Chapter 1 Nagano, the Gu Clan Ancestral Hall

The two old men were fishing as always, but this time… their fish baskets were full of freshly caught fish.

Ever since that day at Red Lake, when they learned of Gu Shen's survival, smiles had returned to Gu Qilin's face.

A person lives for a breath.

That so-called breath is, in reality, a single thought.

Having lived to his age, most of the “people” Gu Qilin cared about had already passed away.

As for the promising juniors…

Now, only Gu Nanfeng and Gu Shen remained. The former needed no mention; he hadn't caused him any worry since birth.

Gu Nanfeng was the quintessential eldest son in the family: capable, sensible, and understanding of the big picture. He was practically the perfect candidate for family head.

As for Gu Shen…

In the old man's heart, he was a “child” unlike any other.

No matter how many years passed, this remained true in his heart.

The only junior Gu Qilin had ever truly felt indebted to in his life was Gu Changzhi.

Gu Changzhi had left too early.

The things he owed could never be repaid… and so, he unconsciously transferred that “debt” to Gu Shen.

Gu Shen was the successor favored by Gu Changzhi.

Therefore…

Gu Shen was also a member of the Gu family.

Even though the blood flowing through his veins was different, Gu Qilin regarded him as his own.

Years ago, the Gu Clan provided Gu Shen with considerable protection.

Now…

Gu Shen had become the Gu Clan's proudest figure.

Outside the ancestral hall, a clamor arose.

Gu Qilin didn't turn around. He sat in his chair, peacefully closing his eyes, his hand lightly gripping the fishing rod, feeling the tremors from the lake's surface.

Using spiritual power for something like fishing was pointless.

A young figure draped in a cloak approached the two old men from behind, their footsteps light.

Gu Qilin said with a smile, "Was the trip to the Western Continent smooth?"

He reeled in his line.

“Peng!”

The water broke open, and another large fish arced through the air in a perfect curve before finally landing in the old man's fish basket!

"Thanks to Gu Shen, it was relatively smooth."

Gu Nanfeng spoke softly, "Greetings, Chairman Zhou."

"Don't mention chairman..."

Zhou Wei waved his hand with a smile, and said with emotion, "I submitted my resignation a long time ago. In a few days, after the Security Committee finds a suitable candidate, I'll officially resign from the title of 'Chairman'."

The Security Committee currently had no chairman with any real authority.

Zhou Wei's retirement was too sudden.

Although there were many talented young people within the committee, a person truly qualified to sit in that position… had yet to emerge.

"You won't have such good luck."

Gu Qilin laughed, "I reckon the title of chairman of the Security Committee will remain unclaimed for at least a year or two… just wait patiently, they'll have plenty of things to worry you with."

"Gu Shen is serving as 'Grand Arbiter', not grand commander. What's there for you to gloat about?"

Zhou Wei retorted, somewhat annoyed, "You won't escape the troubles of the command center either."

Seeing the two old men so "energetic," Gu Nanfeng couldn't help but smile.

He had already heard the news from Nagano on the return journey of the Gu Clan's delegation.

Gu Shen was titled Guang Ming Bi Lei (Guang Ming Bi Lei) and had officially assumed the position of Grand Arbiter of the Eastern Continent Tribunal!

"Alright, let's not talk about this…"

Gu Qilin didn't argue with Zhou Wei. He turned his head slightly, looked at Gu Nanfeng, and said, "This return from Ghent seems to have taken quite a long time…"

The Gu Clan's delegation had spent almost half a month returning to Nagano from the Western Continent.

"On one hand, the Western Continent tried to retain me."

Gu Nanfeng slowly came behind the old man, placing his hands on Gu Qilin's shoulders to massage them.

"On the other hand, I changed the route and temporarily met with a saint from the Southern Continent's Church."

Gu Qilin frowned slightly.

"Wasn't the negotiation on Yuan Ting Island already concluded?"

"Indeed."

Gu Nanfeng said, "The blockade line on Yuan Ting Island has been breached. The Church hopes Nagano can provide some support with transcendents to fight against the Tower of Origin… so I met with the Sea Child Saint on the high seas, which delayed me for some time."

"Interesting."

Gu Qilin said coldly, "The Storm Church didn't use the mental link of the [Deep Sea] and instead insisted on meeting you in the real world. Did they want to flaunt the power of the [Storm] authority over the sea?"

"Not exactly."

Gu Nanfeng was silent for a moment and said, "I asked the Sea Child Saint to come to the high seas to meet me."

Gu Qilin and Zhou Wei exchanged puzzled glances.

Standing behind the two old men, Gu Nanfeng said calmly, "Some things happened in Light City this time. I hope you two can be patient…"

……

……

"I don't have that much patience…"

Inside the teahouse at the entrance to Snow禁City, the clamor of voices filled the air, while the private room was silent.

Chen Li's eyebrows furrowed with impatience.

He looked at Gu Shen, then at Mu Wanqiu, raising his voice, "So what exactly is in the Hades Temple, and what was the result of your fight?"

"…"

Mu Wanqiu simply drank her tea silently, not answering.

Gu Shen, on the other hand, picked up a piece of beef and chewed it slowly.

"Why are you mute… am I not an Apostle? Why wasn't I notified of such an important mission?"

Chen Li said indignantly.

"The Hades Temple in Qinghe is already abandoned. There's nothing of value inside."

Finally, Mu Wanqiu took the initiative to speak, saying, "This mission wasn't dangerous or troublesome, so we didn't call you along."

The Hades Temple was full of remnant containers from the Gene Project.

This secret concerned Gu Shen's background.

So Mu Wanqiu wouldn't reveal it willingly.

This trip to Qinghe was indeed uneventful. The only thing that left a deep impression on her was that pitiful person who had finally escaped from the Lin Tie Mountain disaster area, but was still swallowed by the Hades Poison. In a moment of clarity, they exhausted their last bit of strength to lock themselves in a coffin.

This story wasn't suitable to tell Chen Li either.

"As for the result of my fight with Gu Shen… of course, I lost."

Mu Wanqiu said peacefully, "That shouldn't be surprising, right?"

"I want to see the footage."

Chen Li gritted his teeth and said, "Of course I know you lost, but I want to see how you lost!"

"There's no footage."

Mu Wanqiu said indifferently, "I cut off the [Deep Sea]'s information capture function during the fight."

What a joke, she was an Apostle!

If this fight was recorded and spread in the Deep Sea, it would be terrible!

Gu Shen silently took a sip of his tea.

Footage did exist…

Chu Ling had watched the entire battle, so there must be a preserved recording in Car Number Zero Zero One.

But that footage would be locked in the Array Box Sea Area and would never be released.

"I didn't win by much in this battle."

Gu Shen cleared his throat and slowly said, "If I had to guess… I'd call it a minor victory."

"No way, a minor victory?"

Chen Li widened his eyes, saying in disbelief.

He had watched the footage of Gu Shen's duel with Jia Wei at Red Lake dozens of times…

To be able to fight Gu Shen to a draw, wouldn't that mean that Mu Wanqiu also possessed combat power on the same level as Jia Wei?

A top-tier title!

"…There's no need to spare my feelings."

Mu Wanqiu shook her head, saying, "This fight only lasted half the time. I didn't use the [Forbidden Sealed Object] or the authority. I lost completely, pretty much like the fight with Bai Xiu… The situation didn't seem that dire at the time, but in reality, I had no chance of winning. The longer I fought, the more miserable my loss would have been."

Although she desperately craved victory, she never lied about such things.

Small win, big win, narrow loss, or crushing defeat.

It was simply victory or defeat.

Recalling the scene of the duel at Zhai Yun Mountain, she could only let out a long sigh in her heart.

She had prepared many trump cards for this battle… but unfortunately, after using them all on Zhai Yun Mountain, Gu Shen dismantled them one by one.

After the First Domain was torn apart…

The more Mu Wanqiu tried to overcome the sense of disparity between "a withered leaf and a tall mountain…"

The more frustrated she became.

In the end… the result of this battle was that she stopped and announced the end.

Gu Shen had given her a hearty fight.

"You're already very, very strong."

Gu Shen also thought for a moment, saying, "If you hadn't met me, you most likely would have won."

"Yeah… and excluding Bai Xiu."

Mu Wanqiu still shook her head, saying, "How many exceptionally talented people are there in this world? If you exclude them all, what's the point?"

Their conversation was veiled in mist, without any useful information.

Little Iron Man was so anxious that he tried to interject several times, but couldn't find a suitable opportunity.

How did it become looking up to a high mountain?

How did it become you're not bad either?

"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore."

Gu Shen said with a slight smile, "I left in a hurry this time. You were with me for a week, going out to perform tasks and were exhausted, so I deliberately gave you a vacation. The disaster area of that Hades Temple is located in Lin Tie Mountain in the Qinghe District. The temple is indeed abandoned. I've contacted people from Hua Zhi to deal with the disaster."

"Hua Zhi, why not contact the transcendents in Jiangbei?"

Chen Li paused, asking subconsciously.

"The temple contains a large number of Gene Project life containers." Gu Shen said calmly, "These containers… were previously handled by Hua Zhi. Now, they'll still be handled by them."

"Life containers from the Gene Project?"

Chen Li suddenly realized something.

Qinghe District was Gu Shen's hometown.

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with saying it." Gu Shen shrugged, saying, "As everyone knows, I'm an orphan. Although there's no direct evidence to suggest that I'm connected to the life containers in Lin Tie Mountain… I think there must be some connection between me and the Gene Project."

The probability of naturally giving birth to such an absolutely OP S-class ability like炽火 (Chi Huo) was close to zero.

"This…"

After Gu Shen revealed his background, the atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

Chen Li somewhat regretted pressing him to get to the bottom of things.

"Alright, what's the big deal."

Gu Shen patted Little Iron Man on the shoulder, saying, "I heard the Gu family delegation has returned… I'll go with you to the Gu Clan ancestral hall later to find out about the follow-up to the Western Continent Holy Scripture."

……

……

"…The follow-up to the Western Continent Holy Scripture is roughly like this."

It took a long time.

Gu Nanfeng retold the approximate process of this trip to the West in detail, of course… from his own perspective.

After listening, Gu Qilin and Zhou Wei both fell into deep thought.

"The Light Throne hopes to form a marriage alliance with the Gu Clan to change the current camp structure?"

Gu Qilin rubbed his temples.

He felt that the amount of information brought back from this trip to the West was simply too much.

"He did express that view at the bottom of Red Lake."

Gu Nanfeng said in a low voice, "It's just that it comes at the cost of promoting the Project…"

"So you rejected it directly?"

Gu Qilin raised his eyebrows.

"Of course."

Gu Nanfeng was somewhat surprised by the old man's question, saying, "We spent so much effort to expel the proposal for the Project."

"Say you're young, and you seem mature. Say you're mature, and you're truly young."

Gu Qilin changed into a more comfortable sitting position, patiently explaining, "The Light Throne wants to promote the Awakening Project. This isn't something that can be decided overnight… Don't rush to reject it. Next time you encounter such a thing, first say you need time to consider it, and then slowly go around it. Think about it, Meng Xizhou is now the Holy Maiden of the Light Temple, holding great power, and sooner or later she'll be the successor to the Light Ember. If you bring her into the Gu Clan's family, would you still need to worry about the Project?"

Gu Nanfeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry, saying, "Are you saying, bring Meng Xizhou into the Eastern Continent camp?"

Gu Qilin blinked his eyes.

"I respect her position, and I respect her camp."

Gu Nanfeng said sincerely, "No one wants to see a divine war break out… It's just that there are some things we can't decide. Behind me is the Gu family, and behind her is the entire Light City that needs to be considered."

"Your character is like your knife. Too straight."

Gu Qilin stretched out his withered and aging finger, gently tapping the back of Gu Nanfeng's hand.

He said calmly, "What I want you to do is persuade Meng Xizhou's position? If there's a fierce conflict and contradiction between your two positions, would that 'prison break' still have happened?"

Gu Nanfeng looked blank.

The old man's finger moved horizontally and vertically, writing a word.

Delay.

"How long has that old guy in the Western Continent been alive?"

Gu Qilin asked, "How much longer can he live? Who has the final say after he dies?"

"…"

Gu Nanfeng understood.

This was indeed a very straightforward way of putting it: delay until the Light Throne dies and disappears, delay until the Awakening Project cannot be established, then there will still be room for reversal.

At that time, he only needed to persuade Meng Xizhou alone.

And the Gu Clan had never been an enemy of the Western Continent.

"Do you know why I haven't officially announced you as the 'formal family head' of the Gu Clan?"

Gu Qilin said meaningfully, "It's not because I want to hold onto this meaningless power… I've been waiting for this day for too long, and I look forward to the day you become the head of the Five Great Families more than anyone else."

Gu Nanfeng was silent.

Of course, he knew how much effort the old man had put into cultivating him.

He was still the young master of the Gu Clan, but he already held great power, except for that last "title".

With the right title, things would be justified.

That last title seemed unimportant, but its true weight was far beyond what the world could imagine.

The previous family head of the Gu Clan was named Gu Changzhi.

And the man who Gu Qilin had favored before him, believing that he could become the "family head," was called Gu Lushen… Gu Lushen had given the old man Gu a very, very deep wound.

If the old man sitting in the chair were to lift his clothes…

Half of those dense scars were left by Gu Lushen.

"Arashi Kiri is the sharpest wind in the world."

Gu Qilin said softly, "But even the sharpest wind should be wind… Wind is omnipresent, and softer than water."

"You already possess all the qualities of the Gu Clan's family head, only lacking a little bit. That little bit of knowing how to be flexible."

The old man Gu squinted one eye and intertwined the pads of two fingers of one hand.

Gu Nanfeng saw this scene and kept it in his heart.

……

……

"Speaking of which, I'm very curious about what you gained in the Forbidden Library…"

Chairman Zhou Wei said with a smile, "Nanfeng, it's said that it's the 'Land of Prophecy' left by the God of Destiny. What did you see there?"

Gu Nanfeng returned to his senses from his trance.

"Chairman, I'm sorry to say that I didn't see anything."

Gu Nanfeng said with a wry smile, "The God of Destiny doesn't seem to favor me. I gained nothing in the Forbidden Library…"

"That's too bad."

Zhou Wei said with emotion, "That little brat Gu Shen is too slippery and ran too fast. Otherwise, he would have had a chance too."

"The current Light Throne isn't a good person anyway. It's good that he ran away."

Gu Qilin said, "He killed Jia Wei, stirred up Light City into a mess, and then went to the Forbidden Library to comprehend something. There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"That's true."

Zhou Wei thought about it. If he were Gu Shen, he wouldn't dare to stay in Light City for long.

"Actually, there's one more important thing."

Gu Nanfeng said in a deep voice, "About the Sea Child Saint's meeting with me on the high seas."

"Hmm?"

The two old men refocused their attention. Gu Nanfeng had spent a lot of time reporting on the Western Continent的事情 (shi qing, matters), but this little interlude on the return journey hadn't had time to be mentioned.

"The Red Dragon Apostle of the Tower of Origin sensed signals of transcendent life on the coastline of Yuan Ting Island… The Central Continent has increased its pressure on the Southern Continent."

Gu Nanfeng said, "During this time, transcendent were constantly stationed on the coastline of Yuan Ting Island. The strength of these transcendents has exceeded the Church's control. With the Red Dragon guarding the area, unless Saint Chun Li personally steps in, no one can suppress this group of transcendents from the Tower of Origin."

Zhou Wei's expression was heavy, saying, "We've discovered signals of transcendent life. Are there still survivors from the [Ice Sea Relic]?"

"When I was retreating, I saw with my own eyes… the fleets of the Tower of Origin and Light City were completely destroyed."

Gu Nanfeng was silent for a moment, saying, "However, according to the timeline, if anyone is still alive, with their flying vehicles completely destroyed… they should be returning soon."

"The Fourth Elder of the Light Temple, Yin Zhuo, and上城 (Shang Cheng, Upper City)'s [Giant Moon] Meriz."

Gu Qilin said calmly, "The strength of these two titled fighters shouldn't be underestimated. According to the footage you sent back, although the bombardment of the Black Silver Bombs can destroy ships, it may not be able to completely kill them… It's not impossible for them to return to the mainland from the Ice Sea with a small number of survivors."

"It's just that after experiencing so much, their spiritual power and source material should also be close to exhaustion."

Zhou Wei gave a simple assessment, saying, "If these two titled fighters are alive, then the 'life signal' near the Yuan Ting Island defense line may indeed come from the survivors of the [Ice Sea Relic]."

"The Church hopes Nagano will send transcendents strong enough to contend with the Red Dragon."

As soon as Gu Nanfeng said this,

Gu Qilin couldn't help but sarcastically say, "Have they gone crazy?"

After the Sang Island mission, the Red Dragon Apostle's strength had been assessed by the [Deep Sea] as immeasurable.

Due to his unique status,

The Tower of Origin had never granted him an exclusive title—

But the whole world knew that the Red Dragon had long since advanced!

This was a level that was tacitly acknowledged by the highest levels of the Five Continents Council as a top-tier title.

"Before Gu Shen's return, what Saint Sea Child meant by those words can be understood as hoping you will personally go to Yuan Ting Island to oversee the battle, while also confronting the Red Dragon."

Gu Qilin sneered, saying, "However, the battle at Red Lake has already been made public. Saint Sea Child clearly hopes that Nagano will send Gu Shen south."

The one who best fit the requirements was Gu Shen!

"That's right, their intention is very obvious. Although they're allied with Nagano Central City, they don't want to contribute."

Gu Nanfeng said, "Saint Sea Child doesn't care about the truth that the survivors bring back from the [Ice Sea Relic]…"

The truth was that the Storm Church had launched a suicidal attack, wanting to drag everyone down with them!

But now, Light City and the Tower of Origin wouldn't believe this version of the truth.

From the moment the Nagano Central City fleet returned to the mainland unharmed, the truth had lost its meaning.

"So… what did you say?"

Gu Qilin had veins bulging on his forehead, asking with a deep breath.

Gu Nanfeng calmly said, "I told him to get as far away as possible… Since everyone doesn't care about the truth, then Nagano doesn't care either."

"Well said!"

Gu Qilin smiled happily.

Zhou Wei supported his forehead. He wasn't like the hot-tempered Gu Qilin. Although he felt very happy after hearing Gu Nanfeng's answer, he was also worried about the aftermath of this matter.

"If we don't support Yuan Ting Island at all… what will happen?"

"The Red Dragon has been leading a team to search the sea these days. If there are survivors, they'll be found out."

"And then?"

"Condemnation. The actions of the Storm Church will be revealed, and the World Council will be convened again, but the Holy City will drag Nagano and Central City down with them."

Hearing this, Zhou Wei's face was very serious, saying, "Although what you said is right, what should we do if it really comes to that?"

What Zhou Wei was worried about wasn't the bickering at the World Council.

He was worried about the higher-level game of wills… If this matter was confirmed, would a divine war break out because of it?

"It won't come to that."

A very calm voice suddenly sounded.

The one who spoke was Gu Shen.

Passing through the front hall, Gu Shen deliberately tightened the "Invisibility Cloak" draped over his body. This time, the big banyan tree in front of the ancestral hall wouldn't inexplicably wither and lose its leaves… He brought Chen Li and Mu Wanqiu to Gu's old man and Zhou Wei's fishing spot. He had been to this place once before, and last time he sat in Zhou Wei's seat.

Seeing the baskets full of fish, he felt much more relaxed.

In the past it was pretending to be asleep, now it was really fishing.

It seemed that after seeing himself, the illness in Gu's old man's heart had been reduced a lot.

"This is Mu Wanqiu, the captain of the First Team of the Northern Continent Investigation Corps, and this is Chen Li, the Fourth Judge of the Prison."

Gu Shen simply introduced the two old men, and he and Gu Nanfeng made eye contact. Everything was implicit in their expressions.

"Rare guests."

Gu Qilin raised his eyebrows and looked at Mu Wanqiu, saying, "The Northern Continent Investigation Corps should be very busy, right?"

"Miss Mu and I are old acquaintances. After learning that I was still alive, she specifically asked for leave to go south and fight me."

Gu Shen spoke for Mu Wanqiu, simply making up an excuse.

The people of the Northern Continent were combative, and so was Nagano. Old Man Gu smiled and nodded, considering the matter settled.

He had specifically looked at this S-class file, and the reason for specifically asking Gu Shen for a fight was indeed something that Mu Wanqiu would do.

The Apostle identities of the two were very well concealed.

"Gu Shen," Zhou Wei said with a smile, "You said just now… it won't come to this, what do you mean by that?"

Regarding the current tense situation in the Five Continents, he wasn't optimistic.

Zhou Wei was very worried that this incident would become a fuse.

If Nagano didn't handle it properly, it might lead to a divine war.

Gu Shen knew what Chairman Zhou Wei was worried about.

He cut to the chase and said, "The Black Silver Bombs from the [Ice Sea Relic] were fired by me… I know the power of those bombs better than anyone else. The cloud ship fleets of Light City and the Tower of Origin have been completely destroyed. Even if they have great abilities, it's impossible for them to repair the airships again. As for those two titled fighters, they must also be seriously injured."

Based on the original position of the Initial Number's submersion, even he, in his prime, would need to fly for a full week,踩着【真理】 (Cai Zhe Zhen Li, Stepping on Truth)!

It was still a question whether those two seriously injured titled fighters could survive.

"The Black Silver Bombs were fired by you…"

Zhou Wei's expression was complicated, saying, "So there really is an [Ice Sea Relic]. What exists inside that relic?"

"That relic has completely sunk."

Of course, Gu Shen wouldn't say anything about A'Fu's existence. He avoided the key question, saying casually, "It's a coincidence that I drifted to the vicinity of the Ice Sea Relic along the ocean current. After waking up, I ran into the exploration team of the [Ice Sea Relic]. So I entered the relic alone. Those pioneers dispatched by the Five Continents, those who should be saved, I saved them all. Those who should be killed… I killed them all too."

"I remember Zhong Fan submitted a report…"

Zhou Wei murmured, "The mysterious person wearing the Oni mask was you?"

"That's right, it was me."

This secret was no longer a secret.

After Gu Shen killed Jia Wei, the high-level executives within the Eastern Continent Parliament who had read the [Ice Sea Relic] report would know all of this.

"Wait a minute…"

Gu Qilin frowned, saying, "You mean, the survivors are at most Yin Zhuo and Meriz?"

"Yes."

Gu Shen said with a smile, "Those guys who entered the [Relic] were all killed by me."

Yun Hu, Xuan Gui, Ju Lu, Long Qi…

None were left alive!

Nagano had limited information, so they didn't have to worry about any additional titled fighters surviving.

"There's no need to pay attention to the Church's request for support. Let the Red Dragon Apostle lead a team to search the seas of the Southern Continent… There won't be any results in the end."

Seeing that Gu Qilin and Zhou Wei were still somewhat confused,

"Even if Yin Zhuo and Meriz are alive, they must have been seriously injured by the Black Silver Bombs. Even if they have the strength to escape to the waters of Yuan Ting Island, they're just at the end of their rope."

Gu Shen said softly, "They… won't survive."