Chapter 1 "Dong Dong Dong"

The scarlet-armored Great Knight stood before the small courtyard on Suspended Mountain.

After knocking on the courtyard door, Jia Wei frowned, feeling that something was not quite right.

He couldn't sense any spiritual presence in this small courtyard?

He was a "Peak Fourth Order"!

And the young man in the courtyard named Gu Shen... he had seen Gu Shen's information. Although he was a so-called "S-grade," he was ultimately just a young man who had just entered the "Seventh Layer of the Deep Sea."

Gu Shen's mental strength couldn't possibly be hidden to this extent.

The only explanation... was that this small courtyard was arranged with "rune arrays" to prevent spiritual eavesdropping!

The Holy Adjudicators were on high alert.

The Blessed Child was executing a mission to investigate the "River of the Underworld" before his death, but he ultimately died in the Doru River. The investigation information was thus interrupted, and Light City did not obtain any relevant clues... They only knew that Meng Xiao was extremely concerned about this S-grade from the Eastern Continent before entering the Disaster Zone.

Therefore, in their list... Gu Shen was the most dangerous and most needed to be investigated "suspect."

Knocking on the door was just a notification.

If Gu Shen didn't open the door.

They had a thousand ways to get in.

If Gu Shen fled... then it would even more prove that he had a guilty conscience!

"Please come in."

What surprised them... was that after only three knocks, a response came from the small courtyard.

With a click, the gate of the small courtyard opened on its own.

After the door opened in the breeze, the Holy Adjudicators saw that the young man was sitting under the shade of a courtyard tree not far away, having just finished his breathing meditation, looking calm.

Gu Shen raised his head and looked at the heavily guarded "Holy Adjudicators" outside the courtyard... The scene from the bracelet divination had indeed appeared, exactly as he had seen before.

"Lord Jia Wei."

Gu Shen stood up, bowed slightly, and gestured with his hand in an inviting manner.

The Light City Great Knight returned the greeting with a bow.

Both sides' "meeting" could be described as polite, but both sides were well aware of the purpose of this meeting.

"Mr. Gu's mental strength cultivation is truly amazing."

Jia Wei entered the courtyard without changing his expression. He looked at the ancient rune talismans floating in the courtyard and said faintly, "These ancient rune talismans are not something ordinary people can comprehend..."

"I am a disciple of Master Qianye. These ancient rune talismans are nothing." Gu Shen found a stone table, invited Jia Wei to sit down, and smiled, "If you want to learn, I can also teach you."

Ancient text cultivation was not something one could learn just by wanting to.

Ancient characters could only be understood implicitly and not explicitly. Without talent, one could not even remember a single character even after looking at it for a whole day.

Even the best teacher could not teach a foolish student.

"There are also many 'ancient texts' in the library of Light City. Unfortunately, I am dull and not as good as Mr. Gu." After Jia Wei sat down, he looked directly into Gu Shen's eyes and asked with a smile, "Jia Wei is self-aware when it comes to ancient text learning... but I wonder why Mr. Gu has to place so many 'rune arrays' in the courtyard?"

This courtyard was temporarily given by North Continent.

Why set up an array for normal living?

In Jia Wei's view, Gu Shen must have known that the Holy Adjudicators were going to investigate him, so he made these rune arrays... to prevent some unnecessary "spiritual aura" from leaking!

After the restart mission ended, from the moment they left the Doru River Disaster Zone, all the transcendents were on the airship.

It was not until they returned to the Central City that they had a separate resting place.

If Gu Shen had taken the Blessed Child's relics and wanted to destroy or melt them, this was the only time, and these "rune arrays" were likely set up for this reason.

Jia Wei's intuition was very accurate.

But unfortunately... this kind of thing, without evidence, was ultimately just speculation.

"Oh?"

Gu Shen smiled and asked rhetorically, "Lord Jia Wei, as a rune array master, am I not allowed to practice ancient rune talismans in my own courtyard?"

This set was useless to him.

These days, in his mental sea, he had deduced the scene simulated by the bracelet hundreds or thousands of times.

After Jia Wei entered the courtyard, all the verbal probing... no matter how intimidating it sounded, was actually useless.

As long as Light City didn't have heaven-defying means to dig up evidence directly pointing to him, then even if they salvaged Meng Xiao's ashes from the River of the Underworld, it would be meaningless.

"Just a casual question, Mr. Gu, there's no need to take it to heart."

Jia Wei smiled faintly, ending the previous topic.

He casually glanced around the small courtyard and suddenly asked, "Mr. Gu, when and where was the last time you saw the 'Blessed Child'?"

Gu Shen was pouring tea.

Upon hearing this, his expression, posture, and range of motion of pouring tea did not change in the slightest.

Gu Shen could feel it.

After saying that sentence, Jia Wei's aura changed. Countless wisps of mental power overflowed from his Bright Light Armor, turning into a cage, enveloping him.

In this situation, his words, heartbeat, and mental fluctuations were all under Jia Wei's perception...

Was this an attempt to use mental power to "lie detect" him?

Gu Shen knew that Jia Wei should be holding a trump card in his hand that could trigger the "Calamity Bracelet."

It was just that this Great Knight was obviously prepared to take it step by step.

So be it...

After three breakthroughs, Gu Shen's mental sea was also at the Fourth Order.

If Jia Wei was only using this level of mental detection, he could keep him company to the end.

"If I remember correctly, the last time I saw the esteemed 'Blessed Child' was on Black Snow Mountain. That scene of 'inviting the gods' was truly magnificent." Gu Shen said with a faint sarcasm, "I'm afraid of death, so I jumped into the Black River. Since then, I have never seen him again."

Jia Wei narrowed his eyes.

He had already confirmed that his mind had completely enveloped Gu Shen.

Fourth Order versus Third Order was enough to form absolute "mental suppression"... This kid's every move, any abnormality, he could feel very clearly, but strangely, whether Gu Shen was speaking or making eye contact, he did not cause the slightest ripple.

"You jumped into the Black River?"

Jia Wei asked, "Was the Blessed Child chasing you?"

This information was not exactly a secret.

Not to mention the transcendents who participated in the restart mission, even the nobles of North Continent who did not participate in the mission knew... Meng Xiao was quite hostile to Gu Shen. During the conferral ceremony of the Gu Fort battle, the two had even had friction.

"..."

Gu Shen silently picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.

There were two teacups on the stone table, one empty and one full.

He only poured his own cup.

"It seems that your Excellency's visit today is not to be a guest in my small courtyard..." Gu Shen said expressionlessly, "Ask whatever you want to ask directly."

Going straight to the point.

Jia Wei looked at the empty teacup in front of him and fell into thought.

"Gu Shen."

After a few seconds, he slowly asked, "You have no grievances or enmities with Meng Xiao, why did he want to kill you?"

"Heh..." Gu Shen laughed.

He looked at the Great Knight in front of him with a smile, his eyes full of sarcasm.

Yes.

This question... was indeed very sarcastic. As the person asking the question, he fell into silence after opening his mouth.

"Your Excellency asks well."

Gu Shen said coldly, "I have no grievances or enmities with Meng Xiao, why did he want to kill me? This question should be asked to the Holy Adjudicators... Light City has eyes that reach the heavens, I'm sure they've checked my files, I've never met Meng Xiao before, after returning from Gu Fort, why was he so hostile to me, repeatedly looking for trouble, and even chasing me on Black Snow Mountain? I hope that Light City can give me an explanation to this question."

"..."

Jia Wei was speechless.

Meng Xiao was the Blessed Child, and most of his actions were authorized by the [Temple].

But the matter of chasing Gu Shen was his own temporary action.

Even the [Temple] did not know why Meng Xiao acted in this way.

"Meng Xiao killed me, and you're asking me why..."

Gu Shen said quietly, "Doesn't Light City think it's acting too domineering?"

The atmosphere in the small courtyard was extremely stagnant.

Jia Wei could only remain silent.

He had to admit that his "mental probing" was a terrible choice... In this conversation, Gu Shen's mental aura did not show any abnormality, and gradually changed from the original calmness to anger.

And the Holy Adjudicators had completely fallen into a disadvantage in terms of aura.

"Sorry."

Jia Wei took a deep breath and said these two words with difficulty.

In Jia Wei's view, these two words were a response to all of Gu Shen's previous questions.

In the next moment, he raised his head, his eyes staring directly at Gu Shen, and a bright and hot pupil light pierced through the seams of the scarlet armor and shot out.

That deep gaze almost ignited the powerful spirit surrounding Gu Shen.

This Fourth Order peak Light City Great Knight, with an irresistible attitude, sternly ordered, "Please release your mental resistance. Now I want to check Meng Xiao's relics..."

Here it comes.

It really came.

This was the source of his previous unease. Light City had a way to find the "Calamity Bracelet"!

"I warn you... it's not too late to stop now."

Gu Shen said coldly, "I have already sent a message. The people from Central City are on their way and will be here soon."

"So what? This matter... will not allow you to!"

Seeing Gu Shen resist so much, Jia Wei's thoughts became even more firm.

He stood up, and the vast light arrived in an instant, almost collapsing the entire small courtyard.

"If you resist, don't blame me for not being merciful."

The wind stirred up by the tall scarlet armor rustled.

The next moment.

Following the guidance of the [Temple], Jia Wei bent two fingers and gently tapped on the forearm of the Bright Light Armor—

"Clang!"

A crisp sound burst out from the forearm of the Bright Light Armor.

Like a dragon's roar and a phoenix's cry, it echoed in the small courtyard.

The silver light that was knocked out went straight towards Gu Shen.

Gu Shen's expression was ugly. He felt an unprecedented "vast light" directly hitting his heart—

The "bracelet" that he suppressed under the Susu Tree.

Under this powerful mental summons.

It actually began to tremble violently.