"How did you suddenly disappear when we were teleported away the previous time?" Crow asked, seemingly interested.

"I received a unique opportunity and had to deal with a few things, so I was temporarily separated from everyone" Gu Qing Shan replied.

------clang!

The Six Paths Great Mountain sword gave off a cold gleam that lightly wrapped around the shackles on Crow's arms and legs.

The shackles instantly broke.

"Wah, finally free again" Crow threw the shackles away and happily rubbed his wrists.

"Alright, let's hurry up and go!" Gu Qing Shan urged.

Crow looked at the dark tunnel around them and said: "These tunnels connect everywhere, I'm a bit experienced with running around here, so how about I lead the way?"

"No need, I have someone else who's even more familiar with these tunnels than we are" Gu Qing Shan replied.

A mass of black flames appeared in front of him and manifested into a black flaming dog.

"Hello, you must be Crow?" the black dog said.

"Hello, what's your name?" Crow asked.

The black dog opened his mouth, then briefly paused for some reason before finally saying: "Do you know 'Tian' as in 'Heaven'?"

"Yes" Crow nodded.

"My name is that 'Tian' followed by 'gou'" the black dog answered.

"Tengu?" Crow thought briefly and asked.

The black dog silently sighed in relief, then continued: "That's right, Tengu, remember, I'm the Samsara Tengu, not Tian Gou"

Crow was speechless.

He discreetly glanced at Gu Qing Shan and silently sent his voice: "Does this dog have some sort of mental issue?"

"It's nothing, he's just a bit sensitive" Gu Qing Shan replied.

The black dog stood mid-air, looked around, then pointed at a fork in the tunnel and said:

"This way!"

He quickly led the way.

Gu Qing Shan and Crow swiftly followed.

"Hey, are you sure this dog knows the way? Is it really trustworthy?" Crow hesitantly asked.

"Don't worry, he's very familiar with this place" Gu Qing Shan affirmed.

The two people and the dog quickly travelled along the dark tunnel.

Whenever there was a fork in the path, the black flames dog would immediately pick one of them without hesitation, which Gu Qing Shan and Crow followed.

After taking numerous turns and curves, they gradually escaped the encirclement.

Finally, after running for a few hours, they couldn't hear the murderous grumbling behind them anymore.

There were no longer any pursuers.

Crow breathed heavily: "They were truly only here to catch a dragon, we just got caught between them"

Gu Qing Shan took out three bottles of liquor, handed one for each person, then began chugging his own bottle.

Crow and the black dog also chugged their own bottles.

"All the monsters manifested from blood earlier originated from the giant eyeball?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"That's right, it seems to be very interested in every species and has been continuously collecting various different lifeforms" Crow replied.

Gu Qing Shan looked at the black dog.

The black dog silently pondered for a bit and answered: "The eyeball… might be absorbing knowledge from the biological structures of those species to create its own servants"

"It knows how to create servants as well?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"Of course, the stronger the monster, the more unwilling it would be to do everything on its own. That would only be a waste of its attention and power" the black dog replied.

Crow was standing still while listening to them, then suddenly looked around and commented: "This place is really quiet"

"Indeed, this is a very secluded location. Normally, no one would come here" the black dog replied.

Crow muttered: "I heard that the giant eyeball had focused all of its forces and is heading to this place from the Space Vortex------ it probably wouldn't coincidentally pass us by here"

The world became silent.

Gu Qing Shan and the black dog exchanged glances.

"Not good" Gu Qing Shan commented.

"You're right, I also think it's not good" the black dog agreed.

Gu Qing Shan continued: "If that giant eyeball was in our vicinity------"

The black dog immediately replied: "We would definitely not be able to escape. But I've kept a certain place exactly as it was and prepared plenty of hidden barriers around it, so no one would be able to find that place"

"What kind of place was it?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"The secret room of the Protection Deity" the black dog replied.

While the two of them talked, a bit of blood began to leak out from the tunnel walls around them.

------a sudden change had occurred-------

An inexplicable feeling of panic descended on them.

They stood completely still, almost too scared to move, it was as if something extremely terrifying was staring closely at them.

Gu Qing Shan breathed out.

He grabbed both the black dog and Crow, then manifested a huge mass of white fog around himself.

[Fog Realm Descent]!

Instantly, the three of them vanished from inside the tunnel.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

More and blood seeped out, eventually filling the entire tunnel.

This blood appeared almost sentient, as they gradually began to inch forward after filling the entire dark tunnel.

A few moments later.

Something enormous seemed to have appeared within the blood.

It floated inside the blood, gradually drifting forward in a certain direction.

…

The secret room of the Protection Deity.

A mass of white fog appeared out of nowhere, revealing Gu Qing Shan, Crow, and the black dog within.

Without saying a word, Gu Qing Shan took out the Sacred Gate and placed it directly on top of the secret room's door.

The black dog took out the Book of Prophesized Destinies and flipped to a certain page before silently reciting an incantation.

It was an incredibly long incantation.

Once he finished the incantation, a black facemask made entirely from metal appeared out of nowhere.

The black dog caught the facemask and handed it to Crow.

"What's this for?" Crow cautiously asked.

"This can temporarily stop your 'Weal In – Woe out' technique from automatically activating and slowly accumulating its power. When you truly need to use it, you would only need to undo the facemask and release the power of several activations all at once" the black dog explained.

Crow looked at him, then at Gu Qing Shan.

The man and the dog both nodded with a serious expression to him.

"But this facemask looks a bit ugly" Crow accepted the metal facemask and commented, a bit displeased.

Gu Qing Shan spoke with a serious expression: "This facemask is full of male dignity---- Samsara Tengu, can you tell me what kind of conditions are necessary to obtain this facemask?"

The black dog answered: "They must be a man that I truly appreciate------- his strength must be great, his reputation must be renowned throughout the void, always capable of exerting unbelievable strength when he's needed the most, and capable of overturning the tides at a crucial moment"

Gu Qing Shan regretfully said: "Then it seems like I won't qualify for that"

The black dog followed up: "Indeed, there is only one man here who fulfils such conditions"

Crow had already put the facemask on, now adjusting its position.

"Leave it to me, in a true crucial moment, I'll make sure to exert the power of 'Weal In – Woe Out'"

He spoke with a muffled voice.

Gu Qing Shan and the black dog both discreetly exchanged glances and sighed in relief.

"Alright, let me arrange some defensive measures, you two rest up for now"

Gu Qing Shan moved the ring on his finger and released a huge amount of gems to blanket the ground.

Crow opened his eyes wide at this, wanting to say something but couldn't.

The black dog was already used to it, so he just fell into thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"I'm thinking that if Reneedol and the giant eyeball were allowed to meet, the entire Boundless Void would fall under her control from now on" the black dog replied.

Gu Qing Shan's gaze became grim, then muttered: "It won't, we still have the Samsara"

"But the Samsara had already been broken into numerous fragments, it wouldn't be able to gather its forces again in such a short time" the black dog replied.

Gu Qing Shan shivered a bit.

No wonder----

No wonder Reneedol had continuously been trying to destroy the Samsara.

The Samsara was a kind of power that she couldn't control, which would influence her rule.

However…

I don't know where I should go in search of the bigger fragments of Huang Quan.

Not to mention the Asura City, Era of Infinite Combat.

The Heaven realm and Human realm are also nowhere to be seen.

Gu Qing Shan couldn't help but sigh.

Now that Reneedol was about to become the most powerful Apocalypse Summoner, does she want to completely destroy the Samsara before the Samsara's Clash of Supremacy arrives?

For some reason, he suddenly recalled what he saw during the Spirit Wanderer state in the past.

Xie Dao Ling was riding a large dragon across the Boundless Void.

Right in front of her stood a woman clad in boundless starlight-------

Reneedol!

She was simply standing there, but countless worlds were continuously being destroyed behind her.

Reneedol then stared at Xie Dao Ling and declared: "After countless years, I've finally found you. And now it's time for you to be completely destroyed"

She raised her hand.

The vision ended there.

"No!" Gu Qing Shan abruptly raised his voice and shouted.

"Huh? What's the matter?" the black dog looked at him.

Crow also turned to him.

Gu Qing Shan shook his head, wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, then squeezed out a smile: "It's nothing"

------so Reneedol's intentions were to prematurely crush a new era.

She needed enough power to fight against the Samsara itself.

Currently, the Wraith realm had become her dependent and followed her every order.

She had always been working towards this goal!

Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath to force himself to calm down.

How would I be able to get rid of Reneedol?

Suddenly, some faint fluctuations cut off Gu Qing Shan's thought.

A mass of light gradually converged on his wrist.

In the void of space, lines of glowing text were quickly displayed in front of Gu Qing Shan's eyes:

[Lachesis' Fate Prophecy has been triggered]

[It is activating]

[Attention, you are about to obtain clues regarding the third Divine Artifact of Fate]