"I pulled the trigger, clearly feeling the recoil, but the expected gunshot didn't come. I was confused.

Just before pulling the trigger, Qi Lu had anticipated a mental backlash from his opponent with the second shot… In fact, he no longer cared about any mental damage. After activating Eagle Eyes several times in a row, his mental strength had been completely depleted. He only hoped that his last purple-silver bullet could successfully pierce the young man's head.

But the truth was…

He fired the gun incredibly smoothly.

The opponent hadn't seized this final opportunity… But strangely, the shot misfired.

From his perspective, he saw the purple-silver bullet's light bloom into a bewitching flower in the air.

At that moment, the purple flames slowly disappeared.

An eerie flower remained at the muzzle.

It was a real purple flower, blooming on top of the purple-silver bullet. By the time Qi Lu realized this, it was already too late.

Vines covered the gun barrel and his entire body, making it difficult for him to even turn his head.

After struggling to shift his perspective… Qi Lu was horrified to discover that not only him, but all the Chengxin Society members along the riverbank were covered in vines.

When… did this start?

And when… did it end?

…

…

“You're smart, you didn't continue to act.”

Chen Mei was drenched in cold sweat as he heard a soft compliment from behind.

However, the voice of the person praising him didn't sound like it held genuine appreciation.

“If you throw a left punch, I'll break your fist.”

“If you try to stomp, I'll break your legs.”

“If you want to draw the hunting knife at your waist…”

“Then you'll probably be disappointed, because the hunting knife is in my hand.”

The old man, playing with the hunting knife, stood quietly about three meters behind Chen Mei. It was a dangerous distance, but also a safe one. He gently tapped the blade, listening to the crisp sound of the vibrations, while casually sizing up the curly-haired young man before him, who was not very old but exceptionally talented. Almost every transcendent who had met Chen Mei marveled at the extraordinary talent of this Young Master Chen.

Except for him.

“Five years ago, your father came to me, hoping I could teach you physical techniques.”

The old man said slowly, “But I refused him, not because I was unwilling to teach, but because… I have nothing to teach. At that time, many people still thought you were all flash and no substance, but they didn't know that you had already found a powerful enough teacher, and your achievements in physical techniques had surpassed most of your peers in East Continent, but you just hadn't revealed your abilities yet.”

Chen Mei remained silent.

Long ago, Chen Mei, as the son of Councilor Chen San, was already famous in the capital.

But what truly made everyone wary, remember him, and regard Chen Mei as an individual… only began in the past few years. He conquered every transcendent in the Southern Hall of the Chengxin Society with his fists, using the same method as Crow.

It had to be said, this method was very effective.

He had earned his own title; people began to call him Chen Mei, instead of Young Master Chen.

“I don't understand…”

Chen Mei spoke softly, saying, “Tonight's setup is certainly not small, but it's not enough to… alarm you, right?”

The old man lowered his eyes and slowly sheathed the hunting knife back into the young man's waist.

“I don't believe that the only Grand Arbiter of the entire East Continent just happened to be strolling in the capital, happened to come to the riverside,” Chen Mei said slowly. “And then, out of kindness, without asking any questions, stopped such a farce… Even if you were taking sides, you wouldn't do it this way.”

A roar sounded from the distant riverbank, and helicopters flew in from the distant sky. Vehicles quickly drove onto the road, and the silence of the riverbank was finally broken at that moment.

Someone ran quickly to the riverbank, saw the figures entangled in vines, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The Nanwan vehicles finally stopped.

In the spotlight, a middle-aged man in a black woolen overcoat slowly got out of the car. Wherever he went, countless gazes were filled with awe and humility. An inconspicuous old man in ancient and old-fashioned clothes also got out of the car, silently following beside the man.

“Councilor.”

“Mr. Chen.”

In a chorus of greetings, the man walked quickly towards the riverbank.

Immediately afterwards, another woman with skin as white as snow also got out of the car. She quickly caught up with the man, the two slightly offset in position. The woman kept whispering something.

Finally, the two came to the riverbank and walked on the water, causing ripples.

There were no signs of any transcendent aura.

But the river steadily supported the two of them.

From the moment the vehicles stopped, Crow narrowed his eyes, sizing up the middle-aged man with some trepidation. What he feared was not Chen San, but the inconspicuous old man.

As everyone knew, Chen San was an ordinary person who hadn't awakened any transcendent powers.

Yet he had a loyal, titled servant by his side. No one knew what kind of agreement or consideration existed between the two… A super powerhouse who had received formal pollination from the council was actually willing to be a shadow, an old dog.

Chen San only glanced at Crow, his expression unchanged. Rumor had it that he was furious that Song Ci had injured his nephew, but now, upon seeing him, the man's face showed no anger. He regarded Song Ci as if he were air, glancing over him once and then ignoring him.

This reaction caught Crow off guard.

From the moment he saw Chen San appear with his titled old servant, he had already prepared to deal with the "skinning" measures. At worst, he would just fight another battle.

But in fact… the storm didn't come.

And the scene was surprisingly calm.

On the other side of the Great River, several figures were also slowly approaching.

The Madam held an umbrella on the left, Cui Zhongcheng pushed the wheelchair on the right, and an old man with a peaceful expression sat in the wheelchair. Seeing the Madam and Little Mr. Cui appear, Song Ci felt a chill run down his spine. But unexpectedly, the Madam's gaze towards him didn't contain any blame.

What was going on today?

Song Ci stood on the river, muttering to himself.

For a moment, he was at a loss, trying hard to figure out what was happening at that moment, but the more his brain tried to think, the more it crashed.

From the moment Chen Mei activated the time-dilation domain.

Song Ci felt that the development of this incident had begun to go out of control, had exceeded his grasp… and if he really wanted to trace the source of this uncontrollable feeling, it should have started from the moment Gu Shen rejected his retreat plan.

At that time, Gu Shen said something.

“After knowing each other for so long, it seems you still don't know my identity.”

And Crow remembered that he only found it funny at the time.

So he subconsciously replied, “Does your identity matter?”

Now it seemed… that the situation was completely different from what he had imagined, because Chen San, who was with Ye Ningqiu and the old servant, and Little Mr. Cui and Madam Zhao Xilai, all these figures standing at the highest point of the capital, were all walking towards the center of the river.

They were walking towards one person.

Gu Shen.

…

…

“Zhou Jiren.”

Chen San stopped and said lightly, “What wind blew in the capital tonight? It's really noisy, how did it blow you here?”

Tree Elder turned back to look at Chen San, and just smiled.

Ye Ningqiu's voice rang out.

“The Nanwan Building was invaded, someone broke into the building…”

She glanced at the young man lying on the floating ice, and asked, “We're pursuing a suspected intruder, we shouldn't be violating the laws of East Continent, right?”

“Pursuing a suspect, naturally doesn't violate the law.”

Tree Elder withdrew his gaze, and looked to the other side of the river. Cui Zhongcheng and his group had just stepped onto the river surface, and at that moment, their voices hadn't spread yet.

“In that case… as the Grand Arbiter of East Continent, why are you interfering with this pursuit operation?”

Chen Mei immediately opened his mouth.

Tree Elder still didn't answer, he just calmly looked at the other side of the river, waiting patiently.

“The power outage at the Nanwan Building had traces of human intervention, there was evidence of melting in the elevator and the shaft…”

Chen Mei still didn't get a response, he was anxious to defend himself, so his voice became lower and more urgent, saying, “The incomplete figure in the surveillance video basically matches his appearance…”

Gu Shen climbed up from the floating ice, soaking wet. After seeing his appearance clearly, everyone present remained silent.

Chen Mei noticed that his father Chen San wasn't speaking anymore.

Ye Ningqiu also wasn't speaking.

Finally, Little Mr. Cui, pushing the wheelchair, came to the center of the river.

Cui Zhongcheng didn't have much of a change in expression, he just "kindly" reminded.

“Young Master Chen, this evidence can only prove that someone 'intruded' into the Nanwan Building, but it can't prove that he was the one who intruded into the Nanwan Building… you need to provide more direct evidence, such as real-time surveillance images from inside the building.”

Chen Mei was stunned.

All the surveillance videos didn't directly show Gu Shen's image.

This guy was like a ghost.

But what confused him even more was… the attitudes of these people, including his father and Ye Ningqiu.

“Since everyone is here, then I'll officially introduce him.”

Zhou Jiren finally opened his mouth.

He helped Gu Shen stand up, "This is my closed-door disciple, the new S-level of the Tribunal, Gu Shen."

Closed-door disciple, he said those four words very seriously.

Rumor has it that Zhou Jiren has already decided to resign from the position of Grand Arbiter of the Tribunal, and many people are watching with covetous eyes. Every one of his disciples is a transcendent with outstanding talent, and he even personally cultivated a titled powerhouse of the level of 'Sky Eye'.

The conferral of the Sky Tree is actually the council's affirmation of him.

The Sky Tree, protects and shelters.

And what kind of important genius should be taken as a closed-door disciple by the "Sky Tree"?

S-level, two extremely simple words full of weight, are already enough to prove Gu Shen's importance… In fact, his files have always been sealed, but the incident with the special pardon once alarmed the council, so Chen San recognized this young man.

In the eyes of the "big figures", there is no coincidence in this world.

Zhou Jiren's appearance at the river beach wouldn't be a coincidence.

Then the matter of this S-level suspect sneaking into the Nanwan Building also wouldn't be a coincidence…

Chen San and Ye Ningqiu were very clear that in this era, more than evidence, what mattered was skill and results.

“I'm here today for a case from years ago. This case was originally sealed, but just a few days ago, it was reopened and additionally identified as an 'S'-level case file–”

Zhou Jiren continued to speak.

Along with his words, vines wrapped around Chen Mei's legs.

“The death of Zhou Yu, the Arbiter of Yinghai, was identified as being merged with cases such as the 'Solemn Stone Sculpture' and the 'Iridan Street Fog'... These cases were all carried out by the hands of the Eternal Foundation, and the Tribunal is fully arresting suspects.”

“Chen Mei, pursuing power without asking about its source is a very foolish thing…”

Tree Elder slowly opened his mouth, “Now you are suspected of being involved in this case. Where did your physical techniques and the teacher who taught you physical techniques come from? I hope you will honestly confess.”"