Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Inside the Sword Prison, Fu Qian stared at “Ji Liushuang,” not knowing how long they had been sitting there.

“It” had clearly not expected Fu Qian to be so brazen as to demand a fight to the death right there.

However, the fact was, ever since “it” had unleashed the Heart-Questioning Sword, Fu Qian had been planning this.

What Fu Qian had been desperately searching for was the true method to destroy the “Sword Heart’s Legacy.”

Unfortunately, it had already been proven that physical destruction was ineffective; “it” could even hide and transfer at will, truly like a ghost appearing and disappearing.

So, after confirming “it” was eager to eradicate this contamination, Fu Qian’s strategy was to lure “it” into action.

...Now that this guy had finally taken the initiative to come out in spirit form, how could Fu Qian let this opportunity slip away.

“We are now purely spiritual bodies, unable to attack each other in here.”

Staring hard at Fu Qian, after a long time “it” finally spoke up.

“Do you plan to just sit here until death?”

“Is that not allowed?”

Fu Qian appeared much more relaxed.

…

“Sure!”

Ji Liushuang laughed heartily.

“Even as spirit forms, we indeed deteriorate over time, but it would take far longer than you imagine!”

“The flow of time here is not consistent with the outside world, don’t expect anyone to discover us!”

“… Are you really prepared to sit here with me for a hundred years?”

“A hundred years—that does seem a bit long.”

Fu Qian blinked.

“So please maintain this appearance, at least it’s more pleasing to my eyes.”

Hehe!

Ji Liushuang sneered repeatedly.

In a completely void space, time particularly dragged on.

Although as a seasoned homebody, Fu Qian was always good at passing time, unfortunately, there wasn’t even a book to read here.

The fact that he couldn’t sleep as a spirit form also took away some of the fun.

But that’s alright, this in itself was the fun part.

“1, 2, 3… 99… 999… 9999… 99999… 999999…”

Fu Qian began to count, using it as a measure of his patience.

…

…

…

“You’re insane!”

No knowing how much time had passed, Ji Liushuang, who had been in a monk-like trance, suddenly jumped up.

Getting anxious so soon?

Wasn’t this a supposed high-level existence? So impatient!

“Since you seem so eager to die.”

It was unclear if it was because of the prolonged trance, but his words were slightly slurred.

“Then I shall grant your wish!”

As if making some kind of decision, the next moment, Ji Liushuang’s body exploded into a mass of multicolored light, filling the entire space.

“Let’s play a game.”

…

“Hey! Which way should we go?”

When his senses returned, Fu Qian found the pure white space had disappeared, and he was now in a place resembling a shopping mall, with Ji Liushuang standing beside him, speaking.

The mall was vast, with all kinds of facilities open, yet apart from the two of them, there was no one else—it was strangely eerie.

So where is she? Did she run off after spouting such nonsense?

Fu Qian wondered.

“Hurry up, that thing is going to catch up!”

Without reacting, Ji Liushuang grew anxious, restraining herself from reaching to pull on Fu Qian’s sleeve.

Fu Qian realized that she was acting oddly, seeming anxious and scared, yet not wanting to look him in the eye, even appearing almost petulantly.

Fu Qian was about to ask what that thing was when suddenly a loud bang came from beneath his feet, as if something had broken through glass and run out.

…

Glancing back, Ji Liushuang’s face was pale, her lips tightly clenched, trying hard not to shout.

Were they avoiding something that was hunting them?

The scene before him was obviously not real; it seemed this was to be the deathmatch between himself and “it.”

Had “it” pulled him into Ji Liushuang’s consciousness world and made it the final battleground?

In that case, the thing below was very likely an incarnation of “it.”

He couldn’t let it catch him, otherwise, he would lose.

Suddenly, a realization struck Fu Qian.

“This way.”

Fu Qian grabbed Ji Liushuang’s hand and almost dragged her up the escalator quickly.

The mall was obviously constructed by Ji Liushuang’s imagination – who would have thought she was such a fan of shopping.

Its floors were outrageously high, with every store wide open, making it hard to find a secure place.

Meanwhile, the sounds of pursuit were relentless.

No matter which direction he moved, that thing was rapidly approaching, and nothing could hinder its steps.

The sound of metal tearing apart echoed through the massive mall.

This game is way too unfair!

Fu Qian grumbled as he ran.

He had already tried before and knew that he was now completely an ordinary person.

Yet “it” could tear steel apart with its bare hands.

However, he could understand, if “it” didn’t have an advantage, “it” wouldn’t have initiated the game with him.

Just as Fu Qian was dragging Ji Liushuang up another floor, he caught a glimpse of the thing’s true face.

It was a humanoid creature over two meters tall, with grotesquely elongated limbs and not a single hair on its hairless grey-white skin exposed all over its body.

Yet with such a flesh-and-blood body, Fu Qian watched it tear apart a rolling door with its bare hands as if it were ripping through tofu skin.

“Ah!”

Ji Liushuang couldn’t help but scream out loud, her body trembling uncontrollably.

But actually, whether or not she made a noise didn’t make much of a difference, as Fu Qian noticed that the thing almost directly charged towards the two of them in a straight line, like it was using navigation, never taking any detours.

So the chase went on, with Fu Qian dragging Ji Liushuang all the way to the top floor, where he could already feel his physical strength declining, and Ji Liushuang was nearly unable to walk.

Without saying anything else, Fu Qian dragged Ji Liushuang and sprinted dozens of meters to find a row of straight elevators.

He quickly pressed all of the elevator buttons, and as soon as the first one opened, he shoved Ji Liushuang into it.

“I’m sorry!”

It was then that Ji Liushuang finally spoke, tears glistening in her eyes.

“I shouldn’t have insisted on seeing that thing, you clearly warned me something was off, but I just had to oppose you…”

“It’s okay.”

Fu Qian followed her into the elevator and quickly pressed the button to go down.

The elevator doors were slowly closing, and Fu Qian silently stared ahead as the monster’s footsteps grew closer and closer.

Just at the moment before the doors shut, a grey-white claw reached in.

Shriek!

The metal elevator cab, like cardboard, was torn open to both sides, and immediately the elevator came to a halt.

A narrow head protruded in, the single One-Eyed in the middle staring dead at Fu Qian and Ji Liushuang.

Caught you!

Although lacking human facial features, one could feel that “it” was smiling.

In that instant, Fu Qian felt Ji Liushuang’s grip on his arm painfully tight.

“It’s all my fault… actually, I was so happy that you came out with me!”

Ji Liushuang’s face was covered in tears.

So, girl, your obsession was just wanting your old father to accompany you shopping? That’s really not much to ask for.

“I always wanted to call you—”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Knowing what she intended to say, Fu Qian touched her head, pushing back the rest of her words.

“You are my pride.”

After saying this, Fu Qian looked up, as half of the monster’s body had squeezed into the elevator, its long, sharp claws inching closer, like the footsteps of the Grim Reaper.

The next moment, Fu Qian didn’t back down but stepped forward, reaching out his hand.

As their three eyes met, the atmosphere solidified.

“You…”

The monster emitted a low, hoarse roar from its throat.

“You wonder why I’m unharmed?”

Fu Qian tilted his head at a forty-degree angle, looking up at the giant colored balls hanging from the top of the mall.

“I’ve been thinking, if our victory was determined only by willpower, then why should being caught count as a loss?”

“If I’m not mistaken, the lethal factor in this dream for me isn’t being caught, but the fear of failure that comes with being caught.”

“This mental breach would directly project into the Sword Prison from before, symbolizing a true defeat in this battle of wills, followed by complete annihilation.”

“That’s what you’ve been misleading me about, trying to make me believe from all angles that being caught is a loss, therefore triggering my fear.”

“To think you’d try to win a life-or-death battle through deceit… Although in your eyes, you probably see your chances of winning as great.”

“Unfortunately for you, a true man fears nothing—not even failure itself!”

“The pinnacle of will, something you’ll never understand!”

…

“Sword Intent is quite a remarkable thing, in my view, it represents unyielding resolve and insight pushed to the extreme, a true fusion of strength and intelligence.”

Fu Qian snorted disdainfully.

“Regardless of rank, ‘Sword Heart’s Legacy,’ you do not deserve such a title!”

As Fu Qian ranted, the entire dreamscape began to crumble, waves rippling across the body of the monster.

“In a game at this rule level, to introduce the possibility of annihilating the opponent, you would most likely have to include yourself, otherwise, you wouldn’t have waited until you were almost at your end to take a risky gamble.”

“Now that I haven’t lost, someone should be facing the consequences, right?”

Before his words had completely faded, there seemed to be wails resonating from all around, making the entire space shudder.

The next instant, the dream, the Sword Prison, shattered in succession, and when Fu Qian came back to his senses, he found himself back in the office.

Still pointing a sword at his brow was Ji Liushuang, but her expression was one of bewilderment, completely dumbfounded.

“Not a bad sword!”

Fu Qian complimented without a change in his tone.

[Mission completed, containment of number 2-010 successful]