Chapter 1 A Touch of Red on the Lake

The touch of crimson red that surfaced on Red Lake made one feel as though it were not real.

The Sanctioners stared blankly at the scene.

Batu stood silently by the lake. He knew he couldn't interfere... even if he did, he was no match for Gu Shen.

Even Mr. Jia Wei had been defeated.

If he tried to stop him, he would be cut in half with a single strike.

A moment later, Gu Shen floated to the surface.

The scorching fire evaporated the water. He shook off the bloodstains on the iron blade, and the war blade transformed back into countless iron scales, flying back to his sleeve.

"You... killed Jia Wei?"

Batu's voice trembled slightly.

"That's right, I killed Jia Wei."

Gu Shen's eyes were calm. He looked towards the sky and slowly said, "To be precise... I defeated Jia Wei in front of all the extraordinary individuals in the world."

"You..."

Batu was speechless. He looked at Gu Shen and felt a wave of dizziness. Jia Wei's death was a completely unexpected event that was beyond their plan.

He didn't know how to explain this to the Divine Seat.

The Grand Elder should have been the one to preside over this occasion.

But... the Grand Elder had also disappeared without a trace.

Batu suddenly had the illusion that he was the only one left in the vast Guang Ming City.

Batu gritted his teeth and transmitted his voice, "Gu Shen, you are too reckless... you don't know what price you will pay for doing such a thing!"

"Oh?"

Gu Shen smiled and asked back through voice transmission, "What price will I pay? Who will make me pay the price, you? Su Ye? The Grand Elder? Or perhaps the Guang Ming Divine Seat?"

After the voice transmission, Gu Shen slowly turned his head. In front of everyone, he said each word clearly, "Speaking of which, Elder Batu, I am very curious, what exactly is wrong with the Guang Ming Divine Seat? Could it be that he can't even see what's happening right under his nose? Or is it that... he doesn't actually care about Jia Wei's death?"

"???"

Batu's eyes widened.

"If he cared, then there were ten thousand ways to stop me from killing Jia Wei just now."

"But he didn't."

Gu Shen smiled slightly and said, "It means he also agreed to my decisive battle with Jia Wei... Jia Wei wanted to kill me, so of course I had to kill him. There was no room for maneuver in such a thing. They all understand this principle, and you should understand it too."

As he spoke, Gu Shen looked at the onlookers who had been waiting by Red Lake for a day.

Chu Ling was right.

It was almost impossible to assassinate Jia Wei under the eyes of Guang Ming City.

This was the Divine Domain –

As long as the Guang Ming Divine Seat was unwilling, no assassination could be carried out.

But... if it was an open challenge, a duel, and a life-or-death agreement, then it was different.

Either the Guang Ming Divine Seat stopped the battle from the very beginning.

Or, let the battle proceed to the end.

"Obviously, the Guang Ming Divine Hall has always suspected that I am related to 'Hades'. You were very confident in Jia Wei..."

Gu Shen said indifferently, "In the beginning, you were not against this battle. On the contrary, you thought it was a good thing. It could expose my false face to the world, and you could also kill me in the process. It's just that you didn't expect the final result to be like this."

"..."

Batu was completely speechless.

Because that was indeed what the Divine Hall thought.

They believed in Jia Wei too much, and they respected Jia Wei too much... No one had ever thought that Jia Wei would lose to this young man who had disappeared for six years.

"If you make a bet, you have to accept the consequences."

Gu Shen said expressionlessly through voice transmission, "The Guang Ming Divine Seat hasn't spoken yet, so it's not your turn to speak. You want me to pay the price? Does the Divine Hall deserve it?"

This voice transmission stunned Batu for a second.

After meeting Gu Shen's eyes under pressure, he moved his gaze away with fear.

He felt a powerful pressure.

The last time he felt this way... was from the deceased Jia Wei!

He realized that the young man in front of him was seriously inconsistent with his seemingly harmless appearance.

Gu Shen looked quite handsome.

But his methods were ruthless and decisive. When he took action, he didn't leave any room for maneuver.

Even Jia Wei was dead!

If he were to fight with Gu Shen... he was indeed not qualified.

"Batu's personality is much weaker than Long Qi's."

Gu Shen saw Batu's gaze move away and felt a little regret in his heart.

He had originally expected the Third Elder to continue to confront him, and perhaps there would be some "surprises" later... but unfortunately, Batu was always cautious.

In fact, Batu's decisions had always been correct.

If he had insisted on stopping Gu Shen at Red Lake just now... then Gu Shen would have undoubtedly drawn his blade!

This Third Elder of the Divine Hall was very strong.

But whether he could withstand that strike... was another matter.

"I won't argue with you."

Batu looked at his nose and then at his heart. His voice was hoarse, "The Guang Ming Divine Seat will give this matter a fair and just ruling."

"Is that so?"

Gu Shen said calmly, "I would also like to see how your Divine Seat will deal with this matter. I wonder if the Divine Hall can give me a chance?"

"What do you mean?" Batu widened his eyes and realized that something was wrong.

Gu Shen pointed his finger towards the end of Red Lake.

"I want to go there and take a look."

"???"

If it were an hour ago, Batu would have let Gu Shen try as much as he wanted, and he would have ridiculed him unceremoniously.

But now, he didn't dare.

Having witnessed the battle between Gu Shen and Jia Wei, even if he suspected that Gu Shen's identity was not pure, he couldn't refute anything. Gu Shen stood on Red Lake and was incredibly stable.

Judging from his performance in the battle just now, Gu Shen would definitely be able to walk to the center of the lake easily.

Even... it was possible to reach the end!

……

……

There was no sun in Guang Ming City today.

This was the first time that the believers living here had seen such a brilliant and beautiful starry sky.

In the past, there would be two suns alternating in the sky above the land of miracles. The old one would set, and the new one would rise, repeating this cycle. The new sun's light was not too dazzling, and it fell on everyone, making them feel very comfortable and relaxed. Over time, the believers here had forgotten that there was also "night" and "stars" in this world.

The last night of this grand parade celebration.

It ended with the sunset.

The entire city's devotees raised their heads, looking at the bright light scattered across the streets and alleys.

They didn't notice that under the starry night's radiance, a wisp of invisible gentle wind swept across the streets, the alleys, and the faces of everyone.

Gu Nanfeng arrived at the alley leading to the secret prison almost in a "teleport".

This time.

He did not hide in the darkness.

He decided to break into the secret prison from the front.

In fact, breaking into the secret prison was not as difficult as the world imagined. The real trouble was the Guang Ming Divine Hall's reinforcements.

But Gu Nanfeng guessed that the Evil Ghost's identity was Gu Shen.

So after the blazing fire rose in the direction of Red Lake, he officially began his action.

At this moment, it was the weakest moment for the Guang Ming Divine Hall's defenses –

He entrusted his back to Gu Shen at Red Lake, and to Luo Yu and Zhong Fan who were leading the Night Watchers and the envoy.

"Buzz -"

With a trembling sound, Gu Nanfeng drew his wooden blade and slashed at the Guang Ming Bi Lei.

There was no gorgeous domain, nor was there an exaggerated blade aura.

"Swoosh!"

This strike stirred up countless wind sounds, directly tearing open a hole in the Holy Light Barrier. The next moment, Gu Nanfeng strode into the alley. He moved straight ahead without any hesitation. After shattering the Holy Light Barrier, he followed the direction of the blade's rotation, lightly shaking the blade of the wooden sword as if he were slapping someone, striking the waists of the two Heavy Armor Guards stationed at the entrance of the alley who had not yet reacted!

Bang, bang!

The Heavy Armor Guards, who were known for their strong defense, were sent flying like sandbags after being struck by the wooden blade, heavily bouncing off the stone wall and falling unconscious.

Gu Nanfeng stood in front of the secret prison.

Without hesitation, he delivered the second strike!

The wind pressure in the alley reached its limit. The heavy door at the entrance of the secret prison was pried open along the gap by the Lanqie, and then shattered into pieces within a few seconds.

Gu Nanfeng advanced, stepping on the debris and mithril fragments scattered all over the ground. His gaze remained fixed and did not shift. The secret prison was dark, but the Heavy Armor Guards were lighting lanterns and rushing towards the source of the noise. Their mental networks had experienced a brief malfunction, and they could not communicate with each other normally.

One lantern after another illuminated the dim cages on both sides.

Gu Nanfeng saw the faces approaching him.

These people were all extraordinary criminals who had been imprisoned by the Guang Ming Divine Hall for many years. They stared wide-eyed as this stranger broke into the secret prison... They never thought that they would see the secret prison being violently destroyed in their lifetime.

Perhaps this was the best opportunity to escape from prison.

Some begged to be unlocked.

Some offered temptations with prices.

The Heavy Armor Guards gathered along the way. They constantly used the butts of their spears to heavily strike the criminals who approached the cages along their path, beating these people into a bloody mess. Only then did the chaotic noises in this secret prison subside somewhat.

Finally, these Heavy Armor Guards stood together.

There were twenty of them in total.

And Gu Nanfeng, there was only one.

This was the first time that Gu Nanfeng stopped.

He watched these Heavy Armor Guards, who were familiar with the art of combined attacks, blocking his path to the end of the secret prison, and had to stop -

But it was only a pause.

About a second, maybe even less.

The next moment, Gu Nanfeng walked straight through the heavy barrier formed by these twenty Heavy Armor Guards.

This scene happened too quickly.

So quickly that one lantern after another fell to the ground, the flames extinguished, and none of the criminals in the secret prison saw the scene in the corridor clearly –

The wind came.

The wind left.

The secret prison fell into darkness again. Gu Nanfeng put away his wooden blade and continued to move forward. He didn't turn back to look at the Heavy Armor Guards falling one after another...

He came to the last door.

It had not taken long to arrive here from the south of Guang Ming City.

It was about the time it took for a gust of wind.

When he set off, perhaps a leaf was just lifted by the melodious wind, and now it should have just fallen to the ground.

Gu Nanfeng pushed open the last door of the secret prison.

He came to the cage that was completely sealed off, and stretched out his palm. Lanqie, which symbolized the softest thing in the world, erupted in full force at this moment.

Thousands of strands of gale roared and raged.

The layer of black silver plated on the wall was scraped away.

Finally, the lock tongue shattered, and the cage broke.

Gu Nanfeng released his palm.

He took a deep breath and took two steps back. The secret prison was silent enough to hear a pin drop. He could even hear his own heartbeat.

And...

The heartbeat of another person in the secret prison.

Sometimes, identifying a person.

You don't need to see them in person, just hearing their voice is enough.

Lanqie is a gust of wind that pursues freedom. For Gu Nanfeng, he can hear every gust of wind in the world...

The wind outside the alley finally blew to the end of the secret prison.

The heavy door of the secret prison slowly opened.

The woman who had been sitting in front of the stone wall of the secret prison turned her head little by little.

A little bit of light fell on her face.

The entire secret prison became as bright as day.

……

……

(ps: 1. The official account has updated Chu Ling's portrait ~ everyone can go and take a look. The official account name: Hui Shuai Jiao De Xiong Mao. There will be other character portraits later ~ 2. It seems that the chapter comments have been restored. Everyone praise me and I'll see if it's true.)