Oooooâ-
Chugga chugga chugga!
The train quickly travelled through the darkness.
There was a large network of railways deep underground, constructed by the Starlight Empire in the past.
Gu Qing Shan understood the full extent of the Starlight Empire trainâs functions and structure.
While Su Xue Er knew the path forward thanks to her star chart.
The two of them worked with each other to pilot the train through the darkness, changing from track to track as they followed the instructions of the star chart.
A night quickly went by, the train continued to run without being tired, but the two of them were already exhausted.
ââ-right now, everyone were ordinary people, so after about half a day of walking, a short struggle against a monster, as well as an entire night of piloting the train, they had been completely drained.
âQing Shan, hand over the control to me, you can rest firstâ Su Xue Er said.
Gu Qing Shan smiled reluctantly and told her:
âWait a bit longer, at around 6 oâclock, the train will need to transform againâ
Recalling the instructions of the star chart, Su Xue Er muttered: âThatâs true, there will be no more tracks up ahead, itâs nothing but completely empty darkness, how do you intend to cross it?â
âWeâre going to transform into a shipââ- both Hazeden and Guyan know how to pilot a ship, so weâll leave it to them at that timeâ
Saying so, Gu Qing Shan quickly returned to operating the train.
...
The train gradually slowed down.
When the tracks completely disappeared, the train continued flying forward and slowly transformed into a metal ship.
âIâve rested well enoughâ Hazeden showed up at the control room, âItâll be our turn nowâ
Guyan also came and informed them: âThe two of you should quickly get to rest, we donât know what kind of situation weâll face next, so itâs best that we keep our stamina upâ
Gu Qing Shan went with Su Xue Er back to the resting area.
Hazedenâs subordinates were already waiting here for them.
âHonorable allies, please come this wayâ
One of the subordinates bowed.
Gu Qing Shan and Su Xue Er were led to the dining compartment of the train, where a hearty breakfast had been prepared for the two of them.
While they ate, Sha Qiang woke up due to the alluring smell and showed up to have a bit before going back to sleep.
âThis Archfiend is very specialâ Gu Qing Shan commented.
âHm, not only is he strong, heâs also loved by his subordinates, quite a considerable leaderâ Su Xue Er replied.
Gu Qing Shan recalled the battle from the night before and asked again: âXue Er, when we piloted the Mech armor to fight, there was a moment where the Mech abruptly shifted slightly, it was thanks to that that we managed to avoid the black flamesâ attack. Did you really not perform that maneuver?â
Su Xue Er giggled: âYes, I couldnât react in time at all, are you still worried about that?â
âYeah, I feel like that wasnât a coincidence. This Mech armor was an intricate and advanced weapon of war, without being ordered to, it would not arbitrarily make a moveâ
Gu Qing Shan pondered a bit, then suddenly asked: âSuper Dimensional equipment, was it you who took control of the Mech?â
An electronic voice answered: [It was not me, I am currently in the middle of transforming, unable to perform such a thing]
ââthen there really arenât any plausible reasons at all.
Could it really have been a coincidence?
Gu Qing Shanâs mind quickly turned.
He abruptly took out a small piece of bone and took a careful look at it.
ââ-this was the piece of bone that contained the pixieâs corpse from before. At the time, as soon as it was opened, the pixieâs body immediately decayed and turned into dust.
Seeing this piece of bone, Su Xue Er recalled what happened at the time.
She curiously asked: âQing Shan, you said that you can tell how hard or soft any bone that you hold in your hand, is that true?â
Gu Qing Shan continued to observe the bone in his hand and answered her while feeling uneasiness: âThatâs right, I canâ
Su Xue Er went flushed, lightly grabbed Gu Qing Shanâs hand and whispered: âThen... can you take a look if my hand is soft or hard? Perhaps Iâve fought too much that my fingers became hard and blistered...â
Gu Qing Shan took her hand without hesitation, and even squeezed her arm a bit before answering: âYour hand and arm are both too soft, thereâs no muscles in them at all so I think you wonât be able to fight for very long; furthermore, youâve never gone through any resilience training, your extremely delicate skin would also increase your sensitivity to pain and make you unsuitable for close combatâ
Su Xue Er froze.
Gu Qing Shan turned his words and continued: âThatâs strange, I remember that you used to train in both martial arts and body strength, the Su clanâs martial arts was very famous in the Confederate, and you were the eldest young lady...â
âI used to be able to perform a martial secret technique as wellââ the Crane Strike. But itâs been too long since I last trained, so I think Iâve gotten rustyâ Su Xue Er giggled.
Gu Qing Shan was surprised: âSo thatâs why, but itâs ok, I know a few training methods. Iâll teach you when thereâs time, after training for a short while, youâll slowly be able to regain your martial senses from the pastâ
Seeing his sincere appearance, Su Xue Er thought briefly before smiling: âI donât need to study martial arts anymore, since Iâm a Card user now, I can just use my Cards to fightâ
Her face became flushed again, whispering in the tiniest voice she could: âQing Shan, can you help me take a look at other parts as well, just in case Iâm not longer fit to train martial artsâ
Gu Qing Shan waved his hand dismissively and replied with a serious expression: âThereâs a thing called âseeing it once, seeing it allâ. By just touching your hand and arm, I can already tell your overall situation. To be honest, your martial arts foundations are quite well-built. If I remember correctly, you should be the most excellent among all the martial arts peers at the timeâ
âItâs unfortunate... truthfully, I obtained a martial scripture very recently, bestowed to me by a martial arts grandmaster from the Bygone Era, I could have given it to you for you to train withâ
Gu Qing Shan continued: âI heard that by reading through this martial scripture just once, an unimaginable seed of martial art would be sowed within yourself. Although Iâm a sword cultivator, whenever I recite it during my cultivation, I would always gain a deeper understanding of power, so it should be something to be treasuredâ
Su Xue Er froze again.
This is completely different from what I imagined.
ââbut it is very warm.
True warmth.
Su Xue Erâs gaze mellowed out and softly asked: âWhat kind of martial scripture is it?â
Gu Qing Shan paused.
When Lin taught him this martial scripture, she didnât tell him anything else, so he doesnât know what it was called at all.
But this martial scripture was truly potent and greatly benefited any cultivator, so he once asked Lin if he could spread this martial scripture to others and teach it to others as well.
At the time, Lin didnât really care and told him to do as he liked.
Thatâs why he was currently offering it to Su Xue Er.
âThe martial scripture name... Iâm not really sure either, the person who taught me didnât mention it. Iâll recite it to you now, so try and commit it to memoryâ
Gu Qing Shan clearly recited each word and letter of the martial scripture, waiting until Su Xue Er had fully memorized it that he informed her about his own understanding and experience with it.
Su Xue Er curiously asked: âYou said that youâre always reciting this scripture, wouldnât that affect your other activities?â
Gu Qing Shan carefully explained: âBeside the time where Iâm training my swordsmanship, I would constantly recite this martial scripture during every meal, every conversation, and every activity, so it doesnât affect the cultivation of my swordsmanshipâ
âAlright, Iâll give it a try. But right now, our powers have already been stripped...âSu Xue Er clenched her fist.
Gu Qing Shan told her: âEven if you only comprehend it, that is still your own comprehension, which would help to fortify the foundation of your martial artsâ
Su Xue Er closed her eyes and silently chanted the martial scripture.
At first, Gu Qing Shan kept an eye on Su Xue Er, but then he shifted his attention.
Lines of glowing text appeared on the War God UI:
[Time is up, the Omni Stone has reset]
[Youâve obtained a new ability from the Void: Demon Cat Transformation]
[Demon Cat Transformation: You will transform into a real demon cat]
[Trigger incantation: I am a cat]
Gu Qing Shan froze.
Why does such an ability exist in the void?
Whatâs the use of turning into a demon cat?
Gu Qing Shan hesitated, but decided not to activate [Demon Cat Transformation]