The Nine Cauldrons

A man, wearing plain cotton clothing, sat near a window enjoying his meal. There was a long saber tied to his waist.

“Dear guest, here’s your mutton!” A nearby waiter came with a plate of food in hand and put the plate on the table, “Please enjoy.” He turned around after delivering the food, but as he was walking away, he accidentally brushed the man’s left arm. The strange thing was....the sleeve waved as he walked past it.

He only had one arm!

His left arm had been amputated!

This man looked at his left arm, but continued to eat his meal without a response. His arm had been amputated a very long time ago. Back then, he’d been desperate and frantic after losing his arm, but as time had passed, his emotions gradually settled down. He cultivated assiduously for twenty years, regained his incredible strength, and was even more steady and fearful than the genius he had been twenty years ago.

“Yesterday afternoon, near the Chu City, the Tie Yi Sect sent out a team of roughly one hundred elite members to rush to Xuyang County. The team was led by the Tie Yi Sect’s elder, ‘Wei Canglong’. Ten years ago, he was once listed on the Earthly Ranking.” Not far behind this one-armed man, a table full of warriors started to talk about this.

The alone-armed man sneered.

Wei Canglong?

There was no lack of new experts under the heavens. Once someone stopped progressing, they’d soon be replaced by the next generation. Wei Canglong was once on the Earthly Ranking ten years ago, however he was merely at the 71st place. However, now he had already been replaced by stronger experts. Of course, being able to stay on the Earthly Ranking for even a short amount of time represented this elder’s strength.

“Why is the Tie Yi Sect sending experts to Xuyang County? Could it be that they want to control Xuyang County?”

“You’re wrong. You have to know the news that’s been spreading since yesterday from the Blazing Mountain inside Xuyang County, about an adolescent Red Scaled Beast being born there! Moreover, it’d being eating humans in Jin Jia Village. There were many warriors, and they fought it all the way to the Blazing Mountain. The beast was only one Zhang tall! Do you know why this adolescent Red Scaled Beast appeared in this world, and what it could mean?” The young warrior proudly asked.

That one-armed man’s body slightly trembled.

An Adolescent Red Scaled Beast?

“When an adolescent Red Scaled Beast appears, it means that a Black Fire Spirit Fruit and a Black Fire Spirit Root are there as well! If an expert at the pinnacle of the Postliminary Realm were to eat a Black Fire Spirit Fruit, it’s said that he’d become an innate master.” The young warrior said. These words immediately caused an uproar. “If someone ate a Black Fire Spirit Root, they’d directly become a First Rated Warrior!”

The one-armed man drank his cup of wine and was deep in thought.

An Adolescent Red Scaled Beast? A Black Fire Spirit Fruit?

“Waiter! The Bill!” The one-armed man said indifferently.

“Immediately, dear guest.” The waiter came running, “In total, the cost is six strings and 12 coins.”

He casually dropped a few pieces of silver onto the table and asked, “Is this enough?” The waiter who was used to handling money weighed it in his hand and replied, “More than enough.”

The one-armed man immediately left and mounted his horse, before rushing towards the Blazing Mountain.

“A Black Fire Spirit Fruit! I’ll make sure to get it no matter what!” A cold light flashed in the one-armed man’s eyes

......

This scene in the restaurant was very common, especially for the places that were close to the Blazing Mountain, as the news spread everywhere in a mere few days. This new spread to ten, then to a hundred men; the rate continued to increase as it went in all directions.

Countless warriors either wanted to compete for the Black Fire Spirit Fruit, or for the Black Fire Spirit Root.

Some, just wanted to join for the merriness.

Everyone knew that the Blazing Mountain would become extremely lively after one to two months. Even experts from Yangzhou and Northern Qingzhou rushed towards the Blazing Mountain. It was a rare event for so many experts to gather at one place, where one could meet a lot of powerful masters. Even experts from the Earthly, Hidden Dragon, and Rising Phoenix Ranking came.

......

A caravan slowly travelled along the public road.

A caravan with this many businessmen would normally gather a great number of escorts. The strength its guards were divided between the weak and the strong. Those who had power could sit comfortably in the carriage, and if nothing happened, they wouldn’t even bother to move.

Squeak, squeak.

The wheels kept rolling, and a simply dressed, barefooted young man was sitting cross-legged on the carriage with his eyes closed, and hand on his broadsword.

No one dared to disturb this youth.

Before, the other guards had looked down on this plain looking, bare-footed youth. There were two guards who’d tried to blackmail him, but who would’ve thought.... The others only saw the flash, and spraying blood, before those two dropped to the ground with their throats cut open. The group of guards were immediately terrified.

While he was still holding his broadsword, he’d killed these two in one swing.

No one even noticed his swing!

The speed at which the blade was drawn and the attack made was overwhelming. The guards no longer dared to offend the bare-footed young man.

“Did you hear about it when we were resting at the inn earlier? An adolescent Red Scaled Beast appeared at the Blazing Mountain at the borders of the Xuyang County. Once the adolescent Red Scaled Beast matures and eats the Black Fire Spirit Fruit, it can grow up to three zhangs tall, five to six Zhang long......” The other guards started a discussion on this news while they moved on.

The bare-footed young man who was resting with his eyes closed opened his eyes.

“Black Fire Spirit Fruit? Black Fire Spirit Root?” The bare-footed young man squinted his eyes, looking like a lone wolf with cold and detached eyes.

Immediately, a smile broke out on his face. “These guards are right, this will definitely attract thousands of warriors! I’ve roamed the world for eight years, braving the wind and hardship, but those so-called warriors at the pinnacle of the postliminary realm couldn’t even take one blow from me! This time, there will be many experts that gather, and it will be the time for me, ‘Yan Tie’, who’s been in training for eight years, to spread my fame across the world! Master will definitely be happy once he learns that I was able to get myself listed on the 《Hidden Dragon Ranking》and the 《Earth Ranking》 lists! If I can can also get the Black Fire Spirit Fruit......”

The bare-footed young man didn’t hesitate anymore once he thought of this.

He then picked up the bag at his side, and took a leap.

Hu!

With one kick, he knocked a guard off his war horse, sat on the war horse himself, and with a whip, the war horse quickly gained speed.

“My horse!” The guard quickly shouted.

Bang!

A hard item smashed onto his head. The guard lowered his head and saw that it was a tael of gold.

“So stingy.” The guard cursed silently. “My war horse also took me close to a hundred taels of silver. He could’ve given me a little bit more.” The guard ran up and boarded the cart .

“Brother, you should count yourself lucky that the God of Slaughter was willing to give you gold. Even if he didn’t, what could you do?” The other guards laughed.

“Where is that God of Slaughter headed to?” “Who knows? He’s better off gone. When he’s here, I’m always on tenterhooks!”

Even if the guards were to leave halfway, the traders wouldn’t take heed. It was also not something that they could control. Moreover, the traders would pay half the money when they reached midway, and the other half when they arrived at the destination. Since they wouldn’t be on the losing end, they weren’t afraid that the guards would run off.

Regardless if it was those who were after the Black Fire Spirit Fruit and the Black Fire Spirit Root, or those who came to join in the party — or even those who wished to make a name for themselves amidst the gathering of the experts — many warriors rushed off towards the Blazing Mountain after hearing of the news!

To those who roamed the world, after braving through wind and hardship for the sake of making a name for themselves, this was a great opportunity!

There were also those who had already gained fame, but yearned to be able to attain the innate state.

There were also those who harbored feelings of great hatred and would like to raise their abilities quickly in order to be able to exact revenge!

There were those who wanted to join in for the fun!

There were those who were disciples of experts who’d hidden their names from the world, and wanted to spread their names across the world!

......

In short, all sorts of characters had rushed towards the Blazing Mountain.

A mansion inside Hua City, Xuyang County.

This was one of the stations of the Gui Yuan Sect inside of Hua City. Teng Qingshan and his company were staying there temporarily.

“These two days, it’s really been bustling at the Blazing Mountain.” Teng Qingshan stood by the window of the pavilion, drinking wine as he swept his gaze towards the distant streets. “To think that so many warriors have arrived at the Blazing Mountain. It’s only been two days, and there are hundreds of men who’ve gathered! Three inns were set up at once!”

There were too many people, and these strong warriors didn’t care much about money.

Inns could take the opportunity to earn big bucks, therefore three inns were quickly constructed in the area of Blazing Mountain.

“But that adolescent Red Scale Beast is really sneaky! It hasn’t appeared for the past two days. I’ve entered the Blazing Mountain three times to search, but I wasn’t able to find any traces of the adolescent Red Scaled Beast.” Teng Qingshan had also been trying to think of ways and means to search, but had never been able to find the adolescent Red Scaled Beast. The Red Scaled Beast had obviously been wary of the danger.

But one thing Teng Qingshan was sure of — The adolescent Red Scaled Beast would not leave its nest before it had eaten the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.

“Cousin is really diligent.” Teng Qingshan threw a glance in the direction of the courtyard below. Teng Qinghu was practicing the spear art 《Five Techniques of the Ardent Flame》.

“Hmm?” From the corner of his eyes, Teng Qingshan saw a large number of men appearing on the streets, wearing black heavy armor, and riding black war horses. There were also many who weren’t wearing heavy armor.

Teng Qingshan could recognise the two people leading the group at a glance!

The one with long silver hair and a cold gaze was the first commander, Ji Hong, while the cool-looking lady in the black suit was the fourth commander, Guan Lu.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Teng Qingshan quickly descended the stairs and headed for the front entrance, while the person-in-charge of the station, Yang Ta, was already waiting at the main gate.

“Commanders,” Yang Ta said respectfully, “Please come inside and rest, leave these war horses to my men.” With a wave of his hand, immediately a group of servants ran over to take care of the horses.

A majestic group of people entered under the lead of Ji Hong and Guan Lu.

“Commanders.” Teng Qingshan cupped his hands in front of the two people.

“Haha, Qingshan!” Ji Hong looked at Teng Qingshan and smiled immediately. He walked over and patted Teng Qingshan’s shoulder: “This time, you really gave our Gui Yuan Sect a lot of prestige, haha... That’s right, that Meng Tian, did you really kill him?”

Meng Tian’s body was gone, and there wasn’t anyone around when he got killed. No one knew whether he’d been killed by Teng Qingshan or not.

“Of course, he was killed by me.” Teng Qingshan said.

“Good, good.” Ji Hong’s smile got even bigger, and he turned around, “This is Commander Guan! This time Commander Guan and I, under the order of our leader, came here with thirty experts of the Black Armored Army, and thirty core disciple experts. Even though many experts have gathered because of the appearance of the adolescent of the Red Scaled Beasts, we of the Gui Yuan Sect are determined to win that treasure! Qingshan, when the time comes, don’t hesitate!”

Regardless of defeating Meng Tian, or killing him.

Teng Qingshan at least had the strength of an 《Earth Ranking》 expert. As an Earth Ranking expert, he could be very useful when it came to fighting over the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.

“Yes, Lord Commander.” Teng Qingshan replied. Suddenly when he glanced behind Ji Hong, he started. His eyes locked onto the face of a tough and stocky built man wearing heavy armor. That Black Armored Army’s expert confusingly looked at Teng Qingshan.

“Brother, is your name Li Jinfu?” Teng Qingshan could still remember clearly, the genius from the Li family back then who’d carried a mace which weighed a hundred and twenty-two Jin.