Chapter 126 In the Depths of Qingzhong

　　Mist swirled.

　　Vision was dim.

　　Even with the blessing of "Blazing Fire," Gu Shen couldn't clearly see the rumored Qingzhong, let alone what kind of mysterious scene the inner mausoleum held.

　　But as Gu Nanfeng said, all he needed to do was walk forward, and there would be guidance in the dark.

　　Stepping into the mist, an invisible power formed a supernatural aura in response to the Blazing Fire.

　　Gu Shen followed this feeling and walked forward slowly.

　　Enveloped in the heavy fog, he could vaguely see a towering stone mausoleum gate ahead, as well as rows of grand giant statues. Thanks to Blazing Fire’s keen perception, Gu Shen was able to make out the rough outlines of these objects that should have been hidden in the mist.

　　"It is said... that before Qingzhong was built, this was an ancient ruin."

　　Chu Ling's voice was intermittent.

　　The supernatural source substance floating above Qingzhong completely blocked the deep-sea signal.

　　Because there was too much supernatural source substance, even the mental link... was no longer stable.

　　Gu Shen walked among the huge stone pillars, looking up and back, only to see boundless mist and the overlooking gaze of the giant statues.

　　Within this Qingzhong, humans were like tiny ants...

　　After walking for a long time, the mist guided Gu Shen into a mausoleum. Chu Ling's voice completely disappeared, and the whole world became eerily silent. The surrounding fog gradually thinned.

　　"Wait..."

　　"This is..."

　　When the fog dissipated.

　　The light in front of Gu Shen's eyes gradually brightened... He stared blankly at the suddenly open world before him. Wild grass fluttered in the wind, an old tree stood on the wilderness, and when he turned his head sharply, there was no mausoleum or mist behind him.

　　Was he hypnotized?

　　When did he enter this dream world?!

　　"Gu Shen, we meet again."

　　A dreamlike whisper echoed in the wilderness.

　　The tombkeeper, wearing a dark robe with black cloud patterns, sat cross-legged on the tree trunk, still in that upside-down posture. The voice coming from behind the cat mask seemed to contain a hint of gentle laughter.

　　"Thank you, Master Qianye... for your help just now." Gu Shen took a breath to calm his mind, and bowed respectfully.

　　If the tombkeeper hadn't stepped in and given him a hand in the dojo, the matter of comprehending the Guyu Scroll would have caused a lot of trouble. It wouldn't have been as simple as it was today if he had tried to solve it on his own.

　　Perhaps... he really would have had to wait for his teacher to return before he had a chance to see the ancient scroll.

　　"You're welcome."

　　The tombkeeper slowly shook her head and asked with a smile, "How do you feel after comprehending the Guyu Scroll?"

　　Although she had always guarded the mausoleum and never left Qingzhong.

　　She knew everything that happened outside...

　　The art of divination!

　　Master Qianye, like the "Prophet" of the Source Tower, it was actually somewhat ironic... The two people who saw this whole world most clearly were trapped in closed, confined spaces.

　　"It feels... very magical."

　　Gu Shen looked at the cat mask and had a strange feeling.

　　He felt that all the secrets in the world could not be hidden from the woman sitting upside down on the ancient tree.

　　Behind that mask was a pair of unparalleled wise eyes that saw through the world.

　　"I didn't follow Mr. Gu Changzhi's 'guidance'..." Gu Shen smiled wryly and told the truth, "I chose to touch the parchment scroll again... so I saw a different Season Wilderness."

　　The eyes behind the mask flickered slightly.

　　The tombkeeper smiled and said, "Oh... what kind of world is that?"

　　"More desolate, but also more vibrant."

　　Gu Shen looked around, thought for a while, and said, "In that world, I found seeds."

　　Master Qianye smiled and pointed to the tree beneath her, "This tree was just a seed many years ago..."

　　"More than one."

　　Gu Shen shook his head and said seriously, "In that barren soil, there are many seeds waiting for me to cultivate and irrigate. I think... if one day these seeds can germinate, it will become a lush and prosperous pure land."

　　He paused slightly, looked at the tombkeeper, and said with a hint of apology, "I am very grateful for Mr. Gu Changzhi's 'gift'... but that kind of Season Wilderness is not what I want."

　　"You did the right thing."

　　The tombkeeper spoke, not letting Gu Shen continue, but affirmed, "This is exactly what Mr. Gu Changzhi hoped to see. You should have your own path. The gift in the capital was actually just to... give you a place to house the wandering 'lost souls'. You should have felt it too, right? The real gift is not the spiritual realm that you will develop sooner or later."

　　Gu Shen's expression froze.

　　"The real gift is that apostle from the Source Tower..."

　　The tombkeeper smiled and said, "You didn't disappoint me, and even did better than I imagined. Tie Wu's soul is sleeping soundly in the Season Wilderness. It shouldn't be long before he wakes up."

　　It really was as he expected.

　　Mr. Gu Changzhi used "God's Domain" to wrap an apostle and stuffed him into his mind. In order to prevent Tie Wu's supernatural source substance from dissipating, he left behind that incomplete Season Wilderness as a temporary residence.

　　People who can leave the souls of the dying behind... would they really die so easily?

　　"I guard here and can often capture wandering 'supernatural source substance'..."

　　"In fact, the supernatural source substance of the entire Qingzhong can operate smoothly because Gu Changzhi's 'fire seed' is too powerful. It suppresses the condensation of all supernatural source substance with its own power, so disorderly phenomena no longer occur. This is the most stable place in the Five Continents Order."

　　"But in recent years, the perception of the fire seed has become weaker and weaker."

　　The tombkeeper murmured, "The mental fluctuations I can feel from it are also getting less and less."

　　"Until last time... there was a disturbance in Qingzhong. Familiar mental fluctuations came out, and that mental fluctuation sent me a request for help... so I found you, who served as the bridge, through dream perception."

　　Gu Shen suddenly understood.

　　This was the reason for his meeting with the tombkeeper before the Descent of the Gods.

　　So it was the power of Mr. Gu Changzhi's fire seed?

　　Gu Shen asked the question that everyone in the Five Continents Federation wanted to ask.

　　"So, doesn't this also prove that Mr. Gu Changzhi... is still alive?"

　　In the Apostle War in the capital, Song Ci awakened the "White Parrot Emblem" and fought to the death with two apostles of the Source Tower in the identity of Gu Changzhi's apostle. After that day, the entire Five Continents believed that... Gu Changzhi was not dead, and it seemed that he would wake up soon!

　　But in fact, only a very few people knew that this token was not Gu Changzhi's at all!

　　Only a handful of people knew this inside story.

　　Aside from Gu Nanfeng, who asked for the token from the Light City of the Western Continent, the Bright Divine Throne who gave the divine object, and Gu Shen... no one else knew.

　　Even Song Ci, the person involved, was only told the truth after the fight.

　　The Eastern Continent Federation breathed a great sigh of relief.

　　But Gu Shen couldn't relax in his heart... Even after meeting in the spiritual realm, he still couldn't be sure whether the man who held up the sky over the Eastern Continent was really awake.

　　This was very important to the Eastern Continent.

　　"Of course..."

　　The tombkeeper's answer didn't even take a second of thought.

　　Master Qianye slowly replied, "He is always alive, never dead... Every strand of supernatural source substance wandering in the Qingzhong Mausoleum, every ray of sunshine protecting Nagano, is his incarnation."

　　Since Qingzhong was built.

　　Since Gu Changzhi "moved" into the mausoleum.

　　Nagano Prefecture had never experienced any turbulence or disasters. For the past ten years, the weather had been good and everything had been peaceful.

　　"You know what I mean... The living that people care about is often the visible living." Gu Shen said word by word, "If you have to sleep in Qingzhong to protect Nagano's peace, then Mr. Gu Changzhi's efforts... will not be recognized. People outside will not think that the Divine Throne's power is protecting them. Sooner or later, they will come in to find out."

　　And once they really saw the scene before them.

　　There would be no one in the mausoleum.

　　In the Season Wilderness, there was only a withered tree and a tombkeeper.

　　At that time... how much respect, admiration, and worship would the world have for the "Divine Throne"?

　　"..."

　　The tombkeeper was silent.

　　Master Qianye's silence was actually an answer.

　　Her eyes were a little dim...

　　Gu Shen gritted his teeth, "After the Descent of the Gods... I had a separate conversation with Mr. Gu Changzhi."

　　As soon as he said this, the tombkeeper sitting cross-legged on the dead tree perked up.

　　After completing the wish of building a bridge with the fire seed, she disconnected the spiritual link.

　　She had no way of knowing the specific things that happened later, because they involved the Divine Throne... She only vaguely glimpsed through divination that Gu Shen had a "free" spiritual realm and a wisp of the soul of an apostle who should have died.

　　Master Qianye's lips were a little dry, "What did he... say to you?"

　　"After the Descent of the Gods... I saw Mr. Gu Changzhi's spirit in a pure golden divine realm." Gu Shen looked around and murmured, "Not the Season Wilderness... There is a high-hanging blazing sun there, and other than that, there is endless radiance."

　　"What... did he say to you?" The tombkeeper's voice trembled slightly.

　　Gu Shen was stunned.

　　So there were some things in this world that divination could not calculate.

　　Master Qianye had guarded Qingzhong Mausoleum for so many years, day after day, without ever leaving... In the outside world, many people had doubts and many people wavered, but because of her existence, those people were finally willing to believe that the Gu Changzhi Divine Throne was still alive, but had chosen to rest and sleep in Qingzhong for "special" reasons.

　　But in fact, she didn't know the truth either.

　　The "all-knowing" tombkeeper didn't even know whether the person she was guarding was alive or dead... If this were to spread, many people's beliefs would probably collapse?

　　Gu Shen took a deep breath and said, "That 'Descent of the Gods'... was a seed that Mr. Gu Changzhi planted on the Dionysus Divine Throne!"

　　"In the [Old World], the Dionysus Divine Throne had secretly spied on Mr. Gu Changzhi... and the seed of 'Descent of the Gods' was planted at that time."

　　The tombkeeper couldn't help but let out a sigh of realization.

　　This was a cause and effect foreshadowing that had been buried decades ago.

　　No wonder... no wonder the final "Descent of the Gods" could come.

　　She and the prophet of the Source Tower could indeed achieve a certain degree of "precognition," that is, "seeing the future first," because of their ancient heritage and the special nature of their supernatural abilities, but human power was sometimes exhausted... No matter how they divined or calculated, it was difficult for them to peek into the "Divine Thrones" holding the fire seed!

　　Gu Shen continued, "The Dionysus Divine Throne suffered divine punishment..."

　　He repeated Gu Changzhi's oracle in the golden divine realm.

　　Because of the sin of multiple visions... the Dionysus Divine Throne was stripped of his eyes and became blind.

　　And once he opened his eyes and violated the oracle, Gu Changzhi's divine thoughts would descend again, and the Dionysus Divine Throne would immediately face even more terrifying punishment!

　　This was definitely a heart-wrenching statement.

　　After experiencing a "coincidence"... the Dionysus Divine Throne definitely had a psychological shadow.

　　After this battle, no matter how he reviewed it, he could not trace the truth of the final Descent of the Gods... and the only reasonable answer he could think of after thinking about it was that the entire Apostle War in the capital was designed by Gu Changzhi.

　　Inviting the enemy into the urn.

　　He didn't believe it, so he jumped in.

　　So... he went blind.

　　In this case, would he dare to jump in again?

　　Although she didn't experience it herself, the tombkeeper felt the thrilling nature of that divine battle just by listening to Gu Shen's description...

　　"The Dionysus Divine Throne shouldn't act rashly in a short period of time." Gu Shen said solemnly, "Mr. Gu Changzhi answered many of my doubts when the Descent of the Gods was about to end."

　　"He seems to know everything that happens outside..."

　　"Gu Nanfeng used the highest seat authority to modify his identity code and go to the Northern Continent..."

　　"And he seems to know about borrowing the Light City Apostle token."

　　The tombkeeper's expression behind the mask was a little strange when she heard this.

　　Her chest suddenly felt lighter.

　　The big stone that had been hanging there for a long time seemed to be lifted lightly.

　　These words were enough to prove that Gu Changzhi was still alive.

　　He knew that she had used the "highest seat authority" to help Gu Nanfeng escape from Nagano and go to the Northern Continent... and he also knew everything that happened later.

　　"By the way, if I remember correctly, he mentioned you and called you..." Gu Shen thought of an important thing, he paused for a moment and said seriously, "Xiao Ye."

　　Xiao Ye... a distant and familiar name.

　　A sense of sadness welled up in her heart. The tombkeeper took a deep breath and looked at the wind and clouds rolling in the wilderness behind her. She murmured with a smile, "Sure enough, I knew it... you have always been there... and watching the world outside..."

　　But why have you never given a response to the outside world?

　　She had waited bitterly for so many years, so many years...

　　It was too lonely here.

　　Time was too long.

　　"I would like to ask, where is Mr. Gu Changzhi... exactly?"

　　Gu Shen saw the joy and loss, sadness and dimness in Master Qianye's eyes. He waited for a long time until her emotions gradually calmed down before tentatively asking, wanting to inquire about Mr. Gu Changzhi's "resting place."

　　The tombkeeper pointed behind her.

　　Behind the ancient tree, there was the endless, boundless Nagano.

　　"He is there... in the very, very distant place."

　　"At the end of Qingzhong."

　　"And at the end of the dream."

　　……

　　……

　　(Sorry everyone, I'm very ashamed that I didn't complete the extra update during the day today. Because the climax is coming, I wrote the outline for a long, long time. Happy Labor Day everyone, I'll make it up tomorrow morning.)