Forging the Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 23: Forging the Nine Cauldrons. The Big Dipper Star had always been a Life Star renowned throughout the universe, but now that news spread of the Human Emperor preaching the Dao there, Big Dipper's fame soared even higher.

Unlike the first preaching on Ziwei, which had drawn mostly members of the Human Race, this time, when the Human Emperor preached the Dao, the myriad races of the universe all planned to head for Big Dipper.

The scale of this preaching was immense. Every major race and every lineage sent cultivators to attend.

Even cultivators who had been cultivating bitterly in the depths of the starry sky chose to travel to Big Dipper upon hearing that the Human Emperor would preach the Dao.

For a time, the entire Big Dipper brimmed with lively excitement.

The Human Emperor's preaching lasted ninety-nine days.

This time, he did not expound the ultimate truths of the universe, only the methods of cultivating the Human Body Mysteries.

Yet even this mere foundational explanation of cultivation methods was of immense benefit to the living beings who had come to hear him.

Quite a few even shattered their bottlenecks and broke through on the spot.

After the preaching ended, though everyone was reluctant to part, they could only leave Big Dipper one after another.

The once-bustling Big Dipper returned to tranquility.

Above the Nine Heavens of the Big Dipper Star, Chen Zhao sat cross-legged. Before him floated a Great Cauldron about ten feet tall.

The cauldron had three legs, a round belly, and two handles. Cyan light shimmered across its surface, while layer upon layer of wing-like ripples covered its body, like an ascendant immortal taking flight, emanating a vast and majestic aura.

A closer look would reveal that the wing-like patterns on its surface formed an image of mountains and rivers.

If anyone from Big Dipper were here, they would discover that what was engraved upon it was the terrain of the Big Dipper Star.

And upon further inspection, they would surely find that this Great Cauldron had been forged from Ascension Cyan Gold.

Using Immortal Gold to forge a cauldron—only Chen Zhao could afford such extravagance.

As for the source of the Ascension Cyan Gold, that had been the Lord of Reincarnation's contribution.

After the Lord of Reincarnation died, Chen Zhao had recycled his shattered Immortal Robe as scrap and forged this Great Cauldron from it.

As for why he had forged this cauldron, it was to leave behind a contingency in the universe.

He planned to forge nine Great Cauldrons at nine locations throughout the universe.

Once they formed a peerless grand formation, it could be used to block Emperor Lord's formation patterns from refining the Great Universe.

The reason many Heavenly Lords and Ancient Emperors forged only one Supreme Dao Weapon in their entire lives

was not only because Immortal Gold was difficult to find, but more importantly because a Supreme Dao Weapon required an Ancient Emperor to temper it over a long period with their own Great Dao.

Only then could it transform into a vessel that bore their own Great Dao.

This was why Ancient Emperor Weapons were regarded as extensions of an Emperor's life.

Though this Big Dipper Cauldron had now taken shape, it was only in its initial form. It still required day and night of tempering before it could become a Supreme Dao Weapon.

Chen Zhao did not take the Big Dipper Cauldron with him. Instead, he intended to place it in the Big Dipper Starfield for tempering.

As for the source of power for that tempering, it would be an unending stream of Faith Power.

In later generations, Ye Fan had once forged a Great Cauldron from nine kinds of Immortal Gold.

In the end, the nine cauldrons became one, transforming into a Nine-Colored Treasure Cauldron that merged with the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron, becoming a world-shaking Immortal Artifact.

Chen Zhao's plan to forge nine cauldrons was not merely to use them against Emperor Lord's contingency.

He also wished to put the mysterious Faith Power into practice.

He would use Faith Power to temper the nine cauldrons, allowing them to imprint the Great Dao of the universe and undergo transformation.

What would result when the nine cauldrons finally merged into one? Chen Zhao was quite looking forward to it.

"Under heaven, all bustle for profit; under heaven, all scramble for gain."

The amount of Faith Power required to temper the nine cauldrons was enormously vast.

That was also why Chen Zhao had preached the Dao on Big Dipper.

Only when all living beings gained benefit from his preaching on Big Dipper would they offer Faith Power.

Otherwise, why would living beings generate Faith Power toward him?

After this preaching and journey to Big Dipper, the Human Race's living conditions there had improved. At the very least, they were no longer regarded as blood food.

The reason for all these improvements was him.

The Faith Power generated by the Human Race of Big Dipper in this process was enough to temper the Big Dipper Cauldron.

After merging the Big Dipper Cauldron into the void, he used his own Great Dao and formation patterns to seal the place away, allowing it to blend into the universe.

This ensured that even the Ancient Emperors and Great Emperors of later generations would be unable to discover the Big Dipper Cauldron here.

Beyond the Big Dipper Starfield, Chen Zhao's figure reappeared.

When he appeared, the Forbidden Zone Supremes of Big Dipper could not figure out what the Human Emperor was plotting.

Why had he remained on Big Dipper all this time instead of leaving?

Chen Zhao had remained in the Big Dipper for three reasons: to settle karmic debts with the Big Dipper's Life Forbidden Zones, to collect the Yin Human Emperor's remains, and to seek traces of the Undying Heavenly Emperor.

Having received so much of the Yin Human Emperor's legacy, it would have been one thing if he did not know where the Human Emperor's corpse was.

Chen Zhao knew that the Yin Human Emperor's fragmented remains were on the Path to Immortality. That was why he intended to collect them.

Thus, he planned to open the Path to Immortality.

"Return to Origin!"

Standing in the starry sky, Chen Zhao threw a punch toward the space above the Big Dipper Starfield.

The Forbidden Divine Ability he had previously used to slay the Lord of Reincarnation emerged once more.

The Chaos Great Dao manifested, dragging everything into itself. Even space and time could not escape, transforming into boundless chaos that bore down upon the void!

As this Forbidden Divine Ability struck out, the entire Big Dipper Starfield swayed on the verge of collapse, as though it were about to shatter.

Radiance illuminated the entire universe, dimming even the Star River.

The Forbidden Divine Ability blasted into the void, making the entire Big Dipper tremble without end.

Fortunately, its power did not spread to the Big Dipper Starfield. Otherwise, the entire starfield would have vanished, reduced to boundless chaos.

Rumble!

Under that blow, the void immediately split apart, revealing a terrifying fissure like the Heavenly Crack. All manner of laws intertwined within it, emanating waves of destruction.

Beams of light poured from the crack, incomparably brilliant as they illuminated the entire universe.

Wisps of immortal energy drifted out from within, scattering across the Big Dipper.

Even a single breath of it greatly improved the vitality of some aged cultivators.

Immortal light filled the sky as it danced, like a dazzling display of fireworks.

The Four Spirits evolved from Immortal Dao Laws appeared—Vermillion Bird and White Tiger emerging in turn.

From the depths of that crack, a majestic City Gate appeared!

The Path to Immortality had emerged! At the wrong time, Chen Zhao had forcefully blasted open the Path to Immortality.

The aura released by the appearance of the Path to Immortality awakened the Supremes of the Life Forbidden Zones one after another.

"To forcibly blast open the Path to Immortality at the wrong time? Even the Emperor Lord of old could do no more than this," a Forbidden Zone Supreme could not help but sigh.

Even they could not blast open the Path to Immortality by their own strength at the wrong time.

"So this was the Human Emperor's purpose? He remained in the Big Dipper all this time solely to blast open the Path to Immortality?"

"The Path to Immortality has opened. Does the Human Emperor intend to charge in at this wrong time?"

The opening of the Path to Immortality awakened numerous Forbidden Zone Supremes, who began discussing it among themselves.

According to their deductions, now was not the time for the Path to Immortality to open. Its true opening lay in the distant Later Generations.

They had not expected the Human Emperor to rely on his own strength and forcibly blast open the Path to Immortality.

Back then, the Emperor Lord had relied on his own power to blast open the Path to Immortality, seeking the Ascension of the Entire Sect.