Great Bamboo Peak.
Indoors.
The terrifying heat continued to rise.
Inside the cauldron, purple and azure light clashed and intertwined, like two dragons with a long-standing grudge, neither willing to yield.
"Boom!"
The muffled crash was like a thunderclap from the heavens, forcibly crammed into a tiny clay jar—dull, yet heart-stopping.
The room's protective barrier trembled violently, cracks spreading across it like a spiderweb.
Was it about to explode?
Ye Xuan's gaze remained calm. He didn't even blink.
His right hand, resting on his knee, suddenly lifted.
His potent Tai Chi Vital Energy became an invisible giant hand and thrust roughly into the cauldron.
If they wouldn't fuse, he'd crush them and fuse them afterward!
If the head of Qingyun Sect's Artifact Refining Hall saw this method, he'd probably call Ye Xuan a madman on the spot.
Who forged artifacts by suppressing them with brute force?
But that was exactly what Ye Xuan did.
"Now, condense!"
He gave a low shout and clenched his fist.
The Myriad Ancient Cauldron let out a mournful cry, then fell utterly silent.
Next—
An astonishing surge of spiritual energy swept outward in a ring, with the Myriad Ancient Cauldron at its center.
Crack!
The already precarious protective barrier shattered completely.
The surge burst through the door and sent the fallen leaves in the courtyard swirling.
Even the bamboo forest on Great Bamboo Peak's rear mountain rustled like a churning sea.
It was done.
The cauldron lid sprang into the air on its own.
A streak of azure and purple light shot skyward, circled once overhead, and rang out with a clear, stirring sword cry.
Clang—!
The sound pierced metal and stone, soaring straight into the clouds.
Ye Xuan beckoned.
The streak of light instantly contracted and obediently landed in his palm.
The sword was