A pitch-black coffin floated on the river's surface, drifting downstream with the current.
Su Mu manipulated the water, causing the water beneath the coffin to become static, and the coffin halted accordingly.
Upon approaching, Su Mu circled the coffin several times, finally pressing his ear against the coffin's board, tapping it with his fingers, and asked, "Is anyone there?"
As soon as he spoke, Su Mu felt foolish; this was a coffin—if someone responded, that would be abnormal, right?
Thump, thump—
The next second, two knocks echoed from within the coffin, startling Su Mu greatly.
Was there a living person inside??
Su Mu grabbed the coffin board with both hands, ready to open it, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge.
He directly operated his Divine Elephant Prison Strength, the phantom of a Divine Elephant appeared, he inhaled deeply, lifted with all his might, yet found it remained immobile.
Su Mu was dumbfounded.
Am I cultivating as a Fake Immortal??
Mahayana Stage?
Can't a Mahayana Stage even open a coffin?!
Frustrated, Su Mu drew a sword and swung it forcefully at the coffin.
The instant the sword touched the coffin, it shattered into two, and the powerful recoil numbed his hands, forcing him back several steps.
Forget it, forget it.
Su Mu decided to stop; the coffin was too bizarre.
At this moment, he recalled a deeply taboo folklore: "Water Burial Coffin"
When someone dies, they should be buried in the earth. Only by connecting with the earth's energy can they return to dust and earth return to earth.
Using water to float a coffin for burial, as water is inherently yin, poses many taboos and can easily lead to unfortunate events.
Moreover, the knocking sound from within the coffin, could it be... did the corpse mutate??
Before crossing over, Su Mu had watched numerous zombie movies.
However, with his Mahayana Stage cultivation, he wasn't afraid of any zombies.
Just feeling taboo, disrupting the feng shui.
Buried in other waters, Su Mu couldn't care less, but buried in his patrol river, that was a huge problem!
This was seriously disrupting the feng shui. He watched this coffin float around daily—how could he tolerate that?
.....
With these thoughts, Su Mu manipulated the water to reverse, carrying the water coffin back upstream.
Return it to where it came from.
Once the coffin disappeared from his sight, Su Mu finally nodded in satisfaction.
....
Endless Plateau, Black Central Realm.
In the chaotic void, nothing was visible; several indescribably powerful phantoms engaged in a void dialogue.
"Calculating the time, it should have arrived by now..." a hoarse voice emerged from the void.
After a long time, another voice responded, "About time it should have arrived."
"But since it has arrived, why hasn't anything changed?"
Yet another low voice echoed.
"Strange, if it had reached the past and succeeded, the Black Central Realm should not remain in chaos, and we shouldn't be trapped here."
"Bone Emperor, what's your view?"
At this moment, an irregular shadow in the void transformed into a bone shadow, its face shrouded in mystery, impossible to discern.
The bone shadow gazed upward at the void; after a long silence, a venerable voice said, "Perhaps it failed."
"Failed?"
"Impossible... with its abilities, even in failure, there should be some change..."
"Why did it fail!"
The voices were evidently shocked, even somewhat panicked and distraught.
The bone shadow pondered for a long time, uncovering a truth he dared not imagine: "It seems not a failure, but that it failed to cross the River of Time and was forcibly sent back."
Hearing this, the other three were stunned.
The next second.
A pitch-black coffin appeared from the void, arriving before the bone shadow.
Immediately, three irregular black shadows also approached the bone shadow, looking incredulously at the coffin.
"It really was sent back!" one of the black shadows exclaimed.
"It makes no sense, it's inconceivable it couldn't cross the River of Time."
The bone shadow stared for a long time before concluding, "Someone must have interfered."
"But... I can't deduce whether that person is in the present, the past, or the future..."
With every deduction, he could only see a vague silhouette, indistinct, thoroughly indistinct...
"Someone interfered?!"
"What kind of entity could interfere with the River of Time?"
The three black shadows had lived through endless ages; regarding the River of Time, they had ventured but were now trapped in the Black Central Realm, unable to tread the River of Time. If not, they'd have gone themselves instead of sending objects to break the stalemate.
Though they could navigate the River of Time to the past, they couldn't affect the River of Time, let alone reverse elements on the River of Time.
This was beyond their comprehension.
What kind of existence could achieve this?
"Lend me your strength."
The bone shadow decided to deduce further; as he finished the command, the three black shadows merged into the bone shadow, becoming one, emitting a horrifying black Immortal Radiance.
He sat down, starting the deduction....
In a daze, he seemingly saw a figure standing on the River of Time, but... no matter how he deduced, he could only see a silhouette, unable to discern the face.
After a mere three seconds of deduction, he felt his soul fragmenting, daring not to continue.
Through the bone shadow's perspective, the three black shadows also witnessed the figure standing on the River of Time.
"Could it be him?"
"I think it's him."
"But... why would he stand on the River of Time and effortlessly reverse our item back..."
"Standing on the River of Time, does he belong to the past or the future?"
They were bewildered, trapped in endless confusion.
The River of Time, a river of rules traversing All Heavens and Myriad Realms, existing in the void, above laws. Treading the River of Time required utmost caution, fearing the devouring nature of temporal causality.
Yet that figure not only stood above the River but also influenced it—how terrifyingly powerful must he be??
"Bone Emperor, what should we do next?"
The three black shadows looked toward the centered bone shadow.
"Try again."
"I can't believe anyone can affect the River of Time."
Though the bone shadow deduced that figure, it might not have been his doing.
"I can't believe it either."
"Let's try again, but if we fail again, the losses will be huge..."
"We're already in a bad way; how much worse can it be? If we can't change the timeline, we might be eternally trapped in this dark, sunless Black Central Realm."
Soon, the three black shadows reached a consensus, all possessing the bone shadow once more.
The next second.
The bone shadow slowly raised his right hand, the vast black Immortal Light enveloping the pitch-black coffin.
Subsequently, the coffin slowly rose, finally vanishing into the void.
After completing all this, the bone shadow became extremely weak, his black light dimming.
"Hope there won't be any other unexpected events...."