The Golden Coffin's Ability

Tian Meng knew that little Yuhao was stubborn. He nodded helplessly and said, "All right. Who told me to go and choose a kindhearted little fellow like you?"

"Thank you, Brother Sky Dream!" Huo Yuhao said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Tang Ya was also a little hesitant. "But what about little Yuhao? His first soul ring is only a ten-year soul ring. If he loses this opportunity, he'll never get into Shrek Academy!"

Jiang Hai said, "Actually, the Sun Moon Royal Academy is pretty good too. I'm quite fond of soul tools!"

"Shut up!"

Zhang Lexuan shot Jiang Hai a glare. "Don't worry. I'll find a way to secure Jiang Hai's place. Leave it to me. And you, brat, settle down! If you still consider me your big sister, stop talking about going to the Sun Moon Empire!"

"But you weren't my big sister to begin with!" Jiang Hai said weakly.

"What did you say?" Zhang Lexuan fixed Jiang Hai with a fierce stare.

A true man never bowed before force. Oh, forget it. I'd better bow just this once!

Jiang Hai glanced at Zhang Lexuan. "Sister Lexuan, I was wrong!"

"That's more like it. Let's go back to Shrek Academy!"

The five gathered and headed west.

Shrek Academy lay northwest of the Star Dou Great Forest, while the soul beasts in the forest's southern region were relatively weaker. That was why Bei Bei had been surprised to see Zhang Lexuan in the south.

With Zhang Lexuan accompanying them, the group traveled much faster.

However, Shrek Academy was far away. Even with Zhang Lexuan, they could not reach it in a single day, and they had already spent far too much time in the Star Dou Great Forest.

When night fell, even Zhang Lexuan no longer wanted to press on, although her martial soul had no fear of the dark. In fact, the deeper the night, the stronger she became.

But most of the powerful soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest were active at night. Visibility was poor as well, and Zhang Lexuan was not confident she could protect them all, especially Jiang Hai and Huo Yuhao.

Over the course of the day, Zhang Lexuan had come to understand Huo Yuhao somewhat. She discovered that his potential was not necessarily inferior to Jiang Hai's, and his character and temperament were excellent too. Even she had to admit that Tang Ya and the others had truly stumbled upon a treasure.

His first skill was not particularly helpful to her, however. She could cross its twenty-meter range in the span of a thought, and her own spiritual perception was no worse than Spiritual Detection.

Still, this skill could evolve. That made it a frightening skill indeed. Zhang Lexuan even felt it was stronger than the soul skill Jiang Hai had obtained from the eight-hundred-year-old Diamond Tiger.

Of course, if Jiang Hai and Huo Yuhao faced each other at the same rank, Jiang Hai could thrash the current Huo Yuhao with one hand.

Jiang Hai's strength was simply terrifying. With Diamond Body enhancing him, even an ordinary Soul Grandmaster might not be his match!

While they rested, Bei Bei planned to teach Huo Yuhao the Tang Sect Secret Arts. Glancing at Jiang Hai, he could not help asking again, "Little Brother Jiang Hai, are you really not going to join our Tang Sect? Though the Tang Sect has declined, its foundations remain intact. The Tang Sect's six great skills have all been passed down: the Mysterious Gate Inner Art, Mysterious Heaven Skill; the hand-training art, Mysterious Jade Hand; the eye-training art, Purple Demon Eye; the lightness art, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track; the grappling art, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon; and the hidden weapon art, Hundred Explanations of Hidden Weapons. Every one of them is an unrivaled art of this age."

As he spoke, Bei Bei glanced at Tang Ya, a trace of affection flashing in his eyes. "Actually, I didn't sincerely want to join the Tang Sect at first. Only after joining did I appreciate its profound foundations. You started later than most people. Having the Tang Sect's skills to help you would benefit your future cultivation too!"

"Bei Bei, thank you for your kindness, but I really have no plans to join a sect right now. If I ever decide to join one, I'll certainly consider the Tang Sect first!" Jiang Hai said.

Bei Bei sighed. "All right, but give it some thought. You're welcome to watch while I teach Yuhao too. Just remember one thing: unless you join the Tang Sect, you must never secretly learn its skills. Otherwise, our Tang Sect will become your sworn enemy!"

Jiang Hai smiled and nodded. The Tang Sect's skills were certainly good, but most relied on finesse, whereas his path favored sweeping, forceful movements and overpowering techniques with sheer strength. Was he supposed to learn the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons so he could throw coffins at people? That's hardly any different from swinging a coffin at them myself!

In that case, what was the point of wasting time secretly learning the Tang Sect's skills?

Even Mysterious Heaven Skill, the very core of the Tang Sect's skills, was an orthodox Daoist inner art. Bei Bei and the others did not know what Daoism was, but how could Jiang Hai, who came from another world, not know? Daoist inner arts were balanced and peaceful, best cultivated alongside Daoist scriptures and a tranquil state of mind. Yet Jiang Hai's heart blazed like fire, and he hated evil as fiercely as a sworn enemy. Daoist inner arts did not suit him either.

"By the way, Bei Bei, you said the Tang Sect's skills had all been passed down. Does that mean Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood were passed down too?" Jiang Hai asked curiously.

Among the Tang Sect's skills, the only ones that truly appealed to Jiang Hai were those two legendary ultimate techniques, Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood.

"Guanyin's Tears? Bodhi Blood?" Bei Bei froze, then asked in confusion, "Does the Tang Sect have those two skills?"

"It does!" Tang Ya walked over, her expression complicated, and answered firmly.

Bei Bei looked at Tang Ya. "Xiaoya, I've been in the Tang Sect for so long. How come I've never heard you mention these two skills?"

Tang Ya shook her head. "The reason you don't know is simple. Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood, along with legendary arts such as Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus and Peacock Plume, have all been lost. Of course, there's another theory within the Tang Sect: Ancestor Tang San never left these arts behind in the first place. After all, even today, Peacock Plume would rival a Level 7 Soul Tool, and Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus would rival a Level 8 Soul Tool. As for Bodhi Blood and Guanyin's Tears, before Ancestor Tang San became a god, he nearly killed a god with those two divine skills!"

"Only the successive sect masters of the Tang Sect know about Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood. I'm curious-where did you hear about these two skills?" Tang Ya asked, looking at Jiang Hai.

"I don't really remember. I think I read about them in a book," Jiang Hai replied.

"What book?" Tang Ya pressed. Could Ancestor Tang San have left another legacy behind?

"No idea. Who could remember after so long? I only glanced through it and remembered the names Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood. Since I happened to meet people from your Tang Sect, I just thought I'd ask out of curiosity," Jiang Hai replied.

Huo Yuhao asked curiously, "Teacher Tang Ya, do gods really exist in this world?"

Tang Ya felt a little disappointed, but she still answered firmly, "Of course they do. Ancestor Tang San is a god!"

Huo Yuhao said regretfully, "If only divine skills like Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood had been passed down. Then our Tang Sect wouldn't have declined."

How terrifying must a skill be if it could nearly kill a god!

A trace of desolation also flashed through Tang Ya's eyes. Indeed, they did not even need Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood. If arts like Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus and Peacock Plume had been passed down, the Tang Sect would never have fallen to its current state.

Bei Bei took a deep breath. "Xiaoya, Yuhao, even without those legendary skills, I believe that with our own strength, we'll one day make the Tang Sect's name ring out across the continent again."

"That's right, Teacher Tang Ya. We'll work hard to revive the Tang Sect!" Huo Yuhao added.

Tang Ya smiled. "All right. Let's work hard together!"

"You carry on. I'll leave you to it!" Jiang Hai smiled and walked aside, leaving the Tang Sect's affairs alone. With Huo Yuhao, the Child of Destiny, the Tang Sect would rise again sooner or later. Unfortunately, Tang San had not passed down Guanyin's Tears and Bodhi Blood.

Guanyin shed tears, tears for the suffering of all living beings!

The ultimate arts of his previous world had already become a lost swan song in this one. Yet he had been nothing but an ordinary person in his previous life. What could he bring to this world?

After letting his thoughts wander through a jumble of nonsense, Jiang Hai shook his head. With a thought, his martial soul, the Bronze Coffin, appeared before him, standing upright at his side.

Mottled verdigris concealed the martial soul's radiance. To anyone who saw it, it looked like an ancient coffin that had lain buried underground for years.

Jiang Hai opened the ancient coffin and stepped inside, where golden light flickered faintly.

Zhang Lexuan glanced in his direction. The Bronze Coffin closed, and Jiang Hai disappeared completely within it.

The Bronze Coffin had originally been roughly ten feet long. After Jiang Hai's soul power broke through, it had grown to thirteen feet.

But when he stepped inside the Bronze Coffin, its interior was unexpectedly vast, fully ten times larger than its exterior. In the pitch-black space, an identical Golden Coffin lay in the center of the Bronze Coffin, emitting a faint golden glow.

With a thought from Jiang Hai, the Golden Coffin opened. Its interior was exactly like the Bronze Coffin's, empty apart from a corpse.

Jiang Hai closed the Golden Coffin, sat on top of it, and began to think.

The awakening of his Bronze Coffin Martial Soul had granted him his first ability: devouring the strength and soul power of the corpse sealed within.

Jiang Hai traveled far and wide and did not spend much time cultivating each day, yet his soul power grew rapidly because of this ability. Of course, another reason he rarely cultivated was that his own cultivation speed was far too slow. Had he relied on himself, even cultivating day and night, reaching rank five soul power by now would have been the absolute limit.

Likewise, it was precisely because the Bronze Coffin had devoured Lin Youtian's strength that Jiang Hai's physical strength had grown so frighteningly.

"The Bronze Coffin gave me strength and soul power. What's the Golden Coffin's ability?" Jiang Hai murmured to himself.

Sitting cross-legged atop the Golden Coffin, Jiang Hai quietly sensed the power seeping from it. "My soul power is growing faster-twice as fast as before. It seems increasing soul power is an innate ability of every layer of coffin. Then what's the other ability? Spiritual power?"

Sitting on the Golden Coffin, Jiang Hai did indeed feel that his hearing and eyesight had sharpened somewhat. It was spiritual power, but seemingly not ordinary spiritual power. It was more like... intelligence?

What the Golden Coffin increased was his intelligence!

Intelligence was a mysterious power, but it helped Jiang Hai immensely. As his intelligence grew, many hazy memories in his mind became clearer and clearer.