The white fog swiftly faded away.
Gu Qing Shan landed in a certain secluded corner of the dark tunnel.
âHow are we going to enter the Wraith realm?â Boss sent his voice and asked.
âItâs usually very difficult to enter the Wraith realm because it is being protected by many Causality Laws, only a human from the Wraith realm with a yaksha mask would be able to freely enter and leave this worldâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
He took out a mask.
This was a pure-white mask painted with a pair of thinly opened eyes using black shade, the black shade occasionally gave off a faint red glint that made it somewhat eerie.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head.
The Samsara Wicked Mask was the final mask of the Wraith realm, a treasure within the wraithâs Saint Selection.
It could devour the abilities of other treasures and upgrade that ability by one level.
If Gu Qing Shan hadnât managed to use [Null Tribulation] and had the Six Paths Great Mountain sword to prove his identity, that ghostly figure wouldnât have given him this mask.
ââthe only concern is that this mask hadnât been recorded in the Wraith realm.
But thatâs not a difficult matter to resolve either.
Gu Qing Shan took out another yaksha mask with a blue background and black stripes.
ââon the day he saved Lin, he killed a few wraiths on his way and retrieved their masks, which he had kept up till now.
Instantly, lines of glowing text appeared in the void of space:
[Blue Oni mask]
[This mask contains the Guise Hex: Swallowing Wind]
[This Hex requires a hand seal to activate, it disappears on contact with a living being and produce countless blades of wind as a follow-up, manifesting as 12 consecutive strikes on contact with weapons]
[If you use the Divine Skill of the Samsara Wicked Mask, this Guise Hex will be upgraded by one level, would you like to do it?]
Gu Qing Shan instantly said: âUse itâ
All the glowing lines of text disappeared and turned into new glowing lines of text in mid-air:
[Youâve activated Jade Cultivation Deep Shadow]
[The Guise Hex has been upgraded by one level]
[This mask contains the Guise Hex: Chaotic Wind Rending]
[This Hex does not require activation through hand seal, instantly manifest with your words, its power has been increased 10-fold]
[Chaotic Wind Rending had been manifested as your Samsara Wicked Maskâs Guise Hex]
The pure-white mask in Gu Qing Shanâs hand instantly turned blue, several streaks of black paint then appeared on the mask to depict a furious expression.
ââthe appearance was exactly the same as the other mask.
Crack!
The other mask cracked slightly as its ability was stolen.
The ability of the Samsara Wicked Mask was destructive, capable of causing a lot of damage to the original treasure.
Gu Qing Shan put the Samsara Wicked Mask on and told Boss: âI donât know what kind of state the Wraith realm is currently in either, so after we arrive, you need to be ready, we might have to fight at any momentâ
âGot it, Iâll pay close attentionâ Boss replied.
A mass of white fog manifested around Gu Qing Shanâs body again.
His figure vanished.
...
The Wraith realm.
Above the sky of the wilderness.
White fog manifested from thin air.
Gu Qing Shan flew out from it.
His surroundings appeared completely normal as if there wasnât anyone here.
Suddenly, lines of glowing text quickly appeared on the War God UI:
[Attention]
[Youâve triggered a large-scale alert technique]
Gu Qing Shanâs eyes flickered.
This is the path that Xue Nu took when he brought me back to the Wraith Lordâs manor, so why is there suddenly a large-scale alert technique here?
Could they have been keeping guard of this exact location?
While he was thinking, a screen of light appeared a bit further away.
ââthese are fluctuations of a warping technique.
Someone is coming!
âHurry and leaveâ Boss said.
âThereâs not enough time, our surroundings might have already been sealed offââ letâs observe the situation firstâ Gu Qing Shan spoke in a low tone.
The warp fluctuations disappeared.
A man wearing yellow-grey battle armor and a black yaksha mask with red stripes appeared in the sky.
His yaksha mask displayed an expression of pain and sorrow, but it was a type of yaksha mask that Gu Qing Shan had never seen before.
âWho are you?â the man asked.
Gu Qing Shan chuckled, then clasped his fist and said: â[Chaos Wind Rending]â
Unexpectedly, the other party also clasped their fist at the same time and said: â[Wraith King Protection]â
Instantly, countless green blades of wind surrounded the man and slashed at him continuously.
But since he had used his Guise Hex at the same time, an illusory image of a wraith enveloped his body and stopped all the slashes.
One breath later.
The green wind blades all disappeared, so did the illusory image.
Gu Qing Shan chuckled and said: âWhat fast reflexesâ
âIn combat, slow reflexes would only mean deathâ the man casually replied.
Without saying anything else, layers of white fog appeared around Gu Qing Shanâs body.
Since itâs currently urgent, wasting even one extra second could mean Reneedol suddenly remembering the sword.
If she decides to keep the Delimitation Divine Sword by her side, it would be even more troublesome.
[Fog Realm Descent]!
Gu Qing Shan vanished.
The man didnât move at all and let Gu Qing Shan vanish.
A second later, he began glowing with light as wellââ-
Another warp technique.
Instantly, he vanished as well.
...
A dim environment with little to no light.
A breeze would occasionally blow here from deep inside the cave, a very faint sound of metal hitting rocks could be heard from other places in this mine.
White fog filled this place.
Gu Qing Shan appeared inside this mining tunnel.
âThis time, we need to seizeââ-â
He abruptly stopped.
ââin front of him, with another flash of light, the wraith from earlier reappeared.
The wraith stared at him without saying a word.
Gu Qing Shan slowly grinned and said: âHow interesting, so youâve followed me?â
...Seems like this one isnât going to be easy to escape from.
The wraith cultivator facing him clasped his hands behind his back and spoke with a clear voice: âIâve gone to every location youâve been to the last time you entered the Wraith realm. I made sure to analyze your every statement, every gesture, every action; then used a large number of resources and countless measures to finally set up a warp formation in every place that youâve ever been, all to ensure that you wouldnât be able to flee right awayâ
Gu Qing Shanâs expression went stiff and slowly said: âFor you to spend so much effort, Iâm quite honoredâ
âNo need to be so formal, would you please tell me now who you are?â the wraith asked.
Gu Qing Shan replied: âI am the ultimate Abyssal form from the Eternal Abyss, a devil who kills without batting an eyelid, the one they call Big Monster Dragonâ
The wraith went silent briefly.
âBig Monster Dragon? Seems like you arenât speaking the truthâ
He pulled a pair of sharp claw gauntlets from the void of space, equipped it on his hands, then shifted into a stance.
Gu Qing Shan also took out a pair of flaming red gloves and put it on while grinning: âYouâre a strange enemyâ
âYou are very strange as wellâ the other party replied.
The two of them had both prepared themselves, ready to fight at any moment.
The wraith suddenly said: âThe ores contained within every mine that youâve ever been had already been fully harvested, so no one would make their way back here. But if we use Origin power during our battle, it would still alert othersâ
âSeems like you arenât willing to draw other people here, your identityâ-â Gu Qing Shan commented.
âI assume you also donât want to alert anyone as wellâ the wraith replied.
âThen for what reason did you stop me?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âWeâll only know after fightingâ the wraith answered.
He suddenly vanished.
Gu Qing Shanâs pupils dilated and abruptly threw a punch towards his back.
A flash of black flames appeared and vanished in an instant as it clashed against a sharp claw.
The wraith moved like a drifting leaf, continuously sticking close to the walls of the mining tunnel.
Gu Qing Shan also took a step back.
Both of them had made sure to suppress their strength so as to not affect the tunnel at all, there wasnât even a sound from their clash.
ââthey were fighting with pure skill.
âHow interesting, your fist technique is extremely rare among the wraiths, but Iâve also trained in plenty of them as well, letâs hope you can teach me a thing or twoâ the wraith declared.
Gu Qing Shan briefly pondered as he recalled the fist techniques he had learnt.
His front fist opened into a palm, while his back fist clenched tightly at the back, shifting into a stance.
The wraith instantly rushed forward like a blurry shadow.
The two of them exchanged hundreds of blows before Gu Qing Shan was struck by a cold gleam and was forced to retreat several steps.
He took a defensive stance again while glancing downwards.
One of the claws had ripped through his right chest, which was now dripping with blood.
Within the dark mining tunnel, the clear sound of metal hitting rocks could be heard coming from the distance, even the sound of complaints and cursing from the miners could be discerned.
ââtheir battle still hadnât alerted anyone.
âAre you really trying to kill me through this method?â Gu Qing Shan asked, feeling interested.
âI have no such thoughts. Iâm merely thinking of beating you with nothing but skill, of course, if youâd rather die in this battle rather than using your power, I wouldnât pity you eitherâ the wraith shook his head.
Gu Qing Shan pondered: âSo what kind of fun are you getting out of this kind of battle?â
The wraith didnât answer him and instead continued his previous statement: âI can sense that you still have many powerful fist techniques that you havenât used, but they all require being imbued with Origin power, or other kinds of forces, in order to perform. They might even blow away this entire mineââ- but that would only draw the attention of others, neither you and I will benefit from thatâââ- I suggest that you donât use themâ
Gu Qing Shan sighed and sighed: âAnd youâre willing to let me go?â
Indeed, [Ethereal] would cause too much of a commotion, and it requires Huang Quan Origin power to use, it would surely draw the attention of others.
But when it comes to fist techniques, I donât know a lot outside of [Ethereal].
The wraith brandished his claws gauntlets a bit and replied: âUse your other skills, as long as you can defeat me with nothing but skill, I will naturally stop sticking to youâ
After saying so, he leapt forward again and swung his claws.
Gu Qing Shan took another step back, only to find that he already had his back towards the wall, unable to retreat any further.
Those sharp claw swipes had surrounded his other paths of retreat, which he wouldnât be able to use this fist technique to repel.
Right now, he would either be killed right here, or he would be forced to use Huang Quan Origin power to exert an overwhelming destructive power to resolve his predicamentââ-
Instantly, he moved his hand.
A sword appeared in his grip, piercing through the intense waves of claw swipes.
No sound was heard.
No sword qi.
But all the claw swipes disappeared.
His sword had directly caught both of the other partyâs claws and locked his actions.
This strike had reached a transcendent level of skill, regardless of the technique or control of strength that it required.
Being caught by the sword, the wraith tried to change his attack several times, but still couldnât advance any further, so he had to retreat.
âSo you were a sword cultivatorâ he commented.
âThatâs right, to battle without drawing any attention, my fists arenât quite well-trained enoughââ- I suspect that you spent so much effort to create this situation in order to find out what my expertise actually wasâ Gu Qing Shan said.
The wraith stared closely at the sword in Gu Qing Shanâs hand and sighed:
âThere was no other way. Both you and I are currently wearing yaksha masks, I can only discern who you are through your weaponâ
âWeapon?â Gu Qing Shan looked at the Earth sword in his hand.
The wraith shook his hands and instantly put his claw gauntlets away, then explained:
âThatâs right, at least I can still recognize the sword in your hand, from which I can discern your identityâ
âââwielder of the twin swords Heaven and Earth, Gu Qing Shanâ
Gu Qing Shan raised his eyebrows a bit and spoke in a grim voice: âAnd you are?â
âYouâd naturally not remember. After I was framed and killed by the Wraith realm, you brought me into reincarnation and hurriedly went to fight against the Soul Shriekerâ the wraith replied.
Gu Qing Shanâs mind moved quickly and suddenly recalled a certain person.
âYou areââ Demon Dragon!â
He exclaimed.