Chapter 1001: Chapter 1001

These words once spoken.

Xiang Chen’s expression changed slightly.

In his eyes, a trace of confusion seemed to appear. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on ɴovelfire.net

He looked puzzled at Gu Shen, then puzzled at his own disciple...

"After discussing this matter, shouldn’t we go see the ’ancient texts’ that you have collected, Duke?"

Gu Shen calmly replied, "You should know, the true purpose of my visit is actually to comprehend more ’ancient scripts’."

Upon hearing this, the abnormality in Xiang Chen’s eyes quickly dissipated.

He smiled and gestured for Gu Shen to lead the way: "No problem."

Leaving the main hall, a small path was not far off.

As one of the North Continent Four Dukes, Xiang Chen owned an estate spanning a hundred acres. Although unpretentious, this estate had "valuable places".

Besides teaching students, Xiang Chen’s greatest hobby in daily life was calligraphy and painting, and collecting, which were hobbies of a "scholar". However, he not only liked to collect rare and famous paintings, but also some unusual "extraordinary objects".

Following the path straight ahead, you could see the "forbidden area" where usually servants were not allowed to tread.

Xiang Chen led Gu Shen to a book tower.

"Mr. Xiao Gu, please come in—"

Xiang Chen opened the book tower door with a smile: "All the ’ancient texts’ and ’extraordinary objects’ I’ve collected are within."

The book tower was made with wooden doors. Although using "wooden doors" was not unheard of these days.

Many ancient families in Changye did so.

But the person in front of him was Duke Xiang Chen of the North Continent... Gu Shen squinted his eyes and examined slightly.

"Is this door an item of sealing?"

Xiang Chen chuckled in admiration: "Mr. Xiao Gu indeed has a discerning eye. This door isn’t a particularly valuable item... merely embedded with a few ancient talismans to shield against external ’spiritual detection’. On normal days when I read and write in the book tower, I seek peace and tranquility. Once this door is closed, no sound from outside can enter."

Gu Shen nodded; he was familiar with such sealing items, having previously arranged one himself at his courtyard in Xuankong Mountain.

It seemed Xiang Chen’s book tower indeed contained some lost "ancient text" collections.

Gu Shen entered first, with Xiang Chen following behind, and the young student Li Bing obediently at the end, silently closing the wooden door of the book tower... With a gentle knock sound, the magnificent interior scene of the book tower slowly lit up before their eyes.

The book tower remarkably resembled a rolled-up scroll, hollow in the middle, with several large red lanterns suspended inside. As they sensed someone entering, the lanterns floated upward, emitting a soft light that illuminated every corner of the book tower transparently.

Gu Shen felt an unprecedented serenity.

"Do you feel the extreme stillness within Heart Lake? There is no [Deep Sea]link in this book tower, not a bit." Xiang Chen spoke softly, pointing to the book tower’s skytop, and calmly said: "In a turbid world gazed upon by [Deep Sea], finding such a pure and immaculate place is indeed difficult."

"Hey, can you hear me?"

Gu Shen tried calling softly within Heart Lake.

As expected, there was no response.

Chu Ling did not exist within his spiritual link.

Gu Shen stared directly at the roaring firelight spreading brightness in the book tower, likely due to those [lanterns]... perhaps there were more types of "spiritual shielding" sealing items. Regardless, Xiang Chen succeeded in turning the place into a "Land of Purity".

[Deep Sea] couldn’t see the deepest part of the estate.

"I’ve heard Light City also has such a book tower."

Gu Shen raised an eyebrow and asked: "I wonder how does your book tower compare to Light City’s...?"

"How can they be compared?" Xiang Chen shook his head and chuckled.

Upon hearing these words, the young man behind, Li Bing, could not help but laugh.

Xiang Chen pulled out an ancient book from the book tower gaps and earnestly lamented: "My place here is merely a personal collection, at most storing some unrefined ’extraordinary objects’. Light City’s ’Forbidden Book Tower’, however, has a six-hundred-year history, said to harbor the fate and cause of the world. All answers await the destined to step within. Incomparable, incomparable..."

Gu Shen gazed at the ancient scrolls filling the book tower.

Truly worthy of being "sages of the North Continent" with pupils around the world, this elder built such a reading tower away from [Deep Sea]’s prying gaze. The collected volumes here might number in the tens of thousands.

"Duke Xiang Chen, I have a question."

Gu Shen stood with his hands behind his back, positioned before a vast bookshelf, murmured: "Have you read all these books?"

"I’ve read... a portion, a large portion."

Xiang Chen smiled and said: "It’s just a human brain cannot compare with [Deep Sea], what remembers today, might be entirely forgotten tomorrow. So, I must often come to the book tower, to review the past and learn new concepts."

"I hope you still remember what I mentioned just now..."

Gu Shen said gently: "The more fervent one is, the easier it is to make mistakes."

Xiang Chen furrowed his brow.

He asked puzzled: "I don’t understand... Mr. Xiao Gu, what are you saying?"

"As the Northern Continent Duke, you invited me to meet, intending to enlist Transcendents for the military fortress... This point, in fact, is reasonable, but given your status, inviting me in front of so many people at that night’s banquet seems unreasonable."

Gu Shen slowly turned around, standing before the book tower, looking at Xiang Chen.

"You know, as long as ’Qianye’ and ’ancient texts’ are brought up, I cannot refuse this invitation..."

"In front of the crowd, it’s nothing more than letting everyone see that I agreed with you."

The smile on Duke Xiang Chen’s face slowly faded.

And Gu Shen’s gaze went beyond Xiang Chen.

He looked calmly at that young man who, like him, originated from the East Continent.

The last two sentences just now were addressed by Gu Shen to Li Bing, not to Xiang Chen.

The young guardian of Dongning City sighed softly and asked, "Being smart is a good thing, but being too smart might not be... since you’ve already seen through some things, why bother exposing them?"

The [Lantern] in the book tower cast its burning light onto his shoulder.

A ray of daylight enveloped him from above.

This light fell like a waterfall—

Both Li Bing and Xiang Chen were shrouded in the light.

Meanwhile, Gu Shen stood at the end of a giant wall in the book tower, right where the light was faintest.

"Let’s pretend nothing just happened..."

Li Bing extended a hand, placing it on Duke Xiang Chen’s shoulder, and seriously asked, "Isn’t that better?"

Gu Shen said flatly, "This play of yours has already failed, why should I continue acting with you?"

"The guardian of Dongning City, the extraordinarily gifted yet poor student from East Continent, ’Li Bing’."

He said calmly, "Don’t think I’m entirely ignorant of you... like me, you were born in Qing River, left East Continent at the age of six to study in North Continent, and shortly thereafter met Xiang Chen, received the Northern Continent Duke’s attentive guidance, then entered the corps, rose continuously, became quite experienced in the fortress, and constantly achieved extraordinary feats... In the eyes of many Central City dignitaries, your promotion path seemed almost miraculously smooth."

If it weren’t for Chu Ling.

Gu Shen really wouldn’t have looked into "Li Bing’s" file.

But... there are no ifs.

Before departure, Chu Ling sent a copy of Li Bing’s file, pointing out a very strange aspect.

How could a poor child from Qing River have the opportunity to go to North Continent?

He must have received some form of aid.

But in the [source code] query... there were no results, in fact, Li Bing’s file indicates that in his smooth life, this intangible "aid" has always been present.

Arriving in North Continent, encountering Xiang Chen, entering the corps, becoming the guardian of Dongning City.

Behind every event, traces can be faintly followed.

And to investigate these "aids" isn’t too difficult, Li Bing has quite a number of "supporters" within the corps, and most of these early "supporters" came from... West Continent.

"I suspect that on the night of the banquet, Duke Xiang Chen extending an invitation on the spot was a necessary step in your plan."

Gu Shen said calmly, "After all, you know that the Holy Judge has arrived in Central City. If you waited until I met Jia Wei to extend the invitation, I most likely wouldn’t agree..."

Li Bing chuckled once.

He said quietly, "If you were really smart enough, you should have agreed in the initial negotiations..."

"Agree to what? Become a legend, then be manipulated by you and ultimately pushed into the abyss?"

Gu Shen raised an eyebrow in interest, "Such low-level tactics might not be able to control me, ah, let me think... do you have a better way to deal with me? Maybe you want me to pay the price of ’summoning,’ messing up the major event of Eastern Continent Transcendents entering the fortress, but have you not considered that I might pretend to agree, and then immediately defect?"

"...[The temple] has its ways."

Li Bing no longer followed Gu Shen’s insinuations and instead replied coldly, "What happened earlier no longer matters, what does is that you are now in this book tower."

Here, Deep Sea signals are isolated.

Spirit Detection methods are also ineffective.

Everyone knows that today Gu Shen came at Duke Xiang Chen’s invitation.

But no one knows what happened inside this book tower...

"So, what do you plan to do?"

Gu Shen said calmly, "Maintain your mental manipulation, have Xiang Chen attack me, and then... frame me as the murderer."

"Or... something easier."

Li Bing laughed sarcastically.

He stretched out two fingers and swiped through the air.

In the book tower, invisible threads seemed to stretch across the teacher’s neck.

The invisible thread in the air, as sharp as a blade, immediately sprayed a crimson gush from Xiang Chen’s neck, and his entire body pitched forward.

Then, he placed his two fingers on his own neck.

"The more fanatic, the more wrong..."

Li Bing stood where he was, smiling with a tilted head, and seriously asked, "Gu Shen, you’re wrong, have you really seen ’fanaticism’?"

"Let me show you... The light of fanaticism will only burn away all mistakes and darkness."

The big red lantern tower shook violently.

A scalding splash landed on the red lampshade.

The scattered light became somewhat crimson, dim.

(Today my rhinitis flared up, and I’m feeling dizzy all over, I’ll post these three Chapters first and revise them later.)