Chapter 0: The Profound Realm Core
Qin Gou faced a multitude of enemies while Shu Yinxing attempted to assist him, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier.
“A solo trial,” the White Robe Girl stated.
At the same time.
“Qin Gou, I never thought we’d have another battle like this!” the tall man shouted furiously.
The hunched old man cackled sinisterly, “Revenge for past grievances!”
The Demon Lord Consciousness Bodies were all filled with madness.
“Failed generals, daring to be arrogant?” Qin Gou’s sword strike sent sword energy surging into the sky.
The tall man burst into laughter, “A joke! To be searching for your Profound Realm like this now, it’s clear that back then, you, Qin Gou, weren’t any better off than us!”
For a moment, the several Demon Lord Consciousness Bodies, who had been bickering incessantly and seemed to be at odds with each other, suddenly cooperated seamlessly once the battle truly began. They locked onto Qin Gou from all directions.
Their movement techniques and formations quickly formed a battle array, as if they had undergone countless training sessions specifically designed to counter Qin Gou.
Qin Gou’s palm radiated sword light.
The hunched old man dodged with ghostly agility.
“Boy, there’s absolutely no way I’ll fall for this sword skill a second time!”
Upon hearing this, Qin Gou couldn’t help but ask, “Before, I attacked you with this move too?”
“That’s right.”
The hunched old man sneered repeatedly, filled with mockery, “When a move is used too much, it’s completely insufficient against me. Moreover, your spiritual power, young man, is indeed significantly weaker than back then!”
As these words were spoken, the Demon Lord Consciousness Bodies’ auras intensified.
“Human race, you have this day!”
“If this is all the skill you have, perhaps you should let Nine Saint Monarch handle it! If, that is, she still has the chance, Hahaha…”
“Die, and truly vanish into nothingness! I will make you even worse off than we are!”
Seeing this, Qin Gou muttered to himself, “To have become such semi-transparent consciousness bodies and still maintain this level of cultivation is truly not easy.”
“What a timid aura!”
Jeers continued, but Qin Gou paid them no mind, analyzing, “Having lost your Dao Body and most of your soul for so long, it’s impossible to preserve your spiritual power continuously. The source of this strength is likely this very Profound Realm.”
“Ding.”
Suddenly, the system’s voice sounded in Qin Gou’s mind.
“Host, it seems you are waiting for something?”
“You guessed that too? But the main party has arrived, haven’t they?”
Qin Gou replied with a smile, “A Xi, I’ve been waiting for you. Look at these Demon Lord Consciousness Bodies. They are all from the primordial Demon Lords of the Abyss, each one deserving of death and beyond redemption!”
“Ding… They are already dead!”
“Dead beings that can think, speak, and still cause harm to others? A Xi, you must have seen their terrifying strength and arrogant demeanor by now, haven’t you?”
Qin Gou’s voice grew more amused, “You know exactly what I want to say.”
“Ding! At most, it will be one-tenth of the Merit points from when they were alive!” A Xi stated decisively.
“Deal.”
Even a mosquito’s leg is still meat. Furthermore, for the primordial Demon Lords of the Abyss, even one-tenth of the Merit points would undoubtedly be a very considerable sum.
As the conversation in his mind ended, Qin Gou suddenly sheathed his sword.
“Seeking death!” the hunched old man bellowed.
“Qin, crying and begging for mercy now is useless!” the tall man’s eyes blazed with malice.
As the Demon Lord Consciousness Bodies clamored wildly, a strange, eerie jade-green color flashed in Qin Gou’s eyes.
‘Summon All Phenomena’
He silently recited the four words and delivered a palm strike. The tall man was instantly blown apart with a ‘boom,’ as if he had willingly charged forward to meet Qin Gou’s palm.
Without even a final scream, the tall man’s phantom image was completely obliterated, shocking everyone.
For a moment, the laughter, the scolding, all sounds ceased, replaced by a deathly silence.
“Fun fact, I can do almost anything I was good at before, and I can also use powerful spells that I had never heard of.”
…
Until the very last Demon Lord Consciousness Body dissipated, Qin Gou turned and walked towards the White Robe Girl and Shu Yinxing.
“Fellow Daoist Qin!”
Shu Yinxing, who had been holding the Heavenly Profound Stone all along, instinctively reached out to hand it to Qin Gou to help him recover. But then she suddenly remembered something. She glanced at the White Robe Girl beside her and saw that she seemed to be lost in thought and made no move to stop her. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and finally hand the Heavenly Profound Stone to Qin Gou.
“I’ve developed a bit of a reflex.”
“What?”
“Nothing, Silver Star was just wondering, Fellow Daoist Qin, those spiritual bodies just now seemed very ancient?”
“Indeed. I fought them before.”
Qin Gou nodded slightly, “Unfortunately, they only retained partial memories, making it impossible for me to ask more. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have directly dispersed and annihilated them just now.”
“They mentioned before that this place is actually your former Little Profound Realm, Fellow Daoist Qin?” Shu Yinxing’s eyes held unconcealed surprise.
“Since they are ancient, naturally I am quite old too,” Qin Gou rubbed his nose.
“So, this matter is true?”
“This is why I can speak with this wench,” Qin Gou pointed at the White Robe Girl.
Shu Yinxing was filled with astonishment and embarrassment, her emotions a jumble, “To think I introduced you, Fellow Daoist Qin, to this place, rumored to be the Little Profound Realm of an ancient cultivator. I never imagined that the Fellow Daoist Qin beside me was actually him!”
Shu Yinxing didn’t ask Qin Gou why he hadn’t told her earlier. Such a critically important matter, if it were her, she wouldn’t be able to say it casually either!
“This trial is passed.”
Suddenly, the White Robe Girl also spoke, “Previously, you asked me when you could personally witness the Profound Realm Core. Only by reaching this step is it possible.”
“Where is the Profound Realm Core now? Shall we go immediately?” Qin Gou’s tone was somewhat excited.
“No need.”
The White Robe Girl suddenly pointed at Qin Gou from afar, “Look.”
Before Qin Gou could react, the long sword at his waist, which the White Robe Girl had lent him, suddenly emitted a blinding radiance.
“This is…?” Qin Gou was astonished.
The White Robe Girl’s tone was calm, “The Profound Realm Core.”
“What?!”
Qin Gou’s eyes were filled with disbelief. He never expected that the Profound Realm Core had been given to him by the White Robe Girl all along.
At the same time, he understood tacitly, suddenly realizing all the strange occurrences along the way, the inexplicable contradictions, the White Robe Girl’s occasional display of unexpected warmth that defied rules, her completely mistaken concepts of ‘Human Race’ and ‘Demon Race’, and so on…
He, who had set up the trial beforehand, and he, who had severed the connection, had done so with a resolve to die, with no hope of survival. But within the simple yet passionate will of the Profound Realm, the heart that vowed to return in this life had never changed.
In simple terms, regardless of whether Qin Gou was alive or dead, or how he might be, the prerequisite and standard for obtaining the Profound Realm Core had always been tailored exclusively for him.
