Chapter 1501 – Opening the Coffin
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“Lin Ming, you think that the Essence Spirit Embryo Stone is sealed within the coffin?” Xiao Moxian immediately knew what Lin Ming was thinking from the light in his eyes.
“It really might be so.”
Lin Ming walked near to the ancient bronze coffin. This coffin had lain here for countless years and the surface of it was covered with carved images. These images included fierce Asura demons, ancient vicious beasts, and even martial artists of other races.
Thick chains wrapped around this coffin, and every chain buckle was covered with runes. Because too much time had passed, the divine iron that formed the ancient coffin and chains was stained with rust, filled with an atmosphere that seemed to come from the deepest depths of time.
Through the crevices in these iron chains, Lin Ming could see the scenes on the ancient coffin. There were Asura demons eating humans and even humans burning demons as a sacrifice to Asuras.
There were also ancient vicious beasts ripping apart people to shreds as well as people striking vicious beasts and drinking their blood.
In short, all of these scenes were filled with a tyrannical, brutal, and cruel feeling. Looking at them caused killing intent to surge in the heart, as if it would erupt at any moment.
Lin Ming squatted down near the ancient bronze coffin. The coffin was as wide and tall as the book, appearing extremely heavy. The coffin lid and coffin body seemed cast together, without the slightest gap separating them.
“This ancient bronze coffin also exudes demonic power…” Lin Ming’s eyes sharpened. The demonic tide that occasionally erupted in Tragic Death Valley was related to the first volume of the Asura Sutra, but a part of it also came from this ancient bronze coffin!
“If we open it will something ominous happen?” Xiao Moxian weakly said as she saw all the violent carvings atop the coffin. Tragic Death Valley had existed for billions of years, and with the time enchantment here, dozens of billions of years had passed. For such a long time, this ancient bronze coffin had existed within the center of the God Beast Tomb array formation. It was hard to imagine just how much essence energy was absorbed here and what it could have been breeding.
It had to be known that the things in Tragic Death Valley could easily kill a World King. If this Essence Spirit Embryo Stone had already taken form then the terrifying strength it possessed was something neither she nor Lin Ming could deal with.
“Lin Ming, do you think that these chains are locking in the embryo stone to prevent it from breaking out of the coffin?” Xiao Moxian suddenly asked. Lin Ming was silent for a moment. There was indeed a great risk if they opened up the ancient coffin, especially when he still knew so little about the Asura Sutra’s first volume.
“Maybe. But no matter what happens if I open the ancient coffin, I will still open it. Still, I must fully perceive the Asura Sutra first.”
Lin Ming would certainly open the ancient coffin. In order to arrive here he had to take numerous risks and complete something that countless ancient heroes had never done before. Now, he would soon obtain the Asura Road Master’s inheritance. If anyone were to tell him to give up here then that would simply be a joke.
All Lin Ming could do now was to thoroughly perceive the Asura Sutra to reduce the risk to the smallest level possible.
Like this, Lin Ming sat in meditation in front of the Asura Sutra and assiduously enlightened himself upon it.
As for Xiao Moxian, she also accompanied Lin Ming in meditating on the Asura Sutra together. Of course, in terms of comprehending the Asura Sutra, Lin Ming was naturally faster than she was.
Thus, if Xiao Moxian were to run into any questions of spots she found difficult to understand, she was able to consult Lin Ming.
Slowly, Xiao Moxian also gained a deep understanding of the Asura Sutra. Her perception was extraordinary to begin with, and in addition to Lin Ming’s guidance, her rate of growth slowly rose. This caused Lin Ming to praise her without end. In terms of perception alone, she indeed surpassed him.
Training passed without sense of time. Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian sat in meditation within this hall every day. Like this, a full year passed them by.
Whether it was Lin Ming or Xiao Moxian, the foundation of their mortal bodies was outstanding. And, the Asura Sutra First Volume revolved around cultivating the mortal body. The Asura Sutra cultivated essence, energy, and divine. The main difference from other cultivation methods was that when the Asura Sutra was cultivated to the extreme, a martial artist could gather essence, energy, and divine unto themselves and then reach an inconceivable boundary.
However, every positive had a negative. Although the Asura Sutra was a cultivation method that pointed towards the peak of all martial arts, the route it took to get there was extremely time intensive. It required a massive accumulation of time, on the magnitude of millions of years, in order to show its true strength.
The days of seclusion were boring and dry. As Lin Ming meditated, he often exchanged information and insights. At the start, it was him helping Xiao Moxian. But afterwards, Xiao Moxian provided him with many unique thoughts and inspirations.
Due to the limit of their cultivation it was impossible for them to cultivate the Asura Sutra First Volume to the limit. Even so, the two of them fully carved the Asura Sutra First Volume deep into their hearts. Now, even if they lost the ancient bronze book they could still recall the Asura Sutra in full detail, including the various Concepts and textures and feelings of the runes.
Another half year passed. Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian combined everything they understood into one. At this point, they had already spent a total of nine years in Tragic Death Valley.
In these nine years, Lin Ming’s cultivation had made considerable progress, in particular, the last half year in which he was perceiving the Asura Sutra First Volume. He was only half a step from reaching the Divine Lord realm.
“I see. So this is the original appearance of the God Burying Ridge’s dao field…”
After perceiving the Asura Sutra First Volume, Lin Ming recalled the traces of the dao field that were carved within the emperor jade. Many things he couldn’t understand before had suddenly become clear to him.
Now, if Lin Ming were to leave Tragic Death Valley and explore God Burying Ridge, he could rely on his understanding of the Asura Sutra to wander about with absolute freedom and safety, even with his eyes closed.
“God Burying Ridge is divided into death roads and life roads. When life roads reach the extreme, mortals can safely enter and exit. When death roads reach the extreme, even World Kings will perish. And of God Burying Ridge’s extreme death roads, there are a total of seven spots.”
Lin Ming murmured to himself. The so-called guides of God Burying Ridge were the product of the countless experiences and knowledge accumulated by their seniors. These people had tested the many death roads until they had found the one life road into God Burying Ridge. They simply didn’t understand the true principles that lay behind the God Burying Ridge’s dao field, and had simply relied on their own empirical methods of testing to find a way to avoid danger. This was why being a God Burying Ridge guide was such a dangerous occupation, one that always teetered on a knife’s edge.
Then, Lin Ming’s eyes flashed open from his meditation. He stood up and walked towards the ancient bronze coffin.
Xiao Moxian’s thoughts stirred. “Lin Ming, are you planning to open the coffin now?”
During these past days, she and Lin Ming had reached a bottleneck in their understanding of the Asura Sutra. This was the limit placed upon them by their cultivation level and broadness of their horizons. Until they became stronger, it would be hard to experience another breakthrough.
When a martial artist cultivated the martial path, it was impossible for them to go into seclusion and directly leap up several large boundaries. They had to constantly adventure and gain more experiences, and then realize new things from these experiences. They had to constantly fight in order to temper themselves. If they were to go into seclusion for all their life, not only would that weaken a martial artist’s true combat strength, but it would cause their comprehension of Laws and cultivation methods to stagnate.
“Now is as good a time as any.” Lin Ming nodded his head. “We’ve been in Tragic Death Valley for nine years now. We’ve done everything that we can and have reached the limit of what we can accomplish here. It’s about time that we think of leaving this valley, but before we go I must open this coffin.”
Lin Ming took out the emperor jade from his inner world. Then, he held the emperor jade in his hand as he prepared himself to open the ancient bronze coffin. The risks were unknown and it was impossible to know just what would come out from the ancient coffin. It might be an unrivalled treasure but it also might be a life-reaping killing intent!
With the emperor jade in hand, Lin Ming felt things would be much safer. Thinking about it, the Asura Road Master shouldn’t have deliberately left a killing trap here for his future inheritors to open. That would simply be too great of a joke.
Because too much time had passed, the chains on the ancient coffin had melded together with it. Lin Ming took a deep breath, linking his hands together and forming hundreds of seals, each seal resonating with the runes on the chains.
In that instant, the runes on the chains began to shimmer one at a time. The entire hall was illuminated with a dazzling light. With a light popping sound, all of the chains fell apart.
Lin Ming pressed his hands on the coffin and glanced at Xiao Moxian. “Do you plan on staying here?”
Lin Ming cautioned her. He was afraid that if some evil being really did emerge, then Xiao Moxian would suffer a gruesome fate like he would. But if she left earlier then she would be able to survive.
Xiao Moxian chuckled, indifferently saying, “At this time do you really think I would change my mind? Hey, if I’m here maybe I’ll be the one saving your life.”
Xiao Moxian wasn’t bragging. In terms of overall strength, although she was inferior to Lin Ming, she wasn’t too far off. If Lin Ming encountered some danger then with Xiao Moxian here he would have a much higher chance of surviving.
Lin Ming faintly smiled. He didn’t bother speaking any more. His fingers suddenly grasped down and gripped two corners of the ancient coffin.
With a loud shout, crackling sounds emitted from all over his body. The Heretical God Force erupted, the Eight Inner Hidden Gates opened, and from behind Lin Ming the phantom of a True Dragon appeared!
At this time, he bent down, focusing his strength into his waist. His spine curved like a taut bow as all his strength passed into his arms. A power equal to nearly a billion jins of strength suddenly broke out!
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ancient bronze coffin that had lain here for 100 billion years was shoved open by Lin Ming!
In that moment, it seemed as if what Lin Ming pushed open was not the lid of a coffin but a door leading to another world!
Ka ka ka ka!
The entire bronze temple shook. The ground trembled. With loud rustling sound, a beam of light descended from high above, shining atop the Asura Sutra. Countless runes of the Great Dao swirled about, gathering together in a purple kaleidoscope to form a door of light!
“This is… a portal!?”
Xiao Moxian held her breath. For a door of light to suddenly appear, seeming as if another world was behind it, this should be a portal!
Did this portal lead to the outside?
Xiao Moxian couldn’t help but think this, a sense of excitement rising in her mind.
She had already stayed in the absolute darkness of Tragic Death Valley for several years. Moreover, before she entered the God Beast Tomb with Lin Ming, a wisp of despair had begun growing in her heart. Now that she realized she could soon leave Tragic Death Valley, how could she not be excited?
However, being pleasantly surprised was only one matter. At this time, Xiao Moxian’s concentration was completely focused on what was happening around her. Her right hand touched her spatial ring, ready to deal with any dangers that arose.
What was in the ancient coffin?
If it were a treasure, then they could naturally take it and everyone would have a happy ending. But if it were an evil being, then both she and Lin Ming would face a life or death crisis.
