Chapter 581: Playing your cards

Translated by: La0o9

Edited by: Dr.Lock

Proofreader: Arya

『 Once [Revolution] is born, it will surely kill you before anyone else, at that time, I will definitely come for your soul myself… 』

Before the voice of the master of Purgatory finished, the Earth sword flew out and thoroughly shattered the blood rune.

The spell collapsed, bringing with it the curtain of flame and the figure.

Gu Qing Shan silently looked on as the flame died out.

His gaze gradually turned cold.

The Earth sword slowly flew back, hovering by Gu Qing Shan.

「 Do you think it was telling the truth? 」the Earth sword vibrated and asked him.

“It was” Gu Qing Shan nodded, “however…”

「 However what? 」the Earth sword asked.

“Assuming yourself to be the ultimate winner when the other player still has a full hand of cards, that is always the dumbest thing you can do” Gu Qing Shan replied.

「 I can’t see these cards you’re speaking of 」the Earth sword said.

“That’s because game-changing cards must be hidden and only shown right as you’re about to play them” Gu Qing Shan told it.

「 Then what do you plan to do next? 」the Earth sword spoke in its mountainous heavy voice.

Gu Qing Shan muttered: “This Purgatory projection suddenly appeared out of nowhere, spouting a bunch of garbage, but still refused to fight… does it really think the same trick is going to distract me twice?”

Gu Qing Shan quickly walked to the center of the divine temple, raising the Earth sword high and stabbed it into the ground with considerable force.

“I said—– get out here!”

He shouted angrily again.

Intense lightning suddenly erupted from the Earth sword.

Countless surprised whispers suddenly came from the void of space.

It wasn’t just the lightning that caused that.

In his rage, Gu Qing Shan even poured Soul Points into the Earth sword.

As an ancient Divine Armament, the ceremonial sword of old, the Earth sword had the ability to ‘contact’ the Gods.

When supplied with Soul Points, it had the power to kill Gods and Daemons alike.

「 Ah, so much Soul Points, if I can’t even show my worth now then when would I ever? 」

Infused by huge amounts of Soul Points, the Earth sword whispered.

And it suddenly vibrated.

Invisible waves of power rippled across the divine temple, showing off the true power of a Divine Armament.

The Earth sword’s mountainous heavy voice echoed around even the outside of the divine temple.

「 Daemons and hellspawns alike, show yourself! 」

Oom!

The air remained silent, yet at the same time, a stifled impact could be felt exploding around the mind.

From the void of space, beautiful black flowers manifested.

Inside these flowers were alluring enchantresses clad in flimsy clothing, exuding temptation.

They all looked at Gu Qing Shan in surprise.

Tianma.

They were Tianma.

『 Ikikikii, he’s angry 』

A female voice resounded, lingering around the divine temple.

『 A sword cultivator. Looks like he’s from a cultivation world, but he noticed our presence, could it be he’s from a Samsara world? 』another female voice spoke up.

『 Dummy, with so many people dead, of course, he would notice something, he doesn’t necessarily know what kind of existence we are 』

『 True, true, Samsara worlds are rare, it would be too much of a coincidence to run into a little one that knows about us 』

『 Now that you say it, a cultivator’s soul is quite delectable isn’t it? 』

『 Quite right, quite right 』

The female voices weren’t at all afraid.

A second later, all the flowers disappeared.

Wild and appealing women came out from the void of space one after another.

They all came close to Gu Qing Shan, trying to tempt him with their charms.

『 Young man, would you like to play with big sis? 』

『 Big sis is a bit tired, let us sit down and talk for a bit 』

『 What a handsome young man, I’m tempted myself 』

The Tianma all cheerfully spoke.

They gracefully and gently inched closer, almost touching Gu Qing Shan’s body.

Gu Qing Shan didn’t move at all, but the Earth sword in his hand disappeared.

The flying sword swept through while vibrating sharply.

An invisible air came from the Earth sword, turning into a sword-infused wind that howled all around the divine temple.

Taiyi Sword Array, Incomplete form!

Gu Qing Shan had used a single sword to unleash a part of the Taiyi Sword Array’s power.

Hoh!

Within the howling wind, countless screams of pain could be heard.

The black flowers became gloomy, withered and faded into the void of space.

A few moments later.

The wind scattered and silence returned.

There were no longer any sounds coming from the void of space.

Only the Earth sword’s sword tip was softly pointed straight at one Tianma’s necks.

「 Alive 」the Earth sword told Gu Qing Shan.

“Well done” Gu Qing Shan said.

The Tianma was no longer as relaxed as before, instead now shouting in fear: 『 Don’t! Don’t kill me! Who are you!? 』

Gu Qing Shan replied: “You don’t need to know who I am. I’m asking the questions here, what is your relation with [Origin]?”

The Tianma’s expression loosened a bit and spoke: 『 Kihihi, so you wanted to know that, then you need to use a bit of benefit—- 』

The sword flashed.

『 Aaaee—! 』

She screeched uncontrollably as her body fell to the ground.

Gu Qing Shan had sliced off her limbs.

“I know you can easily regrow your limbs, but I guarantee that if you keep refusing to talk, I will have you enjoy this pain over and over” Gu Qing Shan spoke without changing his expression.

『 You bastard! 』

“Speak, what is your relation with [Origin]?”

『 Hmph… 』

As the Tianma hesitated for just a second, the sword was thrust straight into her stomach.

『 Aaeeek! You devil! 』

As intense pain struck her, the Tianma once again screamed in pain.

“That much is enough to pass as a devil? Then what are you, after eating so many people’s souls?” Gu Qing Shan’s tone didn’t waver at all.

His sword began to slowly slice along her body towards her chest.

Unable to bear the pain, the Tianma screamed: 『 I’ll talk! I’ll talk! [Origin] came to our master asking to cooperate! 』

“Cooperate? And your master didn’t come here?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

In Tianma society, all lower-ranked Tianma are considered a higher-ranked Tianma’s personal belongings, they don’t have things such as personal rights.

Any lower-ranked Tianma must call a higher-ranked Tianma their master.

So this Tianma’s words weren’t lies.

『 It offered my master a lot of benefits, so the master had us come here to aid it 』 the Tianma told him.

“No, that’s wrong, your master would definitely come here herself for such an important deal” Gu Qing Shan shook his head.

His sword began to slice upwards faster.

The Tianma screeched in pain again, shouting unbearably: 『 Spare me! Spare me! I know I was wrong! 』

It was only after Gu Qing Shan had stopped his torture that she could barely breathe for a few seconds.

“Think carefully before you speak this time” Gu Qing Shan coldly spoke.

The Tianma breathed heavily: 『 I don’t have a reason to deceive you, our master’s power is too great that she couldn’t descend on this world by herself 』

“You’re lying”

Gu Qing Shan shook his head: “Perhaps your master really is overflowing with miasma, so powerful that it’s difficult for her to descend on this world, but she isn’t fully incapable of going here herself—— the only price she would have to pay is having her strength limited, unable to fully exert herself here”

Gu Qing Shan continued: “Perhaps she would disguise as a normal Tianma and silently take command until everything is over”

“To be able to persuade a great Tianma, the price [Origin] paid must’ve been quite great, your master would definitely come here herself to ensure that nothing goes awry”

Hearing that, the Tianma was so shocked she forgot her own pain, shouting in surprise: 『 How do you know so much about us Tianma 』

“Speak, where is your master? Where is she now?”

Seeing that it wasn’t possible to fool him, the Tianma could only reply: 『 She had already accomplished what she promised and returned 』

“One final question, why did you not carry [Origin]?”

『 Our Tianma world is a closed-off and heavily isolated, no [Order] can attach to our bodies 』the Tianma replied.

Gu Qing Shan nodded, withdrew his sword and turned to leave.

The precious material of the Old Gods had already been taken away and [Revolution] was coming, there was no longer any meaning in staying here.

He got the intel he was looking for.

Behind him, cold sword phantoms appeared all over the Tianma’s body.

She could only let out a curt scream before being thoroughly silenced.

Gu Qing Shan quickly left the divine temple.

He came all the way to the plaza outside the temple before stopping.

Because Ilya had brought Laura and everyone else here.

“Why are you here?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“I noticed that there wasn’t a single person left alive in this city besides us, so we decided to meet up with you first before doing anything else” Ilya explained.

She sighed: “[Origin] already got the material of the Old Gods, it will soon become much stronger. When that happens, it will definitely not let obstructions like us survive”

“Right, you’re the supreme general of the Bramble Bird Kingdom, you must know a lot of things so I have something I need to ask” Gu Qing Shan spoke.

He took off the chilling bell bracelet on his wrist to show her.

“This is a token of the Tianma. In other words, I only need to shake this bracelet to summon them, but why haven’t any Tianma come even though I’ve been shaking it for so long?”

“Do you have relations with the Tianma?”

Ilya couldn’t believe what she just heard and asked him back.

In all of known history, she hasn’t heard of a single person who could or would actively form relations with the Tianma.

After all, in the eyes of a Tianma, all living beings are nothing but food.

Gu Qing Shan replied: “I owe them a small debt from a while ago, so now I’m planning to pay them back”