The Train Was About to Depart

"Old Xiao, that fire on you..." Ye Fan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He looked at the five-colored altar smashed out by the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, then turned to the white flames on Xiao Yan's body.

They were wisps of crystal-clear white flame, gentle as jade and utterly devoid of smoke or earthly heat, carrying an air of holiness.

"Now isn't the time to talk about that." Xiao Yan waved his hand and recalled the Samadhi True Fire. There was no time to study it carefully now; they could discuss it later.

"Right, let's get out of here first. We need to retreat." Pang Bo leaped away from the crack beneath his feet. Catching sight of the five-colored altar in the enormous pit below, his voice turned urgent.

Ye Fan glanced at the shattered ground and hurriedly nodded. At this moment, they were the only three still close to the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin. Everyone else, including their classmates, as long as they were still alive, had already moved some distance away.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to get away." Xiao Yan shook his head slightly and gestured toward the massive bronze coffin. When the other two looked over, they saw that at some point, a crack had opened in the coffin. A tremendous suction force seized the three of them without allowing any resistance.

Seeing Xiao Yan and Ye Fan unable to keep their footing, Pang Bo looked at the distant giant coffin. Its interior was pitch-black, as though an abyss lay hidden within. Remembering Xiao Yan's earlier actions, he knew this was their only lifeline.

Pang Bo immediately made up his mind. He jumped up, twisted his body in midair despite the risk of being sucked directly inside, and tried to position himself beneath the other two.

It was completely useless. The instant he jumped, Pang Bo entered a state of weightlessness. Xiao Yan gave him a surprised look, then flung out an iron chain and pulled him back.

That alone was enough for Xiao Yan to acknowledge Pang Bo.

The Fire-Blowing Palm in his hand erupted with all its strength, making their inevitable journey toward the coffin look at least slightly more dignified.

They still could not stop themselves from being sucked in. At most, they had merely slowed down.

"Old Xiao, what can I do now?" Seeing Xiao Yan unleash every magical artifact he had and fire energy in the opposite direction to no effect, Ye Fan spoke solemnly.

"What can you do?" Xiao Yan raised a brow. "You gave away everything I gave you yesterday, right?"

Ye Fan froze, then understood. Yesterday, Xiao Yan had given him a pile of health supplements supposedly called Longevity Pills and Beauty-Preserving Pills, to give to his parents and girlfriend.

Before coming here today, he had already delivered all of them.

"I was originally planning to give them to you after we climbed Mount Tai together, but the medicinal ingredients happened to be ready yesterday, so I refined them early."

Xiao Yan shrugged. Besides the pills, there were also some small magical artifacts and a few precautionary arrangements he had set up.

Ye Fan's girlfriend was a good person. She had waited three years for Ye Fan, only for them to ultimately fail to make it work.

Ye Fan fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and sighed. "In the end, it's the three of us who are going to die."

When he looked back, he saw people trying to come rescue them, only to be held back. Most of his classmates were hiding far away in the rear.

Only Zhou Yi, Lin Jia, Feng Zijing, and a few others tried to rush over, but they were stopped by people led by Liu Yunzhi.

The next instant, the three of them were sucked into the ancient coffin.

"There's no need to be too afraid. I just identified it—this Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin is actually recorded in ancient texts."

In the darkness, Xiao Yan took out a bright lamp. Illuminating the bronze engravings of strange beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, he began explaining things to them.

Still, there was one thing Xiao Yan found rather strange. If he remembered correctly, the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin had to predate even the Mythological Era.

And this thing was basically an interstellar train running on a fixed route. Someone in ancient times must have ridden it, so who had carved these images?

Those imperial corpses? Or the cultivators of ancient Earth?

"Old Xiao, what is this again?" After some time, Ye Fan had gained a preliminary understanding of their situation and calmed down. As a hum sounded, the coffin seemed to take off once more, and only then did he ask Xiao Yan.

His family had already been settled, so for the time being, he had no lingering worries. He only needed an opportunity to return someday.

"Cultivation, obviously. Over the past few years, I stumbled across some cultivation methods, but mine are pretty low-level." Xiao Yan spread his hands. Even whether his Flame Mantra could evolve was still uncertain. It could not possibly compare to the imperial scriptures of Shrouding the Heavens.

Fortunately, once he became strong enough, he could improve it further. If the numbers were lacking, he could make up for it with mechanics.

A trace of yearning flashed through Ye Fan's eyes. He had always been interested in seeking immortals and pursuing the Dao.

"These are some basic combat techniques and artifact-refining methods. If there's anything you like, feel free to take it."

After thinking it over, Xiao Yan took out a few things that might be useful, even though they would probably be of little use to them. He placed them in storage bags he had refined to work without special energy.

He then told them more about the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin. With the coffin brightly lit, its interior no longer felt so terrifying.

After chatting for a while, Pang Bo also relaxed.

Since they were already here, they might as well make the best of it.

"But honestly, Pang Bo, it seems you aren't human." Xiao Yan looked at Pang Bo until his scalp tingled, wearing a strange expression.

"I'm not human?" Pang Bo frowned and looked at his own impressively massive physique, deep in thought.

He did not think Xiao Yan was insulting him indirectly. He simply felt that there was more to those words. Yet after thinking about it for a long time, Pang Bo still could not figure anything out.

He had never been good at thinking. If cultivation could let him flatten someone into two pancakes with a slap, being a gorilla would be just fine.

"If I'm not mistaken, you possess the Demon God Bloodline. You should pay attention to it in the future." As he spoke, Xiao Yan looked Ye Fan up and down again.

"Don't tell me I'm not human too." Ye Fan's eyelid twitched.

"No, but your physique is definitely far from ordinary. You're also on the path of brute force overwhelming everything." Xiao Yan shrugged.

The Sacred Body consumed far too many resources.

He had no solution for that. Having arrived in Shrouding the Heavens at this level, he was destined to grab a huge haul and leave. There was too little he could do.

Once he got the Bodhi Seed, he would let Ye Fan see whether the Eight Gates and Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements could extract anything useful for him. Though that was probably a long shot.

After some idle conversation.

"Grrr—" After climbing the mountain for half the day and suffering one upheaval after another, Ye Fan and Pang Bo finally relaxed, only to realize they were already starving.

But when they looked at the gloomy coffin around them, they exchanged glances.

Just as they were about to endure it, Xiao Yan smiled slightly, and a rich aroma drifted toward their noses.

Xiao Yan sat cheerfully before a small table piled with all kinds of food.

There was fast food, exquisite dishes packed from fancy restaurants, and even two servings of Shandong-style flatbread wrapped with scallions.

"Come on, come on. There's some excellent flatbread wrapped with scallions here. Eat it while it's hot."

Xiao Yan called out with a smile, but Ye Fan's face darkened.

"Since when does flatbread wrapped with scallions have to be eaten hot? Does that even make sense? You two eat first. I'm going to check out that little coffin on the other side."

After waving to the two of them, Xiao Yan headed toward the other end of the coffin.

There, a small bronze coffin stood conspicuously.

Or rather, this was the real coffin.

The little immortal realm meant to mend the Immortal Realm.

Xiao Yan circled the small coffin once, but he did not sense anything unusual.

Only in one corner could he faintly hear something. Yet whenever Xiao Yan focused and tried to listen, it seemed as though there was nothing there at all.

Xiao Yan immediately raised a brow.

It seemed his talent really was good enough. He could hear something of this scripture for mending heaven, but he was still just short of understanding it clearly.

Without a Bodhi Seed for now, he was apparently fated to miss out on the imperial characters.

He was not upset, though. Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on the ground and quietly sensed how much longer he could remain in this world.

Compared to everything else, this was the most important matter.

"Just as I expected, the amount of time I can stay is linked to my strength and the world's rank..."

Xiao Yan rubbed his temples. Logically speaking, he could remain in ordinary worlds for quite a long time.

After advancing, based on what he sensed, he should have been able to shorten the cooldown for projecting into Shrouding the Heavens and extend his stay.

But Shrouding the Heavens seemed to be somewhat beyond his current capabilities.

In an ordinary world, he might be able to stay for over half a year. But here, the time he could remain was probably already nearing its end. By his calculations, it would likely be over once they reached the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land.

"So I'm doing quick world-hopping after all?" Xiao Yan rubbed his chin, but he found that acceptable.

He truly had no confidence in how long he could survive in Shrouding the Heavens. He was not afraid of death, but making an early retreat with his gains would be even better.

Just as he was thinking of taking this opportunity to properly experience the Samadhi True Fire, formed from the highly condensed and sublimated Three Treasures of essence, energy, and spirit, Xiao Yan abruptly looked up.

At that moment, amid a series of swaying motions, the coffin slowly came to a stop.

They had arrived at Mars Station.