A tomb.
The surface of the Tomb of Myriad Beasts is a tomb.
Gu Qing Shanâs mind quickly turned.
The Samsara had been broken into pieces; this fact has been confirmed.
My homeworld was most likely a Samsara world naturally derived from a fragment of the Huang Quan realm.
The cultivation world was most likely a fragment of the Human realm; because there exists a Path to Heaven specifically prepared for cultivatorsââ although it was already cut off so that it couldnât head into heaven any longer.
Could the Tomb of Myriad Beasts be a unique fragment? Or did the Tomb of Myriad Beasts originally carry some sort of secret?
The crux of this question lies in how many of the original Animal realm fragments did the Tomb of Myriad Beasts already fuse with.
Gu Qing Shan pondered a bit.
People from the Tomb of Myriad Beasts can freely appear on the battlefield against the Abyss without being bothered by the Wraith realm.
ââif thatâs the case, the Tomb of Myriad Beasts shouldnât have fused fewer fragments compared to the Wraith realm.
That remains to be seen.
âVery well, Li San, you may ask me the second questionâ Zhao Qiong smiled and replied.
Gu Qing Shan looked at her.
Earlier, she stood completely by herself, other than young master Zhang, none of the others dared to approach her either.
After all, her background was too considerable, and she had a âdonât get close to meâ expression on her face.
Who wouldâve thought she would display such a nice attitude towards me?
Are people who can attract the Apocalypse really that important?
Gu Qing Shan regained his senses and asked: âSenior Zhao, why does your School of Shan Hai want people like me?â
Zhao Qiong casually replied; âBecause you can selectively attract the Apocalypse towards us, thus aiding us in researching, fighting, and eventually overcoming itâ
Looking at the young manâs immature blank expression, she couldnât help but stroke his hair and continue: âIt canât be helped, everyone with the ability to research among the 8 Grottos of this world are constantly researching a way to fight the Apocalypse. However, since this matter is related to an even deeper secret, you must join us and become even more powerful to gain the qualifications to learn of this secretâ
Gu Qing Shanâs current appearance was that of a 15-16 years old young man, while Zhao Qiong was already over 20, so she naturally appeared much older than Gu Qing Shan.
She didnât have an ounce of knowledge of what he had gone through.
Having his head stroked, Gu Qing Shan wasnât comfortable, so he displayed a scowl and avoided the other partyâs hand, then said: âHow unthinkable, for there to be people actively attempting to fight against those outer demonsâ
Zhao Qiong replied: âThose from the greater Schools are all doing the same, after all, this is related to the survival of every single being in our Tomb of Myriad Beastsâ
She seemed to have thought of something as her expression turned gloomy.
Seeing her expression, Gu Qing Shan understood that there must be a very clear reason.
And something related to the survival of all couldnât be mundane.
Gu Qing Shanâs thoughts turned and lowered his voice: âSenior Zhao, if youâre willing to tell me why the greater Schools wish to study the Apocalypse, I will join the School of Shan Hai right awayâ
Zhao Qiong regained her senses and giggled.
âYouâre quite sharp for someone so young. Seems like it wasnât a coincidence that you managed to resolve your young masterâs issues with a few words in the meeting hall earlierâ
âVery well, I will tell you, but after knowing this secret, you wonât be able to back down on your words and must join usâ
Gu Qing Shan replied: âYou have my wordâ
Zhao Qiong appeared pleased, then muses a bit before answering: âThis is related to the tomb on the surface, as there are numerous unimaginable entities within the tomb, most of them are already dead, but some still retain their consciousnessâ
âEven after death, they are still continuously using their residual souls or willpower to stop the Apocalypseâ
âBut sometimes, those Apocalypses would suddenly erupt, sweeping through the entire tomb, even seeping deep underground and entering our worldâ
âThe numerous Grotto extinction events in history were never actually caused by a plague or natural disaster, it had always been from an erupting Apocalypseâ
âEvery capable School among the 8 Grottos of this world need to think of a way to fight against the Apocalypse, or even venture the surface at certain unique occasions in order to eliminate those Apocalypsesâ
âThis is partially to resolve our own situation, but also partially because the entities within the tomb can grant us more power, weapons, armor, or even help us see through the truth of the worldâ
Gu Qing Shan seemed confused: âHave we always desired to know the truth?â
Zhao Qiongâs expression became stern and replied: âLi San, you must always keep this in mind: Secrets are the most valuable thing within the infinite worlds, while they bring forth danger, they also represent great opportunities that can help you solve everything, they are worthy for each of us to face that riskâ
Hearing that, Gu Qing Shan felt a sense of admiration.
Everything that the people of the Wraith realm had done so far was to plunder and lord over others, they wished for nothing but their own benefits.
Compared to them, those from the Tomb of Myriad Beasts had already begun with the pursuit of the infinite worldsâ secrets as their ultimate goal.
With this difference in mentality alone, the Tomb of Myriad Beasts had already shown themselves to be greatly superior to the Wraith realm!
If everything was as Zhao Qiong said...
Gu Qing Shan gave her a reply: âSenior Zhao, Iâm willing to join the School of Shan Haiâ
Zhao Qiong brightly smiled and nodded.
âVery well, after the outside Apocalypse is destroyed, I will discuss your matter with the School of Fei Yuâ
Gu Qing Shan asked: âSenior Zhao, exactly what kind of Apocalypse is that insect outside?â
Zhao Qiong replied: âI said that I was only going to answer two of your questions, but since youâve already joined the School, I will tell youâ
âââ-I donât actually know eitherâ
Gu Qing Shan was originally focused on listening; but didnât think that heâd get such an answer and was shocked.
Seeing his expression, Zhao Qiong couldnât help but smile.
âDonât worry, even though I donât know, according to the many years of experience from the 8 Grottos, none of the 179 known Wicked Ones would be able to achieve much with just a single one of themâ
âEven if they arenât part of the 179 Wicked Ones, a minimum of three of them are necessary for there to be any serious consequencesâ
Gu Qing Shan nodded with a thoughtful expression.
That was the same as what the old man from earlier had said.
While the two of them were talking, they noticed something.
Although a soundproof barrier had been erected, they could still observe the movements of the young men outside.
Earlier, all of them displayed a look of relief.
Zhao Qiong swung her hand to dispel the soundproof barrier.
The intense sounds of explosion from outside were already gone, the insectâs shrieking could no longer be heard as well.
ââ-the battle was over.
Very soon, the door of the secret room was opened as someone poked their head in.
It was the same person who brought Gu Qing Shan to the meeting hall earlier, Steward Liu.
âAlright, the monster has been defeatedâ Steward Liu told them.
After saying so, he stood on the side of the door for the young people to leave.
A faint white mist slowly crept in from the door, silently filling the secret room.
âThe fog is thick tonight, those who havenât cultivated be careful with your feetâ Steward Liu reminded them.
The young men and women cheered, then stood up to leave one by one.
Suddenly, young master Zhang asked: âWhere is my father and everyone else? They should have come to let us outâ
Steward Liu respectfully said: âYoung master, the enemy this time was so fierce that the Patriarch and everyone else were injured and are currently resting, thatâs why I cameâ
Young master Zhang appeared doubtful but still headed towards the door.
Gu Qing Shan noticed something amiss.
Normally speaking, the Apocalypse should possess numerous capabilities, powerful enough to crush everything in the mortal world, yet being unimaginably eerie at the same time.
Because of that, each manor was equipped with a secret room to ensure the young people, the future hope of the clans, were well protected.
Normally, those responsible for opening the secret room must be the Patriarch or an Elder with factual authority.
And yet the one who arrived was Steward Liu.
ââ-this battle must have been terribly fierce.
Everyone silently thought that as they couldnât help themselves from hurrying up, looking forward to seeing how their family members are doing.
Watching this, Gu Qing Shan pondered a bit, then whispered a question into Zhao Qiongâs ear: âSenior Zhao, how strong are you?â
Zhao Qiong replied: âIâm not well-versed in combat, but I have my trump cards, most likely Iâm stronger than any single person in your cityâ
Gu Qing Shan silently nodded, then suddenly shouted: âUgh, Liu Ming! Steward Liu sir, my stomach hurts, please help carry me!â
He crouched on the ground, holding onto Zhao Qiongâs wrist to seemingly stabilize himself while clutching his stomach with the other hand, his expression full of pain.
Steward Liu turned around to see him like that, so he displayed a helpless expression and sighed: âHah, you brat, the Patriarch had already announced your induction into the clan School, why are you still acting so patheticâ
Gu Qing Shan lowered his head and narrowed his eyes.
Steward Liuâs words sounded completely normal, his tone is also consistent with his previous attitude.
At the next moment, Steward Liu started walking towards him while mumbling nonstop:
âAlright, alright, let me help you up, you little brat is about to become an expert of our clan anyways, just donât come back and be petty with this old Liu for things in the pastâ
Gu Qing Shan said nothing and continued acting like he was in pain.
He wrote a single word in Zhao Qiongâs palm with his finger:
âKillâ
Zhao Qiong froze.
She had been traveling through every place in the 8 Grottos of this world, thus an experienced and wise person in every meaning of the word, capable of making swift and resolute choices, but it was still too much to ask her to suddenly act and kill an innocent person.
While she was hesitant, Gu Qing Shan quickly wrote two more words in her palm: âTrust meâ
Zhao Qiong realized what was going on.
Thatâs right, Li San had only just finished his spirit linking, he might hold some sort of newfound power.
The object of his spirit link was a piece of scale that no one knew the background of.
Even though such things are abundant within the 8 Grottos, there are very few who manage to form a spirit link with them, and even lead to an unknown Apocalypse.
Perhaps...
Zhao Qiong appeared calm, but squeezed Gu Qing Shanâs hand tightly and replied: âYou might have gotten food poisoning; but donât worry, by the time you start cultivating, such issues wonât occur againâ
Gu Qing Shan relaxed himself.
He felt at ease with those words.
âââif Zhao Qiong hesitated any longer, Gu Qing Shan would have had no choice but to act himself, then flee, or think of a way to switch identities.
After all, if Azure Dragon Origin Hex â Binding wasnât able to bind him, that was surely not the original Steward Liu.
Most likely.
This was that insect.
In other words, other than this Steward Liu, everyone outside was most likely dead.