Chapter 1 Quiet Night

East Continent, Dadu District.

The night on the riverbank was as tranquil as ever.

The woman, dressed in red and white sacrificial robes, held a sweet potato and ate it in small bites.

This was the best food she had tasted in a while.

Perhaps it was because she was about to "disperse" that her last meal always tasted the best... Chu Ling thought to herself.

So, she had to eat it slowly, even slower.

The two strolled along the riverbank, walking quietly side by side. Finally, Chu Ling found an old but clean wooden bench and sat down. The two leaned against each other, watching the lights in the river world gradually go out, one by one.

Thousands of words were left unspoken.

Gu Shen felt the slight trembling of the woman in his arms.

Like a cat shaking its fur.

It was actually the flowing and dissipating of Source Strength…

The "Prayer Art" of the Divine Shrine Mountain had reached its limit.

Chu Ling's physical body was about to burn out its lifespan.

Someone set off fireworks in the Yinghai District that night, and bursts of light bloomed in the distant sky.

Chu Ling watched the fireworks in front of her.

She seemed to understand something, chuckled softly, and murmured, "So, this is what 'death' feels like..."

Chu Ling raised her palm.

The golden threads wrapped around her fingertips uncontrollably scattered.

From this moment on, Chu Ling could no longer use divination because she was losing her physical body, and losing her physical body meant she could no longer pay the price for peering into fate.

Chu Ling felt a little emotional.

Tie Wu's description of the feeling of "death" was quite vivid, but he seemed to have only gotten it half right.

Chu Ling silently stretched out her palm, like a camera, trying to frame the night sky with fireworks in the distance. This was the last scene she left for herself before "death"... So death really was like fireworks.

It was just that her death was more like the scene of the word "firework" being broken apart.

Scattering like smoke.

Withering like a flower.

It was a very slow process… As the fireworks faded, so did she.

The two people leaning on the bench became one.

Gu Shen looked at the red and white sacrificial robes scattered on the bench. The faint fragrance still lingered in front of his nose, but the girl who had traveled south with him had disappeared into the long night.

His expression was a little complicated.

Gu Shen reached out his hands to pick up the scattered sacrificial robes, and then a small orange cat's head emerged from the robes.

"Meow."

The orange cat's eyes were full of confusion.

It didn't understand why the fragrant girl who had been holding it just disappeared?

…

…

"Gu Shen!"

The night on the riverbank was not peaceful for long.

A familiar voice sounded from behind. Gu Shen held the orange cat and looked back.

An old acquaintance.

"Da Nian?"

He looked at the man wearing a motorcycle helmet, who seemed a little unbalanced as he walked because of the weight of the helmet, and couldn't help but smile.

After many days, Hu Da Nian was still the same as before.

But when he forcefully pulled off his helmet, Gu Shen knew he was wrong.

Hu Da Nian had grown a head of flowing long hair, but paired with a tight-fitting brown motorcycle suit, he looked a bit like...

Gu Shen was thinking of an adjective.

Hu Da Nian laughed loudly and spiritedly, "Tell me loudly, do I look like a magnificent lion now!"

"No, more like a lovesick bear."

Gu Shen sighed.

He stood up and gave Hu Da Nian a symbolic hug.

A long-awaited reunion.

Da Nian was still the same Da Nian.

"Headquarters said they have something to ask you… but your 'Spiritual Link' is closed to the outside world."

Hu Da Nian scratched his head and said, "Madam and Little Cui provided your location. I figured it wouldn't be difficult to find you, so I set off… No, what are you doing here alone, looking at the moon in the middle of the night?"

Gu Shen gave a wry smile.

Obviously, Madam and Little Cui knew that he and Chu Ling were on a secret trip south.

So they didn't come to disturb them.

It was just… this idiot, Hu Da Nian, didn't know about it.

"Hey, wait a minute, something's strange."

Hu Da Nian glanced at the bench, saw a set of women's clothes, and then looked at Gu Shen with a strange expression. "You wouldn't..."

"Alas..."

Gu Shen sighed leisurely.

This was a real headache.

Explaining these clothes would be troublesome…

He reached out and gestured for Hu Da Nian to come closer, then flicked his finger and shot a wisp of Fiery Light into Hu Da Nian's brow.

Rather than explaining,

Gu Shen chose to directly use the Fiery Light to erase this "terrible" memory from Hu Da Nian's mind.

It was clean, efficient, and effective.

They had just met, hadn't even had time to exchange greetings, and he had already knocked him down. Gu Shen felt a little apologetic in his heart.

But… not very much.

After all, this wasn't the first time he had done this to Hu Da Nian.

"Brother Da Nian, you should just have a good sleep."

…

…

Flower Banner Building.

Gu Shen pushed open the door to the conference room on the top floor. As he expected, a small emergency meeting was being held here. All of his acquaintances were present: Lu Nan Zhi, Cui Zhong Cheng, and Chen San, the councilor of Nan Wan.

"Just you?"

Lu Nan Zhi looked at the unexpected guest, smiled, took a sip of coffee, and asked, "Didn't that girl Chu come with you?"

Of course she came… and she's watching you right now.

Gu Shen smiled, resisted the urge to say the first part of that sentence, and said softly, "She went back first."

"Actually, Headquarters didn't want to disturb your vacation."

Councilor Chen San looked at his watch with a sincere expression and said slowly, "Logically speaking… shouldn't you two be having a sweet vacation on the riverbank right now?"

"It would be very sweet if no one sent out the coordinates."

Gu Shen pulled out a chair and sat down, slowly turning it around, and said with a smile, "Little Cui, don't say that you accidentally let Hu Da Nian see the coordinates… you're probably the only one here who understands that idiot's personality."

At this moment, Councilor Chen San understood why Gu Shen had come to this building.

This was the result of Cui Zhong Cheng sending someone to "invite" him.

"Although the two councilors said they didn't want to disturb you, I personally feel that it's still necessary to disturb you. It's more appropriate for me to do this kind of thing."

Cui Zhong Cheng clasped his hands together and didn't deny his actions. Instead, he looked at the big screen and said calmly, "After all, the news that came back from North Continent this time is very likely related to your teacher..."

Gu Shen's expression became serious.

East Continent had now entered a brief period of stability. The two districts of Changye and Dadu both had extremely suitable "helmsmen." Under this situation, the things that Headquarters needed to notify him about were nothing more than two things.

Either something had happened to the Qingzhong Cemetery.

Or it involved his teacher in North Continent.

The super-large Calamity Zone at the Piyue City Fortress had been expanding for a full year. Over the past year, the North Continent Empress had chosen to tolerate the expansion of the Calamity Zone with great courage.

But unfortunately… no news of the teacher had come out of the Piyue City Calamity Zone.

"Fifteen days ago, a small team from the Investigation Corps set off from the Gubu Fortress."

Cui Zhong Cheng said slowly, "This team belongs to General White Lizard's command. Every member is an elite in the Investigation Corps. The name of this mission in the Deep Sea database is 'Maze Thirty-Eight'."

On the screen.

A region was magnified.

That was the map after the Gubu Fortress went north. The area outside the Giant Wall was almost a huge mist. It was an "unordered zone" swallowed by Transcendent Source Strength and covered by black holes.

Even the Deep Sea could not extend beyond the Giant Wall.

Over the years, humans could only gradually improve the map outside the Giant Wall through their own exploration… In this mist, a narrow curve meandered like a snake.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, staring at the map and memorizing it.

He noticed that the end of the map seemed to be a snow-capped mountain valley.

"The mission of this elite team is to explore the correct path to leave this canyon…" Cui Zhong Cheng said calmly, "However, the North Continent military has already determined that this mission has failed."

"Mission failed?"

Gu Shen frowned.

"After leaving the Giant Wall, the Deep Sea cannot provide assistance, but the North Continent military's Investigation Corps has an Sealed Artifact that can sense the 'state of life and death'... On the scheduled return date, the state of life of all the Transcendent members of this team changed to death."

Gu Shen understood what Cui Zhong Cheng meant.

The Deep Sea could not provide help. The information outside the Giant Wall needed to be brought back by the Transcendent team.

And each exploration might face a situation of "total loss."

Once everyone was wiped out.

Then the Investigation Corps within the Giant Wall would need to make adjustments.

"That Sealed Artifact is called the 'Book of Life and Death'."

At this moment, Gu Zhi, the gray-shirted old man who had been waiting quietly beside Councilor Chen San, suddenly spoke, "Every Transcendent who leaves the Giant Wall must register in the 'Book of Life and Death'. The so-called registration is to leave their own blood. Every Transcendent's spiritual imprint is unique. The 'Book of Life and Death' can form a sense with it… In theory, as long as the spiritual imprint is not erased, the Transcendent is still alive."

He had participated in the Giant Wall mission of the North Continent Investigation Corps.

And the injuries on his body were also sustained at that time.

"So… the erasure of these people's spiritual imprints is enough to prove their deaths."

Cui Zhong Cheng continued, "After the Book of Life and Death confirmed the deaths, the Deep Sea determined that the 'Maze Thirty-Eight' mission had completely failed. Just as the Investigation Corps was preparing to send the next team to carry out the 'Maze Thirty-Nine' mission… an accident happened."

A picture appeared on the screen.

It was a blurry picture sent back by the North Continent military.

A man covered in blood was lying on a stretcher… Gu Shen remembered the man's face. He was the captain of the six-person team.

"Hong Zhong, a spiritual Transcendent with the ability of 'Red Dice', Ninth Layer of the Deep Sea, and captain of the Seventh Elite Team of the Investigation Corps."

Lu Nan Zhi looked at the man on the screen and said calmly, "He has returned alive."

This was the accident.

Gu Shen fell silent.

Chu Ling, who had returned to the Zero Zero One spiritual space, also fell silent.

"This… is impossible."

Chu Ling thought for a long time and gave her answer, "Putting aside all the unreasonable points, just returning to the North Continent from the mission target point alone, fifteen days is not enough time at all."

Not to mention that this was a team that had encountered an accident.

"Don't be in a hurry to be surprised, because there's something even more incredible…"

Lu Nan Zhi said, "He insists that he saw an 'oasis', and he saw other survivors in the 'oasis'. As evidence, Hong Zhong handed over an item to the North Continent military."

"It was a piece of broken wood…"

On the screen, a piece of purple wood was continuously enlarged and magnified.

"Through trace analysis and aura detection… the preliminary calculation result of the Deep Sea is that this piece of wood has a 67% chance of being from Zhou Ji Ren's cane."

…

…

(ps: During the TAT Grand Recommendation, I really want to update more, but the outline of the new volume is more important. There will only be two chapters today. I will update more after I sort out the outline.)