Silence descended, and the aged voice vanished without a trace.

Gu Jianlin's thoughts swirled like a storm, meticulously savoring the old man's final words.

Transplantation!

He first heard this term mentioned by the mysterious man in the Destiny Mud Tablet, though he didn't understand its meaning at the time.

Later, when he heard about the so-called Transplantation Plan, he began to harbor suspicions.

Now, he understood.

The so-called transplantation was essentially the process of grafting the spiritual genes of the Ancient God Clan onto human bodies.

This was Qilin Venerable's expertise—or rather, the so-called pseudo ancestors so far were all experimental creations. Unfortunately, all these experiments ultimately failed, as they could not truly escape the constraints of the Candle Light Law.

Even the two souls within their bodies would mutually influence each other, leading to conflicts.

No, perhaps Qilin Venerable's methods had indeed succeeded.

Gu Jianlin felt his scalp tingle, as he himself was the ultimate evidence.

Unlike other pseudo ancestors, he, as this experimental subject, didn't suffer from soul conflicts. However, he did not know how to achieve Primordial Return, leaving him unable to verify whether it was actually achievable.

Additionally, he was still unable to escape the constraints of the Candle Light Law, though he could sense the frequency of Heavenly Person's Breathing.

Does this imply that, at the last moment, Qilin Venerable truly forged a new path?

However, the original Qilin Venerable did not walk this path themselves.

Everything now fell on Gu Jianlin to verify.

Xu Fu hadn't detected the fragments of the Qilin Wedge either.

That pseudo ancestor was caught tightly within the space of the Wedge, leaving an uncertain future purpose.

"Heavenly Fox, hmm?"

This seemed like an honorific title—no wonder it qualified them for evolution into Primordial.

"Are you okay?"

Su Youzhu leaned closer to him, stretched out her pale fingers, and poked his mask.

Gu Jianlin snapped out of his daze, having been lost deep in thought: "Sorry, Xu Fu was conversing with me again just now."

"Xu Fu came looking for us too. It's true that we've fallen behind significantly," Su Youzhu lifted her snowy, exquisite face and said softly, "Your evolution path has come so far already, hasn't it?"

Lu Zijin crossed her arms, glancing at him with a complicated expression and couldn't help but tease: "When I saw your current state earlier, I thought another Ancient God Clan had emerged. Scared me so much my heart almost stopped."

Gu Jianlin was slightly taken aback. It turns out even they hadn't noticed the Ancient Supreme aura he inadvertently released.

Apparently, it wasn't solely the effect of the Lock of Nonexistence.

It was the Golden Phoenix Feather.

However, the radiance emitted by the Golden Phoenix Feather was gradually dimming, suggesting that its effect had a time limit.

Gu Jianlin raised a hand and wiped away the Ink Jade Mask from his face, which then shattered and disappeared, along with the horn and scales atop his head.

As expected, the brilliance of the Golden Phoenix Feather faded suddenly, leaving only traces of lingering shimmer.

Good, this confirmed that undoing Ancient God Transformation would automatically revoke the protective privilege granted by the Golden Phoenix Feather.

Truly ingenious.

Senior Ji's methods were indeed masterful.

"Let's leave this place first. We've indeed fallen behind and can't let the You Ying Group beat us to it. They're likely well-prepared, but it doesn't mean the Ether Association is without shortcuts. Clearly, the You Ying Group has somehow learned the secrets of this place in advance, but that doesn't mean the Ether Association hasn't responded." Gu Jianlin looked upward, his gaze profound.

The brilliance of the Heavenly Person Realm reflected in his pupils.

"Are you saying someone from the Ether Association has been here before?"

Lu Zijin narrowed her beautiful eyes: "The Heavenly Person Realm—did that person leave it behind?"

Su Youzhu scanned the surroundings but then noticed writing in the dark corner again: "Come look at this."

Gu Jianlin raised his hand, igniting a pale Ghost Fire that illuminated the mottled stone wall.

Crossing sword marks surfaced once again in his field of view.

"We shouldn't stay here long. Sadly, aside from reaching the deepest part, there seem to be no other ways out. We cannot ascertain what power drew us in, but if we die here, we're likely to turn into living dead. Along the way, we saw many such half-dead people being devoured by monsters on the ice field!"

This time, the message left behind was considerably longer, probably because the writer had escaped immediate danger and had time to record their words.

"We?"

Gu Jianlin pondered for a moment—it seemed there wasn't just one person.

Unfortunately, this place was an illusion, not a tangible space in reality, leaving no actual trace.

It offered nothing he could profile.

The only thing here was this writing, which he couldn't understand how it had been left.

Through profiling, the writer seemed to be a gentle, reliable, composed, and mature man.

Someone steady with a pioneering spirit and the character of a martyr.

Given that there were more than one pseudo ancestors in this bronze palace, they needed to plan anew.

After all, pseudo ancestors were frighteningly powerful.

Even if Gu Jianlin could forcefully invoke Ancient God Transformation under the protection of the Golden Phoenix Feather, his strength wasn't unlimited. The previous battle alone had drained the spirituality within him completely, leaving him with only the Breathing Technique to slowly recover, since they were out of secret medicine.

If they encountered one of the hardcore enemies among the Ancient God Clan, even as a Fourth-stage Qilin, he might not stand a chance.

Thus, they decided to proceed covertly, navigating the dark passageways.

The Shadow took the lead, tasked with clearing traps.

Gu Jianlin held the Jiuyin sword, glancing around warily.

The ancient ruins around them were filled with artifacts. Su Youzhu even took the trouble to find a beautiful golden mask to wear.

"Why aren't you two scared? All three of us have nearly drained our spirituality, and without an Alchemist or Priest by our side, we're in big trouble if we run into an ambush," Lu Zijin inspected the dog-couple duo under the faint firelight.

Gu Jianlin stated expressionlessly, "I'm only here via a doppelganger, so I reckon my true body shouldn't be harmed."

Su Youzhu turned to face them, her voice icy: "What a coincidence. I'm here via a doppelganger too."

"Get lost."

Lu Zijin rolled her eyes, her anger almost visibly flaring.

Gu Jianlin remained silent, his thoughts preoccupied with the subject of transplantation, weighed down by an inexplicable heaviness.

Thunder came to mind.

Clearly, this was a mad plan. What did her future hold?

Suddenly, Su Youzhu reached out and held his hand, her touch soft and delicate.

Gu Jianlin froze.

"Something on your mind?"

Su Youzhu's clear eyes shimmered faintly, her voice soft: "You don't need to tell me, but try to stay happy."

Clearly, the Destiny Reflection had deeply affected her.

She viewed herself as the rightful girlfriend, reasoning that if he wasn't happy with her, it must be because she lacked charm.

Hmm. She needed to learn to be forthright.

The girl silently gave herself a pep-talk.

Gu Jianlin chuckled quietly, feeling her hands wrap around his, their fingers interlaced.

The nauseating scent of their lovey-dovey antics nearly suffocated Lu Zijin.

Her expression sharpened suddenly, her gaze fixed ahead: "Who's there?"

The Shadow abruptly unsheathed its blade, slashing toward the shadow lurking in the corner. The blade sang a piercing, shrill whistle!

"Damn zombie, I'll fight you to the death…"

A rotund man charged out holding an enormous axe-halberd, Qi Force surging around him!

Swish!

The blade stopped short at his throat, almost beheading him!

With a loud clang, Mr. Liu dropped the axe-halberd to the ground, raising his hands in surrender: "Spare me, heroes!"

"Third Master?"

Gu Jianlin looked at him in surprise.

"How come you're here?"

Su Youzhu's voice rang with reproach.

Lu Zijin noticed two people lurking behind the plump man.

Mr. Liu hesitated for a long time. Once he recognized the newcomers, his terrified expression vanished, giving way to uncontrollable laughter: "Hahahaha! Truly, heaven never seals off all paths; I knew I was the Child of Destiny! Alright, come out, my allies are here to save us!"

A voice speaking Japanese emerged from the shadows, gibbering away.

Roughly translated: Thank heavens we're saved.

The first one to step forward was a Ying Province girl, her lightly made-up face radiant and adorable, her waist-length black hair cascading freely. Despite being bundled up in a heavy down jacket, her graceful figure was evident, accentuated by a pair of knee-high boots.

Holy Light gleamed in her eyes, revealing her as a Priest.

Huddled furthest back was the same deranged Ying Province man they had encountered before, looking to be in his thirties yet with prematurely silver hair. His face contorted with fear, clutching a massive sniper rifle in his hands.

Evidently, he walked the Overlord Path.

"No need to panic. I ran into them here; they're friends like us, disguised as prisoners. This girl is called Yuuki Yocchi—believe it or not, she's a disciple of the Great God Judith!"

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