Worlds’ Apocalypse Online

1820 The three generations of Death Gods

[All-Encompassing Sword Realm].

Gu Qing Shan was now hidden within this phase realm, silently observing the vision of the past manifested through the Delimitation Divine Sword.

All the images had been condensed into one.

A giant dark hole had been torn into the sky, through which countless Divine Artifacts flew into the world of Huang Quan and straight into the Hall of Reincarnation.

The scene between Chao Yin and Shannu also replayed itself.

Up until all the Divine Artifacts had left and only the Chao Yin sword remained floating above the water of the Forgetting River.

It let out a long ring and parted the violent flowing river apart, then began to fly deep into the river.

“Follow it, let’s see what happened back then”

Gu Qing Shan said.

The vision then began to shift and rapidly followed the Chao Yin sword’s speed, continuously switching from one image to the next.

Chao Yin could now be seen arriving at the bottom of the Forgetting River, flying close to the ground until it reached a set of underground stairs.

The stairs spiraled downwards with seemingly no end in sight.

After a moment of hesitation, the Chao Yin sword started following the stairs to head even deeper toward the bottom of the river.

The bottom of the Forgetting River reaches so far down?

Feeling surprised, Gu Qing Shan swiftly followed it.

At the bottom of the spiral stairs was a straight path that headed towards an ancient tower pagoda.

The tower pagoda was at the very bottom of the Forgetting River, but there wasn’t even a single drop of water there.

——-the water of the Forgetting River seemed to be avoiding the tower pagoda, forming a pond that radiated a dark glow behind the structure.

Seemingly curious, the Chao Yin sword started flying around the tower pagoda.

The tower pagoda was radiating some ethereal misty sparks, one of which sensed the presence of the Chao Yin sword, became attracted by it, then instantly entered its body.

The Chao Yin sword gave off a happy ring.

These misty sparks seemed to benefit it in an indescribable way.

It shivered a little bit before making up its mind——–

With a flash, the sword entered the tower pagoda and started flying around fearlessly.

Gu Qing Shan followed it inside.

Only to see that the tower pagoda was completely silent without anyone inside, there was only a single stick of incense silently burning away.

On top of a platform inside the tower pagoda, a vertical bronze casket stood as the main subject of worship.

The casket was already opened, but the inside was empty.

Observing the casket, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable chill down his back.

The Chao Yin sword seemed to also feel the same, as it was clearly thinking about leaving, but it also couldn’t help itself from wanting the floating misty sparks.

“This place isn’t normal, hurry and leave” Gu Qing Shan silently thought to himself.

After a few moments.

The Chao Yin sword finally made its decision.

It flew outside of the tower pagoda and circled once around in the air before plunging into the pond behind the tower pagoda.

A seemingly endless volume of Forgetting River water enveloped it and carried it further downwards.

——–the Chao Yin sword wandered a bit around the pond before hiding itself underneath the mud at the bottom of the pond.

It then quietly lay there.

After seeing this, Gu Qing Shan remained silent.

The Chao Yin sword had hidden so well.

It should be waiting for me, but if it’s hiding in a place like that, how am I supposed to know even if I enter Huang Quan?

Right.

Water…

The waters of the Forgetting River.

It can control all water, so it would naturally be capable of observing Huang Quan as a whole through the Forgetting River.

If I had entered Huang Quan with my real body, it would naturally find out right away.

What a clever little one!

Gu Qing Shan silently praised it but also felt a bit curious.

About the tower pagoda at the depths of the Forgetting River.

He turned around and entered the tower pagoda to take a closer look.

There wasn’t anything suspicious about the tower pagoda itself, but the bronze casket laying at the very center of the worship platform gave off an indescribable sense of eeriness.

Gu Qing Shan flew up close to take a closer look at it.

This bronze material—–

Seems somehow familiar.

While he was still pondering, he noticed some noise behind him.

A feminine figure appeared outside of the tower pagoda, slowly making its way into the tower pagoda.

Long black hair, a luxurious ancient-style Chinese dress, evidently the mark of a beautiful woman——-

But her head was a skull that radiated a gloomy underworld aura.

Gu Qing Shan felt shaken.

She was the ferrywoman of the Forgetting River, the powerful entity summoned by the Divine Skill [Forgetting River]!

As the skull lady approached the bronze casket, she abruptly stopped.

「 Something isn’t right… 」

She muttered as two bursts of green flames ignited in the empty sockets of her skull, seemingly trying to sense something.

The Delimitation Divine Sword suddenly said: 「 We mustn’t continue watching, or she will find out—– 」

Gu Qing Shan’s internal alarms were already blaring increasingly louder, so he immediately shouted: “Dispel!”

Instantly, the entire vision vanished into nothingness.

The Forgetting River, the tower pagoda, the stairs, and the pond; everything faded away as if they were only an illusion.

Gu Qing Shan had returned to a world of emptiness.

He wiped the cold sweat on her forehead and muttered: “Was she alerted?”

The Delimitation Divine Sword replied: 「 If we were one breath’s worth of time slower, she would have noticed our existence 」

“Did you feel that she was terrifying as well?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

「 Of course, she must be one of the supreme entities within Huang Quan 」the Delimitation Divine Sword answered.

Gu Qing Shan went silent.

He originally intended to summon Chao Yin right away.

But after seeing that entity, he felt a bit afraid to summon Chao Yin.

Chao Yin was too close to the tower pagoda; even if it took advantage of when the other party wasn’t present to plunge into the muddy pond, it would definitely alert them if it flew out right now.

In the small chance that Chao Yin gets caught…

I’m not very confident in being able to take Chao Yin back from their hands with the strength I currently possess.

It seems I’ll have to come up with something else.

Gu Qing Shan grasped the Delimitation Divine Sword and gently swung.

The world of emptiness scattered and faded away.

He has once again returned to the world of Huang Quan.

Gu Qing Shan stowed his sword away and hovered absent-mindedly in the air with a blank expression.

「 What are you thinking about? Are you feeling like it’s too difficult? 」 the Delimitation Divine Sword asked.

Gu Qing Shan didn’t answer.

「 It only makes sense, that entity earlier was truly horrifying, the only time you’d be able to retrieve your sword without worry was if she left again just like earlier 」the Delimitation Divine Sword continued.

“That’s not it, I’m actually thinking about something else” Gu Qing Shan said.

「 About what? 」the Delimitation Divine Sword asked.

“Regarding her, why do you think she can sense us?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

「 Normally speaking, even someone more powerful than she was wouldn’t be able to detect [Behold], so unless she was an expert in Space-Time techniques; specifically, being able to skillfully handle the Law of Time; she shouldn’t have been able to notice us 」the Delimitation Divine Sword replied.

Gu Qing Shan fell into a long silence.

An expert in Space-Time techniques…

Such an entity would be capable of detecting me and the Delimitation Divine Sword.

He stood motionlessly for a very long time above the Forgetting River just thinking to himself, nobody could tell what exactly he was thinking about.

Suddenly.

A Daemon with a green face and yellow fangs flew out of the Forgetting River.

It complained: 「 Oi, you over there. What’s a Great Devil like you standing for so long above our Forgetting River for? Want to jump? Then hurry up and do it already! 」

Gu Qing Shan regained his senses and apologized: “Sorry about that, I’ll leave right away”

Under its watchful gaze, he swiftly flew away and landed on the other bank of the river.

「 Are we heading back to cook now? 」the Delimitation Divine Sword asked.

“No, we’re heading somewhere else” Gu Qing Shan said.

「 Where to? 」the Delimitation Divine Sword asked again.

“Let me rethink this for a bit” Gu Qing Shan hesitantly said.

—–back in the Dusty world, in a place called Black City, Laura and I participated in an auction and found a second Death God Pendant.

Two Death God Pendants, plus the Condemnation Codex, allowed the Soul Artifact of the Water Saint Pillar – the Book of the Sea – to awaken.

At that time, I saw a vision.

At the foot of the Tie Wei mountain, by the bank of the Forgetting River.

The waves of the river continuously crashed against its banks while misty fog filled the water’s surface.

A girl sat there waiting since the Age of Immemorial.

At that point, a girl with pale white hair appeared in Huang Quan and sat down next to her, telling her about the future.

Gu Qing Shan’s heart abruptly sped up.

Among the two girls, one of them had become an incarnation of the Apocalypse and traveled back through time.

She had a grasp of the Laws of Space and Time.

Then, what if I tried to observe them right now?

Gu Qing Shan turned into a blurred image as he rapidly flew along the bank of the Forgetting River.

He quickly found that location.

This was an extremely secluded location that was away from the numerous Deities and Devils of Huang Quan.

It was a piece of limestone by the bank of the river.

——-Scarlet and Su Xue Er once sat here to discuss the future.

Perhaps…

It’s very possible!

Gu Qing Shan flew onto the limestone and grasped his sword, grunting: “Invoke [Behold], then surround this place with [Sword Realm] so that no one would be able to observe it!”

——[Behold: Regardless of location, observe all that had ever occurred and witness any secrets hidden within any void of space]

The sword gave off a long and shrill noise.

Instantly, his surroundings began to change.

Time started to recede, rewind, and retrace.

There wasn’t anything on top of the limestone.

Up until a certain moment.

Very abruptly——

The figure of two girls appeared on top of the limestone.

They were sitting side by side, chatting in a low voice.

Scarlet.

And Su Xue Er.

The entire world seemed to have fallen still.

Within that endless silence, Gu Qing Shan stared straight at them with a heavy gaze, unwilling to avert his eyes for even a split second.

A second later.

Su Xue Er frowned.

She could sense that something was amiss as if somebody had peered through the lengthy River of Time to observe them from afar.

She was still talking to Scarlet, but her irises gradually turned silver.

She turned around and looked behind her.

And she saw him.

“You are—–”

Su Xue Er stood up while holding Scarlet’s hand, cautiously asking him.

Gu Qing Shan’s gaze remained as gentle as ever without speaking up to answer her.

Su Xue Er looked closely at him, her expression gradually went from cautious to confusion, then doubtful, and finally, surprised.

She was a human girl who had achieved the ultimate evolution before being converted into an Apocalypse.

Even though Gu Qing Shan was now using a different identity, Su Xue Er could draw easily the most accurate conclusion through the most minute pieces of information radiating within Space-Time.

She smiled, then hugged Scarlet’s shoulder.

“Scarlet…”

“Hm?”

Gu Qing Shan slightly shook his head.

Su Xue Er immediately went quiet, then nodded at Gu Qing Shan after a short pause.

——Scarlet’s Fate had already been determined.

It was best right now to not do anything that would influence her determined course of Fate.

The atmosphere became silent.

Across the infinite distance of Space and Time, Gu Qing Shan remained still while observing the two of them.

Su Xue Er kept close to Scarlet, trying to think of a way to explain her suspicious behaviors just now.

But unexpectedly, Scarlet had already spoken first: “Su Xue Er, we’ve talked so much already, but I actually have something that I’ve been meaning to ask you”

“What is it?” Su Xue Er asked.

Scarlet reached her hand into the void of space.

A scythe clad in burning black flames was now in her hands.

“Rhode entrusted this weapon to me”

“Right now, I only need to retain the tiniest bit of its power; as for its true self, please use the power of Space-Time to help me return this to him”

“I think that he might need this weapon”

Su Xue Er was surprised: “Why do you think that he needs this weapon?”

Scarlet explained: “You haven’t crafted a Star Force technique, so you don’t know about this——- in reality, the power of the River of Death’s Laws had been split into three portions. I possess one portion, one portion possessed by the Lord of Radiance now lies with you, and the true inheritance of Death that lies with him. We all mutually call out to one another”

“Both he and the River of Death needs this weapon of Death’s heritage”

After seriously listening to her explanation, Su Xue Er appeared surprised.

While Scarlet looked straight toward Gu Qing Shan’s direction——-

She could see nothing but the air.

After a few moments.

She displayed a bright smile.

“I can sense it, he’s here”