The Black Coffin Drifting Downstream

A pitch-black coffin floated on the River Surface, drifting downstream with the flowing waters.

Su Mu controlled the Water Domain, stilling the waters beneath the coffin. The coffin came to a stop as well.

After drawing close, Su Mu circled the coffin several times. At last, he pressed his ear against the lid, tapped it with a finger, and asked, "Is anyone there?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Su Mu felt a little foolish. This was a coffin. If someone answered, that would be the truly abnormal thing, wouldn't it?

Knock, knock—

The next second, two knocks sounded from inside the coffin, startling Su Mu badly.

There was a living person inside??

Su Mu grabbed the coffin lid with both hands and prepared to open it, but no matter how hard he tried, it would not budge.

He directly circulated the Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength. A phantom divine elephant appeared behind him. He took a deep breath and heaved with all his strength, only to find that it still did not move in the slightest.

Su Mu was dumbfounded.

Am I cultivating fake immortality?? Great Ascension Stage? A Great Ascension Stage cultivator can't even open a coffin?! His temper flared at once. He drew a sword and slashed fiercely at the coffin.

The instant the sword touched the coffin, it shattered into two pieces. The web between Su Mu's thumb and forefinger went numb, and the powerful recoil sent him stumbling back several steps.

Forget it, forget it.

Su Mu decided not to keep messing with it. There was something strange about this coffin.

Then he recalled a particularly taboo folk legend: the "Water Burial Coffin."

After someone died, they should be laid to rest in the earth. Only by coming into contact with the earth's energy could they return to dust and soil.

Burying someone by letting their coffin float upon water was different. Water was inherently yin in nature, and this method of burial could easily bring about taboo occurrences.

Moreover, the knocking that had just come from inside the coffin... could the corpse have transformed??

Before transmigrating, Su Mu had watched plenty of zombie films.

Still, with his Great Ascension Stage cultivation, he was not afraid of any zombie.

It just felt inauspicious, bad for feng shui.

If it were buried in some other waters, Su Mu would not care. But if it was buried in the river he guarded, then the problem was serious!

This was simply too damaging to the feng shui. He guarded this place every day—was he supposed to watch this coffin drift back and forth here? With that in mind, Su Mu reversed the Water Domain and sent the water coffin back upstream.

Wherever it came from, he would send it back there.

Only after the coffin vanished from sight did Su Mu nod in satisfaction.

Wu Xu Plains, Black Central Realm.

Within the chaotic void, nothing could be seen. Several indescribably powerful phantoms conversed across the emptiness.

"By my calculations, it should have arrived by now," a hoarse voice sounded from the void.

After a long while, another voice replied, "It should have arrived by now."

"But if it has arrived, why has nothing changed?"

Another deep voice echoed out.

"Something is strange. If it had reached the past and succeeded, the Black Central Realm should not still be a realm of chaotic nothingness, nor would we still be trapped here."

"Bone Emperor, what do you think?"

At that moment, an irregular black shadow within the void transformed into Bone Shadow. His face was shrouded in nothingness, impossible to discern.

Bone Shadow raised his head and looked into the void above. After a long time, a dignified voice rang out. "Perhaps it failed."

"Failed?"

"Impossible. With its abilities, even if it failed, there should not have been no change at all."

"Why would it fail!"

The voices were clearly shaken, even carrying panic and despair.

After deducing for a long time, Bone Shadow discovered a truth he could scarcely believe. "It seems it did not fail. Rather, it failed to pass through the River of Time and was forcibly sent back by someone."

The moment those words were spoken, the other three froze.

The next second.

A pitch-black coffin emerged from the void and arrived before Bone Shadow.

Then, three irregular black shadows also came to Bone Shadow's side, staring at the coffin in disbelief.

"It really was sent back!" one of the black shadows cried out.

"That makes no sense. How could it not even pass through the River of Time?"

After staring for a long time, Bone Shadow finally reached a conclusion. "Someone must have interfered."

"It is only that... I cannot deduce whether that person exists in the present, the past, or the future."

With every deduction, he could see only a hazy human figure. He could not see clearly—he truly could not see clearly. "Someone interfered?!"

"What kind of existence could actually interfere with the River of Time?"

The three black shadows had lived for endless ages. It was not as if they had never set foot in the River of Time. It was merely that they were now trapped within the Black Central Realm, their true bodies unable to enter the River of Time. Otherwise, they would not have sent an external object to break the deadlock—they would have gone themselves.

Though they could travel against the flow of the River of Time and return to the past, they absolutely could not affect the River of Time itself, much less use some method to reverse something upon it and send it back.

This had exceeded the limits of what they could comprehend.

What kind of existence could accomplish such a thing?

"Lend me your strength."

Bone Shadow intended to deduce with all his might. The moment he spoke, the three black shadows entered Bone Shadow and merged into one, emitting terrifying black Immortal Light.

He sat down cross-legged and began his deduction. In a daze, he seemed to see a figure standing atop the River of Time. Yet no matter how he deduced, he could see only that figure's back and could not make out the face.

After merely three seconds of deduction, he felt as though his soul was about to shatter. He did not dare continue.

Through Bone Shadow's vision, the three black shadows also saw the figure standing atop the River of Time.

"Could it be him?"

"I think it must be him."

"But... why would he be standing atop the River of Time? And how could he so easily reverse our object and send it back?"

"If he stands above the River of Time, then does he exist in the past, or in the future?"

They were utterly bewildered, sinking into endless confusion.

The River of Time was a river of rules that spanned the Myriad Realms, existing within the unseen and above all rules. Even when they sought to enter the River of Time, they had to tread carefully, fearing they would be devoured by Time Karma.

Yet that figure could not only stand atop the river, but also affect the River of Time itself. What kind of terrifying strength was that?? "Bone Emperor, what should we do next?"

The three black shadows looked toward Bone Shadow in the center.

"Try again."

"I do not believe that anyone can affect the River of Time."

Though Bone Shadow had deduced the existence of that figure, it did not necessarily mean that figure was responsible.

"I do not quite believe it either."

"Let's try again. But if we fail once more, our losses will be devastating."

"We are already miserable enough. How much worse can it get? If we cannot change the timeline, we may be trapped in this sunless Black Central Realm for all eternity."

Very quickly, the three black shadows reached an agreement once more and all possessed Bone Shadow again.

The next second.

Bone Shadow slowly raised his right hand. Surging black Immortal Light enveloped the pitch-black coffin.

Then, the pitch-black coffin slowly rose and finally disappeared into the void above.

After doing all this, Bone Shadow was extremely weakened. Even the black light around him dimmed somewhat.

"I hope no more accidents occur."