Chapter 168 A Reunion Five Years Apart

Gu Shen had barely finished speaking when he tossed out the jade thumb ring.

A preemptive strike!

This ring could absorb all spiritual power, like a gluttonous beast, capable of devouring even the divine consciousness of a Fire Seed holder!

The spiritual power of the Storm Throne had once been devoured by this very ring!

"Boom!"

At the intersection of light and darkness, a ray of brilliant light burst forth. The moment the jade ring touched the dark clouds of the sky, it triggered a violent explosion, as if a child had set off a firecracker. This seemingly unremarkable artifact began to voraciously devour the devil’s remaining spirit. Countless dark energies were swept inside, and the immense suction even pulled the dark throne along with it!

The devil roared and lunged at Gu Shen.

The battle of the gods in the spiritual world erupted once more.

Gu Shen took a step forward without fear, advancing instead of retreating.

This was his divine domain.

Many years ago, on the very day he awakened, he had seen such a scene in the Cage of Wraith.

Countless demons emerged from hell, filling the sky and threatening to devour all of humanity…

Chu Ling had said that these were evil thoughts.

The scene before him now was almost identical to the one he had witnessed in the Cage of Wraith.

As the devil attacked, countless dark demons surged forth from the dark kingdom. [Truth] could manifest anything according to the desires of the heart, and these demons were the embodiment of evil thoughts.

Overwhelming evil thoughts.

Like hell itself.

After he threw the ring, the devil had unleashed all of its power in this final attack.

It wanted to shatter Gu Shen’s soul!

In contrast, behind Gu Shen was nothing. He had not summoned the spirits from the Pure Land. This was a battle to the death, but not their battle.

"Bang!"

Golden light and dark energy collided, both recoiling violently.

Gu Shen’s miniature spiritual figure dimmed slightly. The devil, too, was weakening. Having hibernated in the ruler as a soul form, it could only survive if it found a new host… otherwise, its power would gradually diminish.

Twenty years ago, it had failed to seize the body of the King of the Underworld.

And it was destined…

To become increasingly difficult!

After the two collided, the vortex created by the jade ring expanded, engulfing almost half of the sky.

And above, at the point where the devil, carrying the dark clouds of Truth, had invaded the Pure Land, an even more earth-shattering roar resounded. It was the prelude to the intervention of a third spiritual force in the Pure Land.

Chu Ling!

The devil raised its head in astonishment. In its calculations, this would be a "long" yet "brief" battle of the gods. No matter how Gu Shen resisted, even if he used the jade ring, he would not be its opponent… but it had miscalculated. With the intervention of a third party, the meaning of this battle had changed.

The darkness in the sky was replaced by a vast blue glow.

Myriad array patterns swirled in the air.

Like a giant chessboard, completely enveloping the iron dome.

And the intersecting lines, like waves of seawater, surged and rolled. The sound they created was not the gentle lapping of tides, but a clear, resonant melody.

A chilling killing intent!

"The Array Box? It's the Array Box!"

The devil’s pupils constricted sharply. It recognized the azure glow that enveloped the sky!

"That's right… it is the Array Box."

Gu Shen said coldly, "I had already thought of a way to deal with you. If a jade ring isn't enough, then what about adding an Array Box?"

To deal with a bodiless spirit, these were the two strongest weapons!

This kill was meant to force the devil out of the ruler!

Now, it had launched its final assault, bringing all the power it had accumulated within the Ruler of Truth into the Pure Land… the most difficult part was now complete.

"No… this is impossible…"

The devil stared intently at Gu Shen, its voice hoarse. "How dare you do this? How could you be so sure I would come? And how could you be confident in completing the final link?!"

It could not understand the appearance of the Array Box.

Just as Gu Shen had said… it knew everything about Gu Shen, understood all his secrets, and had therefore chosen to strike when Gu Shen was breaking through in the Ice Sea.

"…"

Gu Shen silently looked at the devil on the dark throne, speaking with sorrowful tone. "I can only say that some things, you will never know."

For one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four days, Gu Shen’s consciousness had struggled countless times in the midst of chaos and darkness. Before breaking through, his spirit had been mostly muddled… He didn’t know what was happening outside, or even what was happening within his own inner world. The process of being reborn from death was immensely painful, because during this process he was incredibly close to “death.”

But in this endless coldness and darkness, a glimmer of light had once flashed.

At the time, Gu Shen had not understood what it was.

Until he opened his eyes.

During these one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four days, Chu Ling’s descent on the Shrines Mountain had never stopped. Every so often, the woman draped in the divine maiden’s robes would descend the mountain, pick a few black flowers, and depart from Nagano, traveling the long and arduous journey alone, finally arriving at the Ice Sea.

And then she would dissipate into the Ice Sea.

As she dissipated, a ray of golden light would fly towards the distant sea.

Chu Ling had been doing this all along, without stopping.

In these five years, many things had happened, even the investigation by the Nagano task force had been put on hold… But she had never stopped. She cherished every ray of sunlight after being born into this world, and she cherished the last glimpse of darkness she saw before closing her eyes. And so, she decided to bring all of this to the Ice Sea, not for any other reason, but only for the possibility.

Countless golden threads of fate spread throughout the Ice Sea. These spiritual glows dissipated very slowly, like swimming fish.

This was a secret signal between Gu Shen and Chu Ling.

So when Gu Shen opened his eyes, the moment his spirit expanded, he saw a very faint, very faint golden light.

At that moment, he realized what the “flash of inspiration” he had missed years ago was.

There was a girl who had been waiting for him all along.

Exhausting her life again and again, just to wait for his reply.

This was something the devil could never know—

These were two hearts bound together, and not even the Ice Sea, thousands of meters deep, could sever their connection.

…

…

"Rumble, rumble—"

Above the sky, a giant, snow-white palm slowly descended.

Gu Shen wielded the Pure Land, using the world will of the Susu Hanging Tree to empower Chu Ling’s spirit.

And so, the palm became even larger than the entire dark kingdom! Moreover, as it descended, it gradually expanded, transforming into countless golden threads!

The many spirits beneath the Susu Hanging Tree in the Pure Land were now all looking up at this divine battle.

They stared blankly as countless golden lights fell.

Each golden thread that the large hand disassembled into was like a shooting star, tearing through the darkness and burning with countless lights. These countless shooting stars swayed their brilliant flame tails, crashing majestically into the earth. But the swaying flames did not dissipate, instead, they extended and spread from the sky to the ground, becoming the boundary of a thousand-layered cage.

The Array Box had been deployed.

The enclosed sea network sealed off the devil’s last retreat.

The vortex of the jade ring continued to expand.

The devil’s dark face revealed no expression. It simply sat on the throne, allowing the jade ring to devour its spirit, allowing the sea of the Array Box to envelop the dark kingdom.

"It's over."

Gu Shen said calmly, "I said… you would regret not attacking when I was in my most vulnerable state."

If the devil had not been so greedy.

Then it would have had a chance to succeed.

Thousands of meters beneath the Ice Sea, when Gu Shen was at his weakest, his consciousness was even muddled. If the devil had detonated the Unlucky at that time, seizing it by force, Gu Shen would only have had a desperate battle…

But at that time, Gu Shen’s spiritual power had not yet broken through, and he could not connect with Chu Ling.

His only reliance was the jade ring.

But there was everything in this world, except for “if.” [Truth] corrupted more than just the hearts of its holders.

The one most corroded by [Truth] was the devil itself.

Of course, it would not want to take over Gu Shen’s body at that time, a body rotting and stinking beneath the Ice Sea, which could die at any moment… If it had really seized this body, it might not have been able to leave the Ice Sea in the end, and would have died in the endless depths.

So it chose to wait.

From that moment on, it had lost.

As the former “King of the Underworld,” and a former “Fire Seed holder,” it was actually a powerful figure who had been unmatched in his era, sweeping away all enemies on the path of transcendent cultivation.

But in the face of the death tribulation that Gu Shen faced, it hesitated and retreated.

It believed that it might not be able to survive such a tribulation even after seizing the body… It preferred to leave it to Gu Shen. It had witnessed Gu Shen’s growth over the years, and it was willing to bet that Gu Shen could complete the “rebirth from death,” rather than placing its last hope on itself.

It was a pure plunderer.

And those with such a mentality could never become the strongest at the summit.

"I lost…"

At the last moment, the devil was quite calm. It sat on its dark throne, understanding many things in an instant.

It looked at Gu Shen and suddenly asked, "If I’m willing to tell you everything I know, would I have a chance to continue living?"

Gu Shen stared at the dark shadow.

This was a very tempting "trade," and it could not even be considered a "trade" anymore.

The devil’s tone was not humble, but it was almost a plea.

He really wanted to know what this being trapped in the ruler had experienced in those years… But the fate of the previous owners of the ruler was truly shocking.

So Gu Shen shook his head.

He said calmly, "If you really want to say it… then visit me in my dreams after you die."

Gu Shen extended two fingers, like how he had slain the wraiths in the Cage of Wraith, and slowly wiped them across the devil.

"Buzz!"

The last golden thread, wrapped in the world will of the Susu Hanging Tree, descended from the Array Box sea suspended in the sky, like a giant sword!

The devil did not dodge, and so Gu Shen did not move.

In the last moment, the two looked at each other calmly, just like they had in the Truth world.

"Bang!"

Brilliant, blazing flames exploded above the devil’s head, shattering its dark throne into pieces along with it!

The vortex of the jade ring spread madly, constantly absorbing this dark energy with its complex flavor… The Array Box sea encompassed all of the devil’s spirit, ensuring that nothing was missed.

After a long time, the turbulence in the Pure Land finally subsided.

The dark clouds that enveloped the entire divine domain were wiped away. All the dark energy was swallowed by the jade ring, and Gu Shen put it away, pressing it back into the roots of the Susu Hanging Tree.

After doing all of this, he slowly ascended into the air, arriving at the starting point where countless golden threads intertwined and converged.

All the fluctuations of the Array Box sea came from that slender figure.

The sound of tides flowed in the sky, like heavenly music.

Her white dress swayed like waves.

Five years apart.

Her face remained unchanged.