“Sorry, I refuse the deal.”

The moment he finished speaking, darkness fell before Gu Shen’s eyes, and his consciousness flickered.

This was a “manifestation” of extreme mental exhaustion. It didn’t mean Gu Shen would die like this... it was just that the excessive use of the Ruler led to enormous side effects, causing him to lose consciousness.

Three draws of the bow.

One empty pull, two with arrows.

The Ruler of Truth had never materialized such a powerful object as [Extinguished Candle] in battle, and this exceptional privilege came at a great cost to Gu Shen.

His originally quite full spirit was exhausted in just a few minutes.

If you want to gain something, you must first give something.

He shot out Meng Xiao's "Undying" identity, and also burned out his own spirit.

The manifestation of unconsciousness was the sinking of the mind-sea into darkness.

This was a darkness that could only be sensed with "spirit"...

In the Pure Land, it was as if the sky suddenly darkened. Tie Wu, who was directing Hong Zhong to plow the fields, leaned on his hoe and looked up at the gray, boundless iron sky, momentarily stunned.

He felt that the rain falling from the dome was colder than usual.

And in another world, darkness also descended—

In the "Pure Land" replicated by the Ruler of Truth, the space that was originally mottled with light and shadow began to merge briefly after the Ruler's master completely fainted. The entire world seemed to be pulled into the night by an invisible force.

The devil sitting on the throne instantly stopped his previous actions.

He looked up at the iron sky, no longer with the "greedy" image of rejection, threat, and enticing words,一心只想交易.

After the darkness descended, the mist on his body also merged into the surrounding darkness...

So, he did have a face.

It was just that this face had no emotion, shrouded in mist, revealing a cold and detached set of features to the extreme. Gu Shen called him a "devil," and indeed, there was no problem...

Because this was not a face that a human should have.

Too perfect.

And too indifferent.

He had lost his composure more than once.

He had been angry more than once.

Even... he had been embarrassed more than once.

But if you truly saw the face of the "devil," you would know that all of this was false. A being like him, dwelling in the darkness, had a soul that was completely dark and silent. He would not have any emotional fluctuations at all.

The devil sat on the throne.

He propped his chin with his hand, like an old man in a deep sleep, his faint gaze penetrating the Ruler's space, looking towards the world behind the [Gate], gradually becoming erratic.

“It’s been a long time…”

……

……

The Styx River roared and surged.

Gu Shen's consciousness flickered. In the instant before he completely lost consciousness, he felt himself falling into another space.

The [Gate] opened.

Countless river waters poured in, swirling madly.

He thought he was the only living being.

Until he was swept into the [Gate] by the river water, he realized he was wrong… In a flash of lightning, he crashed into a lithe body as hard as metal and iron. The familiar scarlet armor came into view.

However, his spiritual power had been exhausted.

Gu Shen, whose lamp was running out of oil, couldn’t even lift his eyes.

He fell into that person’s arms.

He didn’t even have time to say the words "close the door."

But his luck had always been good. Some things, even if not said, were assisted by the rules… The opening of the [Gate] was an accident, and it was destined not to last long. After a large amount of river water poured in, the [Gate] emitted a low rumble.

Meng Xiao, in the distance, heard this ominous sound.

His heart skipped a beat, knowing that something bad was about to happen.

But even with the Blessing of Light, he was still unable to move an inch.

Meng Xiao stared intently at the distant point of light. The opening of that [Gate] seemed to be just a coincidence. After Gu Shen crashed into the [Gate], the force of countless Styx River waters gradually began to rebound.

The [Gate] was about to close!

Finally, the Gate of the Styx slowly closed.

And at the final moment, a streak of light shot past, following Gu Shen closely, crashing into the [Gate], almost evaporating and boiling the river water!

……

……

Mu Wanqiu stood silently behind the [Gate].

A few minutes ago, she had run out of patience and confirmed that she was trapped in this maze.

So, she simply drew her blade and shattered the stone wall.

But she never expected that… shattering the stone wall would cause such a violent change. What she didn't expect even more was that this majestic river water would actually wash such a living person into her arms.

Mu Wanqiu, standing with her blade sheathed, adjusted her armor, preparing to leave this maze against the current.

The spiritual aura of a transcendent swept into her senses.

She was an extremely powerful spiritual transcendent. Although this Styx River greatly suppressed the sensing range of transcendents, she could still sense the abnormality within a radius of nearly a hundred meters…

A hundred meters was still too short.

Because by the time she sensed this wisp of abnormality, Gu Shen had already crashed into the [Gate], directly crashing into her!

If she hadn't sparred with him once before in the training ground, Mu Wanqiu might have already unleashed a second strike.

“Gu Shen?”

Under the fierce impact of the river water, Mu Wanqiu took a slight step back. She caught the not-so-heavy figure with one hand, frowning as she spoke, but Gu Shen had already lost consciousness.

At this moment, Mu Wanqiu thought of the "blazing pillar of light" she had seen in the mountains earlier.

The exploration routes of all the teams were fixed, except for Gu Shen and Meng Xiao, the two privileged ones… In fact, everyone knew the starting routes of these two very well. At the beginning of the mission, Gu Shen followed the Zhong Yuan team straight to the Black Snow Mountain at the end of the Doru River's main branch.

And Zhen Yue was directly following behind the Zhong Yuan team!

The pillar of light, full of the aura of light, that bloomed on the summit of Black Snow Mountain… was enough to explain many things.

In an instant, Mu Wanqiu guessed what had happened outside the [Gate].

Gu Shen… was being hunted down by Meng Xiao!

In a flash of lightning, she reacted.

A huge, snow-white ghostly figure suddenly emerged. In this narrow maze, the descent of [Judge]’s burly figure almost cut off the outside river water.

“Close the door!”

Mu Wanqiu's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. She directly issued an order in her mind-sea.

At this moment, the white-robed Judge’s hands suddenly thrust out. The stone wall that had been shattered by a single slash had already turned into countless pieces of large and small rubble scattered in all directions. Originally, there was no trace to be found, but in Mu Wanqiu's spiritual domain, everything was instantly locked on, and then the [Judge] picked them up at an extremely fast speed and pieced them back together.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!!”

Countless shadows of ghostly hands erupted, like a storm, aiming at the original broken wall… Although Mu Wanqiu didn't have the ability to [Reverse Flow], she used her spiritual power and the [Judge]’s speed to almost achieve what [Reverse Flow] could do!

For a spiritual transcendent, it was not impossible to restore a broken mirror!

In an instant, the fragmented stone wall was quickly pieced back together, and the countless pouring river water was immediately blocked out… Mu Wanqiu knew that the existence of the [Gate] could not be seen with the naked eye. Even if she pieced back the stone wall, she might not be able to close the door.

But at least, she could touch some rules.

Gu Shen’s current exhausted appearance was so embarrassing. Presumably Meng Xiao, who was hunting him down, was not far away!

After closing the [Gate], Mu Wanqiu did not hesitate. She directly rushed towards the direction she had come from. The snow-white ghostly figure [Judge] glanced at Gu Shen, stretched out a ghostly hand, and grabbed the back of Gu Shen’s collar…

The two figures flew towards the end of the maze.

And strangely, the stone wall pieced together by the [Judge] did not make any strange noises after the two left.

Even though Meng Xiao stepped into the world of the [Gate] at the critical moment, he did not break out of this stone wall.

……

……

For a person who has completely lost consciousness, time is a non-existent thing.

In Gu Shen's "world," from coma to awakening, it seemed to have only passed in an instant.

He did not feel that his life had been briefly paused.

What he felt was the brief darkness that greeted him at the moment of crashing into the [Gate]… and then came the resurrection.

The world after resurrection was still very dark.

His mind-sea was stinging with pain. This feeling was familiar.

When he overdrawn his spiritual power and used the Ruler of Truth back then… it was this feeling.

This time, he had also overdrawn it.

His current ninth level of spiritual power was still a bit difficult to fully draw the [Extinguished Candle] twice.

"Awake?"

Before Gu Shen could carefully examine the surrounding world, a clear and cold voice rang out quietly.

Gu Shen was stunned.

The memories before the coma surged like a tide.

He crashed into someone's arms, and that guy saved his life… Raising his eyes and seeing the familiar scarlet armor, Gu Shen smiled wryly, rubbing his throbbing brow as he hoarsely said, "Mu Wanqiu, why are you here?"

“……”

The words "What does it have to do with you" almost slipped out subconsciously.

She had already broken through the [Gate]!

Just a little bit more, and she could have reached the source of the nightmare!

This guy appeared out of nowhere, stopping her from exploring the dream.

But thinking about it carefully… Gu Shen’s appearance might have helped her avoid a great trouble.

If Meng Xiao was really in the Black River, then she would meet him as soon as she went out. This guy openly violated the Iron Laws of North Continent. Seeing her, he would probably think she was a supporter sent by the main frigate… At that time, a bloody battle would be inevitable.

Thinking of this, Mu Wanqiu swallowed back those bad words.

She glanced at Gu Shen, not answering his previous question, but instead asking, "What about you? Why are you here? And what is this place?"

“Your questions seem a little too many…”

Gu Shen was a little helpless.

Although he didn't know why Mu Wanqiu would appear here… he knew that according to Osmond's plan, every transcendent in the Restart mission should be on the other side of Black Snow Mountain.

Meeting Mu Wanqiu at this moment could not be reinforcements.

There was only one possibility…

She had left the plan without authorization.

"This is the second half of the Doru River. I was being hunted down by Meng Xiao, crossed the Black Snow Mountain, and had no choice… so I came here."

Gu Shen simply answered Mu Wanqiu's question. He tried to stand up, but failed. His whole body was very sore, and his bones seemed to be half-disassembled.

Although this woman saved his life, Gu Shen could not tell the "truth" about why he came here.

If he said that he came here to save the Styx River sentient beings and break the River Poison, Mu Wanqiu would probably think he was crazy.

"Your injuries are very serious."

Mu Wanqiu's voice was devoid of any emotion. "But you're still alive."

"What kind of words are those?"

Gu Shen leaned against the stone wall and slowly stood up.

He clutched his ribs and took a light breath.

The hidden injuries left by the previous battle with Meng Xiao all surfaced at this time…

In that close-quarters battle, he had still suffered heavy damage. It was just that the previous desperate battle did not allow him to be negligent in the slightest. Spiritual power stimulated the soaring adrenaline, and for a moment, he did not feel any pain.

Gu Shen hissed a breath of cold air. He forcefully supported his ribs, and a ring of hot, blazing fire emerged in the palm of his hand. With just one press, the originally dislocated and fractured ribs were pieced together and began to heal again.

"Sorry."

This scene was a bit strange. Mu Wanqiu raised her eyebrows. Her gaze stayed on the blazing fire in Gu Shen's hand. For the first time, she apologized and then asked with interest, "You're still alive. It's really a miracle. If I heard correctly, you just said that Meng Xiao was hunting you down, not Meng Xiao's team… Did you kill everyone else?"

Gu Shen's strength was only at the seventh level, while Meng Xiao was at the tenth level!

In addition, Meng Xiao had seven team members!

Being able to survive under this kind of pursuit was indeed a miracle.

“… Almost.”

Gu Shen thought about the scene on Black Snow Mountain and smiled self-deprecatingly. "Before I could kill those people, Meng Xiao made the first move… He sacrificed the lives of these followers as a price to exchange for the descent of the 'Throne of Light.'"

Gu Shen actually had the strength to deal with Meng Xiao's team…

This team was powerful, and those members all had strengths of the eighth or ninth level.

Mu Wanqiu said, "We all saw that pillar of light. The final descent failed."

"Of course…"

Gu Shen smiled and said, "If the Throne of Light had successfully descended, the current me should have been torn to pieces and thrown into every corner of the Styx River."

He rotated his bones, making crackling sounds.

Under the warmth of the blazing fire, these injuries were being slowly "repaired"... Although he was still weak at this moment, the previous battle was not without gain.

As the saying goes, "No destruction, no construction."

He overdrawn his spiritual power to use the Ruler of Truth. After recovery, his spiritual power seemed to have become even stronger.

That fighting golden hoop was actually faintly loosened.

Could it be… that he could take this opportunity to complete the third breakthrough?

Gu Shen was checking his physical condition.

He suddenly realized that it had become too quiet here.

After his words, Mu Wanqiu stopped speaking. He raised his head and found the woman wearing the red armor, leaning against the stone wall, looking at him expressionlessly.

In an instant, Gu Shen realized… that he had said a word that he shouldn't have said.

"Styx River."

Mu Wanqiu said calmly, one hand resting on the hilt of her blade.

"The North Continent military intelligence didn't write these two words."