âBoss, have you ever met the four Pillar Gods?â
âNot at all, I donât like to associate myself with deitiesâ
Apparently feeling a bit embarrassed with that, Boss continued to explain: âSeveral ten thousand years ago, when I knew that the four Pillar Gods entered the Calming Soul Country, I stopped caring about this placeâ
âââAfter all, I have too many places that I need to protect, like the bottom of the Abyss, the Starlight Empire, the Isle of Ceremonial Void, so one and so forth, I was a very busy personâ
Gu Qing Shan nodded in understanding, but didnât ask Boss about his identity.
The airship slowly descended in front of a sky-high palace.
This place was the most central area of Calming Soul Country, the center of the entire city.
Laura put her airship away.
The four of them and Boss stood waiting at the gate of the palace.
Several groups of guards were already waiting here.
Two women who wore luxurious robes arrived to receive them and bowed to greet Boss.
âVenerable Lord of Infinite Origin, please lead your people and come with us to greet the Pillar God of Waterâ
Water God!
Gu Qing Shan felt his heart skip a beat, but felt something amiss.
If this was the real Water God, she would definitely recognize him.
Most likely, she would come to find me right away as soon as the airship appeared.
Then, is this perhaps the real Water Pillar God?
Boss was surprised as well and asked: âWhat? The Deity wants to personally meet us?â
âIndeedâ one of the women smiled in reply: âAfter all, no outsiders have arrived in our world since the Age of Old. Today would be the first time in a very long time, and thus it drew the Deitiesâ attentionâ
Boss nodded slightly.
This made sense.
As he was about to take a step forward, he heard Gu Qing Shan speaking to him through inner sight.
Boss stopped, smiled, and asked: âWould the other three Pillar Gods be there as well?â
The two women bowed again and kept their heads lowered: âBeside Water God, none of the other three Deities expressed their will. We do not dare to assume the matter of the Deitiesâ
Seeing their frightened appearance, they most likely would not say another word about it.
Boss couldnât really ask any further and declared: âLead the wayâ
âYesâ
The two women led the group into the palace.
They went through twisting corridors, across a long stairway, and finally reached the main hall of the palace.
Over a hundred Demis with varying statuses had gathered here.
Gu Qing Shan released his inner sight to check his surroundings.
Sitting left-most was a gentle-looking man who wore a crown on his head, most likely the owner of this palace.
But there was no one sitting around him, he was instead placed at the very outer edge.
On his right were several powerful individuals who gave off considerably powerful presences, Gu Qing Shan could even see the General from before who was hiding his face.
Sitting closer to the center were 12 elderly people with gray hair.
ââthey were most likely the council of Elders.
Compared to the General and others like him, the Elders gave off a more stifled and faint fluctuation of power.
But regardless of whether it was true strength or authority within Calming Soul Country, none of the Generals could compare to them.
And at the center was a hovering throne.
A woman whose face was shielded by a veil sat atop the throne, wielding a black book in her hand.
Due to a strange power fluctuation coming from the veil, Gu Qing Shan could not clearly observe her visage.
However, there was a clear unique feature that everyone was able to recognize even through the veilââ-
There was a blue, flickering flame of light right between her eyebrows.
Unlike the Divinities who only disguised themselves as God, Gu Qing Shan could clearly sense the peerless aura of Soul Points exuding from her.
At this point, Gu Qing Shan was feeling a bit disappointed.
She wasnât the large-scale human war system that Gu Qing Shan met during the Age of Oldââ Water God.
Although he couldnât observe her face, from how she was being protected in the middle of everyone, it could be inferred that she was the Water Pillar God.
And the black book in her hand was the famous Book of the Sea. According to legends and historical records, it is said to have recorded all knowledge of Reality.
Gu Qing Shan and everyone stood still in the middle of the audience hall.
The Water Pillar God flicked her wrist to release a mass of deep blue light.
The light fell upon and enveloped Gu Qing Shanâs group.
Water Godâs gentle voice sounded:
ă Our apostle who came from a far away, as well as the guests that you have brought. All of you mustâve been through an arduous journey ă
Boss slightly bowed: âI am merely fulfilling my duties as per the ancient oath, that is all it isâ
Water God smiled, her gaze swept through Ye Fei Li, Zhang Ying Hao, then stopped at Gu Qing Shan and Laura who was sitting on his shoulder.
ă Human male, mayhap you can reveal to me, who is the personage that is protecting your identity? ă
Gu Qing Shan imitated Boss and also slightly bowed: âMy apologies, in truth, I do not know anything about this at allâ
Water God turned to the council of Elders.
An old man within the council of Elders respectfully said: âHonorable Deity, I can only sense that there exists a powerful identity protection technique on his body, but I do not know who it would beâ
ă Then it seems this is a secret ă
Saying so, Water God didnât say another word regarding this and instead focused her attention on Laura.
ă Human male, the young girl by your side, is she your younger sister? ăWater God asked.
âYes, she is indeed my younger sisterâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
ă Then why do I see that the two of you are not of the same race? ăWater God questioned.
Gu Qing Shan paused slightly.
Indeed, Iâm a human, while Laura is a Bramble bird.
In front of powerful entities, things such as race can be easily seen through.
Since Water God pointed this out, wouldnât that mean Gu Qing Shan was lying about it before?
What outcome would await one who lied in front of a Deity...?
The entire hall fell silent.
The atmosphere seemed to be changing.
Laura was anxious and couldnât help herself sneaking a glance at Gu Qing Shan.
She did not see Gu Qing Shan changing his expression at all.
A breathâs worth of time later.
Gu Qing Shan finally replied.
He lowered his head and spoke with an embarrassed tone of voice: âI didnât think you would notice such a thing. In reality, this is a very well-kept secret, only because Your Holiness had questioned that I could not help but answer it with my utmost sincerityâââ
Everyone looked at him.
Gu Qing Shan cleared his throat and said: âMy younger sister and I are from different mothers, but have the same father. It has been a many long years since we finally became united againâ
Water Godâs smile froze.
The council of Elders and the rest were all surprised.
Ye Fei Li couldnât help but turn to look at them.
Is that really true?
He silently thought.
Zhang Ying Haoâs expression didnât change at all.
Ever since he came in here, he had already worn his sunglasses, currently observing every person in the room in secret.
Gu Qing Shanâs words didnât affect him in the slightest.
But Laura wasnât the same.
As she heard Gu Qing Shan, her eyes opened wide, her mouth also opened a bit to gasp.
ââis this really ok?
This guy is legitimately lying without any shame.
However, as the Bramble Bird Empress, Lauraâs intrapersonal skills had already reached a level where she could hide her emotions without fail, and she knew that Gu Qing Shan wouldnât aimlessly do anything.
What is he being cautious of?
Laura slowly put her mental guard up.
As there were no one else, Water God told the council of Elders: ă For countless years, this would be the first time that Calming Soul Country welcomed new blood, discuss among yourselves and consider how they should be arranged ă
âUnderstoodâ
The council of Elder answered affirmatively and began to discuss how to arrange Gu Qing Shanâs group.
Standing still, Gu Qing Shan and the rest had no choice but to silently wait for the results.
Taking this time, Boss used telepathy to silently talk to Gu Qing Shan:
âWhat are you thinking?â
Gu Qing Shan replied: âSomething is inappropriate, you and I have to both be carefulâ
âWhatâs going on?â Boss couldnât help but ask.
âAs soon as we met, this Water God questioned my background and displayed clear hostilityâ
â...just because of a single question, youâre assuming that sheâs holding ill will?â
âThatâs only the secondary reason, the primary reason is from the two women who welcomed us earlier. Their answer to the question I had you asked made me become alertâ
Boss tried recalling a bit and said: âAll they said was: Other than Water God, the other three Deities did not express their will, and that they didnât dare to assume the matter of Deitiesâ
âYesâ
âWas there something wrong with that?â
âIndeed, their words suggested that the other three Pillar Gods were all here, but I know for a fact that that isnât the caseâ
Gu Qing Shan continued: âFurthermore, donât you think that Water God paid a bit too much attention to Laura?â
â...Arenât you just too worried about Laura?â
âThatâs not it. Perhaps youâve never seen any of the four Pillar Gods, but I know from experience how great the power of a Pillar God would beâââ and as one of the four Pillar Gods, her means of probing was too weakâ
âYou mean that sheâsââ-â
âYes, she isnât a Pillar Godâ
Gu Qing Shan replied.
His inner sight scanned through the Demis, and even through Water God.
The jade gourd pendant Adorable was silently hovering in the air.