Chapter 808: Going Forward Alone

The Grand Divine Temple.

Time stopped.

Dust that hovered in the air, the soft sunlight, the gentle breeze of wind, Luo Bing Li who was standing still, everything was paused right at this moment.

Gu Qing Shan went into a screen of golden light and vanished.

The screen of light slowly shrank until it was only a ball of light and disappeared.

During the very last second, Luo Bing Li moved.

She returned to motion from a frozen state as she glanced at the screen of golden light.

“How impressive, to be able to leave directly from here”

She muttered in a low voice and grabbed the bit of golden light that was about to vanish completely.

Apparently sensing that she was there, the point of golden light quickly expanded and turned into a golden saber.

The War God System suddenly manifested!

[Who are you exactly?] the golden saber questioned

“Who are you?” Luo Bing Li questioned in return.

The golden saber didn’t bother to say anything else and erupted into a bright golden glow.

Under the glorious light, Luo Bing Li was like a slim and graceful beauty witnessing the setting sun.

She carefully observed the light and coldly spoke: “Are you probing me?”

[You are not a normal cultivator, you are…] the golden saber spoke with an unexpected tone in its voice.

It seemed to have realized something.

[…So that is how it is] the golden saber sighed.

“If you already know, then please do not tell anyone about who I really am. Furthermore, can you allow me to witness what happens on your side? If you refuse, I will erase the Space-time coordinates of this place, you would not be able to return” Luo Bing Li said.

[Nothing you say can threaten me, but for Gu Qing Shan’s sake, I will agree] the War God System replied.

The golden saber slashed open the void of space to summon a screen of light in front of Luo Bing Li.

On the screen, Gu Qing Shan was flying through the fog of Space-time.

“Thank you” Luo Bing Li said, pleased.

The golden saber no longer paid any attention to her, it shrank again until it vanished from sight.

…

The fog of Space-time.

Gu Qing Shan was flying at full speed.

This was a world made up of fog and squares.

Each square represented a peripheral region in time, each peripheral region was connected to the next and formed a timeline that flowed from past to future. Every living being was completely inside the squares, unable to surpass the limit of their temporal dimension.

“I didn’t expect to see the timeline as interconnected squares like this, I’ve never witnessed such a thing before” Gu Qing Shan commented.

[This is the first time that both you and I travel on this path] the War God System replied: [We are accessing the temporary path of a higher dimension in order to return to the past—— Technological-type paths have always been relatively safer as they do not draw much attention——- as long as one does not travel on them too often]

While they were talking, an intense pulling force could be felt.

Gu Qing Shan was being pulled into one of the squares.

Heaven and earth turned around themselves.

Darkness flowed.

And then the entire world slowly became clear in front of his eyes.

Flames rose and swirled with the wind.

Black smoke filled the sky.

On the other side of the river, the war was heading into its most crucial moment.

Humanity was about to be wiped out.

Soldiers were kneeling down one after another, revealing the clear figure of an armored General.

As Gu Qing Shan looked at that figure, he silently sighed.

It was him.

It was him in his previous life.

[Ting]!

The War God UI’s voice came: [Gu Qing Shan, look at the golden glow around your body]

“What is this?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

[It is the world isolation membrane. 15 breaths’ worth of time later, it will disappear and allow people of this world to see you—— make absolutely sure that you complete everything you have to do within 15 breaths and not a single moment longer. If any living being of the previous life witnesses two of you at the same time, one of you will be erased by the Law of Time]

“Understood, what should I do now?” Gu Qing Shan asked in a low voice.

[I shall activate Time Stop in a few moments, you must take that opportunity to put me into the hands of your previous self—— again, you must be fast and make sure that your previous self does not notice anything]

Gu Qing Shan replied: “Don’t worry, I’m literally the Divine King right now, it’ll be very easy for me to do that. What’s going to happen after that?”

The War God System replied: [I shall immediately bring your previous self back in time and return to the moment everything started]

Gu Qing Shan was a bit stunned.

The moment everything started…

That would be the year 681 of the Peaceful Dynasty, the campaign where humanity and the demons clashed for the very first time.

In the middle of a midnight rainstorm, outside a military outpost, a single cook was patrolling the camp.

And I awoke within the mass grave…

Gu Qing Shan recalled everything that happened at the time and silently sighed.

“After you leave, what should I do?” he asked.

The War God System explained: [After this world is destroyed, the World Origin would erupt in an intense explosion. Once that force reaches you, it will kick you back to your current timeline due to the two Laws of Space-time repelling each other]

“That doesn’t sound too complicated” Gu Qing Shan commented.

The War God System carefully told him without fear of anyone disturbing it: [Remember this well, after you return, even if I’m not present, you would retain the ability to absorb Soul Points. After I leave, there would be nothing that takes your Soul Points away anymore, you must use it to the best of your abilities. It is the unrivaled strongest source of power]

“Will I have a maximum Soul Points limit?” Gu Qing Shan asked very seriously.

[You will not]

“Then I got it”

At this point, the Gu Qing Shan of the previous life had already leapt to the sky from the camp on the other side of the river.

Countless flying swords appeared from the void of space and followed him along with the gust of wind.

Sword Array, [Tong Gui]!

With his sword in hand, Gu Qing Shan charged straight at the towering demonic figure in the sky.

In the camp below, countless voices were still resonating within the intense wind:

“Strategist Gu, we are with you!”

“Take our powers!”

“For humanity!” [1]

…

On this side of the river, Gu Qing Shan lowered his gaze.

Seeing this scene repeat itself again, he was feeling somewhat melancholic.

[It’s almost time, be ready!]

The War God System urged him.

“Hm”

Gu Qing Shan replied.

Divine Skill, [Ground Shrink]!

In a split second, he vanished from the ground and appeared far above the sky.

Using the Divine King’s overwhelming power, he faded into the void of space, observed himself from the previous life flying up, and then——-

A golden saber appeared in his hand.

[Ready—–]

The voice of the War God System came from the golden saber.

Boom!

Intense light swept across the world, turning into an endless white flash that affected even the void of space.

Immediately, the world came infinitely close to being perfectly still.

Everything became incredibly slow, all sounds vanished.

Gu Qing Shan saw his previous self charging towards the Demon Lord at an incredibly slow pace.

He saw himself opening his mouth and roaring in fury.

The power of countless cultivators who sacrificed themselves manifested as a blinding sword phantom that killed the towering Demon Lord.

Time stopped at this very second.

The light became more blinding.

[Hurry! Right now!]

The War God System’s voice came from the golden saber again.

Gu Qing Shan gritted his teeth, jumped out and put the golden saber into his previous self’s hand.

“Take care!”

He shouted.

[You take care as well] the War God System replied.

Within the intense wind.

A golden light flashed.

At the next second, the past Gu Qing Shan disappeared from this world together with the golden saber.

Everything came to an end.

Seeing the War God System taking his previous self away, Gu Qing Shan used [Ground Shrink] and vanished from the sky.

——–the power that isolated him was about to disappear so he can’t afford to let anyone see him right now.

Gu Qing Shan jumped into the great river, sank all the way to the bottom, used a presence concealment hand seal, and silently waited.

He kept waiting, all the way until the world began to collapse—–

A mystical wave of power erupted deep within the world.

This wave of power swept across the entire world.

As it swept through Gu Qing Shan, the power suddenly encircled and wrapped around him layer after layer.

As this power accumulated more and more, it grew stronger until Gu Qing Shan felt an intense pushing force.

Even with the God of Frost and Chill’s strength, he found himself unable to resist this power.

Abruptly, Gu Qing Shan noticed this power had all gathered in front of his chest and forcefully pushed him away!

The void of space broke apart.

Almost immediately, Gu Qing Shan vanished from this Space-time.

…

A few ten thousand years ago.

The Primordial Heaven Realm.

The Grand Divine Palace within the Sky Beyond Heaven.

Luo Bing Li’s eyebrows twitched.

She quickly erased the golden screen of light and stopped looking into that period of time.

A second later, Gu Qing Shan was thrown out from the void of space and fell to the ground.

The effect of [Time Stop] had disappeared.

Everything returned to normal.

But Gu Qing Shan just laid on the ground without moving.

He just stared blankly in front of himself.

The familiar UI that was always in front of his retina can no longer be seen.

“System?”

Gu Qing Shan silently called out.

No chime.

No answer.

Indeed, the War God System has returned to the original timeline.

A perfect closed loop has been formed with completed logic and causality, making it so that no one would be able to discover where the War God System came from.

Furthermore, from this moment onwards, I will be able to safely carry the [Demon King Order] without causing Space-time to become chaotic.

A surprised voice suddenly came from the empty audience hall.

“Huh?”

—–it was Luo Bing Li.

She asked in surprise: “You were sitting on the divine throne just now, how did you suddenly lay on the ground?”

Gu Qing Shan smiled bitterly and glossed it over: “I was learning a certain technique, got careless made a small mistake so I fell”

“From the expression on your face, this mistake seems to be quite serious?” Luo Bing Li looked at him and carefully asked.

“Not that serious, but I’ll need to be a bit more serious from now on”

Gu Qing Shan stood up from the ground and slowly walked up to sit back down on the divine throne.

From now on, during this era full of hostility, he will have to move forward alone.

[1] sharp readers might notice that this part is a bit different from how it was described the first time around. It didn’t make much sense so I changed it to fit the context and ignored the meaning. Tong Gui literally means “to return together”, but it carries the meaning of mutual death, which means you suicide and take your enemy with you.