Serial Player
Chapter 954 - 608: Opening the Coffin

Chapter 954: Chapter 608: Opening the Coffin

The sound was piercing and sudden, causing the bodies of the three Transcendents present to stiffen. Even the Extraordinary Cause and Effect on their bodies was shaken.

Who could have imagined that from within an ancient coffin that had been buried for over two thousand years, such a bizarre sound would emerge?

Even the elderly man in the kimono, who was an Earth Level Transcendent, had a rigid expression as he stared intently at the bronze coffin, hands already gripping the samurai sword at his waist. His demeanor underwent a drastic transformation, in an instant he shifted from an old man with white hair, to a sharp blade ready to unleash its frosty glow.

The coffin, as if sensing the danger, quickly stopped making any sound, but the noise had already put everyone on high alert.

"Is this... corpse transformation?" a Japanese Transcendent quietly asked, "Did the Divine Corpse actually undergo corpse transformation? This is different from what’s recorded in the ancient texts..."

"Ancestor Xu Fu arrived in Japan over two thousand years ago. It’s normal that the subsequent events were not recorded. After all, the Divine Corpse was once an exceptional expert who stepped onto the Heavenly Road and encountered a mishap at the very last step. It transforming into an Evil, is not improbable. But in the end, it’s just an Evil!" the kimono-clad elder didn’t seem to care about that point; instead, he was quite excited: "This actually increases our chances of unraveling the Magical Skill from the Divine Corpse!"

For the kimono-clad elder, this was a misfortune, but also a blessing.

A Divine Corpse that had undergone transformation might have turned into some troublesome Evil, potentially complicating their subsequent research operations. But Evil remains Evil, and there were ways to deal with it. They might even use the secret techniques of Onmyoji to turn it into a Shikigami.

The good news was, they could now study the Magical Skill of the Divine Corpse more clearly.

After all, they were afraid. This was a body from over two thousand years ago, surviving through countless dynastic changes from the time when Qin unified the six states to the present Hua Country.

A body, even if preserved within a coffin, may have already turned to dust in the long river of history.

The worst-case scenario for the Japanese Transcendents was opening the coffin only to find a pile of bones. They could only hope to find some potential clues on the walls of the coffin.

Now, however, the Divine Corpse that had already undergone transformation had conveniently avoided that outcome.

The ability to undergo transformation indicated a high degree of integrity in the corpse.

This pleased the kimono-clad elder.

"It seems that I will oversee the resurgence of Japanese Transcendents!" the man in the kimono chuckled lowly, and then instructed, "Have the convoy park nearby."

"My lord, you intend to..." a subordinate asked, puzzled.

"Hmph, since the Divine Corpse has transformed into Evil, we now have more options," said the elder in the kimono, looking towards the coffin: "I plan to first bind it as a Shikigami with a secret technique. First, we will quickly discover the Magical Skill of the Divine Corpse. Second, the Association’s pursuit won’t stop, and I need a powerful Shikigami to assist me in battle. Time is of the essence!"

"Yes!"

The message was quickly relayed to the entire convoy.

Li Changhe, who was driving, was also ordered to pull over by the edge of a nearby forest.

"Stop now? But we haven’t reached a safe location yet," Li Changhe’s heart sank slightly, thinking that plans could never keep up with changes. Had the Japanese Transcendents suddenly sensed something amiss? There shouldn’t have been any slip-ups on his end.

On the surface, however, he appeared to be considering the safety of the Japanese Transcendents. He reminded them, "If we stop halfway, we might be detected by the Association. It would be better to hurry to a safe location."

"No matter," the one-eyed Transcendent replied. "Follow the orders; the teacher has his plans."

Li Changhe’s gaze flickered, his left hand hanging slightly lower, ready to exert force.

He was hesitating, undecided about whether to attack the Japanese Transcendents right now.

In the convoy, he and the owner of the fish pond were the main combatants, with eight third-generation disciples from the Daoist sect supporting them.

The number of enemies was greater, over twenty people, though few among them could be considered skilled masters.

Should a conflict arise, Li Changhe and the fish pond owner, both not inferior to Earth Level Transcendents, could swiftly deal with anyone aside from those few ’Seven Knives’ members.

But he estimated they wouldn’t be able to cover everything, and a conflict might attract the Divine Corpse.

At that point, it became a bit dangerous.

The other party was the terrifying existence that had killed the Thirteen Heroes, so Li Changhe needed to be cautious.

However, judging by the posture of the Japanese Transcendents, they were likely planning to conduct research on the Divine Corpse right now.

"No choice, the situation has changed," Li Changhe said as he looked for a suitable parking spot while contacting Qiu Wentian and Pan Ke in [Friends].

He ordered the other two teams to quickly assemble, to prevent any other accidents from occurring.

A few minutes later, the convoy stopped beside a mountain wall by the roadside, parking the vehicles in a fan shape to firmly protect the transportation truck with the Divine Corpse at the innermost position.

Subsequently, the Japanese Transcendents occupied several hidden corners, clearly intending to hold their ground.

Li Changhe and those with the convoy were also driven to a corner, which turned out to be rather fortuitous. Without being friends with the owner of the fish pond, this unexpectedly provided an opportunity to communicate.

"It seems they plan to research the Divine Corpse first," the fish pond owner said in a voice that did not move his lips but reached Li Changhe’s ears, "If the Divine Corpse wakes up, the plan fails."

"Not necessarily, the original plan was to lead the Divine Corpse to a place far from the River Dragon Vein," Li Changhe also whispered back, "The closest river from here is more than ten kilometers away. It barely meets that requirement. Even if it wakes up, it won’t be in its prime condition."

"It’s just a pity about the arrays Ancestor Li Kun and the others set up at the destination," the voice of the fish pond owner reached him again, "If the Divine Corpse is stimulated and awakened, we’ll have to hold it back."

"Fortunately, they distrusted us and placed us in this corner," Li Changhe glanced at the man in his thirties next to him. He was smoking a cigarette, trying to get chummy with a Japanese Transcendent looking at him.

After noticing Li Changhe’s gaze, the cigarette butt stealthily tapped the back of the off-road vehicle’s trunk.

The man was one of the third-generation disciples of the Dao sect. Although these third-generation disciples had only taken the first step into the realm of the Extraordinary, they were more cunning than the second-generation disciples and were well-suited for infiltration.

Li Kun had instructed them to actively cooperate with Li Changhe and the fish pond owner.

At that moment, the third-generation disciple was signaling to Li Changhe that the weapons were all in the trunk.

"If the Divine Corpse is not stimulated awake, then we continue towards our destination. If it wakes up, then... let’s see if this heretical ’Celestial’ can bring it down," Li Changhe thought as he looked at the truck within the encirclement, "If... it’s just an Evil..."

"Feels a bit like opening a mystery box."

Meanwhile, inside the cargo container of the truck, a tall, dark shadow had appeared behind the old man in the kimono—it was his Shikigami, the Great Sky Dog.

The other two Japanese Transcendents unlocked the bronze coffin’s chains, ready to confront whatever was inside.

The Great Sky Dog moved forward, its giant hands resting on the coffin, ready to push off the lid.

With one hand forming an incantation, the old man in the kimono thought, "No matter how powerful he was in life, he has now become an Evil. And the Yin-Yang Skill is specially designed to vanquish Evil! With my realm and the help of the Great Sky Dog, it should be enough!"

He planned to use a secret magical skill to subdue the Evil the instant the coffin was opened, turning it into a Shikigami that would obey his commands.

Just as the coffin lid was being pushed open, the old man swung his hand forward, sending a streak of blue light from his palm with precision into the opening gap.

Everything inside the coffin was still; there was no reaction.

"Did it work?" The old man in the kimono squinted slightly, only to find that the Great Sky Dog, as if seeing something terrifying, tried to back away.

But in an instant, it was dragged by a force into the bronze coffin. The three-meter-tall Great Sky Dog was yanked into a gap that was only opened a few dozen centimeters wide. Blood, feathers, and broken bones sprayed, smearing the faces of the three onlookers.

The sudden, horrifying scene was so unexpected that the three of them couldn’t even dodge in time.

At the same time, an extremely hoarse and low voice came from inside the coffin.

"Yin-Yang Skill?"