Emperor’s Domination

Grand Sword was a dao lineage in Insane Court, a very small side-branch of the Insane Scripture. The cultivation methods and mantras from the sect all came from this particular scripture.

It was once glorious as well with considerable power and had many meritorious contributions in battles for Insane. Unfortunately, it fell after a power struggle and was forced to move to the border.

They served as tomb watchers for the ancestors of Insane and became a tiny sect henceforth.

This so-called ancestral tomb was only a large crater called the Ancestral Abyss by Insane court. Rumor has it that the ancestors with great contribution were buried beneath. Plus, some even believed that Insane Ancestor, the progenitor of region, was also here.

Insane Ancestor created this place to honor his forefathers. People said that he buried himself down there even before dying, waiting for another day of shedding his mortal shell.

All in all, few specific records existed about the Ancestral Abyss, such as details about the exact ancestors who were buried here.

Because of this, only the oldest ancestors of Insane Court were buried here. Future generations didn’t have do this.

In theory, being the tomb guardians was an honorable matter. Alas, the ancestors here were from the ancient time while the recent ones weren’t buried here. Thus, this tomb was more in name than anything else. It was deserted by this point.

So, Grand Sword being sent here was prestigious on paper, but it was more of a complete exile.

There was nothing it could do either as a side branch. How could it oppose the order of the court? It only hoped that its elite students could come out and strengthen the sect back to the central region again.

The disciples needed to work hard for the sect to rise again or pray that their ancestors would bless them with luck.

However, Grand Sword was indeed meeting a stroke of fortune as if the ancestors of Insane Court were coming back in spirit.

On this early morning, a wooden coffin was floating out of Ancestral Abyss.

“Look there, what is that?” A disciple from Grand Sword was the first one to spot it.

He and his martial brothers were on patrol around the abyss and his eyesight was keen enough to spot this coffin.

The abyss looked like a beast opening its bloody jaw. Looking from the distance would make one shudder. It was also bottomless; no one knew how far it went down.

Ever since the exile, people have come down to look around but they didn’t get very far. The further down, the colder. No one could withstand this temperature.

The abyss has been very peaceful with nothing notable happening. Because of this, the disciples have grown used to this serenity.

The sudden appearance of a coffin shocked them. This particular coffin had an archaic style, perhaps millions of years old. There were pieces of ice left on it as if it had just drifted from a near-frozen river.

The disciples glanced at each other nervously. One of them eventually regained their wits: “We must report this to the sect master!”

The current master of Grand Sword looked like a fifty-year-old mortal man. He was a capable expert - ninth-level True Apprentice.

Of course, this realm was nothing in the grand scheme of thing for Insane Court, let alone Myriad Lineage.

Alas, the sect had declined and had no one stronger. Thus, a True Apprentice still became the sect master.

Zhu Qi was his name. After hearing about the floating coffin, he was naturally startled. Nothing has happened in the abyss ever since they got here.

He calmed down and summoned several elders before running for the abyss.

The group glanced at each other while looking at the coffin. They had no idea whether this was a blessing or a disaster so they felt quite helpless. Though they were sect master and elders - they were inexperienced, no different from country bumpkins in this declining sect.

“Did anything happen last night?” Zhu Qi asked a disciple.

The patrollers looked around and all shook their head: “Sect master, we didn’t notice anything during our patrol.”

“Pull it up.” The sect master ordered after a brief deliberation with the elders. 

These elders used all of their might before being able to drag the coffin out of the abyss. They were quite worried, not knowing what was inside.

In the end, they took a deep breath and worked together to open the lid. It was quite easy due to a lack of protection seal.

A young man was lying inside to their astonishment so they quickly pushed the lid back on.

“Bring it back to Brocade Chamber.” Zhu Qi told the disciples.

After returning, he ordered: “Do not leak this information or there will be strict punishment.”

The disciples actually didn’t see what was inside but they didn’t dare to show any slight after hearing his stern voice. Brocade Chamber was a place meant for important guests. But now, it was so strange to see a coffin there.

The disciples eventually left so only the seniors were left. They personally destroyed the coffin, leaving behind a large ice chunk with the young man inside. His armor didn’t seem to be from their era.

The moment they got close to the ice, even their body started to freeze. It wouldn’t be easy melting it away.

At the start, they thought it would be an ancestor inside so this caught them off-guard.

But the most pertinent question was whether this young man was still alive or not.

“Maybe it’s a coffin from outside? Someone else threw it down there.” An elder speculated.

“No way, it would have sunk to the bottom and you know, there’s no coming back out.” A different elder disagreed.

Some disciples have fallen down there to the death. It was a common belief that falling into that abyss meant no coming back up.

“Maybe it is an ancestor from our Insane Court.” An elder boldly guessed: “Don’t we have a rumor saying that one day, our ancestor would return to life to become an immortal in the Three Worlds?”

Zhu Qi and the others exchanged a glance. They have heard of this legend as well but no one took it seriously. After all, the abyss has been quiet for millions of years now and stopped being a tomb for future generations.

“Tell an attentive student to take care of it. We’ll figure out whether he’s alive or dead after the ice melts.” Zhu Qi decided.

A careful and patient female disciple was chosen to take care of the ice sculpture.

Of course, this young man was Li Qiye. The memories of the old man below Drystone surfaced the moment he made it to Three Immortals. He wanted to enter the old man’s dao lineage but when he used that set of coordinates, he instantly fell into the old man’s trap.