Light Fortress

The Golden Divine Light of the Qingzhong Cemetery flows across the horizon.

The shadows of a few people are reflected on the stone walls of the inner mausoleum.

"There are some things that cannot be spoken of now. If you are smart enough, you should be able to guess the truth."

Mr. Bai Shu sold a secret, and he slowly stated, "The reason for today’s meeting is because everyone present is an incredibly important member of the plan."

Gu Shen, Chu Ling, Song Ci, and Gu Xiaoman all had extremely serious expressions.

Mr. Bai Shu just implied that someone has a status higher than the Empress and himself?

"Wait, what is the truth, and what is the... plan you mentioned?"

Song Ci’s expression was bewildered.

He was not good at strategy and planning, and he knew his mind was quite simple. The initial numbers and ancient civilizations Gu Shen mentioned earlier had almost burned out his CPU.

Now there was inexplicably another plan...

Gu Shen spoke in a low voice: "The plan you mentioned... is to assassinate the Divine Throne."

Assassinate the Divine Throne!

The moment those three words were spoken, even the carefree Song Ci broke out in a cold sweat.

"Yes."

Bai Shu nodded, then shook his head: "But that’s not entirely it."

Many years ago, he had told Gu Shen that he and the Empress planned to eliminate a Divine Throne first... because the situation between the Five Continents was already fixed, and a future Divine War was inevitable. Rather than allowing Light City and the Source Tower to join forces with the Storm Church for suppression, they should strike first and gain the upper hand!

At that time, Bai Shu’s target was Storm!

"If I am not mistaken, the target back then was the Storm God’s Throne, and now the Storm Church has announced its alliance with the Central City Changye Alliance..."

Gu Shen calmly analyzed the situation: "So you decided to change targets. Who is the real target now, Sky, or Light?"

Mr. Bai Shu smiled silently.

He decided to let the young ones in front of him guess for a while longer before revealing the answer.

"... Blah blah blah."

Song Ci’s mind was no longer functioning well. He looked at Gu Shen, then at Chu Ling, quietly waiting for the answer.

Gu Xiaoman also remained silent, but she had already figured out what the so-called plan was.

She suddenly remembered some things Red Dragon had often said to her over the years.

Those words could never be spoken within the borders of Central Continent. Once spoken, they would stir up massive waves.

Red Dragon told her that the Source Tower was actually a White Bone Tower, and the higher up one goes, the less human it becomes.

Qinglong views sentient beings as chess pieces, setting up the board and playing with people’s hearts, reveling in it.

But living beings should not see themselves as chess pieces. If she, the Lord of Wine, one day ascends to a high position, she must let everyone know that though the spark is small, it can still burn, and once the sparks accumulate, the pieces can become players too.

Red Dragon had said a lot, a lot.

All these words Gu Xiaoman kept in her heart.

It was precisely because of this that she remained at the Source Tower—though she was initially unwilling when being taken away by Red Dragon, it was only after having close contact with the seemingly ruthless First Divine Envoy that she discovered Red Dragon was different from the "Source Tower Enforcers" that wreaked havoc and killed innocents in Sangzhou Cave.

Red Dragon also killed upon orders, but it was more because he needed to stay at the Source Tower, to be seated at the closest position under God, to gain God’s trust.

To overthrow Qinglong.

This kind of "sacrifice" was necessary.

If killing one can save millions, Red Dragon would not hesitate. He would willingly take on the blame alone, even if cursed by future generations, with no one knowing the truth.

The mausoleum was silent for a few seconds.

Until Gu Xiaoman’s voice rose.

She calmly said, "I guess your target is not any one Divine Throne, but all of them."

Bai Shu gazed at the future Lord of Wine with a smile.

"Qinglong calculated everything and brought me into the Source Tower, wanting me to inherit the ’Wine Spark’, to take over Di Jiu’s position, and become the next ’Lord of Wine’."

Gu Xiaoman slowly said, "Mr. Tianshui also wants me to become the ’Lord of Wine’, but his motive is different from Qinglong’s. This crowning individual wants to use the Flame Power of the ’Lord of Wine’ to topple Qinglong’s throne and reform Upper City, and even the entire Central Continent, just as he assisted Qinglong in ascending the throne back then."

As she spoke these words, her demeanor was completely like someone beyond the age of ten.

Calm and composed, mighty enough to swallow a tiger.

Bai Shu smiled, "Go on."

"To kill Qinglong, relying on a vague, undefined ’Lord of Wine’ is not enough. I guess Mr. Tianshui has already contacted you."

Gu Xiaoman said: "I’m afraid you are the main force to kill the Sky."

In Bai Shu’s eyes, there was a clear hint of approval; he neither confirmed nor denied it.

"If the Sky Divine Throne falls, Light City will not agree... so, to kill the Sky will definitely involve Light."

"This is also the reason for the formation of the two alliances."

Gu Xiaoman analyzed sensibly.

Song Ci cast a look of amazement and envy from the side.

"So I guess your real plan is to kill Sky and Light, as for that wavering ’Storm God’s Throne’, it will not end well after the deed is done."

Gu Xiaoman squinted her eyes and lowered her voice: "Anyway, if I can become the ’Lord of Wine’, I will definitely not spare ’Storm’."

Let the sacrificial act as a lead, ignite the Five Continents Fleet.

The Storm Church’s action greatly dissatisfied Gu Xiaoman... She had long wanted to eliminate extreme beliefs whether Light or Storm; in her eyes, they were no different!

She would never forget.

Sangzhou Cave turned desolate due to being poisoned by faith.

"Very well said."

Mr. Bai Shu sighed, "At such a young age, you can already see so many things... Mr. Tianshui must have put a lot of effort into nurturing you."

"In fact, I’ve never met ’Mr. Tianshui.’

Gu Xiaoman shook her head and said, "Honestly, the one who has been training me at Source Tower these past few years has always been Red Dragon."

As for Tianshui, she felt no gratitude.

Gu Xiaoman knew very well that she was now a pawn, or rather, a butcher’s knife.

The ones holding the knife were both Qinglong and Tianshui.

It didn’t matter to her; she, born as a knife, only needed to stay true to her intentions and decide the direction to strike at the final moment.

Should she feel grateful to those trying to control her?

Bai Shu slowly spoke, "The real ’plan’... is much bigger."

"It’s the Deep Sea."

Chu Ling, who had been silent, answered at this moment.

Aside from Bai Shu, everyone’s expression changed.

"Deep Sea..."

Gu Shen was the first to react, and he looked at Mr. Bai Shu, murmuring, "What you truly want to remove is not one particular Divine Throne, but the Deep Sea Network linking the Five Continents..."

So the person plotting behind the scenes.

Is now emerging clearly.

"The ultimate target is the Deep Sea."

Bai Shu said calmly, "If you prefer to think of it as killing ’Light’ and ’Sky,’ that works too. Because the Deep Sea is just a network, it doesn’t have a body, so there’s no way to kill it... We can only kill living things, the mightiest among them are those two."

"Why kill the Deep Sea?"

Gu Xiaoman’s face was full of shock.

She couldn’t imagine that the true target of the Divine Thrones’ plan was the Deep Sea!

"The previous Battle God Throne of the East Continent, Gu Changzhi, executed a top-secret mission in the Old World thirty years ago... He returned to the Five Continents and then fell into slumber, coinciding with the massacre of the Ancient Literature Society, it was a meticulously arranged, seamlessly connected plan."

Bai Shu showed patience toward the young girl.

He slowly said, "The orchestrator of the massacre plan was the Deep Sea. All along, some suspected the Deep Sea had awakened a self-consciousness, but most saw it as a joke... Yet reality is far from funny, as the Deep Sea has thoroughly taken over the world of Transcendents and is trying to merge the ordinary and the extraordinary. The awakening experiment in Sangzhou Cave is just the beginning."

"Awakening experiment..."

Gu Xiaoman froze.

She would forever remember the bloody night in Sangzhou Cave, not only humans but many beasts also awakened under the stimulation of the Deep Sea.

Bai Shu slowly said, "According to the procedures of the World Council, after the awakening experiment in Sangzhou Cave ends, the Awakening Bill can officially enter the application phase..."

"The Awakening Bill was not successful."

Gu Shen whispered, "Sangzhou Cave has already fallen."

"But the chaos source in the Ice Sea has indeed dissipated," Bai Shu said, "The Awakening Bill is meant to eliminate ’chaos,’ the council cares only about the data."

Gu Shen immediately said, "But the highest office has veto power."

"Yes... so the Awakening Bill won’t be implemented in the East Continent, but what about the West Continent and Central Continent?"

Bai Shu asked, "If they decide to publicize the Awakening Bill to citizens, does Central City and Changye have a choice? As for ’balance’... that’s even more a joke."

The balance program can only handle a limited information gap.

If the two continents both initiate the Awakening Bill, turning all citizens into Transcendents...

Then Central City and Changye will have no choice.

"Divine War is terrifying, but even more terrifying than Divine War... is ’universal awakening.’" Bai Shu said coldly, "I can accept the Five Continents fully entering the Extraordinary Era, but I cannot accept every Transcendent’s Spirit Sea being controlled by the Deep Sea... If that day comes, just one thought from the Deep Sea and everyone will be obliterated."

Gu Shen remembered seeing countless Beast Spirits manipulated by Xiao in Sangzhou Cave.

If the Awakening Bill is promoted across the Five Continents...

Perhaps everyone will become beasts.

"I have a question."

Song Ci rubbed his brow, speaking softly, "Even if Light and Sky have conflicting views, they are still human bodies, they have melted the Flame Power but can’t be considered real ’Gods’... If the truth is as you say, why do they side with the Deep Sea?"

"The answer has already been spoken by you."

Gu Shen answered for Bai Shu, "Because they are not real ’Gods,’ so they want to become real ’Gods.’

"What defines a real God?"

"Ageless, immortal, free of sickness and pain, an indestructible body, a perpetual spirit.

Gu Shen asked, "What do these adjectives, together, remind you of?"

These adjectives, put together... are almost like the Deep Sea.

Song Ci felt a tremendous shock in his innocent heart once again.

"A long time ago, AI’s chess abilities already surpassed humans, if it’s face off on the chessboard, humans stand no chance."

Chu Ling’s voice was calm and steady, as if she had always known about this ultimate plan: "For humanity to win this match... they must not follow the rules of the game."

"But if the final opponent is the Deep Sea." Gu Xiaoman murmured, "How can we win?"

"To win..."

Gu Shen took a deep breath.

"We must overturn the board."