Chapter 429: The Suspended world

Gu Qing Shan stared at the patch of darkness and started to recollect.

The battle back in Shen Wu world wasn’t just epic and grand, it also had a lot of small details that would be crucial to what he was about to do next.

At the time, he used Soul Reading on some cultivators from this other world.

A few of the mysteries back then now appeared in Gu Qing Shan’s mind.

Qi Yan’s father, Guang Yang sect’s master, Qi Ruo Ya was facing this tribulation at the time.

Even Qi Ruo Ya doesn’t know what his son has really been up to.

All he did was give Qi Yan what he asked for.

——and Qi Yan has always been one to scheme for his own benefits.

If Qi Ruo Ya manages to breakthrough and become a Cryptic realm cultivator, Qi Yan would gift the two worlds to his father as congratulations.

But if Qi Ruo Ya fails, Qi Yan will immediately take both worlds and leave Guang Yang sect, leaving their original world.

Afterall, the people from the Great Elder’s faction wouldn’t let him off the hook if that’s the case.

Qi Yan’s plan was flawless.

Unfortunately, everybody he brought to Shen Wu world was killed by the Tianma Empress.

Even Qi Yan himself was brought to the world of the Tianma, most likely already dead.

Gu Qing Shan recalled briefly about one of Qi Yan’s aides, someone called Wu San.

Wu San stayed behind at Guang Yang sect and didn’t go to Shen Wu world.

Wu San knows about everything!

Gu Qing Shan immediately asked the System: “I remember that I still have a Quest from before, can I see it now?”

At a small corner of the War God UI, a line of small text quickly appeared.

[Special Quest: Wu San must die]

[Quest description: User attention please, there is only one person left who knows about the Shen Wu world and the cultivation world in the unknown world]

[Kill him and no one else will know about the existence of these two worlds]

[This is related to the ultimate fate of the cultivation world as well as Shen Wu world, the user is advised to use absolute discretion when approaching this]

[Quest objective: Before anyone else finds out about the secret, kill the last person who knows about this]

[Quest reward: The user can pick another Quest and immediately complete it]

Gu Qing Shan fell into contemplation.

This means that unless I kill Wu San, Shifu and the rest will not be truly safe.

The wind inside the space vortex was still picking up, but the force of the wind was already dying down.

Gu Qing Shan looked ahead.

They were very close to the gate of light.

Gu Qing Shan tapped his Inventory Bag and took out a leather briefcase.

Inside the briefcase were 2 rows of genetic modification drugs.

Gu Qing Shan took out one of them and injected himself with it.

“What are you doing?” Wan Er asked in surprise.

As soon as she did, she covered her mouth in shock.

Gu Qing Shan’s outer appearance was slowly becoming Qi Yan’s.

“Big sis Qing Rou, look!”

Wan Er urged Qing Rou to look.

Qing Rou turned over and observed Gu Qing Shan.

They looked exactly the same!

“How did you do that?” Qing Rou was surprised.

“The power of science”

“What is… science?”

“You can think of it as a type of magic treasure”

Qing Rou then understood.

“So that’s why you were so confident, you have such a magic treasure, which means you’ve already planned this far ahead”

“But then, your cultivation is still too low, it’s only—— huh? Ascended realm late stage?”

Qing Rou was shocked again.

In the battle just before, he was only a Rejuvenation realm.

How did he already become Ascended realm?

Because he hid his true strength?

“So what if I’m Ascended realm late stage, that’s still very away from Virtualized realm”

Gu Qing Shan sighed.

He took out a large-brimmed hat.

This was one of the items he got the first time he met and killed other-worldly cultivators back in Shen Wu world.

Every cultivator is Guang Yang sect is given such a hat in order to hide their presence.

At the time, everyone concluded that the other-worldly cultivators needed such hats due to them living in an environment where constant caution was needed.

Seeing the hat, the two girls’ eyes lit up.

“Whoa, that’s a good idea, with the hat, no one will be able to tell your true cultivation” Wan Er clapped her hands.

“Qi Yan is someone who likes to keep appearance, he’s never worn this type of hat” Qing Rou refuted.

“I’ve read the information and did notice that point, then——- how about this?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

He drew his sword.

The sword flashed just once and disappeared.

A few deep cuts were carved onto Gu Qing Shan’s face.

Qing Rou stared straight at him.

His expression was calm, not even a slight hint of discomfort despite what he just did.

Qing Rou sighed: “I have to give it to you, sword phantoms are too powerful and too sharp, the sword qi that remains in a wound can easily cause them to be unable to heal properly right away. Someone that minds appearance as much as Qi Yan would certainly do everything he could to hide the wounds on his face”

“And the most convenient thing to do that with is the sect’s hat” Gu Qing Shan continued.

Qing Rou thought for a bit, took out a handkerchief and went to carefully wipe off the blood on Gu Qing Shan’s face.

“There’s no need—–” Gu Qing Shan tried to stop her.

“Don’t move” Qing Rou glared at him, “Wan Er and I are both Qi Yan’s personal maids, you have to get used to us serving you up close”

“Big sis is right, you can’t be avoiding us like this” Wan Er said.

She took out a healing pill, bringing it to Gu Qing Shan’s mouth with her jade-like white hands.

“My bad” Gu Qing Shan said sorry.

He then ate the pill.

For now, he has to play the part of Qi Yan as perfectly as possible.

Once he enters that world, his every move will directly affect their survival, so he can’t afford to do this half-baked.

If he slipped up even just a little bit, the only thing waiting for them might be a fate worse than death.

“Is there anything else that indicates that I’m different from him?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

Standing there, his physique and gestures were exactly the same as Qi Yan.

He was even giving off a sense of dignity extremely similar to that of Qi Yan’s.

This sense of dignity was unique to those who were used to living in power, exuding absolute confidence with their every word and gesture.

Qing Rou and Wan Er carefully observed him for a bit and silently found it odd.

They didn’t think he would be able to imitate even this.

“Everything else is correct, there’s only a slight difference in your idiosyncrasy” Qing Rou answered as she muses about it.

“Yeah, I also feel something like that” Wan Er agreed.

“What’s the difference?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“Qi Yan isn’t a tolerable person, he’s cruel, merciless, indifferent and unempathetic, you lack this sort of cold idiosyncrasy” Qing Rou told him.

Gu Qing Shan closed his eyes.

His body twitched a bit, walking a few steps back and forth and the air he gave off quickly changed.

Faint killing intent was wafting from his body, giving everyone a slight sense of discomfort.

At this very moment, Gu Qing Shan gave off the feeling of a poisonous snake that’s always ready to bite.

“That’s exactly it, how did you do that?” Qing Rou praised him.

“As long as I’m constantly thinking of how to kill the two of you in a single strike, this feeling will appear” Gu Qing Shan explained.

“Even then, it’s hard to imitate it to this degree” Qing Rou sighed.

“I took a special class for acting”

After saying so, Gu Qing Shan drew another sword.

The Six Paths Great Mountain sword.

A blue-dress girl flew out from the sword.

Her body was slender with beautiful facial features, sharp brows and an expression of faint indifference.

“What a beautiful sword spirit” Wan Er exclaimed.

Qing Rou’s attention was also taken by Shannu’s presence, muttering: “A humanoid sword spirit, how rare, what kind of sword would be able to give birth to such a miraculous sword spirit?”

Both of them were great cultivators at Tribulation realm, originally in their respective worlds they were considered the cream of the crop, so their eyes were without any doubt first-rate.

Not to mention they directly saw how Shannu flew out from the sword, unlike Gu Qing Shan who only saw Shannu without the sword body at the bottom of the Forgetting River during their first meeting.

That’s why they managed to guess who Shannu was right away.

“You called, gongzi?” Shannu asked.

She was holding a jade tag.

“Did you read all the information yet?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“I have, I basically understand the current situation now” Shannu answered.

“Because what comes next will be exceptionally dangerous, I must avoid every chance of someone seeing through my disguise. So I need your help”

“With what?”

“Distract other people’s attention for me”

Gu Qing Shan continued: “The son of the sect’s head returning will definitely cause a lot of commotion, since I haven’t fully adapted to Qi Yan’s identity yet and I can’t make any mistakes that will cause me to be found out, I need a way to take their attention off me, and transfer it to you”

“Transfer it to me?”

Shannu couldn’t understand and tried asking: “What should I do then?”

Qing Rou reminded them: “Qi Yan is a known womanizer——– so if you just want to make her act as your maid, a lot of people will just feel like that’s to be expected and not pay too much attention to her”

“That’s right, so Shannu, you will be acting as my disciple” Gu Qing Shan spoke.

“A person like Qi Yan would actually return with a new disciple, this will cause a lot of commotion and shock”

“They will definitely pay close attention to you to see who you are, and why you were chosen to be my disciple”

“That way, most of their attention will be on you, not me”

“You’re right, gongzi” Shannu nodded.

“Wait a minute, she’s a sword spirit” Qing Rou couldn’t understand, “a sword spirit is very easily recognized by any Tribulation or Virtualized realm cultivator”

“That won’t be an issue” Gu Qing Shan said.

The sword flashed again.

He had cut his wrist and was holding it out for Shannu: “Here”

Shannu came forward, catching the fresh blood that was dripping from Gu Qing Shan’s wrist with both hands.

After a few seconds.

“It’s enough” Shannu said.

“You sure?”

“I am, it’s enough”

Gu Qing Shan then closed up his wounds and said: “Now you can use ‘that’”

“Yes, gongzi”

Shannu closed her eyes and started to use [Mystery of All Beings Equal] with Gu Qing Shan’s blood.

Thanks to the Six Paths Great Mountain sword’s thaumaturgy [Living’s Wisdom], she was able to use all of Gu Qing Shan’s skills and experience.

And since her power comes from the Divine Mountain, she doesn’t need Soul Points.

She was as strong as however strong Gu Qing Shan is.

[Mystery of All Beings Equal: You learn the most basic composition of any creature’s make-up, obtaining the ability to change yourself into that creature]

[Note: You have to collect parts of that creature’s body to learn its special characteristics and Laws in order to disguise as that creature]

And fresh blood was the most important part of a human body’s composition.

After a few seconds, Shannu had taken Gu Qing Shan’s appearance.

And Gu Qing Shan had taken Qi Yan’s appearance.

It was a bit chaotic…

‘Gu Qing Shan’ then lightly curtsied to ‘Qi Ya’ and asked: “Gongzi, what do you think?”

‘Qi Yan’ froze for a bit, then spoke with a complicated expression: “You did well… but please avoid too feminine gestures”

“Yes”

Shannu realized what she did, recalled Gu Qing Shan’s daily gestures and stood up, puffing her chest out.

‘Qi Yan’ thought for a bit, then continued: “Call me master from now on”

‘Gu Qing Shan’ clasped her hands a bit awkwardly and spoke: “This disciple welcomes you, master”

‘Qi Yan’ appeared pleased: “Hm, very good, that’ll do”

Shannu was still a bit nervous, asking: “Will this be ok? I don’t really act like you at all—— how about gongzi teach me the skills to act as well?”

“It’s fine, no one in that world has seen me yet, so there’s no need for you to copy my gestures, as long as you avoid using feminine gestures, it’ll be fine”

Shannu calmed down and nodded: “That I can do”

Qing Rou and Wan Er stood stunned as they watched everything.

…

Night.

The night was cold.

The world was silent, dead silent.

The sky was filled with stars, as well as islands suspended in midair.

The moon of this world had already disappeared without a trace long ago, leaving the world in darkness.

At a certain moment.

On an unassuming suspended island, a few hundred dirty rocks began to move.

Without making a sound, the rock was arranging themselves into an intricate formation.

The formation was formed.

Oong!

Something broke through the void of space, lightly falling to the ground.

It was a small formation plate.

As it touched the ground, the plate instantly broke into fine dust.

The formation plate was now broken.

A few moments later.

Four figures appeared from the void of space, slowly descending onto the formation.

A female voice came:

“The quarantine formation is working normally”

Another female voice spoke: “Everything around is normal, we’ll be safe for now”

Following this, the air returned to silence.

“Wan Er, please check the time for me” Gu Qing Shan’s voice came.

He was hanging onto the brim of his hat, observing this foreign world.

Wan Er tapped her gem ornament and took out a black talisman.

She infused it with her spirit energy.

Two shining words appeared on the talisman.

“Xiong” and “Ji” (1)

The two words started alternating, until the word “Ji” disappeared completely.

“Xiong” then began to grow bigger until it took up the entire talisman.

“Young master, it’s currently Danger Hour” Wan Er told him.

“In order words, we have to wait inside this quarantine formation until Danger Hour passes, only then can we return to the sect?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“That’s correct, we shouldn’t go out at this time, otherwise there’s a very high chance of death” Qing Rou told him.

Shannu muttered in a low voice: “What a dangerous world”

She was now in Gu Qing Shan’s appearance.

“That’s right, this world will soon come to an end” Wan Er nodded.

“We’ll just wait for a bit then” Gu Qing Shan said.

Taking out a few cushions for everyone to sit on, he himself also took a seat.

This small suspended island was quite safe during Danger Hour, mostly thanks to the quarantine formation.

“I’ve read your reports, but what kind of creature is it exactly?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“We’ll see it soon” Qing Rou told him.

“Right now, we can see a few unconscious offshoots first——— look, young master” Wan Er said.

She took a small rock on the ground, circulated her spirit energy to throw it outside.

The rock quickly turned into a faint image as it was flying outside the formation.

Thanks to being infused with spirit energy, the rock’s momentum didn’t slow down at all and kept going until it left the suspended island.

Out of nowhere, a large black mouth appeared from the void of space, chomping down on the rock.

Crick crack! Crick crack!

The mouth carefully chewed the rock loudly for a while until it went away again.

“So the time that it’s awake is called Danger Hour, and no cultivator can use their spirit energy?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“Yes, this is only an unconscious offshoot that comes to eat whenever it senses spirit energy” Wan Er explains.

“If it meets enough resistance, the unconscious offshoots will disappear, replaced by the realm demon’s conscious will, then if still can’t win against the resistance then, the realm demon’s main body will come”

“Is anyone able to win against its main body? Like a Cryptic realm combatant for example?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

Qing Rou and Wan Er exchanged looks, then shook their heads at the same time.

Note:

(1) Xiong and Ji: They literally means “fierce” and “lucky”, it’s a concept of Chinese divination where the “good” hours of the day/month/year are called “ji”, where whatever you do will be easy and works out in your favor, and the opposite will happen with “xiong”. There is no in between.