Gu Jianlin glanced at the time on his phone. There was about an hour left until the assembly.
At this moment, he thought of his elementary school days. Back then, his parents hadn't divorced yet, and he had a lively personality. He would often fake being sick to skip school and stay home to play video games—a rather carefree time.
He didn't expect to have a similar experience now that he was grown up.
Only this time, faking illness was definitely useless. The camp was full of priests and alchemists.
He couldn't find an excuse to shirk his duties.
He returned to his tent and casually released the Lock of Nonexistence. Silver-white chains crisscrossed and bridged the void. Thıs content belongs to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥
Before setting off, he still needed to take a look at the contents of the Destiny Mud Tablet.
Yet, for a fleeting moment, a thought struck him.
"My teacher once told me that the doppelgänger created by the Qilin Forbidden Curse can't stray more than a kilometer from the original body, but that restriction only applies to humans. I wonder if my shadow can break this boundary. If it works, I could send my shadow to support Youzhu. As long as it doesn't sustain fatal injuries, it won't dissipate."
Gu Jianlin murmured to himself, "There's no need to have the shadow carry Jiuyin. The side effects are too severe. After a few uses, the shadow might collapse. It's better I hold onto it myself."
If he truly needed Jiuyin, he could summon a fragment of the Qilin Wedge and place Jiuyin inside it.
Then have the shadow summon back the fragment of the Qilin Wedge.
For an instant, all spirituality within his body evaporated, and a blood-red shadow condensed out of thin air.
This was quite fascinating.
If following the Divine Path, the shadow would be pitch black.
Conversely, if on the Ghost Slayer Path, the shadow would be blood-red.
The Qilin Forbidden Curse was indeed a heaven-defying ability, deserving of its title as one of the Five Original Forbidden Curses. Even a shadow conjured by it, though not of flesh and bone, possessed a solid physical form and spiritual circulation.
It could even use the Breathing Technique.
Its entire being was engulfed in a blood-red mist, making it unclear whether it was clothed or not.
An otherworldly, stunningly beautiful face framed by cascades of ink-black hair.
A beauty so breathtaking it felt suffocating.
The shadow rummaged through the tent and drew out a sheathed alchemy tachi, vanishing like a ghost in an instant.
Gu Jianlin manipulated the shadow, silently keeping track of time and distance.
For one following the Ghost Slayer Path, running a kilometer was hardly an effort.
Gu Jianlin multitasked, sensing that the distance between his main body and the doppelgänger had just reached its boundary.
The shadow continued to move in the opposite direction from him.
Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters!
Excellent, there truly was no distance limitation!
This was somewhat reminiscent of the Yin Yang Twin Jade.
Such were the perks of a supreme position—every ability came with unexpected surprises.
The only drawback was that Gu Jianlin had to split his mental focus.
When the doppelgänger was active, his main body would fall into a daze.
When his main body was occupied, the doppelgänger would also pause.
"No wonder Youzhu has such poor grades. She's actually quite smart."
Gu Jianlin muttered to himself.
The shadow was already dashing across an endless ice field, heading toward the depths of the Sea of Eternal Life.
After finishing this task, he felt a lot more at ease.
He sat on his military cot and opened the sealed wooden box.
The Destiny Mud Tablet.
The last time he looked at the Destiny Mud Tablet, it had been thanks to Thunder.
It was a tablet that Old Gu had brought back from the Qilin Immortal Palace, sealed within the Soul Skywell.
After studying that Destiny Mud Tablet, Gu Jianlin had uncovered an enormous secret.
Now, he wondered what he might gain this time.
This Destiny Mud Tablet was also inscribed with eerie, snake-like text that seemed alive, writhing and twisting, glimmering with a sinister light. When stared at, it even emitted wisps of black mist.
Gu Jianlin's mind was in chaos. The text before his eyes twisted into a vortex, swallowing his consciousness. All he could see was a warped, kaleidoscopic tunnel, as if he were traversing time and space.
In the depths of endless darkness.
He faintly heard an ancient, deep voice, like a ghost rasping out a low laugh.
In that laugh, there was a hint of malice.
This seemed to be the voice of the Qilin Venerable!
A dark and profound tomb appeared, where massive black chains coiled like dragon bones around a golden coffin.
Inside that noble coffin lay a figure sealed within a mummy cloth!
This scene was all too familiar to Gu Jianlin because it was the tomb imprisoning him.
In the silence, a roaring sound broke out as massive stones ground against each other, producing deafening noises.
Faintly, flames illuminated the hallowed golden coffin.
Within the golden coffin seemed to rest a male figure. When the light touched him, he opened a sliver of his fierce golden eyes, silently straightened his figure, and gazed downward.
Though imprisoned in the coffin, he resembled a king seated upon a throne.
A massive shadow loomed deep in the tomb, resembling a sinister and fearsome Black Qilin.
In the vast void, an enraged roar echoed.
"Two thousand years without sunlight, I presume, Venerable."
Someone spoke softly: "How terrifying. Even after being suppressed for over two millennia, your power remains so unfathomably strong. If not for your withdrawal into the Spiritual Domain, no one would dare set foot in this tomb. With such strength, you might soon even kill the Kui Dragon Ancestor of the first layer."
Their voice was so eerie and drifting that it blurred the line between male and female.
"Fortunately, you still maintain your sanity."
They paused: "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to stand here."
Deep in the silence, the gigantic Qilin shadow quaked, sending dust cascading through the tomb.
The man within the golden coffin gazed down upon him, ancient murmurs reverberating in the darkness.
He seemed to be laughing, his laughter echoing like the voices from the depths of hell.
"Few can make it before me."
In those fierce golden eyes, a trace of mockery flickered:
"Even I didn't expect someone as peculiar as you to exist in this world."
His voice rumbled like rolling thunder, brimming with majesty and wrath.
"So many years have passed, it's not unusual for a few like me to emerge once in a while."
The mysterious man chuckled softly: "Of course, what I am may not matter much to you. What matters is that I found traces of the Vermilion Bird in the Qilin Immortal Palace. This is something you, Venerable, cannot tolerate. You likely realized its presence far earlier than I did, meaning you already know you've lost."
He paused: "Unfathomable wrath, tearing dimensions, descending from nothingness—it's truly terrifying."
The Qilin Venerable glared at the insignificant figure, his golden eyes swirling with destructive lightning.
Faint thunder rumbled.
The towering Black Qilin shadow writhed madly, the world seeming to fracture and teeter on collapse.
"But how could the Qilin Venerable lose?"
The mysterious man suddenly changed his tone: "I suspect you've already made your preparations, haven't you?"
The Qilin Venerable looked at him coldly. In the darkness, echoes of gleefully malicious laughter resounded.
"Transplantation, defying fate, unparalleled achievement—peerless throughout the ages."
The mysterious man sighed: "Even the Candle Dragon Venerable likely never anticipated you still had such methods. It's no wonder you've hidden so deeply, Ancient Supreme. Truly, the Qilin Venerable commands admiration!"
The Qilin Venerable raised his hand, and his form radiated rupturing golden light, as if a blazing sun was being birthed within his body. The dark tomb was pierced and illuminated, and the entire world seemed on the verge of collapse.
The radiant light faded, instantly replaced by eternal blackness.
Eventually, a jet-black mask resembling polished obsidian coalesced, emanating ancient dignity. Its intricate patterns carved ominous hollows and sharp edges, with protrusions reminiscent of veins—strangely and eerily lifelike.
A deafening roar echoed like thunder.
The Qilin Venerable spoke coldly: "I have glimpsed your end, human."
"To one who holds dominion over life and death, seeing my conclusion would be natural."
The mysterious man replied softly: "But to me, life and death no longer matter. We share a common enemy. Across eons, for a mere human like me to cooperate with such a magnificent being as you is an unparalleled honor."
He dipped his head slightly, smiling: "Farewell."
Clutching the mask, this person turned into the light and disappeared without a trace.
The vision before Gu Jianlin's eyes froze at that final scene.
A long silence followed, and he remained speechless for a while.
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