"Xiao Gu?"

A wind blew through the mountain road of Shenci Mountain.

The three people descending the mountain arrived at the mountainside.

Li Qingci looked at Gu Shen, who had stopped, with some confusion.

Gu Shen crouched down.

The mountain crevice where the "little white flower" had grown the last time he came to Shenci Mountain was now desolate, the white flower withered.

He stretched out his finger and gently pinched the crack in the rock.

A strand of withered flower root was pulled out.

Li Qingsui was a little dazed, still not knowing what had happened.

"That flower... has withered." Gu Shen's eyes flickered slightly, somewhat regretfully.

"It lived for three days afterwards, which is quite a long time." Li Qingci smiled, reached out and pointed to another spot, saying, "But... look there."

Gu Shen and Li Qingsui both looked up.

In a crevice of the stone wall not far away, another new flower had bloomed.

"Xiao Gu, things are always like this."

"The darkest night can still bloom white flowers; there is light even in eternal darkness."

...

...

"I'll see you off here."

Gu Shen arrived in front of Shenci Mountain and said goodbye to Li Qingci.

Li Qingsui stood beside Gu Shen. Although this little girl often said sarcastic things, she actually cared about Gu Shen in her heart... After learning that Gu Shen had paid a price for the Prayer Technique, she had been by his side, ready to help him at any time.

Because she knew.

The Prayer Technique... was generally only used by Dao Protectors.

No one knew how much lifespan her sister had left, but using the Prayer Technique again and again, the price paid accumulated... Even just "thirty days" was precious time.

Gu Shen's willingness to share this price was worthy of her gratitude.

"You too, you don't need to see me off any further." Gu Shen saw through Li Qingsui's thoughts, he smiled and said, "Besides, I'm not some weak scholar, I don't need you to protect me so carefully?"

"Tch..." Li Qingsui curled her lips, knowing that her good intentions would be taken for granted. She reverted to her previous impolite tone and asked curiously, "Hey Gu, what did you pray for? Can you tell me?"

"Children shouldn't ask about too many things," Gu Shen pretended to be mysterious, and said lightly, "You'll have nightmares."

Nightmares?

Li Qingsui's expression changed slightly, and she stubbornly said, "I'm fifteen years old! I'm not afraid of that stuff!"

"Is that so?" Gu Shen smiled sinisterly, revealing a satisfied expression, and slowly said, "Then I'll tell you..."

Li Qingsui's mind worked quickly.

She instantly thought of what Gu Shen had said earlier, that it was something that would make her cry her eyes out, so she quickly covered her ears and shook her head like a rattle drum: "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening."

Gu Shen: "..."

Uncle Gao patted the little girl on the shoulder, sent her into the car, and looked at Gu Shen helplessly after closing the door.

In any case.

Li Qingsui was still a child after all.

Uncle Gao asked with concern, "I guess... you're going to leave Changye for a while?"

"Yeah." Gu Shen nodded and smiled, "Going to the tundra, that place isn't too far... I'll be back in a few days."

In the final Prayer Technique, he not only found the real location of that snowfield.

He also saw a sad crying face in the dream of the Prayer Technique.

If the guidance given by the Prayer Technique was correct... then this snowfield was likely related to the Lamp of Sorrow in the Four Copper Lamps.

"Tundra..."

Uncle Gao narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "That place isn't a good choice for 'tourism'. Large areas of frozen land are listed as uninhabited areas. Due to technical limitations, Shenhai's Heavenly Eye cannot fully connect yet. The Five Great Families have all hidden unknown 'secret weapons' in the tundra, and there are many other forces mixed in, lurking in the uninhabited areas of the tundra."

He didn't ask Gu Shen why he was going to that kind of place.

He just paused slightly.

"If you feel that the danger is unmanageable..." Uncle Gao asked seriously, "Do you need me to send you?"

Gu Shen was stunned, a little flattered.

This was a top powerhouse at the twelfth level of the Sealed Title... No, Uncle Gao wasn't an ordinary Sealed Title, his strength was probably a level higher than most Sealed Titles!

With him by his side, wouldn't this trip be unstoppable?

But after thinking about it, Gu Shen still declined with a wry smile.

"I can handle this matter... so I don't need to bother Uncle Gao."

Gu Shen had a premonition in his heart.

Behind the guidance of the Prayer Technique... there might be an even bigger secret.

And he wanted to explore this secret alone.

...

...

Two days later.

Tundra.

Uninhabited area.

The biting cold wind drifted over the mountains.

"[Heavenly Eye] has lost connection, unable to capture precise coordinates..."

Chu Ling's voice echoed in Gu Shen's mind.

Looking down from the map of East Continent, the tundra was a large area adjacent to Changye, but in fact, this desolate area north of the Yangtze River was quite vast, three times the size of the Changye area. It was a vast expanse of snowfields, frozen soil, and snow-capped mountains standing tall in the wind. The drifting white snow particles stirred like dust in the desert, making it difficult to open one's eyes.

Gu Shen stood on the summit of a mountain range, looking out from the highest point, trying to find the "snowfield" in his dream memory.

The Prayer Technique had guided him to a coordinate... According to Chu Ling's real-time navigation, he finally arrived here. The [Heavenly Eye] lost its connection here, unable to continue capturing deeper, more useful information.

A wisp of blazing fire ignited between his eyebrows. This wisp of fire crackled, but it was not conspicuous. Under the blowing of the cold wind, it almost turned into the same pale color as the snow mountain.

"The Lamp of Sorrow is buried in such a place..."

Gu Shen frowned and fell into thought.

Too big!

This snowfield was too big. With snow accumulated for who knows how many years, wanting to find a bronze lamp the size of an arm in such a place... was like looking for a needle in a haystack!

Although the environment here was harsh, fortunately... the mental link could still be established.

"There are 'people' here."

Chu Ling's voice sounded again.

At the same time, an image was transmitted into Gu Shen's vision.

It was a thermal imaging map.

There were two figures... appearing in the distant snow. In the thermal induction, their figures showed blurred outlines.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

Those who could reach the tundra were most likely not normal people.

This place had already crossed the "safety line" warned by the Federal Government. Ordinary travelers could not penetrate into such a harsh uninhabited area, let alone... walk so quickly in the snow.

The two figures were walking very steadily and quickly.

They were transcendents!

Gu Shen instantly extinguished the blazing fire between his eyebrows, squatted down, and lay prone... Although his mental power was very keen, he didn't know the other party's details yet. Rashly rushing out would probably attract attention instead.

He concealed himself in the howling wind and snow.

The two figures walked to a snow mountain and slowly stopped.

Too far away.

And separated by thick rocks... Gu Shen narrowed his eyes and was thinking about something.

"The ambient sound is too noisy... the target's voice cannot be captured." Chu Ling said, "Unable to know the content of their conversation."

"It doesn't matter."

Gu Shen completed his final consideration.

He held his breath and flew down from the snow mountain, like a thousand-pound boulder falling!

"Whirr—"

He took out the Ruler of Truth.

The next moment, the majestic wind and snow swept through the air, gathering on both sides of his spine.

Gu Shen's iron-like body became light, as if he had transformed into a kite. His sleeves were instantly stained with a layer of frost-white snow.

Accompanied by the hissing sound of vibration, the mountain gale lifted him from the falling momentum, almost pulling him straight up, and finally hovering in the air like a snow eagle. Because of the extremely tight rocks, the two "transcendents" who were standing there did not notice Gu Shen's existence at all.

It was also because the two thermal imaging figures behind the rocks did not have any abnormal reactions or movements.

Gu Shen boldly released his "blazing fire" to explore the outside situation.

A wisp of flame, wrapped in the silver arc of the Ruler of Truth, shot out and instantly returned.

In less than a second.

The blazing fire saw the "reality" of the two transcendents...

"These are two transcendents at the second level."

Gu Shen transmitted this data back to Zero Zero One.

"They haven't captured your 'trace', theoretically they won't be higher than the fifth level." Because of the timely return of the blazing fire data, Chu Ling immediately interrupted the information deduction of these two people, "But this doesn't seem to be a good thing."

"Yes..."

Gu Shen didn't feel relieved. On the contrary, he hovered in the snow, his expression becoming even more solemn.

With such strength, it was difficult to survive alone in this environment.

There must be stronger transcendents behind these two guys.

The blazing fire swayed in the wind and snow, flickering covertly, like the eyes of an eagle, staring at the two "transcendents"... The position where the two stood, at the foot of the mountain, had snow sliding down.

An alloy password door, perfectly concealed by the snow, was slowly revealing itself.

They were identifying themselves!

With a "beep".

The alloy door opened.

The two transcendents disappeared from view. After the password door closed, the thermal imaging induction map instantly dissipated...

"The craftsmanship of this door is very special. It's likely a strong logical material. What's inside the door? I can't check until I link to their database."

Chu Ling's voice was solemn.

More than that, Gu Shen was even more worried that... he seemed to be late.

Someone had arrived one step ahead of him!

And... it wasn't just one person!

He landed back on the mountaintop and silently thought.

Were these people also here for the Lamp of Sorrow?

"The East Continent government hasn't deployed Heavenly Eyes in the uninhabited area of the tundra, and the connection conditions are quite harsh, so the 'surveillance' ability here is very weak." Chu Ling said, "I tried to retrieve the data from adjacent areas for data retrieval, but the amount of information is too small... The search effect is very poor."

This sentence, on the contrary, awakened Gu Shen.

"Something's not right."

Gu Shen murmured, "According to my judgment... after the Copper Lamp is stripped of its spirit, it should be an ordinary mundane object. Is such an item worth being targeted?"

If the material carrier of the Copper Lamp also possessed incredible abilities.

Then the Li Clan would probably have heard of it in the past six hundred years, and would have become suspicious of the four lamps on Shenci Mountain... With the Li Clan's ability, it was impossible for them to be completely unaware of the existence of "spiritual projection".

So... these people weren't here for the Copper Lamp?

"Perhaps... they had already arrived here?"

Such a possibility appeared in Gu Shen's mind.

He sat on the mountaintop, silently observing the alloy password door... Obviously, a secret base was hidden in the abdomen of the mountain. Building such a base was not a simple matter.

Those guys who arrived one step ahead of him probably numbered quite a few.

What were they doing?

Before long.

Another person walked out of the door, carrying a heavy sack... Gu Shen silently got up, slid down from the mountaintop, and landed steadily.

He followed behind the other person, slowly approaching in the snow.

"What strange clothes..."

Gu Shen frowned.

The wind and snow rolled up the man's coarse linen robe, which was engraved with obscure and difficult-to-understand characters. This was not the East Continent's style of dressing at all.

"This is a scripture from a certain church in South Continent..."

Chu Ling's voice was also surprised.

"South Continent?"

Gu Shen never expected that the guys hiding in the tundra snow were actually from South Continent?

That place had many churches, with mixed beliefs and constant turmoil... In some extreme areas, there were often stowaways fleeing.

But no matter how they stowed away, they wouldn't run to the extremely northern tundra, right? The environment in this place wasn't much better than South Continent...

The next moment, Gu Shen released his mental power.

As a result... the guy who left alone was completely unaware.

This wasn't a transcendent at all, just an ordinary person!

Gu Shen quickly stepped forward, stretched out his palm, and lightly patted the other person's shoulder.

The ghostly contact startled the man, and the moment he turned his head, he saw a wisp of blazing fire, crashing into his brow.

Gu Shen didn't even interrogate him.

After clarifying the other person's identity... he directly rushed into his mind with his mental power, quickly reading the information he wanted.

He frowned.

A large amount of disordered, chaotic information crashed into his mind along with the blazing fire.

What met his eyes was blood and fire!

The simple courtyard wall was pushed down, the giant elephant fell heavily, blood splattered everywhere, and the gun fire sprayed fiercely... These were all the locked things in this man's memory bank. This was a war.

A shiny silver foil lay in the pool of blood. The man reached out and grasped the silver foil, which was engraved with a silver "trident"... The memory was fragmented, obviously processed by a powerful force.

The camera turned, and countless voices shouted obscure languages.

Gu Shen couldn't understand, but he saw one silver foil after another.

All were engraved with that "trident"...

Was this the symbolic object of a certain church?

Gu Shen frowned.

After that... only the cold frozen snow remained.

This man was sent here.

...

...

(ps: I forgot to send blessings yesterday. I wish all readers taking the college entrance examination to perform exceptionally and get into their favorite universities~ But from the time, it should be over by the time you see it?)