Judging from Li Zhi's tone, he didn't seem homesick at all.
Zhang Wenchang, who was among the crowd, asked, "Mr. Li, do you know where we're going? Can we still go back?"
Li Zhi answered bluntly, "Once you attain the Crocodile Ancestor's cultivation, you'll be able to follow the route we came by and return to Earth."
Pang Bo then asked, "Boss Li, you seem to know a lot about these things?"
Li Zhi said, "Once you set foot on the Path of Cultivation, you'll realize that no Life Ancient Star in this universe is as simple as it appears on the surface. Who knows how many secrets are hidden behind it?"
Ye Fan then asked, "Brother Li, did you find the continuation of the Longevity Art on Mount Tai?"
Li Zhi nodded. "Of course. Otherwise, why do you think I was trapped on Mount Tai for nearly a year?"
Then Li Zhi patted Ye Fan on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry about your parents. If they go to Zhou Mei to ask about you, they'll learn the truth about what happened. If they take good care of themselves and continue practicing the Breathing Method you left behind, perhaps in twenty or thirty years, you'll return to their side and see that they're still in good health."
Li Zhi knew that Ye Fan had taught the Breathing Method to his parents.
After all, it was something that could strengthen the body, so there was no need for Ye Fan to keep it hidden.
Li Zhi then invited them to enjoy a grand feast of fruit.
With the conflict gone, silence soon descended upon the pitch-black coffin.
The faint light from the occasional phone screens was nowhere near enough to dispel all the fear in everyone's hearts.
At Li Zhi's invitation, Ye Fan and the other five enjoyed a delicious feast of fruit.
The sweet juice eased the tension in their minds.
However, the crisp cracking sounds they made while eating fruit stirred up hunger in the stomachs of the others.
Most of them hadn't brought any food with them.
After a terrifying night of travel, they were all ravenous.
In the darkness, Zhou Yi saw that Lin Jia was planning to go over to Ye Fan's side. He quietly tugged at Wang Ziwen's sleeve, and the two followed Lin Jia tacitly to the corner where Li Zhi and the others were eating fruit.
"Mr. Li, did you bring all this fruit with you? Could you spare us some?" Lin Jia displayed the exceptionally approachable manner unique to a female workplace elite.
"Miss Lin, don't be so formal. I still have plenty of fruit here. Help yourself," Li Zhi said indifferently, looking up at the shrewd Lin Jia.
"Mr. Li, we've all been through life-and-death trials together and can be considered companions. If you have fruit to spare, could you share some with our classmates?" Zhou Yi, who had followed Lin Jia over, immediately spoke up when he saw how easygoing Li Zhi was.
"If you're hungry, come take some. I have dozens of kilograms of fruit here, enough for everyone to eat for two or three days."
"Mr. Li, I'll thank you on behalf of our classmates." A trace of surprise appeared in Zhou Yi's eyes. He hadn't expected Li Zhi to be so agreeable.
Seeing Li Zhi's generosity, Pang Bo was about to say something, but Ye Fan shook his head at him.
Ye Fan knew that Li Zhi had never been a good person in the traditional sense.
On this journey with no known destination, how could he so easily share his food with others?
Based on Ye Fan's understanding of Li Zhi, if they truly ran short of food, he might very well raise a butcher's knife against his classmates without hesitation.
Zhou Yi and Wang Ziwen then carried away nearly half of the fruit in the folds of their clothes.
Including Li Zhi, there were now fifteen living people inside the coffin, yet they had clearly split into two groups.
The two groups sat at opposite ends of the Bronze Giant Coffin, separated by the Small Coffin in the center.
After everyone had eaten their fill, Li Zhi asked Ye Fan and the others, "Are you all full?"
Ye Fan nodded, then asked, "Brother Li, can you give us a detailed introduction to the Nine Dragons Coffin Transport?"
Li Zhi smiled instead. "I don't know much about it. Since everyone's eaten their fill, help me with something. Continue making rubbings of the patterns on the Small Coffin."
Ye Fan asked, "Brother Li, is there some significance to those patterns?"
Li Zhi answered honestly, "I don't know. But I do know one thing: as our knowledge grows, one day we'll understand what they represent."
Everyone nodded one after another.
They then helped Li Zhi make rubbings of all the Carved Diagrams on the Small Coffin in the center.
After finishing, Li Zhi noticed that several sheets of rubbing paper remained and planned to select some representative patterns from the walls of the Bronze Giant Coffin to copy as well.
Just then, Ye Fan suddenly gestured for everyone to be quiet.
"Shh!"
He walked over to the Small Coffin and pressed his ear against its wall, listening to the sounds inside.
A moment later, Ye Fan turned back and asked everyone, "Did you all hear that?"
"I didn't hear anything. Yezi, what did you hear?" Pang Bo asked.
Only Li Zhi sensed that something in Ye Fan's arms seemed to have begun heating up. It was probably the Bodhi Seed he had obtained from the Great Thunderclap Temple.
Then he saw Ye Fan reach out to stroke the coffin lid, as if he had truly heard something.
"Everyone, try listening as well," Li Zhi said at the appropriate moment.
Li Zhi then came to Ye Fan's side, rolled a sheet of rubbing paper into a tube, placed one end against the coffin wall, and put the other end to his ear. He began carefully listening to the sounds inside.
Seeing this, the others followed suit. They came to the Small Coffin and began listening to the sounds within.
Soon, a strange scene appeared inside the Bronze Giant Coffin.
On one side of the Small Coffin, Ye Fan, Li Zhi, Lin Jia, Pang Bo, Liu Yiyi, Zhang Ziling, Zhang Wenchang, and the others stood in a line, all tilting their ears toward the sounds inside.
On the other side of the Small Coffin, the others grew curious when they saw what Li Zhi and the others were doing.
After Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and Li Xiaoman exchanged glances, they imitated Li Zhi and the others and began listening from the opposite side of the Small Coffin.
As Li Zhi gradually emptied his mind, he subconsciously circulated the Breathing Method from Stealing Heavenly Secrets. Suddenly, a grand Heavenly Sound reached his ears, which had heard nothing before.
The Great Dao Heavenly Sound seemed to be filled with supreme profundity, leaving him intoxicated.
"The Way of Heaven diminishes what has excess and replenishes what is lacking. The Way of Earth takes in all things and returns them to chaos. The Way of Man establishes Heaven and Earth and cultivates the Ten Thousand Daos."
Of the mysterious Great Dao Heavenly Sound, Li Zhi could hear only the first three sentences clearly. The Heavenly Sound that followed became indistinct, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make out its exact content.
He could only sense its vastness and profundity, as if it were a supreme Dao Sound transmitted from the Chaotic Ancient Era.
The three sentences of scripture he had heard clearly soon transformed into thirty mysterious Great Dao Runes, which were firmly branded into his heart.
He then withdrew from that state of Unity of Heaven and Man.
Li Zhi instantly realized that the opportunity had ended. He was not fated to hear the scripture that followed.
He turned to look at the others.
They were all frowning as they struggled to listen.
Yet from their bewildered expressions, it was clear that not one of them seemed to have heard even a single word of the scripture.
Only Ye Fan stood with one hand on the Bronze Small Coffin, his body resembling the bright moon reflected in a mirror lake. An otherworldly aura seemed to ripple around him, making him appear exceptionally sacred.
Moreover, judging from Ye Fan's appearance, he seemed unlikely to wake up anytime soon.
Li Zhi shook his head and left the Small Coffin.
Pang Bo followed him. Only after reaching the wall of the Bronze Giant Coffin did he ask, "Boss Li, did you hear anything?"
Li Zhi shook his head. "My fortune and destiny weren't sufficient. I only vaguely heard the sound of chanting, but I couldn't make out the contents of the scripture."
Pang Bo asked anxiously, "How come I didn't hear anything at all?"
Li Zhi smiled. "That means your fortune and destiny are even worse than mine."
Everyone else pricked up their ears to listen to Li Zhi and Pang Bo's conversation. A few of them even seemed to relax afterward.
Pang Bo said, unconvinced, "That can't be right. My posture must have been wrong. I'll try listening from another position."
Pang Bo then jumped onto the Small Coffin and lay directly atop it, pressing his ear tightly against the coffin lid as he struggled to listen to the supreme scripture.
The sight made everyone laugh.
The people who had been secretly anxious because they hadn't heard anything saw Pang Bo's actions, and their restlessness seemed to vanish in an instant.
One after another, they gave up trying to listen to the supreme Dao Sound.
Like Li Zhi, they began studying the Carved Diagrams on the walls of the Bronze Giant Coffin.
Some of them repeatedly took photos of the walls with their phones, trying to record all the Carved Diagrams in pictures.
Some even seemed to mutter complaints about Li Zhi being old-fashioned. In an age like this, why was he still using rubbings to record the Carved Diagrams? Wouldn't taking photos with a phone be more convenient?
Soon, aside from Ye Fan, who was meditating, and Pang Bo, who continued to "try" while lying on the coffin lid, everyone else had left the Small Coffin.
Suddenly, everyone heard a strange sound that seemed capable of stirring the human mind.
It was heavy with sorrow, while its compassion was filled with grief.
"What is that sound?"
Everyone was shocked. They looked around but couldn't find the source of the sound. Then their gazes focused on Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
Mostly on Pang Bo.
"Could Pang Bo's actions have disturbed the dead spirit inside the coffin?"
"Probably not. Mr. Li lay on the coffin lid and made rubbings of the Carved Diagrams there earlier. He even knocked on the coffin lid."
Before you continue