"Twenty years ago, because of a 'mission' from the Federal Parliament, Gu Changzhi went to the world outside the North Continent Fortress..."

"After the mission ended, he returned to Nagano and fell into a deep sleep."

"With his slumber, conflicts gradually arose within the Gu family, escalating until... the Old Faction spent a huge price to build this 'Qing Tomb' (Tomb of Purity), intending to gather the wandering extraordinary source substance and awaken the sleeping one."

The tombkeeper said to this point, laughing self-deprecatingly, "Later... you know the rest. The sleeping one did not awaken, and Nagano gradually became peaceful."

Gu Shen listened quietly, thoughtfully.

After the Qing Tomb was built, both the Old and New Factions discovered the wonderful uses of this "Miracle Land." A large amount of disordered source substance was absorbed, making the entire Nagano district unprecedentedly stable. In other words... if there truly came a day when order collapsed and the apocalypse descended, the Qing Tomb's powerful energy would be enough to protect Nagano's peace and tranquility.

"The inner mausoleum is shrouded in heavy fog, making it impossible for ordinary people to enter." The tombkeeper slowly said, "Before the Qing Tomb was built, this was actually an ancient relic with a long history, abandoned for a hundred years. Because of the resurgence of the array patterns, it was soaked in extraordinary source substance... this ancient relic underwent a miraculous change..."

"A miraculous change?" Gu Shen recalled the giant statues he had seen earlier, as well as the stone seat he touched.

"The world of the inner mausoleum... has become a state of uncertainty..."

The tombkeeper murmured, "If the Qing Tomb stops functioning, the extraordinary source substance dissipates, and the fog recedes, then I don't know if these ancient giants, and the entire relic, will be able to remain above ground."

"What... does this mean?" Gu Shen hadn't understood yet.

"As you can see, this is a mental world..." Grandmaster Qianye said meaningfully, "It is the Shiki Koya (Wilderness of Four Seasons)."

Gu Shen slowly nodded.

He didn't know when, but his mind had been hypnotized.

"In fact... this is a 'material world' that truly exists." The tombkeeper narrowed his eyes and said, "If you are injured here, you will feel pain. Even if you leave the inner mausoleum, the wounds will still be there. Even... you can die here."

"This is why the entire inner mausoleum is shrouded in fog!"

"The spiritual and the material... have been pulled to the same level. No one can explain how this phenomenon occurred, but it did occur." The tombkeeper said calmly, "You can say that this is a false 'spiritual realm,' or you can say that this is a real 'material realm.' And Gu Changzhi... is at the end of falsehood and reality."

"When the Qing Tomb Act was implemented, thousands of extraordinary array patterns were carved inside and outside the mausoleum. To ensure that this 'Miracle Land' could function... the hibernation pod containing Gu Changzhi was moved to the center of the ancient relic's giant array eye."

"And the moment the array patterns were activated, the power of the Fire Seed ignited on its own."

"A large amount of disordered extraordinary source substance was absorbed. At the time, this phenomenon was considered a 'miracle,' a response from the sleeping 'god' to the world's call... The fog appeared from that moment on, forming the so-called 'inner mausoleum' dividing line, and the illusion of the 'Shiki Koya' gradually emerged. No one has been able to find that 'hibernation pod' since then. The entire giant array has been obscured by the extraordinary fog."

Gu Shen thought of a word and blurted it out, "This is... Miaojing (Mystic Realm)?"

"Yes."

The tombkeeper nodded slowly, his voice hoarse and somewhat sentimental, "If a dead object containing extraordinary source substance is considered a sealed object... then what sealed object in this world could be more powerful than the power of the 'Fire Seed'?"

Indeed... recalling the scene of the battle in Lion Lane, Gu Shen sincerely felt the terrifying power of the "god."

A Fire Seed could grant a person a majestic power that surpassed all living beings!

This power could no longer be measured by the Council's standard for evaluating sealed objects.

Now... the Divine Seat sleeps.

Only the Fire Seed remains, emitting its residual light, forming a vast and boundless Shiki Koya Mystic Realm.

No wonder the Qing Tomb's inner mausoleum was sealed off.

"Returning to your previous question... where exactly is Gu Changzhi?"

The tombkeeper's voice pulled Gu Shen's thoughts back to reality.

She looked at the flying grass in the distance and said softly, "He's right here, but no one can see him."

Gu Shen ignited his blazing flame.

He had a small glimmer of hope in his heart that perhaps his "flame"-enhanced vision would allow him to see a different scene... but regrettably, he was no different from anyone else.

No matter how hard he tried to look into the distance, it was still a vast and boundless wilderness.

"You can't see anything, right..."

One could hear a trace of disappointment in the voice behind the cat mask.

The tombkeeper actually had a moment of hope in her heart as well.

It's just that over the years, she had experienced too many hopes and disappointments.

She smiled and said, "The extraordinary source substance of the Qing Tomb is mostly calm... but occasionally it becomes disordered. It's like the tide, seemingly rising and falling in a regular pattern, but there are always a few days when it is unstable."

"This is the meaning of my long residence here."

The tombkeeper slowly raised an arm, and in an inverted posture, extended two fingers, slowly outlining in the air. Snow-white fluorescence lingered in the void, and exquisite array patterns unfolded before Gu Shen... rotating like gears.

Thousands of extraordinary array patterns.

Among them... there were also obscure ancient characters!

"These should be the array patterns buried in various places within the mausoleum when the Qing Tomb was designed..." Gu Shen murmured in disbelief, his scalp tingling, "Could the 'Tomb Ghosts' have designed these?"

Tomb Ghosts... heard that familiar name.

The tombkeeper's tone became low, "How could the Tomb Ghosts have such ability to design these array patterns? They all originated from the ancient drawings that Gu Changzhi brought back to Nagano. That self-righteous guy understood the function of these drawings with only a smattering of knowledge, so when the Qing Tomb was built, he copied these array patterns and buried them in this ancient relic..."

Grandmaster Qianye's words seemed to contain anger?

Gu Shen heard something unusual.

"Everything in the world has black and white, yin and yang, positive and negative sides... This super-large array pattern, which cost countless resources to build in the Qing Tomb, is composed of two hundred fifty-six small array patterns. That idiot extracted the direction of the array patterns from the drawings, but made a big mistake in the final planning."

"The entire array pattern is in reverse order."

The tombkeeper sat cross-legged on the tree, gritting her teeth and saying coldly, "If you want to control the array pattern, you must... reverse your own world."

Gu Shen's expression became complicated.

When he first saw the tombkeeper... she was sitting upside down, cross-legged. He thought it was some kind of specific cultivation posture.

This sitting in solitude has lasted for more than ten years!

No wonder, on the way here, the Tomb Ghosts would rather jump out of the plane than meet the tombkeeper!

…

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(This is the bonus chapter from yesterday, please vote for me~~)