Although the Red Lake was enveloped in a myriad of radiant lights, it suddenly turned cold at this moment.

Gu Shen looked at the elder lying on the chair and smiled as he spoke.

"You’re not planning to kill me, are you?"

The starlight of the night couldn’t compare to the sun, but the elder sitting by the lake, though nearing the twilight of his life and gravely ill,

didn’t give Gu Shen any confidence for even the slightest chance of victory.

Gu Shen felt the change in the temperature of the surrounding lights, and so, his smile at this moment carried a hint of coldness.

The elder similarly replied with a smile, "I have thought about it."

Gu Shen certainly knew that the Light God’s Seat had considered it, but he didn’t expect this divine figure to answer the question so candidly.

His expression became somewhat complex.

"A factor as uncertain as you, growing at such a fast pace... if you can’t be controlled, it might as well be destroyed as early as possible." The elder reclined back lazily, "If you were me, would you show mercy?"

Gu Shen was silent for a moment.

"You can’t kill me tonight."

He looked at the elder on the reclining chair and said word by word, "There are many people at Red Lake tonight, there are countless eyes watching what happens in Light City... The Empress and Mr. Bai Shu are watching too."

"What you said makes sense... Since you know I’m just saying it, why be so tense?"

The elder smiled as he spoke, "Also, why didn’t you mention the Netherworld King just now? Is he not among the supports behind you?"

"I told you, I’m not familiar with him, and like the temple, I dislike him."

Gu Shen shrugged, trying hard to stay calm.

He was indeed very tense; nobody can face the Divine Throne without being nervous.

Because principles are principles, and rules are rules—

The Divine Throne is the one who sets the rules!

If the Light God’s Seat were to act against him in front of millions, then a Divine War might break out tonight.

But... the matter of the Divine War no longer concerns him.

The moment the chessboard is overturned, the pieces lost due to bad luck can never be recovered.

"Alright, relax... Forgive my earlier joke, I just wanted to see your reaction."

The Light God’s Seat lowered his gaze and smiled, "The union of the Five Continents is a good deed for everyone; you shouldn’t have any reason to refuse, right?"

Gu Shen squinted his eyes and said, "If it’s good for everyone, naturally no one would refuse."

"Gu Shen..."

The elder said earnestly, "Do you know? Over the years, many have said you’re the second Gu Changzhi."

"I cannot compare to Mr. Gu Changzhi."

Gu Shen calmly said, "I am a selfish person; I can’t be the ’sun.’

"In my eyes, you and Gu Changzhi are two different kinds of people, even if you can’t be the ’sun,’ you can still emit a long enough and dazzling light."

The elder smiled, "I don’t need you to do anything deliberately. I just hope you... don’t disrupt the union of the Five Continents."

Gu Shen fell into silence.

After a long while.

He raised his head, "Sorry, I can’t give you any promises. If the ’union of the Five Continents’ benefits all of humanity, then I naturally won’t disrupt it. I’d even readily support it, using all the resources at my disposal to assist... But if what you plan to do goes against my understanding and will, even if you kill me a thousand times, I will not change my mind."

"Such resilience."

The Light God’s Seat said lightly, "That’s somewhat like the Gu Changzhi of years past."

This sentence, neither praised nor ridiculed.

Gu Shen was about to turn and leave.

"Just leaving like that?"

The voice of the Light God’s Seat called him back.

The elder, enveloped in radiant light, reached out a hand, palm facing up, his five fingers gently beckoning.

All the radiant light freely scattering over the Red Lake surged towards his position with this gentle gesture.

"Hmm?"

Gu Shen stopped and turned back to look.

The Light God’s Seat extended his hand, clearly meaning to ask for something from him.

"Is there anything else?"

Gu Shen’s expression didn’t waver as he faced the elder by the Red Lake again.

That dazzling and blinding sun fell silent for several seconds after this question was asked.

The Light God’s Seat asked gently, "Isn’t there something you’re supposed to hand over to me?"

"Do I... have something?"

Gu Shen smiled, "Perhaps I should have picked up Jia Wei’s corpse while passing by the first half of Red Lake and gathered the fragments of the Bright Armor along the way?"

"..."

Receiving this response, the Light God’s Seat looked at Gu Shen with meaningful eyes, while the latter showed no fear nor cowardice.

The two maintained their direct gaze.

Red Lake once again fell into silence.

After some time, the Light God’s Seat let out a light sigh.

"Meng Xizhou just pleaded for you and Gu Nanfeng to have a chance to enter the Forbidden Book Tower. Tomorrow, I will personally lift the restrictions there."

The Light God’s Seat said calmly, "Before then... give it some thought if there’s indeed something you should hand over to me."

"Then I must think it over carefully."

Gu Shen bowed slowly, retreating step by step, leaving the Red Lake.

...

...

Gu Shen walked out of the mist.

A spiritual communication floated over.

"You’re finally back?! What did the Light God’s Seat say to you!"

Song Ci pressed his knee, forcing himself to sit on the lake, but he couldn’t settle into calmness. Seeing that dawn was near, and there was no movement from the other side of the lake, the wait was an anxious one.

Seeing Gu Shen come out, he quickly stood up, full of anticipation.

Gu Shen only transmitted with an expressionless face, "We’ll talk about it when we get back."

At the same time, he saw many expectant faces.

"Thank you, Lord Divine, for the invitation. It has been immensely beneficial for me,"

Gu Shen bowed once more to the end of the Red Lake and spoke aloud before the crowd of thousands.

This was his response to the people who had been waiting.

After it ended.

Gu Shen bowed to Meng Xizhou and spoke publicly, "Also, thank you, Goddess, for your concern, and for specially requesting a ’Forbidden Book Tower’ insight slot for me."

There were many sounds of admiration and envy by the lakeside.

Admiration aside.

They knew... If someone was to visit the Forbidden Book Tower, Gu Shen was undoubtedly the choice.

"You’re welcome."

Meng Xizhou slightly frowned, unsure why Gu Shen spoke of the Forbidden Book Tower in front of everyone.

"It’s just a pity..."

Gu Shen changed his tone with a sigh of regret, "I’m in a rush this time, with many unfinished matters behind me. It would be a shame to waste this Forbidden Book Tower slot... I wonder if Lady Divine would allow me to transfer this slot to someone else?"

Meng Xizhou fell silent.

She immediately communicated spiritually, "Gu Shen, what are you trying to do?"

This communication received no response.

Meng Xizhou could only sigh softly and ask, "Mr. Xiao Gu, to whom do you wish to give this slot?"

"To my dear friend, who is also now the Young Master of the Gu family, Gu Nanfeng."

Gu Shen smiled and said, "I hope the Goddess will fulfill this request."

Gu Nanfeng... was already a member of the Forbidden Book Tower observers!

Meng Xizhou was stunned, not expecting this maneuver from Gu Shen, leaving her with no room to refuse.

Hence, Meng Xizhou could only slowly respond, "...Alright."

"In that case, I won’t bother you any longer."

Gu Shen calmly left the Red Lake, and before anyone could react, he patted Song Ci on the shoulder, which appeared nonchalant.

But in truth, when Gu Shen patted Song Ci’s shoulder, he fervently uttered one word mentally.

"Retreat!"

The two exited the temple just like that.

No one dared to stop them, and no one could.

Those standing by the lakeside were somewhat bewildered.

"Is it over?"

"Just like that?"

No one realized it until Gu Shen had vanished!

The event at Red Lake tonight was indeed lively. First, there was Gu Shen’s life-and-death duel with the Holy Judge, then the Goddess walking on the lake to witness the light, and finally, the internal cleansing of the temple, purging the lineage of the Great Elder.

Yet, all these people waited by the lake for Gu Shen’s return.

In their impression.

Gu Shen, after meeting with the Light God’s Seat, was supposed to say a few words.

Now... Gu Shen did say a few words.

But it was all too brief!

"Did Gu Shen just leave? Why not say more?"

Standing at the forefront of the Gu family envoy, Luo Yu was dumbfounded; he hadn’t anticipated such an "anticlimactic" outcome.

After all, he was Gu Shen’s long-time friend!

No matter how rushed, he should have at least said goodbye, right?

"Mr. Xiao Gu left so quickly; I was waiting for him to reunite with the Gu family envoy..."

Zhong Fan had a complex expression.

He was a recent recruit to the Ancient Literature Society, and Lu Nanzhi had revealed part of the truth to him.

The Ancient Literature Society’s success today was all thanks to [the Key] Gu Shen.

Thus, the person Zhong Fan respected the most was this "prematurely departed" [Key] gentleman.

Later, an Evil Ghost Senior became part of this esteem.

When Gu Shen revealed his identity by the lakeside, Zhong Fan was so moved he couldn’t contain himself.

Nothing was more joyous than seeing the identities of these two respected individuals become one.

He felt genuine happiness upon learning that Mr. Gu Shen was still alive!

"Why do I find this a bit odd?"

Luo Yu calmed down, muttering, "I know Gu Shen too well; he values relationships greatly. Leaving without even acknowledging the Gu family envoy is indeed quite hasty."

Hearing this, Zhong Fan furrowed his brow.

"Moreover—"

Luo Yu continued, "Given Miss Meng’s relationship with our Young Master, if a request to the Light God’s Seat to open the Forbidden Book Tower was made, it’s improbable the Young Master would be overlooked..."

With this reminder, Zhong Fan also realized the issue.

"So the transfer of the slot... was all a charade?"

"It shouldn’t be mere acting. Didn’t you notice the Goddess’s surprised expression too? She didn’t expect Gu Shen to say such things."

At this moment, the grand play by Red Lake had drawn to a close.

The Holy Judge began to disperse the spectators.

Various master delegations gradually exited.

As for the [Heavenly Eye], it was also shut down at this moment, meaning those observers from the deep water area could no longer see the scene at Red Lake.

"These words were meant for everyone across the Five Continents to hear."

Luo Yu paused and said solemnly, "Gu Shen was determined to leave here. If he hadn’t spoken those words, Light City might have tried to prevent him... Was it because something unpleasant happened at the meeting with the Light God’s Seat? Why is he in such a hurry to leave Light City?"

He couldn’t quite understand.

The "Jia Wei" matter had reached its conclusion.

The Light God’s Seat, in front of so many people, chose not to pursue the matter further, so there wouldn’t be complications in the future because of it.

He couldn’t comprehend why Gu Shen was in such a rush to leave Light City...

"Now that you mention it, that seems likely."

Zhong Fan stroked his chin and seriously asked, "Lord Luo Yu, didn’t you think Mr. Xiao Gu’s departure from Red Lake seemed like an escape?"