Read Novel Full Chapter 1269 658: Keep Your Distance (Part 2)
Chapter 1269 658: Keep Your Distance (Part 2)
"No!" The middle-aged man in the purple robe suddenly shouted.
"The Sword Qi is weakening!"
The two Green River Elders, upon hearing this, immediately released their Divine Thought to investigate.
They saw a look of wild joy in each other's eyes.
"It's not the resurrection of the Divine Spirit..." the fat elder's voice trembled.
"It's the burst of energy from the Divine Sword!"
The thin elder's eyes gleamed brilliantly.
"The Divine Sword used by the Ancient Divine Spirit during life... must be brought back to the Holy Land!"
Greed shattered their fear of the Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge.
Dozens of powerful figures from the Qinghe Holy Land turned into streams of light, rushing into the depths of the Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge.
Other cultivators from various holy lands also reacted and sped up their journey.
"Quick! We mustn't let the Qinghe Holy Land get there first!"
"The Divine Sword is mine!"
Amidst the mad shouting, no one noticed a gray shadow silently approaching.
It was an elderly man with a weathered face, none other than the Tianlan Grand Elder.
"This kid..."
The Grand Elder looked towards the direction of the Sword Qi with a bitter smile.
"The disturbances grow larger each time."
He had originally been tracking Gu Sheng's whereabouts, and hadn't expected that upon receiving news, the other side had already caused such an astonishing change.
The Tianlan Saint Master was horrified when he found out and sternly ordered him to ensure Gu Sheng's safety.
"The Saint Master's order, the old man must abide by."
The Grand Elder muttered to himself, but when he looked at the gradually dissipating Sword Qi, his heart lost confidence.
"But such power..."
Shaking his head, he sped up.
No matter what, he must find Gu Sheng before anyone else.
The first batch of strong figures reaching the edge of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge were stunned from their discovery that the legendary Death Forbidden Zone had already changed beyond recognition.
"Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge... destroyed?"
The originally eerie and terrifying ridge was now filled with crisscrossing gullies, and those frightening Ancient Arrays and deadly traps were all obliterated under the Sword Qi.
The whole Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge seemed as if the Heavenly God had cleaved it with a giant sword; in the center, a deep abyss stretched down without end.
"Look quickly! Someone is coming out over there!"
Following the sound, the crowd saw a figure quietly leaving on the other side of the abyss.
The person was dressed in a black robe and wore a strange black mask; there was no aura as he walked, almost impossible to detect without actually seeing him.
"It's Gu Sheng! He's running off with the Divine Sword!"
"Chase!"
The cries of pursuit erupted, dozens of silhouettes rushing towards the abyss.
Yet before they could approach, remnants of the Sword Qi in the abyss suddenly turned violent, shredding the leading figures into mist of blood!
"Damn it! The abyss can't be crossed!"
The crowd was forced to halt, watching helplessly as the black-robed silhouette vanished from sight.
...
In a dense forest a hundred miles away, Gu Sheng stopped.
"Gu! Wait for me!"
A familiar voice came from behind. Gu Sheng turned, seeing Ling Xiao catching up, panting heavily.
"You were hiding in Blood River the whole time?"
Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow.
Ling Xiao awkwardly scratched his bald head.
"The enemies were too many, the little monk truly dared not show himself... Later, with that earth-shattering sword, I feared being mistakenly injured, so..."
Gu Sheng knowingly nodded.
That sword indeed possessed overwhelming power, so much so that without the soul body in the Divine Sword's guidance, even he would lose control.
"Where to now?"
Ling Xiao worriedly asked.
"Those major forces will absolutely not let this rest."
Gu Sheng brushed his mask, suddenly inquiring.
"Do you know the origin of this mask?"
Ling Xiao, taken aback, scrutinized it closely and shook his head.
Gu Sheng pressed the black mask against his face, feeling a cool sensation transmitted. He could sense his own aura being twisted and altered by some mysterious force.
Donning a large black robe and a shabby straw hat, he instantly transformed from a God of Slaughter wielding the Divine Sword into a Loose Cultivator filled with malevolent energy.
"How do I look?"
Gu Sheng lowered his voice and asked.
Ling Xiao looked up and down, his eyes flashing with surprise.
"Completely unrecognizable! Even the aura has changed, this mask..."
"Given by the Grand Elder."
Gu Sheng touched the mask.
"Said it could save a life at a critical moment."
Ling Xiao thoughtfully nodded, also swiftly changing his attire.
Stowing away his Buddhist Magical Artifact, he donned coarse linen clothing, his aura restrained like an ordinary person, resembling a mendicant monk.
The two wasted no time, leaving the range of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge at maximum speed.
As they traversed a barren desert, Gu Sheng couldn't help but glance back—
In the distant sky, terrifying auras plummeted toward the direction of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge.
Among them, a few auras were so strong that even now, he felt his heart pounding.
"People from the Seven Great Sacred Lands..."
Gu Sheng shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Half the world has come."
Ling Xiao wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Gu, we need to move faster. Once they find out you're not at Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge..."
Before he finished speaking, a group of hurried cultivators suddenly appeared in the distance.
Gu Sheng immediately tensed up, his hand unconsciously reaching for the Divine Sword wrapped in cloth on his back.
But the group didn't even glance at them, passing by a hundred yards away, heading straight for Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge.
"Phew..." Ling Xiao let out a long breath.
"It seems the disguise worked well."
Gu Sheng nodded, and the two quickened their pace.
Half a day later, the outlines of several cities finally appeared on the edge of the desert, but they dared not stop.
"Those old monsters are capable of razing a city to find someone."
Gu Sheng's voice was deep.
In their fleeing day and night, the commotion from Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge grew louder and louder.
Even separated by hundreds of miles, they could occasionally feel the faint tremors coming from the ground.
Above the ruins of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge, the strong members of the Seven Great Sacred Lands hovered in mid-air.
The once eerie and terrifying mountains were now crisscrossed with ravines, the central abyss seemingly slashed open by a Heavenly God, bottomless.
"Find him! Dig three feet deep if you have to, but find Gu Sheng!" Qinghe Holy Land's Fifth Elder barked.
Soon, a disciple came to report.
"Elder, we've found a few survivors!"
The Fifth Elder's eyes flashed.
"Bring them here!"
The other sacred land experts also sent people over, eager to hear firsthand information.
When Dragon Palace arrived with the Qinghe Saintess, the scene immediately quieted down a bit.
"Speak!"
The Fifth Elder stared at Dragon Palace.
"What exactly happened?"
Dragon Palace's face was pale, his voice trembling.
"Everyone who entered the Blood River to hunt Gu Sheng is dead. Only the Holy Daughter and I survived."
"What?!"
The Fifth Elder's beard and hair stood on end.
"Wang Xiu Jie also..."
"Dead."
Dragon Palace swallowed hard.
"Gu Sheng not only broke through to the Heavenly Palace Realm but also drew the Ancient Divine Sword."
The surrounding sounds of gasping echoed.
"What's more terrifying is..."
Dragon Palace's voice grew softer.
"He can use the energy sealed within the sword without backlash; with one strike..."
The Fifth Elder suddenly recalled the Sword Qi that tore through the sky, and his old face twitched.
"Are you saying... that Sword Qi was slashed out by Gu Sheng?"
Dragon Palace nodded heavily.
"Ridiculous!"
The Qinghe Fifth Elder's angry roar exploded above the ruins of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge.
His beard and hair stood on end, the fury in his eyes nearly tangible.
"How could a mere Heavenly Palace Realm youth fully control the Ancient Divine Sword? It must have been the residual energy in the sword erupting on its own!"
The Eighth Elder furrowed his brow.
"Fifth Brother, Dragon Palace saw it with his own eyes..."
"Dragon Palace?"
The Fifth Elder interrupted with a cold laugh.
"Just a coward who lost his nerve!"
He glanced around at the strong members of each sacred land, his voice like thunder.
"Think carefully, everyone. If Gu Sheng truly could wield the power of the Divine Sword at will, why would he flee?"
This word plunged the crowd into contemplation.
Indeed, with a fully unleashed Ancient Divine Sword, one would be invincible in the Xinghong Spirit Domain; why would there be a need to flee in panic?
"Fifth Elder's insight is wise."
A middle-aged man in a purple robe agreed.
"The sword's energy must be exhausted, and now it's just a sharper weapon."
"Exactly!" A beautiful woman toyed with a jade hairpin in her hand.
"Now is the perfect time to seize the Divine Sword while he's weak."
The Eighth Elder hesitated to speak, remaining silent with his head down under the Fifth Elder's sharp gaze.
In the Qinghe Holy Land's strict hierarchy, once the Fifth Elder had decided, speaking more would be insubordination.
The Tianlan Grand Elder watched all this coldly, sighing inwardly.
These fools simply don't understand that Gu Sheng, who can resonate with the Divine Sword, is not someone a common Heavenly Palace Realm can compare to.
"Grand Elder, should we..." a Tianlan disciple beside him asked quietly.
"Follow them."
The Grand Elder masked his emotions.
"But keep your distance."
He had to verify Gu Sheng's safety with his own eyes, yet could not expose his relationship with Gu Sheng. What worried him even more was — if the Qinghe Saint Master personally intervened...