"You want to kill me?!"

"What makes you think you can kill me?!"

Meng Xiao's hysterical voice came to an abrupt halt.

Because this sharp blade, imbued with the power of a fourth-order domain, had already severed his head.

At that moment, his eyes were still somewhat dazed.

*Longyue*, the enchanted robe, the divine blessing… With these three augmentations, his physical body was almost invincible among those of the same realm. Apart from a few monsters with freakish offensive abilities, no one could break through his defenses.

But…

Gu Shen had done it.

A third-order transcendent, with one strike, had cut off his head.

Meng Xiao couldn't comprehend it. He had been hiding in the darkness, witnessing the battle where the idol was toppled. All the information and intelligence were in his grasp. The reason he dared to engage Gu Shen in close combat was because he wasn't afraid of the so-called "third-realm transcendent."

So what if he had crossed three realms?

He was a genuine tenth-level Deep Sea!

But that light, fluttering strike…

How could that light, fluttering strike be so sharp?

The River Styx shattered.

In his final moment, he grabbed Gu Shen and together they smashed through the entrance to the Underworld Palace. Countless transcendent source energies surged in the void, and the gate was washed away by the churning black water.

Gu Shen, holding Meng Xiao's head in one hand, said softly, "Can't figure it out?"

Meng Xiao's life force was rapidly fading.

But it wasn't being directly destroyed.

A sense of unease arose within Gu Shen... Truly worthy of being called an "Undying One." Meng Xiao's headless body was still tightly clutching his shoulder, refusing to let go even now.

The light of the divine blessing flowed through his body. Clearly, this wisp of blessed light was trying to connect with the Western Continent's Divine Seat, tens of thousands of miles away. But unfortunately, in this ghostly place called "River Styx," the light of the divine blessing was the most useless thing.

Gu Shen had a vague premonition…

If he reattached the head.

Meng Xiao could come back to life!

If the divine blessing could truly connect to the Divine Seat, then this guy's injuries could even be completely healed by a miracle!

Although it would require sacrificing lifespan, if the Undying One could be restored to full health, this battle would be impossible to fight.

"I don't understand…"

Meng Xiao stared at Gu Shen and muttered, "That tree of yours… is it… *Su Xuan*?"

This wasn't the first time he had seen it.

The last time, when Gu Shen pulled him into a dream and shot an arrow, he saw a blurry, gigantic tree shadow in the dream.

"That's right, it's *Su Xuan* wood."

Gu Shen spoke softly, clearing his doubts, "Think more carefully about what I said to you earlier. Perhaps… you'll find the answer."

Meng Xiao's thoughts grew slower and slower.

*Su Xuan* wood, a divine tree that even the Lord of the Light Divine Seat could not cultivate…

How could Gu Shen possess it?

All along, he had been searching for the connection between Gu Shen and the King of the Underworld…

The Light City's investigation into the King of the Underworld had never ceased in the past twenty years.

Even though everyone in the five continents believed that the King of the Underworld was dead.

But the Light City had never given up searching for the "King of the Underworld's Fire Seed." For them, unless they saw the "Fire Seed" appear, they could not believe that the King of the Underworld was truly dead.

This time, the King of the Underworld's appearance in the Eastern Continent was still met with skepticism.

No one had seen the true form of the King of the Underworld in the black mist.

No one knew where the King of the Underworld had gone after the graveyard incident.

Under these circumstances, the Light City's Holy Judgment Legion had proposed a bold hypothesis…

Perhaps, the King of the Underworld was truly dead?

At this moment, the Light Holy Judgment Legion's guess miraculously surfaced in Meng Xiao's mind, and then he realized that this absurd guess… seemed to correspond to an even more absurd reality.

Meng Xiao's thoughts were turning slower and slower, and his vision was becoming increasingly blurred.

At this moment.

He suddenly felt that the scene before him was familiar.

It was the bracelet…

The calamitous scene projected by the bracelet was now unfolding in exactly the same way.

Time seemed to slow down, because his blood had already drained away. He saw the vast River Styx, Gu Shen in his black robes, and at the end of the black river in the distance, a point of light igniting.

That was the strange light of the [Gate] being opened.

All along, Meng Xiao had mistakenly believed that the real "calamity" the bracelet was warning him of was the great explosion…

He had tried everything to avoid this misfortune.

But he never expected.

That the final scene would be what he saw after being "beheaded."

Meng Xiao stared hard at Gu Shen, squeezing out the last of his voice in disbelief.

"You…"

"Are the King of the Underworld?"

Gu Shen didn't answer, only smiled silently.

He didn't want to reveal this secret, even to a dead man.

Who knew… if that Lord of the Light Divine Seat in the Western Continent had some forbidden technique that could create some kind of connection with Meng Xiao's departed soul?

Gu Shen didn't know, and didn't want to take the risk.

Giving Meng Xiao the last few seconds to ponder the unsolved mysteries of life was already his greatest act of kindness and tolerance.

"Chi--"

Blazing flames ignited.

The head in Gu Shen's palm burned fiercely. The pain, shock, distortion, and astonishment on Meng Xiao's face were all burned to ashes in the fire…

The power of the Light's blessing also dissipated.

The shell that had been clutching his shoulder tightly lost all its strength at that moment and fell into the water with a thud. Gu Shen patiently waited for the head in his palm to be burned to nothingness. He didn't even leave Meng Xiao with a skull. He was seeing a good deed through to the end, escorting Buddha all the way to the West.

Gu Shen very considerately held a "cremation ceremony" for this blessed son of the Light City.

It was just that… there were some things he definitely had to take.

A moment later.

He had a few more items in his hand.

First was Meng Xiao's most frequently used treasure, the A-grade enchanted robe with the Moon-Suppressing pattern. Although this thing was filled with the annoying aura of the Light City's blessing, it was a first-rate protective item.

As long as you wore this robe, you would be equivalent to having a fourth-order *Longyue* covering your body, providing protection. In addition, by accumulating a certain amount of power, you could also shoot through the robe.

The only drawback was that some places could not be completely covered.

But the defensive power of this robe was truly astonishing.

Without the addition of [Candle Extinguisher], it would have been difficult for his iron arrow to pierce the Moon-Suppressing Robe.

Gu Shen naturally accepted it with a smile.

The second was the bracelet in Meng Xiao's hand.

Gu Shen still didn't know what this thing was for… He tentatively tried to burn it with blazing flames, and found that this bracelet was unusually sturdy and not afraid of his fire at all.

This alone was enough to prove its preciousness.

Besides these two items, Meng Xiao also had some odds and ends of sealed items on him, which Gu Shen stripped off.

Gu Shen had always suspected that Meng Xiao was able to perform some kind of "future divination"!

There must be some forbidden sealed item on him.

There was no time to examine it carefully at the moment, so he had to put them all away. Gu Shen summoned his Pure Land Domain for simple storage.

A cry of surprise rang out in the distance of the River Styx.

"Brother Gu!"

A graceful figure, stepping on the judge's body with a large banner unfurled, flew low, drifting over.

Mu Wanqiu had stepped out of the gate first, only to find that Gu Shen had not left… She anxiously waited in the air above the River Styx, searching everywhere for Gu Shen's figure, fearing that there would be an accident in the Underworld Palace.

The collapse of the Underworld Palace had spread to the entire disaster zone.

The entire disaster zone seemed to be bombarded by some kind of huge force.

Now that she had finally found him, Mu Wanqiu breathed a sigh of relief and landed not far from Gu Shen.

She looked at the burning flames beside Gu Shen, as well as the dust and debris that kept rising, and asked in confusion, "This is?"

"Um… This is Meng Xiao."

Gu Shen's blazing flames had now turned into a furnace, floating in the air. Inside the furnace lay the "honorable" Moon-Suppressing Duke of the Northern Continent. At this moment, the cremation had reached its final step, and Moon-Suppressing's bones had been burned to ashes, completely unrecognizable.

"…"

Mu Wanqiu was speechless for a moment. She had to admit that Gu Shen was a more ruthless person than she was.

So he didn't leave the Underworld Palace, but went to hunt down Meng Xiao!

However, had Gu Shen's strength become so strong that he could kill Meng Xiao just after breaking through the third realm?

"Rest in peace, there are Holy Judgment members from the Light City below, they will accompany you."

It sounded like a very pious eulogy, but there was no sign of blessing on Gu Shen's face. He reached out and grabbed a handful of ashes from the furnace and scattered them on the River Styx.

Mu Wanqiu's lips twitched. Another gallows humor.

After all, this place was called the River Styx.

The person whose ashes were scattered in this place was probably not going to rest in peace.

"Do you want to try grabbing a handful of ashes and scattering them? It's very refreshing."

Gu Shen extended an invitation to Mu Wanqiu.

The latter shook her head.

"No need." Mu Wanqiu said softly, "I think this guy's ashes are dirty."

Meng Xiao was now a criminal on the wanted list of the Northern Continent.

If there were no accidents.

After this restart mission was completed, he would be arrested and sent to the Northern Continent's military court to pay the price for what he had done… Whether it was summoning Outer Gods or killing comrades, these were crimes that violated the iron laws of the Northern Continent.

It was just that…

Now Meng Xiao had been killed by Gu Shen.

Mu Wanqiu rubbed her brow. She thought for a long time before asking, "You should know what it means to kill the blessed son of the Light, right?"

Meng Xiao was indeed a criminal, and he did deserve to be judged.

But he hadn't been imprisoned yet, and he had been killed inexplicably in the disaster zone…

Those crimes, on the contrary, could not be established.

If this news spread out, it would definitely cause a violent shock throughout the Western Continent. No matter what the truth of the matter was, the Holy Judgment would definitely launch an investigation!

"Of course I know."

Gu Shen responded and said lightly, "The Holy Judgment of the Western Continent will desperately search for the murderer. They are the messengers of light, and people who are targeted by them will most likely not have a good end."

"I have had some contact with the Holy Judgment before, and they are a little crazier than you think…" Mu Wanqiu reminded him seriously, "Once you are stuck with them, there will be endless trouble."

Gu Shen looked at the ashes in the furnace and fell into deep thought.

A moment later, he sighed, "Okay, I understand."

Mu Wanqiu had just breathed a sigh of relief.

"In the future, those Holy Judgment members who hunt me down can all be cremated like this…"

Gu Shen asked seriously, "What do you think of this way of handling things?"