After unleashing [Ethereal â Myriad Shadows], Gu Qing Shan had silently waited to see if the glowing cloaked skeleton would return or not.
While waiting, he also took the time to look at the War God UI.
Several notifications had appeared during the previous battle and remained here since then:
[You obtained the unique item: the frozen corpseâs bone]
[This item was one of the six body parts that made up the frozen corpse]
[This item had fused with the Bell Ring Dog Battlemask and turned into the skull gauntlets that youâre wearing]
Gu Qing Shan silently sighedââ-
Finally, I donât have to worry about carrying a dogâs head everywhere.
However, this was something that one of the absolute strongest entities to ever exist in the void had turned into, so its power must be unimaginable.
Gu Qing Shan continued to read the messages in the void of space:
[Gauntlet: Frozen Bone]
[Product of Apocalypse homology, currently in a faux state of death, has the following abilities:]
[All Things Destruction: All defensive items that are struck by these gauntlets will directly break into pieces]
[Frozen Touch: The overseer of the seal and the bone of the frozen corpse had fused to create this pair of gauntlets. While wearing it, you will not be attacked by the frozen corpseâs other body parts. You will be able to more accurately discern where the frozen corpseâs body parts are being buried]
[Mystery of Apocalypse Equal (intermediate): Apocalypses will consider you their compatriots]
[Temporary Manifestation: Whenever you obtain one of the frozen corpseâs parts, you will immediately be capable of using that partâs power. Specifics are unknown]
[Awaken: When you obtain all the frozen corpse parts hidden by the Sealing Tokens, they will awaken together with Shroud turning into the new Secret Apocalypse]
[Power Parasite: You will need to wear or carry it in your hands to allow it to absorb your power of Death, thus maintaining its existence]
[Shroudâs will is with you]
Gu Qing Shan quickly skimmed through it.
Destroying all defensive items?
What an interesting power.
But I donât have the time to slowly experience these gauntletsâ power right now.
ââ-while the glowing cloaked skeleton is still unable to escape, itâs time for me to find the next location of the frozen corpseâs body part.
The skull gauntlets exuded fluctuations and quickly helped Gu Qing Shan discern a direction.
âItâs... over there?â
He looked above the sky, his gaze seemingly peering through the astronomical distance to observe an unknown place.
A gust of wind suddenly grew stronger.
He followed the wind into the sky, then cut through the world barrier before disappearing from the Doomsday Necropolis.
...
ââ-the Space Vortex.
Within the dark void, strong wind continuously swept in every direction at once.
Gu Qing Shan was flying as fast as he could towards a certain direction.
The next body part of the frozen corpse lies in this direction
But after flying for not too long, he suddenly stopped and turned his eyes towards the darkness just a bit further away.
âAh? This presence... itâs quite close... Alright, it wonât take much time anyways, and it could also help me grow a bit stronger...â
Gu Qing Shan pondered briefly before he made his decision.
He changed the direction of his flight and flew towards another direction in the Space Vortex.
About five minutes later.
He stopped in the void and looked into the distance.
ââthere was a small piece of rock that continuously radiated yellow smoke
Lines of glowing text appeared on the War God UI:
[Through the Sacrificial Dance, youâve killed and converted countless dead people]
[And now, youâve discovered the Huang Quan world fragment that theyâre currently residing in]
Gu Qing Shan silently nodded.
During the Sacrificial Dance, that esteemed lady had told me that all the converted dead people would appear in a Huang Quan world fragment that was closest to the Doomsday Necropolis.
And now, Iâve run into it on my way.
Without hesitation, Gu Qing Shanâs figure flashed and flew into the smoky piece of rock.
Hohââ
As he approached it, he was fully enveloped by the smoke and vanished.
...
The world was yellow.
A sandstorm had filled the entire world, leaving only the faintest of light in the sky.
A great river that extended endlessly far across the entire world.
The river water was faint yellow with an intense surging flow.
Gu Qing Shan slowly descended from the sky.
The Six Paths Great Mountain sword flew forward and spun around him nonstop.
âComeâ Gu Qing Shan said.
The sword turned into a blue-dress maid who happily looked down towards this vast world.
âGongzi, itâs been so long since weâve seen the Huang Quan worldâ
âHm, I also feel a bit nostalgicâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
The two of them examined this Huang Quan world together.
âThis fragment world isnât particularly big, I canât sense the presence of any other Divine Artifactsâ Shannu sighed.
âââstrange, why are there dead people everywhere here?â Gu Qing Shan asked in confusion.
The Heaven sword also flew out and curiously looked around.
Luo Bing Liâs voice was heard coming from the Heaven sword: âHmph, arenât they the dead people that you took from the River of Death?â
Gu Qing Shan replied: âI had thought that they were going to enter reincarnation right awayâ
The Earth swordâs heavy mountainous voice resounded: ă Tsk tsk, they donât seem to be under the restraints of the Huang Quan worldâs Law. Not only do they not enter reincarnation, theyâve even establishing their forces here ă
Gu Qing Shan looked at the Grand Tie Wei Mountain.
Numerous dead people had taken up the entire mountain.
They each claim a part of the territory in accordance with their strength, occasionally competing against one another.
âShannu, youâve been at the Huang Quan realm a lot longer than I have, do you know whatâs going on here?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Shannu furrowed her eyebrows a bit and thought for a while before answering: âGongzi, for Huang Quan, these dead people had appeared out of nowhere, they donât have a previous life, so they donât have any virtuous or bad karma, nor do they have a connection between lives, which makes them unrestrained by the Laws of Huang Quanâ
Gu Qing Shan was surprised and nodded: âSo that was the caseâ
At this point, a figure flew over from the Grand Tie Wei Mountain and stopped in front of Gu Qing Shan.
From the Age of Immemorial, the comrade who had trained and fought by Shroudâs and Gu Qing Shanâs side, Atley.
âRhode, we meet againâ
Atley leisurely said.
He clapped his hand.
Instantly, the numerous dead people all over the mountain range stopped their fighting and looked at the sky.
âThis is a world of the dead; dead people cannot die here. I wonder if you came here just to kill me once againâ Atley coldly said.
On the ground, the dead people were all shouting and screaming in unwillingness.
Gu Qing Shan appeared to be in a trance and was simply staring at Atley. He was silently recalling his tearful expression of regret before he died while he was under the Deity of Fateâs influence.
âHah, Atley, I heard that Shroud had once thought of a way to save you and Epta, why did you refuse him?â Gu Qing Shan sighed and asked.
Atley calmly replied: âHe had indeed made his way into the River of Death once. At the time, he was the most powerful entity in reality, the Lord of Infinite Origins, while I was nothing but a dead soul. Even if I had been taken away like Epta, all that would have done was change my sleeping place. I would still have had to wait for your salvation in the futureâ
âWhatâs so bad about that?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Atleyâs voice contained a hint of indiscernible emotion: âOne of you was the Lord of Radiance, while the other was the Death God, but what about me? How should I have reacted after I was saved? Am I supposed to cry tears of joy and continue following you? Or did you need a servant to butter yourselves up?â
âNo, we considered you our comrade, thatâs why we saved youâ Gu Qing Shan corrected him.
âBut I would never be able to catch up to the two of youâ Atley replied.
Gu Qing Shan shrugged: âThatâs called tunnel visionâââ just look at me, Iâm no match for the glowing cloaked skeleton when it comes to power, but when it comes to dancing, cooking, and mixing drinks, it isnât a match for meâ
Atley stared straight at him, then looked up at the sky and laughed maniacally, loudly shouting:
âSuch lies, oh venerable Death God. You and Shroud had both taken up authorities within the Twin River of Life and Death, one of you was the lord of the Realm of Life, the other was the ruler of the River of Deathâ
âIt wasnât until both of you were afraid that your names would be sullied that you remembered about your comrades that still needed to be saved. Meanwhile, Epta and I had to suffer through countless years of hardship and suffering within the dark and cold River of Death!â
Gu Qing Shan shook his head: âYouâre wrong, Atley, weâve always kept you in mind, but we had other matters that we had to attend to no matter whatâ
âAnd what would that be?â Atley asked.
âWe needed to ensure that weâd be able to survive first, then ensure that Reality wouldnât be destroyedâ Gu Qing Shan sincerely answered.
âAnd why didnât you save us first? Werenât we your so-called âcomradesâ?â Atley coldly sneered.
Shannu couldnât take it anymore and cut in: âYouâre such a selfish personââ my gongzi had to go through endless bitterness in order to leave the Age of Immemorial alive, Shroud was also constantly under Reneedol control and even died once before he was resurrected. Why are you blaming them instead of thinking about what you could have done instead?â
âIâM NOT WRONG! I was simply not strong enough!â Atley furiously shouted back.
âOh really?â Luo Bing Li also manifested into her human cultivator form and coldly asked: âThe ones who killed you were the Deities of Fate and the other Deities, perhaps there were even some string pulling from Reneedol, why donât I see you taking your revenge against them?â
The Earth swordâs mountainous heavy voice resounded: ă A person who wouldnât even avenge the grudge of their own death and instead berates their previous comrades, is that really what you think is correct? ă
The Chao Yin sword also gave off a clearly displeased vibration.
Atley was unable to refute him.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head and said: âCome on, Atley, head into reincarnation. Perhaps the next time youâll go further, even further than Shroud and I had ever goneâ
He continued: âI have a gift for you, this is the finalâââ
Atley abruptly cut him off and shouted: âForward!â
The countless dead people on the ground uttered a resounding response.
They all rushed into the sky and surrounded Gu Qing Shan from every direction, putting him in the very middle.
âAhaha, Rhode, this place isnât the River of Death, it isnât under your controlââ and we wonât die in this world. Iâd like to see just how you can win against us this time!â
Atley laughed hysterically and gave the signal.
Roar!!!
All the dead people uttered a battle cry filled with killing intent and drew their weapons, charging at him in unison.
Gu Qing Shan shivered a bit.
Even while the weapons were about to strike him, he still didnât move.
Clink cling clink cling!
The four swords continuously moved around to fend off all the attacks.
Gu Qing Shan looked straight at Atley.
ââAtleyâs gaze was filled with cruelty.
Gu Qing Shan pulled his gaze back and sighed: âEven your emotions are goneâ
His figure shook and moved through the layers of dead people towards the sky higher than that.
âListen, I donât have any grudges against you all, I simply saved you from the Apocalypse!â
He loudly declared to the dead people below.
âSave? We were originally going to obtain enough power to fight against everything, but now weâre trapped here with nothing!â Atley shouted.
âThatâs right!â
âRight, it was all because of this Death God from the Twin Rivers of Life and Death!â
âWe would have been able to conquer the infinite worlds!â
The dead people angrily roared and swung their weapons.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head and called out again with a hoarse voice: âListen to me, you all need to reincarnate, or else you will really die if you continue to stay hereââ I beg you all!â
All the dead people ignored his words and simply wielded their weapons to continue charging towards him.
Gu Qing Shan appeared helplessââ-
A long black scepter had appeared in his hand at some point in time.
As the head of the scepter lit up with bright red light, the hesitant expression on his face slowly faded away and turned into nothing but merciless indifference.
ă Itâs over ăthe Earth sword spoke in a low voice.