A long afternoon, the breeze of the West Sea Ferry brushed past.

"Little Wu, Yao Jin has already returned to the city, this operation—"

Mu Xin opened his mouth with a heavy voice, while pushing open the door of the small courtyard.

His voice stopped abruptly.

Mu Xin stared blankly at the scene in the courtyard.

Broken shadows of trees fell on Wu Tuo's body.

Potted green leaves swayed, and the sea breeze brought coolness... It was very clean here, clean in every sense of the word.

There was no blood.

No traces of fighting.

And no breath.

…

…

"Great Elder, I have come to plead guilty."

Yao Jin sat in a wheelchair, speaking from behind a screen with a complex expression.

"I already know about the Gu family mission."

At the end of the screen, there was darkness.

The sound of liquid surging could be faintly heard.

The corner of this old-fashioned阁楼 (gé lóu, attic) was piled with mechanical components, and a large number of cyan-silver pipes were densely arranged. The sound of liquid surging came from this... as if countless streams of water were passing through the pipes, sending it to the world behind the screen. Almost no one in the temple knew what was behind the screen.

"You lost the bet, which is normal."

After a long silence, the Great Elder opened his mouth: "Many people in the temple have lost bets, including me. One failure doesn't mean anything."

Yao Jin raised his head in surprise.

He stared at the darkness at the end of the screen and said in a low voice, "Gu Nanfeng made an unreasonable request..."

He explained the details of this operation in detail.

The Great Elder was very patient.

"You made a mistake, and I will apologize. This is not unreasonable."

After listening, he smiled and asked, "You seem very angry because Gu Nanfeng called you a 'house dog' raised by the temple?"

Yao Jin was silent.

"Or, the reason for your anger is... that the fact is indeed so."

There was no emotion in the Great Elder's tone.

He spoke slowly, without contempt or sarcasm: "You have been guarding the secret prison in the temple for nearly ten years. You were thrown to the West Sea Ferry by me to practice with Mu Xin when you were young... After you became an adult, before you had time to stand in the light, you lost your legs due to the temple's decision-making errors. Since then, you can only spend a long and dark life in this wheelchair. Gu Nanfeng is not wrong to call you a 'house dog'. After all, since you were born, you have been tied to Xizhou, and you have never left the house."

"...Great Elder, that's not why I'm angry."

Yao Jin closed his eyes, his breathing a little disordered.

He silently clenched his fingers and said calmly, "As long as I can serve the light, no matter what the price, Yao Jin will not hesitate. A pair of broken legs is nothing."

He looked towards the end of the閣樓 (gé lóu, attic).

"I was picked up by you and survived... If it weren't for your cultivation, Yao Jin would have died long ago."

The man in the wheelchair smiled with lowered eyes: "I didn't take Gu Nanfeng's words to heart, but I can't accept this 'failure'."

"You shouldn't have let Wu Tuo show up."

The Great Elder said softly: "Since you brought him back, the best thing to do is to hide him completely... As long as Wu Tuo doesn't appear, who knows where he is?"

Yao Jin gritted his teeth and said, "I want to find out the mastermind behind the Dongse family case."

"Does it matter?"

The Great Elder asked with a smile, "Since you have stood in the light, it means... you are no longer a shadow. In the struggle of the 'mastermind', whoever stands up first loses. I ask you, who is the mastermind of the Dongse family case? You previously thought it was Gu Nanfeng... Is it really?"

Yao Jin was silent.

Judging from last night's situation, countless clues pointed to the Gu family mission.

But after seeing him once.

Yao Jin knew very well... that the mastermind he was looking for was not Gu Nanfeng.

"This failure is actually a good thing."

The Great Elder said indifferently: "Dongzhou wants to see you make mistakes, and I actually hope so too... Remember, since you are standing in the light, you must deal with problems in a different way."

"I... know I was wrong."

Yao Jin felt mixed feelings in his heart.

"How has Yuan Yang been doing in the secret prison these past few days? Any progress?"

The Great Elder changed the subject.

"Maybe... it will take some time."

Yao Jin took a light breath, a trace of indifference flashed in his eyes, and said, "It is not easy to gain the trust of the Saintess, and collecting the *Sheng Shu* (Holy Book) is not a matter of a day or two. There is no need to rush this matter."

"That's true..."

"It's just that with Yuan Yang gone, I have a lot of inconveniences."

The Great Elder sighed softly and said, "Yao Jin, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with some things..."

Yao Jin looked solemn.

He silently gripped the back of the wheelchair, suppressed his trembling voice, and tried to remain calm: "Please tell me."

"You come in."

The old voice spoke from behind the screen.

Yao Jin glanced at the dark threshold and slowly drove over.

He controlled the wheelchair, not pressing on the sealed pipes plated with cyan-silver, and carefully entered the darkness. At the end was a cabin made of alloy, but it was in a half-open state, looking like a bathtub.

The Great Elder, second only to one person and above ten thousand in Xizhou.

Was lying in this "bathtub".

A large amount of Guang Ming (Light) aura overflowed from the cabin, but it did not leak out, because countless "Transcendent Barriers" were condensed above the cabin, and these Guang Ming (Light) were compressed in a small square space.

"Great Elder..."

Yao Jin's eyes were a little complicated. This was also the first time he had seen the scene deep in the閣樓 (gé lóu, attic).

The old man lying in the cabin closed his eyes, as if he was asleep, or even dead.

Those surging cyan-silver pipes were connected to this aging body.

The Great Elder's skin also rose and fell with the surge of the pipes...

"In the past, Yuan Yang did this kind of thing. This time, I'll have to trouble you."

The old man lying in the life cabin, although his eyes were closed, as if dead.

But his voice echoed in this閣樓 (gé lóu, attic).

Yao Jin raised his head. He felt a spirit that was countless times stronger than himself, enveloping this small place in the閣樓 (gé lóu, attic)... He was very sure that as long as he made the slightest unfavorable move, the Great Elder's spirit would penetrate into his heart and kill him instantly.

"What... do you want me to do?" Yao Jin came to the side of the cabin.

"Do you see these pipes?"

The Great Elder said gently, "What is flowing in here... is the blood of the 'Undying', one side is input, and the other side is output."

Undying?!

Yao Jin knew about this legendary strange physique. The initial manifestation of the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) was no different from ordinary mortals. Many of them would not even realize that they had awakened...

But as long as they experienced life and death, the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) would transform!

Their vitality and energy were far more vigorous than other Transcendent beings, and every time they were pulled back from the "death line", their mental and physical strength would make a major breakthrough.

The Temple has been looking for the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying). As long as characters with this physique appear in the five continents, the Holy Judge will come to their door...

No one knows what the purpose of Guang Ming (Light) City's search for the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) is.

But now Yao Jin knew.

The Great Elder's body was so decayed that it was outrageous. It is said that he was the earliest follower of the Guang Ming (Light) Divine Throne, and he obtained the most divine scrolls and the strongest strength.

In a sense.

He is the most suitable "crown holder" for the Guang Ming (Light) Fire Seed.

But unfortunately, he was too old, so old that it was difficult to even lift a finger, let alone melt the Fire Seed.

"This body was severely damaged during the battle with the King of the Underworld..."

The Great Elder murmured: "I have been contaminated with 'disaster' that I can't dissolve for the rest of my life. If the Divine Throne had not taken action, I would have died long ago. To survive, I need the blood of the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying), a constant stream of blood."

"I expel the old blood from my body."

"Then this Guang Ming (Light) cabin will draw in the new blood of the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying)."

"In this way, a large amount of disaster will leave the body with the old blood... But the King of the Underworld's attack has 'causal locking'. If I don't find a new owner for this old blood, the disaster will return to my head."

"So... this old blood will be sent into the bodies of those *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying)."

The Great Elder spoke very slowly, "Over the years, the Temple has secretly searched for more than a dozen *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying), and now they are all dead, and my life is coming to an end."

"The *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) are all dead?"

Yao Jin was shocked by the secret that the Great Elder said.

In his impression, the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) were all top geniuses, Fisher from the Northern Continent, Song Ci from the Eastern Continent, and Meng Xiao, the former Guang Ming (Light) Blessing Son!

Every near-death experience will make them stronger!

He couldn't help but ask, "Did these people... die from the 'King of the Underworld's' ominousness?"

"Yes, but not all of them."

The Great Elder said: "The *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) are not as powerful as you think. Everything has balance, and everything has gains and losses. Although their vitality is tenacious, they also have limits. As long as that layer of boundaries is broken, the *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) will still die... They are like昙花 (tán huā, Epiphyllum flowers) that appear amazingly in the dark night, but after they bloom, they will soon wither. No *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) is long-lived."

"And."

"Many *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying)... are just mortals throughout their lives."

The Great Elder said, "They are just ordinary people if they don't encounter 'death'. The *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) that the Temple transfused blood for me were very weak. They only had a few transfusions, and they died because they couldn't bear the burden."

"..."

Yao Jin was a little lost. He murmured: "No wonder you rarely show up outside."

"The Guang Ming (Light) Temple suffered heavy losses in the battle with the King of the Underworld... It is impossible for the outside world to know about this."

The Great Elder sighed and said, "If I die early, who will take over the Temple? Yuan Yang?"

Over the years, every time he appeared, it was at a critical moment when he had to come forward.

A large amount of *Bu Si Zhe* (Undying) blood was poured into the body.

He can leave this Guang Ming (Light) cabin and move freely for a short period of time.

And now.

It was time for him to appear again... The Gu family mission was about to arrive in Guang Ming (Light) City. As the Great Elder of the Temple, he would personally greet them and preside over the upcoming "Fire Seed Inheritor Trial."