The Opening Act

Around the enormous Tai Chi Eight Trigrams Diagram, space twisted and the light grew hazy. The eight trigrams corresponding to Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, and Kan lit up in succession, like a set of mysterious, ancient codes flashing in the darkness.

Though only sages of ancient times could understand and master it, as an Emperor's Son, the fragments of the Emperor's Dao contained within Ji Hao's blood constantly guided him toward grasping the mysteries of Void.

Although his head felt swollen and dizzy, Ji Hao continued recording the star map.

Ji Hao watched everything without blinking. Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin traveling along the Starry Sky Ancient Road definitely involved the mysteries of Void. Though Ji Hao had not cultivated the Void Scripture, he had dabbled in many of its great divine abilities.

This Tai Chi Eight Trigrams Diagram would help Ji Hao comprehend the mysteries of Void and gain a deeper mastery over it. Nothing else needed to be said—Void Secret Technique was first-rate for escaping. Back then, when Ji Hao had followed Shennong to that place, if he had not been so skilled with Void Secret Technique, he would have long since been locked in a little dark room.

The two yin-yang fish within the Tai Chi Diagram resembled two strange doors. They trembled continuously, slowly opening a crack as though they led to a distant, unknown starry sky.

Light flashed endlessly as the eight symbols of the trigrams flickered unpredictably. After changing repeatedly in a complex sequence, they finally all lit up at once, releasing a dazzling radiance.

Boom.

With a muffled tremor, a Tai Chi Diagram emerged at the center of the Eight Trigrams Diagram. The yin-yang fish nestled together at its core, while the trigram symbols flashed continuously as though assembling a code and calculating a warp passage. After repeatedly shifting through a complicated sequence, they finally all lit up simultaneously, radiating a blinding light. The two yin-yang fish in the Tai Chi Diagram slowly opened like doors, connecting to the distant starry sky.

Clang!

The bronze coffin shook, and the cracks on its lid widened continuously. Everyone felt dizzy for a moment before being sucked into the coffin!

Ji Hao seized the opportunity as well. Taking one step forward, he activated Void Secret Technique, Near at Hand, Far at Horizon, and instantly entered the Three Worlds Bronze Coffin.

"Help!"

"It hurts!"

"Oh, heavens!"

"It's so dark! This place..."

"What kind of hell is this?!"

Some people were on the verge of collapse, crying out in terror.

Bang!

The nine enormous dragon corpses hanging from the cliff trembled. At the same time, the lid of the Bronze Ancient Coffin let out a loud crash before completely returning to its place and sealing shut.

Everyone's faces turned pale. This enormous coffin had actually closed by itself, as though it had locked them all inside. Despair rose in their hearts.

"No way, we've been locked inside this bronze coffin."

"Who can save us?"

"I'm so, so scared!"

"Being scared is useless. We're trapped in this bronze coffin and can't save ourselves. Let's hope rescue comes," Ye Fan could only say casually to reassure them, though his gaze drifted toward Ji Hao from time to time.

The interior of the bronze coffin was pitch-black, but to Ji Hao, it was no different from outside. He surveyed this most iconic structure in Shrouding the Heavens with great interest.

When Shrouding the Heavens was mentioned, the first thing that came to mind was Heavenly Emperor Ye, followed by Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin—the beginning that unveiled the entire prelude.

"Attention, passengers. Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin is about to take off. Please fasten your seat belts," Ji Hao said, as though a screw had come loose in his head.

"At a time like this, you're still spouting nonsense! I think you're the one who locked us in this bronze coffin. I knew something was wrong with you the moment I saw you!" Liu Yunzhi shouted wildly.

Ji Hao said nothing. He merely cast Liu Yunzhi an indifferent glance. A trace of deathly aura surfaced in his eyes, and in an instant, the temperature inside the Bronze Ancient Coffin dropped by more than ten degrees, as though winter had arrived ahead of time. The cold pierced to the bone.

His expression was utterly cold, his eyes deep and dark. Combined with the scene inside the Bronze Ancient Coffin, it frightened everyone into retreating again and again, screaming without end.

"Y-you... what kind of monster are you? It must have been you who locked us in this coffin!"

"I told you we shouldn't have brought him along! Just look at what he's wearing—he obviously isn't from modern times. Maybe this is his coffin, and he wants to drag us down to be buried with him!" Liu Yunzhi kept shouting in terror.

Hearing Liu Yunzhi's words and seeing Ji Hao's cold expression, the group was immediately scared out of their wits.

"Sir, if you have any unfulfilled wishes, you can tell us. Let us out, and we promise we'll help you fulfill them."

"It's New China now. Monsters aren't allowed to gain intelligence!" Ye Fan was somewhat creeped out as well, but he gathered his courage and stepped forward.

Suddenly, the Bronze Ancient Coffin shook violently. Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin rose into the air and headed along the Starry Sky Ancient Road.

All of Mount Tai shook violently. Five-colored divine light shot into the sky from Jade Emperor Summit and vanished into the starry sky.

At the instant the setting sun fell, the summit of Mount Tai dimmed as well. The Tai Chi Eight Trigrams Diagram in the sky closed, Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin flashed past, and everything began.

"Jingwei, Jingwei..." The divine bird on Ji Hao's shoulder chirped softly. A peaceful force flowed through the Bronze Ancient Coffin, calming the frightened crowd at once. The deathly aura within Ji Hao's body also subsided.

As Flame Emperor's grandson and Yellow Emperor's son, Ji Hao carried the bloodlines of two great Human race Emperors. The fact that they had not clashed was nothing short of incredible. He was essentially an enhanced Emperor's Son.

The bloodline of a single Great Emperor might not compare to that of an Emperor's Son, but the overlapping bloodlines of two Great Emperors made Ji Hao's bloodline far surpass that of an Emperor's Son. His talent was even more unparalleled, and when he was born, he had received the blessing of the heavens.

Of course, a blessing was also a restraint. The laws of a single Great Emperor were enough to keep an Emperor's Son from escaping his father's influence, let alone the laws of Void and Hengyu, two Great Emperors.

Fragments of the Great Dao belonging to two Human race Emperors flowed within Ji Hao's body. His cultivation was still too low for anything to be apparent, but once Ji Hao entered the Immortal Platform Realm, his Great Emperor bloodline would display its proper power.

He was nearly in harmony with the Dao, similar to an Innate Dao Embryo, except that he was only in harmony with the Dao of his forebears.

Moreover, because of Emperor Corpse Spirit Awakening, Ji Hao's bloodline contained a thread of deathly aura that was pure to the extreme.

It was also a double stacking effect. None of Ji Hao's other brothers had any problems; at most, their bloodlines were impure, allowing them to rival only the third- or fourth-generation descendants of an Emperor.

The process of Emperor Corpse Spirit Awakening was exceptionally difficult. One careless mistake could cause a corpse transformation and destroy an entire star field. Lingbao Heavenly Venerable had encountered such a thing in the past, which was why he created the Scripture of Deliverance.

This thread of Emperor Realm deathly aura made Ji Hao's body innately weak. The deathly aura in his Sea of Bitterness had nearly submerged his Life Spring, causing his Sea of Reincarnation to collapse.

He could easily have died young, which was why Yellow Emperor had sealed Ji Hao away, waiting for future generations to find an Immortality Elixir to treat him.

From the current situation, it seemed they had failed to find one. Fortunately, Ji Hao had his own method. He had Yellow Emperor seal him atop Mount Tai, where he waited for the arrival of Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin.

Ji Hao had awakened as early as two thousand years ago. He had waited until Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin approached Earth before breaking out of the Source.