The Might of the Golden Grotto
Chen Lingxi went to Lunan Prefecture, landed in the Nanju Twelve Mountains, and found many of his remaining treasures there.
Most of these treasures belonged to Rong Chun and Crown Ying Chi, and could not be considered particularly valuable.
Chen Lingxi fed all of these things to the Gold-Devouring Toad, which produced two pills.
His gaze, however, fell upon the Cauldron Artifact Fragment, the Beast-Fighting Palace.
The small palace model was still filled with an ancient aura, and the flowing aura stirred a bit of greed in Chen Lingxi's heart.
"The rules for the Cauldron Vessel in this Beast-Fighting Palace are that beast fights must be performed within the palace, and dead beasts must be sacrificed to enhance the treasures."
"Moreover, this Cauldron Vessel is exceptionally powerful, even capable of enhancing the Purple True Treasure Bottle to that extent."
"How about... I capture many martial artists from all over and throw them into the Beast-Fighting Palace to enhance my own treasures?"
Thinking about this, Chen Lingxi couldn't help but feel a surge of desire.
But then he suddenly remembered the Candle of Time!
The words "Cauldron Calamity" come to mind!
Chen Lingxi's thoughts cleared considerably, and she immediately frowned.
"Upon careful consideration, many Cauldron Vessel can arouse greed, making people want to possess these fragments and thereby improve their own cultivation."
"Today, upon seeing this Beast-Fighting Palace, such thoughts arose in my mind; it's truly terrifying."
Chen Lingxi shook her head, deciding not to think about it anymore.
But as he raised his hand, the Beast-Fighting Palace slowly rose up and hovered in the Void.
The method of Qi Observation began to flow through Chen Lingxi's eyes.
He looked at the Beast-Fighting Palace and saw countless streams of energy flowing over it.
Among them, the mysterious and ancient aura was the most intense, almost completely covering the Beast-Fighting Palace.
In addition, many other auras, some strong and some weak, flowed over it.
Chen Lingxi observed carefully, and after a long while, a smile suddenly appeared on his lips.
"This Beast-Fighting Palace was tampered with by Emperor Daye; indeed, there are traces of Emperor Daye aura on it."
Chen Lingxi's eyes were burning, and he quietly channeled his Qi-gathering technique, drawing out a wisp of Qi from above the Beast-Fighting Palace.
This wisp of energy was extremely faint, almost dissipating.
Chen Lingxi couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Fortunately, I didn't continue my seclusion and push my Spiritual Qi cultivation to the Tenth Floor."
"If we had arrived six months later, the aura of the Emperor Daye atop this Beast-Fighting Palace would have dissipated."
Chen Lingxi captured this aura, but then enveloped it with his own aura, completely isolating it from the world, before transferring it into a jade pendant.
"In this Cave Heaven, only Emperor Daye holds the reins of the Cauldron Vessel."
"The Dao-Seizing Fruit in my hand, if all goes well, will also be used to absorb the aura of the Emperor Daye and utilize the power of Emperor Daye Cauldron Vessel."
After Chen Lingxi hesitated again.
"There is also the Emperor Daye's Enemy-Detecting Formation on the Beast-Fighting Palace. If you carry it on your person for a long time, it will inevitably be discovered by the people in the palace."
With my current cultivation level, I am simply unable to break through this enemy-locking formation.
But leaving this Cauldron Vessel in the Nanju Twelve Mountains would be too wasteful...
Chen Lingxi thought for a moment, then her eyes suddenly brightened.
With a wave of his hand, the Gold-Devouring Toad he had just put into his Hongdong Bag reappeared in his hand.
"This Gold-Devouring Toad is also Cauldron Vessel, and it has quite a few ingenious uses."
"But I wonder if this Gold-Devouring Toad can devour the Cauldron Artifact Fragment it gave me?"
Chen Lingxi's eyes were burning with determination; she acted on her thoughts immediately.
Chen Lingxi channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into the Gold-Devouring Toad, while his Divine Sense flowed, simultaneously enveloping Gold-Devouring Toad and the Beast-Fighting Palace.
In the blink of an eye...
An astonishing scene unfolded.
But then, the Gold-Devouring Toad's body rippled with light, and the Cauldron Vessel seemed to come alive. It opened its mouth and swallowed the Beast-Fighting Palace whole!
Rumble!
A dull thud resounded from the belly of the Gold-Devouring Toad!
At the same time, Chen Lingxi's pupils contracted slightly.
But then, a face made of mist instantly materialized inside the cave.
Chen Lingxi was familiar with the face shrouded in mist.
He had already seen it before, back when he was fighting beasts in the Beast-Fighting Palace. It was the face of the Cauldron Venerable!
At this moment, the imposing middle-aged Cauldron Venerable exuded a powerful aura and was filled with rage.
He looked down at the Gold-Devouring Toad!
"How dare you! You dare to swallow the Cauldron Artifact Fragment!"
Chen Lingxi involuntarily took a few steps back, her heart filled with astonishment!
But then, a mysterious aura emanated from the Gold-Devouring Toad, which then transformed into a phantom.
The phantom was not human-shaped, but seemed to be a long snake... no... it was not a snake. This snake had horns, and three claws extended from its belly.
It was a Flood Dragon!
The phantom of the Flood Dragon manifested in the Void, its eyes seemingly emitting two beams of spiritual light, which landed directly on the middle-aged Cauldron Venerable.
Two enormous phantom images filled the entire cave.
The middle-aged Cauldron Venerable was originally furious, with flames seemingly dancing in his eyes, and waves of killing intent emanating from him.
But when the Flood Dragon hovered in the air, a spiritual light shone forth!
The middle-aged Cauldron Venerable suddenly took a deep breath, lowered his head slightly, and said respectfully, "Greetings, True Person..."
"I, a humble cultivator, have been presumptuous and disrespectful to the True Person; I am willing to accept punishment."
The Flood Dragon's phantom still shone with spiritual light in its eyes, and then Chen Lingxi clearly heard a Flood Dragon's roar.
The dragon's roar was mixed with a message.
"Inner Peak of the Dragon-Offering Sect has delivered 10,000 Spirit Crystal."
As soon as the message was sent, the enormous phantom of the Flood Dragon shattered and vanished.
Meanwhile, the misty incarnation of the middle-aged Cauldron Venerable grew increasingly thin, and not far away Gold-Devouring Toad was still chewing on the Cauldron Artifact Fragment.
As the Cauldron Venerable vanished, it suddenly turned its head and its gaze fell on Chen Lingxi.
He glanced at Chen Lingxi indifferently.
His gaze was calm, as if there was no murderous intent whatsoever.
Yet it also seemed as if he wanted to completely etch Chen Lingxi's face and aura into his memory.
In the next instant, the middle-aged Cauldron Venerable vanished.
Chen Lingxi, however, was still somewhat stunned.
"The Gold-Devouring Toad did indeed devour the Beast-Fighting Palace."
Moreover... the owners of these two Cauldron Vessel manifested their forms within this Cave Heaven and engaged in a brief confrontation!
Chen Lingxi recalled the scene just now, and her heart pounded.
Cauldron Artifact Fragment generally have two origins.
The first scenario is that after the owner of the Cauldron Vessel falls, the Cauldron Vessel will shatter and fall into the Void Turbulence, with the fragments landing in the secret realm of the Cave Heaven.
The second type is where the owner of the Cauldron Vessel actively causes it to Cauldron Vessel and scatter across the heavens, seeking fortuitous opportunity.
"It seems that the Cauldron Vessel of these two Cauldron Vessel have not perished."
"They sit high in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, letting the Cauldron Vessel find fortuitous opportunity for them."
Chen Lingxi's eyes flickered, and after thinking for a moment, she looked at the Gold-Devouring Toad again using the Qi Observation Method, but gained nothing.
"Having traversed the Void Turbulence, the easily collected aura of the cauldron master has been completely depleted."
The remaining Cauldron Vessel possessed profound and powerful abilities, but I was unable to collect them.
Chen Lingxi shook her head, feeling a pang of regret.
If one can collect the aura from the Cauldron Artifact Fragment, the Dao-Seizing Fruit will have more options.
"The two masters of the Cauldron Vessel clashed briefly. When the master of the Beast-Fighting Palace saw the Flood Dragon, he showed no sign of resentment and allowed the Gold-Devouring Toad to devour the Cauldron Artifact Fragment."
Even after that, I'll probably have to prepare a lot of Spirit Crystal to go to Dragon-Offering Peaks to apologize."
Chen Lingxi's eyes flickered.
He recalled the middle-aged Cauldron Venerable addressing the Flood Dragon as "True Person".
"It seems that the Flood Dragon is actually a Golden Grotto True Person."
"And the master of that Beast-Fighting Palace should be at the Dao Foundation Realm."
The Golden Grotto Realm is only one major realm apart from the Dao Foundation Realm, yet its deterrent power is so strong.
"And those Dragon-Offering Peaks... aren't they the cultivation grounds of Liu Changle in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm?"
As he thought of this, he suddenly remembered the look that the master of the Beast-Fighting Palace had given him at the end.
Such calmness, without any ripples, yet watching with such seriousness.
Chen Lingxi immediately understood.
"It seems that I have angered that Cauldron Venerable by feeding the Gold-Devouring Toad with the Beast-Fighting Palace."
"This person is also extremely cunning, understanding that many of those who Rebirth Realm have very powerful backgrounds, so he never revealed any hatred or murderous intent, but only memorized my aura and appearance..."
"If they find out one day that I have no background and have returned to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, they will surely take their anger out on me."
Chen Lingxi's eyes widened, then she gave a wry smile.
"It was just a casual experiment, I never expected it to uncover such a disaster!"
He felt a pang of regret and left the Nanju Twelve Mountains with the Gold-Devouring Toad to avoid being pursued by the imperial court.
The next day, Chen Lingxi was looking forward to Sight-Roaming Lin Suri.
His eyes suddenly flickered, and he took out the Gold-Devouring Toad.
But then the Gold-Devouring Toad's belly swelled up, and then a flash of light appeared, and it spat out a pill!
Chen Lingxi's pupils constricted slightly!
One could feel an incredibly thick and powerful energy flowing continuously from this pill.
An unimaginable aura flowed over it, with a massive amount of Spiritual Qi slowly circulating as if it were about to overflow.
"This pill... actually contains such pure Spiritual Qi."
Chen Lingxi's eyes widened, her breathing becoming rapid.
"With this pill, I will be able to quickly step into the Heavenward Realm Ascension Realm, and even directly reach the Tenth Floor of perfection."
Chen Lingxi was overjoyed, her eyes shining brightly.
He immediately forgot about yesterday's regrets.
"I am currently in this Qi-Less Grotto-Heaven, with little hope of survival. Whether I can even reach the Great Xuanzhuo Realm is still uncertain. Do you think I'm afraid of a Dao Foundation Realm Establishment cultivator?"
Chen Lingxi thought for a moment, then suddenly became determined. With a flick of his sleeve, another Cauldron Vessel appeared before him.
It was that Taotie Urn.
"They say having too many lice makes you less itchy, so let's just feed this Taotie Urn to the Gold-Devouring Toad!"
Chen Lingxi acted on his idea immediately, feeding the Gold-Devouring Toad with Taotie Urn.
This time, however, the Gold-Devouring Toad, its body radiating spiritual light, leaped before the Taotie Urn, opened its mouth wide, and was about to swallow Taotie Urn.
In the next instant.
The Gold-Devouring Toad seemed to sense something, and its spiritual light instantly extinguished, transforming it back into a sculpture.
"Not eating?"
Chen Lingxi raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly, he recalled the astonishing aura he had sensed when he communicated with the Taotie Urn.
"The aura of the owner of this Taotie Urn urn is extremely deep and profound, and it is highly likely that he cultivates some kind of Life-Devouring Method."
"Even the Flood Dragon of the Dragon-Offering Sect dares not offend him."
Chen Lingxi put away the two Cauldron Artifact Fragment, and then carefully examined the brand-new pill before putting it away.
"An unintentional act yielded significant results."
Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged on a cloud, her consciousness entering the Divine Chamber.
He activated his Wandering Sight Divine Ability.
After a dozen or so breaths, Chen Lingxi stood up and looked north.
"I must go and find my fellow Daoist Lin, and ask him carefully... what is the Dao Foundation Grand Divine Ability?"
P. S.: There will be an extra chapter later.