Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 586: Chapter 590: Daoist Saint?

Experts from the Central States formed the majority, but some from the Western Desert and Southern Mountains also ascended the ten-thousand-foot-high Jade Platform using various means. All of them were giants in their respective territories.

At this moment, Ye Fan and his group seemed quite out of place because none of them could be considered powerful, yet they had ascended relying on a broken bowl.

“This bowl is quite good,” Xiao Yunsheng said sinisterly, extending a large hand to seize it, intending to snatch it away.

There was endless pressure here, and if the broken bowl were taken, they would instantly turn to dust, their forms and souls obliterated. Above Xiao Yunsheng and his companions were over a dozen forbidden items, combined to block the might of heaven, making him fearless.

Ye Fan lightly slashed with his right hand, lifting it upward. The Human King Seal emerged naturally, like ten thousand mountains swaying in unison. It thrust forward, resisting the boundless magical power and striking at the large hand.

BOOM!

With a tremendous shock, both retreated simultaneously. The crowd was astonished; Ye Fan’s physical strength exceeded their expectations. On this ten-thousand-foot-high Jade Platform, everyone’s magical power was sealed, and physical strength held an absolute advantage.

“Everyone, this is truly a treasure, perhaps it’s even imprinted with the Law of a Saint,” Xiao Yunsheng said ominously, eyeing the broken bowl.

Once he spoke, everyone looked over. Ye Fan and his companions suddenly became the focus of various gazes, many of them giving peculiar looks. Undoubtedly, this was very disadvantageous for Ye Fan and his group. If a melee erupted, quite a few would target them, attempting to seize the bowl. Once they lost the shelter of the broken bowl, they would instantly be obliterated in form and spirit on this high platform. Xiao Yunsheng sought to use others’ hands to put them to death.

Ye Fan, Dongfang Ye, and the others were all enraged, staring at those individuals, yearning to shatter the forbidden items above their heads and let them be the first to taste that fate. Sadly, several sovereigns were gathered around Xiao Yunsheng and the old Sect Hierarch of the Yin Yang Sect. If a fight broke out, Ye Fan’s group was far too weak.

“Before this bowl is lost, I will surely kill you!” Ye Fan stared at Xiao Yunsheng, speaking calmly.

He had entered the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm only a short time ago and was no match for these people. Yet, the unique nature of this place gave him the capital to speak such words. Threatening a sovereign like this made many feel it was absurd, yet they were also secretly shocked. If he actually managed to kill a sovereign here, it would be a truly unfair death.

Xiao Yunsheng revealed a thin, cold smile. There was nothing more to say now. Once off this ten-thousand-foot-high Jade Platform, he would erase Ye Fan with thunderous means.

At this moment, everyone’s gaze refocused on the coffin. This was the true focus of their contention, the Supreme Immortal Treasure!

“Why can’t we move that coffin!” Daoist Duan De was anxious. He was stepping on the Jade Platform with the broken bowl held overhead. He had long since deployed the Coffin Locking Technique, but it had no effect.

“This is an ancient coffin of a deity. How could mortal power shake it? Your Tombology is utterly useless here. Stop wasting your effort,” said the old blind man.

Ancient and old, the coffin floated and sank in the void. Immortal Qi transformed into True Dragons and Divine Phoenixes, all lifelike, tens of thousands of them encircling it.

GASP!

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath. Upon careful observation, they realized the ancient coffin possessed a vibrant life force. Its vitality was overwhelmingly vigorous, exceeding the enormous Qi of everyone present.

What’s happening here? Have the ancient gods not died?

The coffin’s floating was unstable. When it descended slightly, the crowd noticed something odd: a tender leaf grew on the coffin lid.

It’s not that the gods haven’t died, but the coffin wood hasn’t withered!

From the coffin board grew a branch over a meter long, verdant and lush, with several leaves. It was emanating potent enormous Qi.

How could this be possible? This ought to be coffin wood from millions of years ago. Over such a lengthy era, how could it sprout new buds?

“This… is a coffin carved from Divine Wood!” declared the Demon Lord from the Southern Mountains, revealing the secret.

At this moment, no one was unmoved; their hearts were shaken. Sacred trees and Immortal Medicine were nearly extinct since Ancient Times, incredibly rare to encounter. Yet, someone had carved a coffin from an Undying Tree. In their eyes, this seemed outrageously wasteful, utterly extravagant.

“I understand! The gods were unwilling to truly perish and sought eternal life!” a sovereign exclaimed, trembling as they recalled some ancient legends.

At this moment, everyone was shaken, thinking of some secret truths. Legend had it that if gods used Undying Wood for their coffins, they could remain imperishable through the ages, perhaps even be resurrected someday! In this world, only Immortal Medicine and Undying Trees could endure with the world, not be eroded by the years. A coffin carved from Undying Wood would naturally retain certain properties.

Rare surviving ancient books contained few records of this. Deities seeking immortality would supposedly find an Undying Tree to bury themselves in before death. But how many Undying Trees could there be in the world? Only one or two gods were said to have ever done such a thing, as it was fundamentally impractical. Of course, nobody truly believed such records. Since ancient times, only legends were spoken of; never had a deity been seen appearing in the mortal world. The theory that Immortals didn’t exist had long become the consensus for most people.

Yet, today, seeing a coffin carved from an Undying Tree, everyone was shaken! Undoubtedly, this was transformative. Perhaps it proved the records of some lone ancient books were true: in those endless ages before Ancient Times, there might have really been Immortals!

“This is… the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree!”

Finally, someone recognized the material of the coffin wood. On that tender branch, a few leaves glistened like gems, each with different colors and forms.

“Too luxurious!”

The crowd exclaimed, but also breathed a sigh of relief. The Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree still lived, dwelling in the Undying Mountain; it had not gone extinct. It was conceivable that in an era before Ancient Times, someone had severed the Undying Tree to carve a coffin for themselves, yet had left the Divine Roots behind.

Countless years had passed. The Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree had recovered, and this coffin wood had not decayed, still retaining a wisp of life force.

Even this coffin is a treasure! People thought of this. Once dismantled, this coffin would not only be a divine material for refining Vessels but also a precious treasure for pursuing enlightenment and cultivation.

This ancient coffin was so extravagant that throughout history, perhaps only one or two divinities had ever done something so outrageous. Others wouldn’t even dare to dream of it.

WHOOSH!

Someone made a move. A cloud of rosy mist flew out as they tried to gain the upper hand and pull the coffin down.

HUH!

To everyone’s surprise, the terrifying Qi mechanism they had anticipated didn’t erupt, nor did any destructive wave sweep over them. This was somewhat illogical. The ancient coffin made from the Undying Tree landed steadily onto the Jade Platform, sacred and serene, exceedingly peaceful.

No, this immense pressure and otherworldly terrifying aura are not emitted by it. Could it mean there exists something else?

This platform was immensely vast, shrouded in immortal mist and Chaos Qi. People had been biased by their first impressions and hadn’t even searched other areas.

At this point, a Divine Monk from the Western Desert, his eyes like torches, focused on a hazy area and said, “Amitabha!”

“A corpse!”

People were horrified to discover the source of the terror. It had nothing to do with the coffin carved from the Undying Tree but was located in another area. There, five-colored divine light flowed. A block of ice, its age unknown, sealed an ancient corpse inside!

This ice was peculiar. Although cold, it was not piercing. It flowed with five kinds of luster and emanated a startling vitality and vigor. However, this peaceful aura was entirely dispelled by the corpse within the ice. It was as if the corpse stood alone at the peak of all ages, looking down on the past, present, and future, with everything prostrating at its feet!

“Is this an Immortal Corpse?!” The crowd was stupefied. They didn’t rush for the coffin but stared fixedly at this corpse.

The supreme heavenly might that rippled out from the ten-thousand-foot-high Jade Platform in all directions originated from this corpse; it was the very source of all power! Simultaneously, people noticed something unusual: the shape of this block of ice was very similar to the ancient coffin, as if it had originally been placed inside it.

It couldn’t just be a block of ice. Perhaps it really was originally inside the coffin. They quickly considered this possibility.

Amidst the misty ice, people protected themselves with various peerless forbidden items hovering above their heads. They endured immense pressure as they approached to observe this departed deity.

“It’s not a body; there’s no flesh or bone!”

The crowd was speechless. When they drew near and finally got a clear view of the figure within the Five-Colored Divine Ice, they all showed expressions of puzzled shock, utterly dumbfounded. It was not a complete corpse but just a human skin, stained with five-colored blood, emitting peerlessly terrifying fluctuations.

“How could it be like this?!”

It had long purple hair and smooth skin that shimmered with a precious radiance, still glossy to this day. Its back bore a crack where the flesh and bone had been stripped out. The skin was stained with fantastical blood, vastly different from that of the human race, divided into five colors, and radiantly splendid.

“Is this the deity from before the Ancient Times? Where did its flesh and blood go? Why is there only the outer layer of skin left?”

Is this proof that before ancient times… Immortals truly existed?!

People gathered around closely, all shaken. Regardless of whether it was a deity, this skin was worth a fortune, comparable to the holy divine relics of a Great Emperor, because these fluctuations were too terrifying. Yet, no one dared to act recklessly. This Immortal Skin’s Qi mechanism almost rivaled that of a revived peak weapon in its oppressive pressure, making people feel as if they would shatter. Even though they were shielded by various divine artifacts, they felt they couldn’t withstand it.

“Is this truly an Immortal Skin?!”

“Could it be the skin of a Great Emperor who had reached their utmost limit?”

“Huh, there’s a line of ancient inscriptions here!”

Suddenly, someone exclaimed, discovering a line of inscriptions on the other side of the ice. The characters were powerfully etched, as if the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth was embedded there.

At this moment, everyone’s expression was extraordinarily vivid. These inscriptions profoundly impacted their thoughts. They essentially said that a later comer wished to borrow the ancient coffin to sleep and bury themselves, offering many apologies for the transgression.

“Borrowing even a coffin…” Many were speechless. To borrow a coffin from a deity, would it be another deity?

“No, these are ancient characters of the human race! Before the Ancient Times, it was all Divine Text. It’s impossible for it to be this script!” someone shouted.

The crowd was jolted awake; they had been too engrossed earlier and had forgotten this tremendous anomaly.

“An expert of the human race borrowing a deity’s coffin to sleep and bury themselves—could this be an ancient Great Emperor?!”

Everyone’s hair stood on end. Their minds were highly focused as they all turned their gaze towards that ancient coffin. Someone was resting inside…

“These inscriptions, they are like the Heavenly Dao, and yet… they seem faintly familiar. Where have I seen them before?”

“Indeed, they seem familiar! They must have circulated in the world at some point. Perhaps I glimpsed them briefly once!”

The crowd was deeply shaken. Who exactly is this?

They didn’t immediately act against the Five-Colored Divine Ice. Instead, they returned to the coffin carved from the Undying Tree, preparing to first open this ancient coffin and see.

“Here… the later comer’s mark!” They saw some indistinct symbols, all shocked. These symbols represented that person’s identity.