What Is a Cauldron Vessel?

Inside the Bridge Mechanism Mountain Cave.

Xu Qingru was thrown to a corner of the cave wall, her back pressed against the cold blue stone, her plain white dress already stained with mud and blood from the riverbank.

Chen Lingxi his spiritual energy to seal the wound on her severed arm, and the bleeding had stopped.

However, the incomparably sharp and powerful Sword Qi of the Azure Edge Method sword still lingered in her meridians.

It felt like countless fine needles were slowly moving through her meridians, and every movement caused her to break out in a cold sweat.

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged on the bluestone opposite her, the ghost mask still on his face.

The Gold-Slaughtering Saber, wielded horizontally across his lap, exuded an awe-inspiring presence.

Xu Qingru took a moment to catch her breath, then raised her head. The pitiful, tearful look that had appeared on the riverbank was gone from her eyes, which were as calm as death.

She knew she couldn't escape.

Qi Circulation Fifth Floor is like paper in front of this person. Even Qi Circulation Fifth Floor like Jiang Xing had his head cut off with a single strike. Even at her peak, she was no match for this person.

Chen Lingxi finally looked up at her, her gaze calm as still water. "Who sealed you into the coffins?"

Xu Qingru remained silent for a few moments before slowly speaking, "Yun Jiao."

"Yun Jiao?" Chen Lingxi raised an eyebrow slightly.

He had certainly heard of that name.

Of the nineteen rebel kings in the Great Li Kingdom today, Xiao Changlü is the most powerful, followed by Wu Mohe.

The third rebel leader was none other than Yun Jiao.

Xu Qingru and said, "Yun Jiao, like us, is also someone who Rebirth Realm."

Those who Rebirth Realm are the Great World who came to this Cave Heaven through the Rebirth Pool.

Chen Lingxi remained calm and simply nodded slightly, signaling her to continue.

"My senior brother Jiang Xing and I are of far inferior background to the disciples of the famous sects of the Great World. We have wasted many years in this Cave Heaven, and have never had the opportunity to Tower Ascension to the tower." Xu Qingru's voice became lower and lower. "Later, fortuitous opportunity chance, we obtained a Cauldron Artifact Fragment called the Taotie Urn."

The urn contained a Life-Swallowing Divine Ability, capable of absorbing the vital energy of others to aid in cultivation.

"The two of us... relyed on this Divine Ability to eke out a living in this Cave Heaven."

"Later we heard that the rebel Yun Jiao was recruiting cultivators from minor sects and clans, promising them that if they helped him seize the cauldron, they would receive the fortuitous opportunity to cultivate in the [Calamity Sea] after returning to the Great World."

"You've allied yourselves with him?" Chen Lingxi asked.

Xu Qingru nodded, then gave a bitter smile.

Chen Lingxi narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why would he do this?"

"I don't know." Xu Qingru shook her head. "After we were sealed in the coffin, our minds were in a daze. It wasn't until you pulled us out of the river that we realized we had been sunk to the bottom."

Chen Lingxi remained silent.

Yun Jiao was a rebel king, yet he bound these two cultivators to coffins and sold them to the court's eunuchs?

The eunuch then used the coffin as the key element of the formation, sinking it to the bottom of the Summer River to complete the array.

"It seems these two are unaware that someone has used them to set up an array," Chen Lingxi thought to himself.

That eunuch was a member of the imperial palace, and naturally also a member of the court.

This Yun Jiao, the dignified third rebel king, actually colluded with the imperial court, selling the cultivators who had pledged allegiance to him to the court like commodities.

He pondered for a moment, suppressing these thoughts for the time being, and then suddenly asked, "You just said that you and Jiang Xing are from the Chutian Star Jiang Family? What is that place? And what is your background?"

Xu Qingru slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Chen Lingxi to suddenly ask about this, but still answered, "Chutian Star is a star in the Great World."

The Jiang Family is a small clan on Chutian Star.

I come from the Azure Crown Sect, but it's a minor sect in the Immortal-Sealing Sea."

Chen Lingxi nodded, then suddenly changed the subject. "Just how vast is this Great World? And what powerful beings exist within it?"

The question came as abruptly Xu Qingru was taken aback, a hint of doubt flashing in her clear, autumn-water-like eyes.

In her view, although the person in front of her was only at the Qi Circulation Fifth Floor, his techniques had reached the Subtle Insight level, and his spiritual energy was extremely profound.

Such a person must be a genius in this Great World, yet he would ask such a question?

But her life was now in this man's hands, and she dared not refuse to answer.

She remained silent for a few moments before slowly speaking, "The Great World... is boundless."

"But the Void changed, the heavens and earth shattered, and were divided into countless heavens and earths."

The flow of Spiritual Qi, the sum of many realms accessible through Spirit Artifact, is what cultivators Truth-Seeking Realm call the Great World.

"The Great World and earth) are... [the Great Xuanzhuo Heaven]."

Her voice grew lower. "It is also known as the [Great Xuanzhuo Realm]."

"The Great Xuanzhuo Heaven ..." Chen Lingxi murmured the name in his heart, feeling as if these words contained some indescribable mystery, and just reciting them made his mind tremble slightly.

"There are many sects and immortal clans in the Great World," Xu Qingru continued. "In the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, there are True Lord, Mysterious Lord, or the legendary Heavenly Lord and Immortal Lord."

It is said that the Nascent Soul Mysterious Lord cultivated to the Mysterious Seat of the Heavens, sitting high in the heavens, his nobility beyond description."

"But these figures are ethereal and unattainable to me; I can only look up to them from afar."

Chen Lingxi listened quietly, her face expressionless, but her heart was churning with turbulent emotions.

It is as vast and mysterious as the high heavens.

The Great Xuanzhuo Realm.

Mysterious Lord is Nascent Soul Cultivator!

These names were completely unfamiliar to him, yet they only fueled his growing longing for that mysterious and magnificent Great World.

True Lord, Mysterious Lord!

Golden Core Realm, Nascent Soul!

Heavenly Lord, Immortal Lord

These words, which only existed in the conversations of Lin Suri, Ying Chi, and others, were now spoken by Xu Qingru, like pieces of a puzzle, filling in some of the vague picture of the Great World in his heart.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "You said Yun Jiao was also a person who Rebirth Realm. What was his cultivation level?"

Xu Qingru shook her head. "I don't know."

Yun Jiao is an extremely mysterious person who has never revealed his true cultivation level in front of others.

But as far as I know, he has at least three Qi Circulation Sixth Floor under his command, all of whom obey him without question and dare not disobey him in the slightest.

"For someone at the Qi Circulation Sixth Floor to show such awe, their cultivation level must be... at least at the Upper Three Floors."

Upper Three Floors.

Chen Lingxi silently repeated these three words in her heart, her brows furrowing slightly.

Another person Upper Three Floors.

Consort Chun Qi Circulation Eighth Floor, Xi Yu 'Qi Circulation Eighth Floor or even Ninth Floor, and now Yun Jiao has emerged, Qi Circulation Seventh Floor.

There seemed to be far more cultivators on the Upper Three Floors of this Cave Heaven than he had anticipated.

"Where is Yun Jiao now?" Chen Lingxi asked again.

"Thousand Celebration Prefecture," Xu Qingru replied, "He commands 80,000 troops and occupies the three prefectures of Qing, Zhong, and Xu, and has been in a standoff with the imperial army for several years."

Chen Lingxi nodded and memorized all the information.

After asking a few more questions about the powerful figures under Yun Jiao's command, Xu Qingru one, without hiding anything.

In addition, Chen Lingxi asked many questions about the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, and Xu Qingru had no choice but to answer them one by one.

Finally, Chen Lingxi asked again what Cauldron Vessel was.

Xu Qingru grew increasingly puzzled, her eyes fixed on the masked man before her, her brows furrowed slightly.

This person just asked about the vastness of the Great World and about common cultivation knowledge such as the Mysterious Lord and the True Lord. Now Cauldron-Seizing Realm what the Qi Circulation Fifth Floor is. He is like a novice who has just Dao Path of cultivation asking his teacher for knowledge. He is not like a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi cultivation at all.

Are there any cultivators of the Great Profound Cleansing Realm who are unaware of the Cauldron Vessel?

But she was now in someone's hands, her Qi Sea sealed, and the lingering aura of the Azure Edge Method Sword Qi from her severed arm still throbbed in her meridians. Even with a thousand questions, she dared not ask any more. She could only lower her eyes, suppress the doubt in her heart, and slowly answer...

"No one knows where the Cauldron Vessel came from; it seems to have existed since ancient times."

She paused, then said, "The wonder of this Cauldron Vessel is as profound as the mysteries of the Great Mystery Mechanism, Profound Subtlety and wondrous that it defies description."

"Moreover, the Cauldron Vessel recognizes its master, not limited to cultivation level."

When Qi Circulation Realm, one can Cauldron-Seizing Realm pinnacle of cultivation; the same applies to the foundation of the Dao Foundation Realm, the Golden Grotto, and the Golden Core Realm.

However, even among Cauldron Vessel, there are differences in strength. The same Cauldron Vessel, when used for the Qi Circulation Realm, can exert far less power compared to the stages of the Dao Foundation Realm and Golden Grotto."

At this point, she paused for a moment, then said, "Let me give you an example."

Her voice became a little calmer, but when she mentioned that name, her tone involuntarily carried a hint of awe. "For example, the most famous Pill Cauldron in the Great Xuanzhuo Heaven, the [Heaven-Determining Brush] of the Daoist Masters below the Dao."

Chen Lingxi sat upright on the blue stone, his expression unreadable beneath the ghost mask, only nodding slightly.

Xu Qingru continued, "It is said that when the Daoist Master was in the Golden Grotto, he had already obtained the Cauldron Vessel Heaven-Determining Brush."

At that time, there was a Daoist Miao on Yanduo Mountain who had a Daoist dispute with the Daoist master.

"Yanduo Mountain once seized the treasure of Li Que, belonging to the disciples of the Dao-Below Academy. The Daoist Master then used the Heaven-Determining Brush to determine the destiny of the Daoist Miao."

She straightened up slightly, her voice filled with reverence. "That destiny is nothing more than two words: [Kin Separation]."

Later, Liu Junhe, the most beloved disciple of Daoist Miao, made rapid progress in his cultivation, but was corrupted by greed and stole his master Daoist Miao's treasured Sky-Linking Shuttle, thus betraying his sect.

As she said this, she shook her head slightly, her tone tinged with emotion. "The Heaven-Determining Brush was already extraordinary when it was in the Golden Grotto, but I never expected that after the Daoist Master broke through to the Golden Core Realm, there would be more news."

The Daoist master attained the position of True Lord and, with the Heaven-Determining Brush, determined the destiny of Xu Jingzhen, the chief of the Dao Palace, to be named [Myriad Laws Penetrating the Profound].

When she said those four words, a hint of undisguised envy flashed in her eyes, which were as clear as autumn water. "Under this destiny, Xu Jingzhen can understand all methods at a glance and can integrate them. This is the Golden Grotto Technique. Learning it will lead to the Mystic Realm, and it can even innovate."

With the mandate of the Heavenly Mandate of [Myriad Laws Penetrating the Profound], Xu Jingzhen has now cultivated to the Golden Grotto Perfection, and is only one step away from the position of True Lord."

Chen Lingxi sat motionless, but beneath the ghost mask, she couldn't help but take a deep breath.

The Heaven-Determining Brush, it's the Heaven-Determining Brush again.

During his Sight-Roaming, he overheard the woman in red promising Lin Suri that if he could find the Immortal Husk, she would ask the Daoist master to Heaven-Determining Brush to establish the Dao Path of "Cultivation of Myriad Laws" for Lin Suri.

At the time, he thought it was just a promise of a chance fortuitous opportunity, but now, hearing Xu Qingru say this, he realizes that the Heaven-Determining Brush has such incredible power.

Determining one's fate with a single word can decide Dao Path.

At the Golden Grotto, the destiny of "Kin Separation" can be predetermined, causing master and disciple to turn against each other and junior brothers to kill one another.

At the Golden Core Realm stage, one can establish the [Myriad Laws Penetrating the Profound], granting a cultivator the Divine Ability to understand all laws at a glance.

Such methods are beyond description; they are practically destiny-altering and the control of fate.

He didn't show it on his face, but he firmly memorized the four words "Daoist Master of the Dao" in his heart.

Chen Lingxi then asked what the Cauldron Artifact Fragment.

Xu Qingru did not hesitate this time and continued to answer, "Cultivators obtain Cauldron Vessel for cultivation. If they die, the Cauldron Vessel will turn into many fragments, fall into the Void Turbulence, and then scatter to many corners of the Great World, or fall into many Cave Heaven and secret realms."

She paused, her tone now tinged with speculation. "Or perhaps, some owners of these Cauldron Vessel, in search of fortuitous opportunity, will voluntarily scatter their Cauldron Vessel throughout the myriad realms."

"As long as the master of the Cauldron Vessel lives, even the fragments will be under their control."

As she said this, she suddenly looked up, as if remembering something, and whispered, "For example... the Taotie Urn we obtained."

She pursed her lips and continued to explain, "We suspect that the Taotie Urn is like this."

"This master of the Cauldron Vessel, using the Cauldron Artifact Fragment, devoured the power of our sacrifices to aid his cultivation."

Upon hearing this, Chen Lingxi had a general understanding of the situation.

The Candle of Time, the Beast-Fighting Palace, the Fated Star Stone, and even the Taotie Urn are all Cauldron Artifact Fragment.

Their owners may have died, their Cauldron Vessel shattered and scattered throughout the myriad worlds; or they may still be alive, having deliberately broken their Cauldron Vessel and scattered them in various places, using the Cauldron Artifact Fragment to absorb the power of sacrifices to aid their own cultivation.

Regardless of the type, these Cauldron Artifact Fragment retain some of the original Cauldron Vessel's power, exchanging lifespan, life force, and spiritual energy for various fortuitous opportunity.

He pondered for a moment, having gained some understanding of the Cauldron Vessel, and then returned to the topic. "Where is that Taotie Urn now?"

Upon Xu Qingru's eyes, as if a dying person had grasped a sliver of life. She quickly replied, "It's right here in our cave abode."

If you, fellow Daoist, will allow me to return, I will certainly bring back the Taotie Urn and present it to you.

In addition, they will also bring back three Spirit Stone and one precious pill."

When she said "Let me go back," her voice still carried a hint of cautious probing, and her eyes, as clear as autumn water, looked at Chen Lingxi with pleading and fervent intent.

Chen Lingxi sat upright on the bluestone, his eyes beneath the ghost mask revealing no emotion.

He thought for a moment, but did not agree. He simply stood up, walked to Xu Qingru, and extended his hand.

Xu Qingru thought he was going to break the seal on her, and a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes, when she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen.

A faint, extremely fine blue light emanated from Chen Lingxi's fingertips. The incomparably sharp Azure Edge Method emanated from his fingertips, and with a gentle thrust, it pierced through her Qi Sea.

Xu Qingru trembled violently. She opened her mouth to scream, but the pain prevented her from making a sound. She felt the spiritual energy in her Qi Sea leaking out like water bursting its banks, gushing out through the breach and dissipating into the Void.

She collapsed to the ground, her beautiful face devoid of color, reduced to a deathly pale ashes.

Chen Lingxi withdrew his fingers, bent down, grabbed the back of her collar, lifted her up, and strode out of the cave. Outside the cave, night had fallen, and the mountain wind howled through the forest.

He carried Xu Qingru over two mountain peaks and found a very secluded cave.

He threw Xu Qingru into the cave, stepped outside, and placed his hands on a huge rock weighing tens of thousands of kilograms at the cave entrance.

His Jade-Qi Realm and Qi and Blood, honed to the Jade Qi Realm, erupted with a thunderous roar. A flash of jade-like luster appeared around him, and he pushed the boulder inch by inch, sealing the cave entrance tightly. Only a few extremely thin and narrow gaps remained, barely allowing a little sunlight and air to penetrate.

Chen Lingxi stood outside the cave entrance, hands behind his back, gazing at the sealed boulder. He muttered to himself, "My strength is not yet sufficient. When I am stronger, I will go and see Xu Qingru is lying."

"Even if a cultivator at the Qi Circulation Fifth Floor has a broken Qi Sea, his physical body and spiritual Qi have been transformed. He will not die if he does not eat for three months."

I'll send her some dry food in a few days."

Chen Lingxi's eyes flashed with a cold, eerie light.

"Those who wanted to kill me deserve this fate; it's only natural."