High Martial Arts: Invincible Starts from Basic Archery Chapter 796 - 619: Do You Really Think She’s a White Lotus?

Gong Bo snapped out of his stupor, discovering a boundless expanse of whiteness stretching out in front of him.

"Where is this place?"

He scanned his surroundings with bewilderment, "Is it Heaven? Or perhaps Hell?"

He pondered his own actions; he hadn’t been a virtuous man and had taken numerous lives. If an afterlife truly existed for spirits, his spot ought to be in Hell.

Yet this environment bore no resemblance to the infernal realms.

Was it possible that sinners like him ended up in Heaven as their ultimate fate?

"This isn’t Heaven, nor is it Hell."

A towering silhouette gradually materialized from the swirling white fog.

Fury burned fiercely in his gaze.

"Who might you be?"

Gong Bo creased his forehead; the man seemed oddly recognizable, like someone from a distant memory.

In the instant that followed, his eyes bulged wide, and he uttered in a quivering tone, "You’re the Thunder Emperor?"

"Indeed, that’s me."

The Thunder Emperor approached him steadily and gazed down at the figure slumped on the floor.

"So I’ve ended up at the Awakened Association?"

Gong Bo struggled to accept the reality.

"I’m not actually dead?"

"Naturally, you’re still alive."

The Thunder Emperor regarded him intently, "That said, what’s happening now might prove even tougher for you to swallow than dying."

Gong Bo froze briefly, then noticed his strength had plummeted by over ninety percent. Previously, summoning a massive fire dragon stretching tens of meters came effortlessly, but currently, even conjuring a soccer-ball-sized fireball felt exhausting.

Hit with sudden clarity, he burst into laughter while declaring, "Gong Bo, you never imagined you’d wind up in such a state, did you? Hahaha."

As the chuckles continued, tears started rolling down his cheeks.

The Thunder Emperor observed quietly without interfering.

He could grasp the agony of having nearly everything stripped away.

Still, deep down, he yearned to strike Gong Bo down on the spot.

Eventually, the laughs faded, and Gong Bo lifted his head toward the Thunder Emperor, remarking, "It was him who brought us to this place, wasn’t it? Besides, live captives hold more worth than corpses. Getting beaten by him leaves me with no regrets. No surprise he had the guts to confront us; our arrogance was blinding. Looking back now, I just want to hide in a burrow."

At these words, the Thunder Emperor inquired, "In what way did he overcome you?"

Chen Fan had shown up beforehand but kept his words brief, simply turning the pair over to him before departing shortly.

Thus, the details of the clash piqued his interest greatly.

"If my hunch is right, he unleashed the ultimate technique from the Holy Spirit Swordsmanship, the Twenty-Third Sword."

"The Twenty-Third Sword!"

The Thunder Emperor’s eyes flared open, his breathing growing rapid.

"The fabled Twenty-Third Sword?"

"Exactly. Once he executed it, I found myself utterly frozen, like time itself had frozen, helpless as sword qi sliced right through my brow before darkness claimed me."

Gong Bo recounted with a trace of dread.

Though he breathed now, the memory alone sent shivers through his frame.

That utter helplessness and hopelessness remained incomprehensible to those untouched by it.

"Legends claim the Twenty-Third Sword freezes both space and time, yet no one’s ever pulled it off. Has he really succeeded?"

The Thunder Emperor reeled from the revelation.

He wondered inwardly: against such a strike, what odds of success would he hold?

With that thought, he dismissed it with a shake of his head; only direct confrontation would reveal the truth.

Regardless, he had zero desire to clash with such a foe except in dire straits.

Regaining his focus, his eyes settled on Gong Bo.

"Did the Elder Council dispatch you to pursue him?"

Gong Bo let out a bitter chuckle at the query, "Yes, to be exact, it was the Su Family."

The Thunder Emperor’s eyes sharpened, "You’re certain it was the Su Family?"

"How could I doubt it?"

Gong Bo replied, "Lacking the Su Family’s support, how could Yu Jianqiao and I have risen this far? Put another way, the Su Family groomed plenty; Yu Jianqiao and I merely stand out as the top performers."

His smile masked a profound resentment in his stare.

For their so-called grooming involved no luxuries, but rather a brutal contest like breeding deadly bugs.

Over scraps of sustenance, these individuals battled savagely, even slaying one another; survivors alone earned the Su Family’s favor.

The kind-hearted rarely lasted, while those who endured lost all traces of goodness.

"What purpose did they have in grooming you?"

"Grooming us for what?"

Gong Bo scoffed, "Obviously, to handle their dirty work, especially the deadly kind."

"Then, the slaughter of the Song Family and the other noble houses—did the Su Family plot that to pin it on Chen Fan and send you to execute it?" The Thunder Emperor’s tone turned icy.

He held no fondness for the Song Family or the other nobles.

Even so, innocents lurked among them, few though they might be.

But they fell to merciless slaughter, their essences siphoned, perishing in the most barbaric fashion.

"Not quite."

Gong Bo denied it with a shake of his head.

"Wiping out those noble clans came from Yu Jianqiao’s scheme to boost his strength; I joined in to ensure no escapes, of course. But..."

He gave a wry laugh, "We’ve handled plenty of such jobs before, mostly on the Su Family’s orders. That’s the core of their training—to eliminate threats like you."

He tilted his head upward, fixing his gaze on the Thunder Emperor.