The crimson hue emerging on the surface of Red Lake felt somewhat unreal.

The Holy Judges stared blankly at this scene.

Batu stood silently by the lakeside, knowing he couldn’t intervene... Even if he did, he wouldn’t be a match for Gu Shen.

Even Mr. Jia Wei was defeated.

If he went up to stop him, he’d be cut in half with one strike.

Moments later, Gu Shen emerged from the water.

The heat evaporated the mist, and he flicked the blood off his iron blade, which then transformed back into countless iron scales and slipped up his sleeve.

"You... killed Jia Wei?"

Batu’s voice trembled slightly.

"That’s right, I killed Jia Wei."

Gu Shen’s eyes were calm as he looked toward the Skytop and slowly said, "To be exact... before all the Transcendents of the world, I defeated Jia Wei."

"You..."

Batu was at a loss for words. Looking at Gu Shen, he felt dizzy; Jia Wei’s death was an unexpected event that exceeded their plans.

He didn’t know how to explain this to Lord Divine.

In a situation like this, the Great Elder should have been the one to preside.

But... there was also no sign of the Great Elder.

Batu suddenly had an illusion, feeling as if the vast Light City had suddenly become deserted, leaving only him.

Gritting his teeth, Batu communicated through the Spirit Network, "Gu Shen, you’re too reckless... Do you not know what price you will pay for such an act?"

"Oh?"

Gu Shen chuckled and replied through the Spirit Network, "What price will I pay? Who will make me pay, you? Su Ye? The Great Elder? Or the Light God’s Seat?"

After conveying his message, Gu Shen slowly turned his head, opened his mouth, and said every word clearly for everyone to hear: "Elder Batu, I’m very curious, what exactly is the ailment of the Light God’s Seat? Could it be that he cannot see what is happening right under his nose? Or perhaps... he does not care about Jia Wei’s death?"

"???"

Batu’s eyes widened.

"If he cared, there were a thousand ways to stop me from killing Jia Wei just now."

"But he didn’t."

Gu Shen smiled and said, "Which means he also agreed with my duel with Jia Wei... Jia Wei wanted to kill me, so naturally, I must kill him. In such matters, is there any room for compromise? They all understand this principle, and you should understand it too."

As he finished speaking, Gu Shen looked at the spectators by the Red Lake who had been waiting all day.

Chu Ling was very right.

Attempting to assassinate Jia Wei under the watchful eye of Light City was nearly impossible.

This is the Divine Domain —

As long as the Light God’s Seat is unwilling, no assassination can be completed.

But... if it was an open challenge, a duel, set by a pact of life and death, then it’s different.

Either the Light God’s Seat prevents the battle from the start.

Or it allows the battle to progress until the end.

"Clearly, the Light Temple has always suspected my connection with the ’Netherworld King,’ and you had great confidence in Jia Wei..."

Gu Shen said calmly, "From the beginning, you were not opposed to this battle, rather you saw it as a good thing that could expose my deceptive facade to the world and conveniently eliminate me. You just didn’t expect the outcome to be like this."

"..."

Batu was completely speechless.

Because that was exactly how the temple thought.

They had too much faith in Jia Wei, revered him immensely... No one ever thought Jia Wei would lose to this young man who vanished six years ago.

"If you gamble, you must concede."

With a blank expression, Gu Shen conveyed through the Spirit Network, "Now that the Light God’s Seat has not spoken, do you think it’s your turn to say anything? Make me pay a price, just the temple, do you think you’re qualified?"

This message left Batu stunned for a second.

After meeting Gu Shen’s gaze, he could feel a strong pressure and averted his eyes in fear.

He felt an overwhelming power.

The last time he felt like this... was from the now-dead Jia Wei!

Only then did he realize that the young man before him was nothing like his harmless appearance.

Gu Shen looked relatively handsome.

But his methods were ruthless and decisive, leaving no room for concessions when taking action.

Even Jia Wei had died!

If one wanted to contend with Gu Shen... he truly had no qualifications.

"Batu’s character is much weaker compared to Long Qi."

Seeing Batu avert his gaze, Gu Shen felt a slight disappointment.

He had hoped this third elder would continue to confront him, perhaps bringing more "surprises"... Although regrettably, Batu remained cautious to the end.

In fact, Batu’s decisions have always been correct.

If earlier by the Red Lake, he had insisted on stopping Gu Shen... Gu Shen would have swung his blade without hesitation!

This third elder of the temple is quite strong.

But whether he could withstand that strike... was uncertain.

"I will not argue with you."

Batu looked down, his voice hoarse as he said, "Lord of Light Divine will give a fair and just judgment on this matter."

"Will he?"

Gu Shen responded calmly, "I also want to see how your Lord of the Light Divine will handle this matter, could the temple perhaps give me a chance?"

"What do you mean?" Batu widened his eyes, realizing something was amiss.

Gu Shen extended his finger, pointing to the far end of Red Lake.

"I want to go there and take a look."

"???"

If it were an hour ago, Batu would have let Gu Shen try and mocked him without hesitation.

But now, he dared not.

Having witnessed the battle between Gu Shen and Jia Wei, even if he suspected Gu Shen’s identity wasn’t pure, he couldn’t refute anything. Gu Shen stood atop Red Lake, incredibly stable.

From his performance in the recent battle, Gu Shen could easily reach the center of the lake.

Perhaps... even reach the far end!

...

...

Today, there is no sun in Light City.

It’s the first time the believers here have seen such a dazzling, beautiful starry sky.

In the past, the Land of Divine Miracles had two suns alternating above, the old would set while the new would rise, repeating in cycles. The glow of the new sun wasn’t too blinding, falling on everyone, making people feel comfortable, their spirits relaxed. Over time, believers here had forgotten that this world had "night" and "stars."

This is the last night of the grand parade sacred ceremony.

It chooses sunset as the endpoint.

All the believers in the city raise their heads, watching the bright glow illuminating the streets and alleys.

They didn’t notice, under the glow of the starry night, an invisible gentle breeze brushing through the streets, alleys, and every person’s cheek.

Gu Nanfeng, almost like "instantaneous movement," arrived at the alley leading to the secret dungeon entrance.

This time.

He did not hide in the darkness.

He decided to attack the secret dungeon head-on.

Actually, breaking into the secret dungeon wasn’t as difficult as people imagined; the real trouble was the Light Temple’s backup.

But Gu Nanfeng deduced that the evil ghost’s identity is Gu Shen.

So, after the flames rose from the Red Lake direction, he officially began to act.

At this moment, it was the Light Temple’s weakest point of defense—

He entrusted his back to Gu Shen, along with the Night Watchman and the delegation, Luo Yu, Zhong Fan.

"Buzz—"

Accompanied by a trembling sound, Gu Nanfeng drew his wooden sword and slashed at the Holy Light Barrier.

There was no elaborate domain, nor were there exaggerated blade glows.

"Slash!!"

This strike stirred countless winds, directly tearing a gap in the Holy Light Barrier. The next moment, Gu Nanfeng leisurely stepped into the alley entrance, proceeding straight ahead without any pause. After shattering the Holy Light Barrier, he followed the direction of the sword’s motion, lightly vibrating the wooden sword’s body, akin to slapping it on both sides, directly smacked the two stunned Heavy Armor Guards stationed at the alley waist!

Bang, bang!

The Heavy Armor Guards, known for their formidable defensive strength, flew out like sandbags upon being struck by the wooden sword, heavily bouncing off the stone wall and fainting.

Gu Nanfeng stood in front of the secret dungeon’s gate.

Without hesitation, he delivered a second strike!

The wind pressure in the alley reached its peak, the heavy door of the secret dungeon was pried open a gap by Lan Qie, and within seconds it shattered completely.

Gu Nanfeng advanced over the debris and shattered mithril fragments, his gaze unwavering and unyielding. The secret dungeon was dark, but those Heavy Armor Guards quickly lit lanterns and moved towards the source of the disturbance. Their spirit networks experienced a brief malfunction, making normal communication impossible.

A lantern’s flame illuminated the ghostly cages on either side.

Gu Nanfeng saw faces drawing closer to him.

These were Transcendent criminals locked by the Light Temple for years, their eyes wide open watching this stranger break into the secret dungeon... In their lifetime, they never expected to see the dungeon being torn apart so brutally.

Perhaps this was the best chance to escape prison.

Some begged for the locks to be opened.

Some offered tempting prices.

Heavy Armor Guards gathered, relentlessly using the tail end of their spears and guns to beat those approaching prisoners, leaving them bloodied, slightly calming the chaotic noise in this part of the secret dungeon.

Finally, these Heavy Armor Guards stood together.

There were twenty of them.

And Gu Nanfeng was alone.

This was Gu Nanfeng’s first time stopping.

He looked at the Heavy Armor Guards proficient in the Combined Attack Technique blocking his path, forcing him to halt his steps at the secret dungeon’s endpoint—

But he only paused for a moment.

Probably just a second, or even less.

The next moment, Gu Nanfeng walked straight through the formidable wall formed by these twenty Heavy Armor Guards.

The scene unfolded too quickly.

So fast that lanterns hit the ground, flames extinguished, no prisoner in the secret dungeon could see the hallway’s spectacle—

The wind came.

The wind left.

The secret dungeon plunged back into darkness, Gu Nanfeng sheathed his wooden sword and continued forward. He didn’t turn back to watch the Heavy Armor Guards falling one by one...

He arrived at the last door.

From the southern city of Light City to here, it hadn’t taken long. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Perhaps just the span of a breeze.

When he set out, maybe a leaf was just then caught by a gentle wind, and now it should be landing.

Gu Nanfeng pushed open the last door of the secret dungeon.

He reached the completely sealed cage, extended his hand, and the symbol of the world’s most gentle force, Lan Qie, erupted in full force.

Thousands of threads of fierce wind howled relentlessly.

The layer of black silver on the wall was entirely scraped away.

Eventually, the latch shattered, and the cage broke apart.

Gu Nanfeng released his grip.

He took a deep breath, stepped back two paces, the secret dungeon silent enough to hear a pin drop, he could even hear his own heartbeat.

And...

The heartbeat of another person in the secret dungeon.

Sometimes, identifying a person.

You don’t need to see them in person, only hearing the sound is sufficient.

Lan Qie, the gale pursuing freedom, allows Gu Nanfeng to hear every breath of wind in the world...

The wind outside the alley finally reached the end of the secret dungeon.

The heavy door of the secret dungeon slowly opened.

The woman sitting against the stone wall of the secret dungeon gradually turned her head.

A glimmer of light fell on her face.

Making the entire secret dungeon as bright as daylight.

...

...

(PS: 1. The public account has updated Chu Ling’s portrait ~ Everyone can take a look, the account name: The Panda That Wrestles, there’ll be more character portraits later ~ 2, The Chapter commentary seems to be restored, praise me to see if it’s true.)