Unexpected Return

Gu Qingshan was observing his surroundings when a line of firefly-like text suddenly popped up from the system.

"You have stayed in the alternate world for 24 hours and will return to the real world."

Gu Qingshan was stunned.

It had only been half a day since he entered the alternate world, so how could it say he had stayed for 24 hours?

He voiced his question.

The system quickly provided an answer.

"Unexpected time loss caused by spacetime turbulence is unpredictable and uncontrollable."

"Returning soon."

With this explanation, Gu Qingshan understood.

In the brief tens of minutes within the spacetime turbulence, the remaining half of his day had been used up.

He took a deep look at this world that had already been destroyed.

A flash of light occurred, and Gu Qingshan disappeared from the Divine Martial World.

The Federation Capital.

Freedom Holiday Hotel.

Gu Qingshan's figure slowly appeared on the top of the building.

It had only been an hour since he left the President's residence and was placed in this famous hotel.

Gu Qingshan stood on the top floor of the hotel building, silently watching the bustling lights of the Federation Capital.

Suddenly, his mind went blank.

Gu Qingshan frowned.

Whenever he tried to recall some past battles, to remember his former memories, he would immediately fall into this state of blankness.

"System, how long will it take for me to fully recover my memories?"

With his question, a line of text appeared on the War God Operating Interface.

"Not yet free from the surveillance in spacetime, please be cautious in your words and actions."

Gu Qingshan looked at the line of text and sighed deeply.

He felt like an incomplete idiot.

He looked around.

The night breeze was calm, and the present world was peaceful.

Traveling back from a destroyed world, the stark contrast made him feel attached to this world.

Unfortunately, this world would also be drawn into destruction sooner or later.

After a while, Gu Qingshan put away the Night Rain Bow, removed the quiver, and sat down on the edge of the rooftop.

A bottle of beer appeared in his hand—it was bought tonight, but before he could drink it, he was transported to the cultivation world.

Gu Qingshan bit open the beer cap and chugged it down.

The beer was cold and refreshing, with a low alcohol content, making it difficult to get drunk, but it could relax him well.

Gu Qingshan really needed to unwind—from designing the Seraph, he had been fighting continuously and hadn't rested for a long time.

Gongsun Zhi, Ning Yuechan.

In the previous life, these two were hunted down by the Demons at all costs, and after killing them, the Demons quickly covered up the secrets they had discovered.

Now, starting over, due to a small anomaly like Gu Qingshan, the fate of the two had undergone an unprecedented turn.

However, this turn, for Gu Qingshan, was accompanied by the danger of dying at any time.

Gu Qingshan needed to be extremely careful with every step he took.

"The mission reward is the God of War's divine ability..."

Gu Qingshan muttered, his eyes gradually becoming firm.

He gripped the beer bottle and finished the beer in one gulp.

The break was over.

Gu Qingshan retracted his legs from hanging outside the high-rise, sat cross-legged, and silently circulated his Spiritual Power.

It was midnight, and it would take about three hours for the Spiritual Power to wash away the fatigue from his body.

Gu Qingshan quickly entered the state.

No one would notice that on the top floor of the Freedom Holiday Hotel, a young man was cultivating diligently to survive.

It took a full three hours—six hours—for Gu Qingshan to finally recover.

He opened his eyes and exhaled a white mist.

The white mist flew straight out for six or seven zhang before slowly dissipating.

"Very good, my essence, energy, and spirit are sufficient, I can try to break through."

Gu Qingshan said, taking out the booklet recording the Military Body Refining Qi Method, and at the same time, he called up the God of War Interface and quickly made a choice.

"Comprehend the sixth layer of the Military Body Refining Qi Method: Lingxu, will cost 3 Soul Power, do you want to comprehend?"

"Yes."

"Comprehension complete, current remaining Soul Power 27/7."

A warm current flowed from the Military Body Refining Qi Method booklet into Gu Qingshan's body, constantly circulating through his limbs and bones, and finally merging into Gu Qingshan's sea of consciousness.

A realization appeared in Gu Qingshan's heart.

Instinctively, he knew how to break through to the next realm.

"The total amount of Spiritual Power is still a bit short..."

Gu Qingshan internally examined his Dantian, assessing his Spiritual Power.

If the Spiritual Power was insufficient, it would be easy to fail when breaking through.

To increase the total amount of Spiritual Power, he could only rely on gradual effort, improving through continuous cultivation.

Gu Qingshan gritted his teeth.

No, he couldn't wait any longer. The next time he entered another world, he would directly appear in the lost Divine Martial World. If he didn't become stronger as soon as possible, he wouldn't even know how he died.

Gu Qingshan patted his Storage Bag, took out a large bag of snake blood, and took two big gulps.

Snake blood could strengthen perception and divine sense, helping him to precisely mobilize Spiritual Power in a short period of time.

Gu Qingshan wiped the corner of his mouth, formed a hand seal, and remained still.

His whole person was like a stone sculpture, immersed in a deep state of concentration.

After a short while, Gu Qingshan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood mist.

"Failed, just a little bit short, what a pity."

Gu Qingshan muttered a couple of times, quickly calmed his mood, and began to try again.

After a while, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

"I don't believe it, last time."

Gu Qingshan gritted his teeth and took another big gulp of snake blood.

His body's condition had been stretched to its limit, and he could only withstand one more impact in a short period of time.

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

Calm down.

Begin the impact again.

This time, it took a long time.

Gu Qingshan sat motionless in the night until dawn, his clothes covered with morning frost.

Finally, he opened his eyes.

A hint of joy appeared in his eyes.

Gu Qingshan gently put his hands together and whispered, "Spiritual Power Shield!"

A faint layer of spiritual light appeared, enveloping his entire body.

This spell consumes a lot of Spiritual Power, but its defensive ability is extremely weak, making it quite useless.

In a real battle, cultivators are unwilling to cast Spiritual Power Shield, preferring to wear armor or activate defensive magical artifacts.

However, this is indeed a spell that only cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining can cast.

Gu Qingshan had finally broken through successfully.

He stood up and stretched, his joints cracking.

After a night of cultivation, he had finally made a breakthrough, and Gu Qingshan was very satisfied.

Once he reached the seventh level of Qi Refining, he could start trying to awaken his divine abilities while impacting the Foundation Establishment realm.

Gu Qingshan returned to his room for a short rest.

9:12 AM.

Gu Qingshan woke up.

He opened the blinds, and sunlight poured into the room.

Outside, traffic flowed and people bustled.

Gu Qingshan thought for a moment, then suddenly realized.

In nineteen days, it would be the Federation's three-hundred-year anniversary celebration, and recently, it was also the time for the new batch of recommended students to enter various universities.

The whole city seemed to be busy.

But this had nothing to do with him. What should he do?

He had nothing to do in the morning, so he might as well find a place to practice archery.

At noon, he would go to the President's residence for lunch with the President.

As for the evening, he should take Su Xue'er her birthday present.

Thinking of Su Xue'er's joyful expression, Gu Qingshan couldn't help but smile.

He took out his communicator and typed a message.

"I'm in the Capital."

The message was immediately replied to.

Gu Qingshan picked up the communicator, pressed the button, and Su Xue'er's surprised voice immediately came from it.

"You stinky guy, you've been on TV, standing with the President, and you didn't tell me in advance."

"I didn't know beforehand."

"The President will sponsor you to finish college?"

"Yes, I will study at the National Defense University, sponsored by the President."

"That's great, I was secretly saving credit points, wanting to help—"

Su Xue'er realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly stopped, but the previous words had already been spoken.

Gu Qingshan thought for a moment and understood, the corners of his mouth gradually widening.

This was Su Xue'er, silently preparing for him, while also considering his self-esteem as a man, and not easily saying it out loud.

This time, she was probably too happy and accidentally let it slip.