The group tumbled onto the five-colored altar, colliding with a pile of ancient books carved from jade blocks and stone slabs, sending them crashing down with a loud clatter, leaving the sacrificial platform in complete disarray.

The ancient bronze outer coffin lay sprawled just to one side, its surface covered in patches of green oxidation and rust — yet still unable to conceal the faint bronze engravings across its surface, each depicting what appeared to be deities from the distant past, all of them bearing tear marks.

They were now so close that reaching out one’s hand would almost touch it, and this sent a chill down every spine, each person’s back prickling with cold.

This five-colored altar, built by the ancient forebears of high antiquity for the purpose of offering sacrifices to heaven — could it truly have summoned something in those days?

At that very moment, everyone suddenly sensed a vast and ancient aura flowing through the air around them, stirring their hearts with deep emotion.

Here and now, the nine Dragon Corpses and the bronze coffin lay right before them — could they truly have been drawn here by the five-colored altar?

According to legend, even before the reign of the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, the Three Sovereigns, the Five Emperors, and the seventy-two kings of high antiquity had all held grand Feng Shan ceremonies here. What had each of them summoned in turn?

Five-colored radiance blazed and shimmered. The jade blocks and stone slabs arrayed upon the five-colored altar suddenly became crystalline and translucent, and the ancient characters carved upon them all began to glow with a flickering light, as the entire massive altar emanated a soft and flowing luminescence.

“Crack crack crack!”

The sound of fracturing rang out. The piles of jade blocks and stone slabs suddenly split open with cracks, and streams of light burst forth from within. The ancient characters carved upon them seemed to take on a life of their own, all of them surging free, floating and materializing in the empty air.

“Hiss hiss hiss!”

Even more ancient characters blazed with light, manifesting in midair — and then, in a gentle breeze, those jade blocks and stone slabs were reduced to ash and scattered away, as every character carved upon them broke free of its confinement.

Above the Ancient Bronze Coffin, around the great crater, thousands of ancient characters glimmered and blazed, as though cast entirely from molten iron, bearing the luster and texture of metal.

“Crack crack crack!”

The sound of shattering came again. The small five-colored earthen altars nearby also sent forth one ancient character after another, blazing with light as they manifested in midair.

Around the Ancient Bronze Coffin, it was as though countless stars were swaying and radiating their brilliance — rendered all the more mysterious against the blood-red light of the setting sun.

There were other people still atop the Jade Emperor Summit, those who had not fled down the mountain in the earlier chaos. But now, seeing Ye Fan and the others tumble into the great crater, and then witnessing this extraordinary spectacle before them, they were overtaken with terror and rushed headlong down the mountain, each one scrambling to be first.

In the panic, some people fell, and cries of pain and calls for help rose without ceasing.

Meanwhile, above in the air, those blazing ancient characters converged together, gradually forming an enormous Eight Trigrams diagram, from which a mysterious force pulsed outward.

It was a scene of breathtaking power. Those ancient characters and symbols possessed an incredible force — fused together, they had manifested as a colossal Eight Trigrams diagram, hovering above the Ancient Bronze Coffin and the nine Dragon Corpses. It had the weight and solidity of metal, as though forged from the finest hundred-refined gold essence.

“I want to leave this place!” someone inside the crater cried out in a voice close to weeping.

“My body won’t move…” — no one could move at all. Gripped by terror, they could do nothing to change their situation.

“That is…”

At that very moment, at the center of the Eight Trigrams diagram hovering in midair, a Taichi diagram materialized, with two Yin-Yang fish holding each other in an embrace.

Even in this age of science and technology, the profound and vast meanings embedded in the ancient Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram had yet to be fully unlocked. Some had once used the positional correspondences between celestial bodies and the eight trigrams, combined with astronomical parameters, to calculate the orbital velocities of those celestial bodies. And the founder of the modern binary system, the basis of all computers, had achieved his breakthrough after being deeply inspired by studying the Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram.

To people of the present age, the ancient Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram remained a deeply captivating mystery: how had it been created? What were its functions? What purpose had driven its creation? To this day, only legends and unverified speculation existed — no concrete proof had ever been found.

At this very moment, Ye Fan and his companions bore witness to one great, previously unknown function of the Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram — and it had to do with space and time.

Around the great Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram, space warped and light grew hazy. The eight trigram symbols corresponding to Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, and Kan each in turn blazed forth with light, like a set of mysterious and ancient codes flashing their sequence.

The two Yin-Yang fish within the Taichi diagram were like two extraordinary doors, trembling ceaselessly, slowly opening a seam — as though connecting toward a distant and unknown starry sky.

Radiance blazed without ceasing. The eight symbols of the Eight Trigrams flickered and dimmed in alternation. At last, after cycling through a complex sequence of transformations many times over, they all lit up simultaneously, unleashing a blinding brilliance.

“BOOM!”

A deep, muffled tremor rang out. The two Yin-Yang fish at the center of the Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram slowly opened apart, and throughout this process, starlight flickered within — and at one moment, an ancient road stretching across the starry sky came into view.

At last, the Yin-Yang fish truly opened like doors and parted completely, revealing a mysterious and vast passageway leading no one knew where, its interior a sheet of pitch-black darkness.

At the same time, atop Mount Tai, the nine enormous Dragon Corpses shuddered — and at that very moment, the bronze outer coffin let out a resounding crash, and then shook violently.

Ye Fan and his companions were right beside it, in close proximity to the bronze coffin, and many of them cried out in alarm. Many of the female students burst into screams and wailing.

“What do we do?”

“Help us…”

In such a situation, everyone felt helpless. Many of the female students wept and cried out.

At the same moment, those with stronger wills, uncertain and alarmed, fixed their gaze upon the great Ancient Bronze Coffin. The lid of the coffin had shifted out of position from the shaking, and a wide gap had opened in the ancient coffin, from which a strange, unsettling aura seeped outward.

“CRASH!”

The bronze coffin shook again. The lid nearly fell free. An inexplicable, invisible force reached out and pulled at everyone present. In the next instant, everyone felt the world spinning — and then darkness fell before their eyes, and the entire group was drawn inside the bronze outer coffin.

“Ahhh…!”

“Help!”

Some people were nearly driven to breaking point, crying out in terror.

“BANG!”

The nine enormous Dragon Corpses suspended from the cliffs shuddered. At the same moment, the lid of the Ancient Bronze Coffin let out a thunderous crash — and then sealed itself completely shut, returning to its original position.

Immediately after, the nine Dragon Corpses, each as massive as a mountain ridge, rose into the air. Though they still showed not the slightest trace of life, they drew the great Ancient Bronze Coffin with them and slowly disappeared into the dark and mysterious passageway formed by the Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram.

“BOOM!”

The entirety of Mount Tai shook violently, as though the vault of heaven were about to collapse. Five-colored divine radiance shot upward from the Jade Emperor Summit, piercing through the heavens and earth.

Then, in the very instant the blood-red setting sun vanished, the summit of Mount Tai dimmed in the same moment. The colossal Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram in the sky fully closed and slowly faded from existence.

The Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin had vanished without a trace!

Every jade block and stone slab upon the five-colored altar was reduced to ash and dust. A gust of wind swept through, and the ashes scattered with the breeze.

Everything that had transpired in this blood-red sunset was destined to set off a great wave of upheaval, spreading to every corner of the world. Mount Tai would inevitably become the focal point of global attention. But all of this no longer had anything to do with Ye Fan and his companions.

Inside the Ancient Bronze Coffin, all was pitch-black darkness, permeated by a bone-chilling cold. Some of the female students were nearly at their breaking point, their hearts filled with helplessness and terror — yet they did not dare cry out loudly, suppressing their emotions, their voices reduced to quiet, stifled sobs.

“What do we do? Who can save us?”

“Are we really inside the bronze coffin now?”

“Why has this happened — is there any way out?”

People kept trying to dial numbers on their phones, but none of the calls could connect at all. There was no way to reach the outside world, which made the fear all the greater.

“Everyone, there is no need to panic. Although we are temporarily unable to make contact with the outside world, an event this extraordinary has occurred on Mount Tai — it will inevitably reach the outside world at the very first moment. I believe rescue personnel will arrive very soon.” Zhou Yi appeared very composed, and his words allowed the terror in everyone’s hearts to relax somewhat.

“Zhou Yi is right — everyone, do not fall into a panic. We must stay calm, and I believe we will come through this safely.” Wang Ziwen’s voice was also steady, as he spoke to settle the emotions of those present.

“Exactly — everyone, do not be afraid. What has happened has happened, and our fear does nothing to help. The important thing is to find a way out of this danger.” Although Lin Jia was a woman, her composure at this moment was admirable — not the slightest trace of frantic distress.

Ye Fan said nothing. He sat quietly in place. The dark and mysterious passageway formed by the Taichi Eight Trigrams diagram kept floating before his mind’s eye. Were they still on the Jade Emperor Summit at this very moment? A grim association stirred in his heart.

By the faint light of their phones, one could make out faces etched with terror. Many people had gone pale, and some were trembling uncontrollably.

Li Xiaoman sat not far away, hugging her knees to her chest. Though her face had gone slightly pale, she appeared composed and steady. Beside her was the young American named Kai De; the two of them conversed in low voices in English.

Liu Yinzhi’s hands were clenched tightly, the knuckles visibly whitening — he was clearly very tense inside, though he showed no outward expression of panic.

In truth, all those present were deeply unsettled. After all, they were confined inside a sealed Ancient Bronze Coffin.

“Is everyone who fell into the coffin accounted for? Let us confirm the number of people here.”

“One, two, three… twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!” When the count reached the thirtieth person, the student responsible for counting felt his voice begin to tremble: “How could there be… a thirtieth person?!”

Their class had thirty-three students in total. When the reunion gathering was first organized, three students were studying abroad and could not attend. Another five had been unable to come for various special reasons.

By the time of the Mount Tai trip, the three overseas students had returned, yet the other five students were still unable to make it — so twenty-eight people had arrived at Mount Tai. Adding Li Xiaoman’s American companion Kai De, the number should have been twenty-nine.

And yet — how could there be thirty people here? Inside this cold and dark ancient coffin, in that single instant, everyone felt their blood run cold, gooseflesh rising all over their bodies.