Chapter 134: Anomaly

He saw his mouth crack into a smile, gave a warm grin to Yang Sheng and the others, pursed his lips at Xiulan, looking very apologetic.

Everyone, don't worry. Since we've come this far, we can't turn back just because of baseless speculation. I think this place is somewhat mysterious, but as long as we're careful, there should be no serious problem.

Having said that, Yang Sheng and the others all nodded, secretly relieved. This fell in Xiulan's eyes, but she was especially annoyed, glaring fiercely at Lu Fan, muttering under her breath, yet somehow showing a bit of playful spirit.

Give me that secret map!

Lu Fan slowly extended his hand, his tone calm, yet brooking no refusal.

You… Xiulan frowned tightly, her jade-like finger pointing at Lu Fan, "Well done, Lu Fan, sweet‑talking me when you need me, then kicking me aside when you don't—utterly shameless!"

Her reaction was a bit over the top, but she was indeed somewhat afraid of Lu Fan, stamping her foot hard. Helpless, she shoved the cloth into Lu Fan's arms, then turned her head away, puffing her cheeks, making it clear she wanted to draw a line between them.

Yang Sheng and the others pressed their lips, wanting to laugh but feeling awkward. Xiulan was especially rude to them, openly mocking and sneering, quite sharp‑tongued. Yet before Lu Fan she could not stir up the slightest ripple—she was completely under his control.

Lu Fan shook his head slightly, paying no heed to Xiulan's words. He lightly unfolded the cloth and began to trace gestures in mid‑air. The several fire‑fist shadows had already faded, slowly drifting down.

This secret map may be strange, but it's all Ghost Dao secret arts—you couldn't possibly understand it!

In the darkness, Xiulan hummed softly, her tone a little lofty, hinting at a touch of showing off.

Yet as her voice faded, Lu Fan's secret map burst with radiant light; the lines on it suddenly blazed, crisscrossing, emitting unfathomable mystic radiance that condensed into a strange sigil formation.

The sigil appeared to be etched on the cloth, yet from a slightly different angle it looked different; shifting the gaze gave a sense of layered depth, as if carved by knife and axe.

Impossible!

Xiulan gasped, her pretty face twisting from shock; in the mystic light it took on a faintly feral look.

Lu Fan glanced lightly at Xiulan, then with one hand flung the diagram spinning forward, flying toward the city below the deep abyss.

At that very moment, the three‑dimensional sigil shuddered, its aura swelling, space twisted—and it vanished outright.

Everyone present turned grim; even Lu Fan furrowed his brows, as if he hadn't expected this turn of events.

The next instant, halos flowed above the city, mists shifting; the three‑dimensional sigil suddenly solidified, expanding hundreds of times in size.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!

Light‑ropes shot from the formation like arrows, heading downward. In an instant the void was filled with countless illusory light‑ropes.

Gah—gah—gah!

A deep, muffled sound rose, as if a long‑abandoned giant gate were being pushed open. The light‑ropes twisted, like waves, rolling back up into the formation above.

Boom——

A blood‑shadow shot up into the sky, the whole subterranean space blazing with light, clearly appearing before everyone's eyes.

Deep Abyss City Walls, blood‑shadow light‑ropes.

A blood coffin? How could there be a blood coffin here?

Xiulan stared in shock; wrapped in the light‑ropes below was a huge blood‑colored coffin about ten zhang long and five or six zhang wide. Perhaps because it was far off, the coffin was hazy, its substance indistinct.

Yet its aura was strangely different—lacking the sinister, evil feeling everyone expected, instead giving a faint sense of richness and warmth, making them involuntarily want to go and see what it was.

Do you know this thing?

Lu Fan's gaze was calm; he gave Xiulan a brief look. Her astonishment suggested she might even recognize the origin of this 'blood coffin'.

I don't know! Xiulan shook her head repeatedly, vehemently denying. Her reaction was almost overly agitated, as if she feared Lu Fan would "misunderstand" her as knowing about the blood coffin.

Oh? Is that so?

Lu Fan gave a light smile, not pressing further. Then he single‑handedly rolled his palm and slammed it hard toward the blood coffin.

This strike was heavy and powerful, true qi surging, force radiating in all directions—even the surrounding void trembled slightly. Yet even so, the distance to the blood coffin was still too great; his strength fell short, his whip too short to reach.

Several thousand zhang of void is not something a mere Bone‑Tempering Realm Grand Martial Master can easily cross. As expected, this force managed only a little over a hundred zhang before its momentum waned, on the verge of dissipating.

At that moment, an inconspicuous seal sign slowly appeared. Its seal light flowed, sweeping up the force and drawing it into the seal's depths.

Boom—rumble

A tremendous roar rose, shaking the whole space; the vault‑like barrier above cracked open a fine seam.

Red light flashed, brighter than the blood‑colored radiance on the coffin, like the blazing sun of the nine heavens pouring down through that crack.

The red light flooded into the seal, gathering in moments into a pool of hot liquid several zhang across, bubbling and surging, from which streams of fire‑evil flame gushed forth.

Is this the fire‑attribute formation up above? Xiulan stared at Lu Fan in disbelief; the huge fire‑clumps on the mountains, penetrating hundreds of zhang of earth, shot straight through—utterly beyond her comprehension.

Yang Sheng and the others also realized, faces bright with delight, as if they were seeing Lu Fan again using the formation to wield overwhelming power, even crossing an uncrossable distance to suppress a Martial Venerate expert.

Lu Fan said nothing, leapt upward, soaring into the air; his feet stepped on empty air as he struck the void, his hands firing uncertainly at the hot pool.

One after another, formidable seal signs burst forth, slamming into the hot pool. They rolled up towering waves; amidst the surging tide a hazy illusory silhouette gradually emerged, indistinct yet unmistakably the shape of the blood coffin.

Lu Fan, this blood coffin is no trivial matter—don't mess around!

Xiulan's face changed drastically, as if she realized something. In the midst of speaking she flipped her wrist and struck at Lu Fan.

Bang!

Lu Fan, unprepared, was struck by that blow; the seal in his hand halted instantly. At the same time, the illusory trace in the hot pool's waves shuddered and began to dissolve.

Meanwhile, the blood coffin entwined with the light‑ropes blazed with light; the entwined ropes somehow snapped, breaking apart strand by strand. The coffin's upward momentum stalled, its weight suddenly increasing a hundredfold; space itself could not hold, ripples flickered and died, and it seemed about to plummet downward.

Lu Fan's gaze narrowed; he halted mid‑air, coldly staring at Xiulan, then swept his hand forward, hurling the technique‑refined crystal furnace to crash down.

Bang!

The crystal furnace smashed into the hot pool, the surging waves intensifying; within it the blood coffin's illusory shadow shifted, leaving only a small corner, yet it solidified, appearing more substantial than the coffin's actual form.

Hmph! Open!

Lu Fan gave a cold snort, flipped his hand, and struck down from afar. A tremendous force hammered that corner of the illusion, jolting it hard, then lifting it slightly.

Without reason, the blood coffin's illusion tore open a narrow slit, its lid lifting three cun.

Ye Lu Fan's eyes narrowed; his surging mental power shot forward, reaching the blood coffin's illusion in an instant, as if about to pierce it to see the truth within.

At that moment, a great force issued from the coffin lid with a muffled 'bang—'; the lid flew up, and a pitch‑black shadow poured out from within.

Amid the hazy shadow, a hand reached out and grabbed the edge of the 'blood coffin'.

From within the illusory blood coffin a hand thrust out, clearly solid—yet how could this be? The blood coffin was clearly over a thousand zhang away, now barely managing to break free of the light‑ropes and fall downward.

Lu Fan, stop right now—you can't handle this!

Seeing this scene, Xiulan panicked in terror; she had just slapped Lu Fan's hand and hadn't yet pulled it back when she struck out again, determined not to stop until she interrupted him.

Stop! In front of Young Master Fan, you must not act wantonly!

Yang Sheng shouted, took a sideways step to block Xiulan, turned, drew his spirit sword without hesitation, and slashed downward.

The scene before him was especially strange; Lu Fan hovered in midair, forming seals, evidently engaging the blood coffin from afar. He could not give Xiulan a chance to ruin his plans.

Hmph! Overestimating your abilities!

Xiulan gave a cold snort, flipped her wrist, then flicked, sending several gloomy ghostly seals shooting toward Yang Sheng.

These seals looked sparse, hardly forming a formation, but to Yang Sheng they were not so. He felt a chill invade his body, and at this moment he involuntarily shivered; that brief delay allowed the seals to reach him, blasting upward.

Not good!

His face turned pale with shock; those few seals, carrying dense ghostly qi, entered his bodily apertures in an instant, following the flow of his true qi at incredible speed into his dantian's qi sea.

The spirit sword that had been slashing down lost its power in an eerie manner, becoming as limp as a child's wooden sword, utterly without force.

Li Yongwang and the others, upon seeing this, all changed color, finally realizing the danger, and shouted angrily, but by the time they thought to act, it was too late.

Xiulan leapt up, soaring past Yang Sheng's figure, then repeated her trick, sending forth another wave of gloomy ghostly seals.

In her heart, Xiulan clearly saw that Lu Fan was not comparable to Yang Sheng; his very first move was an extreme technique.

Over a hundred ghostly seals intertwined with ghostly qi, linked together. Overall they seemed somewhat chaotic, not forming a formation, yet upon close inspection, any few selected seals clearly overlapped and shielded one another.

This is not a single seal formation; it is a vast expanse of seal formations.

At this moment, Lu Fan hovered in midair, his eyes fixed on the phantom hand atop the blood coffin. His vast spiritual power had gathered around, yet the coffin seemed surrounded by an invisible barrier that could not be penetrated.

In his past life he had experienced countless great battles, and memories of things a thousand times more bizarre were innumerable, yet this scene before him remained incomprehensible, not even a clue to be found.

Is it a phantom or a solid form? The blazing fire-killing gang and the yin evil ghostly qi—these two forces should be incompatible like water and fire, so why are they so tranquil here?

He muttered to himself, brows furrowed. He had intended to use the hot pool's scorching power to provoke the coffin's might, to glimpse its reality, but instead he inadvertently drew forth the coffin's power, condensing this phantom blood coffin, and even causing the hand that seemed solid to materialize—this exceeded his expectations.

Suddenly, his mind tensed, his spiritual power instantly retracted; the ghostly seal formation shooting from behind clearly landed within his spiritual awareness.

Hmph! You're not timid at all, daring to strike at me—it seems I've been too lenient with you!

Lu Fan turned his head slightly, glancing at Xiulan from the corner of his eye; his displeasure was plainly visible on his face.

Xiulan trembled involuntarily, and deep in her heart fear of Lu Fan surged forth; almost in that instant she was about to give up resistance, recalling the ghostly seal formation to quell his anger.