The Ancient Gods' Whisper

The shelter rarely had a bonfire lit.

After swimming out from the depths of the sea, Gu Jianlin used the seawater to wash himself briefly. Returning to the shelter, he sat by the fire, waiting for his clothes to dry slowly while fiddling with the phone he had just retrieved.

Calculating the time, Scholar should be waking up soon.

Gu Jianlin's final strike had actually been withheld slightly, deliberately avoiding targeting vital spots.

The Fallen, having consumed the Ancient God's Blood, had already begun treading the Evolution Path. The transformation of their physical functions could no longer be just labeled as deformation; rather, it was advanced evolution. Ordinary fatal injuries were hardly sufficient to take their lives, as the Ancient God's Blood could sustain them through a critical state, allowing self-healing to occur.

Therefore, Scholar could survive.

Moreover, at that time, Gu Jianlin had whispered a few words in his ear.

Delivered multiple commands.

If nothing unexpected happened, he could quietly wait for the results in the next period.

Gu Jianlin understood well the saying: "Never put all your eggs in one basket."

He wanted to gain from the Ascenders' side.

And he wanted to gain from the Fallen's side as well.

Both hands grabbing, both hands strong.

Once this incident was wrapped up, it would be time to see the outcome.

No matter what, the Primordial would certainly be in a bad spot.

After all, they'd never expected there to be an imposter Supreme in the human camp.

Someone entirely unaffected by spiritual interference.

"Ah, no worries, Pops! Everything's fine on my end. The spiritual toxin has already been cleared, Brother Cheng and Xiangsi are safe too, sleeping peacefully. Let me tell you, this mission succeeded thanks to Brother Lin. If it weren't for his protection, we'd likely have had trouble." Cheng Youyu chattered incessantly on his phone in the room next door.

The mission was over, communications in Black Cloud City were restored, and reporting safety to family was essential.

From another corner, the sound of splashing water echoed.

Tang Ling removed her sun hat, wrung out her white jacket, and hung it near the fire.

Her long, soaked white hair was tied into a high ponytail. Her soaked black tank top clung tightly to her youthful, smooth curves, further accentuating her alluring figure. Light blue jeans hugged her shapely and slender legs. She kicked off her wet sneakers lightly, revealing her delicate and fair bare feet.

Compared to the icy beauty back home, this girl's figure was indeed fuller.

Tang Ling placed the violin case and the greatsword to the side, lowered her head, and sent a text message.

She briefly reported the mission's situation.

Gu Jianlin weighed his phone, contemplating whether he should contact his family.

Except he wasn't sure whom to call, given none of his family members were Ascenders.

At that moment, his phone vibrated slightly—a call came in.

The caller ID showed Su Youzhu.

And it happened to be at this moment.

Gu Jianlin thought to himself that he hadn't been to school for two days. That girl was probably getting suspicious.

However, Lu Zicheng and Chen Qing had already helped him lay the groundwork, so there shouldn't be any problems.

"Hello, it's me."

He answered the call, holding the phone to his ear.

Sure enough, Su Youzhu's tone carried a hint of annoyance: "Why didn't you reply to my messages?"

Gu Jianlin thought to himself about how he'd hidden his phone by the coast and had been fighting for hours.

Where was there a chance to respond?

He hesitated for a second, unsure of what excuse to make.

"I couldn't reach you, so I asked the teachers at school—they told me you're preparing for independent enrollment."

Su Youzhu's voice was still crisp and clear, like the clash of ice cubes, her tone flat: "Next time, give me a heads-up when something like this happens. Stop disappearing all of a sudden."

Gu Jianlin felt guilty and responded, "Alright, I understand."

Su Youzhu's tone softened slightly: "How are things?"

Gu Jianlin thought for a moment before calmly replying, "Everything here went smoothly. If nothing goes wrong, I won't need to take the college entrance exam. How have you been at school? Is your stomach still hurting?"

What he said wasn't entirely untrue.

Now that he had joined the Ether Association, he didn't have to worry about academic qualifications anymore.

The Ether Association would naturally handle these matters for him.

Su Youzhu responded lightly, "I'm fine now. Are you alone out there? Is no one with you?"

Gu Jianlin thought briefly: "Uh, there are two teachers and some classmates."

There was a moment of silence on Su Youzhu's end before she casually remarked, "Then congratulations are in order. If possible, try to come back before Friday, so we can go home together and celebrate. Well, anything you'd like to eat?"

No good deed goes unpunished.

Gu Jianlin heard her tone and felt something was off: "Did you fail your exams again?"

The call fell silent once more, and Su Youzhu seemed to pout slightly as she muttered quietly, "I did not."

Gu Jianlin chuckled silently: "Alright, I'll see you when I get back."

Su Youzhu murmured, "Then I'll wait for you at school."

The call ended.

Scrolling through WeChat, Gu Jianlin realized that during this time, only this girl had sent him a flurry of messages. It seemed she was the only person in the world still concerned about him.

At that moment, Tang Ling suddenly spoke, "Girlfriend?"

Gu Jianlin looked up, meeting her somewhat playful gaze.

"She's my sister."

He explained.

"Oh."

A flicker of realization crossed Tang Ling's beautiful eyes as she casually remarked, "I just confirmed the task's results with my senior sister. With over 8,500 Merit Value, you ranked first in this assessment, higher than me."