Cang Li then introduced Li Weiyi to everyone, recounting the fierce battle that had taken place a month ago by the Sui River. However, the focus of the crowd's discussion quickly shifted to the ultimate showdown between Cang Li and the inheritor of the Dragon Gate by the Sui River.
After listening for a while, Li Weiyi finally learned that after he had escaped that night, such events had unfolded. Completely sidelined, Li Songlin took Li Weiyi away. He smiled and said, "Don't take it to heart!
You must understand that any older brother looking at his sister's sweetheart will never be pleased. They always try to find faults in you. But the fact that he carries the insights on opening the Nine Springs with him shows that he is sincere."
"However, the scene Xue Zheng caused on the street earlier must have been twisted and exaggerated, so he has a strong opinion of you."
"Young people, especially those with talent as high as his, are very proud, and their words naturally carry a sharp edge."
"But there's one thing I agree with. You must strive. If you don't break through the ancestral fields, how can you defeat Xue Zheng?"
"Since Cang Li's sudden rise, the Nine Li Tribe has been very concerned about the victories and defeats of the younger generation. They want to rise again in this generation, surpassing the Sui Sect, the Three Chen Palaces, the Tianyi Gate, and the Coffin Sea Pavilion."
"Uncle, don't worry. I will do everything in my power to break through to the Ninth Spring," Li Weiyi said calmly, putting away the booklet Cang Li had given him.
Originally, he didn't need it, as he had three ancient masters. But refusing Cang Li in that situation would have been disrespectful to the top figure of the younger generation in Li Prefecture. Li Ling caught up with them: "I'll explain it to my brother!
It's all just rumors. It's just Xue Zheng. How could you possibly fear him?"
Li Weiyi seemed indifferent, not caring about their opinions. He only cared about the grudge against Xue Zheng and Tang Yan for their pursuit. On the stone bridge ahead, a woman in her thirties approached, wearing a cloud-patterned robe over a white silk inner garment, with wide sleeves embroidered with leaf patterns.
"Mother!"
Li Ling, who had been as lively as a deer, instantly turned into a motionless quail, lowering her head and slightly hiding behind Li Songlin.
"Sister-in-law," Li Songlin greeted with a fist salute.
Li Weiyi, knowing his place, followed suit, not daring to look directly at the young woman. But with just a quick glance, he could see that she was of pure immortal physique, with few signs of age on her face and a sharp gaze. Without any preamble or small talk, the young woman asked, "What are your plans next?"
Of the three present, it was clear that the question wasn't directed at Li Songlin or Li Ling. Li Weiyi answered truthfully, "For now, I just want to focus on cultivation and strive to break through to the Ninth Spring ancestral fields."
"Stay at the Zao Mei Manor for the time being." ...
When Li Weiyi looked up again, Li Ling's mother, Qin Dan, had already walked away, having only spoken two sentences. He said, "Uncle, I feel like you've set me up. I shouldn't have come to Zao Mei Manor."
Li Songlin laughed, "Feeling the pressure, huh? To be honest, our family's matriarch rarely shows herself. Not just you, even I feel the pressure."
The head of the Cang Li Tribe's main lineage was Cang Li and Li Ling's father—Li Songgu. Of course, the head of the family is not the same as the clan leader. The head of the family resides in the clan mansion in Nine Li City, while the clan leader resides in the ancestral mountain.
"They're opening an otherworldly coffin. The head of the family is opening an otherworldly coffin."
"I heard that they're opening an otherworldly coffin tonight, so I came specifically to see the excitement."
"Is there some celebration?"
"Never mind that. The head of the family's coffin-opening skills are among the top ten in Li Prefecture. Even among the older generation, few can match him. Today, we're bound to see something extraordinary." ...
Not only the young cultivators but also some middle-aged figures who had heard the news rushed to the backyard. Li Ling was surprised, "What's gotten into my father? He hasn't personally opened a coffin in quite some time."
Li Songlin smiled, "I guess your father probably wants to show off his skills in front of his future son-in-law, to demonstrate his strength, lest the son-in-law mistakenly believe the rumors that the Li family is really run by the matriarch." Li Weiyi didn't believe a word of it. But he was genuinely curious about the otherworldly coffin.
It was said that even the most ordinary otherworldly coffin was worth millions of copper coins, enough to buy a mansion in Nine Li City. It was a treasure only great cultivators could afford. The Nine Li Tribe had become wealthy by salvaging otherworldly coffins.
Coincidentally, he had hidden fifteen carefully selected otherworldly coffins in the Evil Camel Bell, which he had long planned to sell.
"You two go ahead and take a look. The otherworldly coffin being opened today is quite extraordinary. It might yield something incredible," Li Songlin said with a meaningful smile.
When Li Weiyi and Li Ling arrived at the backyard, it was already packed. The area in the center where the otherworldly coffin was placed was completely surrounded. The two didn't push to the center but found a higher spot to watch from a distance.
The otherworldly coffin, surrounded by the crowd, was of normal coffin size, made of black wood. As laymen, none of the cultivators present could see what made it special. But otherworldly coffins were salvaged from the Blood Sea, having been submerged for who knows how many years.
If it were made of ordinary wood, how could it be so well-preserved? Standing next to the otherworldly coffin was Li Songgu, a man who appeared to be in his forties, lean, dressed in simple green robes, with a square scarf and shoulder-length hair, exuding a scholarly and energetic aura. He calmly scanned the crowd, then formed a hand seal.
"Whoosh!"
The spiritual light eye on his forehead opened, and a misty spiritual light burst from his body, connecting to the sky. A powerful aura enveloped the area around the coffin for several zhang.
"Sprinkle the Vermilion Sand, just in case," he commanded softly.
Two elderly assistants threw a kind of reddish soil onto the coffin. The Vermilion Sand fell onto the spiritual light mist Li Songgu had summoned, then slid down, forming a circle about three zhang in diameter on the ground. Li Ling whispered, "This is to prevent any departed spirits from escaping!
If any departed spirits rush out, they'll be blocked by the Vermilion Sand within the circle."
"Bang! Bang! Bang..."
Li Songgu formed hand seals and tapped on various parts of the coffin, especially the bottom, tapping twelve times. Each tap sent ripples of spiritual light radiating out. After a moment, he frowned and said, "Based on my years of experience in opening coffins, this is an otherworldly coffin from Kunlun.
The wood might be of divine quality. Just the coffin itself has extraordinary medicinal value, comparable to a thousand-year-old spirit herb."
"Boom!"
All the cultivators in the courtyard were shocked. The coffin boards were thousand-year-old spirit herbs? Even a single liang of thousand-year-old spirit herb could fetch a sky-high price.
How many jin did this coffin weigh? How much was it worth? Li Weiyi's eyes gleamed.
If he could get a jin of the coffin boards to feed the Seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors, perhaps he could raise their combat power to the level of a Five Seas Realm martial artist. Of course, this was assuming the otherworldly coffin was truly comparable to a thousand-year-old spirit herb.
Seeing the crowd's disbelief, Li Songgu took a dagger of artifact level from an elderly assistant and made a shallow cut on the top of the coffin. The artifact could only leave a faint mark. From the cut, a faint auspicious light emanated.
Those with keen senses noticed that the surrounding plants were visibly affected, becoming more lush. Gasps of amazement filled the courtyard, and many eyes gleamed with greed. Li Songgu's expression turned serious, "As expected, this otherworldly coffin cannot be opened further!"
After all the fanfare and tapping, he wasn't going to open it! What was the meaning of this? Li Songgu politely apologized with a fist salute, "It's not that I don't want to open it, but with my current mental strength, I can't control it.
This divine wood coffin from Kunlun was once opened by a Nine Li sage..." He paused mid-sentence, then said, "Forget it. This matter is too significant.
It's better if you know less. Put it away, quickly, and transport it back to the ancestral mountain as soon as possible." Not only the cultivators present, but even Li Weiyi was almost unable to hold back his urge to curse.
He was very interested in this otherworldly coffin, comparable to a thousand-year-old spirit herb, but he was even more interested in "Kunlun." After all, it was the most mysterious place in Earth's mythology, the mountain of the gods. Why was the name such a coincidence?
After everyone had dispersed, Li Weiyi stepped forward to pay his respects, performing the junior's salute. Li Songgu had a good-natured and amiable personality, "You must be Li Weiyi, right? I've heard about you from Old Fourth.
Not bad, really not bad." Li Weiyi was somewhat overwhelmed by the scrutinizing gazes tonight and couldn't wait to ask, "May I ask, how do you determine where an otherworldly coffin comes from?"
Li Songgu was quite talkative and explained in detail, "Most people think that the most valuable things in otherworldly coffins are the secret treasures and the remains of the deceased. But I believe that the most valuable things in the coffins are the books and records.
You must understand that although the writing in these records is different, it can be deciphered using mental power."
"The books and records in the coffins describe and depict real worlds. It's just that no one knows where these worlds are."
"I truly wish to go out and find the worlds recorded in the otherworldly coffins in my lifetime. Unfortunately, the Ghost Realm is vast, and the Blood Sea is boundless... Well, I'm getting off track. The point is, with enough experience and enough reference material, determining the origin of an otherworldly coffin isn't difficult."
Li Weiyi asked, "Has the term 'Kunlun' appeared in the records of some otherworldly coffins?"
"Kunlun is likely a major realm, and there are quite a few otherworldly coffins from there. However, this one is too special, with extraordinary wood, so we must not act rashly," Li Songgu said.
Li Weiyi pressed further, "In the otherworldly coffins from Kunlun, have there been any records mentioning the Queen Mother of the West?" Li Songgu frowned, thought carefully, and then shook his head. Li Weiyi pondered the myths related to Kunlun and asked again, "What about Tianyong City?
Xuanyuan Palace?"
Li Songgu shook his head again. Li Weiyi gave up. It seemed that although this world overlapped with Earth's mythology in some aspects, they didn't align at all.
Li Ling rushed over, anxious, "Father, Uncle and Aunt are here. They're demanding the immortal-tinged herb that Uncle Fourth picked. They're already arguing.
You should go and see."
"What a headache! What does Old Fourth's herb have to do with them? Family shame! Weiyi, you stay here for now. We'll talk more about the otherworldly coffin tonight."
Li Songgu sighed and quickly walked towards the corridor. Li Weiyi glanced at the coffin being carried away, then at Li Songgu's retreating figure. Gradually, he began to understand, recalling the earlier events, and thought to himself, "Could it be that this family head was deliberately fishing?
This otherworldly coffin is no ordinary bait." Of course, Li Weiyi didn't think he was the one being fished for or tested. A small fry like him wasn't worthy of such careful scheming by a family head.
(End of Chapter)