Cousin, I'm Out

Thinking about the future, Jiang Yun took out the prayer-bead Buddhist artifact and wore it around his wrist. He and Ye Fan and Pang Bo leaned against the small bronze coffin inside and fell into a deep sleep.

Unlike the other students, who felt reverence and fear toward the small bronze coffin, Jiang Yun, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo had no such reservations.

Leaning against the small bronze coffin gave them some measure of safety. The Divine Thought of the Great Accomplishment Sacred Physique that had followed them treated them as if they did not exist.

As for the Crocodile Ancestor's Divine Fetus, wherever it was, it did not dare provoke the three of them while they all carried Buddhist artifacts.

After less than five hours of sleep, everyone gradually woke up.

Ye Fan's classmates began talking freely about the future. Jiang Yun listened quietly and had more or less learned all their names.

"Did you hear something?"

Ye Fan made a shushing gesture, suddenly stood up, and began circling the four-meter-long small bronze coffin.

After making several rounds,

Ye Fan rested one hand on the small bronze coffin and slowly closed his eyes.

Jiang Yun was secretly thrilled. He knew the time had come, though he did not know whether he would have the chance to obtain that nameless ancient scripture.

He stood up as well, holding three Bodhi Tree leaves in each hand. Stopping near Ye Fan, he placed both hands on the small bronze coffin and closed his eyes.

A strange sound gradually rose from within his heart, and Jiang Yun seemed to forget everything.

All kinds of profound truths of the Great Dao continuously appeared in his mind. He comprehended countless wondrous principles as endless insights emerged, and the Gate of All Wonders revealed itself.

The sound grew ever grander, divine music ringing like a bell. Obscure and difficult to understand, it seemed to cross endless ages before entering his mind.

"The Way of Heaven diminishes excess to replenish deficiency."

He could still tell where the first line of that mysterious voice came from, but the following scripture became increasingly abstruse, distant and vast, impossible to comprehend.

At times, it was as if an immortal had descended to the mortal world; at times, as if he stood before hell; at times, as if he had ascended to the Ninth Heaven. All manner of inexplicable insights entered his mind, leaving him utterly entranced.

The inheritance was not long, only several hundred characters, yet it echoed repeatedly in his heart until it was finally branded completely into Jiang Yun's mind.

When Jiang Yun opened his eyes, he found Ye Fan and Pang Bo standing guard beside him.

Bodhi Leaves truly could not compare to Bodhi Seeds. Looking at the leaves in his hand, now much dimmer than before, Jiang Yun put them away in Source Space.

Ye Fan and Jiang Yun exchanged a smile, knowing they had both gained something. Neither spoke again.

Suddenly, Jiang Yun spotted a corpse in the corner and asked Pang Bo about it.

"This person was killed by a Little Divine Crocodile. But those purplish-red bruises on the corpse's neck look exactly like finger marks left by a vicious ghost. It's unbelievably eerie!"

After hearing Pang Bo's explanation, Jiang Yun already understood how things had unfolded.

The finger marks must have been left by the Divine Thought. The Crocodile Ancestor's Divine Fetus had followed them too; he just did not know whom it had attached itself to.

Without the Quasi-Emperor Forbidden Artifact and the Stone Temple Forbidden Artifact, it was hard to say whether the Crocodile Ancestor's Divine Fetus would still attach itself to Li Xiaoman.

Finding the Crocodile Ancestor's Divine Fetus among these twenty-five people would be far too difficult. It was like a massive game of Werewolf with only one werewolf—hard to find indeed.

Suddenly, a strange yet magnificent sound drifted over. Though faint, almost inaudible, it could still shake their minds.

It seemed as if drumbeats came from distant time and space, dull and filled with sorrow. Then bells began to ring, grief spreading through the air, ethereal yet real.

"Where is that sound coming from?"

Everyone was shocked. They looked around, but found nothing.

Suddenly, more sounds came, like endless mourning cries. Tens of thousands of people seemed to be worshipping and praying at one person's funeral.

Funeral bells rang, mourning drums thundered, and it was as though a vast funeral had unfolded before them. An endless sea of people filled heaven and earth, grieving and praying.

At that instant, everyone felt something strange. It was as though they had personally witnessed an ancient emperor reigning over the vast land, dominating the world, followed by a grand funeral unlike any before or since.

Everyone soon regained their senses, but those ethereal mourning sounds still lingered, sending chills down every spine.

The divine radiance from the Buddhist artifacts in their hands descended again. Jiang Yun reflexively put the prayer beads into Source Space.

The divine brilliance of every Buddhist artifact recovered from the ancient temple emerged. It was not a renewed awakening of Source energy, but another exhausting loss of radiance and Dao essence.

Countless beams of divine light blazed brightly, accompanied by profound and unfathomable Dao Texts, all rushing toward the bronze carvings on the wall of the Bronze Coffin.

The coffin wall was covered in green bronze rust from the passage of countless years, yet it still could not conceal the carvings left by ancient forebears.

The carvings shone brilliantly, as though they were about to come alive. The exotic beasts and divine birds depicted upon them became lifelike.

It was as though they could break through the coffin wall and descend into the mortal world. At that moment, the bronze coffin was once again filled with mysterious energy.

"Look! That starry-sky carving is flashing..."

Everyone noticed the change. The largest Desolate Bronze Engraving depicted a boundless starry sky, and what had previously been a still image had become a moving one.

A thin line on the starry-sky carving was flashing.

"Could this be the Starry Sky Ancient Road we traveled?"

Everyone gathered around to watch, speaking one after another with looks of shock.

The starry-sky carving slowly extended.

"Look! This thin line is getting infinitely close to the Big Dipper!"

Watching this scene, Jiang Yun seemed to hear a familiar voice beside his ear.

"Your unscrupulous map will continue serving you. This navigation has ended. Please get off."

The tense heartbeats and even breaths of dozens of people were exceptionally clear in the eerily silent atmosphere.

They did not know what kind of world they were about to reach—whether they would see gods and Buddhas, or face the abyss once more.

For Jiang Yun, the mission of the Nine-Dragon Train had ended here.

Big Dipper, Burial Emperor Star—Jiang Yun had arrived!!!

Enter the immortal abode, roam freely; from this day onward, my fate is mine.

The giant bronze coffin shook violently. Everyone inside felt the world spinning, as if they had encountered a magnitude-ten earthquake in an elevator.

With one final thunderous jolt, hazy divine radiance poured from the Desolate Bronze Engravings inside the coffin and protected everyone. Without the coffin's protection, they would probably have been buried inside it directly.

The lid of the Bronze Coffin slid smoothly open like an automatic door, and the coffin itself tipped over onto the ground.

"Light!"

"Real light."

"Familiar sunlight. Praise God."

Everyone swarmed out of the Bronze Coffin.

The world before them was completely different from Mars's dim desolation and barren reddish wasteland.

Mountain ranges rose and fell, covered in greenery. Towering trees filled the land, while strange rocks and ancient, gnarled trees stood nearby.

There were vines thick enough for two or three people to embrace, coiling like flood dragons, along with lush green grass and wildflowers giving off a fragrant scent. This land appeared full of vitality and life.

This land looked far more suitable for human survival.

Everyone's faces were filled with the joy of surviving a disaster. They immersed themselves in the fresh scents of grass, wildflowers, and soil, closing their eyes to enjoy the sunlight.

Jiang Yun had expected the primeval-forest-like scenery after leaving the coffin. He instinctively looked back and saw a bottomless abyss surrounded by nine great mountains. Merely looking at it made him shudder.

He wondered whether the Great Accomplishment Sacred Physique beneath the abyss was also watching them at this moment.

Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin hung at the edge of the cliff, looking as if it might fall at any moment.

As for why it had not fallen yet, it was probably because there were still people inside the bronze coffin.

Pang Bo and Ye Fan were slowly walking out, carrying three bundles of Little Divine Crocodile corpses and the Bronze Plaque of Great Leiyin Temple over their shoulders.

If Ye Fan had remained inside and refused to come out, would the Great Accomplishment Sacred Physique waiting beneath the abyss have used divine power to kick him out?

Jiang Yun seemed to have thought of something amusing and began to laugh.

"Cousin, I'm out."

Ye Fan saw Jiang Yun still looking into the coffin and assumed Jiang Yun was waiting for them.

Hearing Ye Fan say that, Jiang Yun shivered. Wasn't that supposed to be something a younger female cousin said?

In the blink of an eye, Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin seemed to grow impatient as well and slid directly off the cliff, producing trembling screeches of metal grinding against rock.

A rumbling sound echoed out.

For quite some time, no sound of Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin reaching the bottom came from below. No one knew how deep the abyss was.

Ye Fan's classmates heard the commotion and turned around as well.

"Good thing we got out early. Otherwise, if we'd fallen with it, we'd have been smashed to death."

Everyone felt a wave of relief. Pang Bo clutched his chest, still frightened; he and Ye Fan had been the last to leave.

"There isn't a Five-Colored Altar here. Why did it stop here? Did the vehicle break down in the universe?"

Someone said it jokingly, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

No one could figure out what had happened, and they all began offering their own guesses.

"There's a broken stone stele here."

Everyone hurried over. It was a sign of civilization, and it would be useful in understanding this world.

Jiang Yun had expected all of this, so he did not go over to join the commotion. He knew exactly where they were.

They were in the Desolate Forbidden Land. Right now, his classmates thought this place was far more wonderful than Mars, full of life everywhere.

But on the Big Dipper, people from the great sacred lands and aristocratic families would probably rather stay on Mars for the rest of their lives than spend a single day in the Desolate Forbidden Land.

Of course, that excluded those ignorant old mighty figures who had grown tired of living and entered forbidden lands seeking immortality.

After climbing Mount Tai, going to Mars, and then spending nearly ten hours inside the Bronze Coffin,

Jiang Yun felt as though he were starving to death. He could not wait to drink deeply from the Divine Spring and feast on Divine Fruit.

After studying the stone stele, everyone's excitement gradually calmed. Once they settled down, they all began to feel hungry.

Yet although the mountain forest was thick with vegetation, they had not seen a single living creature. An atmosphere of fear slowly began to grow in everyone's hearts.

After discussing it, they scattered. Some went to find somewhere to relieve themselves.

Some wanted to see whether they could find food in the forest, while others, exhausted and hungry, simply lay down where they were and waited to mooch something to eat or drink.

A new book sets sail. If you think it's written alright, please lend your support. Thank you, dear readers who are handsome and elegant, dashing and charming, as graceful as soaring phoenixes and dragons, gifted and brilliant, heroic and spirited, refined and suave, imposing and distinguished, radiant and vigorous, tall and noble, handsome as jade trees in the wind, and more handsome than Pan An.