Chapter 84 Northbound

The South Continent was plagued by constant warfare.

And the Church's influence was pervasive... To develop followers, there was the so-called "Northbound Plan"!

Thinking about it now, the tumor clinging to the Great Capital District's foundation, the "Everlasting Foundation," wasn't that just a part of the Northbound Plan's blueprint?

Owl himself resided in the South Continent, so he was so familiar with the matter of "proselytizing"... If it weren't for the "Bloodfire" ability being too special, the Great Capital District's capture team should have long ago pointed the finger at the South Continent.

"Why did you come to the tundra yourself?"

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes. Although the original owner of this body was a believer of the Evening Bell Church, Owl didn't seem like the kind of person who would travel thousands of miles for petty gains.

To have been plotting in the Great Capital District for ten years.

His pursuit should be top-tier "ability users"!

"Ancient text."

Owl stared intently at Gu Shen. The strand of Bloodfire between his eyebrows danced restlessly. When he said these words, he was also observing Gu Shen's reaction... And Gu Shen's facial expression twitched slightly. Seeing this detail, he smiled with satisfaction.

Gu Shen remained expressionless and said, "Continue... What ancient text?"

"Heh... Haha..."

Owl grinned, breathing slowly to alleviate the restraints of the iron chains. This body's strength was too weak, still among the frailest even among ordinary people. He could clearly feel the discomfort and needed to take deep breaths to feel more at ease.

He opened his mouth with difficulty and laughed, "You can't fool me. You don't even know what this place is... You know nothing, and you have no information to exchange."

"You... just want to extract information from me."

Gu Shen fell silent.

Yes... he truly knew nothing.

Everything after arriving at the snowfield had exceeded his expectations.

Chu Ling's dream had a deeper meaning than he had anticipated!

"However, it doesn't matter if I tell you... The reason I came here is because I saw the ancient text left behind by Alan Turing."

Owl raised his head and laughed breathlessly, "The Evening Bell Church accidentally discovered an ancient tomb in the snow mountains of the tundra. This tomb is carved with complex and obscure ancient texts. And the back of the tomb is the base you saw. They can't open this coffin... So they want to excavate from the back to open the upright coffin. If that doesn't work, they'll strip the upright coffin away."

"Ancient text... Where is it?"

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

He looked around and even used his mental power to scan, but he didn't find any trace of "ancient text."

"The ancient text is carved on the stone slab at the entrance of the tomb chamber. That stone slab has long been taken away by the Evening Bell Church... It was moved back to the South Continent, so you can't see it even if you wanted to." Owl's hands were tied, and he tried hard to make a gesture of pointing to his head with his fingers, but he couldn't move, so he had to give up. He resorted to tilting his head and said with a hoarse laugh, "However... that stone slab, and the corresponding ancient text, are in my mind. I accidentally saw it inside the Evening Bell Church, so I decided to set off for this place."

"..."

Gu Shen couldn't completely believe Owl's words.

This guy was a natural liar. Not a single word from his mouth could be trusted. In the Great Capital District, he had almost deceived everyone... However, what he was saying now was indeed impossible to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

"If you're willing to release me, I can share the information in my head with you." Owl smiled, "It's the same saying... I don't want to come empty-handed. If we cooperate, we can get more."

Gu Shen didn't nod or shake his head.

He just silently looked at the man in front of him, "How would you recognize the ancient text? And how would you know it was left behind by Alan Turing?"

The man's face instantly turned gloomy.

He suddenly lunged forward, trying to break free from the iron chains, but he only managed to lunge forward a short distance before being pulled back and slammed heavily against the stone pillar.

The strand of scarlet flame surged violently.

The anger within seemed to have solidified into substance, about to burst out!

Gu Shen remained expressionless, watching the agitated man...

Acting?

Or... genuine anger?

None of that mattered.

He silently waited for Owl's explanation.

The Bloodfire gradually calmed down.

"Do you know... why I plotted in the Great Capital District?" Owl's emotions gradually returned to calm. He asked this question in return.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

Before he could say anything.

Owl slowly said, "Many years ago, the Federal Government secretly passed a bill that allowed humans to modify embryos through transcendent genes, attempting to create 'perfect humans'..."

Gu Shen's heart jumped.

The gene bill!

"Hua Zhi took over the research of this experiment and invested a large amount of funds, carrying out the development and research of this experiment in the deepest part of the mansion. However, at that time, Zhao Xilai and Lu Cheng were just nobodies."

Seeing Gu Shen's reaction.

Owl smiled, "You seem to know about this secret bill... Have you been to the tenth level beneath Hua Zhi?"

Gu Shen's silence was the answer.

"The first batch of experiments went smoothly... The 'humans' created by the gene bill were perfect. They possessed powerful strength and were simply 'God-blessed children'. However, the experimenters soon discovered that there was a problem with this project."

Owl's voice became hoarse, "The growth rate of the experimental subjects was too fast... The spirit and the body could not synchronize..."

"Out of control?"

Gu Shen immediately realized what the appearance of this situation meant.

The cultivation of transcendents was a slow process—

Once one forcibly elevated a certain aspect of the spirit or body, it would bring drastic adverse effects!

Trying to use science to touch the "transcendent realm" and possess the "power of taboo"... would never end well!

"That's right... out of control... The experimental subjects grew rapidly and then quickly went out of control. The Federal Government spent a great deal of effort to complete the 'cleansing'. If I remember correctly, the report submitted to the highest seat stated that the special investigation team paid a huge price to extinguish these failed 'experimental subjects'."

Owl spoke the last two words very slowly.

Extinguish...

In reality, the original intention of passing the "gene bill" was to bring hope to mankind.

In the crisis of the collapse of order, if perfect transcendents could be created through "genetic engineering," then they would become sparks in the dark curtain, illuminating this world!

Extinguish... sounded rather despairing.

"At the beginning, the research of the gene bill was personally handled by Alan Turing... At that time, he was still alive. If I remember correctly, he and Lu Cheng were experts in this area. Many years later, this project was transferred to East Continent."

Owl's voice came to an abrupt halt.

His smile carried a hint of madness.

"Now... do I still need to explain... how I know these ancient texts? As for whether it was left behind by Alan Turing, I know his handwriting too well. I can distinguish the truth from falsehood with just one glance... He must have come here and studied this tomb."

An experimental subject.

An experimental subject immersed in a "bio-capsule," unable to leave for years.

A "freak" whose spiritual strength was far higher than his physical body, destined to be perfect and incomplete from birth... There should only be a few things he could do every day.

Thinking, pondering... and spying.

With Alan Turing's laboratory, there was no shortage of ancient text blueprints. All that was needed was to accumulate observations over time... Then, naturally, there would be a certain amount of knowledge about the results of the ancient text experiment.

In the initial extermination, all the "out-of-control" subjects of the gene bill were killed... But Owl stubbornly survived. He paid a painful price for it, leaving only a wisp of Bloodfire spirit.

If what he said was true.

Then, after Lu Cheng and Alan Turing died, no one would be able to recognize this guy's identity.

This wisp of "Bloodfire," and the various unreasonable things about him, seemed to be answered.

"I don't need you to believe me."

"But the main point I want to say... is the upcoming cooperation."

Owl's speech became faster, "That ancient text stone slab has been sent back to the South Continent for some time... The master of the Evening Bell Church may not have noticed this stone slab yet, but deciphering the content is only a matter of time. If we don't take the things in the tomb, then it will be too late when he realizes the existence of this snowfield!"

"The master of the Evening Bell Church?"

Gu Shen was still not in a hurry.

He narrowed his eyes and slowly asked, "You seem to be very afraid of that guy... Who is he?"

With Owl's personality... could there be something he feared?

Owl stared into Gu Shen's eyes, almost gritting his teeth as he said word by word, "One of the seven great existences who wield the Fire Seed... The Storm Throne."

"The Storm Throne?"

Gu Shen's expression changed slightly. When he looked at the trident's silver foil again, his eyes became strange.

No wonder!

No wonder the memory of the man he killed outside the snowfield was cut so cleanly that he couldn't even trace it back!

That was the power of a god!

"The Evening Bell Church is such a huge force?" Gu Shen pondered.

"The Evening Bell Church is just an ant, an ant crawling at the feet of a giant elephant." Owl sneered, "There are countless churches like this in the South Continent, but they all serve the same master."

He took a deep breath, "There are hundreds of churches in the entire South Continent. These churches each believe in ancient gods that only exist in legends and occupy a piece of territory... For some complex reasons, wars have been ignited between the churches all year round, fighting each other. But one thing is undeniable... all churches must respect the true 'god'!"

The Storm Throne!

"Among the five continents... the South Continent is the true meaning of chaos..." Owl slowly said, "In the era when the Deep Sea connected the five continents, the ignorant thought that the wars in the South Continent were due to faith conflicts, but in reality..."

He chuckled coldly.

These wars.

Were actually the domination of powerful transcendent consciousness behind the scenes.

Gu Shen fell into deep thought after listening.

No wonder.

Owl wanted to cooperate with him... This was to snatch good fortune from the hands of the Storm Throne.

"So... what exactly is in this tomb?"

"..."

The man bound by iron chains did not speak.

Owl's expression was very displeased. He had no choice but to answer every question. Now, he had almost spilled all his secrets.

Only this last one remained.

Gu Shen smiled faintly and made a promise.

"Once you answer my question, I will naturally untie you."

"... To be specific, I don't know."

Owl narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "I only recognized some of the content on that ancient text stone slab. It roughly said that this tomb relic was related to some kind of 'forbidden art' that has been passed down for hundreds of years..."

"Forbidden art?"

Gu Shen immediately thought of the Wishing Art and the Divination Art!

"This is the first time I've heard of such an art... The ancient text on the stone slab said that even if the practitioner does not have transcendent abilities, they can obtain the corresponding 'feedback' as long as they pay the corresponding price..."

Owl narrowed his eyes, "Who wouldn't want to obtain such power?"

Saying that, he raised his eyes, looked around the huge tomb, and muttered, "However... I have been lurking here for dozens of days, but I have gained nothing. I have not seen any other 'ancient text records', and the daily excavation of the tomb walls has not yielded any clues. So, I placed my last hope on the coffin in the tomb."

Gu Shen frowned, "The people of the Evening Bell Church tried all kinds of methods but could not open this coffin. They spent a lot of manpower excavating from behind... How did you manage to open the coffin?"

"It's not difficult, it's just because they are stupid."

Owl was expressionless, "The final ancient text is engraved on the upright coffin. Opening the coffin only requires operating the spiritual power according to the guidance of the ancient text... The whole process only takes three seconds. For people who can't understand the 'ancient text', this is an astronomical password, but for people who can understand it, the coffin's seal is just a formality."

This was also why he believed... that there was something good in the coffin!

It was just unexpected that after opening the coffin... he was greatly disappointed.

If it wasn't for Gu Shen.

He would have obtained a "Collapsing Snow Bullet." Although it could be considered a gain, he had traveled thousands of miles to get here, but it was for that so-called "forbidden art"!

After listening, Gu Shen fell into thought.

He sized up Owl.

These words of Owl's... could not be taken seriously. Perhaps some of them were true, but Gu Shen did not believe a single word of the key points. He had not seen the so-called "stone slab" at all, and the claim that some kind of forbidden art was hidden in the tomb was too ambiguous.

However, it should be possible to confirm a piece of good news.

Owl simply did not know of the existence of the "Lamp of Sorrow"!

Because from beginning to end, he had not glanced at the "burial object" in the coffin.

He certainly could not have imagined... that he was actually here for that bronze lamp.

"Use your spiritual power to materialize the ancient text stone slab for me."

After thinking for a while, Gu Shen spoke again.

Owl, however, fell completely silent.

He gently shook the iron chains on his body, his meaning could not have been clearer.

Untie him.

Gu Shen did not hesitate, he flicked his fingers gently, and the iron chains instantly loosened... The whole process seemed smooth and flowing, but in reality, he had not let down his guard. Once the other party made the slightest move, the Iron Throne, the Ruler of Truth, and the Collapsing Snow Bullet would all erupt at the same time!

Owl breathed a long sigh of relief. He stood up and kneaded his wrists. This body was indeed too weak. Just being restrained by the iron chains for a moment made him feel dizzy and congested.

He turned his neck and slowly exhaled.

"Before showing the spiritual materialization of the stone slab... I have a question."

He smiled and looked at Gu Shen, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you seem to be able to borrow the authority of the [Deep Sea], right?"

When he extinguished the base's power supply and sneaked into the tomb just now.

Owl did not perceive Gu Shen's existence at all!

One reason was because this body was too weak, and its spiritual burden was limited.

The second reason was that... Gu Shen's movements were too fast, and he had an insight into the entire map of the tomb.

As an observer of the tomb, Owl would observe the environment and the Evening Bell Church's believers every day he came to the underground of the snowfield. He recognized all the newly captured "people" and the priests who had already devoted themselves. In order to prevent accidents, he even made marks with his spiritual aura. He was confident that even if Gu Shen disguised himself, he could not escape his perception.

Then it was obvious.

Gu Shen had just entered the "tomb"... He did not know whether to say that this kid was lucky, or that he was unlucky to run into each other after the tomb was sealed.

But being able to sneak in here would never be a coincidence!

"You don't have to guess about such questions." Gu Shen responded lightly, "You will never guess the answer."

Owl narrowed his eyes.

He sighed and pressed two fingers to his brow, slowly projecting an image.

It was a blurry ancient text stone slab, with many obscure characters in it.

Gu Shen accepted this wisp of spirit, and at the same time, Chu Ling scanned and imprinted the content of the image as soon as possible.

Although the database could not recognize the ancient text.

But there was a reserve of ancient text in the [Source Code]. Every character on the stone slab was disassembled separately and compared... Trying to find similar characters as much as possible.

As Gu Shen scanned the ancient text of the stone slab.

A faint sigh sounded.

"No... actually, you misunderstood."

A regretful smile gradually appeared on that dark face of "Sandini Singh", "I don't care about this question... I just want to remind you... haven't you ever been curious about your origin?"

Gu Shen was slightly stunned.

Owl's voice became low, "I have the 'Bloodfire' that can arbitrarily occupy the bodies of mortals, and you also have a wisp of 'flame'. It looks brighter than mine. Presumably, you have already explored some of the spiritual power in this flame?"

"I can borrow the authority of the 'Deep Sea', and you can do the same..."

"If... I am the product of the first generation of the 'Gene Bill'..."

"Then, what about you?"

Gu Shen raised his head.

He stared at the man in front of him. Suddenly, a strong sense of crisis surged into his heart. The stone slab image condensed by spiritual power suddenly flashed a wisp of scarlet flame.

The body of that weak man was instantly ignited by the scarlet fire.

"Sandini Singh's" voice roared, and his powerful roar shook the entire tomb: "In fact, from the first time we met, I wanted to devour you... Gu Shen! This is a kind of unbearable thirst!"

The huge and empty tomb suddenly began to tremble!

Stone pillars cracked and shattered.

At the same time, Chu Ling's anxious voice rang in Gu Shen's mind: "There is a 95% possibility that this image is fake... At the initial scan, I did not find any corresponding ancient texts in the database!"

At the moment the roar came out, Gu Shen calmly raised his hand. He did not use the Truth Sniper Rifle, and the arc of light flashed and turned into a long knife.

At such a close distance, and with a clear understanding of Owl's abilities, Gu Shen was confident that he could kill him directly!

Save a Collapsing Snow!

The distance between the two was indeed very close.

He stepped forward and slashed—

With a "swoosh", a soft stepping sound.

In just an instant, Gu Shen came to "Sandini Singh's" face. Without the slightest obstruction, the silver light of the Ruler of Truth penetrated this vulnerable weak body like a full moon, as if the gods had descended with angry punishment. The man's roar also collapsed at this moment.

The knife rose and fell!

Gu Shen's calculations were very precise.

Without using the "Collapsing Snow Bullet", he only used one knife to smash the great enemy who had previously been like a mountain range that needed to be looked up to!

But in reality, before the man spoke, his robe had already been covered by scarlet flames. Countless scarlet flames permeated out like blood, burning the black robe.

With this knife slashing to the ground, what was thrown out was only a large group of scattered sparks and ashes!

The trembling of the tomb, however, did not stop, but became even more intense.

"When reading the stone slab text, he attacked the base database and triggered the alarm... This guy has been waiting for me to disperse my authority..."

Chu Ling's voice was a little anxious, "Those guys outside are coming in!"

Hearing this news, Gu Shen nodded slowly.

At this moment, he fell into extreme calm.

He came to the drifting ashes.

With the head and body separated, and the flesh burned... Such injuries would have completely annihilated others long ago.

But "Owl" was different.

He still had a clear consciousness. The head looked in the direction of the upright coffin.

"You don't have to do this... Is sounding the alarm just to bury me here?" Gu Shen said calmly, "What good is this to you?"

"Heh... Ha... Hahaha..."

The head was burned by the scarlet flames to a blurry mess.

It was like a mud ball, being irrigated by heavy rain, gradually dissolving.

"Gu Shen... in fact, I have already found what I 'wanted'..."

Gu Shen frowned.

He looked at the empty coffin, and the empty tomb.

There... was nothing.

There was not even a body!

Owl looked at Gu Shen's expression at this moment and smiled very contentedly.

"We... already know enough about each other... right?"

Gu Shen was silent for a second.

He was prepared to finish reading the stone slab image, confirm the text was correct, and then erase Owl's wisp of consciousness.

However, Owl struck first!

It was indeed helpless that he had not defended against the other party's "authority" transfer... So far, he had not understood by what means Owl had mobilized some of the Deep Sea's authority?

Gu Shen said softly, "So, it was all fake."

Those words were all fake.

The stone slab text was fake, Owl's origin, and the information about the tomb, everything he had just said... might be fake.

"No..."

Owl's voice became interesting and playful, "Some things, why would I lie to you... you can... guess..."

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

Gu Shen pressed his palm on that head. Fiery flames erupted, and strips of fire instantly spurted out of the entire head. The Chihuo that could even devour "Black Flowers" instantly absorbed this wisp of Bloodfire completely.

"You overestimated my patience..."

Gu Shen said coldly.

He looked at the remaining scarlet flames wandering in the tomb and said softly, "By the way... I also want to devour you..."

He released Chihuo.

The small flames roamed around the tomb, killing everything, and devouring all the Bloodfire!

……

……

(ps: One million words啦~撒花~ There will be a short article updated on the public account tomorrow, everyone can follow "Will Fall Wrestling Panda"~)