Chapter 48 Central City Invitation

Zhong Yuan stared at Gu Shen the entire time, carefully observing his reaction.

Zhong Yuan didn't hide his intention in saying these words.

He was sincerely grateful that Gu Shen could bring his teammates back to the fortress.

But he was equally sincere in his suspicion.

Just what kind of "holy figure" was this young man from East Continent, capable of doing so many incredible things...

Especially after the nightmarish "Doru River Disaster Zone" mission, the terrifying memory of the River Poison remained fresh in his mind.

"It sounds like you have something else to say," Gu Shen said calmly. "I don't know what you mean by 'Doru River Disaster Zone' or 'River Poison.' All I know is... the 'spiritual toxin' that erupted in Gu Fort this time wasn't an unsolvable crisis. Even without my 'Blazing Fire,' the North Continent military should have been able to handle it, right?"

"Of course."

Zhong Yuan didn't get any useful information from Gu Shen. He apologized frankly, "Sorry... I was overthinking it. I've been too stressed these past few days and have become a bit paranoid."

The blonde man's gaze drifted, as if lost in memories. "Although it's the same source of power, the Doru River's River Poison is far more potent than the toxin you neutralized this time. It's a spiritual toxin that brings despair... To this day, I don't want to relive the scenes from that mission."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

No one understood better than him what a shared origin of a toxin meant!

The Golden Spica flower poison was a power created by Nether Fire... If the River Poison in the Doru River Disaster Zone and the Golden Spica flower poison truly shared an origin, then that meant the power of "Nether Fire" also existed in the Doru River.

The Doru River's spiritual toxin was even more potent than the Golden Spica flower poison?

"About the Doru River..."

Gu Shen hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What exactly is that place?"

This was North Continent's top secret.

With Chu Ling's current clearance, she couldn't access such highly classified and dangerous files.

After opening his mouth, Gu Shen changed his tone and smiled. "Sorry... I was just curious. If it's inconvenient to answer, you don't have to."

"The high-ranking military officials who participated in the operation all signed confidentiality agreements. I can't disclose the details," Zhong Yuan shook his head. "If you're interested in the Doru River, you might as well go to Central City. As far as I know, there might be another operation there soon... And the Legion Commander seems very interested in you. If you personally meet a figure of her caliber, I'm sure all your doubts will be resolved."

"Another operation? Wasn't the Doru River already pacified?" Gu Shen frowned.

"Heh..."

The blonde man chuckled softly.

He avoided the previous topic and said leisurely, "If all goes well, the 'invitation letter' from Central City will arrive at Gu Fort Fortress in the next few days. As a hero of the Maze Mission and savior of Gu Fort, North Continent will invite you to Central City to receive an 'investiture.'"

Gu Shen asked with interest, "Investiture?"

"Don't misunderstand, all members who participated in the Maze Mission will receive an 'investiture,'" Zhong Yuan said calmly. "This Maze Mission was of great significance. You promptly exposed the oasis's lies and escaped the storm, completing an 'impossible' mission. Everything you did is enough to bring hope to people. According to the intelligence I received from the Legion Commander, given the difficulty of this mission and the influence of the Hong Zhong Incident, Central City might award a First-Class Medal."

Gu Shen was no stranger to the term First-Class Medal.

When he first stepped into the Old World, Mo Hongyi and Zhu Xiao had mentioned the First-Class Medal. It seemed to be North Continent's top honor.

Zhu Xiao's exact words at the time were: "Is that something a living person can get?"

Looking back now, those words were quite fitting.

A First-Class Medal was indeed not something a living person could get.

If Gu Shen hadn't participated in this mission, then the entire team that ventured out would have perished in the snowy mountain maze.

If he hadn't made a deal with the devil of the Ruler of Truth, then Gu Shen would have fallen under the storm.

Lin Lin's report attributed the escape to the Gate.

But only Gu Shen, who had personally experienced everything, knew that this mission was a true brush with death.

"Right now, there are many people outside guessing that you won't go to Central City."

Zhong Yuan suddenly said, "After all, you're an outsider. Even if you receive North Continent's 'investiture,' it won't have any substantial meaning. Someone in the Investigation Corps made a bet with me, saying that after you complete the Maze Mission, you'll return to East Continent..."

Gu Shen listened with a calm expression.

Most of the powerful figures in the North Continent military didn't know his true purpose in coming to the north.

The Maze Mission had already uncovered some information about his teacher and senior sister.

In addition to the disappearance case at Crescent Moon City Fortress, he also had to personally present Mr. Gu Changzhi's letter to Her Majesty the Empress.

So, Gu Shen would go to Central City no matter what.

And this investiture gave him a perfect reason to do so.

"Congratulations, you can ask that guy for the bet in advance," Gu Shen said, "I've always been interested in Central City. As soon as the invitation letter arrives, I'll set off."

"No..."

Zhong Yuan shook his head. He said seriously, "Before I met you, I cared about whether I could win that bet. After meeting you, I no longer care about the bet with that person. You're indeed very strong and talented. At your age, to cultivate spiritual power to the level of a genius far exceeding your current transcendent realm... there are only a handful of such people in North Continent."

Gu Shen chuckled. He was familiar with this routine.

First suppress, then praise.

"After the Gu Fort Fortress incident, many important figures in North Continent have already heard your name," Zhong Yuan said solemnly. "North Continent has been quite turbulent recently. After the Doru River Disaster Zone crisis was quelled, the Gu Fort Storm occurred. Grand Duke Zhu Xue has already sent invitations to the border defense line. Before long, the lords and generals guarding the North Continent fortresses will all go to Central City."

Gu Shen's expression also became serious.

It sounded like this was a "grand gathering."

"During the previous meeting at the Giant Wall, everyone was very 'friendly,' but not everyone is so 'friendly.' As far as I know, some people in the North Continent military don't like you very much," Zhong Yuan said bluntly. "If things go as expected, he will also go when Grand Duke Zhu Xue invites the generals this time. So... if you go to Central City, you might encounter trouble."

At this point, Zhong Yuan sighed helplessly. "So I hope you carefully consider whether or not to go to Central City to receive the 'investiture.'"

Halfway through, Gu Shen understood Zhong Yuan's meaning.

"Thanks for the reminder," he said with a smile. "Someone doesn't like me very much? Someone that even Brother Zhong Yuan doesn't dare to name... it seems like a big shot."

Gu Shen could tell that Zhong Yuan's reminder was purely out of kindness.

But this matter was quite interesting.

His identity as "Hades" hadn't been exposed.

And this was Gu Shen's first time arriving in North Continent. Before this, he hadn't had any contact with anyone on this land... except for the mysterious "073" in the Ancient Text Society.

Under these circumstances, who would dislike him?

"He is indeed a big shot," Zhong Yuan said sincerely. "If you return to East Continent from Gu Fort, then there won't be any friction."

After all, no matter how long the arms of a North Continent big shot were, they couldn't reach East Continent.

"I see..."

Gu Shen pondered for a moment and said lightly, "Thank you."

Apart from that, there was no other expression.

It seemed like he was even more determined to go to Central City?

Zhong Yuan was slightly startled and felt somewhat helpless.

He didn't expect that after his reminder, Gu Shen's attitude seemed to have become even more resolute.

Did he have some trump card?

But this was North Continent. Could this kid's back be that strong?

"Alright..."

Seeing this, Zhong Yuan shook his head and stopped trying to persuade him. He said solemnly, "That guy's abilities are very strange, and he also has a 'bizarre' sealed item. It's not convenient for me to reveal too much information. Be careful."

Gu Shen raised his eyebrows.

He said it wasn't "convenient to reveal information"...

But Zhong Yuan raised his hand, and at the tip of his finger, he outlined a wisp of flame.

He wore a ring on his right index finger, which was the famous North Continent A-grade sealed item, the Phoenix Ring. It was said that the flames inside the Phoenix Ring could burn the spirit. It seemed to be a powerful flame of the same origin as the Gu family's bloodline, Garuda... After this wisp of flame appeared, it directly triggered a trembling resonance with the Blazing Fire between Gu Shen's eyebrows.

Fortunately, he had the Golden Band to suppress it.

Otherwise, the Blazing Fire would have leaped out of his forehead to compete with this Phoenix Flame.

Zhong Yuan turned and left.

Gu Shen quietly watched the character slowly burn and disappear in the air.

"Meng."

Zhong Yuan had left him with a surname.

This was very important information.

With the help of the Deep Sea, a surname alone could often lock down a group and narrow the range.

And Chu Ling instantly searched for the big shots in North Continent's upper echelons with the surname Meng... It turned out to be a common surname in North Continent, with a dozen people, just like the surname Lin.

A few seconds later, the flames were extinguished.

Gu Shen looked at the list he had compiled in his mind and fell into thought.

It seemed that the big shot who disliked him was really powerful... Zhong Yuan deliberately used the Phoenix Ring to burn out that big shot's surname, obviously not wanting to leave a trace.

What kind of ability could capture the conversation that happened in Gu Fort?

And what kind of sealed item made Zhong Yuan act so carefully?

After thinking for a moment, he couldn't figure it out.

Gu Shen shook his head and simply threw the question to the back of his mind.

He briefly described what happened in the cemetery and sent it to Lin Lin in the form of an email, then left here... and returned to his room.

As soon as he closed the door.

Gu Shen released four wisps of Blazing Fire to guard the four sides of the house. This was a stance he hadn't even used when sealing the Ruler of Truth.

He took out the broken cross pendant.

After putting on the ghost mask to ensure nothing would go wrong, Gu Shen's spiritual power immersed into the pendant.

He spoke to the huddled soul in the mental space.

"Hong Zhong..."

"Wake up!"

Yuan Tong