There was no longer a sky in this fragmented world.
Most of the ice layer in the sky had collapsed. Huge cracks filled its surroundings, tearing the sky apart.
A huge hole in the center pierced through the interior and exterior, leading straight to the outside world.
The ice layer on the ground was the same. The endless land looked uneven under the shattering. The entire ice layer was lifted by the bronze coffin that rushed out from below.
This bronze coffin was huge. In fact, it was even larger than the coffin Xu Qing had seen under the sea of fire.
Right now, more than half of it was exposed, and it exuded a vast might.
An ancient aura that had witnessed the flower of time spread across this world, invading everything, as if it wanted to release all the buried time in this moment.
It had been buried here for too long. One could see rust on the surface of the coffin, revealing its age and passage of time.
The tremendous force with which the ruler's nail had previously rushed forward was clearly immense and violent. At this moment, even though it had only penetrated halfway into the coffin lid, there were still cracks forming from the points where it was anchored, extending towards the edges.
The cracks spread all over the coffin lid, and there were many areas which were uneven. The entire lid seemed on the verge of shattering completely, only a hair's breadth away from doing so.
This scene caused Xu Qing, the captain, and the other two in the distance to look at each other. They instinctively flew higher again.
At the same time, the voice of the figure formed by the blue fog drifting from the ruler's nail echoed.
"Third sister, after breaking free, I looked for the presence of consciousness of our family in our homeland. Only you and I remain… the other siblings have lost their consciousness."
"Their souls are incomplete and were absorbed by our fourth brother, Li Pan…"
"So, I came here to unseal you. Third Sister… wake up."
The voice of the figure formed by the blue fog was filled with deep sorrow. When it spread through this world, the bronze coffin that was standing there suddenly trembled.
As it trembled, the shattering of the coffin lid became even more intense. Waves of terrifying aura spread out through the gaps, causing this small world to tremble. A withered hand suddenly broke through the coffin lid and stretched out.
A rumbling sound echoed as the coffin lid fragments scattered, revealing the complete hand.
From the appearance of the hand, it was impossible to tell that it was a woman's hand. The skin on it was gone, leaving only withered flesh and blood. It looked grotesque.
All the fingernails were gone and the aura of death continued to rise from it.
The figure formed by the blue fog looked at this hand with even more sorrow.
This was his third sister, the beloved daughter who was doted on by their father. She was also the only one among their siblings who was on par with the ninth brother in terms of aptitude.
Her cultivation base was astonishing. She had gone to war everywhere on behalf of their father and gained illustrious battle merits.
Not only that, her beauty had shocked all races back then, and many noble youths admired her. The ancient emperor personally bestowed upon her the title of Princess Mingmei[1].
At that time, it was said that her beauty was unparalleled, like a lone bright plum blossom in the clouds, untainted by dust.
However, with the arrival of the Crimson Goddess, everything changed. That peerless Princess Mingmei was sealed in a coffin with her father's death.
Her despicable fourth brother, in order to torment her, drew her third brother's blood and sent it to the coffin. In her starved state, she had to forsake her dignity and moral boundaries as a human, and absorb the blood for revenge.
Not a human, not a ghost, neither alive nor dead.
The ruler's heir's sorrow rose as he looked at the coffin.
It was pitch-black and couldn't be seen clearly. One could only see the outstretched hand slowly lifting up, as though it was placed in front of him.
The entire coffin trembled intensely. After a long time, it calmed down and a hoarse female voice rang out from the coffin.
"Prince…"
This familiar voice reminded the ruler's heir of the good times.
And after the voice rang out, the figure inside the coffin slowly walked out, stepped into the world, and appeared before Xu Qing's eyes.
That was a tall figure clad in decaying armor, with her entire body withered. The armor seemed to hang loosely on her, revealing many empty spaces.
At this moment, the wind blew over, passing through the gaps in the armor, emitting whimpering sounds.
Her body was covered in scars and there were countless maggots squirming and biting inside. Her body had no skin, as though it had been peeled off.
All of this made her look extremely ugly, and it was difficult to tell if she was a man or a woman from her physical appearance.
As for her face, it was sunken. There were only two holes in her eyes that emitted eerie flames, as though she had returned from the netherworld.
This made it impossible to imagine what kind of torture and pain she had experienced before.
However, the terrifying energy fluctuations emitted by her body continued to rise as she walked out, causing this fragmented world to tremble and affecting the outside world.
In the entire northern icy plain, the color of the sky changed and a storm brewed. A huge vortex rumbled and appeared in the sky outside.
This vortex spun rapidly, causing the entire north to become distorted and blurry.
It was as though a god had descended.
As all living beings trembled, a red light flashed in the distant sky.
It was the fluctuations from the Red Moon Shrine. The drastic changes here were so great that it was impossible for the Red Moon Shrine not to notice it.
Now, what had arrived wasn't the divine envoy but a vast palm print.
The fingerprints on this palm print were like ravines that were clearly visible, emitting a resplendent red light that spread in all directions like blood light.
It approached from the horizon and grew larger and larger until it covered the sky and earth. It was as though a god had landed Its palm above the endless sky, enveloping the northern icy plains and pressing down toward the location of the fragment of the great world.
[1] Mingmei means Bright Plum.
