“Are we… finally heading home?”

Two starships sailed side-by-side.

The Storm, azure blue, radiated a gentle glow. All starships possessed self-repair capabilities, and the Storm was currently attempting to mend the "narrow gash" that Gu Shen had cleaved open.

Red Dragon stood before the massive glass of the Storm's main control room.

He gazed at the meteorites hurtling past, his expression somewhat dazed.

He had prepared himself for a period of "bitter suffering."

But now… his ordeal had come to an end so abruptly.

Looking at the dark, inky path of their return, Red Dragon felt a surge of emotion and couldn't help but speak.

Beside the Storm was the severed "jet-black starship," only the tip of the ship remaining.

“Have no doubt, we are indeed heading home.”

Gu Shen understood Red Dragon's feelings.

He smiled and said, "Once you've settled things with the Storm, you can enter the Time Dojo to cultivate…"

At this moment, he held a total of six Seeds of Fire in his grasp!

The Pluto Seed, the Hunt Seed, the Molten Iron Seed, the Valley Seed, the Love Seed, and the Storm Seed!

Apart from the Hunt Seed and the Molten Iron Seed, which had yet to find their masters...

Gu Shen had already determined the leaders of the other Seeds…

“How long… will it take to get back?”

Red Dragon asked seriously.

"And how much time do I have left?"

He lowered his head, looking at the Seed of Fire suspended in his palm, feeling incredibly nervous. His previous soul contract with the Storm Throne was only to prevent the second sacrifice of the Gu Wen Hui (Ancient Text Society).

Red Dragon never expected…

Good fortune lies within disaster.

After wandering in the Old World for four years, he had actually become the Storm Seed's chosen one!

All because of the Storm Throne's favor.

He had come into contact with the Seed of Fire early on and controlled the origin of the Tide. With this relationship… Red Dragon's speed in fusing with the unowned Seed was incredibly fast!

Just like how Bai Shu had taken the Fighting Seed from Gu Changzhi back then.

There was a relationship of inheritance between the Seeds of Fire!

The Storm Seed had already confirmed the death of its "master" and would naturally choose the most suitable successor within its "cognitive range." If there was no suitable successor, the Seed would rather fall into slumber. However, compared to the previous master, Red Dragon was younger and his soul was purer.

He tried to fuse with a small strand of the Storm Seed, and the process was incredibly smooth!

Gu Shen took all of this in.

It had to be said… fusing with a Seed of Fire required immense talent.

What Rustbone hadn't been able to accomplish in four years, Red Dragon had done in just a few days. Now, he was already the Storm Seed's recognized candidate.

“Don't worry, the 'God War' after we return won't require your participation.”

Gu Shen said softly, "The real enemies you need to face while fusing with the Seed… aren't Qinglong, nor the Tower of Origin."

“The Supermassive Source Material Storm?”

Red Dragon took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.

“That's right.”

Gu Shen nodded and said, "There are six Seeds of Fire here. If all six Seeds complete their fusion… the quality of our supreme experts might even surpass that of the Starship Era!"

Red Dragon held his breath.

He had heard Gu Shen talk about the events of the Starship Era these past few days.

The Starship Civilization had been committed to allowing every transcendent life to reach its "limit," so they only had four leaders!

Among the four leaders, only one was a Throne who specialized in combat!

It could only be said… the Starship Civilization Era was too "peaceful." That era possessed a complete Gospel Box, but the number of leaders born was pitifully small!

"No matter how fierce the battle is on the Five Continents, once I arrive, the war will definitely come to an end."

Gu Shen smiled and said, "So… for the battle against the Storm, I didn't even wake up my senior sister or teacher who are in secluded cultivation in the Time Dojo."

In Gu Shen's view, there was no need to alarm others for this guaranteed victory!

If Rustbone hadn't given up on comprehending the Hunt Seed and was simply restless and wanted to leave the starship…

Gu Shen wouldn't have even called Rustbone.

He alone was an army of thousands, he alone could end this entire war!

“Heh…”

Gu Shen's answer gave Red Dragon a great deal of confidence.

He silently absorbed the Storm Seed into his palm and asked softly, "Speaking of which… I'm suddenly a little worried about Bai Xiu."

Red Dragon and Bai Xiu had always had a good relationship.

The two maintained close contact.

One of the biggest reasons why Red Dragon was eager to sign the soul contract back then was because of Bai Xiu…

If he were detained in the Ice Sea...

Then the one responsible for rescuing him would most likely be Bai Xiu.

In Red Dragon's heart, Bai Xiu was a true, peerless genius, the kind who could quickly become a Throne if given a Seed of Fire. Such a genius should not be buried.

“There's no need to worry about Little Xiu's safety.”

Gu Shen lowered his eyes and said softly, "He's always doing better than others imagine. Perhaps… he's already found the whereabouts of 'Extinguished Candle'?"

……

……

The wind on the tundra was strong.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night. Luo Yu personally led the team to wait in front of the Sky Sheath Base's apron to welcome them.

The Source Energy Craft roared as it landed.

Under the watchful eyes of dozens of Night Watchers, Gu Nanfeng, who had gone to the Southern Continent to discuss the general offensive, pushed open the heavy door of the Source Energy Craft. However… the "big shot" on this Source Energy Craft wasn't just Gu Nanfeng.

“… Bai Xiu.”

Luo Yu's expression flickered.

Bai Xiu was always mysterious, appearing and disappearing like a dragon. Almost no one in the League knew his movements.

Luo Yu only knew that the family head would be coming to the Sky Sheath Base tonight to inspect it, mostly to "check" the Sky Sheath weapon storage problem.

But he didn't expect Bai Xiu to come along as well.

In terms of strength.

The current Bai Xiu was undoubtedly the "number one person" within the Three Continents League, apart from the Throne Meng Xizhou!

Luo Yu had no doubt that if Bai Xiu were given a Seed of Fire that was compatible with him, he could quickly advance to the Throne position.

If Bai Xiu were given another five years, he would definitely surpass Meng Xizhou and become the true number one expert in the League… but the problem was that there were no ifs.

Of the known Seeds of Fire within the Five Continents' highest council, it seemed that only the Sky Seed was compatible with Bai Xiu.

"Where's Xing Yun?"

Gu Nanfeng and Bai Xiu got off the Source Energy Craft and went straight to the base.

The family head is in such a hurry on this trip… is he going to see Tomb Spirit?

Luo Yu was stunned for a second, then immediately led the way. He waved his hand to signal the Night Watchers not to follow, and then opened the base's secret passage.

He noticed that the family head's expression was very calm.

But in Bai Xiu's eyes, there was a rare hint of "anxiety."

It seemed that the one who really wanted to see Tomb Spirit wasn't the family head.

But… Bai Xiu.

"Because of the complete break with the Deep Sea, we rebuilt a mental network in the Sky Sheath Base."

Luo Yu explained to Bai Xiu, "To ensure that the launch of the Sky Sheath weapons is not affected, this network must be secure enough… Tomb Spirit usually optimizes the 'Storm Equation' in the deepest part of the base. Because of his efforts, the production efficiency of the Sky Sheath weapons in the past five years has doubled, and the single-unit lethality has also significantly increased!"

The base's heavy doors opened layer by layer.

Finally.

Gu Nanfeng pulled Luo Yu and stopped in front of the second-to-last heavy door. He deliberately left a space for Bai Xiu and Tomb Spirit to meet alone.

……

……

"You've come."

"You knew I would come?"

"I… saw it in a dream."

"You're still dreaming?"

The last door of the Sky Sheath Base opened, revealing a spacious but cramped studio. Tomb Spirit, who was squatting on a wooden chair behind a large workbench filled with drawings, turned to look at Bai Xiu.

His hair had not been trimmed and now hung long to the ground. He was wearing a large, faded shirt.

Tomb Spirit was as slovenly as ever, but his eyes were gleaming.

In the past four years.

He had hardly left the Sky Sheath Base.

At first, the Night Watchers were very worried about Mr. Tomb Spirit's physical condition and occasionally offered to take him out for a walk… but later, under Gu Nanfeng's instruction, no one entered this secret room anymore. Without Gu Nanfeng's permission, no one could disturb Tomb Spirit's rest.

This looked like "confinement."

But only Luo Yu knew that it was a kind of "protection."

Some people need sunlight, air, water, and social interaction… to maintain their lives and mental state.

But Tomb Spirit didn't.

Since the Lion Awakening Code was released and the all-out war began, Tomb Spirit had locked himself away. He began to produce a large number of drawings, whether they were the Ancient Text Society's "seal item drawings," "array pattern drawings," or the Sky Sheath project's "equation optimization drawings"... all were included in the scope of his creative output.

These things were extremely valuable assets. The output of all the staff in the underground research institute could not be compared with Tomb Spirit alone.

But Gu Nanfeng was not happy about this.

Because this kind of "explosive" creation had only appeared on one person before.

That was Alan Turing forty years ago!

After completing the transaction with the Deep Sea, Tomb Spirit fulfilled his wish and severed his physical connection with the Traveler's original body… but this was not a good thing!

Because the Deep Sea would not let go of any threatening powerhouse.

Back then, the Traveler chose to escape Pluto's soul curse by means of mental parasitism… so Tomb Spirit's "mental sea" contained a large amount of knowledge.

In the past years.

He worked for the Gu family, for the Flower Flag, and he could understand all the obscure and difficult ancient texts at a glance…

That was the reason.

Those knowledge had been piling up in his mental sea.

But suddenly, these knowledge began to collide, began to squeeze, and finally piled up together, ushering in an explosion!

He had to release these accumulated "knowledge"... His mental sea had become a vortex that could explode at any time, and as long as he "released" it a little slower, this vortex would swallow and destroy his consciousness.

Obviously.

This was the Deep Sea's backup plan.

After obtaining the Traveler's original body, it needed to ensure that Tomb Spirit would die in this world… so it cut off the "fuse" that the Traveler's original body had set up in Tomb Spirit's mental sea, allowing the Traveler's massive knowledge to pour into this weak mortal life's brain.

The Night Watchers who first entered here would prepare some food for Tomb Spirit every day.

Now…

The feeding step could also be omitted.

Tomb Spirit's arm was hooked up to an IV drip, and his life was maintained entirely by intravenous infusion.

Bai Xiu looked at the haggard man in front of him, his expression a little unbearable.

The guy he saw at the end of the Forbidden Book Tower was Tomb Spirit, so after he left Red Lake, he immediately returned to the tundra on Gu Nanfeng's flight.

He wanted to see Tomb Spirit.

He wanted to unravel all the "confusion" in his dream.

But now that he saw Tomb Spirit… a trace of wavering arose in his heart, and he didn't know if the decision he had made was correct.

The Tomb Spirit in the dream he divined in the Forbidden Book Tower, although thin, had an extremely powerful aura.

Two huge wings stretched out from behind his seemingly thin body.

His eyes were also extremely sharp!

“Dreaming… ha… dreaming is a good thing, isn't it?”

Tomb Spirit stretched out two fingers and gently tapped the back of his palm. He said with a smile, "You can understand me as a computer, sleeping is 'forced hibernation.' Without 'forced hibernation,' I estimate my head would already be burnt out."

“So… you saw me in a dream?”

Bai Xiu cut straight to the chase.

“Yes. I was standing under the Sky Sheath, and you were standing behind me.”

Tomb Spirit said softly, "We looked together at that towering stone sword."

“And then?”

Bai Xiu hadn't been so nervous in a long time.

What he was waiting for was Extinguished Candle's outcome.

Tomb Spirit smiled and said, "We looked at that stone sword together for a long, long time. Then you reached out to touch the stone sword, and I stopped you… you should also know, that kind of thing can't be touched casually. Once you touch it, you might lose all your abilities."

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "My dream only goes that far. I don't know what happened after that."

“……”

Bai Xiu frowned. Tomb Spirit's dream was longer than what he had seen in the Forbidden Book Tower!

Although it was only a little longer.

But that little bit also revealed something very, very important.

"After the dream ended, I felt… my fatigue was much less."

Tomb Spirit said faintly, "I have a premonition that this dream will happen soon, and you will come soon."

The newest drawing in front of him was blank.

This situation had never happened in four years… because the "inspiration" in his mind had never been exhausted.

“So, I chose to space out here and wait for you.”

Tomb Spirit supported his chin and smiled weakly. "It's really nice not having to draw blueprints… Speaking of which, I'm a little hungry. I want to go out for a walk."

He raised his head and spoke to the top of the secret room.

To ensure Tomb Spirit's safety, a camera was installed above the secret room, and his every word and action would be watched by the Night Watchers.

For others, this was a kind of "surveillance."

But Tomb Spirit didn't care.

His life didn't need secrets, but rather this airtight "protection."

After the negotiations with the Deep Sea ended, he had always been worried that the super AI sitting in the Central Continent knew he was still alive and would try his best to use the existence of the Traveler's body to remotely connect to his mind, so as to erase him.

“Rumble.”

In the muffled roar.

The heavy door slowly opened.

“What about you, do you want to go for a walk with me?”

Tomb Spirit looked at Bai Xiu and smiled, "Eat something, and take a look at the Sky Sheath while we're at it?"

(End of chapter)