The familiar sensation of returning eased Chen Lin's heart a little. Since he could be expelled, it meant his body was still there.
Then he slowly opened his eyes.
The Bronze Coffin came into view. Though its interior was pitch-black, that posed no obstacle to a cultivator; he could see everything clearly.
Chen Lin did not move. First, he inspected the Bronze Coffin, then checked his own body. He found nothing abnormal. Everything was exactly as it had been when he entered.
The Bronze Coffin blocked divine sense, preventing him from investigating the situation outside. After a moment's thought, he activated the Treasure Control Art and opened a narrow gap in the lid.
This allowed his divine sense to reach outside.
Then Chen Lin froze slightly.
He discovered that the Bronze Coffin was actually buried in soil, and very wet soil at that. Mud was even flowing in through the gap.
This left him unsure what to make of the situation.
After a moment's hesitation, he slowly extended his divine sense through the soil. But some strange energy here seemed to make probing with divine sense extremely difficult. Combined with the inherent difficulty of using divine sense through solid objects, he could barely reach any distance at all.
There was nothing else he could do, and he could not hide here forever. Chen Lin cast a Defense Light Barrier around himself and climbed out of the Bronze Coffin.
Reaching back, he put the Bronze Coffin into his Storage Bag, then activated the Earth Escape Technique and began ascending.
At this point, he discovered that not only was his divine sense affected, but his mana was also suppressed by the strange energy here. Only his soul power was affected relatively little.
This made him suspect that he was no longer in