Chapter 636 Betrayal

Having killed Shen Hai, Gu Shen became a oathbreaker, according to the contents of the oath.

From then on, his mind would never be at peace.

But if he hadn't killed Shen Hai,

his mind would have been even more disturbed.

"Killed... just like that?"

Rusted Bone looked at the giant in front of him in disbelief. The chaotic pupils of the Black Snow Mountain giant revealed a hint of color. Shen Hai's will collapsing meant that the spiritual control over this giant had also come to an end.

Gu Shen's Divine Realm enveloped the entire Calamity Barrier.

Under the suppression of the immense divine power, the Black Snow Mountain giant, having regained its will, thumped heavily, supporting itself with both hands as it knelt to the ground.

This giant was suppressed by Gu Shen's Divine Realm, its mind blank, its body trembling uncontrollably...

Not to mention the others.

Gu Shen smiled and said, "Of course I killed him. How could I possibly leave such a scourge alive?"

"But you just signed a soul oath..."

As a victim of soul oaths, Red Dragon knew the power of such things better than anyone else. The content of Gu Shen's oath was supervised by the power of destiny.

In other words,

the "punishment for betraying the oath" that Gu Shen spoke of would definitely come!

His mind would never be at peace, and... he would lose the right to wield the Fire Seed!

Shen Hai was very clever. He knew that he had lost this battle and that the overall situation was irreversible. He had no chance of survival relying on his own strength.

So he did everything he could to speak with Gu Shen face to face.

His purpose was to trigger the "super-giant source quality storm" and make Gu Shen swear an oath to protect him from harm...

Everything he did was successful.

But the only miscalculation he made was that he didn't expect Gu Shen to be so decisive with his sword. He had just made the oath, and in the blink of an eye, he became an oathbreaker.

"The Fire Seed... what will you do about your Fire Seed?"

Luo Er's expression was pale. According to the content of the punishment in Gu Shen's soul oath, once he betrayed the oath, he would lose the right to wield the Fire Seed!

"Since I'm betraying the oath... naturally I'll lose it."

Gu Shen shook his head.

His expression was still calm, and even his tone carried a hint of relief.

"I know you still have many questions. Let's discuss these questions... when we return to the Five Continents."

...

...

At the Gubu Fortress, the cold snow settled, and faint red sparks floated in the wind.

Three starships were firing at full power.

In addition, the [Towering Tree] was guarding the giant wall!

The will of Shen Hai's main system had been eliminated, but these martyrs still maintained their bloodthirsty nature, rushing towards the high wall with all their might, so they truly became martyrs.

The current human civilization could be said to have crossed a major threshold.

These low-level transcendents' attacks posed no threat at all.

No matter how many there were, it was meaningless.

Gu Shen led Red Dragon, Luo Er, and Rusted Bone back to the fortress. The battlefield had entered the final "harvest" stage... The whistling wind and snow in the high sky were parted by the Susu trees of the Pure Land, and millions of people saw the towering giant trees, as well as the figure bathed in heavenly light, like a god.

When the war with [Shen Hai] began, the Three Continents Alliance severed the link to the spiritual network.

Now,

the severed link had been reconnected.

At this moment, the scene above the Northern Continent's giant wall was reflected in every corner of the Five Continents. Everyone could see Gu Shen's face.

"Everyone... I am Gu Shen."

Gu Shen's youthful face was very similar to how he looked when he awakened. His features were still somewhat immature, and at first glance, he seemed to exude a faint youthful aura.

But his eyes were already completely different from back then.

Mature, steady, and reassuring.

This spiritual link was directed at the entire world. Gu Shen wanted to announce an important message to everyone.

"The war is over."

He stretched out his palm, and black flames burned in his palm.

Fragments of the Shen Hai main system's spirit were burned and scattered in the flames.

For the transcendents stationed in the Northern Continent, this war was a war against aliens. Their enemies were the martyrs, the Gray Dragons, and the Black Snow Mountain giants.

For the transcendents of other realms... this war was a war with the Central Continent.

For the high-ranking members of the Allied Forces, this war was a war with Shen Hai.

But no matter which war it was,

at this moment, it was over.

This world had been in a tense state, tormented for a full five years. Human civilization had ushered in the era of transcendence, but the years of war had left this era riddled with holes.

The end of the war meant "peace," and it also meant "reunion."

Gu Shen's voice echoed through the spiritual link, resounding throughout the world. The silent Five Continents and Four Seas suddenly became noisy. The people who saw this face and heard this voice were first stunned, and then they took to the streets, their cheers soaring into the clouds. The broken long night had not yet waited for the sun, but it had first waited for the soaring fireworks...

Chu Ling's spirit floated on the roof of the Source Tower. The tower had already collapsed, but her will remained.

She could see images from all over the world.

Therefore, Gu Shen could also be seen.

Looking at the lively scenes in the streets, Gu Shen's eyes darkened. His expression was somewhat complicated, with joy, relief, and a hint of deep-seated worry hidden within.

He did not make the news of the super-giant source quality storm attacking in seven years public.

After announcing the news of the war's victory, he disappeared from public view.

...

...

Several days later, the long-awaited "spiritual meeting" of the Guwen Association was held in the conference room.

Familiar figures sat on both sides of the long table.

Gu Shen sat in the seat of honor, with a slender and fair figure standing beside him.

"I said... everyone, we're all so familiar, is there still a need to wear masks?"

Red Dragon lowered his voice and knocked on the table.

He could tell at a glance who was who, and which one was which.

"The rules of the Guwen Association are like this."

Lin Lin shrugged and said, "According to age, I'm just a newcomer... When I joined the association, Senior '031' told me to abide by the rules. You should still remember the situation back then, right?"

In this conference room, there was only one person... whose expression was slightly different from the others.

That was 031, Zhou Jiren.

"Ah ha..."

Zhou Jiren, who appeared in the conference room in a youthful guise, first opened his mouth subconsciously, and then realized that this protective change of tone had lost its meaning.

The reason why the Guwen Association concealed their faces was because they were afraid of having their real information discovered by [Shen Hai].

But now, the Shen Hai war was over.

The [Main System] was killed by Gu Shen, and the [Source Code] took over the massive spiritual network... The members of the Guwen Association no longer needed to hide.

"Of course I remember the scene back then. You little brat, you weren't very respectful to me when you entered the conference room."

Zhou Jiren said with a smile, his eyes full of emotion.

"Who knew... that the esteemed Grand Arbiter of the Eastern Continent would attend a secret meeting in the form of a young boy?" Lin Lin said helplessly, "You can't blame me for this."

"Alright..."

Zhou Jiren was helpless. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out his palm, covering his face, and gently peeled off the layer of misty gauze.

"Many years ago, in the spiritual conference room of the Guwen Association, everyone treated each other with sincerity. Everyone talked face-to-face, sharing stories from all over the world, gathered together happily."

"At that time, there was no such thing as 'masking'."

Zhou Jiren murmured, "I have always looked forward to this conference room returning to its original state."

"Now that day has finally come, but the regret is... that many of the partners from back then have disappeared."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions darkened.

They had walked a bumpy road to get here.

Most of the "old members" who had attended the meetings had already fallen.

"Don't be sad, aren't you all still here?"

Zhou Jiren quickly smiled and said, "The wishes of us old guys have been fulfilled. What could be a better ending than this?"

He was already very satisfied.

"Teacher."

Gu Shen said softly, "We have been waiting for you to come back. In the years you have been away, the Guwen Association has redeveloped and grown stronger... In Dadu, in Nagano, and in various parts of the world, there are members of the Guwen Association."

He waved his hand, and Chu Ling projected a spiritual image onto the table.

The Sangzhou Grotto was destroyed, and the [Neutralist] organization was brought to Dadu, and then quickly took root and sprouted, and began to develop members.

Over the years, the Guwen Association had absorbed power and had become a force to be reckoned with!

Lu Nanzhi's Huazhi Group, relying on the "transcendent inventions" provided by the Guwen Association, dominated the new era, far ahead of the rest. Currently, more than 80% of the hot-selling transcendent items and sealed items on the market came from the research of the [Neutralist] organization.

This scene made Zhou Jiren fall into a trance.

Wasn't this the Guwen Association that Turing had wanted to create?

Using the power of Guwen to establish a destiny for living beings and create useful objects.

"My father's last wish... was that Huazhi could become what it is now."

Lu Nanzhi said softly, "If he were alive today and could see this scene, he would be very happy, wouldn't he?"

Beside Lu Nanzhi, there was another "figure" joining the meeting.

That was Lu Nanjin.

The existence of the Guwen Association was no longer a secret to Nanjin.

She was both Zhou Jiren's disciple and Lu Nanzhi's sister. Over the years, she had acted silently in Dadu, dedicating herself and doing a lot of practical things for the Guwen Association.

At this moment, Lu Nanjin silently patted her sister's shoulder.

"That's great..."

Looking at the Guwen Association projection that Gu Shen was showing, Zhou Jiren smiled very happily. He had never been so happy in so many years.

"Gu Shen."

Red Dragon took a deep breath. Although he couldn't bear to ruin this heartwarming atmosphere, he knew...

that the purpose of this meeting was not to share these warm news.

So he cast an inquiring look at the head of the long table, "Should we talk about that matter?"

"That matter?"

"What matter?"

As soon as these words came out,

the expressions of the people at the long table changed, all of them blank and confused.

The war was over, and now each continent was in "post-war reconstruction."

The Northern Continent, the Eastern Continent, and the Western Continent were as orderly as usual.

The only troubles were the Southern Continent and the Central Continent.

After the war ended, a large number of Storm Church members in the Southern Continent were "homeless." They had completely lost their faith. The Source Tower, which they had been willing to pretend to support for the sake of the war, had now collapsed... Meng Xizhou led the members of the Guang Ming Bi Lei Temple, using the Holy Book to convert the fanatical believers of the "Storm Church." Their purpose was not to cultivate followers of Guang Ming Bi Lei, but to prevent the fanatics from carrying out retaliatory attacks in the inland, thereby causing "panic."

As for the Central Continent, after Chu Ling took over [Shen Hai], she discovered that after five years of war, the main system had transformed the Central Continent into a war fortress. In order to fight against the Sky Sheath weapon and complete the final evolution, not only had a large number of high walls been built, but also the originally rich coastal ports had been sacrificed. Trade centers such as Rhein City had been directly abandoned.

Therefore, the reconstruction work in the Central Continent was the most difficult and tedious.

After the Source Tower was overthrown, Gu Xiaoman successfully obtained the Fire Seed of Wine.

But she refused to stay in the Upper City and become the future master of the Central Continent. Instead, she chose to return to the Initial and melt the Fire Seed of Wine alone.

So Red Dragon, who was originally a divine envoy of the Source Tower, took over this task and re-established the order of the Upper City.

After returning from the [Old World], Gu Shen did not tell anyone about the "super-giant storm." He also asked Luo Er, Red Dragon, and Rusted Bone to keep it a secret for the time being, not to tell anyone... This war had lasted too long, and everyone was too tired. Everyone needed a carefree rest.

But... the arrival of the super-giant storm would always happen.

The seven-year countdown had begun.

"I'm sorry, everyone... Although the war is over, the crisis of humanity has not been resolved."

Gu Shen said softly, lowering his eyes, "A super-giant storm that is more terrifying than [Shen Hai] will land on the Northern Continent's giant wall in seven years."

He made public the image of the [Old World] chasing down the Shen Hai main system.

The temperature in the conference room dropped by several degrees.

...

...

Seven years... Seven years later, a super-giant source quality storm would land on the Northern Continent!

This news was first made public within the Guwen Association.

Afterwards, Gu Shen convened a world conference, and every high-level transcendent who participated in the conference knew this information.

The high-level officials who left the meeting were preoccupied, but they all remained silent.

Gu Shen requested that the news of the "super-giant source quality storm" must not be leaked.

If the masses knew about the existence of this disaster seven years in advance... it was likely to cause a new disaster.

All the meetings were over three days later.

Gu Shen sat in the small courtyard of the Chunyu Temple, basking in the sun with his eyes closed.

"So... what are you going to do?"

Martial Sister Heavenly Eyes was also in the small courtyard. She had been waiting for Gu Shen to make the news public. Now that Gu Shen had finally announced the existence of the "source quality storm," what she cared about more was Gu Shen's "punishment for betraying the oath"!

You had to know that,

Gu Shen was going to lose the Fire Seed for killing Shen Hai!

In these few days, she had already felt that the "Netherflame aura" on Gu Shen's body was getting weaker and weaker...

This was the power of destiny taking effect. Before long, Gu Shen would be forcibly deprived of the ownership of the "Netherking Fire Seed"!

And this guy was not panicked at all, but instead sat in the small courtyard basking in the sun every day.

"The work of migrating north has been progressing."

Gu Shen said softly, "Before stepping into the Source High Wall, I led a 'evacuation operation'... At that time, everyone thought that the Allied Forces were about to be defeated, and that hiding in Nagano was to prevent the Dead Sea from spreading."

Luo Er was stunned.

She knew about this news... A large number of transcendents had moved into Nagano, but the war ended quickly.

"This was actually a test."

Gu Shen said softly, "The capacity of the Nagano underground city can allow fifteen million people to live. If there are seven more years... this underground city can continue to be dug deeper, and the capacity can continue to be expanded, perhaps thirty million people can survive in the Nagano underground."

Heavenly Eyes paused for a second.

She remembered the extremely famous "Stars Project."

The concept first proposed by Jing Shanyan was to build an underground city for humans to live in, but the source quality storm would shatter the ground and erode the underground at the same time. The underground city needed to be dug extremely deep. In addition, the ground environment needed to be stable enough.

A super-giant source quality storm was indeed terrifying, but Afford and the Initial survived.

In other words...

If the conditions were met, the underground city plan had a chance of success.

"Qingzhong Cemetery is a land of miracles, and also the most likely 'ground node' to withstand the invasion of the source quality storm."

Gu Shen said calmly, "My plan is not complicated. Using the lands of miracles in the Five Continents as 'strongholds,' opening up a sufficient number of underground cities... to carry out containment. Before the super-giant source quality storm arrives, we will hide the citizens of the Five Continents in the underground cities. With the technological support provided by the starships, we can simulate a closed loop ecological environment underground. Of course... this is the last resort."

"Last resort?" Luo Er asked, "What is the best strategy?"

"The best strategy, of course, is to defeat the super-giant source quality storm."

Gu Shen smiled, closed the paper book in front of his chest, and said, "But this matter is very difficult. I don't have much confidence, after all, the 'God-Hunting Seat' of the starship era has already failed once."

Heavenly Eyes stared at Gu Shen intently.

In the restarted dream, she had witnessed the battle where Gu Shen fought head-on and forcibly tore apart the source quality storm!

Defeating a super-giant source quality storm was impossible for anyone else...

But if it was Little Martial Brother,

this so-called "best strategy" had a glimmer of hope.

But now...

Gu Shen was going to be stripped of his qualifications to use the Netherking Fire Seed because of "betraying his oath"!

"You know... what I really want to ask."

Luo Er gritted her teeth and said, "What about your Fire Seed?"

"The Fire Seed..."

Gu Shen sighed softly. He stretched out two fingers and gently rubbed his brow.

That ray of dim flame was jumping between his brows.

Netherflame was leaping.

He had suffered all kinds of hardships along the way, and finally melted the "Netherflame"... but under the urging of fate, this ray of divine fire would soon fall off on its own.

"I can't escape the destiny oath that I made myself."

Gu Shen smiled. He saw Luo Er's nervous face, shook his head, and decided not to tease Martial Sister anymore, and no longer keep her in suspense.

"Actually..."

"I have already chosen the master of 'Netherflame'."

Luo Er's expression was shocked. She never expected that Gu Shen would say such a thing.

She had thought that when Little Martial Brother drew his sword, he had thought about how to avoid the punishment of the destiny oath.

But she didn't expect... that Little Martial Brother didn't intend to avoid it at all.

"Gu Shen!"

After hearing these words, Luo Er became even more anxious, "Who is more suitable for Netherflame than you? If you lose Netherflame, how are we going to fight against the super-giant storm?"

"Martial Sister, there is actually someone who is more suitable for Netherflame than me."

Gu Shen stood up helplessly, his gaze became solemn, "Or rather... instead of letting me hold Netherflame, it is better for me to give this ray of fire to someone who needs it more."

Just like...

Mr. Gu Changzhi, who gave the Fighting Fire to Bai Shu.

He smiled and comforted, "Fortunately, she's here. The things I arranged should already be in order."

The iron gate of the small courtyard of the Chunyu Temple was gently knocked on.

Luo Er looked back and saw a striking red dress.

...

...

(Approaching the end, writing one chapter is one less chapter. Please, everyone, be gentler with your criticisms. Consider it as accumulating merit for myself. There was no update yesterday noon, but there was an update of 6k in the evening. The reason for this is that I hardly slept all night, and I didn't rest well during the day. I was really mentally exhausted, close to heart failure, and the quality of the things I wrote was already affected. I understand that everyone is working hard to follow the updates, and I am very sorry, but the author is also a person of flesh and blood. When unexpected situations occur and I can't update on time, posting a leave note will be scolded, and not posting a leave note will be scolded even more severely. In this situation, what else can I do? Being sprayed for not keeping promises and evading updates really breaks my heart. I could just not say that I would update explosively, and I could just not do these things. Wouldn't that be the real evasion?)