Bartholomew VS Celestine

After the interrogation was completed, Gu Ding returned to his room, but the questioning of the others continued.

"The entire area surrounding the Heavenly God Palace is Celestine's territory. I estimate that everyone's every move is under his surveillance. Be careful not to speak to me. We can only communicate through consciousness," the Sea Emperor warned.

"Understood," Gu Ding replied calmly.

"According to the Grand Elder, they should be arranging for you to meet Celestine soon. Moreover, Celestine will definitely be very interested in you after hearing about these things. It can be said that the goal of getting close to Celestine has been basically achieved..." The Sea Emperor did not continue, but waited for Gu Ding to take over the topic.

"My biggest worry right now is that Bartholomew will fail. If he fails, I'll be in trouble too." Gu Ding had considered this possibility. "My Absolute Seal ability won't be usable for a while, and even if it were, it probably wouldn't work on the gods. I've already seen that with Deadpool."

"Isn't it a bit late to be considering this now?" The Sea Emperor wasn't too worried. Having witnessed the terror of Red-Eyed Gu Ding, he felt that the possibility of Gu Ding's demise was unlikely.

"I'm not the kind of person who plans ahead..." Gu Ding scratched his head. "If Miko were here, he should be able to come up with some good ideas."

"Things have developed to this point, it doesn't matter much whether Miko is there or not. The gap in strength between you and Celestine is too great. If we had made a plan earlier, or if the gap in strength wasn't so large, things would definitely have turned around." Sea Emperor felt that there was no chance of turning things around. "Now our only hope lies with Bartholomew. If he wins, everything will be fine. If he loses, then we can only wait for a miracle to happen."

"A miracle? You mean like when Deadpool was killed?" Upon hearing the Sea Emperor's words, Gu Ding immediately recalled the incident where Deadpool fell and the entire secret realm collapsed.

"That's right, just like when Deadpool was taken down." Sea Emperor had no doubt about Red-Eyed Gu Ding's power.

The day after the questioning ended, there was another knock on Gu Ding's door.

"Gu Lotte, the Palace Master summons you. Come with us!"

The same group that came to greet Gu Ding was the same one from the day before. The captain at the head of the group looked at Gu Ding with a hint of doubt in his eyes, but he didn't ask anything.

Gu Ding followed the group to the main hall again, where Vice Palace Lord Kornahan was already waiting at the entrance.

The group that led Gu Ding over bowed slightly to Kornahan and then turned to leave.

"Come with me." Kornahan beckoned to Gu Ding and led Gu Ding into the main hall.

The dome of the main hall is semi-transparent, allowing light to stream in and making the entire hall bright.

Looking at the artwork-like paintings on the dome, Gu Ding was also somewhat lost in thought.

"Don't lie in front of the Palace Master, just tell the truth," Kornahan reminded him. "We told the Palace Master about you yesterday. He admires your type of genius. Perform well, and maybe the Palace Master will reward you with treasures if he's in a good mood."

"Hmm." Gu Ding nodded, but inwardly he was somewhat unconvinced. He hadn't forgotten his main purpose for this trip: to kill this Palace Master.

Walking down a corridor, Gu Ding finally saw a figure standing not far away. The person was dressed in a black robe and had their back to him. However, judging from their build, the person was even a little shorter than Gu Ding.

"Your Highness, the person has been brought here." Kornahan's attitude was very respectful.

"You may leave. I want to speak with him alone," Celestine said, waving his sleeve.

"Yes, sir!" Kornahan did not object, because he did not believe that Gu Ding was capable of posing any threat to a palace master of the celestial level.

After listening to Kornahan's footsteps fade into the distance, Celestine finally spoke. "I've heard about what happened to you."

Gu Ding remained silent. He was currently less than twenty meters from Celestine, already within Bartholomew's fighting range. However, he was also waiting for an opportunity to retrieve the ice coffin. If he made any rash moves now, Celestine might kill him outright.

"You're quite lucky to have obtained an Abyss Soul Crystal, which has greatly increased your soul strength. Can you tell me how you got that Black Crystal?" Celestine still didn't turn around.

Gu Ding also blurted out the words that the Sea Emperor had taught him. "Three years ago, I saw it by chance at a stall in Awat City. I thought it was unusual, so I bought it. The stall owner originally wanted ten Crimson Blood Crystal, but I only used two to buy it."

"Awat City? It's an affiliated city of Wu La City, right? Was there only one Black Crystal back then?" Celestine continued to ask.

"Only one." Gu Ding nodded.

"Did you ask the seller where he got the black crystal?" Celestine was clearly very concerned about this matter.

"I didn't ask at the time because I didn't know what it was. But that night, after I took it, I noticed my soul becoming stronger, and it wasn't until seven days later that I regained consciousness. Upon waking, I immediately went to the stall owner's location, wanting to ask what the Black Crystal was and where he got it, but the stall owner was gone. I waited for several days, but he didn't reappear. I asked other stall owners nearby, but they didn't know where the stall owner had gone either. Later, the matter was left unresolved, and I never got an answer." The story the Sea Emperor told Gu Ding was almost flawless, making it impossible not to believe.

"I see... Do you remember what that stall owner looked like?" Celestine was still reluctant to give up.

"I didn't pay much attention to the person's appearance at the time, but if I think about it carefully, I should be able to remember what he looked like." Gu Ding nodded.

"After we go out, I'll have someone help you complete the sketch of that person's appearance." Celestine was fairly satisfied with Gu Ding's answer.

He remained silent for a moment before shifting the topic to the secret realm.

"I heard from Kornahan and the others that you saw the scene of Deadpool fighting Lorinda and the others in the secret realm. Tell me more details about what happened."

Gu Ding quickly recounted the whole story.

"You mean to say that an unknown powerful being appeared in the secret realm and killed that Deadpool, and the battle between the two destroyed the entire secret realm?" Celestine found it somewhat unbelievable. As a descendant from another plane, he naturally knew how terrifying Deadpools were. If what Gu Ding said was true, then it meant that there was a being with strength no weaker than himself hidden in this Gravel World.

"This is just my guess, because I passed out before Deadpool fell. When I woke up, I saw that the entire secret realm was almost in ruins." Gu Ding said was still true.

"You were so close to Deadpool, did you see anything unusual before you passed out? Like a spatial tremor caused by the arrival of a powerful being or something like that..." Celestine continued to press.

"I didn't see it, but I heard from others that there was a period of darkness in the entire secret realm. It was as if the entire secret realm suddenly turned into night, pitch black, and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. But I didn't see it, so I guess it happened while I was unconscious," Gu Ding added.

"Yes, Kornahan told me about this." Celestine nodded. "I have no other questions for now. If you have any further questions, I will have someone let you know."

"To be honest, you are the most promising genius I have seen in all these years. Work hard in your cultivation and reach the True God realm as soon as possible. I will also give you a gift!"

As Celestine spoke, he casually tossed a palm-sized bottle, which landed steadily in Gu Ding's hand.

"In this bottle is a drop of True Blood from Tenth Sequence True God. Once your physical strength is sufficient, you can absorb it and have a certain chance of gaining an epiphany," Celestine explained.

"Thank you, Palace Master." Gu Ding casually put the bottle into his Storage Space.

"Alright, you can go now," Celestine said, waving her hand.

"Actually... I also have a gift I want to give to the Palace Master." Gu Ding did not turn and leave as instructed, but instead spoke up.

"Give me a gift? That's interesting. Let me see it." Celestine didn't think Gu Ding was capable of harming her, and upon hearing Gu Ding say he was giving her a gift, she became quite curious.

Gu Ding then took out the semi-transparent ice coffin from his Storage Space and then retreated rapidly.

Celestine was visibly startled when he saw the coffin, but at that moment, the lid of the ice coffin opened automatically, and a person inside floated up.

"It's you?!" Celestine recognized Bartholomew in the coffin at first glance.

Bartholomew did not reminisce with him. Instead, he opened his mouth, and twelve pillars shot out from it, transforming from the size of needles into twelve colossal pillars that completely blocked Celestine.

"Hmph, naive, Bartholomew, do you think you can suppress me like this? Three million years ago you were my defeated opponent, and three million years later I am stronger than before, while your aura is weaker than it was three million years ago." Celestine then turned around, his gaze falling on Bartholomew through the brim of his hat.

"If it were just an offensive formation, with my current strength, it would be difficult to defeat you. But this formation of mine is not an offensive formation, but a soul sealing formation." Bartholomew's lips curled up, and his hands quickly formed various hand seals.

As the hand seals were formed, the area surrounded by the twelve giant pillars began to emit a strange golden light, which shot into the sky, seemingly guiding something.

Celestine seemed to realize that things were going badly, and began to frantically attack the light barrier between the giant pillars. The light barrier trembled in waves, but remained as solid as a mountain.

"Accept your judgment!" Bartholomew's hand seals ended quickly, and under the guidance of golden light, a huge hole suddenly opened in the sky. A black chain as thick as a bucket shot out from the hole, like a giant python, sweeping towards Celestine. (To be continued~^~)