Accompanied by wondrous manifestations

"No need. My body remains untouched by dust."

Di Yi shook his head. He knew his own body very well: it was always clean, untouched by rain, impervious to windblown sand.

"Untouched by dust?" The old chief was astonished. Who in this world could remain untouched by dust? Even the kings and nobles beyond the Great Wilderness might not manage that. It was a sign of strength reaching a certain threshold, an ability belonging to gods.

Of course, he did not doubt Di Yi's words. When Di Yi had carried over that "mountain," not the slightest filth had touched him. There had been no blood on his hands, and even the hem of his clothes had remained as pristine as ever.

"Untouched by dust," Di Yi confirmed.

"Then... shall we begin directly?" the old chief asked tentatively. "By the way, honored guest, we added the essences of many fierce beasts to this medicinal bath. To bring out its fullest effect, we may need to seal the cauldron. Would you like us to?"

"Seal the cauldron? That's fine." Di Yi nodded, unbothered. He would simply follow the old chief's arrangements.

After all, he needed neither food nor breath. Being sealed inside the cauldron in an airtight space would pose little trouble.

"Then, honored guest, you may begin once you've removed your clothes." The old chief had people set up a screen to block the view, then motioned for Di Yi to undress and take the medicinal bath in a pure state, free of anything external.

"All right." With that, Di Yi began taking off his clothes. Without any sense of embarrassment, he leaped stark naked into the great black cauldron right before the old chief.

Splash!

As Di Yi entered the boiling cauldron, a great volume of liquid churned up. The brilliantly gleaming medicinal liquid immediately submerged him, soaking his body.

"Seal the cauldron!" Seeing Di Yi enter, the old chief signaled for the villagers to lift the enormous black lid lying nearby. Several of them worked together to fit it into place, leaving not a single gap.

"You little brats, look how tough your Uncle Di Yi is! He went straight into the cauldron. All of you should learn from him!" An adult standing beside the large cauldrons where the mischievous children were taking their medicinal baths seized the scene as a chance to lecture them.

The mischievous children struggling in the cauldrons were all boys. They were not far from the great black cauldron Di Yi was using, and the screen did not block their view. They had seen everything clearly, and their faces turned pale.

Was he even human?

With water boiling like that, medicinal ingredients that terrifying, and main ingredients whose medicinal potency made their hearts quail, he had simply been sealed inside. What kind of torment must that be? The thought sent chills down their spines.

More importantly, he was practically being cooked alive. How could he breathe? If it had been them, they would probably have suffocated in no time.

Rumble!

As time passed, the great black cauldron began to stir violently, as though the sounds of wind and thunder were issuing from it.

At that moment, the mountains, rivers, sun, and moon carved into its surface seemed faintly to come alive, their patterns growing ever clearer.

"Chief, is this normal?" a young villager asked. The commotion left him staring in bewilderment. He had never seen anything so unusual.

"There should be no problem. It's only an ordinary medicinal bath, just a little noisier than usual." The old chief also felt that something seemed off about the commotion, but he was not worried. After all, Di Yi was a powerful figure from beyond the Great Wilderness. How could anything go wrong?

Clang!

Yet scarcely had the old chief finished speaking when a sound like swords and sabers being drawn suddenly rang out. At the same time, specks of light appeared out of the void between heaven and earth, then converged on the great black cauldron.

Before long, the cauldron gave a hum, and those lights abruptly blazed forth, shooting straight into the sky and forming a dazzling pillar of light.

"This... Chief, are you sure nothing's wrong?" This time, the commotion was so great that it seemed audible from every corner of Stone Village. Some people could no longer sit still and asked anxiously.

Of course, they were not worried about Stone Village's safety, such as the possibility of the cauldron exploding. They were worried about whether Di Yi was all right.

Because the commotion from this medicinal bath did not match anything they knew,

They had never seen anything like this happen, something that could induce such a transformation in the great black cauldron passed down by their ancestors. "This sort of manifestation... I seem to have heard of it before..." The old chief frowned and pondered, dimly recalling something. He signaled for the people of Stone Village not to disturb Di Yi or act rashly, no matter what happened.

The pillar of light continued to soar skyward, seemingly piercing the clouds and vanishing into an unseen end, as though connecting to something.

Gradually, specks of silver light could be seen flickering into existence within the pillar, streaming endlessly from the heavens.

They radiated a gentle glow, stirring a sacred substance into motion as they sank bit by bit into the great black cauldron.

After a while, pure white radiance filled the entire clearing, like wisps of mist curling through the air. Everything looked hazy, dreamlike and illusory, with luminous vapor drifting about.

At the same time, amid the spreading white radiance, the birds, beasts, insects, and fish carved into the great black cauldron seemed to gain life, as though they had all come alive in that fleeting haze.

Thump, thump...

The faint mist filling the clearing gathered toward the flames beneath the great black cauldron, then streamed upward along its outer walls. It was as though some nameless fire was intensifying the heat, making the cauldron rumble softly and shine.

"These lights... are all the residual divinity of the fierce beasts?" Inside the cauldron, Di Yi watched the light emanating from the blood of various creatures and the essences of their five internal organs, sensing a peculiar undercurrent of the Dao.

It seemed to be some profoundly nourishing substance, a source through which he could look directly upon the fierce beasts' abilities. He found it fascinating.

"Hoo..."

Di Yi could have held his breath. After all, breathing or not made no difference to him. He only breathed because of his body's instincts, seemingly following some long-standing yet abandoned pattern.

But after soaking in the cauldron for quite some time, he felt that since he had chosen to experience this, he might as well try everything and see what happened when he breathed in liquid.

As Di Yi breathed, faint wisps of mist could be seen flowing in and out through his mouth and nose.

"Hmm, my body seems... much more comfortable." Di Yi had only intended to experience a medicinal bath, but now he felt he could take the experiment further, believing he had found a way to heal himself.

As he deliberately breathed, iridescent light flowed across his body, making him look extraordinary. It shone in harmony with the light emanating from the creatures' blood and the essences of their five internal organs within the cauldron.

As this exchange deepened, he dimly seemed to hear peals of deafening thunder, as though they contained some strange power that coursed through every limb and bone.

At that moment, everything inside the cauldron seemed to resonate with him.

Unfortunately, no one outside could see any of this. Otherwise, had the people of Stone Village been watching, many more of them would surely have had their understanding of the world shattered to pieces.

"Chief, the pillar of light has changed!" Outside the great black cauldron, someone cried out in Stone Village's open clearing.

"This is..." The old chief had naturally noticed the change as well. Hundreds upon thousands of streaks of divine radiance shot forth, forming within the pillar of light and showering down sheets of golden rain, conveying a sense of incomparably powerful divinity.

Intricate and wondrous, they glittered and constantly shifted, like celestial bodies moving across the heavens.

With the appearance of the golden rain, the soaring pillar of light drew inward, contracting from the farthest reaches of the heavens until it withdrew completely and vanished.

Those hundreds upon thousands of streaks of divine radiance were naturally confined to the great cauldron, unable to escape beyond its rim. Only the various delicate fragrances and hazy radiance could spread outward.

"Does this still count as a medicinal bath?" The old chief was utterly shaken. For a moment, he did not know how to explain what was happening. It had long since surpassed his understanding.