The underground river.
The one-minute countdown was over.
Gu Qing Shan was standing in mid-air with countless black tentacles attached to his back, continuously boosting his strength.
ââand then boost it some more.
This boost was continuous and tireless!
This boost of strength had surpassed Gu Qing Shanâs original strength so much that he had already passed several realms that he couldnât even imagine in the past and yet it only continued to climb.
In the end, he even felt a sort of primal fear towards his insane increase in strength.
âItâs still going up... what kind of strength would I reach in the end?â
Gu Qing Shan couldnât help but sighed.
Lines of glowing text quickly appeared on the War God UI:
[Timeâs up]
[Youâve obtained power bestowal from ??????, increasing your strength to an unspeakable level]
[This power will be fully imbued into your four consecutive âEtherealâ strikes]
[You may now begin]
Reading these notifications, a hint of hesitation appeared in Gu Qing Shanâs heart, causing him to subconsciously harbor a certain thought.
With this power... and the strength of [Null Tribulation], what wouldnât I be able to destroy in this reality?
At that moment, the entire underground river was completely silent, but the Samsara debris above his head continued to push down, giving off an increasingly loud and resounding creaking noise.
He lowered his posture in mid-air and shifted into a stance.
âââI need to instantly unleash all four strikes at the same time and use this abrupt burst of force to change the situation, otherwise, the three previous strikes might cause all of this debris to collapse.
Gu Qing Shan prepared himselfââ
And then a sudden thought flashed through his mind.
He paused briefly and called out: âAdorable, where are you?â
Xiu.
A noise replied to him.
Gu Qing Shan asked: âCan you borrow the [Null Tribulation] that Iâll unleash?â
Adorableâs voice seemed a bit troubled.
Wu wu, xiu xiu xiu, xiu xiu xiu.
Gu Qing Shan nodded.
âââthis power had completely surpassed the energy limit of the jade gourd pendant Adorable, with its current capabilities, it would only be able to borrow the first strike at most.
The first strike of [Ethereal] was [Grand Mountain]
[Grand Mountain, thought-destroying fist, ignores distance when unleashed, the struck target would have their thoughts shattered and go blank]
[Unless they suffer injury, this state will continue for ten breathsâ worth of time. Only after ten breaths would the target suddenly snap out of this state like in a dream]
...No matter how much power was imbued into this strike, the effect wouldnât change too much.
With that thought in mind, Gu Qing Shan asked Adorable about it.
Wu wu, xiu xiu xiu xiu.
Adorable slowly explained to him.
It said that there was an issue of resistance and defense at play here.
From power level alone, if an ant used [Grand Mountain] on an elephant, the elephant might snap out of this state in a single breathâs worth of time, not ten.
At Gu Qing Shanâs current level of strength, a [Grand Mountain] he used would force anyone into a blank state of mind that persisted for the full ten breaths.
Gu Qing Shan sighed; a bit disappointed.
If Adorable could borrow my final strike, I would essentially be carrying a killer weapon with me everywhere I go, there wouldnât be a need to fear anyone.
Wu wu, xiu xiu xiu.
Adorable consoled him.
âReally? Iâve only just remembered that you were a piece of jadeâââ you mean that if I meticulously nurture you for a few years, you might be able to do it later on?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Xiu!
Adorable affirmed.
âAlright, then when I unleash the strike, borrow [Grand Mountain] from meâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
Adorable hid back into the void of space and silently waited.
Gu Qing Shan called out again: âShannuâ
âGongzi, Iâm hereâ
Shannu manifested her spirit form, then answered without waiting for him to ask: âGongzi, itâs not possible. This is only temporary strength, so even if I use [Livingâs Wisdom], I would only be able to take advantage of this power during this time period just like you do, but not afterwardsâ
Gu Qing Shan thought about it for a second, then said: âThen letâs unleash the entire set of [Ethereal] strikes togetherâ
âIs gongzi worried that you would not be able to dispatch all of these Samsara debris?â Shannu asked.
âI am. With twice as much of this power, it would be more securedâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
âUnderstoodâ
Shannu replied, then her presence gradually rose to match Gu Qing Shan.
At this point, it was as if two Gu Qing Shan had obtained power from Boss and was preparing to unleash [Ethereal] at full power.
This way, the Samsara threat would definitely be resolved!
Gu Qing Shan glanced at Shannu and felt like sighing in respect.
â-[Livingâs Wisdom] utilized power originating from the Grand Tie Wei Mountain surrounding the Samsara, and it was still capable of supplying as much power as Boss, how impressive.
Gu Qing Shan and Shannu stood side to side, both of them clenching their fists.
âReadyââ-â
Gu Qing Shan called out.
Their aura became solidified as they immediately prepared to act at the same time.
Black cracks radiated from their bodies, ripping the void of space apart, causing them to be unable to close back upâââ
Simply by standing there, they were causing space to crack.
Both of them threw a punch at the same time.
First strike, [Ethereal â Grand Mountain]!
Instantly, something unusual occurredâââ
Nothing could be seen within their vicinity, the entire underground river around them became void.
Gu Qing Shan and Shannu were both hidden by this void.
No one was able to observe them unleashing this attack.
Only a few lines of text quickly appeared in the void of space to slightly illuminate the void:
[A fist technique surpassing the Samsara is about to unleash immense fluctuations and draw unknown attention]
[Utilizing stored Soul Points to attempt obscurity of this fist techniqueâs fluctuations]
[Obscurity complete!]
[From this point onwards, no entity would be able to observe any information regarding this fist technique or any corresponding situations]
[This effect will persist until all the Samsara fragments had been destroyed]
...
The frozen world.
Boundless dark light was spat back out by the tubes and reformed into a figure.
A girl wearing dress armor.
Reneedol.
Boss looked at her with a questioning expression and asked: âAre you Clotho, or Atropos?â
Reneedol opened her eyes and muttered: âShroud, itâs me, Iâm Atropos, the one who had always been by your side and shared all of your hardshipâ
Boss didnât say anything and simply reached his hand forward with a smile.
Reneedol took his hand.
âExcept, the one who had remained by my side and shared my hardship was never youâ Boss declared.
Reneedolâs expression instantly changed.
She wanted to pull her hand back, but it was already too late.
Countless sharp black tubes appeared from the void of space, pierced through her hand and restrained her in place, ensuring that she couldnât move at all.
Boss coldly continued:
âThe Law of Fate gave birth to three Deities, today, I shall erase their existences and use one of the original two Wings of Fate to act as the final replacementâ
Next to him, a transparent figure appeared following his declaration and gradually became solid.
ââReneedol.
It was another Reneedol!
However, this Reneedol appeared even more beautiful, purer, and exuded a natural sense of ethereal beauty.
A voice called out:
âWhatâs going on here?â
Boss glanced towards the void to see Gu Qing Shan coming out from a mass of white fog.
Having completed the four strikes, he returned to the frozen world.
A Sealing Token made of a solid piece of grey stone silently sat in his hand.
Boss looked at him, then at the Sealing Token and asked: âYouâve obtained the fifth Sealing Token?â
âHm, Iâve sent all the Samsara debris flying and scattered them into the Space Vortexâ
âOnly the sixth Sealing Token remained nowââ- right, what did you say was the requirement for obtaining the sixth Sealing Token again?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âFor history to be completely unaffected and maintain its original progress, for everything to proceed as they originally did in historyâ Boss replied.
He pointed at the transparent figure of Reneedol next to him and said: âAnd now, Iâm completing this final stepâ
That Reneedol nodded and smiled at Gu Qing Shan.
âThis is?â Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist and asked.
âShe is the real Reneedol born through the Twin Tree of Fateâ Boss answered.
âWhy do you know her?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âIâve always known her. Ever since I was young, I had already seen her. She was capable of bypassing the ones who took over her body to communicate with me, telling me everything about her situation. But it was only today that I finally had the chance to help her regain control over her bodyâ Boss explained.
When it came to this matter, Boss didnât care to tell any lies.
Which means that this was the truth.
Gu Qing Shan silently nodded.
...If this was the case, everything made sense.
Each time that Boss talked to Reneedol, he had either been acting, or had been talking to the real Reneedol.
The one who truly liked had never been any of the three Deities of Fate, it had always been the fated girl born from the Twin Tree of Fate, Reneedol
.
âShe... had done a lot for my sake. During many of my toughest moments, it was none other than her who had silently gone through them with me, but as Iâve had to deceive the two Deities of Fate, Iâve always pretended not to knowâ
Boss silently muttered.
The transparent Reneedol gently looked at him, softly shook her head, and told him something.
Gu Qing Shan couldnât hear what she said, but Boss listened to her very seriously.
Boss shook his head: âNo need to sympathize with them. both Clotho and Atropos were envoys under the manipulation of an Apocalypse, I will not leave them beâ
âThe true fated girl, the only one I long for during this era, Reneedolâ
âI will release the last of my power to help you reclaim your body!â