Chapter 118 Dark Tide

"Time is running out. After Gu Shen entered the mausoleum... no news has come out."

The head of the Gong family looked solemn.

He and Old Chairman Zhou Wei stood at the entrance of the mausoleum, silently gazing at the towering gate in the distance.

According to the plan... within an hour, the transcendent teams of the five great families and the three major organizations would complete their assembly and enter the mausoleum.

As for what the situation inside was.

No one knew yet.

Gu Shen had already entered the Qingzhong Mausoleum with the A-level sealed item 【Ten Million Li】from the Security Council, but like the previous explorers, he had lost contact.

Mu Yi, the head of the Mu family, slowly came to Gong Qing's side. "Perhaps... the situation in the mausoleum is not as simple as we thought."

"..."

The head of the Gong family silently glanced at Mu Yi.

Now Gong Zi was still on her way back to Dongzhou... Because of the annulment of the engagement with Duke Duanyang, a not-so-small storm had arisen within the Gong family, and the Mu family had just spread the scandal of the new engagement.

The relationship between the two families had undergone subtle changes.

He and Mu Yi were old friends for many years, but... as family heads, personal relationships had to be put behind the interests of the aristocratic families.

"I used the forbidden sealed item 'Zhaoxue Mirror' from the clan hall."

Mu Yi said seriously, "The exterior of this mausoleum is covered by extremely powerful mental power. The transcendent source substance projected by the Zhaoxue Mirror is completely absorbed by the mausoleum..."

"So, 【Ten Million Li】is also ineffective in the mausoleum?" Old Chairman Zhou Wei looked a little helpless.

In fact, he had anticipated this possibility before sending out the sealed item.

After all, the mental power in that mausoleum was too powerful.

Regardless, he had to try, but if 【Ten Million Li】could not be activated...

Then the situation would really be grim.

The waiting time was limited. If Gu Shen did not send back any intelligence after entering the mausoleum... then the next transcendent squad entering the mausoleum would need to explore on their own.

Most importantly, all subsequent entrants to the mausoleum would face the same problem.

That was, their connection with the outside world would be severed.

No one knew what was happening inside.

And if they wanted to know... there was only one way, and that was to enter the mausoleum personally.

This was an unsolvable death loop.

"Brother Gong."

Mu Yi thought for a moment and said seriously, "Be cautious when entering the mausoleum. The power of the Zhaoxue Mirror being swallowed may be a warning. Sending too strong transcendents may encounter a huge blow. I suggest that the first batch of entrants should not send high-level transcendents. To ensure safety, our two families can join forces and take care of each other..."

"Thank you for the Mu family head's kindness. I have my own arrangements for entering the mausoleum."

Gong Qing said indifferently. It was not difficult to hear from his tone that he did not want to have in-depth communication with Mu Yi.

Mu Yi could only sigh softly in his heart.

He knew that in this situation, his words were difficult to convince. The mausoleum was filled with a large number of ownerless Flames of Dreams. Was he trying to persuade the Gong family not to send their main force, so that they would watch these Flames of Dreams be taken back by other explorers?

Before the Long Street Fire Sea incident, there might have been room for discussion.

But now.

There was nothing to talk about.

"It's getting late. The Gu family's transcendents... have already set off."

Gong Qing said softly, "Everyone, I won't keep you company."

It seemed that Gu Shen's intelligence could not be waited for.

After another hour of deduction and calculation, 【Deep Sea】had given a report on the transcendent aura inside the mausoleum.

There was no turbulent phenomenon of transcendent source substance spewing out from this golden gate.

Theoretically... the five great families' transcendent squads that had completed their assembly could enter it.

Gu Lushen's men had already taken the lead and entered the mausoleum.

Seeing this, the others also began to act, no longer waiting.

……

……

The long night of Snowfall Forbidden City was ignited for a moment by a meteor shower.

Then it returned to its long silence.

At the end of Bai Clan Lane stood a woman.

Behind her were countless sounds of bustle and noise.

The entire Bai clan was gathering... it had been nearly ten years since such a grand and solemn scene had appeared.

After the Snowfall Forbidden City's high-level meeting, the Bai clan's elders immediately gathered transcendents with strength above the second stage. According to 【Deep Sea】's assessment, these people had the strength to enter the mausoleum... and transcendents in the clan who had reached the third stage could become "team" leaders. A team's number ranged from five to ten people, and several teams were quickly formed.

Because the scene of the great explosion was too terrifying.

The clan did not intend to invest all of its transcendent power at once.

However... in order to ensure that they could seize the opportunity to collect the Flames of Dreams during the restoration of order in the mausoleum, the strength of the first batch of transcendents still needed to be guaranteed.

On the other side of the street, lanterns swayed, and shadows flickered.

On this side of the street, it was still shrouded in the long night.

Bai Lu stood at the entrance of the alley, waiting.

Her expression seemed calm as water, but in reality, her heart was quite uneasy... It had been a year.

That old house had been silent for a year.

At this juncture, should it not make some noise?

"It seems... Little Xiu Zi is still in seclusion. He won't be entering the mausoleum this time."

A deep voice sounded.

Bai Zesheng did not know when he had arrived beside the woman. His voice was somewhat regretful. A breeze blew his hemp robe and hair. The blackness in his pupils was deeper than the long night.

"Second Elder..."

Bai Lu's voice was very soft, "The Flames of Dreams are very important to Little Xiu Zi..."

Bai Zesheng smiled and said, "It may not be a bad thing for him to stay here alone. Now that everyone is gone, this place is quiet."

After speaking.

"Miss Bai Lu," he patted Bai Lu on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "It's getting late... it's time to set off."

Bai Lu was also in the team entering the mausoleum.

Although she was a woman, she was also one of the top transcendent geniuses in Snowfall Forbidden City. She was able to become "Mr. Shan's" disciple not because of her prominent family, but because her own talent was sufficient.

And this time, the appearance of the golden gate reignited hope for many geniuses.

If they could enter the mausoleum.

Perhaps... they could pick up a wisp of the Flame of Dreams.

And begin their own "Path to the Throne"!

Bai Lu withdrew her gaze from the long alley. The moment she turned around.

With a "creak."

There was a soft sound of a wooden door being pushed open.

The small courtyard in the distance, which had been silent for a year, finally made a sound connecting it to the mortal world.

Bai Lu was stunned.

Bai Zesheng was also stunned.

"I have already told Little Xiu Zi about Qingzhong..."

In the night, Bai Xiaochi walked slowly with his hands in his sleeves. He stood at the entrance of the alley, behind him was the Bai clan's elders and the younger generation of the Bai family. Everyone held their breath and watched the slowly opening wooden door.

"This time, he will also enter the mausoleum."

A snow-white figure slowly walked out of the courtyard.

……

……

Li Clan Hall.

Compared to the other five great families, the Li clan's movements were the smallest.

Due to the death of the former head of the family, Li Quhu, the entire Li clan was now in a state of "slow" operation... This was a very strange state. A large number of events were piled up.

Li Qingsui was running around Changye, busy accepting the files that the former head of the family had not yet finished processing, but unfortunately her strength was too small, and wherever she went, there was a lot of thunder and little rain. Most of it was superficial welcome and flattery, but in reality, the promotion of these events was still slow.

The essence of this problem was that the elders did not recognize her status as the head of the family.

Li Qingsui was not in a hurry. What she was doing was not to promote the Li clan's projects, but to find the "dark force" that her father had left her.

As the chess player sitting on the opposite side of the board.

Now, she wanted to play a fair game of chess with the Li clan's elders.

And the first step was to find her own chess pieces.

She thought this would be a "long" war.

……

……

After the great explosion in the Qingzhong Mausoleum, Changye's high-level officials held a spiritual meeting.

And the only person from the Li clan who participated in this meeting was one person.

Li Clan's Great Elder, Li Changsheng.

This great elder had extremely high prestige. He had experienced the changes of three generations of family heads in the Li clan. He could be described as a "three-dynasty veteran." His age and seniority were almost sixty years older than the current pillars of Changye. Such an "existence"... was already a spiritual symbol of the Li clan's existence. He had hardly intervened in family affairs in recent years.

Most of the matters were handled by his younger brother, the Li Clan's Second Elder, Li Changchi.

This time's appearance.

It was both a violation of the "rules" and a verification of the "rumors" from the outside world.

The Li clan's new head of the family was not qualified enough to represent the family.

While the Changye high-level officials were holding a meeting.

An important meeting was also being held within the Li Clan Hall.

The elders presented a "request order" to Li Qingsui, requesting that she wait outside the clan hall for the final result of this meeting.

The word "request" was very euphemistic.

But the current situation was very grim.

The so-called "request order" was a "supervisory power" that the elders would only use at critical moments. In the past years of the Li clan, only one or two fatuous and incompetent family heads had forced the elders to use this thing.

Invite the lord into the hall.

If the lord is unwilling... then his power will be revoked.

Li Qingsui stood outside the clan hall. Her expression was calm, and there was a sharp chill between her brows. Changye had not yet snowed, but her eyes were colder than snow.

Receiving the elders' "request order" was actually a humiliation.

In the final analysis, she had not done anything wrong.

Compared to those fatuous family heads in Li clan's history... her only mistake was that she was too young.

Perhaps plus one more, too kind.

"I can probably guess the content of this meeting..."

Li Qingsui said, "These people should be discussing the matter of 'impeaching the family head'."

Gao Tian, who was accompanying her, spoke softly.

"With me here, the results of their discussion are not important."

Since Li Quhu's death, Changye no longer had the "shackles" that could restrain him.

The reason he stayed in the Li clan was because he owed a huge favor.

And over the years, the favor had been repaid.

That invisible shackle, called morality, had been unlocked.

Gao Tian was still abiding by Li Quhu's "last wish" until now... If the elders were willing to abide by the rules, then he would quietly be an observer, but if someone violated the rules.

He would take action.

The worst case scenario was that he would take Li Qingsui and leave Changye.

"After my father died... In the first few days, I actually felt anger in my heart."

Li Qingsui stood outside the clan hall.

She looked at the fallen leaves inside the clan hall and the shadows of the people reflected on the paper windows, and said, "Not anger at them, but anger at my father. Since you want me to take on such a heavy burden... Why not make it all simpler?"

This was a game with a huge difference in strength.

The "chess players" sitting on the opposite side of the board were shadows shrouded in a large mass of fog. They were adults, one after another, whose age and calculations far exceeded her own. That mass of fog was filled with sinister, cunning... and other such qualities.

And on this side, she was struggling to move forward, and even finding usable "chess pieces" was very difficult.

The only "heavy weapon" she possessed was still bound by the rules.

Gao Tian was also silent.

Li Quhu did not truly "swallow the wolves and drive away the tigers" for his daughter, but left behind a dangerous situation.

"Now I am beginning to understand... the reason he did this."

Li Qingsui smiled softly, "Uncle Gao, you can help me do many, many things, but you alone cannot help me become the Li clan head that everyone expects. Some things can only be done by myself."

The Li clan's "situation" was already doomed.

The only thing Li Quhu could do was to let himself live a few more years, watching Li Qingsui grow up a little more.

Because of Gu Changzhi's slumber.

The five great families inevitably had their own cracks... and the day when these cracks would become larger would eventually come. These cracks would appear in various places, and eventually spread to everyone in the five great families.

Gao Tian was silent.

Yes.

The reason he was abiding by the "rules" and waiting here was also for this reason.

He could protect the young lady's growth.

But he could not replace the young lady's growth.

The road to becoming the "family head"... was destined to have many bumps.

This might be the most turbulent year in the Li clan in nearly a hundred years.

If the young lady wanted to reverse the situation and seize power under this situation, it was destined to be... not peaceful.

"Miss Qingsui, Mr. Gao."

Soon someone came out to greet them outside the clan hall.

Li Qingsui noticed that this person's address to her had changed.

He made a gesture of invitation, indicating for Gao Tian and Li Qingsui to enter.

Li Qingsui smiled faintly and entered the clan hall.

And Gao Tian followed closely behind, but was stopped.

"Mr. Gao... The Great Elder wants to see you." The attendant's voice was soft, pointing to another direction not far from the clan hall. That was the quiet room where the Great Elder Li Changsheng was located.

The distance between these two places... was not far.

Gao Tian nodded slowly.

As he was leaving, he cast a firm gaze at Li Qingsui.

The two of them entered two separate rooms.

……

……

Inside the quiet room, there was only a dim lamp.

The lamplight was like a bean.

Li Quhu's funeral was held in the Qingzhong Mausoleum, but only one person from the entire clan did not attend, and that person was the Great Elder Li Changsheng.

He had suffered a very serious illness.

This sounded like an excuse.

But now, meeting Gao Tian sitting opposite the Great Elder... he knew that the claim that he could not attend the funeral due to serious illness was not an excuse.

This was an "old illness."

This old man was too old, his hair was withered and white, his eyes were turbid, and in addition to his linen robe, he was also wearing a thick wool blanket. His spirit was beginning to dissipate.

He just sat in front of the lamplight, waiting for Gao Tian's arrival.

The older the transcendent, the larger the amount of transcendent source substance accumulated.

But from the moment the spirit declined... it meant that his strength would decline.

The transcendent source substance all over Li Changsheng's body was like a sea.

But Gao Tian just watched calmly, without feeling any fear... because this old man's spirit was too fragile, so fragile that he did not need to touch it, and it would automatically decay in a few more years.

This was the Li clan's last "title."

But could such a transcendent still fight?

"Little Gao..."

Li Changsheng had just finished the Snowfall Forbidden City meeting. Throughout the entire meeting, he just lowered his eyes and listened quietly, without speaking... The other family heads were also very considerate and skipped the speaking segment for this old master of the Li clan.

Now the three major organizations and the five great families were all preparing to enter the mausoleum. The Li clan might be the only exception...

Because they were busy resolving internal "disputes."

For the Li clan... this was the most important thing.

In the quiet room, ethereal spiritual sounds echoed.

Li Changsheng did not speak, but used mental power to conduct this conversation.

"Old Master."

Gao Tian, who was skilled in mental power, responded aloud.

"Thank you... for your contributions to the Li clan over the years."

The old man wrapped in the blanket slowly raised his head. His deep eye sockets seemed to have a magical power that made people unable to look away at a glance.

Gao Tian looked directly into those eyes.

He heard a faint wind in his ears.

At this moment.

He realized that something was wrong.

The lamplight in the quiet room was still burning, but it was unusually ethereal... and the terrifying thing was that all directions had fallen into extreme darkness. The pair of old and deep eye sockets seemed to be gradually becoming younger.

It seemed that a force that violated common sense was manifesting on the old man's body.

Gao Tian felt that he was hallucinating.

The hunched back was actually straightening little by little.

The wool blanket fell to the ground.

The thin linen robe was stretched open by the chest.

The candlelight in the darkness swept across an uncertain face.

Li Changsheng stretched out his dry and old fingers.

Those two fingers pressed on a token and slowly pushed it forward on the table that separated the two of them. As it was pushed forward, the old knuckles became younger, and when it was finally pushed in front of Gao Tian, it had turned into the slender fingers of a twenty-year-old young man.

"The Li clan... is facing an unprecedented great change..."

"I have made a choice for the Li clan."

Li Changsheng's mental voice echoed in the small quiet room.

His voice was no longer old either, but had become young, full, and full of energy.

Gao Tian stared at this token... This was a crest with a grape pattern carved on it.

In this world, there was no power that could make people younger.

If there was.

It could only be a miracle.

He stood up, wanting to push the door open and leave, but the door frame, which was originally within reach, had turned into boundless darkness.

A small quiet room.

At this moment, it had turned into an infinitely large prison.

……

……

(I encountered some things today, so it was updated later.)