As Tie Wu, who was about to doze off in the bitter cold wind, suddenly heard a voice ring out beside his ear.
He jolted awake, opened his eyes, and saw a grinning face squatting in front of him.
Tie Wu looked around... The Four Seasons Wilderness was empty, except for Gu Shen, there was no one else.
"Stop looking, they’ve gone back. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the time to pay attention to you," Gu Shen said mockingly as he squatted in front of Tie Wu: "I really underestimated you... To be able to sleep at a time ."
Tie Wu’s face turned red with embarrassment and anger.
On this lonely wasteland, he was a solitary, forlorn spirit. What else could he do? Watch the two lovebirds show off their affection? The spillover of Extraordinary Essence was constant... His consciousness grew more and more ethereal... until, in the end, it started to drift away, to dissipate... to... fall asleep.
The more one pondered over the matter of life and death, the more agonizing it became.
With gritted teeth, Tie Wu said coldly, "Did you wake me up just to humiliate me?"
Gu Shen looked at Tie Wu intently and said calmly, "Qin Ye is dead."
"Suicide out of fear of punishment." Gu Shen said slowly, "It might not be appropriate to put it that way... but the officials of the Judgement Institute found him dead in his cell, lacking even the courage to face the Extraordinary Court, so we can only tentatively conclude this."
Tie Wu clenched his fists silently.
Gu Shen noted the detail of this movement and continued, "I’m not telling you this news because I want a response from you... I just want to let you know what is actually happening in the outside world."
"Evidence... I want to see the evidence..."
Tie Wu’s voice was filled with fatigue. After hearing the news, his strength seemed to have been drained from him. If he hadn’t witnessed the conversation between the Lord Divine in the deep water area and Qin Ye, he wouldn’t have thought there was anything wrong with Qin Ye’s death... An Angel Envoy would naturally devote everything to the Lord Divine, but even with a thousand ways to die, being abandoned was not an option.
It was the most undignified and the most faith-shattering death.
The Lord Divine he revered simply treated him as a pawn, readily discarded when no longer useful.
To ensure the Source Tower wouldn’t backfire, to prevent any harm to his own interests... it was best to destroy the useless pawn as soon as possible.
"Do I need to lie to you?"
Gu Shen raised an eyebrow and lifted his palm.
Chi Huo blazed, and the images of Qin Ye’s cell taken by Deep Sea were projected onto the sky above the Four Seasons Wilderness—the post-mortem scene of Qin Ye... Blood spread, and the man in the trench coat was propped up against the iron wall, his brow pierced by his own Xumi.
Then he saw the photograph.
Tie Wu fell into silence... There was nothing left in his heart that could collapse. By the time he woke up in the Four Seasons Wilderness, his faith had already begun to crumble... And now, no matter how he lied to himself, he couldn’t muster up respect and superstition for the Divine Throne.
After a long silence.
Tie Wu gradually sorted out his scattered thoughts, slowly raised his head, and looked towards Gu Shen: "Don’t pretend to be such a virtuous person anymore..."
This youth, appearing so harmless and compassionate, let him revive on the Four Seasons Wilderness and even presented him with the secret communication footage from the deep water area, but in reality... This was a truly ruthless character.
Killing without a knife.
A plan that guts the spirit.
Compared to the current situation... Tie Wu would rather have died in the explosion during the descent of the divine.
"Gu Shen, what are you actually after, doing all this?" Tie Wu spoke expressionlessly, getting straight to the point: "I’m a dying man; I don’t have time to beat around the bush with you."
"Nothing in particular."
Gu Shen said indifferently, "Qin Ye’s death was his atonement. He killed Lu Cheng. If the laws of the East Continent wouldn’t execute him, someone else would have killed him."
"Same for me," Tie Wu laughed self-deprecatingly, "You don’t think... The lost souls under my command are much fewer than Old Qin’s, do you?"
"So, you should die too."
Gu Shen said leisurely, "Murder requires atonement, the law of the jungle prevails... In fact, you have paid the price, you are already dead. The body is destroyed, with only Extraordinary Essence and a wisp of remaining will left, even if the seven Lords Divine were to come together, they could not bring you back to life."
"But... I can make you live a little longer."
A glint slowly appeared in Gu Shen’s eyes as he stared into Tie Wu’s, articulating every word, "Living on this wilderness with the identity of a lost soul... your final station would be extended considerably."
Tie Wu’s face was filled with disbelief.
Is this something a human can do?
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"The moment my flesh perished... the Extraordinary Essence began to dissipate, this is an unbreakable iron rule."
Tie Wu narrowed his eyes, gazing into Gu Shen’s with a sarcastic smile, "Even if a small wisp of Essence remains in this wilderness... it won’t be long before it completely vanishes. Not even Lord Divine could reverse this."
What felt somewhat off to Tie Wu was the young man’s eyes at that moment.
A hint of a smile was reflected in his clear pupils.
Gu Shen slowly extended his hand.
All over the Four Seasons Wilderness, the wind howled and the grass rustled, a faint scent of rust echoed in the sky above the wilderness... Tie Wu’s pupils suddenly constricted; it was a power he was all too familiar with. After confirming the remnants of his spirit, he had tried to summon the ’Iron Power’, but the cruel truth was that he had completely lost his abilities here, the Extraordinary Essence intertwined in his spirit was gradually dissipating.
He was no longer the lord of the Iron Throne.
Neither physically... nor spiritually.
The myriad rustling leaves and iron filings that seemed to come from nowhere in the sky above the wilderness converged, reflecting the starlight, skimming the ground like iron hawks, their broad wings scraping past and trailing silver-white sparks!
This was the first time Gu Shen tried to wield this Extraordinary Power within the Spiritual World.
Yes... this Extraordinary Power had become Gu Shen’s own!
Mr. Gu Changzhi had bestowed upon him the Four Seasons Wilderness, and at the moment when it dissipated in the Golden Divine Domain, the Extraordinary Essence that should have scattered from Tie Wu... was all absorbed by Chi Huo and stored at the brow.
Gu Shen did not allow Chi Huo to "digest" this power.
In the face of Tie Wu’s shock and astonishment, thousands of hawks swooped down from all directions in the wilderness, paying homage. Finally, as they neared Gu Shen, they transformed into molten iron, collided with each other, and ultimately solidified into a massive iron throne.
"Your Extraordinary Essence... is all well preserved here."
A light burned at Gu Shen’s brow.
He slowly leaned back to sit on the Throne, the grass of the wilderness bowed down en masse, prostrating to welcome the new emperor.
The Iron Throne was not suspended; Gu Shen sat squarely upon it, able to look down upon Tie Wu.
Tie Wu had a look of stupefaction, feeling as though everything was dreamlike.
At this moment in his eyes.
The throne before him rose majestically like a high mountain, the youth before him encircled by flames like a God.
"As you said... this is something Lord Divine cannot do."
"As you witnessed..."