41: Above the Yunlan Sect, a coffin loomed over the world.

Yunlan Mountain, Main Peak Square.

The voices of the crowd seethed, and the atmosphere was extraordinarily lively.

Representatives from various major Sects of the Eastern Wasteland gathered together, clinking glasses and exchanging pleasantries with smiles.

Today's Yunlan Sect was undoubtedly the focus of the entire Eastern Wasteland.

"Congratulations, Sect Master Yun! Hearty congratulations!"

"Indeed! Young Miss Yanran is already at the Half-step Golden Core at such a young age. Her future achievements are limitless; our Eastern Wasteland cultivation world is surely set to flourish!"

"I heard today is also the day that Trash from the Xiao family comes to seek his death? Haha, this is simply the icing on the cake for Young Miss Yanran's celebratory banquet!"

The Yunlan Sect Master, Yun Leng, sat in the primary seat. Listening to the surrounding flattery, he stroked his beard and smiled so widely his mouth wouldn't close.

Upon the high platform.

Nalan Yanran, dressed in a white gown with a slender figure, looked like a Mystic Goddess of the Nine Heavens descending to earth, enjoying the glory of being the center of attention.

Listening to the praise in her ears, she glanced at the time, a faint trace of mockery curling at the corner of her mouth.

"It's almost noon."

"That waste, why hasn't he arrived yet?"

"Could it be... he's so scared he doesn't dare to come?"

A Junior Sister beside her covered her mouth and chuckled, "Senior Sister, you must be joking. If he dares not to come, that would be an open provocation to my Yunlan Sect. When the time comes, you won't even need to lift a finger; the Sect could just send any deacon to grind his bones to ash."

"True."

Nalan Yanran nodded and picked up a cup of spiritual tea with an elegant posture.

Just as she was preparing to accept a new round of congratulations from the crowd.

Suddenly.

"BOOM—!!!"

A massive roar descended from the Nine Heavens without any warning!

The sound was so loud it felt as if the firmament had been torn open, making everyone's eardrums buzz and their wine glasses tremble in their hands.

"What happened?!"

"Is it thunder?"

Everyone looked up in shock.

Then.

They witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

The sky turned black.

The originally clear sky was shrouded by a massive shadow at some unknown moment.

The shadow grew larger and closer, carrying a suffocating and terrifying sense of pressure as it crashed down!

"What... what is that thing?!"

Someone pointed a trembling finger at the sky.

It was a massive black object.

Long and rectangular, with sharp edges.

It looked... like a coffin?!

"RUMBLE—!!!"

Before the crowd could react.

That pitch-black giant coffin, made of an unknown material, was already like an extraterrestrial meteorite, trailing a long tail of flame as it smashed down fiercely!

Its target was aimed directly at the Main Peak Square of the Yunlan Sect!

"Not good! Activate the Mountain-Protecting Formation!"

Yun Leng's face changed drastically as he lunged up from his seat, letting out a world-shaking roar.

"Hum—"

A green light curtain instantly rose from around Yunlan Mountain, like an inverted giant bowl, enveloping the entire main peak within it.

This was the Yunlan Sect's defensive Formation passed down for a thousand years, claimed to be able to withstand a full-strength strike from a Nascent Soul Stage powerhouse!

However.

In front of that black coffin falling from the sky.

This indestructible light curtain was as fragile as a thin sheet of paper.

"CRACK—!!!"

A tooth-aching sound of snapping rang out.

The light curtain held for less than half a second before it split apart at the sharp corner of the coffin, instantly spreading like a spiderweb and then shattering completely!

"Pfft—"

The dozen or so Yunlan Sect Elders presiding over the Formation all spat out a mouthful of blood, their faces turning deathly pale.

Immediately after.

"BOOM—!!!!!"

A world-shaking explosion occurred, as if it were about to flip the entire Yunlan Mountain over.

That massive black coffin smashed heavily into the very center of the square!

The earth shook violently, and countless guests were knocked over, tumbling in disarray.

The incredibly hard bluestone square was forcefully smashed into a bottomless giant pit!

Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, obscuring everyone's vision.

The entire field fell into a deathly silence.

One could hear a pin drop.

Everyone was stunned.

They stared blankly at the giant coffin embedded in the center of the square, still emitting black smoke, their minds completely blank.

What... what was the situation?

Who receives a coffin falling from the sky as a congratulatory gift during a celebration?!

This is just too damn unlucky!

"Cough, cough... Who is it?!"

Yun Leng crawled out from the ruins, his hair disheveled and in a wretched state. That face, which had been wearing a smile, was now twisted beyond recognition.

"Who is it! Who dares to act so insolently in my Yunlan Sect!!"

His voice echoed across the silent square.

No one answered.

There was only the sound of the wind.

And... the sound of unhurried footsteps.

Step.

Step.

Step.

The dust slowly dispersed.

A slender figure stepped through the Void Realm, walking out from the shattered firmament one step at a time.

The newcomer was dressed in coarse hemp clothes, yet they could not hide his upright posture.

On his back, he carried a large object wrapped in tattered cloth, its nature unclear.

His features were refined, and his gaze was calm.

So calm that it made people's hearts palpitate.

He walked above the pitch-black coffin, slowly descended, and stood on the coffin lid, looking down from a height at the wretched crowd below.

That gaze was like a deity looking down upon ants.

"Three years ago, I was like a stray dog, kicked out the door by all of you."

"Three years later, I have returned."

The youth's voice was very flat, yet it was like a clap of thunder, clearly resounding in everyone's ears.

"Hidden God Sect, Eldest Disciple, Xiao Chen."

"Has come to fulfill the Three-Year Agreement!"

He paused, lifted his foot to lightly tap the coffin lid beneath him, and a cold arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

"By the way."

"I heard that the Yunlan Sect Old Ancestor Yun Shan's Lifespan is nearly exhausted and his days are numbered."

"This Disciple is untalented, but I have specially prepared a small gift."

"This 'luxury villa' made of Ten-thousand-year-old Gloomwood... I wonder if Old Ancestor Yun Shan is satisfied with it?"

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Everyone, including Nalan Yanran, seemed to have been hit by a freezing spell, staring blankly at the youth standing on the coffin.

Xiao Chen?!

He is that Trash Xiao Chen?!

How is this possible!

How could that waste, who couldn't even maintain his Foundation Establishment, walk through the air?

How could that dirt-poor stray dog afford a coffin made of Ten-thousand-year-old Gloomwood?!

"Insolent!"

A Yunlan Sect Elder finally recovered from his shock, pointing at Xiao Chen while shaking with rage.

"Ignorant child! How dare you spread such fallacies here! You even dare to curse our Sect's Old Ancestor!"

"Take him down!"

"No! Blast that unlucky coffin to pieces for me!"

Several hot-tempered Elders attacked together.

Several powerful Divine Ability light beams slammed fiercely toward the black coffin.

However.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A series of metallic clashing sounds rang out.

Those Divine Abilities, powerful enough to level a small mountain, hit the coffin but didn't even leave a single scratch!

Not even a bit of the black lacquer on the coffin fell off!

"This... what material is this made of?!"

The Elders who attacked were all stunned.

They felt as if they were hitting not a coffin, but an immemorial divine mountain!

Li Daoxuan sat on the lounge chair of the Hidden God Sect, watching this scene through the Profound Light Mirror, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, not bad."

"As expected of something the System forged using leftover scraps from refining Imperial Weapons; it's certainly sturdy."

"This entrance has the style factor maxed out."

On the Yunlan Sect square.

Nalan Yanran stared intently at that familiar yet strange figure.

She felt as if her heart was being gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand, almost to the point of suffocation.

Impossible... Three years ago, he was just a waste I could humiliate at will.

It's only been three years... how could he have become... so powerful?

That faint sense of pressure made her whole body cold, to the point where she didn't even have the courage to draw her sword.