In a certain empty room on the 3rd floor, a person holding a strange metal machine suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Gu Qing Shan put the portable warp device away, released his inner sight and scanned the entire room in his soul vessel.
All kinds of commemorative items were displayed in different categories.
The entire room was completely silent, the air was filled with a sense of death.
"Found it" Gu Qing Shan muttered.
There was only a single painting in the room.
It was the scene of Anna's 10th birthday.
The king was stroking Anna's head with one hand, holding a small and intricate crown in the other, about to put it on for her.
The young girl Anna was looking at the king with a sweet smile on her face.
Gu Qing Shan quickly walked forward and looked at it.
"What a beauty"
He commented softly and took the painting down from the wall in a few moves.
He opened the painting frame and reached out to touch the back of the painting. Then, he felt something.
As Gu Qing Shan took it out, sure enough, it was a small rectangular box.
There weren't any traps on the box, so he easily opened it.
There were two items inside, a scroll of paper, and a cloudy glass ball.
Gu Qing Shan took out the thick scroll of paper and slowly looked at it.
Only to see that the paper was filled with various ingredients and proportions.
That's right, this is it.
Glancing over it, Gu Qing Shan lightly tapped his Inventory Bag and put the scroll of paper inside.
Just as he was about to pick up the glass ball to take a closer look, the glass ball unexpectedly broke.
The entire glass ball disappeared without a trace.
Gu Qing Shan was surprised, released his inner sight to look around, but couldn't find anything.
The Holy Empire's king wouldn't carefully hide something useless here.
But the glass ball disappeared as soon as he held it in his hand.
There are too many things in this world that have this kind of effect, so he couldn't remember what it was in a hurry.
Gu Qing Shan silently waited for a bit, but nothing happened.
Could it be that it's been stored for too long and lost its effect?
He didn't wait any longer, carefully put the painting back into the frame, then hung it back on the wall.
Everything returned to normal, so no one would notice that someone was here.
It was unexpectedly smooth.
The top-grade God's Chosen Awakening Serum was now in his hands!
Not only was he one step closer to Evil Punisher, but he was also one step closer to it.
Once I return, I'll give this recipe to Impartial Goddess, she'll naturally be able to deduce the dilution method for normal drugs.
At that time, the system he created would be able to choose a God's Chosen Profession.
Heaven's Chosen and Martial Arts were both available, so all that was left was Elemental Awakening.
Two-thirds of the preparation for choosing a class had been completed!
Gu Qing Shan once again took out the portable warp device, activated it, and prepared to leave.
Liao Xing's voice came from the warp device.
[Location confirmed, Impartial Goddess is preparing to warp in 30 seconds]
"The pope is still in the Holy See. Everything else is normal. Wait, Saint Ivan has left. He's patrolling." His voice suddenly became louder.
"It's fine, I'm leaving now" Gu Qing Shan said.
"Oh, that's right."
Liao Xing seemed to feel that he was making a fuss over nothing and said embarrassedly.
"Pay attention to the warp data, thanks for your hard work" Gu Qing Shan said, feeling very relaxed.
After a sumptuous dinner, as well as the Holy Empire's national serum, Gu Qing Shan felt that this night was perfect.
While he was waiting to leave, he suddenly felt something wasn't right.
As Gu Qing Shan looked up, he saw a person standing in mid-air, silently looking at him.
It was an old man, a haggard old man.
The old man's body was transparent, his eyes were staring straight at Gu Qing Shan.
"Who are you?" the old man asked.
Gu Qing Shan was stunned.
"Where's Anna? Where's my little Anna? "the old man muttered in disappointment.
"How regretful, after the Soul Artifact was opened, I can only exist for 10 minutes, but I won't be able to see Anna anymore"
He lowered his head, showing a never-before-seen regret on his face.
"Your Majesty!" Gu Qing Shan exclaimed in shock.
Gu Qing Shan recognized it. This was the soul of the Holy Empire's king!
"Why! You're hiding here!? "
He couldn't help but ask: "Such a secluded place, how could Anna come here to find you?"
The old man muttered: "She'll definitely come, the God's Chosen Awakening Serum is the foundation of the kingdom, as long as she's alive, she'll definitely come"
Gu Qing Shan still wasn't assured, so he scanned it with his inner sight.
— — -this really is the king's soul!
But after a person dies, their soul can't stay in this world for too long.
Could that unassuming transparent glass orb really be a Soul Artifact?
If this isn't a dream, then the Holy Empire's king had already prepared for this day. He knew that he would most likely die at the hands of the Pope.
The king wanted to see his daughter Anna again at the very end.
Gu Qing Shan couldn't help but think about it.
— — -in the past life, after the king's death, did Anna ever see the king's soul?
This painting was given to Madame Punta by the king.
After the king's death, Anna's soul was taken over by the gnome, becoming the gnome's food and nourishment.
At the time, she was completely imprisoned, so she didn't have this freedom, nor did she have the mind to look for a copy of this Serum.
By the time Anna was able to restore the Holy Empire with the help of the Fuxi Empire, the Holy Empire was already in ruins, Madame Punta also lost her life in the war, and this painting was nowhere to be found.
— — -it's unclear whether the king's soul has always been sealed or opened by someone else. Either way, the Holy Empire's God's Chosen Awakening Serum was cut off.
If that's the case, in the past life, Anna must've missed the chance to meet the king.
Gu Qing Shan sighed and said: "Please wait a moment, I'll bring Anna here right away"
The old man suddenly looked up, his eyes regaining their focus.
"Can I really do that?" he was almost trembling as he asked.
"Of course"
Saying so, Gu Qing Shan quickly made some adjustments on the warp device.
"Hm? What happened, did you lose connection on your side? "Liao Xing's voice came.
"Is Anna here?"
"She is"
"You warp her over."
"Ah? But the warp device can only be used 3 times by a single person, and you've already used it once "
If I warp Anna here, after everything is over, only one person will be able to use the warp device to leave.
The other person will have no choice but to think of another way to escape.
Gu Qing Shan sternly said: "Immediately warp her here, the situation here is very urgent!"
"Alright, alright, ah, she said she's ready, warp will take about 30 seconds, please wait a bit"
Liao Xing's voice disappeared.
30 seconds can be said to be very fast, but it can also be said to be very long.
Before Anna even arrived, Gu Qing Shan asked first: "Your majesty, you're clearly dead, but your soul can still exist in this world, how is that possible?"
The Holy Empire's king looked at her and answered: "It's fine to tell you, I broke the iron law of life and death, then stored myself inside a Soul Artifact to preserve my energy, so I can still exist in this world"
"How could you break the iron law of life and death? A human wouldn't be able to do that "Gu Qing Shan pursued.
"Because I've already paid the price"
"What price?"
"Ten minutes later, my soul will dissipate."
Gu Qing Shan was stunned.
After a few seconds, he regained his composure and asked: "Isn't that a heavy price to pay? Why did you do that?"
"I want to see Anna" the king answered.
Gu Qing Shan couldn't understand: "But if you do that, you'll completely disappear, unable to exist in any world, unable to obtain any new life"
The king's eyes were full of sorrow as he spoke in a low voice: "If I forget Anna, then I'll become another person, no longer the real me"
Gu Qing Shan was stunned.
The king sighed: "Anna, my child, after I disappear, she'll be the only one left to live in this cold world, this is my fault"
"No, father, this is not your fault" Anna appeared in the display room.
She bit her lip, tears flowed down her cheeks as she tried to touch the king's face with her trembling hand.
Her slender fingers went through the soul, but couldn't touch anything.
"Father, why do you have to do this" she was crying, "you should've gone to the other world, that way I could live in peace, but now you can't even protect your soul"
"No, you won't live in peace, I know you too well, you'll definitely place the entire family's fate on your shoulders"
"Daughter, you don't have to do this"
The king stared at his daughter, seemingly trying to engrave her in his heart.
"Anna, I've been too strict with you before, but everything I've done was to train you, to help you better inherit the Holy Empire in the future"
"Now I have to say this, if I could do it all over again, I'd rather you never learn so many things. As long as you live well and don't suffer, even if my soul disappears, my heart will still be happy"
Gu Qing Shan's Holo-Brain suddenly lit up.
[Sir, there's an emergency, someone is coming upstairs] Impartial Goddess reported.
"Who is it?"
"One of the Seven Holy Apostles, Ivan, hurry!" Liao Xing urged her.
"Gu Qing Shan, we don't have much time, hurry up" Jang Young-ho's anxious voice followed.
All three of their expressions changed.
"You aren't a match for him, forget it, hurry up and leave" the king said.
"Then what about you?"
"I've seen Anna, I'm already satisfied, I'll disappear after a bit more"
"Hurry up and leave, don't lose your life here because of me, that wasn't my intention" the king urged them.
Tears silently flowed from Anna's eyes, dripping down her smooth chin to the ground.
She had to use all of her strength to temporarily control her sobs.
She looked up, her eyes filled with the deepest pain and reluctance to leave.
"Hurry up and leave!" the king urged her.
"I — — -"
Anna tried her best to spit out a single word, but couldn't say anything else.
She almost couldn't stand anymore, couldn't help but hold onto Gu Qing Shan's shoulder to stabilize herself.
[Sir, Holy Apostle Ivan has arrived at the third floor, I will now activate the warp device for you] Impartial Goddess reported.
Gu Qing Shan closed her eyes, then opened them again and suddenly said: "No need"
[Sir?] Impartial Goddess asked in confusion.
Gu Qing Shan smiled and looked at Anna: "Anna, listen to me"
"For the last few minutes, I hope you can spend some time with your father"
"If we leave now, you'll be sad for the rest of your life"
"Don't wait until we're separated forever and still have regrets in your heart"
Saying so, Gu Qing Shan put the portable warp device on the ground next to Anna.
"What are you doing!?" Anna couldn't help but exclaim.
"You don't need to mind what I'm doing, because even if it weren't for you, I would still do the same" Gu Qing Shan replied.
As he walked out the door, he continued to speak.
"No one should disturb a father's last moments with his daughter"
"Not even a Holy Apostle"
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