Kirin Venerable

The ancient tomb lay deathly silent in the darkness. Only the flickering firelight illuminated the burial chamber that had been sealed for a thousand years.

The golden coffin gleamed brilliantly beneath the flames.

A mysterious young man sat inside the coffin, bound by burial wrappings and black chains, smiling soundlessly.

The scene resembled a mural painted by an artist pouring out a lifetime of inspiration: an ancient god awakening from slumber, yet bound by pale burial wrappings and black chains, like a prisoner trapped within death, ready to break free from his cage at any moment.

Black and white, life and death—it carried an intense religious atmosphere.

But to the five people led by the old man, His smile was utterly terrifying.

Especially Butcher, who stood closest to the coffin. He was shaking so badly he did not even dare raise his head.

The old man said respectfully, "Supreme One, we mean you no harm. According to legend, under certain circumstances, Ancient Gods who return from death may temporarily disguise themselves as humans before their powers recover, thereby protecting themselves."

Just as expected.

Gu Jianlin remained silent. He had achieved the effect he wanted; at least when it came to communication, he would not expose any flaws.

His voice drifted like a ghost. "Is that so?"

"I swear upon my life."

The old man said respectfully, "Otherwise, why would we risk our lives to come before you?"

Wasn't it for the Ancient God Blood?

"Risk your lives?"

Gu Jianlin said indifferently, "It seems the ancient tomb built by Xu Fu was nothing special. Only two thousand years have passed, yet people like you have already broken in."

Horror flashed through the old man's eyes as he forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart. "As expected of an ancient Supreme One. You even know the gatekeeper's name..."

He had still underestimated the abilities of an Ancient God.

He had originally thought that after an Ancient God awakened, not only would its powers be weakened, but it would also be confused and at a loss in this new world, needing a longer period to adapt.

That would have made it easier to exploit.

Never had he expected the Ancient God before him to be so unfathomable and bizarre.

Logically speaking, Xu Fu had only built the Kirin Immortal Palace after the other party was sealed.

The two sides should never have come into contact.

Yet this Ancient God clearly knew the gatekeeper's name.

He could even state how long He had been asleep!

Most importantly, after being sealed for thousands of years, He still retained part of His power and could use the Ancient God Language!

This completely contradicted the records in Records of Xu Fu!

"When I was bored, I would keep an eye on things."

Gu Jianlin's gaze was deep as he said blandly, "Occasionally, having people like you come in to keep me entertained is not bad."

We nearly died, yet to Him, it was merely entertainment...

Hearing this, the old man hurriedly said, "We have disturbed Your Supreme peace. We deserve death a thousand times over! Your refusal to kill us is already the greatest blessing we could receive. We are Your most loyal believers. The mission borne by our generations has been to free You from endless slumber, so that You may return to rule this world with the wrath of a Supreme One!"

"We revere Your authority and admire Your majesty."

He said, "We do not wish to see Candle Dragon Venerable return years from now and devour You completely."

Gu Jianlin continued smiling faintly as he stared at the old man, maintaining the pressure.

He realized that living Ancient Gods and dead Ancient Gods were truly worlds apart.

A moment ago, this guy had wanted to dissect the corpse and take its essence blood.

The next moment, he had turned into a loyal believer.

What a masterful face change.

Unfortunately, all five wore masks, hoods, and cloaks, revealing only their eyes. Even their voices had been deliberately altered, leaving very little information exposed.

Under such circumstances, it was difficult to profile their personalities. Otherwise, he could have quickly seized the initiative through conversation.

Still, their earlier discussion had revealed their needs.

They were all Fallen. They needed Ancient God Blood to save their lives and advance.

In other words, they were a band of desperadoes!

They would never rest until they achieved their goal.

"You may not know this, but after a thousand years, the Ancient God race has long since withdrawn from the stage of history. Now, Ascenders rule this world. The region where I live is controlled by an organization called the Ether Association. Their way of dealing with Fallen is to exterminate them completely without mercy."

As the old man spoke, a bone-deep chill flashed through his eyes.

"My students and I were unfortunately infected by the aura of an Ancient God while searching for the ruins of the Kirin Immortal Palace, becoming Fallen. At present, we can only barely avoid losing control by using medicine."

"But this is merely drinking poison to quench thirst. Only Your blood can redeem our souls, just as in ancient legends, when gods bestowed their blood upon mortals and transformed them into Their Divine Servants. Earlier, we were uncertain of Your identity and desperately needed Ancient God Blood to cleanse the filth from our souls. We offended You. Please forgive us."

Ether Association, Ascenders, Fallen, Divine Servants.

Gu Jianlin had learned several new terms, and a measure of understanding dawned on him.

"Then why should I help you?"

He said softly, "At the very least, give me a reason."

Dead silence.

Moon Maiden, Butcher, Book Elder, and Sea Siren all seemed to glimpse the hope of survival.

As long as there was room for negotiation, things could be discussed!

When facing a god, they did not have the courage to directly seize the Ancient God Blood.

"Candle Dragon Venerable imprisoned You here, and for thousands of years, You have been unable to break free of the seal. You also cannot make contact with the outside world."

The old man's throat seemed to bob as he hurriedly prostrated himself, saying in the most respectful tone, "At least for now, we are the only group to have entered this burial chamber. Xu Fu arranged numerous deceptive formations within the Kirin Immortal Palace, along with countless traps and barriers. If we had not been fortunate enough to obtain his notes, we likely would not have been able to reach this place."

He said sincerely, "Therefore, we are Your only means of contacting the outside world."

The god in the darkness gave no response.

"Only we can help You escape."

The old man raised his head and looked toward the god within the coffin. "The next time we enter this mausoleum, we can bring You every resource You need and help You restore Your power!"

"After a thousand years of slumber, after the fury of being betrayed by Your own kind, do You truly not wish to leave this place? Once You regain Your former strength, there will be no cage in this world capable of restraining You."

"My inheritance path is that of an Alchemist. A fourth-rank Alchemist is as humble as an ant before You."

"But at present, only I... can help You return to rule this world!"

His speech quickened, carrying an impatient longing and a trace of madness deep in his eyes.

"Please allow me to offer You my loyalty and become Your Divine Servant, following behind You!"

"Do You not... wish to take revenge on Candle Dragon Venerable?"

Like the whisper of a devil, every word was temptation.

This old man was tempting a god as a human!

Interesting. After being intimidated, the old man did not dare forcibly take the Ancient God Blood, yet he had no intention of fleeing either.

Instead, he intended to achieve his goal through a deal.

Gu Jianlin lowered his head and looked at the burial wrappings binding him, as well as the black chains. His deep eyes flickered faintly.

After a long while, he gave a soft laugh. "A fourth-rank Alchemist? Interesting."

The old man held his breath as though waiting for fate's favor.

He was hoping.

Hoping for the assent of this ancient Supreme One.

He was also afraid.

Because he did not know whether his fourth-rank status would be of any use.

"Perhaps it can be considered."

Gu Jianlin raised his black eyes and looked down upon them all from above. "But that depends on whether you truly possess value. As for your loyalty... I do not care."

Those words were like a pardon.

Bang.

It was the sound of a forehead striking the ground heavily.

The old man kowtowed again. "Thank You for Your grace."

The four students also prostrated themselves. "Thank You for Your grace."

You are celebrating too soon.

Gu Jianlin remained expressionless. He truly had no idea whether he could satisfy these people's needs.

Because all he could offer was his own blood.

As for Ancient God Blood, who knew what the hell that even was.

He only hoped these people would leave quickly—the farther away, the better.

Then he could find a way to escape.

The ancient tomb suddenly trembled violently, and dust fell in showers.

The figures of the five people led by the old man, still prostrated on the ground, abruptly blurred. They twisted like reflections of light on glass, like flickering images on a screen of static.

Gu Jianlin froze. Suddenly, he had a feeling that these people seemed to be leaving.

Perfect timing. If they dragged this out any longer, he might expose a flaw and be unable to keep acting.

"The rift in time and space has appeared again."

The old man said sincerely, "Great Supreme One, we are about to be transported back to the real world. But please rest assured. The next time the dimensional gate opens, we will bring in everything You require and offer You sacrifices to restore Your power."

Hearing this, Gu Jianlin curled his lips. "Good luck."

The tomb raiders led by the old man were all uneasy. Everything had gone too smoothly.

They did not know whether this supreme deity was toying with them.

But they had no other choice.

For an instant, the firelight abruptly went out, and all five vanished from where they stood at nearly the same time.

"Whew."

Gu Jianlin finally let out a breath, cold sweat pouring from him as though a floodgate had opened.

What a damned experience. He had been inexplicably transported into an ancient tomb, then inexplicably run into a group of desperadoes.

He had nearly been dissected.

"Ancient Gods, Ascenders, inheritance paths, an ultra-ancient world."

Using those three key terms, Gu Jianlin reconstructed a new worldview atop the ruins of everything he had believed before.

A world that might be even more real!

"That group was transported back to reality. As for whether they will return, who knows? They made it sound nice, saying they wanted to free a sealed Ancient God, but in truth, it was all for their own interests. Without benefits, who knows what he would do."

Gu Jianlin pondered. "The others are hard to judge, but that old man is indeed deeply scheming and not easy to deal with. Hopefully, after being intimidated this time, they will learn to behave... That syllable seemed to be produced with the residual power within that mask. I do not know whether I can use it again in the future. In any case, I am... very weak right now."

No matter what kind of mutation his body had undergone, he was indeed extremely weak and listless.

Setting aside the others among those five.

Just Butcher, the most reckless one, probably possessed strength greater than that of a world heavyweight champion given that build.

If it had been his former self, he would likely have been killed with one punch.

The others were probably dangerous as well.

This mutated body seemed powerful, but for some reason, it appeared to be in a severely weakened state.

Especially while bound by iron chains and burial wrappings.

"First, I need to figure out what is happening, restore this body's strength, and avoid actually being treated like a boss to farm. Second, I need to find a way back..."

Gu Jianlin could clearly feel the claws on his hands gradually degenerating, while the dragon scales covering his body softened and shed away.

It seemed that before long, he would return to his former state.

Moreover, beneath the shedding scales, he saw the mole on his wrist.

A mole he had possessed since birth.

At that moment, he became certain that this was still his original body. It had merely mutated because of the Kirin Mask.

He looked around. The burial chamber was pitch-black, and he could see nothing. Bound inside the coffin, he could not move at all.

When Gu Jianlin tried to break free of the chains, he discovered it was simply impossible.

Not merely impossible on a physical level.

The moment that thought arose, a crushing pain exploded in his mind. The agony made him groan instantly, his entire body convulsing and trembling as sweat drenched him.

The chains seemed not to be binding his body, but imprisoning his soul!

At the same time, overwhelming illusions appeared before his eyes. A black Qilin was pierced through by countless chains, thick, bloody stench pouring out like magma, while furious and unwilling roars echoed through the silence.

No, those were not chains.

They were countless black dragon bones, twisting around his body like thorns, tearing flesh and piercing bone.

An enraged dragon's roar exploded like Thunder, shattering his focus and making it feel as though his liver and gallbladder would burst.

Candle Dragon Venerable's restraint...

In the final moment, one last thought flashed through Gu Jianlin's mind before he was completely knocked unconscious.

When Gu Jianlin awoke again, the familiar ceiling and old chandelier were right before his eyes.

He lay on the bed he knew best, breathing rapidly.

The storm outside had already stopped. Bright sunlight pierced through the overcast sky, and the city became bright once more. Wind rustled through the leaves, and the occasional bark of a dog sounded from downstairs.

Everything was so beautiful.

Gu Jianlin's head throbbed violently, and his entire body ached with weakness, as if someone had beaten the living daylights out of him. It felt like the day he had awakened after the car accident.

"Is this the backlash from using that syllable? It feels like my entire body was run over by a car several times..."

He barely managed to pick up his phone and check the time. Noon.

He put the phone down and collapsed onto the bed. His mind felt dry and hollow, as though his brains had been squeezed empty.

Gu Jianlin rested with his eyes closed for a while. Only after the pain in his head gradually faded did he force himself to sit up.

Then, he suddenly realized something.

The Kirin Mask on his face was gone!

Gu Jianlin hurriedly felt all over his body. The horns on his head had vanished, the scales had disappeared without a trace, and his nails were still their original length.

It was as though the mutation in the ancient tomb had never happened.

It was utterly bizarre.

"Forget it. I should go home first. Otherwise, Youzhu will think I went to the police station over Dad's case again." In his new home, Gu Jianlin was more or less treated like a baby who needed strict supervision.

Supporting his weak body, he quickly packed his things away, taking everything worth remembering with him. Finally, he glanced at the old laptop. The game guide post had already been deleted, as though it had never existed.

It was as if everything had been an illusion.

Yet what he had just experienced felt so real.

It had even overturned the worldview he had held for over a decade.

Gu Jianlin hesitated for a moment, then packed the laptop into his suitcase and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

The cold water splashed against his face, gradually easing his headache and calming the confusion and terror in his heart.

However, when Gu Jianlin looked up and saw the mirror above the sink, his entire body froze, and his mind went blank.

His pupils shook violently, his body trembling uncontrollably.

At that moment, he saw himself in the mirror.

But only for an instant. His reflection vanished like an illusion, replaced by a pitch-black, ferocious Qilin.

Even more shocking was that this Qilin seemed incredibly weak. It looked sickly and listless, and within those grim, ancient eyes was an absurd, disbelieving look.

It was lifelike—vivid beyond compare.

As though it had perfectly copied his expression.

One thing to emphasize: this book has no official organizations, no domestic official organizations—only organizations, no officials. Those who understand, understand.