Chapter 185: Soul Gathering Coffin
Chapter 185: Soul Gathering Coffin
Cheng Lingyu’s situation improved slightly as the Fang Tian Bao Yin and Ghostly Magic Blade within his True Essence Sea trembled violently. They reacted intensely to the black coffin, releasing a peculiar aura that blocked its shockwaves.
In Cheng Lingyu’s mind, his Immortal Soul stirred restlessly while the mysterious grass quivered rapidly, probing the black coffin’s disturbances.
“Soul Gathering Coffin.”
This was the mysterious grass’s explanation. Though merely three words, Cheng Lingyu gleaned profound insights.
Soul Gathering Valley had existed since ancient times, yet few understood its origins.
Cheng Lingyu had visited Guishun Valley before—an eerie place with five Spirit Halls that gathered countless souls, though none knew why.
Soul Gathering Valley differed from Guishun Valley but shared similarities.
Though Lou Ri City housed countless disciples, none had uncovered Soul Gathering Valley’s secrets until Cheng Lingyu’s discovery.
The answer lay in this Soul Gathering Coffin. Its presence attracted innumerable souls, creating a unique domain.
This domain imposed strict limitations. Whether Blood Martial Realm or Spirit Martial Realm experts entered, their cultivation levels would be suppressed to Soul Martial Realm—all due to the coffin’s influence.
“Could this Soul Gathering Coffin be a Holy Artifact?”
Cheng Lingyu’s heart raced. Spirit artifacts were already rare, but Holy Artifacts were exceedingly rare. Obtaining this coffin would be invaluable.
Lan Xiaozhu gasped. “The Soul Gathering Coffin… So this is why the valley exists?”
Fang Ruohua shivered. “This coffin’s dreadful—it wants to consume our souls! We must flee!”
The coffin measured only one foot long and six inches wide, its pitch-black surface etched with faint patterns. Yet it emitted terrifying waves that shook the heavens.
Even Fang Ruohua’s natural martial soul quivered, as if being forcibly drawn out.
Cheng Lingyu nodded abruptly. His motionless body erupted with violent shockwaves, tearing through the confined void as he yanked both women backward.
The coffin shuddered darkly. A monstrous wave crashed into Cheng Lingyu, making him stagger and vomit blood.
“Lingyu! Elder brother!”
Both women cried out in alarm.
Cheng Lingyu grimaced. “It’s nothing. But escaping through brute force won’t work.”
He ordered Lan Xiaozhu to grip Fang Ruohua before releasing his right hand.
Summoning the Flying Flower Snow Moon Sword, he unleashed the Mirage Blade Slash to sever the coffin’s binding force.
The high-grade spirit artifact shattered the void effortlessly—yet failed to break the coffin’s confinement.
Cold sweat dripped down Cheng Lingyu’s neck. If even this sword couldn’t escape, was the coffin truly a Holy Artifact?
Without pause, he spun the blade, weaving sword lights into formations to rupture the temporal prison—but failed again.
“What now, elder brother?” Fang Ruohua stared at the sword’s glowing patterns flickering with cryptic images.
Sheathing the spirit sword, Cheng Lingyu growled, “Don’t panic. We can’t fight it—but we might still escape.”
The Soul Gathering Coffin hovered mid-air, pitch-black and gleaming as it slowly rotated. Countless souls spiraled around it, forming forty-nine dark luminous rings.
Cheng Lingyu stared at the coffin, feeling it loomed like an unstoppable monarch dominating heaven and earth, its presence chilling his heart. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then roared like thunderclaps rippling through the valley’s eerie gloom.
Swinging his right hand, Cheng Lingyu summoned the magic knife. A sinister aura erupted from the blade, tearing through the fabric of time and space. In that split second, he yanked Lan Xiaozhu and Fang Ruohua forward, the trio reappearing a mile away where spatial constraints weakened.
The coffin quivered faintly when the knife appeared, as if recognizing the weapon. Cheng Lingyu retracted the blade, his gaze fixed on the distant coffin.
Fang Ruohua fidgeted. “Elder brother, let’s leave!”
“Wait for me further away,” Cheng Lingyu ordered.
“No!” Fang Ruohua gripped his right hand tighter, cheeks flushing.
Cheng Lingyu turned to Lan Xiaozhu. “Can we claim this coffin?”
Lan Xiaozhu released Fang Ruohua and clasped Cheng Lingyu’s left hand, her other hand clutching the Key of Fate at her throat. “I must calculate.”
Her body convulsed violently as she began the Celestial Cataclysm Divination – left side glowing, right side darkening. Blood trickled from her seven orifices as Backlash Power flooded into Cheng Lingyu’s mysterious space.
“What’s happening?!” Fang Ruohua gasped.
“She pays the price for forbidden knowledge,” Cheng Lingyu murmured.
After time enough for incense to burn, Lan Xiaozhu’s tremors subsided. Drenched in sweat, she whispered hoarsely, “Eighteen coffins… not yet time…”
Cheng Lingyu’s brow furrowed. “Nine ridges in Xiyun Divine Mountain, nine coffins?”
“Eighteen,” Lan Xiaozhu corrected weakly. “Eastern Fallen God Mountain… nine more…”
Understanding dawned on Fang Ruohua. “So when we collect souls elsewhere, we must avoid disturbing them!”
Retreating ten miles, they heard the distant crash as the coffin resealed itself underground – Cheng Lingyu’s Soul Guide Banner had disrupted the valley’s balance.
Outside the Soul Gathering Valley, Sixth Palace disciples clustered in anxious debate. Song Xuejiao exhaled in relief seeing them emerge.
“What happened inside?” demanded a disciple.
Lan Xiaozhu feigned ignorance. “We got trapped by sudden binding forces until they weakened.”
“Why didn’t you investigate?” another challenged.
Fang Ruohua snorted. “Go see for yourself if you’re so brave!”
Cheng Lingyu led them away from the grumbling crowd. As they departed Xingyun Ridge, Fang Ruohua breathed easier. “Where now, elder brother?”