The Great Ruler: Starting from the Dark Ages

Chapter 136 Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin
It was a peaceful day, and all three realms were in harmony.

While cultivators attempt to break through barriers, ordinary people leave their doors unlocked at night and do not pick up lost items on the road.

The historians, throughout these tens of thousands of years, spoke frankly of a peaceful and prosperous era.

On that very day, a sudden surge of energy swept across the Three Realms. Above the starry sky, a massive light curtain broke through the barrier of the void, as if it had come from the river of time.

The cosmic barrier is like paper in front of it, and can be easily breached.

With the borders breached, everyone gathered in a flurry of activity.

Even though the turmoil originated from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, the Immortal Realm was still alarmed.

"What is that?!" Some cultivators who rushed to the edge of the universe looked at the enormous object with a sense of horror.
"Nine dragons... pulling a coffin?"

Countless cultivators swallowed hard, none of them having expected such a turn of events.

The dragon's body still exuded terrifying pressure, and the bronze coffin emitted indescribable fluctuations, causing countless people to kneel and tremble.

"Nine real dragons? No...it looks like nine dragon corpses!"

"Nine dragons pulling a coffin...it's nine dragons pulling a coffin!" Finally, an emperor-level figure remembered everything.
In the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin is extremely mysterious, with very few records, but it has indeed occurred.

Although the nine dragons were all corpses, they were still pulling the coffin forward. The supreme emperor knew many secrets, and it was said that his coffin would start on its own. Otherwise, even a great emperor would not be able to activate it.

"What exactly happened? Why did it suddenly start? Who is he looking for?" a cultivator murmured in fear.

In the face of such a change, countless people only wish for it to pass as soon as possible.

Suddenly, the nine dragons pulling the coffin changed direction and headed straight for the sky.

That direction—the Immortal Realm!
"Could it be that the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin are going to find the Heavenly Emperor?" some people began to speculate.

It seems that only contemporary myths are worthy of the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin to start on their own.

"It's broken through, it's inside!"

Someone exclaimed in surprise, pointing at the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin, and saw that it had indeed broken through the barrier of the Immortal Realm, stopping in front of the Heavenly Court with an immense and unparalleled pressure.

The cultivators from the Immortal Realm almost jumped up: "Nine dragons pulling a coffin! Holy crap! They disappeared after the Chaotic Ancient Era, and they're out today looking for the Heavenly Emperor?"

"Just what kind of people are these mortals?" someone thought back to the figures of the four immortals in the mortal world, one of whom, holding a large bell, was particularly eye-catching.

"That Emperor Wushi seems to me to be the reincarnation of the Immortal King Wuzhong!"

Although it happened several eras ago, it is still being circulated in the Immortal Realm.

Because the Immortal King Wuzhong once said that only by being without beginning can one be without end, and he also had discussions with the Immortal King of the Six Paths of Reincarnation about reincarnation.

At the time, some people jokingly said that the Immortal King Wuzhong was going to be reincarnated and renamed the Immortal King Wushi.

This matter is severely fragmented in the lower realms, and no one in the lower realms would know about it.

However, there is a mortal named Wushi in the lower realm who has forcefully taken over the Immortal Realm and even uses immortal seeds as weapons. What a coincidence!

Similarly, they also began to suspect Xu He.

"Legend has it that the Heavenly Emperor lived nine lifetimes in the mortal realm before finally becoming an immortal. Given the environment of the mortal realm, how could he possibly live nine lifetimes?" The speaker was a supreme being from the Immortal Realm.

He was once arrogant and proud, wanting to look down upon the world.

But the moment he descended, his lifespan was reduced to ten thousand years.

With such a lifespan, it's difficult to even take a single step forward in cultivation, let alone live nine lifetimes in reverse.

"Who exactly is the Heavenly Emperor, the reincarnation of some ancient monster?!"

In an instant, people from all three realms questioned the heavens.

Xu He took all of this into account.

He ignored them and went straight to the front of the Kowloon Coffin.

The nine true dragons have not decayed to this day and remain lifelike. The chains binding their bodies are as ruthless as the Great Dao itself.

"Did you come to find me?" Xu He stared at the bronze coffin of the Three Lives before him.

The fluctuations in cause and effect are quite dramatic.

It seems they are truly waiting for Xu He to guide them.

"Come on." Xu He touched the Three Lives Coffin, allowing karma to bind him. In just a moment, a vast chaotic energy spread out, covering the universe.

Such a change would alarm even the most ancient beings.

Emperor Wushi, Emperor Ruthless, and Duan De all appeared together.
They stared blankly at Xu He, who was enveloped by chaotic energy and the law of causality.

The person was still the same, with black hair like a waterfall, eyes like cold lightning, and wide sleeves fluttering.

The problem is that the Xu He in front of them was a complete stranger to everyone present.

"What's wrong with the Heavenly Emperor?" Chuan Ying rushed back to the Immortal Realm at this moment. He had been training in the lower realm, but the current fluctuations made him alert.

As the only person besides the Emperor who could command his submission, Chuan Ying did not want to see Xu He get into trouble as well.

"I don't know. It seems there's a great cause and effect at play, difficult to explain, truly without beginning or end." The Great Emperor Wushi stared at the bronze coffin of the Three Worlds for a long time but still couldn't see the truth.

"I once saw the Three-Life Coffin, but it left on its own the day I tried to activate it." The Ruthless Emperor's emotions finally stirred.

The bronze coffin of three lifetimes once stopped in the desolate forbidden land, but one day it broke through the cosmic barrier and left.

The Ruthless Great Emperor still remembers that time.
It was precisely the time when the Tianxuan Holy Land attacked the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land, vying for a path to immortality.

There was indeed a path to immortality back then, but it was not fully opened. The Ruthless Great Emperor did not care about worldly affairs, and he only remembered that a path to immortality really appeared on the Burial Emperor Star several hundred years later.

Previously, the Ruthless Emperor had always attributed the departure of the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin to the disturbances caused by the Tianxuan Holy Land.

Now it seems that is not the case.

Because she suddenly thought of a possibility, she intertwined all the information together.

Xu He's appearance was extremely mysterious, and no one knew his origins.

He appeared in everyone's sight around the time the Tianxuan Holy Land attacked the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.

Nine dragons pull the coffin, and the Heavenly Emperor appears.

Later, the bronze coffin of the three generations completely disappeared and was no longer in this realm.

Later, a dark period of turmoil broke out, and Xu He rose to power.

More than 300,000 years have passed since then, and the bronze coffin of the third generation has reappeared.

When the chaotic energy stopped churning and the fluctuations of causality ceased, Xu He finally broke free from that strange state.

Just now, it seemed as if he had experienced several lifetimes of reincarnation.

“It’s changed, it’s really changed, it’s becoming more and more like him.” Duan De looked at Xu He at this moment, his gaze somewhat blank.

He had once noticed that Xu He's face resembled that of the Desolate Emperor, but now, after Xu He came into contact with the Three Incarnations Coffin, the two seemed to look even more alike.

Although Duan De was already a mortal immortal, he still rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Could it be that the faces of those who come into contact with the Three Generations Bronze Coffin will change? Will they evolve into the masters of the bronze coffin?" Duan De murmured to himself.

He remembered that Shi Hao's appearance had also changed.

At first, no one noticed anything; it was through subtle influence that everyone accepted it.

But looking back now, Shi Hao's appearance has indeed changed a lot.

Duan De's thoughts gradually blurred, finally settling on Xu He's face.

Without much hesitation, Duan De stepped forward and reached out his large hand to touch the bronze coffin of the Three Generations.

Unfortunately, the Three-Life Coffin did not react to it; there were no fluctuations in causality, nor any surging chaotic energy. "I understand. I am not the chosen one, and none of us are the chosen ones," Duan De sighed regretfully, referring naturally to Wu Shi and the Ruthless Great Emperor.

“Only you.” Duan De looked intently at Xu He.

After a long while, he began to explain his conjecture:
“In the past, I witnessed the Great Dharma of the Desolate Heavenly Emperor, whose Dao fruits were divided into the past, present, and future.”

"Both you and the Desolate Emperor have come into contact with the Three Incarnations Coffin, and your appearances are becoming more and more similar. I guess that the Desolate Emperor represents the past, you represent the present, and perhaps another person will appear in the future."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around him fell into deep thought.

Duan De also knew a vast amount of secrets, and none of the people present could refute him.

Even Xu He held the same positive attitude.

Xu He simply couldn't understand why the Three Generations Bronze Coffin would appear now.

Before this, he could not find any trace of the bronze coffin of the Three Generations.

I have always believed that the three generations and three people should represent Shi Hao, Ye Fan, and Chu Feng, which is why the bronze coffins of the three generations disappeared.

Could it be that I really took Ye Fan's place?

Xu He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the matter closely.

That seems to be the case, but the problem is that during the Great Dream of Eternity, when he returned to the Chaotic Ancient Era, he actually glimpsed Ye Fan.

That was neither a dream nor simply a witness.

Moreover, Ye Fan said something completely inexplicable to me.

This is not the first time we have met.

This isn't the first time... so there's only one possibility: that in the future, when I become a Celestial King, I will also embark on the path of traversing time and space.

Similarly, this proves that Ye Fan does indeed exist.

There may be only one possibility.

Xu He remembered that Ye Fan, and even many other powerful figures, had stated that Shi Hao did not belong to that ancient history.

Perhaps it is the same now, just a world reflected by Xu He.

Ye Fan will also arrive someday in the future, or rather, I will arrive by Ye Fan's side, which will confirm what Ye Fan said before that this was not the first time the two had met.

"I will be invincible in the future," Xu He said softly.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the Dark Clan has already noticed him, and that the Celestial King of that clan may soon transcend history and try to nip him in the bud.

This will come at a great cost and take a long time, but Xu He knows that day may not be too far away.

The bronze coffin of the three generations suddenly appeared.

It must have been artificially induced.

Then a new question arises: who activated the three bronze coffins?

A butcher within the Boundary Sea? Or perhaps... Ye Fan?
This conjecture is not unfounded, but rather based on the personal experiences of the two individuals.

The Butcher survived the Chaotic Ancient Era, perhaps because he once hid in the small world inside the Three-Life Coffin. He is certainly no longer inside the coffin, and his whereabouts should be within the Boundary Sea. Perhaps he is about to take that step and is therefore seeking the opportunity to break through to the throne and become an emperor.

Furthermore, Ye Fan is also very likely the one who activated the Three Incarnations Coffin, as he himself once buried himself inside the Three Incarnations Coffin.

The small world evolving towards the Immortal Realm within the bronze coffin perfectly suits the dormancy of cultivators in the Immortal Path.

Thinking about it this way, the situation seems quite clear now.

Whether it was the butcher or Ye Fan, or both of them, they all had the idea of ​​temporarily hiding in the Three Incarnations Coffin, or rather, providing a possibility for their future, dying selves to survive.

There is only one possibility that could lead them to make such a choice.

The army of darkness is attacking!

Among them, there will definitely be quasi-immortal kings, or even immortal kings.

Xu He had to take this seriously. His enemies were not only the Dark Clan who were currently reaping the benefits of the myriad worlds, but also powerful adversaries in the future, all of whom could potentially rise against the tide of time.

In the future, Ye Fan and the others will certainly not sit idly by and wait for their doom. The fact that they are now being given the Three Incarnations Coffin may be because they are tied up and have no time to think about anything else.

"Time waits for no one..." Xu He felt a pressure pressing down on him.

Breaking through to the Immortal King realm in a short period of time is unrealistic; perhaps only the pinnacle of Immortals is attainable.

At the pinnacle of immortality, the highest combat power of the mortal immortals, capable of fighting against immortal kings, is something that defies comprehension.

In the path of cultivation, at the initial stage of cultivation, a solid foundation does indeed allow one to challenge opponents of higher levels and ranks.

However, the further one progresses in cultivation, the more difficult it becomes to achieve this.

This is not only because a superficial foundation cannot lead to profound cultivation, but also because it represents the struggle for survival of heroes generation after generation.

Moreover, this is at the level of Immortal King.

Chu Feng of later generations reached this level and was unparalleled in the world.

Of course, at most they can only fight ordinary Immortal Kings. If they encounter top-tier Immortal Kings or Immortal King giants, they will most likely still suffer defeat.

"The future may be hopeless, but I want to give it a try."

Xu He remained calm as he opened the bronze coffin of the Three Incarnations, looked into the small world within the coffin, and finally said only this.

"A calamity will soon befall you; you can take refuge here."

After he finished speaking, everyone around him fell silent.

Disaster?

They could all tell from Xu He's expression and tone that he was no ordinary person.

In the past, Xu He would only fight once, but now he tells everyone that they can hide here.

This can only indicate one possibility.

That disaster had a tremendous impact and a wide-ranging influence.

“I myself am at risk of perishing, but before that happens, I will do my best to send the Three-Life Coffin out,” Xu He said again.

Chuan Ying's expression changed drastically, his baby face filled with disbelief.

Even the Heavenly Emperor is at risk of falling?

What exactly was the origin of that disaster?
"Is it the Dark Army?" Duan De asked worriedly.

After receiving Xu He's affirmative nod, Duan De finally sighed helplessly.

"It's finally here."

"There's no escaping this battle. We have no choice but to fight. Even if it results in rivers of blood, let's see whose sword is sharper." A ruthless glint flashed in Duan De's eyes as he said:

"What do you mean you're going to face the enemy alone, and you're telling us to take refuge?"

Although Duan De's tone was rather unfriendly, he secretly admired Xu He.

Because Xu He now looks very similar to his good brother Shi Hao, only such a magnanimous spirit can convince him to submit wholeheartedly, so that he doesn't feel awkward because of Xu He's appearance.

Deep down, he always had a regret: he couldn't fight alongside Shi Hao.

But now, Xu He's appearance has given him a new opportunity.

He knew that there must be some connection between Xu He and Shi Hao, though he didn't know it yet, but he believed that the answer would be revealed one day.
Before that, he only needed to make up for his regrets and fight alongside Xu He.

(End of this chapter)