Chapter 27: Ancient Forbidden Realm

## Chapter 27: The Primordial Forbidden Zone

Many scientists speculate that Earth might be the only source of life in the vast universe and boundless cosmos.

Over the past few decades, humanity has engaged in endless conjecture and launched numerous space probes in search of extraterrestrial life. Yet, the deep and unfathomable cosmos appears like a desolate graveyard—cold, silent, eternally dark and frigid. No signs of life have ever been detected.

The universe is simply too vast, without end. Space probes launched with current human technology, even if they could escape galactic gravity and travel ceaselessly for millions or tens of millions of years, would still struggle to reach the far reaches of space.

Perhaps today, the history of cosmic exploration can be rewritten. Some humans have reached the far end of space, traversing distances of tens or hundreds of light-years, undertaking a journey at the limits of human endurance.

However, all of this is unlikely to be known by humans on Earth. No one would believe it, and certainly no one would cheer or celebrate.

Nine enormous dragon corpses, pulling the ancient bronze coffin, arrived at the far side of space, entering the starfield where the Big Dipper constellation is located!

It was at this moment that Ye Fan regained consciousness. His palm left the coffin-within-a-coffin, which was covered in green verdigris. Hundreds of ancient characters were imprinted in his mind, abstruse, profound, and seemingly impossible to erase. Only then did the mysterious divine sounds completely vanish.

The Great Dao is simple, words are precious. As everything came to an end, like splendor fading away, it returned to its plain truth.

Ye Fan was lost in thought, muttering to himself, “The Way of Heaven takes from what has abundance and gives to what has little...”

"Are you alright, Ye Fan?" Pang Bo asked with concern.

"I'm fine."

Throughout this process, the colossal bronze coffin continued to vibrate violently. Everyone felt dizzy and disoriented, knowing that the Nine Dragons pulling the Coffin was finally nearing its destination.

At this moment, the ancient bronze engravings on the coffin walls radiated divine light, forming a hazy curtain of light that counteracted an unimaginable impact force. The massive coffin finally stabilized slowly.

With a final thunderous jolt, the lid of the bronze sarcophagus shifted, sliding heavily to one side, and the copper coffin toppled onto the ground.

"Light!"

"I see light!"

"It's the familiar world of light!"

Many in the colossal bronze coffin couldn't help but shout out. Before their eyes, there was no longer the dimness and desolate crimson hues of ancient Mars. Fresh air gently brushed against them, carrying even the scent of earth and the fragrance of flowers. The essence of nature filled the surroundings; outside was a vibrant, bright world.

Everyone stood up and quickly rushed out of the massive coffin. What they saw before them was a scene of splendor and beauty.

They were standing on a moderately sized mountaintop, from which they could gaze at the scenery ahead.

In the distance stretched continuous ranges of beautiful, rolling mountains, lush with fine trees. Near the summit were unusually shaped rocks and ancient, vigorous trees, alongside old vines as thick as buckets, coiled like dragons. There were also lush green grasses and fragrant wild flowers, full of vitality and life.

Compared to the dimness and deathly silence of Mars, this was undoubtedly a peaceful pure land.

"This is wonderful! We've finally escaped the darkness and desolation, arriving at such a beautiful, divine land."

"Finally, no more fear and anxiety!"

Many cheered, some even cried tears of joy. After enduring a series of deaths and hardships, they had finally arrived in a vibrant and natural world.

"Kissing the sunlight, telling myself to live well..." Even the intelligent and alluringly beautiful Lin Jia was moved to such an extent.

Pang Bo stood on the mountaintop, shouting towards the distance, "I've finally seen the sun again! Even though it's not the same one as before, I still want to declare loudly that I have been reborn!"

"Clang!"

Suddenly, the colossal bronze coffin behind them emitted a metallic clang that immediately seized everyone's nerves. They all turned their heads in unison to look.

More than half of the nine enormous dragon corpses hung over the cliff edge, and the bronze coffin was also not far from the precipice. At this moment, the nine dragon corpses, like steel Great Walls, were slowly sliding down the cliff, dragging the copper coffin forward with them.

"Rumble... rumble... rumble..."

The nine massive dragon corpses and the ancient bronze coffin created a rumbling sound as they slid across the mountaintop, eventually accelerating as they plunged down the sheer cliff face!

Everyone broke into a cold sweat. One side of the mountaintop was actually a sheer cliff. If they hadn't rushed out quickly when the coffin lid opened, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

After the nine enormous dragon corpses and the ancient bronze coffin plunged off the cliff, no sound of them hitting the bottom was heard for a long time, leaving everyone exchanging astonished glances.

Now, with the colossal bronze coffin no longer obstructing their view, they could clearly see the scene beyond the cliff.

"Are we standing on a super-massive volcano crater?" Many people showed expressions of shock.

Because, beneath the so-called sheer cliff, there was actually a bottomless giant pit.

"It's not a volcano crater; no volcano could be this wide."

Upon closer inspection, they realized that nine massive mountains were connected, encircling an incredibly enormous deep valley. Normally, this should have been an open valley where one could see the bottom at a glance, as the nine mountain peaks were not towering into the clouds.

However, looking down, it was a pitch-black expanse with no end, as if it tunneled directly through to the Yellow Springs Road of Hell, unfathomably deep.

The abyss encircled by the nine mountains seemed endless. After the nine colossal dragon corpses and the ancient bronze coffin plunged into it, no echo was heard, as if they would never reach the bottom.

"Just how deep is it? It's unimaginable!"

"What is this place? How can there be such an enormous abyss..."

Everyone was filled with doubt and apprehension, dimly sensing that this world was not as peaceful and serene as it appeared on the surface.

After observing the surroundings, Ye Fan said, "Did you notice? There's no Five-Color Altar here. It's as if we fell directly from the sky, rather than emerging from a Stargate."

Hearing him, everyone was startled and only then noticed that there was indeed no Five-Color Altar. However, the vast mountaintop hadn't collapsed from the impact of the bronze coffin; there wasn't even a giant pit, just a few large cracks.

If they had truly fallen from the sky and crashed here, the impact force would have been unimaginable, yet there were no signs of severe damage to the mountain. Something was clearly amiss.

"No Five-Color Altar? Why are we here then? Is this the legendary cosmic anchor, have we run aground here?" The joke was not amusing; no one smiled. Instead, they all scanned their surroundings, then fell into deep thought.

"There's half a stone tablet over there..." Just then, Zhang Ziling suddenly exclaimed.

On the mountaintop, there was a pile of scattered rocks, a few vigorous ancient trees, accompanied by several old vines as thick as buckets. Amidst the intertwined vines, half of a broken stone tablet lay fallen, with clear signs of manual polishing.

Everyone quickly walked over, pulled aside the withered vines, and brushed away the dead branches and leaves from the broken tablet. Immediately, they felt an ancient aura. Three ancient characters were carved upon it, their strokes powerful and deep, vigorous like dragons, exuding the essence of time. It was impossible to tell how many years they had existed.

"What does it say?" Many didn't recognize the characters.

Ye Fan spent a long time deciphering it, still somewhat uncertain. He said, "It seems to be the three characters, '荒古禁' (Archaic Forbidden)."

"'Archaic Forbidden'? What does that mean? It doesn't make sense." No one could fathom its meaning.

"This is a broken stone tablet; there should be more characters below, but the tablet body is fragmented beyond restoration." Pang Bo pulled away more vines and removed weeds, discovering many shattered stones there, as if broken by a bolt of lightning.

"Those three ancient characters should be the name of this abyss or mountain," Zhou Yi said, looking thoughtful. "But there aren't many words or phrases that connect with '禁' (forbidden). The most likely is if it's followed by the character '地' (land/zone)."

"If you combine them like that, wouldn't it be '荒古禁地' (Primordial Forbidden Zone)?" A classmate connected the four characters and his expression instantly changed upon reading them aloud. Everyone else also frowned.

This name hardly conjured pleasant associations, and many began to feel a vague sense of unease.

"This area near the abyss is probably not a pure land or a holy ground..." someone remarked.

Not only was it not a pure land or holy ground, but if it truly was as the inscription suggested, it was likely not a benign place at all.

"Haven't you noticed? There seem to be no birds or beasts nearby. It's too quiet!" Wang Ziwen, being more observant, sensed something was wrong.

"Indeed!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

There were flowers, grass, vines, and trees here; on the surface, it looked vibrant. But upon closer inspection, it was highly unusual: there were no animals whatsoever. On this massive mountain, no birds chirped, no beasts roared, and no traces of insects could be seen. It was quiet to the point of near-deathly silence!

No cicadas hummed on the ancient trees, no grasshoppers chirped on the grass, no birds flew in the sky. There was only profound silence.

Pang Bo was very optimistic. He said, "No matter what, there's lush vegetation here; this environment is enough for us to survive. Besides, there's an inscription here, so there must be humans on this planet. I don't believe such a beautiful world would be a desolate, dead place."

"Who said there are no animals? Who said there are no birds in the sky? Look..." Ye Fan made a new discovery at this moment, pointing towards the distant horizon.

In the distant sky, what appeared to be an eagle was circling. It was very unusual because its entire body was glistening gold. Even from a great distance, its brilliance was palpable, as if cast from pure gold, shining with a golden radiance all over.

At this point, the golden eagle flew a certain distance towards their area, becoming clearer. Then, it suddenly dove towards a mountainous region. Moments later, it soared skyward again, now holding prey in its talons, and flew towards a distant cliff.

"D-did I... did I see that right?!" After witnessing this sight, the usually carefree Pang Bo immediately started to stammer.

The others were also almost petrified, staring blankly like clay or wooden figures, scarcely believing their own eyes.

"Why do I feel like... that golden eagle's talons... are holding a giant elephant?" Li Changqing also stammered, feeling his throat dry.

"It's not 'seems like,' it *is*!" Wang Ziwen interjected. "To be able to carry a giant elephant... that's incredible! Just imagine how enormous that golden eagle must be..." He couldn't help but gasp in amazement as he spoke.

It was clear that everyone had been mistaken earlier. Due to the extreme distance, they had misjudged its size. It must be a super-massive, extraordinary raptor.

Ye Fan gazed at the distant sky and said, "There can't be an eagle that big. Its entire body is golden, radiating golden light, and its form is boundless. It's remarkably similar to the Golden-Winged Great Peng from myths and legends!"