Sacred Radiance Cauldron

Lin Yu and Han Shanshan rested briefly before continuing their exploration.

Unexpectedly, the journey ahead was remarkably peaceful. There were no guardian magical beasts, no deadly restriction traps lying in wait, not even a decent defensive formation.

When they reached the main hall, Lin Yu reached out and pushed open the doors. The stone doors let out a deep, lingering rumble, as though they had been sealed away for countless centuries.

The sight beyond the doors made Lin Yu and Han Shanshan hold their breaths at the same time.

At the center of the hall sat a skeleton. Its bones gleamed like jade, and even after the erosion of untold years, they still gave off a faint, sacred radiance.

The skeleton remained in the posture it had held in life, seated cross-legged before an ancient medicine cauldron, its spine straight as a pine.

Even though only a skeleton remained, the aura of an unrivaled expert who had once dominated the world still seeped from its very bones, involuntarily filling others with awe.

That medicine cauldron was clearly no ordinary object either. It radiated dense Light Force.

This Light Force was identical to the power permeating the outside world, yet it was more than a hundred times denser.

Without a doubt, all the Light Force within the entire secret realm had spread out from this medicine cauldron.

The moment Han Shanshan's gaze landed on the cauldron, she could no longer look away.

Her eyes trembled slightly, and her lips moved soundlessly as she frantically searched through the records in her mind.

A moment later, she sharply sucked in a breath and blurted out, "Could this be the Sacred Radiance Cauldron, ranked seventh on the Heaven's Apex Ranking?!"

As soon as she spoke, the ancient medicine cauldron suddenly released a long, resonant hum, as if responding to her call.

The light patterns on its body lit up one after another. Countless rays gathered into a gentle beam that drifted toward Lin Yu like a flowing galaxy.

The beam was not fast, yet it carried an irresistible gentleness. Before Lin Yu could react at all, it entered his chest.

A warm current spread through Lin Yu's body. There was no scorching pain, no rejection, not even the slightest discomfort.

Wherever that warm current passed, his meridians seemed to be cleansed by some sacred force, while the Dou Qi vortex in his dantian became purer and more solid.

"Congratulations, Lin Yu. You actually gained the Sacred Radiance Cauldron's recognition," Han Shanshan said from behind him. Her tone held sincere happiness without a trace of jealousy. "The Sacred Radiance Cauldron is a medicine cauldron on the Heaven Cauldron Ranking. Its grade is far beyond my own. With it, you won't need to borrow my cauldron for alchemy anymore."

"Hehe, Senior Sister, let's take a look at the other things."

Lin Yu withdrew his focus and suppressed the excitement in his heart.

The two split up.

Han Shanshan walked toward a stone rack on one side of the hall, where dozens of jade bottles had been arranged in neat rows.

Her soul power swept across the labels one by one, and her breathing grew increasingly rapid.

The worst pills here were seventh-grade, while eighth-grade pills filled an entire row.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu walked toward the skeleton.

He already had a guess. Anyone capable of creating such an independent space, possessing the Sacred Radiance Cauldron and such a medicine garden, had most likely stepped into the Dou Saint realm.

A genuine Dou Saint expert.

Moreover, this Dou Saint was probably the person who had once entered the Light-Shadow Space and taken the Sacred Radiance Cauldron.

He stopped before the skeleton, clasped his fists, and bowed deeply to show his respect for the senior.

Only after doing so did he reach out and gently touch the jade-like skeleton.

The instant his fingertips touched the surface of the bones, the clothes that had endured the ravages of countless millennia crumbled into powder and silently drifted through the air.

Three jade slips emitting faint spiritual light fell from the remnants of the clothing, clinking against the ground.

Lin Yu picked up the three jade slips one by one and sent his soul power into them in turn.

The first jade slip held the greatest amount of content: a complete inheritance of an alchemist.

It recorded in detail the owner's lifelong insights into alchemy, alchemical techniques, and countless pill formulas. Every part was exhaustive and methodically organized, worthy of being called an encyclopedia of alchemy.

The second jade slip contained a high-grade Mysterious Rank soul cultivation technique.

The third jade slip was the most weighty, containing a low-grade Heaven Rank cultivation technique.

After carefully putting away the three jade slips, Lin Yu's gaze returned to the gleaming skeleton.

A Dou Saint's skeleton was itself a priceless treasure. To use it in alchemy was a supreme treasure one could only encounter by chance.

He clasped his fists and bowed once more, silently murmuring, "Forgive me," before carefully placing the skeleton into his Storage Ring.

Just then, Han Shanshan approached while carrying a pile of jade bottles.

An excited flush colored her face, and even her voice was several notches louder than usual. "The pills in these jade bottles have all been preserved perfectly. There are countless eighth-grade pills, and their quality is exceptional. The sealing methods are extremely sophisticated, so even after all these years, they have not lost much of their medicinal potency. The most precious thing is this!"

She took out a jade box carved entirely from mutton-fat white jade. Its surface was covered in dense sealing runes, and merely holding it allowed one to faintly sense the heart-palpitating energy fluctuations leaking from within. "A ninth-grade pill is sealed inside. I don't dare open it for now. We'll have Master handle it after we return."

Lin Yu could not help but be moved upon hearing that.

As expected of a ninth-grade alchemist. This wealth could no longer be described as merely abundant—it was simply extravagant.

The two thoroughly searched the entire hall. Only after confirming that they had overlooked nothing did they finally leave in satisfaction.

The gains from this trip to the secret realm far exceeded their expectations.

Any one of these items, if taken out, would be enough to stir up a bloody storm across the Central Plains.

Yet now, all of them had safely fallen into Lin Yu and Han Shanshan's hands.

Lin Yu took out the Spatial Ancestral Talisman. Spatial power flowed around his fingertips, and with a light stroke, he tore open a spatial rift in the void.

The two stepped through it. Behind them, the opening connected to the secret realm slowly closed, finally vanishing completely into the void as though it had never existed.

After leaving the secret realm, Lin Yu and Han Shanshan did not delay any longer and headed straight for the Godfall Icefield.

At the deepest reaches of the Godfall Icefield lay the core region known as the Death Domain, a place where even Dou Wangs and Dou Emperors did not dare remain for long.

When Lin Yu and Han Shanshan entered the icefield side by side, the scene before them made them instinctively hold their breaths.

Snowflakes drifted down soundlessly from the sky, fine and silent. They landed on the ice without making the slightest noise, as though the entire world had been muted.

As far as the eye could see, there was no one in sight, not even a single magical beast.

Lin Yu and Han Shanshan's footsteps broke the ancient stillness of this place.

Lin Yu took out a map from his Storage Ring.

A winding route was marked on the map, stretching from the edge of the Godfall Icefield all the way into the depths of the Death Domain.