Chapter 1400: Pursuit
As soon as Su Qing died, Gu Qing Shan discovered something.
The river stream was flowing backwards.
Gu Qing Shan was absolutely sure that there was no one unleashing any techniques around him.
He looked up at the sky.
It was currently midday, but the intense sunlight was quickly setting to the East.
The sky was becoming dark.
Time was reversing from midday to dawn.
Then dawn was swallowed up by the darkness.
Under the shade of the night, the waxing moon appeared from among the clouds, illuminating the ground below with its faint light.
The moon rose, then set.
The darkness once again receded.
A beautiful twilight.
Right at sunset, the orange sun filled the sky with its hue, but the radiant sunlight was flying back up the sky, becoming brighter and brighter, eventually reaching the center of the sky as it became the brightest.
The middle of noon.
Once again, the middle of noon.
Gu Qing Shan stood still without moving, cautiously observing his surroundings.
The river flow had returned to normal, once again flowing downstream.
Su Qing’s body had abruptly disappeared.
A flare talisman arrived from afar, hovering in front of Gu Qing Shan.
As soon as Gu Qing Shan accepted this communication talisman, an anxious voice sounded from within.
“Su Qing, it’s already been confirmed. Tomorrow at dawn, the Disciplinary Elder will publicly evaluate your matter!”
Su… Qing?
How did I actually turn into Su Qing now?
Gu Qing Shan put the communication talisman away, then looked at the jade tag in his hand.
——–this was the jade tag that Su Qing had left me before he died.
According to Su Qing, this would help me.
Gu Qing Shan circulated some spirit energy from his Dantian to activate the jade tag.
A second later, Su Qing’s voice sounded from the jade tag:
“Fellow Dao seeker Gu, you must listen carefully to what I have to say now”
“For the past countless years, the world of Kunlun had experienced the same day over and over, from noon of the first day to noon of the second day, repeating every event without exception”
“Almost no one had discovered this, I’m the only exception”
“Because on this day, I was the only cultivator who chose to commit suicide. As if some sort of technique was broken whenever my soul leaves my body, which allowed me to always remember how I died whenever the day has reset”
“I don’t know why this world has turned into this form, but I’ve remembered every repetition of this single day for all these long years. After every death, I would enter Kunlun city as a soul to look through every person, every event, everything, and I still couldn’t find an answer”
“Only very recently, when I died once again, a fragment fell from the sky in front of me”
“Indeed, it was the fragment that you wanted”
“As it descended, a strange phenomenon occurred: the heavenly beings of Jasper Pool all abruptly disappeared, only after I hid the fragment did the heavenly beings returned”
“Perhaps this is the key”
“Regretfully, I am helpless to do anything but die day by day, continuously enduring this suffering, unable to even change my fate, let alone achieve ascension”
“But now, I can finally rest, leaving you in this world to fill my place”
“Think of a way to travel to the Jasper Pool Heavenly Palace, there is a method of ascension in all Seven Institutes, it’s just that there is no one capable of achieving complete cultivation and achieve the conditions of ascension within a single day”
“But you came from the outside world, and are very powerful, you surely have hope to resolve this world’s secret”
“I… can no longer endure this world, farewell”
The voice stopped here.
After a few moments of silence, Gu Qing Shan glanced at the black thread on his hand.
The black thread was still there, pointing towards a different location in the city.
Regardless, let’s retrieve the Delimitation Divine Sword first before thinking about anything else.
Having decided, Gu Qing Shan’s figure flashed and flew towards where the black thread was leading him.
A minute later.
He stood in front of a tattered Buddhist temple, solemnly evaluating it.
This temple was already terribly tattered, but it still took up a large amount of space, while there were numerous people all around, no one even bothered to look at the temple, let alone enter it.
The black thread attached to Gu Qing Shan’s hand went through the ancient formations on the walls, reaching deep into the temple towards the unknown.
The entire temple was covered in a strange power, which nullified inner sight as one entered a certain range of it.
“This is the power of Buddhist scriptures… it’s truly been a long time since I met a monk”
Gu Qing Shan muttered, walked up to the gate of the temple, then loudly called out: “Is there anyone inside?”
No answer.
Gu Qing Shan’s figure flashed and he entered the temple.
There was dust everywhere.
It had been a very long time since someone came here.
Gu Qing Shan calmed down.
No visitors meant that the fragment was intact and hadn’t been taken by others.
Since inner sight wasn’t usable, he could only walk through the building bit by bit.
Stepping on the long steps, crossing several corridors, and across the main temple hall, Gu Qing Shan reached the deepest part of the temple.
He stopped in front of a certain hall.
A hole the size of a small fist had been broken through the roof of the hall, allowing sunlight to pour in, illuminating the statue of a single monk.
This monk statue was smiling sincerely, gentle and intimate, his body covered in dust as if it hadn’t been cleaned for many years.
A sharp fragment lay in the hand of the statue.
——the Samsara Delimitation Divine Sword fragment.
Gu Qing Shan’s gaze fell onto the fragment.
He thought briefly then clasped his fist towards the statue: “Fellow Dao seeker, that fragment in your hand is greatly beneficial to me, I wish to exchange something else for it with you”
The monk statue trembled a bit, shaking off the dust on his body.
“Amitabha… I’ve finally waited to this day”
The statue opened his eyes to observe Gu Qing Shan, then slowly turned his gaze to the fragment.
The monk statue held the sharp fragment of the Divine Sword in his hand and asked: “Benefactor, may I ask, who went into reincarnation within Kunlun city?”
——he actually came back to life.
Gu Qing Shan silently watched this, then quickly pondered the implications.
“Su Qing” he replied.
The monk statue said: “Then, benefactor had now turned into Su Qing?”
Gu Qing Shan replied: “Indeed”
The monk sighed, then told him: “We made numerous calculations many years ago, discovering that while the world of Kunlun had become abandoned and would no longer draw the wraiths’ attention, as time went by, the wraiths would also grow increasingly more powerful, more resolute on achieving their goal. At that point, they would eventually decide to destroy the world of Kunlun that is an annoyance in their eyes”
“——-but right before the time of destruction, a unique object would fall into Kunlun”
Their gazes both fell onto the Samsara Delimitation Divine Sword’s fragment.
“You mean, this thing can save Kunlun?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“No” the monk statue replied, “it is merely an opportunity”
“An opportunity?”
“Indeed, as you can see, it had led you to Kunlun, and also allowed the very first person in countless years to escape this suffering”
Knowing that the other party was referring to Su Qing, Gu Qing Shan asked directly: “You want me to help you?”
The statue raised the fragment and asked him in return: “Benefactor, do you want this?”
The statue flicked the fragment forward.
It fell into Gu Qing Shan’s hand without trouble.
“Thank you very much” Gu Qing Shan swiftly put it away.
The thread on his hand disappeared.
This meant that there were only two fragments of the Samsara Delimitation Divine Sword within the world of Kunlun.
Understanding this, Gu Qing Shan wanted to leave this world right away.
——-but now that he had replaced Su Qing, he would have to repeat this day indefinitely. How should he escape from this state?
While he was thinking, the monk statue continued: “The wraiths will soon arrive. You will need to quickly ascend and reach the Jasper Pool Heavenly Palace”
Gu Qing Shan looked down.
At some unknown point, a black thread had appeared from his hand, reaching through the sky and infinitely far away from Kunlun city.
The other party wasn’t wrong, something was indeed hot on his pursuit.
The shadow of death slowly appeared in Gu Qing Shan’s spirit sense, giving him an unknown sense of urgency.
Gu Qing Shan asked: “Did your grace not need my help saving Kunlun? Why do I need to ascend?”
The monk statue was completely emotionless and calmly replied: “You will need to quickly escape, and take the entire world of Kunlun with you while you do”
“Do you think that I’m not a match for the wraiths?” Gu Qing Shan laughed and asked.
The monk statue chuckled, then put his hands together in a praying posture: “Amitabha, benefactor’s killing intent is truly immense, this monk appreciates that”