The Nine Dragons Bus

Jiang Xian entered the presidential suite and saw two people.

The man looked to be in his twenties. He had a clean-cut face with gentle contours, neat black hair, and handsome, well-proportioned features. This was probably Ye Fan.

The young woman beside him had soft, rounded features and clear almond-shaped eyes that drooped slightly at the corners. When she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, giving her a natural warmth. Her nose was delicate and straight, her lips full and soft. Rather than a striking, aggressive beauty, she was the sort of bare-faced beauty whose looks grew on you.

Jiang Xian could have guessed with his eyes closed that this must be Xu Qiong. How did he know? Because Ye Fan had mentioned her in the group.

Ye Fan looked at the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy before him.

"Are you the group owner? What should I call you? I can't keep calling you 'group owner,' can I?" Ye Fan asked.

"Call me Brother Jiang. Although I look younger than you two, I'm actually over thirty if you add my two lifetimes together. That still makes me a little older than both of you," Jiang Xian said, looking at Ye Fan.

Xu Qiong bowed slightly, her expression gentle, and spoke softly. "Hello, Brother Jiang. I'm Xu Qiong, Ye Fan's girlfriend. I've often heard him mention the group owner. I finally get to meet you today."

"Haha, since this is my first time meeting my little brother's girlfriend, let me give you a resurrection coin."

With that, Jiang Xian used his talent to give Xu Qiong an extra life. He felt that giving Ye Fan a resurrection coin would be useless ninety-nine times out of a hundred. After all, he was the protagonist. Giving one to Xu Qiong, however, was quite useful-an extra safeguard.

Xu Qiong sensed that she had gained an extra life and was utterly astonished. Someone giving out a resurrection coin on their first meeting was simply unheard of. As expected of the group owner. He really is incredible.

Ye Fan and Xu Qiong hurriedly thanked Jiang Xian.

"Brother Jiang, we're ready to set off up Mount Tai now. This is just the right time to leave," Ye Fan said.

"All right, let's head out together, then. To the summit of Mount Tai," Jiang Xian replied.

With that, the three left the hotel.

Summer heat rose in waves, and visitors streamed endlessly past the foot of Mount Tai.

Ye Fan walked beside Xu Qiong along the stone steps. Her fingertips lightly held his sleeve, her expression gentle, an air of simple, steady everyday life surrounding her. Jiang Xian followed half a step behind them with one hand in his pocket, suppressing a faint smile of amusement.

A young woman wore a T-shirt printed with a cartoon design and shorts that ended above her knees. Her features were beautiful and refined, with a naturally cool, proud air. She was Li Xiaoman, Ye Fan's first love from university. Beside Li Xiaoman stood a tall young man, her classmate in America.

Jiang Xian knew there was nothing between Kaide and Li Xiaoman, and he watched from behind, stifling his laughter. This was the iconic scene of Heavenly Emperor Ye's ex meeting his current girlfriend.

The moment their eyes met, the air inexplicably froze.

Li Xiaoman's gaze passed over Ye Fan and settled on Xu Qiong, who stood beside him holding his sleeve. Her delicate brows drew together slightly, and her voice carried some of the complexity of meeting again after a long separation. "Ye Fan? I didn't expect to run into you here."

Ye Fan paused slightly. Looking at the familiar person he had not seen for so long, his expression grew a little awkward, and he stepped half a pace forward. "Li Xiaoman, long time no see."

Xu Qiong stood quietly beside Ye Fan without stepping forward, merely lowering her eyes slightly. A barely noticeable trace of unease slipped into her gentle expression. She quietly remained his companion, neither competing nor fighting for attention, yet her posture declared her current place.

Li Xiaoman glanced over Xu Qiong, the corners of her lips lifting in an almost imperceptible curve. "And this is?"

"I'm Xu Qiong, Ye Fan's girlfriend." Xu Qiong raised her head. Her voice was soft but clear, her manner perfectly polite, neither servile nor overbearing.

That brief sentence instantly lent the scene a faint air of romantic confrontation.

On one side was a first love from their young, innocent days, ended in regret and carrying old feelings and unwillingness to let go. On the other was the woman who now shared his everyday life, with whom he discussed marriage-a gentle, reserved lover who nevertheless stood firm. Almost without hesitation, Ye Fan lifted his right hand and firmly took Xu Qiong's.

He turned to look at Xu Qiong. There was no conflict in his eyes, only the ease and tenderness that came after everything had been settled.

Behind them, Jiang Xian held up his phone, his camera steadily recording the scene. He felt this video could sell for at least one divine herb.

Li Xiaoman and Kaide walked side by side ahead, while Ye Fan, Xu Qiong, and Jiang Xian walked slowly together behind them.

Halfway up, thin mist often curled around the mountainside. Milky wisps of cloud flowed slowly along the valleys, blurring the dark mountains into a hazy ink painting. The wind echoed through the valleys, deep and vast, carrying the steady grandeur unique to the Eastern Sacred Mountain.

The higher they climbed, the stronger the wind became and the broader the view grew. Peak after peak receded beneath their feet, and at last they understood the spirit of Du Fu's line: "One day I shall stand atop the highest peak and see all other mountains dwarfed below."

Soon, they reached Jade Emperor Peak.

Jiang Xian looked up at the sky. Sounds like wind and thunder seemed to come from within the clouds. He knew the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin was coming.

"Ye Fan, get ready. Our bus will be here soon," Jiang Xian said, looking at him.

Before anyone could react, they looked up at the sky-nine enormous creatures broke through the thick clouds and slowly appeared in midair. Their gigantic bodies coiled across the heavens, and a vast, desolate pressure from desolate antiquity bore down heavily, making everyone's chest tighten and even their breathing grow labored.

With thick chains, the nine dragons jointly hauled an ancient bronze coffin of incomparable size.

The coffin was weathered and mottled, covered in incomprehensible ancient patterns. It exuded a bleakness born of countless ages of silence. The chains stretched taut as it slowly descended with the nine dragons' movements.

The shadow seemed to cover the entire sky, and the wind howled.

The next second, the enormous bronze coffin slammed heavily onto the platform at the summit of Mount Tai.

Boom! The deafening crash shook the ground violently, sending rubble and dust flying everywhere. Many people were caught in the impact, their flesh battered into bloody ruin.

Everyone there except Jiang Xian's group of three panicked.

"Let's hurry down the mountain," someone said quietly.

"If you want to leave, there's still time. If you don't leave now, who knows whether you'll ever return to Earth in this lifetime? More than half will definitely die. Don't ask me how I know. I can't be bothered to explain. If you're not afraid of dying, stay," Jiang Xian told Ye Fan's classmates.

"That's right! It's extremely dangerous here right now. If you want to leave, hurry!" Most of those present were classmates who had spent four years together, day in and day out. Ye Fan could not bear to watch them get injured or killed either.

Jiang Xian remembered that quite a few of these classmates of Ye Fan's had died on the Big Dipper, and not many had survived in the end. Their rate of producing outstanding talents, however, was fairly high.

After hearing Jiang Xian and Ye Fan's words, more than half of Ye Fan's classmates quickly left the summit.

Of those who remained in the end, most did not believe what Jiang Xian and Ye Fan had said and thought there was some great opportunity here.

Two people had yet to get beyond the area when the Five-Colored Stone Altar began shaking continuously, sending out a mysterious force. None of them could move, and they were soon sucked into the enormous bronze coffin.