Chapter 1018 Lucky or Unlucky

This fight was actually very important to Gu Shen.

After restraining his mental strength, he was also curious about what level his strength was at.

Shen Li was indeed a very good opponent.

Little Iron Man didn't use tricks when fighting. Just like his greatsword, he was straightforward and advanced bravely.

And to deal with this kind of powerful and fierce extraordinary, Gu Shen had a hundred ways to win. After all… even without Blazing Fire, he still had many treasures on him.

Nameless Iron Armor, Mental Ring, Ruler of Truth, including the Ghost Mask just acquired…

These items were all top-notch combat treasures that could have miraculous effects at critical moments.

Using Shen Li as a mirror, Gu Shen saw his current “shortcomings.”

In a real fistfight, he could probably only manage a 50-50 split with a strong attacking extraordinary of the same level.

But if it were Bai Xiu of the same level, he should be able to crush him without relying on the Thunder Realm Walker.

“Brother Gu…”

Shen Li rubbed his head and sat up, grimacing.

He said with a wry smile, “Why do I feel like you’ve become weaker? Is it just my imagination?”

This kid’s combat intuition was still very strong.

Gu Shen smiled and shook his head, saying seriously, “No, it’s actually that you’ve become stronger.”

This wasn't a comforting remark.

The Glutton of Iron is an extremely fierce ability. This type of ability often leads to the extraordinary's mental strength lagging behind their own source quality at the third stage.

In other words… the fiercer the physical body, the more likely it is to lead to mental breakdown.

And Shen Li's current spirit was extremely stable.

In its category, this was a rarity, placing him among the “strongest!”

Any extraordinary cultivation requires mental stability as a prerequisite… Otherwise, even if you cultivate to become the Underworld King, what’s the point? In the end, it’s still all in vain.

And the Da Que bestowed by Mr. Shan was a sealing item that perfectly matched the Glutton of Iron.

For top-level sealing items, the more stable the spirit, the stronger the power the sealing item can display!

This perfectly matched item… still had a lot of room for improvement in Shen Li’s hands, but now that he had just obtained it, he hadn’t had time to develop it yet.

“This sword… is not simple.”

Gu Shen handed the Da Que back and smiled, “I think after you fully master Da Que, you don’t need to challenge me anymore…”

“Ah?” Shen Li took the sword, slightly stunned.

“Go challenge Gong Zi!”

Gu Shen said seriously, “Trust me, at that time, you’ll have a great chance to beat that guy down… Isn’t it great to think about beating Gong Zi in the name of sparring?”

“…Tsk, tsk.”

Little Iron Man was already imagining the scene of stepping on Gong Zi.

“By the way, Brother Gu…”

Shen Li quickly shook his head.

He remembered something important and asked with a solemn expression, “Do you know why Mr. Shan values me so much?”

Gu Shen raised his eyebrows.

He naturally pretended not to know, playing with the mansion key in his palm, and hummed softly, “Hmm?”

“It’s because… of the Underworld King…”

Shen Li lowered his voice when he said this.

He looked at Gu Shen, and whether it was psychological or not, even with mental communication, he still felt a chill rising behind him when he said the words “Underworld King.”

It was said that that god was in the cemetery?

Could it be that even mental transmissions could be heard?

In any case… after careful consideration, Little Iron Man added the suffix of two extremely respectful words.

“… Lord.”

A faint smile flashed across Gu Shen’s eyes.

He coughed lightly.

Gu Shen restrained his expression and asked curiously with mental communication, “Underworld King?”

“Don’t call him by name! Something big will happen!”

Shen Li became anxious and glared, “You have to add two words as a suffix… It’s said that the Underworld King is very vengeful!”

“…”

Gu Shen’s smile was a little stiff.

“My teacher told me…” Shen Li was a little embarrassed, and said, “A few days ago, at the funeral, the Underworld King Lord left a wisp of divine thought… That’s why Mr. Shan favored me.”

Gu Shen had already guessed it.

That day, the other adjudicators didn’t notice the fluctuations of the Tinder’s spirit… but Shen Li’s teacher, the fourth adjudicator’s mental strength was very keen and should have captured the source of the anomaly.

Guessing it wasn’t a big deal.

Gu Shen hoped that he would be guessed… the more people who guessed, the better.

“Isn’t this a good thing?” he asked with a smile.

“Good… good my ass!”

Shen Li gritted his teeth, his face flushed red, and said, “My teacher and Mr. Shan now think I’m an ‘Underworld King Apostle.’ They’re giving me houses and sealing items. I have no choice but to accept them, but in reality, I haven’t even seen the Underworld King Lord… How would I know what he’s thinking?”

Gu Shen’s expression was subtle.

“I can’t tell these words to others… If Mr. Shan knows, I’m done!”

Shen Li vented his feelings and then took a long breath.

In any case—

This secret was finally told to the most trusted person.

Brother Gu was resourceful, maybe he could help think of a solution.

He looked at Gu Shen nervously and anxiously.

And what he saw was a pair of smiling eyes reflecting the Blazing Fire.

This look… was a little strange.

Every time he was about to gamble with Brother Gu, Brother Gu would look at him with this kind of look.

“Do you remember… you were unconscious for a while in the cemetery?”

Gu Shen opened his mouth unhurriedly.

Shen Li was stunned, and then slowly nodded, “Of course I remember… I saw Miss Chu and blocked an attack…”

Then, he passed out.

When he woke up, the Qingzhong battle was completely over.

He was probably the first extraordinary person in history to fall asleep and watch the battle of the gods.

“Is there a possibility that the Underworld King has already met you…”

Gu Shen said softly, “Just when you were unconscious?”

“You’re saying…”

Shen Li took a deep breath, his eyes lit up. He looked at Gu Shen in astonishment and surprise. If he remembered correctly, Brother Gu was also one of the lucky ones who witnessed the entire battle of the gods.

“I’m really an ‘Underworld King Apostle’… but, I was unconscious, so I don’t know?”

Little Iron Man touched his body.

He murmured, “That’s not right, where are the tokens, the badges, there’s nothing… The Underworld King Lord can’t be so stingy, right?”

“…”

Gu Shen was silent.

“Becoming an ‘Apostle’ is not as simple as you think… Within the Five Continents, every god’s apostle needs to undergo many trials.” Gu Shen sighed softly and asked, “Besides sleeping, what else did you do?”

“…That’s true.”

Shen Li coughed in embarrassment.

Immediately after.

He realized something was wrong.

“Wait… Brother Gu, how do you know about the Underworld King?” Shen Li was rarely smart for a moment.

The Underworld King summoned himself, whether it was a spiritual summons or using other methods… Gu Shen shouldn’t know.

Gu Shen was prepared for this question.

He smiled and stretched out a finger, pointing to his head.

“Smarty pants, you’re close to the truth, think about it again.”

Shen Li gritted his teeth, racking his brains.

Someone who could know the news of the gods… and know the inside story of the “apostles”…

A flash of inspiration in his mind.

Little Iron Man suddenly realized and exclaimed, “Brother Gu… so you…”

“Are also an ‘Underworld King Apostle’?”

Gu Shen silently gave a thumbs up and then motioned for Shen Li to be quiet.

“Although we don’t have emblems or tokens, we can’t be considered true ‘apostles.’” Gu Shen said solemnly, word by word, “But the news about the Underworld King selecting messengers must be kept secret.”

Shen Li nodded like a chicken pecking rice.

No wonder… after that day, the more he looked at Gu Shen, the more kind and pleasing he found him.

So it was because they were both “apostle candidates”?

“About the trials… does Brother Gu know?”

Shen Li blinked and asked.

Gu Shen shook his head, meaningfully saying, “How could it be so simple… Do you know why Mr. Shan gave you the Da Que, and why he gave you that mansion?”

Shen Li listened attentively.

“Twenty years ago, when the news of the Underworld King’s fall reached the Five Continents, Mr. Shan led people to empty the Underworld King’s mansion in Snow Forbidden City…”

Gu Shen briefly explained the past grievances between the two sides twenty years ago.

After listening, Shen Li truly understood.

No wonder…

No wonder!

Shen Li always felt that when Mr. Shan gave him the Da Que, the look in his eyes was five parts sincere apology, four parts fear and only one part appreciation for his talent.

“As far as I know, your first trial is not difficult. In that mansion, there is ‘Black Silver’ left by Mr. Shan, as well as some mundane items. As long as you take these things out and bring them back to the cemetery, you’ll have completed it.”

Gu Shen smiled, “Now, do you still think this key is not important?”

Shen Li’s expression was complicated.

He suddenly regretted handing the key to Gu Shen so casually in the previous bet.

“This item… I’ll return it to you.”

With a crisp sound.

The mansion key was thrown out, and Shen Li held it in both hands, looking a little at a loss.

Why… did he give it back to himself?

Gu Shen said seriously, “The bet about the key is also part of the trial. You shouldn’t have handed it over to me so easily… Ignorance is no excuse. In the future, you still need to be careful with items related to the ‘Underworld King’.”

Shen Li’s expression was extremely complicated.

His brain wasn’t very bright in the first place.

After listening to such a long secret about the Underworld King, he now only felt that he was an extremely lucky person.

“Brother Gu…”

Little Iron Man said sincerely, “I can’t thank you enough! Thank you!”

…

…

“The step of going to the mansion to take the Black Silver… can also be skipped in the original plan.”

After Shen Li left.

Gu Shen stood alone on the top of the cemetery mountain, blowing the cool mountain breeze.

He watched Little Iron Man running away from the cemetery in a frenzy, getting farther and farther away until he disappeared… he had to say that he felt a very wonderful feeling in his heart.

“Is it Shen Li’s luck or misfortune to know you?”

Chu Ling seriously asked such a question in 001.

Although it sounded like sarcasm.

But Gu Shen smiled.

“Actually, at the beginning, I didn’t think so much, I just wanted to use the name of the ‘Underworld King’ to beat the prison, and by the way, make Mr. Shan treat Shen Li better.” Gu Shen looked at the swirling clouds in the sky and said softly, “However, letting Shen Li become an ‘Apostle’ doesn’t seem like a bad choice. For him, having a backer is better than not having one.”

“It’s just… he will have to wait a long time before he can get the real ‘Apostle Emblem’.” Gu Shen asked, “Letting him run errands and fight for me in exchange for such an apostle identity shouldn’t be too much, right?”

“If there really is this opportunity, 99.999% of people will break their heads trying to grab it.”

Chu Ling said lightly, “But for some reason, I feel sorry for him.”

Maybe it was because Shen Li’s face was so innocent… too innocent.

He was completely kept in the dark.

“Are you going to be with him as an Underworld King Apostle all the time?” Chu Ling asked, “Letting the world know that a person is connected to the Underworld King… is not a good thing.”

This sentence sounded even more sarcastic.

Because Gu Shen himself was the Underworld King.

“Don’t worry, I thought about a way to get out before I said it.”

Gu Shen said calmly, “Shen Li knows that I am also an apostle candidate, but… a candidate doesn’t mean that he will definitely become an apostle. When I don’t need this identity, I will naturally be eliminated by the Underworld King. I believe in Shen Li, he will not actively tell the news about me, and even if the news of the Underworld King candidate is exposed, it will not affect me.”

As long as he didn’t go to Light City and didn’t contact the Light God… then no one could expose his connection with the Underworld King Tinder.

And what the rumored Underworld King said, did, and planned.

It was all just a matter of his own words.

Good things were done by Gu Shen.

Bad things were all blamed on the Underworld King.

Not long after.

Shen Li brought the Black Silver from the mansion back to the cemetery. Gu Shen returned to the inner cemetery, and with the weak guidance of the Underworld King Tinder, summoned the dark clouds, let Shen Li enter the cemetery, and then Chu Ling opened the array fog, leading him to put the Black Silver on the top of a small mountain.

There was no need to wait for the Battle God Territory to cover the Snow Forbidden City.

The things were already in hand.

After completing the mission, Shen Li was still waiting foolishly for the meeting with the Underworld King Lord…

However.

The Underworld King Lord didn’t seem to want to meet, the array fog closed, sending him out again.

Little Iron Man wanted to know if his first trial was over.

As for the second trial… when would he have to wait?

Everything was unsaid.

In a large fog, he felt that the Underworld King Lord seemed to say a word to him.

Realize.

Or… get lost.

So Shen Li entered the cemetery with a dazed expression and left the cemetery with a confused expression.

Gu Shen stood on the top of the mountain, holding the sealed box of Black Silver, and didn’t show up again, just silently watching Shen Li leave the cemetery.

Visibly, when he left, Little Iron Man’s back was a little straighter… this should be the confidence given by the “Underworld King”, right?

Hmm…

He couldn’t let him know the truth even more.

Gu Shen opened the box, cans of sealed Black Silver, lying in the box. This was the highest quality “mithril” known within the Five Continents, and also the most powerful containment material.

His fingers brushed over the surface of the can, and he smiled slightly.

“Deceive.”

Chu Ling, who had been silent for a long time, came up with such a word.

It was very vivid to describe Gu Shen at the moment.

Gu Shen smiled, “Deception is shameful… but it’s really useful.”