Chapter 88: Ten Thousand Coffins Pay Homage, Heaven and Earth Are Split (Revised)

The golden crow sinks in the west; the moon rabbit rises in the east.

Fang Shi labored for a long time, finally excavating the entire root system of the Owl Tree.

Along with it were countless bones—human and beast alike.

These were the remains of the Owl Tree’s victims.

They were buried beneath the soil under the Owl Tree, entangled by its roots.

Converted into threads of nourishment to sustain the Owl Tree.

If left unchecked for centuries,

The Owl Tree would grow into an ancient giant owl, a legendary terrifying plant.

At that time, its cry of despair would blanket a forest, turning the land into a dead zone.

Its terrifying power would spare no legendary creature weaker than itself.

Unless one used a Wish Spell or a legendary technique, the Owl Tree could not be killed.

Those who fell under its influence could only close their eyes and wait to die.

Fang Shi went to such great lengths to move the Owl Tree

because its roots were planted in an inconvenient spot.

Right atop the Yang family’s ancestral tomb.

The surrounding ruins still revealed the site’s former glory.

It was built by descendants of the Yang family who returned to the homeland.

And they regularly performed ancestral rites.

Looking back now, the Yang family’s intentions were far from pure.

They had not forgotten the ancestral edict left by their forebears.

After returning, under the guise of investment, they claimed land within the cemetery and built a ancestral hall.

The authorities, swayed by the money and knowing the land had always belonged to the Yangs, did not interfere.

They allowed the Yang family to act as they pleased.

Every year during the Yang family’s ancestral worship, it was a lively affair.

Hundreds of clan members from around the world gathered together, a true grand ceremony.

Eventually, nearly all staff at Yi Gao Cemetery were Yang family descendants.

They developed upstream and downstream industries, turning the Yangs into the leading force in Ancheng’s funeral industry.

Of course, speaking of this now is utterly meaningless.

After the apocalypse, nine out of ten homes stood empty; the Yang family’s former glory was long past.

The Owl Tree’s immense power had smashed the grand ancestral hall into ruins.

Everything vanished completely.

After clearing the Owl Tree’s roots, Fang Shi eagerly slipped through the opened fissure into the tomb chamber.

Indeed, the Yang family’s ancestral tomb was built with remarkable spaciousness.

Through generations of expansion and renovation,

it resembled an underground residential district—well-ventilated and equipped with complete living facilities.

Fang Shi carried his smokeless oil lamp, searching everywhere.

He saw not only the quiet chambers housing coffins,

but also modern equipment: electric lights, computers, air conditioners, televisions.

Before his rebirth, the tomb above had been destroyed by legendary beings.

Thus, Fang Shi had never seen such a sight before—he couldn’t help but be stunned.

Clearly, the Yang family, to maintain long-term control of this tomb,

had turned it into a living quarters.

The corpses aboveground were clear proof.

Even before the apocalypse, people had been stationed here long-term.

Yet Fang Shi had no interest in anything the Yang family had done.

He was searching for a passage—a direct route down to the ancient tomb cluster.

That place was his true destination.

Soon, Fang Shi arrived before a massive door cast in concrete.

It was clearly built according to civil defense standards.

Fang Shi was speechless—why had the Yangs been so cautious?

The door looked at least twenty centimeters thick—extremely careful.

He didn’t bother searching for a key; he simply drew his Earth Dragon Sword and slashed forward.

Boom!

A rolling wave of air surged from the blade’s tip—Fang Shi had unleashed his full strength, striking at supersonic speed.

Crash!

A deep sword scar instantly appeared on the thick concrete door.

A cold gust of wind pierced straight through the crack.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Three more strikes—the civil defense door now bore a small opening wide enough for one person to pass.

Fang Shi shoved hard—the small door crashed heavily to the ground.

At the same time, a chill unique to the underground surged in with the wind.

Fang Shi waited a long while, until the air inside had fully refreshed.

Then he slowly descended the stairs.

The steps spiraled downward, stretching endlessly into darkness.

Added to the profound blackness below, the smokeless oil lamp was the only source of light.

Walking upon it felt like treading the ancient Yellow Spring Road to the Underworld.

He could not fathom how the Yang ancestors had ever constructed this passage.

Though clear traces of modern cement and steel reinforcement were visible,

he could still discern wooden supports used for load-bearing.

Indeed, when men seek wealth, they can achieve any impossible miracle.

In the latter half, the wall style gradually changed.

From modern concrete to ancient, weathered stone bricks.

Fang Shi knew—he was close. The ancient tomb cluster would soon appear before him.

…

Stepping out from the stairwell, Fang Shi entered a vast expanse.

It was a massive underground cavern, roughly twenty meters high.

In the distance, dark silhouettes stood in dense rows.

It was a true underground city.

With walls, corner towers, even a moat encircling the entire settlement.

Yet it was also a burial ground.

In the deep, dark waters, coffins floated upon the surface.

Completely surrounding the city.

Moreover, on bridges, streets, inside houses—in every corner—lay a coffin.

As if every place required a soul to guard it.

More astonishing still, no matter where the coffins were placed,

their heads all faced toward the city’s center, as if paying homage.

As for why, Fang Shi knew perfectly well.

The legendary Golden Corpse now rested within the building at the city’s center.

All other coffins were merely its subjects.

Alive, be a hero; dead, be a ghostly champion.

This was clearly a feng shui arrangement.

Fortunately, Fang Shi had no need to enter the city—his treasure lay elsewhere.

Fang Shi walked along the edge of the moat to the left side of the underground city.

There stood a massive stone wall, riddled with hollow pits.

With the smokeless oil lamp’s glow, he could clearly see:

Inside each dark pit rested a statue, sized like a human.

Like a cave of ten thousand Buddhas.

The statues grinned, glared, or wore countless bizarre expressions—each unique, like the faces of all living beings.

Especially striking was how lifelike the carvings were.

Their eyes, like those of living people, seemed to watch the worshippers below.

Fang Shi didn’t care, and rushed straight toward a statue in the corner.

It was a lively statue, like an innocent, pure child.

Yet in this deep, dark environment, it radiated a sinister aura.

Fang Shi carefully observed it, confirmed his suspicion.

Then reached behind the statue and pressed hard on the coccyx.

A passage slowly revealed itself within the hollow behind the statue.

But it was only one meter high—Fang Shi didn’t mind.

He crawled inside, crawling and turning for dozens of meters.

Suddenly, a vast secret chamber appeared before Fang Shi.

In the center of the chamber sat a meditation cushion.

Upon it sat a skeleton, cross-legged.

The skeleton wore a Daoist robe, its bones glowing like white jade.

It emitted a faint white light in the darkness.

This was Fang Shi’s destination—the skeleton held the opportunity he sought.

On the skeleton’s right hand rested a jade ring.

It was this ring that had raised Fang Shi’s perception to 18 points.

With no flesh to hinder him, he easily removed it.

As he had done before his rebirth, Fang Shi probed his consciousness into the ring.

Shhh!

A wisp of ethereal energy flowed from the ring, spreading along his consciousness into his mind.

This was the miraculous object that had once enhanced his perception in his past life.

Fang Shi hoped this wisp would once again work its magic.

No! What’s happening?

The ethereal energy did not, as he expected, directly reshape his brain.

Instead, it surged straight toward his niwan palace.

The fragile, narrow niwan palace was instantly filled with the ethereal energy.

Fang Shi felt his forehead swell painfully.

But this was not over—the ethereal energy began to slowly rotate within the niwan palace, accelerating ever faster.

Fang Shi’s pain deepened, becoming unbearable.

His forehead swelled high, like a pus-filled boil.

As the swelling pulsed, thin spiritual energy from outside began pouring into Fang Shi’s forehead.

Each additional thread of spiritual energy entering the niwan palace was like inflating a balloon—the swelling grew larger.

Fang Shi sensed something was wrong and tried to intervene.

But the niwan palace was the abode of the soul.

His formless, intangible soul, under pressure from the ethereal energy, now took visible shape.

It was a transparent soul, identical to Fang Shi’s physical appearance.

It was the very core of his consciousness.

The ethereal energy spun around the soul, locking it firmly at the center of the niwan palace.

Whenever Fang Shi’s consciousness tried to extend outward, the spinning energy pulled it back with suction.

He could not control his body or take any countermeasures.

“What should I do? If I let this energy keep drawing in, my niwan palace will be destroyed.”

“My brain will explode into fragments.”

Fang Shi’s consciousness grew frantic.

According to his knowledge, the niwan palace was the upper dantian—extremely fragile.

Flooded recklessly with spiritual energy, it would only burst his brain.

Even if he barely survived, his soul would be severely damaged, turning him into a fool.

So far, he had suffered no harm.

It was entirely because the ethereal energy, while binding his soul, also protected it.

Otherwise, the surging spiritual energy compressed together would crush his soul violently.

Fang Shi did not expect the ethereal energy to sustain this protection forever.

Even brain damage was unacceptable to him.

Fang Shi’s soul began thrashing violently, trying to break free of the ethereal energy’s grip.

Unfortunately, it was meaningless.

The ethereal energy was like a celestial chain—his soul could not shake it.

Even though it was but a tiny wisp, it held Fang Shi fast in place.

Fang Shi felt unwilling. He was confident he could survive this ordeal.

But it would come at a great cost.

“Resurrection Ring”

“Durability: 6”

“Endurance: 10”

“Quality: Second Rank”

“Effect: This ring is enchanted with the power of resurrection. When the wearer dies, it activates automatically, then becomes ordinary. Uses: 1/1 (non-replenishable).”

“Resurrection is a painful experience. The recipient permanently loses two biological ranks.”

“If the recipient’s soul is destroyed, this spell cannot revive them.”

“If the recipient is level 1, they permanently lose two Constitution points.”

“If the recipient’s Constitution is 0 or lower, they cannot be revived.”

“If the recipient has spells, they have a 50% chance of permanently losing one spell.”

“If the recipient has bloodline traits, they have a 50% chance of permanently reducing bloodline concentration.”

“If the recipient’s attribute points drop to 0 due to attribute damage, they are restored to 1, excluding Constitution.”

“Magical diseases and curses are not cured during resurrection.”

“But ordinary toxins and illnesses are healed.”

“If the recipient has missing body parts, they remain missing after resurrection.”

“But this spell heals fatal wounds and repairs most injuries.”

“The recipient’s equipment and items are unaffected by this spell in any way.”

“If the recipient is transformed into an undead or killed by a death effect, they cannot be revived.”

“Constructs, elementals, outsiders, and undead cannot be revived.”

“If the recipient dies of old age, they cannot be revived.”

“Weight: 5 grams”

“Evaluation: This is a precious ring—it represents a second life.”

This ring was what Fang Shi had obtained from the Bai Yin treasure chest.

It was also the most valuable item he had ever obtained.

Though the conditions were harsh and the cost great, it was truly a second life.

Fang Shi’s only concern was that this item could not heal soul damage—what if he became a fool?

As for brain explosion, he had already calculated it just now.

This amount of energy was not enough to truly shatter his brain into fragments.

At worst, it would cause severe damage around the pineal gland.

Such damage could still be repaired by Resurrection.

“I must protect my soul—let me recall what the Sword Art says about this…”

Zzzz!

The ethereal energy suddenly accelerated, its rotation increasing a hundredfold or more.

The energy core Fang Shi carried on his person was instantly drained.

Vast amounts of energy flooded into his niwan palace.

Fang Shi’s soul began trembling violently—he was struggling.

He had no time to wonder why this change had occurred.

This sudden influx of energy was clearly different from before.

It would truly blow his head apart.

No—not just his head. His soul would be shattered into dust.

Even though Fang Shi knew his actions might be futile,

he refused to surrender. He would die fighting with all his strength.

Boom!

Infinite spiritual energy exploded from his third eye, and Fang Shi’s dantian shattered like a balloon.

Vast spiritual energy surged to burst forth, ready to blast his skull into fragments.

Hum!

The light spiritual energy accelerated again, its rotation speed spiking once more.

The surging spiritual energy was sucked straight back.

As if time reversed, even the fragments of the dantian reattached themselves and restored to their original shape.

Simultaneously, a vast space opened within the dantian.

More than a thousand times larger than before; the spiritual energy drawn back could not even fill it.

Hum!

The light spiritual energy accelerated further, and the vast spiritual energy began to condense, compress, and transform into five strands of magic power.

Boom!

After completing this task, the light spiritual energy scattered into countless fragments, becoming streams of radiance that shot toward the inner walls of the dantian.

A mysterious force surged forth, and Fang Shi’s dantian began to heal rapidly.

As the dantian repaired itself, threads of radiance emerged within it, illuminating the dark space with brilliant light.

“You have opened the Upper Dantian.”

“You have gained spiritual sense.”

“Your spiritual sense value: 5/5.”

“Your magic power has increased: 9→14.”

“Your perception has increased: 21→23.”

“Your intelligence has increased: 14→18.”

“Your Magic Power Control I → Magic Power Control II.”

“【Magic Power Control II】: Your control over magic power has improved further; the minimum control unit is now 0.01 magic power points.”

“You have attained Spiritual Energy Control I.”

“【Spiritual Energy Control I】: You may directly control spiritual energy in the heavens and earth using your spiritual sense.”

“You have attained Spiritual Energy Transformation I.”

“【Spiritual Energy Transformation I】: You may freely transform spiritual energy among the Five Elements; transformations beyond the Five Elements require corresponding cultivation techniques.”

Fang Shi slowly opened his eyes, raised his palm before him, and gently spread his five fingers.

In the center of his palm, a white light slowly emerged, hazy and mist-like.

Instantly, it coalesced into a small sword, hovering and slowly rotating in his palm, just like the light spiritual energy.

Looking at the small sword, Fang Shi could not help but smile.

“Pangu!”

“Split Heaven and Earth!”

This was the new inheritance Fang Shi had received.

He never imagined that within the jade ring, besides the inheritance of multiple layers of force,

there was another inheritance: the method to open the Upper Dantian.

A heritage obtainable only by Qi Refiners.

The light spiritual energy’s role in enhancing perception was merely incidental; its true purpose was to open the dantian.

Moreover, the light spiritual energy was not called light spiritual energy—it was called Pure Yang Qi.

It had been deliberately left behind by the owner of the jade ring to aid the inheritor in opening the Upper Dantian.

Normally, this method was extremely perilous; without Pure Yang Qi, Qi Refiners

faced near-certain death.

Even if they barely succeeded, they would need long periods to slowly repair the dantian’s damage.

Overall, it was not worth the cost.

But with Pure Yang Qi, everything changed.

Not only did the opening happen swiftly, but the dantian repaired itself instantly.

It was, in essence, a rapid-opening method.

Like Pangu breaking through chaos to create a new heaven and earth.

Fang Shi had a faint memory: the story of Pangu splitting heaven and earth appeared during the Three Kingdoms period.

Recorded by Xu Zheng, Grand Secretary of Wu, in the “Three Five Annals” and “Five Remote Annals.”

This underground city bore clear Wei-Jin architectural style.

The “person-shaped” arches combined with “one-dou-three-sheng” structures were especially prominent.

Particularly the “Ten Thousand Gods Cave” carved into the stone walls, showing unmistakable grotto characteristics.

But the carvings inside were not Buddhist statues—they were Daoist deities.

And the Wei-Jin era was precisely when aristocrats cultivated Dao in fashion.

At that time, external alchemy like Five Stone Powder reached its peak.

Fang Shi strongly suspected that the so-called story of Pangu splitting heaven and earth

was, in fact, a metaphor for opening the dantian—a classic Daoist allegory.

The dantian symbolized the spiritual world; humans were the creators of their own spiritual realms.

The chaotic heavens and earth represented the narrow, dark, unopened dantian.

Pangu’s awakening represented the soul’s awakening.

Breaking through chaos represented the tearing of the dantian.

Holding up heaven and supporting earth represented the dantian’s repair.

The appearance of sun and moon represented the emergence of spiritual sense radiance.

The subsequent world transformations clearly indicated the next stage of spiritual cultivation.

Until the entire spiritual world was cultivated to match the vastness of the external heavens and earth.

Only then would the dantian be fully perfected.

Fang Shi was stunned by his own thoughts.

Though he found this theory incredible, upon reflection, it seemed strangely plausible.

Daoists always wrote their cultivation principles into stories.

Most importantly, this elder before him might not be dead at all.

Fang Shi had once wondered: how could bones be as white as jade?

Only those with unimaginably strong physiques could achieve such transformation.

Their bones would metamorphose into this state—called Golden Body, Jade Bones.

In simple terms, one needed a physique equivalent to a Legendary Warrior.

Then, how could flesh and blood of such a powerful being decay so easily?

At this stage, natural decomposition by microbes ceased entirely.

As long as no external force damaged it, the body would endure eternally, like gold.

Unless the decay was deliberately induced.

Fang Shi recalled a legend.

During the Wei-Jin era, Ge Hong, leader of the External Alchemy school, proposed:

“The highest cultivators ascend bodily into the void—called Celestial Immortals; the middle-tier wander among famous mountains—called Earth Immortals; the lowest-tier die first, then shed their mortal form—called Corpse-Release Immortals.”

A skeleton, devoid of flesh and blood,

clearly matched the traits of a Corpse-Release Immortal.

Could this elder have become a Corpse-Release Immortal, ascending to some unknown celestial realm?

A Corpse-Release Immortal, a Legendary Golden Corpse—this ancient tomb was undoubtedly extraordinary.

Yet, for some reason, not a single supernatural artifact remained here.

Even this jade ring itself was ordinary, possessing no special qualities.

It was the Pure Yang Qi bestowed by the elder that had imbued it with mystic power, preserving the inheritance within.

Once the Pure Yang Qi dissipated, it became indistinguishable from ordinary jade.

The only difference might be its superior quality.

Enough to make any ordinary person instantly recognize its immense value.

But no matter how many questions remained, Fang Shi had no intention of wasting time investigating.

If so many Legendary experts before him could not uncover the truth,

how could a mere first-rank cultivator like himself achieve what even Legends could not?

Fang Shi bowed respectfully to the skeleton.

He owed this elder great gratitude—twice he had benefited.

Especially this time, his transformation was profound.

He had gained spiritual sense ahead of time, a power normally only attainable at the False Golden Core stage.

The same spiritual sense mastered by the prodigy of the Heavenly Sword Sect who, in ten days, awakened sword intent and forged spiritual sense from his mind sea to become a Sword God.

Though Fang Shi had never clearly asked his senior brother what spiritual sense was, he had learned of it from the “Sword Manual.”

More importantly, mastering spiritual sense greatly aids in comprehending sword intent.

That’s why senior disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect commonly attain sword intent at the False Golden Core stage—thanks to spiritual sense.

Before acquiring spiritual sense, cultivators perceive spiritual energy mostly through intuition.

With spiritual sense, one can truly see spiritual energy.

What does this mean?

It means cultivators find it easier to learn spells and master advanced applications of spiritual energy—artistic intent.

In normal states, one can use spiritual sense to observe an opponent’s contained spiritual energy, judging their strength and the spells they wield.

Spiritual sense can even directly control and transform spiritual energy.

This is vastly different from earlier Qi Refiners.

Previously, controlling and transforming spiritual energy relied mostly on magic power and cultivation techniques indirectly.

That added an extra step—not only time-consuming, but also causing unnecessary energy loss.

It cannot compare at all to spiritual sense manipulation.

This is also why False Golden Core cultivators far surpass Foundation Establishment cultivators.

False Golden Core cultivators can easily mobilize surrounding spiritual energy for attack, greatly amplifying their own power.

Of course, these techniques also depend on the environment.

In places like Blue Star, where spiritual energy is scarce, even the best techniques cannot fully manifest.

Next, Fang Shi planned to leave.

With these gains, he was already satisfied.

But as Fang Shi cheerfully crawled toward the cave entrance, his expression changed.

For as he advanced, he sensed a sliver of light piercing through the cave mouth.

And that light was so brilliant—not candlelight, not firelight.

It was sunlight!