Ch. 7 - Five-Coloured Altar

Everything happened so suddenly, it was beyond anyone’s imagination!

“This…” No one could believe it.

And yet, the nine dragon corpses and the bronze coffin were lying right before their eyes, an ironclad fact.

It all defied reason and shattered the known laws of the world. Everyone's understanding of reality was violently shaken.

When chaos broke out earlier, Ye Fan and his group didn’t panic or flee blindly. They stayed together until the Jade Emperor Peak calmed down. Although they had all fallen to the ground, there were no serious injuries, only a few people with bruised arms.

Now, every face was etched with shock. The scene before them was so incredible it would be engraved in their memories forever.

The nine massive dragon corpses lay silently before them, and that giant bronze coffin was a direct blow to the senses, an overwhelming and mysterious sight.

No one could speak. Inside, waves of emotion surged. Their faces showed a mix of shock, fear, confusion, and disbelief.

Only after a long silence did Lin Jia softly say, "We should head down the mountain."

Everyone nodded. It was clear they needed to leave immediately, no one wanted to stay even a moment longer. The atmosphere on the Jade Emperor Peak was chilling. Why had nine dragon corpses arrived pulling a bronze coffin? Why had they descended on Mount Tai? Even seeing it with their own eyes, it was too hard to accept. Their hearts were filled with unease.

Under the blood-red sunset, the peak was ravaged, especially where the bronze coffin had landed, a giant crater had been smashed into the ground. The surrounding cracks were one to two meters wide, spreading like a spiderweb in every direction.

One such crack, like a winding centipede, extended all the way to where Ye Fan’s group stood. Luckily, the crack tapered off before reaching them, causing no collapse.

Just as they were preparing to leave, Li Xiaoman pointed ahead and said, "What’s that?"

Beneath the split ground, half a jade piece was exposed, glinting faintly in the setting sun.

Though fearful, everyone took a few steps forward. Inside a one-meter-wide fissure, the corner of a circular altar could be seen. A broken half of a jade tablet rested atop it, shaped like a jade scroll.

“How can this be? Is something buried down there?”

The altar was small, ancient yet simple, made from five-colored sacred earth, exuding the air of countless passing years, no one knew how long it had been buried.

“Look! There’s another one!” cried Wang Ziwen at the front, pointing to a larger crack ahead, eyes wide with shock.

In that nearly two-meter-wide crevice, another five-colored earth altar had split open, revealing a jade slab inside, etched with complex symbols and characters that no one could recognize.

Everyone was stunned. The words “Fengshan” (the ancient imperial sacrifice to heaven and earth) flashed through their minds. Could this be an ancient altar for heavenly worship?

An altar made of five-colored earth with jade scrolls inside closely matched the description in the Eastern Han text Baihu Tongyi by the Poet Ban Gu, which recorded: “Some say it is sealed with gold mud and silver cords; some say with stone mud and gold cords, sealed with official seals.”

And in Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian: Book of Fengshan, it was written: “Flying blossoms and real forms, sealed in stone with golden mud.”

In mere moments, the group discovered that many of the surrounding fissures contained such five-colored altars, dozens of them.

Each one was ancient and weathered, marked by the passage of time. Some contained jade tablets, others stone slabs, all inscribed with mysterious, indecipherable ancient symbols.

Everyone was stunned and had the vague feeling that these altars might be connected to the dragon corpses and bronze coffin.

Ye Fan, a fan of ancient mysteries, understood more about Fengshan rituals than most. His heart trembled. Could it be that in ancient times, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, along with seventy-two kings, really had conducted Fengshan ceremonies here?

Maybe the legends were true. Otherwise, how could there be so many five-colored altars?

From the writing, most seemed to be in oracle bone script, further confirming this theory.

The group should have left, but unknowingly, they had circled most of the way around the bronze coffin, captivated by the immense dragon corpses, the 20-meter-long bronze coffin, and the mysterious altars beneath their feet.

"There doesn’t seem to be any danger... but those dragon corpses…"

Though their fear had lessened somewhat, unease remained. They decided it was time to go down the mountain.

“Look, there’s a giant altar inside the crater!”

The bronze coffin had smashed a massive pit into the ground. On the opposite side now, they looked down and were again shocked.

Inside the pit was a massive altar, not made of mud, but constructed from five-colored giant stones, which now held the bronze coffin firmly in place. Not a single crack marred its surface.

This giant altar was clearly different from the smaller ones. Located at the very center of Jade Emperor Peak, it was far grander than the others.

The coffin had fallen from the sky with immense force, yet this altar remained completely intact. Not even the slightest damage had occurred. It was hard to imagine what kind of mysterious stones it was made of.

On this massive five-colored stone altar, aside from the coffin, were also numerous jade blocks and stone tablets, all radiating ancient aura.

The carvings on them were more primitive than oracle bone script, mystical symbols, almost like celestial pictographs, imbued with a divine quality.

A whole row of such jade and stone artifacts lay in neat order atop the altar. Astonishingly, they hadn’t been shattered by the coffin’s impact.

"We really should leave now," Ye Fan and Zhou Yi both urged, voices serious.

Everyone nodded. This was not a place to linger. As tempting as the secrets were, they were not something that could be explored by people like them. The nine massive dragon corpses nearby were unsettling, and the bronze coffin filled them with dread.

Just as they were about to turn and leave, a female classmate let out a scream, a rock beneath her foot came loose and rolled into the crater. She lost her balance and began to fall.

"Careful!" A male classmate reacted quickly and grabbed her. Others rushed in to help pull her back up.

The dislodged stone rumbled down into the pit and then slammed against the altar with a heavy “BOOM.”

The giant altar immediately released a glow of five-colored light. A tremendous force washed over everyone, they felt like their legs were tied with lead, unable to move.

BOOM!

The altar trembled, and the entire Jade Emperor Peak shook violently. Everyone standing at the crater's edge felt the world spin, and before they could react, they were all thrown down into the pit.

They landed on the five-colored stone altar, fear gripping their hearts.

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