Chapter 147: Whitewashing, Impossible

Gu Sha still leaned toward the idea that he might actually possess a Sacred Body.

After all, his temporal ability felt far too overpowered. According to Huling's description of spiritual bodies, it was hardly possible to reach such a tier. Moreover, it was not as if he had never encountered other time-ability users before; their powers had all been exceptionally singular and basic.

Still, nothing could be confirmed just yet. He would simply have to find an opportunity to test it out.

For now, however, at least his inner confusion had been resolved.

Immediately afterward, Gu Sha looked at Huling and asked, "Be honest, what exactly are you higher-realm entities plotting against Earth?"

Huling chuckled softly and replied, "That question is meaningless. If you ask me, I can only say we descended from the upper realm to help Earth's humanity. Of course, you certainly won't believe that, but... you can probably guess the real reason yourself. Originally, Earth belonged to a rather powerful stellar region within the universe; it simply suffered some accident during the ancient eras that led to its rapid decline. Now that it has revived, countless fortunes are bound to emerge. Even to the many beings of our upper realm, this holds an immense temptation. Therefore, helping humanity is just a side benefit; pursuing those opportunities is the primary goal."

Gu Sha stood up and left.

As soon as he stepped outside the prison, he spotted Feilong, along with two creatures possessing human bodies and beast heads. One was a bear with a robust physique and a furry, slightly goofy-looking head. The other was a rhinoceros, similarly heavily built, with a single rhino horn protruding from its head.

These two fellows were none other than Tianxiong and Heixi, who had recently broken through to become Battle Sovereigns.

"Boss."

"Boss, I've taken human form!"

Gu Sha asked, "Can't you fully transform into human shapes?"

Heixi touched the horn on his head and said with great pride, "Why completely transform into a human? Look how handsome this horn of mine is! Once I walk around in the future, won't I charm a whole bunch of pretty lasses?"

"That's right," Tianxiong chimed in, "Boss, look at this hair full of wisdom. Isn't it handsome beyond measure? There's no way I'm fully transforming into a human!"

Gu Sha: "..."

No wonder the female demons in *Journey to the West* were always beauties, while the male demons looked so bizarre...

Gu Sha had no desire to discuss aesthetics with those two simpletons. After all, they belonged to entirely different species, making a unified aesthetic standard impossible. For all he knew, in the eyes of those two beasts, he was just a bizarrely ugly human.

"Boss," the Fox King said, trailing right behind Gu Sha, "when I transform in the future, I will definitely take on a complete human form—a great human beauty."

Gu Sha glanced at the Fox King, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Are you female?"

The Fox King swished the nine long white tails behind her and said, "Yes, Boss, I'm a girl!"

Gu Sha: "Um... then you don't need to fully transform. Just keep the tails!"

Fox King: "??"

Right after that, Gu Sha looked at Feilong and asked, "Didn't you say you had something important to discuss with me?"

"Yes," Feilong said hastily. "Boss, something has been off with the four major factions in northern Long region over the past few days. Elder Qin, the former number one cabinet elder of our Long continent—well, he specifically called to warn us that those four factions might be trying to kill you with kindness!"

"What's the specific situation?" Gu Sha inquired.

Feilong explained, "You've been in seclusion these past few days and haven't checked the internet, so you probably don't know. Shortly after that Battle Sovereign from the Lin family livestreamed a frantic campaign to clear your name, the four major factions in northern Long region suddenly and publicly caved online.

"Not only did they publicly acknowledge the legitimacy of our Taihang Mountains, but they also issued all sorts of public apologies. Even the heads of the four factions personally held a conference, bowing in apology to the entire world, claiming that they had been overly selfish and thus previously smeared a hero like you in various ways, while also promising compensation.

"They didn't just talk a big game either. They've scheduled to deliver a massive amount of resources to the Taihang Mountains as ransom and compensation in two days."

Gu Sha's brows furrowed deeply.

Feilong continued, "Right now, the public commentary praising you online has been blown completely out of proportion—absurdly high. I always feel like someone is guiding the narrative. They've practically deified you, elevating you to the point where you aren't just the hope of Earth, but the survival of the entire starry universe rests entirely upon your shoulders!"

Gu Sha narrowed his eyes slightly, took the phone from Feilong, and logged onto the global forum to take a look.

Previously, the entire internet had been stepping on him and dragging his name through the mud. But now, not a single post bashing him could be found; it was a uniform chorus of exaggerated flattery and praise. It was as if, overnight, he truly had become the savior of the universe.

"What good does clearing my name do for them?" Gu Sha said in a deep voice.

Feilong shook his head. "Uncertain, but they definitely don't harbor any good intentions. Their sudden change of face is far too suspicious."

Gu Sha sneered coldly, waved his hand, and said, "It doesn't matter. Since they want to deliver resources to us, we'll accept every last bit of it. Heh, clearing my name? Never gonna happen!"

After chatting briefly with Feilong, Gu Sha returned to his palace.

Without delay, he activated his future-prediction ability. He really wanted to see what those four major factions were actually plotting!

...

In the vision of the future:

The four major factions indeed put on a posture of deep repentance, delivering vast amounts of resources as ransom and compensation.

Following that, everything appeared completely normal. They not only publicly recognized the legitimacy of the Taihang Mountains, but also established exchanges with it, helped the Taihang Mountains build infrastructure, and delivered numerous cultivation secret manuals—completely putting on an act of being conquered by Gu Sha's personal charisma.

The Taihang Mountains flourished with vitality. Meanwhile, Gu Sha's reputation grew day by day, lifted to an incomparably lofty height as countless human powerhouses of Earth swarmed over to pledge their allegiance.

Three months passed just like this.

Then, the top-tier grotto-heaven of the Long continent—the Kunlun Mountains Grotto-Heaven—opened.

This Kunlun Mountains Grotto-Heaven had been closely watched for a long time, yet it had consistently failed to manifest. It had always been proclaimed by all parties as one of the ten top-tier grotto-heavens in the world. Overnight, the opening of the Kunlun Mountains Grotto-Heaven became a top global event. All factions were urgently fortifying their defenses against the Tianyuan Realm, knowing full well that the Tianyuan Realm would never let go of such an opportunity and would surely come to seize it. For a time, everyone was on edge, hearing the wind and crying cranes at every rust of grass.

Yet, precisely at that moment, a breach inexplicably appeared in the Taihang Mountains, allowing the Dark Tribe army of the Tianyuan Realm to march straight through unopposed.

The world was in uproar!

Overwhelming news regarding "Gu Sha's betrayal and surrender to the enemy" suddenly flooded the internet.

The four major factions in northern Long region expressed all sorts of "disbelief" over Gu Sha's betrayal, repeatedly shouting out and urging Gu Sha to come out and respond.

However, Gu Sha offered no response for a long time.

Instead, the response came from the Tianyuan Realm itself, which publicly announced that Gu Sha had been enfeoffed as a city lord and would soon marry the goddess of their clan!

Many people on the internet refused to believe it. Yet, Gu Sha still failed to come out with any denial.

Meanwhile, countless humans perished in the ensuing wars. Those higher-realm entities fought wave after wave to defend humanity, while more and more ironclad proofs of Gu Sha's betrayal gradually surfaced.

Faith shattered.

Humanity's god, humanity's hope, was gone!

Yet, what nobody knew was that the true reality of the situation was entirely different.

The Tianyuan Realm's invasion of the Taihang Mountains had not been orchestrated by Gu Sha at all. Rather, during those few months of development, the four major factions had planted undercover agents within the Taihang Mountains, secretly constructing a teleportation station that quietly smuggled in a massive horde of the Tianyuan Realm's Dark Tribe.

And when the Tianyuan Realm launched its full-scale invasion, Gu Sha had been ambushed and surrounded by several higher-realm domain lords, hunted down with no road to heaven and no door to earth, until he finally had no choice but to flee into the territory of the Dark Tribe—which subsequently became the damning evidence used to frame him as a traitor.

As for why he never responded: his global tier-one account had been directly banned straight away.

How on earth could he have responded?