Chapter 431: Entering the Bronze Coffin Again
The nine sacred mountains stood towering and majestic, with ancient trees reaching the sky and strange rocks rising everywhere, truly magnificent in appearance. They were not particularly tall, but their imposing momentum was overwhelming, giving people immense pressure, as if the nine heavens and ten lands lay horizontally ahead.
When Ye Fan arrived at the foot of the mountain, his body was withered and he could barely support himself. Looking up, he felt a chill run through him. The icy gaze and the intimidating figures made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
Several figures stood side by side on the high mountain. Some had hair as white as snow, others had black hair cascading like waterfalls. The mountain wind blew, causing their hair to flutter wildly. Their eyes were cold as they looked down, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, utterly indifferent.
What place was this? The Ancient Forbidden Land!
Living creatures of flesh and blood simply could not endure here for long. Even the divine garments of ancient sages could not withstand the erosion and would fly away on their own, unwilling to penetrate deeper.
This place—no one could stay for long. From ancient times to the present, who knows how many peerless experts had been buried here? Even a flourishing Holy Land that entered would be utterly destroyed, reduced to ashes.
Ye Fan's heart sank halfway. He knew that those could not possibly be humans. They were the terrifying and mysterious Ancient Forbidden Slaves, the extraordinary heroes of bygone eras.
Silently, another woman appeared beside those figures. She had bright eyes and white teeth, a slender neck, and was as fresh as a lotus emerging from water, exquisitely beautiful and unparalleled in the world.
She was dressed in white, her robes fluttering in the mountain wind, like a Guanghan Palace fairy about to ride the wind away, transcendent and refined, with hardly any flaws to be found, like a figure in a painting.
"The Holy Maiden of Tiansuan!"
Ye Fan's heart tightened. The last time, he had encountered this woman and nearly died. She was the greatest beauty of the Eastern Wasteland six thousand years ago, and also a fellow disciple of the Old Madman.
Five figures stood side by side, each with extraordinary bearing. Only those of stunning talent could become Ancient Forbidden Slaves. They were not from the same era, but each had undoubtedly once dominated the world.
Perhaps some of them could be found recorded in ancient texts, likely the unparalleled heroes who had shaken heaven and earth and commanded the winds and rains of the continent in bygone days.
"Is heaven trying to destroy me?!" Ye Fan sighed deeply. He had used every means to finally approach the sacred mountain, only to encounter these world-shaking Ancient Forbidden Slaves. How could he resist?
Legend said that the Ancient Forbidden Slaves rarely emerged. Sometimes they wouldn't climb up from the abyss for centuries, yet now five had appeared at once.
A wave of powerlessness surged through Ye Fan. Three visits to the Ancient Forbidden Land, two encounters with peerless Ancient Forbidden Slaves—this was truly a calamity of the highest order.
By now, he had aged beyond recognition. Although his Stone Garment and Heaven-Covering Treasure Robe were not broken, they could no longer block the erosion of time.
The Qilin seed had long since withered. Ye Fan had extracted endless life essence from it to sustain himself, but this could not last forever.
The divine medicine seed and his physical body were his greatest trump cards, barely allowing him to charge up the sacred mountain. But now, this unexpected change had occurred.
"Swish!"
A figure moved without touching the ground, floating down from the sacred mountain like a ghost, heading straight for Ye Fan. Every hair on his body stood on end as a terrifying aura rushed toward him.
"Hum!"
At the critical moment, the golden blood energy of the Sacred Body surged. Even though his body was aging, it possessed boundless potential, as if naturally resisting the power of the Ancient Forbidden Land.
Ye Fan forced himself to stay alert, striding swiftly toward another sacred mountain. He did not choose to leave, because in his current state, he would likely die of old age and turn to ashes before even escaping the forbidden land.
This was a middle-aged man with hair as white as snow. His bearing was heroic and imposing, with an air of self-confidence that seemed to dominate the world. He must have been an earth-shaking figure in his prime.
In the blink of an eye, he blocked Ye Fan's path, but did not attack. Instead, he stared fixedly at Ye Fan's Wheel Sea.
Ye Fan's heart pounded violently, as if he were being watched by an ancient desolate beast. The blood and qi in his body seemed to be evaporating, and his flesh felt as if it were about to crack open.
Just how powerful was this figure?
Although his current state was terrible—his flesh withered and his form decaying—he was still a Sacred Body. Yet he felt this way!
The white-haired man stepped forward, steady and firm. Each step seemed capable of splitting mountains and cracking the earth. Ye Fan found that the Heaven-Covering Treasure Robe directly cracked, and the Stone Garment shattered into pieces.
Absolute terror!
This middle-aged man, heroic and majestic, seemed able to dominate heaven and earth. He advanced calmly, like a great mountain pressing down on Ye Fan, threatening to crush him.
Ye Fan let out a great shout. Golden blood energy surged out, swirling around his body. The potential of the Indestructible Sacred Body erupted, resisting the calamity.
At the same time, his countenance became solemn as he chanted a strange scripture. Its sound echoed through heaven and earth, like thunder descending, causing the ancient trees to rustle and leaves to scatter wildly.
He vibrated the golden blood energy of the Sacred Body. This was his last active trump card—the several hundred ancient characters from the bronze coffin.
From the past to the present, he had never understood them. Now, as he roared them out, they did not turn into sound but rather a kind of fluctuation.
This scripture did not exist in the mortal world. Whether written or chanted, it could not manifest, and outsiders could not comprehend it.
Suddenly, from halfway up the mountain not far away, the same scripture sounded, even louder than his, overwhelming heaven and earth, as if expounding the ultimate principles of the Dao.
The heavenly sound was like thunder, but only Ye Fan could hear it clearly. It was identical to his scripture, transforming into a kind of divine might that others could not understand.
Ignoring everything else, Ye Fan charged straight toward the mountainside, regardless of whether the white-haired man followed. His mind was now solely focused on that ancient coffin.
By this time, his consciousness was blurring, and he could collapse at any moment. He could no longer care about anything else.
In the ancient forest halfway up the mountain, a massive bronze coffin lay quietly, exuding an air of age and antiquity, as if connecting to the distant past.
The bronze coffin had tipped over, its lid sliding off to the side. Staggering, Ye Fan approached and threw himself inside, unable to hold on any longer.
"Am I going to die? No, I absolutely cannot die!"
He clutched the Qilin divine medicine seed to his chest. The last trace of blood energy seeped out, drawing life essence into his body. He gritted his teeth to keep from losing consciousness.
But his condition was too dire. Even with a will as firm as iron, he could not hold on. The Dao wounds split open, widening suddenly, nearly causing him to fall on the spot.
Ye Fan finally fainted. The Dao cracks deepened, and his spirit and flesh could no longer bear the burden. He collapsed inside the ancient coffin.
After more than five years, nearly six years, he had once again entered the bronze coffin. Everything had originated from it when he came to this world, and now he was re-entering it.
The bronze coffin that traversed star domains—its origin unknown, its destination unclear—was filled with countless secrets.
An unknown amount of time passed before Ye Fan slowly awoke. The heavenly Dao sounds had long ceased, and there was utter silence, not a single sound.
The power of the Ancient Forbidden Land did not exist inside the coffin, and time could no longer continue to drain his life. Ye Fan knew he had guessed correctly. The several hundred ancient characters of the scripture had resonated with the ancient coffin.
Before entering the Ancient Forbidden Land, he had made various conjectures. Since even the Ancient Forbidden Land feared the ancient coffin and had pushed it out of the abyss, then it must be immune to that aura.
At the critical moment of life and death, his choice was correct. He had resonated with the heavenly sounds of the ancient coffin and entered this place, escaping the calamity.
Although time no longer eroded him, his condition had deteriorated to the worst possible state. The Dao wounds had worsened, and his life source was nearly split in two.
Moreover, his body was now aged, his flesh withered, almost at the end of his rope. He could reach the end of his life at any moment.
If not for the Qilin divine medicine seed in his hand, he would have already turned into dry bones. The purple Qilin, smaller than a baby's fist, was dim and lusterless, nearly shriveled.
This was an extravagant expenditure—drawing life from an immortal divine medicine seed to resist time. Throughout the world, perhaps only he had ever done such a thing.
Even a peerless imperial lord, wearing the divine garment of an ancient sage, could not approach the sacred mountain. If Ye Fan, despite his unmatched physical body, had not had this seed, he would almost certainly have been unable to reach this place and survive until now.
This was the most precious sacred object in the world!
"Please don't wither…" Ye Fan felt a sense of guilt. Immortal divine medicines were unique in the world. If one died, it could never reappear.
Heaven and earth were silent. He looked outward but did not see the white-haired man or the other figures.
"Does this ancient coffin really restrain them?"
Although he had not died, Ye Fan's lifespan was exhausted. He was merely using the Qilin seed to prolong his life, and the terrifying Dao wounds could claim his life at any moment.
"I'm trapped here. How can I reach the mountaintop?" He felt he had no strength left to ascend. As soon as he left the bronze coffin, he would be unable to resist the aura of the Ancient Forbidden Land.
"No, I must go up. There's no time to waste, or I will surely die here!" Ye Fan's heart was anxious.
If he had enough divine power, he could carry the bronze coffin up to resist the erosion of time. But now, even walking was a problem.
"What should I do? The Qilin seed is shriveled, and it's hard to extract life essence from it anymore. How can I go up?" Ye Fan had never felt so helpless.
Death was so close to him. Perhaps before nightfall, he would depart this world, his life dried up, unable to continue living.
Ye Fan struggled to his feet and looked outside. In the ancient forest, nine massive dragon corpses lay like steel Great Walls, still undecayed, shimmering with black light, full of power that made one tremble involuntarily.
"Are these true dragons?!"
His voice trembled. The nine corpses looked exactly like true dragons, their pressure like heaven. But after experiencing so much, he had come to doubt the existence of immortal spirits.
"Perhaps they are just flood dragons that have evolved to the ultimate level."
Gritting his teeth, Ye Fan gripped the Qilin seed and rushed out quickly, heading for the massive dragon corpse with its gleaming scales. He planned to drink dragon blood to prolong his life.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew. Ye Fan's fingers struck as if against refined divine iron, unable to cut through. His injuries were too severe. He struck several times but couldn't even budge a single dragon scale. The terrifying Dao wounds made it nearly impossible for him to stand.
He tried every method but couldn't break through the dragon corpse. His body grew even more aged, and he nearly fell backward. Using his last bit of strength, he barely managed to return to the bronze coffin, collapsing inside, unable to move another inch.
"Am I really going to die?"
Ye Fan was despondent. Far from his homeland, at the other end of the starry sky, dying in a place no one knew, with no family or friends aware—this was too tragic.
"If I die like this, who would shed a tear for me…"
He couldn't even send out a message. Ten or a hundred years later, only a pile of white bones would remain here. If some stunningly talented figure came here, they would only sigh briefly.
Ye Fan truly did not want to die like this. He muttered to himself, "What other trump cards do I have that I can actively use?"
He searched his entire body—the golden Dao Scripture, the silver Source Heaven Scroll, the Bodhi seed… many treasures. Aside from the withered Qilin seed, none of them could save his life now.
"Ding"
Suddenly, a crisp sound came. A small, translucent stone fell to the ground. It was only about the size of a finger joint, flowing with seven-colored radiance, crystal clear and beautiful.
"Little Nannan…" Seeing this small stone, Ye Fan immediately thought of the pitiful little girl of unknown origin.
His heart stirred. He placed the seven-colored small stone in his palm, treating it like a divine medicine to absorb its essence. "Swish," a beam of seven-colored light entered his body.
"This is…" Ye Fan was astonished. He felt his entire body relax, gaining much more strength.
He could hardly believe it. What kind of stone was this? How could it have such pure life energy? He continued to absorb, and one after another, beams of seven-colored light surged into his body.
Ye Fan finally sat up, recovering some strength. He stared at this small stone in disbelief. It was not an immortal divine medicine, yet it possessed powerful life essence.
"Nannan…" Ye Fan hadn't expected that the small stone Nannan had given him would save his life at the critical moment. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have had the strength to stand.
Has anyone guessed Little Nannan's origin? If you know, write the answer on the back of your monthly ticket and cast it. This month's guessing time has less than three days left.