Chapter 1 The Subjugation

A moment later, silence gradually returned to the sky above.

Gu Shen had completed the suppression of this ominous presence...

This fusion could not be called a failure, nor could it be called a success. Compared to the pressure Gu Shen had endured, what he had gained was truly too little.

A wisp of jet-black flame burned between his brows.

Gu Shen plucked this wisp of netherflame, examined it for a long time, and finally shook his head with a soft sigh.

"I must trouble Senior to use 【Daoliu】..." (Reverse Flow).

Bai Shu, who had been watching from the sidelines, was surprised. "Are you sure you want to use 【Daoliu】 at this moment?"

Gu Shen had already completed the suppression of the ominous presence and plucked this wisp of netherflame!

This battle was already over!

To reverse the flow now would be equivalent to working in vain...

After perfectly fusing with the Dou Zhan (Battle) Fire Seed, Bai Shu's 【Daoliu Shenyu】 (Reverse Flow Divine Domain) power had increased many times over. Except for those of the same level who had perfectly fused with a Fire Seed, all other people and objects could be disassembled and restored to their original state within the Divine Domain.

Even Gu Shen was no exception.

Currently, Gu Shen had only fused with a small wisp of netherflame.

If he truly wanted to resist the 【Daoliu Shenyu】, he would at least have to digest the power of an entire Fire Seed.

"I'm sure," Gu Shen nodded.

He knew what Mr. Bai Shu was worried about.

If 【Daoliu】 was activated now, the netherflame would return to the vertical pupil, and the ominous encounters he had faced would lose their meaning.

It would be equivalent to suffering for nothing.

"Alright."

Although he didn't understand what Gu Shen was trying to do, Bai Shu still gave him respect.

He waved his sleeve to activate the 【Daoliu Shenyu】. Countless divine rays flowed, enveloping Gu Shen. He saw the wisp of black flame between his brows forcibly broken down by divine power, wisps of it flying back into the gap in the sky.

Finally, the sky closed, and the dark aura returned.

Everything returned to calm.

"Thank you, Senior..."

Gu Shen landed and bowed respectfully.

Bai Shu frowned. "What medicine are you selling in your gourd, kid?"

"Replying to Senior... I just wanted to try the taste of 'fusing with a Fire Seed,'" Gu Shen explained with a smile. "The Nether King Fire Seed is very difficult to fuse with. Even though I am the Chosen One, I still encountered great resistance... You should have seen the scene just now."

"Mm... this netherflame is full of ominousness."

Bai Shu recalled the scene just now and slowly said, "Although fusing with a Fire Seed is as difficult as ascending to heaven, the fact that you suffered such a huge calamity just by extracting a wisp of authority is truly frightening."

"That's why I want to undergo 【Daoliu】 and return to the state before I fused with the Fire Seed."

Gu Shen calmly said, "These calamities and ominous things are nothing. If I can suppress them once, I can suppress them a second time!"

"You... have you noticed something?"

Bai Shu raised an eyebrow.

"There are a large number of calamities left by the previous Nether King in the netherflame," Gu Shen said calmly. "You should know about the Doru River incident, as well as the Old World in the northern part of Gubao Fortress... The previous Nether King always wanted to create an undead army to conquer the Five Continents. I suspect these calamities are the foreshadowing he left behind."

Under the lock of fate, even a Divine Seat cannot escape the reckoning of karma.

Every time a person is killed, a wisp of karmic debt will envelop them.

As the most powerful order-breaker in the world, the more one "usurps," the more one must bear huge calamities and ominousness...

"With such a huge calamity, I'm very curious, what exactly did the previous Nether King do?"

Gu Shen chuckled softly, "The killings in the River of the Dead and the northern labyrinth alone could never create such karmic debt."

As soon as these words came out, Bai Shu's expression also became serious.

"The Nether King back then was an extremely eccentric fellow."

Bai Shu frowned and said, "Besides Gu Changzhi, no one knew this guy's whereabouts. There were even very few people who had seen his true face... I know very little about the Nether King. The only thing I know is that before he fled the Five Continents, he handed the 【Zhenli Zhi Chi】 (Ruler of Truth) to the Ancient Text Society."

After a series of twists and turns.

【Truth】 was held by Li Rou and erupted in Xinyang Fortress.

Then came twenty years of long waiting. 【Truth】 finally came into Gu Shen's hands.

"In that case, it is indeed necessary to 【Daoliu】. The most terrifying thing in the transcendent world is fate. Achieving a Divine Seat requires the ordination of fate, and those calamities and ominous things are even more guided by fate."

Bai Shu looked at Gu Shen and said solemnly, "Although your current strength allows you to start fusing, if you don't have absolute certainty, don't easily touch the 'Nether King Fire Seed'."

"Mm... I think so too."

Gu Shen squinted his eyes and looked at the dark crack in the sky that was slowly closing.

The authority power of the Nether King Fire Seed was very tempting.

But he maintained his rationality at the last moment.

He believed in the intuition of his mind... there must be a big pit left in this Fire Seed. Fusing with it like this would easily lead to being schemed against.

"It's just... such a pity."

Bai Shu's expression was a bit regretful, and he murmured this sentence very softly.

Gu Shen said, "Senior... I'm afraid we'll have to wait a little longer to revive Li Rou."

"It's not really because of that that I feel regret."

Bai Shu was silent for a moment and said in a hoarse voice, "There are some things I dare not think about... After fusing with the Dou Zhan Fire Seed, I comprehended the perfect 【Daoliu Shenyu】. I can go anywhere in the world, and I can do anything, but I can't revive Li Rou. But if even 【Daoliu】 can't achieve this miracle, can the netherflame really do it?"

"..."

Gu Shen really wanted to say yes, but he also knew that no one could guarantee that the netherflame could do it.

He could only comfort him, "Presiding over life and death, setting things right. The netherflame is the most likely of the Seven Divine Fire Seeds to complete this miracle."

"Yes, that's why I came out of the bottom of Qinghe River," Bai Shu said with a smile. "I've waited so long without a word of complaint. Now that you're beginning to take shape, even if I wait a few more years... what does it matter?"

Gu Shen asked curiously, "Then what is Senior regretting?"

"If you achieve 'Nether King', the status of Eastern Continent will be completely different."

Bai Shu said, "What I regret is that the merger of Central City and Nagano still requires forbearance."

"Senior, there's really no need to feel regret."

Gu Shen smiled and said, "The wisp of authority power just now isn't enough to fill the gaps between the teeth in the Divine War... Fusing with that wisp of authority is indeed a great enhancement for me, but compared to a true 'Divine Seat', it's like a firefly compared to the bright moon."

"That's true."

Hearing this, Bai Shu also smiled helplessly.

"On this trip back to Nagano, I didn't mention it to my old friends. Now, the only one in the entire Snow Forbidden City who knows the news is Song Ci."

Gu Shen said, "If I fuse with the Fire Seed, I might be captured by 'Guang Ming Bi Lei' (Light Barrier) . Once the news leaks, the Eastern Continent's layout might be broken, and the Divine War might arrive ahead of schedule, which would not be a good thing."

Bai Shu was stunned.

Only then did he understand the true meaning of Gu Shen activating 【Daoliu】.

"Wait... you're not planning to announce your identity to the outside world?"

"No."

Gu Shen said calmly, "Since, in the minds of the world, Gu Shen is already dead, then why should he be in a hurry to come back to life?"

He cultivated in seclusion in the Ice Sea, comprehending life and death.

The many chaotic noises from the outside world had nothing to do with him.

If it weren't for this "death," he would never have had such precious time for cultivation.

And now, he decided to continue.

After hearing this, Bai Shu's expression was complicated. He subconsciously murmured, "That person said that with your personality, you wouldn't easily swallow the losses you suffered in the Ice Sea."

"That person... who is it?"

Gu Shen keenly caught a key word.

"It's nothing."

Bai Shu shook his head and said, "Since you've already come back, it's fine not to announce your identity to the outside world... it's just that your old friends and comrades are all kept in the dark."

Gu Shen could only smile helplessly, "There's nothing I can do about it. Since I've been hiding it from them for almost six years, what's a few more days?"

"Of course, I'm not hiding it from everyone."

Gu Shen said softly, "When necessary, I will let the world know that I am still alive."

...

...

Chu Ling, Gu Xiaoman, and Song Ci waited patiently at the exit of the mausoleum.

Earlier, the sky above had changed color, becoming gloomy.

Song Ci and Gu Xiaoman didn't know what had happened... but Chu Ling knew very well that this was the phenomenon of the "Nether King Fire Seed" appearing in the world. This phenomenon was hidden by layers of the Golden Divine Domain, so only those in the inner mausoleum could detect it.

"Mr. Bai Shu, what is he doing to Brother Gu Shen?"

Gu Xiaoman was a little nervous.

Seeing the little guy so nervous, Song Ci comforted him, "Don't worry, the Dou Zhan Divine Seat will not harm your Brother Gu Shen."

But his expression was not relaxed either.

Song Ci muttered to himself in a voice that only he could hear, "But... the aura just now really made people feel uneasy."

He knew that Mr. Bai Shu's Divine Domain contained many secrets.

The ancient coffin entwined with rattan.

The endless wilderness of flowing clouds.

He had seen them all... but how could the eerie aura just now make him feel an instinctive rejection?

He was an apostle of light, and he was most sensitive to the power of darkness and eeriness... his intuition told Song Ci that the eerie aura just now was likely related to the netherflame.

"Could it be that the 'Nether King' has come?"

"Two Divine Seats, meeting Gu Shen together?"

"Wait... could it be that the Nether King wants to take Gu Shen as an apostle?"

As soon as this thought appeared, it extended uncontrollably, and Song Ci's expression became a little anxious.

"He's here."

Just at this moment, Chu Ling's soft whisper broke the silence of the mausoleum.

In the mist, a figure slowly walked out.

Gu Xiaoman stared nervously at Gu Shen, and Song Ci even released his mental power...

Gu Shen, who was wearing 【Shenyin】 (Divine Invisibility), felt two nervous gazes, and immediately understood what these two were looking for.

He generously released his mind sea, allowing Song Ci to examine it.

"You kid... what was going on with the aura just now?"

Song Ci breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's nothing..."

Gu Shen wanted to casually perfunctory him, but seeing Song Ci's momentum of getting to the bottom of things, he temporarily changed his mind, solemnly stretched out his finger, pointed to the top of the sky, and said seriously, "Can't you guess whose aura it is? Don't ask too much about the 'Highest Seat'!"

"The Nether King! It's really the Nether King?!"

Song Ci's expression was shocked, and he quickly stopped talking, no longer saying anything more.

He had always thought that the Nether King was dead!

He didn't expect that he was still alive!

He, this apostle of light, was able to cultivate in Qingzhong Cemetery for so long, thanks to the Nether King's kindness and generosity, and he didn't drive him away.

"You tried to fuse with 'Netherflame'?"

Chu Ling transmitted her voice to Gu Shen. She was also paying attention to the changes in the aura of the inner mausoleum, and immediately asked the result, "How is it, is it going smoothly?"

Gu Shen deliberately played a trick, "Well... I guess it's considered a successful fusion?"

"Considered?"

Chu Ling widened her beautiful eyes. It was the first time she had heard such a description. Success is success, what does considered success mean?

"I fused a wisp of netherflame and fought a tough battle. It's just that Mr. Bai Shu later used 【Daoliu】, now... you can treat it as if nothing happened."

Gu Shen啧啧 transmitted his voice, "It's a pity, I was almost able to make you call me 'Divine Seat Gu'."

"You..."

Chu Ling was choked by these words, and she almost didn't care about her demeanor. At this moment, she stretched out her hand unhappily, and then took the opportunity to hold Gu Shen's arm and pinched him hard.

"Hiss... it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."

Gu Shen frowned and could only pretend to be calm.

"Presiding over life and death? Divine Seat Gu? Fusing with the Fire Seed and then reversing the flow back? You're really a genius..."

Chu Ling transmitted her voice angrily, "You made such a big scene, you almost scared me to death, do you know?"