Ancient. Solemn. Decayed.
Grandmaster Damien Graves looked at Evan Lin: "I've got a hunch—whatever's at the other end of this Crimson Core Chain is something incredible."
Wave after wave of aura surged out from within the sarcophagus.
Damien Graves's eyes blazed with excitement.
Grandmaster Phoenix Bai.
Grandmaster Damien Graves immediately stopped talking and said no more.
Cultivators chase after fate and opportunity, but Damien Graves didn't dare go down alone.
Damien Graves eyed that side warily.
"This Great Bronze Sarcophagus was originally part of Coldspire Peak itself."
"Back then, Phoenix Bai claimed it, and later, Victor Zhou and I tried to force her out—but we didn't succeed."
"This whole sarcophagus is probably an extremely powerful magic artifact."
Damien Graves spoke for Evan Lin's benefit, but made no effort to conceal the greed in his gaze.
If anyone said the Great Bronze Sarcophagus was just some ordinary item, they'd be talking nonsense.
Damien Graves shut his mouth at last, squinting as he stared at the now-open Great Bronze Sarcophagus.
This place is definitely not simple.
But what secrets it held, Damien Graves could only guess.
"Mm."
Evan Lin nodded, but didn't bother to respond further.
Nowadays, even the best magic artifact in this world hardly attracts Evan Lin's attention.
Unfortunately, Evan Lin's current strength is still insufficient, and he lacks good artifact bases; otherwise, he could forge some artifacts himself.
Damien Graves took another step forward, eyeing the pitch-black interior of the Great Bronze Sarcophagus greedily, without a hint of hesitation.
Grandmaster You sidled up next to Evan Lin and whispered.
He looked totally sneaky, a far cry from the icy, arrogant grandmaster he acted like before.
Everyone heard Damien Graves let out a shrill cry of terror.
Evan Lin shot back with just two words.
Damien Graves tumbled to the ground, re-forming into human shape—his face pale and terrified.
Evan Lin glanced at the massive Crimson Core Chain and followed up with another question.
"What's at the other end of this Crimson Core Chain?"
At this moment, the Crimson Core Chain was still burrowing deeper underground.
Evan Lin could sense the immense power carried by the Crimson Core Chain.
It wasn't inner force—it was pure, raw strength.
All along the Crimson Core Chain, there was a faint, indescribable aura.
That aura felt oddly familiar to Evan Lin, but for now, he couldn't remember where he'd encountered it before.
"I don't know what's beneath the Crimson Core Chain either."
"Back when we cultivated on Coldspire Peak, Victor Zhou claimed the sky, I took the plants and trees, and Phoenix Bai took the Great Bronze Sarcophagus and all the mountain stone."
"Cultivation here on Coldspire Peak is faster than anywhere else."
"The three of us split Coldspire Peak into three domains, and when we went into seclusion, nobody bothered anyone else."
"I was curious about what was at the other end of the Crimson Core Chain, so I went down to check it out once."
"But as I followed it, the Crimson Core Chain seemed endless—I couldn't find the bottom."
Grandmaster You still shuddered a bit as he recalled it: "Coldspire Peak is barely a hundred meters tall."
"But I keep feeling like the Crimson Core Chain stretches way deeper than Coldspire Peak's height, plunging far underground."
Grandmaster You looked at Evan Lin: "I've got a hunch—whatever's at the other end of this Crimson Core Chain is something incredible."
"How about, if we ever get the chance, we check it out together?"
Grandmaster You's eyes blazed with excitement.
The Great Bronze Sarcophagus wasn't some ordinary item, and the Crimson Core Chain that could drag it obviously wasn't either.
Whatever lay at the other end of the Crimson Core Chain was definitely not simple.
Cultivators chase after fate and opportunity, but Grandmaster You didn't dare go down alone.
The deeper he went, the more anxious he felt—the pressure below was way stronger than above.
Evan Lin was still pondering, trying to recall the familiar aura from the Crimson Core Chain, when suddenly there was a thunderous boom.
Evan Lin looked up and saw the sarcophagus lid pulled fully open from the Great Bronze Sarcophagus.
Sunlight streamed in that direction.
All he could see was dust drifting in midair.
The swirling dust spread through the air, carrying an indescribably ancient aura.
Grandmaster You shut his mouth at last, squinting as he stared at the now-open Great Bronze Sarcophagus.
It was his first time seeing the Great Bronze Sarcophagus opened.
Yvette Locke stood beside Evan Lin, her eyes full of curiosity as she gazed that way.
Lucy Bai knelt on one knee, watching with a complicated mix of emotions.
Meanwhile, the elder on the other side was already trembling all over, unable to contain his excitement.
He stared at the Great Bronze Sarcophagus, straining to spot any sign of the figure inside.
"Patriarch!"
"You've been in seclusion for decades—finally, you've come out."
The elder's voice trembled with emotion.
"Decades have passed in the blink of an eye."
"My life should have ended decades ago. Now I've lingered all these years, who knows if I'll see tomorrow—but today, at least, I've seen the sun again."
The once-muffled voice from inside the Great Bronze Sarcophagus suddenly grew clearer.
Phoenix Bai's voice pierced the air, tinged with a hard-to-describe sense of nostalgia.
For a moment, everyone present felt as if they were dreaming.
"The mortal world stretches endlessly—time slips away in a snap."
"The plants have withered and flourished, and at last I've reached this step."
Phoenix Bai's voice wavered and drifted.
Her body was still inside the Great Bronze Sarcophagus.
Though sunlight shone directly into the sarcophagus, its interior was like the maw of a beast.
It swallowed all the light, dissolved it, devoured everything—countless layers of darkness blocking everyone's view.
"Phoenix Bai, now that you've come out of seclusion, you should step forward."
Grandmaster You glanced a few times, still unable to see Phoenix Bai's face.
He scowled, clearly annoyed: "Why keep acting so mysterious?"
"You and I are both Hong Kong grandmasters, but after all these years, we've never really sparred or debated the Dao."
"Now that you're out, why not clear up all the things we never discussed before?"
Grandmaster You moved forward, his whole body dissolving into black smoke, and in a blink he was right in front of the Great Bronze Sarcophagus.
He held the Reaper Dagger, its black gleam flickering.
Grandmaster You took another step forward, eyeing the pitch-black interior of the Great Bronze Sarcophagus greedily, without a hint of hesitation.
But before anyone else could react—
"Ah!"
Everyone heard Grandmaster You let out a shrill cry of terror.
Then, everyone saw a swirl of black smoke drift out from the Great Bronze Sarcophagus.
Grandmaster You tumbled to the ground, re-forming into human shape—his face pale and terrified.
He was badly wounded.