Chapter 727 The Second Apostle of the Underworld

The gale died down, and the leaves fluttered.

Zhuang Su hung precariously from the nearly broken branch. The moment he saw Gu Shen appear, the unease in his heart vanished in an instant.

There were always some people in this world whose mere appearance could bring endless security.

"Mr. Gu..."

Zhuang Su's voice was weak. He was about to recount what had just happened.

A wisp of blazing fire flew out, swirling, and plunged into his brow.

"Chi."

This flame, with the warmth of spring's revival, branded itself into Zhuang Su's spiritual sea.

The "ironization" traces spreading across his chest melted away like ice and snow, quickly disintegrating.

The mark left by the Eater of Iron was something ordinary people could not resolve.

But Gu Shen still possessed the higher-level Iron Throne!

As long as it contained iron characteristics, he could control it as he pleased!

This "iron seal" was extremely dangerous. If he hadn't arrived in time... even if the Iron Disciple hadn't directly killed him, Zhuang Su would have died from the spreading disease of rust. All the blood vessels in his body would have rusted, and countless iron spots would have grown on his skin, eventually turning him into an "iron man" from the inside out, suffocating to death.

Zhuang Su felt much lighter.

He struggled to climb onto the giant tree, leaning against the trunk to rest.

"Mr. Zhuang, don't worry... take a nap, and everything will be fine."

At the same time, a gentle voice entered Zhuang Su's ears.

The fire of life healed his external injuries, and the Iron Throne removed his rust marks... With the internal and external injuries gone, all that remained was hypnosis.

Mr. Zhuang didn't resist the call in his spiritual sea.

"Then... I'll leave it to you."

He followed the spiritual guidance in his heart, slowly closed his eyes, lowered his head, and fell asleep.

Gu Shen's Pure Land enveloped the giant tree where Zhuang Su was, preventing it from being knocked down by the beast tide... After doing all this, he looked at the iron shadow struggling under his palm.

Gu Shen coldly said, "You fool, do you know what you've done?"

The fool he was scolding wasn't Chen Li.

It was the Eater of Iron.

The latter was stunned.

Immediately afterward, Gu Shen slapped him across the face!

That "ironized" dark green shadow didn't even try to dodge. It wasn't in a physical state at all. After reaching the fourth level, the Iron Disciple that the Eater of Iron condensed was very similar to other natural characteristics—

At this moment, the Iron Disciple was somewhat like "elementalization."

It wasn't afraid of physical attacks in the real world at all!

However—

"Pa!"

A crisp slap echoed on the Iron Disciple's face.

The Iron Disciple was sent flying, spinning dozens of times in the air... Only then did it barely stop. It covered its face in disbelief, looking at Gu Shen.

It had been hit.

And... it hurt a lot.

It released its hand, half of its face cracked. This scene made the "Iron Disciple," who had just condensed some consciousness, feel collapsed and terrified... Just how much power did this seemingly casual slap contain?

Actually, not much.

It was just that the power of the Iron Throne and the Authority of the Underworld were too terrifying.

It couldn't withstand it.

"You dare to 'corrode' the person I've taken a liking to."

Gu Shen said expressionlessly, "In the future, when Chen Li is about to 'lose control,' you have to restrain him. Do you understand?"

"..."

The Iron Disciple was stunned, not responding immediately.

Immediately afterward, Gu Shen slapped it again!

Pa!

This time, it was still the power of the Iron Throne. The seemingly simple slap was like a father hitting his son, not allowing the Iron Disciple to resist or disobey in the slightest!

The Iron Disciple was cracked all over before it realized and immediately became obedient, kowtowing in the void.

It couldn't speak.

But the constant kowtowing clearly said, "Understood! Understood!"

Only then did Gu Shen stop.

He said coldly, "You better really understand... otherwise, I'll destroy you at any time."

After saying that.

He raised the palm pressing on Chen Li's shoulder.

Thousands of strands of blazing fire gathered in the void. The moment Gu Shen loosened his suppression, the Eater of Iron immediately dissipated, not daring to occupy the little iron man's body again.

This kind of "ability" that could give birth to its own consciousness was actually very rare—

This was a symbol of "high-level" ability!

Mu Wanqiu's Judge and Xiao Shouzi's Thunder Realm Walker both had humanoid incarnations of their abilities.

With the improvement of the supernatural realm.

The wisdom and combat thinking of the Judge and the Thunder Realm Walker would also be improved... and the so-called fourth level was actually a big watershed.

Fourth-level transcendents no longer only possessed "embryonic domains" but a "complete domain" that could communicate with the real world. The appearance of the "domain" meant "freedom" for supernatural abilities.

The Thunder Realm Walker could fly to the clouds on its own and fight separately from its master!

By analogy, the Judge was the same.

As for the Eater of Iron, it was actually a level lower than the Judge and the Thunder Realm Walker... because not every master of ability could cultivate an Iron Disciple with combat consciousness.

Chen Li was half lucky and half strong.

If he hadn't met Gu Shen... he would probably have faced a difficult and cruel choice when he was on the seventh level of the Deep Water Zone, which was how to get through the "gluttonization" frequent practice period.

This was the inevitable characteristic of the Eater of Iron, and all Iron Disciple masters had to face it.

Either, forcibly suppress the Iron Disciple to protect one's own spiritual safety—

In this way, when advancing to the fourth level, the Iron Disciple would not have self-awareness, and the upper limit of the master's ability would not be so high.

Either, raise one's own mental strength to the point where it could easily suppress the Iron Disciple.

This was really too difficult.

In recent years, among the many masters of the Eater of Iron, only the Rust Bone General of the Northern Continent had perfectly achieved this!

So... his Iron Disciple gave birth to extremely powerful self-awareness at the fourth level!

The second was Chen Li!

And this choice also meant the difficulty after the fourth-level promotion... The self-awareness of the Iron Disciple had already awakened, so how should the ability master tame and suppress it?

It could be said that this was a great leap in the ability of the Eater of Iron.

But if it wasn't handled well, it would also be the beginning of self-destruction.

……

……

After the Iron Disciple dissipated, Chen Li didn't wake up immediately. He was still in a coma.

"Gluttonization" would bring a great improvement in strength.

At the same time, it would also consume a huge amount of mental strength.

There was also a very important point... When the Iron Disciple previously occupied his body, he had resisted an attack from Zhuang Su, which Chen Li himself had resisted with his spiritual sea, and he needed time to digest it.

Gu Shen gathered countless flames in his palm. He dispersed the Pure Land domain and created a perfect and flawless "spherical barrier" in mid-air... At this moment, it was actually a very good opportunity.

This time, Gu Shen deliberately brought the little iron man on the mission south.

Of course, this was not because the mission required it. Chen Li's strength before the departure was only on the ninth level of the Deep Water Zone.

The difficulty of this mission was very high. If considered from the perspective of "completing the mission," it would actually be better to bring a fourth-level transcendent.

The most important reason—

Was that he wanted to find an opportunity to "transform" Chen Li.

Now, was the best opportunity!

This was an Apostle he had long taken a liking to. Having known each other for many years, no one knew the little iron man's personality better than Gu Shen. This guy looked honest and harmless on the surface, but his heart was actually full of thorns.

Chen Li could risk his life for him!

In the Qingzhong Cemetery, Chen Li indeed did so...

Gu Shen would never mistreat those who were willing to sacrifice their lives for him. After the Underworld King storm, the little iron man also helped him attract a lot of attention. Now, the outside world believed that Chen Li was the Apostle chosen by the Underworld King.

Then, it was better to let him really become an Apostle.

The Pure Land domain was formed, and Qingzhong ancient texts covered it, completely concealing the transcendent aura of this place.

Inside the spherical barrier.

Gu Shen stretched out his palm and pressed it against Chen Li's forehead.

A large amount of blazing fire rolled and crashed into the little iron man's spiritual sea.

……

……

"Ugh..."

Chen Li let out a muffled groan.

It felt like he had been sleeping for a long time, and his memory stopped at the moment when the beast tide swallowed him.

At this moment, his head was splitting, and a large number of images flooded in.

He saw what "he" had done after gluttonization, killing giant elephants, slaughtering large flocks of winged birds... and finally targeting Mr. Zhuang, who had treated him well in the Neutral Organization.

Seeing this, Chen Li's pupils contracted, and he realized that his "loss of control" had led things to extremes.

He conveyed the instruction to "open his eyes" to the depths of his spiritual sea, wanting to regain control of his body and prevent all of this—

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

Cracks appeared in the dark world of memories... eventually falling apart.

He opened his eyes.

But he didn't return to reality. Instead, he came to a deeper dream.

This place was full of pure white, with only a black shadow sitting cross-legged, looking at him.

"Gu Shen..."

Chen Li stared blankly at the black-clothed man in front of him.

"The matter outside is over." Gu Shen said calmly, "Mr. Zhuang is fine."

Chen Li clutched his chest and breathed a long sigh of relief.

He remembered another thing: "Adam, what about Adam?!"

"..."

Gu Shen was silent. He said softly, "When I arrived, there was no trace of Adam... but he shouldn't be dead."

When Chen Li recalled the "gluttonization" scene, Gu Shen, who had invaded his spiritual sea, also watched it again.

He already knew the cause and effect of this incident.

"Not dead?"

"Yes... my Authority didn't sense the aura of a 'dead person.'"

If Adam died, then Gu Shen, as the Underworld King, under the Authority of life and death, could clearly feel the spirit of every deceased person. No matter how ferocious the large flock of winged birds were, tearing Adam's body to pieces, it was impossible to completely extinguish his soul.

"Is that so? Wait... Authority?"

Between great ups and downs, Chen Li breathed out a long sigh and then realized something was wrong.

Authority!

These two words couldn't be said casually—

This was something that only a Throne and its Apostles could possess!

"Here..."

Gu Shen said softly, and at the same time, he smiled and stretched out his palm.

In his palm, a cluster of brilliant blazing fire was burning, mixed with a very dark and slender flame. This dark flame was extremely eye-catching against the backdrop of the blazing fire.

A heart-palpitating, yet ominous aura emanated from the black fire.

"This is..."

Chen Li swallowed his saliva.

He wasn't stupid. There were only two Thrones in the Eastern Continent, and the aura of this black fire was clearly unrelated to "Combat"!

The only remaining possibility was the Underworld King!

"Netherfire."

Gu Shen spoke for him, saying calmly, "This is the Authority of the Underworld King... It can perceive the 'birth and death of living beings' within a certain range."

The impact of this news was too great.

Chen Li was a little confused for a while.

He looked at Gu Shen, then at the black fire, his voice becoming intermittent: "So... you are an Apostle of the Underworld King?"

The Underworld King had been dormant in the Eastern Continent for several years, and no news had been released—

And in these years, the big figures in the prison had frequently shown their favor to him, Mountain-sensei had treated him extra kindly, speaking kindly, and even gifting him the key to the old residence... Putting these pieces of news together, even an idiot could guess what all of this was for.

They all regarded him as an Apostle of the Underworld King!

Chen Li was an honest man. He didn't hide it. Instead, he immediately found the teacher who had taught him cultivation.

The Fourth Judge told Chen Li word by word, with a solemn expression, that some things should be understood but pretended to be confused... It didn't matter whether he was an Apostle or not, it was important that outsiders thought he was.

So Chen Li was confused and forced to become an "Apostle."

He looked at Gu Shen with a complicated expression.

So the real Apostle was Brother Gu...

"No."

Unexpectedly, Gu Shen shook his head and slowly uttered two words: "...Guess again."

This made Chen Li really confused.

Guess again?

How else could he guess!

A person, holding the Authority of Netherfire, and not an Apostle of the Underworld King...

Then he could only be the Underworld King.

Chen Li opened his mouth in astonishment, unable to say a word. He looked at Gu Shen, feeling an unprecedented sense of strangeness. What else in this world could be more shocking, surprising, and unacceptable than "Gu Shen is the Underworld King"?

At least for him, there was nothing.

"You..."

"You..."

Chen Li's mind was blank.

Many things were suddenly understood, why he was specially invited by Gu Shen to enter Qingzhong.

Why his spiritual improvement was so fast.

Why Gu Shen told him the news of the "Apostle."

All the "whys" were answered at this moment.

Thousands of words condensed into the biggest question in Chen Li's heart: "You... why did you tell me?"

Yes, there were no more questions in his heart, only this one left.

The situation of the Five Continents and Seven Gods was tense!

The succession of the Underworld King was a fatal blow. For Gu Shen, there was nothing more important than forbearance and cultivation... Presumably, the real Netherfire was in the cemetery, waiting for its master to harvest it.

"Why tell you?"

Gu Shen smiled. He looked at the little iron man and said slowly, "Because I believe... you won't leak the secret."

"What are you talking about? Of course, I won't leak the secret..."

Chen Li shook his head like a rattle.

This matter concerned the fate of the Eastern Continent... Once the outer continents knew of Gu Shen's identity as the Underworld King, then perhaps several members of the Highest Council would personally take action and kill him!

No one could accept that a new god would appear in the Eastern Continent.

Moreover... in Chen Li's heart, Gu Shen was the well-deserved "best candidate for god" of the new generation.

A long time ago, he lamented that the fire seeds were limited. With Gu Shen's talent, once he achieved godhood, he might be able to completely subvert the situation of the Five Continents and accomplish some things that Mr. Gu Changzhi had failed to do!

"Actually, the reason I'm telling you this secret..."

Gu Shen restrained his smile.

He held the Netherfire in front of Chen Li, his voice solemn, asking word by word, "Is because I want to ask you, are you willing to become the second Apostle of the Underworld King?"

……

……

(ps: This chapter is an extra for the leader "E Die Jie Tou Qing Fu.")