Light Fortress
Chapter 222 - 207: The Weak, the Strong, the Dead

Chapter 222: Chapter 207: The Weak, the Strong, the Dead

"At last, let’s talk about the handling of the auditorium incident,"

Zhou Jiren habitually took out a cigar, and then remembered he was in Lu Nanzhi’s yard, and the lady did not like foreign odors... So he just kept it in his mouth without lighting it, "The case of Zhou Yu is a great merit, but you should know that this merit isn’t something you can hold on to now, even though you are an S-tier."

Gu Shen softly replied, "I understand."

"What kind of compensation do you want?" Zhou Jiren narrowed his eyes, "I heard you struck a hard bargain with Cui Zhongcheng... Are you still short of any seals?"

As he said this, he glanced at Gu Shen’s wrist.

The six blessings bracelet, capable of negating one high-intensity impact, had been an A-tier seal, but had been downgraded due to excessive use and now only two stones remained.

It was said that Gu Shen had also taken an unremarkable-looking indicator from the Huazhi Underground.

In a battle among Transcendents, there was, of course, a mode of victory that relied on the number of "seals," a method considered to be the privilege of those with substantial belongings, which could pulverize the opponent with just the toss of treasures.

However, within the council, A-tier seals were highly rare, and having one as a primary combat weapon was already enough to match one’s own combat strength...

The truly powerful had to rely on themselves.

Seals were auxiliary.

The higher the rating, of course, the stronger... yet what powerful Transcendents often sought was not the highest rated seal, but the one that suited them best.

"Teacher... what I’m lacking might not be seals,"

Gu Shen said with a bitter smile.

Since his arrival in Da Du, he had experienced numerous battles, from fighting at the river bank and Qu Shui, to turning the tides on Yuan Dan Street, escaping the South Bay Building, and then last night’s gunshot in Bengxue... Each fight was extremely perilous.

And the biggest revelation Gu Shen had from these was...

His overall strength was too weak.

In the twelve levels of the Deep Sea trials, he had only reached the third level at best, his Spiritual abilities were limited in the early stages... Thanks to the Chi Huo’s properties, he was fearless in the Dream battles, but the power and nature Transcendents he had encountered along the way all surpassed him significantly in terms of class.

Da Du District... was indeed the premier district of East State Jiangnan.

This place was full of strong figures!

Not to mention Chen Mei and Song Ci, who were just below Titled Transcendents and ranked eleventh, there were many seventh and eighth level high order Transcendents from the Deep Sea.

He simply could not intervene in high-level battles.

"Hmm... I understand what you mean,"

Zhou Jiren slowly nodded.

It wasn’t that Gu Shen was weak.

It was that the Da Du District... truly had too many strong figures.

There were only a few Titled Transcendents in East Continent, who could permanently reside in a particular city or large area. Within the federal system, the Titled Transcendents of the twelfth layer were required to carry out missions annually, and most of their time was spent traveling.

But Da Du had a permanent Titled resident.

Gu Zhi of Shuang Chuan, retired from the Fortress... Someone with his level of strength shouldn’t have been in a peaceful area under the current circumstances unless the significance of that area was very high.

Gu Zhi stayed in Da Du because this large area had a unique status in East Continent.

With a Titled defending it, no crisis below S-level could disrupt the regular functioning of Da Du District.

As a newcomer, Gu Shen’s progression and cultivation speed had been remarkable, but in high-order missions within Da Du District, he truly could not play a decisive role in battle.

"I don’t know what compensation I should ask for... To me, even now, I am just a ’poor boy’ who has never seen the world. Owning mountains of gold and silver, I still wouldn’t know what to take,"

Gu Shen sighed.

"If I must decide on the compensation... I hope that in the future, I can practice all the breathing techniques left behind by Gu Changzhi in the three institutes,"

"In fact, what I really hope is to become stronger, just a bit faster... to become stronger."

He laid his cards on the table, there really wasn’t anything to hide; after these battles, Gu Shen knew that the gap between himself and those powerful Transcendents could not be bridged by mere seals.

"..."

After listening, Mr. Shu just hummed softly, not saying much, simply extending his palm.

A leaf from the banyan floated down and landed in his outstretched palm, this drifting leaf seemingly plunging into a lake, slowly sinking into his palm.

The leaf returns to the root.

"Do you remember what I said before?"

Zhou Jiren looked up, directing his gaze once again towards the banyan tree.

"To become a Sky-reaching Tree, one can live leisurely for a hundred years."

"To be a brilliant cactus flower, there’s only one night."

"Many people misunderstand this saying...thinking I am encouraging disciples to slow down, to lessen their pace. In reality, the cultivation of Transcendents is a difficult reverse journey; only about ten to twenty percent have the capacity to advance quickly, and it is normal to progress slowly."

Zhou Jiren looked at Gu Shen and smiled, "And those who qualify to enter the Judgement Institute, who qualify to enter my ’Sky-reaching Tree’ discipleship, are all exceptional talents, each capable of quick advancement in their cultivation... and you are certainly no exception."

"That’s why I keep this saying on my lips all the time, constantly reminding them."

"If you have the ability to progress quickly, then you should aim to take it a bit slower."