The Corpse Has Risen!

Gu Jianlin's emotions were incredibly complicated at that moment.

There was fear, panic, tension, and unease.

The problem was serious, but panicking would not help.

"Legend has it that in ancient times, there were also people favored by fate, who were fortunate enough to witness the miracles of the ancient supreme beings and transcend the ordinary. Xu Fu was one of them!"

The old man took the lead in kneeling. The students who addressed him as Mentor prostrated themselves behind him, their foreheads pressed to the ground.

"At last, after surviving countless dangers, we too have been granted this honor—to kneel before a god!"

The scene was far too solemn and sacred. A coffin that seemed cast from gold rested at the end of the tomb chamber.

Darkness spread like mist. The Golden Coffin was equally hazy, making it impossible even to see the god imprisoned within.

The greater the distance, the more mysterious it became.

The enormous mausoleum was so silent that it made people tremble in bewilderment.

This was an Ancient God!

An Ancient God who had died!

Yet Gu Jianlin only felt his scalp go numb.

He still did not know what an Ancient God was, but it definitely was not him!

After a long while, someone spoke in a deep, rough voice. "There's no response. Mentor, have we failed?"

"Butcher, don't rush."

The old man said hoarsely, "There are five of us, but there is a sixth person's breathing and heartbeat here."

Inside the Golden Coffin, Gu Jianlin was startled. They could actually hear even his breathing and heartbeat!

Just as he thought he had been exposed, he heard the conversation that followed.

"Book Elder, tell Butcher what this means."

The old man said.

"This proves that this is a highly distinguished Ancient God. Whether He is the Kirin Venerable or not, He could not have been insignificant in life. Even after dying for thousands of years, His body has retained such high vitality."

Book Elder replied, "Sea Siren, did your Danger Premonition sense any threat?"

Sea Siren smiled sweetly, her voice soft and seductive. "No. And even if there is danger, don't we still have little sister Moon Maiden?"

The old man said calmly, "According to the Records of Xu Fu, whether it was the Kirin Venerable or His Divine Servants from that era, they were all suppressed and killed by Candle Dragon Venerable with supreme power. Even if they did not die completely, after being sealed for so many years, their strength should have long since run dry."

He paused. "Besides, we have only removed the seal on this tomb chamber. The confinement imposed by Candle Dragon Venerable remains intact."

Upon hearing this, Gu Jianlin reached a simple conclusion through observation.

Mentor, Butcher, Book Elder, Sea Siren, Moon Maiden.

Those should be the codenames of five people.

"Mentor, then is He alive or dead?" Sea Siren could not help asking.

"I don't know. Legend says that the Kirin Venerable was the most inscrutable of the ancient supreme beings. In ancient times, He would even deliberately disguise Himself as being extremely weak, luring some Ancient Gods of the Kirin Clan into rebellion before personally suppressing them!"

The old man pondered for a moment before analyzing, "Sometimes, He would even play the role of a human and toy with foolish mortals!"

Book Elder agreed. "Candle Dragon Venerable ordered Xu Fu to build the Kirin Immortal Palace precisely to wear away the Kirin Venerable's life and power with time. Otherwise, we would already have died the moment we stepped into this mausoleum."

"We obtained the texts Xu Fu left behind and arrived at the deepest part of this ancient tomb ahead of everyone else. We are truly people of immense fortune."

The old man nodded in agreement, then said, "Butcher, Moon Maiden, the two of you go take a look."

After saying that, the Mentor remained kneeling on the ground without moving.

Book Elder and Sea Siren likewise remained where they were.

Gu Jianlin did not move either, but he noticed something interesting.

Within this group of five, Mentor clearly held the absolute leading position.

Book Elder and Sea Siren came next.

As for Moon Maiden, who had not spoken, and Butcher, who had been called over to open the coffin, they ranked lowest.

Well, Butcher was probably the least favored of them all.

The footsteps on the left were light and nimble. It should be a petite, slender girl.

The footsteps on the right, meanwhile, were unusually heavy and steady. It was a hulking man who weighed at least two hundred pounds.

Only when he felt pressure from both sides did Gu Jianlin realize it.

Butcher and Moon Maiden were observing him from a distance.

"He has Kirin horns and scales. We can only determine that He belongs to the Kirin Clan, not whether He is the Kirin Venerable."

Moon Maiden's voice was icy. "There are no signs of awakening."

"He is probably truly dead. Even after the seal was removed, He did not wake up."

Butcher said in a muffled voice.

Because of the hazy darkness between them, they could only see a lifelike corpse.

Sometimes near, sometimes far.

Sometimes clear, sometimes blurred.

It seemed distant as the horizon, yet close at hand!

Hurry up and leave. I'm about to lose it.

Suddenly, Butcher pulled out a machine gun and said excitedly, "He's already dead anyway. Since He'll never wake up again, if we blast Him apart, can we get equipment drops?"

Moon Maiden snapped, "Are you insane?"

Gu Jianlin fell silent. He hoped this group would show a little respect for the so-called Ancient God, whether this god was real or not.

In tomb-raiding movies, brainless brutes like this were always the first to die.

"Bastard!"

The old man roared.

Gu Jianlin felt slightly relieved. At least the elderly still had some reverence for gods.

"We are all Fallen contaminated by the spirit of the Ancient Gods. We can only barely retain half a year of sanity by relying on secret medicine accidentally obtained in the Immortal Palace! No matter how precious the alchemical weapons are, they cannot cure us! If we want to live, there is only one way—Ancient God Blood!"

The old man said heavily, "Cut open His corpse and see whether there is any blood left inside!"

Gu Jianlin: "..."

Fine. They were all the same kind of people.

The students hunted monsters for equipment, while the teacher wanted to use the corpse's tissues and organs as materials to stay alive and level up.

He had to find a way to save himself.

After receiving clear instructions, Butcher resentfully lowered the machine gun and drew a dagger.

"You're not afraid? Although He will not wake up again, He was still an Ancient God in life."

Moon Maiden reminded him calmly.

"What's there to fear? Thousands of years have passed. His power has already dried up."

Butcher grinned. "Could He rise from the dead? Even if He really does, I'll shove Him right back down!"

Moon Maiden fell silent. "If you enter that darkness, no one knows what might happen."

"Not afraid!"

Butcher strode toward the Golden Coffin without restraint, grinning viciously. "They say an Ancient God's body is impervious to blades and bullets. I'll test it out."

For an instant, the sound of chains trembling rang out from inside the coffin.

Butcher's right hand, clutching the dagger, froze in midair.

The others were confused, unable to understand why this fearless brute had suddenly lost his nerve.

"Butcher, what is it?"

The old man asked.

Butcher's lips trembled. "I think I heard something moving inside the coffin."

Everyone was horrified. A tingling chill shot from their spines to the backs of their heads, freezing the blood throughout their bodies.

Butcher swallowed and summoned his courage to glance into the coffin.

With that single glance, time seemed to freeze.

His vision seemed to become clear.

The mysterious ancient corpse in the darkness suddenly opened its eyes. Its pale face seemed to gain life in an instant, and its bloodless lips slowly curled into a teasing smile.

Eerie, sinister, evil, terrifying.

And wickedly charming!

Imagine this: you are a tomb raider. You open an exquisite ancient coffin, intending to steal its precious treasures—yet the corpse that has been dead for endless ages suddenly gives you a wicked smile...

"Holy shit, it's ri—"

Enormous terror appeared in Butcher's eyes. His voice caught in his throat, unable to come out.

At that final moment, the man who had claimed that he would force an Ancient God back down even if He rose from the dead shook like a sieve. The dagger slipped from his hand as he roared with all his strength:

"Ri-ri-ri-ri-ri... it's risen from the dead!"

The terrified cry echoed through the silent tomb chamber, its final note even cracking out of tune.

The group of five instantly felt as though they had fallen into an abyss, their entire bodies turning icy cold.

With a sharp crack.

Everyone's hearts seemed to be struck viciously, as if they had stopped beating.

A pair of claws covered in black scales stretched out and gripped the edge of the coffin!

Amid the rattling of chains, the mysterious ancient corpse truly began to sit up slowly from the coffin. Layers of pale burial cloth wrapped around its body, making it look exactly like a corpse that had come back to life.

Its bones twisted with crisp popping sounds. Its heartbeat boomed like drums, and its breathing rasped like a broken bellows.

No words could describe the solemnity and strangeness of that moment.

It was as though an ancient myth had awakened!

Even amid the shrouding darkness, they could see the miracle of His resurrection from death!

The group instinctively tensed, frightened out of their wits, their souls nearly scattering.

Gu Jianlin raised his black, abyss-like eyes and looked down upon these ants who had disturbed a god's peace.

At some unknown point, an enormous Black Kirin had manifested out of thin air within the depths of his consciousness.

As though sensing a threat, the Black Kirin frantically squeezed out some kind of power within its body. Its golden vertical pupils ignited.

Boom!

Gu Jianlin seemed to hear a resonance of heaven and earth collapsing.

He made a sound beyond his control.

But it was not his own voice.

It was a strange syllable!

Boom!

It was like thunder echoing from the edge of the heavens, like countless ghosts whispering in hell, or like the tolling of an ancient bell.

The darkness seemed to ignite.

Rumble!

The ancient tomb began to shake violently. Cracks split across the hard rock walls as dust fell in showers.

The Golden Coffin also shook violently. Those black iron chains swayed, sounding like the shrieks of dead souls.

The torches flickered as though about to go out.

It was as if they had fallen into a barren hell!

The others were struck as though by lightning. Their bodies trembled violently, cold sweat seeping from their skin. It was as if their souls had been stolen, leaving them rooted in place in a daze.

Ancient God Language!

That absurd thought flashed through the old man's mind. He did not know how this supreme being had managed it.

He had clearly slept for thousands of years. All His power should have been worn away.

How could He still use Ancient God Language?!

Their consciousnesses gradually became muddled. Their minds fell endlessly into corruption, swallowed by coldness and darkness.

They felt as though their souls were about to be annihilated, destined to scatter forever.

Fear, like a bottomless vortex, devoured them.

Gu Jianlin too was gripped by immense terror.

Because when he uttered that syllable, the Black Kirin within his consciousness let out a resounding roar.

That majestic, terrifying creature seemed to dwell within his mind, becoming his second soul!

The power of that syllable was undoubtedly horrifying. The five people in the tomb chamber had suffered heavenly punishment and were nearly dead.

Ancient God Language was the special authority of the Ancient God Race. It could not be heard.

And once that syllable was fully spoken, there was only one outcome.

Death.

Gu Jianlin felt a violent headache as his strength neared depletion.

He guessed that this was the residual power within the Kirin Mask, and it was about to run out.

He inwardly cried out in alarm. Exhaustion surged over him like a tide, while the roaring Black Kirin in his mind also began to falter.

With a boom, the Black Kirin deep within his consciousness collapsed.

Abruptly, that strange syllable faded into silence.

Like a magnificent melody reaching its climax, only to stop without warning!

At the instant the old man and his four students felt themselves on the verge of death, they regained consciousness.

It was as though they saw a beam of light in the darkness.

"We're still alive..."

It had clearly lasted only an instant, yet it felt as though an entire lifetime had passed.

A trace of relief at having survived a catastrophe surfaced in their terrified eyes. They looked at one another, trembling uncontrollably.

In the deathly silent tomb chamber, only the god's breathing and heartbeat echoed clearly.

Gu Jianlin forced his exhausted body to hold on as he silently faced them off. He vaguely sensed that he had inherited some kind of power from the Kirin Mask, but his body was currently too weak to withstand it.

This situation was far too dangerous. He had to strike first and could not allow himself to be slaughtered at their mercy.

He tried hard to recall that strange syllable from before, and the lingering power gradually began to gather.

It had only been an attempt, yet the Black Kirin deep within his consciousness slowly raised its body, opened its golden vertical pupils, and bled from all seven orifices.

It was as though his body was about to shatter.

He did not know whether it would work.

But that syllable was his only means of protecting himself.

Suddenly, Butcher, who looked the most burly and capable of fighting, stepped forward first. Though he was trembling like a leaf, his gaze was utterly resolute.

He dropped onto all fours, and a fierce aura erupted from him.

Gu Jianlin's heart skipped a beat.

Because this big man's stance looked exactly like Ouyang Feng preparing to unleash the Toad Skill.

However, Butcher dropped to his knees with a thud, braced both hands against the ground, and slammed his forehead down.

"Please forgive us, Supreme One!"

Moon Maiden—the petite, graceful figure—hesitated for a moment before kneeling in worship as well.

"Please forgive us, Supreme One!"

Book Elder and the Sea Siren also trembled as they fell to their knees and prostrated themselves on the ground.

"Please forgive us, Supreme One!"

Finally, the elderly leader immediately kowtowed, trembling uncontrollably.

Gu Jianlin fell silent. The Black Kirin deep within his consciousness sank back into slumber, and the terrifying power he had gathered gradually faded away.

He vaguely felt that if he gave it everything he had, he truly could recite that syllable again.

It was just that he might have to pay a tremendous price.

"Thank you for your grace, Supreme One, and for forgiving our transgression."

The old man and his students remained kneeling on the ground.

Gu Jianlin stayed silent for a long time, considering his options.

After a while, an ancient, low whisper echoed through the silence of the dark tomb.

"I have waited for you... for a very long time."

Those softly spoken words struck everyone's ears like thunder.

The old man and his students were nearly frightened to death on the spot.

"He used modern Chinese, exactly like ours. He was sealed away for thousands of years—how could he understand human language?"

The old man felt as though he had fallen into an ice pit. "Wait, could it be... that he learned it just now?"

He had heard certain rumors: some powerful Ancient Gods possessed astonishing learning abilities and could learn human language merely by listening to fragments of people's conversations.