Is the East Continent Council going to select a new Grand Judge?

Yes, indeed, it’s about time... Come to think of it, the position has been vacant for nearly ten years.

Gu Shen thought of his teacher, his senior sister, and senior brother.

He asked hoarsely, "Is there a suitable candidate within the council?"

"There hasn’t been."

Gao Tian shook his head and said, "Although Changye encourages newcomers to grow, the position of Grand Judge is not one that can be easily filled."

The Grand Judge is the face of East Continent, at least a titled one!

"Over the years, many young talents have emerged within the Judgement Institute, but their strength is not enough."

Gao Tian said, "I don’t quite understand the specifics... You might need to contact the senior members within the ’Three Institutes’. But you need not worry about this issue; I guess they are now worried about how to contact you."

The video of Gu Shen killing Jia Wei at Red Lake has spread throughout the deep water area of the Five Continents.

Even those who didn’t view the livestream that night.

Will catch up and watch it later.

Watching battles between top titled ones requires "permission", but Light City opened the viewing permission for the final selection at Red Lake, so this battle was freely and publicly disclosed.

The West Continent side, of course, blocked the video immediately after the Red Lake final selection ended.

But it was no use.

This video has spread through the deep water area, and the transcendents from East Continent and North Continent have stored it with their spiritual power and then shared it.

This matter is akin to "Light City Sunset".

Once it spreads, it can’t be kept under wraps anymore.

"Your strength has been witnessed by all; upon returning to Changye this time, the senior members of the Judgement Institute will definitely come to you."

Gao Tian said with a smile, "It’s just that they know their ’position’; to find you, they’ll have to line up."

Gu Shen heard the teasing intent of Uncle Gao.

He smiled helplessly and said, "You say that... But I am indeed too busy."

There are simply too many people who wish to see him.

Bai Shu Divine Throne, Mr. Gu, the old acquaintances among the Five Major Families familiar to Gu Shen, all need to line up, and the Judgement Institute matters are not urgent, naturally they won’t come first.

Gu Shen has too many matters to address on this return to Changye.

After finishing those important things, he will have time to deal with the internal affairs of the Judgement Institute, though even without Gao Tian’s reminder, he will visit the Institute.

When he entered Changye back then, there were still faction struggles within the Judgement Institute.

After Zhu Wang and Han Dang died, these faction struggles disappeared... But after consecutively losing several titled ones, it became the weakest among the three institutes. Gu Shen wanted to restore the glory of the Judgement Institute, but the missions of "Convergence" and "Sangzhou Cave" left him no spare time.

Returning now is a good opportunity.

The newcomers to the Judgement Institute have just completed their growth.

...

...

An entire night passed, and Li Qingsui finally awakened from the Dream.

Just as a breeze blew by.

A few white flowers flew across the flower garden, she stood up and came to the well, seeing her own red tear-stained eyes, quickly wiped them dry with the back of her hand.

"So disgraceful..."

She gently cursed herself in her heart.

Then she laughed.

The most painful thing in the world is eternal farewell, and the happiest might be reunion.

"Miss, you’re awake?"

A concerned, deep voice sounded from behind.

Li Qingsui quickly turned around.

She looked complexly at the two men standing before her, Gu Shen had brought Uncle Gao to Divine Temple Mountain, and usually, unless there are special situations, Gao Tian would only wait at the mountain foot.

Gu Shen smiled and asked, "How was your sleep?"

"Quite... quite good."

Li Qingsui’s voice was somewhat hoarse.

After meeting her sister, she still had a bellyful of words she wanted to say to Gu Shen.

Within the [Pure Land], Li Qingci had already laid bare the old matters and misunderstood truths of that year.

Li Qingsui was fiercely shocked by the Netherworld King identity that Gu Shen had hidden for years.

Returning to the real world at this moment, she wanted to ask clearly.

Clearly, Gu Shen had anticipated Li Qingsui’s thoughts, and thus brought Uncle Gao.

"Time to leave, Qingsui Family Head?"

Gu Shen said lightly, "I heard from Uncle Gao that you still have many major matters to deal with, coming to find me tonight was sparing some time, now it’s time to leave Divine Temple Mountain... Don’t worry, if next time you still want to ’dream’, I can help you again."

Li Qingsui glared at Gu Shen.

Having Uncle Gao on the mountain was to gag her from asking.

Gu Shen didn’t want Li Qingsui to inquire too much about the "Netherworld King"...

To know is to know.

More than that, he had nothing much to say.

Bringing Uncle Gao along indeed served as a nudge for leaving.

"That Gu..."

On the way down, Li Qingsui couldn’t hold back, gritting her teeth, she secretly transmitted spiritual communication to Gu Shen: "What’s going on here?"

After that one flick on the forehead in the carriage, the relationship between the two had already restored as before.

Li Qingsui only appeared "cold", but in reality, the young lady was not of a vindictive nature.

Back then, she was at the critical stage of rebellion and growth, and after the consecutive blows of her father and sister’s deaths, she became quite introverted.

And now, knowing it was all a misunderstanding.

Her heart was full of guilt and confusion.

"What do you mean by what’s going on? I don’t understand what you want to say."

Gu Shen’s expression remained unchanged, internally sighing.

This young lady’s temperament hadn’t changed much, still as "bold" as always.

The reason for bringing Uncle Gao along was exactly to prevent too many questions from Li Qingsui.

Gao Tian’s spiritual power is far stronger than hers.

Sending spiritual messages at this distance, Uncle Gao would definitely notice.

"You dragged me into [Pure Land], what do you think I want to ask!"

Li Qingsui continued transmitting.

Sure enough, after successive transmissions.

Walking in front, Gao Tian became aware of the anomaly.

His demeanor was quite refined; he didn’t eavesdrop but could vaguely sense the atmosphere had become somewhat delicate. Smiling, he paused, turned back, and asked gently, "Miss, Mr. Xiao Gu, you two seem to have many unfinished things to discuss?"

"No."

"Yes."

These were two completely opposite responses, spoken simultaneously by two different people.

Gu Shen looked helplessly at Li Qingsui.

"Alright, then... How about I wait in the car?"

Gao Tian sighed deeply. Right when Gu Shen had pulled him up the mountain, he had sensed something amiss.

Turns out he was brought here as a shield.

Divine Temple Mountain was a special place; he knew this very well. As for Mr. Xiao Gu... he was even more extraordinary.

Gao Tian was no fool.

Back when he first arrived in Changye, Gu Shen could use the "Chi Huo" to diminish the black flowers of the Divine Temple, a feat only those with the rank of Divine Throne and Angel Envoy could achieve.

The dream Miss had today at the Divine Temple probably had great mysteries.

However, he didn’t wish to know.

Gao Tian had never been interested in those "big secrets." Back then, he joined the Li Family to repay Li Quhu’s kindness, and now he stayed by Miss’s side simply because he considered her his family.

"Uncle Gao, please go to the car first...we’ll be down shortly."

Li Qingsui took a deep breath and made a decision.

Gu Shen’s gaze was somewhat complex, filled with helplessness, yet also gratification.

The once little girl, Qingsui, had indeed grown. If it had been her younger self, she might have held back all those questions according to her own will.

But now she held the sole authority of the Li Family.

And was one of the five Family Heads standing at the pinnacle of Changye.

Gu Shen and Gao Tian exchanged a look, and the latter smiled, gently patted the young man’s shoulder, and hummed a tune as he leisurely descended the mountain.

"Hah."

Gu Shen ignited a trace of Chi Huo, spreading a small spirit barrier on the mountainside path.

He wasn’t afraid of Gao Tian eavesdropping.

His Netherworld King’s Spark had never sown any good karma; tying it to anyone might bring them misfortune.

After doing this, he raised an eyebrow and spoke.

"...Go ahead and ask."

Li Qingsui gazed at the wisp of fire at the center of Gu Shen’s brow.

"My sister... and those souls, are they all part of your divine domain?"

She had seen Gu Shen’s Pure Land, with its towering, majestic Suxuan Tree and countless Source Material Flower Gardens. Currently, only a few hundred souls were building the divine domain within the Pure Land, but under Li Qingci’s planning, these souls had already constructed many magnificent buildings, and the divine domain world had developed its own civilization.

Li Qingsui had visited the inner tomb and seen the Battle God Throne’s Golden Divine Domain.

But compared to Gu Shen’s [Pure Land].

The impact of the Golden Divine Domain was far less profound.

"Yes."

Gu Shen replied frankly, "I suggest you don’t ask things you shouldn’t; it’ll shorten your life."

"I’m not afraid of shortening my life."

Li Qingsui shook her head and firmly stated, "I just want to know... when did you become the ’Netherworld King’? Was it after the Divine War in the cemetery where the Wine God Throne died?"

"To answer your question strictly, I should become the ’Netherworld King’ in the future."

Gu Shen chuckled, "I am currently only mutually chosen with the Spark."

Li Qingsui could ask whatever she liked.

But for the questions that were inconvenient to answer, he wouldn’t.

Li Qingsui asked about the events of the Divine War in the cemetery, which Gu Shen wouldn’t respond to.

"So my sister didn’t have no choice back then... The reason she gave up the Longevity Technique was because she knew about your identity as the ’Netherworld King’?"

Li Qingsui asked the question she truly cared about.

And Gu Shen fell silent.

From this question, he could deduce that within the [Pure Land], even when reunited, Li Qingci still kept the old secrets, at least many things had not been told to her sister.

"Your sister, only until her death did she know about my identity."

Gu Shen stated calmly, "At that time, even I couldn’t bear the cause and effect of this calamity... Naturally, the Netherworld King identity had to be hidden from the entire world, once exposed, the entire Li Family could potentially face catastrophic disaster."

Li Qingsui knew, this was no overstatement.

Even now, Gu Shen’s identity as the Netherworld King remained absolutely confidential.

This was crucial information that could lead to a Divine War.

"So... she truly gave up the ’Longevity Technique’ to achieve rebirth in the [Pure Land]."

Gu Shen said, "Before that, I couldn’t leak a word to her. However, I did give her vague hints."

On the mountainside of Divine Temple Mountain, Chi Huo flickered, burning away the night stars.

"I... understand now."

After a long, sorrowful sigh, Li Qingsui bowed low.

Her long hair nearly touched the ground.

"Gu Shen, I once promised you, if you were willing to help my sister gain rebirth... I could do anything, pay any price. This promise still holds today."

This night was the brightest in Li Qingsui’s otherwise gray life.

Upon realizing Gu Shen was indeed the next Netherworld King.

The spark of hope, once extinguished in her heart, rekindled...

If it were the Netherworld King.

Perhaps her sister’s death wasn’t death, but a rebirth.

Apart from this spark of hope.

An exceedingly extreme thought sprouted in her mind.

If her life came to an end one day, could she also go to the [Pure Land] and reunite with her sister?

"Now I want you to promise me one thing."

Gu Shen glanced at the young girl, speaking lightly, "Promise me this, and I’ll agree to your request."

"Speak."

Li Qingsui lifted her head, eyes glimmering.

"Promise me you’ll live well."

Gu Shen extended two fingers, this time not flicking her forehead but gently tapping.

He had long seen through Li Qingsui’s thoughts, including the most absurd one.

"As long as you’re alive, there’s hope for you to see your sister reborn..."

He said softly, "If you die, I won’t bring you into the [Pure Land]."