1765

The gem that had been crushed to fine dust glittered like morning dew in the shadow.

The infinite power contained inside made them glow with even more splendor.

Just like that, the powder simply floated in the air.

At that point, a few lines of bloody red text appeared in front of the lightning giant’s vision:

[The power of the Awaitings of Chaos has been fully absorbed]

[A little bit more energy is required for your low-level Apocalypse: Lord of Horror, to undergo evolution]

[Collect this Apocalyptic gem powder!]

[——It will provide the last bit of power required for evolution!]

The lightning giant quickly read these messages.

「 Why didn’t you tell me that sooner? 」he complained.

——more than two dozen Awaitings of [Chaos] wasn’t enough for the Apocalypse to evolve?

I wonder what it would be like after it finally evolves.

Whatever, I just need to collect all this gem powder again to know the answer.

The giant then reached his hand out to grab the floating gem powder.

Suddenly——-

A crimson mist manifested out of nowhere to instantly fill the void of space.

A certain blurred shadow could be seen within the crimson mist, which approached the gem powder——

Shuu—

With a single breath, the shadow sucked all the gem powder into the crimson mist.

「 Ah… it’s been so long… such delicacies… 」

Such a murmur could be heard from within the crimson mist.

The lightning giant became stiff.

He naturally understood that this voice belonged to the True Devil of Antiquity, Overlooker of Myriad Worlds.

「 Hey, didn’t you say you were leaving? 」the lightning giant asked with an irritated tone.

「 I’m leaving now, I’m leaving now 」

A booming voice answered from within the crimson mist, seemingly feeling a bit guilty.

With a large gust of wind, the crimson mist all scattered away.

Together with it, the shroud of shadow also vanished without a trace.

His surroundings returned back to normal.

The sky, the ground, the clouds, everything looked just like the scene of a normal night.

—–seems like it has left for real this time.

Standing in the middle of the barren wasteland, the lightning giant felt a bit regretful.

He complained: 「 Hey, you knew that I was asking for help from a glutton, why didn’t you remind me to hold onto the gem beforehand? 」

A line of bloody red text appeared: [You can’t blame me for that, I’ve only just finished absorbing the power of the Awaitings of Chaos, it was only after detecting that there wasn’t enough energy that I notified you]

The lightning giant sighed after reading the answer.

It seems I’ll need to find another way to absorb energy for the Apocalypse to evolve.

The layers of lightning began to break off from the giant’s body, after which he started shrinking back down.

He had undone his transformation.

After returning to his original form, Gu Qing Shan quickly turned around to head back to the interstellar warship.

But he stopped.

At some unknown point in time, a silver-haired girl was already standing behind him.

She was silently looking at him with a smile on her face.

—–as if there wasn’t anything else in her eyes except him.

It was Su Xue Er.

“Xue Er, you saved me” Gu Qing Shan looked straight at her and muttered.

[And you saved me. There is no need for us to mention such small details, right?] Su Xue Er tilted her head and happily answered.

“It’s been too long since we’ve met one another, and there is so much that we haven’t said, but I have always kept one thing in mind——- you must have suffered through a lot in order to become an Apocalypse, haven’t you?” Gu Qing Shan said as he slowly approached her.

Su Xue Er lowered her face, her voice becoming a bit dejected:

[I destroyed many worlds, I think I’ve told you that already]

“But that conversation isn’t finished—— destroying entire worlds and their living beings, it must have been really tough on you” Gu Qing Shan replied.

[Do you already know how it feels?] Su Xue Er asked.

“I know you” Gu Qing Shan answered.

Su Xue Er remained silent for a brief while before she spoke up again: [My tears have already dried up, and there’s nothing left of my emotions. The only thought that remains in my mind is that everything I did, I’ve done to help you, and that is the only belief I have left]

At this point, while standing in front of Gu Qing Shan, she no longer seemed like a human girl that had reached the peak of evolution, nor did she bear any resemblance to an Apocalypse Sequence.

Gu Qing Shan took another step closer and reached his hands out to hug her.

But Su Xue Er pushed him away, then took a few steps backwards.

She insisted with force in her voice: [No, all of this was my own actions, it has nothing to do with you]

Gu Qing Shan just smiled in response.

He took another step forward and pulled Su Xue Er into his embrace with his hand.

Su Xue Er tried to struggle a few more times before finally hugging him tightly.

Their surroundings became silent.

A few moments later.

“Xue Er” Gu Qing Shan muttered.

[Hm?] Su Xue Er softly answered with a hum.

“Once this is all over, I’ll accompany you back to the Reality Gate, we will try to save all the worlds that had been destroyed and revive the people that were killed, and then—-”

[And then?]

“I will apologize to all of those people with you, we will ask for their forgiveness, together”

Su Xue Er tightened her embrace, tightly hanging onto his hands.

She finally stopped holding back and cried out loud.

[What if… what if we can’t save them anymore… Qing Shan…]

Gu Qing Shan lifted her face up, but her tears couldn’t stop flowing.

Gu Qing Shan gently told her: “It will be fine, I’ll be with you, regardless of what the final results will be, you and I will accept them together, up until the very end”

Su Xue Er looked earnestly at him, trying to wipe her tears away.

After a long while, she sniffled and tried to make her voice sound calm:

[Regardless of the results, as long as you are here with me, I, Su Xue Er, will never regret my actions, not now or ever]

She kissed him softly.

The waxing moon emerged from between the clouds, illuminating their figures in the dark.

A light breeze blew past them.

[It’s time] Su Xue Er told him.

“I’ll think of a way to bring you all into this world as soon as possible!” Gu Qing Shan replied.

Su Xue Er smiled sweetly at him.

She then faded right in front of him, returning to her [Order] and falling back into slumber.

It wasn’t just her, Lord Bloodcloak and the Master of the Heroic Spirit Hall who was standing on the interstellar warship also faded away.

They all returned to slumber.

[Moon Invitation]’s effects had ended.

The moon also disappeared into the night sky.

Only Gu Qing Shan remained by himself on top of the barren wasteland within the darkness.

After remaining silent for a while, he spoke up again:

“…Sequence”

[What is it?] the Sequence responded.

“I don’t want to evolve some Apocalypse anymore, can you come up with a way to somehow bring all of my comrades into the Samsara worlds?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

[To cancel the evolution of the Apocalypse and instead summon more of your comrades, is this your wish?] the Sequence asked.

“It is”

[Even if it will stop the evolution of the Supreme Sequence? This is your opportunity to become stronger]

Gu Qing Shan’s eyes radiated determination and answered: “I’ll always have more ways to become stronger, but they can only remain in hibernation like this. Everyone has already done their best—— this isn’t fair”

[Within this Apocalyptic era, you still insist on fairness?]

“No, perhaps I didn’t make myself clear enough. My wish is for them to live, to truly enter this world and experience life within the Samsara, a life full of glory and unknowns; no matter for what reason they fight or live, even if they fall to Huang Quan in death, it would still not be a waste of a life——- I don’t want them to survive in eternal slumber like this—— what difference is there between this and dying?”

[… To summon your comrades… will be an exceptionally difficult feat to achieve, I will need to collect a nearly infinite amount of energy, and you must also receive permission from the Samsara]

“The Samsara… I will think of a way, just be ready first” Gu Qing Shan replied.

[Then it is decided?]

“Hm, it is decided”

[You must understand, as the Supreme Sequence, my original job was to continuously evolve and awaken, what we’re attempting is considered slacking off] the Sequence said.

“I thank you in advance” Gu Qing Shan chuckled and replied.

At this time, the ground began to tremble.

The tremor was growing increasingly more intense, so much so that even Gu Qing Shan couldn’t stand properly anymore.

“What’s going on?” Gu Qing Shan exclaimed in surprise.

A line of bloody red text replied:

[Examining]

From the distance, a colorful cluster of light rapidly approached him.

—–it was the Heavenly Emperor’s Immortal City!

A single person could be seen standing on top of the Immortal City, continuously drawing light in the air with his fingers.

It was the Heavenly Emperor!

Gu Qing Shan narrowed his eyes to observe this for a bit, then suddenly said: “He seems to have lost control over his Immortal City——- although I don’t know what’s going on, it’s only correct to attack at this opportunity”

Gu Qing Shan immediately turned to his interstellar warship and shouted an order: “Come! Prepare for battle!”

But the interstellar warship also remained motionless.

It simply hovered in the air waiting for the Heavenly Emperor’s Immortal City to arrive.

——–Gu Qing Shan couldn’t control his warship either!

An Immortal City and an interstellar warship.

Under the Heavenly Emperor’s and Gu Qing Shan’s watchful gazes, they suddenly became connected.

After that, they slowly descended from the sky and firmly planted themselves on the ground.

——at a glance, they looked like two distinctly different cities being forcefully glued together.

While facing one another in the sky, Gu Qing Shan and the Heavenly Emperor exchanged gazes, both realizing the confusion on the other’s expression.

“Sequence!” Gu Qing Shan silently urged.

[Still examining, don’t be impatient!] the Sequence answered him.

Right at this moment, a giant river that exuded a frigid gloomy presence began to flow across the barren wasteland.

After that, numerous islands and structures began to grow out from the ground, neatly lined up on the two banks of the river.

“The great tomb!”

Gu Qing Shan’s expression changed.

He didn’t expect the great tomb of the Tomb of Myriad Beasts to show up here!

This was a terrifying location that had buried many of the past Samsara’s secrets, containing an unknown number of past Combatants as well as Apocalypses that couldn’t be gotten rid of!

But we should be resolving the issues of the Human realm right now, so why—–

Gu Qing Shan suddenly realized something.

Sure enough, lines of bloody text began to appear in the void of space:

[The main and mutated Five Elements have been established, and the Human realm is now stabilized]

[There are a total of two City Lords whose Immortal Cities defeated the Apocalypse, their Immortal Cities will fuse into one and act as the shelter for all Chosen Saints]

[The Beast King realm is about to emerge]

[Explore the great tomb, as the Samsara will observe the performance of every Chosen Saint]

[—–Attention, this is the chance for Chosen Saints to regain their powers]

[The more Merit you accrue, the faster your strength would be unsealed]

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask: “Wouldn’t the seal be undone all at once?”

[No, it will be split into parts] the Sequence answered.

Gu Qing Shan understood right away.

This is a race.

No matter how much strength you had in the past, if you can’t undo your seal fast enough, you’d still be weak.

On the contrary, the Chosen Saints who managed to unseal their strength first or have unsealed more of their original strength would be the ones who would truly have the advantage during this trial.

Everyone will begin from the same starting line!

“This is a good chance… I’ve finally managed to wait for such a chance to appear” Gu Qing Shan’s eyes glowed as he muttered.

Killing intent was clearly radiating from his body.

That’s right, this is the perfect chance.

Whether or not I can get rid of the Heavenly Emperor once and for all depends on what I choose to do now!

The gem that had been crushed to fine dust glittered like morning dew in the shadow.

The infinite power contained inside made them glow with even more splendor.

Just like that, the powder simply floated in the air.

At that point, a few lines of bloody red text appeared in front of the lightning giant’s vision:

[The power of the Awaitings of Chaos has been fully absorbed]

[A little bit more energy is required for your low-level Apocalypse: Lord of Horror, to undergo evolution]

[Collect this Apocalyptic gem powder!]

[——It will provide the last bit of power required for evolution!]

The lightning giant quickly read these messages.

「 Why didn’t you tell me that sooner? 」he complained.

——more than two dozen Awaitings of [Chaos] wasn’t enough for the Apocalypse to evolve?

I wonder what it would be like after it finally evolves.

Whatever, I just need to collect all this gem powder again to know the answer.

The giant then reached his hand out to grab the floating gem powder.

Suddenly——-

A crimson mist manifested out of nowhere to instantly fill the void of space.

A certain blurred shadow could be seen within the crimson mist, which approached the gem powder——

Shuu—

With a single breath, the shadow sucked all the gem powder into the crimson mist.

「 Ah… it’s been so long… such delicacies… 」

Such a murmur could be heard from within the crimson mist.

The lightning giant became stiff.

He naturally understood that this voice belonged to the True Devil of Antiquity, Overlooker of Myriad Worlds.

「 Hey, didn’t you say you were leaving? 」the lightning giant asked with an irritated tone.

「 I’m leaving now, I’m leaving now 」

A booming voice answered from within the crimson mist, seemingly feeling a bit guilty.

With a large gust of wind, the crimson mist all scattered away.

Together with it, the shroud of shadow also vanished without a trace.

His surroundings returned back to normal.

The sky, the ground, the clouds, everything looked just like the scene of a normal night.

—–seems like it has left for real this time.

Standing in the middle of the barren wasteland, the lightning giant felt a bit regretful.

He complained: 「 Hey, you knew that I was asking for help from a glutton, why didn’t you remind me to hold onto the gem beforehand? 」

A line of bloody red text appeared: [You can’t blame me for that, I’ve only just finished absorbing the power of the Awaitings of Chaos, it was only after detecting that there wasn’t enough energy that I notified you]

The lightning giant sighed after reading the answer.

It seems I’ll need to find another way to absorb energy for the Apocalypse to evolve.

The layers of lightning began to break off from the giant’s body, after which he started shrinking back down.

He had undone his transformation.

After returning to his original form, Gu Qing Shan quickly turned around to head back to the interstellar warship.

But he stopped.

At some unknown point in time, a silver-haired girl was already standing behind him.

She was silently looking at him with a smile on her face.

—–as if there wasn’t anything else in her eyes except him.

It was Su Xue Er.

“Xue Er, you saved me” Gu Qing Shan looked straight at her and muttered.

[And you saved me. There is no need for us to mention such small details, right?] Su Xue Er tilted her head and happily answered.

“It’s been too long since we’ve met one another, and there is so much that we haven’t said, but I have always kept one thing in mind——- you must have suffered through a lot in order to become an Apocalypse, haven’t you?” Gu Qing Shan said as he slowly approached her.

Su Xue Er lowered her face, her voice becoming a bit dejected:

[I destroyed many worlds, I think I’ve told you that already]

“But that conversation isn’t finished—— destroying entire worlds and their living beings, it must have been really tough on you” Gu Qing Shan replied.

[Do you already know how it feels?] Su Xue Er asked.

“I know you” Gu Qing Shan answered.

Su Xue Er remained silent for a brief while before she spoke up again: [My tears have already dried up, and there’s nothing left of my emotions. The only thought that remains in my mind is that everything I did, I’ve done to help you, and that is the only belief I have left]

At this point, while standing in front of Gu Qing Shan, she no longer seemed like a human girl that had reached the peak of evolution, nor did she bear any resemblance to an Apocalypse Sequence.

Gu Qing Shan took another step closer and reached his hands out to hug her.

But Su Xue Er pushed him away, then took a few steps backwards.

She insisted with force in her voice: [No, all of this was my own actions, it has nothing to do with you]

Gu Qing Shan just smiled in response.

He took another step forward and pulled Su Xue Er into his embrace with his hand.

Su Xue Er tried to struggle a few more times before finally hugging him tightly.

Their surroundings became silent.

A few moments later.

“Xue Er” Gu Qing Shan muttered.

[Hm?] Su Xue Er softly answered with a hum.

“Once this is all over, I’ll accompany you back to the Reality Gate, we will try to save all the worlds that had been destroyed and revive the people that were killed, and then—-”

[And then?]

“I will apologize to all of those people with you, we will ask for their forgiveness, together”

Su Xue Er tightened her embrace, tightly hanging onto his hands.

She finally stopped holding back and cried out loud.

[What if… what if we can’t save them anymore… Qing Shan…]

Gu Qing Shan lifted her face up, but her tears couldn’t stop flowing.

Gu Qing Shan gently told her: “It will be fine, I’ll be with you, regardless of what the final results will be, you and I will accept them together, up until the very end”

Su Xue Er looked earnestly at him, trying to wipe her tears away.

After a long while, she sniffled and tried to make her voice sound calm:

[Regardless of the results, as long as you are here with me, I, Su Xue Er, will never regret my actions, not now or ever]

She kissed him softly.

The waxing moon emerged from between the clouds, illuminating their figures in the dark.

A light breeze blew past them.

[It’s time] Su Xue Er told him.

“I’ll think of a way to bring you all into this world as soon as possible!” Gu Qing Shan replied.

Su Xue Er smiled sweetly at him.

She then faded right in front of him, returning to her [Order] and falling back into slumber.

It wasn’t just her, Lord Bloodcloak and the Master of the Heroic Spirit Hall who was standing on the interstellar warship also faded away.

They all returned to slumber.

[Moon Invitation]’s effects had ended.

The moon also disappeared into the night sky.

Only Gu Qing Shan remained by himself on top of the barren wasteland within the darkness.

After remaining silent for a while, he spoke up again:

“…Sequence”

[What is it?] the Sequence responded.

“I don’t want to evolve some Apocalypse anymore, can you come up with a way to somehow bring all of my comrades into the Samsara worlds?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

[To cancel the evolution of the Apocalypse and instead summon more of your comrades, is this your wish?] the Sequence asked.

“It is”

[Even if it will stop the evolution of the Supreme Sequence? This is your opportunity to become stronger]

Gu Qing Shan’s eyes radiated determination and answered: “I’ll always have more ways to become stronger, but they can only remain in hibernation like this. Everyone has already done their best—— this isn’t fair”

[Within this Apocalyptic era, you still insist on fairness?]

“No, perhaps I didn’t make myself clear enough. My wish is for them to live, to truly enter this world and experience life within the Samsara, a life full of glory and unknowns; no matter for what reason they fight or live, even if they fall to Huang Quan in death, it would still not be a waste of a life——- I don’t want them to survive in eternal slumber like this—— what difference is there between this and dying?”

[… To summon your comrades… will be an exceptionally difficult feat to achieve, I will need to collect a nearly infinite amount of energy, and you must also receive permission from the Samsara]

“The Samsara… I will think of a way, just be ready first” Gu Qing Shan replied.

[Then it is decided?]

“Hm, it is decided”

[You must understand, as the Supreme Sequence, my original job was to continuously evolve and awaken, what we’re attempting is considered slacking off] the Sequence said.

“I thank you in advance” Gu Qing Shan chuckled and replied.

At this time, the ground began to tremble.

The tremor was growing increasingly more intense, so much so that even Gu Qing Shan couldn’t stand properly anymore.

“What’s going on?” Gu Qing Shan exclaimed in surprise.

A line of bloody red text replied:

[Examining]

From the distance, a colorful cluster of light rapidly approached him.

—–it was the Heavenly Emperor’s Immortal City!

A single person could be seen standing on top of the Immortal City, continuously drawing light in the air with his fingers.

It was the Heavenly Emperor!

Gu Qing Shan narrowed his eyes to observe this for a bit, then suddenly said: “He seems to have lost control over his Immortal City——- although I don’t know what’s going on, it’s only correct to attack at this opportunity”

Gu Qing Shan immediately turned to his interstellar warship and shouted an order: “Come! Prepare for battle!”

But the interstellar warship also remained motionless.

It simply hovered in the air waiting for the Heavenly Emperor’s Immortal City to arrive.

——–Gu Qing Shan couldn’t control his warship either!

An Immortal City and an interstellar warship.

Under the Heavenly Emperor’s and Gu Qing Shan’s watchful gazes, they suddenly became connected.

After that, they slowly descended from the sky and firmly planted themselves on the ground.

——at a glance, they looked like two distinctly different cities being forcefully glued together.

While facing one another in the sky, Gu Qing Shan and the Heavenly Emperor exchanged gazes, both realizing the confusion on the other’s expression.

“Sequence!” Gu Qing Shan silently urged.

[Still examining, don’t be impatient!] the Sequence answered him.

Right at this moment, a giant river that exuded a frigid gloomy presence began to flow across the barren wasteland.

After that, numerous islands and structures began to grow out from the ground, neatly lined up on the two banks of the river.

“The great tomb!”

Gu Qing Shan’s expression changed.

He didn’t expect the great tomb of the Tomb of Myriad Beasts to show up here!

This was a terrifying location that had buried many of the past Samsara’s secrets, containing an unknown number of past Combatants as well as Apocalypses that couldn’t be gotten rid of!

But we should be resolving the issues of the Human realm right now, so why—–

Gu Qing Shan suddenly realized something.

Sure enough, lines of bloody text began to appear in the void of space:

[The main and mutated Five Elements have been established, and the Human realm is now stabilized]

[There are a total of two City Lords whose Immortal Cities defeated the Apocalypse, their Immortal Cities will fuse into one and act as the shelter for all Chosen Saints]

[The Beast King realm is about to emerge]

[Explore the great tomb, as the Samsara will observe the performance of every Chosen Saint]

[—–Attention, this is the chance for Chosen Saints to regain their powers]

[The more Merit you accrue, the faster your strength would be unsealed]

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask: “Wouldn’t the seal be undone all at once?”

[No, it will be split into parts] the Sequence answered.

Gu Qing Shan understood right away.

This is a race.

No matter how much strength you had in the past, if you can’t undo your seal fast enough, you’d still be weak.

On the contrary, the Chosen Saints who managed to unseal their strength first or have unsealed more of their original strength would be the ones who would truly have the advantage during this trial.

Everyone will begin from the same starting line!

“This is a good chance… I’ve finally managed to wait for such a chance to appear” Gu Qing Shan’s eyes glowed as he muttered.

Killing intent was clearly radiating from his body.

That’s right, this is the perfect chance.

Whether or not I can get rid of the Heavenly Emperor once and for all depends on what I choose to do now!