World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 646: Supreme Treasures, Apricot-Yellow Banner! Divine Tree, the Emperor’s Coffin!
The hidden realm was so overwhelmingly green that it unsettled the heart. Spiritual power surged everywhere like flowing water, yet it did not hinder movement in the slightest.
The sight reminded Wang Sheng of primal qi passages. The primal qi in those areas was extremely pure and dense, yet the one in the hidden realm was rarer and brimmed with boundless vitality.
His immortal perception was compressed tightly around him, unable to extend outward. He was forced to rely solely on his eyes to observe his surroundings.
The wooden sword dragged him forward at high speed. He had no idea what awaited him ahead, yet he felt no fear; he trusted that the wooden sword would never harm him.
After all, it was his sword.
They flew for a while, and the sea of green abruptly vanished. The flowing primal qi disappeared just as suddenly, as though he had burst through the surface of a lake and crashed into a sealed sphere. A powerful recoil halted his forward momentum.
His field of vision suddenly expanded. The wooden sword shook free from his grasp and shot ahead, sending waves of excitement and delightful intent back to him.
Wang Sheng, however, had already fixed his attention on the scene dozens of meters ahead.
This place seemed to embody the principle that when things reached an extreme, they reversed. The very center of this space had no life-infused primal qi at all. Only a wooden coffin floated quietly. Wisps of gray death aura—the complete opposite of vitality—surrounded and spiraled around it.
The coffin was over three meters long and looked crude at first glance. It was as though a clumsy carpenter had simply hacked together a few planks into a rough shape, leaving uneven widths throughout.
Yet on a second look, it radiated something extraordinary. A profound and unfathomable Dao Rhythm lingered upon it, making it seem as if it had formed naturally. It had not even the slightest sign of discord. Moreover, behind it hung a pale-yellow banner veiled in hazy mist that obscured the design upon it.
A wooden coffin, a banner, boundless vitality, death aura, and that Dao Rhythm that grows deeper and more obscure the longer one contemplates it...
Wang Sheng quickly came to a realization. He was already at the late stage of the True Immortal Realm, had tempered himself with heavenly tribulation, and had the primordial power of Nuwa coursing within him. Nevertheless, the death aura leaking from the coffin was so terrifying that even a hair-thin strand of it could instantly turn him into dust.
Could this be... Emperor Qinghua's coffin?
Wang Sheng took a cautious step forward. This time, there was no obstruction, as though the earlier repelling force had existed only to prevent him from crashing into the coffin and disturbing the emperor resting within.
Is this truly his final resting place?
Spiritless dispersed into immortal light, and Yaoyun appeared beside him. A trace of sorrow flickered in her eyes as she silently gazed at the coffin.
The atmosphere instantly turned heavy.
Though Qinghua had not been especially close to Yaoyun, he had still been one of the Four Heavenly Ministers and among the most formidable members of the Heavenly Court.
Wang Sheng softly offered, "Let's go take a closer look."
The words had barely left his mouth when his wooden sword, which had flown off earlier, suddenly appeared above the coffin. With its tip pointed downward, it spun briskly in place, seemingly conversing with something. The coffin responded with a faint green radiance, suppressing all the surrounding death aura back inside.
The entire scene gave him a headache.
As soon as the wooden sword stopped spinning, it adjusted its position and lightly poked the banner with its tip, causing a burst of bell-like laughter to ring out from the coffin. It sounded clear and delightful, yet in such an environment, it sent chills racing across Wang Sheng's spine.
If only my senior sister had been cultivating in the palace above, she could have witnessed this scene and instinctively shrunk into my arms.
Beside him, Yaoyun couldn't help rolling her eyes. She rarely behaved so inelegantly, but right now, she truly could not hold it in.
Even in this place and situation, the first thing this idiot thought of was getting close to his senior sister! Thoughts of her have completely poisoned him! There's no saving him!
The wooden sword hummed softly, while the banner swayed gently. The two treasures seemed to be communicating.
Communicating?
As though coming to a realization, Wang Sheng asked, "Yaoyun, have you ever heard of the five banners that are considered to be supreme treasures?"
"Of course. People have been talking about the Five Primordial Banners since my childhood."
Wang Sheng pointed toward the pale-yellow banner that was communicating with the wooden sword. "Do any of those five banners have that color?"
Yaoyun frowned. "You mean, that could be..."
He instinctively took half a step back as he muttered, "Have you forgotten the wooden sword's origin? Anyway, I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
Yaoyun could not help but laugh and cry. "Do you really think that green lotus still holds a grudge from the day you explored Chaos? Don't worry. A supreme treasure is a form of existence that surpasses anything we can comprehend. And yet, with a supreme treasure right before your eyes, you're choosing to step back."
"That makes sense. Such an existence wouldn't bother arguing with a minor sword cultivator like me, would it?"
Wang Sheng stared at the banner and was about to step forward when its bell-like laughter sounded again. It also cast a beam of soil-yellow light toward the coffin. Faint green immortal light emerged across the coffin, gathering and condensing into a figure that Wang Sheng found strangely familiar.
Her features strongly resembled Mu Wanxuan. She looked even more like the senior sister in his memory from before the resurgence of Earth's primal qi.
She was in a light-green gauze dress and had a bamboo flute in her hand. Tilting her head, she studied Wang Sheng and Yaoyun. The wooden sword flew over and hovered lightly against her shoulder, humming softly.
The girl nodded faintly, her pale lips parting as she telepathically asked Wang Sheng, "So you're the later-era being who injured Mother and forcibly took a part of her away?"
Wang Sheng gave her an embarrassed yet polite smile. He was still unsure of her identity, but in this situation, the mother she spoke of could only refer to the origin she shared with the wooden sword: the Chaos Green Lotus.
As a man, Wang Sheng naturally felt responsible for his past actions. He clasped his fists, offered a conciliatory smile, and said clearly, "It was all a misunderstanding, nothing more."
The girl sitting atop the coffin snorted softly and pointed at him. In the next instant, Wang Sheng found himself right before her. Yaoyun hurried forward, but with a mere glance, the girl froze her in place. Unable to advance even a step, she could only watch anxiously.
The girl pondered briefly, then raised her slender hand and lightly slapped forward. A massive palm phantasm that was several meters wide formed before Wang Sheng and sent him flying like a ball.
His bones shattered instantly, and his Dao Body was nearly crushed apart, sending agonizing pain tearing through his nerves.
However, he immediately crashed into dense primal qi. Waves of it poured into him and healed him at an astonishing speed. As though he had taken the finest healing pills in existence, all that it left behind was raw, vivid pain.
With a casual beckon, the girl summoned him back before the coffin. Her other hand rose, and he was sent flying once more.
Again, his bones shattered, and he was nearly torn apart. Before the pain could fade, he collided once more with the thick, life-saturated primal qi. His injuries healed rapidly, and he was pulled back again.
When she raised her hand a third time, the wooden sword flashed forward, positioning itself before him. Its tip pointed squarely at the girl's palm. It swayed lightly, as if saying that she had already taught him a lesson and should now stop hitting him.
The girl let out a sheepish laugh. "When we were sent from the Sea of Chaos into the substantial world, Mother instructed us that whoever meets you has to strike you three times. Since the sword is pleading for you, I will spare the third strike."
Bearing no serious injuries yet covered in blood, Wang Sheng felt completely drained of any desire to complain. He grabbed the wooden sword and flicked its tip with a finger.
At least you still have some conscience!
By "we," she likely meant the many supreme treasures formed from the Chaos Green Lotus. Anyone who met him had to strike him three times.
The environment here was special, filled with abundant vitality that allowed his injuries to heal swiftly. The primal qi that surged toward him when he was struck was clearly her deliberate doing. She had not intended to truly harm him.
The point was to make it hurt.
Who was he supposed to complain to about this?
I'm lucky I only encountered one of the Five Primordial Banners this time. What if I later run into Laozi's staff or the Heavenly Venerable's Ruyi? Would they also strike me three times? If I met the Qingping Sword, would it stab me three times? What about the God-Slaying Spear that transformed into the God-Slaughtering Sword, or the lotus pod that became the Universe Cauldron?
Wang Sheng covered his face.
The world beyond Earth is far too dangerous. I should hurry up and finish helping Earth's cultivators so I can return home, live peacefully with my senior sister, and start a family with her.
Other cultivators only dared to think about supreme treasures once they had reached Taiyi or Grand Dao Golden Immortal Realms. Meanwhile, a whole group of them was already targeting him, a mere True Immortal.
This banner had shown mercy. If he encountered one of them in a foul mood, would he not truly end up with his soul shattered?
Yaoyun finally flew over, now having a rough grasp of what had transpired. She shared a mental connection with Wang Sheng and naturally knew the origins of the wooden sword.
Right now, though, all she could do was stare at him with a mix of pity and helplessness. She could only hope that when he met those powerful artifacts in the future, their actions would not drag her into the trouble as well.
Then again, she imagined Wang Sheng one day meeting the Three Pure Ones. Just as they prepared to praise and encourage the promising new talent, the jade Ruyi, the staff, and the Qingping Sword could break free from their control, transform into three burly men, and pounce on him.
The mental image was strangely vivid.
Wang Sheng sighed, pushing aside these wandering thoughts. Holding the wooden sword and the jade pendant, he clasped his fists toward the girl. "May I ask for your identity, Senior?"
"Me?" The girl chuckled softly. Unhurriedly, she answered, "I do not even know what I should call myself. You may consider me the spirit of this banner, though beings like me were never meant to manifest according to the laws of the Great Dao. Emperor Qinghua spent immense effort to fuse me with this innate spiritual root, which had lost its spirituality. Only then did I come into existence."
"According to the customs of cultivators, I suppose I should give my name. You may call me Xinghuang[1]. Tsk, that sounds unpleasant. Just call me Xing."
Xinghuang! So it is the Central Apricot-Yellow Banner of Unity[2], the legendary defensive supreme treasure! Also known simply as the Apricot-Yellow Banner, no technique could breach its protection once it has been unfurled!
Wang Sheng felt his heart surge. Qinghua had been far too generous. Not only did Qinghua allow Mu Wanxuan to take his Dao inheritance, but he also left behind such an invaluable gift.
Seemingly reading his mind, Xing smiled. "Stop thinking nonsense. Xin Yuehu gave you this jade pendant. You and I are both guardians of the coffin. I am inseparable from this divine tree, this wooden coffin, and the grand array outside. If you wish to take me away, you have to first possess the strength to fell this tree while it's under my protection."
Wang Sheng nodded in understanding and waved his hand. "Let us speak of guarding this place instead. Is the emperor truly resting in this coffin?"
1. The transliteration of "apricot yellow." ☜ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
2. For accuracy, the name has been changed from Central-Earth Yellow Banner. ☜
