Quinn Shepherd looked at the Suspended Coffin. The coffin hung upright in midair, never touching the ground, while gentle bands of multicolored radiance drifted around it and the stone well, creating an atmosphere of deep tranquility.
Everything here seemed frozen in time—no other sounds could be heard. The pitch-black coffin hung suspended, squarely facing the mouth of the well.
The radiance was sprayed gently from the well below—light and faint.
Quinn asked in confusion, "Starr, the coffin hasn't been opened, so where exactly did you find the sigil?"
The Suspended Coffin was wrapped in chains and had never been opened. Aside from the black coffin and the stone well, there was nothing else in the valley, which left Quinn puzzled.
Starr set down his chest, which opened with a soft click.
"The sigil was placed on top of the coffin."
No one knew what arts Starr used, but one by one, demigod bodies leapt out from his chest on their own. The chest grew restless, hopping and snapping, as if trying to swallow these demigods back inside.
After a moment, Quinn found himself surrounded by more than a hundred demigods.
These demigods had no breath of life—they had already been refined by Starr.
What truly unsettled Quinn was that every demigod leaping from Starr’s chest was terrifyingly powerful—each one at the True God realm. Starr had captured and refined them to death, a testament to just how fearsome his strength really was.
When Starr finished his ritual, one demigod suddenly opened its bloody maw and swallowed the one before it whole!
Quinn’s heart lurched. Another demigod immediately devoured the first, only to be swallowed in turn by one behind it. In the blink of an eye, the hundred-plus demigods dwindled to just one!
It was like big fish eating small fish, only to be gulped down by an even bigger one.
The last remaining demigod instantly leapt up, sprinting wildly down the mountainside straight for the Ancient Sword Well beneath the suspended coffin.
As it ran, flesh kept sloughing from its bones. It barely made it halfway down before the radiant mist’s power stripped it to a running skeleton.
Just then, the skeleton exploded—another demigod burst from the shattered bone and kept charging, only to be reduced to bone again by the mist.
The bones exploded again; a third demigod sprang out, then a fourth, a fifth…
Each demigod emerged from the bones like a relay race, all charging toward the Ancient Sword Well.
Starr looked tense, counting under his breath. When he reached one hundred and seven, the final demigod reached the well’s edge and was stripped to bone by the dense radiance.
The skeletal demigod leapt into the well.
A muffled thud echoed from inside the well.
Starr let out a breath, picked up his chest, and said, "The second sword-bridge is about to appear. Stay close to me! Now—jump!"
Light rose from the well, taking the shape of a sword—insubstantial, floating in midair, tip down, hanging above the well.
Suddenly, the sword-light shifted, and countless blades appeared, spreading flat in all directions. The sword-light trembled, then multiplied in a flash, covering Fallen-God Valley with a blanket of blades!
As soon as Starr shouted 'jump,' Quinn sprang up. Dragon-Qilin was a beat late, still dazed, but Quinn grabbed him by the scruff and hauled him along.
Whoosh—
Sword-light unfurled beneath their feet. Starr landed lightly atop it and said gravely, "This sword-light covering the valley will vanish soon, sinking back into the well. We need to hurry!"
Quinn rushed with Dragon-Qilin to the suspended coffin. Starr leapt atop it and said, "This is the only safe place."
Suddenly, all the sword-light in the valley contracted, snapping back into the hanging sword above the well.
The sword-light slowly sank into the well and vanished; the radiant mist rose again, blanketing the valley, but left a clear space around the coffin.
This mist was fiendishly strange—step into it and your flesh would melt away, dying in agony.
Just then, Lila Swallowfeather, Marcus Autumnwhite, and the Heavenly Dragon King arrived at the cliff, gazing from afar at Quinn and the others, each frowning.
Marcus set up his portal and opened it, while the Heavenly Dragon King roared, sending his whiskers flying. The air was filled with oppressive, muffled sounds—the old dragon king was so strong, he forcibly dragged an entire outer heaven, home to the fire-dragon-crows, over by brute force!
"They’re piling up lives—maybe enough will make a road, trigger the sword in the well. But who knows how many will have to die to reach this spot."
Starr’s eyes flashed. He looked at Quinn: "If you’d come here alone, without my guidance, how would you break the seal?"
Quinn thought for a moment and said, "I’d try to uncover the divine arts hidden in the mist and use that knowledge to break through. If I understood the mist’s secrets, it couldn’t hurt me."
Starr smiled faintly. "Still won’t admit you’re not as good as me. I found the token right here on this coffin—look down."
Quinn glanced down and froze.
The coffin lid was broad—four paces square. Standing here, they didn’t feel crowded. Intricate patterns were carved all across the top, and beside them, a line of tiny characters.
Beside the inscription was a recess, perfectly shaped for a Heavenly Venerable token.
Quinn read aloud, "If you meet Qin and Shepherd, it will open."
He looked up at Starr, half-smiling. "So you gave me the token not just to trade for your life, but to lure me here and open the coffin for you. Clever move, Starr—two birds with one stone. The map you drew for me was unreadable on purpose, wasn’t it? You made sure I’d need you to get here."
Starr grinned and clapped his hands. "Too late for regrets now. You’re here, so what can you do? When I first arrived, I found the token and saw your name on the coffin. Even with the ‘Qin’ token, I couldn’t open it. I realized only you could, so I hunted you down."
The two of them stood atop the coffin. Below, countless fire-dragon-crows and bird-wing demigods surged toward the Ancient Sword Well, their flesh dissolving in the mist until only bones remained.
Even so, more and more fire-dragon-crows and bird-wing demigods kept charging, bones piling higher and rolling forward. Soon, the bone mountain would reach the well’s mouth.
"Fallen-God Valley isn’t that big, ringed by mountains. It’s not hard to explore, but I realized it’s just the entrance to the real treasure."
Starr fixed his gaze on Quinn and said slowly, "If you hesitate, those other powers will pile up tens of thousands of lives and eventually trigger the sword in the well."
"Starr, if you put your brains to proper use, you’d rival the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor. Too bad you always use your smarts for twisted schemes."
"If you meet Qin and Shepherd, it will open."
Quinn shook his head, took out the Shepherd Heavenly Venerable token, and said calmly, "The Keane token you found is useless to me. The ‘Qin Shepherd’ on this coffin refers to two people: one is me, and the other is the owner of the Keane token. To open this coffin, I have to use my own token myself."
He placed his token into the recess; it fit perfectly. Right then, the bone mountain below reached the edge of the well, and several skeletons tumbled in.
Inside the well, sword-light rose again, hanging beneath the coffin.
The recess locked the Shepherd token in place. Chains rattled—one chain unfastened and dropped down, then another.
Standing atop the suspended coffin, Quinn felt it begin to shake as chain after chain unlocked. Suddenly, sword-light below erupted, flooding Fallen-God Valley.
The Heavenly Dragon King, Lila Swallowfeather, Marcus Autumnwhite, and their followers immediately dashed across the sword-light toward the coffin.
At last, every chain came loose. The coffin dropped suddenly—Quinn’s feet found only air. He, Dragon-Qilin, and Starr plummeted together into darkness.
"We’ve fallen into the suspended coffin!"
A sharp pain shot through Quinn’s shoulder—Annie, still in green sparrow form, had dug her claws in out of fright.
Quinn quickly patted Annie’s back. The sparrow came to her senses and released her grip.
They were still falling. Though the coffin looked small from outside, its interior space was astonishing. Quinn glanced up and saw a rectangle of light at the coffin’s top—then the light abruptly dimmed as several more people slipped in before the lid closed.
The moment those people entered, the coffin sealed shut.
Thud.
A splash sounded outside. Quinn’s heart stirred: "The suspended coffin has dropped into the Ancient Sword Well."
The upright coffin had fallen into the well, sinking toward the bottom. Even in the pitch-dark interior, they could feel the descent growing faster and faster.
Not only that—they kept falling within the coffin itself, its depth seemingly endless.
Finally, Quinn spotted a glow below. He quickly gathered his cultivation, steadied himself, and soon landed on solid ground. Looking up, he saw the coffin’s interior contained an octagonal pavilion, hung with eight lanterns casting a ghostly light.
Starr, on edge, eyed the pavilion warily and didn’t approach.
The suspended coffin was unnerving—no terrifying corpse, just this pavilion, but caution was still wise.
The pavilion glowed, but all around was darkness. Who knew if a green-haired corpse might leap out of the shadows?
Quinn strode forward into the pavilion. Inside was a stone table and four stone stools.
On the table sat two teacups and a teapot. One cup was empty; the other brimmed with steaming green tea.
Quinn sat on the side with the full cup, lifted it in both hands, bowed to the empty seat opposite, and saluted the air.
He raised his head, emotions swirling. "When we met, you called me junior brother. I always bullied you, and you complained I was arrogant. You never knew we were separated by over a hundred generations, but I did. Later, when you met Ben Oxley again, you should have figured it out. You left this cup of tea hoping we’d drink together, didn’t you?"
Starr walked over, coldly warning, "Cult Master Quinn, you dare drink tea here? What if it’s poisoned?"
Quinn drained the cup in one gulp, heart surging. The tea was bitter at first, then sweet, still warm—like the host had just poured it and left.
His expression complex, Quinn set down the cup, refilled the empty one opposite, then poured himself another. Softly, he said, "I wish you could sit across from me and drink together. But you’re not here."
He drained his cup again. Though it was just tea, he felt slightly intoxicated, drinking alone, murmuring, "Will you ever come back?"
Though the seat opposite was empty, Starr still didn’t dare sit, lingering outside the pavilion.
Just then, Lila Swallowfeather and Marcus Autumnwhite descended with several maids. The maids scanned the darkness warily. The Heavenly Dragon King arrived with several Earth Mother’s strongmen; each unleashed divine light from their eyes, piercing the gloom in search of danger.
Lila Swallowfeather, Marcus Autumnwhite, and the Heavenly Dragon King all fixed their gazes on Quinn, drinking alone at the stone table.
(Irrelevant system message. Skip translation.)
On Quinn’s shoulder, Annie took flight, landed on a nearby stone stool, and transformed into a gentle, lovely girl. She poured tea for Quinn and lifted the cup to his lips.
A beauty at Quinn’s side, red sleeves brushing close—he looked a little wild and carefree.
"Fallen-God Valley hides a great secret."
Marcus suddenly said, "We siblings were ordered by His Majesty the Celestial Emperor to explore this place. Dragon King, you must be here on Earth Mother’s orders, right? Earth Mother has long dwelled in Yuandu—surely she knows the valley’s secret."
The Heavenly Dragon King was silent for a moment, then said, "Earth Mother told me a Heavenly Venerable is buried here, so she sent me to find them."
Suddenly, Starr sniffed the air, puzzled. "You came here searching for the late Heavenly Venerable—did you bring someone else?"
Everyone was startled.
Starr said, "I smell another person. Did someone sneak in behind you when you entered the coffin?"
As soon as he spoke, everyone sensed another presence in the coffin and grew tense.
They were all powerful figures—who could slip in behind them without being noticed?
"No need to worry."
A laugh came from the darkness, drawing nearer to the pavilion. Gradually, a young face was illuminated by the lanterns.
It was a familiar face, beaming as he bowed to everyone. "I mean no harm—just came to visit an old friend."
Crack! The teacup in Quinn’s hand suddenly shattered, tea splashing everywhere.
Quinn’s chest heaved—the face emerging from the darkness was none other than the Celestial Venerable Yu, identical to Lan Yutian!
(Irrelevant author’s note about chapter length and voting. Skip translation.)