ASER - Chapter 238
Chapter 238: Bronze Coffin
After A'Diao escaped, she indeed had the air of someone barely clinging to life.
Weak and battered, covered in blood, yet her eyes shone brightly, and the corners of her mouth curled upwards in an expression of extreme excitement.
Toilet said, "Seeing you like this, I feel like you're someone who, while another person was away on a business trip, went to sleep with their wife. Then, that person suddenly came home early, you panicked, and scrambled out the window without even bothering to put on your underwear. Most importantly, you successfully escaped… disheveled, flustered, yet with a perverse sense of satisfaction."
A'Diao: "?"
I bloody well thank you. With your mouthful of descriptive words, are you trying to write a novel?
However, A'Diao didn't have time to curse Toilet right now. She didn't dare to rashly take out her spare spaceship to flee, because a spaceship's movements in the universe were too easy to trace, unlike her own body, which was more concealable.
It was just that her body consumed a lot of energy in space, and with her current damaged physique – just a head and a mangled torso – it was particularly difficult. Fortunately, before coming to space, she had made ample preparations, specifically creating some special, quick-replenishing potions. They were highly effective, she could withstand them directly, and she wasn't afraid of damaging her foundation; after all, her current foundation was exceptionally robust and could take the strain.
Thanks to these potions, A'Diao replenished some energy in the shortest possible time. Then, after moving a certain distance away, she first manipulated space molecules to hide in a dimensional space. After repairing it, she concealed herself several times in succession, using different spatial barriers and flow rates to mask her aura, before finally making a spatial jump.
But her energy was limited, so the distance she could jump was also limited. After evading, she selected a planet according to her original plan and directly vanished into its core. Then, while repairing her body, she began to deal with her avatar and the spaceship.
Her main body was hidden deep, but the avatar and spaceship needed to be dealt with.
After arranging the aftermath, she began to take out resources and hastily repair her body.
Toilet noticed her urgency and was somewhat puzzled. "You've arranged things like this, and you'll still be found? Surely not."
When the incident occurred, she had already used proper and reasonable methods. So what was she nervous about now? Could it be that she was so certain the enemy was terrifyingly capable of tracking her?
A'Diao remained silent. After repairing her hands, she took out solid sun matter. Its density was far higher than that of liquid sun matter. A'Diao made a simple calculation and found that if the fragments blasted out this time were melted down and converted to liquid, their volume would be equivalent to about thirty thousand oval containers.
This was only a part of the whole, but it was enough to turn her from a beggar into a tycoon on the Forbes list.
This felt amazing!
While A'Diao's heart pounded, she also tried to pat her cheeks, calm down, and then began to process the sun matter.
Previously, extracting sun matter required using lunar matter to neutralize it. But with research and refining experience, A'Diao had found a substitute, greatly increasing efficiency. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so desperate to scheme for sun matter.
But now, she was perhaps even more short on time.
Toilet: "According to your judgment, if they are that terrifying and have informants scouting large areas of the universe, then the spaceship most likely can't be hidden. If the spaceship is found… will they trace it back to you?"
A'Diao: "They can't."
Then what are you panicking about?
At this moment, the spaceship had indeed been found.
This Sky Eye system was too terrifying. Not only was its destination found, but even the trajectory of the incoming messages was also discovered.
Wouldn't that expose the avatar's identity?
At this time, the surveillance had indeed captured the spaceship's appearance and data. By screening and locking onto its identity, and then reviewing the life form data displayed within the cabins of these spaceships as scanned by the Sky Eye during their flight, they confirmed it.
The identity was finally determined.
Was it Chen A'Diao?
"On the surface, it's Chen A'Diao from Tang Song's Lushan Academy."
The powerful figure turned back, narrowing his eyes. "On the surface?"
"Yes, some traces indicate it's Chen A'Diao, but it was found that its life signs were weaker than Chen A'Diao's other avatars – her recently displayed strength was post-breakthrough, but the data from this avatar was from before, especially the spiritual data, which was identical to her old data. We infiltrated the laboratory that Dantai Ye had hidden and supported in Tang Song for many years and found a lot of her data there. We discovered that the latest data set was identical to the current data, which is not normal."
The powerful figure certainly knew it wasn't normal. If a snake had already ascended to become a dragon, it wouldn't display snake scales but would replace them with dragon scales.
"Could it be that this Chen A'Diao orchestrated this herself?"
"That's also a possibility. But looking at it now, if she had prepared this long ago, we shouldn't have been completely unaware. Moreover, with her methods, she wouldn't resort to such a risky approach. Most importantly, she has backing now; she could have easily invited the one from Wu Mountain and Kunlun. Therefore, our investigation leans towards the conclusion that even if Chen A'Diao was indeed responsible, this was her first time here. The question then arises: on her first visit, she could discover this place, act in such a manner, succeed, and even manage the cleanup successfully?"
Was it possible?
The probability was low.
But there was still a probability, because she was Chen A'Diao.
"Do not underestimate this person. The council has already begun investigating this woman, and her assessment level has been raised to be on par with Kunlun and the Wu Mountain Ancestor. Are there any other findings?"
Naturally, there were.
After the "superficial" identity of the spaceship and avatar was investigated, the self-destructed spaceship was also captured, but the avatar had disappeared.
Although the spaceship had exploded, the remaining fragments still fell into their hands. After testing and analysis, no aura other than Chen A'Diao's remained. But who were they? Their technology was inestimably advanced. Taken to the laboratory and subjected to the most extreme equipment, a kind of spiritual existence was detected from the extracted energy signature.
And this spiritual existence caused a stir in the laboratory at the time. Soon, the news reached the powerful figure.
"Demonic Seed Core Element?"
The powerful figure's expression changed slightly.
Why had they recently started paying attention to external affairs? Initially, no matter how much chaos erupted outside, even Chen A'Diao's sudden emergence wasn't enough to make them look twice, because they knew the world was in their hands. However, due to Dantai Ye's existence, which involved their technology, they had only now realized that their technology had been leaked.
First, there was a traitor.
Second, it had been leaked for so long, and they had only just found out.
These two points were more or less fatal, so the internal atmosphere was very tense. Coupled with this incident, the situation became even more complicated.
If everything was blamed on Chen A'Diao, many things would be contradictory. The only explanation for everything could only be – she was just that formidable, because she was Chen A'Diao.
If they considered accidents with this mindset every time, it would make them seem like stupid pigs and dull oxen.
Who were they? As the biggest beneficiaries of the era, and those who had won the world, how could they hold such great awe and fear for A'Diao?
So, it was destined that they would use another explanation to connect all of this.
The Demonic Spirit Clan invades –> The traitor leaks technology –> Human-Demons like Dantai Ye are created and deployed to cause trouble in the human realm –> Dantai Ye is exposed because of Chen A'Diao, they realize the existence of a traitor and begin an internal investigation. The traitor senses the crisis and leaks the black hole secret in advance / or it was leaked long ago, but the Demonic Spirit Clan, fearing a turn of events, premeditated to act early –> They act, incidentally framing Chen A'Diao, wanting to incite a fight between them and Chen A'Diao, so their Demonic Spirit Clan can reap the rewards.
"The evidence is that all other Human-Demons have now disappeared, and the timing of their disappearances is all after Dantai Ye emerged from the Huaiguang Demon Cave… Besides Dantai Ye, only the Demonic Spirit Clan knew the information about these Human-Demons. Dantai Ye was only captured by Chen A'Diao later. It would be very difficult for Chen A'Diao to obtain information on all Human-Demons at once. This indicates that the Demonic Spirit Clan was the one who acted, because Dantai Ye had ulterior motives. The Demonic Spirit Clan's purpose at that time was to exploit his value and fight Chen A'Diao, but rounding up the Human-Demons was also their goal."
"The Human-Demons were taken away, and then used to disguise as Chen A'Diao's avatar…"
"This is their next move, aimed directly at us."
As the saying goes, a fight requires equals. A tiger wouldn't try to lure a mutt into a fight when chasing a leopard; it would lure an equally fierce wolf or lion. Therefore, they felt this line of reasoning was logical; the means, motive, and even timing all matched up.
After this wave of deductions, they connected everything with a series of clattering sounds.
The powerful figure frowned, then sneered, "The Great Demon King has yet to awaken, but these little demon kings are quite capable of stirring up trouble."
Gong Shang had fallen, and the Demon King's Palace had suffered heavy losses. To compensate for this dismal situation and avoid being severely punished by the Great Demon King in the future, these little demon kings naturally had to resort to some insidious tricks. But it had to be said, this move was ruthless enough.
They not only gained huge benefits and successfully executed their plan, but they also bloody well tried to shift the blame onto Chen A'Diao…
Toilet figured out A'Diao's plan. Its first reaction was – she initially knew nothing about the situation with the Arbitration Council and the black hole. She had formulated this series of plans in just a few seconds and during her subsequent escape.
When setting up a scheme, the more tricks, the more flaws. The most sophisticated scheme is to use the opponent's position and desires to make them walk into the maze themselves.
But all of this was also built on her always being prepared, such as researching Demonic Seeds, refining the Demonic Seed Core Element's aura, and using it for her own purposes.
"Since it's all designed, why are you still so nervous?" Toilet saw A'Diao, drenched in sweat, frantically producing and absorbing mutated substances, and was somewhat surprised.
A'Diao frowned. "I never thought I'd run into them in the first place, nor was I sure if they were the Arbitration Council or someone else. But you saw their setup at the black hole; it was very formidable, especially that bronze coffin. Who knows what's inside it, needing to be placed in the black hole region. However, the reason I'm so anxious is simply because I will be found."
Will be found, stated so lightly.
But Toilet was a bit dazed. "Logically, shouldn't they be starting to suspect the Demonic Spirit Clan now?"
A'Diao: "There's still one flaw."
Toilet: "?"
A'Diao: "After the explosion, the missing sun matter that was blown away – they will calculate that too. If someone snuck in to steal, both the bronze coffin and the sun matter would be targets. But due to the urgent need for sun matter, I will be listed as the primary suspect. So they will definitely continue to pursue me."
"My situation is still dangerous. They must be tracking me right now."
"Moreover, they have influence in the universe. It's either a dense network of surveillance or they've initiated a lockdown, preventing me from using a spaceship or spatial jumps to leave this star region."
"I must undergo a fourth mutation, master stronger talents, and then manipulate space molecules to escape by traversing internal space directly."
As she spoke, A'Diao, who had frantically absorbed a vast amount of mutated substances and was on the verge of her fourth mutation, began to make other arrangements with her hands.
And two hours later… a person suddenly appeared in this star region.
This person floated in the vastness of the universe, dressed in a white robe adorned with a classic pattern of a wild tiger tearing through clouds. His hair was also white, and his eyes were cold. He coolly scanned the celestial bodies before him, and soon, his gaze locked onto one location.
A light brain floated out to his side. "Master, the target is in this star region. Currently, it seems most likely that this person is hiding on a planet with a rich ecosystem to conceal their life aura. After all, energy is easy to hide, but complex life forms are difficult to survey."
The white-haired man, however, said nothing. With an indifferent wave of his sleeve, the entire planet was bombarded by heavenly fire that descended upon it.
In an instant, the living beings on this planet were turned to ash.
After the incineration, the white-haired man found nothing. The light brain also completed its assessment. "Not here."
The white-haired man frowned and suddenly looked towards another planet. This planet was a mineral star, but not one with rare ores, so it wasn't within the mining scope of various powers. However, the white-haired man was a peak Great Spirit King expert, and in his perception, there was something off about this planet.
Since something was off, then…
He pointed a finger, and a Void Firmament Sword materialized, a sword that could cleave the nine voids.
Boom! More than half the planet was sliced apart by this single sword strike. Within the exposed subterranean cross-section, a dark light suddenly shot out from a cave.
The white-haired man narrowed his eyes and, with a cold smile, reached out to grab it.
Whoosh! The dark light tried to struggle, but as the white-haired man's will extended, the dark light was increasingly controlled and captured alive.
Clearly, he intended to capture it alive.
However, the dark light suddenly released a ring of demonic visages unique to the Demonic Spirit Clan from its spiritual body… Boom!!!
After the spiritual body self-destructed, the white-haired man was affected by the shockwave. With a grim face, he swiped his fingertip, and a spiritual domain instantly enveloped the wave of spiritual energy attack. But even so, the person in the dark light still died violently, leaving only a mangled body. If not for the white-haired man's swift action, using a technique to suppress the body's self-destruction, nothing would have remained.
Of course, only a fragmented corpse remained before him now, but he saw the Demonic Seed within the corpse and the fading life force.
He frowned.
"It really wasn't Chen A'Diao, but a Human-Demon."
He took the storage equipment from the body but found no sun matter. However, he looked down and saw a still somewhat fresh teleportation array in the cave.
A cosmic matter teleportation array, still warm, clearly having just teleported something away.
The light brain checked the teleportation destination.
"A world-command token opened a channel, guiding the teleportation array in. It's in the Demon Caves."
The light brain saw its master's grim face.
After successfully undergoing her fourth mutation, A'Diao forcibly teleported across star regions to a distant one, indeed escaping the lockdown of that previous region. She had temporarily evaded danger. Still shaken, she didn't dare to linger in the universe any longer and subsequently returned to Lushan, directly teleporting to the study.
"Oh my god, Big Kun-Kun, that was terrifying just now! You have no idea what I saw…" A'Diao's voice suddenly caught in her throat because this teleportation was a bit rushed and she had veered off course. She wasn't in the study's main hall but had entered the adjacent bedroom.
The bedroom had a bathing pool.
A'Diao was right beside the bathing pool, and saw… a panda bathing?
No, the panda skin was placed to the side. A nearly transparent soul body, about three to four-tenths visible, stood under the flowing water. His jet-black long hair, like flowing ink, cascaded smoothly against a backdrop reminiscent of pale mountains and white snow…
A'Diao blinked, raised a hand to rub her eyes, and took a second look.
He stood with his face upturned beneath the stream of water, letting it splash onto his cheeks, tracing the divinely handsome curves of his features, caressing peaks and angles, finally converging like the most moving confluence of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake.
She couldn't see the human division of male or female in him, but rather a tranquility and gentleness that merged with heaven, earth, mountains, and seas.
And his eyes.
The corners of his eyes were crimson, hinting at sorrow, but his pupils were as deep as a blue sea.
"Insolent."
He spoke again, his voice surprisingly hoarse and soft, remarkably like the languid weakness of a proper and elegant lady who had been made half-drunk.
A'Diao touched her little ears and said.
"I didn't do it on purpose, but it wasn't a wasted trip."
"Thanks for the treat."
Kunlun, his hair still damp, had already donned the panda skin and was sitting upright, drinking the milk tea that little Yuanbao had politely prepared. Opposite him, A'Diao was eating and drinking ravenously without any regard for her image, all while telling him about her trip.
Hearing about the Arbitration Council, Kunlun's expression shifted slightly.
What kind of person was A'Diao? She noticed it and looked at him appraisingly. "You know?"
Kunlun: "You guessed that I knew, so you deliberately told me about this to test me?"
Otherwise, with her personality, she would never so openly divulge such a secret. It was simply that she was a little afraid of the other party's power and wanted to cling to a strong backer.
Even though her own legs were already thick enough, she wasn't averse to finding a bunch of people to "die in battle" for her.
A'Diao was thick-skinned. She chuckled. "This child is young and ignorant, I implore Old Ancestor to resolve my doubts."
Kunlun lowered his head and drank his milk tea. "I don't understand it well either. I only vaguely heard Elder Brother Changting mention that the imperial families of the Three Kingdoms once proposed an idea: to establish an organization that would preside over the Three Kingdoms, manage human affairs, and prevent internal strife among humans from undermining the war against the Demonic Spirits. And this organization was the Arbitration Council. Elder Brother did not agree at the time. The Three Imperial Families were polite then and said nothing on the surface, but unexpectedly, they still established it behind the scenes. With such meticulous planning, it's not surprising they succeeded."
A'Diao: "Sounds good. Did he disagree because the Three Kingdoms' imperial families wanted to stuff their own people into it, to build a power that even the three major sects and other forces couldn't match?"
Kunlun: "Somewhat. But I think my elder brother's deeper reason was that these people wanted to use the Arbitration Council as a ladder to gain unrestricted access to the Celestial Clan."
A'Diao subconsciously thought: Either Lord Changting was shortsighted and didn't want to lose his own privileges, or he had foreseen the disastrous consequences of excessive contact between humans and the Celestial Clan, which is why he disagreed. But this also precisely offended these people and substantiated others' accusations against him.
Kunlun clearly detested these matters. He only spoke of what he knew, unwilling to impose his own emotions, so he said no more, only asking A'Diao if she could judge the opponent's strength.
"A bit stronger than that Dantai Lingyao. When I say stronger, I don't mean in terms of power – but in life hierarchy."
"I saw him manipulate cosmic energy to attack. He has reached the base level of effortless control. The human race itself cannot achieve the realm where words become law because of genetic limitations. So I guess their technology has broken through, like the Demonic Seed, or perhaps even more advanced than the Demonic Seed."
Specifics would have to wait until she killed one of them and dissected it in the future.
Kunlun frowned at this; this situation was very bad.
Bad for everyone.
"So you're not happy."
"Huh?"
Kunlun tilted his head, stating matter-of-factly, "When you ate today, there was no light in your eyes, like a pig in a pigsty that has lost its sense of taste."
Did you and Toilet attend an advanced class on satirical literature together?
A'Diao rolled her eyes and admitted frankly, "I was just a bit scared. That person wiped out a small planet with a wave of his hand."
Although they were all low-level beings, they numbered in the tens of millions.
An ordinary mineral star being destroyed was one thing, but that was a planet teeming with life.
Was she lamenting or feeling guilty for those lives?
No.
Kunlun knew she wasn't. "You are merely shocked by their audacity."
"The strong, unrestrained, indulge in wanton slaughter, no different from demons. And because of this, you grow more wary of their authority, for you always see yourself as one of the ants of this world."
She wasn't afraid of those imperial families of the Three Kingdoms in the human realm at all, because she knew their fears and weaknesses. But towards the Arbitration Council, she truly felt they were a bunch of lunatics.
So, what made her heart palpitate wasn't the death of those beings, but the fear that if she confronted the profoundly insane Arbitration Council, she would die as miserably as those beings.
Kunlun saw her contemplating, then suddenly extended a large panda paw and, pat, hugged her.
Like a little girl hugging a big white bear.
He patted her head and said, "Don't be afraid, I am recovering."
A'Diao was touched and seized the opportunity. "Old Ancestor, can you let me see your naked body again? Touching is fine too, I'm afraid the measurements might be off."
Kunlun: "..."
It wasn't that she was lecherous; Kunlun's appearance was truly too beautiful.
Pleasing to the eye, one could eat three bowls of rice just looking at him.
Toilet: Perhaps, after suddenly seeing such unparalleled beauty, and then suddenly facing a silly-looking giant panda, her heart was in turmoil, hence her lack of appetite?
Cuteness and fluffiness are worthless before peerless beauty. Chen A'Diao was also quite worldly.
This must be the truth.
The Old Chen family always seemed to be a lineage of inveterate beauty-admirers.
Before A'Diao retreated into the secret chamber for intensive cultivation, she flipped through her mental power list and found a name at the very end.
From Ying Si +999 stars!
Ying? The Lie Qin Imperial Family.
A'Diao felt that she was destined to be entangled with imperial families in this lifetime. After asking Kunlun, he recalled that this person was a monarch of the Lie Qin Imperial Family. Ah, wasn't this the same as that dog Dantai Lingyao, both former emperors?
"You go in and cultivate. I'll organize his information for you."
Kunlun had a calm temperament, and A'Diao didn't ask much more. After entering the secret chamber, she began to consider how to proceed.
Originally, her plan was excellent: develop a bit more, then go after Tang Song. She estimated she could take them down this time. Once taken, she would sever all foundations. But suddenly, an Arbitration Council appeared above her head…
This infinitely increased the difficulty of dealing with the Three Kingdoms' imperial families.
A'Diao had to modify her plans.
1. Unlimited mutation, until all sun matter is digested.
2. Toilet's level must continue to be raised, enhancing fusion ability.
3. Corpse puppets must be strengthened.
4. Demonic Seed plan.
5. Avatar plan.
6. Karmic luck plan.
7. Create a body for Kunlun sufficient for him to recover his strength.
8. …………
Wave after wave of plans, all in an orderly fashion.
"But fortunately, the Arbitration Council has now emerged, and their attention is also focused on the Demon Caves. Although they are definitely paying attention to me too, as long as I keep fighting with the Three Kingdoms' imperial families and stay within their control, it should be fine. The amount of sun matter I have on hand now should be enough for me to mutate more than ten times."
The plans in her mind were already being revised, but she was also curious about one thing.
Whoosh.
From within space-time, the bronze coffin was pulled out.
A'Diao looked at this coffin, touched her little ears, a little curious about what was inside.
She was still a bit excited.
"Treasure, treasure, treasure, it must be a treasure…"
Toilet: "What if it's an old, dried-up corpse? Like some old ancestor from the Three Imperial Families."
A'Diao: "..."
If it wasn't a treasure, but some old fogey from a imperial family, that wouldn't be unacceptable either.
She could just happen to study the DNA of these old monsters from the Arbitration Council.
A'Diao prepared herself mentally and began to undo the restriction seals on it.
Time passed, minute by minute. Three days later, A'Diao, drenched in sweat, removed the last piece of the seal. Then, with a click, the lid of the bronze coffin was lifted open by A'Diao.
A corpse appeared before her eyes.
It was a woman, lifelike, as if still present, lying quietly.
If she were alive, all the cold, stunning beauty of this world would dim, and all fiery, captivating allure would grow pale.
Beneath the gods, such beauty was unparalleled.
But from her facial features, and the tightly furrowed brows before death, the pervasive silence of annihilation, A'Diao seemed to sense… a few lingering emotions from a soul devoured by purgatory.
Regret, pain, determination.
Upon closer inspection, there was nothing left.
She was thoroughly dead, but A'Diao still instinctively recognized this person's identity.
"Could this be the love-brained, greatly wronged Celestial Maiden who was deceived by the Old Turtle? Holy crap!!!"
A'Diao was shocked.
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