Chapter 27

So-called fear can be transmitted between people, and so can peace.

The moment Fang Yu entered the bronze coffin his expression was calm, and that calm spread to the others, finally letting them settle down as well, waiting for the next stop to arrive.

No one knew how long it had been when suddenly there was a violent jolt—the ancient bronze coffin seemed to have crashed into something with tremendous force—but at that very instant, a faint glow rose from the engravings on the bronze, instantly neutralizing that unimaginable impact.

Everyone was shocked once more: there was clearly a tremendous force, yet it had been neutralized—this ancient bronze coffin was truly astonishingly miraculous.

Just then, the ancient bronze coffin came to a complete stop, and dim light filtered in from not far away.

It was the coffin lid tilting, opening a crack.

No one moved at once; every gaze had turned to Fang Yu.

Fang Yu took a stride and, in an instant, was out of the bronze coffin.

Looking ahead, the earth here seemed to have been soaked in blood—reddish-brown, cold, hard, and desolate. Huge rocks stood scattered across the ground like so many tombstones.

Between heaven and earth the light was dim, everything gloomy, giving off a lifeless air.

As far as the eye could see, there seemed to be not a trace of life here.

"Where is this?"

Someone rushed out, saw the scene before them, and stood there dumbstruck.

Although he had already heard that Daoist say the nine dragons pulling the coffin had left Taishan, in his heart he still held some hope—wouldn't it be wonderful if the nine dragons pulling the coffin hadn't actually left Taishan.

But looking at it now, they really had left Taishan, and arrived at a most desolate place.

Everywhere stretched the endless reddish-brown earth, showing not the slightest sign of life; this was not the world they had hoped for—only despair seemed to remain.

"This is… where? We really have left Taishan!"

Even the speaker's voice was trembling.

"We really have left Taishan, but it shouldn't be a place like this. If leaving Taishan meant we could cultivate immortality, that would be acceptable—but now, here, are we going to starve to death?"

Another man's face showed a bitter expression.

"It shouldn't be like this."

A female classmate climbed out of the ancient bronze coffin, looked at the reddish-brown land stretching to the horizon, and stumbled—she could not accept that she had come to such a godforsaken place.

"There's one piece of good news, at least: there's still air here."

Someone spoke up.

But no one cared about that piece of good news.

"Another five-colored altar…"

Ye Fan stood together with his good friend Pang Bo. The two exchanged a glance and saw that this time the ancient bronze coffin had once again come to rest on a grand five-colored stone altar, very similar to the giant altar they had seen on Taishan, built from enormous stones of five different colors.

The five-colored altar covered a vast area—one could well imagine what a massive project it must have been when it was built—but now the five-colored altar, which should have risen high into the air, had been buried beneath the sands. Had the nine dragons pulling the coffin not arrived and slammed heavily into the ground, the altar could not have revealed its clear, complete outline.

Now not only did the enormous bronze coffin lie across the altar, but the massive dragon corpses pressed down upon it as well—one could imagine the grandeur of the five-colored stone altar.

"There are giant rocks over there."

Ye Fan looked into the distance and saw a huge boulder; on it were carved enormous ancient characters, each one five or six meters tall—grand, majestic, vigorous and powerful.

"Brother Fang Yu, do you know what characters these are?"

Pang Bo walked over as well. Seeing that the one called Fang Yu was already examining the spot, he imitated Ye Fan's manner and also addressed Fang Yu as "Brother Fang Yu."

"These two characters read 'Yinghuo,' which means Mars."

Fang Yu spoke, his gaze turning toward the distance.

This was the first stop of the nine dragons pulling the coffin—the land of Yinghuo.

There are some opportunities here, but also great peril.

We must hurry.

GLOSSARY:

【Fang Yu, Ye Fan, Shi Zhi, Gao Song, Taishan, Pang Bo, Yinghuo】