Chapter 1 A Glimmer of Fire

A strand of blazing firelight illuminated the darkness in the heart of the snowfield.

The giant wall shattered.

Mythril cascaded down like a waterfall, and tens of thousands of tons of crimson silver crystals spread around like scarlet waves after the impact.

More than three hundred people looked up at this magnificent scene.

The ancient coffin, suspended high on the back of the giant wall, fell amidst the earth-shattering rumble, riding the giant wave.

"Boom—"

A loud noise.

They found they were no longer in darkness.

Instead, they had arrived in a vast wilderness.

Countless blades of grass flowed in the wind, and the air was filled with the smell of iron rust... They raised their heads, they looked up, and they saw a huge throne.

……

……

This was not actually a complicated matter.

A mental supernatural being only needed to complete the trial on the third level of the Deep Sea Zone to be able to skillfully master the basic technique of "grand hypnosis"... In fact, the use of supernatural abilities was never complicated, like firing a gun.

Pull the trigger to fire.

Simple things are often difficult.

Firing a gun isn't hard, but hitting a fly from a kilometer away is very hard.

And perfectly executing an ability... is even harder than that.

The initial scan, including Owl, showed a total of three hundred and twenty-four people in the base.

Two hundred and seventy-nine ordinary people, forty-six supernatural beings... including thirty-four first-stage supernatural beings.

And the "target" of Gu Shen's released blazing fire was these two hundred and seventy-nine ordinary people and the thirty-four first-stage supernatural beings!

This was the greatest advantage of mental ability users.

In a situation of overwhelming "strength," the mental system could take on multiple opponents... The specific number depended on the individual.

And the "grand hypnosis" on the third level of the Deep Sea Zone had an easy trial target.

As long as you pulled ten people into a dream at the same time... it was considered a successful grand hypnosis.

And this time... Gu Shen's "blazing fire" hypnotized a full three hundred and fifteen people!

The entire target population entered the dream!

In addition... those second-stage, early-level supernatural beings whose mental strength wasn't strong enough and whose willpower wasn't firm enough were also dragged into the dream of the Four Seasons Wilderness by the "blazing fire."

……

……

Tie Wu stopped hoeing and climbed out of the muddy pit.

He put his hands on his hips and looked at the hazy sky in the distance.

"Lord Godseat has invited guests again..."

The former apostle of the Source Tower narrowed his eyes, vaguely sensing something was wrong...

No.

Not guests.

This time, hundreds of people had entered the "dream world."

"Has an area been released in one breath?" Tie Wu's heart skipped a beat. He realized something must have happened outside, and the Lord Godseat above the sky slowly raised a hand and clenched it into a fist.

The sound of tearing rang out across the wilderness.

The sound was very crisp, like tearing silk.

But in this pure land... what Gu Shen was tearing was pure spirit.

Tie Wu's eyes widened.

He vaguely felt a cold wind blowing across his back, a chilly feeling... All along, an iron curtain had stretched across the distant sky, completely isolating him.

Whenever the Godseat came to this wilderness, the "guests" he brought would always be taken to the other side of the iron curtain.

Tie Wu had always been curious about what the scene was like on the other side of the iron curtain.

But at this moment.

He was no longer curious, and had completely lost the desire to explore.

He knew... what it meant to have one's spirit torn apart in this world.

A scorching evening wind blew past.

The clouds in the sky burned like fire.

That was... the color of blood.

……

……

Flying red fire, intertwined with falling hot blood.

Crimson silver spilled onto the ground.

Coupled with this scene, it really looked like a scarlet waterfall, falling heavily and splashing into one red sea after another.

Gu Shen stood on the ancient coffin, the arc of light from the Ruler of Truth being rendered red at this moment. He held up two fingers, expressionless, carrying the ancient coffin on his back with the Ruler of Truth, like riding a small boat, flying across the sea of blood and crimson silver.

He showed no mercy to these "Evening Bell Church" believers.

After seeing what was in that sack... Gu Shen wasn't planning on letting these people leave.

Gu Shen didn't hold back at all!

This "grand hypnosis" was his first move since practicing the Breath of Spring!

He tried his best to encompass everyone within the range of the blazing fire... and then destroyed all these spirits!

It wasn't to test how far his current strength had reached.

Rather, he had no choice!

If the Evening Bell Church was truly backed by the "Storm Godseat," then he had no ability to save these innocents. These people had already become fanatical believers under the church's hypnosis.

If he didn't kill... the next counterattack would be extremely brutal.

It was either you die or I die.

This sudden attack dealt a devastating blow to the entire underground base of the Evening Bell Church.

Unfortunately.

There were still a few people who hadn't been dragged into the dream by the "blazing fire."

At this time, the importance of the previous "assassination" became apparent.

"There are seven left..."

The green-robed female hypnotist had strong enough mental power to resist entering the dream.

There was still one person left in the tomb team.

The remaining five were in the base control room... These were the real controllers, and they had never expected the secret base to be greeted with such a terrifying "assassination"!

And at this moment, these seven truly powerful supernatural beings were all alarmed!

Seven powerful mental forces all swept towards Gu Shen. Gu Shen's expression changed slightly. At this moment, he could no longer hide his figure, but the previous kill had bought him enough of a head start!

The giant wall shattered, and red waves surged!

The members of the Evening Bell Church in the base were swept away by the crimson silver waves from the collapsing giant wall, their bodies shattering like stone statues.

Gu Shen stepped on the coffin and rushed quickly out of the base!

The next moment.

An extremely dangerous premonition emerged from the blazing fire between his eyebrows!

Gu Shen turned around abruptly.

A silver-white cold light appeared in front of him. The moment he turned around, the cold light occupied his entire field of vision.

"It's that third-stage supernatural being!"

Gu Shen's eyelids twitched fiercely, feeling the power of that cold light.

It was a small sword!

The tip of the sword was surrounded by faint thunder and vibration. It burst out from the control room at the end of the base, shattering the glass, instantly traversing hundreds of meters and stabbing fiercely towards his chest!

Gu Shen fully activated the Iron Throne. Wherever the coffin passed, countless pieces of iron flew over and gathered in front of his chest... Iron chairs, iron tables, iron shackles, iron torture instruments, all shattered at this moment, retaining only the most basic "elements"!

One piece of iron after another was "recast" into iron shields of varying thicknesses.

However, a terrifying thing happened... Before the tip of the small sword even struck the "iron shield," these iron objects all melted away, unable to even play the role of dissolving sharpness!

"Very strong... very, very strong!"

Gu Shen's pupils contracted.

The tip of that small sword seemed to contain an incredible power.

That was... a domain!

Third-stage supernatural beings had already begun to comprehend the external derivatives of supernatural abilities, namely "supernatural domains."

At the tip of that small sword, there was a very small strand of space, possibly only the size of a fingernail, maybe even smaller... but this space was his domain!

Different from mental domains like the Four Seasons Wilderness.

This was a tangible domain that could be directly released in the material world!

The existence of "domain" created a huge gap between second-stage and third-stage supernatural beings!

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh—"

In just a few seconds, dozens of pieces of iron flew and gathered in front of Gu Shen, but in an instant, the small sword pierced through them all. The iron elements were hollowed out from the middle, and no matter how the Iron Throne manipulated them, they could not flow back and fill the "empty domain" in the middle!

The flying speed of that small sword was not affected in the slightest.

The whole process was extremely smooth, like flowing clouds and flowing water.

Draw the sword.

Shatter the "iron shield"!

Pierce Gu Shen's "heart"!

However, the Evening Bell Church leader standing in the control room, controlling the small sword, frowned. There was no crisp sound of flesh exploding as he had imagined, but a long, harsh, dull sound!

This sword struck Gu Shen!

But it erupted with a trembling sound like striking a great bell.

……

……

Dozens of iron shields were shattered in an instant!

Gu Shen took a deep breath, preparing for a desperate fight. He gripped the Ruler of Truth, mobilized the Breath of Spring, and adjusted his whole body to the extreme, preparing to take this domain sword head-on!

This sword was aimed at his chest!

In just an instant, the Evening Bell Church robe on the outermost layer was torn to shreds by the sword energy of the small sword.

And it was at this moment.

Gu Shen noticed something was wrong...

Although he felt a little qi stagnation!

The "dangerous meaning" in the blazing fire between his eyebrows had actually dissipated a little!

Gu Shen's expression changed abruptly. He lowered his head and glanced at the tomb owner's burial item he was wearing.

It was an iron garment!

A bold idea emerged... He glanced back at the direction of the base exit, and decided to take a gamble!

Gu Shen opened his arms, made no defense, and used his flesh to meet this sword!

With a "dong"!

A huge force came, weighing a thousand pounds. The most terrifying thing was that... the small sword was too sharp, so all the power was concentrated at one point and burst out suddenly.

This was originally a killing force that could directly pierce through a person!

But it was like striking a bell!

Gu Shen and the ancient coffin were knocked backwards in an instant, their speed soaring. In just an instant, they arrived at the entrance of the snowfield base. At the last moment, Chu Ling raised the alloy heavy door in time, so this person and coffin... just sped away and flew out of the snowfield base!

The Evening Bell Church leader standing in the control room had a gloomy face that could almost drip water.

The small sword seal flew back into his palm.

At the last moment, the small sword had struck the target... but that guy seemed to have a very sturdy "seal" on his body. Not only did this attack not work, but it sent the other party on his way!

He lowered his head, his expression extremely ugly... The tip of his small sword was broken!

What kind of seal was that?

To be so hard!

"Mr. Zhuo!"

Two survivors of the tomb team rushed over. The green-robed hypnotist dragged the headless body of the team captain, her expression blank and at a loss...

"Jie Ding is dead..."

The Evening Bell Church leader stared at the headless corpse and clenched his fists silently.

Everything happened so fast!

From the shattering of the giant wall to the breaking of the dream, it only took a few seconds!

He hadn't even seen the other party's face clearly, only vaguely glimpsed his figure... It seemed to be a teenager!

As for strength... it should only be at the second stage!

What kind of lunatic was this, daring to plan such a crazy action alone?

"He hasn't run far. Immediately use the 'Storm Foil' to seal off the three nearby mountains... We must not let him run away."

Mr. Zhuo took a deep breath and said coldly, "Before those damned East Continent people notice anything unusual, take him down... Today, either he dies, or we die!"

……

……

The snow was vast and boundless.

Everything was white.

At the foot of the snow mountain, Gu Shen hid his entire body under a huge protruding rock. He tried hard to calm his breathing, and then slowly took off the iron garment.

The iron garment was undamaged.

His skin only had a red mark left.

It seemed... his idea was correct. The things in this ancient coffin were similar to the Lamp of Sorrow. They looked inconspicuous, but in reality, they had great origins.

This iron garment could reduce a great deal of impact.

Although some power still penetrated, it only caused minor injuries that would heal soon.

You had to know, this was a pure object.

Like the Lamp of Sorrow, it couldn't be considered a seal!

If it also had a corresponding "spirit"... how strong would it be after completion?

The first thing Gu Shen did after escaping was to bury the ancient coffin deep in the snow at the foot of the snow mountain.

This was a natural place to "hide the coffin." It wouldn't be easy to find the coffin again... Even if he used mental power, he would need to plow the ground three feet deep and turn the place upside down!

"One bad news... the signal is blocked."

Chu Ling's voice was a little worried: "The 'signal' here is very poor. It's not a coincidence, but a necessity. They should have inscribed transcendent runes in the nearby area, long prepared for similar situations."

"...Mm."

Gu Shen sat cross-legged, running the Breath of Spring. Every second was important to him now.

The "killing spree" in the tomb had consumed a lot of his mental power!

To hypnotize more than three hundred people in an instant and erase their spirits at the same time... To be able to accomplish this was already considered a "miracle."

"The good news is that we escaped from the Evening Bell Church's base." Gu Shen said softly, "If they had reacted faster, I might have paid a greater price... These guys are blocking the snow mountain. It looks like they want to fight me to the death?"

The disciples of the Southern Continent traveled thousands of miles just to steal this ancient coffin.

Now it had been taken away by Gu Shen first!

Without looking, Gu Shen could imagine the expression on that leader's face at this moment.

"The snow mountain signal is blocked to prevent you from calling for help. These people didn't chase out immediately. I'm afraid they have the means to control the surroundings... Now this place has become a closed cage." Chu Ling's voice was solemn: "They want to hunt you."

"The nearest Gu family garrison is about forty miles away." She asked seriously: "Do you need me to notify them directly with Deep Sea authority?"

"No..."

Gu Shen still shook his head.

He took out the Avalokiteśvara bullet and hung the red rope around his neck, "It's not easy to encounter such an opportunity... I want to try..."

The crisis between life and death made Gu Shen's blood boil completely.

But his thinking was still calm.

He understood what he was doing.

"The snowfield is different from the tomb. This snowfield is too big... Even if it's blocked, it's still very big."

Gu Shen rubbed his cheeks and said slowly, "You're right, this place is blocked... It's indeed a cage, but not my cage, but theirs."

Chu Ling was stunned.

Sometimes, she felt that she didn't understand Gu Shen that well.

No.

She should say that she didn't understand humans that well.

The blood flowing in human bones was always eager for stimulation and challenges.

Pure spirit that transcended the flesh was difficult to understand the "pleasure" that humans could enjoy at the moment of life and death.

"So..."

Chu Ling's voice was complicated, "You want to... hunt them in reverse?"

"Delivered heads." Gu Shen said softly, "I'm just accepting them with a smile."

……

……

The search on the snowfield lasted for several hours.

After the Storm Foil was activated, the three snow mountains within a ten-mile radius were completely blocked... The continuous winds formed a wind wall. If anyone tried to touch it, the Storm Foil would immediately lock the position.

To prevent the accidental "assassination" from happening again, the search team was divided into three groups. Mr. Zhuo was alone, and the other six transcendent beings were divided into two groups of three... Each team searched one snow mountain.

Logically speaking, as long as that young man was still within the Storm Foil array, they would be able to find him soon!

However, strangely.

Until night fell.

The Evening Bell Church's search had no effect.

The green-robed female hypnotist, wearing a green robe, stood at the foot of the mountain. She had searched for the third time, but still had no results. At this moment, her expression was a little lost.

"Mr. Zhuo... I still have no results here..."

The green-robed hypnotist lowered her voice and spoke into the silver foil in front of her robe. After completely shielding the Deep Sea signal, their team's communication needed to rely on this small silver foil.

This was a gift from the great Lord Storm!

It contained incredible power... Although this strand of power could only allow them to transmit a small wisp of spirit, it could ignore space and cross anywhere at any time.

For the Evening Bell Church, this small silver foil was a "miracle"!

"……"

Mr. Zhuo was silent for a moment and gave a very simple reply.

"Search again."

The other team also found nothing.

Everyone was confused... Where exactly was this mad young man hiding? Could he be hiding in the snow?

Standing on the top of the mountain, Mr. Zhuo looked out at the dark night sky in the distance.

He fell into deep thought.

Recalling the "blood collapse" scene in the base, he always felt that something was wrong.

"This guy's mental power is stronger than mine."

The voice of the green-robed hypnotist came from the silver foil.

She seemed to have hesitated for a long time before deciding to say this: "In the tomb, I didn't notice at all... that there was such a person in the ancient coffin, until he took action and killed Captain Jie Ding!"

The voice was faintly trembling.

Mr. Zhuo heard that it was fear.

He said calmly: "So..."

"If he doesn't actively touch the 'Storm', but instead restrains all his spirit and pretends to be dead... It's useless for us to search with mental power." The green-robed woman gritted her teeth and said, "We must search the snow inch by inch."

"Then search the snow inch by inch."

Mr. Zhuo said expressionlessly, "Are you afraid?"

"What if he... doesn't want to run at all..."

The green-robed woman said in a low voice: "I'm not afraid. I'm willing to dedicate everything to the Evening Bell, but in the tomb, my 'pocket watch' glimpsed a wisp of his spirit... I saw a huge throne."

Mr. Zhuo was a little confused.

"Throne?"

The other team also sent a confused voice.

"Yes... I always felt... that it was a throne like the 'Storm' Lord..."

The green-robed woman's voice was trembling. She murmured: "Although it sounds like blasphemy against Lord Storm... but I swear by the 'heart' of a disciple... this is what I saw..."

"Enough!"

Mr. Zhuo snorted with a gloomy expression.

The search teams on the two snow mountains fell into silence.

He finally understood what he vaguely felt was wrong... that young man was clearly only at the second stage.

To be more precise, he should be at the fifth level of the Deep Sea Zone!

Because from the hypnosis results, all the transcendent beings with the mental strength of the fifth level of the Deep Sea Zone survived. His strength should be just that much!

But even such a "weak" person actually pulled so many people into the dream in an instant...

Did he have his own "spiritual domain"? !

Such hypnosis could never be performed by someone at the fifth level of the Deep Sea Zone!

Take ten thousand steps back.

If that young man was really just at the fifth level of the Deep Sea Zone... then how monstrous would he have to be to be able to instantly assassinate Jie Ding? This was the number two figure in the base, the real number two figure!

Apart from Mr. Zhuo himself, no one could defeat him one-on-one!

But the paradox was.

If that young man was so powerful, how could he be forced into such a difficult situation by his "sword"?

This young man... was clearly not an opponent of a third-stage transcendent being.

But when facing second-stage enemies, the killing power he showed... was even more terrifying than some third-stage transcendent beings who had mastered the domain!

"Just an ant, how can he be compared with Lord Storm?"

Mr. Zhuo said coldly, "He must be here... He dares to steal the Church's things. Even if we scrape the ground three feet deep, we have to find this lunatic!"

As soon as his voice fell.

A shrill scream came from the other side of the silver foil.

The silence of the snowy night was broken.

Not far away on the top of the mountain, bright flames burned in the wind and snow.

It was as if someone had set off a high firework.

That firework soared into the sky!

Penetrating layers of thick fog, layers of snow curtains—

With a "pop".

It exploded.

Scorching blood rolled in the air and instantly froze into ice.

Then came the second "firework".

"Pop!"

Then came the third.

In just a dozen seconds, the distant snow mountain returned to silence.

A deathly silence.