Chapter 27: The Ancient Forbidden Zone
The vast universe, the boundless starry sky—many scientists have speculated that Earth might be the only cradle of life. Over the past few decades, humanity has engaged in endless conjecture and launched numerous space probes in search of extraterrestrial life. Yet the profound starry sky, the unfathomable cosmos, resembles a desolate graveyard—cold, silent, eternally frozen in darkness, with no detectable life signals whatsoever.
The universe is simply too vast, with no end in sight. Even if space probes launched with humanity's current technological level could break free from a galaxy's gravitational pull and travel ceaselessly for millions or tens of millions of years, they would still struggle to reach the other side of the starry sky.
Perhaps today, the history of space exploration could be rewritten. Humans have arrived at the far end of the starry sky, crossing distances of tens or even hundreds of light-years, experiencing the ultimate journey of humanity.
Yet all of this remains unknown to the people on Earth. No one would believe it, and certainly no one would cheer or celebrate.
Nine massive dragon corpses pulled the ancient bronze coffin to the far end of the starry sky, crossing into the star region where the Big Dipper resides!
It was at this moment that Ye Fan regained consciousness. His hand left the coffin within a coffin, covered in green verdigris. Hundreds of ancient characters were imprinted in his heart—obscure, difficult to understand, profound and unfathomable—as if they could never be erased. Only then did the mysterious divine sound completely fade away.
The Great Dao is simple, cherishing words like gold. Everything ended, like the fading of bustling prosperity, returning to plain truth.
Ye Fan stared blankly, murmuring to himself, "The Way of Heaven takes from the abundant to supplement the deficient..."
"Ye Fan, are you alright?" Pang Bo asked with concern.
"I'm fine."
Throughout this process, the giant bronze coffin trembled violently. Everyone felt as if the world was spinning. They knew that the Nine Dragons Coffin was finally approaching its destination.
At that moment, the ancient bronze carvings on the coffin walls radiated divine light, forming a hazy curtain that neutralized an unimaginable impact force. The giant coffin gradually stabilized.
With a final thunderous vibration, the lid of the bronze coffin shifted out of place, heavily sliding to one side, and the bronze coffin toppled to the ground.
"Light!"
"I see light!"
"It's the familiar world of light!"
Many people inside the giant bronze coffin couldn't help but shout. Before them was no longer the dimness of the Ancient Yinghuo Star or the desolate, blood-soaked scene. Fresh air greeted them, carrying the scent of soil and the fragrance of flowers and grass. The breath of nature filled the surroundings. Outside was a bright world full of vitality.
Everyone stood up and rushed out of the giant coffin. What they saw was a scene of beauty and elegance.
They were standing on a mountain of moderate height, able to gaze at the scenery ahead.
In the distance were rolling, lush peaks, with verdant trees thriving. Near the summit were oddly shaped rocks and sturdy ancient trees, along with thick vines as thick as buckets coiled like hornless dragons. There were also lush green grass and fragrant wildflowers, full of life and vigor.
Compared to the dimness and desolation of Mars, this was undoubtedly a peaceful paradise.
"Great, we've finally escaped the darkness and desolation and come to such a beautiful divine land."
"No more fear and worry!"
Many were cheering, some even crying tears of joy. After enduring a series of deaths and hardships, they had finally arrived in a lively and natural world.
"Basking in the sunlight, telling myself to live well..." Even the shrewd, enchanting, and beautiful Lin Jia was moved to this state.
Pang Bo stood on the mountaintop and roared into the distance, "Finally seeing the sun again, even though it's not the same one, I still want to shout loudly that I've been reborn!"
"Clang"
Suddenly, the bronze coffin behind them emitted a metallic sound, instantly grabbing everyone's attention. They all turned to look.
More than half of the nine massive dragon corpses hung over the cliff, and the bronze coffin was not far from the edge. Now, the nine dragon corpses, like an iron Great Wall, were slowly sliding down the cliff, pulling the bronze coffin along with them.
"Rumble"
The nine massive dragon corpses and the bronze ancient coffin rumbled as they slid across the mountaintop, eventually accelerating and plunging down the sheer cliff face!
Everyone broke out in a cold sweat. One side of the mountaintop was a steep cliff. If they hadn't rushed out quickly when the coffin lid opened, the consequences would have been disastrous.
After the nine massive dragon corpses and the bronze ancient coffin fell off the cliff, no sound of impact was heard for a long time. This left everyone exchanging glances, deeply astonished.
Now, with the giant bronze coffin no longer blocking the view, they could clearly see the scene on the cliff side.
"Are we standing on the rim of a super-giant volcano?" Many people showed looks of shock.
Because beneath the so-called cliff was a bottomless giant pit.
"It's not a volcano; there's no such thing as a volcano this wide."
Upon closer inspection, they could see that nine great mountains were interconnected, forming an immensely deep valley. Logically, this should have been an open valley that could be seen through at a glance, since the nine mountains weren't towering into the clouds.
Yet, looking down, it was pitch black, with no end in sight, as if it directly pierced through the Yellow Springs of the underworld, unfathomably deep.
The abyss formed by the nine mountains seemed endless. After the nine massive dragon corpses and the bronze ancient coffin fell, no echo was ever heard, as if they would never reach the bottom.
"How deep is it? It's hard to imagine!"
"What is this place? How could there be such a huge abyss..."
The crowd was uncertain, vaguely feeling that this world wasn't as peaceful and serene as it appeared on the surface.
After observing the surroundings, Ye Fan said, "Have you noticed? There's no Five-Colored Altar here. It's as if we fell directly from the sky, not emerged from a Star Gate."
Hearing this, everyone was startled, realizing that there was indeed no Five-Colored Altar. Yet the vast mountaintop hadn't collapsed from the coffin's impact, nor was there a giant crater—just a few large cracks.
If it had truly fallen from the sky, the impact force would have been unimaginable, but the mountain showed no signs of severe damage. The situation was abnormal.
"Without a Five-Colored Altar, why are we here? Is this a cosmic breakdown, stranded here?" The joke wasn't funny; no one smiled. They all scanned the surroundings and fell into thought.
"There's a half-broken stone tablet over there..." At that moment, Zhang Ziling suddenly called out.
On the mountaintop was a pile of rubble and a few sturdy ancient trees, accompanied by thick vines as thick as buckets. Among the tangled vines, a half-broken stone tablet lay toppled, with clear signs of artificial carving.
Everyone quickly approached, pulled aside the withered vines, and brushed away the dead branches and leaves from the broken tablet. They immediately felt an ancient aura. On it were carved three ancient characters, with powerful, vigorous strokes, flowing like dragons, exuding the breath of time. No one knew how many years they had existed.
"What does it say?" Many couldn't recognize it.
Ye Fan identified it for a long time but was still uncertain. "It seems to be the three characters 'Huang Gu Jin'."
"'Huang Gu Jin'? That doesn't make sense." The crowd couldn't deduce its meaning.
"This is a broken tablet. There should be more characters below, but the tablet shattered and can't be restored." Pang Bo pulled aside the vines and cleared the weeds, finding many fragments there, as if shattered by a thunderbolt.
"Those three ancient characters should be the name of this abyss or mountain." Zhou Yi showed a contemplative expression. "There aren't many characters or words that can connect with 'Jin.' The most likely one is the character 'Di' following it."
"So together, it would be 'Huang Gu Jin Di'?" A classmate connected the four characters and, upon reading them, instantly changed color. Others also furrowed their brows.
This name hardly inspired good associations. Many began to feel uneasy.
"This abyss is probably not a pure land or holy ground..." Someone said.
Far from being a pure land or holy ground, if the inscription was accurate, it was likely not a good place.
"Have you noticed? There seem to be no birds or animals nearby. It's too quiet!" Wang Ziwen, being more observant, sensed something wrong.
"Indeed!" Everyone nodded in agreement.
There were flowers, grass, vines, and trees here, appearing vibrant on the surface, but careful observation revealed an anomaly: there were no animals at all. On this vast mountain, no bird calls or beast roars were heard, no traces of insects or ants were seen—just silence, nearly dead!
No cicadas chirped in the ancient trees, no grasshoppers on the grass, no birds in the sky—only stillness.
Pang Bo was very optimistic. "Regardless, there's lush vegetation here. Such an environment is enough for us to survive. Besides, there's an inscription here. There must be humans on this planet. I don't believe such a beautiful world is a desolate dead place."
"Who says there are no animals? Who says there are no birds in the sky? Look..." At that moment, Ye Fan made a new discovery, pointing to the distant horizon.
In the far sky, an eagle seemed to be circling, very peculiar because its entire body was golden. Even from a great distance, they could sense its brilliance, as if cast from gold, with golden light shimmering all over.
At that moment, the golden eagle flew a bit closer to this area, becoming clearer. Then it suddenly swooped down toward a mountainous region. Moments later, it soared back into the sky, its talons clutching prey, flying toward a distant cliff.
"I... am I seeing this right?!" Seeing this, the usually carefree Pang Bo stammered on the spot.
Others were also petrified, standing like clay or wooden sculptures, dumbfounded, hardly believing their eyes.
"It seems... that golden eagle's talons... are holding a giant elephant?" Li Changqing also stammered, feeling dry-mouthed.
"Not 'seems,' but it definitely is!" Wang Ziwen took over his words. "Being able to lift a giant elephant is incredible! You can imagine how huge that golden eagle is..." He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.
Clearly, everyone had misjudged earlier. Due to the great distance, they had misestimated its size. It should be an extraordinarily large and strange bird of prey.
Ye Fan stared into the distance. "There can't be such a huge giant eagle. Its entire body is golden, shining with golden light, and its size is boundless. It's very much like the legendary Golden Winged Roc!"
Hearing this, everyone present was petrified again.
Note: "The Way of Heaven takes from the abundant to supplement the deficient" comes from the Dao De Jing. It's not what some readers might imagine—it's not from the Nine Yin Manual, and martial arts fiction won't appear here. Of course, those few hundred characters contain only one line from the Dao De Jing. The divine sound the protagonist hears is not from the Dao De Jing either.
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