Ninth on the Heaven Ranking, the Floating Hill Immortal Cauldron

The death of the Human Emperor...

According to Yu Tunzhou's understanding, the Human Emperor rose to power at the beginning of High Antiquity and disappeared in the middle and late stages of High Antiquity times. As a legendary being close to the Dao Venerable and Buddha, his peak period in the world was very short.

The disappearance of the Human Emperor is also shrouded in mystery.

Before his disappearance, he seemed to have foreseen his fate, and deliberately built numerous tombs, scattered throughout the Central Plains and the four continents. Each one contained different inheritances and relics, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake, and blurring the lines between reality and illusion.

It's as if they're deliberately creating a mystery.

It also seems like they're using this to cover something up.

And when it comes to tombs...

Yu Tunzhou suddenly remembered that when he was in the Dao Integration World in the Dragon Gate, he had sensed a kind of riot coming from the depths of the Void, the source of which seemed to be the tomb that the Human Emperor had hidden in the Dragon Gate.

Unfortunately, not long after that, he dispersed and returned to his true self, losing his perception of the depths of the Void.

A riot within the tomb... What exactly did the Human Emperor hide within his tomb in Dragon Gate?

Could the tomb in Dragon Gate be the real one? Did the Human Emperor truly meet an untimely end?

Yu Tunzhou looked at the note in his hand again.

[Floating Hill Mountain is related to the death of the Human Emperor]

The death of the Human Emperor remains an unsolved mystery to this day. Was the person behind it simply spouting nonsense, deliberately smearing Floating Hill Mountain to pique his curiosity, or did they truly possess some unknown secret?

If it's the latter, could this person be a disciple of Floating Hill Mountain, someone who knows their own family's affairs?

What secrets does this lineage of the Human Emperor hold?

Yu Tunzhou had to admit that the note had indeed piqued his curiosity.

Especially since he came with a specific purpose in mind.

If the mastermind behind Floating Hill Mountain is indeed the one who secretly instigated the Dragon-Phoenix War back then... then the death of the Human Emperor might also make sense to some extent?

Yu Tunzhou didn't jump to conclusions easily, and looked at the token.

The token felt slightly heavy in my hand, with a cool touch. It was made of neither gold nor iron, but rather some kind of unknown black jade.

The front is engraved with the words "Guest Minister," while the back is engraved with the words "Floating Hill Mountain."

The guest elder's token from Floating Hill Mountain?

Yu Tunzhou was puzzled. He untied the paper strip wrapped around the token. The handwriting on it was messy and ugly, with strokes that were sometimes light and sometimes heavy, as if he did not want others to recognize him because of his handwriting.

But because the characters were so ugly, Yu Tunzhou stared at them for a long time, and only after considering the context did he understand their meaning:

[If Zhang Buyu returns to the sect, his chances of survival are slim. We request that Young Hero Yu escort him to White Water Mountain, where Long Yan resides. A generous gift will surely follow.]

The second letter clearly stated that it was addressed to him, using only the three words "Young Hero Yu".

However, if Zhang Buyu returns to the mountain, the odds are against him.

Yu Tunzhou frowns.

During the journey, he ate and lived with Zhang Buyu, and extracted a lot of information from him. At one point, he even entered Zhang Buyu's Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth under the guise of giving guidance.

However, no abnormalities were found.

It can be basically concluded that even if Zhang Buyu has a problem, he himself is unaware of it.

He initially guessed that the source was in Floating Hill Mountain, perhaps through Zhang Buyu's teachers or the inheritance he received...

But this letter said that someone in the Floating Hill Mountain gate wanted to harm Zhang Buyu, which was beyond his expectations.

Yu Tunzhou's gaze swept over the two slips of paper again.

It seems that there is indeed something wrong with Floating Hill Mountain, but I don't know if the hidden problems are the same as what I want to find.

In addition, it seems that there are two groups of people who want to use their own power to cause trouble in Floating Hill Mountain.

We're in a bit of a passive position now.

Yu Tunzhou squinted and pondered for a moment, then put away the first letter, picked up the token and the second letter, went out, and knocked on Zhang Buyu's door.

Before Zhang Buyu could open the door, he barged in and got straight to the point:

"Brother Zhang, do you know Long Yan?"

Zhang Buyu, who had just woken up from his bed, was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Long Yan is my master, where did you hear that from, Brother Yu?"

The Yu Tunzhou; Lairu.

He handed over the note and the token.

"Brother Zhang, please take a look first."

"This is... a guest elder token from the sect?" Zhang Buyu looked surprised, then took the slip of paper and asked, "Brother Yu, where did you get this guest elder token?"

He had no recollection of when Yu Tunzhou had become a guest retainer of his sect!

The next moment, the note was unfolded, and Zhang Buyu's expression changed drastically, his breathing becoming rapid.

"Someone just threw these two things into my house."

Yu Tunzhou, observing Zhang Buyu's expression, offered an explanation.

"... This is Senior Brother Jin's handwriting," Zhang Buyu said, taking a deep breath.

You mean Jin Buxi?

Yu Tunzhou thought for a moment and then asked.

He didn't have much of an impression of this person. He had only heard Lin Yueheng and others mention him before entering the Dragon Gate. They said he was a representative of the Floating Hill Mountain area and, in addition to participating in the Dragon Gate, was also tasked with hunting down Deng Canglan.

"He's gone to such lengths to cover up his handwriting, how can you still recognize it?" Yu Tunzhou couldn't help but ask.

These characters are really ugly; it took him a while to recognize them all.

Zhang Buyu shook his head. "Senior Brother Jin didn't hide it; this is his handwriting."

Yu Tunzhou's face twitched. "You mean, his handwriting was always this bad?"

Zhang Buyu nodded, his mind already in turmoil, wondering what Senior Brother Jin meant by sending this letter.

Is someone in the temple trying to harm me?

"Is your Senior Brother Jin reliable?" Yu Tunzhou asked.

Zhang Buyu nodded solemnly and said in a deep voice, "If nothing unexpected happens, Senior Brother Jin will be one of the next leaders of Floating Hill Mountain! He is upright, hates evil, and always adheres to principles in his actions. I trust him!"

Yu Tunzhou nodded slightly. "In that case, let's set off for White Water Mountain tonight."

Zhang Buyu smiled wryly and said, "Brother Yu, you don't know this, but before I went down the mountain, my master told me that he would soon be representing Floating Hill Mountain to go to the Western Desert and wouldn't be back for a year or two. Right now, White Water Mountain should be completely deserted."

Yu Tunzhou frowned. Could he interpret this as Zhang Buyu's master being transferred?

Zhang Buyu glanced at the Guest Elder's Order and muttered to himself, "I mentioned this to Senior Brother Jin before, and he wouldn't forget. If someone in the sect really wanted to harm me, he hoped I would find another place to hide. Why would it be the deserted White Water Mountain?"

Could it be that...?

Zhang Buyu suddenly realized something and said in a deep voice,

"Perhaps Senior Brother Jin wants me to go to that sacred mountain gate!"

"The sacred site of the mountain gate?" Yu Tunzhou asked in confusion.

Zhang Buyu's expression shifted several times, as if he couldn't believe that this was Senior Brother Jin's decision.

He asked himself again, if this was truly Senior Brother Jin's intention, why didn't he say it directly in the letter?

He looked at the letter again and noticed the oversight: there was some scribbling after the words "more bad than good," indicating that Senior Brother Jin had changed his mind while writing.

He stared at the smeared area, and based on his understanding of Senior Brother Jin's handwriting, he could vaguely make out the characters "white" and "dragon".

"White Dragon... is it White Dragon Gorge?" Zhang Buyu murmured. "Isn't this where Senior Brother Yao was ambushed by Deng Canglan? Why would Senior Brother Jin specifically mention this place? If I remember correctly, there seems to be a market town under the Five Rivers Chamber of Commerce Guild nearby..."

He pondered for a long time, then looked up solemnly and said, "Brother Yu, this may be a bit presumptuous of me, but I still wish to ask you to escort me to the market town of White Dragon Pass!"

Yu Tunzhou's mind raced. Zhang Buyu seemed to be at the center of the Floating Hill Mountain incident. Following him, there was a high probability that he could get in touch with the truth behind it all.

"Alright." Yu Tunzhou nodded and said, "Let's set off tonight and make the most of every second."

They arrived at the Eastern Wilderness just before the side in Floating Hill Mountain that might be at Zhang Buyu's disadvantage!

Although the Eastern Wilderness is mostly barren and desolate, the Cangwu Mountain Range, where Floating Hill Mountain is located, present a completely different scene.

The entire mountain range is said to have been transformed from a blessed land.

now.

Deep in the Cangwu Mountain Range.

In a courtyard atop a mountain, the air is filled with Spiritual Qi energy, as if it were hanging down from the heavens. In the courtyard, there is a clear pool, its surface shrouded in mist, with the appearance of auspicious clouds. It truly has the air of a celestial land.

Even in the cracks between the bluestone rocks by the pool, several Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms grew, of excellent quality, worth at least a hundred gold pieces if sold outside.

Such a landscape would be considered a top-tier treasure even in the Central Plains, but in the desolate and barren lands of the Eastern Wilderness, it seems utterly out of place, as if a corner of Heavenly Court had fallen to the Mortal Realm.

Deep in the courtyard, a pavilion with bamboo curtains hanging on all four sides stood. Through the curtains, a pot of tea was placed on a stone table. The tea soup was clear, and the tea leaves floated slowly in the cup. Four figures sat around the table.

Three men and one woman.

The woman looked to be no more than thirty years old, but she had a head of white hair, slender eyebrows and eyes, wore a light green Daoist robe, her hair was neatly tied up and adorned with a white jade hairpin, and her eyes were very cold.

The other three included a middle-aged man, tall and thin with a refined face, who was also wearing a Daoist robe.

To his right was a burly man with thick eyebrows and large eyes, the only one in the room not wearing a Daoist robe.

Opposite the burly man sat a thin, old Daoist priest with white hair and beard, eyes closed, breathing very lightly.

The tall, thin, middle-aged Daoist priest spoke, his voice unhurried and deliberate:

Jin Buxi has already noticed something amiss.

The air in the pavilion seemed to freeze for a moment.

"It was probably that brat Deng Canglan who told him. Junior Nephew Yao is still too careless in his actions."

The tall, thin Daoist priest's gaze sharpened as he swept it over the burly man.

"Minghe and the Five Rivers Chamber of Commerce must bear full responsibility for this matter!"

"Hmph." The white-haired Daoist nun let out a cold snort, tapping her fingertips lightly on the stone table. "To believe even the words of those in the demonic path so easily, it seems Jin Buxi has wasted all these years of cultivation."

The burly man suddenly said, "A message came from the Nanhua Sect that Zhang Buyu was unharmed. He was simply accidentally teleported to the South Sea Dragon Palace when he left the Dragon Gate. Yu Tunzhou escorted him back. According to Zhang Buyu's letter, Yu Tunzhou visited Floating Hill Mountain in the name of the Human Emperor's inheritance."

"The Human Emperor's legacy?" The white-haired Daoist nun frowned, somewhat amused. "What does the Human Emperor Emperor's legacy have to do with him? He's the number one on the Dragon and Tiger Ranking, why would he need to use the Human Emperor's name?"

The burly man said calmly, "This boy cultivates the Spark Instruction Qi Ingestion Method. According to the news that came from Luofu Grotto-Heaven back then, the Spark Instruction he cultivates is the original version found by the Northern Chen Human Emperor's Mausoleum, which may very well contain the true Spark Instruction."

The white-haired Daoist nun's gaze suddenly sharpened:

"If I remember correctly, didn't we decide back then to secretly capture this kid, torture him to extract the complete Spark Instruction, and then offer him to the Star God?"

"If it truly is the complete Spark Instruction bestowed by the Human Emperor, it might contain Secret Method for controlling the Immortal Cauldron! At the very least, it could earn some recognition!"

The tall, thin Daoist sighed and said, "This boy was protected by the Great Hero Mo before, but after Great Hero Mo disappeared, he mingled with the Danyang Qian Household. In less than a month, he disappeared again. When he reappeared, he was already in West Xuan Commandery the Western Desert, meeting with Jin Moyuan, Lu Huaiqing's former close friend... There was simply no suitable opportunity to strike."

The burly man also looked regretful and said, "This kid's progress is truly terrifying. I wonder what kind of Martial Dao foundation he has built. If we had been able to capture him back then, the gains would probably have far surpassed those of the Spark Instruction!"

The tall, thin Daoist sighed softly, "Indeed, according to the news, he recently severely injured Xuanyangzi of the Supreme Origin Sect in the south."

The white-haired Daoist nun raised an eyebrow. "You believe that? Xuanyangzi is at the External Scenery Fourth Layer, and has just begun to develop his Dharma Domain. With the power of his Dharma Domain, even if Yu Tunzhou could attract a Heavenly Tribulation, Xuanyangzi could still kill Yu Tunzhou with a full-force attack! How could it be that in the end, he didn't kill Yu Tunzhou, but was instead severely injured by the Heavenly Tribulation and chased by Yu Tunzhou? There must have been someone else involved in this battle!"

The tall, thin Daoist priest and the burly man remained silent.

They did not witness the battle firsthand and could not comment on it; they could only speculate based on the information revealed in the Dragon and Tiger Ranking.

Of the four, the old man who had remained silent until now finally slowly raised his eyelids.

As soon as he spoke, everyone in the pavilion fell silent.

"We should take this kid seriously."

Even if there were some concealments regarding Xuanyangzi, his record of suppressing more than a dozen Dao Path cultivators in the Dragon Gate is undeniable. Leaving aside his future, his current combat strength is certainly above the External Scenery Second Layer. Even if the three of you were to fight him one-on-one, you might not be his match.

The woman clearly wanted to say something more, but a glance from the old man made her swallow her words.

"It's good that Junior Nephew Zhang is back," the old man continued, his tone calm. "Last time, we found a reason to send Long Yan away, and he seemed to have some suspicions. He bypassed us and sent his disciple to the Dragon Gate. Fortunately, Junior Nephew Zhang didn't perish in the Dragon Gate, so it won't affect the overall situation."

He paused, his gaze falling on the burly man. "Tell Minghe not to make any rash moves and to halt operations for now."

"Our deal with the Xie Household is just one step away from completion. It's time to stop for now..." The burly man frowned.

The old man remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

The tall, thin Daoist suddenly said, "Grandmaster Uncle, the Mountain Lord has already tacitly approved of our actions, and Long Yan and the others have been dispatched far away from the mountain gate. Even if Jin Buxi senses something is wrong, we can suppress it for the time being."

As for "the Yu Tunzhou-- "

The tall, thin Daoist priest paused, then said in a deep voice, "There's no need to provoke him. The Three Rankings have just been released, and he's currently riding high. Too many people are paying attention to him. Making an enemy of him will only attract unnecessary attention to us."

The white-haired Daoist nun frowned and said, "Then we don't want the Spark Instruction anymore? If the legacy left by the Human Emperor can truly affect the ' Immortal Cauldron,' Jin Buxi and the others take the risk of letting Yu Tunzhou come into contact with the ' Immortal Cauldron,' thereby affecting the ceremony, who will clean up the mess?"

There's no need to worry about that.

The old man said calmly,

"Compared to the matter of Xuanyangzi, I am more skeptical about the authenticity of the Spark Instruction. Besides, the Spark Instruction is merely a method of cultivating Qi, not a fundamental inheritance. Even if it has an influence, it is extremely limited and will not affect the overall situation."

"Mingxin is right. There's no need to deliberately provoke Yu Tunzhou. Since he's come to pay his respects, let him do so. Don't deliberately cause him trouble."

"The troublesome aspect of this young man lies not only in his current strength, but also in the powerful figures behind him."

"This is a critical moment, and I don't want to attract the attention of the Supreme Purity Lineage at this time."

The old man slowly finished speaking and then closed his eyes.

No one spoke in the pavilion; all their expressions were solemn.

Floating Hill Mountain is also a branch of the Daoist School, and as a disciple of the Daoist School, how could he not know about those four immortal swords?

For Supreme Purity Lineage has not produced a single Dharma Aspect, yet among all Dharma Aspect in the world, who dares to force their way into the gates of Shangqing Mountain?

It's laughable, really, that the immortal weapons they've gone to so much trouble to control actually number four within the Supreme Purity Lineage...

But it is precisely for this reason that they must take control of the celestial weapons before the Star God descends. Only in this way can they have the power to protect themselves in this great calamity and safeguard the vast Eastern Wilderness!

Floating Hill Mountain, the main mountain.

Night had fallen, Jin Buxi climbed the main mountain alone. The pines and cypresses on both sides swayed gently in the night breeze, casting dappled shadows.

During his time back at the mountain gate, he secretly conducted a lot of investigations and sensed a lot of resistance, some of which alarmed him.

The events of the past few years, strung together, resembled a hidden rope beneath the surface of the water; he had grabbed one end, but didn't know whether he should pull it to the surface...

At the end of the mountain path, a simple and ordinary thatched hut came into view.

Jin Buxi stopped in front of the thatched hut.

A night breeze blew from the mountaintop, ruffling his robes.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled all the stale air from his chest, and his expression returned to normal. Then he stepped forward, bowed, and paid his respects to his teacher, the current master of Floating Hill Mountain, who was also the ninth on the Heaven Ranking, the Daoist Shouzheng.

"Master, this disciple wishes to travel to the Holy Land to attempt to gain the approval of the Immortal Cauldron!"

Much later.

A calm, unwavering voice came from the thatched hut:

"Can."

Upon hearing the permission, Jin Buxi silently bowed, but a thought that he had suppressed for a long time, yet dared not dwell on, suddenly surfaced in his mind:

As a highly accomplished master of Dharma Aspect at Floating Hill Mountain, does Your Highness truly not know what is happening within Floating Hill Mountain's borders?

Jin Buxi bowed silently, then turned and descended the mountain.

He returned to the foot of the mountain, then leaped into the night and disappeared, leaving the main mountain of Fuqiu. His figure vanished into the forest, heading west until he arrived at a small Daoist temple.

He straightened his clothes in front of the Daoist temple, then slowly walked inside, where a large cauldron came into view.

With three legs and two handles, it has an ancient and simple shape. Its surface is covered with mottled patina, as if it has gone through an extremely long period of time. The outlines of the sun, moon, mountains and rivers are engraved on the body of the tripod.

This is the oldest relic of Fuqiu Mountain, a celestial weapon forged by the Human Emperor himself, and the origin of the name of the Human Emperor's lineage of Fuqiu Mountain.

For many years, generations of talented cultivators from Floating Hill Mountain have come one after another to try, but none of them have ever gained the recognition of the Immortal Cauldron.

Even though his master had already reached the Dharma Aspect level, he lost the possibility of being recognized by the Immortal Cauldron because he mainly cultivated Martial Dao.