Several of them fumbled with it for a while, but still couldn’t get it open.

“This is bizarre!” Duan De kept pressing on those carved marks — there absolutely should be some pattern that would trigger it open, but no matter how hard he tried, it was useless. It was perfectly seamless, without a single gap.

This little stone coffin was too airtight — however you looked at it, it seemed to be solid stone all the way through, a single whole. The group exchanged glances — besides its antiquity, it didn’t carry the slightest trace of divine aura.

“Let this king handle it!” The big black dog suddenly rushed over, finally seizing the opportunity, pulling a sneaky move on Fatty Duan and snatching it away. It lay on the ground, biting down hard, pressing down with both large paws, trying to pry it open. As a result, it nearly chipped its own fangs, and couldn’t do the slightest damage to the coffin, holding its cheek and howling in pain.

Everyone burst out laughing — this greedy big dog had clearly wanted to snatch the treasure, and ended up tormenting itself for nothing.

The stone coffin passed successively through the hands of Qi Luo, Ye Fan, the Monkey and the others. They circulated their divine power, channeling it in, trying to trigger something, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea — no effect whatsoever.

“This is definitely a divine spirit ancient coffin, frighteningly ancient. And it should have been buried above the Nine Heavens, never sinking into the yellow earth below — no telling why it descended into the ancestral temple.” Duan De’s expression was grave, re-examining it, repeatedly turning the stone box over, pondering.

The coffin was only four fingers wide, not even a full palm’s length. The carved marks on it were very faint, but upon careful examination, one could make out sun, moon, stars, flowers, birds, fish, insects, and so on — all things ancient and eternally enduring.

Most mysterious of all, within the carvings of sun, moon, and stars, there were some extremely intricate tiny symbols, almost worn smooth by the years — this was something Duan De could only see with his heavenly eye, otherwise completely invisible, and this was also the basis for his judgment.

Too much time had passed; these strange symbols were far too esoteric. The group tried hard to deduce their meaning, but remained thoroughly puzzled — utterly obscure and beyond comprehension, no one able to understand them.

Duan De judged that this palm-length mysterious stone coffin’s origins were most likely astonishing. Based on what he knew of burial lore, this was an extremely ancient divine spirit coffin, holding many incomprehensible mysteries.

The so-called “not entering the yellow earth, not entering the mortal world, buried above the Nine Heavens” referred to being placed beyond the heavenly dome — that is, buried in the desolate universe, traveling alone in eternal darkness.

Because the mortal world wasn’t worthy of burying it — deities were flawless, and even in death remained untainted, only above the Nine Heavens being their proper resting place, ultimately at peace in the uninhabited universe.

“This kind of divine spirit coffin buried above the Nine Heavens has always been the stuff of legend, never actually seen before. Back then the Feathering Divine Dynasty really was resourceful beyond measure — they even got their hands on something like this. Just how many star regions did they explore?” Duan De’s face was full of astonishment.

Everyone else clicked their tongues too — such an unassuming small coffin carrying such enormous significance was truly shocking; there must be something extraordinary inside!

Back then, the Feathering Divine Dynasty had been supremely prosperous, possessing the Five-Colored Sacrificial Altar, which could lead beyond the mortal realm, but no one knew which places they had visited. Through what they’d seen today, it was enough to confirm their unprecedented power!

“Such a powerful Feathering Divine Dynasty was still destroyed by someone……”

“Not necessarily — as already said, they might have abandoned their own rule voluntarily.”

Whichever the case, it was a terrifying matter, full of mystery and the unknown, offering a glimpse of a corner of past glory, the peerless heroes’ magnificent years, possessing supreme authority and combat power.

“Is this also a deity’s coffin?” Ye Fan naturally thought of the bronze ancient coffin pulled by nine dragons, which was comparatively even grander and more magnificent, shocking to the heart.

“Never mind the rest — let’s hurry and get this coffin open.” The big black dog was anxious as if its backside were on fire, more impatient than anyone.

Finally, the Monkey grew fierce, his golden fur standing on end all over his body. Born with divine strength, he grabbed the small coffin with both hands, pressing it against his legs, trying to crush it apart, but he ended up baring his teeth in frustration — it wouldn’t budge an inch.

Ye Fan was astonished. Taking it in his own hands, he also exerted his full strength, wanting to twist the small coffin apart, his whole body’s golden blood-energy blanketing the sky and covering the earth — still to no avail.

“Try dripping blood on it — maybe that’s how to open it.” Ji Ziyue said, having thought of that blood sacrificial altar. Everyone startled, then nodded upon hearing this.

Pang Bo and Dongfang Ye tried one after another, dripping a few drops of blood, but it was useless — still no change whatsoever.

“Maybe it needs a saint’s blood.” Ji Ziyue blinked her large eyes, because there was dried saint’s blood on the stone box — perhaps the living sacrifice back then had been precisely to open it.

Finally, everyone looked toward Qi Luo — he was only half a step away from becoming a saint, and the blood in his body should be quite formidable, perhaps useful for opening this mysterious stone box.

“You’d better think this through carefully — who knows what might emerge if this palm-sized stone coffin gets opened.” Qi Luo said.

“It’s fine — I’d guess Yao Guang’s Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Cauldron and the others were all brought along too. If real trouble breaks out, just throw it at them, guaranteed to suppress it.” The Black Emperor’s cheek was still aching, and if it didn’t get opened, it wouldn’t be satisfied.

Drops of blood fell from Qi Luo’s finger, each one brilliantly radiant, emitting a terrifying pattern of light, awe-inspiring. Usually he wore a smiling face, but it turned out such terrifying power was hidden within his body.

However, it still had no effect — the blood fell onto the little stone coffin without any reaction whatsoever. This left everyone stumped — even a half-saint like Qi Luo couldn’t do it; did it really require a true saint?

“Maybe Ye Fan or Brother Monkey’s blood would work.” Ji Ziyue blinked her eyes, because these two had special constitutions, possessing world-defying bloodline power.

“Let me try.” Ye Fan took it in his hands, and a golden drop of blood rolled from his fingertip, dripping onto the stone coffin. In that instant, the stone coffin trembled slightly.

“It really works, a few more drops!” The big black dog shouted, and by the looks of it, it wished it could bleed on Ye Fan’s behalf, eager for a flood of blood across the coffin.

After six drops of golden blood fell, the palm-length small stone coffin let out a soft “click” sound, and a crack appeared on its surface — what had originally been a solid whole now showed a seam.

“This is truly bizarre — just now it looked completely solid, now the coffin lid has appeared, actually able to separate.” Everyone marveled.

Ye Fan dripped three more drops of blood, and with a series of clicking sounds, the coffin lid became visible, automatically parting to reveal a black seam, flowing out a mysterious ripple of energy.

“Everyone step back!” Ye Fan gestured.

On the ground lay only the small stone coffin, the others having already retreated to a distance. Ye Fan used the Word-of-Soldiers Secret Technique to lift the coffin lid, protecting himself with the Goddess Furnace and other treasures — this concerned a deity, and heaven only knew what might happen, so he couldn’t afford to be careless.

“Clack!”

The coffin lid fell to the ground. Besides a wisp of mysterious ripple, nothing unusual emerged — everything there was silent, only the wind stirring.

“This is only the outer casket — there’s still an inner coffin inside.” Duan De said, and the others gathered closer.

Sure enough, inside was a slightly smaller coffin, nested within. After taking it out, it was still perfectly seamless, unable to find any gap, clearly requiring another drip of blood.

Ye Fan didn’t hesitate, this time dripping a full eighteen drops of golden blood. The small coffin absorbed them, and only then did it click open. Everyone lifted the lid and were stunned to find yet another small coffin inside, one size smaller still.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Duan De’s expression changed.

“It’s fine, again!” Ye Fan began dripping blood once more — this time twenty-seven drops of golden blood fell before the coffin lid opened.

“Damn it, there’s yet another small coffin!” The big black dog was nearly going mad, holding its cheek and making strange noises, though this time not daring to bite it.

“Damn it all, how many layers are there exactly?” Pang Bo was puzzled too.

Ye Fan, not believing in fate, kept dripping blood, opening six layers in one go, still coffin within coffin, and this last time cost Ye Fan fifty-four drops of golden saint-blood.

Everyone’s hair stood on end. They very much wanted to smash it open, but didn’t dare — this small coffin definitely had a serious problem, coffin nested within coffin, seemingly without end.

“Could it be nine layers? Nine returning to one.” The Monkey showed an astonished expression, looking dazed, as if remembering something.

“Stop opening it. This little stone coffin mustn’t be touched right now — if it’s really opened, an earth-shattering, world-defying change might occur. I’m now seriously suspecting……” Duan De’s face turned very unsightly, quite pale, swallowing a mouthful of saliva, and said: “Nine nines converging to truth, witnessing the return of the One.”

Dongfang Ye scratched his head, asking: “What are you trying to say?”

Duan De said: “I think this stone coffin really was retrieved from beyond the heavens, and truly does have nine layers, but it most likely doesn’t hold a deity — rather, the legendary founding ancestor of the Feathering Divine Dynasty.”

“I call bullshit, is the Feathering Divine Dynasty’s founding ancestor a rat? Stuffed into a little coffin like this, that would be way too cramped for himself.” The Black Emperor didn’t believe it.

“It looks small, but I think this thing could fit even Mount Sumeru inside.” Duan De said.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m saying a Grand Emperor wouldn’t make his own coffin look so petty and small-minded.” The Black Emperor said — having followed Wushi, he felt that Grand Emperors were all magnificent and grand, sweeping away everything before them.

“Brother Monkey, your expression doesn’t look good — what’s wrong?” At this point, Ye Fan noticed the Monkey’s dazed expression, and couldn’t help but ask him.

“During the primordial era, I was still too young, and my memories have grown somewhat blurry now.” The Monkey rubbed his temples, seemingly trying hard to recall something, and said: “I seem to have heard my uncle mention a legend of a nine-layer stone coffin — that it mustn’t be disturbed, and upon seeing it, one should show reverence, and it should be buried beyond the heavens, released back into the depths of the universe.”

Hearing this, everyone’s faces turned pale, realizing this was serious trouble. After careful consideration, they discovered that the Feathering Divine Dynasty had enshrined this coffin as an offering, and that offering was a piece of immortal material — the Immortal Tears Green Gold.

The more they thought about it, the more unsettled they grew.

The Monkey said: “I’m remembering more now. My uncle told it to me as a story back then — it seems to have happened during the Age of Myth. There was a First Royal Clan, second only to the imperial lineage, that obtained a nine-layer stone coffin, and as a result, the entire clan was annihilated. According to legend, someone later sent it into the depths of the universe, which was the only way to stop the terrifying calamity.”

“Could it be that the Feathering Divine Dynasty’s destruction is related to this little stone coffin?” Everyone shuddered with a chill, thinking of the devastation here, and then thinking of that enormous handprint on the ancestral vein — a single strike that had shattered a million miles! It was hard to connect such a vast, world-shaking blow with this small stone coffin.

“The location of the little stone coffin’s altar was very deliberate — everyone should have noticed. Among all the temple small-worlds we’ve passed through, only that one level had a stone tablet erected, bearing the inscription ‘Thirty-Third Heaven’!” The old blind man said.

Everyone froze.

Buried above the Nine Heavens, placed at the thirty-third heaven — did this mean the Feathering Divine Dynasty had discovered something?