Becoming an Astronaut!

"Hey, Yezi, what have you been up to lately? Your class is having a reunion?"

"Not going, not going. I'm not even from the same school as you. I'm planning to take a trip to Mount Tai."

"...All right, then. See you again if we get the chance."

Qin Sheng hung up, his heart full of anticipation.

Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin was coming!

He immediately packed his things, rushed to Mount Tai, and checked into a hotel first.

As for his parents?

Over the years, Qin Sheng had often secretly used his mana to cleanse and strengthen their bodies. He had taught them health-preserving cultivation techniques and warned them about a few things as well.

Holding on until Qin Sheng returned would not be a problem.

Goodbye, Mom. Tonight, I'll set sail on a distant voyage.

Qin Sheng had also asked Ye Fan's parents to look after them.

After that football match, Qin Sheng and Ye Fan had become good friends. If he could lend him a hand, he would.

Although he had a cheat, investing in Ye Fan could never go wrong.

In fact, if he had no cheat and did not want to risk going to Beidou, staying on Earth and looking after Ye Fan's parents would also have been an option.

In the future, he would not lack a place in the Immortal Domain, where he could attain Longevity.

But Qin Sheng had no intention of competing for supremacy, even though he knew the suffering of all living beings.

The next day, Qin Sheng received a call from Ye Fan. Ye Fan said that they were planning to go to Mount Tai as well, and that they could meet there if Qin Sheng had time.

Qin Sheng naturally agreed.

"If Li Xiaoman hadn't been involved, Ye Fan probably wouldn't have gone to Mount Tai."

Ye Fan's class reunion had not originally included a trip to Mount Tai. Li Xiaoman had suddenly returned from abroad, extending the gathering and adding this extra event.

Thinking of this, Qin Sheng secretly laughed. This was the ex-girlfriend of the Red-Haired Universe—she always played a crucial role.

Three days later, Qin Sheng drove his BMW to the Mount Tai parking lot. By coincidence, a Mercedes-Benz was parked right behind him.

When he got out and looked, it was indeed Ye Fan.

Ye Fan drove a Mercedes-Benz, and I drove a BMW. We all had bright futures ahead of us.

"Yezi."

"Qin Immortal."

The two greeted each other with smiles. Qin Sheng gave Ye Fan a punch, making him stagger.

Ye Fan was startled. Such incredible strength?

"What, surprised?" Qin Sheng said with a smile.

"I've trained for so many years. I ought to have something to show for it."

"Are you really about to become an immortal?" Ye Fan joked.

As his friend, Ye Fan knew that Qin Sheng had spent all these years seeking immortals and pursuing the Dao, so he had given him the nickname Qin Immortal.

Qin Sheng smiled and pinched his thumb and index finger together.

"Just a tiny bit short."

Qin Sheng glanced at Ye Fan's Mercedes-Benz and asked with a strange look in his eyes.

"Yezi, how much is parking here per hour?"

"No idea. Probably not expensive," Ye Fan said carelessly.

"Anyway, we'll be coming down the mountain soon."

"That's true." Qin Sheng's smile grew even wider.

"Your classmates are waiting for you. Go on. I'll take a walk by myself. Let's meet at the summit."

Among Ye Fan's classmates were both ex-girlfriends and people constantly comparing themselves with one another. Qin Sheng found that sort of thing irritating and had no intention of climbing the mountain with them.

"Okay. See you later."

Ye Fan's group began climbing the mountain. Qin Sheng's hearing was sharp, and he could still hear their conversation.

"Ye Fan, was that the famous author Qin Sheng? Are you close with him?"

"More or less. We've met up and chatted often over the years."

"Could you invite him to climb with us? I love the Dragon Clan novels he wrote!"

"Not bad, Ye Fan. I didn't know you had connections like that."

"..."

At the earlier meal, Ye Fan had been looked down upon somewhat. But after showing off his Mercedes-Benz and revealing his good relationship with Qin Sheng, many of his classmates immediately saw him in a new light and became far friendlier.

Kissing up to the powerful and looking down on the weak was simply human nature.

On Earth, people flattered those with high status. On Beidou, they flattered the strong.

No mountain was greater, no history more ancient. Towering and majestic, it was the foremost of the Five Sacred Mountains, the First in the World.

This was Mount Tai, which held an extremely important place in Chinese culture.

In ancient times, seventy-two emperors had performed Feng and Shan sacrifices here, including such familiar figures as Fuxi, Shennong, Yellow Emperor, and others.

The later First Emperor, Emperor Wu of Han, and others had done the same.

Until the Song dynasty... well, better not mention that.

Qin Sheng walked along Mount Tai with swift, vigorous strides. He had visited Mount Tai many times before, yet he was still awed by its grandeur.

Gazing out over the mountains and rivers, Qin Sheng felt his heart surge.

Today, he would "shatter the void" and depart from here!

Climb the Heavenly Road, walk with song, and with a flick of the fingers, Shrouding the Heavens!

After a while, black dots appeared in the sky. Then nine dragon corpses pulled a Bronze Coffin as they fell.

Dragons descended from the heavens, furious and savage!

Boom!

Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin crashed to the ground. Cracks split across Jade Emperor Summit, rocks tumbled down, and it felt as though the end of the world had arrived without warning.

A moment later, the lid of the Bronze Coffin opened. Ye Fan and the others were closest to it, and all of them were sucked inside.

The dragon corpses trembled, and the coffin lid showed signs of closing. Seeing this, Qin Sheng charged over at top speed and leaped into the coffin with the midair rolling posture of a landlady.

I'll form the head!

With a tremendous bang, the ancient coffin shut completely. Qin Sheng let out a breath of relief.

Unless something unexpected happened, Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin would soon take flight.

Raise the coffin, get rich!

Outside, Five-Colored Divine Light shot into the sky, and Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin vanished without a trace.

As for the upheaval its arrival and departure would cause on Earth, that was no longer something the people lying flat inside the coffin needed to worry about.

"We were sucked into that coffin?!"

"Call someone! Hurry and get someone to save us!"

"Why did this happen? Why us?"

"..."

The coffin was dark inside. Everyone panicked, making calls and shouting wildly, displaying every facet of human nature.

Qin Sheng merely found them noisy. He walked alone through the coffin, looking at the bronze carvings on its walls. Many of the Fierce Beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas could be found here.

That made Qin Sheng think deeply. Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin had existed even before the Mythical Era, so it was certainly older than the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

So someone had entered this place, compiled the creatures depicted in these bronze carvings, and passed them down?

Who could have done that?

There was also a small coffin placed inside the Bronze Coffin. Qin Sheng walked over to stand before it.

This coffin was far from ordinary. Setting aside its origins, it currently contained something earthshaking: an entire world prepared to repair the Immortal Domain.

Clearly, that world was not something Qin Sheng could touch at his current level.

Qin Sheng wanted to see whether he could obtain the several hundred ancient characters inherited within the small coffin.

Each of those several hundred ancient characters was an Imperial Talisman. Even if he could not truly use them, regularly studying them would bring immense benefits.

"Why is there a thirtieth person?"

Another disturbance broke out among Ye Fan's group. There was one extra person, and only after they confirmed that it was Pang Bo did they calm down.

Everyone began exploring the Bronze Coffin, using the light from their phones to illuminate the surroundings. When they reached the area near the small coffin, gasps rang out.

"A person! There's someone sitting there!"

"Is that the owner of the coffin?"

"Is that a corpse?"

If only I really were the owner of the Three-Life Copper Coffin...

"It's me. I'm also a passenger on this flight."

Qin Sheng stood up. It was unfortunate, but without a treasure on the level of the Bodhi Seed to help him, the several hundred imperial characters were indeed beyond someone at his realm.

"Qin Immortal? How did you get in too?" Ye Fan hurried over.

"Even a horse stumbles; even a man missteps."

Ye Fan's classmates did not suspect whether Qin Sheng was human or ghost.

Pang Bo had been suspected because he had not attended the reunion at first, only to suddenly appear here afterward.

"Qin Immortal, you said you were a passenger on this flight just now. What did you mean?" Pang Bo walked over as well.

He had a burly build and was truly "majestic." Even though his Demon God Bloodline had not awakened, it still affected Pang Bo to some extent.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Qin Sheng said.

"Do you remember how Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin appeared? I think we've already taken off and are heading into the universe."

Everyone gasped. Someone asked in disbelief.

"How is that possible?"

"Wasn't the appearance of Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin itself the greatest impossibility?" Qin Sheng countered before saying, "All right, wait quietly. Don't make noise."

As Qin Sheng spoke, rosy light surged from his body, dispersing the darkness. The intense majesty made everyone afraid to look directly at him.

The sight made the others turn pale with shock, stunned beyond measure.

"Holy crap, Qin Immortal, you really became an immortal!" Pang Bo cried out strangely.

Ye Fan's eyes shone as he asked, "Is this what you've gained over the years?"

He too longed for Cultivation. He often read ancient texts and had always held expectations in his heart.

"I've achieved a little," Qin Sheng nodded. "I'm not an immortal, merely a cultivator."

"Mr. Qin, do you know something?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Cultivators like me have never entirely disappeared from Earth. We have merely remained hidden in the shadows. This time, perhaps we will step into mythology, perhaps even become mythology ourselves."

"But if you ask me exactly what is happening right now, I cannot explain it either."

Qin Sheng shook his head. "This is also my first time encountering something like this."

Bang!

At that moment, the Bronze Coffin shook violently and swayed without stop. Everyone stumbled about in terror.

Mars Station had arrived.

"Light!"

Someone cried out. A corner of the coffin lid lifted, and the light outside shone through.

"Let's go out and take a look!" someone suggested, winning the approval of most people.

"Immortal, what do you think?" Pang Bo asked Qin Sheng.

"Let's go out."

Qin Sheng was still thinking about looting the Great Leiyin Temple.

After leaving the Bronze Coffin, the outside world shocked everyone.

The ground was reddish-brown and incredibly desolate, with enormous rocks visible here and there.

"We really left Mount Tai..." someone murmured.

The group discovered two characters on a rock ahead, written in ancient bronze inscription script.

"What characters are those?"

"Yinghuo," Qin Sheng said.

"That was what people called Mars in ancient times."

Flickering firelight, chaotic confusion.

Mars had been regarded as an Ominous star in ancient times.

After confirming that they had truly left Earth, many people fell into despair. Some even burst into loud sobs.

"There may be danger here. Stay here, or go back first. I'll explore ahead," Qin Sheng said.

Ye Fan said, "I'll go with you. We can look out for each other."

"Sure. Yezi, you're strong and have good stamina. If something happens, you won't hold me back."

Qin Sheng looked at the others and said, "The rest of you shouldn't come. If we run into danger, I won't be able to look after everyone."

"Pang Bo, stay behind and take care of them."

He had wanted to bring Ye Fan along in the first place. Bringing a Sacred Physique would put his mind at ease.

There was no need to bring the others. If they went to the Great Leiyin Temple, they would only be killed by those Little Divine Crocodiles. They would be safer remaining inside the coffin.

These people had not provoked Qin Sheng, so naturally he would not deliberately lead them to their deaths.

The two departed and continued onward. At the end of the path, an ancient temple appeared. It was not large, and if it stood on Earth, it would have been nothing remarkable.

But a Buddhist temple standing on Mars was truly shocking beyond belief.

Beside the temple stood a Bodhi Tree, which was even more extraordinary. It was an Immortal Elixir.

"Great Leiyin Temple." Qin Sheng spoke the temple's name, four more words shocking enough to leave everyone speechless.

"Was that really the temple of that Buddha?" Ye Fan asked in surprise.

"Perhaps."

Qin Sheng suddenly laughed. "Yezi, your childhood dream has finally come true."

"Hm?"

"Being an astronaut."

Ye Fan: "..."

The two entered the Great Leiyin Temple and searched around, finding most of the Buddhist artifacts.

These Buddhist artifacts could not really be considered opportunities. After being used a few times, they would lose all their divine power and become completely useless.

Their greatest use was to charge the Five-Colored Altar.

"How do we take these things with us?" Ye Fan asked.

With a smile, Qin Sheng stored the Buddhist artifacts in his Sea of Bitterness.

A Shrouding the Heavens cultivator's Sea of Bitterness inherently had the ability to store items.

Ye Fan was astonished. "So this is what cultivators are like?"

"Yes, it's a very ordinary ability."

Qin Sheng turned around. "Let's go."

There was actually a Quasi-Emperor Forbidden Artifact within the Great Leiyin Temple that was nearing its limit, but Qin Sheng did not dare take it. A dignified Quasi-Emperor Forbidden Artifact was surely crucial to the seal; calling it the formation eye or core would not be an exaggeration.

In the original plot, Li Xiaoman took the Forbidden Artifact and was then possessed by the Crocodile Ancestor.

As long as he reached Beidou safely, Qin Sheng's future would be infinitely bright. There was no need to be greedy here. He did not want to take even the slightest risk.

After leaving the temple, Ye Fan caught sight of the high-hanging plaque from the corner of his eye and was eager to try.

Qin Sheng stopped him. "Don't touch the plaque. Demons are sealed beneath the Great Leiyin Temple. If you take that plaque, the demons will immediately break out of the seal. It's very dangerous."

"We don't lack this one Buddhist artifact."

In the original plot, once the plaque was taken away, the Great Leiyin Temple immediately crumbled into dust, and the Crocodile Ancestor broke free of the seal.

That was somewhat related to the other Buddhist artifacts being removed as well, but the plaque was certainly also a crucial sealing item.

"Demons?" Ye Fan had been shocked too many times today.

"I once went to Tibet seeking immortals. Legends recorded that the Buddha had suppressed many demons beneath the Great Leiyin Temple. On the first level was a Demon Crocodile with boundless magical power."

Ye Fan no longer dared touch the plaque. Then the two took the Bodhi Seed and swiftly left the place.

They moved too quickly and had not touched the crucial Buddhist artifacts, so when Qin Sheng used the divine power within the Buddhist artifacts to activate the Five-Colored Altar and cause a Taiji Diagram to manifest between heaven and earth once more, the Crocodile Ancestor had yet to break free.

Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin shook again and vanished from Mars.

"Roar!"

The Crocodile Ancestor broke free and roared, "I shall proclaim my—"

Staring at the empty Five-Colored Altar, the Crocodile Ancestor was somewhat bewildered.

Where were they?

This time, the Crocodile Ancestor's Divine Embryo failed to possess Li Xiaoman. I just don't know whose body that Divine Incarnation Thought of the Completed Sacred Physique is in... Qin Sheng thought.

That thing was definitely inside the coffin, but there was nothing he could do. Qin Sheng could not deal with it either.

"Let's try again."

Qin Sheng leaned against the small coffin, holding the Bodhi Seed as he quietly meditated.

"The Way of Heaven diminishes excess and replenishes deficiency..."

A vast heavenly voice rang beside Qin Sheng's ears, as though it had come from the ancient Primordial Wilderness, boundless and supreme.

The hundreds of ancient characters that he had previously been unable to comprehend now unveiled themselves before Qin Sheng, their eternal imprints engraved in his heart.

This was not a cultivation method. More than half of it discussed the construction and restoration of the Immortal Domain, but it was profound enough to point directly at the essence of the Great Dao. Even comprehending a mere fragment would bring immense benefit.

When the heavenly voice faded, Qin Sheng opened his eyes and thought:

My talent truly is quite good.

Those lacking talent could forget about hearing this passage of scripture, even with the Bodhi Seed.

Afterward, Qin Sheng gave the Bodhi Seed to Ye Fan and had him try as well.

Without a doubt, Ye Fan succeeded too.

Pang Bo failed.

This left Pang Bo somewhat embarrassed. Why was he the only one who had not succeeded?

Qin Sheng also had Ye Fan keep the Bodhi Seed.

Regardless of whether this item truly had Causality with the Buddhist Sect and the Completed Sacred Physique, it was a better choice to leave it with Ye Fan.

It was absolutely not because Qin Sheng feared the Divine Incarnation Thought of the Completed Sacred Physique.

In any case, if he needed it later, he could borrow it at any time.

"Yezi, we arrived on Mars before, and now we probably aren't returning to Earth," Qin Sheng suddenly said.

"Your Mercedes-Benz is still parked at the foot of Mount Tai. If we ever get a chance to return, remember to pay the parking fee. Don't be a deadbeat."

"Pay mine too, while you're at it."

Ye Fan was speechless. At a time like this, he was still talking about that!

"Qin Immortal, are we really going to the Big Dipper?" Pang Bo asked.

There was a starry sky engraving inside the bronze coffin, recording the route from Earth to the Big Dipper and then to Ziwei. After seeing it, everyone guessed that Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin might send them to the Big Dipper, or to a planet within the Ziwei Star Domain.

"I once read in ancient books that humanity is not alone. Beyond Earth, there are other Life Ancient Stars."

Qin Sheng said, "Perhaps Beidou is like that."

"Could it be that people in ancient times once visited other Life Ancient Stars?" Ye Fan asked in shock.

"Very likely." Qin Sheng nodded.

"I heard that cultivators like gods and Buddhas could cross the starry river, but Earth has not seen such great Divine Ability cultivators for a very long time."

For truly well-established inheritances, records had always existed of the myriad races beyond the stars and Life Ancient Stars.

The others were all deeply shocked, feeling as though their entire worldview had been reshaped.

No one knew how much time passed before Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin crashed to the ground.

Beidou Station had arrived!

The coffin lid opened, and a bright world filled with life appeared before everyone.

"I'm truly unwilling to accept this."

Ye Fan sighed softly. "Why did something like this have to happen to us?"

Qin Sheng turned his head and stared at Ye Fan.

Why do you think?

Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin had wandered the universe since time immemorial. Many Ancient Emperor Great Emperors had seen it, and Earth—Ziwei was one of its routes.

But for it to head to Earth at this particular time and stop by the Desolate Forbidden Land, it was surely because of Ye Fan.

Someone had interfered with this interstellar train.

Who could it be?

Such a difficult guess.