"The Sincere Society... is an underground transcendent organization that is tacitly approved by the authorities."

After calming down a little, Gu Shen felt a cold sweat on his back.

The city is like a mirror, with a dazzling white front and a dark black back. If someone who is unaware wants to flip the mirror to the bottom and investigate the truth, they will find that black and white are intertwined... No wonder Hu Danian warned him not to provoke the Sincere Society, because in the end, it will lead to the authorities.

And the truth behind it is probably far more complicated than he imagined.

Gu Shen noticed that Cui Zhongcheng mentioned a name called "Chen San" twice.

If the Sincere Society is an underground organization established under the will of important figures, then "Chen San", who can seize half of the control from Zhao Lao Ye, must also be a dangerous person.

"I only gave the news of your arrival in the city to a few suspicious individuals, and Shi Li took the bait."

Cui Zhongcheng said lightly, "He doesn't know that he has been exposed yet, but he should have received the news of the failed assassination. If everything goes as expected, he will think that your escape was not just luck, but that you really have remarkable potential and may become a threatening existence in the future. If given more time, he will definitely plan another assassination against you."

Gu Shen silently stared at the photo of Shi Li on the file. "What are you planning to do?"

"In fact, from Shi Li's position and status, he is just a small fish. He is not the big fish I am looking for. Over the years, I have suspected that the Longevity Foundation has planted a heavyweight official undercover agent in the city..."

"Perhaps it's just my illusion, but if I'm right, this person is like a bomb that could explode at any time, far more threatening than Shi Li." Cui Zhongcheng calmly took a sip of tea, moistening his dry lips. "If we close the net now, it might be a pity."

"...You want to keep him and find out the big fish behind the scenes." Gu Shen said softly, "As a price, I will deal with the second assassination arranged by Shi Li."

Cui Zhongcheng fell silent for a moment.

He sensed Gu Shen's dissatisfaction and asked in a soft voice, "Then... what do you plan to do?"

"Before you speak, I think I need to remind you... Once the transcendent followers of the Longevity Foundation find out that they have been exposed, they will not hesitate to commit suicide. Before they carry out their missions, their minds are set with a 'high-voltage line'. If someone tries to hypnotize them, their transcendent consciousness will explode... For them, turning themselves into uncontrollable individuals is also a means of counterattack." Cui Zhongcheng said slowly, "So... don't attempt to use mental hypnosis methods. Even if you invite a 'Heaven's Eye' level transcendent, you won't be able to get any information from the assassins."

Is he guessing that I will ask Senior Sister for help?

"Since it's my own trouble... it won't involve others." Gu Shen shook his head and said, "Like you, I also want to lure out the big fish hiding in the dark. But even a fool wouldn't allow a target that has already appeared to continue planning assassination attempts against themselves."

"In that case, do you want to kill Shi Li? You should know that the arson case... and the self-destruction of the stone sculpture, the origins of these two assassination attempts are not him." Cui Zhongcheng held the teacup and looked at Gu Shen with interest, waiting for the continuation.

"Yes... killing him won't help."

"I just looked at Shi Li's file... he is a transcendent with strong offensive abilities, and he has reached the third level of the Deep Sea trial." Gu Shen said, "If he personally came to kill me at the Dream Speaker Clinic yesterday, the outcome might have been different... Since he decided to kill me, but only arranged an ordinary person with a seal to do it, why is that? It doesn't fit the style of the Longevity Foundation at all."

The Longevity Foundation is full of madmen who can easily sacrifice their own lives!

Cui Zhongcheng blew on the rim of the cup, releasing the heat. "Go on."

"The only explanation I can think of is... Shi Li is undercover in the Sincere Society and has a higher priority mission." Gu Shen said calmly, "The assassination of me was a temporary message passed on by the big fish, but its priority is not higher than the previous mission... So he chose this method to complete the task, even if it failed, it doesn't matter. The one who died was just an untraceable ordinary person, and he just needs to plan the next assassination. But he didn't expect that this mission would expose his identity."

"So..." Cui Zhongcheng smiled and spoke.

"So even if he dies, we can find the next clue from the higher-level mission."

"Good point, but the problem goes back to the starting point." Cui Zhongcheng slowly adjusted his sitting posture and looked at Gu Shen, asking word by word, "What are you planning to do?"

"Give me some time, I want to investigate the Sincere Society." Gu Shen took a long breath and said, "If I can find out the mission Shi Li is currently executing, then we can naturally close the net earlier."

Unexpectedly, Cui Zhongcheng did not oppose.

He just nodded and made a soft sound of agreement, and then he didn't show any more reactions."You don't object?" Gu Shen raised an eyebrow.

"Why should I object?" Cui Zhongcheng looked up and said softly, "I'm not the one being targeted for assassination... If you're willing to try it out yourself, what do I have to object to?"

Gu Shen suddenly felt like he had been deceived.

From the moment Shi Li's file was taken out to when he established his plan of action, Cui Zhongcheng seemed to have done nothing, but in reality, he had been guiding him all along.

His only goal was to catch a big fish.

And it didn't matter how he caught the big fish, as long as he achieved his ultimate goal.

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

If possible, who would be willing to be bait?

But once he became bait, he must fulfill his duty!

...

...

Gu Shen sat in his chair, lost in thought.

"Now that the conversation is over, why don't you leave?" Cui Zhongcheng casually issued the order to leave.

Gu Shen frowned and pondered over this question.

"After the incident with the Stony Gaze Sculpture, have I completed my mission in the city?"

"The mission in the city has just begun." Cui Zhongcheng glanced at Gu Shen and said lightly, "Are you trying to negotiate? When the mission is over, whatever you want, I will apply to the council for it."

"Indeed, Mr. Cui, you are truly like a worm in my stomach. But after our meeting by the lake last time, I couldn't help but feel that I had lost something." Gu Shen's furrowed brow slowly relaxed, and he smiled, "The past is the past, I can only blame myself for being too young and not understanding the tricks of you old foxes. But fortunately, I have learned from my mistakes and I have learned this time."

"You... have learned..." Cui Zhongcheng couldn't help but smile, "What have you learned?"

"The retrieval of the Stony Gaze Sculpture and the treatment of the mass insomnia can be considered as monitoring tasks of the Adjudication Bureau. But due to the misinformation on your side... I almost got killed last night on the riverbank." Gu Shen said leisurely, "We are only discussing this account now... How do you think this account should be settled?"

..."

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

He was somewhat troubled.

This kid was much shrewder than he had imagined.

When Hu Danian brought Gu Shen to him last night, he began to worry about the follow-up of the incident... On the surface, his attitude towards Gu Shen was that he didn't care about his life or death.

But in reality, Gu Shen had passed the evaluation of the Audit Group and was rated as "S-class"!

The Stony Gaze Sculpture incident, as well as the mission to bring out Shi Li, were all meant to guide Gu Shen to face the long-standing Foundation. So far, all the developments of this mission were firmly under his control.

But unexpectedly, an uncontrollable incident occurred on the riverbank last night.

Cui Zhongcheng's fleeting helplessness was keenly captured by Gu Shen.

As expected.

He had only thrown out this sentence as a test.

If Cui Zhongcheng still had the same indifferent attitude as before, Gu Shen would have no way to deal with it. But now he was certain that the other party felt guilty.

"Did you learn this from Zhou JiRen... to actually try to blackmail me." Cui Zhongcheng looked at the young man, sighed, and said, "I do have some responsibility for last night's incident. If you want compensation, you can tell me."

He really... took the bait!

Gu Shen remained calm, "I want the highest authority to investigate any file at will..."

Seeing Cui Zhongcheng's calm expression.

"Along with a top-level breathing technique."

Looking again, there was still no change.

"And a transcendent seal..."

Still no change, but upon closer inspection, Mr. Cui's lips twitched.

But Gu Shen wanted to continue adding, but unfortunately, he couldn't think of any more demands. At this moment, he deeply regretted not learning more from Senior Zhongwei.

You only realize the value of a book when you need it.

In such a good opportunity to blackmail, he actually ran out of words.

"You want too much!"

Cui Zhongcheng interrupted Gu Shen, not in a good mood, "Let's talk about the first point first. The highest authority to investigate any file at will, you see clearly, my surname is Cui, not Zhao... Even the old man himself cannot freely access any file, Deep Sea has extremely strict restrictions on certain files, even council members have various limitations."

So that's how it is, I did go a bit too far...

Gu Shen blinked and immediately asked, "Then what level of authority can you approve?"

"If it's as compensation for you... the highest authority I can grant is to open up the investigation of files up to the ninth level of Deep Sea." Cui Zhongcheng glanced at Gu Shen's expression and said, "After passing the trial of the ninth level of Deep Sea, or if the confidentiality level of the file is lower than the ninth level of Deep Sea... you can investigate it freely."

The ninth level of Deep Sea?

Gu Shen silently calculated... If Senior Zhongwei is at the twelfth level, then Han Dang should be the person right behind her.

Han Dang's level of confidentiality should be at the eleventh level of Deep Sea.

"Eleventh level." Gu Shen bargained."Ninth floor, don't push your luck." Cui Zhongcheng had already seen through the negotiation style of the young man sitting across from him. It was a typical thick-skinned approach, where if you took a small step back, he would stride forward, not stopping until he got a piece of the pie.

"The ninth floor is acceptable... but I need a top-notch breathing technique and a suitable seal!" Gu Shen firmly held onto his demands, refusing to back down. "Think about it, what would the teacher's reaction be if he found out that I was almost killed on the riverbank last night?"

Cui Zhongcheng, who usually had a poker face, was now gritting his teeth in frustration.

As soon as Gu Shen mentioned "teacher", he immediately thought of a certain old man showing up at the Huazhi Building—

Upon hearing the news, Zhou JiRen would probably be overjoyed, dressing up in formal attire, and then, seizing this rare opportunity, he would rush to the Huazhi Building, demanding justice for his student with a righteous face.

The old man would be even more troublesome than the young one.

Cui Zhongcheng stared at Gu Shen. "I can give you a seal, but as for the breathing technique... you're not lacking, are you?"

Seeing Mr. Cui's reaction... Gu Shen felt a surge of emotion. He had just witnessed the scene where the only son of the Zhao family was refused when he sent someone to collect money.

As soon as the teacher was mentioned, Cui Zhongcheng backed down. It seemed that the teacher's "reputation" was quite notorious outside.

So Gu Shen solemnly said, "I lack everything."

"Don't think I don't know... your senior sister is the only one in the Judgement Office who has copied 'Jingzhe'. She taught you this breathing technique before the review started, didn't she?"

Cui Zhongcheng leaned on the table, almost standing up, he lowered his voice and said angrily, "Gu Shen, you just awakened as a Transcendent, isn't one Jingzhe enough for your cultivation? Do you think you're Gu Changzhi, capable of practicing several breathing techniques at the same time?"

"Mr. Cui... you're losing your composure."

"I've also worked for the Zhao family once. The Zhao family is rich and powerful, it's not too much to ask for a breathing technique as a reward, right?" Gu Shen gently reminded him, then seriously said, "Besides, having more skills doesn't hurt. We both have the surname Gu, what if I can do what Gu Changzhi can do?"

Cui Zhongcheng and Gu Shen locked eyes.

He calmed down, chuckled softly, "Alright... I agree."

The conversation in the Huazhi Building was the second one after the lakeside, both of them revealed their "true colors", and they both knew... neither of them was easy to deal with.

...

...

The Huazhi Building had a dedicated elevator that went straight to the tenth floor underground.

Cui Zhongcheng pressed the button for the seventh floor underground.

When the elevator opened, Gu Shen saw a scene that left him in awe—

The seventh floor underground of Huazhi was bathed in interwoven dim white light, quiet and solemn, majestic and sacred. It was like a museum with rich collections. Every five meters or so, there was a bronze altar for displaying objects. Above the altar, a transparent cover was coated with a thin layer of paint. Under the dim white light, it refracted a secret red diamond-like light.

"Are these... seals?"

When Hu Danian collected the solemn stone statue, Gu Shen had already seen this strong logical material. Red silver could greatly resist the erosion of Transcendent power, specifically used to collect seals, and these altars were all coated with red silver...

"Yes."

Cui Zhongcheng calmly uttered two words.

Gu Shen rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't seeing things, his expression became strange.

Looking around, this wide "collection hall" was filled with bronze altars... How many were there? A hundred? Two hundred?

"Red silver is the most common and widely used secret material coating." Cui Zhongcheng said, "These seals are all of the same level as the solemn stone statue... their strength ratings vary from C to E, you can choose one."

Gu Shen slowly recovered from his shock... these seals were at most C-level.

But that was to be expected.

The number of these seals was astonishing, it was already incredible that they could have the strength of the solemn stone statue... He was once again amazed at the wealth of the Zhao family.

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This was only the seventh floor underground of Huazhi, there were still the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors.

"Thank you for your generous gift, Mr. Cui... I won't be polite then!"

Gu Shen looked indifferent, walked straight up, and started to wander between the altars.

Each bronze altar here had an electronic tag. Touch it in the air, and it would pop up detailed information about the seal.

He began to choose his "seal".