The four Dukes of the Northern Continent.

Zhu Xue, Zhen Yue, Duan Yang, Xiang Chen.

These four were personally enfeoffed by Her Majesty and enjoy the highest treatment among the Northern Continent nobles. Except for Duke Duan Yang, the other three have their own "fiefs."

Duke Zhen Yue is stationed on the western flank of the Northern Continent by order. The title of "Duke" is hereditary. Zhu Xue's surname is Lin, and Duan Yang's surname is also Lin. They are considered the "royal relatives" of the Northern Continent, but Duke Zhen Yue is different.

Beneath the title of Zhen Yue, the surname is not Lin, but Meng.

This title is a testament to the long-standing friendship between the Northern and Western Continents, or rather, a "guarantee."

The previous Duke Zhen Yue had made outstanding military achievements on the border of the fortress, possessing extremely high prestige and a group of loyal followers. Unfortunately, his lifespan was short, and he died young. Therefore, after the new ruler ascended the throne... several turbulences occurred within Zhen Yue's territory. However, this new ruler was not an "ordinary person" either. He quickly quelled them. He was young, talented, and had cultivated to the fourth stage in his twenties.

In addition to his personal strength, he also possessed powerful command skills.

He could be called a dragon among men.

"Meng Xiao will also come to Central City." Lin Chou said calmly, "Recently, Meng Xizhou's breach of engagement just happened. As her elder brother, it's reasonable that he doesn't like the Gu family of the Eastern Continent. Now that Meng Xiao's arrogance is at its peak, it's no problem for you to invite Gu Shen on board to avoid his limelight."

"Avoid?"

Lin Lin sneered, "I have no intention of avoiding anything. In the Northern Continent, the Lin family is the master. It's useless no matter how powerful Meng Xiao is. If he's a dragon, he has to coil up; if he's a tiger, he has to lie down."

He had long heard of the fierce reputation of the new Duke Zhen Yue, Meng Xiao.

Pacifying the internal strife in the West Wing and suppressing the border turmoil, the young "Duke Zhen Yue" had just taken office and displayed his extraordinary talents. However, to survive in this world, one must learn to restrain one's sharpness in due course. Sometimes being too sharp is not a good thing.

"It's fine to say these words between you and me."

Zhu Xue frowned and said, "Meng Xiao will arrive soon... After we meet him later, we'll talk about the 'marriage contract' again."

Lin Lin narrowed his eyes, suppressed the irritability in his heart, and silently sat back in his chair.

…

…

Gu Shen stood on the second floor of the banquet hall.

The permissions that Chu Ling could use were not many. The [Surveillance] on the second floor had double passwords.

Obviously, Duke Zhu Xue was here.

With the current capabilities of [Source Code], it was still impossible to quietly infiltrate the permission settings of a "Duke" level figure, but Gu Shen could continue forward... This was not a forbidden area. Even if it was, Chu Ling could shield part of the [Sky Eye] to ensure Gu Shen's absolute safety, at least not being discovered in a short period of time.

Lin Lin should also be on the second floor.

After being seated... Gu Shen inexplicably felt a guidance in his heart. He always felt that he should leave his seat and take a walk on the second floor of the banquet hall. This walk was naturally not to disturb the conversation between Zhu Xue and Lin Lin.

He walked forward slowly. Zhu Xue must have been very confident in the safety of [Deep Sea]. There were no guards arranged on this floor.

Gu Shen followed the feeling in his heart and stopped in front of a private box. He did not enter, but stopped there.

The "sense of guidance" in his heart was getting stronger and stronger.

Gu Shen lowered his head slightly.

Was this the guidance of the cross pendant?

"Someone's coming, and they're fast."

Chu Ling suddenly spoke, her tone heavy.

Gu Shen turned his head instantly, but only had time to see a rapidly enlarging palm.

That was not a human palm... The five fingers were like hooks, with sharp claws and fangs!

"A force-based transcendent!"

Gu Shen's pupils shrank. What a joke? This was a banquet publicly hosted by Duke Zhu Xue. Who would make a move here?

With a bang!

Gu Shen subconsciously used the immature [Complete Flash], but the other party's speed was also very fast, and they made exactly the same reaction in an instant. So, under the trembling of two blurred figures, they collided and smashed together!

In a flash of lightning, the blazing fire flew out from between Gu Shen's eyebrows, but was blocked by a circle of burning golden hoops.

"Blazing Fire" could not be used...

The "Ruler of Truth" was sealed...

Gu Shen's expression was calm and not flustered. He raised his hands and blocked them in front of him. At the same time, countless sharp winds swirled out of thin air, and an iron shield was born, forcibly blocking this powerful blow!

This was the "nameless scrap iron" from the Tundra Snow Mountain Mausoleum. Under the control of the [Iron Throne] ability, it could change shape at will and be summoned at any time... Even if someone with ulterior motives discovered the abnormality, it would be very convenient to explain. This was a "special sealed item" controlled by mental power.

Golden light was brilliant, and sparks flew everywhere!

That palm slapped mercilessly on Gu Shen's iron shield...

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

Gu Shen's knees buckled slightly from the impact, half a foot stepping into the ground, and a trembling sound echoed in his mind!

The force of this palm was enormous!

At this moment, he could see the existence opposite the smoke and dust. There was more than one figure. The one who attacked him was a half-beast transcendent, tall and burly, with thick fur like a giant bear growing on his arms.

"Still quite resistant..."

Among the many figures, the one standing in the center opened his mouth expressionlessly and said, "Ba Kui, do it again."

"Roar..."

Ba Kui stretched out his bear paw again, preparing to give Gu Shen a heavy second blow.

Gu Shen's eyes were gloomy.

Because of cultivating "Blazing Fire," his perception had been compressed to a very small range... In this peaceful and quiet banquet occasion, he really couldn't imagine that someone would be so rude and ruthless as to make a move upon meeting him.

In the first blow, he could only defend passively.

If the other party was "unreasonable," then don't blame him for not being ethical either.

Gu Shen's fingers were already on the ghost mask...

The wind howled.

Just as Ba Kui rushed up, the red door between the two suddenly shattered, and a thin figure broke through the wind and delivered a heavy knee strike, hitting Ba Kui's face accurately... This scene happened so fast, like flowing water, it looked like Ba Kui himself had stupidly bumped his cheek against the other party's kneecap.

The sharp whistling of the wind echoed in the second floor of the banquet hall, and the burly figure of the giant bear was thrown out and embedded in the painting at the end of the second-floor corridor.

Coincidentally, the painting depicted a bear standing upright in the snowy Northern Continent.

…

…

This sudden commotion attracted everyone's attention.

The guests on the first floor cast their gazes... These people were not fools who could be easily fooled. They were too familiar with what the movement on the second floor meant. The chaotic transcendent aura aroused the interest of the generals who were tasting wine.

What was even more interesting was the identities of the two groups of people confronting each other in the smoke-filled corridor.

"Who are you?"

Gu Shen's expression was unfriendly as he stared at the obscure faces in the smoke and dust.

The leader did not respond.

Instead, he stretched out a hand, pointed at Gu Shen, and then looked at the thin figure blocking in the middle: "Who is he?"

Lin Lin stood between the two groups.

He patted the dust off his body, and the cigarette in his mouth was still burning... Embers danced.

He frowned and looked at the two "troublesome guys" in front of him and behind him.

Indeed.

Trouble would come to his door.

Lin Lin slowly exhaled a breath and said in a deep voice: "Obviously, he is my friend."

The figure in the smoke and dust smiled silently.

He simply turned his gaze to the inner end of the broken wall.

Duke Zhu Xue, who was drinking tea in the inner room, was still calm, but the shattered gale kept flying, blowing his long hair. In these silent seconds, Zhu Xue completed his thinking with a headache.

He slowly stood up and said gently: "The two of you are really destined, you don't know each other without a fight. Let me introduce you, Mr. Meng Xiao, standing in front of you at this moment is an S-level genius from the Eastern Continent, the disciple of the Grand Arbiter, Gu Shen."

The smoke and dust dissipated.

Gu Shen finally saw the other party's face clearly, and the corresponding file appeared in his mind.

Since Zhong Yuan gave him a reminder, he had retrieved the files of all the people with the surname Meng in Central City and the border area of the Northern Continent. He had a deep impression of the name Meng Xiao... This was one of the current four Dukes of the Northern Continent, and at a young age, he had inherited the title of Duke of Zhen Yue!

"Oh..."

Meng Xiao said lightly: "I saw a sneaky figure on the second floor before, and thought a thief had entered."

"Misunderstanding."

Zhu Xue smiled slightly: "Mr. Gu is a guest, a distinguished guest."

He glanced meaningfully at both sides... [Deep Sea] had not prompted him that someone was on the second floor, both Gu Shen and Meng Xiao. It seemed that these two guys had some "special means" on them.

"Kacha kacha..."

On the other side, Ba Kui pulled his head out of the oil painting.

Lin Lin narrowed his eyes.

This guy's skin was ridiculously thick.

After taking his knee strike, he was as if nothing had happened... He just shook his head hard, shaking off a pile of debris, and returned to Meng Xiao's side with a calm face.

"I'm really sorry..."

Meng Xiao looked at Zhu Xue apologetically and said softly: "I broke the wall on the second floor, and I will pay for the repairs afterwards."

"Small matter."

Zhu Xue shook his head and smiled: "Tonight is Her Majesty's appointed enfeoffment banquet, you should understand what I mean."

Meng Xiao nodded with a smile.

His gaze locked on Gu Shen.

"I heard..."

Under countless gazes, he walked up with a smile and asked: "You and Gu Nanfeng have a good relationship? Is there such a thing?"

Gu Shen patted the dust on his body.

As Meng Xiao ignored him before, he also ignored Meng Xiao.

Gu Shen said lightly: "Your Excellency Zhu Xue, if the second floor is not allowed to enter, there should be a 'warning sign'. Such misunderstandings will not happen..."

After saying that, he was about to leave the second floor.

"..."

Meng Xiao's smile was slightly stiff.

At the moment when the two passed by, Meng Xiao suddenly stretched out a hand.

"Pa Da."

Gu Shen's eyes suddenly turned cold.

Even now, he didn't know why this young Duke Zhen Yue was "hostile" to him... He had obviously aimed to seriously injure him when he suddenly attacked for no reason before.

The first "Iron Shield" resisted.

He heard very clearly that this guy had issued an order for a second attack.

Moreover... Meng Xiao had already seen his file, so his previous question to Zhu Xue about his identity was purely "acting" just to find an excuse to smooth over this farce.

Using the word "misunderstanding" to end the matter was already Gu Shen's greatest restraint tonight.

This banquet was held by the will of Her Majesty the Queen.

Next, he had to meet Her Majesty the Queen and send out Mr. Gu Changzhi's letter.

To put it another way, Gu Shen was definitely not the kind of person who "raised his hand high and dropped it lightly." After hearing Zhong Yuan's reminder in Gubu Fortress, he had never thought that this matter could be resolved peacefully...

…

…

This light touch was not strong, but it contained a majestic mental impact force.

Meng Xiao asked softly: "Why is Brother Gu in such a hurry?"

He used a part of his mental power and directly rushed into Gu Shen's body along his palm.

Meng Xiao had seen the file of this S-level young genius.

Indeed, he was gifted, but no matter how powerful he was, he was only at the seventh level.

He used mental power enough to suppress a "ninth level" transcendent to give Gu Shen a lesson.

But then, Meng Xiao's eyes were a little surprised.

Gu Shen's expression was calm, without any abnormality... The majestic mental power rushed into this young body and disappeared without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea.

Vaguely, he seemed to see a vast wilderness.

Was that... the spiritual world?

Meng Xiao's pupils shrank slightly. The mental power that he had actively poured out was now vaguely out of control. He quickly tightened his mind and woke up from the huge scene of contemplation.

The next moment.

A hand slapped his palm away.

"I am indeed very good friends with Gu Nanfeng."

Gu Shen smiled and said: "We are inseparable, this should be the answer you want to hear... right?"

Guangming City, Meng surname, Gu Nanfeng, these information... flashed through Gu Shen's mind one by one, and united together, the inexplicable "hostility" and "hatred" seemed to be answered.

Gu Shen had actually heard about the "Guangming City rumors" not long ago.

Meng Xizhou, the heir of the God's Throne, who was also known as the saint of Guangming, rejected the family's marriage, and the reason she rejected was... it was said that she fell in love with an "insignificant" little person in the Northern Continent.

The specific news was tightly covered by Guangming City.

No one knew who the "little person" that Meng Xizhou fell in love with was... and no one knew how the matter was handled later.

But now Gu Shen vaguely guessed something.

Little people...

This was really a bit ironic.

Gu Nanfeng had been living in the Northern Continent under a hidden identity for eight years, and had been serving under Xiu Gu with the code name "Cn021." Except for the high-level officials of the Northern Continent, not many people should know the true identity of "Cn021."

If this matter was really that simple, it would be great.

Meng Xizhou only fell in love with a little person.

Then, with the power of Guangming City, and the power of the Northern Continent, they could easily take down this "little person"...

But if she fell in love with the future young master of the Gu family in the Eastern Continent...

Then it would be different.

It was ironic to say the least.

Everyone thought this was a "shocking" love.

But if you think about it carefully, you will know that this was the "Saint of Light," who was above everyone else, so how could she fall in love with an "ordinary person"?

Even if the so-called little person did not hold power at the moment... he would eventually shine one day.

Having figured all of this out, Gu Shen slapped Meng Xiao's hand away and replied calmly: "Mr. Meng, I am not in a hurry... If you want to play, I will play with you slowly."