Chapter 950: The Opportunity to Become Immortal

Ye Fan opened his Celestial Eye and clearly saw something inside the coffin. Some Dao patterns were fluctuating. It was an old jade box, extremely ancient in style, without luster, yet it was carefully stored within the coffin.

His heart stirred greatly. Chisongzi's origins were immense; he was revered as an immortal by Taoism. How could anything he left behind be ordinary?

Chisongzi was described in ancient texts as a divine figure, an immortal from primordial times, who could control breath, shed his physical form, and connect with the heavens.

Another ancient record stated that Chisongzi was a rain master during the time of Shennong. He consumed water jade and taught Shennong, even being able to enter fire without harm. This suggests his terrifying origins as one of the most renowned cultivators of primordial antiquity.

Who was Shennong? Having embarked on the path of cultivation, Ye Fan had reason to believe Shennong was undoubtedly one of ancient China's most powerful figures. Chisongzi, living in the same era, even taught him his methods, making Chisongzi's status incredibly high and astonishing.

Furthermore, there was another record. In primordial antiquity, before the Yellow Emperor achieved enlightenment, he too sought Chisongzi's counsel. This was documented in Chisongzi's precepts, detailing a long conversation covering many topics.

It was no exaggeration to say that Chisongzi was the most famous cultivator of primordial antiquity. His status and cultivation were terrifyingly high, with no one able to gauge their depths.

Primordial antiquity was too distant for anyone to precisely state its duration. While people now estimated the era of the Yellow Emperor to be around four thousand years ago, some discovered many vanished or blank periods, making the true timeline difficult to ascertain. For such a renowned figure from primordial antiquity, revered as an ancient immortal by Taoism, to have his coffin found here, it was nothing short of shocking to Ye Fan.

Little Pine was very curious. After Ye Fan dispersed the surrounding Solar Fire Essence, it also came forward, touching the ancient vine and then the bronze stele, which rang out with a metallic sound.

How to open the coffin was a perplexing problem. Destroying the fire vine was not an option, as it would be too disrespectful to the deceased.

The fire vine glowed entirely, vibrant like crimson clouds. Each leaf resembled blood-colored divine metal, ringing with a light touch and incredibly sharp, capable of cutting through fine iron.

Its trunk was as thick as a bucket, like a crimson true dragon lying dormant, sturdy and powerful. It coiled in forty-nine bends, one of which firmly wrapped around the coffin, holding it suspended in mid-air.

Ye Fan tried several times, but even with his divine power, it was difficult to pry open or move the ancient coffin down, unless he cruelly used the Six Paths Samsara Fist to shatter the ancient vine.

This was a spiritual plant cultivated with a Saint's essence blood. Whether it could be destroyed was debatable; otherwise, it wouldn't be called a divine material for artifact refining.

Little Pine, its body flowing with purple light, tugged at Ye Fan's sleeve. With its wide eyes blinking, it pointed to the base of the bronze stele, which was buried underground. There were indeed words beneath the earth and stones.

The small purple creature was very meticulous. Digging away the stones, it discovered strange, script-like characters, somewhere between oracle bone script and bronzeware script.

Ye Fan was grateful that he had maintained respect and not acted rashly. The inscription beneath the bronze stele described how to open the coffin, clearly stating that if force were used, the spiritual vine could even kill a half-Saint.

The fire vine, personally planted by Chisongzi, possessed powerful spirituality. Having been steeped in his blood, it was a guardian spirit for the coffin and required feeding with powerful essence blood to release the ancient coffin.

After careful examination, Ye Fan discovered that only the blood of a Dao Slaying King could feed the fire vine. Such a condition existed because otherwise, the blood's spirituality would be insufficient and ineffective.

He pricked his finger. As a Human Saint Body, his blood was golden, surpassing even that of a Dao Slaying cultivator in spirituality, which was definitely not a problem. As the golden blood dripped onto the fire vine, its crimson, mist-like leaves chimed softly, and its branches actually began to unfold, allowing the coffin to slowly descend to the ground.

Ye Fan was incredibly excited, not for any other reason than the possibilities. What could an ancient immortal of astonishing origin have left behind in his jade box? Was it the secret to immortality, or perhaps a chance at becoming an immortal?

He carefully pushed open the coffin lid. A mysterious wave of Dao patterns emanated, revealing the sight inside. He looked in, and Little Pine also jumped forward to see.

Ye Fan sighed. Chisongzi could not be resurrected; he had already "Dao-transformed," leaving only a human-shaped imprint at the bottom of the coffin. His flesh and Dao bones had completely dissolved.

"Even ancient immortals must die?"

Ye Fan murmured to himself. Had there truly been anyone immortal throughout history? Even the ancient immortals revered by Taoism had their lifespans end; they could not exist alongside the world forever.

From the remnants of the Dao-transformation, waves of Dao power emanated and spread. His heart trembled as he realized Chisongzi's cultivation level: he must have been a Great Saint!

"So, he wasn't a true immortal, but merely one of the most powerful 'humans' in history," Ye Fan mused, frowning.

From this perspective, the ancient immortals referred to by Taoism were merely an achievement, not true immortals. They still remained within the human realm, albeit with incredibly profound cultivation.

"Are there truly immortals in this world? Is immortality an elusive goal that can never be reached?"

Ye Fan sighed deeply. Even human Great Saints had to die, and ancient Great Emperors eventually ascended. To this day, no one had ever survived, and there was no true example of anyone achieving immortality.

Immortals were merely legends; everything was concocted and speculated by later generations, with no real evidence. The more he understood the truth, the more helpless he felt.

Chisongzi was the perfect example: the most famous immortal of primordial antiquity, whose true identity was a Human Great Saint, yet he still died and had Dao-transformed here.

Beside the human-shaped imprint left by the Dao-transformation, seven palm-length ancient swords had turned to dust, completely dissolving along with Chisongzi, leaving not a single fragment.

Ye Fan knew deeply that those were definitely Saint artifacts. The seven flying swords, glowing red, purple, gold, and blue, were clearly divine items, as could be seen from the sword light imprinted in the stone chamber where they were practiced.

"What a pity," he lamented, "all seven sharp weapons, crafted by a Human Great Saint, followed him into oblivion."

At the same time, he remembered that Chisongzi was born in Sichuan and used flying swords as weapons. In later legends, Mount Shu was known for its many sword immortals. Could they all be from the same lineage?

Ye Fan solemnly held the only item from the coffin—the jade box. The fact that Chisongzi had treasured it so highly, not even wishing for its destruction upon Dao-transformation, was enough to demonstrate its mystery and value.

He bowed to the coffin, then pushed the lid back perfectly into place. Immediately, the fire vine automatically wrapped around it, lifting it back into mid-air.

"Archaeologists won't be able to do anything with this place if they come down," he mused. "With the Solar Fire Essence present, ordinary people can't approach, and I certainly can't give this coffin to them for study."

A spiritual vine flourishing in fire essence was too mysterious for modern people to understand. If not concealed, this place would inevitably cause many incidents.

Ye Fan thought for a moment, then forcefully carved, severing this entire area. He then forcefully pressed it deep into the earth, a thousand zhang down.

Finally, he sealed it with earth and stone, creating a new tomb in the original location, leaving behind traces of time with his cultivation.

He then circled the underground palace again, neutralizing all potential dangers to mortals, and then left, returning to the surface.

Eventually, the heavily armed troops departed, as no further dangers arose underground. The archaeologists successfully ventured deep inside, uttering cries of astonishment.

Jade artifacts, bronze bells, stone carvings, and other exquisite items were all priceless works of art, enough to cause a sensation in the archaeological world. Yang Xiao and his team were fully immersed, unaware that a bizarre world involving primordial secrets had been sealed by Ye Fan.

At this moment, standing under an ancient tree on Baling Mountain, he carefully opened the jade box. Inside, there was only a single, unremarkable bone fragment, dull and without luster.

He couldn't help but feel puzzled. It was just a bone fragment, seemingly nothing extraordinary at first glance. Yet, this was something Chisongzi, a renowned figure whose name inevitably arose when discussing ancient cultivation, had solemnly collected.

This bone fragment was unusually heavy. When lightly flicked, it chimed resonantly, emitting metallic vibrations. It was unknown what creature's bone it was, but it was so hard that even when Ye Fan squeezed it several times with force, it did not break.

He opened his Celestial Eye and discovered four ancient characters, which immediately shocked him: "Opportunity for Immortality!"

Ye Fan was almost obsessed with the word "immortal," because the more he learned, the more disappointed he became. He saw no concrete evidence, and even Chisongzi had died.

However, Chisongzi's relic was this very bone fragment. The four characters seemed to possess a magical power. This was something he had guarded until his death.

As Ye Fan opened his Celestial Eye, he continuously moved the bone fragment against the sunlight. Light from different angles revealed different patterns. He held his breath and observed carefully.

Then, he carefully compared them and carved a map on the ground, depicting mountains, great rivers, and valleys—a complex terrain map.

Ye Fan's heart trembled, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. He quickly drew the stone carving he had seen in the Lushan underground palace onto the ground. The moment he compared the two, he was stunned.

These two maps each had a corner that could be connected, forming a single whole and describing one specific location!

In the Lushan underground palace, there was undoubtedly an ancient Saint, imprisoned and tortured for an unknown number of years, his torso even severed. Yet, he stubbornly clung to life, only carving the stone map a century ago before taking his last breath.

Ye Fan had reason to make a series of conjectures.

The one who acted likely sought to extract the stone map but failed. Perhaps the person chained to the altar a century ago had sensed that the world had already undergone vast changes, and everything from primordial antiquity had turned to dust. That's why he left the stone carving, unwilling for the secret to vanish from the world.

Imprisoning an ancient Saint and forcing him to reveal a secret map—how powerful must one be to achieve that? The objective was clearly earth-shattering, undoubtedly of immense significance!

Now, the four characters "Opportunity for Immortality" explained everything. No further words were needed; even ancient Great Emperors would be shaken upon seeing them.

"With the corners connected, this map has doubled in size, but it's clearly still an incomplete terrain. Where exactly does it lead?"

Chisongzi and the unknown ancient Saint each possessed a part of the map, guarding it with their lives and keeping it with them until death. This alone was enough to demonstrate its immense value!