Worlds’ Apocalypse Online

Gu Qing Shan stood inside the dark hallway, contemplating.

The intense wind was sweeping against his body.

In truth, since the wind had traveled through such a far distance to reach here, it was already weakened greatly.

The further forward he went, the stronger the wind would become, even capable of bypassing the [Black Smog Armor] and damaging his Divine King-level body.

Gu Qing Shan knew that he couldn't move forward any further.

-------it would've been great if Shannu was here.

He sighed.

Shannu could've relied on the Six Paths Great Mountain sword's Thaumaturgy [Invincible] to simply move forward and scout what was ahead of this dark hallway instead of him.

As for the Lord of Total Distortion, he could sacrifice his subordinate's life and soul to temporarily obtain immense power enough to advance.

Shannu isn't here, and I don't have any subordinates or know how to do a sacrificial ritual, so I'm basically stuck here.

A few moments later, the wind stopped.

Gu Qing Shan silently counted.

At 30 breaths, the wind began to blow again.

20 breaths later.

The wind stopped.

30 breaths again.

The wind resumed.

The entire process was repeating itself in a consistent manner.

So consistent…

Could this be a fixed mechanism?

I have 30 breaths' worth of time to use, can I make it through this entire dark hallway within that time?

Unfortunately, my inner sight can't move too far away from my body so both [Ground Shrink] and [Shadow Shift] won't do much.

This wind could easily hurt the Divine King's body, so it's unimaginable how strong the wind would be at the source.

There might not even be a way to go through.

…

No, that can't be right.

There must be a way, otherwise, the Lord of Total Distortion wouldn't have made so many preparations just to enter this place.

Gu Qing Shan carefully thought about it for a few moments.

When the wind began to blow again, he tapped his Inventory Bag and released the gourd Adorable.

"Can you steal this wind?"

Gu Qing Shan asked hopefully.

Wuwu? Xiu xiu xiu!

(What do you mean steal? I've never stolen anything in my entire life!)

The gourd angrily refuted him.

"Alright, I was wrong, can you borrow or learn this wind?" Gu Qing Shan corrected his words.

Hearing that, the gourd Adorable twisted its body and hovered in the air, silently sensing the wind sweeping through the hallway.

Xiuxiu xiu, wu wu, xiu xiuxiu xiu

(I actually can, strange, I shouldn't be able to borrow and use naturally created Elemental phenomenon)

The gourd Adorable answered doubtfully.

Gu Qing Shan felt heavy.

The gourd can borrow the skills of others.

In other words, this wind actually has a source, it's not naturally created.

If this wind was a sort of magic or technique, then there must be someone at the end of the dark hallway constantly unleashing it.

This hallway has existed for countless years already, can someone have constantly stayed at the end of this path and used this spell periodically without stopping?

That doesn't make sense.

Gu Qing Shan looked towards the darkness of the hallway and felt an intense sense of curiosity.

In the end, he decided to try and check it out.

"Adorable, you can use your Thaumaturgies three times consecutively, is that right?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

The jade gourd pendant Adorable replied:

(If I use [Hundred Lanterns] or [Borrowing Wonder] thrice in a row in a short period of time, I'll have to turn back into a gourd seed. Even if I grow again, I can only use [Spotless Jade] for the next 1 hour)

At this point, the wind inside the hallway had just reached its strongest.

Gu Qing Shan was currently being surrounded by the intense wind current.

"Three times should be enough, hide behind me, we're going!" he immediately decided.

---------the wind would rampage for a total of 20 breaths' worth of time, since it was currently at its peak, the wind would slowly weaken.

And then it will stop for 30 breaths.

If I move right now, I'll get 40 breaths' worth of time to move!

Gu Qing Shan's figure turned into a flash of light as he charged forward into the dark hallway at full speed.

The wind really was weakening to a stop.

10 breaths have almost passed!

Gu Qing Shan was rushing forward as fast as he could!

A black figure could only faintly be seen moving through the dark hallway and soon passed the sacrificial site from earlier.

30 breaths more!

Time slowly passed without a sound.

Gu Qing Shan maintained his silence and unleashed the full speed of a Paragon realm cultivator.

And then, time was finally up.

He still hadn't left this ridiculously long hallway of darkness!

The wind had already resumed.

An ever so gentle breeze of wind swept by his face, bringing with it a bit of warmth.

If someone felt this wind without knowing the truth behind it, they wouldn't be able to imagine how ferocious the wind would become in the next few breaths of time.

Xiu xiu xiu?

(Should I borrow the wind now?)

The gourd Adorable asked.

"No, the wind here still isn't that strong yet, I can deal with it" Gu Qing Shan replied.

His face was scratched earlier because he didn't know the exact situation.

But now that he knew how strong it was, Gu Qing Shan already had a plan prepared.

The limited use of the gourd's Thaumaturgies was extremely precious, so unless he really had to, he couldn't randomly unleash them.

Gu Qing Shan quickly crouched down and laid flat on the ground.

He purposefully laid as close to the wall of the hallway as possible, making sure that the contact surface of his body against the incoming wind became as thin as possible.

And then, he performed a spell.

Layers upon layers of thick ice appeared out of nowhere and covered Gu Qing Shan's body.

These layers of ice formed a tear-shaped outer shell that fused almost perfectly to the wall with Gu Qing Shan inside.

Since Gu Qing Shan stuck close to the wall and he was lying flat on the ground, only a small portion of the wind coming from the end of the dark hallway actually made contact with this ice shell.

The wind also became stronger by the second, but its contact surface with the ice shell remained minimal thanks to its aerodynamic tear shape that diverted the wind around it.

Naturally, the wind was still incredibly terrifying, the ice shell was constantly being shaved away every second----- no, it was being shaved away faster every second.

As the layer of ice was about to be completely shaved away, Gu Qing Shan took action.

He was currently the God of Frost and Chill, so an ice technique he desperately unleashed would naturally carry immense defensive power.

Very quickly, another ice shell was formed around his body.

Under the rampaging wind, the new shell was quickly shaved away, at which point Gu Qing Shan put more power in and remade it anew.

After several more times of this tug of war, the wind had finally passed its strongest stage and slowly died down.

Gu Qing Shan had succeeded!

When the wind began to die down, he abruptly jumped up, broke through the ice and continued dashing forward with everything he had.

"That was too close, I almost ran out of power just then. Adorable, I'll probably have to rely on you when the wind comes up again" Gu Qing Shan sighed emotionally.

Wu wu!

The jade gourd pendant replied.

Gu Qing Shan once again had 30 breaths' worth of time.

He sprung himself forward with all he said, desperately running forward.

At some point, he saw some bones flashing by the corner of his eyes.

Obviously, the Lord of Total Distortion couldn't move forward any further when he reached that place.

He had to perform another sacrificial ritual.

Gu Qing Shan didn't have the mind to pay attention to those bones.

Because after 10 breaths' worth of time more, the terrifyingly ferocious storm winds would pick up again!

Sprinting at full speed.

Dashing with all his strength.

Even though he was already running as fast as he possibly could with everything he had.

Even though he had already traversed an incredibly long distance.

The end of this dark hallway was still nowhere to be seen in sight.

30 breaths were over.

The gentle breeze of wind began to pick up again inside this dark hallway.

Wu wu?

(Should I do it now?)

The jade gourd pendant asked.

Gu Qing Shan contemplated for the blink of an eye.

--------regardless of what thing or entity was unleashing this wind, it couldn't possibly be sentient or alive.

Because no one could ever persistently use this kind of periodic wind to block out this tunnel for so many years without stopping, no matter how strong they were.

…Unless that entity has already far surpassed my range of knowledge.

But the gourd Adorable's ability could borrow and use this against them.

This is the only counter I know to Mystic-type abilities, so if I really run into a powerful enemy at the end of this path, the only one I will be able to count on is the gourd Adorable.

I can't use it carelessly!

Gu Qing Shan drew his sword and tried slashing the wall with all his strength.

Kriiiii--------ieeeekkkk----

With an ear-piercing screech, the only thing that came from the wall was a few sparks.

I can't, it's too hard!

Makes sense------ if the wall wasn't this sturdy, how could it endure this kind of wind?

Gu Qing Shan gritted his teeth.

Is there nothing else I can do?

The wind was becoming stronger.

At this point, he could already sense an aura of death and destruction from the wind.

It wasn't quite at the level of the Winds of Chaotic Tribulation, but it was more than enough to instantly erase a Divine King!

Another wound appeared on Gu Qing Shan's body.

A fine slash mark could be seen on the [Black Smog Armor] as if it was no better than tofu against this wind.

Gu Qing Shan was still quickly thinking as if he didn't realize what happened.

---------I can't wait any longer.

Do I have no other solutions?

This wall is too sturdy, I couldn't even scratch it with my full strength…

Wait a minute!

The lightbulb in Gu Qing Shan's mind suddenly lit up.

He pulled something from the void of space.

It was a card that depicted a blinding red light.

[Rare item: True Crimson Demon Spear]

[While equipped with this spear, you can't wear any armor at the same time]

[This demon spear carries the Law-grade property: Absolute Sharpness]

[Note: This is the first weapon created by Divinities from the Age of Old that can hurt them]

[Unstoppable!]

Gu Qing Shan held the card tightly and waved it.

The very next second.

A spear that gave off blinding crimson light manifested in the void of space and fell into Gu Qing Shan's hand.

Gu Qing Shan's armor turned into a cloud of black mist and was blown away by the wind.

--------as soon as he took the demon spear in hand, the [Black Smog Amor] broke and crumbled.

"YAAH!"

Gu Qing Shan didn't mind any of that and uttered a loud roar.

The crimson light flashed briefly several and easily sliced through the wall like a hot knife through butter.

A big hole was cut out from the wall of the hallway.

The wind had become ferociously intense again.

The side of Gu Qing Shan that faced the wind already had countless small cuts all over, causing him to bleed.

I can't wait any longer!

Gu Qing Shan jumped into the hole inside the wall together with the [True Crimson Demon Spear].

Just to be sure, he used a telekinesis hand seal to pick up all the pieces of the wall and shoved them back in; then used the strongest Elemental Ice he had to seal them from the inside, restoring the wall back to how it was.

The wind had just reached its strongest point.

Hoh----------

The wind howled in a sorrowful and shrill manner, destroying everything that remained inside the hallway.

Gu Qing Shan finally managed to avoid it.