Chapter 178 Dusk

Gu Shen pushed open the door of the Hengsha Tavern.

"Everything resolved?"

Lu Nanjin, hugging her blade, leaned against the doorway. She didn't watch how Gu Shen dealt with the Long Lasting Foundation's followers, but scanned the holographic glasses' map, concerned about the next task. "The next location is Dongyu Street."

"Mm."

Gu Shen nodded. After the Special Investigation Team's mission concluded, the Tribunal, in conjunction with the other two divisions, concentrated their manpower in the Dadu district and began clearing out the followers of the Long Lasting Foundation.

Deep Sea blocked the suspects' communications with each other, minimizing the possibility of "alerting the snake."

At this rate... the Long Lasting Foundation could be dismantled by ninety percent in half a month.

Handling these cases was beneficial to Gu Shen's cultivation. Relying solely on the Jingzhe Breathing Technique, his mental strength had reached a "bottleneck." To improve his combat power, the best and fastest way... was through combat.

The average strength of the Long Lasting Foundation's followers wasn't high. Most were just ordinary people, and even those with extraordinary abilities rarely exceeded the third layer... But because of the fearlessness of death ingrained in their mental imprints, every encounter required vigilance. For Gu Shen, this was an excellent "practice opportunity."

...

...

Unknowingly, it was nearly dusk.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled across the streets of Dadu.

In one afternoon, seven cases were handled. Gu Shen resolved five battles alone. The strongest extraordinary being he killed was an offensive type whose strength was estimated to have reached the fourth layer of Deep Sea.

With his Shijie covering his rear... these battles didn't bring any sense of pressure to Gu Shen.

However, these battles ended quickly. Even the fourth-layer offensive type was dealt with swiftly. Gu Shen used Blazing Fire, preemptively striking and crashing into the opponent's mental ocean, instantly shattering the guy's soul.

If there wasn't really no other way, who would want to fight for three days and three nights?

"Are you sure... you've only reached the third layer in Deep Sea?"

Lu Nanjin looked at her little Shidi, her expression becoming somewhat strange. In her memory, Gu Shen was still a weakling without the strength to truss a chicken. When they were in Da Teng City, he had no combat power to speak of.

How long had it been since they arrived in Dadu?

Reaching the third layer of Deep Sea was already an incredible thing.

Judging from the exhibited combat power... Gu Shen's Blazing Fire could definitely contend with a fifth-layer extraordinary being, and having watched a few battles, Lu Nanjin genuinely believed that Gu Shen's mental attack was a very troublesome thing.

If one were to be attacked by Blazing Fire without warning, ninety percent of extraordinary beings could only rely on their own mental strength to resist.

Gu Shen's mental strength was too solid.

Without a mental defense type Sealed Item, it was easy to fall victim... And in dreams, his strength was far more than just the third layer.

Was this... an "S-class"?

"Yes... I'm still exploring 'Grand Hypnosis'."

Gu Shen smiled modestly.

The opponents he encountered today could only be described as ordinary, at least compared to Shi Li from Yuandan Street.

But he felt the battles were easy partly because Blazing Fire had grown stronger. After completely digesting Qu Shui and absorbing a portion of the extraordinary Source Quality, Gu Shen felt that if he were to fight Shi Li again, he wouldn't need to use the Pointer to kill him.

Blazing Fire was like a part of his own body.

Gu Shen felt that he was still in the stage of "controlling" the ability... like an infant first learning to master their body, able to do what they intended. When he could direct Blazing Fire wherever he wanted, then he would be able to say he had completely "tamed" the ability, and at least wouldn't have a situation like last time where Blazing Fire went out of control.

"Teacher instructed me to carry out missions with you these next few days, to take care of you..." Lu Nanjin affirmed. "In fact, you can completely handle this level of mission alone. I don't have a chance to draw my blade."

"Perhaps the Long Lasting Foundation has hidden high-level extraordinary beings."

Gu Shen said seriously, "But... I'd like to try it out."

"If you encounter someone within the fifth layer of Deep Sea... you can gain a great advantage with a preemptive strike." Lu Nanjin said, "But encountering a sixth-layer extraordinary being... is a different matter. Even with a surprise attack, it's unlikely that your mental strength can break through their defenses."

"The Deep Sea trials... have several obviously strange gradients."

"The first three layers of trials are basically the same for the three major systems of extraordinary beings. Deep Sea, based on calculations, provides basic simulations of how the three major systems of extraordinary beings use their abilities... like the mental system's profiling, Minor Hypnosis, Grand Hypnosis. You can understand it as any mental system ability definitely possessing these abilities."

"After the third layer, different extraordinary abilities begin to develop their own 'characteristics'... this is the first gradient." Speaking of this, Lu Nanjin's expression became a little complicated. She slowly said, "Logically speaking, a third-layer extraordinary being could never be an opponent of a fourth-layer, but your Blazing Fire is too special. It has already condensed its own form and revealed a source containing traits."

Source!

Gu Shen had heard this word before.

"The first to third layers of the Deep Sea trials are known as the 'basic state,' the so-called first stage. And the second stage, the fourth to sixth layers of the trials, is the evolution of the extraordinary ability's 'second state.' Generally, in the fourth layer Deep Sea trial, extraordinary beings will try to summon their ability's source, materialize it, and maintain it."

Gu Shen nodded thoughtfully, then his expression suddenly solidified, becoming strange.

Wait...

The fourth layer of the Deep Sea trial is materializing the ability?

That was his Deep Sea first layer trial... At the time, he had tried his best to condense Blazing Fire from his mind, feeling emotional, thinking the road ahead was long and cultivation was difficult.

But he never thought that this was the trial content arranged for the fourth layer?

"By analogy, the seventh to ninth layers are the 'third state,' and the tenth to twelfth layers are the 'final state.' The ability has been fully developed. But this doesn't mean that the exploration of the extraordinary being's power ends there." Lu Nanjin said, "I'm currently still exploring the 'third state,' so I don't know about the scenery after the twelfth layer. If you want to know, you can ask Teacher."

After the conversation in the courtyard, Gu Shen roughly understood Zhou Jiren's arrangements for him.

This Grand Arbiter's method of educating his disciples... was very unique. He would suppress the disciple's cultivation, requiring the disciple to go as slowly as possible in terms of mentality and Deep Sea trial progress, but in reality, this cultivation method was the best for improving combat power.

The Five Continents' Extraordinary Lineage Chart was still being updated.

Humanity's exploration of extraordinary power might just be the tip of the iceberg... Relying on Deep Sea or relying on others couldn't make one a true expert.

To put it bluntly.

Deep Sea was just an auxiliary tool.

Scientific exploration and following the rules of self-excavation weren't the only paths.

Blazing Fire was an extremely unique power... Then its cultivation method was also destined to be unique.

"My Blazing Fire... can continuously become stronger on its own after devouring extraordinary Source Quality. This trait is not something that the so-called 'mental system' can possess." Gu Shen secretly said in his heart, "For me, increasing my strength isn't just exploring Deep Sea."

The size of Blazing Fire had changed from the slender hair at the beginning to the thickness of a finger now.

To increase the strength of Blazing Fire, he needed to constantly find dispersing extraordinary Source Quality... Gu Shen was startled. In a sense, wasn't this guiding him to fall to the evil side?

Hunting extraordinary beings, taking their Source Quality, and turning it into nourishment to enhance himself!

This... perhaps this was the reason for generating a connection with "Blood Fire"?

The difficulty of growing Blazing Fire was increasing exponentially. The same increase in the width of a strand of flame might only require devouring the Source Quality of a low-level out-of-control person like Qu Shui at the beginning, but later it might require ten times, dozens of times!

Where could he find so much extraordinary Source Quality... Gu Shen felt a headache just thinking about it. In legal ways, there was no chance to come into contact with overflowing Source Quality. Once an extraordinary being died, the Source Quality would quickly dissipate.

...

...

The dim light of night enveloped everything.

Through the curtains, one could vaguely see the darkness outside.

The room was warm and clean, and the gentle white light fell on the white sheets. The old man was sitting on the bed, adjusted to the right height. He quietly closed his eyes, his breathing weak, looking like he was asleep.

Zhao Xilai was very old.

He was old, very weak, this was physical weakness.

But no one would have thought that the old man, who held the power of life and death in Dadu, was actually so weak. Between breaths, even his spirit seemed listless, sleepy. In the stormy Dadu, everyone was holding their breath, preparing to welcome the battle, while this old lion, regarded as a major enemy by millions, was full of fatigue, and didn't seem to be able to cope with more struggles.

"I'm very dissatisfied... about your Central Continent's Apostles coming to Dadu to interfere with the law..."

He kept his eyes slightly closed, his hoarse voice floating out and echoing in the room.

Above the ceiling, an inverted projection was cast... This was a communication linked to the Central Continent Parliament.

The round table in the projection had several blurred figures sitting around it. This was actually just a fictional conference table background, and Zhao Xilai himself was just a blurred shadow within it.

No one could see the old man's decline.

"The two from the Tower of Origin can't wait to see the scene of the Awakening Act being promulgated." From a certain position at the Central Continent Parliament table, came a detached, ethereal voice, "You should be glad that only their Apostles came."

Zhao Xilai frowned.

In his intelligence, a Central Continent Apostle had come, a servant of the Dionysus Seat.

So, more than one had come?

There was another one hidden in the dark...

His tone didn't change much as he said calmly, "There are still six days until the final deadline. I can handle this matter well. I hope the Central Continent Parliament can withdraw the Apostles. This matter has violated the bottom line of East Continent."

The existence of Apostles originally violated the federal regulations of many years ago.

There were already transcendent God Seats beyond the rules in this world, which was headache enough.

Now the God Seats were spreading their power to their servants... First in the name of "eliminating black spots," and then gradually testing the bottom line of the rules. Now they had begun dispatching Apostles to convey their will. If this wasn't stopped, what would those guys do next?

Giving the power of gods to more people, were they trying to provoke internal war?

"Sorry. The Central Continent Parliament has no authority to issue instructions to the Supreme Seat." That ethereal voice refused, "Regarding the matter of the Apostles, I think you should directly reflect it to the two from the Tower of Origin. If they nod, the servants will return to Central Continent before dawn. However... if the Act can be settled sooner, I think those two won't dispatch Apostles either. After all, everyone's time is very busy."

Zhao Xilai's face was gloomy.

"Shouldn't the Apostles' mission be to eliminate black spots? Outside the fortresses of North Continent, many people are dying in the collapse of order every day..." he said coldly, "If the Central Continent Parliament doesn't sanction this behavior, and allows the Apostles to walk freely, it will only bring unease to the Five Continents."

"Since you know... that so many people are dying fighting against the collapse of order. Then you should put more effort into promoting the Act." The Central Continent Parliament's voice was even colder, "Ultimately, if the Act is successfully implemented, there wouldn't be today's situation. So before the Awakening Act is promulgated, Central Continent will not stop the Apostles' behavior."

"Heh..."

Zhao Xilai laughed very softly.

"Even if the Apostles' actions will destroy the peace between the continents?"

The Central Continent Parliament fell into a brief silence.

Someone spoke faintly, "The one from the Tower of Origin once said... that there must be sacrifices first, before there can be peace later."

A very shameless answer.

Zhao Xilai hung up the communication directly, but he wasn't angry, because at this moment, anger was meaningless.

He knew very well the reason why the other party was so rampant – East Continent didn't have corresponding trump cards to counter.

The reason for fearing the Apostles wasn't because they were afraid of their individual combat power. Without using tokens, the Apostles might not be a Match for Title Superhumans... and East Continent still had quite a few Title Superhumans.

What they feared was the God's Relic.

In a sense, the use of the Relic meant the temporary descent of the god.

As the servants of the God Seat, the representatives of "justice," the Apostles' Relic was the foundation of their lives. Using the Relic meant their own lives were threatened, and the God Seat would naturally protect their believers... A vast amount of mental power and extraordinary Source Quality would cross the barriers of space and flood into the Apostles' bodies.

This was God's Descent!

Depending on the Apostles' own strength and physique, the amount of divine power that could be carried, and the duration... would also have corresponding changes.

But even if the duration of God's Descent was only one second, this wasn't a power that Superhumans could resist.

There was an insurmountable chasm between gods and mortals.

The battle was over in just one second.

Two Apostles from Central Continent had come, one to put pressure on him, and the other to observe in the dark... Obviously, they wanted to know whether East Continent would choose to back down or choose to respond in the face of this unreasonable move.

Apostles were the walking will of the God Seats.

And the only ones who could fight against gods were gods.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Xilai calmed his mind... There were obstacles everywhere on the road ahead. At this moment, he couldn't help but vaguely think that Lu Nanzhi's decision was the right one?

An ant trying to shake a tree was glorious in death.

It was better than... suffering this humiliation.

"Knock knock knock..."

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the ward.

Someone spoke uneasily.

"Father... it's me..."