Chapter 1673 - Happiness comes knocking

Chapter 1673: Happiness comes knocking

With every step Gu Qing Shan took forward, the old man retreated a step.

The distance between them hadn’t been reduced at all.

「 Wait… 」the old man called out.

Gu Qing Shan stopped and looked at him.

「 Spare me 」the old man said.

“Ah? Didn’t you say you wanted to devour me?” Gu Qing Shan seemed surprised.

「 That was my mistake, I shouldn’t have arrogantly attacked the heir of the Sacrificial Dance, please be merciful and spare my life 」the old man begged.

Gu Qing Shan thought briefly and said: “It’s not impossible—– hand over the manifestation of this world system’s essence and I’ll forget what happened here today”

The old man’s expression changed and unwillingly said: 「 If I hand that thing over to you, it would be the same as handing the entire world system to you 」

“You’re allowed to remain in this world, and your life will also be spared, it’s a very profitable offer” Gu Qing Shan replied.

The old man appeared conflicted.

Gu Qing Shan looked at him and chuckled: “You know what they say about not being a sore loser. You’re the one who declared the spirit realm war, and now you’re refusing to give anything up to end it? That’s not how things work”

The old man’s expression became cold and muttered: 「 You have no idea how much effort I’ve put into this world! 」

He slightly twitched his fingers.

The ground underneath Gu Qing Shan’s feet suddenly erupted as numerous sprites of light flew out from below.

Souls!

They were all the souls of the dead, overlapping with one another, trying their best to restrain Gu Qing Shan.

『 REMAIN! STAY AND ENDURE THIS ETERNAL PAIN WITH US! 』

The souls shrieked in chaotic unison.

The old man loudly laughed: 「 How naïve! To even think about sparing your enemy’s life in a war, I truly don’t understand why that personage chose you as an heir—— 」

He looked at Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan was still being restrained by numerous souls, but not a single bit of nervousness could be seen in his expression, he was even sighing out loud.

「 Bastard——- our positions have been switched, now it’s your turn to die! 」

The old man shouted out loud, then clasped his hands together and rapidly recited an incantation.

Shu!

A tiny slashing sound curtly interrupted his incantation.

The old man’s lips twitched and slowly looked down towards his chest.

A sword had been plunged through his body with over half of it sticking out in front of his chest, liquid blood was continuously dripping from the tip of the sword.

Behind him, a small and graceful orange cat hovered in the air.

The orange cat transformed into an aloof girl who wielded a sword in her hand.

“Somebody actually thought that my gongzi was naïve…”

She shook her head and said nothing else.

While Gu Qing Shan was talking to the old man just now, she had already transformed into the orange cat and used [Ghostly Shadow of Night] to hide behind the old man.

The old man’s complexion changed several times before his knees collapsed and he prostrated on the ground:

「 Sp—-spare me——- 」

But Shannu wasn’t so soft-hearted.

A cold gleam flashed by.

The old man’s extremities were all sliced off, leaving only his torso behind which rolled down at Gu Qing Shan’s feet.

Seeing that, the souls behind Gu Qing Shan instantly scattered away and flew back into the ground without having the courage to remain.

「 AAEEEEEEE! 」the old man shrieked terribly.

But he quickly went quiet again.

Because a sword that gave off a frigid sensation had been propped right against his neck.

Gu Qing Shan crouched down and sighed: “Just take a look, what was even the point of that? It would have been so much better if you had just accepted my offer”

The old man stared at him with eyes full of grudge.

“You dare look at my gongzi with such eyes——- gongzi, there’s no need to talk to him so much, isn’t it quicker just to cut him down in a single strike?” Shannu asked while exuding killing intent.

Gu Qing Shan didn’t answer her, his expression was a bit complicated.

This old man in front of me.

Was a spirit who wielded Realm Force.

But he had given up all Spirit Arts on his own accord.

Just to fight me fair and square!

What kind of words can you use to describe such sportsmanship?

It would be so much easier if all of my enemies are similarly naïve from now on.

Gu Qing Shan was savoring this precious moment.

Lines of glowing text appeared from the void of space one by one:

[The spirit realm war is over]

[You’ve obtained victory in war]

[This entire world spirit now belongs to you, and you have the freedom to do anything to the opposing spirit who lost]

A crimson pocket watch flew out from the old man’s body and hovered in front of Gu Qing Shan.

——the manifestation of this jurisdiction world’s essence!

More lines of glowing text appeared from the void of space:

[You’ve discovered a world essence Holy Relic]

[You can use the key mold to forge it into a new portion of the Traveler’s Proof]

Gu Qing Shan took out the Traveler’s Proof mold right away.

As soon as the mold appeared, the crimson pocket watch immediately began to shake.

It then flew into the air and landed into the key mold, slowly melting into a liquid and pouring itself into the gap of the mold.

The crimson liquid moved along the crevice on the key mold before fusing with the small piece of the key’s body.

—-it then solidified.

The key now consisted of three different colors, which were respectively bronze at the key base, black at the beginning of the key body, and the newly forged crimson key body.

They represented the three coins, the evil Holy Relic of Gloomy City, as well as the Clock Tower world’s pocket watch.

Perhaps it was because the Clock Tower world was a lot more complete, the key’s length had reached 2/5th of the key’s entire length, which was much longer compared to the previous time.

Gu Qing Shan put the key mold away in satisfaction.

If I can continue like this, I’ll be able to make the complete Traveler’s Key very soon.

——-this is the literal key to our escape!

“Do you have any last words?” he asked the old man.

With him saying that, the old man knew that any further hope of survival was wishful thinking.

His expression stayed sullen briefly before suddenly breaking out into laughter:

「 Bahahaha, I know that you’re only a temporary spirit—– you originally had the power to control this entire world as a mortal, but you’ve instead erased the manifestation of the world essence, so the only thing remaining for you is death! 」

「 Stinking brat, the underground of this entire Clock Tower world is filled with grudgeful souls who signed up for the Dusty World qualification competition—— for countless years, every single person who died here had fallen into my hands! 」

Gu Qing Shan winced.

—–so the evil spirit that made all the competitors kill one another was this old man.

The old man’s face had become terribly distorted as he continued to scream: 「 Without the world’s manifestation relic, how could a mortal like you possibly deal with billions of wicked souls? 」

「 I’ve already released them all 」

「 As soon as your spiritualization state ends, billions of wicked souls will come to kill you, mortal. This is my final curse on you 」

「 ——Prepare to be devoured by billions of souls and die! 」

A layer of greyish dusty light appeared around Gu Qing Shan.

The curse!

A notification popped up on the War God UI:

[You’ve been inflicted with the curse: devoured by wicked souls]

[This is a curse performed by an evil spirit using up the last of its power]

[You must defeat the souls of all dead people, otherwise, you will be continuously haunted by the wicked souls]

Gu Qing Shan sighed regretfully and lightly plunged his sword down.

——-the malicious laughter abruptly stopped.

Lines of glowing text appeared on the War God UI:

[Obtained Realm Force: 150]

Gu Qing Shan stood up and cracked his neck, preparing to face the billions of grudgeful souls.

Suddenly, an anxious voice called out from the sky:

“What did that old man say just now?”

This was Laura’s voice!

Gu Qing Shan turned around, only to see Laura descending from the sky together with a cute girl in a miniskirt.

The girl’s long hair was full of colorful hues.

——it was her who gave them the invitation the previous time.

I believe the cow of the Song and Dance Troupe of Sin called her ‘little elder sister Cai Zang’.

“Huh? How did you come in?”

Gu Qing Shan was surprised to see them.

Laura explained: “I still felt worried, so I summoned Tear and asked her to visit the Utopia to help me ask if anyone could take me in to look for you. Since little elder sister Cai Zang said that she could, I signed a Bramble covenant with her”

The cute girl next to her smiled and said: 『 I can indeed freely travel between other people’s Phase Realms. I am honored to become the contracted spirit of the Bramble bloodline 』

Gu Qing Shan understood and smiled in return: “Thank you”

——most likely, it was the dream of all spirits to sign a Bramble covenant with Laura.

The fact that Laura thought about having Tear ask around for information while she hid away also showed how much she had matured.

While he was thinking of that, Laura ran up and caught his sleeves, nervously asking: “That old man just now seemed to have cursed you, what exactly happened?”

Gu Qing Shan just chuckled: “It’s nothing, he was only an adorable innocent old man, we were having a cooking competition——–‘

While Laura and Cai Zang were listening to him, numerous souls suddenly appeared all around them.

Dreadful howls resounded throughout the entire world.

All the souls that had ever been buried here escaped from the ground and flew around in the sky.

In just a few moments, the entire world had already been surrounded by these grudgeful spirits.

『 DIE DIE DIE DIE! 』

『 DON’T YOU DARE RUN! 』

『 YOUR SOUL WILL REMAIN HERE AND SUFFER WITH US FOREVER! 』

『 EAT YOU! EAT YOU! 』

They sharply shrieked and howled, rapidly rushing towards Gu Qing Shan.

Looking at those grudgeful spirits, Cai Zang then turned to Gu Qing Shan and asked: 『 ——-You call that cooking? 』

Gu Qing Shan didn’t answer her and simply stared into the void of space.

Several lines of glowing text had appeared on the War God UI:

[The spirit realm war had officially concluded]

[You’ve become the master of the Clock Tower world]

[All of your sealed powers have returned]

Gu Qing Shan skimmed through the messages and raised his hand, clenching his fist.

“Sacrifice”

He uttered a single word.

An invisible fluctuation erupted from his body that swept over the entire world.

In an instant, all the grudgeful spirits became frozen in place, having no courage to even twitch.

Gu Qing Shan then turned Laura and Cai Zang again, finishing up his explanation:

“That’s right, that old man competed with several dishes against me, but I still won in the end”

“He lost wholeheartedly, so he blessed me, saying that——”

“Happiness will come knocking”

Gu Qing Shan took out a jet-black scepter with a horned skull adorned on top, then tapped it on the ground.