1806

[Do you really want to know that?] the Book of the Sea asked.

“That’s right, however much it costs, just tell me a number” Gu Qing Shan said with a stern expression.

The Book of the Sea sighed and murmured: [You don’t HAVE any wealth, don’t try to act like money is no subject to you]

Gu Qing Shan’s expression became stiff, then said: “I can’t pay you right now, but I’ll eventually be able to pay you back”

The Book of the Sea replied: [I don’t want money now, if you can agree to one tiny condition, I’ll tell you the answer to your question]

“…You’re not going to make me kill countless people and offer their souls to you, right?” Gu Qing Shan hesitantly said.

The Book of the Sea snapped at him: [This book is the Soul Artifact manifestation of a Saint Pillar, not some demonic book]

“Then what’s the condition?”

[It won’t be anything significant, I’ll tell you when I think of it—— if you agree, I can give you the answer you want now]

“That’s good to hear, then I agree” Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief.

The Book of the Sea then spoke: [Within recorded history and Space-Time, the Samsara had been shattered a total of two times]

“Two times?”

[Yes, two times]

“Within recorded history and Space-Time—— what does that mean exactly?”

[It means ‘within the range that can be investigated’, you should know, the Samsara’s origin is a complete mystery. Although I know all knowledge that has ever existed within the Boundless Void, its past doesn’t exist within the Boundless Void] the Book of the Sea answered.

Twice.

In other words, before Xie Dao Ling was in charge of the Heaven realm, the Samsara had actually been shattered once.

This truth was a bit beyond Gu Qing Shan’s imagination.

He sighed and continued to ask: “You said ‘within the range that can be investigated’, does that mean there are still places within Space-Time that can’t be investigated?”

[Naturally, you should know, if you can travel along the River of Time against its flow to reach the beginning of the River of Time, you’d find——-]

The Book of the Sea suddenly stopped.

“Why aren’t you continuing?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

[My apologies, this is another secret, it’s not something that all things and living beings can learn of—— furthermore, the Chrono race isn’t something to be trifled with, so I can’t tell you] the Book of the Sea replied.

Gu Qing Shan didn’t find that surprising.

Nor did he show any sort of disappointment.

It’s common knowledge that the Boundless Void consists of countless secrets.

And for certain secrets with extremely high value, not everyone has the qualifications to even hear them.

In other words.

If one heard or saw something that they weren’t supposed to, not only would that only make them more troubled, but it could directly endanger their life.

Gu Qing Shan stopped thinking about that and turned his gaze back to the wall.

It’s difficult to tell.

Although I’ve managed to guess a few things, the Samsara’s secrets are hidden too deeply, it’s impossible to discern them all from a single poem.

Gu Qing Shan pondered for a little bit longer before turning around to everyone and waved his hands:

“Alright, everyone can go, I have a few personal matters to attend to that are inconvenient for others to observe”

Everyone could only turn around and leave.

Gu Qing Shan then began to arrange lock seals around the palace hall one layer after another, but still feeling unsure, he gripped the Delimitation Divine Sword tightly and grunted:

[All-Encompassing Sword Realm]!

In an instant, the entire hall had faded away, vanishing from Gu Qing Shan’s vision.

A world of pure white had manifested.

The Delimitation Divine Sword said: 「 The sword realm has been constructed, you can now create a world using your thoughts 」

“Let’s get back to that later” Gu Qing Shan said.

—–[All-Encompassing Sword Realm] was capable of isolating and expelling Apocalypses; even the Eternal Mind Seizer had to spend a lot of effort to break through and enter.

It’s clear that [All-Encompassing Sword Realm] has a relatively tight barrier.

Standing within this empty world, Gu Qing Shan suddenly spoke up:

“…Delimitation, I know that you’ve been hiding your strength within the Samsara for a very long time, even disguising yourself as a broken sword to deceive the Samsara itself, but why did you give me a hint at the very end?”

The divine sword started to hover around him and spoke: 「 I’ve seen your battle against Reneedol, as well as against the two Unfathomable Apocalypses, so I’ve been hesitant since that time… 」

「 Afterwards, only by relying on one of my fragments, you managed to fool the Eternal Mind Seizer, which the Samsara might not have been able to predict 」

「 I’ve never even heard of someone with so little strength as you being able to do such a thing… 」

「 Not to mention, you are a true swordsman 」

「 And so I was thinking that if there’s one person who could help me, that person must surely be you 」

「 ——Of course, when you refused to hand me over to those Sequence Envoy at the very end, I knew that my guess was correct 」

After saying that, the divine sword transformed into a streak of light and began to fly around the empty world, seemingly very pleased.

Gu Qing Shan smiled.

“Then from now on, you are my sword and we will fight alongside one another” he confirmed this fact once again.

The sword gave off a clear ring to signal agreement.

Gu Qing Shan’s expression slowly became solemn and said: “Help me protect the sword realm as best as you can, don’t let anyone peek inside”

The Delimitation Divine Sword gave off another ring and vanished into the empty whiteness.

With everything prepared, Gu Qing Shan took out the Book of the Sea and said with a serious tone:

“I have something very important I need to ask you, something that nobody can know about”

Seeing him so serious, the Book of the Sea also became solemn and asked: [What is it?]

Gu Qing Shan said: “You know about everything within the Boundless Void… then if you’ve gone to a certain world together with me, would you know how many people there are in those worlds?”

[If it’s such a simple thing, of course I do] the Book of the Sea answered.

“Then do you also know about the name and appearance of those living beings?” Gu Qing Shan asked again.

[Name and appearance are considered to be basic information, they can’t even be considered knowledge, so I would naturally know] the Book of the Sea casually replied.

Gu Qing Shan’s tone became even more solemn as he continued: “Then—— if I tell you the name and appearance of a certain person, and if that person was present in a certain world, you’d know if they were there, correct?”

The Book of the Sea couldn’t help but ask: [Yes, what exactly are you trying to ask? Do you just want to find someone in a certain world?]

“Yes, trust me, this is extremely crucial, it’s more important compared to anything I’ve ever asked you in the past” Gu Qing Shan said.

[Which world exactly are you talking about?] the Book of the Sea asked.

Gu Qing Shan waved his hand.

The Delimitation Divine Sword flew out from the void of space and landed in his grip.

With a single thought from Gu Qing Shan, this entire empty world began to be filled with scenery.

An entire Phase Realm was being constructed.

Caskets began to manifest all around this world.

From the sky to the earth, there was literally nothing else.

Different sizes, different materials, caskets that were all giving off different ominous vibes were lined up neatly next to one another, extending endlessly in every direction as far as the eye can see.

This entire world was clad in indescribable suffocation and eeriness.

Gu Qing Shan spoke: “We’ve seen how the Samsara showed off its might by using this world to get rid of that fellow who attacked me from outside of the world”

The Book of the Sea’s tone became a bit more cautious as it spoke: [I remember this world… There are too many secrets contained here, if I tell you anything about it, there would be disastrous consequences in little to no time at all…]

Gu Qing Shan replied: “I don’t need to know any of this world’s secrets, nor do I want any of its knowledge, in fact, I don’t want to know even the most basic information about this world—— I just want to know whether or not a certain person existed in this world”

[That’s acceptable, what kind of person are you looking for?] the Book of the Sea asked.

Gu Qing Shan stayed silent for a few moments.

Shifu’s technique…

She was clearly capable of taking everyone in the Bai Hua sect, including herself, and escaping the Samsara.

There wouldn’t have been any trouble for her to come as well.

But Shifu decided to stay behind instead.

Part of the reason might be because she took on my Samsara identities, all of which were impossible to permanently remove, which made it so that she couldn’t flee from the samsara.

But the other part of the reason was most likely related to the poem, the secret contained within the poem made it so that she couldn’t leave no matter what.

Then——

If I didn’t know about that poem, what would my thought process have been? From where would I have begun to investigate?

…I would definitely have tried to begin my investigation with the Bai Hua sect.

Following this train of thought, I would be able to confirm one thing beyond any doubts, as well as one fact that I would surely notice, which is…

Shifu would never abandon any disciples of the Bai Hua sect.

Especially——-

Gu Qing Shan focused his mind.

Instantly, the projection of a young girl appeared in the void of space.

The young girl had a pair of lively eyes, her hair tied into twin tails while her expression displayed a bit of nervousness as well as embarrassment.

—–indeed, the whole of Bai Hua sect had reunited, with the sole exception of this youngest junior sister.

She once saved Shifu’s life, a beloved member of the entire sect.

Shifu was also worried about her more than anyone else.

If somebody had captured her, Shifu would definitely not abandon her, nor would she try to flee the Samsara on her own.

Then, if I speculate that the Samsara itself, or some force that’s silently controlling the Samsara wanted Shifu to stay——-

“Help me take a look, is she being held captive in one of the caskets in this world?”

Gu Qing Shan said.

[Give me her name] the Book of the Sea replied.

“She’s called Xiu Xiu” Gu Qing Shan answered.

[Wait a bit, I’ll check] the Book of the Sea told him and fell silent.

Gu Qing Shan stood and quietly waited.

A few moments later.

The Book of the Sea spoke again:

[Found her, she is in this world]

[Do you really want to know that?] the Book of the Sea asked.

“That’s right, however much it costs, just tell me a number” Gu Qing Shan said with a stern expression.

The Book of the Sea sighed and murmured: [You don’t HAVE any wealth, don’t try to act like money is no subject to you]

Gu Qing Shan’s expression became stiff, then said: “I can’t pay you right now, but I’ll eventually be able to pay you back”

The Book of the Sea replied: [I don’t want money now, if you can agree to one tiny condition, I’ll tell you the answer to your question]

“…You’re not going to make me kill countless people and offer their souls to you, right?” Gu Qing Shan hesitantly said.

The Book of the Sea snapped at him: [This book is the Soul Artifact manifestation of a Saint Pillar, not some demonic book]

“Then what’s the condition?”

[It won’t be anything significant, I’ll tell you when I think of it—— if you agree, I can give you the answer you want now]

“That’s good to hear, then I agree” Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief.

The Book of the Sea then spoke: [Within recorded history and Space-Time, the Samsara had been shattered a total of two times]

“Two times?”

[Yes, two times]

“Within recorded history and Space-Time—— what does that mean exactly?”

[It means ‘within the range that can be investigated’, you should know, the Samsara’s origin is a complete mystery. Although I know all knowledge that has ever existed within the Boundless Void, its past doesn’t exist within the Boundless Void] the Book of the Sea answered.

Twice.

In other words, before Xie Dao Ling was in charge of the Heaven realm, the Samsara had actually been shattered once.

This truth was a bit beyond Gu Qing Shan’s imagination.

He sighed and continued to ask: “You said ‘within the range that can be investigated’, does that mean there are still places within Space-Time that can’t be investigated?”

[Naturally, you should know, if you can travel along the River of Time against its flow to reach the beginning of the River of Time, you’d find——-]

The Book of the Sea suddenly stopped.

“Why aren’t you continuing?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

[My apologies, this is another secret, it’s not something that all things and living beings can learn of—— furthermore, the Chrono race isn’t something to be trifled with, so I can’t tell you] the Book of the Sea replied.

Gu Qing Shan didn’t find that surprising.

Nor did he show any sort of disappointment.

It’s common knowledge that the Boundless Void consists of countless secrets.

And for certain secrets with extremely high value, not everyone has the qualifications to even hear them.

In other words.

If one heard or saw something that they weren’t supposed to, not only would that only make them more troubled, but it could directly endanger their life.

Gu Qing Shan stopped thinking about that and turned his gaze back to the wall.

It’s difficult to tell.

Although I’ve managed to guess a few things, the Samsara’s secrets are hidden too deeply, it’s impossible to discern them all from a single poem.

Gu Qing Shan pondered for a little bit longer before turning around to everyone and waved his hands:

“Alright, everyone can go, I have a few personal matters to attend to that are inconvenient for others to observe”

Everyone could only turn around and leave.

Gu Qing Shan then began to arrange lock seals around the palace hall one layer after another, but still feeling unsure, he gripped the Delimitation Divine Sword tightly and grunted:

[All-Encompassing Sword Realm]!

In an instant, the entire hall had faded away, vanishing from Gu Qing Shan’s vision.

A world of pure white had manifested.

The Delimitation Divine Sword said: 「 The sword realm has been constructed, you can now create a world using your thoughts 」

“Let’s get back to that later” Gu Qing Shan said.

—–[All-Encompassing Sword Realm] was capable of isolating and expelling Apocalypses; even the Eternal Mind Seizer had to spend a lot of effort to break through and enter.

It’s clear that [All-Encompassing Sword Realm] has a relatively tight barrier.

Standing within this empty world, Gu Qing Shan suddenly spoke up:

“…Delimitation, I know that you’ve been hiding your strength within the Samsara for a very long time, even disguising yourself as a broken sword to deceive the Samsara itself, but why did you give me a hint at the very end?”

The divine sword started to hover around him and spoke: 「 I’ve seen your battle against Reneedol, as well as against the two Unfathomable Apocalypses, so I’ve been hesitant since that time… 」

「 Afterwards, only by relying on one of my fragments, you managed to fool the Eternal Mind Seizer, which the Samsara might not have been able to predict 」

「 I’ve never even heard of someone with so little strength as you being able to do such a thing… 」

「 Not to mention, you are a true swordsman 」

「 And so I was thinking that if there’s one person who could help me, that person must surely be you 」

「 ——Of course, when you refused to hand me over to those Sequence Envoy at the very end, I knew that my guess was correct 」

After saying that, the divine sword transformed into a streak of light and began to fly around the empty world, seemingly very pleased.

Gu Qing Shan smiled.

“Then from now on, you are my sword and we will fight alongside one another” he confirmed this fact once again.

The sword gave off a clear ring to signal agreement.

Gu Qing Shan’s expression slowly became solemn and said: “Help me protect the sword realm as best as you can, don’t let anyone peek inside”

The Delimitation Divine Sword gave off another ring and vanished into the empty whiteness.

With everything prepared, Gu Qing Shan took out the Book of the Sea and said with a serious tone:

“I have something very important I need to ask you, something that nobody can know about”

Seeing him so serious, the Book of the Sea also became solemn and asked: [What is it?]

Gu Qing Shan said: “You know about everything within the Boundless Void… then if you’ve gone to a certain world together with me, would you know how many people there are in those worlds?”

[If it’s such a simple thing, of course I do] the Book of the Sea answered.

“Then do you also know about the name and appearance of those living beings?” Gu Qing Shan asked again.

[Name and appearance are considered to be basic information, they can’t even be considered knowledge, so I would naturally know] the Book of the Sea casually replied.

Gu Qing Shan’s tone became even more solemn as he continued: “Then—— if I tell you the name and appearance of a certain person, and if that person was present in a certain world, you’d know if they were there, correct?”

The Book of the Sea couldn’t help but ask: [Yes, what exactly are you trying to ask? Do you just want to find someone in a certain world?]

“Yes, trust me, this is extremely crucial, it’s more important compared to anything I’ve ever asked you in the past” Gu Qing Shan said.

[Which world exactly are you talking about?] the Book of the Sea asked.

Gu Qing Shan waved his hand.

The Delimitation Divine Sword flew out from the void of space and landed in his grip.

With a single thought from Gu Qing Shan, this entire empty world began to be filled with scenery.

An entire Phase Realm was being constructed.

Caskets began to manifest all around this world.

From the sky to the earth, there was literally nothing else.

Different sizes, different materials, caskets that were all giving off different ominous vibes were lined up neatly next to one another, extending endlessly in every direction as far as the eye can see.

This entire world was clad in indescribable suffocation and eeriness.

Gu Qing Shan spoke: “We’ve seen how the Samsara showed off its might by using this world to get rid of that fellow who attacked me from outside of the world”

The Book of the Sea’s tone became a bit more cautious as it spoke: [I remember this world… There are too many secrets contained here, if I tell you anything about it, there would be disastrous consequences in little to no time at all…]

Gu Qing Shan replied: “I don’t need to know any of this world’s secrets, nor do I want any of its knowledge, in fact, I don’t want to know even the most basic information about this world—— I just want to know whether or not a certain person existed in this world”

[That’s acceptable, what kind of person are you looking for?] the Book of the Sea asked.

Gu Qing Shan stayed silent for a few moments.

Shifu’s technique…

She was clearly capable of taking everyone in the Bai Hua sect, including herself, and escaping the Samsara.

There wouldn’t have been any trouble for her to come as well.

But Shifu decided to stay behind instead.

Part of the reason might be because she took on my Samsara identities, all of which were impossible to permanently remove, which made it so that she couldn’t flee from the samsara.

But the other part of the reason was most likely related to the poem, the secret contained within the poem made it so that she couldn’t leave no matter what.

Then——

If I didn’t know about that poem, what would my thought process have been? From where would I have begun to investigate?

…I would definitely have tried to begin my investigation with the Bai Hua sect.

Following this train of thought, I would be able to confirm one thing beyond any doubts, as well as one fact that I would surely notice, which is…

Shifu would never abandon any disciples of the Bai Hua sect.

Especially——-

Gu Qing Shan focused his mind.

Instantly, the projection of a young girl appeared in the void of space.

The young girl had a pair of lively eyes, her hair tied into twin tails while her expression displayed a bit of nervousness as well as embarrassment.

—–indeed, the whole of Bai Hua sect had reunited, with the sole exception of this youngest junior sister.

She once saved Shifu’s life, a beloved member of the entire sect.

Shifu was also worried about her more than anyone else.

If somebody had captured her, Shifu would definitely not abandon her, nor would she try to flee the Samsara on her own.

Then, if I speculate that the Samsara itself, or some force that’s silently controlling the Samsara wanted Shifu to stay——-

“Help me take a look, is she being held captive in one of the caskets in this world?”

Gu Qing Shan said.

[Give me her name] the Book of the Sea replied.

“She’s called Xiu Xiu” Gu Qing Shan answered.

[Wait a bit, I’ll check] the Book of the Sea told him and fell silent.

Gu Qing Shan stood and quietly waited.

A few moments later.

The Book of the Sea spoke again:

[Found her, she is in this world]