Some people, the longer they live, the more lightly they take worldly affairs.

They come into the world empty-handed, and they leave this life empty-handed.

But for some people, the opposite is true.

After being blinded by desire and greed... the longer they live, the more they possess, the more unwilling they are to let go of those hands, even though they know they can't take anything with them in the end.

Li Changsheng, the Grand Elder of the Li Clan, was such a person, unable to "see through" things.

He originally enjoyed everything in this world.

Status, position, respect, wealth, power, cultivation realm.

No one in the entire Snow禁城 (Snow Forbidden City) was older than him... No one could have imagined that an old man who had watched a hundred years of flowers bloom and fall would personally launch a subversive plan involving the entire Li Clan.

In the last pavilion of the Zongtang (ancestral hall), the Grand Elder used the divine power of the Wine God Seat to "return to his peak" and engaged in a mental battle with Gao Tian. It was a long and agonizing war, which ultimately ended with Gao Tian's pyrrhic victory.

Or rather... it ended with the Wine God Seat withdrawing its divine power.

"I can't understand it."

Chu Ling stood shoulder to shoulder with Gu Shen outside the wooden door of the Zongtang, watching the slowly collapsing pavilion, and asked in confusion, "At his age, is he still obsessed with the power of the Li Clan?"

The last pavilion collapsed.

The old man's ashes were blown away by the wind, crumbling along with this dilapidated "relic."

"Perhaps... it's because of fear."

Gu Shen said, "The longer you live, the less you want to die. Before leaving, you always want to grasp something."

Gu Nanfeng stretched out a hand and grabbed a handful of ash.

His expression was a little complicated.

He opened his palm.

Lan Qie controlled the flowing wind, blowing away the dust and sand in his palm little by little... Gu Nanfeng didn't know whether the "dust particles" falling on his palm at this moment were the old man's ashes or the flying debris from the collapsed pavilion.

"When I was young, I met this Grand Elder. He was very kind to people at that time. Although he was old and had difficulty moving, he exuded a comfortable twilight aura. That meeting made me feel very comfortable, so I have always thought of him as a very, very good old man. Even now, this impression still remains and has not changed."

Gu Nanfeng said softly, "It's just that no wind in this world is unchanging. Time changes a person... Perhaps he was senile, or perhaps he was deceived by the Wine God Seat. No matter the reason, he destroyed himself with his own hands."

Everything he had desperately wanted to hold on to.

Had all vanished like smoke.

The Li Clan would nail this sinner to the pillar of shame.

"The Zongtang of the Five Great Families have always been well protected." He looked at Gu Shen and said, "Except for the Mu Clan... Several walls of the Mu Clan's Zongtang's long street were damaged, but that's just a minor problem. In comparison..."

His voice stopped abruptly.

The Li Clan's Zongtang had been completely burned down, which was an irreparable loss.

"Is this a very serious matter?"

Chu Ling looked at the collapsed wooden house and asked Gu Shen in a low voice, "Rebuilding such a wooden house should only take a month, or even less. The hanging plaques can be rewritten, the trees can be replanted, and every object here can be replicated based on the images captured by [Wind Eyes]."

Gu Shen looked at the burned Zongtang and said softly, "The ancestral hall can be rebuilt, and the ancient trees can be replanted, but these are all brand-new objects. I think the long history of six hundred years beneath this ancestral hall is the most valuable asset."

Chu Ling seemed to understand something.

She nodded and suddenly asked seriously, "So... the body is more important than the soul, right?"

Gu Shen was stunned.

He keenly caught the meaning of Chu Ling's question.

The Prayer Technique had reshaped her body.

But her soul had never changed.

"It's not quite the same."

Gu Shen smiled and said slowly, "To me, your soul is more valuable than any body in the world."

This was a heartfelt answer.

Chu Ling looked at him blankly and said, "Why are you suddenly so mushy?"

"..."

Gu Shen was silent, thinking that he might have overestimated the [Source Code]'s thinking ability in terms of human relationships.

"I was just thinking that the so-called long history of the Li Clan's Zongtang may not be that precious." Chu Ling smiled, "Six hundred years is just a tiny wave in the vast river of time."

Gu Shen began to think seriously.

That's right.

Standing in this long river, everyone is just a fleeting "moment," so... six years and six hundred years are both waves destined to break.

Gu Nanfeng crossed his arms and frowned, revealing a thoughtful expression.

He looked at Miss Chu Ling with a faint astonishment... As expected of a unique person who inherited the mantle of Master Chino, her perspective on things was indeed a bit peculiar.

Chu Ling looked at Gu Nanfeng again and comforted him, "From the perspective of overlooking the long river of history, the Zongtang of the Five Great Families will eventually decay and wither. The Gu Clan will also face decline."

These ordinary words of "comfort" startled Gu Nanfeng.

He quickly clasped his fist and bowed, asking solemnly, "Did Miss Chu Ling see this through the use of 'Divination'?"

Chu Ling was taken aback.

Gu Shen quickly pressed Gu Nanfeng's shoulder, signaling him not to be nervous, and said with an awkward smile, "Brother Nanfeng... that's something that will happen a very, very long time from now."

...

...

Gao Tian's injuries were not serious.

The battle with the Grand Elder could be considered a contest of strength.

The wisp of divine power from the Wine God Seat gave the Grand Elder an opportunity for a "final burst of glory," a miracle of "returning to his peak."

But in reality, even the Grand Elder in his peak state could not directly kill Gao Tian. He could only imprison him and slowly erode him mentally in this cage...

It was difficult to say who was being tormented in the later stages of this war.

The scales of victory had already begun to tilt towards Gao Tian.

Even if the Wine God Seat had not withdrawn its divine power... it should have ended with Gao Tian defeating the Grand Elder, but he would have had to pay a heavy price.

As one of the top three "mental power" users in Changye City, Uncle Gao would not be able to use his full strength for at least half a year. His mental domain had shrunk significantly, but fortunately, these were things that could be restored.

Moreover, the Li Clan was no longer in so much turmoil that it needed Gao Tian to step in to handle things.

This rebellion was originally a major event that could have shocked the entire Changye City.

However, in this Qing冢 (Qing Tomb) Cemetery incident that swept across Dongzhong, it seemed less conspicuous. The Five Great Families had all suffered impacts to varying degrees, with the Gu Family suffering the most.

After confirming that Gao Tian was unharmed.

The little girl Li Qingsui took Uncle Gao and a group of people to the 神祠山 (Shen Ci Mountain), where a group of "criminals" who had hunted her and her sister were being held.

The road to Shen Ci Mountain.

Was very quiet.

This time, Uncle Gao was not driving. Instead, he sat in the passenger seat, resting with his eyes closed.

He suddenly asked, "Miss, how are you going to deal with these people?"

Li Qingsui was silent for a moment.

In fact, she had already thought of a way to deal with them before setting off for the cemetery... If she was defeated, these people could become bargaining chips, at least to exchange for her sister's freedom.

If she won, it would be like this.

"Cut them all down."

Li Qingsui gently uttered these three words, seemingly casually, but her killing intent was chilling.

Gu Shen's hair stood on end when he heard this.

Based on his understanding of this little girl...

This was likely her true thought.

In fact, this idea was not excessive. Every transcendent who came to Shen Ci Mountain was like a sword hanging overhead. If Chu Ling had not appeared, then the two sisters Li Qingsui and Li Qingci would have lost all their power and freedom.

Punishing rebels was naturally a matter of course!

However, now that the Li Clan had experienced a huge impact, if all these "old men" of the Elder Council were eliminated, then the Li Clan would fall into an unprecedented period of weakness.

"Then... we can't let them leave Shen Ci Mountain." After hearing this, Uncle Gao's expression did not change at all. He said lightly, "It would be very troublesome if they were released. If we handled them according to the procedures of the Federal Law, their crimes would not be punishable by death."

The meaning of this sentence seemed to be that Uncle Gao would take action and kill all these people in Shen Ci Mountain.

But listening more carefully.

It was actually a subtle hint.

Li Quhu had said before his death that he hoped Li Qingsui could be kind, but not too kind.

Decisive action was needed, with sweeping measures.

But... it was too cruel.

"I don't want to leave any future troubles..."

Li Qingsui, of course, understood Uncle Gao's meaning. She lowered her eyes and said softly, "They didn't consider the Federal Law when they wanted to kill me."

She took a deep breath.

Li Qingsui raised her head, looked at Uncle Gao, and asked in confusion, "If it were Father... what would he do?"

"Kill half, keep half."

Gao Tian said softly, "Crimes have degrees of severity, and punishments should be meted out accordingly. In this rebellion, there is a group of masterminds who must be executed, and those with lighter crimes can be spared. But this half is not to be let off completely. After the Li Clan's blood is changed, we will slowly investigate."

"Don't worry about the Li Clan's difficulties."

Gu Nanfeng said softly, "I have already spoken with Hua Zhi... During this period, the Madame from the capital will provide assistance to the Five Great Families."

...

...

Scattered trivial matters were dealt with one by one.

The injured from the cemetery were successively sent to treatment points.

The area around Qing冢 was cordoned off with long security belts by the Safety Committee, and sealed again with domain-type sealed items, leaving only one entrance and exit, guarded by a large number of transcendents.

Currently, the cemetery was broken, and there were still Source Power turbulences surging around.

The most important array patterns were still in the reconstruction phase.

But this time... there was no need to secretly repair them. A large number of array pattern materials were being transferred from the Eastern Continent Federation to Changye. It wouldn't be long before the broken array patterns could be restored.

At the entrance of the cemetery.

"Mr. Gu! Miss Chu!"

The person in charge of the guard duty was Du Wei, an old acquaintance from the Safety Committee.

As a capable subordinate of Zhou Wei, Du Wei did not directly participate in the rescue operation of this cemetery incident, but he was credited with great achievements for his outstanding completion of the scheduling work. He saw Gu Shen and took the initiative to come forward to greet him.

"Mr. Du..."

Gu Shen smiled and shook hands with Du Wei.

At the beginning of the Golden Door's birth, he was still trapped in the building. Because of the brawl on the long street, he was detained by the Committee. Although there was Old Master Zhou Wei's order, Du Wei had secretly helped him a lot, and he still remembered it.

The Chi Huo, which was good at capturing emotions, flickered faintly.

He sensed Du Wei's surging emotions at this moment, so he smiled and said, "Congratulations, you should be getting promoted soon."

Du Wei's expression froze, and he couldn't help but curl his lips. Then, he coughed and suppressed his smile, saying cautiously, "Don't say that... someone is watching."

Behind Du Wei, there were several other transcendents guarding the entrance of the cemetery. They were all excited, but due to their positions and status, they could only watch from afar.

This change in the cemetery could be said to be the biggest disaster that Changye had encountered in nearly a hundred years.

Mr. Gu Shen had saved many lives with his own strength.

The transcendents of the Three Schools and Five Great Families had all benefited from this "blessing" and spread the deeds in the Great Cold Disaster Realm by word of mouth after leaving the cemetery.

"Little Gu, now... you are a hero of Changye."

Du Wei took a deep breath and said with a smile, "It's very difficult for many people to meet you. Now that I can shake hands and talk with Little Gu in front of my colleagues, I feel honored and proud."

Gu Shen also smiled.

But in fact, he was quite emotional in his heart... Not long ago, he was still living in seclusion in the Changye city streets, cultivating diligently as a bystander.

It was just that a sudden storm had blown him to the top of the secular tide in just one night.

He had arrived at this position.

It was fate.

So he didn't hypocritically offer some polite words, saying things like "I was just lucky," but sincerely said, "Brother Du, there's no need to be polite. No matter what, you and I are friends, it was like this before tonight, and it will be like this after tonight."

Du Wei was stunned.

He put his hands together and said sincerely, word by word, "Little Gu, Du sincerely wishes you all the best in the future."

Gu Shen smiled again.

He took out something from his arms and said softly, "Please return this item to Old Master Zhou Wei... This is the sealed item that Old Zhou gave me before entering the cemetery. Now that I've safely left the cemetery, it's time to return it."

It was a wolf毫 (hao) brush, wrapped in specially made Xuan paper.

A communication-type sealed item, [Ten Million Miles].

This was a precious A-grade sealed item... Du Wei's heart trembled, and he quickly took it with both hands.

"Also... I want to enter the cemetery now, is there any problem?"

Gu Shen raised his head and looked at the entrance of the cemetery.

"Of course, there's no problem," Du Wei said with a smile.

The Qing冢 (Qing Tomb) Cemetery was originally the residence of Master Chino.

Gu Shen and Chu Ling were disciples of Master Chino.

If others entered the cemetery, the Safety Committee would have to consider it carefully, but Gu Shen and Chu Ling... The Safety Committee's transcendents would naturally not stop them.

...

...

Inside the cemetery, it was desolate and dilapidated.

Looking at the broken array patterns, Gu Shen's expression was a little黯然 (an ran - gloomy/sad).

Of course, he wasn't feeling sorry for the array patterns that had been damaged in the divine battle.

But from the moment he stepped into the cemetery, he couldn't help but think of the person when he saw the objects.

Seeing these array patterns, Gu Shen remembered Master Chino, who had taught him the art of array patterns.

The deceased had passed away.

His entry into the cemetery this time was to retrieve the three letters left by Mr. Gu Changzhi.

The fog in the inner cemetery had dissipated by seventy or eighty percent.

The mysterious veil that originally shrouded the small mountain had been blown away by the cold wind, no longer as it once was.

As for the several undulating mountain ranges, some of them had been destroyed in the divine battle...

Stepping into the inner cemetery, there was no four-season wilderness, nor was there a woman with a cat mask sitting upside down on a tree.

The inner cemetery's four walls were empty.

The wind howled, colliding back and forth.

At the location that Mr. Gu Changzhi had told him, Gu Shen found a soil pit... He dug open the soil pit and found the three buried letters. In fact, these three letters were not buried.

Twenty years ago, Gu Changzhi came to the mountain cave. The Qing冢 (Qing Tomb) Cemetery had not yet been built.

He placed the envelopes on the stone platform.

Twenty years of wind and rain, the divine power of the Four Season Wilderness spread, the stone platform fell into dust, slowly collapsed and became shorter, and eventually merged into the mud... Fortunately, the surface of the three letters had the divine power left by the Dou Zhan Fire Seed.

Even if the stone platform was eroded, the three letters had not been damaged in the slightest.

It's just that the surface of the letters was slightly yellowed, and three surnames were written on the corner of the envelopes.

Gu, Lin, Meng.

Without opening them, it was clear who these three letters were for.

Gu Shen put away all three letters.

Then he took out the one with "Gu" written on it.

"The first letter... to be given to Gu Qilin, Old Master Gu."

...

...

Old Master Gu Qilin was not in the hospital ward of the Snow Forbidden City in Changye, recuperating from his injuries.

In the battle with Gu Lushen, the Old Master's muscles and bones suffered severe trauma. Several ribs were broken, and in addition, his heart was almost pierced by the 胧月 (Long Yue - Obscure Moon).

Even with such serious injuries, he still insisted on returning to the Gu Clan's ancestral hall.

At this moment.

The night was already deep.

Gu Qilin sat in a wheelchair and came to the courtyard. He was bare-chested, his muscular upper body wrapped with circles of bandages around his chest and abdomen. This was not an ordinary bandage. Faintly visible, golden light seeped out. These bandages themselves were top-tier healing sealed items from the Snow Forbidden City.

The person pushing the wheelchair was Gu Shen.

He found the Old Master, and was about to deliver Gu Changzhi's letter, but the Old Master stopped him and asked him to push him to the ancestral hall's courtyard. The Gu Clan was indeed the head of the Five Great Families, and the ancestral hall's courtyard was extremely large. A not-small artificial mountain was built in the middle, with flowing water and the moon's reflection.

The Old Master said softly, "You accompany me to enjoy the scenery first."

Gu Shen nodded and gently gave an "mmm."

This was just an artificial mountain after all... The scenery of the artificial mountain was actually not worth appreciating.

Gu Shen saw the Old Master sitting in the wheelchair, leaning slightly forward, his gaze fixed on the rippling light reflected in the lake.

There was nothing here.

Only an old, haggard face.

The old man stared at the water and said softly, "Do you know? These injuries are nothing. I suffered even worse injuries sixty years ago."

"The Battle of 南梯 (Nan Ti) Fortress in 北洲 (Bei Zhou), a shell hit half of my body... and just exploded."

Gu Qilin said calmly, "I was seriously injured and passed out. At the moment of the explosion, I thought my life would end like this. Even if I could survive, I would only have half of me left... I slept for three days and three nights. When I woke up, I heard the doctor's report that other than extensive burns, I only broke a dozen bones."

Only...?

Gu Shen's expression was a little wonderful.

Most transcendents would die directly from this level of injury... A small number, like Song Ci, an [Undying], would also suffer heavy damage. Burns were the most painful injuries. Even if he had the talent to heal, he would need to endure a long recovery period, and every minute and every second was a torment.

It had to be admitted that the young Gu Qilin had terrifying physical recovery abilities.

"I was discharged from the hospital in half a month."

Gu Qilin smiled and asked, "Isn't my body not bad? When the war reached Luoyin City, I rushed to the front line excitedly, and then got hit by another shell. This time, I was even more unlucky than last time. My head almost fell off, and I lay down for a whole month."

Gu Shen was completely silent after hearing this.

He seriously suspected that the Old Master's ability was not "无量秤 (Wu Liang Cheng - Immeasurable Scale)," but "不死者 (Bu Si Zhe - Undying)."

"A month later, I rushed to the battlefield again."

Gu Qilin said quietly, "Just like that... I don't know how many shellings I endured, I don't know how many rounds of bullets I withstood. I went through the rain of bullets all the way until the end of the Northern Continent Royal Power War. The new emperor became a very good friend of mine, but unfortunately, his life wasn't very good and he died too early. I was still burning paper money for him not long ago."

As he spoke.

"When burning paper money, I also ridiculed this guy, having seen a long time ago that his body wasn't strong enough and he wouldn't live long."

His voice was a little hoarse, "But the ironic thing is... it should be your turn and Nanfeng's turn to burn paper money for me soon."

In the lake water, the old man stretched out his hand and touched his face.

He was no longer young.

This body, which could withstand shells in its heyday, was also old.

"Gu Lushen... is really an asshole." Gu Qilin coughed and said gloomily, "If I were ten years younger... I would definitely skin this kid alive."

After saying that, he paused silently for a while, and laughed sadly, "Perhaps ten years is not enough..."

Gu Qilin couldn't bear to look at the old self in the lake mirror.

The tide of the times had pushed him to the peak.

And also pushed him to the bottom of the valley.

This was an irresistible force, and no one could resist it.

He took a deep breath, raised his head, leaned on the wheelchair, and straightened his back.

"I always thought that besides fighting, I only had one other strength, that is, my eye for people is very accurate."

Gu Qilin looked at Gu Shen and smiled, "I've taken a liking to you, I've taken a liking to Gu Nanfeng, I've taken a liking to Gu Changzhi... You will all become very great people."

"But I also took a liking to Gu Lushen."

Establishing a new faction.

Subverting Changye.

Gu Lushen had indeed done many things that ordinary people could not do.

He stood on the top of Changye and became one of the top figures in the Three Schools and Five Great Families.

However, all of this was contrary to Gu Qilin's vision.

Moreover, it was the opposite.

"I even thought about... handing over the Gu family to him."

The old man narrowed his eyes slightly, the wrinkles on his forehead were very deep. He lit a cigar, gently exhaled a large mouthful of smoke, and said with a smile, "It's really... a foolish act."

These words.

He couldn't say to others.

Only to Gu Shen.

And Gu Shen was very patient. He had been quietly listening to this old man's unspeakable thoughts, but his fingers were placed inside his lapel, touching the letter, ready to take it out at any time.

"Take out the thing."

After smoking a cigar, Old Master Gu said quietly, "I guess it was left to me by Gu Changzhi."

...

...

(ps: This volume is about to come to an end. The trivial matters about the follow-up of the cemetery still need to be explained carefully, it may be relatively plain, so I wrote it as a big chapter.)