Zhu Wang asked himself. He had been stationed in Changye for twenty years and had experienced thousands of extraordinary incidents.
None of them had ever caused him to panic.
His state of mind was indeed somewhat disturbed.
He took a deep breath.
"It seems I can’t refuse..."
Zhu Wang looked at the God of Wine’s Divine Throne in the darkness and spoke softly.
No one could refuse a God.
He knew clearly that the words just spoken didn’t leave him any room to refuse.
The youth merely looked at Zhu Wang calmly.
The God of Wine’s Divine Throne showed no intention of continuing the conversation.
Zhu Wang’s next words were spoken with great effort.
"However, Changye is a place that pays great attention to rules..."
"As a Grand Judge, everything I do must be based on reason, not just outwardly but also for myself."
"Therefore, I would like to hear the reason for taking a disciple."
Bai Zesheng, who had been bowing in silence all this while, now looked bewildered. He thought it incomprehensible that this person he had known for decades could act in front of the God of Wine’s Divine Throne.
At this moment, he thought Zhu Wang was the true madman for daring to act before the God of Wine’s Divine Throne.
Was he expecting the God of Wine’s Divine Throne to give him an answer?
In the darkness, there was a brief silence.
Then came the light laughter of the God of Wine’s Divine Throne.
"I appreciate characters like you."
The God of Wine did not get angry but instead spoke leisurely, "Every place needs rules, needs order... otherwise wouldn’t it become a trash heap like the Southern Continent?"
In the narrow cabin, fine black ashes floated around, which were the spirit dust from the crushed Hypnosis Seeds.
All was said without words.
When Bai Zesheng visited, he had already made the implications quite clear.
Help Han Dang remove the Hypnosis Seed.
Accept Xu Yan as a disciple.
And the God of Wine’s Divine Throne had completed the first half of the trade... Zhu Wang had to complete the latter half.
Zhu Wang agreed too readily, for to him, the deal seemed perfectly acceptable... but he did not consider that the other party was a deity from the Source Tower.
If he agreed to this trade, many more things would happen, many more...
It was like a tsunami.
Often it was just a wave stirred by a splash, which then followed one after another, growing unpreventably overwhelming.
Zhu Wang gritted his teeth.
A person like him, whose extraordinary power had long reached the "peak" of his life, had never felt such immense spiritual pressure as he did today, except when facing Gu Changzhi.
The God of Wine used no power.
Making one want to comply.
After receiving the approval from the God of Wine’s Divine Throne, Zhu Wang did not take the easy way out but continued speaking.
He exerted great effort, resisting the urge to kneel that surged in his heart and said with difficulty, "Forgive my frankness... Your arrival in the Snow Forbidden City does not seem to adhere to the rules."
Bai Zesheng quickly extended his hand, tugging at Zhu Wang’s sleeve.
Zhu Wang brushed off his sleeve.
He stared straight into the eyes of the youth in the darkness and did not regret the words he had spoken.
"Rules... are made by people," said the God of Wine lightly. "It’s just that the rules made by people and the rules I make are not the same."
This was the perfect reply.
Mortals, do not meddle with the divine!
Zhu Wang had merely raised his first question and had already expended a great deal of spiritual power. Now that he had received a clear answer, even if he wanted to say more, his willpower was no longer sufficient to continue.
He looked pale and gave up on asking further.
Deep down, he had another question.
You dare to come to the Snow Forbidden City... Aren’t you afraid of Gu Changzhi?
Perhaps, this question did not need to be asked aloud.
The God of Wine sitting here now was the answer.
"I want you to accept Xu Yan as a disciple... and to convene the review panel to conduct a competency rating test," said the God of Wine softly. "He will attain an ’S’ rating."
The cabin was silent.
Zhu Wang looked toward the respectful, smiling young man beside him.
From the moment he first saw Xu Yan, Zhu Wang had sensed the other’s "extraordinary talent," but however powerful, it still seemed there should be a gap from the legendary "S rating," right?
A God’s words were not to be doubted.
If the God of Wine said Xu Yan could achieve an "S rating," then Xu Yan would definitely achieve an "S rating."
"I have heard about the proposal you submitted at the East Continent Council," said the God of Wine softly. "In last year’s newcomer battle, you didn’t hesitate to use your authority to elevate your disciple’s Spirit Realm just to win the championship... hasn’t the risk involved in that matter been completely eliminated yet?"
Zhu Wang’s expression changed.
Last year’s newcomer battle and the incident involving Lian Zhou had caused a huge uproar. After the period of competition ended, the Security Committee immediately formed a special task force for investigation... The investigation’s findings revealed that Lian Zhou’s rise was not "regular promotion" but involved "special means" connected to the extensive authority in the deep water area.
The investigation pointed quite clearly then.
Although Lian Zhou had insisted that it was his personal action and unrelated to his sect, breaking the clues forcefully, that had enabled the following investigations of the Security Committee to stall.
But Zhu Wang knew in his heart that even up to today, Federation Security Committee Chairman Zhou Wei was still watching him.