The Fate of Eternal Life

Chapter 143 The Lonely Universe Approaches Ziwei

The universe is boundless, and the star field is endless, yet in many places there are no stars, only deathly desolation and darkness. In the vast universe, there is not a sound.

A terrifying desolation, an icy chill that could shatter bones, a vast and boundless darkness—this is everything, this is the universe, nothing else.

Not to mention humans, even a single star is as small as a speck of dust. In this boundless and ancient universe, everything is insignificant.

Even the most mysterious Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin is far too insignificant in this vast, dark void, not even worthy of being called a speck of dust.

Inside the bronze coffin, Ning Qingyi and Ye Fan stood side by side, surveying the scene before them.

The walls of the coffin were covered with green patina, but it could not conceal the images of ancient ancestors and deities. At this moment, the images shone brightly, as if they were about to come back to life, and the beasts and divine birds also became lifelike.

Among them, a star pattern is shimmering.

That was the largest carving, a vast starry sky, where all the stars were shining, while the dark coffin wall in the background remained unchanged, like a pitch-black night sky, as if countless real, glittering stars were adorning the vast night sky.

Within the image, a thin line shimmers, originating from the Big Dipper and extending continuously towards an even brighter star... the Purple Star!

"I still remember when we set off from Mars and came to the ancient star of the Big Dipper, we guessed the direction of the ancient star road. Now it seems that our destination really is Ziwei." Ye Fan had been speechless since entering the ancient coffin, but now he suddenly felt sentimental.

Ancient road under the stars, nine dragons pulling a coffin, the ancestral crocodile of Mars...

Memories flooded back, and he thought of many things: his parents, his class reunion, and the Mercedes-Benz parked at the foot of Mount Tai.

Ning Qingyi did not succumb to these emotions. He came to follow the Dao and was born for the Dao. Earth was just a stop on his journey.

"Have you learned the single secret realm technique that the Great Accomplishment Holy Body passed on to you?" Ning Qingyi asked.

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan immediately perked up and excitedly said, "I never expected that someone with a Great Completion Sacred Body would survive... Did you know from the beginning that the master of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land was a Great Completion Sacred Body?!"

Recalling that scene in the forbidden area, Ye Fan was overcome with excitement.

The Great Accomplished Sacred Body is an unparalleled existence comparable to the great emperors of antiquity.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, nine Great Accomplished Saints descended upon the chaotic world in succession, suppressing the darkness and turmoil, turning the tide, and bringing peace to the world. Their heroic spirit was unparalleled!
As a Saint Body, Ye Fan naturally admired his predecessors. Now, seeing a living, breathing Great Perfection Saint Body, how could he not be excited?

Ning Qingyi said, "I do know that there is a Great Completion Saint Body in the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land, but I don't know if it is one of the nine Great Completion Saint Bodies."

Ye Fan was filled with excitement, his mind wandering, especially when he thought of the Golden King and the Great Sage Qianlun, wielding imperial weapons, being sent flying by a single palm strike from the Great Accomplished Holy Body. This gave him a clear vision of the future, a guiding light on his path.

Ning Qingyi offered a reminder, saying, "Although the Great Perfection Holy Body is powerful, don't forget that the Holy Body's later years are ominous."

Ye Fan immediately stiffened, thinking of the golden hair-covered arms of the Great Accomplished Holy Body, and his expression turned serious.

Ancient texts record that in the dark and turbulent times of antiquity, every battle resulted in rivers of blood and mountains of corpses. Even those with the most advanced divine bodies perished in battle, so they could not be called invincible.

They will never forget that a Great Accomplished Saint Body stained the mountain wall with blood, and was killed on the Holy Cliff in his later years. His blood stained the entire Holy Cliff red. They could only pass away in sorrow, their bodies wrapped in earth, burying the desolation of an invincible life that ultimately ended in defeat.

Ye Fan asked, "Qingyi, do you know the root cause of the inauspiciousness of the Sacred Body?"

Ning Qingyi stretched out her hand, rubbing her thumb and fingers together in a classic gesture.

Ye Fan immediately understood, and his divine sense emanated from his body, engraving the path he had obtained from the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body into his heart.

It was an unparalleled Dao diagram, transformed into a vast ancient scroll, flowing with mysterious energy, with endless chaos surging within.

Ning Qingyi was immediately captivated and silently compared it with the method Ye Fan had previously taught her.

“There are many more changes, and it’s even more profound…” Ning Qingyi was filled with excitement: “This is the truly flawless ancient method. If the Holy Body obtains it and combines it with an ancient scripture, it can be continuously deduced, allowing one to cultivate a single secret realm to its ultimate level!”

Unfortunately, this is a special auxiliary technique for the Holy Body. Without that special physique, it cannot be fully effective, but it is of great significance to him and its value is immeasurable.

Ning Qingyi suppressed her excitement, looked at Ye Fan's expectant gaze, coughed lightly, and uttered two words: "Underworld".

Ye Fan was horrified.

He was no longer the mortal he once was on Earth, and he knew that many things in the cultivation world were not as mythical as they were in legends. Even so, the words "underworld" still carried immense weight.

"Does the underworld really exist? I thought it was just a legend among mortals." Ye Fan shivered.

“The underworld truly exists. It has been passed down since the mythological era and continues to this day. It governs the netherworld and is also a forbidden zone for life!” Ning Qingyi said solemnly, and then sighed, “In the ancient era, the Great Accomplished Holy Body appeared for nine generations. Even when there was no emperor in the world, it fought against the dark chaos and protected all the spirits in the universe, but it also got in the way of many people.”

"Furthermore, the Great Emperor Wushi was too extraordinary. When he was alive, he suppressed the forbidden zones of life to the point that they couldn't break through. Naturally, he became increasingly wary of this kind of physique." Ning Qingyi's expression turned solemn. "In the end, they used the immortal artifact Tongtian Mingbao that they left behind to curse the Holy Body. Not only could it not cultivate, but its later years were also filled with misfortune. This is the root of the curse on the Holy Body!"

Ye Fan remained silent. He hadn't expected that the Holy Body would withdraw from the historical stage for such a reason, which filled him with grief and indignation, and a sense of resentment began to build within him. But soon, he caught a key word.

"A celestial artifact? You're saying the Underworld possesses celestial artifacts!" Ye Fan exclaimed in surprise. "Weren't there only three celestial artifacts? The Desolate Tower, the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, and the Celestial Bell whose whereabouts are unknown!"

"Who told you there are only three immortal artifacts?" Ning Qingyi said calmly. "In fact, you've even personally handled them. Have you forgotten where your cauldron came from?"

"You mean the Bronze Immortal Palace is also an immortal artifact?!" Ye Fan was instantly bewildered. The ancient emperor's weapons and ancient royal weapons had gradually lost their mystique in his mind because of their clustering together. Now, even immortal artifacts were clustering together?

“Alright, immortal artifacts are too far removed from us. Even if we obtained them, we wouldn’t be able to use them,” Ning Qingyi said. “Instead of that, you should be more concerned about the Ziwei Ancient Star we’re about to visit.”

Ye Fan straightened up and asked seriously, "How much do you know about the Ziwei Ancient Star?"

“I don’t know much about it.” Ning Qing began to chant: “Ziwei Ancient Star is also an ancient star of life with a history of millions of years. It has produced many ancient emperors and great emperors. The Sun Holy Emperor, the Moon Human Emperor, and the Jiang family’s Hengyu Great Emperor also came from here. It is also the mother star of our human race and one of the origins.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan exclaimed, "Indeed, this is an imperial star, a place of outstanding people and abundant resources!"

Ning Qingyi continued, "Currently, the major powers occupying the Ziwei Ancient Emperor Star include the Ziwei Divine Dynasty, the Human King Palace, the Longevity Taoist Temple, the Guanghan Palace, and the Human Desire Sect... The alien forces include the Fusang Divine Kingdom and the Heavenly Demon Alliance... There are several continents, including Luzhou..."

Ye Fan grew increasingly numb as he listened, hesitating to speak, then stopping himself, then saying something again, until finally he sighed, "Is this all you've said?"

Ning Qingyi said earnestly, "Compared to the ancient Big Dipper, I know very little about the Ziwei Emperor Star, but I do know that it contains Lao Tzu's legacy!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan's eyes flashed with divine light: "What did you say? My inheritance!"

In the past, he would have regarded Laozi as an ordinary old man, but after entering the cultivation world and receiving information from Ning Qingyi, he naturally knew what kind of person the other party was!
Now, the inheritance of a quasi-emperor is right before my eyes. If I could obtain it…

Ye Fan's eyes were filled with fervor: "We must go to Ziwei Emperor Star to find Laozi's inheritance!"

Ning Qingyi hummed in agreement and said, "But don't be too happy yet, it might have already been taken by someone else." "If I get it, I'm lucky; if I lose it, it's fate." Ye Fan was quite open-minded, but then he changed the subject and asked with a hint of doubt, "By the way, why didn't you mention the inheritance of the Sun Saint Emperor and the Moon Human Emperor? The Jiang family went to the Big Dipper, could the Ziwei Divine Dynasty be the inheritance of one of them?"

Upon hearing this, Ning Qingyi's aura turned murderous as she said, "This is exactly what I wanted to tell you, and it's also one of the things I need to do when I go to Ziwei Ancient Star."

Seeing his murderous look, Ye Fan immediately knew that something big was about to happen.

"The first thing I need to do is seize the ancient divine scriptures from the Human King's Palace and the Longevity Temple. They are the inheritance of the 'Zhe' character secret, which is related to my breakthrough to the Heavenly Gate of the Dao."

"The second thing I want to do is to destroy the current Taiyin Divine Cult, so as to appease the heart of the former Taiyin Human Emperor."

"The third thing is to pacify the Fusang Divine Kingdom and lend a helping hand to the Holy Empress's descendants."

Ye Fan looked solemn and asked a question. Ning Qingyi then told him the truth. The two chatted for a while inside the coffin and quickly made a plan before going off to cultivate.

Finally, as time slowly passed, the star in the star chart got closer and closer to the ancient star Ziwei, until they overlapped.

……

"boom!"

The nine dragons pulling the coffin made a clattering sound before finally coming to a stop. The coffin lid was also shaken open, revealing the scenery outside.

When the two emerged, they found themselves in a celestial palace. Nearby were shattered palaces, and beneath them stood a large, five-colored altar.

Clearly, when the nine dragons pulled the coffin down, they smashed the main hall to pieces.

The two quickly explored the vicinity and found that this celestial palace was mostly empty, with most of the main halls being deserted except for stone platforms, resembling an ancient post station.

"There really is trace of me!" Ye Fan suddenly shouted.

Ahead, a long scroll slowly unfolds, revealing an ancient city, an old man riding an ox westward, and a middle-aged man respectfully welcoming him.

A purple aura came from the east, stretching across 30,000 miles, spreading over mountains and rivers. Then the old man entered the city, left a scripture, and continued his journey westward.

"This is the path west of Hangu Pass!" Ye Fan said. He looked him over carefully, memorizing everything. He knew that when he returned to Earth, these would be clues to uncovering the great secret.

Soon, the two arrived at the edge of the celestial palace. They could clearly see a massive, life-bearing star below them, incomparably magnificent and awe-inspiring, filled with the aura of an emperor that sent shivers down their spines. The celestial palace beneath their feet orbited this ancient life-bearing star like a satellite.

"The aura of an ancient emperor!" Ning Qingyi sensed an unusual aura.

Ning Qingyi glanced at the Ziwei Emperor Star and frowned.

"How are we going to get down?" Ye Fan asked.

"The only option is to rely on the Primordial Azure Pagoda." Ning Qingyi summoned the Quasi-Emperor artifact.

"What about the nine dragons pulling the coffin?" Ye Fan asked.

"Let's leave it alone. This is a divine object; it's not something we can interfere with," Ning Qingyi said. "Of course, I will also inscribe array patterns here. After these three matters are settled, we will continue our journey!"

“Then I can go home!” A determined look flashed in Ye Fan’s eyes. “In that case, let’s get ready to go.”

"Ah."

Ning Qing nodded and walked towards one of the palaces. After inscribing a large domain gate array pattern on it, she returned to the edge of the Heavenly Palace and led Ye Fan and the other two towards this ancient star of life.

boom!
The two of them burst in from the universe like a meteorite and were falling toward the earth.

Without a doubt, every ancient star with life is awe-inspiring.

The earth is boundless and vast, with towering mountains reaching into the clouds, and mighty rivers flowing for tens of thousands of miles. There are also many celestial lands where spiritual energy soars to the heavens.

Without a doubt, this is a magnificent world, vast yet beautiful, grand yet ethereal, and deeply moving.

"boom!"

Finally, with a deafening roar, the Primordial Azure Pagoda smashed down a cliff, sending up clouds of dust and scattering rocks everywhere.

This is a barren, red land, as if lava had swept through it.

The mountain stands tall, with strange rocks growing everywhere. There is not a single blade of grass or tree. The area is scorched, as if it had been baked by the most severe sun fire. The red soil has melted and crystallized into shiny things.

As the two emerged from the Primordial Azure Gold Pagoda, they noticed several streaks of light rushing towards them from the horizon. Clearly, cultivators from the Purple Star Ancient City had discovered the anomaly and were coming to investigate.

"here it is?"

"I don't know. We both have the '行' (xing) secret, so let's hurry up and go!"

The two communicated with their minds, and then used the "Move" technique to quickly rush in another direction.

Soon, they managed to get rid of their pursuers and arrived at an ancient city in the distance.

This is a black ancient city, enormous in size, entirely cast from inky black crystals, shimmering with dark light, like a magnificent celestial city descended to earth.

"How magnificent!" Even Ye Fan couldn't help but marvel. The city wall was over a hundred meters high and covered with array patterns, clearly indicating that it was an important place.

“Tianyuan City,” Ning Qingyi called out the name of the city.

"Let's go in and take a look, find out some information," Ye Fan said.

Ning Qing nodded slightly.

The two entered and casually went up to a restaurant, where they heard some big news.

"Have you heard? Yin Tiande has utterly defeated all the sect leaders and taken over the Xuandu Heavenly Eight Scenery Palace!"

"As expected of one of the strongest among the younger generation, he's truly invincible!"

(End of this chapter)