Signing In at the Nine Dragon Coffin

Ding!

The host has successfully signed in inside the Nine Dragon Coffin and received one Qiankun Pearl!

The next sign-in location is the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mars. Please proceed to the sign-in location as soon as possible!

After the system's voice faded, Lu Zhou felt a round pearl about the size of a quail egg appear in his mind, its surface looking somewhat dull and gray.

When he focused his attention on the Qiankun Pearl, a stream of information suddenly flooded his heart.

This Qiankun Pearl had already bound itself to him and came with the ability to conceal heavenly secrets and block detection.

At the same time, the Qiankun Pearl contained a small world of its own.

At present, this small world was still tiny, only about one li in circumference.

Lu Zhou's consciousness entered that small world. As far as the eye could see, it was completely empty, with nothing inside.

While he was studying the Qiankun Pearl, Pang Bo had already proven his identity and embraced Ye Fan.

Then, using the light from their phones, they began examining the carvings on the coffin wall.

Lu Zhou also moved closer.

When he had read the novel Covering the Heavens, he had been deeply curious about the descriptions of this part and had often imagined it in his mind.

Now that he had a chance to see those carvings in person, he naturally would not miss it.

Before long, they discovered a small bronze coffin in the center of the bronze outer coffin, less than two meters wide and less than four meters long.

Pang Bo turned into a walking encyclopedia, explaining to everyone what coffins and outer coffins were.

They began making various deductions and guesses, which somewhat eased everyone's negative emotions.

Just as everyone was hoping to escape danger as soon as possible, the bronze coffin suddenly shook violently, and many people fell straight to the ground.

Seeing this, Lu Zhou immediately understood. They must have arrived on Mars!

Sure enough, after several more collisions and tremors, the bronze coffin lid shifted from its original position, revealing a gap wide enough for two people to walk out side by side. A faint light seeped into the coffin through the gap.

Everyone cheered and rushed desperately toward the opening, wanting to escape this dark and terrifying space.

Lu Zhou did not cheer, but he was among those who rushed out of the bronze coffin.

After leaving the bronze coffin, everyone except Lu Zhou froze.

They were stunned by the sight before them.

The towering Mount Tai was gone.

The ground looked as though it had been stained with blood, red-brown in color, cold, hard, and desolate. Everywhere they looked was barren and empty.

The light between heaven and earth was dim and murky.

They could already sense that they might no longer be on Earth.

Some of Ye Fan's female classmates could not help crying again.

The foreigner let out exclamations such as "God!"

Lu Zhou followed behind Ye Fan and Pang Bo as they climbed a gigantic boulder about twenty meters tall.

From atop the rock, they looked into the distance and saw a halo of light far away.

Before long, the foreigner climbed up as well. After praising God, he turned and shouted loudly at Li Xiaoman among the crowd.

"I see it. Light!"

His shout threw the crowd into a commotion, and many people ran over.

Lu Zhou walked toward Ye Fan and Pang Bo, who were talking, and spoke to them.

"I estimate that we may no longer be on Earth. I want to go check out that light source. Do you want to come with me?"

"And you are?"

Pang Bo was the one who spoke.

Earlier, when Lu Zhou had introduced himself inside the coffin, Pang Bo had still been in a state of being knocked breathless from the fall, so he did not know Lu Zhou.

Though he did not know him, he had long noticed that an outsider named Lu Zhou had appeared among their group.

Even if Lu Zhou had not walked over to them now, Pang Bo would have asked Ye Fan who Lu Zhou was.

"He's Lu Zhou. Like us, he's a tourist who accidentally fell into that bronze coffin!"

Ye Fan said this to Pang Bo.

Then, he introduced himself to Lu Zhou as well.

"My name is Ye Fan, and he's Pang Bo. The rest of us are classmates."

As he said this, his classmates had already climbed onto the boulder and seen the distant light source.

"Lu Zhou wants to go check out that light source. I have the same idea. What do you all think?"

Ye Fan's words both answered Lu Zhou's earlier question and asked his classmates for their opinions.

As expected of best friends, as soon as Ye Fan finished speaking, Pang Bo was the first to voice his agreement.

After discussing it for a while, everyone unanimously decided to explore the source of light together.

They headed toward it, with Lu Zhou walking at the front.

After going around the boulder, Lu Zhou heard someone cry out in surprise.

"There are words on that boulder."

Everyone looked toward the boulder.

Zhou Yi recognized one of the characters: "Mars."

Ye Fan, who had studied ancient bronze inscriptions, directly stated that the two characters read Mars.

Some people did not understand.

But Zhou Yi's face turned pale.

He muttered phrases about shimmering firelight and chaotic bewilderment.

Everyone showed a different expression.

In the end, they lingered before the boulder for a long time before continuing toward the distant light source with heavy hearts.

The journey was extremely silent, and few people spoke.

Bang!

Pang Bo had kicked a tile.

After confirming that it truly was a crude, man-made tile, many people showed excited expressions.

Some shouted that they were saved and would surely escape danger.

The pessimistic mood lessened considerably.

By then, night had already fallen, and stars dotted the sky.

They saw two tiny moons hanging at the edge of the horizon.

This made them even more certain that they were no longer on Earth, but on Mars.

The hope that had just risen in many hearts was shattered once more.

After they traveled another hundred meters or so, Lu Zhou, who was walking at the front, saw a stretch of ruins. It appeared to be an ancient pavilion.

After he noticed it, everyone else saw it as well.

Then, they discovered a skull and saw a round hole as thick as a finger in it.

They passed through piles of rubble, went around a massive broken wall, and finally arrived before an Ancient Temple.

An ancient Buddha before a blue lamp, a single bean-sized flame!

Before the Ancient Temple stood a completely withered Bodhi Ancient Tree. It was as vigorous as a coiling dragon, with six green leaves sparsely dotted around a point two meters above the ground.

Lu Zhou resisted the urge to pluck the Bodhi Leaves immediately.

The Bodhi seeds beneath the Bodhi tree carried great karma, and he had no intention of touching them either.

While everyone else was examining the scene, he had already stepped into the Ancient Temple.

The moment he crossed into the Ancient Temple, the system's familiar ding sounded in his mind.

Sign in!

He silently recited the command to sign in, not even glancing at the Bronze Ancient Lamp beside the Buddha statue.

It was not that he did not want the lamp, but rather that there was most likely something wrong with it.

When Lu Zhou had read the book, he had strongly suspected that if anyone other than Ye Fan obtained this ancient lamp, they would most likely be converted by the Six-Syllable Mantra.

Lu Zhou headed straight for the Stone Buddha and quickly made a discovery, a flash of delight appearing in his eyes.

He still remembered that the book had described Li Xiaoman finding half a Jade Ruyi beneath the Stone Buddha's feet.

And now, after picking up that half of the Jade Ruyi, he indeed saw a Bronze Buddha Statue behind it.