Chapter 1 Afu Guides

Afu led Gu Shen and Xiaoman through the Initial.

The Initial was enormous.

This was a survival vessel built by the God of Craftsmen for his escape. Most of the space inside was dedicated to the lives of transcendents. The vast "False Snowfield" could transform according to the Initial's needs, changing seasons and even switching to different ecosystems.

Aside from the simulated environment of the snowfield, there were also quite spacious resource storage rooms and several gravity training rooms.

"Alright, this is the gravity training room."

Afu introduced, "It can provide up to fifty times the gravitational pressure..."

Gu Shen was quite impressed.

Gu Xiaoman blinked. "Since there's fifty times the gravity, why did you only use thirty times when we triggered the alarm back then?"

"On the one hand, I was afraid of hurting you."

Afu said helplessly, "On the other hand, Gu Shen is too cunning... This guy stubbornly refused to break through thirty times the gravity at first. By the time I reacted, he had already stormed into the control room. I had no choice but to give up the pressure and stop him."

Gu Shen smiled.

During the previous breakthrough, he deliberately held back [Truth] to guard against this.

"It's not easy to complete drawing the sword in the dream of the 'Lord of Love'."

Gu Shen said seriously to Afu, "I want to take Xiaoman to cultivate in the Initial for a while... We want to rest on the Initial before the dive ends."

"No problem."

Afu agreed readily. "There are many nutrient cabins here, and a large number of vacant living rooms. You can just live in whichever one you like."

The Initial was moving its position.

The trouble in the ice sea had been resolved, and Gu Shen was not in a hurry to leave...

As for Xiaoman's subsequent arrangements, he would have to wait until he returned to the Five Continents.

He needed some time to meditate and think carefully about what to do after returning.

Of course.

Spending time with Xiaoman was also important.

The little one had made rapid progress in the past five years, advancing to the seventh level of the Deep Sea. This stage had a chance to impact the "Third Transcendence."

Gu Shen planned to personally guide Xiaoman.

...

...

In the days that followed, three figures could often be seen on the vast Initial, inseparable.

One big and one small, along with a wobbly cuboid robot.

Afu was an AI that didn't need to rest for twenty-four hours. It didn't need sleep, nor did it need company.

If Gu Shen and Xiaoman hadn't come, it wouldn't have felt anything wrong with being alone for thousands of years...

But now there were two more people.

Afu's life also had some different things.

The Initial built by the God of Craftsmen was not just a shelter. Similarly... the "Afu" he created was not just a cold-blooded program fulfilling butler duties.

"Quick, Xiaoman... draw your sword!"

"Faster!"

"Even faster!"

Above the snowfield, heavy snow was flying. A black-cloaked figure with a fierce offensive was launching a fierce attack on a bamboo armor.

The former kept slashing out crosses of sword light on the snowfield.

The continuous cold light tore through the heavy snow, cutting off the void, and splitting out a whistling river that made people feel palpitations. However, every move of the bamboo armor was perfectly blocked. The two advanced and retreated on the ice field, fighting for several miles, and the battle was very fierce, splashing up thousands of piles of snow.

This scene was both dangerous and beautiful.

After a while, Gu Xiaoman made a heavy chop, and when the bamboo armor raised the knife to block, she changed the knife stance with lightning speed, changing the chop to a tease. This move was extremely clever.

"Hiss!"

A bamboo armor stomach piece was thrown out.

This sparring ended here.

Gu Xiaoman supported her knees with both hands, panting. Even though she had excellent talent and excellent physical fitness, this tug-of-war had lasted for a full hour...

Her physical exertion was too great.

"One hour, and I barely found a flaw."

Gu Xiaoman said a little unwillingly, "Has this guy's difficulty really been lowered?"

"It's been lowered several times."

Gu Shen smiled slightly and said, "Afu... what is the current difficulty of 'Red Shadow'?"

"According to the trial intensity you provided, the current physical strength of 'Red Shadow' is the ninth level of the deep sea, beginner stage." The small cuboid flew over and comforted, "Miss Xiaoman, it's already very remarkable that you can do this with your realm."

Gu Xiaoman had just been promoted to the seventh level not long ago.

According to Gu Shen's assessment, the little one's current strength should barely be considered "First Transcendence." Aside from external auxiliary means, if they really had a one-on-one fight, Gu Xiaoman could have a fifty-fifty chance against a transcendent on the eighth level of the Deep Sea.

When it comes to cultivation, young age is an advantage.

This means you have more time to cultivate slowly, without having to rush.

But when it comes to fighting, young age is a complete disadvantage.

Older transcendents often have richer combat experience and more sophisticated combat skills.

"No... I'm still far from enough."

Gu Xiaoman gritted her teeth, she re-grasped the long sword, "Afu, you don't need to comfort me, I know I need more tempering."

The Initial had been sailing under the ice sea for nearly a week.

This week, Gu Shen focused on practicing physical skills with Xiaoman...

The reason was very simple.

These "Red Shadow" robots on the Initial were perfect sparring partners that were hard to come by.

Even Gu Shen couldn't find fault with the combat skills of "Red Shadow."

When the God of Craftsmen built it back then, he should have unreservedly integrated the essence of physical skills from that era into it.

This was simply not an industrial product, but a work of art.

Not only Gu Xiaoman was confronting "Red Shadow."

So was Gu Shen.

"You rest for a moment, watch my battle next..."

Gu Shen patted the little one's shoulder, signaling her to retreat backward. Gu Xiaoman adjusted her breathing, and she looked at Gu Shen with longing.

This week.

Gu Shen's image had changed a lot.

There wasn't much food on the Initial, but there were a lot of nutritional supplements. Thanks to Afu's "careful care," he was no longer the "sallow and thin" look he had when he first came out of the ice sea. Although his figure still looked a bit thin overall, the general outline of his skin was already visible, and his long hair had also become glossy.

Gu Shen did not cut his long hair, but simply tied it up according to the traditional customs of Afu's era.

Gu Shen was wearing the black-patterned robe left by the God of Craftsmen, and held the wooden knife inserted in the ground in his hand.

In the snow mist, three figures slowly walked out.

Three Red Shadow robots.

Afu said in a low voice, "Gu Shen, according to your request... the difficulty of these three combat-type Red Shadows has been adjusted to the highest."

"Thank you."

Gu Shen stood in place, without moving his feet, picked up the wooden knife, and closed his eyes at the same time.

Closing his eyes was to "see" better.

The fire of life at the center of his forehead burned brightly, and at this moment Gu Shen's vision enveloped the ice field within a thousand meters.

"When the fight starts... you can carry out random 'laser strikes' on me."

After saying this.

Gu Shen and the three Red Shadows moved together, but his speed was faster than the bamboo armor.

"Whoosh!"

On the ice field, Gu Shen stepped on the same fast and subtle strange steps as the bamboo armor, and attacked fiercely with the wooden knife.

[Deep Sea] gave transcendents a standard and normative path to promotion.

How a transcendent goes from awakening to mastering the domain, and then to transcending the Deep Sea Trial step by step... this is the entire content of the twelve sea areas.

But [Deep Sea] can't give a path to practice physical skills.

Faster, more persistent, stronger, this seems to be the essence of "physical skills," but behind these seemingly simple words, there is a promotion rule that has not changed for thousands of years. From capturing breath, precise strikes, to [Complete Flash], those transcendents who specialize in physical skills are actually walking a path that is completely different from the "Deep Sea Trial."

They transform all external forces into their own advantages.

The age of hot weapons completely crushes cold weapons.

But the emergence of transcendent abilities has made both hot weapons and cold weapons meaningless.

A long-range shooter who is good at gun skills may not be the opponent of a cold weapon transcendent.

After Gu Shen comprehended [Complete Flash], his physical skills were stuck at the bottleneck position.

And this time, he realized what this bottleneck was during sparring with Red Shadow.

You can't have both fish and bear paws. Practicing oneself and practicing the transcendent domain are originally two contradictory paths... Choosing the former means giving up the latter.

Why is "Red Shadow" so powerful?

It is because the God of Craftsmen completely gave up the "domain" and does not need the "spiritual sea."

The reason why Red Shadow is a work of art is because this mechanical body has reached the limit it can reach.

Transcendents are the same.

Countless crisp collision sounds on the snowfield exploded in an instant. Gu Xiaoman concentrated her attention to barely see the battle between Gu Shen and the three Red Shadows... She found that in this battle, Gu Shen completely gave up the Blazing Fire and Pure Land domains. From the perspective of an observer, Gu Shen was a purer "Red Shadow" than "Red Shadow"!

"This guy's understanding is really amazing."

Afu exclaimed, "If the master was still alive, he would definitely accept him as a disciple, right?"

Feeling the strange gaze cast by Xiaoman.

Afu sighed helplessly, "Okay, Gu Shen probably doesn't want to join my master's sect... After all, my master is not good at fighting, but he is also a leader-level figure anyway, and at least he can teach him the method of casting and mind cultivation."

After the matter of the Bronze Hall ended, Gu Shen deliberately told Afu not to leak the scenes he saw in the Pure Land world.

Although it didn't understand, Afu chose to respect it.

It can only hide the information that it knows that Gu Shen has the "Gospel Box Fragment."

However, knowing that Gu Shen is a "leader" also made it feel more balanced.

Because he was a "leader" chosen by the Gospel Box Fragment, that's why he is so strong!

If any of the transcendents on the Five Continents side could be as perverted as Gu Shen, then Afu would really not dare to let the Initial go to sea again.

Seeing that the battle was in a stalemate, Afu quickly increased the difficulty of Gu Shen's battle.

"Whoosh!" Countless gusts of wind suddenly rose on the snowfield.

The laser beams were ready, and at this moment they were hidden in the swirling wind and snow, finding the pause gap when Gu Shen drew his knife to block, and instantly shot out!

More than a dozen laser beams intersected and divided the void, but in the end, they didn't even graze Gu Shen's hair—

Gu Shen's [Complete Flash] had been completed, and the blazing fire spirit enveloped the snowfield, capturing and reflecting every trace of strangeness into the heart lake.

The speed of this laser beam was still too slow.

"Zzz!"

This battle finally ended with a simple and unpretentious cross cut.

Gu Shen completed the flash to avoid the laser, then stepped forward, followed by drawing the knife and continuous slashes. This was not a gorgeous move, Gu Xiaoman had used it before... Now that it was borrowed by Gu Shen, it was readily available and already had the demeanor of a master.

Bang bang bang!

With such a simple slash, it flashed by, and Gu Shen had already come behind the three Red Shadows.

The Red Shadows' best at extremely fast blocking was broken through head-on.

In the midst of three crisp cracking sounds, sparks and electric arcs burst out from the chests of the three Red Shadows, and they fell to the ground one after another.