1757

Music reverberated.

The giant continued to dance, guaranteeing that he was immune to the power of Miracles.

Up until the shroud of shadow filled his vision with only a small cluster of heavenly light remaining——-

The Apocalyptic shroud crashed down upon the Immortal City.

The giant briefly paused his dance while still snapping his fingers to the beat, silently observing the Heavenly Emperor’s reaction to the situation.

—–his Immortal City had already fought an entire battle against the Apocalypse, coupled with Ye Ru Xi seizing the opportunity to rampage in the immortal City, it should have already suffered considerable damage.

Ye Ru Xi was a Deity of [Chaos] at the height of her power, similar to the Soul Shrieker at their peak.

——within the Space Vortex at the time, the Soul Shrieker was a top-tier entity that won every battle they were a part of!

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Emperor was busy dealing with the Apocalypse, and the other Chosen Saints still had their powers sealed, having access to only a single Samsara Divine Skill at most.

——they were all powerless against Ye Ru Xi at her peak.

And now, I’ve pushed the Heavenly Emperor face-to-face with Apocalypse.

Regardless of what the Heavenly Emperor was trying to hide, this is the moment when I’ll be able to witness it!

A second later——

Layers upon layers of transparent yellow barriers began to manifest out of thin air to block the shroud of shadow outside.

This was the Immortal City’s defensive system!

After that, clusters of light emerged from the Immortal City one by one until they covered the void of space.

Each cluster of light was a heavenly being.

These heavenly beings quickly unleashed their respective Samsara Divine Skills.

The shroud of shadow became illuminated.

Numerous dazzling lights from the Divine Skills shot towards the shroud of shadow in the sky.

Resounding explosions reverberated as they merged into a singular mass of sound that became so loud it had looped around and plunged the world into what seemed like absolute silence.

The air within the world itself began to tremble.

This was the combined power of all the heavenly beings in the Heaven realm!

Even in his giant form, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help squinting his eyes and avoiding the residual shockwaves from the attack.

The intense shockwaves warped everyone’s visions.

But the shroud of shadow wasn’t affected by it at all, only continuing to crash towards the Immortal City at a slow but persistent pace.

A heavenly being wearing what looked like an official’s clothing screamed out in a frenzy: “Your Majesty, it’s not good! The Apocalypse is too powerful this time!”

The Immortal City remained unresponsive.

The Heavenly Emperor seemed to be worried about something, so he didn’t answer right away.

The giant closely observed this scene.

——up until this point, the Heavenly Emperor has not acted even once.

The Immortal City should have retaliated with attacks, instead of just putting up defensive barriers.

Could the Immortal City have suffered too much damage from the previous battle?

What about the Heavenly Emperor?

Has he really lost the ability to resist the Apocalypse?

The giant silently observed everything.

Suddenly, a solemn voice declared from inside the Immortal City:

「 Send out another group and condense all of your attacks again! 」

Even more heavenly beings poured out from the Immortal City to participate in the battle.

The giant was a bit surprised.

This isn’t the kind of Apocalypse that sheer numbers could fight against.

Does the Heavenly Emperor not realize this?

The giant’s gaze landed inside the city, only to see many busy heavenly beings standing in the depths of the Immortal City, casting their techniques and refining various materials.

It seems the Immortal City had indeed suffered too much damage.

——if the Immortal City isn’t able to repair itself, the entire city will be destroyed by the corrosion of the Apocalypse.

Isn’t this too simple of a victory?

The giant was very surprised.

If the Heavenly Emperor is defeated here, I would be able to focus——-

That can’t be right!

The Heavenly Emperor had utilized the Pendant of Fire a lot of times.

Facing such an emergency, he should still be able to use the power of Miracles through the pendant again!

“It’s no good! The defensive formation won’t be able to hold!”

“Is it not done?”

“Oh no, full-frontal attack!”

“The super-distance transportation formation—— still can’t be used——-”

The giant’s pupils become dilated.

The Immortal City should have a large-scale transportation formation, but it was most likely damaged.

If they can’t repair it…

All of a sudden, the barriers around the Immortal City were swallowed by the darkness.

——-the city’s defenses were completely destroyed.

The shroud of shadow immediately crashed down without hesitation.

The Immortal City’s fate seemed to have been determined, all the heavenly beings, the Heavenly Emperor included, appeared as if they would be consumed by the Apocalypse.

In that instant, an extremely unnatural scene occurred.

The heavenly beings suddenly stopped attacking, their expressions became frozen stiff as if they had forgotten what was happening around them.

Several delicate black threads emerged from the Immortal City and flew into the air, instantly piercing the backs of several heavenly beings.

Those heavenly beings immediately snapped out of their stupefied states and screamed in horror: “Uuo… aaarrghh!”

“What is t——”

“Save me!”

“I beg…”

Unable to finish their sentences, those heavenly beings started to melt like candle wax and shrunk down until they eventually faded into nothingness.

The black threads immediately pulled back.

Almost at the exact same time.

All the heavenly beings returned to normal.

Meanwhile, a voice cheered from inside the city: “Your Majesty, our formations have been repaired!”

「 Send out my orders, immediately activate the warp 」the Heavenly Emperor’s low, harrowing voice reverberated.

“Understood!”

In an instant, space around the Immortal City began to fluctuate.

——a transportation formation of extremely large scale had just been activated!

At the very moment that the shroud of shadow finally collapsed, the warp was also completed.

The entire Immortal City vanished.

It had escaped this place!

The shroud of shadow descended upon the space that the Immortal City originally occupied, then silently continued until it reached the isolating [Domain of the Tribulation Lord] that the giant had set up.

After a few seconds, the [Domain of the Tribulation Lord] thoroughly collapsed into electrical sparks.

The Apocalypse continued to encroach upon the land.

The giant stared closely at the Apocalyptic shroud of shadow.

—–I’ve seen everything I needed to see.

He turned around and left.

…

A few thousand kilometers away.

Behind a large boulder.

Gu Qing Shan leaned on the boulder and pulled out a black-cover book.

The Book of the Sea.

He was also holding a golden coin in his hand.

The Coin of the Earth.

“Hey, I have something to ask the two of you, how come the Heavenly Emperor can exchange other people’s souls and lives for a miracle?” Gu Qing Shan asked with an irritated expression.

The Book of the Sea replied: [Please pay one year’s—–]

Gu Qing Shan cut it off: “Cease! We both saw what happened just now, I’m not asking you about some random knowledge, we’re discussing the matter of the Four Saint Pillars here!”

He emphasized that, then coldly sneered: “I’m the one who brought you all out of that Reality Gate in search of the Pendant of Fire, and you goddamn lousy book of plagiarized knowledge still dares ask me for money?”

The Book of the Sea paused briefly, then grumbled: [Fine, you are the Earth God, so it’s only right to tell you]

“Speak” Gu Qing Shan said.

[Do you really not realize it? That army of heavenly beings are actually in a relatively loose dependent relationship with the Heavenly Emperor] the Book of the Sea answered.

“What do you mean by that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

[Let me ask you, to any living being, what is the most precious thing?]

“Delicious food?”

[What is even more precious compared to food?]

“Money?”

[Try something more precious than that!]

“Weapons?” Gu Qing Shan tried thinking and asked.

[…Bro, can you just tell me what you think is more precious than anything else?] the Book of the Sea said tiredly.

“A life?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The Book of the Sea confirmed: [Correct, the basis of all is their life and soul, so by sacrificing all of these to the Pendant of Fire, a miracle would occur—- this is actually quite a strict condition already]

Gu Qing Shan thought about it and agreed: “If that’s the case, the Pendant of Fire shouldn’t be able to exert its powers under normal circumstances?”

[Indeed, after the owner of the pendant offers up their soul and life, a miracle would occur, but the price to pay would be the complete vanishment of the individual] the Book of the Sea answered.

Gu Qing Shan muses: “Then the Heavenly Emperor——‘

The Book of the Sea continued: [Whenever necessary, he would become an amalgamated being with those heavenly beings, thus whenever he offers up the lives and souls of those heavenly beings, he would also give up a portion of his own soul and life, enabling him to invoke the Pendant of Fire’s power of Miracles!]

Gu Qing Shan muttered: “So miracles wouldn’t occur out of nowhere and requires some prerequisites, but even so, it’s still very impressive”

[Correct. Whenever a miracle is invoked, the Heavenly Emperor would immediately discard those heavenly beings and let them disappear completely, which would not affect his own soul and life] the Book of the Sea concluded.

Gu Qing Shan sighed and commented: “What a malicious ability, no wonder he managed to become the previous Wraith Ruler, then later went on to steal the position of Heavenly Emperor”

Is this the Heavenly Emperor’s Samsara Divine Skill?

Was this ability of his not sealed away by the Samsara because he was the Heavenly Emperor?

Once he becomes even stronger and receives the Samsara’s support, what form would this ability take?

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but sigh again and asked: “Is there a way to win against the Pendant of Fire?”

[There isn’t] the Book of the Sea resolutely answered him: [In fact, you’ve already done quite well. There were many times I thought you would have died during the confrontation]

Gu Qing Shan was speechless.

Among the Four Saint Pillars, the Book of the Sea is a miser that will take every penny it could, the Key of the Wind needs vitality, and the Pendant of Fire wants the most precious thing one has, the only one that doesn’t need any payment is the Coin of the Earth.

——-but each time I use the Coin of the Earth, I need to wait for 30 straight days before I can use another one of its abilities.

This cooldown period is too long, so just sitting around waiting for it could lead to someone’s death.

Perhaps this is the price of being free?

If things were to stay as they are, the Heavenly Emperor would have infinite chances to invoke the power of Miracles.

———-as the Earth God, how should I go about defeating the Heavenly Emperor?

[Alright, now let’s get to the main topic]

The Book of the Sea’s tone became a bit urgent.

Huh?

Didn’t we already finish talking?

Gu Qing Shan looked at the Book of the Sea in surprise and asked: “Was there another issue?”

The Book of the Sea quickly explained:

[Using the Pendant of Fire at such high frequency is actually a very serious problem. The power of Miracles is extremely rare, and continuously invoking it would cause its unique fluctuations to persist, which could draw the attention of unpredictable entities]

Gu Qing Shan was shocked: “But we’ve already left the world inside the Reality Gate, we’re currently inside a Boundless Void without any Apocalypses, so all the wars should be over as soon as we deal with all the Apocalypses still inside the Samsara”

The Book of the Sea remained silent for a long while.

Up until Gu Qing Shan’s patience nearly ran out, it spoke up again: [There are no Apocalypses… that much I agree with, but how do you know that aside from the Samsara, there aren’t any other beings within this Boundless Void?]

Gu Qing Shan trembled.

The Book of the Sea continued: [Within a Boundless Void free of any Apocalypses——– there are two possible implications of this: the first is that the Apocalypses haven’t discovered this place; the second is that the Apocalypses couldn’t win against the entities that already exist here, understand?]

Gu Qing Shan was now completely stunned.

Music reverberated.

The giant continued to dance, guaranteeing that he was immune to the power of Miracles.

Up until the shroud of shadow filled his vision with only a small cluster of heavenly light remaining——-

The Apocalyptic shroud crashed down upon the Immortal City.

The giant briefly paused his dance while still snapping his fingers to the beat, silently observing the Heavenly Emperor’s reaction to the situation.

—–his Immortal City had already fought an entire battle against the Apocalypse, coupled with Ye Ru Xi seizing the opportunity to rampage in the immortal City, it should have already suffered considerable damage.

Ye Ru Xi was a Deity of [Chaos] at the height of her power, similar to the Soul Shrieker at their peak.

——within the Space Vortex at the time, the Soul Shrieker was a top-tier entity that won every battle they were a part of!

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Emperor was busy dealing with the Apocalypse, and the other Chosen Saints still had their powers sealed, having access to only a single Samsara Divine Skill at most.

——they were all powerless against Ye Ru Xi at her peak.

And now, I’ve pushed the Heavenly Emperor face-to-face with Apocalypse.

Regardless of what the Heavenly Emperor was trying to hide, this is the moment when I’ll be able to witness it!

A second later——

Layers upon layers of transparent yellow barriers began to manifest out of thin air to block the shroud of shadow outside.

This was the Immortal City’s defensive system!

After that, clusters of light emerged from the Immortal City one by one until they covered the void of space.

Each cluster of light was a heavenly being.

These heavenly beings quickly unleashed their respective Samsara Divine Skills.

The shroud of shadow became illuminated.

Numerous dazzling lights from the Divine Skills shot towards the shroud of shadow in the sky.

Resounding explosions reverberated as they merged into a singular mass of sound that became so loud it had looped around and plunged the world into what seemed like absolute silence.

The air within the world itself began to tremble.

This was the combined power of all the heavenly beings in the Heaven realm!

Even in his giant form, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help squinting his eyes and avoiding the residual shockwaves from the attack.

The intense shockwaves warped everyone’s visions.

But the shroud of shadow wasn’t affected by it at all, only continuing to crash towards the Immortal City at a slow but persistent pace.

A heavenly being wearing what looked like an official’s clothing screamed out in a frenzy: “Your Majesty, it’s not good! The Apocalypse is too powerful this time!”

The Immortal City remained unresponsive.

The Heavenly Emperor seemed to be worried about something, so he didn’t answer right away.

The giant closely observed this scene.

——up until this point, the Heavenly Emperor has not acted even once.

The Immortal City should have retaliated with attacks, instead of just putting up defensive barriers.

Could the Immortal City have suffered too much damage from the previous battle?

What about the Heavenly Emperor?

Has he really lost the ability to resist the Apocalypse?

The giant silently observed everything.

Suddenly, a solemn voice declared from inside the Immortal City:

「 Send out another group and condense all of your attacks again! 」

Even more heavenly beings poured out from the Immortal City to participate in the battle.

The giant was a bit surprised.

This isn’t the kind of Apocalypse that sheer numbers could fight against.

Does the Heavenly Emperor not realize this?

The giant’s gaze landed inside the city, only to see many busy heavenly beings standing in the depths of the Immortal City, casting their techniques and refining various materials.

It seems the Immortal City had indeed suffered too much damage.

——if the Immortal City isn’t able to repair itself, the entire city will be destroyed by the corrosion of the Apocalypse.

Isn’t this too simple of a victory?

The giant was very surprised.

If the Heavenly Emperor is defeated here, I would be able to focus——-

That can’t be right!

The Heavenly Emperor had utilized the Pendant of Fire a lot of times.

Facing such an emergency, he should still be able to use the power of Miracles through the pendant again!

“It’s no good! The defensive formation won’t be able to hold!”

“Is it not done?”

“Oh no, full-frontal attack!”

“The super-distance transportation formation—— still can’t be used——-”

The giant’s pupils become dilated.

The Immortal City should have a large-scale transportation formation, but it was most likely damaged.

If they can’t repair it…

All of a sudden, the barriers around the Immortal City were swallowed by the darkness.

——-the city’s defenses were completely destroyed.

The shroud of shadow immediately crashed down without hesitation.

The Immortal City’s fate seemed to have been determined, all the heavenly beings, the Heavenly Emperor included, appeared as if they would be consumed by the Apocalypse.

In that instant, an extremely unnatural scene occurred.

The heavenly beings suddenly stopped attacking, their expressions became frozen stiff as if they had forgotten what was happening around them.

Several delicate black threads emerged from the Immortal City and flew into the air, instantly piercing the backs of several heavenly beings.

Those heavenly beings immediately snapped out of their stupefied states and screamed in horror: “Uuo… aaarrghh!”

“What is t——”

“Save me!”

“I beg…”

Unable to finish their sentences, those heavenly beings started to melt like candle wax and shrunk down until they eventually faded into nothingness.

The black threads immediately pulled back.

Almost at the exact same time.

All the heavenly beings returned to normal.

Meanwhile, a voice cheered from inside the city: “Your Majesty, our formations have been repaired!”

「 Send out my orders, immediately activate the warp 」the Heavenly Emperor’s low, harrowing voice reverberated.

“Understood!”

In an instant, space around the Immortal City began to fluctuate.

——a transportation formation of extremely large scale had just been activated!

At the very moment that the shroud of shadow finally collapsed, the warp was also completed.

The entire Immortal City vanished.

It had escaped this place!

The shroud of shadow descended upon the space that the Immortal City originally occupied, then silently continued until it reached the isolating [Domain of the Tribulation Lord] that the giant had set up.

After a few seconds, the [Domain of the Tribulation Lord] thoroughly collapsed into electrical sparks.

The Apocalypse continued to encroach upon the land.

The giant stared closely at the Apocalyptic shroud of shadow.

—–I’ve seen everything I needed to see.

He turned around and left.

…

A few thousand kilometers away.

Behind a large boulder.

Gu Qing Shan leaned on the boulder and pulled out a black-cover book.

The Book of the Sea.

He was also holding a golden coin in his hand.

The Coin of the Earth.

“Hey, I have something to ask the two of you, how come the Heavenly Emperor can exchange other people’s souls and lives for a miracle?” Gu Qing Shan asked with an irritated expression.

The Book of the Sea replied: [Please pay one year’s—–]

Gu Qing Shan cut it off: “Cease! We both saw what happened just now, I’m not asking you about some random knowledge, we’re discussing the matter of the Four Saint Pillars here!”

He emphasized that, then coldly sneered: “I’m the one who brought you all out of that Reality Gate in search of the Pendant of Fire, and you goddamn lousy book of plagiarized knowledge still dares ask me for money?”

The Book of the Sea paused briefly, then grumbled: [Fine, you are the Earth God, so it’s only right to tell you]

“Speak” Gu Qing Shan said.

[Do you really not realize it? That army of heavenly beings are actually in a relatively loose dependent relationship with the Heavenly Emperor] the Book of the Sea answered.

“What do you mean by that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

[Let me ask you, to any living being, what is the most precious thing?]

“Delicious food?”

[What is even more precious compared to food?]

“Money?”

[Try something more precious than that!]

“Weapons?” Gu Qing Shan tried thinking and asked.

[…Bro, can you just tell me what you think is more precious than anything else?] the Book of the Sea said tiredly.

“A life?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The Book of the Sea confirmed: [Correct, the basis of all is their life and soul, so by sacrificing all of these to the Pendant of Fire, a miracle would occur—- this is actually quite a strict condition already]

Gu Qing Shan thought about it and agreed: “If that’s the case, the Pendant of Fire shouldn’t be able to exert its powers under normal circumstances?”

[Indeed, after the owner of the pendant offers up their soul and life, a miracle would occur, but the price to pay would be the complete vanishment of the individual] the Book of the Sea answered.

Gu Qing Shan muses: “Then the Heavenly Emperor——‘

The Book of the Sea continued: [Whenever necessary, he would become an amalgamated being with those heavenly beings, thus whenever he offers up the lives and souls of those heavenly beings, he would also give up a portion of his own soul and life, enabling him to invoke the Pendant of Fire’s power of Miracles!]

Gu Qing Shan muttered: “So miracles wouldn’t occur out of nowhere and requires some prerequisites, but even so, it’s still very impressive”

[Correct. Whenever a miracle is invoked, the Heavenly Emperor would immediately discard those heavenly beings and let them disappear completely, which would not affect his own soul and life] the Book of the Sea concluded.

Gu Qing Shan sighed and commented: “What a malicious ability, no wonder he managed to become the previous Wraith Ruler, then later went on to steal the position of Heavenly Emperor”

Is this the Heavenly Emperor’s Samsara Divine Skill?

Was this ability of his not sealed away by the Samsara because he was the Heavenly Emperor?

Once he becomes even stronger and receives the Samsara’s support, what form would this ability take?

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but sigh again and asked: “Is there a way to win against the Pendant of Fire?”

[There isn’t] the Book of the Sea resolutely answered him: [In fact, you’ve already done quite well. There were many times I thought you would have died during the confrontation]

Gu Qing Shan was speechless.

Among the Four Saint Pillars, the Book of the Sea is a miser that will take every penny it could, the Key of the Wind needs vitality, and the Pendant of Fire wants the most precious thing one has, the only one that doesn’t need any payment is the Coin of the Earth.

——-but each time I use the Coin of the Earth, I need to wait for 30 straight days before I can use another one of its abilities.

This cooldown period is too long, so just sitting around waiting for it could lead to someone’s death.

Perhaps this is the price of being free?

If things were to stay as they are, the Heavenly Emperor would have infinite chances to invoke the power of Miracles.

———-as the Earth God, how should I go about defeating the Heavenly Emperor?

[Alright, now let’s get to the main topic]

The Book of the Sea’s tone became a bit urgent.

Huh?

Didn’t we already finish talking?

Gu Qing Shan looked at the Book of the Sea in surprise and asked: “Was there another issue?”

The Book of the Sea quickly explained:

[Using the Pendant of Fire at such high frequency is actually a very serious problem. The power of Miracles is extremely rare, and continuously invoking it would cause its unique fluctuations to persist, which could draw the attention of unpredictable entities]

Gu Qing Shan was shocked: “But we’ve already left the world inside the Reality Gate, we’re currently inside a Boundless Void without any Apocalypses, so all the wars should be over as soon as we deal with all the Apocalypses still inside the Samsara”

The Book of the Sea remained silent for a long while.

Up until Gu Qing Shan’s patience nearly ran out, it spoke up again: [There are no Apocalypses… that much I agree with, but how do you know that aside from the Samsara, there aren’t any other beings within this Boundless Void?]

Gu Qing Shan trembled.

The Book of the Sea continued: [Within a Boundless Void free of any Apocalypses——– there are two possible implications of this: the first is that the Apocalypses haven’t discovered this place; the second is that the Apocalypses couldn’t win against the entities that already exist here, understand?]

Gu Qing Shan was now completely stunned.