Lin Hao had seen the Three-Life Bronze Coffin long ago.
After all, given his current strength and his special friendship with that astonishingly gifted Ruthless Empress...
It was not too difficult for him to see the legendary, unfathomable Three-Life Bronze Coffin that spanned past and present.
Lin Hao had once tried to peer into the bronze coffin with his Double Pupils.
In that instant, Lin Hao seemed to see countless worlds born and destroyed, the river of time surging, countless heroes struggling to cross within the coffin, and era after era ending and beginning within it...
But perhaps because he was still at the pinnacle of the mortal realm and had yet to embark on the immortal path.
Those scenes had remained far too hazy, far too fragmented, as though separated from him by ten thousand veils.
Later, Lin Hao had studied that bronze coffin many more times, entering the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land three times in an attempt to derive higher principles of the Dao from it.
Unfortunately, every attempt had ended in failure.
The Three-Life Bronze Coffin's standing was simply too high.
Now, the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin was about to depart, and Ye Fan, that "future Heavenly Emperor Ye," was about to embark on his destined journey.
Lin Hao suddenly felt that perhaps he could go and look at that bronze coffin again-
Not at the coffin itself, but to see whether it would produce some wondrous reaction when it encountered Ye Fan, this "person destined to face the tribulation."
Besides, as a former "fan of the original novel," it would truly be a terrible shame not to witness such an iconic event as the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin with his own eyes.
As for Ye Fan himself, Lin Hao had no intention of interfering.
This era needed Ye Fan. It needed him to rise in his own way and suppress all enemies with his own strength.
To ultimately quell the Dark Turmoil and fight his way into the Immortal Domain.
Too much interference...
Might instead leave the charcoal without enough external pressure, preventing it from ever becoming a "diamond."
With that thought, Lin Hao looked at Tantai Guyue beside him.
"Guyue, I'm going out for a while."
"How long will Your Majesty be away?" Tantai Guyue asked softly.
"A few days at the shortest, a little over a month at the longest."
Lin Hao took her fair little hand, feeling its warmth and softness against his palm. "Thank you for handling the Heavenly Court's affairs."
"It is my duty as your consort."
As Tantai Guyue spoke, she frowned slightly. "It's just..."
"Does Your Majesty truly not need to remain here personally to keep watch over the Primordial Ancient Mine?"
"If those Ancient Supremes really undergo Ultimate Sublimation, I'm afraid Senior Gai and the Undying Heavenly Empress..."
"It's fine."
Lin Hao waved a hand, his tone composed. "Gai Jiuyou has already achieved Alternative Dao Attainment. He is only half a step away from becoming a true Great Emperor."
"Although the Undying Heavenly Empress has yet to attain the Dao, she carries the Undying Heavenly Emperor's Dao legacy and wields the Undying Heavenly Blade. Her combat strength is no weaker than that of an ordinary Supreme."
"Working together, the two of them can put up a fight even if two or three Ancient Supremes undergo Ultimate Sublimation."
"Besides-"
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "Every one of those old fellows cherishes his life. Unless absolutely forced to, they will never resort to Ultimate Sublimation lightly."
"Even if a fight really breaks out, they can hold out until I return. There won't be any major problems."
Hearing this, Tantai Guyue felt somewhat reassured and nodded. "I understand. If anything changes, I will notify Your Majesty immediately through a secret art."
"Mm."
Lin Hao reached out and gently stroked her silken hair. "By the way, you oversee the Heavenly Court now and have plenty to do. You needn't personally handle little matters like bathing and changing my clothes anymore."
"Have Xiaoxiao and Wanwan teach them the rules as soon as possible and bring them over soon..."
Tantai Guyue smiled faintly. "Serving Your Majesty is my honor."
"Your honor?"
Hearing that, Lin Hao could not help laughing. "That's not what you said when you were hunting me down!"
"Well, who told a little thief like you to come to my Jade Lake Holy Land and try to steal the Western Emperor Scripture? How could I let you get away with that?"
"You great enchantress, I still remember that palm strike you gave me."
As he spoke, Lin Hao scooped Tantai Guyue up and set her on the edge of the bathing pool. "Now let me properly repay... that palm strike from back then!"
"Your Majesty~"
The night passed without further words, and early the next morning arrived.
Dai Mubai had thought about many things the night before...
He had thought about how he had been doing perfectly well on the Douluo Continent, yet after coming to this Shrouding the Heavens World, he had ended up living in a wretched place like a prison cell.
Only late into the night, when he truly could not hold out any longer, had he drifted off to sleep.
Now, while he was sleeping soundly, he suddenly felt someone kick him, with a clear air of urging him to get up.
Dai Mubai instantly flew into a rage!
"Who?!"
He instinctively growled, his sinister eyes snapping open in the dim light, a golden gleam flashing through them on reflex.
However, when he opened his eyes fully, focused his gaze, and clearly saw the person standing before him, who had just nudged him with the toe of a worn-out straw sandal...
All his anger vanished completely, as though a basin of ice water had been poured over his head.
It was that old man.
His gray hair was as tangled as withered grass, and the dingy gray prison clothes on his body were so filthy that their original color was impossible to discern. They also gave off an indescribable odor.
He looked like nothing more than a slovenly, down-and-out old geezer.
Yet this very old geezer had casually delivered two slaps yesterday, leaving him, a rank-thirty-eight Battle Soul Elder, gravely injured and coughing up blood, sprawled on the ground like a dead dog without the slightest ability to fight back.
At that moment.
The old man was looking at him expressionlessly through drooping eyelids.
"What?!"
Dai Mubai's throat bobbed. His waking temper, his aristocratic pride, and his arrogance as a prince were instantly crushed to pieces by cruel reality.
A trace of fear he could barely conceal appeared on his face as he forced out an ugly, ingratiating smile.
"N-no... nothing... S-Senior, you're awake? G-good morning."
The old man gave a brief snort through his nose by way of reply, then casually tipped his chin toward the space beyond the cell's metal bars.
"You sleep like a dead pig."
"Well, you're a lucky brat. Until that big shot who sent you in here gives the word, you can't die yet."
"See..."
"Someone brought you medicine."
"Medicine?"
Dai Mubai froze, then endured the pain of his broken arms and followed the old man's gaze toward the cell door.
On the cold floor outside the cell lay a pill the size of a longan.
It was a dull, dark brownish-black all over, with no particular sheen on its surface and no detectable smell. It looked utterly unremarkable, even a little like a lump casually rolled out of mud.
Beside the pill sat a crude little bamboo tube, presumably containing clean water.
"Take it. You've still got reform through labor today. Don't waste time..."
Hearing this and looking at that ordinary black pill, Dai Mubai was speechless.
His arms were broken, yet he still had to undergo reform through labor. Although he did not know exactly what reform through labor meant, it clearly required using his arms...
This Heavenly Court is downright inhumane!
And what kind of pill could heal my arms today?
Though those were his thoughts.
Faced with this old prisoner's words, Dai Mubai did not dare voice a single objection.
After all, that was simply his nature. Otherwise, upon discovering that he could not defeat his elder brother Dai Weisi back then, he would not have outright abandoned his fiancée and fled to the Heaven Dou Empire to escape.
So he still nodded. "All right, Senior. I understand."