Chapter 1552: A unique battle
The white fog swiftly faded away.
Gu Qing Shan landed in a certain secluded corner of the dark tunnel.
“How are we going to enter the Wraith realm?” Boss sent his voice and asked.
“It’s usually very difficult to enter the Wraith realm because it is being protected by many Causality Laws, only a human from the Wraith realm with a yaksha mask would be able to freely enter and leave this world” Gu Qing Shan replied.
He took out a mask.
This was a pure-white mask painted with a pair of thinly opened eyes using black shade, the black shade occasionally gave off a faint red glint that made it somewhat eerie.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head.
The Samsara Wicked Mask was the final mask of the Wraith realm, a treasure within the wraith’s Saint Selection.
It could devour the abilities of other treasures and upgrade that ability by one level.
If Gu Qing Shan hadn’t managed to use [Null Tribulation] and had the Six Paths Great Mountain sword to prove his identity, that ghostly figure wouldn’t have given him this mask.
—–the only concern is that this mask hadn’t been recorded in the Wraith realm.
But that’s not a difficult matter to resolve either.
Gu Qing Shan took out another yaksha mask with a blue background and black stripes.
——on the day he saved Lin, he killed a few wraiths on his way and retrieved their masks, which he had kept up till now.
Instantly, lines of glowing text appeared in the void of space:
[Blue Oni mask]
[This mask contains the Guise Hex: Swallowing Wind]
[This Hex requires a hand seal to activate, it disappears on contact with a living being and produce countless blades of wind as a follow-up, manifesting as 12 consecutive strikes on contact with weapons]
[If you use the Divine Skill of the Samsara Wicked Mask, this Guise Hex will be upgraded by one level, would you like to do it?]
Gu Qing Shan instantly said: “Use it”
All the glowing lines of text disappeared and turned into new glowing lines of text in mid-air:
[You’ve activated Jade Cultivation Deep Shadow]
[The Guise Hex has been upgraded by one level]
[This mask contains the Guise Hex: Chaotic Wind Rending]
[This Hex does not require activation through hand seal, instantly manifest with your words, its power has been increased 10-fold]
[Chaotic Wind Rending had been manifested as your Samsara Wicked Mask’s Guise Hex]
The pure-white mask in Gu Qing Shan’s hand instantly turned blue, several streaks of black paint then appeared on the mask to depict a furious expression.
——the appearance was exactly the same as the other mask.
Crack!
The other mask cracked slightly as its ability was stolen.
The ability of the Samsara Wicked Mask was destructive, capable of causing a lot of damage to the original treasure.
Gu Qing Shan put the Samsara Wicked Mask on and told Boss: “I don’t know what kind of state the Wraith realm is currently in either, so after we arrive, you need to be ready, we might have to fight at any moment”
“Got it, I’ll pay close attention” Boss replied.
A mass of white fog manifested around Gu Qing Shan’s body again.
His figure vanished.
…
The Wraith realm.
Above the sky of the wilderness.
White fog manifested from thin air.
Gu Qing Shan flew out from it.
His surroundings appeared completely normal as if there wasn’t anyone here.
Suddenly, lines of glowing text quickly appeared on the War God UI:
[Attention]
[You’ve triggered a large-scale alert technique]
Gu Qing Shan’s eyes flickered.
This is the path that Xue Nu took when he brought me back to the Wraith Lord’s manor, so why is there suddenly a large-scale alert technique here?
Could they have been keeping guard of this exact location?
While he was thinking, a screen of light appeared a bit further away.
——these are fluctuations of a warping technique.
Someone is coming!
“Hurry and leave” Boss said.
“There’s not enough time, our surroundings might have already been sealed off—– let’s observe the situation first” Gu Qing Shan spoke in a low tone.
The warp fluctuations disappeared.
A man wearing yellow-grey battle armor and a black yaksha mask with red stripes appeared in the sky.
His yaksha mask displayed an expression of pain and sorrow, but it was a type of yaksha mask that Gu Qing Shan had never seen before.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
Gu Qing Shan chuckled, then clasped his fist and said: “[Chaos Wind Rending]”
Unexpectedly, the other party also clasped their fist at the same time and said: “[Wraith King Protection]”
Instantly, countless green blades of wind surrounded the man and slashed at him continuously.
But since he had used his Guise Hex at the same time, an illusory image of a wraith enveloped his body and stopped all the slashes.
One breath later.
The green wind blades all disappeared, so did the illusory image.
Gu Qing Shan chuckled and said: “What fast reflexes”
“In combat, slow reflexes would only mean death” the man casually replied.
Without saying anything else, layers of white fog appeared around Gu Qing Shan’s body.
Since it’s currently urgent, wasting even one extra second could mean Reneedol suddenly remembering the sword.
If she decides to keep the Delimitation Divine Sword by her side, it would be even more troublesome.
[Fog Realm Descent]!
Gu Qing Shan vanished.
The man didn’t move at all and let Gu Qing Shan vanish.
A second later, he began glowing with light as well——-
Another warp technique.
Instantly, he vanished as well.
…
A dim environment with little to no light.
A breeze would occasionally blow here from deep inside the cave, a very faint sound of metal hitting rocks could be heard from other places in this mine.
White fog filled this place.
Gu Qing Shan appeared inside this mining tunnel.
“This time, we need to seize——-”
He abruptly stopped.
—–in front of him, with another flash of light, the wraith from earlier reappeared.
The wraith stared at him without saying a word.
Gu Qing Shan slowly grinned and said: “How interesting, so you’ve followed me?”
…Seems like this one isn’t going to be easy to escape from.
The wraith cultivator facing him clasped his hands behind his back and spoke with a clear voice: “I’ve gone to every location you’ve been to the last time you entered the Wraith realm. I made sure to analyze your every statement, every gesture, every action; then used a large number of resources and countless measures to finally set up a warp formation in every place that you’ve ever been, all to ensure that you wouldn’t be able to flee right away”
Gu Qing Shan’s expression went stiff and slowly said: “For you to spend so much effort, I’m quite honored”
“No need to be so formal, would you please tell me now who you are?” the wraith asked.
Gu Qing Shan replied: “I am the ultimate Abyssal form from the Eternal Abyss, a devil who kills without batting an eyelid, the one they call Big Monster Dragon”
The wraith went silent briefly.
“Big Monster Dragon? Seems like you aren’t speaking the truth”
He pulled a pair of sharp claw gauntlets from the void of space, equipped it on his hands, then shifted into a stance.
Gu Qing Shan also took out a pair of flaming red gloves and put it on while grinning: “You’re a strange enemy”
“You are very strange as well” the other party replied.
The two of them had both prepared themselves, ready to fight at any moment.
The wraith suddenly said: “The ores contained within every mine that you’ve ever been had already been fully harvested, so no one would make their way back here. But if we use Origin power during our battle, it would still alert others”
“Seems like you aren’t willing to draw other people here, your identity—-” Gu Qing Shan commented.
“I assume you also don’t want to alert anyone as well” the wraith replied.
“Then for what reason did you stop me?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“We’ll only know after fighting” the wraith answered.
He suddenly vanished.
Gu Qing Shan’s pupils dilated and abruptly threw a punch towards his back.
A flash of black flames appeared and vanished in an instant as it clashed against a sharp claw.
The wraith moved like a drifting leaf, continuously sticking close to the walls of the mining tunnel.
Gu Qing Shan also took a step back.
Both of them had made sure to suppress their strength so as to not affect the tunnel at all, there wasn’t even a sound from their clash.
——they were fighting with pure skill.
“How interesting, your fist technique is extremely rare among the wraiths, but I’ve also trained in plenty of them as well, let’s hope you can teach me a thing or two” the wraith declared.
Gu Qing Shan briefly pondered as he recalled the fist techniques he had learnt.
His front fist opened into a palm, while his back fist clenched tightly at the back, shifting into a stance.
The wraith instantly rushed forward like a blurry shadow.
The two of them exchanged hundreds of blows before Gu Qing Shan was struck by a cold gleam and was forced to retreat several steps.
He took a defensive stance again while glancing downwards.
One of the claws had ripped through his right chest, which was now dripping with blood.
Within the dark mining tunnel, the clear sound of metal hitting rocks could be heard coming from the distance, even the sound of complaints and cursing from the miners could be discerned.
——their battle still hadn’t alerted anyone.
“Are you really trying to kill me through this method?” Gu Qing Shan asked, feeling interested.
“I have no such thoughts. I’m merely thinking of beating you with nothing but skill, of course, if you’d rather die in this battle rather than using your power, I wouldn’t pity you either” the wraith shook his head.
Gu Qing Shan pondered: “So what kind of fun are you getting out of this kind of battle?”
The wraith didn’t answer him and instead continued his previous statement: “I can sense that you still have many powerful fist techniques that you haven’t used, but they all require being imbued with Origin power, or other kinds of forces, in order to perform. They might even blow away this entire mine——- but that would only draw the attention of others, neither you and I will benefit from that———- I suggest that you don’t use them”
Gu Qing Shan sighed and sighed: “And you’re willing to let me go?”
Indeed, [Ethereal] would cause too much of a commotion, and it requires Huang Quan Origin power to use, it would surely draw the attention of others.
But when it comes to fist techniques, I don’t know a lot outside of [Ethereal].
The wraith brandished his claws gauntlets a bit and replied: “Use your other skills, as long as you can defeat me with nothing but skill, I will naturally stop sticking to you”
After saying so, he leapt forward again and swung his claws.
Gu Qing Shan took another step back, only to find that he already had his back towards the wall, unable to retreat any further.
Those sharp claw swipes had surrounded his other paths of retreat, which he wouldn’t be able to use this fist technique to repel.
Right now, he would either be killed right here, or he would be forced to use Huang Quan Origin power to exert an overwhelming destructive power to resolve his predicament——-
Instantly, he moved his hand.
A sword appeared in his grip, piercing through the intense waves of claw swipes.
No sound was heard.
No sword qi.
But all the claw swipes disappeared.
His sword had directly caught both of the other party’s claws and locked his actions.
This strike had reached a transcendent level of skill, regardless of the technique or control of strength that it required.
Being caught by the sword, the wraith tried to change his attack several times, but still couldn’t advance any further, so he had to retreat.
“So you were a sword cultivator” he commented.
“That’s right, to battle without drawing any attention, my fists aren’t quite well-trained enough——- I suspect that you spent so much effort to create this situation in order to find out what my expertise actually was” Gu Qing Shan said.
The wraith stared closely at the sword in Gu Qing Shan’s hand and sighed:
“There was no other way. Both you and I are currently wearing yaksha masks, I can only discern who you are through your weapon”
“Weapon?” Gu Qing Shan looked at the Earth sword in his hand.
The wraith shook his hands and instantly put his claw gauntlets away, then explained:
“That’s right, at least I can still recognize the sword in your hand, from which I can discern your identity”
“—–wielder of the twin swords Heaven and Earth, Gu Qing Shan”
Gu Qing Shan raised his eyebrows a bit and spoke in a grim voice: “And you are?”
“You’d naturally not remember. After I was framed and killed by the Wraith realm, you brought me into reincarnation and hurriedly went to fight against the Soul Shrieker” the wraith replied.
Gu Qing Shan’s mind moved quickly and suddenly recalled a certain person.
“You are—— Demon Dragon!”
He exclaimed.