Translator:
La0o9
The people in power were discussing how to arrange for Gu Qing Shanâs group within the audience room.
The man who wore a crown on his head suggested: âTheir sudden appearance in Calming Soul Country would surely draw the prying eyes of many, which could complicate their lives from now onâ
An Elder asked: âThen, what does Your Majesty suggest?â
Gu Qing Shan and everyone else turned to him.
ââ-so, this man with the crown was actually the sovereign of Calming Soul Country.
The king said: âLet them join the countryâs royal guards. The identity of every royal guard will be kept a secret, and since they are by my side, no one will spend too much effort trying to probe their originsâ
The Generals all maintained silence.
The Elders kept contemplating.
The majority of the people in the audience hall remained silent, only a few agreed: âHis Majesty is rightâ
The atmosphere was filled with a sense of awkwardness that neednât be spelled out in order to be recognized.
The king looked over everyone, then smiled: âSince no one has any objectionsâââ
ă No, that isnât suitable ă
The Water Pillar God cut off the kingâs words.
Everyone instantly regained their senses and spoke at once: âPlease grace us with your divine revelation, our Deityâ
The king also lowered himself: âThis humble one did not consider all things clearly, please excuse my impertinence, my Deityâ
The Water Pillar God didnât even bother to glance at the king and directly declared: ă As they are people brought to us by the Apostle, we should conduct a grand ceremony to notify everyone of their existence ă
An Elder from the council of Elders came forward and knelt on one knee in front of Water God and bowed: âYour will shall be done, then, which level of ceremony should we hold for them? After all, we have never welcomed any outsiders beforeâ
ă That is certainly a point to be considered, you are free to discuss among yourselves ă
After saying so, Water God smiled: ă We cannot allow our guests to stand there and watch our discussions, that is highly inappropriate. Lead them to rest, have some food, and change their attires ă
âUnderstoodâ
Several maids came forward and led Gu Qing Shanâs group out of the audience hall.
Water God kept her sight on them as they gradually left, still maintaining a gentle smile.
ă Finally, we have some new blood ă
She muttered emotionally.
...
A wide, open guest room.
The walls were decorated with intricate patterns, the carpet made from the hide of a soft, white-furred animal.
Snacks and drinks had been amply prepared.
Several maids stood on standby, ready to receive their orders as soon as they needed to.
âThe discussion will last for a very long time, please have some snacksâ
A maid lifted a tray of snacks and came over to them, softly offering.
No one moved.
In this foreign environment, there was no telling what kinds of ability they would run into so how could they eat something that someone else offered so easily?
The maid appeared regretful, then hesitantly explained: âThese snacks were intricately made, the taste of which cannot be comparedâ
Saying so, she retreated and was about to place the tray back onto the table.
Seeing her like that, Gu Qing Shan sensed something.
âPlease give me a pieceâ
He said.
The maid came forward and lifted the tray.
Gu Qing Shan took a piece of snack from it, waited until Adorable confirmed that there were no skills affecting it before he put it in his mouth.
The snack certainly tasted good, the likes of which even Gu Qing Shan couldnât imagine how it was made.
âWhat extraordinary tasteââ I want to trouble you for a bit, please tell me how you made this snackâ
Gu Qing Shan picked up another piece of the snack and asked the maid.
The other maids were surprised.
Zhang Ying Hao explained for him: âHeâs a top-class gourmet chef, famous throughout the entirety of the 900 million World Layers. Many people would feel honored to enjoy his personal cookingâ
The maids all displayed an understanding expression on their faces.
The maid who offered the food displayed an appropriate smile and replied: âThis is a snack made for the royal family, the recipe of which is kept a secret that only royal family employees are allowed to knowââ- however, as you are our esteemed guests, we will try to ask and see if we can divulge the recipe to you, sirâ
Gu Qing Shan nodded: âThen let me thank you in advanceâ
He and the maid paused for a brief moment.
The maid lowered her head, then silently retreated.
Everyone else kept quiet, still focused on resting.
A few moments later, several other maids arrived with formal clothes.
âPlease change your clothesâ the maids said in unison.
Zhang Ying Hao walked up to check it and sent his voice to Gu Qing Shan: âNo issuesâ
âOf course, it would instead be strange if there are issues with such a minor thingâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
A maid turned to Laura and said: âIt is highly inconvenient for you to change your clothes here, please come with me to another room, we shall return right awayâ
Laura looked at Gu Qing Shan, full of hesitation.
Males and females must naturally keep distance, and since she was a noble Empress, she naturally couldnât change her clothes right here.
But she was also anxious to leave Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan smiled and told her: âCome, big brother has something to tell youâ
Laura walked up to him.
Gu Qing Shan raised the Silent Dusk Cloak to obscure the maidsâ eyes and covered Laura.
A short moment later.
The cloak was lowered.
âHave you remembered my words?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Laura nodded: âHm, I will keep big broâs words in mind to not commit any rude actionâ
She nodded to everyone and left with the maid.
A few moments later.
The maids seemed to have received some sort of news.
They exchanged glances and bowed at once: âPlease change your clothes there, we shall be with you shortlyâ
âAlright, go ahead. Weâve troubled youâ Gu Qing Shan waved his hand to dismiss them.
The maids went away.
Gu Qing Shan turned to Zhang Ying Hao immediately.
Zhang Ying Hao took a deep breath and spoke with a serious expression: âI have a few ways to escape pursuit, but this is a closed world, and the enemyâs forces are strong. Even if we can avoid their trap, we wouldnât have anywhere to escape toâ
âNo need to worry about that, we need to prepare right away, they might spring the trap any moment nowâ Gu Qing Shan said in a low tone of voice.
âGot itâ
Zhang Ying Hao started to draw Cards from the void of space.
Boss had remained silent up to this point, but now suddenly asked: âYou said earlier that Water God was probing us, what was she trying to find out?â
Gu Qing Shan replied: âI want to know that as wellâ
Saying so, he released a deep blue mass of light from his handââ just like the light that Water God released in the audience hall.
This grand light fell down and enveloped everyone.
Lines of glowing text swiftly appeared on the War God UI.
[Youâve been temporarily equipped with the large-scale human war system super appraisal function]
[Youâve obtained the following information:]
[Zhang Ying Hao, human male. Combat state: peak, combat prowess: level 8]
[Ye Fei Li, World Destroyer. Combat state: slightly fatigued (lacking Soul Points), combat prowess: level 10]
[Gu Qing Shan, identity cannot be determined (his identity is obscured by a powerful secret technique. Unless he informs you of his own accord or you are able to defeat the one protecting his secret, his identity remains unknown). Combat state: peak, combat prowess: level 21]
[Boss (this personageâs self-titled name holds priority), identity: Lord of Infinite Origin. Combat state: Absolutely weakened (heavily wounded to near-death, does not have enough combat power), combat prowess: level 99]
Gu Qing Shan swiftly skimmed through everything.
Strange.
This Water God isnât the Water God Iâm looking for, but she has the large-scale human war system appraisal function equipped
Who exactly is she?
Asking for my identity as soon as she saw me, what was her purpose?
As there wasnât much time, Gu Qing Shan didnât think too much further about this and informed Boss immediately: âThey most likely already know about how serious your injuries areâ
Sensing the blue light, Boss understood what Gu Qing Shan was trying to say.
He sighed: âI thought my identity would at least be able to suppress them, but it was just wishful thinkingâ
Gu Qing Shan nodded: âYing Hao, the situation is extremely terrible, we need to begin right awayâ
Zhang Ying Hao displayed a Card in front of everyone and said: âThis is my ace in the hole, please do as I sayâ
The Card depicted a hitman wielding dual daggers.
Behind the hitman, his shadow had manifested as a second person that made the same actions that the hitman did.
Zhang Ying Hao tossed the Card out and explained: âThis is the [Flesh Marionette] Card, itâs able to receive all damage for us right before the moment of our deaths, manifest the appropriate wounds, then turned into our actual corpsesâ
âTo activate it, Iâll need to use 70% of my power, as well as a drop of your blood in order to replicate your bodiesâ
Without hesitation, Gu Qing Shan cut his finger with a small sword phantom and flung a drop of blood onto the Card.
The Card glowed a bit brighter.
Ye Fei Li also let out a drop of blood and flicked it onto the Card.
Boss hesitated: âIâve already used up the last of my blood, what now?â
Zhang Ying Hao told him: âA strand of fur or hair is fine tooâ
Boss scowled, but pulled a strand of hair and placed it onto the Card.
Gu Qing Shan looked at Zhang Ying Hao.
Zhang Ying Hao sensed it and nodded: âI can activate it any time, but after activation, Iâll be greatly weakened and unable to participate in combatâ
âNo worries. Now weâll need to wait and see if âthatâ will actually happenâ
Gu Qing Shan said.
He pulled a piece of paper out from his mouth and unrolled it in front of everyone.
A single line of text was written here using Divine Script:
[I can only buy a bit of time, quickly run away, or you will lose your lives without a doubt]
Below that, a simple diagram depicting the route of escape was drawn.