Chapter 1 What Do You Want Me To Do?

After Gu Shen revealed Yuan Shuocheng’s greatest weakness, the previously arrogant and hypocritical Sacred City Bishop became sincere.

Gu Shen found this transformation quite amusing.

“What do you think?”

“The ‘Sacred City Congregants’ under my command will provide full support,” Yuan Shuocheng gritted his teeth and said. “We will set off, and I will follow behind… If you are truly short on manpower, I can also dispatch some congregants as a ‘vanguard.’”

“Do I care about that?”

“Then what do you care about?” Yuan Shuocheng said with a headache, “Just tell me what you want!”

“Your mission in Sang Zhou Hollow should be more than just ‘reinforcements,’ right?” Gu Shen said indifferently. “I want to know Jia Di… or rather, the Sacred City’s plan for Sang Zhou Hollow.”

“???”

Yuan Shuocheng stared at Gu Shen with wide eyes, in disbelief.

Gu Shen, standing on his flying sword, smiled and met his gaze.

“You might as well just kill me!” Yuan Shuocheng said anxiously, “How could I possibly say such a thing?!”

He was acting as a broker, accepting benefits from both Central City and the Saints…

If Gu Shen insisted on exposing this information, at most he would hand over all the embezzled funds. With the connections he had forged within the church over the years, and the merits he had accumulated, as long as he could compensate the Saints for their losses, he wouldn’t necessarily face the death penalty!

But if he revealed this information...

Then he would be embarking on a path of no return.

“I see…”

Gu Shen smiled and said, “So, it’s not that you ‘don’t know,’ but that you ‘can’t say.’ It seems your status within the Storm Church is indeed very high. Not only Jia Di, but other Saints must have entrusted you with tasks as well.”

Yuan Shuocheng once again: “???”

“Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to betray the Sacred City.”

“As long as you ensure you ‘work hard’ during the mission, that’s enough.” Gu Shen transmitted his voice leisurely, “The information I hold in my hand is worth you putting in this effort, right? After all, in your eyes, the lives of those congregants aren’t considered anything precious… I don’t ask for much. You will send one hundred people to the front to clear the path. The Sacred City will handle any issues that arise. These followers can be used up and then you can ask the Sacred City for more. My people are precious, I don’t want to lose a single one.”

“… Fine.”

Yuan Shuocheng gritted his teeth, forcing out a single word.

“Wait a moment!”

He suddenly asked, “You still haven’t told me… the source of this information!”

Gu Shen glanced at Yuan Shuocheng.

“Look in the mirror, do you have the right to ask questions?”

After saying this, he flew away on his sword.

The long sword drew an arc in the sky, heading towards the distance.

…

…

“A long time ago, I went to the world ‘outside the wall.’”

Gu Xiaoman was fully dressed, her fifth-order source armor clinging to her like skin, with a thin black shirt on top. Her clean, short hair was tied into a short ponytail at the back of her head.

She stood on the high wall of the S12 district, her expression complex.

It was three years ago, when the awakening experiments had just begun… She had encountered a beast spirit attack on the way to being “sold” to the E0 district of East Hollow. Xiaoman still remembered the bloody scene.

Initial awakening.

Humans had almost no chance of winning against beast spirits.

These fierce beasts that survived in the outer ring of Sang Zhou Hollow, with their instinctive awareness, would gain a great boost in “hunting” and “destruction” once they awakened and possessed extraordinary source matter!

Humans, on the other hand, were physically weak and needed to cultivate slowly, using their intelligence to master and control this power in order to become “stronger.”

“Don’t worry.”

Chen Li smiled. “Three years ago is different from now. You are now considered to have mastered the ‘breathing technique’ as a beginner in the spiritual system.”

“Beginner…”

Gu Xiaoman looked a little nervous. She already knew the general level division of the deep water area, and the strength corresponding to the transcendent levels.

“If you’re a beginner, it should be enough to deal with some beast spirits that only have brute force.”

Chen Li said seriously, “Xiaoman, your ability is [Annihilating Dreams], so for those extraordinary beasts with little spiritual defense ability, you only need to find an opportunity to destroy their ‘brainstem,’ and they won’t be able to do anything, posing no threat to you.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

Gu Xiaoman smiled bitterly. “I’m still a little nervous.”

“You’re nervous about what…”

Chen Li said unhappily, “Look at what you’re wearing? Fifth-order source armor! Ordinary beast spirits will have a hard time hurting you.”

“Swish!”

Gu Shen returned to the city wall on his sword. His mental power enveloped the high wall, and he had already heard the conversation between the two.

“This time out of the city… hunting beast spirits is just a trial. If you encounter some wild beginner-level beast spirits, you don’t need to be afraid, just treat it as a review of the ‘physical skills’ from the past few days.”

Gu Shen smiled. “And also recall the beginner-level application of spiritual abilities I taught you—”

Beginner-level mental power was mainly [Minor Hypnosis].

This time out of the wall was just for Gu Xiaoman to test her abilities.

Of course—

The real enemy was never the beast spirits.

The real thing to watch out for during this grand hunt was the Four Divine Envoys!

“I have already added a wisp of ‘Nether Fire’ to Gu Xiaoman’s spiritual sea.” Gu Shen murmured in his heart, “With the ‘fire seed’ blessing, the ‘prophet’ of the Source Tower will no longer be able to divine the exact location of the Child of Divine Scroll… But even so, we still can’t be careless.”

He had previously read the spiritual sea of a Source Tower law enforcer in the E0 district.

The “Cloud Mirror” bestowed by the Sky God Seat had given a personal portrait of Gu Xiaoman, as well as some vague characteristics—

“Xiaoman, come… take this with you.”

Gu Shen squatted down and took out a thin black veil from his arms.

A-level sealed item [Ghost Veil].

When this item was taken out, the expressions of the several transcendents on the high wall became strange, because an eerie spiritual aura permeated the surrounding space… This was a rather ominous and bizarre sealed item.

Ordinary people would encounter misfortune if they wore it.

A long time ago, it was actually red, as scarlet as blood.

Until it met Gu Shen.

“Nether Fire” had conducted a dimensional reduction strike on this ominous sealed item. All the misfortune in this world could not withstand the disaster carried by the “Nether King” himself. Being by Gu Shen’s side, the [Ghost Veil] had become quiet instead… Most of the time, it was immersed in Gu Shen’s “Blazing Fire.” After a long period of Nether Fire tempering, the color of the [Ghost Veil] had changed from red to black.

Ominous, strange, and insane.

These kinds of traits were gradually erased by the Nether Fire.

“This is…”

Gu Xiaoman looked at the black veil. She didn’t have any ominous premonitions at the moment.

During this period, Gu Shen would infuse her with “Fire of Life” whenever he had the chance. The [Ghost Veil] recognized the aura of its master. Gu Shen had retained a part of its dark and manic nature, but it would never dare to revive on Gu Xiaoman’s body.

It knew who the truly terrifying existence was.

“This is a gift I’m giving you.”

Gu Shen said softly, placing the [Ghost Veil] on Gu Xiaoman’s face. The little girl held her breath, and her sallow and thin face immediately changed. Gu Shen reached out his palm and slowly stroked it—

Gu Xiaoman’s face changed its appearance.

“Click.”

Gu Shen snapped his fingers again, and Blazing Fire condensed into a mirror in the air. Gu Xiaoman looked at the unfamiliar face and reached out to touch her own cheeks.

“So magical…”

The little girl murmured, “My face has changed…”

“It’s an ‘illusion.’”

Gu Shen smiled. “This is the ability of spiritual transcendents later on. The law enforcers of the Source Tower are looking for you everywhere. Wearing this ‘veil’ can protect you from being discovered. You can restore your original appearance by taking it off.”

“I see.”

The amazement in Gu Xiaoman’s eyes slowly subsided. Although she had already awakened and had several masters, every time she delved deeper into the world of transcendents, she would see many “incredible” things.

Bai Xiu watched this scene.

He whispered, “I will be responsible for guarding Xiaoman’s safety this time out.”

Gu Shen smiled and replied, “We just need to keep an eye on the ‘Source Tower’… With the equipment she has, there’s not much need to worry about encountering beast spirits.”

Bai Xiu smiled, “That’s true.”

These two S-levels didn’t have such good conditions back then. Judging from Gu Xiaoman’s configuration of top-tier “divine equipment,” she truly lived up to the name of “Child of Divine Scroll.”

In the past few years, she had tasted all the bitterness and warmth of the world.

Now.

She had ushered in the true “Divine Scroll.”

“Rumble—”

Outside the high wall of the S12 district, there was a deafening roar.

In the distance, Yuan Shuocheng’s source energy boat hovered over the wilderness. The hatch opened, and more than a hundred Storm Church followers, following the Archbishop’s orders, landed on the ground and began to advance towards the primeval jungle of Sang Zhou Hollow.

“It’s starting.”

Gu Shen said calmly, “All law enforcers of the districts, follow the plan and form into teams, listen to the command of the [Central Control Channel], and advance outside the high wall.”

Chu Ling took over the [Central Control Channel] of East Continent.

She simultaneously docked with dozens of captains…

The grand hunt began.

South of South Hollow, nearly a thousand transcendents began to move forward.

…

…

Source Tower.

A drop of water kept falling, experiencing endless reincarnation in this boundless spiritual space.

This layer was called the “Realm of Reincarnation.”

This was a pure dreamland condensed from the God Seat’s fire seed. Here, a certain kind of “spiritual immortality” could be achieved… The famous prophet Mr. Yan lived here.

To be precise, he was trapped here.

An old man in a white shirt wearing a snow-white mask walked slowly. Water droplets kept reincarnating behind him. He stepped through layers of fog, waved away the illusions after layers of mist, and then saw that skinny and pitiful man.

“Mr. Yan.”

Tianshui’s voice was deep and powerful.

He maintained a certain distance, which could be considered a kind of respect, because the “body” of the man in front of him had “rotted” to a very serious degree… Countless black threads were wrapped around his skin. In fact, these threads were very loose, as if they would scatter with a gust of wind. This miserable appearance was really unbearable to look at.

This was a spiritual space, and there was no such thing as a physical body.

This was Mr. Yan’s soul.

A complete soul.

Because of the extensive use of “divination,” he was eventually locked by fate. No one could escape the “price.” Even if he escaped to the “Realm of Reincarnation” built jointly by the two gods, he still couldn’t avoid this ending.

“Tianshui… you came later than I expected.”

The gaunt man raised his face, which was also blurred.

It wasn’t the fog that was blocking it.

His entire soul body had become a cocoon-like existence wrapped in black threads.

Hands were no longer hands, and heads were no longer heads.

A little black light exposed in the collapsed threads should be his eyes… Tianshui silently met his gaze. He could see that there was still some smile in Yan’s eyes.

“The Child of Divine Scroll has been lost.” Tianshui said calmly, “I need you to divine again.”

“Yes… I know.”

Mr. Yan was still smiling. He said sincerely, “You shouldn’t have come to me today for such an important matter… You should have… come earlier…”

“It doesn’t matter when I come to you.”

Tianshui said softly, “I know that you must have known all this long ago, so I’m here to directly get the ‘result.’ Now you can tell me, what is the divination result of the Child of Divine Scroll?”

“The divination of the Child of Divine Scroll…”

Mr. Yan smiled and said, “There is no result.”

“…”

Tianshui silently looked at the dilapidated soul in front of him.

“Before you came, I had already divined once… I can’t see the future, present, or past of the ‘Child of Divine Scroll.’” Mr. Yan said in a hoarse voice with a smile, “If I’m not mistaken, the ‘Fire Seed of Wine’ placed in the Source Tower should have recently experienced a shock, right?”

“Yes.”

Tianshui said calmly, “Because of this, I came late.”

“This shows that… the ‘Lord of Wine’ has been born.”

Mr. Yan said gently, “What a shocking miracle. The fire seed actually locked onto its master on its own and gave a wisp of spirit. This wisp is very small, even invisible, but as long as it exists, it is from zero to one, and it is enough to cut off all ‘divination’ in the world. I’m sorry, with the ‘ancient divination power’ I have mastered, I am far from being able to peep at the gods.”

A person who has lived to his point.

Only a wisp of soul remains, which may shatter at any time.

So there is nothing to lie about—

“Bringing the ‘Lord of Wine’ back is a very important matter.” Tianshui continued, “If she comes back, you may still be saved. The true ‘Lord of Wine’ is the king of the spiritual world. She may be able to repair your soul to its original state and make the ‘Realm of Reincarnation’ more complete… In that case, you can live a few more years.”

“Live a few more years…”

Mr. Yan murmured in a low voice. His voice was both sarcastic and teasing.

“For me… is living a few more years a good thing?”

Tianshui squatted down, and he slowly stretched out a hand, his palm touching the black line on Mr. Yan’s forehead from a distance. This man’s soul was so fragile that it could no longer endure much torment.

“Swish—”

Water droplets kept falling and reincarnating in the air.

In countless reincarnations, that moment of stillness was ushered in.

In that moment of stillness, Tianshui transmitted a wisp of thought to Mr. Yan.

“Living a few more years is a good thing.”

Under that white mask, it was impossible to see what kind of eyes he had.

Tianshui said, “Many things can only be seen if you ‘live.’”

Mr. Yan was stunned.

“Letting the ‘Lord of Wine’ return to the Source Tower… is very important to me, and also very important to you.”

In the silence, he heard Tianshui’s question sent to the deepest part of his soul.

“So, do you want to live?”