Chapter 496: Baldy, Old Coffin
On the great black mountain, the fog grew thicker and thicker, until one could barely see their hand in front of their face. Yet this place was strangely peaceful.
"Such a lack of public decency! How can they just scribble and draw here? Do those two old farts really think they look heroic?!" the big black dog cursed.
The God-Sealing List flowed with golden light, forever free of dust, dispersing the thick fog in the area. A supreme Dao aura permeated the surroundings.
"Who the hell is this old baldy? He looks kind and compassionate, but I feel like he's no good bird. And this old coffin riding an ox, wrapped in monstrous demonic energy—clearly not a good sort," the big black dog cursed.
In the distance, they appeared detached from the world, transcending all things. One could say that Shakyamuni and this old man riding a green ox both possessed a supreme, lofty Dao resonance. Even the faint imprint they left behind was enough to stir one's soul, making one involuntarily want to follow—truly mysterious.
Ye Fan's heart was far from calm; it could even be described as boiling. How many ancient sages from ancient China had come to this end of the starry sky? Perhaps the path home was not completely severed. He might still find it. He felt a few more threads of hope—maybe one day he could return to Earth.
"Dead baldy, old coffin..."
Ye Fan was pulled back to reality by the big black dog's curses. He found no secret techniques in the imprints, only proof that the two had been here.
"Stop yelling. Even if you shout, those two won't appear. Who knows if they're even still in this world," Li Heishui said.
"I'm furious! Drawing here is a great disrespect to Emperor Wu Shi!" the big black dog fumed.
The old madman closed his eyes, silent, his divine sense probing into the God-Sealing List. After a long time, he opened his eyes and moved forward without lingering.
"It's been over a hundred thousand years. Could the thing inside the mountain still be alive?" Ye Fan asked, startled and uncertain.
"Hard to say. If it was buried in divine source like the ancient creatures, it might just come out alive," the big black dog said, trembling, almost scaring itself.
There must be an unimaginable existence within this mountain. Otherwise, Emperor Wu Shi wouldn't have sealed it with the God-Sealing List.
"Could it be that the Sacred Body's seclusion here back then, and his blood staining Sacred Cliff in his later years, were related to the existence inside the mountain?" Li Heishui exclaimed in shock.
Ye Fan said, "Perhaps that's true. The creature that made the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body fall in his later years must be terrifying beyond measure. Thankfully, Emperor Wu Shi sealed it."
"But it could clash with the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body, yet waited until his old age to act. Could it have been hiding in the mountain's belly all along?"
They all knew that Sacred Cliff was severed from Immortal Mountain by the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body as his seclusion site. Thinking about it carefully was truly frightening.
"The Emperor's aura..." The big black dog rarely showed sadness, but seeing the God-Sealing List made it reveal such emotions repeatedly. Finally, it reluctantly left.
The fog sealed the mountain. They walked for another hour or so, finally not far from the summit. Ahead, a towering figure stood on a rock, looking down.
"Didn't we avoid him earlier? How did he get ahead of us?" Li Heishui's face changed color.
This man was immensely tall, his eyes without pupils—just two beams of green light that could pierce the thick fog, extremely terrifying.
The old madman said not to look, to treat him as an ancient corpse. But this terrifying corpse, devoid of life fluctuations, moved on its own, blocking their path.
"What kind of existence is this? How did it appear on Sacred Cliff, daring to block a contemporary sage?" The big black dog's fur stood on end.
The old madman stopped, confronting the cold body above. His thick, long hair flowing, his aura at its peak, he took several large steps forward.
"Just like before—don't look, don't extend your divine sense, wait here!" the old madman warned, then strode forward.
"Things don't look good. Even a sage is forced to act." They all felt uneasy.
"Uncle, be careful," Little Nannan called from behind.
Ye Fan and the others heeded the warning, not looking up, withdrawing their divine sense, completely cutting off contact with above to avoid misfortune.
"Boom!"
Above came a terrifying fluctuation that nearly made them collapse. If not for Emperor Wu Shi's array patterns here, even the entire great mountain would have ceased to exist.
The contemporary sage had acted, battling the unknown existence. The fight was fierce, transmitted down through the ancient emperor's array patterns.
"Terrifying..." In the end, the big black dog sat down on the ground, trembling all over, unable to withstand the pressure.
Li Heishui was even worse, collapsing first. His body wouldn't obey him. He fumed, "Dead dog, you're sitting on me!"
The big black dog, as sturdy as a bull, nearly crushed the breath out of Li Heishui, leaving him powerless to push it off.
Ye Fan struggled to resist. His physical body was incredibly strong, his essence surging, golden blood energy billowing. He managed not to fall under the sage's pressure.
Only Little Nannan was unharmed. She didn't resist, just blinked her big eyes, squatting on the ground, watching the big black dog and Li Heishui.
Half an hour later, the endless terrifying pressure vanished. The thick fog churned, and the old madman walked back step by step, the left side of his body stained with blood.
"Uncle, you're hurt..." Little Nannan called out.
"What? A contemporary sage is wounded and bleeding!" The big black dog scrambled up, staring with copper-bell-like eyes.
"It's not my blood—it's the ancient corpse's," the old madman replied.
Blood splattering on a sage was terrifying enough. That ancient corpse must have forced the old madman to use real means.
Ahead, the majestic body lay on the ground, motionless. Glowing blood flowed, very eerie.
"Sacred Cliff is endlessly terrifying. One wrong step leads to hell. These ancient powerhouses have been dead for endless ages, yet they still cause trouble!" Li Heishui frowned with worry.
"Uncle, those people we saw earlier have appeared again..." Little Nannan pointed into the thick fog, delivering very bad news.
Above the cliff, several figures stood like fossils in the fog, motionless, looking down.
"Aren't they ancient corpses? How can they all move?" Li Heishui's skin crawled.
Ye Fan's scalp went numb. They were the same ones seen halfway up the mountain—old and decrepit, male and female, all in ancient clothing.
The old madman said nothing. He took out the big black dog's corner of the array diagram, studying it carefully, lost in thought. They dared not disturb him.
Thus, they stood for a full day and night before the old madman raised his head and continued forward. A golden path suddenly appeared beneath their feet.
"He actually evolved such a 'Dao,' reaching the absolute peak..." The big black dog's eyes were strange.
Thus, they traveled on the golden path, arriving at the summit half an hour later. The figures in ancient clothing did not approach.
This was a vast cliff, spacious enough to build a small town. But it was barren, devoid of life, pitch black, with many dark red bloodstains.
In some places, there were puddles of bright red blood. After so many years, the spiritual energy had dissipated, but for some reason, the sacred blood never dried up.
Most striking was the edge of Sacred Cliff, where a huge stone coffin lay, a full hundred zhang long, suspended over the precipice.
"An ancient coffin that has existed in the world for nearly two hundred thousand years..."
Everyone's heart stirred. Without a doubt, this was where the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body had fallen. The coffin should contain him.
"The Great Accomplishment Sacred Body's whole body is a treasure. A single bone is priceless. The entire corpse could be used as a sacred object to forge a world-shaking sacred weapon!"
They arrived before the hundred-zhang-long stone coffin, examining it closely. This was a burial ground for a sage, possibly containing peerless immortal treasures.
"Where is the Stride Secret of the Nine Secrets? Could it be in this ancient coffin?!"
Their greatest purpose in coming was to find the Stride Secret, a world-shaking sacred art that every cultivator desired, even sages.
"Is this stone coffin moldy? It's covered in moss..." The big black dog was suspicious.
"It's not moss—it's very long green fur!" Li Heishui felt a chill from head to toe, his whole body cold.
At the mountain peak, though thick fog shrouded everything, they had reached the coffin and could see clearly.
"Damn it, it's green fur growing out of the coffin, so thick it's almost burying it!" The big black dog's black fur stood on end, as if someone had stepped on its tail. It jumped high, terrified.
"Bad, this is very bad. Could the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body's corpse have changed?"
"No matter how many tens of thousands of years an ancient great emperor has been dead, their flesh won't rot or decay. The same must be true for the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body. If his corpse undergoes a change, that unmatched physical body..."
They were all stunned, an ominous premonition rising in their hearts.
"Let's find the 'Stride' Secret of the Nine Secrets quickly and get out of here. Don't touch this coffin." The big black dog was terrified, for the first time seeing treasure without being greedy.
Ye Fan took out the ancient scroll, carefully compared it, and after examining it, stood dumbfounded. The Stride Secret of the Nine Secrets pointed directly to the location of this coffin.
"Do we have to open the coffin?" He shuddered. If they stirred up the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body's corpse, they might all be wiped out here.
"Damn it, that damned baldy and that cow-herding old coffin were here too! There are their imprints!" The big black dog cursed in anger.
Beside the ancient coffin were two stone tablets with words of mourning. Additionally, there were two huge star maps, as if they had each deduced something here. Dense and intricate, they were covered with stars.
In each star map, a faint, barely visible thin line pointed into the depths of the starry sky. This stirred Ye Fan's heart. Could this be the ancient stellar path?