Worlds’ Apocalypse Online

A bolt of lightning streaked across the ground, rapidly flying into the distance.

After a certain point.

The lightning dispersed to reveal Gu Qing Shan.

He took advantage of the inertia in order to run for a bit longer before stopping in front of a tall cliff, looking forward.

"Truly a barren place…"

The world was desolate.

Snowflakes slowly drifted along with the wind.

Below the cliff, there was a vast icy river that stretched all the way towards the faraway snow peaks.

Gu Qing Shan carefully observed the surroundings as his expression gradually became solemn.

The banks of the icy river weren't empty but instead it was littered with a number of ruined palaces.

Despite being tattered and covered in snow, these palaces still exuded an indescribable violent presence.

------what exactly is the Elements War?

Gu Qing Shan continued to think about this as he tightly grasped his bag, secured his bow and blade on his body, then gradually climbed down the side of the cliff.

Despite losing all of his powers, he still had the physique acquired from regularly practicing the martial scripture that Lin had taught him, so it wasn't an issue for him to climb a cliff.

Not too long later, he was now standing on top of the snowy ground.

The snowfall had gotten even more severe.

Gu Qing Shan looked forward with narrowed eyes, noticing that the snowy weather had obscured everything that was more than 10 meters away, making it impossible for him to see anything with his naked eye.

Various strange cries and howls could be heard coming from the distant palace array.

Gu Qing Shan had never heard anything quite like that before.

------they sounded like they originated from some sort of mysterious being.

Suddenly, he noticed something and abruptly turned around.

"Ah…"

Other than this indescribable sigh, Gu Qing Shan couldn't utter anything else.

He was stunned by the realization------

It turned out that the cliff wasn't actually a cliff, but instead a gigantic statue.

Due to his proximity to the statue, Gu Qing Shan couldn't observe exactly what the statue depicted.

He retreated away from the statue as far as possible until he witnessed the statue in all of its glory.

-----so it was actually a stone giant with its eyes closed.

The giant seemed to be completely motionless, almost like it was already dead.

Gu Qing Shan silently examined it for a few moments.

That's right, almost as if it was already dead.

----no wonder I couldn't sense anything wrong before noticing it earlier.

He looked at the giant and tried calling out to it.

The stone giant didn't respond.

Gu Qing Shan drew his blade and swung with some strength towards the stone giant's feet.

The giant remained motionless.

Gu Qing Shan tried swinging with more power.

Sparks flew from the impact, accompanied by a chiming striking noise.

------still no reaction.

Is it sleeping so deeply that it can't wake up?

Or is this guy actually just dead?

He put his blade away and tried placing a hand on the stone giant without any good reason to do so.

He felt an indiscernible sense of familiarity.

-----as if this giant somehow had a close relation with him.

Standing in the snowy wind, Gu Qing Shan silently examined the stone giant.

A large portion of the stone giant's body was being obscured by snow, only a general silhouette could be discerned, but its entire body was still hidden.

All of a sudden, Gu Qing Shan turned his gaze towards a certain point.

The part where he had struck the stone giant with his blade.

A tiny crack had broken off from the outer stone shell, revealing a metallic sheen.

Could it be…

Gu Qing Shan crouched down and began to rub his blade against the stone like a file.

More metal was being exposed to him.

------this wasn't a stone giant, but a wrought iron giant!

Gu Qing Shan felt shocked and couldn't help but mutter:

"Who exactly are you?"

Only the sound of howling wind and snow could be heard between heaven and earth.

If this was any other point in the past, Gu Qing Shan would have been able to blow the snow away with a hand seal.

This way, he would have been able to carefully study the giant and find clues before he proceeded with anything else.

But now with his powers sealed, he could only look up at the stone giant, unable to remove even the outer layer of snow from the giant.

Gu Qing Shan sighed and thought back to how the five-headed monster had referred to this place.

-----it said this place was a prison.

Then what was the prison holding captive?

How are the giant and the prison related?

There's too little information, and I can't afford to make random guesses.

Gu Qing Shan turned his gaze back to the snowy wind.

On top of the cliff earlier, I saw a tattered palace array right ahead of this location.

Perhaps I should take a look at it first.

Not too long later.

Another large silhouette could be seen ahead of him.

-----another stone giant.

Although a large portion of it was still being obscured by snow, its identity could be discerned by the portion that was exposed.

Gu Qing Shan was quite a bit surprised.

This stone giant seemed to have gone through quite some intense battle, as it had now been greatly damaged.

It laid silently on the ground, completely motionless.

"Huh? Is that-----"