At the end of a long, shadowy corridor within Kunwu Hall stood a half-open door, glowing with faint spiritual light.
Beyond the door lay not the imagined splendor of gold and jade, but an enormous, empty stone chamber. At its center stood a solitary "altar," a hundred feet tall and carved entirely from an unknown black crystal. Its sides were covered in the same archaic runes as the sky-supporting stone pillars. A strange odor permeated the air-stale and deathly still, yet faintly touched by fluctuations of spiritual energy.
"This is the first chamber of Kunwu Hall?" The Taiyi Sect Master frowned deeply and surveyed his surroundings, his eyes full of disappointment. "There's nothing here but a decrepit altar?"
"Heh heh, what's the rush?" The Heavenly Demon Sect's Grand Elder gave a sinister chuckle. With a flicker, he appeared before the black altar. "Runes flow across this altar. It's clearly no ordinary object. Perhaps the clue to the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure lies within!"
He extended his withered hand, dense black mist curling around his fingertips, and reached toward the archaic runes on the altar's surface.
"Stop! It could be a trap!" the Taiyi Sect Master barked, but he was already too late.
The Heavenly Demon Sect's Grand Elder's fingertips had already touched the altar!
Buzzz-
The altar shuddered violently. Then an intensely concentrated pillar of silver light, radiating a heart-quailing aura of antiquity, shot skyward from its summit! Within the light, the phantom image of a small, ancient-looking, silver-white cauldron could faintly be seen revolving. Its body was covered in the same runes as the altar, and it emitted a terrifying pressure that made the soul tremble!
"That's... the phantom image of the Kunwu Cauldron?!" Wild joy flashed in Shi Jian's eyes, and his voice shook with excitement. "According to legend,