Chapter 950: The Opportunity to Become an Immortal
Ye Fan opened his heavenly eye and truly saw that there was something inside the coffin. Some Dao patterns were fluctuating—it was an old jade box, ancient in style, lacking luster, yet it had been carefully and preciously stored within the coffin.
His heart stirred violently. The origins of Chi Songzi were too great; he was revered as an immortal by Daoism. How could anything he left behind be ordinary?
“Chi Songzi, breathing in and out, expelling the old and taking in the new, casting off form and abandoning wisdom, embracing simplicity and returning to truth, to roam in the mysterious and subtle, ascending to the clouds and heavens.” This was a passage recorded in the *Huainanzi*—*Qi Su*, describing Chi Songzi’s divine nature as an ancient immortal.
“Chi Songzi was the Rain Master during the time of Shennong. He took water jade to teach Shennong and could enter fire and burn himself.”
This passage came from the *Biographies of Immortals*, stating that he was a man of Shennong’s era, having taught Shennong methods before Shennong attained the Dao. One could say his background was enough to make one tremble—he was one of the most famous cultivators of ancient times!
Who was Shennong? Ye Fan had already embarked on the path of cultivation, and he had reason to believe that Shennong was definitely one of the most powerful figures in ancient China. Chi Songzi lived in the same era, transmitted his methods, and held an exalted status that was shocking and awe-inspiring.
Moreover, there was another record. In ancient times, before the Yellow Emperor attained the Dao, he also sought advice from Chi Songzi. This was recorded in the *Chi Songzi Admonition Sutra*, a lengthy dialogue that touched on many issues.
It was not an exaggeration to say that Chi Songzi was the most famous cultivator of ancient times. His status and Dao cultivation were terrifyingly high, and no one could fathom his depth.
Ancient times were too distant. No one could clearly say how long that era lasted. Today, people speculate that about four thousand years have passed since the time of the ancient Yellow Emperor, yet some have discovered that many time periods have been annihilated or are vacuums, making the true years difficult to determine.
This was a man who shook the ancient era, revered as an ancient immortal by Daoism. Yet now, to see his coffin here—how could Ye Fan not be shocked?
Little Pine was very curious. When Ye Fan dissolved the surrounding solar fire essence, it also came forward, touched the ancient vine, and then tapped the bronze stele, producing a clanging sound.
How to open the coffin? This was a headache-inducing problem. He couldn’t just destroy this fire vine—that would be too disrespectful to the dead.
He did not want to do anything excessive to the most famous cultivator of ancient times, nor did he want to destroy the coffin, but he certainly intended to take out the jade box.
The fire vine’s entire body glowed, bright as crimson clouds. Every leaf was like blood-colored divine metal; a light touch produced a sharp clang, and they were extremely sharp, capable of cutting through refined iron.
Its trunk was as thick as a water bucket, coiled like a dormant blood-colored true dragon, vigorous and powerful, spiraling forty-nine times. One of these coils firmly wrapped around the coffin, lifting it into midair.
Ye Fan tried several times, but even with his divine strength, he couldn’t pry it open or move the ancient coffin down—unless he was ruthless enough to use the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist to shatter the ancient vine.
This was a spiritual plant nurtured with the essence blood of a sage. Whether it could be destroyed was debatable; otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a divine material for artifact refining.
Little Pine, its body flowing with purple light, tugged at Ye Fan’s robe, blinked its big eyes, and pointed at the base of the bronze stele. It was buried in the ground, and beneath the soil and rocks, there were actually more characters.
The little purple creature was very meticulous. It dug away the stones and discovered those characters, which looked like ghostly scribbles, somewhere between oracle bone script and bronze inscription script.
Ye Fan was glad he had maintained respect and hadn’t acted rashly. The inscription at the base of the bronze stele described the method to open the coffin, clearly stating that if force were used, the spiritual vine could kill even a half-sage.
The fire vine planted by Chi Songzi himself possessed a powerful spirituality, soaked in his blood. It was the guardian spirit of the coffin, and only by feeding it with powerful essence blood would it lower the ancient coffin.
After carefully examining it, Ye Fan found that only the blood of a Dao-Cutting King could feed the fire vine. That was the condition; otherwise, the blood’s spirituality would be insufficient and have no effect.
He cut his finger. As a Human Sacred Body, his blood was golden, surpassing even that of Dao-Cutting cultivators. Its spirituality was absolutely no issue.
The golden blood dripped onto the fire vine. The leaves, as red as smoke and clouds, chimed softly, and the branches actually relaxed, allowing the coffin to slowly descend to the ground.
Ye Fan’s heart was extremely excited, not for any other reason. A figure with such shocking origins—an ancient immortal—what could the jade box he left behind contain? Could it be the secret of longevity, or the opportunity to become an immortal?
He carefully pushed open the coffin lid. A mysterious fluctuation of Dao patterns spread out, revealing the scene inside. He looked in, and Little Pine also jumped up to see.
Ye Fan let out a sigh. Chi Songzi could not be revived. He had already dissolved into the Dao, leaving behind a human-shaped imprint at the bottom of the coffin. His flesh and Dao bones had been completely cleansed away.
“Even ancient immortals must die?” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
Throughout history, was there truly anyone who could achieve eternal life? Even the ancient immortals revered by Daoism had their lifespans exhausted; they could not coexist with the world forever.
The residual traces of Dao dissolution emitted waves of Dao fluctuations, spreading outward. His heart shook as he realized Chi Songzi’s cultivation level—he should have been a Great Sage!
“So, he wasn’t a true immortal, just one of the most powerful ‘humans’ in human history,” Ye Fan frowned.
Thus, the ancient immortals spoken of by Daoism were merely a kind of achievement, not true immortals. They were still within the realm of humanity, albeit with profound Dao cultivation.
“Does this world truly have immortals? Could it be that eternal life is an illusory goal that can never be reached?”
Ye Fan sighed deeply. Even a Human Clan Great Sage had to die; even the ancient Great Emperors ultimately had to ascend and vanish. To this day, not a single person had survived. There was not a single real example of becoming an immortal.
Immortals were merely legends. Everything was fabricated and speculated by later generations. There was no solid evidence. The more one understood the truth, the more helpless one felt.
Chi Songzi was the best example. He was the most famous immortal of ancient times, but his true identity was a Human Clan Great Sage. He still died and had dissolved into the Dao here.
Beside the human-shaped traces of Dao dissolution, seven palm-length ancient swords had turned to dust, cleansed away together with Chi Songzi, leaving not a single fragment behind.
Ye Fan knew well that those were definitely sacred artifacts. The seven flying swords had flashed with red, purple, gold, blue, and other lights. Just from the sword-light imprints left in the stone chamber where they were forged, one could tell they were all divine-grade items.
“What a pity. Seven sharp weapons, all crafted by a Human Clan Great Sage, yet they all followed him in death.” He felt immense regret.
At the same time, he recalled that Chi Songzi was born in Sichuan and used flying swords as his weapons. In later legends, Mount Shu was said to have many sword immortals. Could they be from the same lineage?
Ye Fan carefully lifted out the only object in the coffin—the jade box. Even Chi Songzi had treasured and stored it so preciously, unwilling to destroy it even as he dissolved into the Dao. This fully demonstrated its mystery and value.
He bowed to the coffin, pushed the lid back into place, sealing it perfectly. The fire vine immediately coiled around it again, lifting it back into midair.
“Even archaeologists would have no way to deal with this place. With the solar fire essence, ordinary people can’t approach it. And I absolutely cannot hand this coffin over to them for study.”
A spiritual vine thriving in fire essence was too mysterious. Modern people couldn’t understand it. If it weren’t hidden, this place would inevitably cause many incidents.
Ye Fan thought for a moment, then used his great power to carve and cut out this entire area. He then pressed it deep into the earth, sinking it a thousand zhang down.
Finally, he sealed it with earth and stone, reopening a tomb in the original location, using his Dao cultivation to leave traces of time.
He also made another round of the underground palace, breaking all the dangers that could potentially harm ordinary people. Then he left and returned to the surface.
In the end, the fully armed military forces departed because no more dangers occurred underground. The archaeologists successfully delved deeper, letting out exclamations of amazement.
Jade artifacts, bronze bells, stone carvings—all were exquisite, priceless works of art that would shake the archaeological world. Yang Xiao and the others threw themselves into their work, unaware that a bizarre world involving ancient secrets had been sealed by Ye Fan.
At this moment, he stood under an ancient tree on Baling Mountain, carefully opening the jade box. Inside was only a bone fragment, unremarkable, lacking luster, very dim.
He couldn’t help but be puzzled. Just a bone fragment, at first glance nothing special. But this was something Chi Songzi had treasured—a famous figure, someone who had to be mentioned when discussing ancient cultivation.
This bone fragment was exceptionally heavy. He tapped it with his finger, and it rang with a metallic clang. What creature’s bone this was, he couldn’t tell, but it was so hard that even after Ye Fan squeezed it several times, it didn’t break.
He opened his heavenly eye and discovered four ancient characters, immediately shaking him to the core. They read: “Opportunity to Become an Immortal!”
Ye Fan was almost obsessed with the word “immortal” because the more he learned, the more disappointed he became. He saw no solid evidence, and even Chi Songzi had died.
Yet Chi Songzi’s relic was this bone fragment. The four characters seemed to possess a kind of magic—this was what he had guarded until his death.
As Ye Fan opened his heavenly eye, he also moved the bone fragment against the sunlight. Light from different angles revealed different patterns. He held his breath and observed carefully.
Then, he compared them seriously and carved a diagram on the ground. It showed mountains, great rivers, valleys, and ravines—a very complex terrain. This was a topographic map.
Ye Fan’s heart shook, and he showed an expression of disbelief. He quickly carved the stone diagram he had seen in the Lushan underground palace onto the ground. Comparing the two, he was immediately stunned.
Each of these two diagrams had one corner that could connect to form a whole, describing a single location!
In the Lushan underground palace, there had definitely been an ancient sage. He was imprisoned there, tortured for who knows how many years, even his torso severed. Yet he stubbornly survived, only carving the stone diagram a hundred years ago before breathing his last.
Ye Fan had reason to make a series of conjectures.
The one who acted was most likely trying to force out the stone diagram but failed. Perhaps a hundred years ago, the man chained to the sacrificial altar sensed that the world had long since changed, that everything from ancient times had turned to ashes, so he left the stone carving, unwilling to let the secret disappear from the world.
Imprisoning an ancient sage and forcing him for a secret diagram—how powerful would the one who did this have to be? The goal was naturally earth-shattering. Without saying more, it was clearly of utmost importance!
Now, the four words “Opportunity to Become an Immortal” explained everything. No further words were needed. Even an ancient Great Emperor would be shaken upon seeing them.
“The corners connect, making this diagram twice as large. It’s clearly still an incomplete terrain. Where does it point to?”
Chi Songzi and the unknown ancient sage each held one diagram, guarding them with their lives, keeping them by their side until death. This fully demonstrated their value!
Everyone is calling for monthly votes. If we remain calm, not only will we fall further behind those ahead, but we might also be overtaken by those behind. Begging for monthly votes! Begging for monthly votes! Mid-month, some brothers and sisters may already have a second ticket. Calling for support.
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