The Nine Cauldrons

“How many years has this old Dragon Turtle been alive for...”

Human’s life span had its limits. The limit of an innate expert was around two hundred years old, while the limit of Emptiness Realm Experts was five hundred years old! Although books did not record for how long the legendary Emperor Yu and Heavenly Emperor Qin Ling had lived, it was obvious that neither was still alive now.

No matter how powerful they had been, they had still disappeared, swallowed by the long river of time.

This Dragon Turtle was from the same era as Emperor Yu, the “Emperor Yu” of the four greatest powerful ones! The land of the nine prefectures had experienced the eras of Emperor Yu and the other three. However, for around the past two thousand years, the birth of such extremely powerful ones hadn’t happened.

However, this Dragon Turtle was still alive!

At the very least, it had been alive longer than the total ages of the four most powerful people.

‘Among demonic beasts, none would be able to reach Emperor Yu’s level, but the life span of a demonic beast...... that is something we humans can’t compete with.’ The human experts sighed in awe. ‘God is fair,’ Teng Qingshan thought as he secretly did the same.

Although demonic beasts could not be the masters of the nine prefectures, like the humans, their lifespan was envied by many people.

“Everyone! All of us should think about how we could get into the Heavenly Flood Palace,” said Qing Hu Island’s Lord, Gu Yong. “With this old Dragon Turtle blocking the palace entrance, how do we get in?”

“There’s two ways to get in,” The King of Beasts Wu Hou spoke once again.

All the innate experts looked at Wu Hou. Teng Qingshan was also surprised. This Wu Hou had a solution?

“As far as I know,” Wu Hou flashed a faint smile as he spoke, “the weakness of the Dragon Turtle is its speed.”

“Brother Wu Hou, this is not some dozen-zhang long Azure-Green Dragon Turtle.. It is a Golden Dragon Turtle, one that can be compared to Emptiness Realm Experts. Its size is much smaller, and its speed a lot faster,” Hong Tian City’s Wu Ma replied.

Wu Hou grinned confidently as he said, in turn, “I know its speed is a lot faster than that of the the Azure-Green Dragon Turtle. But despite it being faster, it’s still not by a shocking margin. Plus..... no matter the kind of demonic beast, it’s impossible for one to be an all-rounder.

“This Golden Dragon Turtle is extremely strong, and possess an unbeatable defense. Its speed has been destined not to be overwhelming, even if it did increase.” Wu Hou seemed very confident.

The crowd of experts secretly nodded.

Indeed, not one demonic beast could be perfect in everything.

“The first way would be to enter the Heavenly Flood Palace with a speed greater than the Golden Dragon Turtle’s speed! If you are faster than the Golden Dragon Turtle, it doesn’t matter if it’s more powerful, since it won’t be able to catch up with you in the first place.” Wu Hou said, smiling, then continued, “Of course...... Although the Golden Dragon Turtle’s speed is not extremely fast, it isn’t slow either. I assume its speed would be about the same as an ordinary innate expert’s.”

Everyone was shocked.

The first way of entering the palace was actually charging in at great speed.

“The entrance of the Heavenly Flood Palace is thirty zhang wide! The dragon turtle is only three zhang long. If you are fast enough, it’s entirely possible for you to pass through the huge door.” Wu Hou smiled yet again, and said, “However, barging in is dangerous. No one knows what lies within the Heavenly Flood Palace!”

“What about the second way?”

The crowd looked at Wu Hou. Most of the experts there would be unable to enter following the first method.

Wu Hou pointed to Heavenly Flood Palace and said, “Look at the walls and ceiling of this palace! A palace that occupies an area of a dozen Li. I just can’t believe that...... the material they’re made of is extremely hard. The second way is to blast a hole in the wall or on top of the palace, and to enter through that hole!”

Everyone furrowed their brows.

Teng Qingshan was also hesitant, as he had seen the material of the Heavenly Flood Palace before. He then pondered, ‘I am afraid that the wall and ceiling of the palace won’t be easily broken. This lake has so many demonic beasts, and fights between those demonic beasts could have easily affected the palace, but the wall of Heavenly Flood Palace doesn’t have the slightest damage.’

Alright. Everyone, there’s two ways. Choose it yourselves.” The King of Beasts smiled and walked to the entrance of the palace.

Roar~~ Wu Hou roared towards the Golden Dragon Turtle again.

Hearing the sound, the Golden Dragon Turtle glared at Wu Hou.

Whew!

When Wu Hou was near the entrance, his speed suddenly increased drastically, and a black beam of light shot through the palace entrance. When the light went inside the Heavenly Flood Palace, its speed actually increased again!

Roar~~~ The Golden Dragon Turtle roared furiously, and forcefully darted towards Wu Hou “Haha. There’s actually no water in the Heavenly Flood Palace!” a guffaw resounded from within the palace, while Wu Hou disappeared from everyone’s sight.

“Such an amazing speed!” Teng Qingshan sighed in awe, “As expected, the first of the 《Heavenly Ranking》 is very powerful.”

As someone who could keep his position of the first in the 《Heavenly Ranking》, Wu Hou’s speed, means of attack, defense, and others must have reached the apex of the Golden Dan of the Innate Realm. Teng Qingshan could tell at a glance. ‘This Wu Hou’s speed is a lot faster than mine, and that Golden Dragon Turtle is a lot slower than him.’

“Wu Hou went in!”

Many people from the various great sects began to worry. Immediately, the sects started discussing internally, while Teng Qingshan’s attention focused on Qing Hu Island’s men.

“Island Lord, Qing Hu Island cannot lose too many men in this Heavenly Flood Palace,” Zhao Danchen whispered. “Island Lord, you are still young and you have greater potential than me. Thus, you should wait outside for news.”

“Martial brother Zhao is right,” agreed the elder with greying temples, Yuwen Liufeng, adding, “If five Golden Dan Innate Experts were to enter the Heavenly Flood Palace...... it would be best to choose the older ones.” If Qing Hu Island lost too many men, it would be a disadvantage to its future.

Gu Yong pondered, then nodded, replying, “Alright!”

Soon, they decided on the people who would go in.

Out of eleven people, the ones who stayed were Island Lord Gu Yong and his martial sister, the two Golden Dan innate experts, along with a True Dan innate expert and the only Empty Dan innate expert. As for the other people, the three Golden Dan innate experts, Zhao Danchen, Yuwen Liufeng, and Elder Hu led the other four True Dan innate experts, and started making preparations to enter the Heavenly Flood Palace.

They had been chosen to enter the Heavenly Flood Palace because Zhao Danchen and Yuwen Liufeng were the two oldest ones, Elder Hu being slightly younger, but still over a hundred years old.

As for Gu Yong, he was only slightly over fifty years old, and his martial sister was two years younger than him.

These two martial siblings were already Golden Dan innate experts......One could say that out of the great number of Qing Hu Island experts, Gu Yong and his martial sister were the ones who were most likely to reach the Emptiness Realm.

Martial Brother Yuwen, you lead the other people and go inside the palace by the second method. With my speed, I can barge in through the entrance by myself,” Zhao Danchen said.

......

By now, the experts in all sects had made their choices. So far, three experts had darted inside the Heavenly Flood Palace, namely The King of Beasts Wu Hou, Zhao Danchen and the long-eyebrowed Monk of the Mani Temple. The other people didn’t choose this path...... as it was rather difficult to be faster than the Golden Dragon Turtle.

‘This Golden Dragon Turtle actually stopped chasing Wu Hou, Zhao Danchen and the Monk when it couldn’t catch them? It’s still blocking the entrance?’ When Teng Qingshan saw that the Golden Dragon Turtle wasn’t worried at all, he immediately guessed, ‘It’s quite possible that there are other dangers beside the Golden Dragon Turtle!’

At that moment——

The large number of innate experts left from the palace entrance.

‘The men of Qing Hu Island have actually separated.’ Teng Qingshan also realized that Gu Yong and his other three men had stayed in the same spot, while Zhao Danchen had rushed inside. As for Yuwen Liufeng and the other five innate experts, they followed the main group and headed towards other places outside the Heavenly Flood Palace.

‘It looks like they won’t dare to go in all together. What a pity...... If they don’t go in, it will be difficult to kill Gu Yong with my ability.’ Teng Qingshan did not hesitate, and immediately followed the group. ‘The six people led by Yuwen Liufeng are all elites. Two Golden Dan innate experts and four True Dan innate experts. If I can provoke their deaths, it will be a heavy blow to Qing Hu Island.’

Besides Gu Yong and the other three, the rest of the experts, about fifty people in all, went with the second plan.

Since everyone had chosen to come to the Great Yan Mountain, their hearts were already prepared.

In the dark and gloomy lake, around fifty ‘lanterns’ were swimming alongside the palace wall. They stopped two Li away from the entrance.

“Everyone! The wall should be harder than the top. Let’s break through the top and enter!”

Everyone agreed, and all of them swam above the broad top of the Heavenly Flood Palace; They stopped after choosing a particular spot.

Chi!

Ying Haojiang waved his hand, and an icy-blue Innate True Origin shot towards the top. The mud and aquatic grass were blasted away, showing the azure-green material of the palace’s upper part.

“The blast of Innate True Origin couldn’t even leave a scratch...” the fifty innate experts sighed in shock.

“I have never seen this type of azure-green material before.” The innate experts realized that breaking through the ceiling wasn’t all that easy.

“Let me try,” a deep-sounding voice said.

Dressed in a scale armor, the lean noble from Shooting Sun God Mountain took the Godly Bow from behind his back and forcefully drew the bow into the shape of a full moon, blue-colored Innate True Origin flowing from his left hand. The blue-colored Innate True Origin leaked along the bow and the bowstring, then condensed towards the center. A luminescent sky-blue ball was formed on his right index finger.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan was slightly surprised. The expert of Shooting Sun God Mountain hadn’t actually used any arrows.

Release!

The ball of light slanted down and shot the top of the Heavenly Flood Palace.

Bang! The upper part of the palace shook fiercely. The crowd standing on the palace could feel the drastic trembling sound from beneath their feet. Taking a look at the top of the palace, they noticed that a hole the size of a human head had appeared in the azure-green material. The sky-blue ball of Innate True Origin had gone through the bottom of the hole.

“Eh?” The elder of Shooting Sun God Mountain frowned, saying, in a hoarse voice, “The top of this Heavenly Flood Palace is as tough as Darksteel. However, the top is only one chi thick.

“Everyone, look! The hole is shrinking!”

All the experts noticed, shocked, that the hole, which initially had the size of a human head, was now shrinking. Within a short amount of time, it became fist-sized.

‘Automatic recovery?’ Teng Qingshan finally understood why this Heavenly Flood Palace had no damage even after such a long time.

“Considering this arrow shot, in order to blast a hole that would allow one person to enter, we need three Golden Dan Innate Experts to attack the top.” The lean man continued, “Of course, if all Golden Dan Innate Experts blast the top together, we could make a hole that allows four-five people to enter at the same time.”

Everyone realized the toughness of the material this palace was made of.

“Okay,” Ying Jianghao of the Ying Family said coldly. “With that hole as the center, all Golden Dan innate experts will attack the area of one zhang in diameter, together!” As he spoke, he held his long black spear up.

Immediately——

The Golden Dan innate experts stepped up one by one. Even three of Mani Temple’s Monks joined them, making a total of twelve people.

“Attack!” Ying Haojiang ordered.