The Nine Cauldrons

One of these typical sierras was located to the south of the Blazing Flame Territory. The mountain range occupied an area of 20 to 30 Li, and was home to a great number of wild animals. The many villages on the foothills of these mountains depended on it for survival. The range had a peak that resembled a bull’s head, so it was aptly named ‘Ox-Head Mountains.’

In the Ox-Head Mountains.

“Follow.” A group of hunters made their way through the mountains.

The leader of the hunters whispered to the group, “The valley is only a half a Li away. We’ll rest once we reach it.” All of the hunters held long spears or carried bows and arrows. They gained quite a bit during this hunt. Many of them carried the bloodied corpses of wild animals on their backs. Soon enough, the group arrived in the valley.

The hunters let out a pent-up sigh of relief once they reached the valley. The Ox-Head Mountains were located near the Blazing Flame Territory, so the temperature of the area was very high. Snowfall was a rare occurrence in the area.

“Drink some water.”

Many of the hunters quickly ran towards the lake in the valley to collect some water.

“Heh! Hah!”

Among the hunters, there was a teenager holding a long spear. He would sometimes thrust the spear forwards and occasionally thrust it at some of the tiny crawlers on the ground.

“Haha! Second Uncle, look at how energetic Ah Wu is. We’ve journeyed through the mountain for half a day, and yet he still has the energy to practice spear art.” Many hunters sitting on the ground guffawed. The teenager, whose nickname was Ah Wu, rubbed his head and laughed awkwardly in response before he continued practicing with his spear.

“Ah Wu is thirteen this year, yet he is able join our hunting squadron. In the future, he will definitely be the very best in our village. The effort that he’s putting in now will help him protect our village in the future.” The leader chortled as he said these words. His eyes beamed with joy as he watched the teenager.

Suddenly–

“Clang!”

The teenager, Ah Wu, thrust his spear towards the ground once again, and a metallic, clinking sound rang out.

“Eh?” Many hunters looked over with a frown.

The thrust of a speartip on a rock definitely didn’t produce a sound like this.

Ah Wu, confused by the noise, bent down and started removing the sandy rocks. Soon enough, he uncovered a blood-red rock. He lifted the blood-red rock high up into the air, turned and shouted, “Second Uncle, take a look at this! What is this rock? Eh...? This rock is very light; it’s even lighter than ordinary rocks.”

“Eh?”

The rest of the hunters immediately walked over and examined the blood-red rock with puzzled looks. Not one of them could identify the rock.

“Ah Wu, you just pierced this rock?” The leader of the hunting squadron asked.

“Yes, I did” Ah Wu answered with a nod. He placed the blood-red rock on the ground. With his long spear in hand, he thrusted at it again一

Clang!

A clear cling, exactly the same as the sound before, rang out.

“It was definitely this rock.” Ah Wu reaffirmed with a firm nod. The other hunters all stared at the blood-red rock in shock. The leader of the hunting squadron even picked up the rock and scrutinized it. His face showed astonishment as he exclaimed, “Ah Wu just pierced this blood-red rock with his spear, but there isn’t a single mark on it! Just what rock is this...?”

“The spear definitely pierced it. How is it possible for the rock to have no marks?”

The eyes of the other hunters widened in shock. They knew the penetrating force behind a thrust of the spear very well. It could piece a hole in ordinary rocks, a dent in some heavy armor, and even leave a mark on some precious and tough materials.

“There are actually no marks.” The group of hunters each examined the rock carefully, but they genuinely couldn’t find any dents or marks.

“This rock must be some kind of precious item.” The leader of the hunting squadron issued his verdict in a solemn voice, “The speartip couldn’t even leave a mark. This rock must be some rare item. It is definitely something good. Everyone, search the surroundings carefully for this kind of rock. If you find it, dig it up and bring it back to our village.”

“Yes.”

When they heard the words of the hunters that examined the rock, the rest of the group immediately understood that this blood-red rock could, in fact, be a rare item.

“As for what treasure it is....we will ask the Chief when we return to our village. Our Chief is knowledgeable. He has been to the city many times and witnessed the various aspects of society. He probably knows.” The leader of the hunting squadron said in a serious tone.

“Second Uncle, look! There’s one more here!”

Another hunter dug out a blood-red rock from deep underneath the sandy rock and soil of the valley.

“I got one too!”

“There’s more here!”

As the hunters dug deeper, they discovered there were many blood-red rocks beneath the surface layer of the valley. Eventually, they uncovered a great number of them.

......

Two months after Teng Qingshan accepted Yang Dong as his second follower, a great storm rose up in the Eastern Flower Region of the Duanmu Continent. This storm was stirred up by an explosive bit of information, one that spread throughout the entire Duanmu Continent at an astonishingly fast pace. Nearly every clan in the entire Continent managed to acquire the news.

The news was—

In the Ox-Head Mountains, located south of the Blazing Flame Territory of the Eastern Flower Region, an exceedingly precious and rare treasure was discovered一Fiery Gilt Steel Ore Deposit!

On the Duanmu Continent, the Fiery Gilt Steel ore was considered to be the prime material for the forging of weapons. Someone once found the Fiery Steel ore at the bottom of the vast sea in the northern tip of the Continent. Since the Tianfeng Clan governed the Northern Frosty Region, they possessed almost all of the Fiery Gilt Steel ore available in the Continent.

The Fiery Gilt Steel was significantly harder than Darksteel!

Most importantly, it was also very light!

A full suit consisting of Heavy Armor, War Boots, and a helmet made of Darksteel normally weighed somewhere in between 400 and 500 Jin. If an expert wore such a suit, one that weighed that much, it would definitely affect his agility. The expert would need to use his inner strength to support himself while wearing the suit of armor. Due to this, only experts who reached the peak of the Postliminary Realm or the Innate Realm could wear a suit of Darksteel Heavy Armor.

However, the Fiery Gilt Steel was different!

The Fiery Gilt Steel was extremely light, it was only slightly heavier than water. In comparison, Darksteel was ten times the weight of water.

The full suit of armor, helmet, and war boots forged from the Fiery Gilt Steel only weighed somewhere between 30 to 40 Jin!

Many people, even ordinary villagers, had the strength of 400 to 500 Jin. Since they could wear a set of war armor weighing 30 to 50 Jin with ease, there was no need to mention the powerful warriors! Even though warriors would never intentionally increase their physical strength, they possessed a great amount of inner strength. As time elapsed, the vast inner strength would naturally nurture their bodies. It was normal for them to have a physical strength of 800 or even 1000 Jin.

In addition to the fact that it was lighter, Fiery Gilt Steel also provided a stronger defense than Darksteel.

If one wore Battle Armor forged from Fiery Gilt Steel, even the sword of a Hollow Dan Innate Expert wouldn’t be able to pierce through the armor and cause harm.

One could say that一

If one possessed a great amount of Fiery Gilt Steel, one would be able to establish a powerful troop of cavalrymen, all wearing full suits of Fiery Gilt Steel Battle Armor. Even a Hollow Dan Innate Expert wouldn’t be able to pierce through their armor and cause them any harm! A True Dan Innate Expert would have to exert their full force in order to pierce through armor forged from Fiery Gilt Steel. Who in the world could fight against such a troop of cavalrymen?

Even the Tianfeng Clan, who possessed almost ninety percent of the Fiery Gilt Steel in the world, only had 60 suits of Fiery Gilt Steel armor!

This time, the sheer quantity of Fiery Gilt Steel ore that was discovered in the Ox-Head Mountains was astounding. The amount of Fiery Gilt Steel ore available whipped all of the clans in the Eastern Flower Region into an immediate frenzy. Even the clans from the other regions desired the Fiery Gilt Steel ore! For a time, a storm surged through the Eastern Flower Region as every party contended with each other to acquire the Fiery Gilt Steel ore!

“Giddyup!” “Giddyup!” “Giddyup!”

In a storm of loud roars, a company of armored cavalrymen mounted their One-Horned War Hous. They numbered somewhere between 10 and 20 cavalrymen, and most of the One-Horned War Hous were completely red with a single white stripe on both sides. These were called the Blazing Silver-String Hou, and they were considered top-notch among the One-Horned War Hous. A single one cost 50,000 Jin. This meant that over a dozen Blazing Silver-String Hou were valued at several hundred thousand taels of silver!

“Third Uncle, our Tantai Clan is closer to the southern areas. Therefore, we should be the first to arrive Nanshan City, right?”

The melodious voice of a girl asked.

The troop of cavalrymen were led by two riders. One was a cool and indifferent middle-aged man with a muscular physique, while the other was a girl with a melodious voice and wearing a helmet.

“Qing, you must not be careless!” Tantai Huayan looked off into the distance as he continued speaking solemnly, “Right now, all of the clans in the entire continent are focusing on the Fiery Gilt Steel ore in the Eastern Flower Region. If there were only a small amount of Fiery Gilt Steel ore, then we would’ve just dropped it. However, the amount of ore discovered is too great. If someone monopolized the entire deposit, he would be able to build an army with more than a thousand soldiers. I’m afraid that no one would have the power to defend against such a terrifying army, except the Martial Immortals.

“Yes.” The girl nodded. “I really didn’t expect that this ordinary Ox-Head Mountain Range would have such a large amount of Fiery Gilt Steel ore. It is unfortunate that it was discovered by a poor village. Once the news leaked, all of the clans knew about it immediately. If it was the Tantai Clan that discovered the deposit, we could have kept outsiders from learning of it by carefully digging all the ore away without anyone’s knowledge.”

It was just an ordinary village. No matter how careful the villagers were...they still didn’t know the significance of the Fiery Gilt Steel and some people eventually noticed.

“Now, the clans of the Eastern Flower Region all desire to possess the entire deposit of Fiery Gilt Steel ore.” Tantai Huayan’s eyes narrowed as he continued, “A few of the clans even combined forces. Some of the great clans from the Nanshan and West Tang Regions are also secretly supporting some of the clans in the Eastern Flower Region. I suspect that the Rising Sun Trading Company and the Tianfeng Clan are also quietly involved. Both of them might secretly control a clan, and will contend with each other for the ore.”

The Rising Sun Trading Company and the Tianfeng Clan had forces that covered the entire continent. Their secret forces were extremely terrifying.

One governed the Northern Frosty Region and was the only dominant force of the entire Northern Frosty Region.

Also, the two Martial Immortals in the continent were part of these two great forces. Due to the agreement between the two clans, neither of them could go to the Eastern Flower Region and openly clash with each other for the ore. They could only support some clans in secret. No matter what, the Fiery Gilt Steel ore was too important.

“If we hope to obtain the Fiery Gilt Steel ore, we’ll need powerful armies and experts.” Tantai Huayan said in a deep tone, “Qing, the Godly Axe Mountain is home to the Martial Saint ‘Teng Qingshan’. He is said to be the best amongst the experts ranked below Martial Immortals. If we can ask him to join the Tantai Clan, then it’ll increase our chances of obtaining the Fiery Gilt Steel ore.”

“Qing, you’d better watch your temper this time.” Tantai Huayan admonished.

Tantai Qing was known as the most beautiful lady in the continent. When she faced some of the young masters that wooed her, she would often misbehave.

“Third Uncle, I understand.” Tantai Qing hastily responded.

The fact that Tantai Qing came along during this trip showed that the Tantai Clan wanted to use her to attract the legendary Most Powerful Martial Expert ‘Teng Qingshan.’

“Move faster! We must reach the Godly Axe Mountain, near Nanshan City, as soon as possible! It’ll be troublesome if the other clans succeed in inviting Teng Qingshan before us.” Tantai Huayan whipped forcefully, and his Blazing Silver-String Hou immediately accelerated. The other cavalrymen did the same, bringing their War Hous to a rapid gallop. The riders instantly disappeared at the end of the road in a haze of flashing afterimages.

Simultaneously, several other groups of riders were also galloping towards the Godly Axe Mountain near Nanshan City.

All of them had the same goal in mind, which was to invite Teng Qingshan to join them! Of course, all of them prepared enough precious items so that their plea to the Most Powerful Martial Saint could succeed.