The secret room.
Gu Qing Shan and Boss were talking.
âI remember you telling me that you havenât entered the underwater portion of the Pantheon during regular history, right?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âThatâs right, Iâve only explored the above water portion of the ruinsâ Boss sat on a chair like he was exhausted and replied.
âDid you sense any sensation of being monitored at that time?â
âNoneâ
âIn other words, this sensation only existed in the underwater portion of the Pantheon...â
After saying that, Gu Qing Shan suddenly thought of something.
If that monitoring entity canât detect [Orange Sovereign], would I be able to try and see what it was?
Not tonight though.
ââSince Iâve already used [Ghostly Shadow of Night] once tonight, I wonât be able to borrow Adorableâs [Spotless Jade] again.
If I want to try anything, Iâll have to wait until tomorrow night.
Then, tomorrow night it is!
Gu Qing Shan silently decided this.
âThatâs right, how was my display earlier?â Boss excitedly asked.
Gu Qing Shan was a bit speechless, but still praised him: âIt was great, thank to you drawing its attention, I was able to get what I wantedâ
âThatâs great to hearâ Boss chuckled.
âââwhy did you decide to tell that story?â Gu Qing Shan couldnât help but ask.
Boss shrugged: âThat wasnât up to me to decide, the Book of Prophesized Destinies decided on an appropriate Destined Fable by itselfâ
âDestined Fable?â Gu Qing Shan asked in surprise.
âânow that I think about it, Boss was reading from the Book of Prophesized Destinies earlier.
Boss explained: âThatâs right, the Book of Prophesized Destinies had manifested a Fable that perfectly matched our circumstances, which took up all of my strength. Thatâs why I can only sit here motionlessly right nowâ
One Destined Fable took all of his strength.
Gu Qing Shan instantly became serious.
The teenage Shroud might not have been as powerful as Boss during his peak, but he was still someone who could fight me evenly matched.
âA Fable you say? Can you tell me the complete story?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Boss then told him the entire story.
Gu Qing Shan pondered after listening to it.
Itâs a very simple story.
There were three houses, the straw house was destroyed, the wooden house was destroyed, but the brick house remained.
This is too simple.
ââbut it was somehow related to Fate.
As long as it was related to Fate, no matter how ridiculous or laughable it was, I canât be complacent with it.
Gu Qing Shan opened his palm to release a cluster of black flames.
The black flames turned into Black Hound, but it had its eyes closed and was still sleeping.
ââ-It was currently in the middle of evolution, so it couldnât wake up yet.
Alright, I wouldnât be able to rely on it right now anyway.
Gu Qing Shan paced around the secret room with various thoughts popping into mind.
Right at his moment, lines of glowing text quickly appeared in front of his eyes:
[Attention]
[The System has detected an emergency situation]
[After three minutes, a unique form of Apocalypse will descend]
[Please immediately prepare for combat!]
Gu Qing Shan immediately stood up, opened the door to the secret room, and was about to leave.
He abruptly stopped.
ââBoss had completely exhausted all of his strength, so he was essentially helpless inside this secret room by himself.
This isnât the same âhimâ in the future.
If there were any danger, he would die!
Gu Qing Shan immediately took out a formation plate and quickly operated it.
The faint power of Huang Quan Origin power appeared from the formation plate to produce numerous glows that manifested as several large-scale defense formations in the void of space.
âWhat happened?â Boss asked, a bit confused.
âYou should rest as much as you can right now, Iâm going to patrol the Isle for a bitâ Gu Qing Shan curtly replied.
ââ-with so many formations to protect him, if anything happened in the secret room at all, Iâd be able to use [Fog Realm Descent] to quickly return!
Gu Qing Shan closed the door to the secret room, flew up into the sky and observed his surroundings.
His inner sight spreads to the entire Isle.
It was currently the middle of the night, and after everyone gathered to Bossâ little act earlier, theyâve all returned to rest.
It was completely peaceful.
There was no new apocalyptic junk that appeared in the river.
What would it be?
Gu Qing Shanâs inner sight scanned around the place several times, slowly detecting a hint.
He slowly looked up at the ceiling of this underground cavern. Just above the Isle, he noticed a tiny crack at the very top.
This crack was rapidly expanding.
Oh no!
Gu Qing Shan knew this was bad.
ââafter the Samsara was destroyed, the debris broken off from it had scattered all over the ground.
That debris had already crushed the upper half of the Pantheon, so the remaining living beings had to take refuge underground in order to continue living.
ââbut now, even this underground cavern was unable to endure the weight and was coming down on top of them!
A burst of black flames manifested around Gu Qing Shanâs body.
He had fully released his presence.
Fwoomâââ
The power of Death spreads all over the Isle of Protection, once again disturbing everyone.
All of the Isleâs living beings hurriedly gathered and looked at him.
One of the pixies sleepily rubbed his eyes and asked Gu Qing Shan: âAre you going to continue telling the three little pigs story?â
Gu Qing Shan loudly declared:
âNo. Weâre in danger, everyone, prepare for battle!â
He controlled his black flames, directing it towards the cracking ceiling.
Everyone immediately understood as they looked up.
ââ-this is a life-threatening situation!
Everyone hurriedly began to prepare.
The elves quickly distributed weapons and prepared their formations.
The giants informed Little Dusk and stood around protecting her.
An old pixie shouted: âI knew the Destined Fable from earlier would bring something to us!â
The pixies all nodded and took off their pajamas.
They were all already fully equipped and ready for combat.
Scarlet flew up from the ground, standing next to Gu Qing Shan: âRhode, whereâs Shroud?â
âHe needs some rest, so we need to resolve this situation by ourselves!â Gu Qing Shan declared.
He tossed the long-handled scythe to her.
Scarlet carefully caught the scythe, then handed him a small bottle.
âWhatâs this?â Gu Qing Shan asked in surprise.
âIt was alcohol that I mixed, itâs very potentâ Scarlet whispered to him.
Gu Qing Shan opened the bottle, smelled it, then drank it all at once.
The black flames around his body abruptly rose like boiling water and exerted almost twice as much pressure.
âYouâre right, the alcohol you mixed was very goodâ Gu Qing Shan praised.
Scarlet smiled brightly and said: âReally? I learnt mixing from you, so when will you teach agaiââââ
Boom!
A wave of intense rumbling abruptly resounded.
Everyone looked up, only to see that the stone ceiling had already been broken through.
A giant severed hand dropped down.
This hand was almost as big as the Isle of Protection itself. As it fell into the river near the Isle, a huge amount of water was splashed into the air.
Followed by another tremor!
Everyone on the Isle felt physically shaken.
The giant severed hand stood straight up in the water, which appeared completely smooth, almost like a solid piece of jade.
âWhat is that thing!?â Scarlet exclaimed.
Gu Qing Shan didnât answer.
Alarms were intensely ringing in his mind, telling him to flee as far as he could.
The fingers of the hand slowly began to move, shifting into a strange shape that appeared somehow connected.
âItâs wiggling, Rhode!â Scarlet hid behind Gu Qing Shan and fearfully called out.
Gu Qing Shanâs heart also jumped.
The hand wasnât wiggling.
It was forming a hand seal!
ââ-it is trying to perform a Cultivation-type technique!
Immediately, the entire underground cavern disappeared.
The Isle of Protection disappeared as well.
Everything vanished without a trace.
The living beings of the Isle noticed that theyâve been transported to a strange place.
A grand array of palaces appeared in front of them.
The lonely moonlight illuminated their surroundings, putting the beautiful palaces with their intricate designs on display, but no signs of life could be seen.
Everyone was standing in the main square in front of the palace with an empty jade altar.
At the corners of the altar, four enormous statues that respectively depicted the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermillion Bird, and the Black Tortoise stood motionlessly.
The land outside of the palace was vast and planted full of trees, which formed a borderless forest.
This scene caused everyone to open their eyes wide in shock.
But Gu Qing Shan remembered all of this, so he kept his eyes on the giant jade hand.
The handâs fingers continued to change as if it was preparing to unleash another technique.
Following this shift, the four enormous statues slowly turned their heads towards the group.
Gu Qing Shanâs expression immediately changed.
âââthis is the [Moon Light] series of Immortal Craft of the Heaven realm!
In the future, Red Wraith had once used these techniques.
Damn it, damn it!
Not even an Awaiting like Ouroboros or the Apocalypse statue was able to take this Immortal Craft unscathed!
How could anyone here survive?
Gu Qing Shanâs gaze became sharp.
A pair of crimson flame gloves appeared on his hands.
He threw a single punch towards the giant jade hand from afar, leaving an afterimage.
Silently, the giant jade hand froze and its gesture was stopped.
But the technique had already been completed.
Among the four statues, the Black Tortoise opened its eyes and stared down at them.
ââwithin this [Moon Light] Immortal Craft, the four Divine Beasts respectively represent Life, Death, Turn, and Shift; which one of them would the Black Tortoise be?
Gu Qing Shan didnât have time to think further as his figure vanished from where he was standing.
He appeared in front of the giant jade hand.
âYah!â
Gu Qing Shan loudly roared and threw another punch towards the giant jade hand.
âââ[Ethereal â No Pardon]!
Bam!
With a resounding noise, the giant jade hand shook a bit.
Gu Qing Shan didnât stop there, his fists turned into ten, a hundred, a thousand, and ten thousands.
In an instant, hundreds of thousands of flaming fists struck the giant jade hand at once.
[Ethereal â Myriad Shadows]!
The sound of his fist striking the giant jade hand felt like there was a rain shower pouring on the earth.
Suddenly, all the fists disappeared, the flames from earlier had also died down as an unusual fluctuation appeared on Gu Qing Shanâs body.
The giant jade hand suddenly began to shake, almost as if it felt fear.
The hand shifted its fingers again in an attempt to form another hand seal.
Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath and sighed helplessly.
Earlier, he took advantage of the barrage of fists to use his swords and found that he wouldnât be able to destroy this hand in a short time.
The only solution left was this one strike.
After throwing so many punches earlier, Gu Qing Shan could sense it.
This final strike would definitely be able to destroy the giant jade hand.
But after performing this attack, all of my power will be drained for a while!
ââ[Ethereal â Null Tribulation].
This was the most powerful strike of [Ethereal], the strike that contains the power that once broke the samsara apart!