¡°Start!¡± shouted one of the coaches. Wu Sheng used a practiced hand to pull an arrow out. He focused his energies and calmed down. Then, he pulled the bow, took aim, and released the arrow. Swoosh! The arrow struck the red circle right in the middle of the target board firmly. There was cheering and clapping. ¡°10 points!¡± ¡°He¡¯s really the top archer three years in a row!¡± ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°Look at his posture and his accuracy!¡± There was a smile on Huang Hui¡¯s face as well. They all turned to look at the other lane. Gu Qingshan had already sent three arrows out. All of them were stuck in the border of the target board and were lined up neatly next to one another. All the wealthy young men burst out laughing. ¡°1 point.¡± ¡°He only got 1 point.¡± ¡°Oh no no, he got three 1-pointers.¡± ¡°Haha, this boy can¡¯t win after all.¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t seem bothered by any of this. He pulled another arrow out and shot immediately. On the other lane, Wu Sheng took a long time to take aim and finally shot his second arrow. It hit the red circle in the middle again! 10 points! Everyone continued cheering. Wu Sheng turned back proudly and waved the bow in his hand. He looked over at his competitor to find that the young man just kept shooting and there were seven arrows on the target board already. But all the arrows were only worth 1 point. Wu Sheng shook his head and smiled mockingly. What was the use of shooting so quickly? Those seven arrows didn¡¯t even add up to one arrow of his. He took another arrow out, drew the bow back, and continued to aim. The competition continued. 15 seconds passed. As time went by, the cheering went down, and the murmuring among the crowd became louder and louder, eventually making it difficult to focus. Wu Sheng sent another arrow out, but because his emotions were affected by the murmuring of the crowd around him, he only scored 8 points. He couldn¡¯t resist turning his head to look and see what had happened on the other side. The next moment, Wu Sheng dropped his bow onto the floor. He stood where he was and didn¡¯t move at all from shock. He saw that his competitor had used his arrows to draw a line on the outermost circle of the target board, and the arrows had all neatly landed right next to one another. After that, the arrows drew a line around the second outermost circle and was slowly making its way towards the innermost circle. It was yet another neat and orderly circle of arrows! After that, it was the third circle, which was a little closer to the middle red circle. Gu Qingshan had been happily shooting for 15 seconds. In these 15 seconds, the five quivers next to his lane had all been used up. ¡°Done,¡± said Gu Qingshan. The entire target board was filled with arrows neatly positioned next to one another, and you could barely see any empty space on the target board. Even the red circle right in the middle was filled with arrows. There wasn¡¯t a single gap left. Meanwhile, Wu Sheng only had five arrows on his target board. No matter how hard Wu Sheng tried, he could never do what Gu Qingshan had done in one minute. Gu Qingshan packed his bow and turned to leave. When he walked past Huang Hui, Gu Qingshan paused for a while and said, ¡°Thanks for the credit points.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy to keep my money,¡± replied Huang Hui. He turned to a man by his side and gave instructions, ¡°Go and call the person in charge of the archery range.¡± Soon enough, the archery range manager and a few other staff members came running over. From afar, the manager quickly put a big smile on and asked, ¡°Young Master Hui, what can I do for you?¡± Huang Hui used his chin to point at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°I lost my bow and eventually discovered it in this person¡¯s hands.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, this fellow is a thief.¡± ¡°Call the police and throw him in jail right now.¡± ¡°He has to return Young Master Hui¡¯s bow first.¡± A large group of them started yelling all these things loudly. The manager looked at Gu Qingshan and said without hesitation, ¡°Sir, please return the bow to Young Master Hui.¡± He had just been given instructions earlier. There was something very important that he had to do today. Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I brought this bow here myself. You can check the closed-circuit cameras within the club. I never went anywhere near them.¡± The manager shook his head and said, ¡°The closed-circuit cameras broke down recently. You¡¯d better return the bow to Young Master Hui, otherwise, I¡¯m going to call the police.¡± Before Gu Qingshan could react, the manager picked up his communication device and called the police. The manager had been given instructions to make sure this boy got arrested. In a short while, a few policemen reached the archery range. They greeted Huang Hui before walking over. ¡°We suspect that you are involved in a case of theft. Please come with us,¡± one of the policemen said very directly. Gu Qingshan became a little annoyed when he saw the policemen. ¡°Are you really the police? Where¡¯s the evidence?¡± he asked. He looked over at them coldly. Everyone felt their hearts turn cold and subconsciously stopped talking. They didn¡¯t even know why they felt this way. One of the policemen subconsciously placed a hand on his gun. They all simultaneously felt that there was something strange about this boy. Chapter 45 ¡°You want my bow so badly?¡± asked Gu Qingshan as he looked at Huang Hui. Huang Hui cracked a smile, and there was a mocking look on his face as he replied, ¡°You little thief, that¡¯s MY bow.¡± One of the policemen walked up and said, ¡°According to procedure, you are now a suspect. After we verify your personal details, you can look for a lawyer.¡± Gu Qingshan looked at the policeman and passed his optical computer over. The policeman felt all his hair stand on end when Gu Qingshan looked at him that way. It was as if an ancient beast had opened its eyes and was staring straight at him. He gulped and pulled out the scanner from his waist, then scanned the optical computer. DEE! ¡°Gathering personal data.¡± ¡°Unauthorized access. Access denied.¡± Those were the messages that came out from the policemen¡¯s optical computer. The relaxed faces on the other policemen instantly disappeared. ¡°Team Leader Zhang, I think this boy is of some standing, so you have to scan his computer personally,¡± said one of the policemen. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± The team leader walked up, took Gu Qingshan¡¯s personal optical computer, and scanned it. DEE! ¡°Gathering personal data.¡± ¡°Unauthorized access. Access denied.¡± All the other policemen exchanged glances as their hearts began to sink. They thought that they had the upper hand and they could use their authority to bully Gu Qingshan, but the current situation looked more like they were fighting with a deity. If they didn¡¯t handle this properly, they wouldn¡¯t get out of here in one piece. Their faces started looking more respectful without them even realizing it. One of the policemen squeezed a stiff smile out at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°Please wait for a while.¡± After that, the policemen started looking toward the crowd like they were asking for help. ¡°You guys can¡¯t even settle a simple thing like this, and I actually have to do it myself,¡± said a young man lazily as he walked out from behind Huang Hui. He had been sent here to control the situation. He took a scanner out from his sleeve and scanned Gu Qingshan¡¯s personal optical computer. DEE! The scanner started to work, and rows and rows of data flashed through the screen. ¡°Hoho, so I had to make an appearance after all, eh?¡± remarked the young man smugly. Suddenly, a voice came out of the scanner. This electronic voice seemed to sound like a warning. ¡°There have been too many access requests over a very short period of time, so the security level will increase.¡± ¡°Unauthorized access. Access denied.¡± Everyone was stunned and started looking strangely at Gu Qingshan. Where did this guy come from? Why couldn¡¯t the police even check his personal data? Some of the men who had purposely come along with Huang Hui to handle this matter knew how Gu Qingshan was related to the president. But they never expected that Gu Qingshan would be so highly protected by the Impartiality Goddess. From the looks of it, going the legal way wasn¡¯t going to work. Huang Hui suddenly smiled and said, ¡°If I had known things would turn out like this, then we would have just gone head-on in the first place.¡± He waved his hand. A few inconspicuous men walked out from the corner of the room and stared intensely at Gu Qingshan. They walked over and surrounded him without making a single sound, but their presence and manner attracted Gu Qingshan¡¯s attention. ¡°How interesting. Since when were Spirit Power practitioners slaves of the wealthy?¡± said Gu Qingshan with a laugh. The expressions of the men who walked over immediately changed when they heard these words. ¡°You little punk! You deserve to die.¡± One of them said this while taking large steps over with a black-colored force in his hands. ¡°Spirit Power of Darkness? What a waste on you.¡± Gu Qingshan said those words as he raised his bow and shot an arrow. Gu Qingshan¡¯s actions seemed very slow, but by the time the men surrounding him wanted to react, they were already too late. The bow was like a bolt of lightning that shocked the string and sent the arrow flying so quickly that it became only a shadow. The fight ended the moment it started. There were bloodcurdling howls ringing throughout the place. Everyone only saw a blur before realizing that those few Spirit Power practitioners had been sent flying. When they turned to look, they all gasped instantly. Five of them were pinned to the wall at the back with their legs still suspended in the air. The arrows had pierced through their shoulders, thighs, and then straight into the white walls. Fresh blood started flowing down the wall. One of them raised his left hand in indignation. With a VOOM! A strong flame rose from his hand. He was about to make a move when he heard a voice come from across the wall. ¡°Between you and me, who do you think is faster?¡± Gu Qingshan said these words very quietly. The bow in his hand was still raised, but the air around him had changed in an instant. He now emanated an icy-cold intention to kill and had his eyes locked on the Elemental Arts Experts on the wall. Those with the Spirit Power of Darkness generally found it difficult to grasp its technique and couldn¡¯t do much damage, so he didn¡¯t need to bother himself too much with that one. But those with the Spirit Power of Fire were different. Out of the Five Elements, Fire carried the highest damage. If this Elemental Arts Expert decided to make a move, Gu Qingshan would definitely kill him immediately without hesitation. But that Elemental Arts Expert was already an old hand in fighting. After he felt that strong intention to kill from Gu Qingshan and looked at how coldly Gu Qingshan was looking at him, he knew that he had hit a dead end this time. He had developed his Spirit Power of Fire very late, so now he had only just reached the second stage, Roaring Flame. He had just reached it, so even though it could do quite a bit of damage, he couldn¡¯t wield it naturally because he needed more time to accumulate Spirit Power. Gu Qingshan¡¯s arrows were too fast. They were too fast for anyone to react to, and too fast for him to attack. If Gu Qingshan had not aimed at his shoulder but aimed at somewhere else that would prove fatal¡­ He sighed deeply and put his hand down helplessly. The flame was instantly extinguished. The whole place fell silent. Gu Qingshan walked over to Huang Hui. PAK! He gave Huang Hui a hard slap, and Huang Hui collapsed onto the floor. ¡°How dare you hit me! I¡¯m the second son of the Huang family! You¡¯re dead meat!¡± Huang Hui shrieked like a vengeful spirit with a face full of blood. Gu Qingshan stepped on his chest and said, ¡°I know there¡¯s someone backing you, but tell me, if I decide to kill you now, do you think anyone will be here in time to rescue you?¡± Huang Hui immediately shut his mouth. Gu Qingshan understood what was going on after he saw the way Huang Hui reacted. Someone had instructed this brainless, rich man¡¯s son to create trouble for him. There was no point in fighting with this brainless guy. But who was the one behind him? It was probably the families of the nine county magistrates. They seemed to be very concerned about Su Xue¡¯er. This didn¡¯t seem right. Generally speaking, a daughter of an aristocratic family normally wouldn¡¯t attract the attention of so many other aristocratic families. Could it be that Su Xue¡¯er could benefit them in a special way? Gu Qingshan was still thinking about these things quietly when the other young men watching were almost going mad. Many of them took out their communication devices and started calling their families. Some of them even pointed at Gu Qingshan and shouted loudly, ¡°You lowly punk! How dare you hit Young Master Hui! Nobody can save you now, so prepare to die!¡± The policemen looked at the bow in Gu Qingshan¡¯s hands, then back at the five men hanging on the wall. They decided against acting rashly, so they quietly retreated and used their communication devices to call for backup. ¡°Hurry up, I¡¯m waiting for all of you,¡± said Gu Qingshan. He walked back to his lane, nocked another arrow to his bow, and continued practicing his archery technique. He knew that if he didn¡¯t teach these wastrels a good lesson today and make sure they were too fearful to do anything after this, they wouldn¡¯t let him go, and they would keep finding an opportunity to attack him in the future. He was going to make sure they were really scared this time. Only then would this matter really come to a close. At this moment, the main door of the archery range suddenly opened. A delightful female voice could be heard. ¡°Hmm? Why are so many people standing in the archery range and not moving at all? What¡¯s going on?¡± This voice was accompanied by a beautiful young lady with fiery red hair as she walked in from outside the main door. There were two rows of men in suits behind the young lady. All of them were special bodyguards who wore the badge of the Federation. Chapter 46 An old man was standing next to the young lady as he replied in a very gentlemanly manner, ¡°I think none of them expected you to come here, and now they are all so pleasantly surprised that they are unable to speak.¡± The old man smiled and looked at everyone, but then he spotted Huang Hui lying on the floor with a face full of blood and not able to get up no matter how hard he tried. The old man gaped in shock, then motioned to the men behind him. A few bodyguards rushed forward to help Huang Hui up. One of them stretched a hand out and pressed it against Huang Hui¡¯s face. His bleeding stopped, and his swollen face went back to normal. After Huang Hui was healed, he looked at the beautiful lady in front of his eyes, and all the anger he felt earlier was gone. He whispered, ¡°Elder Kang, this is¡­?¡± The old man glared at him, then looked toward the beautiful lady with fiery red hair and said, ¡°Your Highness, let me introduce you. This man here is from one of our nine counties¡¯ magistrate¡¯s family. He is the Huang family¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Oh wow! Who made these shots?¡± Anna completely ignored the other party and exclaimed as she walked to the end of the archery range and looked at the wall excitedly. The five men hanging on the wall would groan every now and then from pain. The old man¡¯s expression immediately fell when he realized that the wall at the end of the archery range had people hanging from it. What was going on? An important guest had come to the capital of the Federation for a diplomatic visit, and she had to witness a fight? And why were there policemen here? Since when were the police in the capital unable to even handle this sort of thing?! This was a serious PR disaster! Anger was rising within the old man, and he was going to spew fire from his mouth. ¡°This technique is really not bad. I would like to learn it. Could I ask who made these shots?¡± asked Anna excitedly as she turned around. Everything the old man wanted to say was stuck in his throat. Everyone was equally speechless when they saw this happening. Anyone could clearly see that a fight had just occurred here, and the fight got so bad that they were on the verge of killing each other off. But then this princess felt that pinning people to the wall with arrows was fairly interesting. Rumor had it that the princess of the Empire did everything the way she liked, and there were many things she did that were often shocking or difficult to understand. Now they had seen for themselves that this rumor was actually true. They weren¡¯t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing for that young man. He was still safe even after hitting Huang Hui, but if he offended the eldest princess of Saint Olanka Empire, the mighty Princess Anna Medici, then it would be hard to say¡­ Everyone¡¯s eyes were focused on Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan¡¯s lips twitched when he saw how Anna was pretending to look around curiously. Gu Qingshan had no idea why she had turned up in this place and didn¡¯t know what she was up to. He wasn¡¯t afraid of her, but he wasn¡¯t confident about what to do next. Anna slowly made her way over and stood in front of Gu Qingshan as she asked a question with great admiration. ¡°Were you the one who shot those guys onto the wall?¡± Everyone watching started wiping their perspiration. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Gu Qingshan decided to just respond honestly. Anna¡¯s expression changed, and she curtsied as she replied solemnly, ¡°I have not practiced my skills in this aristocratic sport for many years now. Since your archery skills seem to be so accurate and impressive, please teach me your ways, for the sake of the continued friendship between our two nations.¡± This was such a standard way of speaking and behavior among aristocrats. Everything, from her words to her actions. Gu Qingshan really wanted to turn and leave, but he managed to stop himself from doing so. He really didn¡¯t know what to do after Anna had said something like this. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t want to be in the public eye too much. He just wanted to quietly enjoy his days in the university while waiting for the apocalypse to start. But since the princess of the Empire was already standing in front of him, and he was surrounded by aristocrats as well as top-level bodyguards and secret agents from the Federation, everyone would be a witness to everything that happened in this place. In other words, he couldn¡¯t do anything to offend the princess in front of so many people. Even the president would have no choice in such a situation. He decided to just go along with it since it was Anna who had landed him in this situation. Gu Qingshan sighed quietly and bowed back. ¡°Your request is my honor.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± Anna cheekily winked as she waved a small hand in the air. ¡°Clear the place!¡± All the bodyguards went around to ask everyone to leave the archery range politely. If you looked carefully, you would notice that these professional bodyguards also looked a little defeated at this moment. The Empire¡¯s princess wanted to clear the place everywhere she went, even when she went to the bathroom. So the bodyguards were numb to this and they didn¡¯t know what to say to this. But nobody dared to raise any objections or complaints. The king of Saint Olanka Empire was a force to be reckoned with. Even the princess herself was a fearsome character among the Elemental Arts Experts. Apparently, her Spirit Power of Fire had reached the fourth stage, Crackly Sun. The lowest stage of the Spirit Power of Fire was Flames, then Roaring Flame. From the third stage, Molten Lava, onward, every increase in stage would increase the power of the Expert exponentially. The fourth stage, Crackly Sun, had already surpassed 90% of anyone using Spirit Power. So even if Anna weren¡¯t a princess, her ability alone would be enough for her to receive great respect and honor. So anyone who could get the affirmation from this woman who was both royalty and was powerful within the Elemental Arts world would definitely stand to benefit. Huang Hui quickly brought a few men over and said with a smile on his face, ¡°Your Highness, it is my honor to be at your service.¡± Anna pointed to the wall. A few bodyguards were trying to take the men down from it. She asked, ¡°You know how to do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, but I¡¯m the second son of the Huang family, and I¡¯m fairly familiar with the capital. I guarantee that¡­¡± Anna widened her large and pretty eyes as she asked innocently, ¡°If you don¡¯t know how to do this, then why are you still standing here?¡± Huang Hui froze on the spot. ¡°I don¡¯t make friends with useless people.¡± Anna called out, ¡°Men! Clear the place!¡± These words were like a heavy hammer that smashed Huang Hui¡¯s pride to pieces. Huang Hui was politely taken out of the archery range. When he left, he glared hatefully at Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t bothered at all. It was just the hate from a useless wastrel, so he could break him anytime. Gu Qingshan walked over to Anna and said in a low voice, ¡°What are you trying to do? You¡¯re making things very difficult for me.¡± Anna could sense his unhappiness, so she replied a little sadly, ¡°I miss Scorpius.¡± These few words made all of Gu Qingshan¡¯s unhappiness go away. ¡°I really¡­ you¡­ at least let me know you¡¯re coming next time,¡± he said as he shook his head. Anna kept away the sad look on her face as she smiled beautifully and picked up a bow from the shelf at the side. She said, ¡°Teach me archery first. I have something to ask you later.¡± Gu Qingshan was about to reply when a light suddenly flew across his eyes, and a line of bright red text appeared in front of him. ¡°The time flow is still not flowing correctly, so your time in the real world is up.¡± ¡°Player must enter the other world within the next five minutes, otherwise, this incorrect flow will become permanent.¡± ¡°Warning: If player does not enter the other world, you will no longer be able to enter it again.¡± Gu Qingshan was rooted to the spot as if he had just been struck by lightning. Why was it like that now? It wasn¡¯t the first time he had gone through Space-time Turbulence, and he had gone in and out of both worlds smoothly all this while. Why was this happening now? Was it because he had entered that strange other space along the way? There were many weird sights within the Space-time Turbulence, and some of them could affect the player. But Gu Qingshan had never heard of any of those things being able to affect how time flowed. Or did that mean that the weird other space he¡¯d gone through was more special than all the other strange spaces recorded in history? But he hadn¡¯t even bothered with that huge corpse nailed to the bronze pillar! There was no time to think now. Gu Qingshan dragged Anna to a corner and whispered, ¡°I need your help.¡± Anna looked at him and asked curiously, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡ª¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t know where to start. But he had to act fast. He had to disappear within five minutes without anyone knowing. But the entire club was now surrounded by bodyguards and other security details in order to ensure Princess Anna¡¯s safety. Even if he wanted to run away by himself, five minutes wasn¡¯t enough to get through all the various levels of security if he didn¡¯t settle Anna down. But once the time was up, Gu Qingshan had to leave for the other world. If all these security details witnessed how he disappeared, that would surely stir things up. Gu Qingshan wasn¡¯t afraid of that happening, really. But it was a troublesome thing to handle and would affect his future plans. Anna stole a glance at him since he wasn¡¯t talking. His eyes were a pretty amber color, and his eyelashes were very long. Every time he used his bow and arrow, his eyes would narrow slightly and look focused and energetic at the same time. When he was mixing drinks, there would be a mist over his eyes, as if he was in another world. His dressing was very plain and simple. But this plainly dressed man was that same guy who had walked out of the bar, killed off several Martial Arts practitioners, and even brought down mechas. Some people had to use their clothing in order to throw their weight about, but he didn¡¯t. He showed no mercy when he had to kill, but then he knew how to behave on TV. He just looked down and didn¡¯t say a single word. Von Hord had said that Gu Qingshan was a little difficult to understand. But Anna didn¡¯t think so. She figured that he was just a little nervous in front of the camera. And now he was standing in front of her and looking like he didn¡¯t know what to say. That was interesting in itself. Anna was in an excellent mood, and her lips curled upwards slightly. She put her hands behind her back and leaned forward slightly as she asked, ¡°Why is it so hard for you to tell me? Don¡¯t tell me you like me.¡± Chapter 47 ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. I need to leave right now, but I can¡¯t let anyone know about it.¡± Gu Qingshan decided to just say it as directly as he could. Anna crossed her arms and looked at him seriously. He didn¡¯t seem to be lying. ¡°Is it something urgent?¡± Anna asked seriously as she decided to stop teasing him. ¡°It¡¯s extremely urgent,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°Come with me,¡± said Anna quickly after thinking for just one second. This young man gave her a very strange feeling, and she had a good impression of him somehow. When they first met, he had mixed a few drinks that were really satisfying. After that, her system had evaluated his fighting skills to be at S level. He was also involved in the Federation¡¯s secret and had something to do with the reason why the Federation had suddenly mobilized so many of their troops. So regardless of whether it was for work or herself, Anna was willing to help him. While the two of them were whispering to one another, they had no idea that the security details watching them closely were completely floored by what they were seeing. Just the day before, Princess Anna had poured an entire glass of wine onto a member of parliament¡¯s face only because he had wanted to kiss her hand in greeting. But today, the princess allowed this man to simply pull her along and allowed him to stand so close to her. They were even whispering to each other! But the princess didn¡¯t look unhappy at all. In fact, she looked very curious. While they were still making guesses, the princess had already walked to the huge French window and was operating her personal optical computer. Seconds later, there was the humming noise of a machine. The humming noise quickly became louder. A flying shuttle painted fiery red landed in mid-air after a few seconds, and its engine roared loudly. The flying shuttle adjusted its angle a little and opened the hatch in front of the princess. ¡°Get ready to board,¡± said Princess Anna as she turned to Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan looked at the flying shuttle and nodded. This was Running Flame, an Ultra High-Speed Flying Shuttle. It was the fastest flying shuttle model in the world, and there were only five of them in total. This was the princess¡¯s official mode of transport, so she brought it everywhere she went. Anna placed a hand on the glass of the French window. The glass quickly melted and dripped down the outside of the building like water. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Anna. ¡°Okay.¡± Gu Qingshan glanced at the time. He still had two minutes, so he was still on time. He jumped into the flying shuttle with Anna. ¡°Princess! Princess! Where are you going?¡± shouted the old man after them in a panic. Each member of the security detail was stunned. They had never met such a rebellious client before. She didn¡¯t care for any formalities and just left whenever she wanted. ¡°Where am I going? Oh, I¡¯m going to practice my archery skills with my archery coach. I¡¯ll be back in time for the banquet tonight.¡± ¡°Oh yes, get my father to compensate for this glass window. Thanks!¡± Anna pulled the hatch shut. Running Flame started up violently and became a mere black dot in the sky with a loud roaring sound, eventually disappearing out of sight. The old man turned around and roared at the rest, ¡°Why are all of you still standing here? Hurry up and track down where the princess is! If anything happens to her, that will be the start of a war between our two countries!¡± All of the security detail personnel suddenly woke up and started getting busy. Onboard the flying shuttle, Gu Qingshan looked at the time. He still had one and a half minutes left. He looked toward Anna. She was concentrating on navigating with the flying shuttle to avoid the busy skies of the capital. There was a row of alcohol within the cockpit. Below that shelf was a long box, and there were many ancient weapons inside it. There were sabers, sharp knives, meteor hammers, daggers, short spears, axes, whips, long forks, and more, and all these items looked like they were of high quality and not just props. There was also a sword in the box. Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand moved instinctively. Logically speaking, the weapons within the cultivation world had been specially made and crafted with Spirit Power, so the system would recognize them as useable weapons. But Gu Qingshan just couldn¡¯t resist picking up the sword to try. He gripped the sword handle. DING! ¡°This is a prop that is unable to kill any demons.¡± The system prompt appeared immediately. Gu Qingshan sighed. He put the sword back. He hadn¡¯t touched a sword in a very long time. Now he really wanted a sword and he even dreamt of it. He wanted a real sword. Forty seconds later, Running Flame landed atop a cliff in a rural part of the capital. Gu Qingshan quietly said, ¡°I¡¯m really grateful for your help this time around.¡± ¡°Saying thanks doesn¡¯t mean anything. I want a glass of Scorpius,¡± said Anna as she licked her lips. She had no idea how seductive she looked right at that moment. Gu Qingshan burst out laughing and shook his head. ¡°No problem. If I manage to come back this time, I¡¯ll definitely treat you to a glass.¡± ¡°Hmm? What do you mean?¡± Anna could sense that there was something not quite right in the way Gu Qingshan spoke. She turned away from her screen and looked at him. ¡°If I manage to come back, I¡¯ll tell you a secret and then treat you to a glass,¡± said Gu Qingshan. He still had 20 more seconds. Gu Qingshan was all ready to go. He didn¡¯t mind Anna knowing about this secret. When they¡¯d first met, he had already decided that he wanted to make sure Anna wouldn¡¯t have to face the tragic fate she had met in his previous life. Ten seconds left. ¡°I¡¯m off,¡± said Gu Qingshan. Anna could sense something, so she suddenly reached into her fiery red hair and pulled a thin, black chain out. There was a very unique pendant on this chain, and it rose up from her fair neck. She hung the chain around Gu Qingshan¡¯s neck and said very seriously to him, ¡°Stay alive.¡± Gu Qingshan had a look of surprise in his eyes. He wanted to say more, but a light suddenly flashed across his eyes. Gu Qingshan vanished from before Anna¡¯s eyes. A few minutes later, a shadow quietly came from afar and stopped in front of the flying shuttle. The shadow stood up and became a man, wearing sunglasses and sporting slicked-back hair. ¡°Princess, you¡¯re on an official visit. You¡¯re stirring up a lot of trouble by leaving so suddenly.¡± Von Hord held his hands out and tried to chide her, even though he knew it was pointless. Anna quietly sat inside the cockpit and didn¡¯t say anything. Von Hord looked at the princess and felt that something was wrong. Normally, they would end up arguing whenever he tried to chide the princess. What was wrong with her today? She didn¡¯t even look disdainful. The princess looked so down, it was as if she had suffered a great blow. Von Hord thought about it for a moment before using a gentler voice to speak. ¡°Your Highness, this is just a small matter, and you don¡¯t have to be bothered by it. Are you all right?¡± Anna hung her head and didn¡¯t say anything. The princess only started speaking when Von Hord was about to call the medical team over. ¡°Hord.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Have you ever lost someone very important to you before?¡± ¡°Yes, I did, but that was a very long time ago.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with me, but I¡¯m suddenly afraid that I won¡¯t see this person again.¡± What was wrong with the princess? Why was she speaking so strangely? Von Hord started getting anxious. He began to look carefully at the princess to see if he could spot anything amiss. Suddenly¡­ ¡°Your Highness, where¡¯s your Life Exchange Contract?¡± exclaimed Von Hord loudly. Princess Anna didn¡¯t answer him. Von Hord felt cold sweat drip down his back. He collapsed onto the floor and said bitterly, ¡°We¡¯re doomed.¡± Princess Anna looked out into the distance and quietly said, ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure if she was saying this to Gu Qingshan or to herself. A layer of light surrounded Gu Qingshan as he continued to travel through the Space-time Turbulence. Gu Qingshan touched the pendant around his neck, and many different emotions overwhelmed him. There was a carving on the pendant. It was a carving of a very peaceful-looking old man, leaning against a long sickle and asleep on a rock with his hands supporting his cheeks. This was a Life Exchange Contract, a token from the Grim Reaper. If the wearer of this token was about to die, the Grim Reaper would extend his life. But this nature defying sort of power wasn¡¯t without its cost. The Grim Reaper would take twice the life out of the person who had previously owned this token. The Grim Reaper would never do anything at a loss. Gu Qingshan held the pendant tightly. This strange token existed thousands of years ago, and it had a legendary sort of existence. He had never expected it to be in Anna¡¯s hands. And he definitely had not expected Anna to hang it around his neck. This silly girl was really out of hand. If something happened to him, then she was doomed. Gu Qingshan laughed bitterly as his gaze became more and more determined. In his previous life, Anna had saved him, and he had managed to become a Great Sword Immortal, while she had died in battle before he even had had the chance to save her. In this life, he wasn¡¯t going to let that happen! A hole started glowing and expanding in front of him. Gu Qingshan flew right in. Chapter 48 The transparent, gray fog covered the whole world. Fire rained down steadily from the sky. A hole in space-time started expanding into an exit. Gu Qingshan flew out while still being encased in the white, bubble glow. The chaotic sound of a fierce battle caught Gu Qingshan¡¯s attention. A huge group of demons were squeezing their way up a mountain peak a few kilometers away. A number of cultivators were standing back to back and trying their best to kill the demons off. After a while, yet another cultivator got dragged out by the demons and was eaten cleanly while still howling. ¡°No! My brother!¡± One of the cultivators suddenly cried out with great pain and sadness. He rushed out and went crazy trying to kill the demons. It didn¡¯t make any difference. The smell of blood drove the demons mad, and more started rushing up the mountainside. After just a few seconds, that rash cultivator had also been killed off and eaten by the demons. There were only about six or seven human cultivators left. They were like a candle in the wind and could be put out at any time. Gu Qingshan looked carefully at the remaining people and murmured to himself, ¡°Looks like these should be the people that General Gongsun had left behind. Since they didn¡¯t all die, they must be pretty highly skilled.¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t want to watch this battle anymore. He used the Spirit Power in his body to burst the nearly transparent bubble around himself and started freefalling in a particular direction. His landing spot was a place that he had carefully chosen. It wasn¡¯t too far from the mountain, but since most of the demons had already been distracted by the cultivators on the mountain, it was considered a fairly safe place to land. Once his feet landed properly on the ground, Gu Qingshan immediately kept all his Spirit Power away and held his breath. Demons could feel Spirit Power movement and breathing, so he had to be very careful about these things. A terrible smell hit him. Gu Qingshan shifted himself aside violently and flew several meters backward. There was the sound of something cutting through the air. Followed by a loud boom behind him. A large mouth filled with sharp teeth bit the ground and then drew back in indignation. Gu Qingshan turned around to look, and his heart sank a little. It was a Carrion Devouring Demon crawling along the ground like a moving mountain of rotten flesh. An awful stench hit his nose. This creature ate absolutely anything and had a penchant for rotting dead bodies. So after many years of this diet, it would start to reek of this awful smell. Under most circumstances, even the other demons would avoid this creature because it was simply too smelly. Since the Carrion Devouring Demon hadn¡¯t managed to bite its prey, it angrily puffed its cheeks up and sprayed out a gooey substance to trap its prey where it was. This gooey substance didn¡¯t just make it difficult for the prey to escape. It was also capable of causing flesh to rot. If one got this stuff on the skin without any armor, then all their flesh and internal organs would rot away. This particular Carrion Devouring Demon had a very powerful presence and surpassed most other Carrion Devouring Demons, so it was probably at Foundation Building stage. Its saliva could possibly even rot bones. Gu Qingshan had already predicted that it would do this, and that was why he moved so far away. He barely managed to dodge that spray of gooey substance. One of the cultivators on the mountain glanced over in surprise. Actually the moment Gu Qingshan had appeared in this world, they had already felt his presence. But when they realized that he was only a Qi Refining cultivator, the hope they had in their hearts was extinguished again. The cultivators had despaired and thought that this young fellow wouldn¡¯t last more than a few seconds, but he¡¯d ended up surprising them. Gu Qingshan was only at Qi Refining stage and was one entire stage away from the Carrion Devouring Demon. But he had actually managed to predict what the demon would do and also managed to dodge the attack, so that was pretty impressive in itself. When the Carrion Devouring Demon saw that its prey had dodged yet again, it opened its mouth and was about to roar in frustration. The moment it made any noise, it would surely attract more demons to come this way. If Gu Qingshan was surrounded by demons at his current cultivation level, then he would most certainly die. But just before it could roar, the Carrion Devouring Demon suddenly felt that something had been stuffed into its mouth. The Carrion Devouring Demon froze for a while. Its brain simply couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. It started chewing the thing in its mouth instinctively. The texture was strange and wasn¡¯t something it normally liked to eat, but it seemed edible enough. In fact, the more it chewed, the better it tasted, and this food seemed beneficial to itself. The food made the Carrion Devouring Demon quieten down. But what was this stuff in its mouth? The Carrion Devouring Demon slowly stretched a claw out to pull the stuff out of its mouth to see what it was eating. It wanted to remember what this thing was and wanted to add it to the list of things it could eat. When Gu Qingshan saw this, he quietly lay against the ground and slowly retreated out of the Carrion Devouring Demon¡¯s line of sight. He had pulled out some Demonic Python skin and bones and flung them right into the demon¡¯s huge open mouth. This Carrion Devouring Demon was so hungry that it would even eat rocks. So since Demonic Pythons were rare demons and their skin and bones were very nutritious, it was definitely much more delicious than rocks and rotting carcasses. Once the Carrion Devouring Demon¡¯s attention had been successfully drawn to the food in its mouth, Gu Qingshan took the chance to quickly make his getaway. He hid among a huge pile of rocks and looked around him carefully. There weren¡¯t a lot of demons nearby since a large majority of the demons had gone to squeeze up the mountain. Meanwhile, the fight on the mountain was getting more and more brutal. The few cultivators were surrounded by the demons, and they could neither attack nor defend. The cultivators were fighting for their dear lives among the demons, so they had to use their Spirit Power and unleash every move they had. As a result, even the creatures standing miles away could feel the movement of their Spirit Power. After looking at them for a while, Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression became grimmer. ¡°All these people are at least at Foundation Building stage, and some are even at Golden Core.¡± Both those cultivators and the countless demons were way too powerful for him to handle. ¡°My cultivation level is too low and there are so many things I can¡¯t use, so I¡¯m only left with¡­¡± Just as he was thinking about what to do, there were a few demons that discovered him. They roared and started coming his way. They used their bodies to try to push other demons away to try to eliminate any potential competition. But Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t bother looking at these Foundation Building stage demons. He ran and took out the formation disk at the same time. With the formation disk in one hand, he used his other hand to move his Spirit Power and hit the formation disk several times in quick succession. His hands never stopped as he yelled out, ¡°This way!¡± On the mountain, yet another one of the cultivators had died fighting. His body had been quickly devoured by the demons, and the remaining cultivators were in grave danger. The moment they heard Gu Qingshan¡¯s voice, they looked over. When they saw that Gu Qingshan had a formation disk in his hands and was glowing with Spirit Power, they started feeling hopeful. ¡°It¡¯s a formation disk!¡± ¡°He¡¯s a Formation Master! A Formation Master!¡± ¡°That¡¯s great! There¡¯s hope for us!¡± Formation Masters were hard to come by, so every sect treated them like treasures and made sure they were well protected. So how did this Formation Master appear here all by himself? But there was no time to think about such things. When they suddenly saw that glimmer of hope, they were suddenly energized and managed to make the demons around them move back by a few meters. Under the command of one of the cultivators, they started to slowly move toward Gu Qingshan. The leader pointed out two people and instructed, ¡°He¡¯s only at Qi Refining stage, so since you two are quick-footed, go protect him!¡± ¡°Got it!¡± This Formation Master was their hope of surviving this. Their commander also waved the jade fan in his hands as he used all his strength to shoot out his technique. All the demons turned into ice sculptures after he attacked them, and even those more powerful demons that didn¡¯t get completely frozen were slowed down tremendously. The sword cultivator and knife practitioner quickly went up to kill off all these demons. With the cover of this Frost Technique, the knife practitioner and sword cultivator moved as quick as lightning and got to Gu Qingshan in just a matter of seconds as they easily killed off every demon that came their way. Gu Qingshan glanced at the two of them and fixed his eyes on the hand of the sword cultivator. He couldn¡¯t tear his eyes off the weapon in his hand. That was a sword! Gu Qingshan¡¯s fingers couldn¡¯t help but start moving when he saw the long sword in the sword cultivator¡¯s hand. After he had transmigrated, Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t even remember a single sword technique. All the sword techniques he had practiced in his previous life seemed to be sealed away by the system on purpose. He could sense that the system had done this to minimize the dangers he might face when he was traveling through space-time so as to avoid trouble that would harm him. Gu Qingshan still remembered that the system had said ¡®successfully smuggled over¡¯ after he had transmigrated. But even though he had successfully transmigrated, that mysterious seal on himself remained unbroken. Something deep in his subconscious told him that he needed a sword. Just like those days that had gone by, he needed a sword that could kill. That sword cultivator at the Peak level of Foundation Building noticed Gu Qingshan¡¯s gaze and looked back at Gu Qingshan strangely. No, now was not the time! Gu Qingshan suppressed the urge in his heart. He turned away from the sword and looked toward the commander. ¡°I see. He¡¯s activated the Spirit Power of Water and reached the second stage: Frost. If not for him, all these people would be dead by now.¡± Gu Qingshan took note of this in his heart, then looked toward the two cultivators right at the end. Those two cultivators were standing in front of the commander and were using nothing but the strength of their fists and kicks to attack. Each attack made a large group of demons fly out. These were all Martial Arts cultivators. Their bodies were filled with Qi and blood, and the Power of Guicang spread through their bodies. That¡¯s right, these were true blue Martial Arts Grandmasters that had reached the Peak stage and were about to enter into the Initial stage of Martial Arts Prime. Countless demons continued to follow after them. After a few more seconds had passed, everyone had reached where Gu Qingshan was and surrounded him. The commander kept away his jade fan and asked anxiously, ¡°What formation do you have? Need me to cover you?¡± Everyone looked over. Formation setups needed time, so if Gu Qingshan took too long and wasn¡¯t ready even after the rest had already perished, then that would be the greatest joke of the day. Gu Qingshan shook his head and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll be done in a second.¡± He hit the formation disk, and his hands were already in position. The formation disk that Gongsun Zhi had given him already had all sorts of advanced formations in place. Gongsun Zhi had already taught Gu Qingshan all the hand positions for activating the formation disk. Every time the formation disk had to be activated, it required both Spirit Power as well as the correct corresponding hand position. This was supposed to unseal the formation disk and set up the formation, so at one glance, Gu Qingshan¡¯s movements did really look like he was a Formation Master. Only veteran Formation Masters like Gongsun Zhi would be able to decipher the hand positions and tell that he was just an imposter. The only problem was that there was a limit to the number of times the formation disk could set up a particular formation. After everything was used up, the formation disk would be useless. But since they were in such an urgent situation and the cultivators didn¡¯t know him, Gu Qingshan decided to just pretend he was a Formation Master. ¡°Water, Wind, Mist, Earth, Raven Heavenly Escape Formation!¡± Gu Qingshan pushed his Spirit Power forward, then the formation disk exploded with a brightness that looked like a sea of stars, and there were four extra bright bursts of light that flickered. The formation had been set up! The most powerful formation on the formation disk had been activated, so Gu Qingshan had lost 70% of his Spirit Power in an instant. The bright glow covered himself and all the cultivators next to him, and everyone disappeared from the demons¡¯ sight immediately. The countless demons started roaring angrily when they couldn¡¯t find their target anymore. After a while, they actually started fighting amongst themselves. The scariest, gigantic demons couldn¡¯t stand it after a while, so they just picked up a few smaller demons and stuffed them into their mouths to chew for a while before dragging their huge bodies away. This movement instantly extinguished the anger among the other demons. After a short while, about half the demons left the mountain. All the cultivators had all collapsed on the ground and were panting heavily within the protection of the formation. They had all reached their limit. Chapter 49 ¡°I thought we were all going to die, but we¡¯ve actually been rescued.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°Thank you so much, my friend.¡± All the cultivators looked toward Gu Qingshan with gratitude in their eyes. Gu Qingshan clasped his hands together sincerely and replied, ¡°My cultivation level is extremely low, and the only thing I can do is help set up formations. I will still need to count on everyone for the battle later.¡± He could tell that all these people were at Foundation Building level of cultivation. Since he had to fight this immense number of demons with a group of cultivators that were much more powerful than he was, Gu Qingshan had to tread carefully. He knew very well how evil some people could be. Gu Qingshan had spoken very earnestly, so these Foundation Building level cultivators started to like him. One of them said, ¡°No problem. We¡¯re all with General Gongsun, and as long as we manage to hold out, the General will come and save us.¡± Another one added on in frustration, ¡°We weren¡¯t careful enough and were discovered by the demons that suddenly appeared, and that¡¯s how we ended up in this state.¡± Gu Qingshan quietly sighed but didn¡¯t say anything. The few of them started chatting with Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan had his own way of dealing with people, so he generally got along well with them. Under normal circumstances, Foundation Building cultivators wouldn¡¯t even bother to look at a Qi Refining cultivator. Gu Qingshan was able to get along with these Foundation Building cultivators only because he had saved everyone from such a dire situation, but also because they thought that he was a powerful Formation Master. Formation Masters were rare and extremely welcome on the battlefield. So the cultivators weren¡¯t going to use Gu Qingshan as a cover and dump him right in the front of the team to be a living shield for them. If it had been some other time or some other circumstance, these Foundation Building cultivators might not have batted an eyelid at allowing him to die. While everyone was resting, the commander cultivator asked, ¡°This formation is not bad, but how long can it last?¡± The moment he spoke up, the rest fell silent. Gu Qingshan finally had the chance to look at this man properly. This man was in his twenties. His eyes were cold and distant, but energetic. He had pale, blue armor on and held a long fan in his hands. His body was extremely clean and didn¡¯t even have a single drop of demon blood on it, despite having fought them for so long. Cultivators with the Spirit Power of Fire and Spirit Power of Wind liked using fans as weapons, but it was rare to see a cultivator with the Spirit Power of Water use a fan. This light blue, full-body armor glowed with the cold light of frost, and there was a faint icy mist around it. This was excellent frost armor. This armor alone would cost more than 100,000 low-grade spirit stones. This person was probably a favored disciple of some famous sect. Gu Qingshan increased his mental rating of this man and replied to him, ¡°This formation can last for another 30 minutes.¡± Everyone was relieved. 30 minutes was enough to recover part of their Spirit Power, and they would be able to rid themselves of their fatigue. The commander relaxed a little and instructed, ¡°Everyone, take a rest first and regain your Spirit Power. We¡¯ll make our move after 30 minutes. He took out several pills that were filled with Spirit Power from his storage bag and gave them out to everyone. When he reached Gu Qingshan, he offered him one without hesitation. Gu Qingshan took the pill and was surprised after he put it near his nose and sniffed. ¡°This is a very valuable pill, and it¡¯s a waste on someone at Qi Refining stage,¡± he said. ¡°No worries. We¡¯re in a very dangerous position right now, so this is good for restoring Spirit Power,¡± the commander replied. ¡°That¡¯s true. Thanks for this, then.¡± Gu Qingshan nodded slightly and accepted the pill. This was a high-grade, Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill worth 10,000 pieces of gold! This was a very rare sort of pill. It could continue to regenerate Spirit Power at a high speed for a long time and didn¡¯t have any side effects on the body. It was highly regarded among cultivators. One such pill was enough to keep someone alive in a normal fight. Since he was willing to give out such a pill to everyone, this man was of good character and was definitely from a noble background of sorts. He was slightly older than Gu Qingshan, and he spoke and acted decisively. However, his eyes seemed cold and unfeeling, and there was something faintly distant about the way he looked at others. This man noticed that Gu Qingshan was looking at him. After thinking for a while, he clasped his hands together and said, ¡°My name is Leng Tianxing, disciple of the Alkaid Faction. I would like to thank you for saving us earlier.¡± The Alkaid Faction? It was as Gu Qingshan had expected. The Alkaid Faction was a powerful group with a history of more than 100,000 years, and it was well known among all cultivators. But in his previous life, such an outstanding character had never made a name for himself. So he probably had fallen to the demons here. Never mind this man¡ªGu Qingshan couldn¡¯t even guarantee that he himself would survive this destroyed world. Gu Qingshan sighed in his heart. He clasped his hands and replied, ¡°My name is Gu Qingshan.¡± Leng Tianxing shook his hands and said, ¡°Pleased to meet you.¡± Neither of them were men who said much, so after this greeting, they went their separate ways and took a rest. Very soon, everyone had their eyes closed as they started meditating. Gu Qingshan found the Military Qi Refining Instruction booklet in his storage bag and flipped to the last page. He glanced at his Soul Power total on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°Comprehension of Level 7, Shen Tang, requires 6 points of Soul Power.¡± ¡°I choose to comprehend this level.¡± ¡°Comprehension complete. Current Soul Power: 21/7.¡± After he finished doing this, Gu Qingshan put that very precious Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill into his mouth, then took out the Demonic Python blood and drank three large mouthfuls of it. If he didn¡¯t find a chance to break through now, he might end up dying right here. So he thought he ought to at least try. Gu Qingshan had decided to use the regenerating power of the Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill, as well as how the Demonic Python blood was able to increase his Spirit Power¡¯s sensitivity, to attempt breaking through to Level 7 of Qi Refining. Time passed by quickly. Within the formation, a faint wave of Spirit Power slowly dissipated into the air like a small pebble forming ripples as it hit the surface of the water. By using Soul Power to break through to the next level, his Spirit Power would regenerate to its new maximum in an instant. This slight change in him had also affected his surroundings a little. There was a change in the universe around them, so everyone opened their eyes in surprise. Leng Tianxing¡¯s expression twitched slightly as he said, ¡°Congratulations, Gu Qingshan. You have made it to the next level.¡± Gu Qingshan laughed bitterly and shook his head as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve only just reached Qi Refining Level 7, and this is also thanks to the pill you gave me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re too kind. You saved us after all.¡± ¡°Oh, no, don¡¯t say that.¡± Everyone took turns congratulating him. Their fighting spirit had increased, and the cultivators could see the joy in each other¡¯s eyes. Every time a cultivator broke through to the next level, the elements in the universe would wash through their bodies and replenish any consumed Spirit Power until the Spirit Power within the dantian was full again. Using pills was too slow. How could it be compared to the replenishment of the universe? Gu Qingshan had broken through in a matter of minutes, and the Spirit Power he had used to setup the formation had already been restored. And because he had reached Qi Refining Level 7, his total amount of Spirit Power had increased by 30%. What did it mean for a Formation Master to fully restore his body condition? It meant that Gu Qingshan was able to again set up the formation he had just before¡ªor perhaps even two more times, now that his total amount of Spirit Power had increased. All the cultivators knew how useful this formation was. This formation had made them disappear before thousands of demons, so it was a life-saving formation. And because of such a formation, everyone now had a higher chance of surviving. But they didn¡¯t know that Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t know how to set up formations at all. ¡°Since this is the case,¡± Leng Tianxing stood up, ¡°let¡¯s pull ourselves together and head toward the northwest. There¡¯s a cave there, and it¡¯s a hiding place that General Gongsun prepared for us. There¡¯s a stable Shielding Formation around it, so we can rest properly once we reach the cave.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± ¡°Assistant General Leng knows best. I have no opinions.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Everyone responded in agreement. Gu Qingshan secretly peeked at the map that Gongsun Zhi gave him and was relieved to find that it was the same place that Gongsun Zhi had marked out for him. About 70% of the demons had left, and only a few indignant ones were still fighting each other outside the formation. Leng Tianxing started to assign the men with him. ¡°Wu Jin, Ma Liu, both of you will be in front to attack. Wang Cheng, Luo Xiao, both of you will be in charge of the side.¡± He looked at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°You¡¯re a Formation Master, so you just concentrate on remaining in the middle and taking care of yourself. Any problems?¡± Gu Qingshan replied without hesitation, ¡°No problem.¡± Since there were so many demons around them, there was danger in every direction. But if he remained in the middle of the team, then he would be much safer. Gu Qingshan¡¯s formation was powerful enough for all the demons to be unable to find them, so this was something that could save them in an emergency situation. The sword cultivator named Wang Cheng suddenly asked, ¡°Assistant General Leng, what about you?¡± Leng Tianxing replied without any expression, ¡°I¡¯ll be behind all of you. I¡¯ll cover you guys.¡± Covering the back was the most dangerous, but Leng Tianxing had saved this position for himself. Everyone respected him greatly for this. After Leng Tianxing had finished giving these instructions, he clasped his hands and said, ¡°If we get out of this place in one piece, I¡¯ll bring all of you back to be disciples of the Alkaid Faction and become Visiting Apprentices of the Faction.¡± Chapter 50 After Leng Tianxing had said something like that, all the hearts of the cultivators leaped. The Alkaid Faction had been around for more than 100,000 years, and it was a great privilege to be a Visiting Apprentice. Their privileges would be even better than being an elder of an ordinary sect. All the cultivators exchanged excited glances and quietly swore to perform well in the fight later. The atmosphere within the formation had changed. Knowing and controlling the hearts of others was a useful skill to have. Gu Qingshan quietly nodded when he saw this. Leng Tianxing was from one of the top sects, all right. He knew how to deal with people and the matters in front of him, and it only took him a few words to motivate their fighting spirits. If these men had to attack so many demons at once without any motivation of determination, they would be surrounded by feelings of despair very easily. The moment anyone gave up, they would all die. Leng Tianxing gave his last instruction. ¡°Everyone, get ready. The moment the formation disappears, we¡¯ll make our attack.¡± Nobody raised any objections, and everyone stood up. Gu Qingshan also stood up and secretly observed the rest. Right in front were Wu Jin and Ma Liu. Both men were burly and muscular, and they were filled with a lot of Qi and blood. On his left was Wang Cheng with a long sword in hand, and on his right was Luo Xiao with a huge saber on his shoulder. As for Leng Tianxing, he held nothing but a fan in his hands. His expression was calm and cold, and he didn¡¯t say anything as he stood where he was. Gu Qingshan narrowed his eyes as he scanned everyone and got a good idea of this team. Two Martial Arts Grandmasters, one sword cultivator, one knife practitioner, and one Elemental Arts Expert. Along with himself, the ¡°Formation Master¡±, this team was actually not bad. While Gu Qingshan was thinking about these things, the rest were quietly preparing for their attack. The glow of the formation began to flicker until it finally disappeared without a sound. Wu Jin yelled loudly, ¡°I¡¯m going up first!¡± ¡°Go! We¡¯ll be behind you.¡± Leng Tianxing patted his shoulder and cheered him on. Wu Jin gave a loud shout. His entire body started swelling up, and the immense amount of Qi and blood in his body became two streams of white air spraying out from his nostrils. He made a quiet noise as he slowly relaxed his shoulders and turned his heavy, spiky pauldrons toward the outside of the formation. ¡°Mountainous Impact!¡± With a loud shout, Wu Jin dashed out of the formation with large steps and used his stiff pauldrons to dash several meters out at once. All the demons along the way were either sent flying after he crashed into them, or they were stabbed by his spiky pauldrons. A demon that was hanging onto his pauldron was grabbed by Wu Jin¡¯s hand. He wrung the demon¡¯s neck and flung it aside. Several meters later, he slowed down. Wu Jin used his huge fists to bash and punch the demons. ¡°Serial Impact Punch! All of you can go and die!¡± The demons weren¡¯t prepared for any of this. Several demons were smashed to pieces by Wu Jin¡¯s punches. One breath, two breaths, ten breaths. Huff, puff, huff! Wu Jin opened his mouth and exhaled a large cloud of white air, then he paused for a moment. After going on a full-on attack, he started to feel a little tired. ¡°I¡¯m up next!¡± Ma Liu overtook him and transformed into a huge giant. He swung a metal bat and knocked the demons out of the way. At this moment, Wang Cheng got his sword out while Luo Xiao got his saber out, and both of them made a leap for it. The glint of the saber and sword shone as they turned all the demons around Wu Jin and Ma Liu into exploding bodies of blood and mush. Gu Qingshan followed behind without hesitation. He held the formation disk in his hand and shouted, ¡°All the spirits of the ground, listen to my command! Split open!¡± An entire wave of demons instantly went into freefall. The earth below their feet had split open and had become a deep and bottomless abyss. The demons all fell in and were trapped there, so they couldn¡¯t move anymore. Leng Tianxing had a surprised look on his face. This Formation Master wasn¡¯t at a high cultivation level, but he seemed to have a good grasp of how to set up formations and when to use them. He was a great help in such times. ¡°It¡¯s a good chance!¡± Leng Tianxing raised his fan and made his move without hesitation. ¡°Frost Blade Slash!¡± Several thin white lines that exuded extremely cold air suddenly appeared in front of the team and cut through all the demons that were trapped in the ground like they were harvesting crops. There was suddenly an empty space between the demons and the team, so the pressure on the men in front was lighter. But after Gu Qingshan had set up that trap formation, he put the formation disk in front of his chest again, and his two hands started tapping on it. ¡°Wind, Fire, Thunder, Water, gather the spirits of Heaven and Earth!¡± A glow appeared and surrounded all six of them. ¡°What? A moving Spiritual Element Collection Formation?!¡± exclaimed Leng Tianxing. The Foundation Building cultivators were all shocked. But they soon had joy on their faces when they quickly realized that the Spirit Power within their bodies was slowly recovering. Wu Jin laughed loudly and said, ¡°Hoho! You¡¯re a good Formation Master! If we make it out alive, I¡¯m going to make you my brother!¡± Wang Cheng was an aloof sword cultivator, so after he shook off all the black blood on his sword, he immediately shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s attack quickly!¡± Normally, a Spiritual Element Collection Formation had to remain where it was set up. The moment it had to move, it would lose its effect. Only a veteran Formation Master would be able to set up a small, movable Spiritual Element Collection Formation around himself in such a short time. This move from Gu Qingshan had successfully shocked everyone around him. Nobody dared to look down on him ever again. The art of Formations was one of the hardest things to learn out of the six arts. The only thing harder than this was the art of Divination. To be well versed in either Formations or Divinations was like trying to go against a waterfall or crossing a great river. Out of a hundred gifted and intelligent cultivators, perhaps five or six might reach Golden Core stage. But similarly, out of a hundred genius cultivators, the number of cultivators that could do well in Formations or Divination might be zero. That was one of the reasons why Gongsun Zhi had been so highly acclaimed in history. ¡°Excellent!¡± Leng Tianxing complimented Gu Qingshan, then held his left hand in position as his right hand waved his fan and shot out another move. ¡°Soul-devouring Frost Blade!¡± The air was slightly distorted as several crescent-shaped streams of ice shot out, slicing all the demons behind into a pile of broken limbs. The few of them continued on like this, and they made it more than halfway to their destination. ¡°It¡¯s not far!¡± Leng Tianxing could see that the two men right in front were looking tired, so he quickly shouted a word of encouragement. Everyone was motivated again. Gu Qingshan looked around him and suddenly yelled, ¡°Wang Cheng, Luo Xiao, you guys are too far out! It¡¯s too dangerous!¡± The sword cultivator and the knife practitioner were too excited slashing away at the demons, and they had gone farther and farther away from the group. They had already stepped outside of Gu Qingshan¡¯s formation. Wang Cheng turned and hesitated when he heard this shout. Leng Tianxing yelled, ¡°Come back quickly!¡± Wang Cheng¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and he decided to run back to the group. But it was too late. A gigantic demon hand rose from the ground and squashed Wang Cheng into a round ball of flesh and blood. That sword cultivator, who had been excellent at killing, perished just like that. His long sword was covered in blood and was still flying in mid-air. It was about to land in the midst of the countless demons. In that split second, Gu Qingshan stretched a hand out. He used all the Spirit Power he had to remotely force Wang Cheng¡¯s long sword to fly toward him, and he managed to catch it. On the other side, Luo Xiao turned to run back to the group, but a Scarlet Gold Ghost half his height grabbed his leg, and he fell to the ground. Before Luo Xiao could even yell anything out, his head was bitten off by a Ghost Dog. The Ghost Dog was afraid that the other demons would snatch its food, so it ran off after biting Luo Xiao¡¯s head off. The rest of the demons rushed forward and tore Luo Xiao¡¯s dead body apart hungrily. The demons had grown excited from the smell of blood and started to screech loudly. More and more demons came rushing toward them. After the two of them were dead, the remaining men felt a greater pressure on them. After a while, Ma Liu and Wu Jin were all covered with blood, and their bodies were heavily wounded. Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart tightened, and he asked, ¡°How much farther do we have to go?¡± Leng Tianxing paused before replying, ¡°We¡¯re almost there. Want to just make a dash for it?¡± Gu Qingshan looked at the two men in front of him and said in a low voice, ¡°No, demons are very good at observing and adapting. They probably know by now where we¡¯re headed, so they are probably waiting for us already.¡± He spun the formation disk and yelled, ¡°Water, Wind, Mist, Earth! Raven Heavenly Escape Formation!¡± This formation could only be used twice in total. So after using it this last time, there was no other way to hide from the demons again. The formation disk lit up and started to move the elements in the air. Once the elements of Water, Wind, Mist, and Earth were arranged in the correct order, the formation was set up. The cultivators that had been on the verge of perishing suddenly disappeared in front of the demons. Chapter 51 The demons started roaring loudly in disappointment when the prey that was about to enter their mouths had suddenly disappeared. After waiting for a few seconds, they still couldn¡¯t see where the cultivators had gone. The ground started to shake continuously. A demon with a mist of fire all around it jumped out from the ground. It swung its head around to search for the men and kept roaring in indignation. The moment it appeared, all the demons around it subconsciously moved further away from it. This was a terrifying Fiery Flame Ghost. It had the Spirit Power of Fire, and it reached Stage 3, Molten Lava. It was an extremely powerful demon and very hard to deal with. A Foundation Building stage cultivator could forget about trying to kill it. When Leng Tianxing saw this, his back broke out into a cold sweat. He was so glad they hadn¡¯t just advanced forward. No matter how much knowledge or ability he had, that was only enough for him to rise above the human cultivators. But this was a different world. A world that had already been destroyed. The countless demons made him seem like a child in the face of danger. He would die if he was just a little careless. Leng Tianxing shook his head slightly as a feeling of helplessness rose in his heart. Wu Jin lifted his head and stood up. He didn¡¯t care about all the blood and sweat on him as he laughed loudly and said, ¡°Hoho! We¡¯ve made it! HA! We¡¯ve made it!¡± Then, his voice suddenly stopped. Wu Jin opened his eyes wide, then fell backward and landed on the ground heavily with a thud. The moment Wu Jin collapsed, Gu Qingshan went forward to squat next to his body and pressed against his heart. ¡°He¡¯s dead,¡± said Gu Qingshan calmly. The other two had a change in expression. They scanned him with their Divine Sense and realized that Wu Jin really didn¡¯t have any heartbeat nor signs of breathing. Ma Liu lifted his head and roared in pain. Leng Tianxing quietly looked down and gripped his fan tightly. Gu Qingshan, on the other hand, found a dagger on the body. He stabbed it into the chest of the body and opened it up with a few cuts. ¡°Stop it!¡± Ma Liu immediately flew into a rage when he saw this and swung his fist toward Gu Qingshan. Ma Liu was a close friend of Wu Jin¡¯s. He was so sad, that he was about to kill Gu Qingshan. A fan suddenly struck out and blocked his fist. Ma Liu¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as he shouted, ¡°Assistant General Leng, look at the way he¡¯s treating Wu Jin¡¯s body! I won¡¯t let him off! I won¡¯t let him off!!¡± Leng Tianxing continued to look at what Gu Qingshan was doing and replied in a low voice, ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see first.¡± Gu Qingshan stabbed the dagger into Wu Jin¡¯s chest and twisted it hard within his heart. Once the heart had been cut open, a tiny squeal was heard. Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression turned grim as he slowly pulled the dagger out. Ma Liu stared at the dagger and opened his mouth in shock. A little, black demon about the size of a thumb was stuck on the tip of the dagger. The little, black demon was struggling with all its might, but there was no way for it to escape because the dagger was stabbed right through it. Its hands and feet both had sharp claws, and there was a metal clanging sound as it desperately tried to scrape at the dagger. ¡°Heart-devouring Little Ghost. It enters from the mouth and eats the heart.¡± Gu Qingshan sighed and passed the dagger to Ma Liu. ¡°You can avenge Wu Jin.¡± Ma Liu¡¯s eyes were still bloodshot as he used all five fingers to grab the demon on the dagger. The little, black demon made a loud screech as it was crushed to pieces along with the dagger itself. ¡°Hohoho¡­ Hahahaha¡­ I never expected things to end this way.¡± Ma Liu suddenly started laughing. Leng Tianxing¡¯s expression changed, and he held Ma Liu down as he said, ¡°You cannot bring someone back to life, so don¡¯t go down together with him!¡± Ma Liu pushed him away and shrieked, ¡°He¡¯s dead! He¡¯s dead! You get it? We¡¯re all going to die here.¡± Gu Qingshan stood up and said very seriously, ¡°No, we¡¯re not. We still have a chance.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to escape first.¡± Ma Liu used his bloodshot eyes to stare first at Leng Tianxing, then at Gu Qingshan. He started mumbling repeatedly, ¡°I¡¯m going to get out of here, I¡¯m going to leave first. Don¡¯t block me. Don¡¯t you dare block me¡­¡± As he said these words, a black mist started to rise from his body. The moment this black mist appeared, Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression changed. Gu Qingshan exchanged glances with Leng Tianxing. Both of them saw each other¡¯s shock. Gu Qingshan took several steps back. He gripped the formation disk tightly with one hand and placed the other behind him, ready to pull his bow out anytime. The sword he had taken earlier was kept away in his storage bag, and he hadn¡¯t had the time to touch it yet. Leng Tianxing¡¯s expression was very grim. He gripped his fan and took a step back. Then, he took yet another step backward. The two of them stood next to each other. They filled their bodies with the Spirit Power from their dantian but didn¡¯t make any move. ¡°Kill¡­kill¡­kill¡­kill them all¡­kill¡­kill off all the demons¡­¡± Ma Liu continued to chant as the black mist covered him. Black flowers started appearing from nowhere, and countless beautiful flower fairies appeared within the flowers. They started putting on seductive poses and looked flirtatiously at Ma Liu as if they were going to capture his soul. The black mist went several rounds around Ma Liu, then split into two streams of black mist and entered Ma Liu¡¯s ears. Then, another stream went into his mouth. Lastly, a thick cloud of black mist entered his eyes. Ma Liu¡¯s bloodshot eyes were slowly replaced by the black mist. ¡°Kill.¡± He continued to mumble this as he walked straight out of the formation and started punching the demons outside the formation to death. But in no time, even more demons surrounded him and turned him into a ball of moving flesh. The demons opened their mouths wide and started eating at him. But Ma Liu didn¡¯t seem to be able to feel anything. He continued walking forward and threw punch after punch, killing the demons that pounced toward him. After a few moments, the wave of demons had eaten Ma Liu cleanly and didn¡¯t even leave a single strand of hair behind. The black mist finally started to dissipate. There was a happy murmur in the air. ¡°Delicious¡­ soul¡­¡± Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing quietly watched this whole thing happen, and they were both covered in a cold sweat. After a long time, the two of them finally looked at one another. ¡°What was that?¡± murmured Leng Tianxing. He normally didn¡¯t fear anything, but he was now beginning to feel afraid. ¡°That was a Heaven Demon. It¡¯s practically invincible,¡± Gu Qingshan sighed and looked around him. ¡°What is a Heaven Demon?¡± asked Leng Tianxing. ¡°It¡¯s an invisible demon that aims to break your willpower and convictions, as well as capture and devour your soul.¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t want to say too much. He was afraid that Leng Tianxing might lose all his fighting spirit. D*mn it! Even a Heaven Demon had appeared now. But he didn¡¯t have any amulets to block it. With a Heaven Demon around, suddenly the dangers around them had gone up by a thousand times. Heaven Demons were invisible and formless, so they could find loopholes in cultivators¡¯ convictions and slowly eat away at a cultivator¡¯s soul. Neither Leng Tianxing nor he could do anything about it. Heaven Demons were very territorial, so if it didn¡¯t have to, normally they wouldn¡¯t move away from their usual spot. So the only way to survive now was to quickly leave this place. When he thought of this, Gu Qingshan quickly shot a question out. ¡°Do you still have anymore Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pills?¡± Leng Tianxing pulled out two shiny pills and held them out. ¡°Last two pills left.¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t bother being polite. ¡°Give them both to me.¡± Leng Tianxing looked at him. Gu Qingshan explained, ¡°Firstly, you didn¡¯t consume much of your power. Secondly, I¡¯ll open up the way in front from now on.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll open up the way?¡± Leng Tianxing responded in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re now in such a desperate situation. So either we die here, or we try to kill our way out of here,¡± replied Gu Qingshan in a low voice. He could see that Leng Tianxing was good at long-range attacks and weak at short-range attacks. If Leng Tianxing didn¡¯t have a strong teammate that could help him gain some time and distance for him to use his techniques, then he could forget about making this journey, even if he were very powerful. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± replied Leng Tianxing after thinking for a while. ¡°If you die, then there¡¯s no point in me holding onto one more Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill.¡± He threw the two pills over. Leng Tianxing hadn¡¯t used a lot of Spirit Power in the battle earlier. So it was more worth it for Gu Qingshan to take the pills. Once Gu Qingshan had regained all his Spirit Power, he would be able to set up a formation and help them hide from the enemy again. In that case, they would have another chance to rest and recover. At least that was what Leng Tianxing thought. He didn¡¯t know that the formation couldn¡¯t be set up anymore. Gu Qingshan took the pills. He ate one and kept the other one away. His rating of Leng Tianxing in his heart went up again. It was one thing for Leng Tianxing to understand where he was coming from. But it was another thing for Leng Tianxing to give up such a rare pill. They were both in a desperate situation, but he still managed to be magnanimous. This made him a real comrade in battle. That way, Gu Qingshan could go ahead and fight his way out, so that they could leave the territory of the Heaven Demons as soon as possible. Gu Qingshan was more assured now, so he said, ¡°The formation will last for a while more. You can take a rest first.¡± After that, he walked over to Wu Jin¡¯s body and pulled the heavy pauldrons off, then put them on himself. Chapter 52 ¡°You¡¯re a Martial Arts cultivator too?¡± Leng Tianxing couldn¡¯t help but ask as he watched Gu Qingshan wear the pauldrons. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t bother answering and just pointed in one direction as he asked, ¡°Is that the direction in which we¡¯re headed?¡± Leng Tianxing looked in the direction of his hand and replied, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± That side was filled with so many demons that there didn¡¯t even seem to be space for them to stand. It was like looking out at a sea of demons. If they wanted to break through that area, then a bloody war was going to ensue. Gu Qingshan frowned. He and Leng Tianxing were pretty good at long-range attacks, but without any Martial Arts cultivators to handle the demons at close range to increase the distance between themselves and the demons, then the two of them were going to be surrounded by the demons in no time. For the battle coming up, they really needed a Martial Arts cultivator to fight closely against the demons. Actually, a sword cultivator could fight this number of demons, too. When this thought hit Gu Qingshan, he suddenly reached into his storage bag and pulled a long sword out. This was the sword that Gu Qingshan had used all his strength to grab when the sword cultivator, Wang Cheng, had died. Gu Qingshan gripped the long sword and inspected it carefully. From the outside, it looked like a standard long sword. The only difference was the two words ¡°Cavalry Regiment¡± carved on the sword handle. Gu Qingshan continued to feel the sword, and he sensed a coldness coming from the sword itself. Gu Qingshan gently swung the long sword, and the coldness soundlessly filled the air. The sword cultivator, Wang Cheng, was a Cavalry Regiment Commander, so in accordance with his status, a little of the valuable Chilly Soul Iron had been added during the creation of this sword. With the addition of Chilly Soul Iron, this long sword was now twice as sharp. The only problem was that the swordsmith had been focused on making the sword as sharp as possible, so the sword body was half an inch thinner than usual. At this thinness, the blade might bend or even break in a tough battle. ¡°You know about swords?¡± Leng Tianxing asked another question when he saw Gu Qingshan inspect the long sword so intently. He didn¡¯t dare to look down on this low-level Formation Master anymore. He had started to place Gu Qingshan on the same level as himself. Gu Qingshan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he responded, ¡°I know some.¡± The data fields on the War God Operating Interface started to flash crazily in front of his eyes. ¡°Sword weapon discovered.¡± ¡°Confirmed that Player knows 1,753 sword techniques.¡± ¡°Confirmed that Player has War God Operating Interface and has War God Techniques.¡± ¡°This is a different world with no deities or demons tracking the space-time dimension¡ªenvironment is stable and safe.¡± ¡°Protection seal to be removed; memories to be returned.¡± ¡°Awakening!¡± ¡°From now onward, Player can use Soul Power to awaken his past sword techniques and cultivation.¡± Gu Qingshan stood up and did a few quick swings of the long sword. DING! The system rang again. ¡°In accordance with the Player¡¯s memories and considering the Player¡¯s current cultivation level, the techniques that will not cause the Player¡¯s body and/or soul to break down are as follows:¡± A few options popped up on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°Sword technique: Wind Slash¡± ¡°Sword technique: Eternal Peace¡± ¡°Sword technique: Flowing Clouds¡± ¡°Sword technique: Mountain Split¡± ¡°Sword technique: Four Seas¡± ¡°Secret technique: Watercut¡± ¡°As the Player already has a deep understanding of all these sword techniques, the cost of awakening the sword cultivation level of the past will be pushed as low as possible.¡± ¡°Awakening sword techniques will cost 5 points of Soul Power. Awakening the secret technique will cost 10 points of Soul Power.¡± A secret technique was a sword technique that was virtually invincible in power. This technique often only needed one move, and it was the best technique out of all the sword techniques. From the point of view of other cultivators, a secret technique would be like the Magical Power of sword cultivation. Gu Qingshan scanned the screen, then made his choice quickly. ¡°Awaken Wind Slash and Mountain Split. Awaken secret technique Watercut.¡± DING! ¡°Wind Slash, Mountain Split and Watercut have been awakened. Total cost is 20 points of Soul Power.¡± ¡°Current Soul Power: 1/7.¡± Once the Soul Power was consumed, Gu Qingshan could feel images of the past jumping out from his memories. Those memories that had been sealed away suddenly came to life as if they had just happened the day before. Within one of the frontline camps. There was a group of soldiers who were whispering among themselves and exchanging comments. ¡°Haha, a punk like him wants to learn the first three steps of Wind Slash?¡± ¡°He¡¯s just a piece of trash. The game has been running for half a year, but he¡¯s only just entered.¡± ¡°Exactly. We¡¯re all getting familiar with sword techniques already while he¡¯s just arrived at the Vanguard Battalion. But the good part is, at least we¡¯ve got someone to take the brunt of the enemy¡¯s attacks.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. The next time we have a mission, we¡¯ll put him right in front.¡± ¡°Hohoho, that¡¯s right, that¡¯s right¡­¡± The whispering disappeared, and the scene in front of him changed. The moon was high in the sky, and there was nobody around. He was young and practicing his sword technique all by himself in a deserted place. The skin on his right hand was all callused, and there were several layers of bandages on his hand. There was a throbbing pain whenever he gripped the sword. But he couldn¡¯t give up just because of the pain. This was his only chance to change his fate. Gu Qingshan clenched his teeth hard and became more determined. He started to wield his long sword again. Blood started seeping through the bandages. His sweat poured down as he practiced his techniques diligently. This scene slowly faded, then a new, vivid scene appeared. ¡°Gu Qingshan from the Vanguard Battalion reporting. I am decisive, bold, and brave, I have achievements in killing demons, and I am well versed in the sword technique Wind Slash.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± The scene faded, and another scene appeared. Gu Qingshan finished putting up a beautiful display of Wind Slash on a high platform. ¡°Hmm, quite interesting. But it¡¯s a pity that he¡¯s a bit too old.¡± ¡°At this age, his potential is limited, so we don¡¯t want him either.¡± ¡°Exactly. He¡¯s nearly 20 years old, but he only knows how to use Wind Slash. He doesn¡¯t have that high a level of understanding either, so we don¡¯t want him either.¡± ¡°I assume the decision is unanimous? The result of the Annual Examination is elimination?¡± ¡°Yup. I agree.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll settle on that then. Prepare for the next person to go on stage.¡± The scene changed again. Gu Qingshan looked like a zombie. He was standing in a daze by the street as the cold snow covered his body. Suddenly, two cultivators walked past him and were whispering to one another. ¡°There are quite a number of sword techniques up for auction at the bidding house. I¡¯ve got my eye on one book, but it¡¯s so expensive. I¡¯ve got to save up more Spirit Stones.¡± ¡°Oh? Do you need me to lend you some?¡± ¡°I would be more than grateful to you, my senior.¡± These words reached Gu Qingshan¡¯s ears, and he immediately turned around. ¡°Friends, may I ask if what you said earlier is true?¡± ¡°Where did this lowly Qi Refining piece of trash come from? Get lost!¡± ¡­ ¡°Your name is Gu Qingshan? Have you really thought through it carefully? You really want to infiltrate the demons and pick herbs from the back of their camp?¡± ¡°Yes, as long as you don¡¯t change the promised reward.¡± ¡°Our shop has a thousand years of credibility; we won¡¯t change this for sure.¡± ¡°Then, it¡¯s not a problem.¡± ¡°Young man, I want to remind you: If you die there, we¡¯re not going to collect your body.¡± ¡°No worries. Nobody will mourn for me if I die, anyway.¡± ¡°¡­well then, you¡¯re quite a pitiful lad too. That¡¯s a deal, then.¡± The scene faded. Countless scenes appeared and disappeared as the sword techniques became clearer and clearer in Gu Qingshan¡¯s mind. All his memories were back. Gu Qingshan sighed and picked up the long sword. ¡°I¡¯m finally back.¡± ¡°I am sword cultivator, Gu Qingshan.¡± He said these words in a low voice. Leng Tianxing was utterly confused by these words and started feeling wary. Was Gu Qingshan going through a nervous breakdown? Had the Heaven Demon struck again? Gu Qingshan took slow steps as he waved the long sword about and slowly got used to the various sword techniques. Those sword techniques that had appeared on the War God Operating Interface were all techniques he not just knew how to execute, but had also attained a high level in their execution. Gu Qingshan had considered his choices very carefully before picking these three techniques. Wind Slash was a quick technique, while Mountain Split was a powerful one, so they complemented each other. Watercut was the first secret sword technique he had learned. He definitely wanted it back so that he could use it to kill. Chapter 53 After awakening Wind Slash, he could then hide his sword in the air around him and use his Spirit Power to execute this technique, allowing himself to draw his sword at any time from seemingly thin air. This part alone helped to save the time taken to draw the sword from its sheath or wherever it was kept. There were many people who had wanted to learn Wind Slash in his previous life, simply because the action of materializing a sword from nowhere was just too cool. Countless sword cultivators would do anything to get their hands on this technique so as to look cool. Gu Qingshan had chosen this technique mostly because they were going to face a huge group of demons soon. This technique made it extremely convenient for him to reach his sword, and it made his attacks fast. So it was a technique that was useful for quick and sudden attacks while trying to run. He had risked his life and gone to the back of the demon camp in exchange for the full technique. Gu Qingshan swung the sword around, and many emotions started to overwhelm his heart. Leng Tianxing was standing by the side, and he started to have a lot of questions in his heart. The scene in front of him was unexplainable. This young man was now wearing a pair of pauldrons meant for slamming into demons; he had a long sword in his hands, but he also had a large formation disk on his back. Was he a Martial Arts cultivator? A sword cultivator? Or a Formation Master? He could still explain away the Formation Master bit since anyone who had a gift in the six arts could develop it, regardless of whether they were a Martial Arts cultivator or a sword cultivator. But that was very rare in itself. It was even rarer for a cultivator to have developed both Martial Arts and the sword. But judging from Gu Qingshan¡¯s posture as he wielded his sword, it was obvious that he had been practicing sword techniques for years. Leng Tianxing couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°What exactly are you? Sword cultivator? Or Martials Arts Cultivator? Why can¡¯t I tell at all?¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t know how to respond to him either. Surely he couldn¡¯t tell Leng Tianxing that he could comprehend techniques by just using Soul Power, right? He thought about how to answer, then said, ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t specialize in Martial Arts, but I¡¯m not a true blue Formation Master either.¡± Leng Tianxing repeated his words. ¡°You don¡¯t specialize in Martial Arts?¡± Gu Qingshan swallowed one Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill and said, ¡°I know a few attack moves, but I wouldn¡¯t dare to say that I specialize in Martial Arts because of that.¡± ¡°I also know a few sword techniques and some formation setups. That¡¯s it.¡± Leng Tianxing was stunned and still thought that this was difficult to comprehend. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t say any more. He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing as he made the huge amount of Spirit Power flow out from the Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill. After a long time, Leng Tianxing spoke up. ¡°Your knowledge is too diverse. It will be even more difficult if you want to reach the peak of any of these cultivation types.¡± This was a kind piece of advice. Nothing good came out of a cultivator who didn¡¯t focus on one area. It would be extremely difficult to reach the higher levels. Gu Qingshan could sense that Leng Tianxing was saying these words with good intentions, so he smiled faintly and replied, ¡°It¡¯s all right; it¡¯s just a method.¡± Leng Tianxing asked, ¡°A method?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Yup. A method of surviving.¡± These were very simple words, but they were very deep and sorrowful at the same time. It made him sound like he had gone through terrible pain and suffering just to stay alive. But that was exactly what had happened to all mankind in the last few years of the apocalypse. Leng Tianxing went into deep thought after hearing these words. After that, Gu Qingshan stood up. He leaned forward and turned the pauldrons toward the outside of the formation just like what Wu Jin did before. He turned them in and out to practice. Gu Qingshan said, ¡°The formation will disappear in about two minutes.¡± Leng Tianxing immediately asked, ¡°How should we coordinate ourselves?¡± With his team earlier, he had naturally taken on the role of the commander. But after his teammates had all died and he was left with only Gu Qingshan, he subconsciously treated Gu Qingshan as the commander. It was so rare to see a cultivator at the Peak of Foundation Building take the initiative to ask for the opinion of a Qi Refining cultivator. Neither of them had noticed this, but it had happened very naturally. Gu Qingshan used the sword to point outside the formation and said, ¡°You see that Carrion Devouring Demon over there?¡± That was the demon that had tried to ambush him when Gu Qingshan had come back to the cultivation world earlier. Leng Tianxing replied, ¡°I see it.¡± Gu Qingshan continued, ¡°This monster is extremely smelly because it loves to eat rotten flesh. Both humans and demons hate it, but I need you to help me take out one of its eyes.¡± Leng Tianxing shifted and stood up. ¡°You want me to go out and kill it?¡± Gu Qingshan blocked his way and said, ¡°No, you have to take it in a clever way.¡± Gu Qingshan placed the Heart-devouring Little Ghost on the ground and mashed it up. Then, he took out a bit of Demonic Python blood and poured it on the mashed body of the Heart-devouring Little Ghost. After that, Gu Qingshan dug out a few large rocks that were half his height and arranged them neatly on the ground. He then carefully smeared the little ghost¡¯s carcass on the rock. Leng Tianxing watched everything quietly. Everything that Gu Qingshan did was completely out of his imagination. The Carrion Devouring Demon was slowly walking about outside the formation. It was still hungry and wanted to find a heavily wounded demon among the demons around it to eat. But all the demons kept their distance from it. They would rather have to attack other demons and fight with them than to go anywhere near the stinky Carrion Devouring Demon. Carrion Devouring Demons were very powerful, but they were simply too slow, and demons at the same level could outrun it. That was why it normally ended up eating rotting carcasses. The Carrion Devouring Demon was still frustrated by this problem when it suddenly heard a PAK! A strange but pleasant-smelling thing landed right next to it. It looked over to see a squarish rock. But it wasn¡¯t of the usual rock color. It seemed to be of the color it liked. The Carrion Devouring Demon twitched its nose and sniffed it. It had the fragrance of blood. This thing smelled good, but it was too small. At best it was enough to fit between its teeth. The Carrion Devouring Demon thought of ignoring it, but the seductive smell of blood was mixed with a powerful aura, and it whetted its appetite. The Carrion Devouring Demon finally pounced on it, and its mouth landed on the ground. It started chewing that thing along with the rest of the rock and whatever else it smashed. It was tasty, but it was too little. Just as the Carrion Devouring Demon was lamenting this, there was another PAK! A similar strange thing landed not far from itself. It only needed to move a little to get to it. The Carrion Devouring Demon lowly ambled over and ate it in one gulp. There was power, fragrance, and tastiness, mixed in with a cold and hard texture, but the Carrion Devouring Demon ignored the texture part. Was there any more? It waited with great anticipation and hope. It was a miracle! Another squarish rock landed not too far away. The Carrion Devouring Demon clambered over as quickly as it could. ¡­ Gu Qingshan looked at the Carrion Devouring Demon and said, ¡°It¡¯s coming. You only have one chance to try.¡± Leng Tianxing couldn¡¯t help but become nervous. ¡°What if I miss?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to think of something else. But this is the best plan I have.¡± Leng Tianxing asked, ¡°Then if I succeed?¡± Gu Qingshan replied very solemnly, ¡°Pass the eyeball to me immediately. Once I¡¯m done with it, the formation would have reached its time limit.¡± ¡°All right.¡± Leng Tianxing took a deep breath and looked intensely at the Carrion Devouring Demon. He didn¡¯t seem worried that Gu Qingshan would betray him. After all, he was one entire stage higher than Gu Qingshan, so even if Gu Qingshan tried anything funny, Leng Tianxing was still able to find a way to kill him. He looked at Gu Qingshan. He figured that this boy wasn¡¯t an idiot, so he wasn¡¯t going to do anything foolish in these circumstances. At that exact moment, Gu Qingshan yelled, ¡°Now!¡± Leng Tianxing transferred his Spirit Power as he held his fan in his hand, cutting through the air diagonally like a knife. ¡°Frost Blade Slash!¡± There was an angry and ground-shaking roar from the Carrion Devouring Demon from outside the formation. A line of frost appeared at its forehead, then black blood sprayed out everywhere. The frosty blade that had suddenly appeared chopped off a small part of its head. It was badly wounded and even lost an eye. This sort of injury was considered fairly serious for a Carrion Devouring Demon. The Carrion Devouring Demon started rolling around on the ground like it had gone mad. But the two men within the formation weren¡¯t looking at it anymore. They sent out their Divine Sense and scanned the stinky piece of flesh that went flying into the sky. A huge, dark, yellow eyeball flew through the sky and was headed for a group of demons in the distance. Leng Tianxing quickly put his fan away. He reached his left hand out and shouted, ¡°Come here!¡± That dark yellow eyeball made a turn in mid-air, then flew with a swoosh into the formation and landed neatly in Leng Tianxing¡¯s hand. Chapter 54 They succeeded! Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing immediately felt relief in their hearts. Leng Tianxing was holding the eyeball, and his cold and unfeeling expression started to change dramatically. He was only holding onto that eyeball, but Leng Tianxing¡¯s hand was soon covered with a gooey liquid that smelled awful. He threw the eyeball over at Gu Qingshan at lightning speed, then pulled a handkerchief out. He used a technique to draw water out of the air and used that water to scrub his hands hard. It was too smelly. Leng Tianxing really couldn¡¯t tolerate it. He had come from a noble family and was treated like the treasure of his family. He had only used the best things, ate the best things, and had even entered a top sect. He was extremely privileged and had never touched anything so filthy in his entire life. Leng Tianxing was more willing to dash into the crowd of demons and attempt to kill them than to ever touch that thing again. ¡°Good job!¡± Gu Qingshan complimented him as he caught the Carrion Devouring Demon¡¯s eyeball. It only took a few slices of his sword to turn the eyeball into mush. He took this mushed up eyeball and started rubbing it all over himself. Soon enough, the Vanguard Battalion armor gave off an unbelievable stench. Leng Tianxing was clearly disgusted by it. He asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you know how smelly this thing is?¡± Gu Qingshan continued to rub the mushed up eyeball on himself seriously as he replied, ¡°The secretion gland of the Carrion Devouring Demon is in the eyeball.¡± ¡°If you put this stuff on yourself, the demons will think you¡¯re a Carrion Devouring Demon just by the smell alone.¡± ¡°Our Spirit Power is limited, so if we don¡¯t try a different trick, we¡¯re definitely going to die when faced with such powerful demons.¡± He placed some of the mushed up eyeball on his hand and held it out at Leng Tianxing. ¡°You don¡¯t have to open the way in front, but covering the back is dangerous too. I suggest that you put some on yourself as well.¡± Leng Tianxing took a few steps backward without hesitation. He frowned and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t need this.¡± Gu Qingshan said very seriously, ¡°If you don¡¯t, then you¡¯re definitely going to die if the demons surround you.¡± Leng Tianxing looked at the mushed up eyeball again, then shook his head vigorously. He said, ¡°If I have to put this on myself, I might as well die.¡± Gu Qingshan figured that people from major sects were just different after all. He shrugged and took his hand back. After several moments, the two of them were ready to go. Gu Qingshan said, ¡°Time to go.¡± ¡°All right.¡± Leng Tianxing stood up to show that he was also ready. Gu Qingshan took a deep breath and focused on the War God Operating Interface. ¡°1 point of Soul Power consumed to learn Martial Arts technique: Mountainous Impact.¡± ¡°Remaining Soul Power: 0/7.¡± A warm flow rushed from the pauldrons into Gu Qingshan¡¯s body, then finally gathered in his subconscious. Gu Qingshan pointed in one direction and said, ¡°We¡¯ll break through from this side.¡± When Leng Tianxing saw which direction he was pointing in, he was surprised and replied, ¡°If we go from this direction, we¡¯ll have to make a detour.¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I¡¯ve taken a look already. This direction doesn¡¯t have too many powerful demons.¡± Leng Tianxing suddenly looked at him and said, ¡°You know demons very well.¡± Gu Qingshan patted his shoulder and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m a soldier from the Vanguard Battalion.¡± Before Leng Tianxing could ask any more, Gu Qingshan let out a loud shout, ¡°I¡¯m off!!¡± The Qi and blood in his body started flowing at high speed, and he suddenly dashed out of the formation. Mountainous Impact! Just like Wu Jin, Gu Qingshan dashed out as bravely and as quickly. The difference was that he had less Spirit Power compared to Wu Jin, so he wasn¡¯t as imposing when he dashed out. But the number of demons that were sent crashing and flying out by Gu Qingshan¡¯s mad dash was much more than Wu Jin. These two were at a completely different level. Gu Qingshan continued to dash forward to attack with his pauldrons facing forward and sent a Scarlet Gold Ghost flying out hard. The Scarlet Gold Ghost was about to screech while it went flying when the cold glint of a sword suddenly lopped its head right off. Gu Qingshan held the sword in his hands and continued to run at high speed as the demon¡¯s blood rained on him. His sword was like the wind, and his body moved like a ghost. Gu Qingshan continued to cruelly and heartlessly kill off all the demons in front of him. Leng Tianxing gasped when he saw this. ¡°What sort of Wind Slash is this? Why is it so powerful?!¡± Leng Tianxing had seen many sword cultivators use Wind Slash, but he was very sure that he had never seen anyone able to use this technique to this extent. ¡°Catch up!¡± Gu Qingshan used his sword to strike three times and shouted a reminder to Leng Tianxing as he sent a giant elephant-looking demon flying. Leng Tianxing snapped out of his daze and quickly ran to catch up with Gu Qingshan. The whole way was smooth sailing. After several moments, the effect of Mountainous Impact slowed down. Gu Qingshan shifted himself and quickly regained his balance. The glow of his sword flickered in quick succession. His movements were natural and well-practiced and were as seamless as passing clouds and flowing water. Every time he attacked, he was also prepared to defend in various ways. He wasn¡¯t afraid of any ambushes or attacks. If you looked carefully, there was actually a unique sense of rhythm to it. Gu Qingshan was amazed by this himself. All the experience and memories of fighting his way through the mountains of corpses and blood and all the times he had taken down the leaders of thousands of enemy troops were finally awakened after he had transmigrated for so long. Now he could finally say that he had really been reborn. Space-time Turbulence was certainly more frightening and abstract compared to just Void-space Turbulence, but back then, he hadn¡¯t understood why the system had been so afraid and sealed off all the sword techniques he had known and practiced along with other memories. The only difference between him right now and his previous life was that his cultivation level was too low, and some of his sword techniques had not been awakened yet. But he couldn¡¯t even think about those powerful sword techniques at his current level. If he did, then the will of the sword alone would wipe out Gu Qingshan¡¯s soul. So this was also one way that the War God system was protecting him. Gu Qingshan continued to weave in and out between the demons, and all the demons held their noses and moved away from him. Demons were born with a sense of smell that was ten times more sensitive than humans. So what they sensed was that this thing coming their way was a young Carrion Devouring Demon. If they killed it, then the juices would spray on them, and the stench would take years to go away. If they ate this demon, then they might have diarrhea for an entire month. The demons wanted to be in neither the former nor the latter situation. Gu Qingshan took this opportunity to suddenly appear in the midst of the demons like a spirit of sorts, slashing away at them with the long sword in his hand soundlessly. The Cavalry Regiment sword in his hand was like a fierce and invincible demon that had just been awakened. It was cruel, bloodthirsty, and treacherous as it continued to take the demons¡¯ lives without feeling tired. As they faced the threat of death, some of the Foundation Building stage demons started to react to the attack and were about to make their move as their bodies shook. When Gu Qingshan saw this, his eyes became even more alert. ¡°Gale Slash!¡± The long sword became like the wind as it grew swift and powerful. It was the quick-killing version of Wind Slash! Gu Qingshan¡¯s actions were very clean and precise, and none of his moves were unnecessary. Each wave of the sword definitely chopped off the demons¡¯ necks, arms, waists, or legs. After a short moment, all the demons around where he stood could no longer move. After advancing another several meters this way, Gu Qingshan slowed down his sword attacks, and the demons exploded into loud howls. But those demons that were far off didn¡¯t respond at all. They weren¡¯t attracted to the howls of their fellow demons. It was normal for demons to fight amongst themselves too, so they were already very used to it. They didn¡¯t smell any human blood or breath. They could only smell a strong and rotten stench, so it was clear that a Carrion Devouring Demon had appeared. Nobody was going to incur the wrath of that disgusting thing for no reason. The demons had standards too. They all turned away. It seemed like the attack had lasted a long time, but only about ten breaths had passed since Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing started breaking through this sea of demons. The two of them had miraculously managed to advance a few hundred meters to their destination, and everything was going so well that Leng Tianxing thought he was dreaming. Just when they were going to reach their destination, a strange demon suddenly appeared in front of them. This demon was covered with fiery flames and exuded great amounts of demonic air. Even the ground it stood on was burnt bright red. ¡°A Fiery Flame Ghost!¡± Leng Tianxing exclaimed. But Leng Tianxing had no way to get away from nor to handle the Fiery Flame Ghost in front. He didn¡¯t have that disgusting stench on himself, so the demons behind him continued to keep up with him, and he didn¡¯t know how to handle them. Thankfully Gu Qingshan moved ahead quickly enough, so the demons weren¡¯t able to surround them and attack. That was the only reason why he hadn¡¯t been completely surrounded by demons. ¡°I saw it; come with me,¡± said Gu Qingshan. ¡°You¡­¡± Leng Tianxing didn¡¯t know what to say. The Fiery Flame Ghost was a fire type of demon. Its body was made from black flames and wasn¡¯t affected by anything that hit it, so it was very hard to use the law of physics to attack and kill it. Fiery Flame Ghosts depended entirely on using techniques to attack. Once it started attacking, it was difficult to shake it off. One Fiery Flame Ghost could fight two Foundation Building cultivators at the same time and still win. Leng Tianxing didn¡¯t have any confidence in dealing with this creature, much less Gu Qingshan, who was only at Qi Refining stage. Gu Qingshan threw the long sword into the air and ran a few steps forward. The Cavalry Regiment sword spun in the air for a while, then disappeared. Gu Qingshan had used Wind Slash to hide it somewhere in the air again. The Fiery Flame Ghost smiled threateningly as it watched the two men run toward it. When they were about twenty or thirty meters off, it opened its mouth to spew fire. ¡°We¡¯re too far off! I can¡¯t attack it!¡± Leng Tianxing immediately saw that they were doomed. The Fiery Flame Ghost¡¯s Spirit Power of Fire had already reached the Molten Lava stage, so the two of them were unable to endure such an attack, and the only option now was to dodge it by jumping to the side. But once they did that, then all the distance they had covered earlier would be gone. It would become even harder if they wanted to advance again. That was as good as dying. Leng Tianxing¡¯s heart sank. He had to fight the demons coming from behind him, and he didn¡¯t have a free hand to stop the Fiery Flame Ghost¡¯s attack. Was he going to die right here? But suddenly, a bow appeared in Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand. He had barely moved when a beam of light shot out from the bow. ¡°Bombardment!¡± ¡°Sharpshooter!¡± ¡°Gallop in Wind!¡± With the addition of Bombardment and Gallop in Wind, the arrows were both fast enough and were capable of high damage. A cold gleam shot past. DANG! The arrow went straight for the Fiery Flame Ghost¡¯s forehead, and it looked up from being hit so hard in the forehead. Fiery Flame Ghosts were very large and powerful demons, so there was no way it would die from the amount of Spirit Power Gu Qingshan had as a Qi Refining cultivator. But Gu Qingshan had already achieved his aim. After it had been hit by the arrow, the Fiery Flame Ghost couldn¡¯t help but look upward. So all the terrifying flames that it had prepared to spurt out at the two men now shot upward into the sky. ¡°You can do that too?¡± Leng Tianxing murmured to himself in a daze. He had barely accepted the fact that Gu Qingshan was both a sword cultivator and a Martial Arts cultivator. Now Gu Qingshan had suddenly also materialized a bow, and it only took him one arrow to get them out of this sticky situation. Leng Tianxing was a favored disciple of a major sect and was very knowledgeable. Once Gu Qingshan moved his bow, Leng Tianxing could identify the three techniques used: Gallop in Wind, Sharpshooter, and Bombardment. These were archery techniques of someone at General rank! Leng Tianxing felt like he was going mad. Who was this guy? Was he born a Saint? How else could he have managed to attain this level of Formations, Martial Arts, sword techniques, and archery techniques all at the same time? Leng Tianxing¡¯s heart started pounding. In reality, Gu Qingshan was now fighting demons as a Great Sword Immortal whose cultivation level had been purposely lowered to Qi Refining stage. Given the experience he had, he could find the best way to deal with the enemy without even thinking. Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t say anything. He took the opportunity to run up to the Fiery Flame Ghost before it could regain its composure and use his heavy pauldrons to crash into it with all his might. Mountainous Impact! The Fiery Flame Ghost went flying from the impact and fell into the group of demons thirty or forty meters away. The demons were shocked by this, then angrily started attacking the Fiery Flame Ghost, and they started fighting among themselves. The Fiery Flame Ghost could barely get up, and it was furious and wanted to make an attack, but it had landed in the midst of other demons fighting it, so it couldn¡¯t get away. ¡°All right, let¡¯s go!¡± said Gu Qingshan in a low voice. Leng Tianxing felt a little numb already. Gu Qingshan checked his Spirit Power. His Spirit Power had increased tremendously after hitting Qi Refining Level 7. The attack earlier had made his remaining Spirit Power drop from 90% to 50%. But he still had some left! Gu Qingshan kept the bow away and used his hand to grip something in mid-air. The Cavalry Regiment sword appeared and was held in his hand. He stopped and took a few moments to catch his breath. The demons around him saw that he had a long sword in hand. They all stopped and hesitated. They were all growling and snarling as they looked at each other, waiting for another demon to attack first. Then, a very strange thing happened. After some time, the group of demons slowly retreated, and none of the demons tried to attack first. Gu Qingshan stood his ground and held his sword. He scanned the hordes of demons and said one line softly. Leng Tianxing thought he had heard Gu Qingshan wrongly. Because Gu Qingshan had said, ¡°They¡¯re just demons.¡± Chapter 55 Gu Qingshan leaned forward, then ran quickly while holding his sword. Leng Tianxing was behind him shooting techniques out to make sure all the demons behind him turned to ice. As for the demons coming from the front, Gu Qingshan sent them flying out as pieces of flesh and blood as his sword shone brightly. The two of them managed to advance several meters through the sea of demons. Leng Tianxing suddenly said in a hoarse voice, ¡°I can still hold on for only another ten breaths.¡± Gu Qingshan looked back quickly and saw that countless demons had come to their senses and they were rushing toward where they were. There were so many demons coming at the same time, and they were all at Foundation Building stage and even Initial Golden Core stage. Leng Tianxing would definitely be unable to kill them with his techniques, and he couldn¡¯t finish killing them off either. Soon enough, he wouldn¡¯t be able to shoot them fast enough. At this rate, Leng Tianxing was going to die! If he died, Gu Qingshan wouldn¡¯t be able to get to the safe place all by himself. ¡°Do you have any amulets?¡± Gu Qingshan suddenly asked after thinking through the situation quickly. ¡°Yes, but I¡¯ve used some, and I don¡¯t have many left,¡± replied Leng Tianxing. ¡°You go in front, save your Spirit Power, and use amulets to fight the demons. It¡¯ll be enough to clear the way; whether the demons die or not doesn¡¯t matter,¡± instructed Gu Qingshan. ¡°You¡¯ll cover the back?¡± asked Leng Tianxing. ¡°Yup, I¡¯ll do it,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. ¡°¡­all right, then.¡± Leng Tianxing looked at him intensely. In such a dire situation, if they didn¡¯t reach a safe place soon, the person covering the back was definitely going to die first. Leng Tianxing saw Gu Qingshan in a different light when Gu Qingshan did this. Now he really treated Gu Qingshan as a comrade in battle. ¡°Get ready.¡± Gu Qingshan said this while he started removing his armor. He pulled his vanguard battalion armor off, raised his hand, and flung it hard into the sea of demons. These demons were hungry for fresh blood and flesh and weren¡¯t deterred by Leng Tianxing¡¯s attacks and blasts. On the contrary, they kept getting closer. But the moment this stinky armor that was covered with that gooey liquid came flying over, the demons immediately covered their noses and started running away. It was really too smelly. Even Leng Tianxing, who always looked cold and distant, had used his Spirit Power to cover his nostrils and his pores so that he wouldn¡¯t faint from the smell. ¡°Change place.¡± Gu Qingshan gave a low shout, and they switched places quickly. Leng Tianxing pulled out a small stack of amulets. He threw them one piece at a time and sent all the demons ahead flying. This method didn¡¯t require any technique and only required a very small amount of Spirit Power. It could attack demons very quickly and efficiently. The only problem was how many amulets he had on hand. But Leng Tianxing didn¡¯t have to be stingy about it. His entire team had died except for the two of them, and the situation was very desperate, so he just pulled the entire stack out. During this time when the demons had retreated from the stench, the two of them had not only changed places but had also advanced another few meters. ¡°Can¡¯t believe this stench is really useful,¡± said Leng Tianxing thoughtfully. If he had gone along with Gu Qingshan and rubbed the smelly secretion of the Carrion Devouring Demon on himself¡­ ¡°You regret it now?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°No, never.¡± Leng Tianxing¡¯s face paled. The two of them went as fast as they could. As they went farther and farther away, the smell from that armor slowly faded, and soon they couldn¡¯t smell it anymore. Soon enough, the demons started chasing them like crazy again. ¡°Mountain Split!¡± Gu Qingshan yelled as he held his sword with both hands and pushed a tremendous amount of force downwards. The sword came down. BOOOM¡­ SHAAAA! Those demons that came into contact with the sword became a bunch of limbs and rolled back from the impact of the powerful force. The demons behind were hit by all the flying carcasses. Mountain Split was a heavy and forceful move. Each swing of the sword increased its power by a hundred or a thousand times, and the enemy would suffer great losses if they were not prepared for such an attack. But the execution of this technique was very slow, so most people could dodge it. Most sword cultivators could not use this sort of technique that had such major loopholes in it. Only the dumbest ones and the cleverest ones would dare to use this sword technique. The long sword swooshed mercilessly, and every attack was so forceful that there was a white mist around it. The sword continued to send demons flying out all over the place. One swing of the sword could send a whole group flying, and each swing made the situation slightly less dangerous. The two of them were like the only trees standing in the midst of a storm and were trying to hold their ground as the wind and rain beat on them. They were constantly on the verge of being swallowed up by the demons. Gu Qingshan decided quickly not to even bother with other moves and used Mountain Split to its maximum. Under the current circumstances, since the demons were rushing forward like the sea, this move didn¡¯t require him to think about any attack strategy or dodge them. One swing could wipe out a whole bunch of them. The power of the sword technique Mountain Split had been used to its maximum strength by Gu Qingshan. ¡°Don¡¯t fall too far behind,¡± yelled Leng Tianxing. ¡°Coming!¡± Gu Qingshan swung his sword one more time and quickly ran ahead without trying to fight any more demons. Between the two of them, one was trying to defend against the huge groups of demons chasing behind them, while the other one was helping to lead the way and moving at high speed. But the number of demons chasing them was simply too many. When they all made an attack at the same time, there were times where Gu Qingshan could not defend against all of them since he was the only one covering the back. In no time, Gu Qingshan was covered with blood just like how Wu Jin and Ma Liu were before this. Gu Qingshan quietly endured the pain and continued to swing his sword. ¡°Mountain Split!¡± he yelled in a low voice. His sword was like a mountain that crushed the demons. This was a matter of life and death, and he couldn¡¯t shrink back now. Many demons attacked him, and Gu Qingshan couldn¡¯t defend against all of them anymore. He only defended himself if the attack could prove fatal. After some time, the two of them had managed to get through a fair bit of distance. Their destination was finally just ahead of them. Gu Qingshan¡¯s body was a bloody mess of wounds. There were many areas that had been bitten off or scratched by demons, and he was bleeding all over. He had more and more of these injuries, and it was like a slow death. But Gu Qingshan remained calm and composed. His long sword continued to swing and make its attack as if he wasn¡¯t affected at all. Leng Tianxing scanned the place with his Spirit Sense and became very excited. After five breaths, Gu Qingshan suddenly asked, ¡°How long more do we have to go?¡± ¡°Last thirty meters. I see the cave!¡± Leng Tianxing was getting anxious too. ¡°All right.¡± Gu Qingshan had been waiting for this moment. He turned his body slightly, held the sword with both hands, pointed the tip toward the sea of demons coming for him, and yelled in a low voice. ¡°Secret technique!¡± In an instant, Spirit Power rushed out from his dantian and flowed through his arms and into the long sword. The long sword resonated with a buzzing sound. Gu Qingshan had accurately calculated his own Spirit Power and had been saving it for this moment. His Spirit Power was just enough to execute this secret sword technique. Leng Tianxing¡¯s pupils narrowed instantly when he saw this. He was certainly able to tell that this sword technique was really powerful. But what sword technique was this? He had never seen it before. Leng Tianxing searched his memories, but this stance didn¡¯t match any of the sword techniques he had in his memory. Was it a sword technique that was taught only in secret? The Magical Power of sword cultivation wasn¡¯t something that everyone could grasp. Leng Tianxing was shocked and had to suppress the urge to look behind him. He only used his Spirit Sense to keep an eye on Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan had gathered the maximum momentum his body could. The Cavalry Regiment sword started to buzz very loudly, then suddenly fell silent. There was a tremendous amount of killing intent surrounding the long sword, and it made one become fearful. ¡°I¡¯m right, it¡¯s a secret technique. He actually knows a secret sword technique!¡± said Leng Tianxing excitedly to himself. The last bit of pride he had also disappeared when faced with this technique. The demons facing Gu Qingshan were coming in huge waves, and some of the demons behind became impatient and actually started stepping on the other demons in front in order to pounce ahead. The demons started stacking themselves up into a huge wall that was several meters high and threatened to collapse on the two of them. ¡°Watercut!¡± Gu Qingshan let out a shout and stabbed the long knife forward. If you could watch this scene in slow motion, you would have noticed that the gleam around the Cavalry Regiment sword was in bunches. But in an instant, this gleam suddenly became like waters breaking through a dam, rushing out powerfully. Cracks started appearing on the sword as it endured this tremendous amount of force. The countless cracks became longer and longer and filled the entire sword. In the moment before the long sword exploded. Everything was silent. Suddenly. It was as if a giant from the Primitive Times had started hitting a war drum. DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! The blinding flash of the sword suddenly burst out from the tip of the Cavalry Regiment sword, shot out forward, and rang out with an ear-deafening blast. The huge wall that the demons had created was suddenly blown apart, becoming like ash that quickly crumbled backward and floated away. The entire sea of demons was suddenly gone, and the land was empty as if it was a desert. The ground was covered with nothing but broken limbs, and there was a terrible smell of blood in the air. All the demons standing far off were filled with horror and weren¡¯t sure what to do. They stood at the edge of the area that had exploded and didn¡¯t dare to move even half a step forward. This one move was enough to change the course of a river or even to stop a river from flowing. This incredible power was called Watercut! BOOM. There was a soft explosion as the Cavalry Regiment sword was no longer able to hold up against the power of the secret technique. It immediately exploded into several fragments. The only thing left in one good piece was the sword handle in Gu Qingshan¡¯s hands. Gu Qingshan clenched his teeth and was so disappointed inside. It had been so hard for him to get hold of a sword, and it had been destroyed because he had to use a secret technique. He had no choice but to throw the sword handle aside, then he quickly ran to the front. Mountainous Impact! Gu Qingshan dashed forward and helped to block a hungry demon from biting Leng Tianxing. He wrung its neck and broke it. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± he yelled loudly. ¡°All right!¡± Leng Tianxing knew that they had reached their last lap, so he suppressed the tremendous shock he felt in his heart as he sent the remaining amulets in his hand flying out as if they didn¡¯t cost him anything. Chapter 56 The two of them ran as fast as they could. They didn¡¯t care about killing off the demons in front of them as long as they were able to dodge them or get past them. Twenty meters! Ten meters! Five meters! They rushed into the cave! The two of them rolled into the opening of the cave. Gu Qingshan got up and kicked a Scarlet Gold Ghost out of the cave. While the Scarlet Gold Ghost was still in mid-air, Gu Qingshan swallowed the last Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill and pulled out the formation disk from behind him. ¡°Wind, Wood, Light, Darkness, Water, Universal Illusionary Formation.¡± An Illusionary Formation was set up! ¡°Wind, Fire, Thunder, Water, gathering the spirits of heaven and Earth.¡± A Spiritual Element Collection Formation was set up! ¡°Calling the spirits of the ground, Water, Wood, Metal, Fog.¡± A Delusion Formation was set up! ¡°Warding off all evil, Demon Eviction Formation!¡± An Eviction Formation was set up! At this point, all the formations that could be used on the formation disk that Gongsun Zhi had given to Gu Qingshan had all been used up by Gu Qingshan. The Scarlet Gold Ghost that had been kicked out of the cave rolled over twice and got up. It was furious and turned to screech, only to find that there was nothing in the cave behind it. A faint mist started rising from within the cave, and there was an air about the place that made it feel disgusting. After a while, the cave itself slowly disappeared. The Scarlet Gold Ghost wasn¡¯t intelligent enough to understand what had happened. It just felt that this place made it feel very uncomfortable. The Scarlet Gold Ghost angrily snorted several times before it shook its head and tail and finally crawled away. Thousands of demons came up behind it in no time, only to find that they couldn¡¯t find their prey anymore. That was strange. Where did those two humans go? Did something else eat them secretly? The demons looked at each other but couldn¡¯t find any traces of flesh or blood in any of the other demons¡¯ mouths. The demons started to fight amongst themselves to vent the frustration and fury inside them. After some time, the demons finally went away in indignation. They slowly started moving away from the cave without realizing it. Gu Qingshan put down the formation disk after doing all this and collapsed to the ground while panting. He said loudly, ¡°I have very little Spirit Power left, and these formations won¡¯t last long. Hurry up and activate the large Isolation Formation!¡± He had fought a bloody battle, executed a secret sword technique, and set up a whole bunch of formations, so Gu Qingshan was on the verge of collapsing. He could barely even lift his arms up now. Thankfully, there was still one last Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill left, and it was slowly beginning to take effect inside his body. Since Gu Qingshan looked like he was about to die from fatigue, Leng Tianxing quickly got up and ran deep into the cave. On the cave wall deep inside, there was a formation that was about the height of three people. This formation was especially used to prevent demons from spying, and there was another formation that was a Teleportation Formation. These two formations represented the greatest achievements mankind had attained in the art of formations. Leng Tianxing leaped up, pulled out a few middle-grade spirit stones, and stuffed them into the indentation of the formation. Whoosh¡ª The huge Isolation Formation slowly started moving. Leng Tianxing looked over at the Teleportation Formation, and his face fell. He exclaimed, ¡°Why is it like that?¡± Gu Qingshan¡¯s heart tightened when he heard this. If anything happened now, there was no way he could use any more Spirit Power, even if he could communicate with the gods. He used all his strength to get up and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Leng Tianxing replied in a dejected voice, ¡°The Teleportation Formation isn¡¯t complete. We can¡¯t go back.¡± Leng Tianxing had really begun to lose hope now. They had gone through so much hardship and suffering, lost so many lives, and born so many wounds only for their hope to become despair. Gu Qingshan went into deep thought for a moment, then pulled out a round metal ball and asked, ¡°Is this what you¡¯re missing?¡± Leng Tianxing¡¯s eyes lit up, and he replied, ¡°It¡¯s the special Secret Rune Stamp! That¡¯s great! There¡¯s hope for us!¡± ¡°Special Secret Rune Stamp?¡± Gu Qingshan repeated those words. ¡°Wait.¡± He slowly looked up at Leng Tianxing. ¡°What did you say this was again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s part of General Gongsun¡¯s formation.¡± Leng Tianxing was still swimming in joy. ¡°With this, then we can complete the Teleportation Formation and both of us can get out of here.¡± ¡°You mean this isn¡¯t a token? It¡¯s not a token to call for backup?¡± Gu Qingshan yelled this loudly as he grabbed Leng Tianxing¡¯s collar. ¡°Token? How could this be a token?¡± Leng Tianxing looked strangely at Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan let go of him. He staggered backward and finally collapsed onto the ground. His face turned ashen, and his heart slowly sank right to the bottom. So Gongsun Zhi had already decided to die. Gongsun Zhi had passed this thing to him so that Gu Qingshan could escape. Gu Qingshan slammed a fist into the cave wall, and tiny rocks crumbled down. What was the point of being able to escape by himself?! D*mn it! He should have realized this earlier. He was only a soldier from the Vanguard Battalion, so there was no way he would have been able to send any information to the higher-ups. In this world, without sufficient levels of cultivation or status, nobody would believe anything that was said. Furthermore, there was a traitor among the higher-ups of the human camp. Even if he managed to somehow get to them, that high-ranking traitor would find him guilty of something and execute him immediately. Should he go look for the Saints? No, that seemed like a worse idea. Even people like Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan only had one talisman that could contact the Saints after their sects had accumulated 300 years of credit. Gongsun Zhi was like the clouds, while Gu Qingshan was merely mud on the ground. Never mind getting to see the Saints. He couldn¡¯t even get a talisman to reach them. What should he do now? What could he do now? Gongsun Zhi was going to die in half a day! ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Leng Tianxing couldn¡¯t help but ask when he noticed that Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t look too good. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything.¡± Gu Qingshan slapped himself in the face and forced himself to calm down. How could he save Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan? He started thinking through this slowly. Looking for their sects was out of the question. That high-ranking traitor of the human army was definitely watching those two sects very closely. ¡°What did General Gongsun tell you?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. Leng Tianxing saw that he was asking with such seriousness that he always straightened his expression out and answered him equally seriously, ¡°He said that if he doesn¡¯t make it back, we should return to our own world, hide our identities, change our names, and hide until he exposes who the traitor is.¡± Gu Qingshan sighed. How pitiful! So Leng Tianxing was still hoping for General Gongsun to return and expose who the traitor really was. Looking at the situation, even if he could manage to get past the traitor, it would still be suspicious if he suddenly went to look for their sects. It would take a long time to test if his words were true, and there was no time for any of this. Even if he was on time, the two major sects might not be able to successfully save them. The demons were too powerful, and they had come out in such huge numbers. He was quite sure the five demon generals were going to appear soon. A Faceless Giant and five demon generals. After that, the Earth-traveling Demons would also return to the frontlines. The Earth-traveling Demons could get past formations, and when that happened, Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan would be in great danger. This set up really made him feel despair. What other options did he have? Gu Qingshan clenched his teeth tightly, and a thought flashed across his mind. After a while, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The Three Saints. Only the Three Saints would be able to rescue them in time and rescue them successfully. After going one whole round, he had come back to square one. The Three Saints were the greatest battling force that the humans had. Normally, even the highest-ranking person of the major clans might not get to see the Saints, never mind an unknown Vanguard Battalion soldier like Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan shook his head and was on the verge of giving up. Chapter 57 The Three Saints represented the greatest power of this world; it was no laughing matter. In Gu Qingshan¡¯s previous life, there had been a famous conclusion about the difference in power between the real world and the other world. Players hadn¡¯t been as powerful as the cultivators of the cultivating world, and the cultivators had not been as powerful as demons. The players had always been hindered by the ridiculous amount of XP they¡¯d needed to achieve to hit the next level, and nobody had managed to get to the Sanctification stage. The demons had been so many in number, so even though one demon alone had been no match for the Saints, if a group of demons at Sanctification stage were to have surrounded them, then even the Three Saints would have had to back off. Gu Qingshan had watched the apocalypse happen for ten whole years. That was ten years of the eventual annihilation of mankind. Gu Qingshan was a Great Sword Immortal and had killed millions of demons. But he knew how frightening the demons could be, and he knew how powerful the Saints really were. Numbers aside, there was no demon that could win a battle against the Saints by itself. But how could he get to meet the Three Saints? How was he going to persuade them and make them believe what he was saying was true? If he had the time to slowly plan this out, Gu Qingshan was certain that he could do this. But he was hard-pressed for time. In half a day, Gongsun Zhi was going to die. Gu Qingshan took a deep breath and tried to still his heart. He forced himself to calmly keep thinking. Xuanyuan Heavenly Prime, Master Beiyang, and Floral Fairy. The names of these three Saints resounded loudly throughout the world, and there were many legends that had been passed down all their life. So was there anything that was useful to him among everything he had heard about them? Xuanyuan Heavenly Prime liked to roam the world, so it would be impossible to locate him in such a short time. Even if Gu Qingshan had a million ideas on how to convince him, there was no point if he couldn¡¯t even find him. So he eliminated Xuanyuan Heavenly Prime. Master Beiyang lived in Spiritual Leaf Temple on Dabei Mountain. He normally spent his days meditating and did not see any guests. Master Beiyang only opened up to talk and have discussions every year at the beginning of spring, and this was open to all. It wasn¡¯t impossible to see Master Beiyang at other times of the year, but Gu Qingshan was a nobody, so he couldn¡¯t get such a chance. One year, Master Beiyang had gone to Myriad Sword Sect to give a talk, so the head of the Myriad Sword Sect had used millions of Spirit Stones to build a shrine and placed a statue of Buddha carved from a special sort of jade. That had been the remuneration for Master Beiyang¡¯s talk. So he had to eliminate Master Beiyang, too. He was only left with Floral Fairy. Gu Qingshan gave a long sigh. If he had sufficient time, he would rather roam the earth and search for Xuanyuan Heavenly Prime or accumulate enough reputation and Spirit Stones in the hope of being able to see Master Beiyang. Anything was better than trying to find a way to see Floral Fairy. Floral Fairy was terrifyingly powerful and extremely hard to please. When she had fallen, she had killed more than 30 demons at Sanctification stage, and the entire demon army had been pushed back several hundred kilometers just because of her. Everyone said that her capability must have already reached Summit stage of Sanctification, and it would only take a little bit more before she could break through this stage and reach a stage that nobody had ever reached before. If you were not careful in front of Floral Fairy, you would be in deep trouble. Saints had a million and one ways to torture and kill others. Xuanyuan Heavenly Prime had no interest in doing such things, while Master Beiyang hoped to understand and help others, not torture others. Only Floral Fairy had a very difficult personality that was hard to grasp. She was always unpredictable, and it was impossible to see what would happen. She had once used her Divine Skill to do something that dumbfounded everyone. And this had only been discovered by others after she had fallen to the enemy. Everyone, including the players, had been completely speechless by this action of hers. Gu Qingshan sighed deeply. Knowing this matter in advance was actually hope for him. If he wanted to see Floral Fairy, he had to attract her attention first. Gu Qingshan was silent for a while. The only way was probably the Floral List. Floral Fairy had built her very own nation and founded Floral Sect. She didn¡¯t like to wander the earth like Xuanyuan Heavenly Prime; neither did she lock herself in all day to meditate like Master Beiyang. She stayed in the Floral Palace of her Floral Celestial Nation every day, fiddling with flowers and other plants. When she felt like it, she would put out some tasks on the Floral List. If one wanted to see Floral Fairy, you had to pick something off the Floral List first and complete the difficult task attached to it. There were all sorts of things on the Floral List. Floral Fairy personally thought up every single task on the Floral List, and they were all things she was interested in. If anyone managed to complete one of the many difficult tasks on the Floral List, that person would be able to meet Floral Fairy, and she would grant him one request. And if Floral Fairy liked this person, there was even a chance to join Floral Sect. The keyword here was ¡°chance¡±. Even though it was called a sect, the number of disciples in Floral Sect could be counted on one hand. The cultivation world had recognized this tiny group as a sect only because their leader was Floral Fairy. As for the disciples in her own sect, Floral Fairy always treated them extremely well. There were tons of people who wanted to join Floral Sect, but nobody had succeeded over the past decade or so. Now and then, someone would manage to complete the difficult task on the Floral List. But after he was granted a wish, he would be sent away and not given the chance to become a disciple. Nobody knew why, either. But none of that mattered to Gu Qingshan now. He just needed Floral Fairy to agree to save Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan. That¡¯s right. The only chance for him to see a Saint now was to pick something off the Floral List! He had to make his move now. Gu Qingshan made this decision and quickly said, ¡°Leng Tianxing, I need you to do me a favor.¡± ¡°Just say it. My life is yours,¡± replied Leng Tianxing. After having gone through such a grueling battle together, the aloofness of Leng Tianxing had faded quite a bit, and he now looked at Gu Qingshan with great respect. Gu Qingshan was only a Qi Refining cultivator, but he had managed to survive a sea of demons. What sort of ability did this man have?! Then, at the last moment, when they¡¯d been on the verge of dying, Gu Qingshan could have just run ahead without him, but he had exchanged places with Leng Tianxing and took on the terrible task of covering the back. If Leng Tianxing still didn¡¯t deem Gu Qingshan a worthy friend, then Leng Tianxing had been a disciple of the Alkaid Faction for nothing. Gu Qingshan said, ¡°I want to pick something off the Floral List.¡± Leng Tianxing immediately replied, ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll help you.¡± Gu Qingshan replied curiously, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask me why?¡± ¡°The general told us to hide and make sure we stay alive. I can take this chance to pick something off the Floral List myself because that¡¯s the only way I can be saved,¡± replied Leng Tianxing. ¡°Why?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. Leng Tianxing thought about it, then he stood up and started taking his clothes off. Gu Qingshan got a shock and asked in a low voice, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Were the disciples of the Alkaid Faction all so open-minded? Was this fellow into men? Gu Qingshan clenched his fists tightly. Leng Tianxing explained, ¡°Your skill in formations is pretty high, and you¡¯re full of ideas, so I thought of asking you to help me see something.¡± He had already removed everything from his upper body and exposed his chest. Leng Tianxing pointed at his own chest and said, ¡°If you can help me, I would be eternally grateful to you.¡± There was a colorful, striped spider on his chest. This spider¡¯s eight, long legs were deeply buried within Leng Tianxing¡¯s chest, and only the head was exposed outside. When the spider saw light and saw the two of them, it started screeching uneasily. Its eight legs clutched even more tightly than before. Leng Tianxing had pain written all over his face. He quickly put his clothes back on so that the spider didn¡¯t have to interact with the outside world. He finally calmed down after a long while. He looked at Gu Qingshan and said, ¡°What do you think? Do you know what this thing is?¡± Gu Qingshan had a strange look on his face. It seemed to carry memories, along with some anger, some disgust, and some sorrow. Chapter 58 In Gu Qingshan¡¯s previous life, he had been a spirit wine barista in a spirit food restaurant in the cultivation world. That had been before World Annihilation Queen, Anna Medici, had fallen to the enemy. Back then, Gu Qingshan had been a well-known barista, and even the major sects of the cultivation world had had nothing but praise for the spirit wines he¡¯d made. He had taught a good friend his winemaking ways. But eventually, this friend had unfortunately fallen in love with a girl with two cultivation types. She¡¯d wanted to use him to earn a lot of Spirit Stones and had treated him as a money tree. The girl had thought of a way to control this friend and make him earn lots of money. She had gone into the wilderness and found a spider known as a Venomous Heart and Soul Devouring Demonic Spider. Once this Demonic Spider had been stuck on your body, you would lose half your capabilities, and if you weren¡¯t obedient, the spider would start to eat at your heart. This Demonic Spider was born with a Magical Power, so while eating at the heart, it could also slowly eat away at the cultivator¡¯s soul. This spider would cause pain, both physically and spiritually, so almost nobody had ever been able to endure it. Everyone had caved in and became someone else¡¯s slave. By the time Gu Qingshan had found out what had happened and wanted to avenge him, his good friend had decided to kill himself. After that, Gu Qingshan had sworn to the heavens that he would never teach anyone how to be a barista again. Gu Qingshan snapped himself out of his memories and sighed sadly. ¡°You know what this is!¡± Leng Tianxing¡¯s eyes immediately lit up when he observed Gu Qingshan¡¯s reaction. Gu Qingshan said, ¡°I suppose you were at Golden Core stage before this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Gu Qingshan continued, ¡°And because you didn¡¯t want to be controlled by someone else, you hid next to General Gongsun and used his formations to limit the Demonic Spider so that you could still keep your own will and live on.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly it!¡± Leng Tianxing suddenly got up, clasped his hands, and bowed very low as he said very sincerely, ¡°If you could help me, I am willing to become your brother of a different surname.¡± Leng Tianxing was more than 20 years old, a Golden Core cultivator, and a disciple of the Alkaid Faction. What sort of person would dare to call himself Leng Tianxing¡¯s brother when Leng Tianxing was such a genius? Even a fellow Golden Core cultivator wouldn¡¯t dare to do something like that. That was because it was completely crazy for a twenty-odd-year-old young man to reach Golden Core stage. Gu Qingshan smiled bitterly and replied, ¡°We¡¯d better go pick something off the Floral List together.¡± His ability was too weak, so there was no way he could deal with such a terrifying demon. Leng Tianxing¡¯s eyes dimmed again. ¡°Your problem is a very troublesome one. We have to hurry back to the cultivation world.¡± ¡°Besides, there¡¯s a reason why I must leave now,¡± added Gu Qingshan at the end. Leng Tianxing looked at how both of them were covered with injuries and laughed bitterly as he asked, ¡°You¡¯re in such a hurry?¡± Gu Qingshan placed the round metal ball onto the Teleportation Formation and said, ¡°It¡¯s extremely urgent.¡± He took a peek at the War God Operating Interface. The mission was still underway. That meant that Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan were still holding on. Gu Qingshan peeked at his Soul Power. ¡°Soul Power: 651/7.¡± Most of these points were from the demons that Watercut had killed. But now, the thing that would help to change the course of history, as well as Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan¡¯s fate, wasn¡¯t Soul Power. The only thing that would help would be the Three Saints. Gu Qingshan sighed and activated the Teleportation Formation. Bright beams appeared on the formation and slowly covered both of them. In a flash, the two of them disappeared from the cave. At the border city. A Teleportation Formation that was built in the middle of the city suddenly lit up. Two figures appeared on the Teleportation Formation. There was a voice coming from the Teleportation Formation. ¡°Are we going there now?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re going there right now.¡± The Teleportation Formation lit up once more. The two figures disappeared. A middle-aged cultivator standing next to the Teleportation Formation asked, ¡°Who was that just now?¡± The other two cultivators watching shook their heads. ¡°That was too fast for us to see who it was.¡± ¡°It probably isn¡¯t our target, otherwise, he would definitely have stayed here,¡± replied one of them softly. The middle-aged cultivator instructed, ¡°Go check with the cultivator guarding this Teleportation Formation and see what the target destination of that last teleport was.¡± Someone ran off to check and came back quickly. ¡°The target destination is Floral Celestial Nation,¡± he said. The middle-aged cultivator¡¯s face relaxed and concluded, ¡°It¡¯s not our target.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Only people with nothing better to do would go and try their luck in that sort of place,¡± added one of his men. The middle-aged cultivator said, ¡°Continue to watch the formation carefully. Our superior has instructed us not to let off anyone who comes through this formation.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± replied the few of them standing by the formation. Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing didn¡¯t know that their cautiousness had helped them to avoid getting killed here. In Floral Celestial Nation. Outside the main city. There was a Teleportation Formation in a secluded area. Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing appeared here. ¡°How many Spirit Stones did you spend?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°No worries; money isn¡¯t a problem,¡± replied Leng Tianxing. It cost a lot to use the Teleportation Formation to send them such a long way, and Leng Tianxing had been contributing all the Spirit Stones needed. ¡°Come along. Let¡¯s go to the Floral List.¡± Gu Qingshan hopped out of the Teleportation Formation. Leng Tianxing sighed and said, ¡°We¡¯re going looking like this?¡± Gu Qingshan looked at Leng Tianxing, then looked at himself. The two of them were covered in wounds, and their clothes were all so torn and tattered that they could barely hold onto their bodies. Leng Tianxing suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t we get changed and rest for a day?¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°I don¡¯t have time for that. I need to hurry along.¡± Leng Tianxing asked curiously, ¡°What matter is this, exactly?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll tell you another time.¡± The two of them ran and quickly left the Teleportation Formation for the main city. Floral Celestial Nation was different from other places in that every Teleportation Formation set up here was set up in a secluded area very far from the main city. Nobody knew why and just took it as Floral Fairy¡¯s personal preference. As Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing walked on, more and more people started appearing. The fields around them were all for growing crops, and many ordinary people lived in this area. ¡°No matter what happens, don¡¯t do anything. I¡¯ll handle it,¡± Gu Qingshan instructed him seriously. ¡°All right.¡± Leng Tianxing had a lot of questions in his heart, but he nodded anyway. He had witnessed how Gu Qingshan had gone through many trials earlier, and everything he¡¯d done had turned out to be the right thing to do. As they walked on, suddenly a pig came running out of nowhere and crashed right into them. This was just an accident, but this had revealed their weakness. This pig had chosen an excellent time to knock into them. The two of them were practically flying as they ran, and they were about to hit the ground to propel themselves forward again. So they were right between the time when their initial force was fading, and before they had put in the new force Before this, Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing had been fighting demons and had both been tense and alert. But right now, they were caught completely off guard. The first thing that came to mind was to use the little Spirit Power they had to kill the pig. Leng Tianxing was about to pull his jade fan out. As a cultivator, to him, it was a terrible humiliation to be actually hit by a pig. But just as his hand moved, Gu Qingshan slapped it away. Leng Tianxing immediately kept the fan away when he remembered what Gu Qingshan instructed him. He had to be able to think on his feet in order to be a disciple of the Alkaid Faction. Gu Qingshan was in mid-air when he spread his arms out and caught the pig in his arms. This pig was so heavy, it was practically an elephant. Gu Qingshan had taken a Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill, so his condition was better than Leng Tianxing¡¯s. ¡°Ha!¡± He gave a low shout, held the pig in his arms, spun around in the air, and landed on the ground. Both man and pig were safe. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Gu Qingshan didn¡¯t even look back at the pig. He continued dashing forward. Leng Tianxing had never seen anything like that before. He was stunned for a while before running to catch up with Gu Qingshan. The two men disappeared into the distance. The pig stood where it was. After a while, it watched as the two men left, and there was a smile in its eyes. Chapter 59 ¡°Interesting. Hardly anyone would have resolved the situation like that.¡± The pig spoke, turned, and continued trotting along the fields. As the two of them sped on, the dirt road slowly became paved roads, and there were even more people now. This was the main road that led to the capital of Floral Celestial Nation. Once they hit this road, they couldn¡¯t fly anymore and had to walk. The two of them hurried on for a few minutes until they reached a fork in the road. There was a huge rock at the fork, and a white goose stood on the rock. The white goose spread its wings and directed the crowd impatiently. ¡°Those headed for the city go to the right, while those who want to pick something from the Floral List can come forward to write a poem. Don¡¯t try to squeeze your way through. Squeezing won¡¯t help you fly over the rest.¡± The two of them looked at the situation in front of them. There were plenty of people and carriages headed for the right, but there were even more people stuck at the fork. There were Foundation Building cultivators, Golden Core cultivators, and even Nascent Soul cultivators. ¡°What? Today we have to write a poem?¡± Many people¡¯s faces fell. Some of them sighed and took a few steps back. Some folded their arms and wanted to see what other people came up with. The topic each day was different, and the guide was different too. You needed a bit of luck to be able to pass the guide¡¯s test and enter the road on the left. This goose actually wanted them to write a poem, but cultivators generally only thought about becoming stronger and more powerful every day. There was no time or energy to think about poetry. ¡°Write a poem? I¡¯m quite decent at that, but it depends on how hard the topic given is,¡± mumbled Leng Tianxing with some hesitation. ¡°Come with me.¡± Gu Qingshan pulled Leng Tianxing along and squeezed their way to the front of the goose. ¡°Give me some Spirit Stones,¡± he whispered. ¡°Spirit Stones? How many?¡± asked Leng Tianxing. ¡°Twenty pieces,¡± replied Gu Qingshan. Leng Tianxing took twenty pieces out and passed them to him. Gu Qingshan placed the Spirit Stones on the large rock, clasped his hands, and said, ¡°My dear goose brother, I would like to request a shortcut.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to write a poem? Why are you putting such things here?¡± yelled the goose in disdain. Gu Qingshan sincerely replied, ¡°I really have something urgent to ask of Her Supremacy, so I hope you can help.¡± The white goose stared hard at Gu Qingshan, then there was suddenly a grim look in its eyes. It stretched a wing out, swept it over the rock, and the Spirit Stones vanished. ¡°Hurry up and go. Don¡¯t just stand in front of me like an idiot,¡± replied the white goose impatiently. ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Gu Qingshan looked at Leng Tianxing, and they ran off to the left side of the fork. Everyone opened the mouths in shock. They couldn¡¯t believe it. That guy had not just escaped punishment for bribery, but had even been allowed to pass through! Someone else immediately pulled a large handful of Spirit Stones and placed it on the rock as he smiled. ¡°Oh, great goose. Please let me use a shortcut.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The white goose raised its head. ¡°And what is your reason?¡± That man bowed and tried to imitate Gu Qingshan¡¯s manner of speaking. ¡°I really have something urgent to ask of Her Supremacy, so I hope you can help.¡± The white goose spat then spread its wings and swept all the Spirit Stones to the ground. It yelled, ¡°Get lost!¡± That man got a shock and pointed at Gu Qingshan, who wasn¡¯t too far off, as he asked indignantly, ¡°Then why does he get to go?¡± The white goose replied, ¡°He has an urgent matter on hand.¡± The man responded, ¡°I have an urgent matter too.¡± The white goose looked down at the man and laughed coldly. ¡°Urgent matter my foot.¡± That man started shouting. ¡°You¡¯re being unfair! I¡¯m going to raise a complaint against you!¡± The white goose just quietly remarked, ¡°So how was your night at Yihong Brothel last night? And then someone also ate eight plates of spirit food this morning, right? Not enough? So you¡¯re in a hurry to go back and eat more?¡± That man froze, and his face turned red as he quickly walked away from the crowd. The white goose proudly preened its feathers and yelled loudly, ¡°None of you can hide anything from me. If you want to get past me, then you¡¯d better come forward and write a poem properly.¡± Everyone looked at Gu Qingshan and was curious about what he had gone through such that the white goose had allowed him to pass. Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing hurried on their way. Leng Tianxing couldn¡¯t help but remark, ¡°That goose was easy to handle.¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°Don¡¯t look down on it.¡± Leng Tianxing asked curiously, ¡°Why?¡± Gu Qingshan smiled but didn¡¯t say anything. After a while, the two of them suddenly reached a pier. There was only an old boat docked at the pier. An elderly boatman sat on one end of the boat and was smoking. ¡°Can we leave immediately? We¡¯ll book the entire boat,¡± said Leng Tianxing. The boatman took great effort to stand up and looked at both of them seriously. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡± Two of them got into the boat, and the boat left the shore. ¡°Ahem. Since you want to go to the Imperial City to get to the Floral List, then you have to pass through me first.¡± The boatman said this as he rowed along. ¡°Please show us the way,¡± replied Gu Qingshan with clasped hands. Leng Tianxing clasped his hands together too. The boatman said, ¡°There¡¯s a fish in this river that¡¯s extremely large. It¡¯s completely black and I call it the Big Black Fish. Catch it for me.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Gu Qingshan looked into the river. The rapid currents went for several kilometers beneath the calm surface of the water. He wasn¡¯t bad at swimming, but he needed to think of a surer way to catch the fish in this sort of place. Dong! There was a noise behind him. Gu Qingshan turned around to see that Leng Tianxing had removed his armor and was removing his boots. ¡°You¡¯re going to dive in?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°Yup. The Alkaid Faction lives on the sea, and I¡¯ve been fishing in deep waters since I was a child. This river is nothing to me, so leave this task to me,¡± replied Leng Tianxing with great confidence. Leng Tianxing leaped up and dived elegantly into the river water, then swam out of sight. The river was all calm for about seven or eight minutes. Suddenly, a flurry of bubbles rose to the surface. In the next moment, Leng Tianxing appeared on the surface of the water while hugging a large, black fish that was about the same length as himself. Both man and fish were frozen together in ice, and you could feel the bone-chilling, cold air from afar. If you looked carefully, you would notice that the demonic strength of the black fish was slowly overcoming Leng Tianxing¡¯s Spirit Power. The fish had vertical eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. It used all its strength to move its stiffened body, and the frost around it started to come off in layers. Leng Tianxing¡¯s face was all pale; he had clearly reached his limit. He had given the last of his Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pills to Gu Qingshan, so he was on the verge of collapsing and nearly hadn¡¯t managed to catch the fish. Suddenly, the big, black fish turned its head and opened its large mouth to bite Leng Tianxing. Swoosh! A flash of light flew toward it, went through one of the black fish¡¯s eyes, and came out from the other eye. Gu Qingshan noticed that things didn¡¯t look good, so he quickly pulled Night Rain and an arrow with a Demonic Python¡¯s fang to shoot the fish in time. The Big Black Fish flailed violently for a long time before it finally turned belly-up and floated on the surface of the water. ¡°You two have done a good job.¡± The boatman rowed the boat over and pulled the fish onto the boat. ¡°The rest is my job. You two wait for a while.¡± The boatman then held the fish down on the boat, pulled a shiny dagger out, and started to slice the fish meat at a high speed. Leng Tianxing took a deep breath and hopped back into the boat. He looked at Gu Qingshan and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Gu Qingshan replied, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. Nobody would have imagined a fish would be at the Peak of Foundation Building.¡± The two of them sat down in the boat and waited for the boatman to finish cutting the fish. ¡°I¡¯m begging you, can¡¯t you be a bit gentler with me?¡± said the fish all of a sudden. Half its flesh had already been sliced off, and it was left with a fishy and bloodied skeleton. Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing exchanged glances. They were both shocked. This fish was obviously dead, and half its meat was gone. How could it still speak? But the boatman didn¡¯t stop. He shook his head and said, ¡°No I can¡¯t. That¡¯s the rule.¡± Chapter 60 The Big Black Fish didn¡¯t say anything further after hearing these words. The fish would shudder from time to time. Gu Qingshan and Leng Tianxing could see how much pain it was suffering. This was like a slow death. Even a demonic beast would find it hard to endure such a punishment. The boatman noticed that the two men¡¯s expressions had become grim and said, ¡°Don¡¯t feel any pity for it.¡± ¡°But why?¡± asked Leng Tianxing. ¡°Hoho, you two can¡¯t tell, eh? This demonic fish has already reached the Later stage of Soul Transformation and is going to reach Sanctification soon,¡± replied the boatman with a laugh. The two of them were even more surprised. How could a demonic beast that was on the verge of Sanctification be put through such torture? ¡°But why did it¡ª¡± Leng Tianxing couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Because it couldn¡¯t control its appetite and swallowed five islands in one night. Every living thing on the islands was eaten by this fish, and he ate nearly 100,000 humans alone.¡± The boatman cut Leng Tianxing off and said this with a hollow laugh. The boatman used a small knife to cut the fish meat into small pieces and continued. ¡°Her Supremacy caught it in anger and sealed its cultivation level. So now it must go through this slow torture 10,000 times before it is allowed to die and reincarnate.¡± The last piece of fish meat was sliced off. The entire fish was left with only its head and its glittering and translucent skeleton. The boatman wiped his hands and said, ¡°Today is only the 7,351st time, so it¡¯s still a long way more to 10,000.¡± With that, he stretched his arms out and flung the fish back into the river. The fish skeleton writhed on the surface of the water for a while, then slowly sank into the water quietly. Leng Tianxing felt his heart tremble and he complimented, ¡°As expected of the Floral Supremacy.¡± The boatman cracked a smile and said, ¡°Stop trying to butter up to Her Supremacy. What do you want from the Floral List? You can tell me now.¡± Leng Tianxing thought about it for a while before replying, ¡°I¡¯d like something about ancient weapons.¡± The boatman clapped once and said, ¡°Excellent. That¡¯s something that¡¯s suitable for you. You can get off the boat now.¡± ¡°Get off the boat?¡± Leng Tianxing looked around him. Besides the small boat, the rest was moving water. The boatman squatted down and pulled out a floating willow tree branch spinning in the water. He placed it in Leng Tianxing¡¯s hand. ¡°This place is a water body left behind from ancient of days.¡± ¡°Ten thousand years ago, during the Primitive Times, the Mountain Deity and Water Deity fought here, and they both perished here.¡± ¡°This willow branch will keep you safe. Go down and find some real artifacts from the Primitive Times.¡± Leng Tianxing then accepted the branch and pushed his Spirit Power into it hard. The branch unfurled, and it gave off a gentle and bright light that surrounded Leng Tianxing. A whirlpool suddenly appeared on the calm surface of the water. A large hand reached out from within the whirlpool. It held Leng Tianxing up and slowly shrank back into the water. ¡°Your turn.¡± The boatman turned to Gu Qingshan. ¡°What about you?¡± Gu Qingshan clasped his hands and said, ¡°I would like something about swords.¡± The boatman looked Gu Qingshan up and down and said, ¡°But you don¡¯t even have a sword¡­¡± Gu Qingshan replied with a bitter smile, ¡°It shattered in a battle.¡± ¡°Oh? Shattered? What became of it?¡± asked the boatman. ¡°Besides the sword handle, the rest became blade fragments,¡± replied Gu Qingshan honestly. ¡°Oh, that means that you¡¯re not just a pretty boy.¡± The boatman¡¯s eyes lit up. He turned and rowed the boat quickly to the front. ¡°Wait a while. It will take us some time to get to the swords area. I see that you¡¯re covered in wounds, so why not take this time to rest?¡± said the boatman. ¡°Many thanks.¡± Gu Qingshan sat down on the wooden boat and quietly waited while resting. He tried his best to recalibrate his body and gather Spirit Power so that the fatigue he felt would disappear. His success at the Floral List would decide whether he could save Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan or not. Gu Qingshan started thinking about the strange legends of Floral Fairy and the things she did before, and he was still speechless about it. After some time, there was a thick fog on the river. Something flew toward the boat and stabbed itself into the part of the boat in front of Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan opened his eyes. A sword was right in front of him. The boatman was slowly covered in fog and couldn¡¯t be seen anymore. ¡°Pick up the sword. The test is about to begin,¡± the boatman¡¯s voice spoke. ¡°Got it.¡± Gu Qingshan took the sword and stood up. ¡°I will keep my cultivation level at Interim Foundation Building,¡± continued the boatman. ¡°If you can find me in this fog, then you can pick a sword task from the Floral List.¡± ¡°The test earlier didn¡¯t count?¡± asked Gu Qingshan. ¡°It does, but the criteria to pick a sword task is higher. It involves sword technique after all, and we can¡¯t let just anybody pick a sword task.¡± ¡°All right, then.¡± Gu Qingshan sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s start!¡± declared the boatman. The boatman¡¯s entire presence and breathing completely disappeared. It was an amazing sort of Concealment Art! Gu Qingshan was amazed. He lifted his hands and looked at the sword. This was an ordinary-looking long sword, made completely from wrought iron, but it felt quite comfortable in his hands. Weapons were split into a few levels, the lowest being Sharp Weapon, then Precious Weapon, Spiritual Weapon, Magical Weapon, and finally Path Weapon. There were more levels above this, but those weapons were usually too rare for most people to find. This long sword in Gu Qingshan¡¯s hand was only at Sharp Weapon level. This sword was technically useable, but if he ran into a real enemy, then he would have to be careful that the enemy didn¡¯t break his sword. ¡°Senior, you¡¯ve made a mistake,¡± Gu Qingshan laughed quietly. Nobody responded. Gu Qingshan slowly explained, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have given me a sword.¡± The long sword in his hand started moving. The sword swung about and looked like a hundred swords in an instant. Gu Qingshan¡¯s sword stance was like a gentle wind blowing. It was gentle, agile, and irresistible. ¡°Wind Slash!¡± he yelled out. All the sword doubles spread out and slashed the wooden boat to pieces. The wooden boat was completely smashed in no time, and the pieces followed the rush of Spirit Power from the sword to become wind, blowing away in the thick fog. After just one move of the sword, the entire wooden boat disappeared. There was only one piece of wood left where Gu Qingshan was standing, and it continued to support him on the surface of the water. There was the sound of water being stepped on from afar. As long as an Interim Foundation Building cultivator didn¡¯t have Wind Spiritual Root, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fly. Gu Qingshan held his sword and pointed it toward where the sound was coming from. ¡°Senior, I¡¯ve found you.¡± The long sword trembled, then a rush of wind swooshed over. DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! The sound of someone defending himself rang out. The good part about Wind Slash was that it was a very quick technique. The moment Gu Qingshan¡¯s sword moved, the Spirit Power of the sword immediately covered that area it was pointed at, and there wasn¡¯t any time for the other party to even hide. There was silence for a while. After a long time, there was a voice from the thick fog that sounded pleased. ¡°Such a smart boy. I like you very much.¡± After these words were said, suddenly, huge waves of Spirit Power exploded from that place. It was a forceful Spirit Suppression that kept going up in pressure. Peak Foundation Building, Golden Core, Peak Golden Core¡­ the pressure rose until it hit Nascent Soul before slowly stabilizing. The boatman flew over and grabbed Gu Qingshan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve passed the test. You can come with me to the Floral Palace.¡± He stretched his other hand out and made a hand sign. ¡°Blossoming Flowers!¡± the boatman yelled. Countless runes appeared from nowhere. Gu Qingshan looked at them and was shocked in his heart. This sort of ability to set up a Teleportation Formation in mid-air instantly without the need of a formation disk was something that even Gongsun Zhi couldn¡¯t do. Gu Qingshan naturally knew exactly who this person in front of him was, but he kept his mouth tightly shut and didn¡¯t dare to utter a single word.