novelHire Chapter 856.23: The Heavenly Coffin
Chapter 856.23: The Heavenly Coffin
Chen Huaian silently watched Bi Yue Wu, whose eyes were filled with murderous intent.Facing the immortal's threat that had laid bare his dagger, he showed no panic, no attempt to flee, not even a change in his breathing rhythm.
His eyes were as calm as a deep, fathomless ancient well, reflecting Bi Yue Wu's ferocious and greedy face.
"Immortal Elder, why be in such a hurry?" Chen Huaian straightened his slightly disheveled sleeve, his tone as flat as if catching up with an old friend. "Since This Venerable One has taken these seven torn scriptures, I cannot run away. However, this Nine Heavens Refining Profound Array has not yet reached its end."
He raised his hand, pointing at the pitch-black dome overhead. "Above, there is another one."
"What?"
Bi Yue Wu frowned, following Chen Huaian's pointing finger.
Rumble——
As if to confirm Chen Huaian's words.
Hidden mechanisms within the palace emitted a teeth-grating grinding sound, and then the lofty dome slowly opened to the sides.
The previously sealed space was instantly flooded with violent gales. Deep within the sky where black clouds swirled and thunder serpents danced wildly, a floating peak more majestic and perilous than the previous seven was slowly descending, wrapped in the force of ten thousand thunderbolts.
Beneath that floating peak was a stairway to heaven paved with ten thousand steps of white jade.
And around the stone steps, nine yellow jade dragons, condensed from the violent Earth Veins Dragon Qi, were tumbling and roaring within the sea of clouds, flickering in and out, emitting a terrifying pressure that approached that of a True Immortal.
"Earth Veins Dragon Qi?!"
Bi Yue Wu's pupils contracted sharply.
His primary mission on this descent to the Lower Realm was to resolve the rampage of the Earth Veins Dragon Qi here and reinforce the seal.
He had thought the Dragon Qi was scattered throughout the array, which was why he hadn't seen it.
He never imagined that those violent Earth Veins Dragon Qi had gathered around this final floating peak.
"There is an even better view above." Chen Huaian looked at the slowly stabilizing floating peak and said indifferently, "If Immortal Elder desires other treasures, why not accompany This Venerable One to complete this final leg of the journey. When the time comes, what you want will naturally be presented to you with both hands."
Bi Yue Wu's eyes flickered, filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
He looked at the violent nine strands of Dragon Qi, then at Chen Huaian's completely unperturbed face.
This Earth Veins Dragon Qi was too dangerous. Without this mortal paving the way, who knew what other certain-death Restrictions lay ahead.
Anyway, this mortal was right in front of him, could he possibly fly away?
He vaguely felt something was off about Chen Huaian.
But he couldn't connect a mere mortal Sword Cultivator with the Nine Heavens Refining Profound Array that even the great beings of the Celestial God Clan valued so highly.
"Fine." Bi Yue Wu sneered, his right hand resting on the Array Disk, ready but not activating it. "This Venerable One will let you live a little longer. Lead the way!"
Chen Huaian turned, shaking his head slightly at Zhang Yibai and the other two.
"You stay here. Do not move recklessly."
Having said that, he spoke no more, turning to walk towards the ten-thousand-step white jade staircase connecting to the final floating peak.
Bi Yue Wu followed closely behind. Although his eyesight wasn't as good as before, his Divine Sense was locked tightly onto Chen Huaian's every move.
One step.
Chen Huaian stepped onto the first stone step.
ROAR——!!!
The sea of clouds churned. The nine lurking yellow jade dragons, as if provoked by something, instantly erupted in fury.
One of the great dragons roared as it dove down, its massive dragon head wreathed in world-destroying thunder, crashing fiercely towards the two on the stone steps!
"Not good!"
Bi Yue Wu was horrified. The power of this Dragon Qi was several times more terrifying than the bronze statues and divine fire from before!
He hastily summoned his only immortal artifact, the Array Disk, attempting to block this force of heaven and earth.
However, what happened next made his eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
That violent Earth Veins Yellow Dragon, when it rushed to within three feet of Chen Huaian, suddenly acted as if encountering an emperor on an imperial tour. A flicker of human-like awe passed through its originally ferocious dragon eyes. Its massive body twisted violently in mid-air, and the gale it stirred up didn't even ruffle a single strand of Chen Huaian's hair.
It bypassed Chen Huaian.
Then, the pent-up fury and thunderbolts were unleashed without reservation, pouring down directly onto Bi Yue Wu who was following behind!
"ROAR!!!"
"Pfft——!!"
There was not the slightest suspense.
Bi Yue Wu was like a fly hit by a swatter. His protective immortal light shattered instantly, and his entire body was slammed onto the white jade steps by the Dragon Qi, blood spraying wildly from his mouth.
"Why?!!"
Bi Yue Wu, with disheveled hair, shrieked miserably. "Why didn't it attack you?!"
Chen Huaian ahead did not answer, nor did he even look back.
With his hands clasped behind his back, his steps were unhurried, strolling leisurely amidst the thunder and Dragon Qi powerful enough to annihilate a True Immortal.
With each step he took, the churning sea of thunder around him automatically parted to make a path.
Every Earth Veins Dragon Qi that charged towards him bowed and hummed lowly by his side, as if paying homage to this man ascending to heaven.
Why?
Chen Huaian looked up at the sky full of black clouds.
Because what he carried in his embrace was the unyielding iron backbone of seven generations of virtuous predecessors who dared to make the heavens weep blood!
This Nine Dragons Locking Heaven locked away gods, protecting humanity.
In the eyes of that Earth Veins Dragon Qi from ancient times, the one bearing the seven torn scriptures and carrying the will to slay gods was the true master of these nine provinces and rivers.
As for you, Bi Yue Wu...
Even if you reside high in the Nine Heavens, even if you call yourself a True Immortal.
In the eyes of these unyielding dragon souls who once followed the Ancestral Dragon to defy the heavens and followed the Human Emperor to control the floods...
You are merely a vicious watchdog under the Celestial God Clan's door—a watchdog with a broken spine that only knows how to wag its tail and beg for mercy!
Since you are a vicious dog, how dare you bark before a true dragon?!
Dragons do not devour their masters, they only swallow—lackeys!
...
Amidst the sky full of lightning and Dragon Qi, that figure in white robes actually displayed a hint of aloofness that transcended all living beings.
In contrast, Bi Yue Wu.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The remaining eight great dragons, as if they had found an outlet, gave him no chance to catch his breath, bombarding him in turns.
Thunder fell like rain, dragon claws hooked like talons.
"Ahhh! Chen Huaian! You tricked me!!"
Bi Yue Wu screamed incessantly. The light from the Array Disk in his hand grew dim, the wounds on his body deep enough to reveal bone.
He wanted to retreat, but found his escape route sealed off by the sea of thunder; he wanted to advance, but the sky full of Dragon Qi pressed down on him like an impenetrable wall, pinning him firmly in place.
No road to heaven, no door to earth.
He could only roll and dodge on the stone steps like a mad dog with a broken spine, using all his lifelong cultivation to block attacks that completely ignored Chen Huaian.
"I refuse to accept this! I am an immortal! I am a True Immortal!!"
"It's you who forced me... you forced me!!"
Bi Yue Wu's roars were soon drowned out by the rolling thunder.
And Chen Huaian had long since used the cover of the raging thunderstorm to ascend the ten thousand steps, standing atop the floating peak.
Here, there was no grand palace, only a cliff weathered by countless ages.
At the cliff's edge, beneath the sky full of thunder, there was only an axe, a jade slip, and a coffin.
A coffin that appeared ordinary, pitch-black like ink, and unsealed.
It lay alone in the very center of heaven and earth, its entire body forged from an unknown black wood, emitting an ancient and mysterious aura of death.
The black was so pure, as if it could suck in all surrounding light, sound, and even Divine Sense.
In comparison, the rust-stained Mountain-Splitting Axe slantingly embedded in the ground, and the ancient jade slip floating in mid-air emitting a faint glow, seemed dull and insignificant, like a drop in the ocean.
Rumble——
Chen Huaian raised his head and finally saw the true face of this "Nine Heavens Refining Profound Array."
What kind of seal was this?
This was clearly a "parasitism" lasting countless cycles!
Although the true appearance of the corpse within the coffin couldn't be seen clearly, it could continuously surge forth with a torrent of primal Spiritual Energy so vast it was suffocating.
This energy did not dissipate but was tightly locked in place.
Several chains as thick as water vats, entwined with thunderbolts, were like greedy tree roots deeply anchored within that pitch-black coffin.
They trembled, they sucked, forcibly stripping away every wisp of energy that escaped from the coffin.
These chains extended upward through the void, intertwining in the sky above to form a black network that blotted out the sky.
Faintly visible, that network in the sky had nine endpoints, exactly corresponding to the positions of the nine Wells of Heaven today.
So that's how it is...
Using heaven and earth as a furnace, the Refining Profound Array as a millstone, slowly squeezing out the last drop of blood and bone from the person within this coffin.
Using this to store Spiritual Energy in the Wells of Heaven, using this to catalyze the birth of Celestial Jade Marrow.
Before this grand cruelty, Chen Huaian felt a chill shoot straight to the crown of his head.
Is this the method of the Celestial God Clan?
Not only killing you, but also using your corpse and bones as fertilizer, squeezing them to the extreme.
Then... who could the person in this coffin be?
Several famously renowned names from mythology flashed through Chen Huaian's mind, but he dismissed them one by one.
In this history that had been tampered with and amidst these chaotic factions.
Who the hell knew whether those legendary immortals and gods were backbones who once bled for humanity, or were already lackeys wagging their tails for the Celestial God Clan.
He held his breath, his steps heavy, walking step by step towards that pitch-black, ink-like giant coffin.
Closer.
The oppressive pressure emanating from within the coffin did not repel him; instead, it conveyed a deathly stillness and peace.
Chen Huaian placed both hands on the icy, piercing cold rim of the coffin, slowly leaned over, and peered through those writhing, root-like chains, gazing into the deepest part of the coffin.
The first thing that entered his sight was a flash of white.
Amidst this endless blackness and thunderstorm, the dark jade white robe on that person was actually clean as new, without a speck of dust. Ten thousand years of time had left not a single trace on the garment; even the cloud patterns at the hem were clearly visible, as if this robe had just been put on this morning.
His gaze continued downward, landing on the person's hands.
Those hands were folded over the abdomen, the skin showing a semi-transparent, jade-like luster.
The fingers were slender, and one could even faintly see the pale golden blood vessels beneath the skin that had not dried up and were still slowly flowing.
He was not dead.
He seemed to be merely... asleep.
Chen Huaian's heart began to beat wildly out of control, his throat dry.
He forcibly suppressed the instinct to turn and flee, his gaze following the exquisite cloud patterns on the collar, moving upward bit by bit, inch by inch.
Neck.
Jawline.
Bridge of the nose.
When that slumbering face finally burst into Chen Huaian's sight without any reservation.
BOOM——!
It was as if a thunderclap directly exploded deep within his mind.
The surrounding thunder, wind, and dragon roars all vanished in that instant.
The entire world seemed to collapse and freeze in that one look.
...