Chapter 1 Tomb

The tomb was silent.

Only the sound of two flames burning remained.

The blazing fire between Gu Shen's eyebrows, and the wisp of blood-red fire between the eyebrows of the man wearing the robes of a Veridian Bell Church priest.

The slender barrel of the Truth Sniper pointed directly at the man's forehead.

The wisp of blood-red flame was forced to manifest under immense pressure... From the moment this flame leaped out, Owl's identity was exposed.

He raised his hands, his expression unchanged, and said in a low voice, "How...did you recognize me?"

The Longevity Foundation was destroyed in the Great Capital District...

Throughout the entire process, he didn't actually meet Gu Shen.

In essence, he didn't have his own "physical body," always existing as a spiritual entity, and with the blood-fire concealed and his aura restrained, how did Gu Shen see through his identity?

Owl couldn't understand.

"It's a coincidence. And also not a coincidence."

Gu Shen said calmly, "Although the Longevity Foundation was destroyed, the Tribunal will not let an S-class fugitive like you go. After confirming your death in the Southern Continent...the Tribunal obtained the specific files through the Federal Investigation Service. The chain of evidence was complete, the confession was flawless, and both the Investigation Service and the [Deep Sea] determined your death. I read that case file carefully."

"So?"

Owl narrowed his eyes.

"There was no problem with that file. At that time, I also believed you were dead." Gu Shen pointed to his forehead with his other hand and said softly, "But my memory is still pretty good. The Southern Continent church was attacked, the monster prayed under the idol, and the priest witnessed all the deaths. The Investigation Service ultimately confirmed your identity through bloodstains and gene comparison, conducted an intercontinental trial of the case, and [Deep Sea] also confirmed through system processes that 'that monster' had indeed died."

"It's just...they didn't know that you could transfer your physical body through mental power. The so-called 'prayer' was fake, and the 'death' was also fake...In the final moment, you sent your mental power into the priest's mind, escaped from your original body, witnessed your own death, and provided the most perfect link in the chain of evidence."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, looking at the man's face in front of him.

In the Southern Continent case, the owner of this face was named Sandini Singh.

The...priest in the church.

"What a fantastical imagination," Owl said softly. "However, did you really think of all this yourself?"

Of course not entirely.

If Chu Ling hadn't brought up the Southern Continent church case, Gu Shen wouldn't have been so sure...In fact, what he said was just a guess, and now everything confirmed his guess.

Having the ability to conduct a "Deep Sea authority loan" and having such a high degree of correlation with the old Southern Continent case...Those two points alone were enough for Gu Shen to take action on this guess.

And the appearance of that blood-fire completely proved that—

Gu Shen was right!

"We always meet in such situations...At first, I found you, and now you found me. Is this a coincidence...or a twist of fate?"

Owl opened his mouth with a light smile, raising his eyes to look at the long and deep muzzle of the sniper rifle. "Gu Shen, after not seeing you for several months, you've become stronger..."

"Spare me the crap."

Gu Shen said coldly, "I can blow your head off at any time."

He didn't believe in any of that damn fate arrangement.

Owl shrugged helplessly, raising his hands and saying lightly, "You won't shoot...Once the tranquility of this tomb is broken, it will attract the attention of those Veridian Bell Church guys outside. They're all lunatics. Once this shot is fired, even if it kills me, you won't be able to escape."

"I indeed won't shoot, but not because of those lunatics outside."

Gu Shen said calmly, "But because the current you is not worthy of this Avalanche bullet..."

Owl smiled silently.

"Zhou Yu, and Ye Ningqiu as well...they all displayed different abilities."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

After the [Hunt Owl Operation], he replayed the mission of the entire special operations team, as well as the difficulties encountered, in his mind more than once.

The most important goal was to figure out the ability of "blood-fire"!

Objects that can attract the attention of blazing fire are very rare!

And Owl's "blood-fire" is one of them!

Until the end of the Southern Continent case, the federal government had not summarized the characteristics of "blood-fire"...Because there were too few people who had fully fought with "Owl." No one knew how far his mental power had spread, how many puppets he controlled, and whether the abilities of these puppets would be affected by "blood-fire."

"No matter how powerful the abilities in this world are, they should have a limit..."

Gu Shen said slowly, "Even if you can seize bodies, it can't be without conditions. If 'blood-fire' itself has powerful offensive abilities, then the characteristics of 'spreading' and 'linking' are a bit unreasonable...I think your own ability is not strong, and you can even say...it's very weak."

The smile on Owl's face froze slightly.

"The reason you planned the Yinghai bombing case was actually to seize Zhou Yu's [Annihilation Dream]. This is the same reason you approached Chen Mei...You crave powerful extraordinary abilities."

"How can a true powerhouse abandon the fundamentals and pursue the power of others?"

Gu Shen said expressionlessly, word by word, "From this, I can be sure that, putting aside those masks, those puppets...the soul hidden under that wisp of blood-fire must be a weak clown, who can only rely on the power of the host. If the host is strong enough, then you will be strong enough. If the host is weak, then you will also become weak."

Just a few seconds ago, Owl, who had raised his hands to signal surrender, had completely darkened his expression after hearing these words. His face was covered with dark clouds, unspeakably gloomy and terrifying.

He truly didn't care about the existence of "Avalanche" anymore.

He actually put down his hands just like that and tucked them into the priest's robe.

"Sandini Singh is just an ordinary person. Your blood-fire dwells in his body, barely surviving, and reclaiming a life...But how much power can be exerted in this body?" Gu Shen said calmly, "That...is why I didn't shoot. The current you is too weak, not worthy of me shooting."

In this world, matter and spirit should have merged and become one.

But "Owl" was the exception!

He possessed unparalleled "powerful spirit" and also possessed an extremely weak "frail body."

"You...understand me very well."

Owl stopped laughing, and he said quietly, "Since that's the case, I have nothing to disguise..."

Gu Shen slowly lowered the Truth Sniper.

The other party was not afraid of him shooting.

The reason was simple...

An existence like Owl, from the moment his mental power was attached to "Sandini Singh," was destined not to leave just one body. Even if he found a "dying person" lying in the dim mud, he would definitely find another place to accommodate his spirit. So much time had passed, and he dared to travel thousands of miles alone to come to the Eastern Continent again, so he wouldn't be afraid of the death of this clone.

Gu Shen's attention was focused on the upright coffin behind Owl.

Among the pile of scattered debris, there was an inconspicuous "lamp"...

Lamp of Sorrow?

His gaze flashed past.

But it still attracted Owl's attention.

"Since you're also here for this tomb..."

Owl looked back at the upright coffin and said calmly, "Then there's no need for us to fight to the death here...It won't do either of us any good. And judging from your appearance, you should have just sneaked in, right?"

This underground base had been built for several months.

Judging from the time of the Southern Continent case, Owl's clone had been lurking here for some time.

Gu Shen remained calm, frowning and said, "What do you want to say?"

"I want to say...we can cooperate." Owl lowered his voice and said slowly, "Obviously...we have information that each other doesn't know. We can exchange it."

"Exchange?"

Gu Shen shook his head, holding the Truth Sniper in one hand, and said, "You don't seem to have room for negotiation."

Seeing the sniper rifle in the other's hand...

The scene of himself being shot to death in the Free Church reappeared in his mind.

That was really not a good memory.

A trace of ferocity was clearly lingering between Owl's brows.

"It seems like you don't have much information either." Gu Shen smiled. "Otherwise, why would your reaction be so slow when opening the coffin...I guess you didn't know that the thing inside the coffin would be this familiar bullet, right?"

Owl's expression became even more unpleasant.

Yes.

He never expected...that he would see this kind of thing again!

With Zhou Yu's ability, he was directly taken out by this bullet—

This was simply an invincible weapon!

There was already enough of this kind of thing in the world!

A second one actually appeared in the tomb?

Did this mean...there might be a third, or even a fourth?

This was exactly what Gu Shen was thinking at the moment. When Teacher solemnly handed over "Avalanche" to him at the Great Capital Jiangtan, Avalanche looked like it did inside the coffin.

Connected by a red rope, it looked as white as jade at first glance.

However...at this moment, Gu Shen cared about something different from Owl!

Did the two appearances of "Avalanche" mean...that Teacher's past was also connected to this ancient tomb?

"Gu Shen...The code in the base database is being tampered with. The system is under attack. Unknown errors may occur next."

Chu Ling said, "I'm trying to restore the code."

When Gu Shen heard these words, he raised the sniper rifle again.

And this time, he took a few steps forward.

The muzzle of the sniper rifle was directly pressed against "Sandini Singh's" forehead.

"I really don't want to shoot, but I don't mind shooting either."

Gu Shen said expressionlessly, "Stop those messy little tricks...If any disturbances occur next, I will really shoot you to death..."

Indeed, Owl was not afraid of death.

But he had put in so much effort to come here...He also didn't want to return empty-handed, sacrificing this body.

Owl clenched his fist silently.

"Alright...The database attack has stopped." Chu Ling said calmly, "I will restore everything to normal."

Gu Shen didn't lower the muzzle. He said softly, "Since you want to negotiate...then let's start with this posture, Mr. Owl?"

There was no choice.

Owl took a deep breath, looked up at the sniper rifle above his head, and finally chose to swallow his anger.

His forehead veins bulged, and he gritted his teeth and said, "How do you want to talk?"

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes and said lightly, "Let's exchange information as you said earlier."

"How long have you been here, how did you get here, and what's in this tomb?"

Hearing this question, Owl's expression became strange.

Until now, he had been purely a "victim's perspective," traveling alone, sneaking into the Eastern Continent, finally crossing several major regions, arriving at the far north tundra, and infiltrating the "Veridian Bell Church's" interior, deciphering the database password, and sneaking into the tomb under the snowfield.

Then...he finally opened the ancient coffin.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly—

But no one expected that the coffin would be empty, with only an Avalanche bullet being somewhat valuable. And just when he was about to succeed, a teenager suddenly walked out of the darkness, seized the Avalanche bullet with a piece of iron rust, and happily loaded it.

Then, it was a "classic replay."

He was now being pointed at with a gun, and this guy who was saying he wanted to exchange information with him didn't seem to have obtained any information!

"You don't know what this place is? How did you find it?" Owl endured his anger, utterly puzzled, and then he was greeted by Gu Shen's merciless kick.

With a "bang"!

Gu Shen kicked "Sandini Singh" to the ground. As expected, the other party's physical body was extremely weak, almost like an ordinary person who hadn't even started extraordinary cultivation.

"You better figure out the current situation...Now I'm asking you."

Gu Shen used the Truth Ruler to separate another part of the arc light, transforming it into iron chains, binding the man in front of him and tying him tightly to a stone pillar in the tomb.

He squatted down and said calmly, "Imagine, what would happen if I left your body and the specific files to the Veridian Bell Church? What would their reaction be after seeing the scene of the tomb being looted? If I remember correctly...they all believe in someone related to the 'Trident.' I wonder if that existence can find your true body and crush it?"

A lot of sweat appeared on Sandini Singh's forehead.

Owl's voice was hoarse, "I've been here...for two months. I set off with the previous batch of Veridian Bell Church members. Since you checked the Southern Continent church case, you should know...that Sandini Singh was originally a member of the Veridian Bell Church, but the screening for the northward plan was quite strict, and only loyal believers could be selected."

"Northward plan?"

Gu Shen was thoughtful.

"Many churches are worshiped in the Southern Continent...and the local area is plagued by war and instability. In order to develop the dogma and expand the scale, all churches will choose to send priests to leave the Southern Continent and plant 'seedlings' abroad."

"This...is the northward plan."

…

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(ps: The college entrance exam is over, I wish everyone a good result! There will be another big chapter next~)