cover the sky

Chapter 8: The Ancient Path of the Starry Sky

The group fell onto the five-color altar, knocking down a pile of ancient books made of jade and stone, causing a loud crash and creating a mess on the altar.

The ancient bronze coffin lay horizontally nearby, covered in green rust, but the blurry bronze carvings of ancient gods and deities on it were still visible, with tears in their eyes.

Being so close, one could reach out and touch it, making everyone feel fearful and shiver down their spine.

This five-color altar, built by the ancient ancestors, was used for worshipping the heavens. Could it be that the ancient emperors of the past really summoned something here?

At this moment, the group suddenly felt a sense of desolation and ancientness circulating, stirring up their emotions.

Nine dragon corpses and the bronze coffin lay in front of them. Were they really attracted here by the five-color altar?

Legend has it that even before Emperor Qin Shihuang and Emperor Hanwu, the three ancient emperors, five emperors, and seventy-two kings all held the sealing ceremony here. What did they summon?

The five-color light shimmered, and the jade and stone tablets displayed on the five-color altar suddenly became crystal clear. The ancient characters engraved on them all radiated a brilliant light, and the entire super-sized altar emitted a soft glow.

"c***k, crack."

The sound of cracking echoed out, and the piles of jade and stone tablets suddenly cracked open. Then, beams of light shot out, and the ancient characters on them seemed to come to life, rushing out and floating in the void.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle."

More ancient characters shimmered with light, floating in mid-air, and then the jade blocks and stone tablets disintegrated in a gust of wind, freeing all the ancient characters inscribed on them.

Around the bronze coffin and the giant pit, thousands of ancient characters shone like they were forged from molten iron, giving off a metallic sheen and texture.

"c***k, crack."

The sound of shattering came again, and one by one, ancient characters shone out from the small, colorful clay altars nearby, floating in mid-air.

Around the bronze coffin, it seemed like there were stars flickering and shimmering, which looked even more mysterious under the blood-red sunset.

There were still some people on the Jade Emperor Peak who hadn't fled down the mountain during the recent turmoil. But when they saw Ye Fan and the others fall into the giant pit and witnessed this strange sight, they all panicked and rushed down the mountain.

In the chaos, some people fell and cries for help and pain echoed through the air.

At the same time, the shimmering ancient characters in mid-air gradually coalesced into a huge eight trigrams, emanating a mysterious power.

This was a shocking sight. The ancient characters and symbols possessed incredible power, and when they converged, they formed a massive eight trigrams, enveloping the bronze coffin and the nine dragon corpses. It had a metallic texture and appearance, like it was forged from the finest gold.

"I want to leave here!" Someone in the giant pit sobbed.

"My body can't move..." Everyone was filled with fear and unable to move, unable to change anything.

"What is that..."

At this moment, a Tai Chi diagram emerged in the center of the eight trigrams in mid-air, with two yin-yang fish nestled within it.

Even in this era of modern technology, the profound meaning of the ancient Tai Chi Eight Diagrams has not been fully deciphered. Some have calculated the speed of celestial bodies based on the correspondence between celestial bodies and trigrams. The founder of modern computer binary was also inspired by the Tai Chi Eight Diagrams and achieved great success.

The ancient Tai Chi Eight Diagrams remain a fascinating mystery to modern people. How were they created, what functions do they have, and what purpose were they created for? To this day, there are only legends and uncertain guesses, and no solid evidence.

At this moment, Ye Fan and the others witnessed a major and unknown function of the Tai Chi Eight Diagrams: it was related to time and space.

Around the huge Tai Chi Eight Diagrams, space twisted and the light was blurred. The eight trigrams symbols corresponding to Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, and Kan successively emitted light, like a group of mysterious and ancient codes shining.

The two yin-yang fish in the Tai Chi diagram were like two strange gateways, constantly trembling and slowly opening a c***k, seemingly leading to a distant and unknown starry sky.

The light continued to flicker, and the eight symbols of the trigrams changed multiple times in a complex sequence before finally all lighting up at the same time, emitting a dazzling light.

"Boom!"

A dull vibration, and the two yin-yang fish in the center of the Tai Chi Eight Diagrams slowly opened. During this process, there were occasional flashes of starlight, and even a glimpse of a starry sky ancient road.

At last, the yin-yang fish truly opened up like a portal, revealing a mysterious and enormous passageway that led to an unknown destination, dark and gloomy inside.

At the same time, on the peak of Mount Tai, the nine colossal dragon carcasses trembled, and the bronze coffin shook violently with a loud "clang."

The group, including Ye Fan, was in close proximity to the bronze coffin, and many screamed in fright, with numerous female students crying out for help.

"What should we do?"

"Help us!"

Everyone felt helpless in this situation, and many female students cried out loudly.

At the same time, some of the more strong-willed individuals watched with suspicion as the massive bronze coffin lid moved out of place, revealing a large gap and emitting a eerie aura.

"Bang!"

The bronze coffin shook again, and the lid almost fell off. An inexplicable force pulled at everyone, and in the next instant, they all felt dizzy and blacked out, and then found themselves inside the bronze coffin.

"Ah..."

"Help!"

Some people were on the verge of collapsing and cried out in terror.

"Bang!"

The nine huge dragon carcasses hanging on the cliff trembled, and at the same time, the lid of the bronze coffin made a loud noise, revealing a strange aura.

Immediately afterwards, the nine mountain-like dragon carcasses lifted into the air. Although they still showed no signs of life, they slowly pulled the bronze coffin and entered the dark and mysterious passageway created by the Taiji Bagua diagram.

"Boom!"

The entire Mount Tai shook violently, as if the sky was collapsing, and the five-color divine light pierced through the heavens and the earth at the peak of Jade Emperor.

Then, in the moment the bloody sunset disappeared, the top of Mount Tai also dimmed, and the huge Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram in the sky closed completely and slowly disappeared.

The nine dragons pulling the coffin disappeared without a trace!

All the jade blocks and stone slabs on the five-color altar turned to ashes, and a gust of wind blew past, scattering the ashes in the air.

All these events under the bloody sunset were bound to cause a huge stir, spreading to every corner of the world, and Mount Tai would surely become the focus of the world's attention, but all of this had nothing to do with Ye Fan and the others.

Inside the bronze coffin, it was pitch black and filled with a chilling coldness. Some female students were on the brink of collapse, filled with helplessness and fear, but dared not cry out loud, suppressing their emotions and whimpering softly.

"What should we do? Who can save us?"

"Are we really inside the coffin?"

"Why did this happen? Is there any way out?"

People kept trying to dial on their phones, but they couldn't get through and were unable to contact the outside world, which only made them more frightened.

"Don't be afraid, although we are temporarily unable to contact the outside world, the shocking event that happened in Mount Tai will surely spread to the world, and I believe rescue personnel will soon arrive." Zhou Yi remained calm, and his words helped to ease the fear of those present.

"Zhou Yi is right, everyone should not panic, we must remain calm and believe that we will be safe." Wang Ziwen's voice was also calm, stabilizing the emotions of those present.

"Indeed, everyone should not panic, the event has already happened, and fear is useless. What is important is to find a way to escape." Lin Jia, although a woman, remained calm and composed, without panic.

Ye Fan remained silent, sitting quietly. The dark and mysterious passage constructed by the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram floated in front of his eyes from time to time. Were they still on the top of Jade Emperor? He had a bad feeling in his heart.

With the dim light from their phones, they could see the frightened faces of their fellow classmates. Some were pale and trembling with fear.

Li Xiaoman was sitting nearby, holding onto her knees, looking pale but composed. Beside her was the American student named Kaid, with whom she was quietly conversing in English.

Liu Yunzhi's hands were tightly clenched, and his knuckles were turning white, showing that he was nervous, but he did not show any signs of fear.

In fact, everyone present was uneasy because they were trapped in a sealed bronze coffin.

"Is everyone in the coffin? Let's count and make sure of the number of people here."

"One, two, three...twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!" When the counter reached the thirtieth person, his voice suddenly trembled as he said, "How could there be... a thirtieth person?!"

There were thirty-three students in their class. Three students were unable to attend due to studying abroad, while five others were unable to come for other reasons. So, there were originally twenty-eight students who came to Mount Tai. If we add Li Xiaoman's American friend Kaid, there should be only twenty-nine people.

At this moment, how could there be thirty people? In this cold and dark coffin, everyone felt a chill running down their spine.