Chapter 1 The Night Descends

Night fell.

On the second-floor rooftop of a small alley, hot pot steam wafted, tripe and beef rolled in the red oil.

"Cheers!"

"Clink!"

The wine glasses collided, a crisp sound.

Gu Shen slowly finished his entire glass of wine.

He felt that all of this was as缥缈 as a dream... When he left the orphanage, he wondered what his future life would be like. No matter what he did, it would most likely be lonely. So every time he passed the small alley late at night and saw people toasting and drinking in the corner store, he never imagined himself in such a role.

Perhaps he wasn't that lonely.

It's just that no one had ever raised a glass to him.

But now, there was.

"Three consecutive dream interpretations... these examiners, they're really not something!"

After listening to the review process during the day, Zhong Wei slammed the table heavily and said angrily, "If something happens to our Xiao Gu, can they take responsibility?"

"That's right!" Mr. Shu puffed on his cigar, leaned back slightly, and said righteously, "They've gone too far!"

"So..." Zhong Wei immediately said again, "Teacher, can you tolerate this? They haven't left Qinghe yet, there's still time to make a move!"

"Cough cough!" Mr. Shu choked on a mouthful of smoke.

"Alright."

Luo Er saw through Zhong Wei's "ulterior motives" and quickly helped her teacher out of the awkward situation, smiling and saying, "Let's just drink and curse them behind their backs. Those great judges can also be considered dedicated. Besides... Xiao Gu tore up the 'Ghost Cage,' we're lucky that Judge Tang isn't making trouble for us."

At this point, Gu Shen scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.

"Ghost Cage..."

Nan Jin sipped her wine in small mouthfuls and said softly, "The dream interpretations of the Qing Dice and Sand of Time, I can still understand as... your talent is good enough. But Ghost Cage, how did you manage to slay the ghost in one minute?"

The Ghost Cage embodies evil thoughts, which takes time.

The third dream interpretation only took one minute.

Basically, it can be understood as... the evil thoughts had just manifested when Gu Shen instantly killed them!

"It's related to my extraordinary ability..."

Gu Shen thought for a moment and said, "My extraordinary power... seems to have been accidentally released in that dream."

"Unable to control at will in reality, but can be fully displayed in specific dreams." Mr. Shu leaned back lazily, "The keywords the review team used to assess Xiao Gu's ability characteristics are 'Blazing Light' and 'Tear.' This is probably a power that is not recorded in the current extraordinary spectrum."

"Blazing Light and Tear..." Nan Jin murmured, "That does fit."

That's how the two extraordinary people in the fire case died.

"His abilities still need to be explored slowly." Sister Luo said, "But now that he has passed the review, Gu Shen has the authority to enter the 'Deep Water Zone' and participate in the extraordinary trials."

"Deep Water Zone... Extraordinary Trials?"

"Now that you already know of the existence of 'extraordinary people,' then it's not hard to guess... the Deep Sea connects the five continents, it can't just be as simple as connecting all citizens." Luo Er said softly, "In addition to the virtual network you use daily, the Deep Sea has also established a huge mental network. Humans with extraordinary spiritual power can deeply connect through chips and network technology."

"The 'Deep Sea' that we normally use is the network located in the 'Shallow Water Zone.' This layer of network covers the daily life, entertainment, and leisure of fifty billion humans."

"But below the Shallow Water Zone... the Deep Sea also has a vast spiritual sea that has not been explored. This is called the 'Deep Water Zone,' and some people also call it the 'Extraordinary Sea.'" Zhong Wei took over Sister Luo's words, his expression solemn, and he raised a finger seriously and said, "The Extraordinary Sea requires powerful spiritual power to enter. This is a place that ordinary people cannot even glimpse."

"After this Deep Sea computer was developed, it created too many miracles. As for its own potential... the council is also studying it." Luo Er said, "It clearly has no life, but it seems to possess intelligence and has autonomously established this spiritual network with extraordinary people. Every extraordinary person who connects to the Deep Sea provides it with computing power through mental cultivation in the sea, and in return, it will open up different permissions for us."

"This..." Gu Shen never imagined that the Deep Sea he knew so well was such a machine: "It seems... like it wants to get help from 'extraordinary people'?"

"Well said, it is indeed help, and it's mutual help." Mr. Shu finally spoke, he shook his cigar and said softly, "Extraordinary people and the Deep Sea have formed a delicate balance. It needs the powerful spirit of extraordinary people for auxiliary calculation, and extraordinary people also need the Deep Sea to provide connections and stabilize themselves."

"Extraordinary people within the council are divided into clear strengths and weaknesses according to the depth of their spirit reaching the Extraordinary Sea..." Luo Er looked at Gu Shen, "Currently, the Deep Water Zone has basically been explored... there are a total of twelve layers of sea."

"This, is the Extraordinary Trial?" Gu Shen digested his senior sister's information and frowned, "According to this, wouldn't spiritual-type extraordinary people have more advantages in exploring the Extraordinary Sea?"

"Yes, and no." Sister Luo smiled, "You should understand when you comprehended Jingzhe that in the cultivation of the extraordinary, the physical body and the spirit advance synchronously. Once the balance is lost, the possibility of 'loss of control' will occur. In the Deep Water Zone Extraordinary Trials of the Deep Sea, spiritual types will explore faster, but after completion, it will take a relatively long time to digest and advance. Because the 'physical body' of spiritual-type extraordinary people has not kept up with the development of the 'spirit.'"

Gu Shen understood somewhat.

If an extraordinary person has extremely strong spiritual power and completes the trial of a certain layer of the sea, but their physical body is not strong enough, then exploring the next layer of the Extraordinary Sea... may lead to their own loss of control.

"When the Deep Sea first connected extraordinary people and the extraordinary spectrum only created a prototype, many people with extraordinary powers only exhibited fragmented characteristics... but as the exploration of the Deep Sea's twelve layers of sea progressed, they also gradually understood their own extraordinary traits and eventually mastered them." Luo Er said slowly, "Of course... these twelve layers of sea are not as simple as you imagine. As long as you complete the exploration of the first three layers of the sea, you will be considered to have understood the essence of your extraordinary abilities, but even these three layers of sea... have stumped 90% of extraordinary awakeners."

The first three layers of the sea stumped 90% of extraordinary people?

Then what about Senior Sister and Teacher...

Gu Shen looked at Senior Sister Luo and then at Mr. Shu. The gossipy heart in him wanted to ask, but reason told him... there was no point in asking this question.

The faces of these two... were filled with invincibility.

"If you can complete all twelve layers of the Extraordinary Trials, then the Eastern Continent Council will grant a specific title and treat you as a VIP. Such extraordinary people are too rare and enough to run amok in the five continents." Senior Brother Zhong Wei suddenly laughed. He leaned forward and said meaningfully, "By the way, the reason why Teacher is called 'Mr. Shu'... is because his title is, Towering Tree!"

As expected. There was no need to ask, Mr. Shu was definitely a strong person who had cleared all twelve trials.

But Gu Shen sighed a long breath.

It was really difficult for him to associate the sloppy old man beside him with the Towering Tree.

"Xiao Gu, it's time to think about your own title, I have high hopes for you." Senior Brother Zhong laughed heartily, "In the future, when I can't beat someone and run away, I'll just say your name."