Chapter 121 The Inner Shrine

Qingzhong, Inner Shrine.

Above the Four Seasons Wilderness, the flowing clouds stretched out.

The ancient trees rustled with leaves.

A black robe hung upside down, its wide sleeves swaying in the wind.

"Whirr, whirr—"

The gravedigger wearing a cat mask slowly opened his eyes, watching a figure slowly walk out from the mist in the distance.

Gu Shen bowed.

"You comprehended it pretty quickly." Master Qianye's eyes held a hint of a smile. "I thought it would take you a few more days to come to Qingzhong."

Gu Shen also smiled. "It's mainly the trivial matters outside that consume a lot of energy. Master Qianye, I still have some confusion about the 'ancient text' of the last array pattern..."

He took out the drawing.

Learning ancient characters is different from the normal instilling of knowledge.

Logically speaking... this is a kind of "spirit" that can only be understood implicitly and cannot be conveyed explicitly. The existence of a teacher cannot substantially help students make breakthroughs, but there are gains from consulting the gravedigger.

Each time Gu Shen visualized, he needed to consume mental energy.

Master Qianye, who directly controlled the array pattern, used mental energy to give guidance in dreams... the efficiency would be much faster.

In addition, these array patterns still needed to be disassembled and pieced together. This process, thinking hard alone, and watching the disassembly process, were two different levels of efficiency.

Divination required extremely high computing power.

Disassembling array patterns was the same.

The gravedigger's "computing power" was extremely large. She sat alone in Qingzhong. It was said that her divination built a huge spider web, encompassing the entire Five Continents... and such a huge computing power, used to disassemble array patterns, was also extremely fast.

It could be said that this was the best teacher on the path of "ancient text cultivation," without exception.

A wisp of blazing fire leaped from Gu Shen's brow.

The blazing fire outlined the symbols on the drawing, and he showed his own ideas for disassembling and piecing together the array pattern.

On the other side, the gravedigger watched carefully.

Then she gave her answer.

"Perhaps... you can try combining it like this..."

...

...

Time passed quickly.

Last time, Gu Shen stayed in Qingzhong for two days and one night, hardly resting at all. He disassembled a total of ten array patterns, which was not a slow pace... but Gu Shen was not satisfied.

As his understanding of ancient texts increased, the disassembly of Qingzhong's array patterns would become faster and faster.

He hoped that he could master the entire Qingzhong's array patterns as soon as possible.

After completely digesting the disassembly ideas of these ten array patterns, Gu Shen slowly exhaled. "Master... I actually have one thing I don't understand."

"About the Tomb Wraith." Gu Shen said solemnly, "Why can he directly read 'passive text'?"

"The existence of ancient texts is the biggest mystery in the world."

Master Qianye shook her head. "Even I can only understand a limited part... that is, a part of the Qingzhong array patterns."

Even the gravedigger didn't know the reason?

"The Tomb Wraith is a freak, a... true freak." Master Qianye pondered for a moment, and said, "My divination cannot perform hexagram calculations on the existence of forbidden areas such as the Throne or the Seed, because their power is too strong. And the strange thing is, divination also cannot perform hexagram calculations on the Tomb Wraith."

Gu Shen could understand the first half of the sentence.

Divination, like the Art of Prayer, was an "equal exchange technique."

The former exchanged the physical body for the spirit, and the latter exchanged lifespan for karma.

And the Throne, a "being" that transcended the scope of ordinary mortals, would not be divined, nor would it be forcibly dragged into karma... This was very reasonable!

But the second half of the sentence was really shocking.

The Tomb Wraith could not have his fate predicted by "divination"?

If this sentence spread, it would probably cause quite a stir... This unlucky fellow had always been watched by big figures. Whether it was Nagano or the capital, the Gu family and Huazhi had done many experiments, but the purpose of these experiments was just to figure out the lingering "ominousness."

Taking a step back.

The Gu family and Huazhi had not even thought about how much of a secret the Tomb Wraith's ominousness would entail.

But now it seemed...

The truth behind Xing Yun's ominous entanglement was probably not something that could be described as "minor disasters and minor misfortunes."

"You should have heard of the 'Old World'..."

Master Qianye suddenly thought of something, and she opened her mouth seriously.

"I've heard of it." Gu Shen nodded.

This time, he had really heard of it.

"In the Five Continents, no one knows if the 'Old World' really exists... But in recent years, those who are willing to believe in the existence of the 'Old World' also believe in the existence of something—that is, the 'Eighth Throne'."

"The Eighth... Throne?"

This word was not the first time Gu Shen had heard it.

"That's right. The Central Federation holds seven Seeds... These seven Seeds created the Five Continents' greatest reliance, which is the current seven Thrones. Rumor has it that the 'Seeds' held by the Central Federation are incomplete, with some remnants."

Master Qianye slowly opened her mouth, "And the remnants of the 'Seeds' are in the 'Old World'... the 'Eighth Throne' is the god of the Old World. Perhaps one day we will trek thousands of miles to find the so-called Old World and see the lost Seeds, but if there really is an existence like the 'Eighth Throne', it is also possible that he will, in turn... find us."

Master Qianye said exactly the same thing as Tie Wu.

It was just that, due to the arrival of the Golden Divine Realm and the miracle of the resurrection of the Four Seasons Wilderness, Tie Wu mistakenly thought that he was the so-called "Eighth Throne"!

Gu Shen vaguely understood the gravedigger's meaning: "Are you saying..."

"If only Seeds and Thrones cannot be calculated by divination."

Master Qianye said calmly, "Then is it possible that the Tomb Wraith... is related to the Eighth Throne?"

Those lost ancient texts that no one could understand...

The Tomb Wraith could understand them!

Divination that could not predict the Seeds, could not be applied to the Tomb Wraith!

These coincidences combined together... were no longer coincidences.

"I... understand." Gu Shen took a deep breath, rubbing his brow, and trying to digest this enormous amount of information.

"Of course, it's just a guess. Over the years, the search for the 'Old World' and the discussion of the 'Eighth Throne' have all been castles in the air. Perhaps these are just imaginations, and people are just trying to transform things that don't exist at all... After all, after the collapse of the North Continent Fortress, we will lose our last home."

The gravedigger said lightly, "Instead of accepting the fate of extermination, it is better to believe that there is a vague ideal homeland called the 'Old World' on the distant shore."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Gu Shen calmed down, "Regarding the Tomb Wraith's background, I'm afraid more evidence is needed... Just these two points can't prove anything."

Master Qianye nodded slowly.

"It's getting late... I'm going to repair the array patterns."

Gu Shen picked up his box and walked back towards the Outer Shrine.

"Actually, you don't need to be so nervous. The path of both civil and martial arts requires both tension and relaxation." Master Qianye smiled, "Go to the entrance of Qingzhong Inner Shrine. There is an array pattern there that is very suitable for you to disassemble today."

...

...

Why did Master Qianye's words sound meaningful?

Following the instructions, Gu Shen arrived at the entrance of the Inner Shrine.

A thick fog filled the air.

This was the entrance to the Giant Statue Ruins. Because the fog was too thick, it was almost impossible to identify the direction without the guidance of a gravedigger... Gu Shen calmed down and released his blazing fire. Soon he found the location of the array pattern.

This array pattern, which Master Qianye said was "very suitable for him to disassemble," was on a small hill.

Gu Shen abandoned distracting thoughts.

He focused his attention completely.

He entered a state of visualization and began to piece together these ancient texts very smoothly... Perhaps it was because Master Qianye's reminder had a psychological effect, or perhaps it was because he had mastered the knack after being given some guidance.

The visualization, dream interpretation, and subsequent disassembly and recombination of this array pattern were all very smooth.

In just an hour, Gu Shen completed the repair and comprehension of this array pattern.

And when he opened his eyes again, he was startled.

At some point, a shadow was standing in the mist at the foot of the mountain.

The person was not tall, and looked a little thin... The fog was too thick, and he couldn't see the other person's appearance clearly, but it looked like someone of a similar age to himself.

When did this guy... come?

Even while visualizing the array pattern and immersed in the dream, his blazing fire was always on alert... With his mental strength, he hadn't even noticed?

But Gu Shen wasn't nervous.

The entire Qingzhong was under Master Qianye's control. If there was any danger, she would notify him immediately.

He understood somewhat what Master Qianye's previous meaningful words meant.

The master deliberately arranged for him to come here, hoping that he... would meet the person at the foot of the mountain at this moment?

The small mountain was not high.

But there was a layer of fog in between.

So the two of them looked at each other through a layer of mist.

After Gu Shen stood up, the young man at the foot of the mountain said, "I saw you were meditating and comprehending... so I didn't make a sound to disturb you."

He was afraid of disturbing his visualization...

"Thank you..."

Gu Shen smiled. "How long have you been waiting here?"

"Not long."

The person at the foot of the mountain just shook his head, and said gently, "I want to see Master Qianye."

In Qingzhong, there were many people who wanted to see Master Qianye.

But at most they would only go to the Outer Shrine... which was a sacrificial cemetery that was open all year round. To go to the Inner Shrine, one had to obtain the approval of the gravedigger, otherwise entering this layer of fog would lead to getting lost and inevitably returning without success.

This young man was very sensible.

He knew... that as long as he stepped into Qingzhong, he would be "seen by Master Qianye."

If the master was willing to see him, then she would naturally give a guiding voice.

If the master was unwilling...

Then even if he stepped into the fog, there would be no result.

So he stood at the foot of the small mountain, separated by this layer of fog, without taking a step forward, and without taking a step back, like Gu Shen in a state of visualization... like a tree in meditation.

Gu Shen was a little helpless, and opened his mouth with mental energy, asking, "Master... are you still there?"

Unsurprisingly.

He didn't get a response.

After guiding him to come here and complete the disassembly of the array pattern, the gravedigger completely extinguished her voice.

Obviously, this attitude of "not answering" was an answer.

Gu Shen sighed and said to the person at the foot of the mountain, "I'm afraid Master Qianye doesn't want to see you."

The person just smiled and didn't say anything.

He tried hard to raise his head, wanting to see clearly the figure wrapped in mist on the top of the mountain.

In those eyes, a brilliant white light lit up, like a bolt of lightning, as if to tear apart the night around Qingzhong. It was a pity... that no matter how bright and hot these pupils were, they could not penetrate the fog.

Similarly.

Gu Shen also released the blazing fire from his brow.

He was also a little curious about the identity of the "person at the foot of the mountain"... but looking through the fog, there was only chaos.

The two tried their best to look at each other, but both were unsuccessful.

He couldn't see the thunder in his pupils.

He couldn't see the fire in his brow either.

The person at the foot of the mountain said, "It doesn't matter, I can wait."

After saying this, he sat down cross-legged and really began a long wait.

Gu Shen still wanted to say something...

"Since he's willing to wait, then let him wait."

Master Qianye, who had previously silenced her voice, suddenly spoke.

She said to Gu Shen, "Go to the next place to repair the array pattern..."

Gu Shen looked deeply at the person at the foot of the mountain.

He opened his mouth to remind him, "Perhaps if you wait a little longer, you will be able to wait."

The person at the foot of the mountain nodded slowly.

...

...

Time flew quickly.

After leaving the small mountain, Gu Shen ran around in the Inner Shrine, repairing array patterns and comprehending ancient texts according to the gravedigger's instructions.

From one giant statue to another.

Gu Shen fell into a state of selflessness.

He forgot about external things, and in his eyes there were only obscure ancient texts and flying graphics.

Sunrise and sunset... a whole day had passed.

Another night fell.

Gu Shen had completed the comprehension of five array patterns. His mental strength was exhausted to the extreme, and his head was vaguely swollen and painful. This was a symptom of comprehending too many dreams.

Even with the Breath of Spring, it was impossible to always maintain such a high level of mental energy consumption.

Now... he needed to rest.

"Today's study of ancient texts will end here..."

The gravedigger said, "You can go back now. That person is still waiting for you."

Gu Shen was stunned.

The "going back" that the gravedigger master was talking about didn't mean leaving Qingzhong.

But rather going back to the previous small mountain.

She said that the mysterious young man who had met him through the fog... was waiting for him?

Gu Shen came to the top of the mountain again with confusion.

Sure enough... a young figure sat in meditation in the mist. A day and a night had passed, and there was not the slightest bit of movement. This stubborn guy was really waiting.

This composure was really admirable.

There were many people who wanted to come to Qingzhong to see Master Qianye.

There were also many people who were willing to wait for a day and a night.

Sitting and waiting was not a reason to move the gravedigger.

But looking at this momentum... if he didn't show up and the gravedigger didn't speak, he would keep waiting.

Since Master Qianye was determined not to see this visitor, why did she have to let him come to the small mountain?

After thinking about it slightly, Gu Shen chose to speak.

"Friend, why are you so determined to see Master Qianye?"

His voice penetrated the fog and spread out far away.

"Maybe... I can help you."

The moment Gu Shen reappeared.

The person at the foot of the mountain opened his eyes.

His eyes were like torches, and his voice was like a bell: "I want to ask for a stele... in the Qingzhong Inner Shrine."

...

...

(There will be another big chapter in the evening! Asking for monthly tickets!)