Shan-xiansheng left the cemetery.

Gu Shendu sat on the small hill, the alloy box in front of him open, several drawings stored inside floating out.

The psychic power of Chihuo permeated the drawings.

These drawings, arranged in a floating array in front of Gu Shen, were flipped through one by one with a light swipe of his finger—

"The text recorded on these drawings... is all ancient writing."

Behind Gu Shendu, Chu Ling frowned slightly.

The array patterns in Qingzhong Cemetery were also ancient writing!

However... ancient writing possessed the characteristic of being "unrecordable" and "unprintable," requiring a great deal of effort and hard work to understand it.

It could be understood that ancient writing was a kind of "special spirit" that could only be comprehended but not conveyed through words.

No one knew the extent of these "special spirits."

So... even learning the ancient writing within the Qingzhong drawings would not help in comprehending the drawings before them.

Chu Ling tried to deduce it through calculation...

However, she failed.

There were very few things in this world that [Deep Sea] could not calculate, and ancient writing happened to be one of them.

After exiting the deduction, Chu Ling found that Gu Shen had fallen into a seated state of contemplation.

It was an extremely still mental state.

Chihuo flickered erratically.

Did he... see something?

She silently retreated, giving Gu Shen and Chihuo a place of serenity.

Gu Shen stared intently at the drawings, trying to see something.

He didn't recognize the ancient writing on these drawings.

But... strangely, Chihuo resonated after coming into contact with the paper?

Was it because of the "Plutonian Fire Seed"?

The drawings that were quietly floating in front of him, the characters on them, like tadpoles, began to swim... Gu Shen's pupils contracted slightly, and he seemed to see a vortex.

Within this vortex, there was an irresistible attraction.

Little by little, Chihuo swept towards the vortex.

…

…

Chu Ling narrowed her eyes.

She retreated into the distance, intending not to disturb Gu Shen's comprehension and meditation, but... an accident happened.

There was no wind in the cemetery.

Gu Shen's seated posture was like a stone sculpture.

But she saw that the shadow behind Gu Shen was shaking like a flame.

This was an extremely strange phenomenon. The shadow initially trembled with very slight movements, and then gradually became violent, like a candle flame blown by a strong wind, likely to be extinguished at any time. Between the fluttering of his clothes, the black shadow collapsed and spread like a flood, surrounding Gu Shen!

A suffocating sense of oppression and gloominess also overflowed.

"Gu Shen!"

At this moment, Chu Ling directly opened her mouth with a mental voice, triggering the mental link between the two!

She was very sure that she had not seen wrongly.

The shadow behind Gu Shen moved!

This was the occurrence of the legendary ominousness!

Deep Sea had once spent a huge amount of computing power to deduce what the ominousness was in the mouths of the practitioners of North Continent, and the final result was... the ominousness was a prelude to losing control. As expected, this strand of mental voice was extremely difficult to transmit, and the mental link between the two seemed to be blown by a strong wind.

Chu Ling didn't even know if this strand of mental voice had been transmitted.

The next moment.

Those shadows, surging like a flood, instantly churned up.

…

…

Gu Shen's mind was entirely attracted to the drawings.

His original intention was to comprehend them.

But unconsciously, it turned into sitting in a daze. When he came back to his senses, he found that where he was, was not the top of Inner Tomb Mountain, and there was no Chu Ling behind him. Above, below, and all around, it was a long darkness.

This was a mental space.

And the drawings had turned into huge black holes, as if to swallow him!

A very faint calling sound came from within the heart lake.

"Gu Shen..."

Although the voice was small, Gu Shen recognized it in an instant.

It was Chu Ling's voice!

He narrowed his eyes, pressed his hands on his knees, held his breath, and after hearing the faint calling sound in his heart lake, he roughly guessed what had happened.

"As expected of the Plutonian object..."

Gu Shen coldly said, "If it were someone else, they might have the life to take it, but not the life to use it."

His own psychic power had become unstable.

At this moment, he should be plagued by ominousness.

Now that he thought about it, Shan-xiansheng hurriedly returned the object like a hot potato, probably for another reason. Apart from Pluto, this thing simply could not be researched. Whoever researched it would encounter ominousness.

"Dream, break!"

Gu Shen brushed his brow with two fingers.

Chihuo roared out.

From the moment he realized that this was a dream, breaking the dream was just a matter of raising his hand... A long strand of fire swept across the center of several huge black holes, directly tearing the entire world to pieces.

He returned to conscious clarity.

And those boiling shadows... also suddenly returned to their original positions, and in just a moment, they returned to their original calm appearance from their original ferocious appearance.

Chu Ling, who was originally anxiously preparing to directly awaken Gu Shen, was stunned in place when she saw this scene.

She stared at Gu Shen's shadow, her expression complex.

Gu Shen turned his head slightly, caught a glimpse of Chu Ling's gaze, and asked softly, "Did the shadow move?"

"...Yes."

Chu Ling nodded slowly.

Gu Shen fell into contemplation.

The anomaly of the shadow had appeared more than once... He had also noticed something was wrong when he left the Gu Clan Ancestral Hall earlier.

At first, Gu Shen thought it was just a coincidence.

But now it seemed... it was definitely not the case.

Elder Gu had said that Pluto had a close connection with "ominousness," so the reason why he was plagued by ominousness... might be related to that fire seed?

Gu Shen looked not far away, at the "Fire Eye" hidden among the giant statue remains.

After being suppressed by Bai Shuzhen.

The aura that the Plutonian Fire Seed could emit was only an extremely small wisp, and it couldn't even be transmitted out of Inner Tomb.

"Is this giving me the misfortune and leaving the blessing to himself?"

Gu Shen murmured to the fire seed.

He turned his hand and put away the drawings.

"It seems that these drawings are not good things..."

Gu Shen stood up and said, "I'm going to the Gu Clan Ancestral Hall again."

This ominousness did not have much impact on him at the moment.

But in the future... it might very likely brew into a huge disaster.

The painting of a hundred ghosts traveling at night behind Gu Qilin was already creepy enough. What would it be like if it was replaced by Pluto?

Chu Ling's expression was solemn.

She was the one who stood with Gu Shen in the dream of the cage of vengeful spirits.

That scene was like the eighteenth level of hell.

Even if it was just a dream, it was frightening.

If one day it really became reality...

Chu Ling didn't dare to think about it.

…

…

"Little Mr. Gu."

The ancestral hall was extraordinarily lively today.

Gu Shen had just arrived at the long lane when many people greeted and saluted him.

He was a little surprised. The Gu Clan Ancestral Hall had always been quiet. Now was not a special day. According to reason, only the Elder should be cultivating quietly. As for the few talented members of the Gu family who had the leisure to offer their condolences, they all couldn't enter the Elder's eyes. If they dared to come, they would most likely be ridiculed and then kicked out.

Therefore, there shouldn't be so many people.

But as soon as he walked to the courtyard gate, Gu Shen understood.

Several elders were gathered in front of the ancestral hall gate, each with a bitter expression on their faces, whispering to each other.

"Alas... tell me, how could it have become like this for no reason?"

"This 'Sacred Tree' has been evergreen for a hundred years, thriving in all seasons. How could it have started to wither overnight?"

"Could it be... that it has encountered ominousness?"

Gu Shen stopped in front of the ancestral hall gate. He raised his head and looked at the banyan tree.

["Did you see that old tree that is a hundred years old? It guards the entrance of the ancestral hall, evergreen in all seasons, and can resist all ominousness."]

The Elder's words last night were still fresh in his memory.

He was silent.

The foot he had just raised, ready to step into the ancestral hall, also hesitated slightly.

"Little Gu!"

An elder came from outside the door, caught a glimpse of Gu Shen's back, and quickly stepped forward, warmly putting his arm around Gu Shen as he entered the courtyard. "It's really a coincidence, the Elder was just mentioning your name..."

Gu Shen's expression was complicated. He looked at the banyan tree at the entrance of the courtyard and asked, "What's wrong with this tree?"

The elder sighed and shook his head, saying, "Perhaps the wind was strong last night? When I woke up this morning, I found a pile of broken leaves in the courtyard... This matter is really unlucky, so it has attracted the attention of the Council of Elders. You may not know, this old tree has a hundred years of history, protecting the Feng Shui of the ancestral hall. It is said that it can resist ominousness. A night of falling leaves may mean it has encountered something unclean."

"Strong wind?"

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes and looked at the half-fallen canopy. The lush green banyan tree had become nearly bald overnight.

The fallen leaves all over the courtyard would probably take a lot of effort to simply sweep up.

This was probably not something that could be explained by... strong wind.

There should be only one explanation left.

Gu Shen followed the elder and proceeded all the way to a pavilion in the ancestral hall.

Elder Gu was sunbathing in front of the open space in the pavilion.

After the irrelevant people dispersed.

Only Gu Shen and the Elder were left in the open space in the pavilion.

"You're here quite early."

Gu Qilin was sitting in a wheelchair, the pavilion facing a small lake. He was fishing by the lake, enjoying himself, and waved to Gu Shen to sit down.

Gu Shen shook his head.

"I won't sit."

He went straight to the point and said, "Elder, you saw it too... The banyan tree at the door lost all its leaves overnight."

"Yes."

Gu Qilin looked indifferent and said faintly, "Birth, old age, sickness, and death are the same for people and trees. The old tree that lost all its leaves at the door reminds me of an old friend, but his hair has been almost gone for a long time... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to satirize your teacher, but his reputation in Nagano has never been good."

He was deliberately changing the subject.

Gu Shen sighed softly and said, "You know that the banyan tree encountered something unclean..."

Such an obvious thing.

How could Elder Gu not know?

He was in charge of the Gu family, paying attention to everything big and small. Last night, only Gu Shen had entered and exited this ancestral hall, and overnight, the banyan tree shed its leaves... Naturally, there was only one possibility.

"If there are no accidents, I should be the unclean thing."

Gu Shen said bluntly, "So I won't sit... Lest you also..."

"Stop, stop."

Elder Gu quickly raised his hand, signaling Gu Shen not to say any more, and said helplessly, "You brat, can you say something auspicious? I still want to live a few more years!"

Gu Shen immediately stopped talking knowingly.

He stood there, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "The situation is probably like this. Actually, after leaving the ancestral hall last night... I encountered ominousness."

Speaking of which.

He paused slightly, stretched out two fingers, and twisted them.

He gestured a very small gap.

"Although there was no damage, the ominous feeling in my heart is getting bigger and bigger."

Previously, in the Tundra Zone, after destroying the Twilight Church's base and looting the nameless ancient tomb, Gu Shen encountered the rumored "ominousness" for the first time.

In the year since then.

The previous wisp of ominousness had not shown its head, perhaps because the observer's state of mind was too strong and impeccable.

But this time, after the cemetery, ominousness appeared again!

"I'm worried... that 'ominousness' will get bigger and bigger, and eventually become uncontrollable."

Gu Shen looked at the Elder, his expression sincere, and said, "So, I want to ask you for advice. Is there any way to suppress ominousness?"

Elder Gu put down the fishing rod.

He was wearing sunglasses, bowed his head slightly, and looked at Gu Shen through the gap in the sunglasses.

Once again, he patted the armrest of the chair next to him, signaling Gu Shen to sit over.

This time, Gu Shen sighed. He did not refuse.

Judging from the situation, if he didn't sit over, the Elder wouldn't speak.

He sat on the chair.

"The human heart is like a mirror, with two sides, one is good and the other is evil. Just like the human world, there is always day and night, daylight is light, and night is darkness." Gu Qilin stretched out a palm, slowly turning it over, and said calmly, "You ask me how to suppress ominousness... This question is like, how to erase the night?"

"The night... cannot be erased."

The Elder said calmly, "You have evil in your heart, so there will definitely be ominousness. Everyone has the risk of losing control, but the risk of transcendents is even greater."

"However... the more powerful a person is, the greater the evil in their heart will be."

"These evil thoughts are very cunning, and will wait for the host to be weak, critically ill, and about to die, to carry out the final backlash and win this 'war'."

Gu Qilin turned his head to look at Gu Shen. He held a fishing rod in one hand, and the taut end of the fishing rod trembled violently, as if a big fish had been hooked and was struggling violently.

On the distant lake, there were intense ripples.

Elder Gu held a cigar in one hand and gently held the fishing rod in the other. The fishing rod was almost bent to its limit and could break at any time, but he just casually maintained this reclining posture, as if he was not exerting any force and was not worried that the big fish would escape.

"So... this is a contest of strength. To win, you must not only be strong, but also be calm."

"The Gu family's ancestral motto is, as long as the ominousness dares to surface, hit it hard!"

The Elder said word by word, "Evil thoughts, bad omens, loss of control... These are just seemingly terrible. They only have one chance. Once they show their heads, we will hit them hard, suppress them! Beat them until they collapse, beat them until they dissolve, beat them until they compromise, are subdued, and then... use them for our own purposes!"

At this moment.

The field of Immeasurable Balance poured out again.

Accompanied by it, there were also the faint sounds of ghosts吟, emerging from behind the Elder.

The hundred ghosts that were originally peaceful were now reactivated.

Gu Shen felt a strong sense of gloomy unease...

But the next moment—

With a "bang!"

The fishing rod was raised, and a big fish flew out of the lake and fell into the fishing bucket.

Elder Gu, whose injuries had not yet healed, did not look back, and slammed the fishing rod fiercely into the hundred ghosts traveling at night mural in the field of Immeasurable Balance. Those evil thoughts that wanted to backlash while he was critically ill were in the process of climbing out of the mural and were head-on attacked without warning.

Golden light, silver light, and various other radiant lights emanated from Elder Gu's body.

That was the Sealed Artifact... Dimly, Gu Shen sensed an extremely familiar spirit, which seemed to be the residual spirit of Gu Changzhi. Elder Gu's open shirt revealed a corner of the letter!

The most terrifying spiritual power came from this letter!

These radiant lights were integrated and turned into a strike.

This strike fell into the field of Immeasurable Balance and was extremely fierce. The ghost shadow stretching out from the mural was directly shattered!

There was a wail, followed by a miserable sob.

The mural returned to calm.

"See? If you don't submit, hit it."

Gu Qilin said faintly, "Out-of-control psychic power... is also psychic power. As long as you are strong enough, suppress all the ominousness!"

…

…

(ps: I had a very happy birthday today, thank you for your blessings. I will update one chapter tonight, and will resume updating 10,000 words tomorrow~)