The devil paused for a moment.

The fingers holding its wine glass also stiffened slightly.

Fortunately, no one could see its expression under the cover of darkness… or perhaps, without the gloom, it was simply an existence of utter darkness without a “face,” having never possessed such a thing as facial expressions.

“I want you to answer a question for me.”

“In return, I will not seal the Ruler with black silver for the next ten days.”

Gu Shen stated the general terms of the trade.

It was indeed a small transaction.

But it was fair.

A single question in exchange for the Ruler's “freedom.”

Gu Shen knew that the black silver seal was a kind of “torture” for the devil, preventing it from understanding what was happening outside the Ruler and from glimpsing any information from the outside world… therefore, using “unsealing” as a reward was the greatest price he was willing to accept in this transaction.

Being spied on by the "devil."

If he hadn't known, it would have been fine.

But now that Gu Shen was aware of the dark presence within the Ruler, every second without the black silver seal made his heart crawl with unease.

“Gu… Shen…”

The devil tried its best to control its voice, preventing it from expressing anger, but its slender fingers were already trembling slightly.

It had waited for so long.

It felt like a “clown!”

Sitting on the throne, yet forced to be manipulated by Gu Shen… and the reality was even crueler than that, because its relationship with Gu Shen was not as simple as being “manipulated.”

Even if it wanted to see the outside world, it needed Gu Shen to nod his approval.

“Haven’t you realized it yet?”

“Trading with me is destined to be a long process. Each time a transaction is completed, it’s not you helping me, but me bestowing a reward upon you.”

Gu Shen calmly gazed at the figure on the throne and said slowly, “This isn’t the [Old World]. I don’t have any means to threaten you… but I can guarantee that if you refuse this trade, I will immediately seal the Ruler in black silver after I leave.”

“Do you know… what kind of situation you’re in?” the devil said in a hoarse voice. “You’re fighting the Blessed Child of Light City! He’s crushing you by an entire major realm! Without my help, you can’t defeat him at all!”

“Yes, you’re right.”

Gu Shen smiled and said, “It’s just a pity that I have other ways to solve this battle… I don’t need your trade to help me.”

“Other ways?!”

The devil stood up from the throne again.

It sneered, “Do you think I don’t understand you… Your Blazing Flame, Iron Sword, Pure Land, Finger Ring, Veil, even if you add that fragment of the ‘Time Stop Needle,’ what can these means do against the Blessed Child of Light City who’s an entire major realm above you?!”

After the devil said this,

Gu Shen’s expression didn’t seem to change, but in reality, his heart suddenly sank… all his trump cards, without exception, were remembered by the devil.

Even the inconspicuous “Time Stop Needle” he had scavenged from Cui Zhongcheng, it knew!

How could he truly trade with such a sinister existence who knew all his secrets?!

“All you have to do is tell me, accept or not.” Gu Shen’s tone became cold. “I don’t have that much patience. You only have three seconds to consider it.”

The moment he finished speaking, he began to count down.

“Three, two…”

By this point in their conversation, there wasn’t much time left in the outside world.

Gu Shen had already prepared for the “trade to collapse.” He had to leave himself enough time to respond in the real world.

“I agree!”

Although it was furious, the devil’s response was incredibly quick!

Three seconds was simply too short.

Gu Shen didn’t give the devil more time. It couldn’t ask more questions; it could only choose yes or no.

At this moment, the black shadow on the throne almost roared out its answer. In its rage, the wine glass in its palm shattered instantly. Indeed, everything in this spiritual space was just a fleeting illusion.

The goblet filled with blood shattered into countless fragments of light and shadow, scattering away in the empty, biting wind.

Along with the goblet,

The devil’s sigh also shattered.

In the piercing wind, it slowly sat back on the throne, sighed helplessly, and asked,

“Speak, what do you want to ask?”

…

…

Real world.

The long wind of the snow mountain surged.

The incandescent net woven by light had shrunk to a narrow range of twenty meters!

At this moment, Gu Shen finally opened his eyes.

His trade with the devil was complete.

It wasn't a big trade.

The silver light radiating from the Ruler of Truth did not turn black… This meant that until the very end, the devil had not succeeded in lending out its power.

["The question you asked is indeed tricky. But even if you know these things, what's the use? Since you have me, why harbor so many fears? There's still time for a trade. I can help you kill this Blessed Child!"]

The devil's low murmur echoed in his mind.

Come on, come on!

Let's trade!

It was still trying to persuade Gu Shen, considering a larger trade.

But Gu Shen's heart was as firm as a rock.

He sneered, unmoved by the devil's temptation, resolutely refusing to engage in a major transaction.

Gu Shen focused his mind, responding to the caged bird in the Ruler one last time, "I won't trade unless you give it to me for free. You might as well consider letting me freeload one more time. Let me make this clear: if something bad happens to me, don't even think about having a good time… Light City would definitely be very interested in the relics left behind by Pluto."

Devil: "???"

After saying this, Gu Shen ignored the voice in his mind.

The "critical situation" in the real world was imminent.

Meng Xiao had already suppressed him with just a Lunar Suppression Robe!

The dark light woven into a net had encompassed an area with a radius of twenty meters. Gu Shen had previously guessed his combat intentions. He wanted to force out his trump cards… so that this battle would escalate into a battle of gods.

But…

How could he let Meng Xiao have his way?!

"Hoo…"

The moment he opened his eyes,

Gu Shen put on the Ghost Mask. As the light net contracted, and as Meng Xiao, suspended in the air, clenched his fingers, these dim lights instantly accelerated, cutting through like sharp blades… At the same time, Gu Shen's figure flickered.

After the [Ghost Mask] was equipped!

The balance created by the Fighting Golden Band was momentarily broken at this moment.

The Blazing Flame sensed the provocation of the low-level yin energy, and under the impact of the third force, it overflowed from the spiritual sea… Perhaps because of the influence of the Ghost Mask, the "Blazing Flame" Gu Shen was currently using had also become eerily sinister in color!

In the next moment, a faint, dark, pale flame ignited between Gu Shen's eyebrows!

"What kind of trick is this?"

Meng Xiao narrowed his eyes.

He felt that the young man's spiritual power seemed to have soared in an instant!

He had previously thought that this s-level from the Eastern Continent had concealed his true strength.

As a Transcendent,

A person in the seventh layer of the Deep Sea could fight against someone in the eighth layer!

But now it seemed… Gu Shen's hidden strength was more than he had imagined! This was not a simple "Transcendent"... It was very likely that he was a monstrous figure who had transcended two realms, just like Mu Wanqiu!

Seeing this, the corners of the Lunar Suppression Duke's lips curved up slightly. His mood did not worsen; on the contrary, it improved a little.

Following the "bracelet's" visual cues,

He had successfully caught the important figure in the Disaster Divination.

The trump cards Gu Shen revealed were extraordinary, and the more unexpected they were… the more it proved that the predictions given by his bracelet were correct!

The lofty Meng Xiao clenched his fingers.

He coldly uttered a word.

"斩!" (Zhan!)

This word was like a divine decree. The long, dim lights in the sky received their master's command, suddenly erupting with surging killing intent, crazily cutting through the black snow, wanting to tear Gu Shen to pieces!

After putting on the Ghost Mask, Gu Shen's spiritual power soared, breaking through two realm barriers in succession, erupting with the aura of the ninth layer of the deep-water zone. The silver light of the Ruler of Truth rumbled and burned, and its momentum rose several times!

"Want to cut me down?"

Gu Shen stood up instantly.

His body moved at high speed, becoming blurred.

It was still the incomplete [Perfect Flash], but it was enough to use at this moment!

Dozens of strands of light swept over, piercing and piercing through Gu Shen's body, but after a few breaths, this figure became blurred, gradually becoming scattered by the wind and snow, and finally only a virtual, dissipated phantom remained… Gu Shen was faster than the dim light manipulated by the Lunar Suppression Robe. The trajectory of his movement was extremely strange, moving at high speed along the edge of the contracting net, as if he was performing some kind of "cutting" that conformed to a large circle!

Meng Xiao narrowed his eyes.

Gu Shen's spiritual power soared, his speed soared, and his figure shot out directly into the black snow, turning into a blurred long line, cutting out a long arc along the net…

He saw what Gu Shen wanted to do.

Gu Shen avoided the dark light by circling around the largest circle, and also wanted to avoid his own mental capture!

But sadly,

This young man was still only a "third-order extraordinary!"

Meng Xiao smiled softly.

With a "whoosh," a ghostly figure suddenly appeared behind him. Gu Shen, who was circling around, finally ran behind the main figure. He held the extremely tough battle knife in both hands, and at this moment, he raised it high. Wrapped in countless silver lights, the battle knife turned into a terrifying giant ax!

Between Gu Shen's eyebrows, a pale flame burned fiercely.

The "defensive power" of this sealed robe was extremely powerful, and to break through its defenses, a heavy blunt weapon was needed!

An ax was more suitable than a knife!

The light of truth wrapped around the iron ax, shaping it!

Everything was complete!

Gu Shen's expression was blank as he swung the iron ax down!

Flames and cold light erupted together!

"Dang!"

A crisp sound burst out.

This time, the Lunar Suppression Robe did not activate a protective shield… Meng Xiao was so conceited that he chose to directly take the blow with his own fleshly body.

For Gu Shen, this was good news!

He slammed the iron ax down!

However, this ax blow, which landed on Meng Xiao's neck, did not even cut out a bloody gash!

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

His ax blow, which landed on Meng Xiao's body, only cut out a burst of brilliant silver arc light… He was extremely familiar with the aura of this arc light, because he had seen it not long ago in the cemetery!

Meng Xiao's ability was called [Obscured Moon].

At this moment, a vague thought flashed through Gu Shen's mind, vaguely understanding the meaning of the name "Lunar Suppression."

It seemed that this title was not given casually… This lineage's light abilities, passed down from generation to generation, were all very powerful. This [Obscured Moon] was a top-level offensive ability, which could be used for both attack and defense.

Gu Lusheshen, who appeared paralyzed and crippled in Nagano, relied on the accomplished [Obscured Moon] to defeat three or four titled experts, including Old Master Gu Qilin, almost single-handedly!

The patterns on this robe were not drawn casually either.

Suppressing the moon with one hand.

Among the stars in the world, who can suppress the bright moon besides the sun?

And the sun was the symbol of "Light City." This lunar suppression pattern meant that although the Meng Xiao family was rooted in the Northern Continent, it actually believed in and relied on the Western Continent's Light God.

Missing the hit, Gu Shen immediately retreated.

For him, this ax blow was not without its gains… At least he had cut out Meng Xiao's ability!

With [Obscured Moon] covering his body, no wonder Meng Xiao was so conceited that he didn't even use the robe's shield just now!

Gu Shen retreated, and the iron ax in his hand re-formed into a long sword.

A sword split the light net!

He landed dozens of meters away.

"That ax just now had a lot of strength… but it's not enough."

Meng Xiao's expression was natural. He pressed his palm again, and the gathered dark light re-dispersed, falling into the snow mountain range, lurking everywhere in the long night.

He simply pressed the net that had surfaced back down again.

For him, this was a game of cat and mouse.

This Black Snow Mountain was an excellent disconnection zone.

Perhaps no one except the "Gods" could see everything that happened here. As long as he was patient, Gu Shen's trump cards would be forced out by him one by one.

First, the indestructible Iron Edge, then this strange mask that boosted spiritual power, and that "mysterious and unknown" auxiliary silver light.

These sealed objects were indeed good.

But they were not what Meng Xiao wanted to see.

He put his hands behind his back and slowly asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, there is."

Gu Shen laughed coldly.

He glanced at the dim lights behind him, which had re-encompassed him, ready to be lifted up again at any time. That sealed robe looked very useful… It could cover such a large area with just a thought.

If he guessed correctly, this should not only be the effect of the robe.

Meng Xiao's domain power should also be blessing it.

Gu Shen knew that facing this fourth-order extraordinary alone… No matter how many trump cards he used, his chances of winning were slim.

He was a genius.

So was Meng Xiao!

He had adventures.

So did Meng Xiao!

Under this kind of situation where there was a clear difference of one major realm, even if Gu Shen was a Transcendent who had surpassed two realms… it was useless.

The means he had painstakingly offered were easily resolved by Meng Xiao.

If it continued to develop like this,

It would inevitably force out the "Divine Will" behind him.

However, the battle between transcendents was not entirely determined by "hard strength"…

Gu Shen suddenly asked, "Do you know that there is a Nightmare Gate wandering around on this Black Snow Mountain?"

Meng Xiao paused slightly and frowned.

"Your light… is too bright."

Gu Shen said softly, "How about we make this world a little darker?"

After saying that, he extinguished the flame on his forehead.

Then, Gu Shen opened his fingers and grabbed a long, narrow frozen stone from the snow not far away. Under the control of the [Iron Throne], countless iron filings spun rapidly around the frozen stone, the black frost and snow shattered, and the ice dregs on the surface of the frozen stone flew in all directions.

One second later,

A "chi" sound of bursting crispness!

The stone in Gu Shen's palm suddenly burned under the friction of the iron edge. A faint, faint flame rose in the ice and snow. Compared to Meng Xiao's "blessed light," this flame was too weak.

It seemed that it would be extinguished with a gust of wind.

So, in the next moment, a strong wind really came to the snow mountain.

Black snow danced in the sky.

The storm surged.

Meng Xiao's expression was gloomy, bewildered, and complex.

He looked in disbelief at the young man, who was enveloped by his "dragnet," and disappeared into the snowstorm.

After only a few breaths, he dissipated with the black snow.

Without a trace.

…

…

(This chapter was more difficult to write and has been polished for a long time, so there are a few less words. I will add another chapter around 12 noon tomorrow.)