Chapter 2
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 2 – Coffin That Buries the Heavens
With vengeance burning in his chest, Lu Jin willed it forth—and in an instant, the ancient, bronze-hued Burial Heaven Coffin shimmered into existence before him.
He did not know much about its deeper mysteries, but because it had already recognized him by blood, he could command its basic functions with ease.
The next heartbeat, his figure vanished where he stood, reappearing inside a space awash with swirling, mysterious light.
At the edge of his sight floated an enormous coffin, suspended in the void. From it poured an ancient, oppressive aura—heavy as the night sky, black as the depths of the abyss. Two great golden characters blazed across its lid, writhing like dragons in flight:
葬天 — Bury the Heavens.
So this… is one of the Ninefold Coffins of Heaven?
Suppressing the shock hammering in his chest, Lu Jin tried to probe further, but his strength was far too meager. A single wisp of his spiritual sense touched the coffin… and vanished without a trace, not even leaving a ripple behind.
He exhaled helplessly, but then recalled the words of the Qinglian Empress:
“Feed it with something rich in spiritual energy.”
“Then… let’s see what you make of a spirit stone.”
In the blink of an eye, he withdrew from that strange space, brushed the storage ring on his finger, and sent a single spirit stone drifting toward the coffin.
Buzz!
The miniature bronze coffin flared with mysterious light. At once, a surge of pure, refined power flooded into his body, becoming a wellspring of energy at his very core!
Hm? This is… the coffin’s feedback?
Shock rippled through him. The moment that current of power entered his meridians, he could feel it—his cultivation realm had risen, if only by a hair’s breadth. But the change was undeniable.
“This isn’t just spiritual qi… It’s spiritual force—directly tempering my body, ready to be called upon at will.”
His mind raced. So the coffin can refine spirit stones into the purest source of energy to strengthen cultivation!
Normally, a cultivator would have to refine the essence of spirit stones or pills before absorbing them. But the energy refined by the Burial Heaven Coffin fused directly with his body, becoming part of his fundamental life force.
It was an advantage so overwhelming, ordinary cultivators could never dream of catching up.
“In that case…”
His gaze dropped to his storage ring—the inheritance his master had left behind.
It was a lifetime’s fortune. His master, one of the Nine Peak Lords of Myriad Sword Sect, had only ever taken Lu Jin as a disciple. A peerless figure, he had once slaughtered every demonic cultivator within a thousand miles single-handedly, his combat strength ranked among the top three in the sect.
The wealth such a man left behind was staggering: twenty thousand spirit stones, shelves of cultivation manuals, weapons, rare materials, and precious medicines.
With a thought, Lu Jin drew out one hundred spirit stones.
The coffin erupted with a wave of white light, enveloping them. Within a few breaths, all were gone.
Buzz!
A tide of spiritual force roared from the coffin into his body, flooding his limbs and bones.
Pain lanced through him like a thousand needles driving straight into his skull.
Agony.
The single stone before had caused no discomfort, but the force of a hundred stones refined at once was a hundredfold stronger. His flesh could only withstand it by transforming in kind.
He sat cross-legged and circulated his cultivation technique. Gradually, the pain ebbed.
To wear the crown, you must bear its weight.
If the coffin’s powers are this great, my body must keep pace.
Bitterest trials forge the highest peak—and compared to the rise in my cultivation, this pain is nothing.
“Again!”
Buzz!
Three hundred spirit stones flew forth—what an inner sect disciple of Myriad Sword Sect might receive in a whole year.
By his estimate, refining them all might push him into the Spirit Pearl Realm.
Boom!
Mystical light blazed, the coffin humming like a storm. The flood of force this time was like a meteor plunging into a lake, sending waves surging through every inch of him.
Bones popped and cracked like firecrackers. His blood and flesh burned, skin flushing red, every hair standing on end.
Pain. Not the sharp sting of before—this was the deep, tearing torment of transformation.
Lu Jin gritted his teeth, forming seals as he drove his most advanced body-forging art—the upper-grade Vajra Body Tempering Art.
Cultivation methods were ranked Yellow, Profound, Earth, Heaven, and Emperor, and each tier was split into lower and upper grades. The Vajra Body Tempering Art, a top-grade Profound-tier technique, was reserved for disciples who had rendered immense service to the sect. For most, it was an unreachable dream.
But as he circulated it—
Buzz!
—A strange white light surged from the coffin, freezing his technique mid-flow. An immense tide of information crashed into his mind.
A new cultivation art? Is the coffin… replacing mine?
“Grand Evolution Dragon Transformation Art… What tier is this?”
His breath caught. The coffin could not only feed him power—it could gift him superior techniques.
The new art was imprinted directly into his mind, divided into five stages: Initial, Middle, High, Minor Completion, and Great Completion. At its peak, the body would become a divine dragon, soaring the skies and diving into the seas, free to roam the endless void.
“This surpasses the Vajra Art by leagues!”
Without hesitation, he abandoned his old technique and began training in the new one from the very first stage.
No sooner had he started than the spiritual force in his body surged like floodgates bursting. Excitement flooded his heart.
No wonder the coffin rejected my old art—it was trash compared to this!
The power refined by the coffin flowed under the new technique’s guidance, tempering his flesh while being absorbed entirely. His aura climbed steadily.
His body ached, each pang a sign of metamorphosis—as if he were being reborn in a crucible of fire.
At last, after an eternity of burning, the three hundred stones were gone. The pain faded… but his eyes narrowed.
I didn’t break through? Could it be because of the Devouring Dan Tian?
The Spirit Pearl Realm required condensing pearls of spiritual force in the Dan Tian, one for each minor stage, until nine were formed into one to step into the Golden Core Realm.
He had swallowed hundreds of stones and still formed no pearls. The last time he’d done so, it had taken only fifty.
“If it’s not enough… then I’ll add more.”
He remained steady, unwilling to recklessly destroy himself—but his body was already tempered enough to withstand more. This time, he fed the coffin five hundred stones.
The cycle of agony and growth repeated. His resilience to pain grew alongside his strength.
…Until—
Rumble!
Above Slaughter Immortal Peak, black clouds boiled and lightning danced.
At first, the sect thought it was only a storm—until the lightning lingered, coiling around the mountaintop.
Inside Myriad Sword Sect, voices rose:
“This isn’t natural lightning—this is a tribulation!”
“From Slaughter Immortal Peak? But it’s been abandoned for years.”
“No, that peak is next to Saintess Peak! She’s been in seclusion, trying to reach Second-grade Golden Core—it must be hers!”
“If she succeeds, she could join the greatest power within a thousand miles—the Blood Moon Holy Land!”
Talk spread like wildfire. The elders watched with awe. Saintess Liu Ruyan had only reached the Golden Core Realm three months ago—her talent was already unparalleled.
But atop Saintess Peak, a woman in meditation coughed blood, eyes wide in disbelief.
I… failed? But I summoned the tribulation!
She was indeed Liu Ruyan, Saintess of Myriad Sword Sect.
Her gaze snapped toward Slaughter Immortal Peak, where the storm raged—and realized the lightning was not hers at all.
“Someone else is transcending? On an abandoned peak? And… this isn’t a Golden Core tribulation at all!”
From her ring came the rasp of her master’s voice, tinged with surprise:
“Spirit Pearl Tribulation!”
“Master… you mean even the Spirit Pearl Realm can summon lightning?”
“Yes! Some talents shine so brightly the heavens themselves strike at them, even before the Golden Core Realm!”
Shock widened Liu Ruyan’s eyes. But her master’s tone sharpened:
“Child—this is your chance! A Spirit Pearl tribulation is far weaker than a Golden Core’s. If you temper your body with it now, your Supreme Bone will merge with you flawlessly. When you later assault the Second-grade Golden Core, success will be certain!”
“You mean… steal it?”
“Exactly! I taught you the Great Plunder Immortal Art to seize every fortune that crosses your path. Waste this, and you are a fool!”
Greed flared in Liu Ruyan’s gaze.
“Good.”
With a cold glint in her eye, she drew three hundred spirit stones from her ring and poured them into her refining cauldron.
“Come, lightning!”
Boom!
Her aura exploded, the might of a First-grade Golden Core surging skyward in a column of white light—bait for the heavens themselves.
Meanwhile, within the coffin, Lu Jin laughed in exhilaration.
“Haha! At last—the first Spirit Pearl!”
In his Devouring Dan Tian, a bead no larger than a mote of dust floated, radiating tides of spiritual force.
“The Grand Evolution Dragon Transformation Art truly is formidable… But did this technique summon the lightning? Golden Core tribulations shouldn’t come this early!”
The bolts kept striking, making the coffin itself shudder. But with the art’s power, he endured every blast, his body mending at a rate visible to the naked eye.
With a coffin in hand and this heaven-defying art, his cultivation was like a tiger given wings.
“Tribulation, is it? Then let it come harder!”
He poured two thousand spirit stones into the coffin.
“One pearl is nowhere near my limit—let’s keep going!”
The sky answered in kind. Thunderclouds swelled to monstrous size.
Liu Ruyan’s stolen light drew a bolt—but the lightning’s fury had multiplied, and her confidence shattered.
“Master! Why is the lightning suddenly so much stronger?!”
Urgency laced the old woman’s reply:
“Use the Supreme Bone—now!”
