The memories of all humanity are awakening, except for mine.

Kunlun Mountains.

Li Yu and his team of field agents are still searching for the origin of the beast tide.

However, this beast tide seemed to have no trace. It appeared out of nowhere, as if it had been born out of thin air, destroying the command center of the organization and the Ministry of War in Kunlun.

At this time, strange phenomena also frequently occurred in places such as Mount Tai, Penglai, and Mount Wawu. Although the strange phenomena in various places were also shocking, only Kunlun was as bizarre as this one.

As Zhu Chengzhu drove, he muttered to himself, "Boss, we've been searching for a week now, when will this ever end?"

"After you come back, we'll start from the ruins of the original command center and follow the tracks of the beast tide eastward..."

"We haven't even seen a single alien beast yet, and our fuel tank is almost empty. We'll have to ask headquarters for an airdrop."

"At this rate, we'll be out of the Kunlun Mountains and still not find the source of the beast tide."

"Boss, have we chosen the wrong target? Maybe our focus shouldn't be on the ground?"

"If we're going in the wrong direction, then we've all wasted our time. Wasting time is wasting lives, boss... Should we stop and look around? If it's not on the ground, maybe it's inside the mountain? Or maybe it's underground? Look at those stone giants, they don't have feet, their legs are all connected to the ground, and they move horizontally. Maybe they really did grow out of the ground?"

"Our three groups are now completely trapped in Kunlun, and we have no idea what the situation is like outside..."

Aside from the bumpy, rattling sounds, the only other sound inside the car was Zhu Chengzhu's incessant chatter.

Everyone else remained silent, even Zhong Huahua and Wu Zhen had grown accustomed to the gossipy fat man's nagging.

Under normal circumstances, Li Yu would stop Zhu Chengzhu from repeating himself over and over again.

However, Li Yu did not interrupt Zhu Chengzhu at the moment because he was immersed in thought.

These thoughts have been ongoing for the past few days.

Within an unnamed mountain, the sight of the Four Heavenly Kings, the ancient river... could these be related to the beast tide in the Kunlun Mountains? While the Kunlun Mountains are majestic and magnificent, their ecosystem simply cannot support such a large-scale beast tide. Perhaps we've truly gone in the wrong direction?
Thinking this, Li Yu shook his head again.

He then interrupted Zhu Chengzhu's endless chatter:
"Even if you're going in the wrong direction, you still have to keep looking."

"We're not the only team investigating the source of the beast tide."

"Unless we completely rule out this option, all we can do is continue our investigation."

"You've mentioned this twelve times already, including just now. If you say it again, I'll take over driving."

Zhu Chengzhu's eyes lit up: "Oh?"

"Is there such a good thing?"

Li Yu smiled and said, "You run behind them."

Zhu Chengzhu didn't say anything, but the atmosphere in the car became much more lively, with the Cao brothers, Cao Zhigang and Cao Zhiqiang, laughing happily.

Looking at the atmosphere in Group Three, Fang Yi couldn't help but reminisce about his former group leader, whose head had exploded in the mountains... the memory was still vivid. He wondered if one of the newborns might have awakened memories of his former group leader? If that were true, would it be considered... a second life?
But immediately, he felt that such a thought was somewhat selfish. What parent would want their child to be born not as an independent individual, but as "someone else"?
He snapped out of his reverie and joined the discussion: "Actually, I also feel that searching for the origin of the beast tide footprints on the ground is indeed a bit counterproductive."

"Did optical satellites record any previous conditions in the Kunlun Mountains?"

"If it were available, why would we need to search aimlessly like this?"

Zhong Huahua nodded and said, "I... actually have this problem too."

Chen Yufei, who had remained silent until now, spoke up to explain: "Satellites, after all, revolve in low Earth orbit, which is not suitable for monitoring beast tides. Although some valuable images are occasionally transmitted back, overall satellite images are not very reliable, let alone for finding traces of the past..."

Wu Zhen didn't quite understand, but he knew that the idea of ​​satellites had been abandoned.

Cao Zhiqiang then spoke up, saying, "Actually, in retrospect, we have discovered several suspicious points."

The car fell silent. Such a concluding statement certainly deserves respect.

"First, when we first set off, we were heading southeast, but later we went in the opposite direction."

"Secondly, that stone giant clearly has a certain amount of spiritual power inside it, and its feet are connected to the ground... Have we heard of this kind of myth or legend before?"

Third, where exactly has the beast tide gone?

"Considering that no trace of the beast tide has been detected by satellites since New Year's Day, does that mean the massive beast tide you witnessed during that period... just vanished into thin air?"

"Thinking about it this way, perhaps we really have gone in the wrong direction."

"Currently, our goal is to find the source..."

"But what if there's no source at all?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhen suddenly shuddered and raised his hand: "What do you mean by 'no source'?"

Tang Songming followed the train of thought and said, "If there is no destination, there is no source."

Wu Zhen nodded in sudden realization.

Li Yu also chimed in, "That's true."

"I've thought about that point too."

Zhu Chengzhu glanced at Cao Zhiqiang in the rearview mirror, a hint of surprise in his eyes: "Not bad, Cao Lao Er."

After giving Cao Zhiqiang a rare compliment, he looked at Li Yu and asked, "So, what I just said makes some sense?"

Li Yu said, "That makes sense."

"All speculations are valid until the truth is discovered."

Cao Zhigang shifted the focus to the previously mentioned point of contention: "That stone giant, there really isn't any related mythology or legend, is there?"

He paused for a moment, then spoke again: "Nuwa? Created humans from clay?"

Chen Yufei said, "There are legends of Titans in Western mythology."

"However, it doesn't match this kind of stone at all..."

Wu Zhen, unusually, interjected, "Stone...giant, magic? Something like a golem?"

Zhong Huahua shook her head: "That's not right."

"That giant contains spiritual power; it must be some kind of...creature?"

"If it's a golem or a puppet, then it shouldn't have any spiritual power."

Fang Yi suddenly spoke up, "When I was on a mission near Qinghu, I also saw a strange beast that could control water."

"That beast was incredibly cunning... It took us a lot of effort to take it down."

"If there are mythical beasts that can control water, are there also mythical beasts that can control earth and stone?"

Zhong Huahua asked in confusion, "Controlling water? Does that mean there's spiritual power within the water?"

Fang Yi waved his hand: "I'm just suggesting a direction."

"At that time, the strange beast used the lake water to create many clones, but I didn't pay attention to whether there was any spiritual power in the clones."

Li Yu then recalled the enormous stone statues of the Four Heavenly Kings that he had seen before meeting the elderly Jiang Chuan.

The Kunlun Mountains have been known as sacred mountains since ancient times...

There are countless myths and legends surrounding Kunlun Mountain in China, such as Kuafu chasing the sun, Gonggong angering Buzhou Mountain, and Yu killing Xiangliu. These myths are all related to Kunlun, and there are even many different versions. Which version is more credible?

Around 400 AD, almost all the myths and legends circulating in China were related to one name—

Western Queen.

The image of the Queen Mother of the West later evolved into the Queen Mother of the West in Taoist mythology, who jointly ruled the Heavenly Court with the Jade Emperor. Li Yu couldn't help but wonder, if it was the Queen Mother of the West, could it explain the strange phenomena of these stone giants?

But what does it mean to see the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings?
Just as Li Yu was pondering this, Wu Zhen's voice suddenly broke his thoughts.

"The Queen Mother of the West?"

This keyword pulled Li Yu out of his thoughts. "Isn't there the Queen Mother of the West's palace on Mount Kunlun?"

"Is it related to this?"

Li Yu nodded and said, "In legends, Kunlun Mountain has nine heavens, the abodes of great Buddhas, gods, and saints. Places like Tianyong City, Langfeng Peak, and Qionghua Palace..."

"The Record of King Mu contains a story about the Queen Mother of the West hosting a banquet for King Mu of Zhou at Yaochi. Many things recorded in the Record of King Mu have been verified... Perhaps we really are dealing with the Queen Mother of the West."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed, showing surprise and shock.

It's only natural that such a profound sense of awe, stemming from the depths of one's soul, arises from the existence of mythical figures.

Only Wu Zhen's expression showed some smugness.

Cao Zhigang said in a loud voice, "If it's really related to the Queen Mother of the West, then isn't this connected to the strange phenomena all over the world?!"

"What Gilgamesh, and what Lilith..."

"We're not doing badly either!"

Chen Yufei said, "But the Queen Mother of the West is, after all, a myth. Is the account in the 'Biography of King Mu' really credible?"

Fang Yi then spoke up:
"The first to the ninth heaven..."

"Could those strange beasts come from the first to ninth heavens? That's why we can't see their origin or where they went."

Zhu Chengzhu sighed, "Then what's the point of looking?"

But the car did not stop.

Li Yu's mental energy was still scanning the mountainous area they had traversed.

The mission is still ongoing.

What they didn't know was...

The Diviners Alliance's Divine Descent Plan is less than two days away from its launch.

……

Shen Jing opened his eyes.

What I saw before me was an unfamiliar ceiling.

He sat up in bed and saw the extremely luxurious furnishings in the room.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been thrilled with his good fortune. But at this moment, he had no interest in such things; his memory was still stuck on the moment he picked up the small clock. That battle seemed to have matured him overnight.

Just as Li Chunfeng had thought, what Shen Jing had experienced was far too heavy for him. And this heaviness had dulled the luster in his eyes.

"Brother Chuan has become that amazing?"

"During this time, he joined that mysterious organization? He said he was transferring schools, but actually..."

"Was his divination results so chaotic a few months ago because he was on a mission?"

"That survey... that questionnaire really is related to that rumored mysterious organization..."

Thinking about this, Shen Jing finally confirmed the suspicion he had long harbored.

"So, in other words, we... are the bad guys?"

"Jiang Chuan and his group, are they from an official organization?"

"..."

"But……"

Shen Jing did not dwell on it any further.

Whether someone is a villain or not... it doesn't matter anymore.

He braced his hands on the bed frame, feeling something hard pressing against his palms. He raised his hands and saw the small clock.

"Is that it?"

Everything that happened beneath that dome rushed before my eyes like a tidal wave.

"Master...?"

He immediately stood up, walked quickly to the door, and pushed it open.

Shen Jing wanted to find Li Chunfeng as soon as possible... and confirm his fate.

He wanted to know if he had actually managed to turn the tide of life and death with that little clock.
However, the moment he pushed open the door, he froze, his pupils instantly contracting.

"This……"

I thought I was in a hotel or a luxury villa, but when I opened the door, I was surprised to find a huge porthole in front of me, and outside the porthole was an endless sea of ​​clouds!
He walked to the porthole in a daze, only to realize that he was inside a huge spaceship! He had only ever seen this scene in science fiction movies, and it was even more exaggerated than those movies!
"This is the new mothership of the Diviners Alliance."

It hasn't been named yet.

"You know, we fortune tellers are very particular about naming things. We still haven't decided on a name."

"How about it?"

"Is it shocking?"

Upon hearing this voice, Shen Jing's lips immediately curled into a delighted smile. He quickly turned to look beside him: "Master!"

"You're still alive!"

Li Chunfeng: "What did you say?"

Shen Jing, however, said with some shame, "Master, you said you wanted to perish together with that person... and I ruined it for you."

Li Chunfeng shook his head: "This is that person's fate, and it is also my fate."

"What has happened cannot be changed, so you don't need to worry about it."

Shen Jing nodded, then said somewhat shyly, "Master, I need to call my mom today..."

“It’s been a whole night, my mom must be worried.”

Li Chunfeng smiled and asked, "One night?"

"It's been forty-eight hours already."

Shen Jing was stunned, and a hint of fear immediately appeared in his eyes: "Ah?"

Li Chunfeng waved his hand and said:
"Don't worry."

“I took the initiative to contact your mother and told her that the winter camp was currently in intensive training and that she was completely forbidden from contacting the outside world. I had someone photoshop a few pictures and sent them to you via WeChat, and she didn’t suspect anything.”

Shen Jing breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Chunfeng looked at him and asked with some doubt, "Studying is naturally not a problem."

"Respecting and being filial to the elderly is also a duty."

“But I don’t understand. If it’s for the sake of advancing in the imperial examinations, you don’t need to work so hard.”

"With me as your teacher, why worry about your future?"

Shen Jing was taken aback; he hadn't thought of this.

From a high school senior to this point...

It seems that the steps taken were indeed a bit too ambitious. (End of Chapter)