Chapter 1 The Anomaly of Qingzhong

The anomaly of Qingzhong quickly spread throughout the entire Snow Forbidden City.

According to the [Deep Sea]'s simulation of the extraordinary aura outside the mausoleum, although this mausoleum was shrouded in blazing light, there was no intense fluctuation of extraordinary source matter... In other words, the mausoleum had returned to stability.

Soon, an extraordinary being entered the golden gate of the mausoleum... but in the next second, contact with [Deep Sea] was lost.

The higher-ups of the Three Great Institutes and the Five Great Families convened a mental meeting immediately.

During the meeting, one illusory figure after another took their seats, shrouded in a hazy mental glow, making it impossible for anyone to see the expressions on each other's faces.

After the meeting began, Mr. Shan was the first to speak, his voice filled with anger and shock.

"What exactly is going on with the Qingzhong incident?"

As he said this, he turned his head towards Gu Lushen's direction.

He was directing this question to Gu Lushen.

Obviously... an anomaly had occurred in Qingzhong, and he believed it was related to Gu Lushen, since Gu Lushen was the only person who had recently ventured deep into the mausoleum.

The mausoleum guardian master had also had some "conflicts" with him.

All the higher-ups present were aware of the turbulent array patterns that had erupted above the mausoleum.

"I'm sorry... don't look at me like that, I don't know anything about it."

Gu Lushen said calmly, "Judging from the images captured by [Deep Sea], there seems to have been a major explosion of extraordinary source matter in Qingzhong. But who knows what caused it? Perhaps the array patterns were dilapidated from years of disrepair, perhaps Qianye was negligent, or perhaps... there was simply too much extraordinary source matter, exceeding the mausoleum's capacity."

"Qianye was negligent?"

Mr. Shan sneered and shook his head mockingly. "The probability of something like that happening is even smaller than an invasion of Qingzhong by a Divine Seat from another continent!"

"..."

Gu Lushen was silent for two seconds before saying softly, "In any case, I don't know what happened... As for the situation inside the mausoleum, didn't someone already go to investigate?"

He raised his hand.

Deep Sea immediately played another clip.

A heavy aircraft in the sacred light barrier above the mausoleum shattered and exploded, finally erupting into brilliant and blazing fire.

"This clip... was captured about ten minutes after the explosion occurred. At that time, there were still lingering aftershocks above the mausoleum, and the tremors of extraordinary source matter had not completely subsided."

Gu Lushen said calmly, "The occupant of that heavy aircraft was Gu Qilin."

The expressions of several family heads turned grave.

"Gu Qilin?" Mr. Shan looked at the final burst of light and fire, a sense of foreboding in his heart. He murmured, "That guy wouldn't..."

"Don't worry, that old fellow won't die that easily."

Gu Lushen said in a low voice, "There's a sealed object in the Gu Clan Hall that can sense the mental state of key family members. So far, that sealed object hasn't emitted any abnormal fluctuations, so I believe... he's already successfully entered the mausoleum. It's just that the interior of the mausoleum completely blocks the [Deep Sea]'s signal, so he hasn't been able to contact us yet."

Mr. Shan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Gu Qilin held two important positions. If such a figure were to perish... it would be a huge blow to Changye.

So far, the "higher-ups" seated at this meeting still believe that the explosion in Qingzhong was just an accidental extraordinary phenomenon.

Their current goal is to help Qingzhong return to normal while minimizing casualties as much as possible.

"What are these things?"

Bai Xiaochi also raised his hand.

He released another clip.

It was the scene before the "Golden Gate" of the mausoleum was born, when countless meteors streaked across the long night, creating brilliant and dazzling fireworks. This scene was witnessed by countless people and caused a heated discussion on the Deepwater Zone forum.

Some people thought these were real meteors and made wishes after witnessing them firsthand.

But in reality...

Powerful extraordinary beings could see the anomaly in the video at a glance. These "lights" streaked across the sky above Changye with a very clear purpose and at an extremely fast speed, ultimately crashing directly into Qingzhong.

Then the Golden Gate was born, and the mausoleum returned to stability.

How could this possibly be "meteors"?

"I'm sorry, everyone..."

Zhou Wei's voice was somewhat heavy as he slowly said, "The meteors streaking across the sky above Changye were actually Seeds of Fire Dream."

"Just now, an anomaly occurred in the secure control room of the Security Committee Building. The 'Seed of Fire Dream' given by the Divine Seat seemed to have gained consciousness and escaped the confinement of the purple-silver sealed box, and thus... this scene occurred."

"Seed of Fire Dream?"

The originally solemn meeting immediately became less calm.

It wasn't difficult to trace what these "meteors" were. It wouldn't be long before the Deep Sea database could capture their starting point... and after finding the Security Committee Building, they could roughly guess what these things were.

But... this news was still too shocking.

Even Gu Lushen and Zhu Wang exchanged glances.

This was an "item" outside of the plan.

No one could have imagined that the Seed of Fire Dream would leave the Security Committee Building on its own and go to the mausoleum. Was this the Divine Seat's intention?

Only now did everyone begin to think about deeper questions.

That is... could the events that occurred in Qingzhong be related to the Divine Seat?

"We need to establish contact with the mausoleum guardian..."

The head of the Gong family, Gong Qing, spoke immediately.

He looked around and said slowly, "If the [Deep Sea]'s signal cannot be transmitted into the mausoleum, then we must resort to external forces."

"External forces?"

Zhu Wang had already anticipated what Gong Qing was going to say next. He interrupted directly and said indifferently, "The entire mausoleum is sealed off. In this situation, I don't think there are any reliable external forces... that can help us contact the mausoleum guardian. Moreover, being at the center of the explosion, are you sure the mausoleum guardian is still alive?"

Gong Qing narrowed his eyes.

"Everyone..."

A knocking sound on the long table rang out.

In the virtual mental world, Mr. Shan slowly stood up, and he said in a deep voice, "The latest simulation results from [Deep Sea] are out. After the condensation of that Golden Gate, the exterior of the Qingzhong Mausoleum entered a 'stable state'. Although the extraordinary beings who entered the mausoleum have lost the [Deep Sea]'s signal, the mental link at the bottom of the Deepwater Zone is still retained, which means... they are not dead."

Gu Qilin's survival does not prove that there is no danger in Qingzhong.

After all, he is a titled powerhouse with extraordinary strength.

And the fact that the mental links of the first batch of extraordinary beings who entered the mausoleum have not been severed... is enough to prove that the interior of the mausoleum has entered a "stable state."

This was very encouraging news.

"Perhaps we should take action directly."

The Grand Inquisitor said seriously, "I will have the inquisitors under the Prison Institute bring their elite disciples to form a temporary team to go to the mausoleum to check the situation."

Zhu Wang lowered his eyes and said calmly, "I second the motion, the Tribunal will also send out elites..."

The command headquarters higher-ups at this meeting could only remain silent because they had lost contact with Gu Qilin.

In previous extraordinary phenomenon actions, the command headquarters' work was inseparable from the assistance of [Deep Sea]. They often sat in the rear, responsible for overseeing the overall situation... But at this moment, the Qingzhong Mausoleum had completely lost the signal of the mental link.

"I agree with Mr. Shan's proposal." Gong Qing looked at Zhu Wang and said calmly, "However, Grand Adjudicator Sir... due to a certain stain accusation that shook Changye last year, I suggest that you refrain from participating in this operation."

A powerful counterattack.

During last year's rookie battle, Gong Qing's eldest son was almost successfully ambushed by Zhu Wang's disciple, Lian Zhou, with [Paper Cut].

This incident... caused a conflict between the Gong family and Zhu Wang.

Although there have been no major conflicts in the past year.

But Gong Qing would never make a principled concession at this juncture.

A certain stain accusation - everyone present understood what this stain accusation referred to.

Zhu Wang's desire for the "Seed of Fire Dream" was well known to everyone in Changye.

After Lian Zhou was arrested by the Security Committee... rumors had spread throughout the streets and alleys of Snow Forbidden City that Zhu Wang had spared no effort to allow his disciple to break through to a higher realm in advance in order to stabilize his reputation.

Over the past year, Zhu Wang's reputation and word-of-mouth had plummeted... Competing with the Gong family for the rookie battle championship could be said to have yielded results that were completely opposite to what was imagined.

And at this moment, all the Seeds of Fire Dream had flowed back and merged into Qingzhong...

If Zhu Wang arranged for personnel to intervene in the operation, it would indeed raise suspicions about his true motives.

"At this time, Changye needs more people."

Gu Lushen smiled and intervened, "The extraordinary beings of the command headquarters... are obviously not up to the task."

He said these words without any politeness, and without the slightest consideration for the face of other commanders in the command headquarters.

Because... this was the truth.

If the old man was still around, he would naturally restrain his arrogance.

However, without a figure of the same level sitting in charge, the command headquarters was bound to be inferior in this meeting. Before finding a solution to the "mental link" problem, the command headquarters' greatest advantage was directly erased by this extraordinary event.

"We will also organize an elite team..."

A commander from the command headquarters stood up and said loudly, gritting his teeth, "The command headquarters will not sit idly by!"

"What admirable courage... Young man, what's your name? Perhaps I'll remember you in the future."

Gu Lushen gave two perfunctory claps and said a few insincere polite words. Then, he turned to face the real higher-ups in this meeting and said with a smile, "Everyone should be clear... In this kind of emergency, relying solely on the strength of the Prison Institute is no longer enough. Among the Three Great Institutes of Changye, the Tribunal has the strongest combat power. At this time, we need the powerhouses of the Tribunal to take action. Not only that, I believe that the extraordinary beings of the Five Great Families should also enter the mausoleum."

The commander who stood up was completely ignored in the second half. His face was flushed, and he looked embarrassed. In the end, he could only sit back down.

And after Gu Lushen's words...

Gong Qing was silent.

The reason for his silence was that Gu Lushen's words had made him somewhat tempted.

The first reason he opposed the Tribunal was to attack Zhu Wang.

The second... was because of the scattering of the Seed of Fire Dream!

So many "Seeds of Fire Dream" had now entered the Qingzhong Mausoleum. If the mausoleum returned to a stable state, then these "Seeds of Fire Dream" would become the greatest wealth!

And Gu Lushen proposed that all five families enter the mausoleum to provide reinforcements...

Then, everyone would have the opportunity to collect the Seed of Fire Dream.

"The stain accusations against Mr. Zhu Wang... have not yet been substantiated. Since he is the Grand Adjudicator, Mr. Gong Qing, at this moment, we should at least give him basic respect."

Gu Lushen said with a smile, "Mr. Zhu Wang, I support you in sending a team to support Qingzhong, because the Gu family will also send people to enter Qingzhong."

"In that case... the Bai family will also enter the mausoleum." Bai Xiaochi said seriously, "Of course, our primary goal is to help Qingzhong return to stability."

After a moment of pause, Bai Xiaochi said again, "It's not that I, Bai, am disregarding the overall situation... but at this time, I must point out that this situation is unfair to the child Bai Xiu."

In the eyes of everyone in Changye, one thing was already destined.

That is, this year's 'Seed of Fire Dream' should have belonged to Bai Xiu of the Bai family.

Obviously.

The Bai family's entry into the mausoleum must also have its own purpose.

"Then let's rely on our own abilities."

Gu Lushen smiled.

He leaned back and said slowly, "If the return of the Seed of Fire Dream is the will of the Divine Seat, then those who enter the mausoleum and can pick it up can be considered to have received a destiny-ordained gift. Since Changye has encountered an unprecedented predicament, then the Five Great Families and the Three Great Institutes should all take action... As for those 'Seeds of Fire Dream' scattered in the mausoleum, of course, whoever picks them up gets to keep them."

None of the Five Great Families objected.

Everyone acquiesced to this matter.

Zhou Wei, the chairman of the Security Committee, watched this scene with a worried expression.

It appeared...

This was the terrible situation he had predicted as soon as the Seed of Fire Dream escaped from the building.

When the Seed of Fire Dream returned to the mausoleum, and the mausoleum returned to stability... this was a great creation, a great opportunity. When the rules set by the Divine Seat were broken, and there was no age limit for comprehending the spiritual dream realm, everyone would want to try it.

And the Five Great Families, as the highest level of Changye's order chain, would naturally not allow one party to gain power.

The final result.

Was also the inevitable result... that everyone would have permission to enter the mausoleum.

"I agree."

Gong Qing spoke.

"I also agree."

Bai Xiaochi echoed softly.

Gu Lushen's proposal... was unanimously approved by everyone at the meeting.

And as this meeting was about to end, Zhou Wei stood up.

He said softly, "I suggest that Gu Shen's forty-eight-hour surveillance period be lifted... Changye needs Gu Shen now."

This was the matter that Gong Qing had wanted to say at the beginning.

The current Changye was unable to contact Master Qianye inside the mausoleum.

And the only person who might be able to establish contact... was actually Gu Shen.

He was Qianye's disciple.

And even more so, the successor of divination.

And Zhu Wang, who had interrupted Gong Qing's speech at the beginning, no longer made any remarks at this moment, but silently watched everyone at the meeting raise their hands one by one, replaying the previous voting situation.

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

The proposal to release Gu Shen was also unanimously approved.