Chapter 1 Fire Sea in the Redwood Forest

The redwood forest was surrounded by a sea of fire.

Gu Shen voraciously absorbed the source substance that overflowed after the humanoid black hole shattered.

"The second domain of Blazing Fire requires about twice as much source substance as the first domain."

The hardest thing in the world is going from zero to one.

The birth of the second domain only required more source substance than the Fire of Life, so its true cultivation difficulty was not as high as before.

Now, Gu Shen's "source substance absorption speed" was many times stronger than before his breakthrough.

As for the scale of his spiritual sea, it had expanded tenfold.

Taking the supernatural beings from the mission reboot as a reference.

Zhong Yuan and Fisher, whom Gu Shen had to look up to back then, had spiritual seas that were about the size of a "large lake."

Now that Gu Shen had completed his advancement, his spiritual power was equivalent to ten Fishers from back then.

This was a true spiritual sea.

For the upcoming Calamity Zone missions, Gu Shen still retained the opportunity for Chen Li to "train," but he would also take action, absorbing the part of the black hole's source substance that Chen Li couldn't handle. The number of black spots in the Five Continents was too high now, and with the current manpower, they simply couldn't be cleared.

Seven days later, Gu Shen returned to Changye.

Little Iron Man was so exhausted that he had fallen asleep in the dojo.

Xie Zheng clicked his tongue when he saw this.

He knew that Chen Li and Gu Shen had an excellent relationship. In the years he had stayed in Changye, Chen Li's shadow could be seen in most of the trivial matters of the investigation team.

When the Grand Judge took office, Chen Li followed him on missions, and Mountain-sensei expressed his support.

Gu Shen's meaning was more than clear.

Chen Li was someone he was protecting.

Originally, Xie Zheng was quite envious of this guy, and even thought in his heart whether he should go out on missions with Sensei.

But when he saw Chen Li's exhausted appearance after returning, the thought of envy was completely dispelled.

Had he gone to war in North Continent?

Or had he opened up a navigation route to the Old World?

How could he be so exhausted!

"Sensei, the pendant has been repaired."

Xie Zheng took out the cross pendant, which was as good as new. The adhesion of the power of fate allowed the two broken pieces of the pendant to be pieced together again, forming a perfect "one."

Xie Zheng didn't dare to use spiritual infusion.

Fate-type sealed items were not something ordinary people could handle.

To control such a sealed item, one first needed to have a hard life. People with thin lives would only bring misfortune to themselves by holding this pendant!

Of course.

Xu Fang was not to be considered, because he was never considered to be "using" the pendant from beginning to end.

This pendant itself emitted disorderly fluctuations of fate-type rules.

He was only passively receiving, without actively seeking to pry, so he didn't need to pay a price… but the corresponding result was that he could only obtain some "small favors." For supernatural beings, picking up those few steel coins was completely meaningless. Fate only gave him some trivial cares.

The luckiest thing in Xu Fang's life was meeting Gu Shen. And his greatest opportunity was handing this incomplete pendant to Gu Shen.

Gu Shen would not mistreat him.

Xu Fang's remaining half of his life would be very safe and happy under the protection of Changye.

…

…

Gu Shen took the pendant and examined it carefully. The pendant after being completely repaired didn't seem to have changed from before.

Hmm… was it because he wasn't in "danger" at the moment?

In any case, wearing the complete version of the Protection of the Goddess of Fate made Gu Shen feel a trace of warmth in his heart.

Safe!

He was currently very safe!

Mu Wanqiu sent a message that she would arrive at Snow Forbidden City in about two days. Gu Shen wasn't idle during these two days.

He met with Qing Sui, who should now be called the Qing Sui Family Head.

Li Qing Sui was now the sole ruler of the Li Clan.

Gu Shen even told her about his identity as the Underworld King. There was nothing to hide about Chen Li's identity as an Apostle. After obtaining Qing Sui's approval, he really took Little Iron Man to the Shrine Mountain.

There hadn't been a guardian on Shrine Mountain for the past few years.

Qing Sui needed to handle all the big and small matters alone.

Compared to Qing Sui, Chen Li was much more idle.

If he left Changye, with this Apostle coming often, he could ensure that the flower garden on the top of the mountain would not breed black flowers.

Even the current Gu Shen would need to spend a long time to prune the black withered flowers all over the Shrine Mountain.

Perhaps he would have to truly wait until he fused the Fire Seed before the Shrine could see the light of day again.

Letting Chen Li guard Shrine Mountain wasn't really treating him like an iron man.

The Apostle could remove disordered source substance. In the process of pruning the "black flowers," this could also be considered a form of cultivation.

The source substance on Shrine Mountain clearly overflowed.

When he wasn't around, Chen Li could come often, which would also be beneficial to him.

There was still a pile of trivial matters in Changye, in addition to those backlog of files.

The remaining trivial matters needed to be handled by Gu Shen personally.

For example, the remaining "factional struggle" within the Tribunal headquarters…

Zhou E and Jin Yun and their ilk had been fighting within the Tribunal for a long time. The two factions were deeply rooted. It was understandable that they fought before Gu Shen took office, but now it was different.

Gu Shen didn't want to see the "separation" between his teacher and Zhu Wang repeated within the Tribunal.

So after Gu Shen handled the trivial matters of the Shrine, he set off to visit the dojos of the first and second judges in order.

Gu Shen first went to Zhou E's dojo.

This first judge had already accepted many disciples. There were many talents in the dojo, but Zhou E had been in seclusion alone for the past few days and hadn't seen any visitors. The dojo was handled by Zhou E's junior brother. When they saw Gu Shen arrive, the dojo quickly served tea and invited him to take a seat, but Gu Shen didn't intend to stay long.

He went directly to Zhou E's secluded quiet room.

There were layers of barriers here.

But it couldn't stop Gu Shen's Blazing Fire sensation. He saw Zhou E, who was sitting cross-legged and shrouded in haze, through the barrier.

Secluded meditation?

Zhou E couldn't even enter meditation now!

After that day.

Judge Zhou E's situation plummeted.

Zhou E, who had been in the lead in the Grand Judge competition, now showed signs of decline. The "defeat" in the dojo a few days ago almost crushed his Dao heart. The combat footage of him being unable to speak in front of Gu Shen had already spread within the Third Division. The once-popular first judge had now become the "laughing stock" of his colleagues after dinner.

The word "laughing stock" was a bit exaggerated.

Zhou E couldn't speak in front of Gu Shen, but he was still the strongest under the title of the Tribunal…

When the supernatural beings in the Third Division talked about this, very few would laugh at Zhou E's lack of strength.

Most of them were sighing at how strong Gu Shen was now, which was beyond the imagination of ordinary people!

The heat in the Deep Water Zone was unprecedented. There were a large number of posts every day, arguing about Gu Shen's cultivation realm and true strength. Countless people firmly believed that Gu Shen was the supernatural being closest to God in the Five Continents today.

"You've come…"

Zhou E, who was sitting in the quiet room, spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Grand Judge, forgive me for not being able to come out of seclusion to meet you at this moment."

Gu Shen hummed softly and said indifferently, "There's no need to meet. It's fine as long as we can have a normal conversation."

Zhou E smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "It's that time of year again, the time when the Tribunal's internal rankings change. Are you here to inform me about the ranking changes?"

Gu Shen said calmly, "You are still ranked first."

"…?"

Zhou E raised his head blankly.

After offending Gu Shen, he was prepared to be punished and demoted.

But he wasn't.

The dojo had been exceptionally peaceful these past few days. He had inquired about the Grand Judge's movements several times, and the news he received was that the Grand Judge had left Changye and was dealing with the backlog of files.

"No change… I'm still ranked first?"

Zhou E suspected that he had misheard.

"Your strength is a bit stronger than Jin Yun's, but only a bit." Gu Shen said indifferently, "If you continue to lock yourself in the dojo, you may be surpassed by him next."

Zhou E was stunned.

"You're not here to punish me?"

"Punishment…"

Gu Shen shook his head and said, "What's wrong with fighting for the Grand Judge position? If I were to punish you because of this… then Jin Yun should be punished as well. The Tribunal's highest leader has been vacant for so many years. It's reasonable for you to want to fight for it."

Zhou E murmured, "But I said those words in the dojo."

"What kind of words?"

Gu Shen smiled and said, "When I asked you, weren't you unable to say a word?"

Zhou E was completely silent.

He smiled bitterly, his fingers embedded in his palm, and said self-deprecatingly, "Yes… I'm too far behind you. I clearly wanted to be the Grand Judge, but I couldn't say a word when I faced you. These past few days, I've even been thinking about whether I should take the initiative to apply for a transfer from Changye."

Gu Shen asked, "Why? Just because you lost face at the dojo that time?"

Zhou E was speechless.

"Losing to me is not shameful."

Gu Shen said calmly, "If you choose to give up because of this level of setback… then you won't have a chance to become the Grand Judge in the future. Life is so long. You always have to look up and forward."

Zhou E raised his head, his eyes full of confusion, and bewilderment.

He never thought that Gu Shen would come in person to comfort and encourage him.

"But no matter how hard I try… I can't compare to you."

Zhou E opened his mouth with a bitter smile and said, "Everyone outside is saying that you are the supernatural being closest to God…"

The voices coming from the Deep Water Zone were too sensational.

Even if Gu Shen didn't pay much attention, he could still hear them.

In response, he could only smile helplessly in his heart and dismiss it.

The supernatural being closest to God?

Far from it.

He was far from it.

Under the promotion of the Convergence of the Great Undertaking, Gu Shen's reputation had reached the limit of the Five Continents in nearly a hundred years. He was indeed the most famous supernatural being under God.

He hadn't even developed the second domain of his Blazing Fire yet.

Even if Pure Land couldn't open up the second domain, he still had the huge threshold of Three-in-One if he wanted to advance again in the future…

Asking himself, if he could cross those few thresholds, the title of "supernatural being closest to God" would be well-deserved.

But now Gu Shen knew that there were several supernatural beings who were at the same level as him, or even stronger than him.

The three generals in North Continent who had long since hidden their merits and fame.

The "Heavenly Water Sensei" who had lived in the Source Tower for a long time and had broken through the limits of his life several times, like the Throne of Heaven.

The "Spring Plow Saint," who was said to be able to crush all the saints of the Holy City with his own power.

That's right, and the amazingly talented Little Sleeve… Although he didn't know the specific strength of Bai Xiu now, Gu Shen vaguely felt that Little Sleeve had definitely reached a very high level among the titled ones.

Little Sleeve had fought Mu Wanqiu.

If his strength hadn't reached a level that Little Qiu couldn't look up to.

Mu Wanqiu would definitely not have had the idea of challenging the Underworld King to see where her true strength was… It was very likely that she was beaten by Bai Xiu to the point of doubting her life.

Just the few people that Gu Shen could think of now had combat power that was not inferior to his own.

Not to mention Bai Shu, who had achieved great success in the Inversion back then, and Mr. Gu Changzhi, who had overwhelmed Bai Shu even before fusing the Fire Seed.

There were too many mountains in this world.

Even if he was considered one of them now, he was definitely not the highest one at the very top.

"The supernatural being closest to God? I really don't count…"

Gu Shen's voice reached the heart of Zhou E, who was confused and bewildered in the quiet room.

"Zhou E, this is a very good era. The stars are shining brightly."

"It's just that the stars at the zenith, even if you pick out one alone, no matter how dazzling it is, it won't block the light of other stars."

Gu Shen stood up and said before leaving, "If you want to choose to shine, why bother with the brilliance of other stars?"

…

…

(ps: This was originally a big chapter, but I promised everyone to post it at 12 o'clock, so I can only cut it off here a little. There will be another big chapter tonight.)