Chapter 998: Ambush!

Gu Qing Shan stood still and crossed his arms in thought.

The black cat managed to enter puberty from a previously newborn state by consuming Cards.

And since I’m also a Card——

What would happen if I also use this method to become stronger?

I’m currently a Paragon realm cultivator, would that affect anything if I use the Card promotion method to advance?

I’ve never considered that before.

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but facepalm himself.

Because I’ve always been a cultivator, I’ve always been limited to a cultivator’s mentality.

While a certain fact had already been silently laid bare to me ever since I found out about the existence of the infinite worlds.

——–even the Bygone Era humans managed to create their own worlds within the empty void.

——–even Soul Artifacts that the Bygone Era humans randomly threw away were able to copy their abilities and create several billion world layers.

The Bygone Era humans were only visitors from a parallel world that was defeated by the Apocalypse.

There was still an unimaginably powerful parallel world that’s stuck struggling against the Apocalypse.

Numerous boundless and rich parallel worlds.

The endlessly deep and unfathomable space vortex.

And the unimaginably terrifying endless Apocalypse!!!

——–as someone in this era, how could I let myself be limited by the mentality of a cultivator?

With that in mind, Gu Qing Shan suddenly felt like a huge gate had just swung open in front of himself.

Regardless of what consequences there might be with advancing through consuming Cards, I still have to try it.

There are too many unknown variables, if I don’t try anything and do not gain any new knowledge or ability, I would always be a toad sitting at the bottom of the well!

He put it into action as soon as he made up his mind.

Gu Qing Shan focused his attention on the Card UI at the Azure Card in the middle.

[Sword cultivator Gu Qing Shan]

This Card represented himself.

Gu Qing Shan tried using his mind to select this Card and muttered: “Evolve”

Unlike the [True Crimson Demon Spear] and the [Marauding Cat], there wasn’t a list of Cards that appeared around his Card.

Instead, a few lines of notification appeared:

[To begin evolution as the Envoy of Condemnation, the prerequisites are different from normal Cards]

[The Cards you require must originate from the Inner Plane]

[An Envoy of Condemnation may exist in many parallel worlds, but its place of origin is the Inner Plane]

Gu Qing Shan froze.

Ah…

That’s right…

Seems like I’ve run into something that’s beyond my understanding of Reality.

Like the Inner Plane.

Both the Inner Plane and the Eternal Abyss weren’t creations of the Bygone Era or their sentient Soul Artifacts.

They originally existed within the space vortex.

Then, what is it actually?

More lines of text appeared on the Card UI, drawing Gu Qing Shan’s attention.

Gu Qing Shan sighed and continued reading:

[Your advancement will require Inner Plane Cards]

[However, as you are currently too weak and do not reach the lowest power threshold required for an Envoy of Condemnation…]

[You may use a few unique normal Cards to help you comprehend Power or Skill as your specialization, thus preparing the foundation for your advancement]

[Condemnation Card: Sword cultivator Gu Qing Shan, please choose either Power or Skill to comprehend as your preferred form of advancement]

[Attention, you may only choose one]

Gu Qing Shan looked at his Card again.

On top of the Azure blue card face, he was being depicted hovering in the air with dual swords in hand.

“I choose [Skill]”

[Sword cultivator Gu Qing Shan, a cold weapon user Card, available Skill oriented system: Swordsmanship]

[You will require the following Cards to help you advance your swordsmanship skills]

A few Cards then appeared on the UI, neatly lined up one after the other.

The first Card was [Elemental Wind Chaser Strike]

It was quite a common Card.

Gu Qing Shan called out: “Laura!”

“I’m here, what is it?” Laura appeared next to him.

“Ah, erm, I’ll probably need your help again” Gu Qing Shan was a bit embarrassed to say that.

How shameful, I’ve used so many of her Cards already.

Being as sharp as she was, Laura immediately noticed the change in Gu Qing Shan’s expression.

“Gu Qing Shan, don’t you frown like that with me” Laura angrily told him, “You saved both my life and my kingdom, and I’m the one who chose to fight alongside you”

She loudly declared: “If all it takes is a bit of wealth to help this team become more powerful and capable of going up against those monsters and Apocalypse, I would never hesitate for even a second”

Saying so, she randomly put her hand into the void of space.

A chest of glittering gold was taken out from the void of space and casually tossed onto the deck of the ship.

Bam!

The lid of the chest popped open to reveal all sorts of beautiful gems.

“How unlucky” Laura muttered, then took out a can of Ye Fei Li’s energy drink and took a large sip.

“Look, this is Ye Fei Li’s manifested drink, I didn’t hesitate at all to ask him for a lot of them!”

Laura raised the can for Gu Qing Shan to see.

Gu Qing Shan turned to look at Ye Fei Li.

Only to see that he was sitting next to Boss, providing him one can after another.

“This is the final one for the day” Ye Fei Li reminded Boss.

There were a bunch of empty cans right next to Boss, while he appeared extremely spirited.

He smiled: “I can feel a bit of my strength recovering, this is such a good feeling”

Saying so, he received Ye Fei Li’s Soul Points drink and chugged it down.

Ye Fei Li was sweating bullets, seemingly drained.

Gu Qing Shan smiled.

Laura is a considerate child, and what she said earlier was indeed the real situation.

She is more than eager to do anything she can to help me.

Gu Qing Shan looked at Laura and softly told her: “Alright, then I won’t be formal with you——- I need another Card”

“What do you want to do this time?” Laura asked.

Gu Qing Shan replied: “I discovered a way to increase my strength, but it requires me to consume Cards as well”

Laura immediately replied: “No problem! Just tell me which Cards you need”

“The Card is called [Elemental Wind Chaser Strike]”

“Got it, wait a moment”

Saying so, Laura looked down and searched her small backpack.

A few moments later, she found the Card he needed.

This was an offensive Card that could unleash a wide-ranged storm of wind blades to attack an enemy.

Gu Qing Shan received the Card and put it onto his UI.

“Consume”

He gave the order right away.

After deducting 100 Soul Points from him, the Card shattered into countless sprites of light and was absorbed into the Condemnation Card: [Sword cultivator Gu Qing Shan].

He felt a strange sensation.

Gu Qing Shan felt like he had returned to that moment in the past.

——–that moment when he risked his life to unleash that slash against the mythical [Chaos] creature.

It felt as if he himself was once again wielding the Earth sword, performing that attack with all he had.

It was an attack beyond what he could normally perform, only unleashed from the pressure of death.

An unprecedented strike.

“This sensation…”

“So that was what I did at the time…”

Gu Qing Shan muttered blankly.

It turns out, consuming that Card allowed him to return to that moment in the past and immerse himself in that sensation of exerting beyond what he could and thoroughly comprehend its wonder.

…

At another location.

Faraway in the endless space vortex.

The Soul Shrieker was floating in space.

Mass clusters of grey fog were drifting towards it from afar and entered its body.

「『 Power! 」』

「『 Vast power! 」』

The Soul Shrieker roared.

Its body continued to writhe and slowly gained another pair of arms.

At this point, it had a total of six arms.

A massive presence emanated from its body, manifesting as an unceasing typhoon that blew everything around it away.

Standing at the eye of the typhoon, the Soul Shrieker now gave off a true sense of solemnity and divinity.

It stared towards a certain direction in the void of space and focused its gaze there.

——-just like how it peered through an unimaginably far distance before.

『 Look, a good chance! 』its female voice said.

「 Indeed, the final carrier of [Order] is stuck in a deep reminiscing state 」the male voice also couldn’t contain its excitement.

『 And I have gotten a bit stronger 』the female voice added.

While it spoke, the Soul Shrieker had clasped its 6 hands together and formed a seal.

Peering towards [The Empress], it swiftly chanted an incantation in a muttering voice:

『「 Even across infinite space and worlds, no one can stop the divine presence of [Chaos] 』」

『「 All enemies shall bow down at [Chaos]’s will 』」

「『 The divine power of [Chaos] shall manifest as Holy Retribution! 」』

『「 It desires the death of its enemy to solidify the final foundation of the Era of [Chaos]! 』」

Following the Soul Shrieker’s chant, boundless surging grey fog manifested around its body.

The fog then gathered within the clasp of its six arms and formed a rumbling giant mass of light.

The Soul Shrieker raised its six arms and sent the mass of grey light that contained unimaginable power forward.

「『 THIS IS THE WILL OF [CHAOS]! 」』

『「 HOLY RETRIBUTION, GO, KILL HIM! 』」

Boom——-

The giant mass of light howled as it went through the void of space and out of sight in just the blink of an eye.