The Nine Cauldrons

Teng Qingshan understood.

It was just like the case the Gui Yuan Sect’s Martial Ancestor. He might have just reached the Emptiness Realm and only had a shallow understanding of the Dao of the Heavens without any knowledge of the essence of the Heavens and Earth. Thus, the 《Gui Yuan Heart Technique》 written by the Martial Ancestor naturally seemed so profound that it was difficult for the later generations to understand it.

As for Emperor Yu, since he understood the essence of the Heavens and Earth, he was able to explain something profound in simple terms. Thus, practicing the 《Heavenly Book of the Nine Cauldrons》 was naturally faster than practicing the 《Gui Yuan Heart Technique》.

“《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》 has no mental cultivation method, but it was my most powerful axe technique.” Emperor Yu sighed emotionally and continued saying, “Because it has no mental cultivation method, it is too difficult to practice just by looking at the pictures of the axe techniques’ movements. Therefore, I left thirty-six words of the Dao at the Godly Axe Mountain of the Northern Sea Continent. There is a picture of the axe technique’s movement beside each word. You might be able to understand the essence of my axe technique by looking at my words!”

Teng Qingshan smiled as he realized that he and Emperor Yu were quite alike.

For example, his own Five Element Spear Arts’ Pursuing Shadow, Toxic Dragon Drill, and Vermillion Tiger Roar had no mental cultivation methods, only a concept! When one really understood the concept, one would understand the Spear Art.

Teng Qingshan sighed softly and thought to himself, “In the future, if I really wanted to teach my Five Element Spear Arts, it would be very difficult. Without a deep understanding of the concept of the five elements, it would be very difficult to understand this Spear Art.”

It was the same principle.

Teng Qingshan created a Spear Art, while Emperor Yu created an Axe Technique.

“However, when you bring the Splitting Mountain Axe there, the Splitting Mountain Axe will combine with the signet in my writings, and you will be able to see how I wrote the thirty-six words with the Splitting Mountain Axe during that time. You will be able to see me perform the axe technique with your own eyes. If you ponder it for a long time.....you will definitely gain something. If you ponder for a dozen years, reaching the Emptiness Realm would be a piece of cake.” Emperor Yu said confidently.

When Teng Qingshan was at the core of the Heavenly Flood Palace listening to the Emperor Yu’s words, he didn’t know.....that his teacher, Zhuge Yuanhong, had arrived at the Great Yan Mountain with a great army.

......

Evening. A faint redness could be seen at the west horizon.

A few thousand guards gathered at the foot of the Great Yan Mountain. The person leading was a man dressed in light armor. He was leading his subordinates and looking into the east.

“Rumble~~~” The earth shook.

In the distance, a “dark dragon” formed by a great number of heavy armored cavalrymen was approaching rapidly.

“Quick, welcome the Sovereign with me.” The man dressed in light armor commanded.

This time, the Black Armored Army travelled with the fastest speed. Every Dark Veins Horse was galloping recklessly, and the vigorous great army soon went a distance of a dozen Li, arriving before the large group of guards.

“Stop!” A loud shout rang to the heavens.

“Neigh~~~” The horses speedily halted.

“Dismount!”

Along with the order, the black armored soldiers all dismounted. As usual, Zhuge Yuanhong was dressed in a white cloak. Behind him was the Law Enforcing Elders Yan Motian, Commander Pang Shan, and many lieutenants. Dressed in a light green cloak, Zhuge Qing was also among the group of people following behind Zhuge Yuanhong.

“Subordinate Yang He pays respect to the Sovereign.” The leader of the guards immediately bowed. This person was the City Lord of Yi City, Yang He.

“Yes.” Zhuge Yuanhong ordered calmly, “Take care of all the black armored soldiers’ horses. At the same time, wait here and prepare to aid us.”

“Yes.” Yang He bowed and responded.

“Did you find where the men of the Qing Hu Island were stationed?” Zhuge Yuanhong asked. Before the Black Armored Army departed, Gui Yuan Sect had already sent a message to Yi City. Naturally, the City Lord of Yi City, Yang He, immediately led thousands of guards and rushed here at lightning speed.

“Sovereign, the men of Qing Hu Island are still stationed at the same location. This is the map of the Great Yan Mountain. The location of the men of Qing Hu island has already been drawn on the map.”

Zhuge Yuanhong took the map. His hand quivered and the map spread open. Zhuge Yuanhong casted a glance at the map and commanded loudly, “All black armored soldiers, follow me into the mountain!”

“Elder Yan, let’s go. Let us go meet the men of Qing Hu island.” Zhuge Yuanhong looked towards Yan Motian, who was at the side.

Yan Motian responded with a nod and a smile.

Immediately, under the command of the two great Golden Dan Innate Experts of the Gui Yuan Sect, the three thousand black armored soldiers entered the Great Yan Mountain vigorously and headed towards the location where the men of the Qing Hu Island were stationed.

Zhuge Yuanhong understood clearly...... If they waited outside the Great Yan Mountain dumbly, Teng Qingshan would be dead already, and they wouldn’t even know. The best way was to force Qing Hu Island! With the aid of the three thousand black armored soldiers......and the four Chi long Azure Trenchant Sword in his hand, Zhuge Yuanhong didn’t fear the men of the Qing Hu Island at all.

Regarding the things happening outside, Teng Qingshan knew nothing.

Enveloped by the azure glow, at the core in the bottom level of Heavenly Flood Palace, Teng Qingshan was listening to Emperor Yu, the historically number one omnipotent expert of the Nine Prefectures, while standing in the middle of the nine cauldrons.

“You now know what I want you to do.” The tall and big virtual figure smiled as he said, “I can’t really help my descendants. I can only use this way. By the way......when you take the Splitting Mountain Axe, there will be a tiny surprise.”

Teng Qingshan froze for a second and thought, “There’s a surprise?”

“However, you shouldn’t wish for too much!” The tall and big virtual figure said, “To reach Completion from the Broken Emptiness Realm, it requires the internal emptiness to break open the external emptiness. This internal emptiness is within the human body. It is your own Emptiness, your own world. The more complete your world is, the greater the pressure on your body. Therefore, each Broken Emptiness Realm Expert must strengthen his own body.

Teng Qingshan also understood Emperor Yu’s words, and he thought to himself, “I didn’t expect that the experts who have trained to the Broken Emptiness Realm needed to think of ways to strengthen the body, which is normally the beginning of training.

“My way was to use the world created by the Emptiness Realm to refine a large amount of the Force of Ice. I then used this force to strengthen my body.” The tall and big virtual figure continued saying, “Now, this Splitting Mountain Axe left by me contains my Way of Emptiness, therefore, it could support the Heavenly Flood Palace. Simultaneously, this Splitting mountain Axe could naturally refine the Force of Ice.”

“The instant you touch this Godly Axe, this Force of Ice will strengthen your body.” The tall and big virtual figure said.

Hearing the words, Teng Qingshan felt a great sense of joy.

Strengthen?

“This Splitting Mountain Axe doesn’t refine the Force of Ice as fast as me, but it has already refined the Force of Ice for an unknown number of years, therefore, it would have a great amount of the Force of Ice.” The tall and big virtual figure shook his head and smiled, “But don’t put your hopes too high. Because even if it the user is a Golden Dan Innate Expert, the endurance capability is limited. I guess your strength would probably only increase between ten thousand to twenty thousand Jin. After that, the strength of your body wouldn’t be able to increase and using any more Force of Ice would be a waste.”

“Yes......The owner of the nine cauldrons! Now that you will receive these, I just hope you can take care of my two lineages.....I can’t force you. I can only plead you to do that.........” Emperor Yu flashed a faint smile at Teng Qingshan before the virtual light of the figure faded away.

Silence returned in the gold-colored ball of light.

At the bottom level of the Heavenly Flood Palace, there was complete silence. There was only Teng Qingshan.

Teng Qingshan closed his eyes for a while and managed to calm himself.

“Emperor Yu, you have baked a huge cake for me.” Teng Qingshan was very clear. The Emptiness Realm?...What Broken Emptiness Realm? Everything seemed like a dream.

TLN: The huge cake means something that you can see but won’t be able to get.

Teng Qingshan himself had only reach Minute Subtlety and haven’t even reach the Realm of Enlightenment. So why should he even talk about the Emptiness Realm?

As for the Broken Emptiness Realm, according to Emperor Yu’s words, only one of ten Emptiness Realm Expert could reach the Broken Emptiness Realm.

“Now I should think of how to take the nine cauldrons out without being noticed.” Teng Qingshan casted a glance at the nine tripod cauldrons as he thought, “If I want to move the cauldrons, I must take the Splitting Mountain Axe away!” Teng Qingshan stared at the Splitting Mountain Axe, which was floating in mid-air. A faint azure green glow could be seen flowing out from the axe.

Teng Qingshan’s eyes brightened.

“Didn’t Emperor Yu say that the Force of Ice refined by the Splitting Mountain Axe for few thousand years could strengthen the body?” Teng Qingshan narrowed his eyes as he thought, “Emperor Yu said that because of the endurance capability of Golden Dan Innate Experts, the Golden Dan Innate Experts could only increase their strength by ten thousand or twenty thousand Jin. However.....I am different.”

Teng Qingshan was sure that his endurance capability was stronger than the Golden Dan Innate Experts’.

Teng Qingshan then went three steps forward.

He looked up at the black, thick and fierce Splitting Mountain Axe and felt the waves of pressure coming from the axe. Teng Qingshan then stretched his right hand.

“So cold!” When he grabbed the handle of the axe, the first sensation was icy cold.

Next——

The azure green glow that flowed in the entire Heavenly Flood Palace suddenly stopped.

“Kaka~~” A white glow appeared on the Splitting Mountain Axe. The glow moved along the handle and rapidly went to Teng Qingshan’s arms. Next......A marvelous white glow seeped into Teng Qingshan’s body.

Cold!

Bone chilling coldness!

The iciness that froze even souls! Besides cold, Teng Qingshan also felt a great sense of pain. A pain that went into the bone marrow and spread throughout every body part.

“Weng~~~”

The snowy white glow on the surface of the Splitting Mountain Axe grew dramatically bright, and even a faint snow white glow could be seen shooting out of the surface of Teng Qingshan’s skin.

Teng Qingshan’s face was snowy white, and the veins on his forehead popped out. HIs muscles twitched, and his eyes were bloody red. His internal organs, bones and muscles were experiencing frightening changes.....His bones seemed to have been smashed by a huge hammer repeatedly and and breaking constantly while becoming harder. His whole body felt as if millions of ants were biting as his hands and feet twitched involuntarily.

“Ah~~” Teng Qingshan emitted an unbearably painful and deep roar.

Pu!

The bulging veins on Teng Qingshan’s forehead actually popped, causing blood to splatter.

Pa! Pa!

The skin on his face cracked opened, and blood splashed. His face was covered with blood, and the human skin mask on his face dropped to the ground.

“Ah~~~” Teng Qingshan roared deeply. His muscles and bones emitted a loud sound as his height increased gradually.

“This f*cking hurts.” Teng Qingshan couldn’t help but shout as he kneeled on the ground. It was so painful that he involuntarily smashed the ground repeatedly. The skin of his right fist cracked opened, and the joints of his fist were white. The waves of terrifying force that resembled the beasts of the Desolate Land flowed into his body.

“Bang!” “Bang!” A few loud bangs sounded as horrifying holes appeared on the azure green ground. Covered in blood, the eight Chi tall Teng Qingshan crashed on the ground like a demon or god that had bathed in blood.