Chapter 594: The Purpose of the Person in the Coffin

The God Burial Coffin Secret Realm.

In Mingquan, an ancient city, within a small courtyard situated outside the bustling market, Li Li Yuanzhong toyed with a few 'Yuan Coins' interwoven with divine patterns on them, while also examining the spiritual puppet before him that resembled a young girl.

"Divine patterns..."

The crystalline Yuan Coins spun and leaped between his fingertips as Li Li Yuanzhong murmured to himself.

Azure true qi flowed around him like smoke and silk, sometimes gathering, sometimes interweaving, sometimes dispersing.

These were the divine patterns he had mastered; when applied to spiritual puppets, they had various wondrous uses, such as 'storing true qi' and 'storing incense offerings,' and the like.

"These divine patterns are somewhat different from those indicated by the Weapon Forging Platform, but in essence, they might be the same thing... Therefore, the 'characteristics' the Weapon Forging Platform bestows upon weapons can also be considered a manifestation of the power of divine patterns..."

Li Li Yuanzhong was somewhat lost in thought.

This was not wild speculation on his part; he had already conducted preliminary verification.

Three years in the present world, thirty years in the God Burial Coffin Secret Realm—he had traversed all the various cities under the jurisdiction of the Yanxia Sect, and had seen dozens or even hundreds of types of incomplete divine patterns.

"According to the account in these ancient texts—no, it should be said, according to the account of the Origin Divine Dynasty—divine patterns are the cultivator's analysis of the laws of heaven and earth; mastering divine patterns allows one to touch upon the Great Dao of heaven and earth, the origin of the universe..."

As for the Great Dao of heaven and earth or the origin of the universe, Li Li Yuanzhong had not given it much thought; what occupied his mind at present was this ancient divine dynasty that had once existed for seventy-two epochs.

"Origin Divine Dynasty, Origin Divine Patterns..."

His thoughts scattered briefly before Li Li Yuanzhong gathered his focus. Though he held some interest in these ancient secrets, what interested him most now was still divine patterns.

Divine patterns ran through the entire history of the Origin Divine Dynasty, and their influence was beyond imagination.

Spiritual puppets, Dao soldiers, Dharma treasures, spirit treasures, formations, alchemy, Dao techniques, magical arts... every art in the world, even cultivation beyond the Ru Dao Jing Fa Jie, was closely related to divine patterns.

"Compared to Dong Dong Ershisan, the divine patterns on these two spiritual puppets are simply not worth mentioning..."

Li Li Yuanzhong could not help but shake his head at the mere thought.

Compared to Dong Dong Ershisan, these two spiritual puppets were like blood-exchange warriors compared to supreme grand masters—the gap was truly far, far too vast.

And this was still with Dong Dong Ershisan having suffered tremendous damage and her grade having fallen.

"A complete Dong Dong Ershisan is a quasi-sixteenth-grade spiritual puppet!"

The mere thought of it made Li Li Yuanzhong's hair stand on end, and he dismissed the idea.

"Only by plucking the wondrous spectacles of heaven and earth can one imprint divine patterns into the divine realm and spirit form, and only then can one use them to forge spiritual puppets, refine pills, temper dharma treasures, cultivate divine abilities, and nourish the divine realm and spirit form..."

Letting out a long breath, Li Li Yuanzhong rose, and the true qi swirling around him dispersed along with him:

"Divine patterns originate from the laws of heaven and earth; combining divine patterns to shake the power of heaven and earth... calling them Dao techniques or magical arts is also fitting."

Over the thirty years, he had seen dozens or hundreds of types of divine patterns, but so far, he had not mastered even one.

The reason was simple: the only method to obtain divine patterns was to pluck the wondrous spectacles of heaven and earth, and the more divine patterns he saw, the less willing he was to pluck them rashly.

Whether it was the spirit form or the divine realm, the number of divine patterns they could accommodate was ultimately limited.

"The thirty-six divine patterns required by the Kun Peng True Form Diagram are mostly present in this secret realm, but unfortunately, the wondrous spectacles within the God Burial Coffin Secret Realm cannot be plucked..."

Waving his hand to dismiss the two spiritual puppets, Li Li Yuanzhong sighed softly.

If the wondrous spectacles in this secret realm could be plucked, he would have secluded himself to cultivate to the He Yi Jing Fa Jie before heading to Tian Shi Yuan no matter what.

But alas, this was a secret realm left behind by predecessors; the divine pattern spectacles within were the very cornerstone of the secret realm's existence. To pluck them—setting aside the consequences, such as whether the secret realm would collapse—the sheer difficulty of plucking them had already made him give up decisively after attempting.

"Will defeating the Five Dragon Immortal bring about a different change?"

Looking up at the seven great suns hanging high in the sky, Li Li Yuanzhong's eyes shimmered with interwoven divine light, as various weapons that enhanced perception were empowered upon him.

Hum~

In an instant, his vision seemed to double.

Beneath the seemingly real secret realm, an incomparably complex combination of divine patterns appeared—countless divine patterns interwoven, covering everything within sight.

Flowing, cycling, endlessly repeating, immovable.

"Divine patterns forming spectacles, all spectacles interwoven... a combination of divine patterns of this caliber..."

Although it was not his first time glimpsing the combination of divine patterns behind this secret realm, the vast, weighty, vast and ancient aura still filled Li Li Yuanzhong with awe:

"Like the creation of the world!"

After a long while, Li Li Yuanzhong retracted his perception, sat cross-legged for a long time to calm his emotions, then rose and traveled three hundred li outside Mingquan City to the foot of a towering mountain.

In the distance, a massive palace complex could be seen shrouded in clouds and mist.

This palace complex was the core of this secret realm, with endless divine patterns endlessly rotating and cycling around it as their center.

"This is still only the first layer..."

Li Li Yuanzhong narrowed his eyes slightly: "Five Dragon Immortal, Origin Divine Race..."

As a hegemon-level race that had dominated the various realms for seventy-two epochs, there were countless legends of the Origin Divine Race; over the thirty years in the secret realm, he had gathered a large batch, but their truth was hard to discern.

The only thing certain was that this divine race, which could only be born from the cradle of life stars, was unimaginably powerful.

"Outside this palace complex, there are over a dozen grand master-level guards, and there should be only one strong practitioner at the Divine Palace realm? As for inside the palace complex..."

Li Li Yuanzhong gazed into the distance, stretching his perception to its limit, yet could only vaguely sense the area outside the palace complex.

With his current perception, reaching this point was already the limit; to further probe the core of this secret realm was still far from enough.

In fact, even this first layer of the secret realm could not be explored by warriors below the He Yi Jing, so over the past three years, he had only been silently cultivating.

But now, he was prepared to give it a try.

Hoo~

A cold wind blew gently, stirring his Dao robe.

Li Li Yuanzhong calmed his mind, sensing and adjusting the various weapons within the Weapon Mastery Register.

The Sea-Splitting Dark Whale Hammer, Dragon-Tiger Nurturing Furnace, Sea-Calming Dark Tortoise Armor, Dun Tian Zhou, Dragon-Ridge Sumeru Staff... various Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing along with spirit boots and bone ornaments,

This was his current strongest armament combination, encompassing strength, speed, defense, perception, and other aspects.

"What rogue dares to spy from the shadows?!"

"Come out at once!"

A furious roar exploded from afar, echoing through the mountains. Li Yuan, who had experienced this many times, didn't even lift an eyelid, merely stretching his limbs and silently gathering strength.

He had come to this palace too many times; even though these guards were imposing, his heart no longer stirred. Boom!

Clouds and mist churned, the mountain forest trembled.

One after another, figures streaked in at extreme speed, their qi radiating outward and stirring up ripples.

"One, two... seven!"

Sweeping his gaze over the palace guards streaking through the air, Li Yuan let out a long breath, turned, and left.

Over the past three years, he had come here to explore from time to time. He had crossed blades with nearly all the He Yi Jing guards outside the palace, and had long abandoned any plan to force his way in.

Though these guards outside the palace were far inferior to the 'Origin Divine Guards' and 'Origin Dao Soldiers' mentioned in ancient texts, they were still first-rate elites.

A single one might not match Wan Wan Zhuliu before his breakthrough, but when a dozen or so joined forces, the pressure far surpassed that.

"Don't even think about leaving!"

From behind came what sounded like thunder, as if the shadow of a true astral spirit-image pierced through the void.

A sidelong glance from Li Yuan showed swathes of grass and trees being shredded by the gale-force wind, small hills collapsing one after another.

Whoo—

Li Yuan pushed off with his feet, melting into the shadows. Drawing on his experience from many explorations, he activated his spirit boots to enhance himself, dodging the guards like a phantom, and soon reached the front of the palace.

Examining them one by one,

As he drew closer, Li Yuan's steps slowed further.

Through the swirling clouds and mist, this palace appeared far larger than it had from afar, and the pressure emanating from within was chilling.

"This kind of pressure—has the Five Dragon Immortal already condensed his 'Jin Dan' and 'Fa Ring'?"

In the shadows, Li Yuan's brow furrowed tight.

In this Mi Jing, he had 'ten thousand lives' to spare, so naturally he wasn't afraid or panicked. But if that Five Dragon Immortal truly was a powerhouse who had cultivated a 'Fa Ring'—

Let alone the legendary Nine-Scene Jin Dan and Jiu Xiang Fa Ring, even a single scene and a single aspect would be utterly beyond his ability to shake.

"Leave?"

Li Yuan instinctively wanted to retreat, but after a brief hesitation, still slipped through the shadows toward the palace:

"Forget it, I'm already here."

……

"He's going into the palace!"

As Li Yuan approached the palace, from within the God Burial Coffin came that wooden, mechanical voice.

In the dim coffin, the white-robed figure curled up like an infant, eyelids trembling slightly:

"Mm."

……

"Hm? Where's that Divine Palace powerhouse?"

Li Yuan kept his guard up, deeply wary of the commander of the guards outside the palace. But to his surprise, even as he climbed the palace wall through the shadows, he detected no trace of that powerhouse.

"Could there be a shift change or something?"

Quickly scanning his surroundings, Li Yuan didn't hesitate and entered the palace.

Hum—

The instant he dropped from the wall, Li Yuan's eyelid twitched. He had clearly detected nothing amiss, yet an intensely dazzling divine light exploded before his eyes.

The light was so fierce that even with his spirit highly focused, he still had a momentary daze.

"A divine-pattern grand array? Or something else?"

Li Yuan was startled but not flustered, forcing his spirit to sense his surroundings. With ten thousand lives in hand, even if he fell, he'd just chalk it up to gaining experience for the next visit.

But as he focused his senses, the surroundings felt like empty void—seemingly woven with flickering lights and shadows, yet he simply couldn't perceive anything at all.

"Have I fallen into a formation?"

As Li Yuan's thoughts turned, pondering and guessing, he suddenly heard a familiar thunderous roar—the very roar that had mentioned 'Five Dragon Immortal' the first time he entered this Mi Jing.

"This is…"

Li Yuan jolted, focusing to listen. Within that rolling, muffled-thunder roar, he caught fragments of conversation.

"…perished after seventy-two epochs, just as 'Yuanyi' prophesied… but my clan shall not perish!"

"…With the power of 'Dong Tian,' I bury you beyond… time and space… Your temperament… is weak, unskilled in slaughter… but after defeating those six, you may be reborn…"

"Before the six, there is yourself!"

……

The thunderous roar rolled past his ears.

Li Yuan focused his senses, matching this conversation against the ancient texts he had searched and the imagery on the God Burial Coffin, and formed a guess in his heart.

"When the Origin Divine Dynasty fell, the 'Noble One' in that coffin escaped, and was buried by some powerhouse to evade calamity—but to be reborn, he needs to defeat six people?"

"His former self before the six…"

How swift was Li Yuan's mind?

With so much information to corroborate, in a flash of thought he deduced quite a bit.

"So, the one in the coffin is the Five Dragon Immortal! And over who knows how many long ages, this 'Noble One' of the Origin Divine Race… uh, is still stuck on the first trial?"

The divine light before him faded, and Li Yuan dropped into the shadows beneath the palace wall. He looked up toward the great hall at the center of the palace, a subtle feeling stirring in his heart.

Letting his thoughts wander a little, he even felt he had guessed the purpose of the God Burial Coffin's master, the Five Dragon Immortal, in letting him into this Mi Jing.

Not to acknowledge a master, but…

"To fight in his place?"

(End of chapter)