Elsewhere, in a vast desert, the Rain Clan members were stamping their feet in fury, unleashing one Precious Art after another. Runes danced wildly, all hurtling toward a young woman.
"Put down the Taiyi True Water, and we'll leave your corpse intact!" the Rain Clan members roared. Their hands never stopped moving as they tried to assemble a Magic Formation and trap her within it.
Heaven knew they had come for this sacred treasure. They had spent hundreds of years plotting, consumed countless rare treasures, and even dispatched four sealers.
After finally persuading the Taiyi True Water with the Rain God Decree, they had been on the verge of success when a Bear Child suddenly sprang out and, without a word, opened his mouth wide to gulp it down.
Naturally, this had frightened the Taiyi True Water, sending it fleeing wildly without a care for anything else.
Though the Taiyi True Water was a pool of divine liquid, it had almost attained sentience. It had developed runes and laws, could soar through the heavens and burrow through the earth, and was exceedingly difficult to capture.
Then this young woman had appeared. Using some unknown means, she had forcibly gathered the Taiyi True Water together, imprisoned it, and claimed it for herself.
Watching this, they nearly ground their back teeth to pieces. After hundreds of years of planning, they had merely sewn another's wedding gown. How could they accept that?
Now they all attacked, determined to seize the Taiyi True Water back.
The young woman said nothing. Her palms and fingers shone as she struck down one Rain Clan member with each punch. Radiant fists tore through the air. Like an immortal maiden bathed in divine splendor, she swept through every enemy as effortlessly as snapping rotten wood.
"Who exactly are you? Why did you steal the Taiyi True Water?" a delicate young woman demanded sharply. She was Yu Zimo, renowned as one of the Rain Clan's two outstanding talents.
She attacked as well, unleashing a Precious Art, but a slender, luminous hand swept toward her and sent her flying on the spot.
Blood trickled from the corner of Yu Zimo's mouth. Her graceful body trembled violently, her face as pale as paper. Her Precious Art collapsed in an instant. She raised her head with difficulty, her eyes filled with horror and resentment.
"You dare oppose our Rain Clan? Aren't you afraid of our revenge?"
The Rain Clan members were furious, yet chilled with fear. Even Yu Zimo, one of their clan's two outstanding talents, had been sent flying by a single slap. Where had this prodigy come from? She was far too terrifying.
Their gazes turned icy again. A genius like this was too frightening. Now that they were enemies, she would surely become a grave threat in the future. They wanted to crush and kill her!
The young woman stood tall amid the runes filling the sky. Her robes snapped in the wind, her black hair streaming loose. Ethereal and untouched by worldly dust, she brought down one punch after another.
"The Rain Clan? Never heard of it." She shook her head. She truly had never heard of them. She had only recently followed her young mistress to the Lower Realm. Where would she have found the time to learn about such things?
Hearing this, the Rain Clan members nearly spat blood from anger. Yet the bewilderment on her face suggested she really did not know. Their words caught in their throats, leaving them feeling as sick as if they had swallowed a dead rat.
Where had this oddball come from? Had she emerged from the Great Wilderness? She had never even heard of their Rain Clan!
"The Taiyi True Water is vital to our clan. We absolutely cannot lose it. Take her down together!"
Everyone came to their senses. They no longer had time to bother with Bear Child; all they wanted was to capture the young woman before them.
The Taiyi True Water held extraordinary significance. Even the gods needed it when refining treasures, using it to nourish their spiritual nature. A single drop was worth a fortune, precious beyond imagining.
For the Rain Clan, the stakes were enormous. They had spent over a hundred years plotting for it, staking their clan's hopes of rising to greatness upon it.
Bear Child stared in a daze. Someone else had been hiding in the shadows just like him, waiting for a chance to steal the treasure-and... she seemed to have succeeded?
"What should I do? What should I do?" Bear Child was torn. That fat girl looked like someone he really ought not provoke, but he wanted the Taiyi True Water badly too.
Rumble!
Divine light shook heaven and earth. All manner of treasures thundered, and Precious Arts blossomed, blotting out the sky like surging waves of heat. They battered the heavens as they swept toward Qing Shuang.
For a moment, runes interwove above the desert, and rain and mist surged skyward. Magic Formations rose one after another, enveloping Qing Shuang in an attempt to crush and kill her!
They were nearly mad, attacking without regard for the consequences, determined to keep Qing Shuang here for good.
Yet Qing Shuang merely struck out casually with her palm. A Kun fish burst from it, strands of supreme yin energy churning into the sky, shattering their treasures and blasting their Precious Arts apart.
Indeed, she too had cultivated the Kun Peng Precious Technique and had already achieved some success. As she unleashed it now, it carried a fierce divine might that looked down upon the mortal world.
"What's that? A Kun Peng?" Bear Child was astonished. He had read about such a creature in ancient texts: soaring into the sky as a Peng, entering the sea as a Kun.
Such creatures were exceptionally powerful. They had earned a fearsome reputation in the ancient era and ranked among the Ten Fiends.
Still, he could not be certain that this was the legendary creature. They had long since gone extinct, and their Precious Art should no longer have existed in the world.
Chaos engulfed the area. After killing a large group with a single strike, Qing Shuang did not attack again. Instead, she turned and left.
This thing seemed rather extraordinary and might well draw everyone nearby.
Though she had no fear of battle, it would still be troublesome. Besides, these people were so weak that they could not withstand a single blow. It was terribly dull.
Nearby, Bear Child was also shouting, beating the dogs while they were down.
An irreconcilable hatred lay between him and the Rain Clan. Seeing their members suffer naturally delighted him beyond measure.
Though he had not obtained the Taiyi True Water either, he at least had a few drops of divine liquid. That was better than the Rain Clan, who had nothing at all.
Then, amid the Rain Clan members' shrieks and furious roars, Bear Child climbed onto a great fiery-red bird and leisurely departed, leaving them seething.
"Ah... she got away! She really got away!"
The Rain Clan members wailed, tears and snot streaming down their faces. All their efforts had truly been for nothing. They had gained nothing and had only sewn another woman's wedding gown.
"Kill her! We have to kill her! And that Bear Child too! They both have to die!"
They resolved to dig three feet into the earth if that was what it took to find the young woman. They would not let Bear Child escape either. Bringing out their treasures, they began the pursuit.
Before long, Qing Shuang arrived and reunited with Xi Yue.
"Did you get it?" Xi Yue asked with a smile. She had considerable confidence in her little maidservant; otherwise, she would never have taught her the Kun Peng Precious Technique.
In truth, the stuff held little appeal for her. It did not matter whether she obtained it, but... since she was already here, there was no harm in taking it along.
Smiling, Qing Shuang recounted what had happened, then brought out the Black Cauldron.
The cauldron was ancient and imposing, branded with countless primordial runes, mountains, rivers, and stars. It radiated a weighty aura capable of suppressing the ages.
The cauldron's interior was inscribed with numerous intricate, profound runes that held it captive.
A pool of divine spring water shone with myriad rays and countless auspicious colors, breathing out the divine radiance of laws. It showed signs of transforming into a Sacrificial Spirit.
"Who are you? Why have you disturbed my slumber?" A faint, indistinct will emerged from the cauldron.
It had already agreed to accompany the Rain Clan. Who could have expected it to be abducted along the way and imprisoned inside this Black Cauldron? Unable to break free, it could not help feeling frightened.
"Don't you want to become a Sacrificial Spirit? As it happens, I know an incredibly powerful one. You won't have to remain trapped in the Hundred Broken Mountains, either. You might even ignite a divine flame someday."
Xi Yue blinked her large eyes. Wasn't the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit a Sacrificial Spirit too?
The Taiyi True Water did not hesitate. Someone with such means should have no need to deceive it. Besides... it had no choice now anyway.