24 Heaven Shrouding Coffins

Gods. As far as immortals were concerned, all gods were unattainable existences deserving of profound reverence. But within the God Realm, the number of crossed cosmic tribulations was a demarcation line yielding an insurmountable gap.

From zero to six cosmic tribulations, the gods' titles were respectively:

Fledgling God, True God, Great God, Ancient God, God-King, God-Emperor and Supreme God.

And while all those belonged to the God Realm, the gap between each level was equivalent to that of an entire realm. Within the three realms, there was no recorded occurrence of a god successfully crossing the seventh tribulation. Thus, knowledge of the titles beyond the sixth was inexistent.

Tian Mo, Tian Tu, the first Heavenly Emperor and the first Demonic Sovereign were, across billions of years, the only creatures to reach the Supreme God level.

The major difference between Tian Tu and the rest, however, was that although many wished to see him fail, no one doubted that he could cross the seventh. In fact, he would do it very soon.

Which meant that across eternity, the three realms would choke under the unrestricted and absolute rule of the dragon clan!

"Dispense of ceremony. Many of you are peers of this emperor's era. We sought the road to divinity together and even battled the Demonic Realm and Nature Realms side by side. Your merits are high, please rise."

Tian Tu flung his sleeve, and irresistible divine power lifted the kneeling gods back to their feet. Meanwhile, sweat had already crept upon the bird gods' foreheads, as it would always when the war of one hundred thousand years ago was mentioned.

"Today this emperor has not only gathered you all to discuss the death of Si Wang She, but also to inform you of the new rules of the next Heaven Shrouding Coffins competition. Serpent God, please make your case."

"Yes, your majesty!"

Xiang Liu, the Serpent God, replied and stepped forward.

"As your majesty knows, to seek revenge for his son, Si Wang She dived into the Ancient Sea World. However, he was quickly obliterated by a superior power. Without a shred of doubt, that power can only be the strand of divine sense left by Tian Mo within the Ancient Sea."

"Si Wang She was too young and didn't have access to that information, so he committed a fatal mistake. However, it is now clear that Tian Mo's remaining divine sense doesn't favor the prosperity of our Celestial Realm. Thus, with great courage, this official beseeches your majesty to obliterate that force once and for all!"

"As for the Ancient Sea Country's treasures, they should naturally be used to empower the outstanding younger generation of the dragon clan."

Xiang Liu requested with a polite bow. But at the mention of the Ancient Sea Country's treasures being monopolized by the dragon clan, many gods were dissatisfied. Of course, they could only swallow that dissatisfaction.

"The Serpent God makes a reasonable case. Does anyone object?"

The court hall remained silent.

"Very well. This emperor shall dispatch the Northern Dragon King to deal with this matter."

"Thank you, your majesty!"

No one expected the invincible Tian Tu to deal with a little strand of divine consciousness personally. That was far beneath his dignity.

"As for the treasures, this emperor has something else in mind. They shall be rewarded to the clan obtaining the most coffins in the upcoming competition."

Inwardly, many gods sneered. Wasn't that still the dragon clan?

"This time, however, the rules will be different. Gods will not be allowed to participate. The older generation of immortals also will not be allowed to participate. Only those immortals less than ten thousand years old can join the competition."

All the gathered gods beamed. Although this still slightly favored the dragon clan, if they cooperated, they didn't believe they couldn't tip the scales. After all, there were many outstanding individuals within their younger generations. Could they not handle the dragon clan's youth with their joint efforts?

"Your majesty, thank you for your mercy!"

The opportunity to gain more Heaven Shrouding Coffins had arrived. Who would not jubilate?

"Moreover, this emperor has decided to grant some quotas to the Nature and Demonic Realms. They will also participate."

And with those simple words, the entire hall was struck with a deathly silence.

"If there is nothing else, this emperor will have the Heavenly Empress entertain you."

"What about Ba Zu's murderer?"

Inquired Xiang Liu with concern. Ba Zu was after all his favored disciple. There was no way he could let his death go without investigating.

But hearing this, Tian Tu's eyes grew cold.

"This emperor has already investigated, and the murderer has been dealt with."

Chilled by the gaze cast by Tian Tu, Xiang Liu dared not say another word.

...…

In the meantime, the now clothed couple cuddled within the "matrimonial bed."

"The deadline is approaching. In about a week, the Heaven Shrouding Coffins will appear. What is your plan?"

Feng Wu Shuang inquired.

Every hundred thousand years since the demise of Xuan Yuan, six coffins would appear within the Heavenly World. No one knew how they were created, or if they were created, but what the world knew was that the gods that chose to seal themselves within those coffins could avoid their ordained cosmic tribulations for all eternity!

Treasures that allowed deities to postpone their cosmic tribulations were few and far between. And usually, they could only buy them a few decades or centuries at best. The Heaven Shrouding Coffins, however, could do so for as long as the god remained sealed within and only when they were awakened would the countdown resume. Thus, they were of paramount importance to all the divine clans.

It had been three million years since Xuan Yuan's demise. Which meant that 174 coffins had appeared until now with another batch of six about to show up. Of the previous 174, half had fallen within the hands of the imperial dragon clan alone while the remaining ones were scattered throughout the powerful divine clans. Location and timing had made it impossible for the Demonic and Nature Realms to obtain the coffins…until now of course.

"I have no interest in the Heaven Shrouding Coffins. The Great Cycle Wheel, however, that is another matter."

The Great Cycle Wheel was a supreme artifact that appeared alongside the Heaven Shrouding Coffins. Unlike the coffins, there was only one wheel, and no one had managed to obtain it until now. In the past era, both Tian Tu and Zui Gao had failed.

It was rumored that the Great Cycle Wheel contained the true mysteries of life and death, creation and destruction, order and chaos.

Feng Wu Shuang frowned.

"What makes you so sure that you can obtain it? While I have a lot of faith in you, I don't want you to be dead set on something that unattainable."

Tian Tu and Zui Gao were the greatest talents of the three realms in millions of years. If even they failed to obtain the wheel, the hope for anyone else was dim, to say the least.

"Don't worry, I already have the key."

Hou Hui reassured while planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

Those words replaced Feng Wu Shuang's concern by profound curiosity.

"What did you gain in that mortal world?"

"A lot actually! I even brought you back little siblings!"

He chuckled, rose from the bed, and flung his right sleeve.

Three curved beams of light shot from within and fell at his feet.

"We have returned!"

"Oh, this place is a bit cold…"

"Big brother, you need to light a fire!"

"Grr…."

Three immature voices resounded.

Feng Wu Shuang too rose and was shocked to see three children now standing in front of Hou Hui.

"Who the hell are they?"

But before Hou Hui could answer, Qing Yun stepped forward.

"Rude! Who the hell are you?"

"Yes, yes. Why are you so close to big brother? Who the hell are you?"

"Is it possible that she's one of those legendary man-eaters?"

"Why is she wearing such tight clothes? Doesn't she want to breathe?"

"I heard making yourself short of breath allowed you to lose weight. Maybe she is one of those anorexic immortals desperate to look like a straw?"

"It must be so!"

Hou Hui's lips twitched.

Feng Wu Shuang staggered and was on the verge of spurting blood.

Seeing the situation turning for the worse, Hou Hui rushed toward the three troublemakers and gave them all a fierce noogie.

"Aargh, big brother please have mercy!"

"Damn knuckleheads, your ass mercy! Quickly greet your big sister!"

At first the trio felt wronged, but hearing the words "big sister," their beady eyes were filled with confusion.

"Since when did we have a big sister?"

"Big brother, do you have a sister?"

"Oh, you should have said so sooner."

"But I heard big sisters are big bullies. Can this be good?"

Qing Yun, Qing Ya, and Qing Yue asked one after the other, causing the already staggering Feng Wu Shuang to trip and fall back on the bed.

"That big sister also seems to have balance issues…that's what you get for not eating well."

That analysis of Qing Yue was the last straw that caused Feng Wu Shuang to lose what remained of her dwindling sanity.

"AAAAARGH! Give me your lives!"

She bared her claws and leaped toward them with a guttural howl!

"Aaaaargh, tigress!"

Unwilling to wait for slaughter, the trio moved behind Hou Hui and used him as a meat shield.

Black lines had crept on his forehead, but he still stopped the raging Feng Wu Shuang from committing murder.

"Hum, hum. Wu Shuang, please restrain yourself. She's big brother's future wife."

"Ooooooooh!"

The trio was finally pulled into the reality of things and without further ado, lined up in front of the still fuming Feng Wu Shuang and bowed.

"Greetings big sister!"

Regaining some of her composure, Feng Wu Shuang cast a puzzled glance at Hou Hui.

"What is the meaning of this. You're not telling me that they're your sworn siblings, right?"

"I am telling you that they're my sworn siblings."

Hou Hui's direct reply only caused her to blink in disbelief.

"This is not funny! You are what? Three thousand years older than them? You may not want face, but I do!"

Was it to be known that they had accepted sworn siblings young enough to be their descendants' descendants, there would be no place for them to hide within the entire Heavenly World.

But Hou Hui had come prepared.

"Well, if you say it like that, I recall being older than you by a thousand years. What should we do about that?"

Feng Wu Shuang's eyes twitched, and her attitude underwent a 180-degree turn.

"Hum…Well…I suppose it is only right for birds of the same kind to not be separated by the notion of seniority…"