The ocean.
The wind and rain howled sorrowfully.
In the darkness, countless data flowed like a waterfall.
After a long while, the chaotic mass of data finally stopped overflowing.
All the data became slow, orderly, and neat.
Lines of text appeared in mid-air:
[Destination reached]
[Location: The ocean]
[World altitude and longitude: 121.43333 , 34.50000]
[Southeastern wind flow, wind current: level 5-6]
[Wave height: 2.5m]
[Visibility: 3km]
[Heavy rain]
[Descending]
[Attention, as your evolution had only just completed, we do not have enough time to replenish energy]
[This trans-Space-Time warp had been performed through borrowing the power of Apocalypse, danger level Red]
[You can only remain for 20 seconds]
[Prepareââ-]
Numerous runes of light appeared from the void of space like shattering glass.
All the runes gathered at once and manifested as a humanoid figureâââ
A young girl wearing modern military combat clothing.
She stood in the void of space with her eyes closed, silently listening to the sound of rain.
Suddenly, a melodious female voice suddenly resounded by her ears:
[Time is approaching]
[In 15 seconds, the Apocalypse Assassin will arrive]
[You may begin preparations now]
The girl opened her eyes and drew a Card from her snow-white hair.
âReleaseâ
She muttered.
Poof!
The Card manifested as a black pistol.
Wielding the pistol, the girlâs eyes appeared full of nostalgia.
âItâs been a really long time since I fought by your side... I really miss youâ
She softly whispered and looked at the void of space.
Lines of notifications appeared there:
[Specific coordinates had been determined]
[Counting down:]
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[The Apocalypse Assassin had appeared!]
Bangââ-
The girl pulled the trigger, but the bullet she fired disappeared in an instant.
Right away, lines of text appeared in front of her eyes:
[The other partyâs assassination has been disturbed!]
[Mission completed!]
[The Apocalypse had noticed that weâre borrowing its power to travel through Space-Timeââ]
[If you stop for more than 10 seconds, it will definitely detect you]
[Please return immediately!]
The girl skimmed through the text rapidly, then drew another Card and left it floating in the void of space.
âQing Shan... you must stay alive...â
As soon as she said that, countless intricate runes of light appeared around her body, radiating a blinding glow.
The glow vanished right away.
The girl had disappeared from above the ocean.
ââ-it was as if she was never here in the first place.
Above the ocean, the sky was still dark.
The wind howled while rain poured like a shower, the waves below roaring continuously.
But the Card continued to hover in mid-air motionlessly.
It was waiting for something.
...
Going past the mountains and ocean, on the other side of the world.
The orange cat that had dispelled [Ghostly Shadow of Night] was discussing something with a black dog.
âThis point in time should be not too long after the giant eyeball had just awokenâ the orange cat said.
âWhat were we doing at the time?â the black dog asked.
âWe had already gone back to the past towards the point of the Spireâs destruction, currently attempting the Apotheosis battle against the Soul Shrieker. After we defeated it, the world of the Spire turned into a Temporal Oasis and followed the flow of the River of Time towards the futureâ the orange cat replied.
âSo thereâs still quite a bit of time before they arrive, huh?â the black dog commented full of emotions.
âThatâs rightâ
The two of them both looked at the one-horned serpent below.
âWhat now? Are we still going to save it?â the black dog asked.
âThis entire world had already been destroyed, only it remained. Itâs surely going to feel lonely, so itâs best to take it with usâ the orange cat replied.
âAlright, then Iâll take it as my petâ the black dog decided.
He moved his paw to flip through the Book of Prophesized Destinies and found a covenant.
âThere, youâre fortunate to be able to form a covenant with meâ the black dog commented.
The covenant flew down onto the one-horned serpentâs head.
Poof!
The entire serpent vanished.
The black dog waved his paw, summoning the covenant back into the Book of Prophesized Destinies.
Suddenlyââ-
The orange catâs fur all stood up.
The black dog also subconsciously barked and put the Book of Prophesized Destinies in front of himself.
But it was too late.
A humanoid monster whose entire body was filled with eyes had appeared in front of them and unleashed numerous rays of cold light, restraining black the orange cat and black dog.
The cat and dog were both restrained.
An autumn water-like blue steel sword appeared and hurriedly tried to cut these rays of lightâââ
But it was already too late!
The humanoid monster ferociously laughed, then quickly recited: âApocalypse burnâââ
Bang!
Something flew from afar and broke a hole through its forehead.
Blood spilled into the wind.
The humanoid monsterâs assassination was cut off.
The orange cat suddenly vanished.
A giant sword phantom that was several dozen meters in length manifested with an explosion and struck the humanoid monster, sending it flying away.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
The sound of numerous sword strikes resounded from the giant sword phantom.
The humanoid monster didnât fly for too long before its head was the only thing remaining.
Thud!
The head landed on the ground with a dull noise.
In an instant, everything had finished.
Gu Qing Shan held the Earth sword while standing in mid-air, breathing heavily.
âIt wasnât particularly powerful, but it was very uniqueâ he said.
âRightâ the black dogâs eyes appeared profound and added: âIts strongest characteristic was hiding and abrupt appearance. Even now, I canât tell how it managed to avoid both of our perceptionsâ
Gu Qing Shan looked at the void of space.
Lines of glowing text had already appeared:
[Apocalypse Assassin: Myriad Eyes, had arrived through Space-Time]
[Its body was imbued with 7681 different types of obscurement techniques for Space-Time travel]
[Myriad Eyes is unleashing the unique Apocalypse: Burning Poison]
[Myriad Eyesâ actions had been interrupted]
[Youâve killed it]
[You obtained 10,000 Soul Points]
[Attention: This is an assassination across Space-Time, you must keep up your guard]
Gu Qing Shan was speechless.
He had never truly been afraid of anyone in direct combat.
But never in anyoneâs wildest dreams did he think that there was an Apocalypse monster who specifically travelled across Space-Time with plenty of preparations just to assassinate him.
Furthermore, it chose the time when they had just returned.
He and Boss had both examined this entire world to ensure that there were no living beings here.
And with the giant eyeball temporarily taking up their attention, they both couldnât expect something like this to occur.
The black dog flew down and carefully examined the head.
âDid you specifically leave its head behind?â the black dog asked.
âI did. Its attack was interrupted by some sort of attack right before I killed it, so I wanted to see what exactly happenedâ
Gu Qing Shan crouched down and carefully examined the head full of eyes.
Hm?
He appeared a bit intrigued.
âThis is... a bullet wound?â
Gu Qing Shan focused his mind and produced several sword phantoms, then converged them into thin strings that cut open the monsterâs head.
Numerous pieces of metal shrapnel had filled the monsterâs brain and skull, which appeared terrifying.
ââand yet, not even that managed to kill the monster.
âA technological attack... could there be others aside from us in this world?â Boss asked.
He opened the Book of Prophesized Destinies at the same time Gu Qing Shan released his inner sight.
They searched through the entire world once again.
âThe oceanâ
âYes, the oceanâ
The two of them exchanged glances and vanished from the desert at once.
At the next moment.
They both appeared above the ocean.
Gu Qing Shan looked at the hovering Card and felt a sense of familiarity.
âHow is it, do you recognize it?â Boss asked.
âI do, this is a Card from the Blood Sea deck, which comes from...â
Gu Qing Shan reached his hand forward to take the Card.
As soon as the Card touched his hand, it was activated and played a female voice:
âQing Shan, Impartial Goddess and I secretly borrowed the power of the Apocalypse to temporarily return to this eraâ
âI canât tell you anything else, or the Apocalypse might noticeâ
âBut you need to keep this in mind, the Apocalypse monsters are trying everything they can think of to return to your eraâ
âThey want to assassinate you and take the six Sealing Tokens from youâ
As soon as the message was done, the Card shattered with a âcrackâ and scattered as tiny fragments.
Gu Qing Shan stood still.
âWho was that?â Boss asked with interest.
âSu Xue Er, she should currently be with Impartial Goddess, undergoing a unique type of evolutionâ
Gu Qing Shan answered while pondering.
Impartial Goddess...
From what I learnt during the Age of Immemorial, she was a creation of the Samsara Human realm.
With her protecting Su Xue Er, there shouldnât be any issuesââ- they were even able to discreetly utilize the power of the Apocalypse.
Then...
Gu Qing Shan turned his hand over, showing six Sealing Tokens silently sitting in his hand.