Translator:
La0o9
Letâs rewind time briefly.
The mermaid pierced the king with her black trident, which absorbed all of his flesh and soul.
Gu Qing Shan took the chance to behead the mermaid in a single attack.
He immediately asked Boss about the monsterâs background.
Boss explained: âThis is a kind of spirit within the space vortex, an Occultism entity that cannot be defended againstââ it has the ability of a parasite and stays inside the body of any creature, then transforms that body into a weapon and defensive equipment through consuming the entirety of that creatureâs flesh and soul!â
âDoes its ability have any limits? Or can it simply parasite off any creature by thinking about it?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Boss replied: âI donât know either!â
Everyone felt heavy.
If that were truly the case, this monster would be even more terrifying than the Void Deity they ran into in the forest of corpse pillars.
At this momentââ-
Gu Qing Shan seemed to have realized something.
He immediately undid the black cloth over his eyes and glanced towards the monster.
The monster vanished.
At the same time, intense wind formed from Soul Points began swirling within Gu Qing Shanâs pupils.
From the looks of it, he was activating something.
âWhy did that monster suddenly vanish?â
Ye Fei Li asked in confusion.
Laura looked at Gu Qing Shanâs eyes and anxiously replied: âI think Gu Qing Shan might have done somethingâ
Zhang Ying Hao repressed the chill he was feeling and tried to regain his calm.
Ye Fei Li and Laura both had very little experience with battles, so they werenât like him who could sense the danger through sheer instincts.
Zhang Ying Hao took a deep breath and slowly said: âThatâs impossible, that monster gave off the impression of being irresistible, Gu Qing Shan shouldnât have the strength to get rid of itâ
Laura shook her head: âYouâre wrong, sometimes, strength doesnât matter in combatâ
âStrength doesnât matter in combat? I donât understand what youâre saying at allâ Ye Fei Li felt even more confused.
ââhe had only just entered the 900 million World Layers so there were a lot of things that he didnât fully understand.
Boss waved his hand to signal everyone to stop talking.
He had an extremely serious expression on his face, displaying an unusual level of solemnity.
âLaura, take out all of your strongest sealing artifacts and restrain this black tridentâ Boss said.
Laura turned towards the black trident.
After losing its master, the trident was automatically giving off faint noises.
âGot itâ Laura replied.
She took out a bunch of sealing artifacts and threw them all towards the black trident without minding too much about finesse.
Clak clak clakââ-
Soon enough, all sorts of sealing artifacts had completely covered the black trident.
A mountain of treasures.
Being suppressed below such a thing, the trident could no longer let out any sound.
Boss sighed briefly and continued: âFei Li, give me a drinkâ
Ye Fei Li handed him a bottle of Soul Points drink.
Boss drank it all in one gulp.
Throwing the can away, he flipped open his Book of Prophesized Destiny and pressed one hand against Gu Qing Shanâs back.
âWhat are you doing?â Zhang Ying Hao asked.
Boss casually replied: âYour senses are a bit lacking so most likely you donât understand whatâs going onâ
He and Zhang Ying Hao paused briefly, then both nodded at once.
Indeed, the two of them both managed to sense how dangerous the situation was, similar to Gu Qing Shan.
Boss explained: âIn that split second just now, we were just a hair away from death descending upon us. At the last possible moment, Gu Qing Shan undid the black cloth in front of his eyes and forcefully activated his techniqueâ
Everyone turned to Gu Qing Shan, only to see him standing completely still, silently staring into the void.
Invisible winds were still drifting around his body.
Boss continued: âI can sense it, Gu Qing Shanâs technique hasnât been fully completed yet, thatâs the reason why heâs standing hereââ- this became his biggest weaknessââ- in reality, once this technique is ready, he should vanish together with the monsterâ
âIn other words, we need to protect him now?â Laura asked.
âFortunately, there arenât any other monsters here, so we donât need to protect him this time aroundâ
As Boss explained, the Book of Prophesized Destiny in his hand flipped open by itself to display an image.
Gu Qing Shan and the monster appeared on the paper.
The first thing everyone saw was how Gu Qing Shan sent the black trident flying.
âThis canât be right, the black trident is still where we are, so why is it being sent flying here?â Zhang Ying Hao couldnât help but ask.
Laura turned to the pile of treasures and confirmed: âThe black trident is indeed still hereâ
Boss took a deep breath and muttered: âPerhaps, his technique used reality as a foundation to manifest both his soul and the monster into what is essentially an illusory parallel world dreamscape... what a bold way of thinking...â
The group continued watching the scene depicted in the Book of Prophesized Destiny.
In the book, the monster unleashed a series of black shadows and killed everyone.
None of them managed to retaliate at all!
The only person left standing in the garden was Gu Qing Shan.
At this point, the book became blank.
Laura urged: âHurry, let us see what happens after thatâ
âI canâtâ Boss shook his head, âThis is a dreamscape that is as real as a parallel world, with my current powers, this is the extent of what we can seeâ
âIsnât Gu Qing Shan in a lot of danger right now?â Laura worriedly asked.
âDonât worry. This is his technique, if he dies inside, the technique will simply collapse and return both the monster and himself to reality where we areâ Boss answered.
Everyone exchanged glances.
Ye Fei Li wielded his Forgetting River Soul Flaying Hook.
Zhang Ying Hao began to draw Cards from the void of space.
Laura searched through her backpack.
âââ-we need to make the preparations!
Boss shook his head and sighed emotionally: âItâs useless, that monster is too powerful. Among the three of you, Laura is only one who truly understands the foundation of a battle, and even she doesnât understand what a battle between Deities is likeâ
âThen please tell us as much as possible about what a battle between Deities is likeâ Ye Fei Li said very seriously.
Boss crouched down and pressed his hand on the ground.
âA battle between mortals is indeed determined through strength, the more powerful one will most likely winâ
While saying that, he had a contemplating expression, as if he was focusing his mind to sense something.
âIf within the infinite space vortex, once you run into a Deity-level monster, you simply have no way to probe or find out what kind of ability it hasâ
âAs soon as one side ran into the other, itâs always going to be a desperate battleââ because the other side wants to eat you, and you want to surviveâ
âBecause of this, when it comes to battles between Deities, thereâs only a single standard to determine strong and weak, or rather, victory and defeatâ
At this point, Boss appeared a bit surprised, apparently realizing something, then expressed hesitation.
After a waiting while and still havenât heard anything from Boss, Zhang Ying Hao couldnât help but ask:
âWhat exactly is the standard to weigh a battle?â
Boss glanced at him, then replied: âDonât try to weigh the outcome through strength, weigh it through who can surviveâ
After saying so, he closed his eyes and muttered: âAnd now, even I have to risk my lifeâ
âFortunately, this place is a portion of the Abyss, even if it was detached by the seven Deities, it still belongs to the Abyssâ
â...Well done, Gu Qing Shan, since there are no monsters here to disturb me, I can do this...â
After muttering for a long while to himself, Boss abruptly shouted:
âConsciousness, descend!â
Boom!
The entire garden shook intensely.
About ten breathsâ worth of time later, the void of space itself abruptly shattered.
The grass, the fountain, the lush greenery around them, the entire garden itself vanished in the blink of an eye, gone without a trace.
The group had no choice but to stand in the middle of the void.
âWhat happened?â Laura asked in surprise.
âItâs nothing much, I allowed the Abyss to detect this portion of itself, so the Abyss summoned it backâ
Boss reached his hand into the void and grabbed a sprite of blue glowing light in his hand.
âAs the Abyss is being constantly corroded by the Apocalypse of a parallel world, to its current self, being able to regain a portion of its body is greatly beneficial, a great help in an emergencyâ
âAnd so, the Abyss granted me this as payment...â
The group turned to look at his hand.
ââ-the blue glowing light seemed to contain infinite mystical properties, with a single glance, they felt themselves completely mesmerized by it, unable to turn their gaze away.
With a more careful look, they found that the glowing light was actually a small luminescent insect with a pair of transparent cicada-like wings, it almost seemed cute with its slightly plump body.
The small insect was giving off wave after wave of bright blue light.
âHow pretty, what exactly is that?â Laura exclaimed in wonder.
âThe Star Firefly, a Causality-type life formââ- it has no strength of its own, and is incapable of fightingâ
âYou mean, itâs only use is to look pretty?â Ye Fei Li asked.
Boss chuckled amusingly.
âDonât look down on this little firefly. Through its death, it can force any other lifeform to also lose their lifeâ
âIn order to produce this Effect, there must be a Cause, and that is my own deathâ
Boss turned his hand around and put the flowing light away.
âSo youâre already determined to die in battle?â Zhang Ying Hao asked in a low muttering voice.
âOf course, with our current strength, we wouldnât be able to win against this monsterâ Boss casually admitted, âRather than everyone dying here, it would be better if only I diedâ
Everyone stared blankly at him, feeling a wave of emotions washing over them.
âOoooooaaa, Boss, donât die!â
Laura couldnât help but tear up.
Zhang Ying Hao and Ye Fei Li were both speechless.
Ye Fei Liâs eyes were turning a bit red.
Zhang Ying Hao was clenching his fists tightly.
Seeing that reaction, Boss felt a bit awkward.
Truthfully, itâs been a bit tough latelyââ having suffered such heavy injuries and without any powers to use, there are a lot of things I couldnât do.
But this time around, the monster was led away by Gu Qing Shan, leaving me enough time to spend contacting the Abyss and obtaining the Star Firefly.
ââwith this, I can finally regain a bit of my power.
So itâs best if I tell them about it first.
Boss couldnât help but clear his throat and explained to the three of them: âErmââ my death isnât the same kind that youâre thinking ofââ if I happen to die, you just need to take my corpse and keep it intact, after a short while, Iâll revive thanks to the power of the Abyssâ
âââWHAT!?âââ
Laura, Zhang Ying Hao, and Ye Fei Li all shouted in shock.
They quickly recalled something.
Indeed.
There should only be a single kind of entity capable of reviving from death through slumber.
An Abyssal monster.
Was Boss actually an Abyssal monster?
As soon as they thought of that, the three of them were startled.
Then they started to panic.
âI-I-I-I, I canât really tell if heâs boasting or notâ Laura mustered her courage and asked while stuttering: âB-b-b-boss, who exactly are you?â
âWait a minute, Laura, wasnât it Gu Qing Shan and you who saved him? You didnât know his identity?â Zhang Ying Hao felt like he was going insane.
âWe did do that, but I-I-I-Iâve always thought he was just a person with a hard pastâ-â Laura pitifully replied.
Ye Fei Li waved his hand indifferently: âRegardless, heâs standing out for us, so thereâs no need for us to care about his identityâ
âFool! We just want to know the truth!â
Laura and Zhang Ying Hao both said in unison.
Watching their reactions, Boss sighed: âI thought that everyone besides Gu Qing Shan had already realized it, but it seems that was just my assumptionâ
âTo be honestââ in realityâââ
âIâm the King of the Abyssâ