Light Fortress
Chapter 357 - 48: Earthenware Glazed with Spikes

Chapter 357: Chapter 48: Earthenware Glazed with Spikes

"A spark of miracle is all we need... just a wisp is enough."

Long after, Li Qingci squeezed out a smile.

She comforted Gu Shen.

Banishing the Black Flower from this mountain face was a miracle in itself, a deed beyond the reach of anyone except the Divine Throne and the Angel Envoys... Even the Titled Transcendents granted authorization by the federation were helpless before the "Order Collapse Point" and could only retreat.

Gu Shen could tell that Li Qingci was forcing her laughter.

He pondered silently for a moment before asking, "How big is this mountain?"

Li Qingci was taken aback, then honestly replied, "If you eat like this every day, it might take you decades."

Both of their gazes inadvertently wandered towards a higher and farther place.

A vast expanse of darkness loomed overhead.

At the mountain summit, there was a suffocating oppressiveness...

"The mountain top that Lord Divine once ascended is the sacred site where the Prayer Technique condenses the ’Divine Embryo’ at Divine Temple Mountain," Li Qingci spoke softly. "The Order Collapse Flowers that grow there are a hundred times what you see now."

"How long can you still live?" Gu Shen asked again.

This question was so direct that Li Qingci was caught off guard, she looked down at her withered reflection in the curtain of the waterfall, shook her head, and said, "Qingci doesn’t know..."

"On Divine Temple Mountain, none of the Li Family’s Protectors have lived past forty," she continued with a chuckle, "By that account, Qingci still has many years to while away."

Many years... Are they really that long?

An immense mountain, yet merely a grain in the vastness.

In such circumstances, ten years, twenty years—they’re but trivial things.

If one were to look from the future to the present, one might find that time seemed only to have passed in a flash and this woman named Li Qingci would have already become a part of Divine Temple Mountain’s history... Like those Protectors, drowned in the currents of six hundred years, not making even a splash, perhaps what remains are merely the tombstones in Qingzhong with their dim names.

"Survive."

Gu Shen stared into the distance at the woman in the barren cliffs and spoke word by word, "Survive... only then can you witness the day the fire of hope spreads wildly."

Twenty years ago, Gu Changzhi could move mountains and seas all by himself.

Today’s Gu Shen... cannot.

But he still has time, he can grow, and Chi Huo can grow... the fire of hope that everyone expects needs to gradually spread, and only then can it grow into a "wild spread."

"Survive..."

Sitting in the dim twilight, Li Qingci was stunned.

She silently repeated these words in her heart, feeling for the first time that a ray of light had shone into her bleak and lonely life.

Divine Temple Mountain was like a long night of a hundred years.

Today, a spark of light arrived.

This spark illuminated a small patch of mountain face and also lit up... the hope in Li Qingci’s heart.

Li Qingci’s expression became resolute. She slowly stood up, her thin and pale garment fluttering in the wind, and bowed deeply to Gu Shen, performing an ancient and solemn ritual.

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao Gu."

...

...

The valley was serene.

Footsteps echoed off the green stone.

The mountains in the distance gradually disappeared into the darkness—actually, one only needed to stand a bit further back, and those entangling expanses of black flowers would fade, leaving only layers of fog.

"Gu Shen, what did sister say to you?" On the way back, Li Qingsui, carrying a lantern, asked curiously.

"Nothing much,"

Gu Shen glanced at the young girl hopping in front of him and said indifferently, "She and I made plans to meet again for a late-night snack on Divine Temple Mountain."

Skepticism filled Li Qingsui’s face.

"I can help with some troubles on Divine Temple Mountain," Gu Shen admitted honestly. "Even if only a little, it’s better than none."

The Li Family’s Protectors and the Family Head are like twins.

"They" are the mirror image of each other—just opposite sides.

One stood in the light, the leader of the Li Family, one of the five major families.

The other offered themselves to the darkness, silently guarding the future of the Li Family.

Li Qingsui was the future Family Head of the Li Family. Although she was a young girl, she was actually very astute... She had long understood the significance of Divine Temple Mountain to the Li Family and also what her sister was doing and what it meant.

That’s why she had said the phrase before.

"Sister is the hardest working, most magnificent person in the whole world."

The Divine Temple Mountain was covered with Order Collapse Flowers; they could not be touched or removed. Even gazing at them from up close would provoke a panic of the mind... This was the blade hanging over the heads of the Li Family, wobbling dangerously for six hundred years, ready to fall at any moment.

Li Qingsui knew that after her sister had consumed her lifespan to perform the Prayer Technique on Divine Temple Mountain, she began to cultivate desperately, wanting to use all her strength to help her sister.

However, those flowers... Even the powerful Uncle Gao was helpless against them.

In the prophecies left by the successive Protectors of the Li Family, they were Divine Flowers.

And yet, they were ultimately only humans.

"You can help... Sister?" Li Qingsui’s expression subtly changed as she looked at Gu Shen, her face transitioning from firm disbelief to hesitant doubt.

The first time she saw Gu Shen... She noticed that this guy, who was only a few years older than herself, was indeed "exceptionally gifted."

The small flame in the center of his forehead made her gaze intensely.

This was an unprecedented strange situation.

"Why would I deceive you..."

Gu Shen smiled helplessly.

"Besides, who would want to come to this place a second time?" He looked back and exclaimed with lingering fear, "Such vast mountains, filled with Silent Annihilation."

Gu Shen did not continue climbing tonight.

He had not seen what the scenery at the top of Divine Temple Mountain was like.

But... Clearly, the entire Divine Temple Mountain was on the verge of being overwhelmed and about to collapse.

Here, besides the points of Order Collapse, there was nothing left.

"Yeah... Who would want to come to this place a second time?"

Li Qingsui heard this and softly echoed the sentiment, a flicker of indiscernible sorrow flashed through her eyes.

In such a place... Sister had stayed for over a decade.

As the future Family Head of the Li Family, Li Qingsui’s world was bright; to her, time was fleeting, and she could meet many people and see different landscapes.

The outside world had spring, summer, autumn, and winter, seasons of blooming flowers, and much more... But Sister couldn’t see any of that.

"Gu Shen."

Li Qingsui took a deep breath, her face serious as she asked again, "Can you really help solve the problems of Divine Temple Mountain?"

"Of course... If I’m lying, I’m a puppy." Gu Shen extended a finger, speaking in a light tone, "But for now... I can only help a little bit."

Yeah.

A very little bit in the true sense.

"A little bit is still better than nothing."

Li Qingsui mustered her courage again and said, "I am the future Family Head of the Li Family. I want to make a deal with you... If you can clear all those broken flowers from Divine Temple Mountain, I don’t care about being able to hatch a Divine Embryo... As long as you can set my sister free to see the outside world, I’m willing to do anything!"

The latter half of the sentence was spoken through clenched teeth by the girl.

"..."

The finger that Gu Shen had extended hung in the air.

He was silent for a moment, looking somewhat helplessly at this young girl.

The finger slightly curved, then "snap" flicked out.

Li Qingsui covered her head, the pain almost bringing her to tears as she looked up, puzzled.

"I will help, but not because of this deal."

Gu Shen said indifferently, "You are the future Family Head of the Li Family. Don’t say such things again in the future."

"Your sister... would be heartbroken to hear it."