Chapter 124: Coffin, Sage Body
After a while, the other noble clans’ people got up. The further they climbed, the greater was the exhaustion of Essence. If they did not have sufficient Spirit Stones, they would not have been able to reach this area.
“Let’s go; there are 500 odd more steps. Let’s try to do it in one breath!” Ji Changkong demanded indifferently. At this moment, he was already able to see a corner of the peak.
After he spoke, he led the way like before. His sharp eyes continued to stare ahead; there were countless stars appearing in his eyes. Every step he took, a star would dim. After a moment, even more stars were created.
If someone who understood the techniques of the Ji Clan were here, he would be shocked. Ji Changkong was cultivating his Morning Star Martial Spirit during such a situation.
Everyone slowly climbed the stone steps. Every step they took was one step closer to the peak. The pressure they shouldered increased, as though a layer of a formless resistive force was stopping them.
“Bang!”
A Ji Clan Martial Saint took a step up, and before his foot landed, he exploded and turned into dust.
Ji Changkong did not turn back; his expression did not change at all. He just held an Inferior Grade Spirit Stone and plodded on, step by step.
The nearer they got to the stone platform, the more horrifying the pressure was for the crowd to bear. It was like a small mountain pressing on their shoulders. Each stone step was like a bottomless pit, absorbing away a significant portion of their Essence the instant their feet landed.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
A few of the Martial Saints from various families could not withstand the pressure and exploded. Everyone was alarmed; they trembled in fear, afraid they would be the next to die.
“Sages, go no further!”
A stone tablet stood tall in front of Ji Changkong. There were four big words written on it. A boundless might emitted from the stone tablet.
Ji Changkong smiled coldly and brandished his sword. A few waves of sword Qi struck the stone tablet. Cracks appeared on the stone tablet before it crumbled into countless pieces of rock.
He raised his head to look at the stone platform above. He was just short of ten steps before he would reach it. Ji Changkong shouted lightly, and a human figure came out of his body.
It stood on the stone step in front of him. Then another human figure came out of the human figure in front, arriving on a higher step. This repeated for ten times until Ji Changkong’s figure was finally on the peak of the stone platform.
Ji Changkong took a deep breath. The nine clones of him behind merged back into his body like illusory figures. On the peak of the stone platform, there was a wide flat-roofed building. There was a golden Sage Coffin in the middle of it.
A faint righteous Qi vented from the coffin. Ji Changkong could not resist, revealing a slight faint smile. After all his meticulous planning and surviving the horrible odds of living, he finally made it.
The golden coffin was the height of a person. Ji Changkong took carefree steps toward it, approaching slowly. Just at this moment, a human figure appeared from the other side. Ji Changkong was startled and retreated backward several steps.
“Brother Changkong, it has been a while.” Chu Chaoyun walked out from the other side of the coffin. He looked at Ji Changkong, casually smiling.
Ji Changkong had a solemn expression. He was incredibly shocked. He did not expect to meet Chu Chaoyun here; it was very surprising.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Hua Yunfei, Duanmu Qing, and the Guiyi Marquis led the remaining Martial Saints and arrived at the top. When they saw Chu Chaoyun, they were somewhat startled.
Chu Chaoyun said indifferently, “Don’t look at me like that. I just arrived too. This golden coffin has not been opened yet.” After he spoke, he made an inviting gesture and took a step back.
Ji Changkong exchanged glances with Duanmu Qing, Hua Yunfei, and the Guiyi Marquis. The three of them knew intuitively what to do. They slowly walked forward to Chu Chaoyun, blocking him and leaving him outside. Chu Chaoyun just smiled gently and ignored them.
“Boom!”
Ji Changkong sent out a palm strike and smashed his palm on the lid of the golden coffin. A melodious chime resounded everywhere; the crowd felt their eardrums shake.
A corner of the coffin lid was torn open. However, Ji Changkong stared at his palm in amazement. Afterward, he told the people beside him, “You guys give it a try; see if you can use some Essence.”
When the others heard it, they were stunned. They immediately tried it and found the Martial Spirits in their Dantian seemed to be sealed. No matter how they circulated their energies, they were not able to summon their Martial Spirits.
“What’s going on?” everyone exclaimed in shock.
Chu Chaoyun smiled faintly. He parted the crowd and said, “Let’s take a look inside the coffin first; see what is in there.”
As everyone heard this, they put down the curiosity in their hearts and headed toward the coffin. After spending so much effort, everyone was curious which Sage was lying in the coffin.
Inside the golden coffin, an imposing male in purple robes lie peacefully. His hands had been laid on his chest grasping a sword.
Ji Changkong asked in shock, “Isn’t this the last Emperor of the Tianwu Dynasty? Why is he here?”
The Guiyi marquis and the others were all shocked. Along their way here, everything indicated this to be a Sage’s Ancient Remnant. The Martial Technique they obtained from those black coffins could prove that. Furthermore, there were the countless carvings on the walls; they were all in the style of the Ancient Era.
It was only after ten thousand years after the Ancient Era ended that the Tianyu Dynasty slowly emerged. The last emperor of the Tianwu Dynasty only passed away a few thousand years ago. How is he related to the Sages of twenty thousand years ago?
“Pu Ci!”
The man wearing purple robes in the Sage Coffin suddenly opened his eyes. A purple glow appeared in his eyes. Before a Martial Saint who was looking at him could react, he burned to death.
“The Tianwu Emperor came back to life?”
“Is this the legendary Heavenly Flame?” All the cultivators backed off, and their hearts were filled with horror. Although the Tianwu Dynasty collapsed already, the legends surrounding it had not been forgotten.
Back then, the first generation Tianwu Emperor relied on an exceptional, heaven-shaking strength to rule over the entire Tianwu Continent. He established the Tianwu Empire that lasted for ten thousand years. Such an accomplishment could be called a record that has never been approached and will never be approached again. He was undisputedly the number one person in the past and even now.
Legend had it he borrowed a Heavenly Flame from abroad. When the Heavenly Flame burned at its strongest, the entire continent would melt. It was the king of flames; none could defend against it.
From then on, every successive Emperor had the strength of the great Emperor. Even the last Tianwu Emperor who lie here had the strength of the great emperor. If he truly awakened, none would be able to flee.
Chu Chaoyun revealed an expression of being deep in thought. He slowly walked to the front and observed the purple robed Emperor. He said, “There is no need to worry. It is just a strand of Qi reflex. Just don’t look at his eyes.”
Everyone was deep in thought and agreed with him. There was no such thing as a person who could not die. Even the Great Tianwu Emperor died many years ago. Aside from the legendary Martial God, no one could escape the clutches of death.
Looking at the coffin again, a fire lit in everyone’s eyes. Although they did not know where the body of the Sage was, the value of the Tianwu Emperor’s body was not inferior.
Just the Heavenly Flame contained in his body would cause people to go crazy over it. This is because the might of the Heavenly Flame was too great. Before the first Tianwu Emperor passed away, he split the Heavenly Flame into ten portions, leaving just a tenth for his descendants.
Even though it was just a tenth, the might of the Heavenly Flame was still horrifying. Splitting the mountains, burning the land to desolated wasteland, all these were things that it could do easily.
Everyone gathered in front of the Sage Coffin. For a moment, they did not dare take any action. Ji Changkong stretched out his hands and slowly closed the eyelids of the Emperor. Thus, the Emperor in the coffin shut his eyes once more.
“Hu!”
“Hua Yunfei stretched out his hands and took the sword of the Tianwu Emperor. He said joyfully, “Sky Splitting Sword, this is a Holy Weapon, a complete Holy Weapon.”
“Bang!” The Holy Weapon struggled free of Hua Yunfei’s hands and flew towards the Guiyi Marquis. Hua Yunfei’s expression changed; he hurriedly stretched out his hands, intending to grab hold of it once again. However, the speed of the Holy Weapon was too fast; he was not able to catch it.
The Guiyi Marquis stretched out his hand and caught hold of the Holy Weapon. He was filled with doubts; he did not understand why the Holy Weapon flew into his hands. Furthermore, he was used to using a spear, not a sword.
Hua Yunfei quickly moved before the Guiyi Marquis and stretched out his hands, intending to snatch away the Holy Weapon. The Guiyi Marquis stared at him and asked in a cold voice, “Hua Yunfei, what are you doing?”
Hua Yunfei looked at the Holy Weapon in the Guiyi Marquis’s hands and said lividly, “What am I doing? Return my Holy Weapon to me.”
The Guiyi Marquis smiled coldly, “The Holy Weapon chooses its master; it is obvious you are not fit to wield this Holy Weapon. Stop being an annoying troublemaker here.”
“Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit!” Hua Yunfei had disliked the Guiyi Marquis since long ago. He kept the incident when he was blocked from killing Xiao Chen, in mind.
Now that he had an excuse and the Guiyi Marquis’s Golden Guards were not around, he did not hesitate to make a move with his four Martial Saints.
There was no way to use Essence on the stone platform. The fight could only be fought with physical strength and techniques.
Although the Guiyi marquis was alone, he had been on the battlefield since he was young. His experience was much richer than these five people. Hua Yunfei and his group were not able to do anything to the Guiyi Marquis.
Ji Changkong took just a glance at the fight behind him and looked away, never looking back after that. He looked at Hua Yunfei and said indifferently, “Brother Chaoyun, if we can extract the Heavenly Flame, how about splitting it equally?”
Chu Chaoyun smiled faintly and looked at Ji Changkong, “Do I have any reason to refuse?”
After their negotiations were complete, they started to discuss how to extract the Tianwu Emperor’s Heavenly Flame. After a Heavenly Flame was absorbed, it would be hidden in every inch of the owner’s skin. It would be extremely difficult to extract it, bordering on the impossible.
The most direct way to extract the heavenly Flame was to refine the Tianwu Emperor’s corpse. After it was refined, the heavenly Flame would condense and appear, never to be extinguished.
However, to refine the Tianwu Emperor’s body with their strength was a fool’s dream. In their attempt, it may even be possible to suffer a rebound from the flame, causing them to burn till not even ashes were left.
Aside from the Heavenly Flame, there was also the inherited Martial Technique of the Tianwu Empire, Life-Extinguishing Blood-Reversing Swordplay. That was a precious treasure that would cause anyone’s eyes to go red as well. If they were able to find it here, its value would not be any lower than the Heavenly Flame.
Ji Changkong searched around the golden Sage Coffin. However, after searching for a long time, he did not find anything. He could not help but look towards Chu Chaoyun. It was impossible that the final resting place of the Tianwu Emperor would not have the Life-Extinguishing Blood-Reversing Swordplay Manual.