Chapter 1402: Zhao Xiao Seng

A flash of light erupted.

Gu Qing Shan appeared in front of a grand palace structure.

He wasn’t in a hurry to look at the interconnecting heavenly palaces and instead asked: “Shannu, are you ok?”

Shannu’s voice reverberated from the sword: “I didn’t feel anything—— did you forget, gongzi, the Six Paths Great Mountain sword has the might of [Invincible]”

Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief.

It’s ok as long as Shannu is fine.

When the monk attacked just now, he actually had the chance to avoid it, but at the very last moment, he discovered that the attack carried no killing intent with a very clever method of using force.

Due to his trust in Lady Fusi, Gu Qing Shan decided to block that attack and see what it would do.

And the results were that he actually managed to ascend!

Gu Qing Shan stowed his sword away and looked around.

The entire heavenly palace was completely empty, not a single person in sight.

From the ground, many heavenly beings were visibly seen moving from place to place, but after he actually came up here, there wasn’t anyone here.

What exactly is going on?

Gu Qing Shan released his inner sight and scanned in every direction.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

And still empty.

Even the palaces were completely empty without a single thing inside.

Instead, in the void immediately below the heavenly palace, there were numerous illusory figures that acted out the scene of a prospering palace with numerous heavenly beings.

“So it was all a scheme”

Gu Qing Shan muttered.

Suddenly, teleportation runes manifested from the void of space.

As the runes faded, a figure was seen standing in front of Gu Qing Shan not too far away.

—–the monk had also come up.

“You were clearly being trapped inside that temple; how did you make it up here?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The monk smiled: “There was a teleportation formation”

“Then why didn’t you just teleport me up here?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The monk answered very seriously: “Amitabha, it was for benefactor to experience the tough process of personally ascending, thus becoming enlightened on how things are never easy. There is an old saying that everything is about the journey, and so this little monk wanted benefactor to experience this highly precious process.

Gu Qing Shan just looked at the monk without saying anything.

If this wasn’t Lady Fusi’s disciple, he would have definitely made him experience the entire process of falling to Huang Quan from the Heaven realm.

Seeing his terrible expression, the monk formed his hands together and said: “Benefactor, in truth, Kunlun is the Human realm, while the Jasper Pool is the Heaven realm, so you must go through the ascension process in order to freely move around here”

Following his explanation, Gu Qing Shan was indeed able to feel like he entered a relaxing hot bath.

It was as if these palaces had accepted his presence.

So that was the truth.

Gu Qing Shan then smiled: “And here I thought you enjoyed the process of whacking me—— since you came up with me, did you have some business with me?”

The monk sincerely replied: “Numerous years in the past, the heavenly beings had managed to predict that one day in the future, the wraiths would arrive to destroy the world of Kunlun, so they made the preparations”

Gu Qing Shan pondered: “You mean…”

The monk explained: “That formation where I was trapped. Whenever you and the wraiths appeared together, that formation would trigger all of its power to help me briefly stop the wraiths, stalling time for our world as a whole, at the same time, I would regain my freedom”

Gu Qing Shan asked: “Where are the heavenly beings?”

“They all died in battle” the monk replied

Gu Qing Shan’s heart felt heavy.

If even the heavenly beings couldn’t win against the wraiths, wouldn’t that mean that within the Samsara, not even the Heaven realm would be able to stop the Wraith realm?

As soon as he thought of that, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask: “Are the wraiths really that powerful? Where exactly did their strength come from?”

The monk appeared sorrowful and replied: “In truth, the real threat was a kind of Apocalypse”

“The Great Flood?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“Yes” the monk confirmed.

“Were the heavenly beings unable to win against the Great Flood as well?” Gu Qing Shan questioned.

The monk shook his head, appearing confused: “During the last moments of time, the heavenly beings of Jasper Pool were supposed to have already came close to winning against the Great Flood, but with an abrupt change in situation, they sealed me away with Kunlun as a whole, saying that it was to preserve a kindling for humanity”

Gu Qing Shan went silent.

Right at the moment before the heavenly beings defeated the Great Flood, they all decided to seal Kunlun, so they must have faced an extremely tough situation that they couldn’t resolve.

Just how many preparations does the wraiths actually have?

Gu Qing Shan sighed and asked: “Didn’t you have temporal powers, why were you sealed away as well?”

The monk replied: “While I was able to wield a bit of temporal powers, my cultivation period was short, so my strength was limited. The heavenly beings felt that if I were to participate in battle with how strong I was, the only outcome for me would have been death, so they all decided to hide me away to protect my life and leave it for the future”

The black thread on Gu Qing Shan’s hand twitched.

——the pursuing troops were quickly approaching him again.

The monk seemed to have also felt that and told him in a low voice:

“Follow me”

He leapt into the sky and flew into the array of numerous palaces.

Gu Qing Shan followed suit.

The two of them flew in the sky one after another.

Gu Qing Shan observed the monk and asked: “Monk, how many years have you been trapped here?”

The monk clasped his hands into a prayer gesture and smiled: “Amitabha, please do not call me ‘monk’, benefactor, I’m actually a normal cultivator. I’m merely wearing Buddhist garb because I wholeheartedly wish to follow the path of Buddha”

Gu Qing Shan commented: “So you were a fake monk”

The monk refuted: “That isn’t the case, this little monk truly does seek the path of Buddha”

“If you aren’t a monk, why are you calling yourself ‘little monk’ then?” Gu Qing Shan curiously asked.

“Amitabha, this humble one’s surname is Zhao, first name Xiao Seng[1]” the monk replied.

Gu Qing Shan opened his mouth wide, speechless.

——this guy’s father has quite the naming sense.

“Then, what’s going on with this set of Buddhist garb?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

Zhao Xiao Seng replied: “The big shots told me that I was predestined to join Buddha, adding that I would tonsure to enter the gates of a temple in the future, so they prepared these clothes for me ahead of time”

“Then, have you tonsured?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“I have not. This Xiao Seng is an admirer of Buddhist arts, so this Xiao Seng would only tonsure to enter the temple once all of my preparations are complete”

“When would that be?”

“Ah… I originally planned to begin preparing when all the Apocalypses were over”

“Then it’s best that you keep your hair growing until then”

The two of them quickly passed through the large array of palaces as they talked and reached the highest of the palaces.

As Gu Qing Shan refocused himself to take a look, he saw that the nameplate outside the palace read:

[Cang Hai Heavenly Palace]

Zhao Xiao Seng entered the palace first.

Gu Qing Shan followed and asked: “What is this palace for?”

Zhao Xiao Seng replied: “Kunlun city was the Human realm; Jasper Pool was the Heaven realm. By converging the power of the two realms, the Dao cores of countless heavenly beings, as well as innumerable Laws, and with me as the core, Kunlun city was able to repeat the same day over and over again. This was the reason why the wraiths had not entered Kunlun city up until now”

———any wraiths who tried to enter would be like Gu Qing Shan currently was, trapped in that same day.

Gu Qing Shan pondered, then said: “That can’t be true, surely the wraiths have a way to destroy this technique. After all, they managed to use the Great Flood, or perhaps another unseen measure, to defeat the heavenly beings of Jasper Pool”

Zhao Xiao Seng replied: “The wraiths certainly have hidden methods that would be able to get rid of us, but all of them requires a huge amount of effort and resources, and with how the wraiths have been constantly waging war on all fronts, they could not endure such losses”

“Until I arrived” Gu Qing Shan continued.

“Indeed, the heavenly beings had predicted that by the time you arrived, the wraiths would soon accomplish what they wanted to do, which will allow them to invade and destroy Kunlun without any reserves”

He led Gu Qing Shan into the palace and straight into the deepest chamber of the structure.

There wasn’t anything here, only a single mural on the wall.

On top of a vast, shoreless ocean, a gigantic ship was sailing forward on the water.

Countless heavenly beings and cultivators stood on top of the ship, or hovered above it, all of them wielding weapons to fend off the numerous monsters in the ocean.

The monk walked forward and muttered: “Prolonging our last breath for so long, we’ve finally reached our limit. We must bring Kunlun together with us”

He swung his baggy sleeves, tapping several places on the gigantic ship as his hands swiftly formed dozens of hand seals.

“Release!”

The monk grunted.

Instantly, everything disappeared.

Gu Qing Shan found himself standing in the middle of an abandoned Life Talisman tunnel.

Within this large and silent tunnel, he and the monk felt like tiny debris floating in the vast ocean.

There wasn’t anything around them, only the Life Talismans that made up the tunnel that already lost their light, almost like they were dead.

“Where is Kunlun?” Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but question.

Zhao Xiao Seng showed his palm.

Only to see that he was holding a glittering golden boat, the same one in the heavenly palace mural from before.

“Years ago, the heavenly beings refined the two worlds into this heavenly ark. The upper half of the ark was the heavenly palaces of Jasper Pool, while the lower half was Kunlun city, making it easier to take them both and flee at any moment——- and it’s now the exact time for that” Zhao Xiao Seng explained.

“Flee where?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

Zhao Xiao Seng looked at him and replied: “That’s what I’m supposed to ask you. After exhausting a large amount of vitality and Immortal Crafts, the heavenly beings only managed to predict one thing——– the outsider who came to visit would be the key for the Kunlun world as a whole to escape”

Gu Qing Shan was surprised.

Me?

I’ve never been to the Wraith realm, nor seen a Life Talisman tunnel like this before, how am I supposed to take you and Kunlun world with me and flee?

A second later, Gu Qing Shan had a certain thought and raised his left hand.

Only to see that aside from the thread that pointed at the wraiths’ pursuing troops, another thread had appeared on his hand.

——-Fate-type Ability, [Longing]

This ability had activated itself.

The new black thread connected to Gu Qing Shan’s hand was reaching deeper into the tunnel without an end in sight.

[1] you guessed it; Xiao Seng literally means “little monk”