The black flames manifested into the form of a black dog.

Demon Dragon looked at the black dog and clearly felt the flames of Death exuding from his body.

Gu Qing Shan explained: "This is a friend of mine, he's an ally, you can answer him"

Demon Dragon then answered: "During one of the Wraith realm's countless invasions of other worlds, Cang Wu Zhang was fortunate enough to obtain a certain Occultism treasure"

"And he's using that treasure to charm Reneedol?" the black dog asked while baring his teeth.

Demon Dragon suddenly felt an inexplicable chill, then continued: "That's not the case. That treasure's only function was to choose a person and let the user knows whether or not today would be appropriate for the user to meet that person"

The black dog was stunned.

Gu Qing Shan was also stunned.

"What kind of treasure is that supposed to be?" the black dog asked.

"Every time Cang Wu Zhang goes to meet the Grand Empress, he would arrive right as the Grand Empress wanted to order someone, or when she was the most irritated and wanted to hear someone talk. In this manner, he gradually caught the Grand Empress' eyes and would occasionally obtain a reward from her" Demon Dragon explained.

"What's their relationship?" the black dog tried asking further.

Demon Dragon was surprised briefly before realizing what he was asking and chuckled: "What? Did you think that the Grand Empress felt interested in him? That's impossible, the Grand Empress merely likes to hear him tell some stories about the Age of Immemorial"

"Stories from the Age of Immemorial?" Gu Qing Shan and Boss asked at the same time.

"Indeed, Cang Wu Zhang had done a bit of research about the Age of Immemorial, so he was frequently summoned by the Grand Empress to report his findings" Demon Dragon replied.

Gu Qing Shan glanced at Boss and asked: "What kind of things has he told the Grand Empress?"

Demon Dragon said: "I've tried asking him a few times, he said that he was always telling her about the myths and legends regarding the Deities of Fate"

The two of them fell silent.

----in that case, it wasn't actually Reneedol listening to him, but rather the two Deities of Fate next to her who were listening to Cang Wu Zhang tell stories of their past and reminiscing about them.

Demon Dragon then said: "Ah, that's right, he would occasionally tell stories about the Lord of Radiance as well"

Huh?

Gu Qing Shan and Boss exchanged glances.

Boss suppressed his delight and asked: "What were the stories about?"

Demon Dragon frowned: "That period of history had been largely erased by the Grand Empress herself, so no one really knew what happened to the Lord of Radiance, nor what had happened between him and his companions. Cang Wu Zhang had only ever found out some mundane stories and legends"

Gu Qing Shan was completely puzzled when he heard this answer.

Tch------

What a real mess.

You already stabbed Boss several times, and now you're having others tell you stories about Boss? What exactly do you want?

Gu Qing Shan was truly confused, unsure of what to think about the relationship between Boss and Reneedol.

He silently glanced at Boss, only to see that he had also become as stiff as a statue.

Demon Dragon then crouched down next to Cang Wu Zhang and searched his body.

"What are you looking for?"

"That Occultism artifact, while it isn't very useful, it has always been accurate"

While the majority of Wraith realm humans preferred to store things in their bracelets, there would always be one or two precious things that they stored elsewhere.

Demon Dragon then took out a small box from Cang Wu Zhang's side pocket.

Opening the box revealed a small wooden figure that was about one centimeter tall that depicted a wrinkled old man with a long silver beard.

"This thing can inform you when it would be suitable to go meet Reneedol" Demon Dragon explained.

"Do you know how to use it?" Gu Qing Shan touched the statue and immediately knew how to use it, but pretended like he didn't.

"Just ask it. The statue will sing one of two statements, the first one means that today is appropriate for you to see her, the second means today isn't a good day"

After saying that, Demon Dragon lifted the figure in his hand and pointed it at Gu Qing Shan.

"------Don't move, since you've already taken Cang Wu Zhang's form, let us see whether or not if it's a good day for you to go meet her"

Gu Qing Shan shrugged and stood still.

The silver-bearded old man opened his eyes and glanced at Gu Qing Shan before speaking: "How impressive, you're not him, but no one would be able to tell"

Gu Qing Shan was shocked and asked: "You could tell?"

"Alright, I'm going to start singing"

The old man said, took a deep breath, then started singing: "In life sometimes-----"

Music suddenly started playing.

The old man raised his voice and shouted like he was singing karaoke: "You have to take a chance!"

The music stopped, the old man then closed his eyes and became motionless.

Demon Dragon nodded and confirmed: "Seems like after you turned into Cang Wu Zhang, today would be a good day for you to meet the Grand Empress"

"-------Wait a moment! Please try it on me as well" the black dog said.

Demon Dragon hesitated a bit and glanced at Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan said: "Try it"

Demon Dragon pointed the statue at the black dog.

The silver-bearded old man opened his eyes again, looked at the black dog and shook his head: "Take a look at yourself right now, don't you look like a dog?"

The old man began singing: "When life doesn't fit------"

Music started playing.

The old man's voice became gentle and narrowed his eyes while smiling: "Don't force it"

After singing, he sighed and closed his eyes, becoming motionless once again.

Gu Qing Shan: "…"

The black dog: "…"

"It seems the Grand Empress doesn't want to meet a dog today" Demon Dragon pondered.

The black dog's ears became flat on his head.

Gu Qing Shan thought briefly but couldn't find the words to console him.

------he clearly determined himself not to bootlick her anymore.

But Reneedol was now secretly interested in his past self.

Love truly is torture.

Probably, only a love master like Ye Fei Li would be able to understand the twists and turns within.

Gu Qing Shan silently sighed.

All of a sudden, lines of glowing text appeared in front of his eyes:

[You've listened to Occultism music and singing]

[You've completed the fifth stage of the Living Being Sacrificial Dance, the Offering Dance of Three Lives]

[From this point on, you can begin practicing the sixth stage of the Sacrificial Dance at any moment, the Deathmatch Dance]

[Attention, the Deathmatch Dance is a war dance, similar to the fourth stage of the Sacrificial Dance, the Sword Dance of Offering; but it contains a richer symbolism of the Dance]

[A certain entity in the Dusty World hopes that you could diligently practice and quickly grasp this stage of the Dance]

[She is coming to say a few words to you]

[Three]

[Two]

[One]

[She has arrived]

Everything around him suddenly froze.

Demon Dragon, the black dog, even the wind in the air and the mining noises from the other areas of the mine had completely gone silent.

A dried and hoarse female voice resounded:

「 Gu Qing Shan, very few had ever been able to reach your current level 」

「 A lot of people would become stuck at the fourth stage of the Sacrificial Dance, as this stage requires an almost impossibly large amount of Prayers 」

「----- but you were able to use the billions of Prayers that the [Demon King Order] had accumulated over countless years to complete this stage of the Dance 」

「 Furthermore, the fifth stage of the Dance, Offering Dance of Three Lives, isn't quite as easy to complete as it might seem 」

「 The Offering Dance of Three lives requires enough karma and enough desire in order to see through the three lives and witness each of a person's aspects 」

「 And now, you've entered the sixth stage----- the requirement to enter this stage is to listen to Occultism singing, your luck is truly excellent as always 」

「 This stage is called the Deathmatch Dance; it will provide you with the combat prowess of Occultism in the era to follow 」

「 The future is dark and filled with destruction, all things and all living beings would be destroyed, the Reality Gate would not be able to hold up for too long. Everything will be destroyed, and not even we will be able to stop it 」

「 With this Dance, you shall have a sliver of hope 」

「 Do your best 」

The female voice faded away.

Everything then returned to normal.

While standing still, Gu Qing Shan felt a cold sweat soaking his back.

According to what she said, everything would be destroyed in the future era?

This Dance was first taught to me by the strongest Combatant of the Bygone Era.

Similar to what she had told me, that Combatant also considered this Dance to be the only hope.

I've also witnessed the miraculous power of this Dance throughout my journey.

In that case, I can only hope that I'd quickly be able to grasp this Dance!

Gu Qing Shan silently swore to seize as much time as he could to practice the Dance.

"Hm? Why did your complexion suddenly turn so pale?" Demon Dragon asked.

"It's nothing" Gu Qing Shan squeezed out a smile and replied: "Let's go, lead me into the Wraith Temple, we need to think of a way to kill all three Wraith Lords"

Demon Dragon was delighted: "Indeed"

He crouched down and stripped Cang Wu Zhang down to his underwear, before giving everything to Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan finished changing his clothes.

For some reason, he kept feeling like he was hearing a faint, almost inaudible sound of music.

Perhaps this is the beginning of the Deathmatch Dance?

He shook his head.

It hadn't caused any issues yet, so Gu Qing Shan decided to ignore the faint sound of music.

The black dog turned back into a mass of flames before it entered Gu Qing Shan's Thought Sea.

Demon Dragon lightly tapped the void of space.

Streams of light began to flow around them.

A warp formation had just been activated.

"Ah, right, is there anything else I need to pay attention to?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

Demon Dragon glanced at him and said: "Act a bit more arrogant"

"More arrogant?"

"Yeah"

A flash of light appeared.

They then vanished from the tunnel.