For some reason, Gu Qing Shan felt a sense of ridiculousness.
It was supposed to be Ye Fei Li who had the ability to hear everything in existence, but it turned out Boss was able to do this as well.
ââexcept for Boss, this wasnât an ability, but a technique.
A World Technique.
Techniques were more complicated, not quite as straightforward as abilities, but they could be made to be more intricate, containing more unimaginable power.
âYou were able to hear âApocalypseâ?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âYesâ Shroud scratched his head: âI was able to sense that the voices were uttered by those living beings at the very moment before their deathsâ
âDid you tell the Elder about this?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Shroud appeared confused again, telling him: âIâve asked the Elder. He said that our world only has the two circulating realms of Life and Death; all living beings and all things exists within the Life realm, but will eventually head into the eternal dusk of the Death realmâ
âDid he say anything about the Apocalypse?â Gu Qing Shan pursued the question.
âHe said that âApocalypseâ is a word purely used in prophecies and prediction, a word to describe a possibility, but hadnât actually occurred yetâ Shroud replied.
âLet us change the question then, where do you think you heard the voices from?â Gu Qing Shan asked again.
Shroud pondered for a long while, then finally answered: âI feel like these voices did not come from this world, as they are very faintââ- but the only thing outside of this world is the Boundless Void, so this is very strangeâ
Gu Qing Shan fell into thought, temporarily turning silent as well.
After one day of contact, he had understood a lot about this worldâs common sense.
The World Valley is a high-level place of inheritance.
In this era, the âworldâ refers to a single place where all living beings exist, the equivalent to Reality.
Outside of the world, there is only the Boundless Void.
At this point, the concept of parallel worlds didnât exist, nor are there any parallel worlds.
Then where exactly did the screaming voices of âApocalypseâ come from?
Gu Qing Shan had a sudden thought.
âYou said that these voices were very faintââ can you describe or give some sort of analogy to this sensation?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
For an 8-year-old child, this question could be quite challenging.
After pondering for another while, Shroud seriously answered him: âItâs like... youâre talking to someone on this side of the mountain, but I just happen to hear you on the other sideâ
Gu Qing Shan continued: âIf thatâs the case, isnât it more like youâre listening from the other side of a door?â
Shroudâs eyes instantly shined, nodding again and again: âYes, thatâs exactly it, the people from outside the door are constantly screaming and crying in desperation, although I couldnât quite hear them clearly, Iâm sure that this is the case!â
Gu Qing Shan silently sighed.
Barely 8 years old.
Capable of hearing voices from outside the Reality Gate.
Bossâ power in this era is truly unimaginable.
Shroud resolutely clenched his fist and said: âI can sense it, once Iâve become stronger, I would be able to hear more thingsâ
A voice suddenly called out:
âThen let us try our best and grow stronger togetherâ
When the two of them looked, they saw Reneedol heading towards them.
âItâs time for dinner, Shroud, I want to eat with youâ
She told him without reservation.
âAh, sure, but let me change my clothes first. Wait here for me with Rhodeâ
After saying that, Shroud immediately ran off.
Reneedol had no choice but to stand with Gu Qing Shan and waited together.
Gu Qing Shan couldnât read anything from her gaze.
After thinking for a bit, Gu Qing Shan asked:
âReneedol, what were you running from before you fell into the water?â
ââ-this was the first chance he had gotten to ask the other party about why she drowned herself.
Reneedol replied: âI was a slave in the Jungle of Elves and Giantsâ
âThe Jungle of Elves and Giants!â Gu Qing Shan exclaimed in shock.
That place was a forest bigger than an entire world, situated in the north of the World Valley, relatively far away.
Reneedol lowered her gaze and spoke in a low voice: âThatâs right, it was that forest that forbids entry from all outsider living beings. Me and my older sister could not endure the enslavement of the giants, so we wanted to flee towards the elven side, but we were caught by the giant patrolsâ
âTo cover for me, my older sister was caught by the giantsââ she was eaten by them right awayâ
âI had to flee by myself and had no choice but to jump into the rushing water out of fear of being chased by the giants. In the end, I died of exhaustion, then was saved by you allâ
Gu Qing Shanâs thoughts turned a bit and asked: âWhat kind of creatures are the giants of the Jungle?â
âCruel, malicious, selfish, heartlessâ Reneedol replied.
Gu Qing Shan felt interested and wanted to ask more when Reneedol said.
âRhode, you like to continuously ask about people too much, that would drive people away from youâ
Gu Qing Shan froze.
Reneedol turned around and headed towards the cafeteria.
âItâs rude to peek into othersâ pastââ wait here for Shroud, Iâm going to eat firstâ
She left.
Gu Qing Shan stood still, his gaze slowly became profound.
âAn individual who swore to triumph against Fate and to cut down every sin...â
He muttered to himself.
Suddenly, his surroundings became dark.
Everything outside became isolated outside the darkness.
Bossâ voice sounded again:
âIâve never once questioned Reneedolâs answer, nor have I tried to investigate it. Most likely, Iâve already fallen for her at first sightâ
âBut at a certain point in the future, when I finally wanted to know the truth, it was already too lateâ
âTo that end, I created a Causality Law techniqueâ
âThe Causality Law was as follows:â
âProve Reneedolâs words, or see through her lie. Once youâve achieved this goal, you will automatically obtain the second Sealing Tokenâ
âThis is a Causality Law that I established myself, so not even Reneedol would be able to avoid it!â
âGu Qing Shan, you can remain in this era to continue cultivating, or help me confirm the truth and obtain the Sealing Tokenâ
âAll in all... I no longer have any other friendsâ
âYou will have to decide this by yourselfâ
Bossâ voice slowly faded away.
Gu Qing Shan stood still and silently listened.
Search for the truth, and Iâll obtain the second Sealing Token.
Or ignore searching for the Sealing Token entirely and remain in this era to cultivate with Boss?
If thatâs the case, would I be able to become as powerful as the Lord of Infinite Origins?
No.
Thereâs no meaning in living in the past.
In the end, even Bossâ body was destroyed by the Apocalypses.
ââthe real thing I need to do right now is to ensure that Reneedol wouldnât be able to obtain the other part of Bossâ body!
Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath, determined his direction, then began running into a secluded corner of the Valley.
...
The river.
The river was rapidly rushing from the distant upstream, passing through the World Valley as it continued to curve and wind downstream.
Standing at the bank of the river, Gu Qing Shan looked upstream.
This world only had a single river like this, one that connected all civilizations and all regions.
In many civilizations, it had been once hailed as the River of Fate.
Reneedol was brought to the World Valley by flowing down this river.
Gu Qing Shan quickly entered the water.
The water was frigid, intense, completely enveloping his body as if urging him to move with the flow.
âAlright, guess Iâm going to make a trip to the Jungle of Elves and Giants to investigateâ
Gu Qing Shan muttered.
He began moving against the flow and headed upstream the river.
...
At another location.
The World of the Spire floating through time in the Temporal Oasis.
Boss was standing alone on the roof of a lone spire, holding a glass of wine in his hand as he silently watched the frigid rain pouring on this world.
Even though it had been countless years, the memories of distant yesteryear that had faded away would occasionally resurface clearer than ever.
They were reminding him that everything still wasnât over yet.
âReneedol...â
He sighed with a slightly lonely expression.
The rain shower was pouring even more intensely.
Suddenly, a figure flew in from afar and landed next to him.
âItâs not a good habit to soak in the rainâ Barry commented.
He offered Boss a cigar.
âI canât get used to smoking thisâ Boss declined.
Barry lit a fire with his finger to light the cigar, then teased him: âWhat? Youâre crying here alone cause I beat you up earlier this afternoon?â
Bossâ eyebrows slightly twitched, his voice now contained a small hint of anger.
âDamn it Barry, you said it would be a boxing match, so where the hell were you aiming at?â
âAhahaha, what a naĂŻve guy. Victory in a fight calls for every last trick in the book, if you canât even act shamelessly, what could you actually achieve?â
âShameless? Iâve never gotten into debt everywhere like you peopleâ
The two of them exchanged a long mutual stare.
Boss suddenly accepted the cigar, then lit it up.
âIâll say this first, when I beat the shit and pee out of you later on, donât cry for mercyâ he leisurely said.
Barry smirked and replied: âIâll feed you every bit of shit and pee you put outâ
Boom!
Thunder cracked in the distance.
The two of them flew into the air and went straight into physical close combat in the rain shower.
At a distance.
A certain bar several dozen miles away.
Kitty scoffed, then jokingly said: âCrude menââ I bet 20 credits that my brother winsâ
Zhang Ying Hao pushed his glasses up, pulled out 30 credits from his pocket and threw it on the bar counter.
âBig sis Kitty, this is the romance of menâ- I bet that Boss winsâ
Ye Fei Li was playing with a handheld console, casually tossed a few coins onto the table and said: âI bet Barry winsâ
Zhang Ying Hao stared straight at him.
Ye Fei Li didnât look up and explained: âThis is wrestling, not a deathmatch, Boss lost the moment he accepted, not shameless enoughâ
Anna was listening from the very beginning, so he nodded in agreement: âRight, Barry is really dirty when it comes to fighting, Iâm betting on Barryâ
After saying so, she raised a bottle of liquor and chugged it down.
âOi, whereâs your bet?â Zhang Ying Hao asked.
Anna clapped her hands.
Laura jumped up and slammed a huge bag full of colorful crystals on the table.
Everyone fell silent.
âYour bet is too much, weâre only playing here, can you not go overboard?â Zhang Ying Hao struggled to keep a calm voice.