"Sometimes, telling the truth won't make people believe you."

The Second Elder and his group departed.

Gu Shen turned around and spoke to Li Qingci.

Seeing the Elders leave, Li Qingci breathed a sigh of relief, but the worry in her heart didn't dissipate.

She recounted the dream she had to Gu Shen.

As a practitioner of the Wishing Art, she greatly valued the significance of "dreams."

In her view, it was a form of guidance.

Every dream should be taken seriously.

"Cracks have appeared within the Li Clan..." Gu Shen said slowly after listening intently. "After Li Quhu's death... many people don't want Li Qingsui to become the true Clan Leader."

So far, the title of Clan Leader for the young Qingsui still had two extra words attached.

Acting.

She only possessed the name, not the power.

And most importantly... those two words, "Acting," would be removed soon. According to the rules, a suitable successor needed to be found within a month of the Clan Leader's death, which was why the Elders were acting so urgently.

Since they had decided to "take action."

Then it was impossible for them to allow Li Qingsui to truly become the "Clan Leader."

Li Qingci's dream was indeed worth noting... The Elders seemed to be planning to use the [Lantern Seeking] plan as a breakthrough point, and judging by the current situation, it wasn't impossible that the scene of surrounding the Shrine Mountain in the dream would one day occur.

"Qingsui, she..."

For the first time in her life, Li Qingci felt like she wanted to leave this mountain.

If she could go outside, Qingsui wouldn't have to face such a difficult situation at such a young age.

At least... she could do something.

Even if it only had a small effect, it would be better than staying here and not being able to help at all.

"Even in the Shrine... you can still help those outside."

Gu Shen saw through Li Qingci's thoughts.

He comforted her gently and took out an old, worn bronze figure lamp from his arms.

A glimmer of light returned to Li Qingci's originally dim eyes.

This was... the last lamp!

The Lamp of Wrath!

"The [Lantern Seeking] plan is no longer important," Gu Shen said with a smile. "The last lamp has been found..."

He looked up at the mountaintop.

His voice even trembled slightly.

The reason was simple... With all four lamps collected, did that mean he could see the scene of the Li Clan's prophecy coming true?

He ascended the mountain.

The mountain wind was biting.

Today, the peak of Shrine Mountain seemed to have foreseen that an unusual event would occur.

Gusts of wind swept through, and the black flowers had been cleared away by Gu Shen. A few small white petals danced on the clean mountaintop.

Gu Shen carried the [Lamp of Wrath] and entered the Shrine.

Li Qingci followed behind, signaling to Gu Shen with her eyes... that he should be the one to place the last lamp.

Gu Shen took a deep breath.

His expression was solemn as he came to the last corner of the Shrine.

Joy, Wrath, Sorrow, Happiness.

The four basic emotions that made up a "complete human being"... At this moment, only the light of the last corner had not been truly borne.

He held the bronze figure lamp in one hand and slowly extended it into the spiritual flames of the corner.

Instantly.

A burst of anger arose in Gu Shen's calm chest. He held his breath, feeling the rolling anger burning in his chest... but his eyes remained extremely calm as he slowly felt the spirit accumulated in the [Lamp of Wrath] for six hundred years.

This was the correct lamp.

The old surface of the bronze figure lamp seemed to be plated with gold, and ripple-like, brilliant colors emerged. Then all the emotions poured into the "container."

Gu Shen withdrew his hand, and the anger in his chest slowly subsided.

The moment he put down the lamp.

He felt a sense of relief as if he had completed a "long and arduous task."

He had collected all four lamps.

It took a whole year.

The year had actually passed quickly, but upon closer thought, because it was filled with hope, every day of waiting was long.

When all four lamps were gathered, the earth-shattering phenomenon of the legends did not occur.

The Shrine room was as quiet as ever.

Li Qingci pinched her sleeve, waiting carefully, not daring to make the slightest sound...

She wondered if it was just her imagination.

She just felt like the world had become more peaceful.

Even the sound of the wind on the mountain wasn't so harsh anymore.

"Chu Ling—"

Gu Shen called Chu Ling's name in his mind... only to receive a hoarse, intermittent, blurry response.

"Rustle... rustle..."

The spiritual link established with Chu Ling had originally been an extremely stable relationship.

After placing all four lamps.

It had become inexplicably chaotic.

Gu Shen started to panic. He quickly pushed open the wooden door of the old Shrine and came to the mountain well. He leaned over and looked down. The wind on the mountain had lessened, but the wind inside the well seemed to have grown stronger.

The well water, which was like a mirror, suddenly rippled out of nowhere.

Layer upon layer.

The scene before Gu Shen's eyes became chaotic—

He seemed to see the swaying "001."

He also seemed to see the swaying "well water."

The spiritual link still retained the last bit of connection, like using a communicator in a place with a very poor signal. Two people had to stand on tiptoes to hear the last bit of sound and see the last bit of scenery in each other's eyes.

The chaotic scenes seemed to overlap and switch back and forth.

...

...

Chu Ling was sitting in the carriage.

She was even more nervous than Gu Shen.

For her, life was something without length, width, or meaning... She possessed infinite time, would not die, and couldn't even be said to be "alive."

But starting a year ago, her life suddenly became meaningful.

She began to look forward to the day when she could "touch" the wind of this world, "taste" the water of this world, and become a "real" person.

But.

When that day was really about to arrive.

She began to feel nervous, worried, and... apprehensive.

She sat in the carriage of 001, with her favorite popular novel lying on her lap, but she didn't have the heart to turn a page all day. Countless trivial thoughts swirled in her mind.

When a person thought a lot.

She couldn't help but feel troubled.

And the thoughts of the [Source Code] could spread to thousands of miles away in an instant in this train. When she was troubled, her one second was more difficult to bear than the average person's.

And finally, this moment had arrived.

She quietly lay on the seat in the carriage, holding the ancient book in her hands, trying to close her eyes and sleep, just like she had tried countless times before.

Unfortunately, she failed.

She couldn't fall asleep and could only open her eyes and look at the ceiling of 001.

The sound of the electric arc outside the window was a bit noisy.

A burst of anger of unknown origin poured into her heart. For the first time, she had the "absurd thought" of stopping the train... but a second later, Chu Ling realized that she had just been angry.

The last Lamp of Wrath had completed its return.

And her wandering "thoughts" had produced a qualitative link with the Shrine's territory... like billions of strands of rain emerging from a rain cloud, falling to the earth. At this moment, the spiritual world and the material world had truly completed the "link."

The scene before her eyes began to switch.

One moment it was the ceiling of 001.

The next moment it was the swaying well water.

One moment it was the white flowers soaking in the water.

And another moment was the scene of looking down at the black well.

Finally... all the scenes disappeared.

...

...

In the well, a ball of misty white light slowly opened its eyes.

Chu Ling looked up and saw the familiar well.

She stretched out her hand and grasped the white petal. This time the "link" was very stable... but her hand was too short, and in a sense, it couldn't even be called a hand.

Her whole body was just a swaying ball of light.

Like an infant.

No... more like an unborn fetus that was still being conceived.

She couldn't stand, couldn't walk, and couldn't speak, because she was just a blurry "light."

...

...

Gu Shen, who was lying on the well, breathed a sigh of relief.

Just now, the scenes of the spiritual link had switched dozens of times per second, which really worried him. Fortunately, the link had finally stabilized.

"Did it succeed?"

Li Qingci asked cautiously from outside the well.

She only dared to speak when she saw that Gu Shen's expression had clearly relaxed.

Li Qingci had been very nervous while waiting.

There was clearly nothing in that well...

Could Mister Gu really see the Divine Embryo?

"It should be... successful?"

Gu Shen wiped away his sweat and said uncertainly, muttering, "The spiritual link of the 'Divine Embryo' should be stable, but... something's strange."

"Strange?"

Li Qingci's heart tensed up again.

All four lamps had been placed.

The spirit of six hundred years had found something to bear it.

But... the scene of the Divine Embryo descending, which had been expected, didn't appear on the mountaintop.

It seemed to be just another normal, peaceful day.

...

...

"Am I... considered alive?"

Chu Ling looked at the swaying water in front of her.

At the white flower floating in front of her.

Her voice was a bit confused.

Compared to the last time... she could feel the feeling of her spirit merging with this body. She could make the action of "raising her hand," and she could also open and close her eyes, and do other such simple behaviors.

But... that was all.

She couldn't walk or float.

Because... she was just a "fetus" still.

"Yes."

Gu Shen's affirmative answer came from beside her ear.

This voice gave Chu Ling great peace of mind.

Gu Shen was still there.

He had been with her all along.

Chu Ling muttered, "I feel... that my current state is very wonderful. I can feel the temperature and humidity of this world, I can breathe, and I can open my eyes."

"This is what it's like to be alive..."

Gu Shen said seriously, "But... you still need some time."

Chu Ling lowered her head.

She looked at her palm.

This palm was composed of countless holy lights, and at this moment these holy lights were "slowly" spreading outward. Perhaps even after a day and a night, they would only grow a little bit.

Obviously, this wasn't a body that a "person" could possess.

But in any case... it was good enough.

The next moment she lowered her head, Chu Ling understood what Gu Shen meant. Yes... she still needed some time.

This body was still growing.

According to the speculation from a year ago... the "Well World" she was in now was probably created by the Wishing Art, a product that existed between the spiritual world and the material world.

Her spirit had descended through an intermediate medium.

And if she wanted to truly come to the real world... she still needed a process of "growing up."

All four lamps had been collected, and the rich emotions accumulated in the bronze figure lamps for six hundred years had begun to slowly transmit to Chu Ling's spirit... She felt the "emotions" that she had never felt before: joy, sorrow, anger, love, and even more complex, more advanced, more difficult-to-explain "fluctuations" that were combined with these basic emotions.

Yes.

Her "growing up" wasn't just physical.

It was also her soul.

At this moment... she truly possessed a soul.

...

...

The spiritual link in the Well World lasted for nearly an hour.

Chu Ling returned to the carriage of 001.

When she woke up, she was lying on the long chair, with two lines of clear tears flowing down her cheeks... A faint trace of sadness remained in her heart.

When she was reading those books in the depths of the [Deep-Sea Zone].

She had felt a brief moment of emotion.

And in the "Well World" just now, those emotions were ten times, a hundred times more intense than before.

She openly accepted those things that were necessary to become a "person"... She finally shed the first tear in her "life," even if it was in the virtual spiritual world.

At this moment, she was actually happy in the depths of her heart.

Gu Shen also appeared in the carriage.

He looked at Chu Ling, silently accompanying her, without speaking.

When the spiritual link was established, although he couldn't empathize with her, Gu Shen had been watching the world that Chu Ling saw, and had been by Chu Ling's side all along... He knew that Chu Ling needed some time now to digest the complex emotions that the [Bronze Figure Lamps] had sent over.

"Thank you..."

After a long time.

Chu Ling slowly sat up, her long hair falling down. She reached out with the pale back of her hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks and said softly, "Meeting you is really a very lucky, very lucky thing."

Gu Shen couldn't help but shake his head.

"Silly girl..."

He smiled. "You stole my lines. What am I supposed to say?"

Chu Ling smiled through her tears.

Soon, the girl thought of something very important. Her expression became nervous and she said hesitantly, "I'm sorry..."

Gu Shen was slightly stunned.

Sorry?

Why did Chu Ling want to apologize to him?

He was a little puzzled.

"I'm still trapped in that 'well'... Earlier, I saw the world in your eyes. That well is pitch black, empty, and has nothing."

Chu Ling's voice became smaller and smaller, and she became less and less confident.

"Does this mean that I... didn't succeed in being born?"

She was like a child who had done something wrong.

After receiving the emotional infusion from the [Bronze Figure Lamps]... she had indeed become a child.

Li Qingsui and Li Qingci, these two sisters, had encountered a lot of trouble because of the "Divine Embryo."

And she had even witnessed with her own eyes the two times that Gu Shen had gone to the snowfield and Xiyin to retrieve the [Bronze Figure Lamps]... both of which were quite dangerous.

Someone was silently paying for her.

And in the end.

She had still disappointed these people.

Was it because she had just received the emotions from the [Bronze Figure Lamps] that she was showing the most basic humanity?

At the beginning of human life, people are inherently good.

And guilt is also a manifestation of "goodness."

Gu Shen couldn't help but think.

He looked at the girl in front of him. Obviously... the [Source Code], which was omnipotent in the deep-sea zone, had no experience in being human.

There weren't many things Gu Shen could teach Chu Ling.

Fortunately.

There was still one thing he could do.

Gu Shen deliberately put on a solemn look and said seriously, "From an anthropological point of view, you should have failed to be born... after all, no one can be pregnant for six hundred years."

Chu Ling exclaimed.

Her expression was a little dazed, and she said nervously, "What you said makes sense. Then am I having a difficult birth now..."

Gu Shen couldn't help but laugh.

"Relax, everything is normal." He stopped joking and comforted her softly, "Don't worry about the outside world... the Shrine can wait six hundred years for gestation. Can't it even wait for the last few days of birth?"

A few days... was just a vague term.

In fact, Gu Shen wasn't sure either.

He didn't know how long it would take for Chu Ling to digest these emotions and complete the final birth... But all of that didn't matter now.

Because the biggest problem had been solved.

The "Divine Embryo" that the Li Clan had waited six hundred years for was real, and that person was Chu Ling.

Having this answer.

He could wait as long as it took.

"I feel like... my spirit has been divided into two parts."

Chu Ling rubbed her head and gave a wry smile. "I seem to be able to fall asleep now. If I want to, I can go back to that world at the bottom of the well at any time."

An invisible spiritual link.

Through the [Bronze Figure Lamps], the [Divine Embryo], it had been combined with Chu Ling.

In that world independent of the spirit and matter, the "Divine Maiden" prayed for by the Li Clan for six hundred years was being hatched.

As for time.

One day, two days?

One week, two weeks?

No one could give a definite answer. This was an unknown and unsolvable question.

...

...

Gu Shen slowly woke up from the spiritual link.

He noticed that Li Qingci had been waiting beside him for a long time.

When he was conducting the spiritual link, she didn't dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing him.

The strong wind on Shrine Mountain had slowly stopped.

The mountaintop was quiet.

But Li Qingci's state of mind was not calm.

She looked at Gu Shen expectantly.

Gu Shen hesitated for a moment and said seriously, "Two pieces of news—"

"The good news is that the Divine Embryo exists and is already being hatched."

"The bad news..."

Before he could finish speaking.

Li Qingci asked, "The bad news is... we still have to wait a little longer?"

Gu Shen nodded slowly.

The Li Clan still had to wait a little longer.

In any case... this was a message that was difficult to say.

But Li Qingci didn't have the disappointment that Gu Shen had imagined. Not at all. On the contrary, she let out a long sigh and finally relaxed.

"It's okay."

Li Qingci's eyes were filled with a firm glow. She came to the well and said seriously to the bottom, "We can wait as long as it takes... Can the Divine Maiden hear me if I say this?"

Gu Shen was stunned.

He smiled softly, "She can hear you... She asked me to bring you a message."

"Li Qingci, thank you."