Gu Jianlin's emotions were extremely complicated at this moment.
There was fear, panic, tension, and unease, but he quickly calmed himself down, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.
The problem was immense, but panicking wouldn't solve anything.
"Supreme of the Ancient Times... we are here to witness your awakening!"
The old man led the kneeling, his students—who referred to him as a mentor—prostrated themselves behind him, bowing their heads to the ground.
This scene was overwhelmingly solemn and sacred, resembling a coffin forged from gold lying dormant at the far end of the chamber. Even from such a distance, one could see the lifelike corpse lying inside.
Those black chains tightly bound the body, as if trying to imprison it until the end of time.
This was an Ancient God!
Everyone held their breath, as if terrified to disturb the resurrection of the deity.
Gu Jianlin felt his scalp prickling.
Whether from the records on that forum post or the discussions he overheard earlier, he was certain there was a group of people trying to summon an Ancient God that had been dead for thousands of years through a ritual!
At the moment, he still didn't know what an Ancient God truly was, but he was sure it wasn't something akin to himself!
After a long silence, someone spoke in a deep, gruff voice: "No response. Mentor, have we failed?"
"Butcher, don't rush."
The old man croaked out, "We have five people here, but there's a sixth breath and heartbeat."
Inside the coffin, Gu Jianlin was startled. The other party seemed far from ordinary—they could discern even breathing and heartbeat sounds!
Just as he thought he had been exposed, the conversation continued.
"Scholar, explain to Butcher what this means."
"This proves that this is a particularly distinguished Ancient God. Regardless of whether they were the Qilin Venerable, they would not have been a mere nobody during their lifetime. Even after being dead for thousands of years, their physical vitality remains astonishingly high."
Scholar replied, "Sea Demon, has your danger foreknowledge sensed any threats?"
Sea Demon chuckled softly, her voice seductive and feminine: "No, and even if danger arises, isn't Moon Princess here to handle it?"
The old man replied calmly, "According to Xu Fu's Record, whether it was the Qilin Venerable or their Divine Servants, they were all slain by Candle Dragon Venerable with overwhelming divine power. Even if not completely dead, after all these years of sealing, their strength has already withered away."
He paused for a moment: "Besides, we've only broken the seal on the tomb chamber. The restraints imposed by Candle Dragon Venerable are still intact."
Hearing this, Gu Jianlin came to a tentative conclusion based on his observations.
Mentor, Butcher, Scholar, Sea Demon, Moon Princess.
These appeared to be code names for five individuals.
For some reason, they had entered this Ancient Tomb, searching through countless chambers for a deceased Ancient God.
"Mentor, so is it alive or dead?" Sea Demon couldn't help but ask.
"Whether it's alive or dead, such a distinguished Ancient God would still be of use to us."
After pondering for a moment, the old man analyzed, "But if you ask me, the likelihood of it being dead is greater. After all, they were all killed by Candle Dragon Venerable. I even suspect that one day, the long-lost Candle Dragon Venerable might return here to completely consume the power of the Qilin Venerable."
Scholar chimed in, "Candle Dragon Venerable went to such great lengths, instructing Xu Fu to construct the Qilin Immortal Palace, with the goal of using time to erode the Qilin Venerable's life force until they can never awaken again."
"Fortunately, we obtained the texts Xu Fu left behind and arrived at the deepest part of the Ancient Tomb ahead of others. Although we couldn't reach the battlefield where Qilin Venerable and Candle Dragon Venerable clashed, we could still seize the greatest benefit."
The old man agreed, then said: "Butcher, Moon Princess, you two go have a look."
With that, the mentor knelt motionless on the ground.
Scholar and Sea Demon remained still as well.
Gu Jianlin continued to stay immobile, but he began to discern some interesting dynamics.
In this group of five, the mentor held the absolute leadership position.
Next in status were Scholar and Sea Demon.
Meanwhile, the silent Moon Princess and Butcher, who were called upon to act, occupied the lowest ranks.
Alright, Butcher probably enjoyed even less regard.
Footsteps on his left felt light and graceful, likely belonging to a petite and slender girl.
The footsteps on his right, however, were uncommonly heavy and steady—likely belonging to a burly man weighing over two hundred pounds.
Until pressure from both sides bore down on him.
Gu Jianlin realized Butcher and Moon Princess were observing him closely from a short distance.
"Born with Qilin horns and scales—you can only confirm it's from the Qilin Clan but cannot ascertain if it's the Qilin Venerable."
Moon Princess's voice was cold: "Also, there are no signs of awakening."
"Most likely truly dead. Even with the seal released, it hasn't revived."
Gu Jianlin internally exhaled a sigh of relief, thinking, Hurry up and leave! I won't be able to hold on much longer.
Then suddenly, Butcher pulled out a machine gun, enthusiastically shouting, "It's dead anyway, so since it's never going to wake back up, why don't we just blast it apart? Maybe we can get some loot out of it!"
Gu Jianlin nearly lost his composure. The post had described tomb exploration as treasure hunting and battling creatures.
It hadn't mentioned turning into a dungeon boss yourself to be farmed!
He was panicking uncontrollably at this moment, desperately hoping this group would show some respect toward the so-called Ancient God—whether it was real or not.