Chapter 455: Approaching terror
Translated by: La0o9
Proofreader: Arya
Gu Qing Shan was now more solemn than ever before.
The situation had abruptly changed to become incredibly dangerous.
His enemy knew everything, was extremely calculating as well as being the strongest.
What can I do now?
Gu Qing Shan went silent as he fell into thought.
After a while, he took out two jade tags.
These were the formation jade tags that he had picked out earlier.
Since Gu Qing Shan spent 200 for the System earlier, he only has 803 Soul Points left.
Without hesitation, Gu Qing Shan spent all of it to comprehend everything from the two jade tags.
Warmth flowed from the jade tags into Gu Qing Shanâs body and settled at his Thought Sea.
Gu Qing Shan slowly closed his eyes, seeing the myriads of formation knowledge appearing in his mind.
He had gained a deep understanding of the art of formation.
The most advanced art in the Suspended worldâs cultivation civilization was the art of formation.
With his current knowledge, he was already about the same level as Gong Sun Zhi in the cultivation world.
Formations were the highest crystallization of this worldâs cultivatorsâ knowledge.
Shen Wu world and the cultivation world combined couldnât match up to the level of formation that this world had reached.
But Shen Wu world has superior Smithing techniques, and the cultivation world overflowed with resources, so both these worlds have their own advantages.
A few moments later.
Gu Qing Shan opened his eyes.
Right now, he had barely reached the level of first-rate formation user by this worldâs standard.
Being about the same level as Qi Yan, he still canât unlock and find the worldâs coordinates from the formation plate, but he can already control the majority of this worldâs formations with ease.
Gu Qing Shan fell silent.
Thereâs no more going back, and no more delaying.
He has to make sure of certain things right now.
He asked: âQing Rou, Wan Er, the time Iâve spent in this world is too little, so I have a few questions that I need to be answered honestly, this is related to whether or not we can surviveâ
Seeing how serious he was being, Qing Rou and Wan Er also put on stern expressions.
Qing Rou spoke: âI will tell you everything you want to know without holding backâ
Wan Er also: âYou saved us but we still havenât thought of how to repay you, so I will answer whatever you askâ
âThe big sects that escaped this world, did any of them return?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
The two girls were surprised.
This question was completely outside of their expectation.
Carefully thinking about it, Wan Er answered: âI think⊠no, they didnâtâ
âReally? Think very carefully about thisâ Gu Qing Shan said.
Qing Rou confirmed: âIâm very sure, none of the sects that escaped ever returned to this worldâ
Shannu couldnât help but chime in: âAfter spending so much effort to escape, what sect would want to return?â
âBy common sense, they truly should be drifting in the space vortex, looking for a new worldâ Gu Qing Shan nodded in agreement.
He then continued to ask: âIf no sect ever returned, then what about cultivators? Are there any cultivators that returned?â
âCultivatorsâŠ?â
The girls muttered and went into contemplation.
They couldnât understand the reason for Gu Qing Shanâs questions at all.
Gu Qing Shan then added: âAny cultivator is fine, regardless if their cultivation is high or low, as long as they showed up even once, that could be considered that they returnedâ
âI donât think any cultivators returned, about you big sis?â
Saying so, Wan Er looked at Qing Rou a bit unsure.
âEver since Wan Er and I got caught and brought to this world, Iâve never seen a single cultivator of any sect that left, returnedâ Qing Rou nodded to Gu Qing Shan, expressing that she was very sure of this.
âWait a minute, I remember somethingâ Wan Er suddenly exclaimed.
The three people looked at her.
âThere was once a Cryptic realm cultivator that said he didnât feel too sure of bringing his whole sect to escapeâ
âHe wanted to try it first so he went and left by himself, saying that he wanted to scout the wayâ
âAnd then?â Gu Qing Shan quickly pursued.
âAnd then he never returned, having lost him, his sect wasnât able to fight against their enemy and was quickly destroyedâ Wan Er told him.
âAfter that, people had a theory that space-time must have been twisted when the realm demon cameâ
âOnce a cultivator leaves this world, they would be brought to places so far away that they couldnât find their way backâ
Qing Rou agreed: âThatâs right, this theory was once very wide-spread, almost to be point of becoming a confirmed answerâ
âNo, that couldnât be rightâ Gu Qing Shan spoke in a low voice.
âWhy couldnât it?â Qing Rou asked.
âIf that was the truth, how would Qi Yan be able to come and go as he pleases when he found the coordinates of Shen Wu world?â
They were stunned.
Thatâs right, how would Qi Yan do that?
Itâs been so long since this world has found a new world.
Everyone has already forgotten the fixed transportation between two worlds.
Gu Qing Shan slowly spoke: âHaving gone to so many worlds, conquering and taking over them, the cultivators of this world should know its coordinates better than anyoneâ
âThey even formed large-scaled tribulation formations within the space vortex below the worldâ
âAs long as they know the coordinates of another world, the cultivators here can simply create a world warp formation plate to transport themselves overâ
âIf thatâs the case, even after they left, they would keep this worldâs coordinates and transport back whenever they wanted toâ
The two girls went silent.
Gu Qing Shanâs logic was so sound that they were unable to refute.
And the more he said, the tighter his brows were knitted.
A terrifying conjecture was forming in his mind.
Even though Gu Qing Shan had been through a lot of things, he still couldnât keep himself calm.
âNormally, even if the majority of the people donât want to return, there would always be a few peculiar cultivators who couldnât help themselves from returning and taking a lookâ he said.
âGongzi, what do you mean?â Qing Rou asked as she wasnât able to follow his line of thought.
Gu Qing Shan waved his hand to signal her to stay quiet.
He then took out a high-grade formation plate.
In just a few seconds, he had arranged a small-scaled sound quarantine formation around the secret room.
It wasnât much trouble for him to set up such a formation right now.
The formation blocked sound from coming out as well as outside sound from going in.
Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit but said nothing.
If my guess really is correctâŠ
Then I had better not speak at all.
He used inner sight to send his voice: âAbout the sects that escaped this world through flying above orbitâ
âI think thereâs a problem here, and a very horrifying one as wellâ
He was suddenly anxious.
He started pacing around the secret room, his steps quickening more and more.
The three girls silently stood there watching him, not saying anything to cut off his thoughts.
After a while.
Gu Qing Shan abruptly declared: âNo, we canât wait anymore, we have to leave now!â
âGongzi, you still have an oath to adhere to! You have to kill Wang Hong Daoâ Wan Er told him.
âEven then, without a world coordinate, where would we go?â Qing Rou asked.
Gu Qing Shan froze.
His guess was so frightening that he became rushed, unable to remember even those basic problems.
It was very rare for Gu Qing Shan to become this flustered.
Gu Qing Shan sighed: âCryptic realm⊠we will lose even if we all went up against himâ
Qing Rou took his hand, speaking with determination: âIf this really is the only way, Iâll fight by your sideâ
âMe as well!â Wan Er loudly declared.
Shannu just said nothing and nodded.
ââŠThen now I need to take some suggestions and work out a measure for thatâ Gu Qing Shan said.
âBut Wang Hong Dao is at Cryptic realm, any kind of scheme would probably be useless against himâ Wan Er dejectedly said.
Gu Qing Shan pointed at her then at Qing Rou: âThe two of you are both Tribulation realm great cultivators, figures that used to stand at the top of their worlds, so try and think of something, this is directly related to our survival after allâ
âShannu, youâve lived for so many years, you should also be an experienced person, think of something as wellâ
Seeing him like that, the three girls had no choice but to wrack their brains and think of a way out of this situation.
âI suggest we use an airship to escapeâ Wan Er said.
âAirships are uselessâ Qing Rou directly dismissed that suggestion, âaccording to what we know, a Cryptic realm cultivatorâs speed is at least faster than an airshipâ
âNo, an airship can definitely do itâ Wan Er argued against that.
Gu Qing Shan cut her off, saying: âWe really canât use an airship, because weâll need at least a cultivator the same level as Wang Hong Dao to control it for Wang Hong Dao to not keep upâ
âThen I give upâ Wan Er lowered her head.
âHow aboutâŠâ Qing Rou went into thought.
Gu Qing Shan silently looked to her to avoid cutting off her line of thought.
Qing Rou was a very smart girl, she might be able to think of an idea that would make your eyes shine.
âWang Hong Dao is a calculating person, but from what we know so far, heâs also someone that treasures his own lifeâ she said
âContinueâ Gu Qing Shan urged her.
Qing Rou nodded and continued: âThen how about we think of some way to lower the floating island and get closer to the realm demon, that way weâll scare Wang Hong Dao enough that he wonât get close to the island anymoreâ
Gu Qing Shan just face-palmed and went silent.
âThatâs right, he doesnât need to get onto the island anymore and just give it a slight push downwardsâ Shannu muttered.
Qing Rou became flushed, seemingly embarrassed because she suggested such a dumb idea.
âShannu, what do you think?â Gu Qing Shan asked again.
âGongzi, Iâve been thinking about this very seriouslyâ Shannu said.
âAnd so? What solution did you come up with?â
Shannu changed the subject and asked very sincerely: âGongzi, what do you think a swordâs job is?â
âTo cut?â
âThatâs right, so I decided not to do something like thinkingâ
ââŠFine thenâ
Gu Qing Shan could only sigh.
Seems like there isnât any other way after all.
Qing Rou then asked: âGongzi, do you have any ideas?â
Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit and hesitantly spoke: âHm, I have a not-so-good idea, so I want to ask you about it to see if there are any other ideas to replace mineâ
âWhat is the idea? Why donât you tell usâ Wan Er asked, intrigued.
Gu Qing Shan then told them.
The three girls went silent.
After a while, Qing Rou finally regained her composure and spoke: âGongzi, that is⊠you canât call that an ideaâ
Qing Rou also stared at him, mumbling: âYou do have any better dumb ideas?â