Chapter 1 Adam's Transfer

Adam was still unconscious when he was sent to Sector S12.

He was covered in scratches and burns, his face covered in dirt, looking utterly miserable. Fortunately, the Eye of Destiny was still with him, but he had completely lost consciousness.

Several East Continent enforcers deployed healing seals to rescue him.

"Mr. Gu, we found him outside the Southern Abyss, near the Core Area."

Jiang Du glanced worriedly at the small barrier emitting healing light and said softly, "Fortunately, Mr. Adam was lucky enough that those violent Great Winged Birds didn't kill him... Perhaps due to the aberrations of the Tanyao, the beast tide receded, and these large birds dropped their prey in the air, choosing to return to their nests."

"Don't worry, he's still alive."

Gu Shen's flame of life had already sent a small wisp, circulating in Adam's body. This guy was indeed very lucky; being captured by the Great Winged Birds only resulted in some superficial injuries.

"As things stand, he might not wake up for a while..."

Standing beside him, Shen Li hesitated for a moment and asked through voice transmission, "The Great Capital's armored convoy is about to depart. Should we...?"

Adam, a top scholar, was a precious resource to any continent.

On the retreat list for the Sangzhou Abyss, he was of the absolute highest priority.

This time, they were acting together with the East Continent.

Adam wouldn't have a chance to return to Upper City after this. If he wanted to conduct research again, it would have to be under the banner of Huazhi.

Talent of this level, the East Continent would definitely want to take back to their own territory.

Little Iron Man's meaning was very clear... There's no time like the present, now is the best time to send Adam away.

"Let's wait a little longer."

Gu Shen said calmly, "I've already fulfilled what I promised him... With Zhu Que's death, the Black Silver Bomb buried in his heart can also be considered neutralized. I want to ask him about the Eye of Destiny in person when he wakes up."

The roar of engines came from outside the city walls.

The armored convoy had completed its first loading. Ten armored vehicles transporting wall materials were now filled with local transcendents from the Sangzhou Abyss, a total of one hundred and nine people... Hu Da Nian would lead these neutral individuals, bypass the core area, and eventually leave from the Northern Abyss territory. As for the island checkpoints guarded by the Holy City Research Institute, there was no need to worry.

Bai Xiu had already left with Xiao Man...

By then, the Source Tower, having obtained the Lord of Wine, would be even more eager to depart than the East Continent.

For the next actions, all that was needed was to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

...

...

As the convoy departed, standing on the high wall, one could see the armored vehicles crashing through the rain, creating countless silver-white lines, splashing muddy water.

Sector S12 was still noisy.

But Gu Shen's heart became serene.

For some reason, watching these people leave, the ominous feeling in his heart lessened considerably.

Ever since stepping into the Sangzhou Abyss, the Guidance of the Goddess of Fate had been constantly misreporting.

No matter where Gu Shen went, or remained, as long as he took out the pendant, he would receive danger signals.

Now, he understood the true warning of this pendant...

Once the Tanyao erupted, the entire Sangzhou Abyss would be unsafe!

Staying here would mean facing a life-or-death crisis!

Gu Shen established the final mental link in the Ancient Text Society conference room. The Red Gate expanded, and two figures walked out of the mist.

Lin Lin and Lu Nanzhi looked at each other in the mist. They already knew each other's identities in the real world, and had even met online a few times recently, but meeting with Key at the same time... This was a first.

"Is the Sang Island southward mission going smoothly?"

Lin Lin sat down with a relaxed demeanor, looking very leisurely, suggesting that the Gubao Fortress didn't have many trivial matters at the moment, and was in a rare period of rest.

"Smooth, but not entirely smooth."

Gu Shen said, "Just killed the Vermillion Bird Envoy from the Central Continent, and also confirmed the identity of an important member... 064's real identity is the Red Dragon among the four divine envoys of the Source Tower."

"What?"

Lu Nanzhi and Lin Lin were both surprised.

The two fell silent... If their lurking could be considered reasonable, then 064 was a sharp knife deep behind enemy lines.

"Red Dragon is '064'... This code must have been inherited."

Madam reacted quickly, she muttered in a low voice, "He can survive in the Source Tower for so long, there must be external forces. The person who can plant such a trump card can only be Tian Shui... Is Mr. Tian Shui of Upper City also a member of the Ancient Text Society?"

"The word 'member' isn't quite appropriate."

Gu Shen said, "Perhaps he's a benefactor, or perhaps a conspirator. I don't know what Tian Shui wants to do... But I know that Red Dragon is a pawn cultivated by Tian Shui. Judging from the current situation, what Mr. Tian Shui wants to do is overthrow the rule of Qinglong, the Sky Throne."

This news was shocking.

Lin Lin and Lu Nanzhi both fell into silence, trying to digest this bombshell.

Taking this opportunity, Gu Shen narrated the events that had occurred in the Sangzhou Abyss to the two of them.

"Well, that's about it..."

Gu Shen smiled and said, "After this, we will cooperate with the Source Tower to a certain extent, but you can choose to conceal '064's identity... If a divine war really breaks out, the Lord of Wine is an indispensable link, but Tian Shui has lived for too long, and no one knows what he's thinking, we need to be on guard at the end."

"Of course."

Lu Nanzhi said, "Regarding Mr. Turing's evacuation back then... No one knows the specifics, the veracity of 064's words still needs time to be verified."

However, this was already extremely good news.

The Lord of Wine was one of their own!

Each seed of the Seven Gods was a huge boost!

"This news... is really outrageous."

Lin Lin rubbed his temples and murmured, "From the looks of it, this trip can be said to be a 'complete victory.' Is there anything that's not going smoothly?"

"Yes."

Gu Shen's expression was solemn, and he said, "For some reason, I always have an ominous premonition in my heart... This premonition is like a lingering shadow, always pressing on my mind. I feel that the Sangzhou Abyss incident isn't that simple, which is why I temporarily convened this meeting and called the two of you here."

"???"

Hearing this, Lin Lin and Lu Nanzhi both felt uneasy.

"Before the Tanyao erupts, I will delve deeper into this volcano for a final investigation."

Gu Shen smiled slightly and said, "In the journey of a transcendent's cultivation, being entangled by ominousness is inevitable, especially for a guy like me... Well, you may not understand what this means, and only think that these words sound like I'm setting a flag. What I really want to say is: If I encounter some small accidents, I hope you can maintain the stability of the Ancient Text Society. I have a list here, which is the most important thing in this meeting, and I hope you will take good care of it."

Chu Ling had previously obtained a fragmented map of the Ancient Text Society's offline members through calculations.

Gu Shen had never leaked these lists.

At this moment, he waved his hand to condense the data, and the conference room was filled with blazing light. Two lists of personnel, solidified by countless codes, landed in front of the two.

"Many people on this list have already died."

"But there are still some... who are still alive."

Gu Shen said meaningfully, "Do you understand what I mean?"

"Stop talking, that's bad luck!"

Lin Lin looked at the list, his brows furrowing more and more. He said unhappily, "Why does this sound like you're entrusting your orphans to us? Are you going to die?!"

"Okay, you can understand it as me being lazy."

Gu Shen shrugged, "As the Key, I bear the important mission of connecting the entire Ancient Text Society, but unfortunately, there are too many burdens and I'm too busy. The next Ancient Text Society offline contact plan needs to be handed over to you."

"You're really being openly lazy..."

Hearing this, Lin Lin's brows relaxed a lot, and he took the opportunity to make a sarcastic remark, then accepted the list.

"Also, there's one more thing."

Gu Shen said seriously, "Lend me a few source energy boats. I want to take some people away from the Sangzhou Abyss."

Sector S12 had now become the most popular refuge in the Sangzhou Abyss.

A large number of transcendents were flocking there.

The beast tide could strike again at any time... Judging from the Tanyao's revival trend and the fanaticism of these beast spirits, if another beast tide broke out, no city in the entire Sangzhou Abyss would be able to resist. The innocent people who remained here would likely only be waiting to die.

Guangming City was both angry and helpless.

Under normal circumstances, this situation should have been to their benefit... If they had the blessing of the Holy Book, a large number of Guangming believers would appear, and many people would go to the Western Abyss for refuge.

But now, it had become the East Continent's harvest!

"Did you need to say something like that..."

Lin Lin said indifferently, "I knew the moment Yequan and Lu Zhe applied to transfer the source energy boats. As a special subsidy for the Gubao Fortress, the Northern Continent will add ten medium-sized source energy boats... This opportunity cannot be missed. We must do our best to bring back all the local 'transcendents' from the Sangzhou Abyss. As for the dispatch fee for the airships, there's no need to pay it. I need to take away one-third of the transcendents."

Before the awakening experiment began, the Sangzhou Abyss had about 100,000 residents!

The report given by Deep Sea showed that the success rate of the link was very high, but the reality was... many experimenters died in the beast tide. As dead people, they would not be included in the experimental statistics.

The number of surviving transcendents in the Sangzhou Abyss was now only about twenty or thirty thousand at most.

This number was still very large.

Even if only half of them were taken out of the Sangzhou Abyss, the carrying capacity of Changye and Dadu would not be able to digest all of them.

A large number of transcendents pouring into the mainland would cause the low-level transcendent systems of the Three Schools and Five Great Families, as well as Huazhi Nanwan, to become bloated... And Lin Lin's seemingly "demanding" behavior was actually helping the East Continent share the pressure.

"Let the Northern Continent take away 50%."

Gu Shen took the initiative to offer a higher price, saying, "I will spread the news, telling these refugees that the Northern Abyss is also a refuge, and then let Yequan and Lu Zhe open the gates of the main city... If the plan goes well, we will take away 80% of the transcendents in the entire Sangzhou Abyss."

"Okay." Lin Lin smiled, "Did your conscience discover something?"

"That's right, I can't always freeload off of you." Gu Shen also smiled.

Lu Nanzhi sat at the conference table in silence. The wealthy and generous madam had previously wanted to interject in the conversation and take the initiative to propose that Huazhi pay the dispatch fee for the source energy boats... but was silently stopped by Gu Shen's gaze.

It should be noted that a medium-sized source energy boat flying back and forth from the Gubao Fortress to the Sangzhou Abyss was no small expense...

In the end, Gu Shen didn't mention the dispatch fee.

The two sides had a pleasant conversation, so they just ignored it.

"..."

Madam was thoughtful, feeling as if she had learned something from Gu Shen.

So, if you don't mention it, it doesn't count as freeloading?

...

...

"Awake?"

Adam opened his eyes, and a night had already passed.

He sat up, looking blankly at the stranger in front of him.

"My name is Jiang Du, one of the regional leaders of the neutral party."

Jiang Du said gently, "Mr. Adam, do you remember what happened?"

Adam rubbed his head and hissed. He looked at the scene in front of him, only feeling that his vision was blurred and chaotic. Before him were carved wooden eaves and white stone walls...

However, his vision was very chaotic.

Adam groped around, frowning, "Where's my Eye?"

"It's here."

Jiang Du handed Adam the transparent jar of nutrient solution from the bedside table.

A lively eyeball was bouncing inside.

The Eye of Destiny required a price to be paid... When Adam fainted, the eyeball was removed and placed in this jar.

"I was carried away by the Great Winged Birds..."

Adam pressed the eye, feeling much better. He took a deep breath and gradually remembered what had happened.

After a moment, he murmured, "Wait, I didn't die?"

"Of course."

Jiang Du said with a helpless smile, "What are you talking about? Speaking of which, you're quite lucky, you regained consciousness in just one day... Does your body still hurt?"

As he spoke, he poked Adam's arm with his fingertip.

"Hiss!"

Adam gasped in pain, "It hurts, it hurts..."

Jiang Du poked his ribs again, "What about here?"

Adam was grief-stricken, "It's broken, it's broken, it's broken..."

"It's that serious." Jiang Du touched his chin, his expression serious, "Then it seems like it's time to send you away. Your physical condition is very bad and you can't stay here any longer."

"What, what the hell?"

Adam sat back in horror, "Send me away, send me away where? I still have to go to the Tanyao core area to investigate!"

"Leave the Sangzhou Abyss."

Jiang Du said earnestly, "Mr. Gu explained that if you are seriously injured, the investigation can only be shelved..."

"No, no!"

Adam shook his head like a rattle drum, a 1.9-meter-tall man, like a child.

"I'm not going anywhere, Gu Shen promised me that I would go to the core area..."

"That's right, is the beast tide over? I want to decompose and analyze those beast spirit skins I collected!"

Adam supported himself and wanted to sit up, but the severe pain coming from inside his body made him wince.

"Can you still stand?"

At this moment, a calm and indifferent voice sounded outside the house.

Adam froze for a moment.

Gu Shen, draped in black, stood outside the mansion, calmly meeting Adam's gaze... The latter habitually closed his Eye of Destiny, not daring to look directly at Gu Shen.

"If I have to get out of bed, it'll be difficult."

Adam, who was languishing, squeezed out an ugly, pale smile. He was as carefree as ever, grinning and saying, "But if I have to climb the mountain, there's no problem. Just prepare a cane for me."

"..."

Gu Shen was silent for a few seconds.

He quietly looked at this blonde man covered in injuries.

After a brief silence—

"Then get ready, we'll set off later."

Gu Shen spoke, and gave Jiang Du a look to prepare. The latter understood, sighed helplessly, and without saying much, immediately set off to find a suitable hiking stick outside the mansion.