1820

1822 [Divine Guidance]

Gu Qing Shan felt a sense of delusion.

That he was now the River of Death, and that he was the manifestation of the River of Death’s will itself.

Ever since ages long past, dead souls over countless years had slumbered in the depths of the River of Death.

Without the River of Death, these souls would have drifted endlessly through the void, not receiving any rest, let alone peace, and would have ultimately dissipated into nothingness.

This was the virtuous karma accrued by the River of Death, innumerable, uncountable, and immeasurable!

Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath and let himself experience the miraculous sensations from the surrounding void of space.

The will of Huang Quan is waiting for me.

——as the Death God, what kind of Huang Quan Divine Skill do I need?

Gu Qing Shan remained silent for one breath’s worth of time.

A carousel of images played in his mind, displaying everything that had occurred ever since he began his participation in the Samsara Clash for Supremacy.

My original wish, it was——

Gu Qing Shan closed his eyes and focused on a single deep desire in his heart.

The void of space around him continuously rumbled, almost as if it was mingling with his Inner Sight.

A few moments later.

A huge whirlpool manifested far above the sky.

The dark-colored Origin Power of Huang Quan descended from it before being entirely infused into Gu Qing Shan’s body.

At this point, from the Forgetting River, the Hall of Reincarnation, the Bridge of Life and Death, the Gates of Hell, and the Tie Wei mountain; countless devils and Deities were all gazing upon him.

——this was the coronation of a Virtuous Deity.

Everyone kept their silence and patiently waited for the ceremony to conclude.

Time slowly passed.

All the lights eventually faded away.

And things returned to normal.

Gu Qing Shan opened his eyes with a pleased look on his face.

He then suddenly vanished from the world of Huang Quan.

…

The Human realm.

Gu Qing Shan appeared on top of a flowing grand river.

[All-Encompassing Sword Realm] was immediately invoked to isolate this whole area.

While gazing downwards at the flowing river, Gu Qing Shan muttered: “[Guidance]!”

The void of space shifted.

A man appeared out of nowhere, hovering in the sky while still unconscious.

Gu Qing Shan swung his hand.

Splash!

The man fell into the water.

Blub blub blub blu——-

The man suddenly resurfaced and spat out a mouthful of water.

Gu Qing Shan flew down and carried the man to the sandy riverbank.

“You’re finally awake” Gu Qing Shan said.

“However… I seem to have lost all of my powers, including the frozen corpse’s power” the man replied.

“Shroud, you’ve now entered the Samsara Clash for Supremacy, so all of your powers had to be sealed—— in fact, it took everything I had to retain your memories” Gu Qing Shan explained.

“What’s the current situation?” Shroud asked while wiping off the water from his body.

Gu Qing Shan explained everything to him from beginning to end.

After listening to him, Shroud said with a serious expression: “If the Human realm really does possess the hidden will of the Samsara, then I must act extremely cautiously”

“That’s right, the situation is highly dangerous, so I didn’t wake anybody else except you” Gu Qing Shan replied.

His gaze fell towards the void of space, where a notification was floating:

[You’ve obtained the Huang Quan Divine Skill: Divine Guidance]

[You are capable of traveling between the worlds of life and death as you wish, guiding the living into death, and bringing the dead to a new life; imbuing new power into the Twin Rivers of Life and Death world system]

—–indeed, this was the single desire that Gu Qing Shan had this whole time.

To awaken the hibernating living beings within [Order]!

Allowing them to also join the worlds of the Samsara and earn their chance to fight!

Shroud thought briefly and said: “So that’s what happened. You are the ruler of the River of Death, and since the River of Life had also been assimilated into the Samsara, the Human realm is the most likely location for it to appear”

“But I haven’t heard any rumors of the River of Life at all” Gu Qing Shan continued.

“Which means it might have been concealed——- so I need to find it?” Shroud asked.

“That’s right, you are the Lord of Radiance, so as soon as you find the River of Life, it’s not unreasonable for you to regain all of your powers, at the same time, you won’t be rejected by the Samsara and instead possess a great deal of Merits the same way I do” Gu Qing Shan replied.

Shroud nodded and grinned: “As expected, it’s best that I should be the one responsible for such matters, anyone else wouldn’t be able to do it”

Gu Qing Shan said: “Indeed, whether it’s knowledge, discerning eyes, expertise, wisdom, experience, or even combat prowess, you’re the best of them all——- so I’ll leave this matter to you. I have a lot of enemies in the Human realm so it’s inconvenient for me to stay here for too long, and to protect the secret of your identity, I’ll have to return to Huang Quan”

Shroud pounded his chest and boastfully said: “I am the Greatest Above the Star Crown, Great Lord of Infinite Origin, and the Unspeakable Secret Apocalypse—– don’t worry, I’ll search through the entirety of the Human realm and quickly find the River of Life, so that I can join the fray as soon as possible”

“I’ll be waiting for your good news” Gu Qing Shan said.

“Alright” Shroud nodded.

Gu Qing Shan then placed one hand on Shroud’s shoulder.

[Apocalypse Awakening], activated!

[Apocalypse Awakening: If a living being had ever been reinforced by a Sequence, you are capable of once again awakening the power of that Sequence on them]

After doing that, [All-Encompassing Sword Realm] faded away together with Gu Qing Shan.

The Human realm.

Shroud was now standing alone on a sandy riverbank, silently pondering his next move.

“Although I’ve lost all of my powers, Gu Qing Shan has helped me awaken [Order]—— I am still a King of War of the [Worlds Apocalypse Online – Human Regiment]…”

With a single word, he summoned a slightly translucent blue-glowing interface.

A single line of text was written on the interface:

[The Sequence is still being awakened, 3 minutes remaining]

3 minutes.

Guess I’ll wait.

Shroud silently nodded, then heard a voice from a short distance away:

“Brat, which mountain are you heading to?”

Shroud was surprised, then suddenly realized after a short pause that he naturally couldn’t sense anybody approaching since he had lost all of his powers.

Turning to look towards the nearby forest, he saw a few vicious-looking muscular men approaching him.

“Who are you people?” Shroud coldly asked.

The men’s leader answered: “We are a group of bandits in this mountain region. We’re recruiting more men from the area around here, care to join us and make it big by pillaging and robbing the people?”

Shroud chuckled: “With a group like yours? How about this, if you can stop me, I’ll join you”

“Stop you?” the leader asked in confusion.

Shroud perked up his chin and grandly declared: “That’s right, ever since birth, this one has been the ruler of all Gods, no single person under this heaven had ever been able to stop me, so if you can—— even for a split second, it will have been your life-long honor”

The men went silent.

“Boss, let’s not recruit this brat” one of his subordinates whispered.

“Why not?” the leader asked him in return while also whispering.

“This brat’s crazy” the subordinate said.

“Crazy people aren’t afraid to die, so we can have him charge forward first later on—– I’ve decided, we need to recruit him” the leader said.

He then turned around and signaled: “Brothers, come out!”

A group of ten bandits immediately emerged from the forest.

Shroud’s expression changed.

I’ve lost all of my powers, while there are over a dozen men on that side, all of whom seemed to be proficient martial artists.

He turned towards the void of space.

The message on the interface has changed:

[2 minutes remaining until the activation of Human Regiment]

2 minutes!

Shroud quickly called out: “Wait——”

His voice was cut off by the leader:

“Brothers, go ahead and give this newbie the standard treatment!”

“Yes boss!”

“Remember to give him a proper beating, make sure he won’t ever forget it!”

“Yes boss!”

The bandits brandished their weapons and began to charge towards Shroud.

Shroud couldn’t help but turn towards the [Order] interface again.

There’s still half a minute until it fully awakens.

… this is… a bit awkward…

Even a fierce lion can die from a pack of hyenas, and I don’t have even a shred of power right now; how can I fight against ten bandits at once?

As the Ruler of the Myriad Gods, if I were to be beaten up by a bunch of bandits here, how am I supposed to show my face from now on?

What would happen to my reputation?

Wouldn’t I be the subject of ridicule?

——that isn’t a small issue.

If Barry gets wind of this, he’ll use it to make fun of me until the end of time.

… Absolutely not.

“Mortals, you will never be able stop an existence like myself”

Shroud scoffed, then gave himself a rapid running start before jumping high into the air——-

The bandit leader immediately panicked.

He shouted out loud: “Oi! Youngster, even if you can’t beat us, there’s no need to jump into the river—— wait, you can swim—– don’t run away—-”

“Brothers, get in there and catch him!”

“Yes boss!”

Splash splash splash——

The bandits jumped into the water and shouted: “Stop running!”

Splash splash plash——-

Shroud put all his strength into swimming and shouted back: “Why are you still… chasing me!?”

Splash splash splash——-

The bandits were also putting their all into swimming after him as well: “Stop right there if you’re a real man”

Splash splash splash splash splash splash——-

Shroud kept on swimming while shouting: “Stop chasing me if you’re a real man”

One of the bandits couldn’t help but exclaim: “Goddamn it, was this brat born under the star of the beaver or something? We’re going to catch you no matter what!”

Splash splash splash splash splash splash——-

30 seconds left!

Splash splash splash splash splash splash——-

10 seconds!

One of the bandits managed to grab Shroud’s pants from behind!

8 seconds!

Shroud managed to escape, but also lost his pants!

3 seconds!

Shroud was still swimming forward as fast as he could!

Suddenly, a line of text appeared out of nowhere:

[The Order has awakened]

Shroud heaved a heavy sigh, feeling like he’s finally escaped death.

…

The Huang Quan realm.

Gu Qing Shan appeared from the void of space.

At this point, all the supernatural phenomena had faded away, only a large crowd of Deities remained hovering in the sky, bowing respectfully towards him while declaring in unison: “Congratulations our new Deity for achieving the rank of Virtuous Deity”

Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist in return.

A second later.

The intensely flowing Forgetting River suddenly split apart by itself.

A female voice resonated from the depths of the river: 『 Our newly appointed Death God, please make a trip here 』

『 ——the other Virtuous Deities as well 』

This voice resounded across the entire Huang Quan realm.

An old woman emerged flying from within the Hall of Reincarnation and stood hovering in the air: 『 As the High Deity wishes 』

The Gates of Hell swung open, from which a middle-aged man who carried two blades on his back emerged and spoke: 「 As the High Deity wishes 」

A familiar female voice resounded from the top of the Tie Wei mountain: “As the High Deity wishes”

Gu Qing Shan focused his gaze towards that direction.

He saw a group of people standing on top of the Tie Wei mountain.

The person standing in the middle of them all was female, she wore a demonic mask over her face while numerous threads that reached into the void of space surrounded her body.

At some unknown point, one of the threads had silently approached and coiled around Gu Qing Shan’s wrist.

1822 [Divine Guidance]

Gu Qing Shan felt a sense of delusion.

That he was now the River of Death, and that he was the manifestation of the River of Death’s will itself.

Ever since ages long past, dead souls over countless years had slumbered in the depths of the River of Death.

Without the River of Death, these souls would have drifted endlessly through the void, not receiving any rest, let alone peace, and would have ultimately dissipated into nothingness.

This was the virtuous karma accrued by the River of Death, innumerable, uncountable, and immeasurable!

Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath and let himself experience the miraculous sensations from the surrounding void of space.

The will of Huang Quan is waiting for me.

——as the Death God, what kind of Huang Quan Divine Skill do I need?

Gu Qing Shan remained silent for one breath’s worth of time.

A carousel of images played in his mind, displaying everything that had occurred ever since he began his participation in the Samsara Clash for Supremacy.

My original wish, it was——

Gu Qing Shan closed his eyes and focused on a single deep desire in his heart.

The void of space around him continuously rumbled, almost as if it was mingling with his Inner Sight.

A few moments later.

A huge whirlpool manifested far above the sky.

The dark-colored Origin Power of Huang Quan descended from it before being entirely infused into Gu Qing Shan’s body.

At this point, from the Forgetting River, the Hall of Reincarnation, the Bridge of Life and Death, the Gates of Hell, and the Tie Wei mountain; countless devils and Deities were all gazing upon him.

——this was the coronation of a Virtuous Deity.

Everyone kept their silence and patiently waited for the ceremony to conclude.

Time slowly passed.

All the lights eventually faded away.

And things returned to normal.

Gu Qing Shan opened his eyes with a pleased look on his face.

He then suddenly vanished from the world of Huang Quan.

…

The Human realm.

Gu Qing Shan appeared on top of a flowing grand river.

[All-Encompassing Sword Realm] was immediately invoked to isolate this whole area.

While gazing downwards at the flowing river, Gu Qing Shan muttered: “[Guidance]!”

The void of space shifted.

A man appeared out of nowhere, hovering in the sky while still unconscious.

Gu Qing Shan swung his hand.

Splash!

The man fell into the water.

Blub blub blub blu——-

The man suddenly resurfaced and spat out a mouthful of water.

Gu Qing Shan flew down and carried the man to the sandy riverbank.

“You’re finally awake” Gu Qing Shan said.

“However… I seem to have lost all of my powers, including the frozen corpse’s power” the man replied.

“Shroud, you’ve now entered the Samsara Clash for Supremacy, so all of your powers had to be sealed—— in fact, it took everything I had to retain your memories” Gu Qing Shan explained.

“What’s the current situation?” Shroud asked while wiping off the water from his body.

Gu Qing Shan explained everything to him from beginning to end.

After listening to him, Shroud said with a serious expression: “If the Human realm really does possess the hidden will of the Samsara, then I must act extremely cautiously”

“That’s right, the situation is highly dangerous, so I didn’t wake anybody else except you” Gu Qing Shan replied.

His gaze fell towards the void of space, where a notification was floating:

[You’ve obtained the Huang Quan Divine Skill: Divine Guidance]

[You are capable of traveling between the worlds of life and death as you wish, guiding the living into death, and bringing the dead to a new life; imbuing new power into the Twin Rivers of Life and Death world system]

—–indeed, this was the single desire that Gu Qing Shan had this whole time.

To awaken the hibernating living beings within [Order]!

Allowing them to also join the worlds of the Samsara and earn their chance to fight!

Shroud thought briefly and said: “So that’s what happened. You are the ruler of the River of Death, and since the River of Life had also been assimilated into the Samsara, the Human realm is the most likely location for it to appear”

“But I haven’t heard any rumors of the River of Life at all” Gu Qing Shan continued.

“Which means it might have been concealed——- so I need to find it?” Shroud asked.

“That’s right, you are the Lord of Radiance, so as soon as you find the River of Life, it’s not unreasonable for you to regain all of your powers, at the same time, you won’t be rejected by the Samsara and instead possess a great deal of Merits the same way I do” Gu Qing Shan replied.

Shroud nodded and grinned: “As expected, it’s best that I should be the one responsible for such matters, anyone else wouldn’t be able to do it”

Gu Qing Shan said: “Indeed, whether it’s knowledge, discerning eyes, expertise, wisdom, experience, or even combat prowess, you’re the best of them all——- so I’ll leave this matter to you. I have a lot of enemies in the Human realm so it’s inconvenient for me to stay here for too long, and to protect the secret of your identity, I’ll have to return to Huang Quan”

Shroud pounded his chest and boastfully said: “I am the Greatest Above the Star Crown, Great Lord of Infinite Origin, and the Unspeakable Secret Apocalypse—– don’t worry, I’ll search through the entirety of the Human realm and quickly find the River of Life, so that I can join the fray as soon as possible”

“I’ll be waiting for your good news” Gu Qing Shan said.

“Alright” Shroud nodded.

Gu Qing Shan then placed one hand on Shroud’s shoulder.

[Apocalypse Awakening], activated!

[Apocalypse Awakening: If a living being had ever been reinforced by a Sequence, you are capable of once again awakening the power of that Sequence on them]

After doing that, [All-Encompassing Sword Realm] faded away together with Gu Qing Shan.

The Human realm.

Shroud was now standing alone on a sandy riverbank, silently pondering his next move.

“Although I’ve lost all of my powers, Gu Qing Shan has helped me awaken [Order]—— I am still a King of War of the [Worlds Apocalypse Online – Human Regiment]…”

With a single word, he summoned a slightly translucent blue-glowing interface.

A single line of text was written on the interface:

[The Sequence is still being awakened, 3 minutes remaining]

3 minutes.

Guess I’ll wait.

Shroud silently nodded, then heard a voice from a short distance away:

“Brat, which mountain are you heading to?”

Shroud was surprised, then suddenly realized after a short pause that he naturally couldn’t sense anybody approaching since he had lost all of his powers.

Turning to look towards the nearby forest, he saw a few vicious-looking muscular men approaching him.

“Who are you people?” Shroud coldly asked.

The men’s leader answered: “We are a group of bandits in this mountain region. We’re recruiting more men from the area around here, care to join us and make it big by pillaging and robbing the people?”

Shroud chuckled: “With a group like yours? How about this, if you can stop me, I’ll join you”

“Stop you?” the leader asked in confusion.

Shroud perked up his chin and grandly declared: “That’s right, ever since birth, this one has been the ruler of all Gods, no single person under this heaven had ever been able to stop me, so if you can—— even for a split second, it will have been your life-long honor”

The men went silent.

“Boss, let’s not recruit this brat” one of his subordinates whispered.

“Why not?” the leader asked him in return while also whispering.

“This brat’s crazy” the subordinate said.

“Crazy people aren’t afraid to die, so we can have him charge forward first later on—– I’ve decided, we need to recruit him” the leader said.

He then turned around and signaled: “Brothers, come out!”

A group of ten bandits immediately emerged from the forest.

Shroud’s expression changed.

I’ve lost all of my powers, while there are over a dozen men on that side, all of whom seemed to be proficient martial artists.

He turned towards the void of space.

The message on the interface has changed:

[2 minutes remaining until the activation of Human Regiment]

2 minutes!

Shroud quickly called out: “Wait——”

His voice was cut off by the leader:

“Brothers, go ahead and give this newbie the standard treatment!”

“Yes boss!”

“Remember to give him a proper beating, make sure he won’t ever forget it!”

“Yes boss!”

The bandits brandished their weapons and began to charge towards Shroud.

Shroud couldn’t help but turn towards the [Order] interface again.

There’s still half a minute until it fully awakens.

… this is… a bit awkward…

Even a fierce lion can die from a pack of hyenas, and I don’t have even a shred of power right now; how can I fight against ten bandits at once?

As the Ruler of the Myriad Gods, if I were to be beaten up by a bunch of bandits here, how am I supposed to show my face from now on?

What would happen to my reputation?

Wouldn’t I be the subject of ridicule?

——that isn’t a small issue.

If Barry gets wind of this, he’ll use it to make fun of me until the end of time.

… Absolutely not.

“Mortals, you will never be able stop an existence like myself”

Shroud scoffed, then gave himself a rapid running start before jumping high into the air——-

The bandit leader immediately panicked.

He shouted out loud: “Oi! Youngster, even if you can’t beat us, there’s no need to jump into the river—— wait, you can swim—– don’t run away—-”

“Brothers, get in there and catch him!”

“Yes boss!”

Splash splash splash——

The bandits jumped into the water and shouted: “Stop running!”

Splash splash plash——-

Shroud put all his strength into swimming and shouted back: “Why are you still… chasing me!?”

Splash splash splash——-

The bandits were also putting their all into swimming after him as well: “Stop right there if you’re a real man”

Splash splash splash splash splash splash——-

Shroud kept on swimming while shouting: “Stop chasing me if you’re a real man”

One of the bandits couldn’t help but exclaim: “Goddamn it, was this brat born under the star of the beaver or something? We’re going to catch you no matter what!”

Splash splash splash splash splash splash——-

30 seconds left!

Splash splash splash splash splash splash——-

10 seconds!

One of the bandits managed to grab Shroud’s pants from behind!

8 seconds!

Shroud managed to escape, but also lost his pants!

3 seconds!

Shroud was still swimming forward as fast as he could!

Suddenly, a line of text appeared out of nowhere:

[The Order has awakened]

Shroud heaved a heavy sigh, feeling like he’s finally escaped death.

…

The Huang Quan realm.

Gu Qing Shan appeared from the void of space.

At this point, all the supernatural phenomena had faded away, only a large crowd of Deities remained hovering in the sky, bowing respectfully towards him while declaring in unison: “Congratulations our new Deity for achieving the rank of Virtuous Deity”

Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist in return.

A second later.

The intensely flowing Forgetting River suddenly split apart by itself.

A female voice resonated from the depths of the river: 『 Our newly appointed Death God, please make a trip here 』

『 ——the other Virtuous Deities as well 』

This voice resounded across the entire Huang Quan realm.

An old woman emerged flying from within the Hall of Reincarnation and stood hovering in the air: 『 As the High Deity wishes 』

The Gates of Hell swung open, from which a middle-aged man who carried two blades on his back emerged and spoke: 「 As the High Deity wishes 」

A familiar female voice resounded from the top of the Tie Wei mountain: “As the High Deity wishes”

Gu Qing Shan focused his gaze towards that direction.

He saw a group of people standing on top of the Tie Wei mountain.

The person standing in the middle of them all was female, she wore a demonic mask over her face while numerous threads that reached into the void of space surrounded her body.

At some unknown point, one of the threads had silently approached and coiled around Gu Qing Shan’s wrist.