Cousin Ye Fan

Boom!

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar echoed as nine colossal entities descended from the firmament, though not with an excessively rapid fall.

Yet they shook the Jade Emperor Peak, fracturing it with massive chasms as earth and stones flew and dust filled the air.

The clouds and mist atop Mount Tai churned in a magnificent, exquisitely gorgeous display, rendered even more fantastical and extraordinary against the backdrop of the setting sun.

Tourists who had still been marveling at this magnificent scenery upon reaching the summit of Mount Tai scattered in all directions like brainless flies.

They fled to avoid the gigantic entities plunging down from the sky.

Quite a few tourists, struck by flying rocks, were drenched in blood and mangled in flesh as screams of terror rang out across the summit of Mount Tai.

Everything happened far too suddenly, and it was all utterly unexpected.

This was a fraction of a billion times more absurd than the master secretary eating hot pot while singing songs.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yun, who had been squatting nearby waiting for the coffin to watch the mountain, was gradually waking up at that moment.

The commotion caused by the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin was simply too massive, knocking awake his slumbering soul.

Yet Jiang Yun's vision remained somewhat blurred, with things flashing back and forth before his eyes like floaters.

As for why Jiang Yun had appeared here—

It was rather bizarre to tell the truth. After dinner last night, Jiang Yun had suddenly felt all dizzy and muddled.

It felt like he was about to catch a bout of the second-wave Yang, and he had drifted off into a heavy sleep right there on the bed.

As a wanderer floating alone in a big city, although he had saved up a portion of his wealth after two and a half years since graduation, he still shrank back at the sight of those exorbitant housing prices.

Living entirely alone in a rented apartment was quite carefree indeed, but when sickness and pain struck, there was no one to accompany him. He could only take some medicine and rest alone in bed.

When he woke up, he found that it was already broad daylight, but Jiang Yun's head felt as though it were about to split open.

A wave of memories violently forced its way into his mind, and his entire body ached excruciatingly. Opening his eyes, his vision was exceptionally blurry.

Only after absorbing this flood of memories did he understand what was going on.

He, Jiang Yun, had become another person entirely—perhaps through transmigration, or perhaps through the awakening of his true spiritual awareness, he had arrived in the Shrouding the Heavens world.

He had not expected that a 996 corporate worker would truly get to enjoy such a blessing.

Although in the mobile phone, computer, hard drive, and cloud storage of the other world, countless precious treasures of knowledge were still hidden.

Still, it did not matter. After death, who cared if a deluge followed.

This world was far more exciting than the previous one, and anything was possible.

Both he in the Shrouding the Heavens world and he in the other world were named Jiang Yun, and their appearances were even nearly identical.

It was just that the original owner's identity was somewhat unusual: he was actually Ye Fan's cousin!

In his past life, Jiang Yun had read Shrouding the Heavens and had not seen any descriptions regarding Ye Fan's immediate family, having no idea whether he had a cousin.

Yet since he had transmigrated here, he had claimed this younger brother Ye Fan.

When he was eighteen, his parents had passed away in an unexpected car accident, yet he had miraculously survived.

After graduation, having some capital of his own, he left this city of sorrow and went to City H to start a business.

Fortunately, his venture succeeded, and together with his cousin, he opened a branch office in City B.

Yesterday, he had come to City B to discuss business and heard his cousin Ye Fan say he was going to attend a university reunion.

Coincidentally, Ye Fan had once traveled to City H with Pang Bo and a few other classmates, so Jiang Yun had a slight understanding of Ye Fan's peers.

The original owner naturally would not have felt anything special, but the moment Jiang Yun arrived, he instantly understood what was going on.

This was the launch of the Nine Dragons vessel from the Shrouding the Heavens world! To miss this coffin and want to hitch a ride later would be utterly impossible.

He had to hurry and find Ye Fan to hitch a free ride on the coffin.

Judging from the original owner's memories, he had already played the role of this cousin quite dutifully; after all, aside from his aunt's family, he had no other relatives.

As soon as his cousin graduated, he helped him start a company, and the shares of the branch office were split fifty-fifty between the two of them. Ye Fan's Mercedes even had a share belonging to him, Jiang Yun.

Where else could one find such a good cousin?

At the time, Jiang Yun had endured his physical discomfort, casually flagged down a taxi, and rushed straight toward Mount Tai, using his superpower of persuasion to convince the driver that a little extra money was non-negotiable.

For the sake of his physical discomfort and ascending the Jade Emperor Peak, he had spent money to hire several people to carry him up in turns.

Although the process had been torturous, losing a bit of face was entirely acceptable if it meant catching this coffin.

Watching the dust and smoke gradually disperse across the sky, Jiang Yun patted the ash off his body and stood up.

Even though he still had not heard a "ding" sound ring out, having a good cousin was already quite decent.

He lifted his gaze toward the colossal entity. Although he had long since prepared himself mentally, he still could not help falling into a brief trance.

Nine massive dragon corpses lay horizontally before him, each hundreds of meters long. Half of one hung suspended over the edge of a cliff, seemingly about to ride the clouds and mist to depart at any moment, while a plain and ancient bronze giant coffin rested quietly in the rear, engraved with ancient and indistinct patterns.

The ironclad reality told Jiang Yun that all of this was no hallucination; an ancient and mysterious world was about to open up to him. Was he truly prepared for all of this?

Recovering his wits, Jiang Yun took out his phone, snapped a photo of the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin, gathered his thoughts, and sent a message to his aunt.

Aunt, the cousin and I have gone off to seek immortality. Shortest twenty years, longest thirty, I will urge the cousin to produce a few big fat boys and bring them back. We will definitely return, so do not worry; take good care of your health and wait for the cousin's return.

Jiang Yun had figured all of this out long ago on the road here.

In the early stages, Ye Fan fought desperately to cultivate in the Big Dipper, willing even to sever all ties with Big Dipper just to return to Earth—was it not precisely to return and care for his parents?

Yet the result was the tragedy of a parent outliving their child, becoming Ye Fan's greatest regret.

Even if he brought back countless divine medicines, supreme treasures, and longevity pills from the Big Dipper for his parents, what good was it when the wanderer returned to find everything reduced to emptiness?

In fact, according to common sense, his parents' normal lifespans would have had no problem at all lasting until Ye Fan's return.

It was the grief of white-haired parents sending off a black-haired child that caused them to perish from overwhelming sorrow. The heavy part was not a physical ailment, but a sickness of the heart!

This text message would leave hope and a lingering thought for his aunt and the others. Right now, there was very little Jiang Yun could do—only this.

After sending the text, Jiang Yun strode toward the ancient bronze coffin.

Near the bronze coffin, a group of people were still gathered around the giant crater smashed by the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin, pointing and gesturing, while further out, some tourists were looking on from afar.

They wanted to watch the excitement, but the massive dragon corpses and the ancient bronze coffin made them hesitate and hold back.

At that moment, Jiang Yun striding forward appeared exceptionally conspicuous.

Though his vision remained somewhat blurred at present, with the nine dragons and that enormous ancient bronze coffin sitting right there, there was simply no way he could walk in the wrong direction.

Ye Fan also noticed the commotion of someone approaching and turned to look over.

He asked in surprise.

"Cousin, why are you here?"

Hearing the voice, Jiang Yun looked over. For some reason, the floaters-like symptoms in his vision were flashing more and more severely. Though he could not see very clearly, upon hearing this voice after absorbing the memories, Jiang Yun felt an incomparable sense of familiarity.

This was his good cousin—cum work, cough, cough—business partner, Ye Fan.

"Xiaofan, I came to play here at Mount Tai with a client today, but then this sudden incident happened. I saw from afar that it looked like you were here. Are you unhurt?"

Jiang Yun walked close, looked Ye Fan over carefully, and asked with concern.

In the original owner's memories, he had seen Ye Fan many times, but this was his first time seeing a living Heavenly Emperor Ye.

The young man before him was only slightly shorter than Jiang Yun, yet he possessed a straight, upright figure standing around one hundred and eighty centimeters tall. His short hair emitted a faint golden luster under the reflection of the setting sun, and his handsome facial features looked full of heroic spirit.

"Cousin, I'm fine. I just came to climb Mount Tai with my classmates today. There's no real danger, but these dragon corpses and the giant coffin are making me feel uneasy. We should probably leave this place first."

Ye Fan glanced at this striking and dashing cousin, then continued looking toward the Five-Colored Altar within the giant crater.

Having met just a few days ago, there was naturally no great astonishment over a long absence.

Since they were children, this cousin Jiang Yun had often brought Ye Fan along to play—an ironclad relationship where Jiang Yun made the water and Ye Fan molded the mud.

"If you're fine, then get ready to leave."

Knowing that leaving was out of the question even if they wanted to, Jiang Yun casually echoed Ye Fan.

He shifted his gaze toward the ancient bronze coffin, the nine giant dragons, and that Five-Colored Altar. Previously, it had all been a matter of imagination, but now that he had the chance to look at it up close, he naturally had to observe it carefully. Later on, he might even get to touch it.

Ye Fan felt no sense of suspicion regarding his cousin's appearance here, for he understood this cousin quite well after all.

An accident a decade ago had left his cousin unwilling to stay long in City B, or else he would not have fled all the way to distant City H to start a business—unless the client this time was quite troublesome.

Furthermore, it was a former female classmate of Jiang Yun's, which was why Jiang Yun had returned.

"Yes, we should leave this place first and talk."

This time, a cultured young man spoke up, beginning to urge his classmates along.

The crowd also prepared to turn and leave.

Jiang Yun remained rather calm; leaving was simply out of the question, seeing as the appearance of the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin here was hardly a coincidence.

Sure enough, a female classmate standing at the edge of the giant crater lost her footing and nearly tumbled down. As several classmates rushed over to grab her, they all tumbled down together like rolling gourds.

After these individuals fell, they crashed into the stone books and jade tablets that had previously been arranged in neat order upon the altar.

As though receiving some sort of signal, the altar emitted a hazy five-colored halo, and instantly everyone felt as though they had fallen into a swamp, finding it difficult to move. The five-colored stone altar shook continuously, and the people lingering at the edge of the giant crater all tumbled down onto the Five-Colored Altar.

By then, everyone had fallen onto the altar, their faces displaying expressions of panic.

Jiang Yun remained quite composed. In fact, illuminated by the Five-Colored Altar, his vision recovered completely; things were no longer blurry before his eyes, except that a panel suddenly materialized in his field of vision.

Wait, a panel?!

Jiang Yun was overjoyed; the system had finally arrived.

I am going to step by step, step by step, step by step reach the very top. I am going to—never mind, let's reel in these emotions first.

Even though he had transmigrated into the Shrouding the Heavens world and could walk a completely different path—where splitting rivers, turning up seas, soaring through the heavens, and blasting planets apart were no longer matters of fantasy—he still felt a trace of panic in his heart.

After all, in both his past and present lives, he was merely an ordinary person. Even if he had crossed into a fantasy world, he remained an ordinary person. Without strength, even knowing some plot developments meant he simply could not seize control of anything at all.