Chapter 1455: The Cause of Li Da's Death

In Yinzhou, the land had sunken, and a black mist swept across the region, obscuring the vast starry sky. The scene was horrifying.

The Martial Lunatic's mouth and nose were bleeding; he was truly severely injured this time.

On the other side, even the powerful Master of the Black Blood Research Institute was covered in wounds, his armor shattered. He stumbled backward, each step creating a terrifying black hole in the void.

In front of them, even the legendary Taiyi, one of the most ancient and invincible experts of this era, was sent flying, nine-colored blood spilling from the corner of his mouth—a truly shocking sight.

The other ultimate beings also retreated, all severely wounded, with true blood splattering.

This scene was truly astonishing; if word got out, who would believe it?

Among those present, none were easy to deal with. They were all ultimate beings, supreme experts of their generation, yet they had all sustained serious injuries simultaneously.

"Li, the Black Scourge!" someone gritted their teeth. A blurry silhouette emerged from the black mist, like a demon god that had torn apart the heavens and earth, standing in the darkness and making the world tremble.

"He actually ambushed us!" On the other side, a pair of icy golden pupils glowed within the black mist, as if an ultimate being buried billions of years ago had revived.

The group was both shocked and enraged, retreating continuously, moving away from the portal.

The portal connecting to the Great Underworld was mostly closed, save for a golden crack through which lightning flashed, space violently trembled, and blood rained down.

An ominous aura permeated the air, and destructive energy surged, still not dissipating even now.

Through the terrifying crack, penetrating the ocean-like yin energy behind the door, parts of the Great Underworld could be seen.

Eight chains bound a coffin carved from World Stone, each chain connected to a corner of the stone coffin.

All the violent auras and destructive energies emanated from these chains.

Four of these chains were particularly bizarre, resembling four great worlds themselves, emitting eternal light. Limitless fragments of the Grand Dao surged like a tide, their density astonishing even ultimate beings.

At their level, they could naturally control rules and utilize the Grand Dao.

Yet, they had never witnessed such a sight before. Grand Dao fragments burst forth like an ocean breaking its dam, cascading and roaring, vast and unstoppable.

Just moments ago, they were nearly overwhelmed and refined to death.

Four of the eight chains were highly unusual, originating from different evolutionary civilization branches; they were Grand Dao chains from entire worlds, and they nearly shattered their Dao fruits!

It was difficult to fathom how Li had stolen them back then.

Merely touching a Grand Dao chain from a world meant becoming an enemy to an entire great world!

Clearly, any of those four evolutionary civilization branches could rival the Yang Realm, each a perfect great world.

Just now, these individuals had been contending with four great worlds simultaneously!

Even ultimate beings, renowned as invincible in their respective eras within the Yang Realm, could not withstand such a sudden and massive assault from entire great worlds.

To survive such an ambush without dying was truly defying the heavens!

Moments ago, both Emperor Wu and Taiyi had their Dao fruits nearly entangled and pierced by the world-level Dao chains, a truly perilous situation.

A world's Grand Dao chain represented the highest rule; it was equivalent to an ultimate strike!

"Li is truly a scourge; even in death, he brings no peace. How dare he scheme against us like this!" someone exclaimed, their voice chilling and imbued with killing intent that swept across the vast Yinzhou.

A single state, from south to north, and east to west, spanned astronomical distances, measured in hundreds of millions of li.

Someone coldly remarked, "That's just his nature, always has been. He deserved to be struck by lightning and die a miserable death; even the heavens couldn't stand him!"

The Master of the Black Blood Research Institute frowned. Even he, powerful as he was, found it difficult to imagine setting up such a deadly trap just before death. How could Li have managed it in such a rush before he died?

"I don't think this was Li's doing," someone said. "No matter how much he defied the heavens, he couldn't have achieved this. Detaining at least four Grand Dao chains from evolutionary civilization branches, which are incredibly powerful and terrifying, is beyond belief. If he had such means, he wouldn't have died; he could have saved himself!"

Someone else spoke, not believing Li possessed such incredible heaven-defying power.

Taiyi stared at the closed portal, looking through the unstable golden crack at the coffin in the Great Underworld, his gaze fixed on four of the eight chains.

He was unimaginably ancient and powerful, commanding much authority, and the others all looked to him.

"It shouldn't be Li's arrangement," Taiyi said. "These are ancestral chains from entire worlds; Li couldn't have managed this before his death."

Taiyi believed these were products from billions of years ago, arranged by an unfathomable supreme being to seal the portal and completely separate the Great Underworld from the Yang Realm.

Furthermore, Taiyi, a legend among legends and a formidable being of the Yang Realm, speculated that this was the cause of Li's death.

"Hmm?!" someone exclaimed in surprise. Back then, though not all of them, several individuals had indeed intervened, pushing Li into a death trap.

Now, hearing Taiyi, did that mean the original scheme was not important, and the multi-world Grand Dao chains binding the coffin were the true fatal element?

One person said, "That's true. My intervention back then was also due to temptation. There were many coincidences involved, full of strangeness. None of us were the primary force."

Despite their guesses, some among them still didn't know the exact mystery of what happened years ago.

Emperor Wu spoke, "Li's tragic death must have been because he was trapped in that coffin after passing through this door, unable to escape. His body and spirit were both destroyed, and he ultimately perished there!"

What happened back then was very unusual, fraught with strangeness; even they felt something was off.

However, despite the profound depths of prehistoric matters, they remained fearless.

Someone narrowed their eyes, silver sword-like beams of light shooting from their pupils—sharp and intimidating, tearing through Yinzhou's sky, creating spatial fissures stretching for an unknown number of millions of li.

This person stared ahead, looking through the fissure at the stone coffin in the Great Underworld.

"Who left behind this 'door-sealing coffin'?"

This was a question all the ultimate beings wanted an answer to, but they couldn't determine it now.

"Look, the Ten-Thousand Mother Golden Seal pressed beneath the coffin lid—did Li deliberately leave it there to tempt us? I don't think so!" one person said, refuting previous speculation.

The eyes of the group glowed faintly. If Li had been trapped in the coffin, then the Ten-Thousand Mother Golden Seal might have been used to pry open the lid; he could have intended to escape with it!

"Everything is speculation; nothing can be confirmed," said the Master of the Black Blood Research Institute.

In fact, he was now feeling somewhat suspicious and uneasy. "Do you think Li is truly dead? The matter of the stone coffin sealing the door is just too abnormal; the more I think about it, the more chilling it becomes."

"What? Li isn't dead?" One of them felt a chill down their spine. They had a deep, unresolvable enmity with Li from back then and were particularly sensitive to such a question.

"Perhaps we're too optimistic," the Master of the Black Blood Research Institute said gravely. "Maybe Li isn't dead, and all our previous conjectures are flawed!"

After all, he was a researcher, inherently cautious, and skeptical of everything.

Emperor Wu shook his head. "That's impossible. I once fought Li fiercely; no one knows his true blood or soul aura better than I do."

He stared at the stone coffin in the Great Underworld. "He's in there. His bones have decayed, and his soul has turned to dust, yet it's still preserved within the coffin."

Emperor Wu was very confident about this. He had used special methods to perceive everything, confirming that Li was dead, died tragically, and remained in the coffin, unable to escape back then.

Only a wisp of his persistent obsession remained in the world, returning to the Yang Realm simply to gaze upon this land and the people from that era once more!

Some ultimate beings looked at Taiyi. This old fellow was incredibly formidable and excessively ancient; his insight should be the sharpest. Had he discerned something?

"Dead!" Taiyi declared, simply and directly. Seeing everyone look his way, he finally added, "Currently, he should be dead, unless he can defy the heavens, revive his decaying corpse, and revitalize his soul dust. I don't think he can do that!"

If he could do that, if he possessed such means, Li would not have died; no one could have killed him!

Not even the stone coffin sealing the door could have obliterated him!

"Why do I feel the phrase 'door-sealing coffin' sounds familiar? I vaguely recall seeing it once in some ancient record," someone murmured.

"No matter what, we must try again to retrieve the Ten-Thousand Mother Golden Book!" Emperor Wu stated.

"Wait, the door-sealing stone coffin... let me think!" Taiyi suddenly interjected, stopping everyone.

At this moment, they were unaware that a terrifying black light was sweeping across the land, visiting the backyards of the empty-nest ultimate beings.

Furthermore, the Demonic Chu was also preparing to follow suit and raid their homes!