# Chapter 497: Opening the Coffin to Obtain the "Stride" Secret
The two star maps were very large, not carved on stone tablets, but imprinted on the stone ground. This was a carefully deduced arrangement.
They were carved only a few hundred years apart, but definitely not from the same period, which could be discerned. However, both maps were likely completed around two thousand years ago.
Compared to over a hundred thousand years, two thousand years was not that terrifying, but it still dated back to the pre-Qin period, considered quite an ancient era.
The various Saint Lords of the Eastern Wasteland could probably only live to this age. Any longer, and they would return to dust. Since ancient times, no one had been immortal.
"What mystery is this old cowherd bastard trying to deduce? I can't see through it," the Big Black Dog said, staring at one of the carved maps. He pondered for a long time but couldn't understand it.
Only the Old Madman had deep, penetrating eyes, watching with great absorption. It could be clearly seen that the two carved maps were evolving in the depths of his eyes, imprinted into his mind.
Ye Fan's heart stirred. He also imprinted the two star maps, silently memorizing them. This might be his path home.
"Two little dragons swimming..." Little Nannan pointed at two thin lines in the star map with her small finger. Her vision was very special; she could see the two thin lines evolving, winding and stretching.
Even with his divine eyes, Ye Fan spent a long time before slowly seeing them clearly, then memorized them without a single error.
In the future, if he couldn't return to the other end of the starry sky from the Five-Colored Altar in the Ancient Forbidden Land, he planned to have Black Emperor carve the most complex Dao patterns and cross back bit by bit.
"Don't bother with the old cowherd bastard and the bald guy with a head full of bumps. Let's think about how to get the Stride Character Art," the Big Black Dog muttered. He really had no good feelings for these two.
"I really hope that one day when you meet them, you'll be just as extreme and address them that way," Ye Fan said with a laugh.
His heart was filled with mixed emotions. These were clearly two great sages from ancient Earth who should have disappeared into the mists of time long ago, yet they were connected to cultivation.
The Old Madman circled the ancient coffin once, his brow deeply furrowed. Even someone as powerful as he was didn't open the coffin, seemingly wary.
The green hair was very long, growing out through the gaps in the stone coffin, densely covering the entire coffin body. It was green and glossy; if you didn't look closely, it really resembled moss.
Getting slightly closer would make one feel a bone-chilling cold. The stone coffin seemed like an ice cellar, almost capable of freezing a person.
"Could it really be the corpse of a Great Accomplishment Saint Body? Who carved this stone coffin for him..." Ye Fan muttered to himself.
"Swish"
The Old Madman carved in the void, manifesting the Celestial Pivot Step. There was no specific technique, just a profound Dao diagram that encompassed everything.
He was using the incomplete Stride Character Art to try to trigger it. Seeing this, Ye Fan held the Bodhi Seed and began to manifest it as well. His movements were slow but very serious.
"Bang!"
A light sound suddenly came from inside the ancient coffin, startling all of them. A peerlessly grim killing intent overflowed, as if some ancient creature had awakened.
The green hair on the stone coffin shook violently, the cold piercing to the bone, like thousands of ghost claws struggling. It extended bit by bit, actually spreading toward them.
"This place is too strange!"
The fog grew thicker and thicker. They had a feeling that all of this was caused by the ancient coffin. The thick fog seemed to rush out from the cracks in the coffin.
"Chi!"
Suddenly, the coffin lid shook, emitting a soaring radiance that scattered the clouds and mist. It was blazing bright, and a Dao diagram emerged!
"Nine Secrets!"
"The Stride Character Art has penetrated through the coffin!"
The group was both surprised and delighted. They had endured countless dangers and hardships, all for the Nine Secrets' Stride Character Art, and now they had finally seen it.
The moment Ye Fan saw it, he confirmed that it was definitely the Stride Secret. It had many similarities to the footwork he cultivated.
"The legendary supreme sacred art! Once mastered, one can travel anywhere in the world, with no path in the world that cannot be walked!"
"Excellent! We must comprehend it thoroughly!"
Everyone was excited, all using their powerful spiritual perception to capture that Dao diagram, afraid of missing something.
"No, it's too blurry. This is just what rushed out through the coffin. The real Nine Secrets are inside the coffin!"
After careful observation, they discovered this frustrating fact. Their hearts sank halfway. There was definitely something ominous inside the ancient coffin, and it wouldn't be easy to open.
"What do we do? We've come this far. Are we going to retreat?"
"Nannan, can you see clearly?" Ye Fan crouched down and asked Little Nannan.
The little girl wrinkled her delicate nose, blinked her big eyes, stared carefully for a while, then said in a crisp voice: "Some places I can see very clearly. Some places are blocked by something, not clear."
The Old Madman stood motionless, as if petrified. His hollow eyes shot out strands of silver light, connecting with that Dao diagram.
However, it was obvious that the Dao diagram was incomplete, blocked by something inside the coffin. The silver strands shooting from his eyes couldn't fully connect either.
The mountaintop was very flat. The area around the ancient coffin hadn't been inscribed with array patterns by the ancient Great Emperor. The group walked back and forth, feeling helpless.
"Bang!"
The ancient coffin shook again. A peerless killing intent overflowed, like the arrival of the harsh winter season, as if a hundred thousand miles were frozen and a million miles were snowing.
The Bodhi Seed in Ye Fan's hand grew hot. He earnestly observed that Dao diagram, casting aside all distracting thoughts. Since the Old Madman was here, he didn't bother with anything else.
Even if it was an incomplete Stride Character Art, he had to thoroughly comprehend it. Otherwise, it would be a lifelong regret!
No one knew how much time passed before Ye Fan stopped and woke from his clarity. At this moment, the Old Madman was walking around the ancient coffin, preparing to open it.
The Big Black Dog and Li Heishui stood nearby, not daring to breathe, having retreated far away, afraid of releasing some world-dominating demon king.
The Old Madman walked exactly nine full circles, as if deducing something. Then, his eyes shot out strands of silver light. He stood still in the center, swept his large sleeve, and with a boom, extinguished all the green hair.
He finally made his move, formally opening the ancient coffin to view the legendary complete Nine Secrets' Stride Character Art!
The moment the green hair outside the coffin turned to ash, the ancient coffin shook violently, as if some enormous creature was about to emerge. The terrifying aura it emitted caused even the mountain body to tremble.
In this region, there were over fifty great mountains standing side by side. At this moment, they all shook, as if a great earthquake had occurred. Huge rocks kept rolling down.
Especially this great peak. If not for the Great Emperor's array patterns restraining it, it would have probably collapsed. An unknown aura surged.
At this moment, the array patterns inscribed by Emperor Wu Shi manifested their supreme mystery. From all directions, strands of lines spread through the void, interweaving and converging.
Although this mountaintop wasn't inscribed with Dao patterns, it was a place of convergence, drawing thousands of strands toward the ancient coffin, binding it.
The agitation finally calmed down. The stone coffin stopped shaking, and everything gradually settled.
"All of you, retreat!" the Old Madman shouted softly. Since things had come to this, he had to open the coffin and obtain the Nine Secrets' Stride Character Art.
The group kept retreating. The Old Madman let out a roar, like a dragon's cry and a tiger's howl, his voice spreading for hundreds of miles. He swept his large sleeve, and with a boom, he sent the coffin lid flying, letting it fall on the mountaintop.
"Boom!"
A peerless gloomy baleful aura rushed out. Black fog surged skyward, rolling upward, completely flooding this place. So all the thick fog was indeed overflowing from the ancient coffin.
Li Heishui and Black Emperor stood motionless. Under such grim killing intent, they couldn't even speak, completely bound, their bodies on the verge of splitting apart.
"Chi"
Thousands of fine lines interwove and converged. The array patterns inscribed by Emperor Wu Shi took effect. A blazing curtain of light appeared, enveloping the ancient coffin.
At the same time, the God-Sealing List halfway up the mountain rushed out a patch of golden glow, descending and stabilizing the agitated ancient coffin.
Only then did the world-dominating killing intent recede like a tide. Otherwise, Ye Fan and the others would have been unable to withstand it.
"Just the killing intent alone is enough to destroy one's body and soul. In such a short time, it's already taken half my life..." Li Heishui said weakly, his body covered in cracks. He took the divine spring Ye Fan handed him and drank greedily.
The Big Black Dog had almost lost all his black fur. He had just been cursing the bald guy, and now he was almost bald himself. He cursed repeatedly: "Even this gets retribution... Damn it!"
Ye Fan was mostly unharmed, mainly because his physical body was exceptionally powerful. Little Nannan, who was protected in the middle by them, was also unharmed. The little one looked like a curious baby, looking left and right.
Not far away, the Dao pressed down on the heavens!
A Dao diagram hung in the void, very clear, like the nine heavens descending, inspiring genuine awe, making one want to kneel in prostration.
"Nine Secrets!"
"The opportunity is right before us! Whether we can comprehend it depends on each person's fortune!"
They quickly rushed forward, sat cross-legged on the ground, and gazed at the Dao diagram in the air, earnestly beginning to comprehend.
As for what was in the opened ancient coffin, they didn't bother with it at all. Nothing was more important than understanding the Nine Secrets. Everything was left to the Old Madman. He was the best of his generation, but also one of the best people. Even a dog couldn't compare. How could even Little Nannan, who was just over two years old, surpass him? "Could it be that the Nine Secrets really aren't suitable for me to cultivate?"
Ye Fan and the others quickly came to the coffin, picked up Little Nannan, and prepared to send her down. But inadvertently, they saw the scene inside the coffin and their scalps went numb.
At the bottom of the stone coffin was half a pool of blood, bright and dazzling, as if it had just flowed from a human body. Inside, an old man lay dead, floating above the blood.
His body was undecayed, holding a golden scepter. A peerless killing intent overflowed, enough to pierce a person's soul!
"Heavens, is this the Great Accomplishment Saint Body? He died over a hundred thousand years ago, yet he hasn't rotted. He looks lifelike!" Li Heishui was shocked.
"How can this person's killing intent be so heavy? As if he has slaughtered millions of living beings!" Ye Fan exclaimed in surprise.
"This... this should be the Lord of the Heavenly Court, an ancient sage!" The Big Black Dog was so startled he almost fell down.
"Weren't the two old sages of the Heavenly Court killed? How did one end up here?" Ye Fan asked suspiciously. He had heard the Big Black Dog recount that past event in detail.
"The world says his lifespan dried up and he was destroyed in the final battle. Who would have thought that he personally brought the Nine Secrets' Stride Character Art and fled into the Sacred Cliff, dying here!" The Big Black Dog was astonished.
The strands of killing intent overflowing from that golden ancient scepter nearly froze the entire Sacred Cliff, making it feel like a Senluo hell. Without a doubt, that was the supreme scepter of the Heavenly Court!
"In those days, the Heavenly Court held the supreme scepter and could almost command the world," the Big Black Dog sighed.
"It should see the light of day again. Let it shine brilliantly once more!" Ye Fan exclaimed loudly.
"Over a hundred thousand years have passed, and his body hasn't rotted. Worthy of being an ancient sage. But why did he die in an ancient coffin?" Li Heishui was uncertain.
"His neck was twisted and broken..." the Big Black Dog exclaimed in surprise. He had been having bad ideas just a moment ago. The bones of a sage's corpse were all treasures, and he wanted to pull them out and refine them.
But now, his whole body felt cold. This ancient sage's neck had been twisted and broken, with clear finger marks, and some green hair stuck to them.
"Nannan is scared..." Little Nannan buried her head in Ye Fan's arms, not daring to look down anymore. She said softly: "There's a person lying in the blood pool. His body is covered in green hair..."
"The Great Accomplishment Saint Body!" The group was all stunned.
The Great Accomplishment Saint Body had died for endless ages, yet he had twisted and broken an old sage's neck. This made their hair stand on end!
Silently, the Old Madman also stood on the stone coffin. His eyes penetrated everything, staring at the blurry figure in the blood pool.
"Splash"
Beneath the ancient sage—the Lord of the Heavenly Court—the blood water suddenly churned violently. With a "splash," a huge green claw reached out, covered in corpse hair.