Arrival

Only four or five hours had passed when the faint glow of phones lit up the dark giant coffin, and those who had been sleeping began to wake one after another.

At that moment, everyone felt utterly lost.

They had no idea where the mysterious Bronze Giant Coffin would ultimately take them. Was it heading for the Gods' Return Land? Would it cross to the far shore of the starry sky? Or would it drift forever through the boundless void?

Lu Chen, of course, was an exception. He knew what lay ahead.

The Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin had existed for several eras, serving as both the resting place and war fortress of a supreme powerhouse.

It represented the past, present, and future, signifying an immortality untouched by decay, an eternity untouched by destruction, in the hope of growing even stronger in the future.

The coffin's current owner had departed countless years ago. Since then, with neither a known starting point nor a known destination, it had sailed through the universe along an inexplicable course for several eras.

Without outside interference, its next stop would have been Ziwei Ancient Star. Unfortunately, because Ye Fan was a similar flower, the Ruthless Great Emperor would forcibly alter the original course of the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin and bring it to Burial Emperor Star in the Big Dipper Star Domain.

"Lu Chen, where do you think the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin is headed?" Ye Fan nudged Lu Chen and asked quietly.

"Perhaps the burial ground of the gods," Lu Chen said softly, a hint of mystery on his face.

Big Dipper Ancient Star was known as Burial Emperor Star. The Heavenly Venerables of the Mythological Era, the Ancient Emperors of the Primordial Era, and the Great Emperors of the Desolate Ancient Era had all gathered there in their twilight years. It truly deserved to be called the burial ground of the gods.

"Do you know something?" Ye Fan kept feeling that there was a note of certainty in Lu Chen's words, as though he knew something about the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin.

"What would I know? I'm just guessing!" Lu Chen denied it. After all, this journey involved a supreme Great Emperor who could reach the eight wildernesses with a single thought. Reckless boasting was hardly a good idea.

"Quick, look! Something seems wrong with him!" Suddenly, someone inside the coffin cried out.

"What happened?" Everyone was startled. Not knowing what was going on, they gathered around by the light of their phones.

It turned out that someone had discovered a male classmate who would not wake from his sleep. On checking him, they found that he had died soundlessly in the dark ancient coffin.

Soon, the group split into two camps and began arguing. Some suspected that Ye Fan had secretly killed the classmate, since the two had clashed on the Five-Colored Altar.

"Liu Yunzhi, stop splashing dirty water on us!" Pang Bo cursed.

"Everyone knows he had a grudge against you two earlier, so only you and Ye Fan had a motive to kill him," Liu Yunzhi said coldly.

"If we wanted him dead, we'd have pushed him into the sandstorm back on the Five-Colored Altar! Why wait until now?" Pang Bo snarled.

Back on the altar, that classmate had tried to seize Ye Fan's Buddhist Artifact. After failing, he had nearly been thrown into the sandstorm by an enraged Ye Fan. Only everyone's desperate intervention had persuaded Ye Fan to spare him.

Now that the classmate had died without a sound, many naturally suspected Ye Fan. Liu Yunzhi and the others, who had resented him for years, pointed their spearheads straight at him.

"I didn't kill him." Despite the suspicious looks from quite a few people, Ye Fan spoke calmly.

Although they had been classmates for four years, that did not mean they had all been on good terms. Some slandered him, while others spoke up for him.

Lu Chen said nothing. He stepped forward and shone his phone on the dead man. The man sat slumped in a corner of the bronze coffin, his neck and face bluish-purple and his eyes wide open. Even in death, his gaze still held a trace of terror.

He extended the Vajra Pestle in his hand and carefully pressed it against the man's Adam's apple. He could not feel the protrusion that should have been there; it had clearly been crushed.

"In Buddhist legends, Divine Crocodiles devour people, soul and spirit alike. Terror consumes their souls until they scatter in fright. It looks like a Little Divine Crocodile slipped into the bronze coffin." Only now did Lu Chen speak, having offered no defense earlier.

"What?!"

Everyone recoiled in alarm. Clearly, the terror the Little Divine Crocodiles had brought them was beyond compare.

"Just because you say so? What proof do you have?" Liu Yunzhi asked, his face dark.

Lu Chen had seized the Vajra Pestle ahead of him, unlike in the original course of events, but Liu Yunzhi had still found an Ancient Ruler in the Great Thunderclap Temple. Clearly, that was what gave him the confidence to target Ye Fan.

Lu Chen turned and gave him a long, searching look. Rather than argue, he said, "The Little Divine Crocodile is probably still inside the corpse. We need to kill it, or none of us will have any peace."

"Damn it, there's another Three-Inch Nail! Watch me smash it to pieces." At those words, Pang Bo came over carrying the Great Thunderclap Temple Plaque.

"Be careful." Ye Fan also stepped forward with the Ancient Bronze Lamp raised, keeping his guard up.

Lu Chen nodded to the two of them. Shining his phone ahead, he cautiously extended the Vajra Pestle and pried open the dead classmate's lips.

Sure enough, a thumb-sized black shadow shot out of the corpse's mouth, straight at his forehead.

Crack!

The Vajra Pestle immediately reacted. Several thin arcs of lightning flashed out, illuminating the dark bronze coffin and sending the Little Divine Crocodile flying.

This was also why Lu Chen had dared to step forward of his own accord. The treasured Buddhist pestle in his hand still held a little mysterious power.

Whoosh...

Already prepared, Ye Fan blew hard at the bronze lamp. Faint sparks scattered from it, burning the Little Divine Crocodile and making it shriek like a vengeful ghost.

"Die, you three-inch rat!"

Pang Bo seized the chance and slammed the Ancient Plaque down with all his strength. The words "Great Thunderclap Temple" flickered with a few threads of Buddhist light, finally crushing the Little Evil Creature into pulp.

"Now who still says Ye Fan killed Chen Hao?" With one hand braced against the Ancient Plaque, Pang Bo fiercely challenged those who had accused Ye Fan of killing their classmate.

"We were only discussing the facts. Ye Fan really was the prime suspect before," Liu Yunzhi said, wearing an expression that suggested they had merely misjudged him.

Ye Fan said nothing more.

"You..." Pang Bo, however, glared furiously and was about to raise the Ancient Plaque and smash it into him. The other classmates hurried to stop him.

Lu Chen sighed inwardly. Human hearts truly were complicated. Even in a life-and-death crisis like this, they were still busy stirring up bullshit.

Before long, Ye Fan discovered the sound of scripture being recited inside the bronze coffin. Unfortunately, no one else could hear it, and they all thought he was hearing things.

Only Lu Chen understood what was happening. It was information inscribed in the Three-Life Bronze Coffin by the Heavenly Emperor of the previous era, mainly explaining a method for repairing the immortal domain.

Although it was not a cultivation method, the characters were Great Emperor Dao Patterns and contained endless marvels in their own right.

Unfortunately, even after resting his hand on the small coffin for a long time, Lu Chen could not hear a single word of the scripture. In the end, he could only give up!

Whether it was because of the Bodhi Seed, the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body, or some other reason, only Ye Fan could hear the several hundred words of scripture inscribed within the small coffin.

Two hours later, the bronze walls inside the giant coffin actually began to glow. They drained the last traces of mysterious power from the ancient artifacts in everyone's hands, then displayed a star map.

After studying it closely, they found that the star map looked remarkably like the Big Dipper. A point of light represented the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, which was heading toward that star domain.

Hum!

The Bronze Giant Coffin shuddered, then began tumbling, as though plunging downward at tremendous speed.

Under normal circumstances, an impact like this would have left Lu Chen and the others inside either dead or crippled. Yet the bronze coffin's walls emitted a faint glow that neutralized the force, leaving everyone completely unharmed.

Bang!

With a tremendous crash, the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin seemed to strike the ground. At last, the shaking stopped. Then, with a clang, the coffin lid slid aside, revealing a gap wide enough for two people to pass through.

"Big Dipper!" Watching the light stream into the coffin, Lu Chen's thoughts surged. He knew this train through the universe had finally reached its station.