Chapter 1 Snowstorm and Blood Mist

Snowstorm and blood mist exploded together. After the Red Dragon stabbed out with his scabbard, he didn't stop there. Instead, he stepped on the densely packed branches of giant trees and continued forward, giving Gu Shen not the slightest chance to breathe.

The frost and snow in the Pure Land domain churned constantly, continuously shattered by the Red Dragon's long knife.

Within the vast snow, a blazing ball of fire was burning –

Gu Shen was pierced through the shoulder by the scabbard, sent flying nearly a hundred meters, struggling to regain his balance in the air. He desperately covered his wound with his five fingers, and a large amount of "fire of life" surged from the wound!

The Red Dragon's short knife had not been drawn –

This gave him a chance to heal his injuries!

At this moment, Gu Shen completely forgot the pain, immersing himself in an extremely focused state of selflessness.

At the end of the shattered frost and snow.

The Red Dragon stepped forward, holding dual blades, every movement of his cloak fluttering becoming "slow."

All perceptions of everything in the world were magnified under the crisis of life and death!

"The outside world guesses that the Four Divine Envoys of the Tower of Origin are all on the eleventh level of the Deep Sea…between one and two domains…"

"But the information about the Red Dragon is obviously wrong."

"He is much stronger than 'Vermilion Bird'. They are not even in the same class of transcendent."

In the few seconds of the brief exchange, a series of thoughts flashed through Gu Shen's mind.

He had personally "observed" the duel between the Vermilion Bird Envoy and the Guang Ming Bi Lei Grand Knight Jia Wei in the West Cave. The pressure the Red Dragon was giving him now was no less than that of Jia Wei –

This was very likely a fourth-tier transcendent!

But Gu Shen couldn't figure it out.

With the high profile of the Tower of Origin, if there really was a "fourth-tier transcender," why would they hide it? Putting the Red Dragon in the open should be a more profitable approach.

Having a fourth-tier transcender would make other major forces deliberately pay attention!

There was no time to consider the reason why the Tower of Origin did this.

Gu Shen focused his attention back on his own battle –

Now, he had no choice.

"Either break through, or die…"

Being in the barrier set up by the Red Dragon was probably the power of the Divine Envoy's badge, similar to the [Nanli Realm], but under the Red Dragon's control, this barrier was even more powerful and perfect.

Gu Shen was forced to have a "one-on-one" fight!

Want to escape?

There was a possibility, but it was very low!

This kind of top-level duel couldn't tolerate the slightest hesitation. Once you had the intention of retreating, then the chance of survival would almost drop to zero –

"Crack!"

Gu Shen's feet heavily stepped on the main trunk of a giant tree, causing a crisp sound. After resisting the remaining power of the Red Dragon's thrusting knife, he finally took a breath. Then, using the force of stepping on the tree to regain his balance, at this moment his body was almost perpendicular to the ground. He twisted his waist and ran towards the crown of the tree, while looking back at the moon, making a movement of raising his arm and pulling back, using his injured shoulder as a support point –

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

[Truth] splashed out countless silver-white arcs of light in the gap between the index finger and thumb, transforming into the Xi Zhu (Extinguished Candle) Great Bow at the moment of pulling the empty moon!

The furious roar of the nothingness arrow echoed in the void!

Gu Shen released his index finger and thumb!

This arrow directly tore apart the hundred-meter distance between him and the Red Dragon, arriving in front of the Red Dragon's face the moment it was released!

Time seemed to freeze.

Gu Shen could clearly see the Red Dragon's frowned brow and surprised eyes.

From the expression on the latter's face, it was not difficult to deduce the true thoughts in his mind.

"So fast?!"

The Red Dragon didn't expect that, with his ability to capture, he couldn't even see how this arrow appeared in front of him... Perhaps it was because the speed was too fast, or perhaps because this arrow was attached with some kind of strange transcendent characteristic.

In his vision.

Gu Shen drew the string and released, and the arrow hit him in the face –

This arrow was very fast.

He couldn't dodge.

But it didn't mean... he had no other way.

The Red Dragon used his thumb to push the short knife out of its sheath. Accompanied by a scarlet light, the brilliant knife energy chopped down like a great river, and the silver light of the arrow in the long sky was cut in half, turning into splashing stardust.

Gu Shen's expression didn't change much. It was within his expectations that this arrow would be cut down –

He was now holding a replica of [Xi Zhu].

Perhaps if it were the legendary genuine product, that s-level or higher divine bow, there would be a chance to injure the Red Dragon across borders.

However, being able to force the Red Dragon to draw his knife was enough!

A knife is most terrifying when it is about to be drawn, when the blade is fully charged and pressed in the sheath.

The [Xi Zhu] arrow forced out the short knife!

Gu Shen continued to retreat, and once again drew his bow and arrow. The effect of ranged attacks was very good. He wanted to repeat the process, shoot a second arrow, and see if he could force out the Red Dragon's other cards… But the First Divine Envoy of the Tower of Origin didn't give him this opportunity. After the Red Dragon drew his short knife, his already extremely fast speed broke through again, this time directly breaking the sound barrier!

Before, it was Gu Shen who shot an arrow!

Now, it was the Red Dragon who shot himself out like an arrow!

"Boom!"

Gu Shen's eyes blurred, and the figure in the red cloak had already appeared above his head. The Red Dragon held dual blades in his hands, raising his arms to chop down –

"Clang clang clang!"

At the critical moment, Gu Shen reacted entirely by instinct!

He had to abandon [Xi Zhu], using the Truth Ruler to bless the Iron Throne, disassembling the "iron scale skin" condensed on the surface of his body, and dispatching them all, transforming into twelve iron knives in the air!

The Red Dragon's knife speed was very fast, but the twelve iron knives met the attack even faster!

Gu Shen used his mental power to capture the Red Dragon's knife shadow –

He dared not be careless in the slightest. Under this intensity of attack, the defense of the "iron scale skin" could be ignored. The Red Dragon's domain, combined with the knives, and some kind of "secret technique," could increase the attack power on a certain point to the extreme in an instant!

Even the "sixth-tier source armor" could not defend against this point of impact!

In theory, the sixth-tier source armor could withstand all attacks from fourth-tier transcendents, and only a titled powerhouse could break through it, but the Red Dragon proved with practical actions that a fourth-tier transcender could break through the overall defense of the sixth-tier source armor!

The first knife stab was somewhat like a "warning" –

If you want to live, you can only choose to counterattack!

The two fought from the air to the ground, smashing into the tide of beasts!

Although the barrier set up by the Red Dragon hid the aura of the transcendents within, preventing the transcendent beast spirits from discovering them, actually falling into the tide of beasts would still cause them to notice... Those transcendent beast spirits became abnormally excited when they encountered living people. They subconsciously pounced, and then were shattered by the terrifying knife energy and iron light, twisted into minced meat, and beaten into blood foam!

In the tide of beasts, a scarlet circle with a radius of ten meters, twenty meters, and finally fifty meters spread out!

Gu Shen's mental power had climbed to the extreme.

The [Iron Scales] he controlled also became more and more numerous. At first, there were twelve flying knives to fight against the Red Dragon's attacks, but later, the Red Dragon's knife speed became faster and faster, and the increase in the pace of the attack forced him to control more flying knives –

From twelve to twenty-four, from twenty-four to forty-eight!

In his heart, Chu Ling's warning sounded more than once. She reminded Gu Shen that his mental sea was operating under overload...

If this continued, it was likely to get out of control.

But Gu Shen in the "state of selflessness" perfectly handled the problem of "mental" overclocking. The blazing fire covered his heart. Theoretically, he was already "out of control," but the stability ability given to him by the Four Seasons Breathing Method was reflected at this moment. That small flame did not deform due to overdraft.

He pushed his "mental sea" limit again and again!

As a third-tier transcendent, and also a third-time transcendent…

His mental sea at this moment was of an unprecedented "fourth-tier" scale.

In the end, Gu Shen could simultaneously control as many as eighty-four "Iron Scale Flying Knives," but this was still not enough. The Red Dragon Envoy, holding a long and short knife, could chop nearly a hundred times in an instant.

"Need to break through again…"

"Need to break through again!"

The real limit will crush a transcendent, no matter how calm he is.

The state of selflessness also reached its limit.

Gu Shen's forehead bulged with blue veins. His whole body was covered by the fire of life. The frost and snow of the Pure Land had long been shattered by the Red Dragon's blade light, scattered in all directions. In his eyes, there were only the "Iron Scales" flying in the void, transforming into countless sparks –

Eighty-four was not enough!

Breakthrough! Continue to break through!

"Buzz!"

In Gu Shen's mind, he suddenly heard a very slight buzzing sound. His mental sea, which had been tense to the extreme, suddenly expanded again at this moment. The ninth level of the Deep Sea bottleneck, which had trapped him for a long time, was like a dam piled up with countless torrents.

In this battle, Gu Shen had only two fates –

Either collapse, or breakthrough.

At this moment, Gu Shen ushered in the latter!

Chu Ling's warning stopped abruptly, and the girl sitting in Zero Zero One had a complicated expression.

He had broken through.

Ninth level of the Deep Sea.

The souls in the Pure Land Divine Kingdom also felt something and looked up.

They felt that something was different.

Gu Shen's mental sea successfully shattered the long-locked dam.

The "blessing" of the third-time transcendent descended again, and his mental sea ushered in its second huge expansion. The scale at this moment could be compared with Zhong Yuan and Fischer during the Doru River Disaster mission.

Top level in the fourth tier!

This kind of mental sea scale, placed in Sangzhou Cave, was completely capable of head-to-head confrontation with super geniuses such as the "Vermilion Bird Envoy" and "Holy Son Su Ye" across borders!

Gu Shen's mental sea had expanded by a whole fold!

And this seemingly "long" mental sea expansion actually only took zero point one seconds, or even less... The manifestation in actual combat was that the "Iron Scale Phantom" that Gu Shen summoned to resist the Red Dragon's knife force instantly broke through eighty-four, and the countless phantoms doubled in an instant!

One hundred and sixty-eight!

Gu Shen's pressure suddenly reduced –

Originally, his spirit was tense to the extreme, and he did not dare to relax in the slightest.

Controlling "eighty-four Iron Scale Flying Knives" to block and counterattack was the result of his limit breakthrough in the eighth level of the Deep Sea. After breaking through... Controlling one hundred and sixty-eight Iron Scale Phantoms was no longer difficult.

Gu Shen knew that this was not his current limit.

As long as he was familiar with this expanded mental sea, he could break through again!

One hundred and sixty-eight Iron Scale Phantoms almost filled all the space within three feet of Gu Shen's body.

"Go!"

Gu Shen did not hesitate, seized the opportunity, and launched a counterattack!

"..."

Seeing the number of Iron Scale Phantoms double, the Red Dragon Envoy, who had a cold expression, did not show any anger on his face, but instead showed a faint smile. He did not stop, but continued to attack!

"Clang clang clang clang clang!"

The sound of iron hitting exploded densely in the void.

What made Gu Shen's scalp tingle was that... When he originally controlled eighty-four Iron Scale Phantoms to fight against the Red Dragon, the situation looked like a 50-50 split. Now that he had broken through and the number of Iron Scale Phantoms he controlled had doubled, the situation was still a 50-50 split!

Moreover, the sense of oppression was still full!

"What kind of monster is this?"

Gu Shen's eyes were full of shock as he looked at the Red Dragon.

If he was not sure about the Red Dragon's true strength before...

Then now he could confidently come to a conclusion.

The Red Dragon Envoy was a fourth-tier transcender who was hiding his strength!

The Tower of Origin placed him at the head of the Divine Envoys and falsely promoted his strength... In fact, the Red Dragon was a super-powerful figure who could be compared with Jia Wei and Lu Zhe!

Gu Shen was a little confused.

If the Red Dragon was really a fourth-tier transcender, then there was nothing to fight in this battle between him and him –

Even if he broke through, he would only be crushed!

He had seen with his own eyes how miserably Vermilion Bird was beaten by Jia Wei in the West Cave... The fourth tier, like a chasm! In the eyes of a fully committed "fourth-tier transcender," the fourth-tier transcendents who had comprehended one or two domains were actually the same!

The fourth-tier transcendenders could easily beat them!

"So..."

Gu Shen suddenly understood one thing: "The Red Dragon is deliberately holding back... He is suppressing me, he wants me to break through?!"

From beginning to end, the Red Dragon had not fought seriously.

The combat power he showed depended on himself –

How strong he was.

The Red Dragon was only a little stronger than himself!

So at the beginning, the Red Dragon's stab attack, which broke through his sixth-tier source armor defense, was really a warning to himself. He put himself in a life-and-death situation, gave himself a glimmer of hope, and then finally successfully forced himself to break through!

There was only one purpose for doing this...

Gu Shen suddenly withdrew the Iron Scale Phantoms in the sky, and the Red Dragon's knife force also stopped accordingly. The sheathed long knife finally missed by a foot, and the knife energy cut through the void, brushed past Gu Shen's shoulder, and shattered an ancient tree in the distance.

The entire barrier suddenly returned to silence.

At this moment, it was truly silent, because the battlefield where the two fought had come to the ground... And in this area, all the beast spirits that crashed into it were all strangled to death.

"Why aren't you fighting?"

The Red Dragon raised his eyebrows, with a faint smile on the corner of his lips.

"..."

Gu Shen looked at the deflected blade. At this moment, his thoughts were confirmed again.

If it was an enemy of the Tower of Origin.

Then this knife would not deviate.

"This is the 'meeting gift' you gave me... the gift of breaking through..."

Gu Shen stared into the Red Dragon's eyes, he reached out and wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand: "You didn't come to kill me, from the beginning, you just wanted to help me break through?"

"Swish—"

The Red Dragon habitually turned a knife flower, and slowly inserted the dual blades into the sheath.

When Gu Shen spoke, he knew that this battle was over.

"Don't you like this meeting gift?"

The Red Dragon smiled and said, "Haven't you been looking for a life-and-death battle that can break through? On this island, there won't be a better opportunity than this."

Gu Shen was silent.

He knew that the Red Dragon was telling the truth...

His original opponent was Vermilion Bird, but if he really had a life-and-death duel with Vermilion Bird, it would probably cause a lot of other trouble.

For example, the "Nanli Badge", and other Divine Envoys who might be supported by the Tower of Origin at any time –

At least there wouldn't be such a quiet barrier.

Vermilion Bird would not have the strength of the Red Dragon, who was "only a little stronger than himself," and at the same time had a sense of oppression that was "full of murderous intent."

As for finding other fourth-tier transcendents, it was even more impossible.

Fighting with Lu Zhe would never have a chance to break through.

Fighting with Jia Wei...

Gu Shen in the eighth level of the Deep Sea might be killed.

As for the "Kadhi Saint" who had just arrived in Sangzhou Cave, he was the same type of person as Jia Wei.

In this way, looking at Sangzhou Cave, and even looking at the Five Continents, only the Red Dragon was the best candidate for his breakthrough – the most important thing was that he was willing to actively play this scene.

There were a few moments when Gu Shen really thought he would die.

"I... don't understand."

Gu Shen took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

He looked at the Red Dragon and said word by word: "I don't understand why you would do this."