With Gu Qing Shanâs help, Lady Fusi leaned on the wall and slowly laid down.
âTime is an eternal mystery, Gu Qing Shanâ
She said as she was gasping for breath.
Gu Qing Shan nodded and replied: âIâve never been able to fully comprehend the truth about timeâ
âBecause it is good at changingâ
Lady Fusi continued: âI fully believe that the [Chaos] faction must have spent an untold amount of power in order to find our only moment of carelessness within the lengthy River of Time, or perhaps evenâââ
âPerhaps even what?â Gu Qing Shan pursued.
Lady Fusiâs expression turned a bit heavy as she slowly explained: âIn this secret room of [Order]âs creation, we had arranged countless magical spells and powers to defend it, yet they managed to slip in so easily. I suspect that they might have used the power of the Law of Fateâ
âFurthermore, the dark golden sand that the [Chaos] faction used to alter [Order], even I have never seen or heard of such a thing, so it must have been a precious treasure that they spend endless effort to createâ
Gu Qing Shan slowly recognized something off in her tone, after a bit of careful thinking, he even felt a slight chill down his back.
âLady Fusi, what are you worried about?â he asked directly.
Lady Fusi replied: âThe war between [Order] and [Chaos] will enter its most crucial moment at the time of the Spireâs destruction. Iâm afraid that my old enemy will keep a constant close eye on that period, preparing to stop any unexpected occurrencesââ- or perhaps even changing its resultsâ
âHavenât all of the Awaitings fallen into slumber?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âBoth he and I, because we wield the power of Time, we are able to slowly recover our strength through the 10 trillion years[1]ââ- Iâm worried that he might have made other preparationsâ Lady Fusi replied.
She struggled a bit to sit up, then said: âYou mustnât underestimate him and return to the time of the Spireâs destruction right away, ensuring that the ultimate outcome is set in stoneâ
Gu Qing Shan paused for a second.
âCould there... still be other variables?â he asked.
âItâs hard to say. Anything that hasnât happened has its own set of variables, especially a great event that will affect the fate of all living beings within the infinite worlds like thisâ
âIâve masked your travel through time with the illusion that youâve disappeared, which should make sure that [Chaos] couldnât noticeâââ
Lady Fusi breathed out weakly and continued: âBut while we return to this distant past, time had continued to flow since the moment we leftâ
âI understand that, so we need to go back to the future right away!â Gu Qing Shan urged.
Lady Fusi shook her head and said in a low voice: âThe majority of my power has been used to alter [Order], so I no longer have enough strength to send both you and me back at the same timeâ
âSince Iâm an Awaiting, I cannot carry [Order] and [Chaos], so you are our only remaining hopeâ
She looked at Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shanâs heart slowly sank.
Lady Fusi went back 10 trillion years, then expended her strength to change [Order], so she had already used up nearly all of her power.
She had already done everything she could.
Nowââ
Gu Qing Shan looked at the Card in his hand.
The unicorn depicted in the Card was watching him.
âLady Fusi, leave the rest to meâ
Gu Qing Shan said.
Lady Fusi nodded and forced out a smile.
âGu Qing Shan, you must return right awayââ before [Chaos] absorbs all the Prayers and awaken the Awaitings on its side, you must change it!â
She used the rest of her strength to push Gu Qing Shan from his shoulder.
The void of space broke open, revealing the grand River of Time within it and swallowed Gu Qing Shan whole.
...
10 trillion years later.
The [Chaos] bronze palace.
Zhang Ying Hao and Ye Ru Xi were both waiting for the results.
All of a sudden, lines of grey text appeared in front of their eyes:
[This Apotheotic Combat trial has been completed]
[The Apotheotic Combat had ended]
[The founding Deity of the Era of Chaos has been decided based on your performance so far]
[Challengers of the Apotheotic Combat are being transported]
The gloomy grey fog then spread through the entire palace as something was about to occur.
Zhang Ying Hao raised his shot glass and finished it all at once.
âAre you nervous?â Ye Ru Xi asked.
âThereâs nothing to be nervous about, Ye Fei Li can definitely win. Even if something goes wrong, thereâs still Gu Qing Shan, so there wonât be any issuesâ Zhang Ying Hao pushed his sunglasses up and replied in a seemingly casual tone.
The grey fog continuously surged upwards, from which a figure appeared.
Ye Fei Li.
He was still wearing the Clown mask, his body full of terrible injuries, but his spirit was as refreshed as the bloody bright aura around his body, his presence completely changed.
âYo, quite sure I wonâ
The Clown waved his hand towards the other two.
The two of them relaxed a bit.
âVery nice, youâve grown a lot strongerâ Zhang Ying Hao praised.
âIs this Ye Fei Li? Why do I feel like heâs somebody else?â Ye Ru Xi doubtfully asked.
âAfter donning the mask, he would become a bit different, youâll understand when you associate with him for long enoughâ
The grey fog surged again.
The Soul Shrieker emerged from the fog.
ă ă Laughable fools, itâs time for your death ăăit smirked.
The three of them looked at it in shock.
ă ă Iâve passed the trial; the Deific Authority will remain mine! After this, I will lead the entire Era of [Chaos] and eradicate you worms! ăăthe Soul Shrieker roared.
Zhang Ying Hao and Ye Ru Xi exchanged glances.
How come both sides said that theyâve won? Who exactly received the Deity seat of [Chaos]?
At this point, the Clown looked around a bit and doubtfully asked: âWhy donât I see Gu Qing Shan and that Raging Flame Traveler?â
A second later, lines of grey text appeared in front of everyoneâs eyes.
[The Raging Flame Traveler had failed his trial and no longer exist]
[Gu Qing Shan has disappeared]
Zhang Ying Hao crushed the glass in his hand and shouted threateningly: âWhat do you mean by âdisappearedâ?â
Another line of grey text appeared:
[Disappear means he could not be located. There is a possibility that he entered the dreamscape of an Awaiting, ran into an unknown issue, then went somewhere]
Zhang Ying Hao pursued the question: âThen is he dead or alive?â
The grey text continued to appear: [Quite possibly, an Awaiting within their dreamscape absorbed him as nutrient and energy due to his a uniqueness within his constitution]
Zhang Ying Hao froze.
Ye Fei Li froze.
Ye Ru Xi frowned and muttered: âHow is that possible?â
The grey text answered: [Such occurrence isnât unheard of, so judging has been done for the two challengers who managed to return. The final results are as follow:]
[The winner of this Apotheotic Combat]
[Ye Fei Li, Soul Shrieker]
[Both of you have displayed your values within your trials, proving yourselves to be Deities that Chaos need]
[From this moment onwards, you shall split the Deity seat of Chaos among yourselves, becoming the two founding Deities of the Era!]
[Now, you shall be transported back to the location that the Apotheotic Combat was first declared]
Ye Fei Li turned to the Soul Shrieker.
It was to get rid of this monster that Gu Qing Shan is permanently no longer with us.
Damn it.
DAMN ITâââ
âI refuse, I want to kill itâ Ye Fei Li declared as his killing intent boiled.
The entire bronze palace trembled.
Endless grey fog wrapped around Ye Fei Li, Zhang Ying Hao, Ye Ru Xi, and Soul Shrieker, transporting them away.
One breathâs worth of time later.
The world of the Spire.
Four clusters of grey fog descended from above, manifesting in front of everyone.
One of the clusters of grey fog was beating another one up.
Ye Fei Liâs furious roar could be heard from one of them: âDie! DIE! You damned monster, I donât care about the seat of Deity, Iâm going to kill you first!â
The Soul Shrieker was caught off-guard and shouted: ă ă Ridiculous, you are merely my equalââ- ăă
Fwoom!
The grey fog scattered.
Ye Fei Li and Soul Shrieker were locked in close combat, fighting without regard for anything else.
The ground beneath them crumbled, the sky broke to form numerous black cracks, the residual power from their battle created intense shockwaves that pushed everyone in their vicinity backwards.
Anna observed the changes in the field, then flew up to grab Zhang Ying Haoâs arm and asked: âWhereâs Qing Shan?â
Facing Annaâs clear eyes, Zhang Ying Hao lowered his head and replied: âIâm not sureâ
âNot sure?â
Annaâs gaze became focused as she grabbed Zhang Ying Haoâs collar with both hands and lowered her voice: âI want to know the truth; you canât lie do meâ
Zhang Ying Hao couldnât face her directly and sighed: âHeââ probablyâââ
Anna felt like her entire body was struck.
She let go, staggering backward.
âNo, I donât believe itâ
Two streaks of bloody tears streamed down her pale visage.
Zhang Ying Hao had nothing left to say.
Ye Ru Xi also sighed.
In the sky, Ye Fei Li had already gone berserk and fought the Soul Shrieker without any regards for his own life.
Anna saw it all very clearly.
Everything was pointing to the truth that she didnât want to admit.
Gu Qing Shan.
Truly wasnât here.
âAAAââââââ
Anna uttered a long scream.
The boundless miasma of death manifested into intense scorching flames that wrapped her within.
She strongly stabbed her long-handled black scythe into the ground.
Anna hovered in the sky, chanting an incantation with a highly raised tone:
âPower is that greater than life itselfâ
âThe ultimate ending that no living being can restrainâ
âThe inevitable fate that can never be stoppedâ
âI am your wielderâ
âI, Anna Medici, hereby offer my soul in exchange for the ultimate divine powerâ
âLaw of Deathâ
âAt the final moments of my existence, grant me my final wishâ
âI want to avenge him!â
[1] If youâre wondering why Lady Fusi can recover her strength and the others cannot, just consider the Awaitingsâ powers to be the same as Gu Qing Shanâs Soul Points, which canât be replenished through simply waiting like his spirit energy