When Qi Zhenyun heard Zhao Qingcang say the words "Divine Artifact," there was not the slightest hint of surprise on his wrinkled face.

He nodded, his voice heavy.

"That's right."

"We did indeed discover a Divine Artifact in that ruin."

Zhao Qingcang came to a sudden realization.

So Great Xia Nation had already possessed a Divine Artifact as early as forty years ago.

Perhaps the mistake his teacher, Marshal Deng Qihe, had once made was related to this Divine Artifact.

He remained silent, merely gesturing with his eyes for Qi Zhenyun to continue.

The light inside the carriage was very dim, shrouding Qi Zhenyun's face in shadow.

"After the Marshal learned of this news, he showed unprecedented ecstasy."

"After research by several experts, we discovered that this Divine Artifact is named the 'spirit sealing coffin'."

Qi Zhenyun's tone carried a hint of reminiscence.

"Although it doesn't have any earth-shattering destructive power, it is an incredibly powerful Sealing-type Divine Artifact."

"As long as one is Sealed inside, even an SS-Rank Professional cannot hope to escape."

"And..."

Qi Zhenyun paused, seemingly recalling the excited expressions of the experts when they made their report back then.

"According to the research, besides its Sealing effect, the time inside this spirit sealing coffin seems to be frozen."

"If you put a chicken inside, wait for three months, and then take it out,"

"it will still be exactly as it was when first put in, alive and kicking, without the slightest change."

Zhao Qingcang's heart skipped a beat.

"Frozen time?"

Hearing these words, Zhao Qingcang suddenly had an extremely wild thought.

Qi Zhenyun seemed to see through his thoughts and continued.

"We originally wanted to bring the spirit sealing coffin out of the ruin, but the Formation used to trap it within the ruin back then was too bizarre."

"Several accompanying Formation Masters studied it for several months, but none of them could crack it."

"Therefore, we could only leave the spirit sealing coffin in the ruin for the time being, guarding it with heavy forces."

"Not long after, we went to war with Sakura Country."

"You know what happened after that."

"Although Marshal Deng teamed up with the powerhouses of Great Bear Country to slay the Qinze Taichiro of that era on the shores of the East Sea,"

"he himself fell into a state of critical illness, hovering on the brink of death."

"The top healing-class powerhouses tried everything they could think of, but to no avail."

"We could only watch helplessly as his life force drained away day by day."

"This dragged on for a full two years, until Marshal Deng finally reached the end of his lifespan."

Qi Zhenyun's voice grew even lower.

"At that time, Marshal Deng himself thought of the spirit sealing coffin."

"As long as he Sealed himself inside, time within would stand still, and his life would no longer slip away."

"Perhaps... perhaps if we found some heavenly and earthly treasures in the future, or if a more powerful healing Professional appeared, there would eventually be a chance to heal his injuries."

"That was what Marshal Deng thought at the time."

Qi Zhenyun let out a long sigh.

"This was something all of us could understand."

"Humans are born with a fear of death; even someone as powerful as Marshal Deng would do everything possible to survive."

"And so, we announced Marshal Deng's death to the public and held a state funeral for him."

"In reality, he had been secretly escorted by us into the ruin outside Ximeng City and Sealed inside that spirit sealing coffin."

A brief silence fell over the carriage.

Zhao Qingcang took a deep breath after digesting this information.

"According to what you're saying... is my teacher still alive right now?"

"And what happened later?"

"What happened after that?"

"And what did you mean by the mistake he made?"

Qi Zhenyun sighed.

"Rather than calling it Commander Deng's mistake alone, it's more accurate to say that the entire research team at the time, including myself—all of us made a mistake."

"We only researched the incredible, miraculous effects of the spirit sealing coffin,"

"but we failed to notice the price that had to be paid to use it."

Zhao Qingcang's heart sank. He did not interrupt, choosing to listen quietly.

The night scenery outside the window flew past rapidly, the shadows and lights of the neon signs flickering across Qi Zhenyun's aged face.

"Not long after Marshal Deng entered the spirit sealing coffin,"

"the soldiers stationed inside the ruin began to die mysteriously, one after another."

"The first to be discovered was a sentry responsible for the perimeter guard."

"He was leaning against the rock wall, weapon still in hand, maintaining an alert posture."

"But he had already stopped breathing."

"There were no wounds on his body, and his expression was very peaceful, as if he had just fallen asleep."

"Yet his body was like withered wood stripped of all moisture, his skin clinging tightly to his bones, and he was terrifyingly light."

Zhao Qingcang's pupils contracted slightly.

This manner of death... he seemed to have heard of it somewhere before.

Qi Zhenyun continued, "At first, we didn't understand what was going on either."

"We thought we had been attacked by some powerful and bizarre exotic beast within the ruin that we had not yet discovered."

"We heightened our security, gathered everyone together, and had them move in pairs."

"But the deaths did not stop."

"On the second day, three died."

"On the third day, five died."

"Their states of death were identical to the first sentry's; their life force was instantly drained without any warning."

"Panic spread through the ranks like a plague."

"We had no choice but to take the remaining people and withdraw from the ruin first."

Qi Zhenyun stared out the window, his gaze hollow.

"Sure enough, after leaving the ruin, those bizarre deaths never occurred again."

"At the time, we all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking we had temporarily escaped that unknown threat."

"But on the second day after we returned to our station in Ximeng City, even more terrifying news arrived."

He paused, as if merely recalling this event was consuming a massive amount of his mental energy.

"At the exact same time we withdrew from the ruin, dozens of Classer leveling up in the wilderness of Ximeng City died mysteriously almost at the same moment."

"The military sent people to investigate and find that their states of death were exactly the same as those of the soldiers in the ruin."

Zhao Qingcang's breath hitched for a moment.

Qi Zhenyun continued slowly, "Only then did we gradually realize that there was likely a problem with that Divine Artifact."

"The source of everything began when Marshal Deng entered the 'spirit sealing coffin'."

"Immediately after, I took a team of elites and rushed back to the ruin."

"When I opened that spirit sealing coffin again, I was shocked to find that Marshal Deng, who was lying inside, actually had a much healthier complexion, and his withered white hair seemed to have regained some of its luster."

"I immediately had the accompanying healer examine him."

"The results showed that his body, which had been on the verge of complete exhaustion, had actually rejuvenated with a sliver of vitality."

"It turned out that this spirit sealing coffin could not only freeze time, but it could actually be used to recover lost Origin power!"