“The Sincere Society… is an underground transcendental organization tacitly approved by Dadu’s government.”

After Gu Shen calmed down a little, he felt cold sweat oozing out from his back.

Dadu was like a mirror. The front was dazzling white, but the back was pitch black. If an unsuspecting person tried to flip over the mirror and uncover the truth, they would find that black and white were intertwined in a symbiotic form. No wonder Hu Danian warned him not to mess with the Sincere Society, because, in the end, the investigation would lead to the authorities.

And the true situation was probably far more complicated than he imagined.

Gu Shen noticed that Cui Zhongcheng had mentioned the name ‘Chen San’ twice.

The Sincere Society was an underground organization established under the will of powerful figures. In that case, Chen San, who could seize half of the control from Old Master Zhao, was definitely a dangerous person.

“The news of your arrival in Dadu was only leaked to a few suspects. Shi Li really took the bait,” Cui Zhongcheng said calmly.

“He doesn’t know he’s been exposed yet, but he should have received the news that the assassination failed. If nothing unexpected happens, he should conclude that your escape was not due to luck but because you have extraordinary potential and might become a significant threat in the future. Given some more time, he will certainly plan another assassination attempt against you.”

Gu Shen silently stared at Shi Li’s photo in the file. “What do you plan to do?”

“Actually, with Shi Li’s status, he’s merely a small fish. He’s definitely not the big fish I’m looking for. Over the years, I’ve suspected that the Eternal Foundation has planted a heavyweight undercover agent in Dadu’s government.

“Maybe it’s just a hunch. But if I’m right, this person is like a bomb that can explode at any time and far more threatening than Shi Li.”

Cui Zhongcheng took a sip of tea to moisten his dry lips. “It might be a bit of a waste to reel in the net now.”

“… So, you want to keep him to find the big fish behind the scenes,” Gu Shen said softly. “And in exchange, I will have to deal with Shi Li’s second assassination attempt.”

Cui Zhongcheng fell silent for a moment.

Sensing Gu Shen’s dissatisfaction, he asked softly, “So… what do you plan to do?

“Before you speak, I think I need to remind you. Once the transcendental believers of the Eternal Foundation know that they’ve been exposed, they won’t hesitate to take their own lives.” 

Cui Zhongcheng explained, “Before carrying out the mission, they have a ‘high-voltage line’ set in their minds. Once anyone attempts to hypnotize them, their transcendental consciousness will explode. To them, turning themselves into out-of-control individuals is also a means of desperate counterattack. So don’t try to use hypnosis. Even if you invite a titled transcendent at the Heavenly Pupil’s level, you won’t be able to obtain any information from those suicide warriors.”

Is he guessing I’ll ask Senior Sister for help?

“Since it’s about my own trouble, I won’t involve anyone else.” Gu Shen shook his head. “Just like you, I also want to lure out the big fish hiding in the shadows. But even a fool won’t allow a target that has already appeared to continue planning assassination attempts against them. “

“So, are you planning to kill Shi Li? You should know that the source of the fire case and the suicide bombing wasn’t him.” Cui Zhongcheng held his teacup and looked at Gu Shen with interest, waiting for his reply.

“That’s right… Killing him won’t solve anything.

“I just looked at Shi Li’s file. He’s an assault-type transcendent with strength at the Third Level of the Deep Sea trials. If he had personally come to kill me at the Dream Whisperer Clinic yesterday, the outcome might have been different. Since he decided to kill me, why did he only arrange an ordinary person with a sealed object to take action? That doesn’t match the style of the Eternal Foundation at all.”

In the Eternal Foundation, there was nothing but lunatics who could sacrifice their lives without a second thought!

Cui Zhongcheng blew away the hot steam drifting from his cup. “Continue.”

“There’s only one explanation I can think of. Shi Li is undercover in the Sincere Society with a more important mission,” Gu Shen said calmly. “Assassinating me was a last-minute message from that big fish, but the priority isn’t higher than his previous mission… So he chose this method to complete the mission. It didn’t matter if he failed. The one who died was just an untraceable ordinary person. He only needs to plan the next assassination attempt. But he didn’t expect that this mission would expose his identity.”

“So…” Cui Zhongcheng smiled.

“So even if he dies, we can still find the next clue from his higher-priority mission.”

“Well said. But the problem has returned to the beginning.” Cui Zhongcheng slowly adjusted his sitting posture, looked at Gu Shen, and asked word by word, “What do you plan to do?”

“Give me some time. I want to enter the Sincere Society to investigate.” Gu Shen let out a long sigh. “If we can find the mission Shi Li is executing, we can naturally close the net in advance.”

Unexpectedly, Cui Zhongcheng didn’t object.

He just nodded and made a soft sound in agreement. Afterward, he didn’t say anything else.

“You don’t object?” Gu Shen raised an eyebrow.

“Why should I object?” Cui Zhongcheng said softly. “I’m not the target of assassination. If you’re willing to give it a try with your own time, what do I have to object to?”

Gu Shen immediately felt as though he had been deceived.

From the moment Shi Li’s file was brought out to establishing his plan of action, Cui Zhongcheng seemed to have not done anything, but he had actually been guiding him all along.

His only goal was to catch the big fish.

And the method used to catch the big fish wasn’t important as long as he achieved his ultimate goal.

However… the current situation was also the best situation that Gu Shen could choose for himself.

If possible, who would be willing to be bait?

However, since he was already bait, he would do all he could to eradicate the enemy!

…

Gu Shen sat on the chair, lost in thought.

“Since you’ve finished speaking, why haven’t you left?” Cui Zhongcheng casually issued the dismissal.

With a frown, Gu Shen asked, “After the Solemn Stone Sculpture incident, is my mission in Dadu… complete?”

“Your mission in Dadu has just begun.” Cui Zhongcheng glanced at Gu Shen calmly. “Do you want to raise the conditions? When the mission is over, I’ll apply to the Parliament for whatever you want.”

“As expected of you, Mr. Cui. You’re really like a mind reader. It’s just that after chatting with you by the lake, after thinking about it, I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve missed something.” Gu Shen’s furrowed brows relaxed, and he smiled. “The past is the past. I can only blame myself for being too young and naive and not understanding the ways of you old foxes. Fortunately, every failure makes you wiser, and I’ve learned from this experience.”

“You’ve… learned…” Cui Zhongcheng could not help smiling. “What did you learn?”

“The recovery of the Solemn Stone Sculpture and the treatment of mass insomnia both fall under the jurisdiction of the Adjudication Bureau. But due to an intelligence oversight on your end, I was almost cut into pieces in River Shoal last night.”

Gu Shen said leisurely, “For now, let’s only discuss settling this debt. How do you propose we do that?”

“…”

This time, it was Cui Zhongcheng’s turn to fall silent.

He felt a headache coming on.

This kid was much shrewder than he had thought.

When Hu Danian brought Gu Shen over last night, he had begun to worry about the aftermath of the incident. On the surface, his attitude toward Gu Shen was one of complete indifference to his fate.

But in fact, Gu Shen had been evaluated as S-grade by the assessment team!

The Solemn Stone Sculpture incident and the mission to lure out Shi Li were both aimed at guiding Gu Shen to confront the Eternal Foundation. All the developments so far in this mission in Dadu had been firmly under his control.

But unfortunately, last night in River Shoal, an unexpected and uncontrollable incident had happened.

Gu Shen keenly caught the flash of helplessness on Cui Zhongcheng’s face.

Sure enough.

He had only said that to test the waters.

Had Cui Zhongcheng still maintained his indifferent attitude, Gu Shen wouldn’t have been able to do much. But now, he was certain that Cui Zhongcheng felt in the wrong.

“Did you learn from Zhou Jiren…to extort me like that?” Cui Zhongcheng looked at the young man and sighed. “I do bear responsibility for what happened last night. What compensation do you want? Tell me.”

I really… hit the mark! Gu Shen’s expression didn’t change. “I want the highest authority to investigate any file…”

He noticed Cui Zhongcheng’s calm demeanor.

“… and a top-tier breathing technique.”

Still no change.

“… Add a transcendental sealed object…”

There was still no change. But upon closer inspection, he saw the corners of Mr. Cui’s lips twitch.

Gu Shen still wanted to continue adding demands. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of any more requests. He was very regretful that he hadn’t learned more from Senior Brother Zhong Wei.

He regretted that he was too young and inexperienced.

It was a good opportunity to press for more, and yet here he was, at a loss for words.

“You want too much!” Cui Zhongcheng interrupted Gu Shen, sounding annoyed. “Let’s talk about the first request. You want the highest authority to investigate any file. Listen carefully. My surname is Cui, not Zhao. Moreover, even the old master himself can’t freely access any file. Deep Sea is extremely strict about the division of authority for certain files. Even the members of Parliament have all kinds of restrictions.”

So that’s how it is. I guess I went too far…

Gu Shen blinked and immediately asked, “Then, what level of access can you approve?”

“If it’s as compensation for this incident, the best I can offer is permission to investigate the archives of the Ninth Level of Deep Sea once.” Cui Zhongcheng glanced at Gu Shen’s expression. “After passing the trial of the Ninth Level of Deep Sea, or if the confidentiality of the files is deemed lower than that level, you can investigate freely.”

The Ninth Level of Deep Sea? Gu Shen calculated silently. Since Senior Sister has a title from passing the twelfth level, then Han Dang should be close behind.

Han Dang’s classification level should be the Eleventh Level of Deep Sea.

“Eleventh level,” Gu Shen bargained.

“Ninth level. Don’t push it.” Cui Zhongcheng had already seen through this kid’s negotiating style. He was a classic example of brazen and aggressive. As long as you took a small step back, he would always take a big step forward with his head held high and wouldn’t stop until he bit off a piece of meat.

“The ninth level is fine… But I need a top-tier breathing technique and a sealed object!” Gu Shen firmly bit the piece of meat he had set his eyes on, refusing to budge an inch. “Think about it. If my teacher finds out I was almost killed in River Shoal last night, how would he react?”

Cui Zhongcheng, who had a poker face all year round, had the urge to grind his teeth.

The moment Gu Shen mentioned his teacher, he immediately thought of the scene of that old fellow ascending the Blossom Flag Building.

When Zhou Jiren heard this news, he should be overjoyed and don his most magnificent attire. Then he would seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stride confidently into the Blossom Flag Building and ‘get justice’ for his disciple with righteous indignation.

The old one would only be more difficult to deal with than the young one.

Cui Zhongcheng stared at Gu Shen. “I can give you a sealed object. But as for the breathing technique, you shouldn’t lack one, do you?”

Seeing Mr. Cui’s reaction, Gu Shen felt extremely emotional. He had seen with his own eyes the scene of the Zhao family’s sole heir being refused money just moments ago.

But at the mention of his teacher, Cui Zhongcheng gave in. It seemed like his teacher’s ‘reputation’ was quite terrible.

Thus, Gu Shen said solemnly, “I lack everything.”

“Don’t think I don’t know. Your senior sister is the only one in the Adjudication Bureau who replicated Jingzhe. She must have taught you this breathing technique before the assessment began.”

Cui Zhongcheng placed his hands on the desk and almost stood up. He lowered his voice and said angrily, “Gu Shen, you’ve just awakened transcendence. Isn’t one Jingzhe enough for you to cultivate? Do you think you’re Gu Changzhi and capable of cultivating several breathing techniques at the same time?”

“Mr. Cui, you’re losing your composure.

“I can be considered to have worked hard for the Zhao family once. Considering their wealth and status, it’s not too much to use one breathing technique as compensation, right?” Gu Shen reminded softly before saying seriously, “Besides, there’s no harm in having more skills. We’re both surnamed Gu. What Gu Changzhi can do, perhaps I can do too.”

Cui Zhongcheng and Gu Shen locked eyes.

He calmed down and chuckled. “Alright… I agree.”

The conversation in the Blossom Flag Building marked their second real conversation after the lakeside. Both of them revealed their ‘true selves’ and knew that… neither of them was easy to deal with.

…

The Blossom Flag Building had a special elevator that went straight to the tenth underground floor.

Cui Zhongcheng pressed the button for the seventh underground floor.

When the elevator opened, Gu Shen saw an astonishing sight.

The seventh underground floor, interwoven with lights, was quiet and solemn, dignified and sacred. It resembled a richly stocked museum, with bronze display stands spaced about five meters apart. Above each display stand was a transparent cover coated with a shallow coating, and under the illumination of the soft white light, they reflected a mysterious red diamond-like glow.

“Are these all… sealed objects?”

When Hu Danian put away the Solemn Stone Sculpture, Gu Shen had already seen this high-logic material. Red silver could greatly resist the corrosion of transcendental power and was specially used to store sealed objects. And these display stands were all coated with red silver…

“Yes,” Cui Zhongcheng said calmly.

Gu Shen rubbed his eyes. After confirming that he wasn’t seeing things, his expression turned strange.

As far as the eye could see, there were bronze display stands placed at intervals throughout this spacious ‘collection hall’… How many were there? A hundred? Two hundred?

“Red silver is the most common and widely used coating material,” Cui Zhongcheng said. “These sealed objects are all at the same level as the Solemn Stone Sculpture. Their strength rating ranges from C to E. Choose one.”

Gu Shen slowly recovered from his shock. These sealed objects were at most Class C.

But it made sense.

The number of these sealed objects was truly astounding. It was already incredible that they could be on the same level as the Solemn Stone Sculpture. He was once again amazed by the immense wealth of the Zhao family.

And this was only the seventh underground floor of the Blossom Flag Building. There were still the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors.

“Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Cui. I won’t stand on ceremony!” Gu Shen’s expression was calm as he walked forward and circled back and forth between display stands.

Every bronze display stand here had an electronic label. When he moved his hand over it in the air, detailed information about the sealed object would pop up.

He began selecting his sealed object.