4: Chapter 4 Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin, Mars Descends

Dark red dust blew into their faces.

Lin Ye narrowed his eyes and raised his hand to shield himself from the sandstorm.

Beneath his feet was soft sand; with every step, he sank half a foot deep. The gravity was lower than Earth's, but the resistance of the sand made moving forward strenuous.

The air was filled with the smell of rust and dust, and every breath felt gritty—this was Mars, or rather, the Yinghuo Ancient Star in the "covering the heavens" Universe.

"Brother Ye, is this place... really Mars?" Chen Hao looked around, his voice filled with disbelief. "Did we really cross tens of millions of kilometers in just a few seconds?"

"It's not the real Mars, but the Yinghuo Ancient Star constructed by the game," Lin Ye corrected. "But the physical rules are simulated very realistically. The gravity is about 38% of Earth's, the air is thin, and the main component is carbon dioxide. With our current Mortal Physique, we can survive here for at most two hours."

"Two hours?" Chen Hao's expression changed. "Then we need to find a way to leave immediately!"

Lin Ye did not answer; his gaze was already locked onto the ruins in the center of the desert.

Great Thunder Sound Temple.

Even from several kilometers away, even though the temple had mostly collapsed, that solemn, ancient, compassionate, yet sorrowful aura still traveled across space.

It was the final lingering echo of a Buddhist Holy Land, and also a precursor to the awakening of some terrifying existence suppressed beneath the temple.

"Go that way," Lin Ye pointed toward the temple. "Move fast, but don't run. Strenuous exercise in thin air will accelerate oxygen consumption."

The two began to advance toward the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

Behind them, more and more players poured out from the bronze coffin.

Over fifty thousand people were scattered on the red sand, like a swarm of ants suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar environment.

Some were excitedly taking photos—though the game had a built-in screenshot function; others were trying to use skills—only to find all skill bars were gray. The wheel sea secret realm was not yet opened, and they were currently just "Mortals" slightly stronger than ordinary people.

"Why is there nothing in this shitty place?"

"What about quests? Where are the NPCs?"

"There's a temple over there! Let's go take a look!"

"Wait for me! Let's form a team!"

The noise was diluted by the wind and sand, but the spread of Chaos could still be heard.

Lin Ye ignored this. His pace was steady and fast, leaving a trail of uneven footprints on the sand. Chen Hao tried hard to keep up, his breathing gradually becoming heavy.

"Brother Ye... how, how is your stamina so good?"

"Attribute bonus," Lin Ye answered briefly. "The Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body doubles all attributes, and my constitution is twice that of an ordinary player. Adjust your breathing technique: inhale every three steps, exhale every two steps, to reduce oxygen consumption."

Chen Hao tried to imitate him, but clearly failed to grasp the essence.

Five hundred meters.

Four hundred meters.

The outline of the Great Thunder Sound Temple became clearer and clearer.

It was not a complete temple, but a complex of over a dozen halls, most of which had collapsed. The roof of the main hall had a large hole, the walls were covered in cracks, and the stone steps in front of the gate were broken into several pieces. Scattered around the temple were broken Buddha statues, fractured sutra pillars, and weathered stone tablets.

But eerily, in such a dead and silent ruin, on the open ground in front of the temple gate, there was actually... a tree growing.

A withered tree.

The trunk was thick, requiring at least three people to hug it; the bark was dry and cracked like dragon scales, and the branches were twisted like ghost claws. There were no leaves on the tree, only a few scattered shriveled fruits hanging from the branches. The fruits were pale gold with natural spiral patterns on the surface.

"That is..." Chen Hao widened his eyes.

"Bodhi tree," Lin Ye quickened his pace. "To be precise, it's the remains of the ancient Bodhi tree. The fruits on the tree are the first treasure we are looking for."

Three hundred meters.

He could already see the peeling gold paint on the temple plaque and the blurred scriptures carved into the broken walls.

He could also see that the sand around the temple seemed "newer" than other places—without too many signs of wind erosion, as if... it was frequently turned over by something.

Lin Ye's internal alarm bells rang.

"A-Hao, come behind me," he lowered his voice. "No matter what you see, don't scream, don't run around."

"Huh? What do you mean..."

Before he finished speaking, the sand suddenly moved.

It wasn't the wind moving the sand, but the sand itself rising and writhing, as if something was waking up underneath. The rising began from around the temple and quickly spread toward where the players gathered.

"What the hell?"

"There's something under the sand!"

"Holy crap! It's bugs!"

The first creature broke out of the sand.

It was a scorpion, dark red all over, its shell reflecting light like metal, over half a meter long, its tail hook shimmering with a ghostly blue cold light. After crawling out of the sand, it didn't attack immediately but raised its front half, its two pincers opening and closing, making a "click-clack" friction sound.

Immediately followed by a second, a third...

Not just scorpions, there were other things: centipedes, spiders, ants... All the creatures were huge in size, their colors blending with the red sand, their shells covered in eerie patterns. They poured out from the depths of the sand, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a black "tide" around the temple.

"Monsters! It's monsters!"

"Attack! Attack quickly!"

"I don't have any skills!"

"Use your fists! Use your feet!"

A bold player rushed up and punched a scorpion on its back. The fist collided with the shell with a dull thud, the scorpion didn't budge, and its tail hook stabbed out like lightning, piercing the player's arm.

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream.

The player's entire arm instantly turned blue-black, the skin rotting and peeling off at a visible speed, revealing the white bone underneath. He fell to the ground twitching, the health bar above his head dropping wildly like a floodgate opening, hitting zero after three seconds.

The corpse didn't disappear but lay on the sand, gradually being buried by the red sand.

[System Prompt: Player 'Berserker' has died, Level -1, equipment 'Coarse Cloth Shoes' has dropped, all attributes weakened by 30% for 24 hours]

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Then, panic erupted like a plague.

"You can die! You can really die!"

"The pain is real! I felt that just now!"

"I'm not playing anymore! I want to log off!"

"The log-off button is gray! I can't quit!"

Chaos, trampling, screaming.

Players scurried around like headless flies; some tried to run back to the bronze coffin, but the coffin lid was closed, and they couldn't enter at all. Some ran away from the temple, but the desert was boundless, where could they escape to?

"Brother Ye, what do we do?" Chen Hao's voice trembled. "These bugs... there are too many!"

Indeed, there were many.

A rough estimate was that over a thousand insect monsters had crawled out of the sand, and they were still increasing. Each one was level 10 or above, while players were generally only level 1-3. The attribute gap was too large; it was impossible to contend with them head-on.

"They won't leave the 300-meter range of the temple," Lin Ye observed calmly. "This is a protective Restriction. Our goal is to rush in, get the bodhi seed, and leave immediately."

"Rush in? How can we do that?"

"Follow me."

Lin Ye didn't explain but began to adjust his breathing.

The advantage of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body was revealed at this moment. Ordinary players had chaotic breathing due to panic, accelerating oxygen consumption, but he could maintain the most economical breathing rhythm. More importantly, his spirit attribute was twice that of ordinary players, which meant calmer thinking and more precise judgment.

The insect tide had spread to the 200-meter range.

Players in the front row made contact with the insect swarm, and screams rose one after another. The insects' attacks carried poison, paralysis, corrosion, and other effects. Without antidote potions or healing skills, being hit meant almost certain death.

But Lin Ye noticed that the movement of the insect swarm had a pattern.

They crawled out from the depths of the sand, stayed in place for a few seconds, and then moved toward the players. The positions they crawled out from seemed random, but if you looked carefully, they were all on certain "nodes"—those were the gathering points of earth vein energy and the remaining eyes of the Formation.

And between the eyes of the Formation, there were narrow safe passages.

"Go!"

Lin Ye suddenly started moving, not rushing straight toward the temple, but maneuvering obliquely to the left.

Chen Hao gritted his teeth and followed.

The two's movements immediately attracted the attention of several scorpions; they turned, their tail hooks held high. But Lin Ye's speed was too fast—doubled agility was no joke. In the low-gravity environment, every step he took could leap three meters away, and when he landed, his toes tapped lightly, and he took off again.

Not running, but jumping.

Jumping on the sand like an antelope, every landing point was precisely placed in the gaps between the insect swarm.

"Follow my footprints closely!" Lin Ye shouted without looking back.

Chen Hao tried desperately to imitate him, but his agility attribute was ordinary, his movements were clumsy, and he almost stepped on bugs several times. A centipede suddenly darted out from the side, its mouthparts opened, and it sprayed a stream of dark green venom.

"Duck!"

Lin Ye's voice rang out like a thunderclap.

Chen Hao instinctively bent down; the venom flew past his scalp and landed on the sand, "hissing" as it corroded a deep pit. And just at the moment he ducked, Lin Ye had already turned back, his right foot stomping hard on the ground, sand flying, temporarily obscuring the centipede's vision.

"Keep running! Don't stop!"

The two moved one after the other, weaving through the gaps in the insect swarm.

Other players saw this scene, some tried to imitate, but soon were submerged by the insect swarm because they stepped in the wrong position. The number of insects was too large, and the passages were too narrow; without extremely high agility and precise judgment, it was simply impossible to pass.

100 meters.

Lin Ye could already see the patterns on the Bodhi tree.

Under the tree was a pile of shriveled fruits—those were the bodhi seeds that had fallen in previous years and lost their Spiritual Qi. But there were three relatively plump ones still hanging on the tree, and the largest one was hanging on the lowest branch, within reach.

But under the tree, a huge, pitch-red python was coiled.

Not a python, but a "Salamander," a dual-attribute fire and earth Yao Beast, at least level 15 or above. It coiled around the trunk, its snake head held high, its dark yellow vertical pupils coldly staring at every creature that approached.

"Brother Ye, there's a BOSS!" Chen Hao slammed on the brakes.

"I'll draw it away," Lin Ye grabbed a handful of red sand from the ground. "You go pick that largest bodhi seed. Remember, only pick one, and run into the temple immediately after picking it, don't look back."

"What about you?"

"I have a way."

Lin Ye didn't explain further; he took a deep breath and threw the red sand in his hand hard toward the left of the giant snake.

The sand scattered in the air, forming a red mist.

The giant snake's vision was interfered with, and its head instinctively turned to the left. At this very moment, Lin Ye moved.

He didn't rush toward the Bodhi tree but rushed toward the main gate of the temple—the insect swarm was densest there, but it was also outside the giant snake's guarding range.

Sure enough, the giant snake's attention was completely attracted by Lin Ye. It gave up guarding the Bodhi tree, its massive body sliding down from the trunk, red sand churning as it chased after Lin Ye. It was extremely fast, leaving a deep gully in the sand.

"Now!" Lin Ye shouted.

Chen Hao gritted his teeth and rushed to the Bodhi tree.

There were no obstacles under the tree; he jumped up and grabbed the bodhi seed on the lowest branch. The fruit felt warm and smooth in his hand, unlike the shriveled ones; it was like an artwork carved from warm jade.

[Obtained: bodhi seed (Complete)]

[Quality: Rare (Blue)]

[Description: A fruit of wisdom borne by the ancient Bodhi tree. Although it has lost most of its Spiritual Qi due to the withering of the ancient tree, it still contains the essence of Buddhist wisdom.]

[Effects:]

1. Comprehension Ability +30% permanently

2. Increases the probability of Epiphany when worn (low probability trigger)

3. Resistance to illusion and Heart Demon-type effects +20%

4. Can be used to refine high-grade Medicinal Pill "Enlightenment Pill"

[Binding Status: Pickup Bound]

"Brother Ye! I got it!" Chen Hao shouted excitedly.

"Enter the temple!" Lin Ye's voice came from afar.

He had already rushed to the front gate of the temple, with the giant snake in hot pursuit behind him, the distance less than ten meters. And the insect swarm around the temple seemed to fear the giant snake, automatically clearing a path.

Lin Ye did not hesitate, leaped over the collapsed threshold, and rushed into the main hall of the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

The giant snake slammed on the brakes in front of the gate.

It raised its head, hissing toward the inside of the hall, but for some reason, it dared not take a single step across the threshold. It was as if there was something inside the temple that terrified it.

Chen Hao also rushed in from the side, almost bumping into a pillar.

The two stood back to back, observing their surroundings while panting.

The interior of the main hall was larger than it looked from the outside—another space folding. The hall was about twenty meters high and over fifty meters deep. On both sides stood eighteen statues of Arhats, but they were all incomplete, some with broken arms, some missing heads. In the center was a seated Buddha statue fifteen meters high; the gold leaf of the statue had peeled off, revealing the clay body inside, but those half-closed Buddha eyes still exuded a compassionate gaze.

Scattered on the ground were sutras, wooden fish, and prayer mats, all covered with thick dust.

"We're safe for now," Lin Ye calmed his breathing. "The giant snake dares not come in, and the insect swarm outside won't enter the temple area. This is the residual suppressing power of Buddhism."

"Brother Ye, that was too dangerous just now..." Chen Hao said with lingering fear. "That snake almost caught up to you."

"It couldn't catch up," Lin Ye shook his head. "The Salamander is fast on the sand, but it will slip on hard ground. I calculated the distance; it had too much inertia when it chased to the gate and had to slow down, otherwise, it would have crashed into the door frame."

"You, you even calculated that?"

Lin Ye didn't answer; his gaze had already fallen on the offering table in front of the Buddha statue.

The offering table was made of stone; its legs were already broken, and the tabletop was tilted.

Several items were scattered across the table: a bronze lamp with a body covered in verdigris, yet its wick eerily maintained a faint glimmer; a string of broken prayer beads, the beads scattered all over the floor; and half a scroll of scripture opened, its pages yellowed.

But what was most eye-catching was the right hand of the Buddha statue behind the offering table.

That hand was formed in the mudra of holding a flower, and between the thumb and index finger, it held a bead... the size of a lotus seed.

The bead was pale gold, its surface smooth as a mirror, with a faint halo of light circulating within.

[Discovery: Buddha Bone Relic (Faint)]

[Quality: Legendary (Gold)]

[Description: A relic left behind after a high monk passed away; due to the passage of time, its energy is exhausted, leaving only a trace of Buddha nature.]

[Status: Cannot be picked up (Must complete a specific quest or meet specific conditions)]

Lin Ye's eyes narrowed.

A Buddha Bone Relic! In his previous life, until the game Fusion, no one knew that such a thing existed within the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

A Legendary-grade item, even one with exhausted energy, was worth a fortune.

But he couldn't get it now; the conditions weren't met.

"Let's take what we can."

He walked up to the offering table and first picked up the bronze lamp.

The body of the lamp was icy cold and heavy in his hand.

The faint glimmer on the wick seemed to brighten slightly the moment it touched his palm.

[Obtained: Ancient bronze lamp (Damaged)]

[Quality: Excellent (Green)]

[Description: An eternal lamp worshipped in the Great Thunder Sound Temple; the lamp oil had long since dried up, but a trace of Buddha Fire remained in the wick.]

[Attributes:]

Attack +8-12 (Damage doubled against Yin-evil spiritual bodies)

Defense +5

Buddha Light Body Protection: Passive damage reduction of 10 points (Effective only against Yin-evil attribute attacks)

[Skill: Buddha Fire Glimmer (Active)]

Consumes 10 points of Divine Power to ignite the wick, releasing a 3-meter radius Buddha Light Domain, lasting 30 seconds.

Within the Domain, Yin-evil spiritual body attributes are reduced by 20%, and damage dealt by allies to Yin-evil spiritual bodies is increased by 20%. Cooldown: 5 minutes.

[Note: Can be repaired and upgraded by finding Buddha Power Of Will or through the blessing of a high monk.]

Good stuff.

Although it is currently only of Green quality, its growth potential is immense.

The restrictive effect of the Buddha Fire on Yin-evil spiritual bodies is crucial when exploring Ancient Tombs and forbidden areas in the Late Stage.

Lin Ye put the bronze lamp into his storage space and picked up the string of broken prayer beads.

[Obtained: Broken Prayer Beads]

[Quality: Common (White)]

[Description: Ordinary sandalwood prayer beads, broken due to the passage of time, having lost their spiritual nature.]

[Effect: None]

[Note: Perhaps you could find a craftsman to restring them?]

White trash, but Lin Ye still kept them.

Some hidden quests require these types of "souvenir" items.

Finally, there was that half-scroll of scripture.

He carefully brushed away the dust, revealing the handwriting on the cover—"Diamond Sutra".

It was not the Complete Manual, but an Incomplete Manual, containing only the first three chapters.

[Obtained: Diamond Sutra Incomplete Manual (I)]

[Quality: Special (Quest Item)]

[Description: An Incomplete Manual of the Buddhist classic "Diamond Sutra", recording the scripture passage, 'All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows'.]

[Effect: Spirit +1 after reading (Only effective the first time)]

[Note: Collecting all the Incomplete Manuals can synthesize the complete "Diamond Sutra", triggering the hidden quest 'Buddhist Legacy'.]

Lin Ye opened the scripture directly.

The text was in ancient Sanskrit, but the System automatically translated it into text he could understand.

As he read, those scriptures about "emptiness," "non-form," and "non-abiding" flowed into his mind like a clear spring, and his restlessness, fear, and distracting thoughts were slowly washed away.

[Read "Diamond Sutra Incomplete Manual (I)", Spirit attribute +1]

[Current Spirit: 11 (Base 5 + Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body bonus 5 + scripture bonus 1)]

The Spirit attribute affects the maximum Divine Power and recovery speed, and also affects resistance to illusions and mental attacks.

One point of attribute might not seem like much, but accumulating it in the early stages is an advantage.

"Brother Ye, what do we do now?" Chen Hao leaned over, "There are bugs everywhere outside; we can't just keep hiding here, right?"

"Wait." Lin Ye sat cross-legged, "The next part of the plot for the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin will trigger soon. Before that, seize the time to recover your strength."

"But there's no food or drink here..."

"In the game, characters will get hungry and thirsty, but the rate is very slow. We currently have a Mortal Physique, so we can hold out for at least twelve hours."

Lin Ye closed his eyes, "You sit down too and try to circulate the 'Qi Guidance Technique'. Although the Spiritual Qi here is thin, it's better than nothing."

Chen Hao followed suit, sat down, and tried to circulate the Cultivation Technique.

Meanwhile, Lin Ye sank his consciousness into his body.

The wheel sea secret realm had not yet been opened, and he did not yet have a true "bitter sea," but the Origin of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body was already lurking deep within his Dantian.

He could feel it; it was a chaotic-colored vortex, rotating slowly. With every rotation, a trace of weak energy was released, nourishing his limbs and bones.

"In my previous life, it took me three days to sense the bitter sea; in this life... it should be faster."

As he was thinking, a sharp screech suddenly came from outside the temple.

It wasn't the chirping of insects, nor the hissing of snakes, but a higher-pitched, more ear-piercing sound, like metal grinding, or like glass shattering.

Lin Ye opened his eyes abruptly.

Through the dilapidated temple gate, he saw that the sky outside... had darkened.

It wasn't nightfall, but something was blocking the light.

It was a wing.

A wing so unimaginably vast that it hung down from the depths of the clouds, with a wingspan of at least over five hundred meters.

It wasn't covered in feathers, but in dark red, metallic, reflective scales; each scale was the size of a door panel, with edges as sharp as knives.

The wing flapped slowly, and the fierce wind it stirred up blew red sand everywhere; the temple's doors and windows shook violently, and the beams and pillars groaned under the unbearable strain.

"W-what is that..." Chen Hao's voice trembled.

Lin Ye did not answer, but his eyes were grave to the extreme.

Crocodile Ancestor.

Or rather, the Divine Thought of the Crocodile Ancestor.

In the original "Covering the Heavens" work, it was suppressed under the Yinghuo Ancient Star by Sakyamuni; even with only a wisp of Divine Thought remaining, it possessed power comparable to a Saint.

In the game's setting, this was the first world-level event BOSS after launch, with a level of at least 200, which was simply not something players at the current stage could contend with.

The owner of the wing did not fully appear, only revealing one claw—a terrifying claw covered in bone spurs, with tips like curved sabers, which reached out from the clouds and slowly grabbed toward the players on the ground.

"Run—!"

He didn't know who had shouted first.

The surviving players completely broke down and fled in all directions.

But the area covered by the claw was too large; with just a casual swipe, dozens of players were crushed into meat paste.

The white light of death lit up in swaths, like holiday fireworks, only this firework was too cruel.

The claw turned and grabbed toward the direction of the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

"Brother Ye!" Chen Hao's face turned pale.

Lin Ye clenched his fists.

He knew this was a forced plot.

The Divine Thought of the Crocodile Ancestor would destroy the final suppression of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, and then the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin would restart, carrying the surviving players away from Yinghuo and toward the Big Dipper Star Field.

But the problem was... would the temple collapse when the claw fell? Could they survive until the moment the coffin started?

"Hide behind the Buddha statue!" Lin Ye grabbed Chen Hao and rushed into the depths of the main hall.

Just as the two of them hid behind the Buddha statue, the claw descended.

It wasn't a direct strike, but a gentle flick.

"Boom—!"

Half of the hall roof was ripped off, and rubble fell like rain.

Seven of the eighteen Arhat statues fell, the offering table was overturned, and the scriptures were scattered.

The Buddha statue shook violently, dust fell in rustles, but miraculously, it did not collapse—the Buddha Bone Relic emitted a layer of barely visible golden light, protecting the Buddha statue itself.

The claw reached in a second time.

This time, it grabbed the relic in the Buddha statue's mudra of holding a flower.

"Crack..."

A slight cracking sound.

The relic was forcefully gouged out of the Buddha statue's hand, and the golden light was extinguished instantly.

The claw retracted, disappearing into the depths of the clouds with the relic.

And having lost the suppression of the relic, the residual Buddha Power in the temple began to dissipate rapidly.

"Hiss, hiss..."

The Salamander poked its head into the main hall.

The swarm of insects also began to pour through the door.

The temple was no longer a safe zone.

"Brother Ye, what do we do now?" Chen Hao looked at the incoming swarm, his voice filled with despair.

Lin Ye did not answer; he was thinking rapidly.

According to the original plot, after the relic was taken away, the suppression completely failed, and the Divine Thought of the Crocodile Ancestor would fully awaken.

Then the Five-Colored Altar would activate, and the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin would set off again.

But the problem was... where was the Five-Colored Altar?

He suddenly remembered something; he rushed out from behind the Buddha statue and looked at the ground of the main hall.

On the ground, there was a thick layer of dust.

But beneath the dust, he could faintly see some kind of pattern—not the seams of floor tiles, but more complex, more ancient lines.

"Help me clear away this dust!" Lin Ye squatted down and swept frantically with his hands.

Although Chen Hao didn't understand why, he followed suit.

The dust was swept away, revealing the true appearance underneath: it was a circular pattern with a diameter of ten meters, inlaid with jade of five colors; the jade had lost its luster, but the pattern itself was complete and intact—in the center was the Yin and Yang fish, surrounded by the Eight Trigrams, and the outermost layer was the trajectories of stars.

The Five-Colored Altar!

Not the one in the open air, but the backup altar hidden beneath the Great Thunder Sound Temple!

"We're saved!" Chen Hao was overjoyed.

But Lin Ye's heart sank.

The altar had been found, but how to activate it?

In the original work, it was activated by Ye Fan using the bodhi seed, but there was only one bodhi seed, and it was in his hand.

Moreover, activation required time, and the swarm and the Salamander outside would not give them time.

Sure enough, the Salamander had already slithered into the main hall, its vertical pupils locked onto the two of them.

The swarm of insects poured in like a tide through the doors and windows, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded the altar tightly.

"Brother Ye..." Chen Hao's voice was dry.

Lin Ye took a deep breath and took the bodhi seed out of his storage space.

The pale golden fruit emitted a gentle halo in his palm.

He squatted down and pressed the bodhi seed onto the Yin and Yang fish eye in the center of the altar.

No reaction.

"Wrong..." Lin Ye frowned, "It's not activated this way. What's needed is the 'spirituality' of the bodhi seed, not physical contact."

He tried to inject the trace of Divine Power he had just cultivated into the bodhi seed, and then channel it through the bodhi seed into the altar.

Still no reaction.

The Salamander began to accelerate, closing in to less than twenty meters.

The swarm had already crawled to the edge of the altar, and the closest scorpion was only three meters away from Chen Hao's feet.

"Brother Ye! Hurry!"

Lin Ye closed his eyes.

Not with Divine Power, but with... Comprehension Ability?

The effect of the bodhi seed is +30% Comprehension Ability, increasing the probability of an Epiphany.

And the activation of the Five-Colored Altar requires an understanding of the Law of space, or rather, it requires "triggering" the residual spatial coordinates within the altar.

He focused all his attention on the bodhi seed, while recalling the spatial runes he had perceived in the bronze coffin just now.

The lines, structures, and energy flow patterns of those runes...

The bodhi seed began to heat up.

Not physical heat, but a kind of "spiritual" activity.

On the surface of the fruit, those spiral patterns began to glow, the light becoming brighter and brighter, finally turning into a pale golden beam of light that shot into the Yin and Yang fish eye of the altar.

"Hum..."

The altar vibrated.

The five-colored jade stones lit up one by one: cyan, red, yellow, white, and black.

The light flowed through the patterns like water, activating the Eight Trigrams and lighting up the stars.

The entire altar began to emit spatial fluctuations; the surrounding air twisted, and light refracted.

The Salamander felt the danger and lunged forward, accelerating suddenly.

The swarm also surged forward crazily.

But just as they touched the edge of the altar—

"Swish!"

Five-colored light shot into the sky, forming a cylindrical light shield that enveloped Lin Ye and Chen Hao.

The swarm outside the light shield hit it and was directly bounced away.

The Salamander slammed headfirst into the light shield, letting out a painful hiss, and a huge damage number floated above its head: -874!

The light shield began to rise.

No, it was the altar itself rising.

The ground split open, and the altar rose slowly like an elevator, passing through the dilapidated hall roof and rising into mid-air.

And in the distance, the lid of the giant bronze coffin opened again.

The nine Dragon corpses swayed their bodies, dragging the bronze coffin as they flew toward the altar.

"We succeeded!" Chen Hao cheered.

But Lin Ye's expression did not relax.

He felt that a gaze was watching him.

Not the Crocodile Ancestor, not the swarm, but... a higher existence.

Deep in that dark red cloud layer, above the owner of that terrifying claw, there seemed to be another pair of eyes.

Cold, scrutinizing, carrying some indescribable meaning.

The light shield docked with the bronze coffin.

Lin Ye took one last look at the ruins of the Great Thunder Sound Temple below, as well as the players struggling and screaming outside the ruins.

Fifty thousand people; in the end, those who can leave alive will not exceed one thousand.

This is the reality of the covering the heavens era—cruel, and fair.

"Let's go."

He pulled Chen Hao and stepped into the bronze coffin.

The coffin lid closed.

The Dragon corpses turned their direction and dragged it toward the depths of the starry sky.

And inside the coffin, before Lin Ye had time to check his gains this time, he heard a cold, clear female voice come from the side:

"Just now... was it you who lured away that snake?"

He turned his head and saw the girl wearing white sportswear, standing while holding onto the coffin wall.

There was a wound on her arm, bleeding, but her eyes remained calm.

Su Qingyue.

Finally, they had officially met.