Chapter 1040: Swordsmanship Advancement

Gu Qing Shan looked at the illusion Card in his hand again and muttered: “Consume”

As he declared so, the Card scattered into sprites of light which in return were absorbed into his body.

Gu Qing Shan once again closed his eyes, immersing himself in that moment where he used a single strike to eliminate the mythical [Chaos] monster.

He constantly re-lived that moment, experiencing the wonders of that desperate attack.

A few moments later.

The Card’s effect faded.

Gu Qing Shan took out four more Cards, which were respectively [Border Knight of Radiance], [Frost Sealing Casket], [Demon Hunting Hatchet], and [Mechanical Magic Crystallization].

These four Cards, as well as the [Elemental Wind Chaser Strike] and [Illusion: Dark Inviter] that he consumed before, according to the descriptions from the Envoy of Condemnation, were the 6 Cards necessary to support his swordsmanship to the next level.

As he didn’t have anything to do at the moment, Gu Qing Shan used up all four Cards at once.

He fell into an indescribably mystical state.

His every movement, gesture, scripture, experience… that was related to swordsmanship was being displayed in his mind following a certain wondrous order.

This arranged order seems to signify a higher realm of swordsmanship, allowing Gu Qing Shan to achieve new levels of understanding just by continuously viewing them.

Time slowly passed.

Boss had returned to the hidden temporary camp.

At this point, it was already night, and everyone had rested well enough.

Laura felt a bit hungry so she looked at Gu Qing Shan.

Only to find that Gu Qing Shan was staring blankly without moving.

As she was about to call out to him, Boss stopped her.

“Shh—-”

Boss gestured to her to come over and whispered:

“Don’t bother him”

Laura was surprised.

She looked to Zhang Ying Hao and Ye Fei Li.

They both nodded at her.

Ye Fei Li whispered to her: “Your Majesty, Laura, he’s currently in a state of deep comprehension, a very rare and unique occurrence. It would be best not to interrupt him”

“Ah”

Laura understood.

She naturally understood the principles of this state, but since she wasn’t a fighter, she wasn’t as sensitive towards these matters compared to the others, so she didn’t notice Gu Qing Shan’s unusual state from the very beginning.

This time, Laura stayed silent as well.

The four of them remained silent and cautious as they silently watched over Gu Qing Shan.

Time slowly passed.

Darkness continued to fall.

The shroud of the night had fully enveloped the land.

The frigid wind had begun to pick up.

It wasn’t until the very first rays of light broke through the shroud of darkness from the horizon did Gu Qing Shan finally regain his senses.

“Hoh——”

He exhaled deeply, then noticed that Laura, Boss, Zhang Ying Hao, and Ye Fei Li were all looking at him.

“Sorry about that, making you all wait for so long” Gu Qing Shan smiled.

While he was speaking, the void of space slowly broke apart around his body, forming long, horizontal cracks.

The void of space was constantly switching between a state of being broken and healing itself, which made for a terrifying sight.

Seriously, what kind of ridiculous level of mastery in swordsmanship has this guy reached?

How is he breaking through the void of space just by the sword will that he naturally gives off?

Everyone silently thought.

“Gu Qing Shan, what’s going on with you? Can we actually get close?”

Laura fearfully asked.

Ye Fei Li also questioned: “Oi, you look really scary right now, are you going to keep staying like that from now on?”

Gu Qing Shan naturally noticed the strange phenomenon around his body and facepalmed: “It’s nothing serious, wait a minute, let me fix it”

He closed his eyes, formed a sword seal with his hands, then finally opened his eyes again after a long while and muttered:

“Gather!”

Everyone watched.

Sure enough, the cracks around Gu Qing Shan had all disappeared.

Gu Qing Shan smiled: “There, it’s no longer dangerous”

“That looked really awesome just now. Congratulations on your advancement in swordsmanship!”

Laura said, about to walk towards him.

When a giant jet-black crack in space abruptly shot from Gu Qing Shan’s body up to the sky.

Crick crack!

The crack gave off faint exploding noises for several breaths’ worth of time before vanishing.

Everyone: “…”

Laura couldn’t help but stop herself and retreated back together with everyone else.

Zhang Ying Hao stared straight at Gu Qing Shan and spoke with a stern expression: “There are over a thousand rules of combat, but safety is always number one; when killing skills aren’t up to par, both friends and family members will mourn——— this is a friendly reminder of my Assassin Guild, and now I sincerely present it to you”

Gu Qing Shan hurriedly explained: “That was an accident, just an accident, I had only just entered this realm so I haven’t fully gotten used to it yet”

He closed his eyes again, formed another sword seal, and began to deal with the constant intense sword will that he emanated.

A few moments later.

He opened his eyes and smiled: “Now it should be fine”

But everyone took more distance from him.

“Oi—— is that really just swordsmanship?” Boss shouted from far away.

“Yeah, a new realm of swordsmanship, I’m now able to exert twice the power of my current strength” Gu Qing Shan explained.

“That sounds a bit like some sort of turbo booster” Zhang Ying Hao commented.

“Yeah” Gu Qing Shan replied.

“Is that really possible?” Ye Fei Li clicked his tongue in doubt.

“Nothing is impossible” Boss praised: “This is due to his skills being so excessively overwhelming that it created a feedback loop that forced his strength to explosively exert itself, allowing them both to be on the same standard again”

Boss continued: “I really couldn’t imagine that your swordsmanship had reached such a level. Quite possibly, even among the 900 million World Layers, your swordsmanship has surpassed everyone else”

Gu Qing Shan sighed and replied: “My strength is still severely lacking”

Boss checked his expression, only to see that he was calm and collected without a hint of being arrogant, so he silently nodded.

Gu Qing Shan didn’t mind any of that and glanced towards the void of space.

Lines of glowing text appeared on his Card UI:

[Condemnation Card: Sword cultivator Gu Qing Shan, you have completed your technique advancements]

[Your technique had reached the lowest threshold required of an Envoy of Condemnation]

[But your strength is still lacking]

[Please quickly find any Inner Plane Card to also bring your strength up to the lowest threshold required for an Envoy of Condemnation]

[When both your techniques and strength have reached the lowest required threshold, you may begin using special Inner Plane Cards for your advancement]

Gu Qing Shan quickly skimmed through.

——I’ve already used all of Laura’s Inner Plane Cards to create my World Technique.

So I’ll need to look for another Inner Plane Card somewhere else.

But this isn’t a very urgent matter.

There’s something more important that I have to resolve right now.

Gu Qing Shan looked to his companions and said:

“Boss, Ying Hao, Fei Li, Laura, and Xuan Ya as well, something happened earlier, I met the Previous Kings of Calming Soul Country”

Without waiting for everyone’s reactions, Gu Qing Shan recounted the entire meeting to them.

“Killing that child to ensure that the God of Life would be killed as well?”

Laura repeated.

“Hm, that’s what they said” Gu Qing Shan replied.

His gaze turned towards the figure standing behind the group, the transparent figure that was hovering in the air.

——-Xuan Ya’s wandering soul.

Xuan Ya’s complexion had already turned pale from listening, so she hurriedly said something.

Ye Fei Li relayed the message: “She’s begging you not to kill her son. She’s willing to tell you a certain secret”