Surrounded by Darkness.
Gu Qing Shan abruptly sat up.
He pushed open the lid of the stone chest.
A messy room full of empty chests and nothing else greeted him.
This was the secret room located on the Gemini star.
Gu Qing Shan had returned from the elemental fairy world.
He suddenly noticed something moving in his hand.
When he looked down, he found that it was the dollâs leg.
As he let go, the dollâs leg slid down his chest by itself and went back to the doll that was waiting here, reattaching itself.
âIâm so tired, I want to go back and rest for a while. If you want to go to that world again, go to the red brick house and tell meâ the doll tiredly told him.
Gu Qing Shan crouched down, clasped his fist and asked: âYouâve worked hard, how should I thank you?â
The doll was about to leave but hesitantly stopped as it heard his question.
âAre you a cultivator?â it asked.
âI amâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
âDo you have spirit stones? You can just show it to me for a bit since I like to collect rocks, but Iâve never seen a spirit stone beforeâ the doll nervously said.
Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit and took out a spirit stone for the doll.
He purposely chose the best Perfect-grade spirit stone he had, which looked like a glittering, transparent glass pebble.
As soon as he took this Perfect-grade spirit stone out, it began to exude faint white mist that drifted around itself.
ââthis white mist was the spirit energy that naturally scattered from spirit stones over time, any normal person who came into contact with it would feel their entire body becoming refreshed.
âSo this is a spirit stone, how pretty...â the doll lightly touched the spirit stone and happily said.
âIâll give it to youâ Gu Qing Shan told the doll.
âGive it to me? Can I really have it?â the doll appeared greatly expectant as it looked up at him.
Gu Qing Shan replied without issues: âOf course, I have a lot of spirit stones, itâs fine if I give you just one. Go ahead and take it, itâs a token of my appreciationâ
The doll happily cheered: âThatâs awesome, I now have one more rock in my collection, it wonât be far until I can host an exhibit!â
It bowed to bid Gu Qing Shan goodbye, hugged the spirit stone, and vanished.
Gu Qing Shan was also affected by the dollâs joy and smiled.
All of a sudden, he was afflicted with an unknown sensation.
Gu Qing Shan couldnât help but shiver a bit.
âGongzi?â Shannuâs worried voice sounded.
Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath and regained his sense, telling her: âItâs nothing, probably my Measure Tribulation quickly approachingâ
His long days of peaceful and steadfast cultivation under the desert of the Earth World had finally come to fruition.
It should only be a couple of days before the Measure Tribulation truly arrives.
Gu Qing Shan went silent briefly.
A certain thought flashed across his mind.
Hm?
I think I just recalled something important just now.
Gu Qing Shan searched his thoughts, wanting to catch that notion again.
âGongzi, since we still have a bit of time, letâs deal with the Abyssal Fate Weaverâs matter firstâ Shannuâs voice came again.
Gu Qing Shanâs train of thought was interrupted, so he replied: âBut sheâs an Eternal being, we need to at least come up with a solution before we attempt anythingâ
After saying that, the thought just now had already vanished, so he couldnât quite catch it again.
Gu Qing Shan stood up from the chest, walked out from the secret room into the bottom of the well.
Indeed, just as Shannu said, I need to face the Abyssal Fate Weaver again.
But that thought I had just earlier also seemed to be really important.
While he was thinking, something else caught his attention.
ââ-now this is a big problem.
Although this dried well wasnât too deep, its walls were completely smooth without a place to hold onto.
Since the supernatural powers of all living beings on the Gemini star were sealed, as a normal person, Gu Qing Shan had no way to climb out from this well.
He couldnât help but disregard the thought he had just now to resolve the current issue.
There are no other ways to climb back up, after thinking it through, thereâs only...
âShannu?â
âGongzi, Iâm hereâ
Shannu swiftly appeared.
âThenâââ
âDonât worry gongzi, Iâll do itâ
Shannu smiled as she lifted Gu Qing Shan up, held him in her chest, and flew up.
Dawn had just arrived on the Gemini star, so the shroud of the night was receding while faint rays of light peered through the layers of cloud above onto the stream and forest below, dying the world in an endlessly warm tone.
Within those first few rays of light, an elegant girl hugging a young man in her chest flew out from an empty well, then landed on the ground.
âHah... this planet. Hah... this kind of seal, tchââ I really donât like itâ
Gu Qing Shan cleared his throat and complained.
He quickly left Shannuâs embrace and stood up straight.
Shannu was smiling so brightly her eyes had already curved into a pair of crescent moons, silently stood by his side, and gave no comments.
Gu Qing Shan could only continue the conversation by himself: âWe have to seize every moment we have right now, check for me where the Abyssal Fate Weaver isâ
Shannu released her inner sight and searched through the entire planet.
âShe is currently downstream, searching everywhere for the Old Guideâ
âAlright, letâs go take care of her again and see what kind of secret sheâs hidingâ
âWhat should we do now?â
âFirst, we will...â
...
Downstream.
The tall slender woman stood still on top of a large rock with both eyes closed.
Since this morning, she had walked along the entire stream twice from upstream to downstream, but still found no signs of the Old Guide.
This old man is too mysterious, I canât grasp his whereabouts at all.
Is he actually the master of the Gemini star?
Right now, she had no choice but to rely on her sense of smell in order to seek him out.
The previous time the Old Guide showed up, it was also thanks to the smell of his noodles drifting in the air that I found him.
Since my senses are vastly superior to Gu Qing Shan, as soon as the Old Guide saw someone and cooked some noodles, I would definitely be able to smell it first.
I can only hope that the first person to meet the Old Guide today isnât Gu Qing Shan.
Time slowly passed.
A breeze of wind blew past.
The tall slender woman stood absolutely still.
All of a sudden, an incredibly faint smell of noodle broth was picked up by her.
The tall slender woman opened her eyes, her body turned into a blurred image as she charged straight towards the smell.
She was running against the stream with all your strength, and still gaining speed.
Faster.
Faster!
I need to eat the Old Guideâs noodles before Gu Qing Shan does!
The tall slender woman went to the middle of the stream, then made a turn away from the coiling body of water to witness a certain scene.
Gu Qing Shan was receiving a large bowl of noodles with both hands.
The tall slender womanâs heart sank.
Damn it, I still arrived one step too late.
But thereâs no telling whoâs going to win just yet!
The tall slender woman swiftly crouched down and picked up a few pebbles.
âYAH!â
With a loud roar, she threw the pebbles away.
The pebbles shot out like bullets, carrying with them intense momentum as they aimed for Gu Qing Shan, but were abruptly stopped mid-air.
The Old Guide glared at her: âYoung lady, what are you doing? Do not bother other people from tasting my noodlesâ
While he asked that, Gu Qing Shan had already received the bowl and started eating.
âItâs delicious!â
He praised, then even glanced triumphantly at the tall slender woman.
The tall slender womanâs heart went cold, then started burning with rage.
No, I have to think of something, Iâm not going to admit defeat that easily!
She held back her killing intent and walked up to the Old Guide.
âOld senior, I would like a bowl of noodles as wellâ she politely asked him.
The Old Guideâs expression of anger vanished and swiftly replied with joy: âAh, that is fine. Wait for a few momentsâ
A few moments later.
Another bowl of steaming hot noodles was prepared.
The tall slender woman glanced at Gu Qing Shan.
He had only eaten half a bowl.
If I can finish this before he does, I will be able to eat another bowl of noodles right away.
Since the amount of noodles the Old Guide prepares every day is limited, as long as I eat more than Gu Qing Shan does, the Old Guide wouldnât protect him any longer.
With that thought in mind, the tall slender woman picked up a pair of chopsticks and immediately began to wolf down the bowl of noodles.
Gu Qing Shan also sneaked a glance at her.
âTch, donât eat that quickly, you might chokeâ he advised her.
The tall slender woman glared at him as she put her chopsticks down.
She was already done!
Even the noodle broth was fully consumed, leaving nothing behind!
She raised the bowl with both hands in front of the Old Guide and thanked him: âYour food was very good, please give me another bowl, thank you very muchâ
âWell, well, well, if you like it that much, Iâll happily make you another bowlâ the Old Guide happily replied.
He then began to cook another bowl of noodles.
With some time to wait, the tall slender woman looked straight at Gu Qing Shan.
Their gazes clashed straight on.
âI misspoke yesterday, please let me explainâ Gu Qing Shan said sincerely.
The tall slender woman turned away, ignoring him.
Gu Qing Shan scratched his head and glanced at the Old Guide.
Her anger hasnât subsided yet, how aboutââ we ask one question first?
Seeing Gu Qing Shanâs gaze, the Old Guide cleared his throat and asked the tall slender woman: âWhy do you want to obtain the twin swords?â
Mystic Ability: [See you once again]ââ- activate!
The tall slender woman fell into a blank state as if caught in an illusion.
Her face appeared nostalgic as she replied: âI want to chase after those people who betrayed our trust and escaped, also to find out what exactly was on the other side of the Reality Gateâ
âRegretfully, the Reality Gate is isolated by a destructive force that could thoroughly destroy even the Abyssal entities who had Eternal life if they tried to approach itâ
âThere was a certain theory in the Abyss that those Abyssal monsters were not killed, but was actually corroded by another fate, thus losing their livesâ
âI do not understand this strange theory, but many terrifyingly powerful monsters had come forward to confirm that this theory was correctâ
âIn the Abyss, there only exist a single weapon that could resist against such Fate Corrosion, that is the Swords of Changing Fate, the Evil-warding weapon of the Bottomless Abyss, the Guardian against Ultimate Extinctionââ the twin swords Heaven and Earthâ