Chapter 27: Ancient Forbidden Zone

  The vast universe, the endless starry sky, many scientists speculate that Earth may be the only source of life.

  In the past decades, humans have made endless speculations and launched numerous space probes to search for extraterrestrial life. However, the vast starry sky and mysterious universe are like a desolate graveyard, cold and quiet, eternal ice and darkness, and no signs of life can be detected at all.

  The universe is too vast, and there is no end to it. With the current level of human technology, even if a space probe can escape the gravitational pull of the galaxy and travel continuously for tens of millions or hundreds of millions of years, it would still be difficult to reach the other side of the starry sky.

  Perhaps today can rewrite the exploration history of the starry sky, and humans have come to the other side of the starry sky, spanning tens or hundreds of light years, experiencing the ultimate journey of humanity.

  It's just that all of this is hard for humans on earth to know, no one will believe it, and there won't be anyone cheering or celebrating.

  Nine enormous dragon corpses pulled a bronze ancient coffin, arriving at the other side of the starry sky, passing through the star domain where the Big Dipper Seven Stars are located!

  It was at this time that Ye Fan woke up, his palm leaving the coffin full of green copper rust, hundreds of ancient characters were engraved on his heart, difficult to understand, profound and mysterious, as if they could never be erased, until then the mysterious divine voice completely disappeared.

  The great way is simple, every word is precious, everything comes to an end, like a grand finale, returning to simplicity and truth.

  Ye Fan was lost in thought and muttered to himself: "The way of heaven is to subtract from those who have excess and add to those who are insufficient..."

  "Yefan, are you alright?" Pangbo asked with concern.

  "I'm fine."

  In this process, the bronze coffin was shaking violently all the time, everyone felt dizzy, and people knew that the nine dragons were finally about to reach their destination.

  At this moment, the ancient bronze carvings on the coffin wall burst forth with a divine glow, propping up a hazy light curtain that offset an unimaginable impact force, and the giant coffin finally stabilized slowly.

  In the final thunderous shock, the bronze coffin lid shifted out of position and fell heavily to one side, overturning the copper coffin onto the ground.

  "Glory!"

  "I saw the light!"

  "It's the familiar bright world!"

  Many people in the bronze giant coffin couldn't help but shout, and what was in front of them was no longer the dimness of the ancient planet Xinghuo and the bleakness with blood-red eyes. The fresh air came to greet them, even with the scent of mud and the fragrance of flowers and grass, and the natural breath filled the surroundings. Outside was a bright world full of vitality.

  Everyone stood up and rushed out of the huge coffin quickly. What they saw in front of them was a beautiful and elegant scene.

  At this moment, they are standing on a mountain top that is neither high nor short, overlooking the scenery in front of them.

  In the distance are undulating beautiful mountain peaks, with lush trees. Near the top of the mountain are strange-shaped rocks and sturdy ancient trees, as well as thick old vines that twist like a dragon, and soft green grass and fragrant wildflowers, full of vitality and life.

  Compared with the dullness and desolation of Mars, this place is undoubtedly a peaceful and pure land.

  "It's great, we finally got rid of the darkness and desolation, and came to such a beautiful place."

  "We don't have to worry and be afraid anymore!"

  Many people are cheering, some even crying with joy, after going through a series of deaths and hardships, they finally arrived in a vibrant and natural world.

  Kissing the sunshine, telling myself to live a good life... Even the clever and beautiful Lin Jia was moved to tears.

  Pangbo stood on the mountaintop and roared towards the distance: "I've finally seen the sun again, although it's not the same as before, but I still want to say loudly that I have been reborn!"

  Clang

  Suddenly, a metallic tremolo came from the bronze giant coffin behind everyone, instantly pulling on everyone's nerves, and they all turned their heads to watch.

  Nine massive dragon corpses had more than half of their bodies hanging from the cliff, and the copper coffins were not far from the precipice. At this moment, the nine dragon corpses, like iron Great Walls, slowly slid down the cliff, and the copper coffins also moved forward slowly.

  Rumbling sound

  The nine huge dragon corpses and the bronze ancient coffin slid down from the top of the mountain, making a loud rumbling sound as they accelerated their speed and fell straight down the steep cliff!

  Everyone was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat, one side of the mountain top was actually a cliff, if they didn't rush out quickly when the coffin lid opened, the consequences would be unthinkable.

  Nine huge dragon corpses and bronze ancient coffins fell off the cliff, but for a long time, there was no sound of them hitting the ground, leaving everyone stunned and extremely surprised.

  At this moment, without the bronze giant coffin blocking the line of sight, you can clearly see the scenery on this side of the cliff.

  "Are we standing on top of a super gigantic volcano?" Many people's faces showed surprise.

  Because what was supposed to be a precipice was actually an unfathomably deep chasm.

  "It's not a volcanic crater, it's impossible for a volcano to be so large."

  Careful observation reveals that there are nine large mountains connected to each other, surrounding a deep valley. According to common sense, this should be an open mountain valley that can be seen at a glance, because the nine mountains are not towering into the clouds.

  However, looking down was a vast and endless blackness, as if it had pierced through the underworld and the Yellow Springs Road, unfathomably deep.

  The deep abyss surrounded by the nine mountains seemed endless, and after the nine huge dragon corpses and bronze ancient coffins fell down, no echo was ever heard, as if they would never reach the bottom forever.

  "How deep it is, it's really hard to imagine!"

  "What kind of place is this, how can there be such a huge abyss..."

  Everyone was shocked and uncertain, vaguely feeling that this world was not as peaceful and quiet as it seemed on the surface.

  Yue Fan observed the surroundings and said, "Have you noticed? There is no five-colored altar here. It seems we directly descended from the sky and fell here, rather than appearing from the Starry Sky Gate."

  When he said this, everyone was shocked and only then did they notice that there really wasn't a five-colored altar. However, the vast mountain top hadn't collapsed from being smashed by the copper coffin, nor had any massive crater appeared; it had merely split open with several large cracks.

  If it really fell from the sky and crashed here, the impact force would be unimaginable, but the mountain body did not suffer any signs of heavy damage, and things are unfolding abnormally.

  "Why are we here if there's no five-colored altar? Is it the legendary cosmic drift, stranded us here?" The joke was not funny at all, nobody showed a smile, they all looked around and then fell into thought.

  "There's a half stone tablet over there..." Zhang Ziling suddenly shouted.

  On the mountain top, there is a pile of boulders, with several sturdy ancient trees, accompanied by several old vines as thick as water buckets. In the entwined vines, half of a stone tablet lies broken, with obvious signs of artificial polishing.

  The crowd quickly walked past, pulled open the withered rattan, and swept away the withered branches and leaves on the broken stele. Suddenly, I felt a strong sense of antiquity, with three ancient characters carved on it, with bold and powerful strokes, majestic as a dragon, flowing with the breath of the years, and I don't know how many years it has existed.

  "What is written?" Many people don't recognize it.

  Ye Fan pondered for a long time and was still somewhat uncertain, saying: "It seems to be the three words 'Huang Gu Jin'."

  "It's nonsensical, what does it mean, it doesn't even make sense." The crowd couldn't fathom its meaning.

  "This is a broken stone tablet, and there should be more words below, but after the tablet was shattered, it's impossible to restore. Pong Bo pulled open the rattan and removed the weeds, and found many broken stones there, as if they had been struck by lightning."

  "Those three ancient characters should be the name of this abyss or mountain." Zhou Yi showed a thoughtful expression and said, "But there aren't many words that can be connected with 'Jin', the most likely one is followed by a character 'di'."

  "Isn't that 'Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land'?" A classmate connected the four characters, and after reading them out, instantly changed color. The others also furrowed their brows.

  This name is really hard to associate with anything good, and many people have begun to worry secretly.

  "This abyss is hardly a pure land and sacred place..." someone said.

  It's not just a pure land or sacred place, if it's really as recorded on the stele, I'm afraid it's not a good place at all.

  "Have you noticed that there seem to be no birds or beasts around here? It's too quiet!" Wang Ziwu was more meticulous and felt something was off.

  "That's right!" Everyone nodded in unison.

  There are flowers, grass, vines and trees here, which seem to be thriving on the surface, but upon closer inspection, it's discovered that something is amiss. There aren't any animals around this vast mountain range. No birds chirping or beasts roaring can be heard, nor can any signs of ant activity be seen. It's quiet to the point of being almost lifeless!

  There are no cicadas chirping on ancient trees, no grasshoppers jumping on the lawn, and no birds flying in the sky. All that remains is silence.

  Pangbo was very optimistic, saying: "In any case, there is lush vegetation here, and this environment is enough for us to survive. Moreover, there are inscriptions here, so there must be humans on this planet. I don't believe such a beautiful world would be a desolate dead land."

  "Who says there are no animals? Who says there are no birds in the sky? Look..." Ye Fan had a new discovery at this time, pointing to the distant horizon.

  In the distant sky, there seems to be a golden eagle soaring, extremely special, as its entire body is shining with a dazzling golden light, even from a distance, one can still feel that kind of splendor, as if it were cast in gold, its whole body radiating a brilliant golden glow.

  At this time, the golden eagle flew a distance towards this area, becoming increasingly clear, and then it suddenly dived into a mountainous area. A moment later, it soared into the sky again, with one more prey in its sharp claws, flying towards a distant cliff.

  "I... I'm not seeing things, am I?!" The usually carefree Pang Bo stuttered on the spot at the sight of this scene.

  Others were almost petrified, like wooden carvings or clay figurines, staring blankly and hardly daring to believe their eyes.

  "How did I feel... under the golden eagle's sharp claws... it seemed to be grasping a giant elephant?" Li Changqing also stuttered, feeling dry mouth and tongue.

  "Not seemingly, but fundamentally!" Wang Ziwu took over his words and said: "It's incredible to be able to grasp a giant elephant! It's unimaginable how huge that golden eagle is..." He couldn't help but stutter as he spoke.

  It's clear that everyone misjudged it earlier. Due to the distance being too far, they misjudged its size. That should be a super gigantic strange bird of prey.

  Ye Fan gazed into the distant sky and said, "It's impossible for there to be such a huge golden eagle! Its entire body is golden, shining with golden light, its shape enormous and boundless, just like the legendary Golden Winged Peng of myth and legend!"

  Everyone present was petrified once again upon hearing these words.

  Sweat, let's talk about it. "The way of heaven reduces the surplus and supplements the deficiency" comes from the Tao Te Ching, not as some book friends imagine, not the Nine Yin Scripture, nor can it appear in martial arts novels. Of course, those few hundred words only have one sentence from the Tao Te Ching, and the divine voice heard by the protagonist cannot be the text of the Tao Te Ching either.