Chapter 852: Ling Tianzun's Tomb

"Heavenly Venerable Yu!" Yan Qiling exclaimed, looking at the newcomer with disbelief, then immediately turned to look at Qin Mu.

She had met Heavenly Venerable Yu before; he was a slightly chubby young man who accompanied Qin Mu. She had even fought fiercely with Qin Mu to take Heavenly Venerable Yu away, almost killing Qin Mu. However, Qin Mu eventually turned the tables, capturing her and nearly causing her death.

But shouldn't Heavenly Venerable Yu be with Qin Mu? Who could this Heavenly Venerable Yu in front of her be?

Xing An was also puzzled, looking at Qin Mu suspiciously. He too had seen the Heavenly Venerable Yu accompanying Qin Mu, merely considering him Qin Mu's subordinate and not giving it much thought, as Heavenly Venerable Yu's cultivation level was still low and unworthy of his attention. However, the Heavenly Venerable Yu who suddenly appeared in the hanging coffin made him wary and alert, giving him a sense of danger.

Heavenly Dragon King also looked perplexed, his gaze shifting between Heavenly Venerable Yu and Qin Mu. That day, when Qin Mu brought Heavenly Venerable Yu to Earth Mother Yuanjun's palace, he had practically leaned in to scrutinize them closely. Although this Heavenly Venerable Yu differed slightly in physique from the one accompanying Qin Mu, it was only a minor distinction.

Silence fell within the hanging coffin.

The Heavenly Venerable Yu smiled broadly and looked at Qin Mu, his gaze fixed on Qin Mu's hand. Earlier, Qin Mu had crushed the teacup in his hand due to a loss of control, causing it to explode. Yan'er had taken out a veil and gently wiped the water stains from Qin Mu's face. At Qin Mu's fingertips, a token was spinning rapidly, its rotation gradually slowing. His gaze was drawn to this token.

Qin Mu disregarded the gazes of others. The Heavenly Venerable Yu who suddenly appeared in this hanging coffin naturally couldn't be the real Lan Yutian. Millions of years ago, Lan Yutian had died, his soul scattered. Qin Mu reconstructed Lan Yutian's body, repaired his physical injuries, and then forged a coffin, giving it to Heavenly Venerable You to hide in Youdu. It was only a few years ago that Qin Mu resurrected Heavenly Venerable Yu, who had been following him ever since. Currently, Heavenly Venerable Yu was studying at Lijiang Academy, personally guided by the Butcher.

The Heavenly Venerable Yu who suddenly appeared in the hanging coffin was somewhat thinner than the true Heavenly Venerable Yu. Originally, after learning alchemy, Heavenly Venerable Yu had secretly consumed Water Qilin's rations, becoming a little chubby, before his physique returned to normal after being trained by the Old Farmer for a period. However, with Yan'er, the blue sparrow who enjoyed serving others, present these past few days, Heavenly Venerable Yu was gradually showing a tendency to become plump again.

This Heavenly Venerable Yu, however, maintained a perfect figure and physique, so perfect it seemed inhuman. He resembled the incomparable Heavenly Venerable Yu whom Qin Mu had first met at the Jade Pool Grand Gathering, dazzling and radiant.

There couldn't be two Heavenly Venerable Yus in this world. The one who suddenly appeared in the hanging coffin must be a creation of the Heavenly Court's Dao Master, who used the Heavenly Venerable Yu's imprint from the top floor of the Scripture Storage Pavilion and the Heavenly Court's creation artifacts to bring him into existence.

"Perhaps there's another possibility: someone learned the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha's methods and transformed into Heavenly Venerable Yu. However, that person who practiced such a method has been dead for a very long time."

Qin Mu squinted, his gaze falling on the slowly stopping token. He thought to himself, "If that person had been resurrected, he wouldn't be this cautious; after all, he was also a Heavenly Venerable. So this Heavenly Venerable Yu can only be an experimental subject created by the Heavenly Court using creation artifacts to test their cultivation techniques! Heh, someone who founded the Divine Treasure and Celestial Palace cultivation systems is being treated as an experimental subject..."

Finally, the token stopped spinning but remained upright on his fingertip, with the inscribed side facing the suddenly appeared Heavenly Venerable Yu. That Heavenly Venerable Yu's gaze fell on the token, where he saw the character "Mu." Upon recognizing the character, he raised his gaze to see Qin Mu turning his face, eyes burning brightly with anger as he looked back.

The "Heavenly Venerable Yu" smiled faintly and said, "It's been a long time."

Qin Mu burst into laughter, the anger in his eyes vanishing. With a slight movement of his finger, the Heavenly Venerable Token disappeared. He stood up and said, "Indeed, it's been a long time! You're from the outer Heavenly Court; how should I address you? May I ask if you are an old acquaintance of mine?"

The "Heavenly Venerable Yu" smiled and replied, "You and I can be considered old acquaintances." However, he did not elaborate further.

The hanging coffin was still descending, and the atmosphere inside was somewhat solemn. Everyone scrutinized this "Heavenly Venerable Yu," each harboring their own suspicions. Xing An's eyes flickered as he thought, "This young man is worth collecting; his physique seems even more perfect than Qin Mu's Hegemon Body..."

The hanging coffin suddenly jolted slightly, as if it had plunged into water, then slowly began to rise, as if floating up from the bottom, before surfacing with a splash. They heard the rushing sound of water; the current was incredibly fast, carrying the hanging coffin to an unknown destination.

The atmosphere inside the coffin remained very oppressive, and no one made a move. Mu Qiubai suddenly laughed and said, "Junior Sister, the people in this coffin now—we are from the ancient Heavenly Court, Heavenly Dragon King is from Earth Mother, these few are from Yankang, and this fake Heavenly Venerable Yu is from the false dynasty—it's already very strange. But do you know what's even stranger, Junior Sister?"

Yan Qiling smiled and said, "Please tell us, Senior Brother."

Mu Qiubai's eyes glinted as he said, "The strangest thing is that this coffin has so many living people and no dead ones. The coffin is full of living people, no corpses; isn't that bizarre?" After saying this, he burst into laughter.

Heavenly Dragon King said coldly, "How many dead people do you want in the coffin? I can make it happen."

Mu Qiubai smiled faintly, and the maidservants behind him suddenly moved in unison, shielding him as they confronted Heavenly Dragon King.

Just then, a creaking sound suddenly came from the hanging coffin. Everyone was startled, seeing that the coffin lid of the sarcophagus had suddenly opened a crack, allowing light to shine in from outside. The interior space of the hanging coffin was vast, and although the crack wasn't wide, it appeared remarkably wide in their eyes. The light shining down from above wasn't blinding, but it surprised them because the source of the brilliance was a galaxy! The galaxy drifted above the coffin, its stars like cosmic dust.

Heavenly Dragon King quickly rose into the air, peering out, and was stunned. The others also ascended into the air, emerging through the crack and landing on the coffin lid. Yan'er flew onto Qin Mu's shoulder. Qin Mu, Xing An, and Dragon Qilin also flew out of the coffin. They all stood on the coffin, with a dazzling galaxy above them, while the hanging coffin beneath their feet flowed on another river.

Qin Mu looked down to see that this great river was flowing through the starry sky, vast and mighty, heading towards the depths of the boundless cosmos. The river surface was incredibly wide, unimaginably so, making him think of the Heavenly River in the Heavenly Court. After the Primordial Realm was unsealed, the Surging River returned to the Heavenly River. However, in Qin Mu's memory, the Heavenly River flowed in the sky when it reached the Primordial Realm, while the Surging River flowed on the ground. This indicated that the section of the Heavenly River reaching the Primordial Realm still had unreleased seals. If the seals were fully lifted, the Heavenly River would surely soar into the sky.

To their surprise, the ancient well was connected to the Heavenly River, and this coffin had fallen into the Heavenly River, carried out of the Primordial Realm by its waters. Standing on the coffin, everyone looked around but saw no sign of the Primordial Realm. They didn't know how far they were from the Primordial Realm now, and no one knew where this hanging coffin would take them.

The Heavenly River flowed on, passing by a gigantic blue sun, circling half its circumference. Qin Mu gazed into the distance, seeing a grand complex of palace buildings within the sun, but they were already dilapidated, indicating no divine beings resided there anymore.

Soon after, they saw a resplendent Heavenly Court. The ancient Heavenly Court was extremely far away, shrouded in golden light. As the hanging coffin traveled along the Heavenly River, that Heavenly Court grew closer. It was then that they noticed that while it appeared magnificent from afar, a profound aura of decay permeated its center. It was the aura of death.

The Heavenly River flowed past this Heavenly Court, then suddenly veered, entering the Heavenly Court itself, and the aura of death grew heavier. The dilapidated South Heavenly Gate appeared in their view. Hanging on the South Heavenly Gate was the enormous skeletal corpse of a god-demon, broken at the waist, impaled through its head by a spear covered in rust. This spear had pierced the god-demon's skull and was lodged in the South Heavenly Gate.

"Which Heavenly Court is this?" Heavenly Dragon King asked, his voice hoarse and raspy.

Yan Qiling and the others stared blankly behind the South Heavenly Gate, where countless bones, the bones of gods and demons, lay. The hanging coffin entered the Heavenly Court, and on both banks lay countless corpses, piled up like mountains, sending shivers down their spines. Dragon Qilin crawled behind Qin Mu, lying on the ground with his paws covering his face, daring not to look at the outside scene. Yet, he secretly peeked through his fingers, only to be scared into trembling again. Next to him, the Box was inexplicably excited, pacing back and forth, wanting to jump onto the shore to collect those bones. Xing An also felt his scalp tingle. He had speculated that the Fallen God Valley was merely a portal to a great treasure, but he had never imagined such a terrifying sight lay beyond it.

Suddenly, Yan Qiling said, "Heavenly Venerable Yu from the Heavenly Court, how much do you know about this Fallen God Valley?"

Everyone's gazes fell on the "Heavenly Venerable Yu," who smiled and said, "I don't know much either. Didn't you just say that this is where a Heavenly Venerable is buried? By rights, you should know more."

"You never speak a single word of truth!" Mu Qiubai sneered, "You are not the real Heavenly Venerable Yu! Who exactly are you? If you don't speak, do you think we can't capture you and force you to reveal the secrets here?"

Heavenly Dragon King's brows were lowered, and he rumbled, "Young man from the Heavenly Court, you'd best tell us what you know."

The "Heavenly Venerable Yu" smiled and said, "All I know is that the Fallen God Valley indeed buries a Heavenly Venerable. The Heavenly River is the birthplace of Emperor Xuanwu of the North, but this Heavenly River was severed. A group of people used immense magical power to cut off a portion of the Heavenly River, using it as a base for rebellion. And the ones who committed this treasonous act were the Heaven Alliance."

Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. Could a Heavenly Venerable from the Heaven Alliance be buried here? If so, which Heavenly Venerable was it?

Suddenly, the hanging coffin trembled slightly and came to a halt. The hanging coffin stopped at a small pier. Everyone disembarked onto the pier and walked up a flight of steps. At the top of the steps stood a stone monument inscribed with the words "Tomb of Heavenly Venerable Ling."