After Gu Qing Shanâs group ventured into the God of Lifeâs ruin.
Calming Soul Country.
Night had fallen.
A faint shadow appeared from the back entrance of the palace, then quickly flew towards another direction.
No one managed to discover the shadow as it went on its way.
The shadow stuck close to a complicated winding road and eventually made it to a secluded corner of the city, right outside Xuan Yaâs house.
The shadow paused briefly before heading inside.
Shiiiiiiââ-
An invisible formation abruptly appeared and pushed the shadow back.
ă How careful, you actually arranged a cultivatorâs formation around your own home for protection ă
ă However, you think you can stop me with only this much? ă
The shadow muttered, then abruptly sped up and charged forward again.
Bam!
Without anyone sensing what means he used, the formation shattered.
If Gu Qing Shan was still inside Calming Soul Country, he could immediately notice the formation shattering.
And he could instantly arrive.
However, as he was stuck inside the ruin, there was no way for him to sense anything happening outside.
The shadow slowly walked forward step by step, then briefly flashed and reappeared inside the house.
ă It is still exactly the same... Xuan Ya, have you been waiting for my return? ă
The shadow sighed.
He walked up to the childâs cradle and undid his camouflage to reveal his true face.
He was the handsome, tall prince!
The prince stared closely at the sleeping child and spoke in a gentle voice: ă Xuan Ya, take a look. Can you see how well our child has grown, his visage and eyebrows are so familiar to you ă
However, the prince didnât know that Xuan Yaâs wandering soul was standing exactly in front of him, across the cradle.
The soul displayed a sorrowful expression, seemingly having seen through something.
The prince continued: ă Xuan Ya, this is a good child, Iâve always liked him a lot. In truth, Iâve always wanted to relieve you of your identity as a guardian, but regretfully, I later found out that this was a soul-bound covenant, and Iâm helpless in changing it ă
ă Hah, yes, Iâm helpless to change this...ă
Saying so, the prince took out a luxurious dagger engraved with gems of many colors from his sleeves.
ă A child born through the bloodline of a royal family member and a guardian, if they ever make it past three years old, will surely absorb the power of two royal family members ă
ă The only members left of the royal family are Father and myself ă
ă Xuan Ya, do you know what it means to lose oneâs power during this era? ă
ă You surely do, I donât want to become crippled ă
Hearing that, Xuan Yaâs wandering soul couldnât contain herself and tried to say something, a lot of something, in fact.
But how could the words of a wandering soul reach a living person?
And Ye Fei Li wasnât here.
So the prince naturally heard none of it.
However, he seemed to have thought of something.
ââ-perhaps it was the unresolved issue between himself and Xuan Ya.
Watching his child, the prince muttered in a low voice: ă Thatâs right, I shouldnât have gotten so close with you, and definitely shouldnât have conceived this child with you ă
ă But then, I had already fallen in love with you ă
His voice became emotional: ă As excellent of a guardian as you were, even Father felt a sense of pressure, it was him who permitted me to come close to you ă
ă I have no regretsââ because you have truly become mineââ even if you are no longer of this world, even if your child is dead, that fact would never change ă
ă Forgive me ă
Saying so, the prince exuded intense killing intent.
He raised his dagger and suddenly thrusted it towards the sleeping child!
Kihââ
The long dagger was blocked by a layer of light.
The light protected the child.
ă This isââ- ă
Before the prince realized what happened, the covenant had already been triggered.
The covenant between the royal family and the Blade Edge Pledge!
ă Aaaaaaa! ă
The prince screamed in horror and pain.
ă No! How could you be a person of the Blade Edge Pledge!? Youâre only three years old, you canât possibly sign a covenant on your own accord! ă
The prince shouted in despair.
He had gone against their covenant on his own accord and tried to kill a member of the Blade Edge Pledge.
Earlier, both Laura and Boss had double-checked this covenant and confirmed that it was a very strict one without any loopholes.
And anyone who went against it would immediately lose their life!
The prince collapsed to his knees, his mouth opened wide as if someone was clutching his throat, unable to utter a single word.
The light that protected the child slowly expanded to envelop him as well.
Within the light, the prince turned into a pile of bones.
The light didnât fade away.
The bones slowly continued to be eaten away until it was completely gone.
The prince was dead.
The child remained safe.
From now on, this young child would be the only royal family member in the entirety of Calming Soul Country.
Standing next to her child, Xuan Ya stood still and watched the prince until he was thoroughly dead.
She turned away, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes.
...
At another location.
Looking at the golden ring on Gu Qing Shanâs hand, Zhang Ying Hao was a bit confused: âIt wouldnât do us any good with just the ring. Without the kingâs memories, we wouldnât be able to tell if we ran into any special locationsâ
Gu Qing Shan smiled.
âDo you think that thereâs a technique that would allow every member of the royal family to hold a piece of sealed memory in their minds since birth?â
Hearing that, Zhang Ying Hao hesitated to answer.
After so many years, the weapons, treasures, and even servants that the God of Life left behind had been rendered completely useless.
If that was the case, how could a technique cast by a Deity over a hundred million years ago persist and enable the pieces of unsealed memory to remain within the minds of every royal family member after all this time?
This was a bit far-fetched.
Gu Qing Shan continued: âThis ring was the key to restraining the Occultism spirit, when I wore it, the Occultism spirit couldnât attack me at allââ so you can take a guess about what itâs capable ofâ
âDo you mean that...â
âYup, it had always been this ring that the king wore from the very startâ
Gu Qing Shan replied.
In his vision, lines of glowing text had already appeared for a long while:
[God of Lifeâs Ring of Memories]
[This ring contains the information left by the God of Life, only by arriving at the correct locations would the information inside be triggered and provided]
Gu Qing Shan skimmed through it, then looked at the rest of them.
But none of them showed any interest.
Gu Qing Shan was surprised: âWhat kind of expression is that? Arenât you interested in the ruin of a Deity?â
Ye Fei Li replied: âWell, how could any leftover treasures and such excite us anymore?â
âHm? What do you mean?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âWe have her majesty, Lauraâ
â...Thatâs trueâ Gu Qing Shan nodded and continued: âAnd in reality, we already signed a covenant with the king, we would help him explore the ruins in exchange for his help fighting against the four Deities, and the four fragments of the Cardâ
âBecause of that, we canât take anything inside this ruin anyways. Right now, we can only follow the information of the ring to reach the deepest chamber of the ruin and teleport backâ
Everyone nodded.
Laura appeared excited:
âThatâs great, this is a treasure trove leftover from a hundred million years ago, even if we canât take anything, it would still be quite an experience checking it outâ
Boss asked: âHowever, before that, what should we do with this ring after we get out?â
âReturn it to a descendant of the God of Lifeâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
At this point, Zhang Ying Hao seemed to have thought of something and displayed a hesitant expression.
âWhatâs with you?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âMy black cat can do more than just find the way to the deepest chamber of the ruin, we can actually find the direction to another placeâ Zhang Ying Hao replied.
âSuch as?â
âSuch as a different route to returnâ
â...Why do we need to take another route?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Zhang Ying Hao cleared his throat and explained: âIn the forest of corpse pillars, we ran into a Void Deity; in this garden, we met an Occultism spirit, who knows what else we would run into next? If we need risking our lives like this, weâll really lose themâ
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Gu Qing Shan contemplated for a while before asking: âBoss, what do you think?â
Boss replied: âIâll just say one thing. It is very rare for portions of the Abyss to separate from it. Just now, when I returned the garden to the Abyss, I obtained a Star Firefly, so if we can provide even more portions of the Abyss, weâd gain more benefitsâ
âWhatâs a Star Firefly?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Boss explained it all again.
Just like Ye Fei Li and the rest from before, Gu Qing Shan also exclaimed in shock.
He then recalled something and asked: âThatâs right, Boss, Iâve always had a certain question that I canât find the answer to. Now that youâre here, I want to ask you about itâ
âGo aheadâ
âIâve always assumed that the Eternal Abyss was a location, but from what Iâve learnt recently, I feel like it might actually be a type of advanced life form instead, so what exactly is it?â
After thinking deeply about it, Boss replied: âI canât answer that, because entities that donât belong to the Abyss cannot be allowed to learn the truth of the Abyss, unlessâââ
âUnless what?â
âUnless you draw the attention of the Abyss, manage to pass its test, become a part of it, and obtain a unique Abyssal form of your ownâ
âOnly then would you be qualified to learn the truth of the Abyssâ
Boss continued: âDonât think of this as an easy task. Even after several ten thousand years, the Demon Dragon still hasnât managed to obtain an Abyssal formââ it could only retain its original formâ
Hearing that, Gu Qing Shan recalled something Lin told him a while ago.
âRight, Lin once told me that the Abyss is observing meâ
Gu Qing Shan commented.
The smile on Bossâ face vanished completely as he appeared very surprised.
âIs that really what she said?â