The dream shattered.

The surroundings shattered along with it.

And this small black cocoon remained. This was Qu Shui’s transcendental essence, and it was the last wisp of spirit that supported this dream.

The Blazing Fire slowly enveloped the black cocoon.

I am… digesting the transcendental essence…

Gu Shen experienced an unprecedented, marvelous feeling. It was completely different from devouring the mental imprints of the Solemn Stone Sculpture. After the Blazing Fire enveloped the black cocoon, his mental power began to increase rapidly… Within just a few dozen breaths, the slender flame grew dozens of times, and it now resembled a plump red date.

But Gu Shen vaguely felt that… the increase brought by this transcendental essence was not as significant as it appeared. After the Blazing Fire enveloped the black cocoon, countless dark shadows were melted, and after the fire expanded, it shrank back bit by bit.

This was… refining!

The Blazing Fire was like the stomach of a glutton, hungry and eager to devour transcendental essence. Having just consumed the black cocoon, it felt somewhat bloated.

With the digestion of the transcendental essence, the stomach would return to its original state.

He wondered how much his Blazing Fire would shrink after completing the refinement.

By consuming this transcendental essence, will I be able to complete the trial of the First Level of Deep Sea…

Gu Shen’s willpower had reached its limit.

Along with the Blazing Fire, the wrapped-up black cocoon slowly retracted into his forehead.

He couldn’t resist the overwhelming fatigue anymore.

…

Warm air slowly circulated through the house.

A thin layer of frost had formed on the window.

“Mr. Cui, to be honest, my purpose for coming is very simple.”

The faint sound of conversation reached his ears, but every word was blurry.

As the voices entered his ears, Gu Shen slowly woke up.

He opened his eyes and saw a spinning ceiling. The negative effects of overdrawing his mental power last night hit him hard, and he felt a stabbing pain in his head…

“Hiss…”

Where is this? He endured the pain and observed his surroundings. He found himself in an office with a simple and practical decoration style, lying on a recliner facing the warm air vent. No wonder he felt comfortable and warm in his dreams.

This room was very secluded, like an inner resting room designed for short breaks inside a large office.

The door was slightly ajar.

He could hear faint voices outside.

“Young Master Zhao Qi asked me to come. He wants to take some money from the Blossom Flag Group’s third quarter dividends. To be precise, it’s an advance…”

The voice was as sharp and piercing as a sword.

Gu Shen got up and looked through the gap of the door. He saw a tall woman in a suit standing in front of a large desk. She had her hair tied in a high ponytail and was wearing bright red lipstick, looking gorgeous and fierce.

With just a glance, he felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows.

Gu Shen quickly retracted his gaze when he realized he saw an ‘existence’ he shouldn’t have.

He leaned against the stone wall and suppressed his breathing. The memories of last night surged back like a tide.

He remembered.

He had dealt with Qu Shui… and obtained the black cocoon. This should be the first time he had fully absorbed all the essence of a transcendent. After a night, the Blazing Fire seemed to have undergone an incredible evolution.

He closed his eyes.

Gu Shen seemed to see the interior of his skull.

Flames entwined into a cocoon, still slowly digesting. The digestion speed of Qu Shui’s transcendental essence was slower than he had anticipated. It might take another week to complete the refinement.

But in just one night, Gu Shen felt much more energetic. Moreover, even without summoning the Blazing Fire, his vision had improved.

And when he glanced at the woman outside the door, an intuitive warning appeared in his mind.

She was a transcendent!

And she was a very powerful transcendent!

Gu Shen rubbed his forehead. I told Hu Danian about what happened last night… Did he send me to Cui Zhongcheng?

…

“Young Master Zhao wants to withdraw money… Of course, that’s not a problem. It’s just that he’s overestimating my capabilities.

“There’s a lock on the mountain of gold. I’m merely someone holding the key.” Cui Zhongcheng’s expression was calm. He lowered his head to glance at a document briefly and pushed it back. “Liu Yi, please tell Young Master Zhao… I do not have the authority to handle such a large sum. He needs to find the old master or his wife. If either of them agrees, with a single phone call, the money will immediately be in his account.”

“It’s just withdrawing some money. There’s no need to bother the old master.” Liu Yi stroked her hair. “If you’re willing to help with this small favor, Young Master Zhao said that he would be very grateful to you.”

She scrutinized Cui Zhongcheng closely, wanting to see some clues from his poker face.

But she was disappointed.

There was no expression on his face.

Cui Zhongcheng looked like a wooden figure and didn’t seem interested in saying another word.

“…” Liu Yi was most afraid of this kind of situation. She sighed softly. Although they both worked for the Zhao family, their styles of handling matters were worlds apart. This man was so old-fashioned and rigid that he was almost inhuman.

Zhao Xilai was old and frail now, and he clearly didn’t have much time left. Moreover, he only had one son. There was almost no need to think too much about it. The vast Zhao empire would definitely be taken over by his only son, Zhao Qi.

Even though there was a lock on this mountain of gold, the master was about to change.

But Cui Zhongcheng still refused to relent and release any money, stubbornly adhering to his so-called ‘bottom line’. In her opinion, this was sheer foolishness. At this critical juncture, getting some money for Young Master Zhao could be regarded as ‘offering help in his hour of need’. When the massive Zhao family changed hands, Cui Zhongcheng could then continue to be the mountain guardian, second only to the new master.

Even if he was afraid of angering Old Master Zhao, he should not have refused so indifferently.

She had been entrusted by Young Master Zhao to make a trip to the Blossom Flag Group, but she would return empty-handed. Zhao Qi would lose face, and Cui Zhongcheng was the one who slapped his face.

Running into a wall, Liu Yi didn’t continue. She only sighed softly. “I will relay the message truthfully.”

Suddenly, she looked at the slightly ajar door inside the office and frowned. “Who is he?”

Liu Yi’s interest was piqued, and she narrowed her almond-shaped eyes.

Based on her understanding of Cui Zhongcheng, this man whose style was as stiff and old-fashioned as a mechanical stone, did everything strictly according to the rules to a fault.

In the Blossom Flag Building, different guests were received in different reception rooms.

That room was Cui Zhongcheng’s private resting room and was strictly off-limits to outsiders. Who was qualified to enter?

Tap, tap.

Cui Zhongcheng knocked on the table twice with his fingertips to pull Liu Yi’s attention back and gave a convincing answer. “… Someone whose identity you absolutely don’t want to know.”

Liu Yi immediately retracted her gaze.

Over the past decade of working for the Zhao family, the person she was most curious about was Cui Zhongcheng. This man always had an incomprehensible and unique aura about him, making her eager to delve deeper.

But at the same time, the person she was the least curious about was… Cui Zhongcheng.

Because in the past ten years, anyone who had tried to explore Cui Zhongcheng’s bottom line out of curiosity… had disappeared.

This was absolutely not alarmist talk.

In Liu Yi’s mind, she had already regarded Cui Zhongcheng’s words as another form of iron law. He was a man of his word, and consequences followed actions.

Even though it was Zhao Qi who wanted to borrow money, since Cui Zhongcheng said that he wouldn’t lend it without the old master or the madam’s agreement, he would absolutely not lend it.

Even if the sky collapsed, he wouldn’t lend money.

Since he said that she didn’t want to know his identity… If she were to find out, she would definitely regret it.

Therefore, Liu Yi immediately shut her mouth obediently. She stopped asking and even stopped thinking about it.

“If that’s all… you can leave.” Cui Zhongcheng lowered his head, opened his notebook, and slowly flipped through it while saying softly, “Also, please tell Young Master Zhao… The old master has been very dissatisfied with him recently. He should avoid fooling around with Chen San’s subordinates.”

…

After Liu Yi left, Cui Zhongcheng, still sitting at his desk, said calmly, “Since you’re awake, come out.”

His voice carried clearly into the resting room.

So Gu Shen, who had been leaning against the wall to eavesdrop for a while, was caught off guard. Exposed, he couldn’t continue acting or pretending. He awkwardly revealed himself and walked out.

Gu Shen found a seat across from Cui Zhongcheng and sat down. As he looked at the calm poker face, the flames of fury in his heart that had mostly extinguished instantly reignited.

“You’re angry.”

Before Gu Shen could flare up, Cui Zhongcheng spoke first.

He stopped flipping his notebook, looked up at Gu Shen, and said in a slow and deep voice, “You were used as bait without knowing anything and almost died. You’re angry at my deception, angry at my manipulation. Perhaps there’s also some anger stemming from your sense of justice. I, who had the ability to solve the mass insomnia, chose to let the symptoms spread and opted to observe first…”

These words stunned Gu Shen.

Every word struck deep in his heart. He had the illusion that Cui Zhongcheng had cut open his chest. This man understood his anger better than he did himself.

“But in fact, are you really as angry about the truth as you believe?”

Cui Zhongcheng pushed his monocle up and said with some disappointment, “If you were more perceptive on the plane and paid more attention to the details of what I said, you would have known what you were about to face. The assessment team said that you have a good memory, so do you still remember every word of our lakeside conversation? Since you’ve already experienced the fire case, then you should know better than anyone that the Eternal Foundation is a group of fanatics who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. They will only be crazier than you can imagine.”

Gu Shen was rendered speechless.

Because… everything Cui Zhongcheng said was true.

In a sense, Cui Zhongcheng didn’t really hide anything from him because what he knew about the fire case wasn’t much more than what Gu Shen knew.

“The best method to uncover the mastermind behind the fire and retrieve the lost clues is to use yourself as bait.” Cui Zhongcheng’s voice was like a bucket of cold water pouring down. “I already informed you that this mission wasn’t as simple as you thought. Since you still underestimated it, even if you had lost your life, you would have only had yourself to blame.”

Gu Shen sat on the chair in silence.

His chest was originally full of anger, and he had already thought of all kinds of questions to ask. But now, under Cui Zhongcheng’s words, he had nowhere to vent his anger. It was as though cold water had been poured on his head, and he couldn’t even muster a word of rebuttal.

“Until you truly become S-grade, you can continue to hate me,” Cui Zhongcheng continued. “As long as you can remember the lesson and live well, paying the price of harboring this hatred is too small. If your files are released, the number of out-of-control individuals and extremists you’ll have to face in the future will be ten times or even dozens of times more than now. I don’t want the words ‘carelessness and underestimating the enemy’ to become your epitaph.”

First, he gave the stick and then the carrot.

But because of Cui Zhongcheng’s nature… even his words of comfort sounded cold.

He was still young.

But Cui Zhongcheng was a seasoned old fox who used advancement as a means of retreat.

There was nothing else to talk about now.

Gu Shen remained silent for a long time before finally taking a deep breath and saying in a deep voice, “I will remember this lesson.”

“Since you came with anger, I’m sure you’ve figured out the meaning of the conversation on the plane.”

Cui Zhongcheng explained, “The reason we’re not in a hurry to give you the ‘S’ title is largely because of the mission in Dadu… The Solemn Stone Sculpture is just the beginning. With the help of the sealed files, we’ve successfully lured out a suspect.”

Members of the Eternal Foundation were lurking all over the East Continent, and some of them had even infiltrated the Parliament.

Gu Shen’s expression tightened.

Before he landed in Dadu, his files had been sealed in order to lure out the mastermind behind the scenes.

“Take a look at this file.” Cui Zhongcheng took out a document from a drawer. “Shi Li, 37 years old, leader of team five of the Sincere Society’s South Hall.”

It took Gu Shen three minutes to read through the life history file of this man named Shi Li.

He looked up and asked seriously, “The Sincere Society… This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of it. What kind of organization is it?”

“Dadu is a place provided for unofficial transcendents to live. If you must have an accurate definition, the Sincere Society… is a legal illegal organization.”

Cui Zhongcheng said calmly, “The places with the greatest authority in the East Continent Parliament are Changye in the north and Dadu in the south. The Adjudication Bureau, the Penitentiary Bureau, the Command Bureau, the Federal Security Committee… There are only so many positions in these transcendental organizations. In addition, control is strict, and not just anyone can enter. Those unaffiliated transcendents should have a place to stay, right? Therefore, the Sincere Society was established in Dadu.”

Gu Shen was startled.

“You should understand that… in this world, if there’s white, there’s black. There are some things that the government can’t do on the surface, so they must be done by others,” Cui Zhongcheng patiently explained to the newcomer of the Adjudication Bureau. “The position of Dadu is destined to bear a great mission. Its every move affects the three surrounding districts. Across the river is Ying Sea, to the west is Azure River, and sitting in the north is Redwood. In recent years, the Adjudication Bureau has been facing a serious shortage of staff… Not every transcendental incident has someone available who can resolve it.

“Organizations with too many people are often difficult to control.”

Cui Zhongcheng continued, “Nowadays, Dadu’s Sincere Society is roughly divided into the North Hall and the South Hall, and the corresponding highest authorities are in the hands of two Parliament members. One of them is named Chen San, and the other is…”

He pointed at himself.

Behind Cui Zhongcheng was the Zhao family.

Gu Shen looked at Mr. Cui silently. Across the long desk, it was as though he were looking at a towering mountain.

He suddenly recalled what Nan Jin had said to him.

Above the crown, justice reigned.

Under the sword, there was adjudication.

If the Adjudication Bureau was a dazzling crown, a dazzling white that claimed to be justice…

Then the Sincere Society… was a sword hidden in dark currents, secretive and silent, black and formless.

The East Continent was vast, and there were only a few crowns in the light. But under the light, there were turbulent dark currents, hiding who knew how many swords.