The Freedom Hall was quiet.
One could hear a pin drop.
After Gu Shen’s Chi Huo permeated the lady’s Spirit Ocean, everyone held their breath, silently waiting for the "miracle" to arrive.
Song Ci clenched her fists.
"...I must excuse myself for a moment."
Right at that moment, a very faint voice slowly began to sound, coming from an old man.
Zhou Jiren dusted the dirt off his shoulders, his expression as usual, looking toward Crow, Gu Zhi, and said, "I will leave this place in your hands... I have some matters to attend to outside."
Song Ci did not turn her head but merely nodded slowly.
Gu Zhi, meanwhile, frowned slightly... As a Titled, he vaguely sensed something unusual.
Was Zhou Jiren’s spiritual power fluctuating?
Mr. Shu briskly walked out of the hall.
After pondering for a moment, Gu Zhi approached Chen San and spoke softly, "I’m going to have a look."
After saying that, he quickly left the hall as well.
The entire hall was divided into several areas, and the three Transcendents had now completely sealed off the Freedom Hall... In theory, the Believers from the Changjiu Foundation could still launch a kamikaze attack regardless of the cost, so patrols in this area were tight. The dignitaries attending the ball had not yet been evacuated; they were arranged to wait anew in the reception room.
Gu Zhi left the main hall and looked toward the distant dark corridor, where at the far end, a figure in a white suit moved briskly, clearly not resembling someone with a disability that required a cane.
At the place where Zhou Jiren had vanished, Gu Zhi saw nothing but empty space.
The old fellow... had disappeared.
The holy tree burst through the ground, forming a large cocoon.
Then it began to sink.
In the night, the open lawn near the hall showed no sign of anything unusual, but if one looked closely enough, they would see signs of loose soil. No one would imagine that ten meters beneath the ground lay a large cocoon wrapped in vines... like a coffin.
Zhou Jiren nestled within this cocoon of holy wood.
His complexion was somewhat pale.
Although he was not a Spiritual Extraordinary... he was sharply aware of Gu Zhi’s intent to track him.
Leaving the hall temporarily was not a wise choice; he was the Grand Judge of the Judgement Institute, was there anything more important than staying on site to protect the two council members?
Unseen by anyone, deep underground, the cocoon of holy wood once again began to descend, as Mr. Shu’s spiritual power began to uncontrollably leak out, with a strong premonitory thought surging from the depths of the Spirit Ocean.
The more he resisted.
The more it caused his stable spirit to splash and spill.
"Is this... the door opening? Such strong signs, even I can’t resist," Zhou Jiren mused with complex emotions, his lips curved in a bitter smile, "Although it’s a good thing... it really couldn’t have come at a worse time..."
Ultimately, entwined with the cocoon of holy wood, he descended to a depth approaching a hundred meters.
He slowly relaxed his spirit.
A crisp sound of a tide crashing came from the spirit.
Zhou Jiren opened his eyes.
"031... you’ve finally awoken."
Across the long table, a familiar voice resonated, that high-ranking official from the Lin Family of the Northern Fortress spoke with a complex tone, "Your information... turned out to be true..."
Zhou Jiren could finally see clearly the spectacle in this place.
The meeting room was a scene of unprecedented grandeur, with figures thronging and nearly no vacant seats... It seemed the powerful spiritual shock from the key unlocking the door had been precisely transmitted into every participant’s mind.
This was a good thing.
It indicated... the Spirit Network link left behind by Allen Turing still comprehensively covered every part of the Federation Five Continents.
However, there were some empty seats... If one were to judge the timing of entry into the meeting by the strength of spiritual power, then those who had not arrived at this moment were likely already dead.
There were exceptions.
"The ’girl’ with the red door didn’t show up, which is irrational," the Lin Family man frowned and asked, "This gathering should be because the key found the red door... Logically and sensibly, she should have been the first to enter. What exactly is the situation now?"
The current meeting room was somewhat chaotic.
In fact, this grand meeting was initiated so abruptly and unreasonably that everyone was still in a phase of bewildered reaction.
"Don’t worry, that girl is not dead... There has only been a slight accident."
Zhou Jiren rubbed his brow and whispered, "The situation now is quite simple, the key has awakened and found the door, and..."
The old fellow squinted his eyes, leaning back in his seat, murmuring thoughtfully.
"And judging by the strength of this forcibly established Spiritual Link, the key left behind by Allen Turing is more powerful than we imagined."
Gu Shen had not expected that the scene behind the opened door would be .
He seemed to have come to a private conversation place that didn’t belong to him... On both sides of the long table, sat figure after figure shrouded in fog, and even though their faces were enshrouded in shadows, he could still make out their strange expressions at the moment; three parts bewildered, three parts confused, three parts puzzled, and one part shocked.
"What is... this situation?"
He turned to ask the girl next to him.
Chu Ling was standing right by his side, yet she seemed invisible to the others, as if she didn’t exist; their eyes only saw him and overlooked the presence of another person.
"This is a purely Spiritual World; they can’t see me, nor can they hear our conversation," said Chu Ling softly, "They can only see you, but don’t worry, you currently look no different from them, your face shrouded in ’spiritual fog’, so no one knows your real appearance, height, or any other real-world data."
Gu Shen muttered, "What I wanted to ask is, why is it... , after the red door in madam’s mind was opened?"
Every time he came into the lady’s Dream.
He was drawn to that red door... as if fate mysteriously pulled him here.
What was behind the door?
He had pondered over it more than once, but had never imagined that behind the door would be a meeting room.
"Where... is this?" Gu Shen struggled to calm himself down.
"If you’re asking for a coordinate... the answer is ’Deep Water Area B1086’," Chu Ling reported a code and continued, "If you desire a more detailed answer, then... this is one of the many independent water regions delineated within the Spirit Ocean, a corner of the virtual world constructed deep sea but not fully mastered."
"It is... the last hope for the Ancient Literature Society."
Ancient Literature Society?
Gu Shen was somewhat bewildered.
This wasn’t the first time he had heard the name of the Ancient Literature Society. From encountering A-009 to later conversations with Mr. Shu... this organization had appeared several times.
Ultimately, his own research into Deep Sea led him to the "truth" that—
In pursuit of ancient powers, the taboo organization "Ancient Literature Society" was annihilated by the combined forces of the Federation Five Continents.
(Actually, I wanted to add more updates, but I might have eaten something bad last night; I’ve had diarrhea the whole day and feel quite listless... The situation now is quite bleak. Additional updates will likely have to wait until my body recovers tomorrow.)