Chapter 6: The Handsome Old Man (Part 2)

Guo Shieru observed for a while and said, “There shouldn’t be any dangerous creatures like Spirit Beasts in the lake. I’ll go down first; you stay at the shore to keep watch.” He leaped into the lake. Gu Yanque immediately took off—it had no desire to enter the water; it was a bird, not a fish, and naturally feared water.
To be safe, Guo Shieru released the Giant Perch Dragon. This level-9 mutated Giant Perch Dragon had also been restrained for a long time. Fed by numerous Spirit Bead orbs and influenced by Guo Shieru’s soul energy, it was on the verge of reaching level 10 as a Spirit Beast. As soon as it emerged, it let out a mighty roar and swam through the lake with great presence.
After releasing the Giant Perch Dragon, Guo Shieru dived to the bottom of the lake. The lake wasn’t large but was very deep, with extremely clear water—otherwise, the Eagle Demon wouldn’t have been able to spot the altar at the bottom.
After diving about a hundred meters, he arrived above the altar. The altar was large but incomplete, with one corner collapsed and a deep crack along its edge. The gap was smooth, and Guo Shieru immediately realized it had been cut by a sharp weapon. Another expert had perished due to the altar’s destruction.
The area around the altar was covered in fine silt, with not a single water plant. Only a hundred meters away from the altar did abundant water plants grow. Small fish the size of fingers swam in groups in the lake, but there were no mutated fish.
Reaching the top of the altar, Guo Shieru pressed his hand on it.
Roar!
A frantic roar echoed in his soul. The Ancient Ink Lotus spun rapidly, as if its engine had been started, at an astonishing speed. Countless thin threads shot out from it and quickly extended, piercing the altar through Guo Shieru’s hand.
Guo Shieru realized something was wrong, but he could no longer move.
“Who is it? Who disturbs my sleep… Who is it?”
A massive roar resonated in his soul. Guo Shieru’s legs turned weak. He suddenly remembered that in the Bloodied Secret Realm, there was a soul hidden inside that altar. He never expected that even though the altar was damaged, the soul was still there. His first thought was to escape, but his palm seemed stuck to the altar, unable to break free.
The Ancient Ink Lotus spun even more frantically, with more and more threads piercing the altar through his palm.
…
The Eagle Demon watched the Giant Perch Dragon swimming by the shore and laughed, “Shieru hasn’t released the Giant Perch Dragon in ages. Hehe, this guy seems quite excited.”
Luo Zhan stared at the Giant Perch Dragon for a while and said, “It seems the Giant Perch Dragon has become even stronger.”
Zhou Xiaoling felt a sense of familiarity toward the Giant Perch Dragon. It was because she was chased by it in the Bloodied Secret Realm that she met Guo Shieru and the others.

The three chatted casually for a while when suddenly the lake began to churn. A large number of bubbles surged up from the bottom, making the surface look like it was boiling, and the ground trembled slightly. The Giant Nesting Dragon roared and swam rapidly toward the shore, as if something was chasing it. The Ancient Flame Sparrow shrieked and took to the air with flared wings.

A rumbling sound came from the lake.

The Eagle Demon exclaimed in panic, “What’s going on?”

Luo Zhan said anxiously, “I don’t know! I don’t know! Damn it, Guo Shier is still down there!”

Zhou Xiaoling tried to rush into the lake, but the Eagle Demon grabbed her and said, “Wait! Ding ding, calm down!”

With a loud explosion, an altar suddenly rose from the bottom of the lake. It was enormous, with a diameter of over a hundred meters, layered upon itself—clearly a high-level altar, even more advanced than the one in the Bloody Secret Realm.

Everyone saw Guo Shier kneeling on one leg, one hand pressed on the top of the altar, head raised and eyes closed, his body trembling violently.

Once the altar was fully above water, a deafening roar shook the Eagle Demon and the others, forcing them to retreat. It wasn’t a real sound but a vibration in the souls, unbearable. If ordinary people or low-level professionals had been there, such a roar would have shattered their souls.

Guo Shier turned his head and roared, “Back off! Get away from me!”

A rainbow of light flashed, and Guo Shier flew up. A small, exquisite Ancient Ink Lotus appeared beneath him. He maintained his original posture, only shifting his hand from the altar to the top of the Ancient Ink Lotus. Countless illusory chains descended from the lotus, glowing brightly, before sinking into the altar.

One roar after another resonated in their souls. The Giant Nesting Dragon and the Ancient Flame Sparrow had already run far away. Those two were smarter than humans; such soul vibrations made them instinctively sense extreme danger. Since Guo Shier hadn’t given them any orders to approach, they naturally fled as far as possible.

The Eagle Demon pulled Luo Zhan and Zhou Xiaoling back quickly. Luo Zhan was already in a semi-comatose state, while Zhou Xiaoling, though still able to resist a little, was too weak to fight back. She let the Eagle Demon drag her back over a kilometer away.

A huge head emerged from the top of the altar.

It was a crude-looking face with flying white hair, its wide-open eyes and roaring mouth terrifying. The chains hanging from the Ancient Ink Lotus sank straight into the head, pulling that soul-formed head out bit by bit, followed by a bit of shoulder, then more. It turned out that this soul could only form a head—it couldn’t develop a body at all.

From this perspective, this soul is incomplete, completely different from that altar in the Bloody Secret Realm, which possessed a complete soul. Guo Shier also was in a semi-comatose state, making it extremely difficult for Gu Mu Lian to use his soul to control the soul in the altar. As he was about to fall completely into unconsciousness, he suddenly bit his tongue tip, feeling intense pain that slightly awakened him, his mouth filled with the taste of blood. Knowing he would be completely ruined if he couldn’t hold on any longer and unable to consider anything else, he began to recite scriptures aloud. With each word he uttered, his soul experienced violent fluctuations, and his consciousness became slightly clearer. As his recitation continued, the 167 ancient runes formed within Guo Shier’s soul merged one by one into Gu Mu Lian. Once all 167 ancient runes entered Gu Mu Lian, a multicolored glow shone, and countless chains, as if tangible, pierced into that head and vibrated rapidly. That head, which had almost taken solid form, became illusory again due to the intense vibrations. It let out howls, like a beast struggling in its death throes. “I… don’t want to die… don’t want to die… I want to live… to survive… Ah… live! Live!” For some reason, Guo Shier felt a pang in his heart and stopped reciting. He asked through the vibrations of his soul, “Who are you?” Gu Mu Lian’s vibrations also softened; it was an instinctive reaction—if that head had malicious intent, it would immediately attack. “Who am I?” A confused set of soul vibrations followed. As Gu Mu Lian ceased its attack, that head became clearer and gradually shrank in size. Yet the chains extending from Gu Mu Lian did not disappear but remained inside that head. Guo Shier’s soul vibrated again, “Have you forgotten who you are?” A wave of disturbance came through—a soul filled with utter helplessness: “I… I don’t know… I can’t remember… I don’t remember anything… I killed… I died… I…” “What’s your name?” “I… I don’t know. My name is… I can’t recall it…” Guo Shier inwardly smiled bitterly—it was a fragmented soul. His soul vibrated once more: “Come to me. Gu Mu Lian is a good dwelling place.” “Gu Mu Lian? Oh… Gu Mu Lian is a good thing…” It actually knew Gu Mu Lian was good. Guo Shier was both amused and exasperated and said, “Your altar is damaged. If this continues for too long, you’ll dissipate.” “Okay… very well.”

Guo Shier’s heart pounded wildly. He knew that once he obtained the soul of the Ancient Talisman Person, it would be extremely useful when he built an altar in the future.
“Wait a moment…”
The head suddenly retracted and disappeared into the altar, with Gu Mu Lian’s chains extending followingly. A moment later, the head flew out. Guo Shier noticed that there seemed to be something more inside the head—of course, this was sensed through the soul. This time, the head didn’t struggle but obediently let the chains pull it into Gu Mu Lian. The moment the head entered Gu Mu Lian, Guo Shier felt the power of its soul surge wildly.
The damaged altar crashed into the lake as the head entered Gu Mu Lian. Guo Shier flew out atop Gu Mu Lian.
Eagle Demon and the others saw everything clearly and knew that Guo Shier had obtained a head, but they didn’t quite understand what it meant. Zhou Xiaoling stepped forward and asked, “Shier, what’s going on? I saw you get a head!”
They all went to the lake’s edge. Since the water had risen onto the shore, they all hovered a few meters above the water. Eagle Demon also asked, “Shier, was that a head?”
Guo Shier was still standing on Gu Mu Lian, which had shrunk to the size of a water jar. Suddenly, a head rose from Gu Mu Lian—without a body, connected only by a few thin chains. The head said, “It’s a person! Not just a head!”
Zhou Xiaoling screamed in fright, “Oh my god!”
Eagle Demon also stepped back involuntarily. Guo Shier scolded, “Stop scaring people, will you?”
The head actually let out a burst of laughter—still just a vibration of the soul, as it could no longer truly speak. Perhaps due to years of loneliness, the head seemed a bit lively.
Guo Shier hadn’t expected the head to pop up on its own. He said, “Since you can’t remember your own name, how about we give you one?”
The head seemed to ponder for a moment before saying, “Okay! Give me a fancy name.”
Zhou Xiaoling crossed her arms, tilted her head, and after thinking for a while, said, “‘Old Man’ would be suitable—old… and just a head. Old Man! Perfect!”
The head shrieked, “No, that’s too ugly! How can I be called Old Man? I’m clearly a handsome young man!”
Even Guo Shier felt a chill. With only a head left, how could it possibly be handsome?
Zhou Xiaoling suggested, “Handsome Old Man…”
To everyone’s surprise, the head agreed this time: “Great! Handsome Old Man! From now on, my surname will be Handsome, and my name will be Old Man!”
Everyone was stunned.