The three soared upward to the great crack in the dragon mountain cliff face. Thousands of hanging coffins, all of them ancient — not a single one less than a thousand years old.

They attempted to open a number of them. Inside were bone implements, jade implements, and wooden implements — but no metal ritual weapons, without exception.

“As expected — consistent with the records. Earth Immortals abhor metal. If gold is kept in the coffin, the corpse cannot undergo transformation and achieve immortality.”

They examined carefully. These were evidently disciples and followers who had been buried here alongside him. The three dared not immediately approach the jade coffin. After all, it was the burial site of the legendary Earth Immortal, and they feared it might contain world-ending killing traps.

That faint, delicate fragrance came in unbroken threads, penetrating to the very marrow of one’s bones without ever ceasing. It made one feel as if drifting toward becoming immortal. They forcibly restrained themselves and did not draw it toward them.

The old crane and the Third Valley Master carefully examined the many coffins. Ye Fan used the Source Art to observe the terrain, and they were exceptionally careful — extraordinarily cautious.

“These must be from a single lineage — look at how orderly the arrangement of these coffins is. They all face the deepest point within the dragon mountain’s opening, where the ancient jade coffin rests.”

The great crack in the cliff face of the dragon mountain was very wide. The hanging coffins were dense and numerous — well over two thousand in total, all carefully arranged, every person buried being a cultivator.

Each coffin had been hewn from enormous trees, carved and hollowed out. Most were boat-shaped — also consistent with the records: one crosses the bitter sea of mortal existence, and through this, escapes to achieve immortality.

“There are kings who have severed the Dao in here!” The old crane was deeply alarmed.

Some of the ancient coffins held remains that had not decayed. Their physical shells were mighty and imperishable even in death — just as they had appeared in life. Every single one of them had been someone who severed the Dao.

“Whatever else may be said, this sect was absolutely immensely powerful in its time. Even during the ancient era when energy was abundant, having even a few kings who had severed the Dao as disciples was remarkable in itself.”

Finally, they made their way deep into the crack and arrived at the throat of the dragon mountain. From a close vantage point they observed the ancient jade coffin — dimly dusted, lacking luster, and yet all the more mysterious for it.

A crystalline branch, tender green and glistening, as thick as a small child’s arm and over a meter in length, like green agate carved smooth, translucent and radiant with light.

It lay just like that upon the ancient jade coffin, releasing an irresistible fragrance. At the severed end, a white liquid had gathered, appearing utterly mysterious.

An immortality divine tree!

At this close distance, Ye Fan could confirm with absolute certainty — this had to be an immortality tree, with its power to reverse death and restore life, a treasure beyond compare in the world.

An Earth Immortal! Is this truly an Earth Immortal? Even something like this is present, buried here as an accompaniment — truly extraordinary.

Throughout history, immortality divine medicines have been nearly impossible for ordinary people to find. At minimum they were in the hands of sages, and every one of the great emperors of the ancient world possessed a tree.

Each immortality medicine tree was unique. From ancient times to the present there were only ever so many — they could be counted. From what Ye Fan knew, if even a single living ancient star could have one, that was considered fortunate.

The reason the Big Dipper Star Region had several was that they had been brought there by the great emperors of the ancient world. Beginning from the primordial era, successive ancient emperors and human sovereigns had made their way there over time.

It was precisely because of this that other ancient stars had gradually lost their immortality divine medicines. And yet here, there was an immortality tree. This alone spoke to the status of the Earth Immortal — absolutely extraordinary.

The three dared not act rashly. They walked around the ancient coffin. The legendary Earth Immortal rested here — what if opening it triggered some unforeseen change?

“I once heard that ancient sages, even after death, are difficult to approach. The aura they radiate is sufficient to shock great practitioners to death.” The old crane said with furrowed brows, his heart uneasy.

Ye Fan nodded. Back when they had found the coffin of the Undying Celestial Emperor, it had shaken heaven and earth — atop a jade terrace ten thousand feet high amid churning chaos, and it had been nothing more than a single human skin. Even then, a forbidden weapon and an extreme Dao weapon were needed to protect the body.

“This Earth Immortal’s coffin seems very tranquil — not a trace of aura pressing down. I don’t know what will happen once it’s opened.”

In this place, even the Source Heaven Eyes could not see through it. The ancient coffin was mysterious and beyond reckoning, hewn by an ancient great practitioner of immense power — insects and ants could not come near it, spirits and gods could not disturb it.

“Come stand beside me.” Ye Fan spoke. He was prepared to act.

He shielded himself with the Mother Qi of All Things Cauldron, threw the nosy Little Pine directly into the cauldron, and at the same time took hold of a piece of ancient copper he had painstakingly retrieved from the Bitter Sea several days prior.

“Boom!”

The moment Ye Fan touched the coffin, from deep within the crack a red bolt of lightning struck out — cold light illuminating the nine provinces. Blazingly dazzling!

“Whoosh!”

Ye Fan gathered the two into the cauldron and executed the Movement Word Secret at extreme speed to retreat — yet still did not avoid it. The cauldron above his head rang out with a tremendous shock, and he was instantly sent flying sideways.

He was sent flying more than eighty zhang out from the dragon mountain’s mouth. The golden blood within his body boiled like thunder, and only after a long time did it calm. He let the two back out.

“What was that? It didn’t seem like an attack that came from within the coffin.” The old crane had caught a brief glimpse of that dazzling light just now.

“This cluster of dragons has been nurtured to full awakening. The ancient jade coffin is placed deep within the dragon’s mouth at the throat — that is where the dragon’s reverse scale grows. This was the divine killing light arising naturally from the mountain terrain itself.” Ye Fan said.

The Earth Immortal’s methods were truly extraordinary. The mountain terrain laid out here moved heaven and wept the spirits. Was this truly an attempt to reproduce the true essence of the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains?

“There is no way to approach the coffin…” The Third Valley Master said. Having come all this way, if they could not gain anything from it, that would be truly regrettable.

“The tomb’s occupant had no killing intent. No vicious traps were laid. It should be possible to approach and take a look — one only needs to avoid the reverse scale killing light of the dragon mountains.” Ye Fan said.

He carefully observed from all angles, then entered the crack once more and reached out, using the Source Art to guide the dragon energy so as to temporarily redirect it away from the reverse scale, and once again drew close to the jade coffin.

He first took hold of the immortality tree branch and held it in his hand — but in that instant his entire body turned ice-cold, and he nearly froze in place. It was unbearably frigid.

This branch, which appeared so lush and green with the translucent heart of emerald jade, was bitingly cold to the marrow. An ordinary person could not withstand it at all. Ye Fan quickly activated the Grand Yin Sacred Power, dissolving and absorbing the cold energy, then set it aside, his expression filled with disbelief.

“What is going on?” The old crane asked.

“Did the Earth Immortal transmute himself on his own, or did someone else come to help him? Someone left behind a divine immortality tree branch.” Ye Fan murmured.

In that moment he finally understood. The reason why this section of the immortality divine tree branch had been left here was to transmute the death energy from these corpses, absorbing it all clean and helping them achieve the state of spectral immortals.

The death energy from thousands of hanging coffins had been absorbed clean by the divine tree branch — including the mysterious corpse within the jade coffin, which was its primary absorption target.

“Is the divine tree branch no longer usable as medicine?” The Third Valley Master was filled with regret.

“It is the equivalent of ghost grass — it has life-prolonging efficacy, but also carries corrosive medicinal potency, having absorbed far too much death energy.” Ye Fan said.

Now they finally understood why the people of the Daoist ancestral court at Dragon-Tiger Mountain had not taken away this section of divine tree branch — ordinary people simply could not receive such a thing. They would not dare refine it into medicine.

Ye Fan moved again. Using the Source Art, he severed the dragon energy, carefully shifted the jade coffin aside, took the green copper in hand, and with a certain measure of tension in his heart, looked inside.

Empty!

What was this — there was absolutely nothing inside. This left the three dumbfounded and utterly bewildered. Had the things inside the coffin been taken by the Daoist masters of Dragon-Tiger Mountain?

On closer inspection, their expressions changed. There were traces of Dao dissolution, and it was extraordinarily thorough. Nothing remained at all — only a faint human-shaped impression left on the floor of the coffin.

The Earth Immortal had dissolved into the Dao!

Though they had already known that the so-called Earth Immortal had likely been elevated beyond what was accurate, and was in fact not truly immortal, the three still could not help but feel disappointed — not a single trace of anything remained.

“How can this be?” The Third Valley Master was deeply disappointed, murmuring to himself, unable to accept this reality.

Ye Fan said nothing. He quietly replaced the lid of the coffin, set the immortality divine tree branch back on top of it, and restored everything to its original appearance.

“There are ninety-nine dragon mountains in total. This is only the first — isn’t it a bit strange? Would the Earth Immortal have buried his grave directly within the very first dragon mountain?” The old crane raised the question.

“Let’s go on and look.”

Ye Fan had already been puzzled by this, and took the lead striding forward. They made their way deep into the second coiling and intersecting dragon mountain, and their expressions went blank at once.

Another great crack — with dozens of ancient hanging coffins within, far fewer than the first, but still astonishing enough. And most importantly, they shared one feature in common: deep within the dragon cave, there was also a jade coffin.

“Another jade coffin, also covered in dust, also devoid of luster — how many Earth Immortals are there?”

And upon the ancient jade coffin, a section of crystalline, lush immortality tree branch lay across the lid, flowing with clear fragrance that carried over even from a great distance.

Ye Fan and his companions were uncertain and suspicious. They cautiously entered the dragon’s mouth, avoided the killing light of the reverse scale, carefully opened the ancient jade coffin — and found the same result. The occupant had also already dissolved into the Dao.

What the person had been in life was difficult to fathom. One could only tell that it must have been absolutely and supremely terrifying. The Dao markings were extraordinary — immeasurably deep and profound.

And this immortality divine tree branch had also absorbed a great deal of death energy. No one dared take it to refine into medicine. All of this mirrored everything in the first jade coffin.

Ye Fan and his companions looked at one another without a word. Then they continued deeper into the dragon cluster and entered the third dragon mountain. As expected, they found the third mysterious ancient jade coffin — also accompanied by an immortality tree branch.

Afterward they passed through five more mountains, all the same. The powerful occupants had all dissolved into the Dao. Nothing remained except for a section of immortality tree branch.

“Truly strange. How many Earth Immortals are there, exactly?” Even the old crane was uncertain and suspicious.

They rose into the air and came to the clouds, gazing out over the towering dragon mountains extending one after another. Their expressions went blank at once.

The first nine dragon mountains presented a boundless and magnificent panorama. The ninth in particular stood obviously taller than all the rest — auspicious energy erupting from it, and upon its mountainside the characters “Earth Immortal” had been carved.

Beginning from the tenth dragon mountain onward, all the mountain ranges had collapsed and broken off. They were no longer intact. Ninety mountains had crumbled — a sight that left one unable to understand why.

“What has happened?”

“I understand now.” Ye Fan nodded, speaking softly. The ninety-nine dragon mountains represented an extreme. No one in the world could truly bear such a thing — no one could be buried in a place like this. Even if it were an imitation of the ninety-nine dragon veins, this place had still arranged the great momentum of the dragon!

Even the Earth Immortal could only endure the might of nine ancient dragon mountains. And he himself had clearly recognized this profoundly — and so was buried on the ninth, and tallest, mountain.

Heaven and earth would not permit it — ninety mountains had collapsed on their own, leaving only nine for the Earth Immortal. He could only receive this much fortune and blessing.

This was truly unsettling, beyond all comprehension. Was this a manifestation of heavenly power destroying the ninety dragon mountains — or was it simply a matter of this terrain configuration being inherently unable to persist long in the world?

After descending, Ye Fan and his companions did not rush forward. They carefully and earnestly examined each dragon mountain and jade coffin, and finally arrived at the eighth dragon mountain. Only at that point did they form a general understanding.

On the eighth dragon mountain, in addition to the jade coffin and the divine tree branch, there was also a white jade tablet on which some characters had been carved. The general meaning: burying his disciples here to accompany himself.

“Truly worthy of being an Earth Immortal! His disciples had all died, and yet he was still alive. Those eight jade coffins almost certainly contain several individuals of the sage level.” The Third Valley Master exclaimed.

Ye Fan and his companions were deeply moved. All the sage-level disciples had died, and yet this person lived on, moving their coffins here to be with him. How long had this person lived?!

Finally, they arrived before the last undamaged dragon mountain. Violet energy steamed from it so thickly it nearly submerged the entire mountain. Before the mountain stood an ancient stele, inscribed with characters.

The three studied it carefully and made out the general meaning. This person had once entered the Sichuan-Shu region and was revered as the foremost among the immortals. That he had such a great background was no wonder Chi Songzi had pursued him into the Sichuan-Shu region.

“Could this be the legendary ancient immortal?” Ye Fan had a vague guess as to who it might be. But when he looked at the last line of text on the ancient stele, he was instantly turned to stone.

“Buried here together with the human-ginseng fruit and immortality divine tree!”

“This… how can this be possible — is there truly an Earth Immortal by the name of Zhen Yuanzi? Impossible!” Ye Fan was overwhelmed, his expression filled with utter disbelief.