315 Secret of the Black Coffin

He had read the Daoist Canon since childhood, and within the books, there wereiron rules. After entering the Mausoleum of Zhou, Chen Changsheng could plunderall the treasures and magical artifacts in the nine stone rooms, however, hehad never thought of opening the black stone coffin. It was extremely possiblefor Zhou Dufu’s most precious property to be hidden inside, but due to XuYourong’s respect for the person within the coffin, he did not even considerthe idea. At this moment, only after hearing what Xu Yourong had said did he understandthat even if he wanted to open the obsidian coffin earlier, it was not possible. Only a key could open a lock. If Zhou Dufu did not want any person to disturbhis long slumber, then the mountain-like obsidian coffin would naturally bevery hard to open. Xu Yourong said, “The Soul Wood should have been brought out of the Garden ofZhou very long ago, and for some unknown reason, it ended up in the hands ofthe demons. Thinking about it now, for them to be able to avoid the main gateof the Garden of Zhou and enter it through another path should have somethingto do with this. The Soul Wood has returned to the garden of Zhou, and thisalso means that it is finally the moment for the obsidian coffin to open.” “You say before Zhou Dufu died…” Chen Changsheng thought about how to say it,and continued, “...he already made the preparations to make it clear to theworld of his property and secrets that were hidden in the black coffin, whichwas why he let someone take away the key? But if it was like that, why didn’the do so directly himself?” “You said something before which was actually very reasonable. Time isactually the greatest magical artifact.” Xu Yourong looked at the obsidiancoffin and said, “As known by everybody, Zhou Dufu did not have a successor.This meant that before death, he did not find a junior who he believed had thecapabilities of inheriting his legacy. He left the key outside the Garden ofZhou perhaps to invite time to help him choose a successor.” He was slightly shocked and asked, “Are you saying that blade really is insidethe obsidian coffin?” Xu Yourong stayed silent for a while before saying, “There is anotherpossibility. Like you had said, Zhou Dufu’s legacy is not in the black stonecoffin, but his secret is.” Chen Changsheng was confused. “I’m only asking casually, but is there reallysome secret?” Xu Yourong looked into his eyes and said, “Whether Zhou Dufu has actually diedor not—this itself is the most important secret of the world in the pastthousand years.” Chen Changsheng thought about those deeds of Zhou Dufu that had long becomestories, legends or even myths, and his gaze on the obsidian coffin grewheavier. There was only heaviness, seriousness and some nervousness, but there was noworry. Towards matters like treasure and the legacies of previous experts, heand Xu Yourong both seemed rather calm. This type of calmness could not evendescribed as steadiness beyond their age. No matter how old the cultivator was,if they found out that they could obtain Zhou Dufu’s legacy, they woulddefinitely become unbelievably fanatical, just like the elder from the SettingSun Sect who drank Xu Yourong’s blood in the cave. If he had appeared beforethe obsidian coffin at this moment, how could he stay calm? The reason why Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong could remain calm was becausethey were geniuses in cultivation, and cultivation itself was the greatestDaoist skill. Without a doubt, it was Zhou Dufu’s most special treasure, butthey themselves were also special. They were filled with confidence andpride—if they could inherit the legacy, it was admittedly extremely good. Ifthey could not inherit it, it had nothing to do with fate, as their fate alwayslay between their hands. However, thinking that it was extremely possible forthem to see the most shocking scene in the past thousand years, it wasunavoidable for them to feel slightly nervous. Chen Changsheng’s voicesubconsciously became extremely quiet, as if he did not want to disturb thegreat spirit within the black coffin. “When will this obsidian coffin open?” Xu Yourong observed the radiance produced by the Soul Pivot grow dimmer anddimmer, and spent a while estimating. She then said, “Should be soon.” Outside the mausoleum, the monster tide slowly surged forwards like a blackline. The key to the obsidian coffin, the Soul Wood, had roused the Soul Pivot,and the opening of the coffin was about to occur right before their eyes. Before them, the upper half of the obsidian coffin began to slowly slide. In the gloomy, spacious mausoleum, a great wind whipped up. The radiance emitted from the Soul Pivot became even dimmer, as if it was acandle flame that could be put out at any moment. Chen Changsheng moved forwards to the side, and put himself between Xu Yourongand the coffin. His dagger had already left the sheath, and he held it tightlyin his hand. The huge obsidian coffin slowly opened with a rumble. A terrifying sound ofgrinding emitted from the heavy coffin lid and the coffin itself. It really wasjust like the rumble of thunder. The mountainous black coffin slowly separated into an upper piece and a lowerpiece. It seemed like lightning splitting the black mountain in half. Seeing this scene, Xu Yourong’s pupil restricted slightly, and she mumbledquietly, “Halved…” The upper part of the obsidian coffin continued to slide. It only stoppedafter a very long time. The wind continued to whistle in the mausoleum, curling around thesurroundings of the obsidian coffin. Because of the change in the coffin, thewind became even more mournful in sound, even sharper. It seemed extremelygloomy, as if someone was constantly weeping in the dusky netherworld. Theconstant sobbing sound merged with the vague music from before, and the idea ofthe wish for the spirits of the deceased to return slowly subsided. However,the atmosphere grew heavier and heavier. All of the light from the Soul Pivot was finally extinguished. The mausoleumonce again returned to its gloom. Standing on the ground, they could not seethe scene above, but they could imagine that the obsidian coffin had alreadyopened. If the great man lay quietly in the coffin, perhaps he would be staringat the roof of the hall. Of course, it was even more possible that his eyeswere closed, or that he had already turned into a pile of bones. However, the person in the obsidian coffin was called Zhou Dufu. No matter howunimaginable something was, it all seemed inevitable and right for it to occurto him. The sound of the wind slowly stopped, as did the music. The spirits of thedead had already returned, or perhaps they were not there. The interior of the mausoleum fell into a deathly silence. Xu Yourong lookedat the obsidian coffin that was like a broken mountain. Her expression wasrather complicated, and she did not speak for a very long time. Chen Changsheng’s right hand that held onto the hilt of the dagger did notsweat. However, for some reason, he felt that it was sticky. This was hisnervous mental state. If the person was dead, then all was well. What if he was still alive? Orspeaking more correctly, waking up from his long slumber and reviving. Orperhaps, he was unwilling to leave this world, so traveled by himself to thelonely sea of stars, and used a certain secret technique to turn himself intoan immortal but extremely evil existence before death. What would happen next? Chen Changsheng’s expression remained calm, but inside, he was nervous to theextreme. Logically, whether Zhou Dufu revived or was transformed by a secret technique,as long as he maintained his intelligence, he would help them with the demonexperts and the terrifying monster tide that was getting closer and closer tothe mausoleum. This was because Zhou Dufu was a human expert, an unparalleledhero who defeated the Demon Lord. This was also Xu Yourong’s and his onlychance at leaving the Garden of Zhou and staying alive. However, for somereason he did not know, he had a strong feeling that if Zhou Dufu really didnot die, all of the people in the Garden of Zhou… would die. It could eveninvite a storm of blood to the entire continent. “I want to go up and see.” Xu Yourong’s voice broke the silence of themausoleum. She looked at the obsidian coffin. Her eyes, which were slightly gloomy due toher wounds, became extremely bright. Chen Changsheng supported her to the obsidian coffin. Raising his head for awhile, he confirmed a path to climb, and carried her on his back. A while later, he stood on the cliff of the black mountain that was brokenopen, and gazed inside. The space within the obsidian coffin was extremely large. Rather than a singleperson, even a party could be held inside, inviting a dozen ladies to sing. However, right now, there was not even a single person within the obsidiancoffin. Not a single person. That person was not there. The Garden of Zhou was Zhou Dufu’s world. The mausoleum was his palace for death. The dangerous and mysterious Plains of the Unsetting Sun that surrounded themausoleum was the mausoleum garden, and those unbelievably strong monsters weremausoleum guards. Very obviously, he did not want anyone to come and disturb his long slumber.The only evidence to the contrary was the key outside the Garden of Zhou, whichhelped the garden choose a new owner given time. However, he was not sleeping in this obsidian coffin. There was still no one who had seen his corpse. Whether he was dead or alive remained unknown. It was extremely possible that he was still alive. This was the true secret of the Garden of Zhou. This was the true secret that the Plains of the Unsetting Sun wanted to guard. The obsidian coffin did not have the remains of the great man, but that didnot mean the stone coffin was empty. It was full of tree leaves carved out of crystal, green grass sculpted fromthe best quality jade, and the rouge stones refined from the Earthen EssenceFire, scattered very casually. There were countless treasures in the obsidian coffin. Xu Yourong could enter the royal palace and Li Palace as she wished sincechildhood, and then went to the Holy Maiden Peak to study, so it was unknownhow many treasures she had already seen. Although Chen Changsheng lived plainlysince childhood, he has also once entered the Palace of Great Brilliance andthe Li Palace, and had also seen the golden coral trees and starry sky that wasmade from luminous pearls in the Black Dragon’s lair. As a result, when theysaw the treasures in the previous nine stone rooms, they did not feel moved. However, at this moment, they were really rather surprised. It was because there was too many treasures within the obsidian coffin, and itwas too wasteful. The tree leaves carved from crystals only maintained lessthan a tenth of their original usefulness. The best quality jade that couldclearly be used to make countless pieces of beautiful artworks was insteadsculpted into grass. Even worse were the rouge stones refined from EarthenEssence Fire… if this was not recklessly wasting things, what was it? What caused them the most amazement was how these tree leaves, green grassesand stones did not even possess the slightest aesthetic value. The treasures that were piled full in the obsidian coffin gave off a glow inthe gloomy mausoleum. However, it made one feel that it was tacky. It was definitely enough for these treasures buried with the deceased to beworn by royal families no matter how great in authority and cultivators nomatter how strong. However, how could it be worn by the owner of this obsidian coffin? In the imaginations of ordinary people, Zhou Dufu should have been a perfectperson, especially in the aspect of manner. He was definitely able to despisethe mountains and rivers, and disregard the sea of stars. The Garden of Zhou, the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, and this grand mausoleumwere all evidence. How could such a person fill his own rock tomb with these expensive butextremely coarse treasures? Standing on the side of the obsidian tomb andseeing these golden leaves, jade leaves and blood-red rouge stones, ChenChangsheng could not help but shake his head. He squinted his eyes from thedazzling gleam of the treasure and said, “Why do I feel the air of wealth is sofierce?” ‘Air of wealth’ was a slang term from Wenshui. Tang Thirty-Six often usedthese three words to describe the old people in the Tianhai Clan and in thehalls of the Imperial Court. Chen Changsheng heard it a lot, so he naturallyremembered it. Xu Yourong cared about the important matters, and very clearly was notimpressed by the treasures in the coffin. She looked at the black coffin devoidof anyone and said after staying quiet for a while, “The place that all thecultivators that enter the Garden of Zhou want to find the most is theMausoleum of Zhou. We are not excluded, but I have thought about it many times.If I enter the Mausoleum of Zhou, the thing I want to do the most is to confirmwhether he has died.” Because of this, she remembered a lot. She remembered the tasks entrusted toher by her elders, and her shoulders became heavy once again. Before on the stone platform, because of Chen Changsheng’s bright eyes, shetemporarily forgot this matter. It was the obsidian coffin that causedeverything to return to her. The inheritance of the Orthodoxy, the north and south combining, fightingagainst the demons… these matters were not limited to just her, but at thismoment, this new discovery spurred her to action. “If… you are able to leave the Garden of Zhou alive…” She looked at Chen Changsheng, and requested extremely seriously, “Please tellthe people about the news that he might still be alive.” When she spoke, her face was extremely pale. This had nothing to do with herunhealed injuries, but rather that she had received a shock on a mental level. Before the obsidian coffin had opened, Chen Changsheng also had anindescribable feeling of dread of unknown origins. At this moment, when heheard her serious request about a matter, and when he saw her pale face, hisconfusion grew heavier and heavier. He thought that Zhou Dufu was a heroicfigure, so why was she, someone who did not display admiration even to herelders, feel inexplicably very alarmed? “He is a hero, as well as a devil.” Xu Yourong looked at him and said, “Back then when he traveled to the northand heavily injured the Demon Lord with a single strike, he was a hero at thatmoment. However, he only pursued cultivation, so he killed countless humancultivators. He is cold-blooded, heartless and ruthless to the extreme. At thatmoment, he was a devil, and calling him an ambitious and ruthless person ismore suitable. If he is still alive, and really does reappear, perhaps thecontinent will fall into great chaos and unrest.”” Although Chen Changsheng was familiar with the Daoist Canons, he did not havetoo great of an understanding of that era’s history, and understood thecharacter of Zhou Dufu even less. Seeing that her expression was full ofconcern, he explained, “Not seeing his remains does not mean he is still alive.For such a legendary person, returning to the sea of stars and not leavingbehind a body is possible.” “But his blade is also not in this obsidian coffin,” Xu Yourong said. Chen Changsheng stayed quiet after hearing that. Indeed, the blade was alsomissing. Zhou Dufu relied on this blade to defeat everyone in the world and becomeinvincible. The blade was called Halving. One blade, two halves. Before the blade, no matter how strong the opponent was, no matter how toughthe weapon was, even if the target was the boundless earth, it would be choppedinto two halves. Just like the obsidian coffin, like a small mountain, that slowly separatedbefore their eyes. The Halving Blade was second on the Tier of Legendary Weapons. It was beneaththe Frost God Spear that was first. However, to the belief of everyone on the continent, if the Frost God Spearwas not the weapon that Emperor Taizong carried with him, if it did not leavebehind so many miraculous scenes in the war between humans and demons, itdefinitely would not have been able to suppress the Halving Blade on the Tierof Legendary Weapons. In other words, in the hearts of ordinary people, theHalving Blade was the true weapon that occupied first place on the Tier ofLegendary Weapons. This was because outside Luoyang City, Taizong’s Frost God Spear had suffereddefeat under Zhou Dufu’s Halving Blade. If Zhou Dufu had really died, transformed into a wisp of azure smoke andreturned to the sea of stars without leaving behind remains, his blade shouldhave been left in this obsidian coffin. Since the blade was not in the obsidian coffin, it should have been by hisside. Was it the most important evidence that he was alive? Xu Yourong did not continue to think about this matter, and began to face themonster tide that would soon arrive, as well as making preparations for futurematters. She looked at him and said, “Nanke is the disciple of Black Robe, andalso has the key to the Mausoleum of Zhou. That piece of Soul Wood is in herhands. Black Robe and Zhou Dufu are people of the same period, so it isimpossible for him to be surnamed Zhou. However, it is very obvious that BlackRobe and Zhou Dufu should have some sort of relationship.” Chen Changsheng was slightly confused as to why she said these things to him. Xu Yourong looked into his eyes and said, “If you are able to leave the Gardenof Zhou alive, remember that you must tell this discovery to the entire world.This will be a great help to finding the true identity of Black Robe, and tothe battle of humans against the demons. It may even hold some importance indeciding the victor.” This was her second request to him. To request that if he lived, he had to do that. Then firstly, she was requesting him to live. Even if he had to ignore her, hehad to live, and take this news out of the Garden of Zhou. The phoenix was about to die. Its cry was also loud. If this was a normal situation, Chen Changsheng would be moved by her calmnessand resoluteness, or agree to her request without any hesitation at all, andthen use all he could to leave the Garden of Zhou alive. However, this time,after spending so much time together running, and after the conversation theyhad on the stone platform, in the green wutong tree, he was unable to accepther request. “Even if I leave you behind in the mausoleum and try to break through themonster tide and leave alive, it is basically impossible.” Looking into XuYourong’s eyes, he said,”Impossible, and I have to betray my nature. I amunwilling, because I cultivate the Dao of following my heart.” Under the shadow of death brought by the monster tide, what could he do tofollow his heart at this moment? He wanted to accompany her, either to escape,or to die here. Xu Yourong’s complexion was slightly pale. She was unable to accept hisdecision, but her gaze was still very warm, happy for the decision he made. Chen Changsheng did not give her any more opportunities to persuade him, andreturned the dagger to the sheath. He began to pack away those golden leaves,jade grass and blood-red rouge stones in the obsidian coffin. These treasures indeed were overly tacky. Although the sculpting work wasgood, their aesthetics were sub-par. However, they were all made of material ofthe best quality and were extremely valuable. Since Zhou Dufu was not dead,this could not be considered as grave-robbing—thus he avoided the iron rules inthe three thousand Daoist Canons. Of course, the reason he was willing to avoid them like so was because hecould feel that the Black Dragon in the lake water outside his Ethereal Palacehad already showed signs of waking. He did not want to be severely reprimandedby the ill-tempered uncle. The feeling of being cursed and berated could notfeel good, and the feeling of being covered in dragon spittle was surely alsovery bad. The dagger entered the sheath and its blade was hidden, however, it was stillable to sweep everything. At the end of the sheath, the gold leaves, jadegrasses and blood-red rouge stones all disappeared one by one, being collectedwithout a sound. After finishing these things, he carried Xu Yourong and was about to come downfrom the obsidian coffin. Suddenly, Xu Yourong saw something, and gave out asurprised cry. He turned around and followed her gaze. He only saw that the obsidian coffinwas empty of treasure and had nothing in it. On a certain wall within the obsidian coffin, there were some vague linescarved in. These lines were not patterns, and seemed like words.