"Don't stop. They're watching you. Keep walking." The sword spirit's voice rang out.
Gu Qingshan understood.
He followed the uphill road toward the palace entrance.
At that moment, he had lost all his strength. He couldn't even communicate through voice transmission, but the sword spirit of the Six Paths World-Defining Divine Sword had taken the initiative to establish a telepathic connection with him.
The sword spirit seemed to be sensing something and spoke rapidly. "So this is Fear Palace. With your strength, you have no way to resist it. The situation is extremely dangerous. You could be eaten at any moment!"
Gu Qingshan's expression didn't change. He silently asked, "What should I do, then? Wait—do you know everything that happened before?"
"No."
"Should I tell you everything that's happened recently?" Gu Qingshan asked.
"No, there's no time," the sword spirit said hurriedly. "You saved all the fragments of my sword body. I'll help you first."
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
The surroundings were utterly silent. There wasn't even a breath of wind; the only sound was Gu Qingshan's footsteps.
The road was empty. Nothing strange appeared to block his way again.
—He was already close to the palace.
The sword spirit's voice grew more urgent.
"My power is nearly exhausted. I'm about to fall asleep again."
"Take this."
"No one can help you. I can only offer what little strength I have. If you survive Fear Palace, we'll have another chance to meet."
The sword spirit's voice cut off abruptly.
At the same time, Gu Qingshan suddenly felt something cold appear in his hand.
He didn't look down. Instead, he kept walking forward with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.
Rows of Crimson Small Characters quickly appeared in the air:
"You obtained a fragment of the World-Defining Divine Sword (1)."