That strike of the blade unleashed countless arcs of electricity in the void!

In an instant!

The war blade shattered the protective barrier in front of Duke Zhenyue's robe!

The next moment, the iron edge was upon Meng Xiao's shoulder!

"Kacha-cha—"

Blinding light flared.

Gu Shen's pupils constricted.

The "nameless iron" dug from beneath the tundra snow mountain was indestructible. In past battles, once the opportunity arose and it struck the opponent, it was sure to draw blood!

This was Gu Shen's first failure.

This strike landed on Meng Xiao's shoulder, on the Zhenyue Robe, yet failed to break it!

Blinding light splashed, and arcs of light shattered.

Gu Shen struck all the way down, the blow sudden and the killing intent fierce. The iron edge, in a chopping motion, directly pressed Meng Xiao into the snow mountain. However, the black snow churned, and the Duke Zhenyue, standing in the crater, only looked slightly gloomy and did not immediately retaliate.

He looked up at Gu Shen, a cold smile on his lips, "Is that all you've got?"

Gu Shen's eyes were cold.

The war blade pressed all the way down, followed by a "draw"!

"Whirr-whirr-whirr!"

The iron edge scraped against the robe at the shoulder, like scaling a fish, vibrating with dense, ear-piercingly sharp sounds. Returning to block was the first strike, drawing the blade was the second... but both moves were perfectly defused, unable to break the Zhenyue Robe's defense!

What material was this robe woven from, that it was so tough?

Finding his attacks ineffective, Gu Shen instantly retreated.

After retreating dozens of meters, a slight tremor suddenly ran through the snow beneath his feet!

A soft "chi" sound.

From the depths of the snow, a strand of extremely narrow, extremely solidified dim light burst forth!

It was the "dark light" previously laid down by Duke Zhenyue!

This strand of dark light was too fast!

Like a venomous snake!

Gu Shen spun his blade, a cold light flying out in a fan shape, trying to cut it apart, but he was a split second too late. The strand of dark light had been lurking in the snow for too long, waiting for this moment. It shot out directly, piercing his calf. As it emerged, it brought a bright splash of blood into the air.

"Mmm..."

Gu Shen let out a muffled groan.

Within this strand of dark light was also a wisp of Meng Xiao's "spirit"!

In the flesh pierced in his calf, a blessing of light fire from Light City instantly ignited... This was an attempt to burn and sting his soul through his flesh!

Gu Shen crouched down, pressing his palm against the wound, and blazing fire instantly swept out from his palm!

Fire against fire!

The spirit of the blazing fire spread through his blood, extinguishing the light of blessing before it could fully ignite!

This scene was seen by Meng Xiao, standing in the crater.

The Duke Zhenyue raised an eyebrow and slowly floated up. He calmly scrutinized Gu Shen, giving a faint affirmation like a superior, "Worthy of being an 'S-level'… Your flame is interesting. It can not only resist the 'nightmare' of Black Snow Mountain, but even forcibly extinguish my power of blessing."

"It's a pity... you can't escape from here."

Meng Xiao stretched out his palm, and countless strands of dark light slowly rose from the distance. These dark lights, he had laid down at some unknown time, and now they swept to the horizon at the edge of Black Snow Mountain, like a giant net woven together.

Now, the net composed of dark light from all directions slowly contracted, as if to "capture" Gu Shen!

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

He slowly stood up. The piercing wound in his calf only throbbed faintly and was not a hindrance... Now, although he had not yet begun to merge with the "Nether King Fire Seed," he could already use the power of the Pure Land. This kind of minor injury would heal on its own before long.

In a few seconds, the flesh of his calf had already scabbed over after being burned by the blazing fire.

The sealed item robe on Meng Xiao's body was a little beyond his imagination... It seemed to be a near-perfect "defense type sealed item." He had used all his strength with the Truth Iron Edge, but still couldn't break its defense!

This battle was indeed too difficult.

So far, he didn't even know what this guy's abilities were!

[“Friendly reminder, I’m always here.”]

A leisurely, relaxed voice echoed in his mind.

The devil sat cross-legged on the throne, propped his chin on his elbow as he watched the good show outside, and yawned, "Killing him isn't easy, but escaping isn't difficult... This isn't a big deal. I'll lend you a little bit of power, and you should be able to do it. How about it, want to give it a try? The price is that I get to control your body for thirty seconds."

"If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."

Gu Shen rejected him mercilessly.

The devil's utterance gave him some confidence... If the situation was truly critical, this guy wouldn't be so calm.

The net contracted further.

The calmer Gu Shen became. He stood in the snow, just looking up at the dazzling figure suspended in the air like a "blazing sun." In the earlier exchange, Meng Xiao seemed to have deliberately kept himself in the active position... He was clearly the stronger one, but he hadn't activated his fourth-order domain or abilities. He had only relied on a "Zhenyue Robe" to put him in a very difficult position.

Why was he doing this?

Gu Shen could only think of one reason.

Meng Xiao wanted to see his "strength."

Or rather... Meng Xiao wanted to force out his trump cards.

To outsiders, the biggest trump card Gu Shen held in this trip to the Dolu River Disaster Zone was undoubtedly... the "Fighting God Throne" far away in East Continent, guarding Changye!

Changye had just experienced the Mausoleum upheaval!

The Wine God Throne had fallen, the Fighting God Throne's Fire Seed had changed hands, and Bai Shu had become the true meaning of Changye's invincible being, the second Gu Changzhi... Presumably, the other God Thrones of the Five Continents were extremely curious about the strength of this "newly appointed God Throne."

The first thing Bai Shu did was spread his divine domain.

He pulled Changye into his divine domain!

From then on, East Continent's Changye, like North Continent's Central City, Central Continent's Source Tower, West Continent's Light City, and South Continent's Holy City... became an unknowable "God-blessed Land" to the Deep Sea. The purpose of doing so was very simple: to prevent the prying eyes of God Thrones from other continents!

As long as he went into closed-door cultivation.

The God Thrones of other continents would not be able to detect the strength of the newly appointed Fighting God Throne.

But... Bai Shu always had "people he cared about."

Then, in the eyes of outsiders, he was likely one of them. He was the number one contributor to the Changye Mausoleum upheaval. This trip to the north would most likely yield something like a "blessing"!

Thinking of this.

Gu Shen's mind automatically deduced the scene that might happen next... The golden headband on his forehead was constantly struggling. Although it was a "disconnected zone," the God Throne should still be watching this world.

Once he had exhausted all his means and still fell behind.

The golden headband might loosen.

If the Fighting God Throne lent out a wisp of power.

Then... Meng Xiao might summon the divine power in the "Light Blessing."

But there was one thing he didn't understand.

What was the position of that Light God Throne?

Before encountering Meng Xiao, Gu Shen had always thought that Light City was East Continent's partner, that the Light God Throne was Gu Changzhi's teacher, and had even given the Apostle Relic to Song Ci of the Dadu District... No matter how he looked at it, it wouldn't make sense to use such a method to draw out the "Fighting."

At this moment, Gu Shen realized that things might not be as simple as he thought.

Wait a minute...

Perhaps, it wasn't just to draw out the Fighting?

Behind him, there was a second big trump card.

Her Majesty the Empress.

If he really triggered something like a "God Descent" and the scene became uncontrollable, then Her Majesty the Empress would also descend...

The clues stopped here.

Gu Shen didn't have enough information. However, he had a faint intuition in his heart.

It was the feedback that "Blazing Fire" gave him in the mental sea—

He must not let the situation go as Meng Xiao wished... rising to the level of God Descent. If the three Gods arrived, his biggest secret might be exposed.

Even if the Light God Throne could only briefly appear through "blessing," it was hard to predict what kind of power he could unleash.

The net woven from dark light had shrunk to a radius of a hundred meters.

Gu Shen took a deep breath and made a decision.

The several paths of struggle he had planned in his mind were all abandoned at this moment.

His spirit was immersed in the Truth Ruler at this moment!

…

…

The time outside continued.

But in the Ruler, the flow of time became "slow."

The time flow was ten to one.

But this time, it was different from being in the storm of the [Old World]. The net of dark light would take about ten seconds to shrink and reach Gu Shen's feet... And the devil on the throne was still leisurely and calm.

He had even conjured a stemmed glass from somewhere.

The stemmed glass was filled with a swirling crimson liquid, which looked more like blood than wine.

"Not in the [Old World]... you're much more confident."

Although he only had a hundred seconds at most here, after Gu Shen came to the Ruler space, he couldn't help but mock the devil, who was so well-prepared.

Of course, he knew the devil's calculations.

The Dolu River Disaster Zone was still inside the Great Wall. As long as it wasn't in the [Old World], the devil's biggest fear wouldn't happen.

The North Continent military was bound to scavenge the entire disaster zone.

Theoretically, even if the Ruler was lost, it would eventually be found one day... But Gu Shen felt that the reason this guy was so calm had other reasons.

"Okay, I won't use the reason of 'throwing the Ruler into the Dolu River' to threaten you." Gu Shen said calmly, "Because you don't seem to be afraid of that happening."

A test?

The devil swirled the wine glass, smiled slightly, and remained noncommittal.

He showed no sign of avoiding this test.

It wasn't just that he wasn't afraid.

Gu Shen even saw "anticipation" in its eyes.

"Look, I've already prepared the 'wine' to celebrate the official start of our first transaction. Because I know you'll come to me sooner or later."

The figure on the throne chuckled softly, "Gu Shen, don't resist 'transactions'... It might not be as bad as you think."

"Is that so?"

Gu Shen said expressionlessly, getting straight to the point, "I do want to make a deal with you, but do you know what I want to trade?"

The devil laughed heartily, "Isn't it just killing Meng Xiao? It's not simple, but it's not that difficult either."

"No."

Gu Shen shook his head.

He stretched out two fingers, rubbed them slowly, and said faintly, "It's a pity, maybe you prepared your wine too early today. This is indeed our first official transaction, but the bargaining chip is small, very small, so small... that it's not worth celebrating deliberately."