The Nine Cauldrons

"Teng... Qing... Shan!" Tie Pan forced these three words out of his mouth.

"Island Lord Tie, you seem to hate me?" Teng Qingshan sneered coldly and said, "True. I caused the destruction of the thousand-year-old base of Qing Hu Island. I was the one who burned down Qing Hu Island. And now, the Gui Yuan Sect is about to conquer all of Yangzhou. You certainly should hate me! It is reasonable!"

"Why? I can’t even hate you?" Tie Pan laughed grimly. At this point, there was no way he could yield and surrender.

A fierce glint flashed in Teng Qingshan’s eyes as he said, "Of course you can hate me! I hated Qing Hu Island in the past. I hated your sect so much that I wanted to eat Gu Yong’s flesh and drink his blood."

"I want to do the same to you!!!" Tie Pan stared coldly at Teng Qingshan as he shouted.

Teng Qingshan responded with a grin. "I then understood that this is what the world is like!"

"If I hate someone, I must be capable of bringing pain to my enemies. If I don’t have the ability and strength to bring pain and torture, my enemies would only consider me as a weak individual with no power at all. They would only look down on me," Teng Qingshan said as he stared at Tie Pan with a smile. "In the past, the Blind Swordmaster probably only viewed me as an ant. And now, I view you the same way he viewed me.

"When Qing Hu Island controlled Yangzhou, it did so much evil! For thousands of years, countless people have desired to bring Qing Hu Island down or burn it into dust. However, because Qing Hu Island was too powerful, no one was able to take revenge." Teng Qingshan said with a sneer, "Hatred is a power that pushes people to rise up higher!"

"For over a thousand years, no one has been able to destroy Qing Hu Island. However, I did it!

"If it weren’t because of my hatred for Qing Hu Island, it would’ve been impossible for me to improve this quickly. I have cultivated restlessly because of this hatred," Teng Qingshan said, and he couldn’t help but recall the torturous days of cultivation. He didn’t dare to relax at all. Why? Because Qing Hu Island was like a mountain pressing him down.

When Teng Qingshan finished his words, he walked to a chair and sat down.

Tie Pan frowned and said, "Are you not going to kill me?"

"Do you want to die that quickly?" Teng Qingshan glanced at him. He took out the two sections of the Reincarnation Spear from the spear sack and attached the two sections together.

Although Tie Pan appeared very calm, he was secretly extremely anxious. "Martial Ancestor is hiding underground. It would be bad if Teng Qingshan found him! Martial Ancestor isn’t afraid of Teng Qingshan. However, since Teng Qingshan has the audacity to come here, he must have come with a powerful demonic beast," Tie Pan thought to himself. He then sneered and said, "Teng Qingshan, if you aren’t going to do anything to me, then I am leaving."

With this, Tie Pan quickly headed outside.

Bang! When he was about to leave the study room, he sensed Teng Qingshan’s spear coming toward him.

He wanted to dodge. However, when he was just about to dodge, he heard a swishing sound. Before he could even move, he had been struck on the lower leg by the spear, causing him to fall on the ground.

"Why are you in such a hurry? I didn’t ask you to leave. In fact, you better not leave this study room. Otherwise, you will suffer the consequences," Teng Qingshan said indifferently as he sat peacefully on the chair.

Tie Pan turned and glowered at Teng Qingshan. He then said with a sarcastic tone, "Aren’t you an Emptiness Realm Expert? Aren’t you someone whose talent and power are comparable with that of the four Omnipotent Experts? Hmph... You are an embarrassment. As an Emptiness Realm Expert, you are embarrassing. As an Emptiness Realm Expert, how can you bully me, an Innate Expert? Just kill me if you can!"

Tie Pan continued to provoke Teng Qingshan. He was doing it for the sake of his Martial Ancestor, the Blind Swordmaster, who was hiding underground. If Teng Qingshan was really infuriated and killed him out of rage, Teng Qingshan might then leave.

"Let me guess... Why are you attempting to provoke my anger?" Teng Qingshan smiled as he sat there. He lifted up the teacup on the table and said, "If I have guessed correctly, Blind Tie must still be in contact with you, am I right? In fact, he might be hiding every day and occasionally receiving news from you. Oh! Tie Pan, did I guess correctly?"

Tie Pan felt a chill down his spine, but his expression remained the same.

Seeing that Tie Pan was still sneering and laughing grimly, Teng Qingshan burst out in laughter before he said out loud, "Stop pretending! Let me put it in plain words for you. I am going to wait here until Blind Tie arrives." Teng Qingshan had deduced that Blind Tie must’ve been hiding in an extremely hidden place and might contact Tie Pan every day or once every several days.

Therefore, the easiest and maybe the stupidest way to find Blind Tie was to wait!

"Sit there quietly! When Blind Tie is here, I might send you off to the heavens out of good will. This way, you won’t suffer! It will be easy for me too!" Teng Qingshan said unsympathetically. Hearing Teng Qingshan indifferent tone, Tie Pan was even more worried. Moreover, he also wondered why a 22-year-old man who had spent most of the time in closed-door cultivation would be so mature, indifferent, and meticulous.

Tie Pan had no idea that Teng Qingshan had gone through training in many things in his previous life. Although Teng Qingshan wasn’t the kind of hitman who only killed with the use of intelligence, he wasn’t the kind of person who only knew of killing and nothing about scheming and making connections.

"Martial Ancestor!!! Run!!!"

Suddenly, Tie Pan roared loudly in the study room. The True Origin of this Golden Dan Innate Expert had reached the maximal exertion. His terrifying roar had caused the air to sway and tremble. The papers in the study room exploded. The teacup in Teng Qingshan’s hand broke. However, the explosion didn’t stop here; the terrifying sound waves spread in all directions.

Tie Pan’s roar was sudden, fierce, and powerful! He had exerted his full strength to emit this roar!

"Leave!!!" In the end, the roar sounded broken. A trickle of blood could be seen on the corner of Tie Pan’s mouth.

This furious roar even injured his trachea, bronchi, and vocal chords.

...

Deep down beneath the surface of the earth.

In the most gloomy stone cave underground, the Blind Swordmaster, who wore a black cloak, remained seated cross-legged. Even after Tie Pan had roared angrily, the Blind Swordmaster didn’t respond at all. He still sat in the same place.

...

In the study room:

"Eh?" Tie Pan frowned.

"Isn’t it weird?" Teng Qingshan continued sitting on the chair, staring at Tie Pan with a smile. "A Golden Dan Innate Expert has just exerted his full strength to emit a furious roar, but why... are the windows of this room still intact? In fact, the windows didn’t even tremble. Why isn’t anyone here?"

"You..." Tie Pan’s facial expression changed drastically.

Teng Qingshan smiled and explained, "Tie Pan, I was prepared. When I came in, I froze the air in this study room! This way, the sound in this room will stay in this room. Even if you shouted until you injured your throat... Oh, wait... You already injured your throat. Anyway, even so, the Blind Swordmaster wouldn’t be able to hear."

Whew!

Teng Qingshan stood up.

"What are you going to do?" Tie Pan was confused, nervous, and anxious.

"Of course, I must thank you." Teng Qingshan flashed a smile at Tie Pan and said, "Because of your roar, I now know that the Blind Tie must be within a distance of several Li to 100 Li away. Although you shouted until you injured your trachea, bronchi, and vocal chords, the sound waves of your roar can only travel the distance of 100 Li. Because of this, I deduced that Tie Pan is somewhere within 100 Li!"

"You—" Tie Pan widened his eyes. He didn’t expect Teng Qingshan to have such a quick reaction.

"To prevent you from warning the Blind Swordmaster and causing me great trouble, I must do something. Therefore, I am sorry," said Teng Qingshan with a smile. Despite saying that, he still went forward without any hesitation, and his eyes still appeared cold and indifferent. As the shaft of the Reincarnation Spear swayed and became a form of illusion, Tie Pan couldn’t dodge at all.

Bang! He was struck on the stomach and his body was pushed backward.

His face paled and a trickle of blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth. At this moment, his Dantian had been destroyed.

"Now, you shall come with me to meet the Blind Swordmaster." With this, Teng Qingshan lifted up Tie Pan, whose years of cultivation had gone to waste. Because of the powerful Power of the Heavens and Earth, Tie Pan couldn’t move at all. Teng Qingshan stepped out of the study room. With a flash, he disappeared right before the door of the study room.

With the Reincarnation Spear in one hand and Tie Pan in the other, Teng Qingshan leaped onto the back of the Undying Phoenix, who had flown down at an extremely rapid speed.

"Down." Teng Qingshan pointed downwards with the tip of the Reincarnation Spear.

He had searched every inch of this entire area, but he still couldn’t find Tie Wu. Moreover, the fact that Tie Pan had shouted so anxiously just now showed that Tie Wu had to be somewhere within a distance of 100 Li. There was no doubt that the Blind Swordmaster was nearby. Considering all these factors, there was only one possible place—underground! Actually, there was nothing Tie Pan could do. Even if he didn’t shout, Teng Qingshan would’ve just had to wait until the Blind Swordmaster had come out of his hiding place at night.

By that time, Teng Qingshan would still be able to find the Blind Swordmaster through his domain.

Sizzle~~

The Undying Phoenix was enwrapped in great flames. The surface layer of the flames was white, while the inner layer of the flames was black. The Undying Phoenix continued diving underground. No matter how hard the rocks were, the white and black flames could instantly turn them into dust. The Undying Phoenix flew underground at a terrifyingly fast speed.

"Eh? Stop!" Teng Qingshan instantly discovered a familiar and powerful aura hiding underground. This familiar presence was 34 Li away and was located slightly to the left.

This aura was formed by black streaks of flaring lights and appeared extremely powerful and reserved.

It was the Blind Swordmaster—Tie Wu!

Whoosh!

Little Blue didn’t hesitate at all to immediately dash toward the target.

...

The Blind Swordmaster was holding a thin iron rod and sitting cross-legged underground. Suddenly, he sensed that two powerful Emptiness Realm Experts had infiltrated his domain.

"Oh, no! It’s Jing Yi!"

The Blind Swordmaster subconsciously still thought of Teng Qingshan as Jing Yi. Immediately, he flew up diagonally.

"Teng Qingshan actually came... The other Emptiness Realm aura appears as hot as fire. That must be the legendary Undying Phoenix. However... although the spiritual aura of the Undying Phoenix is powerful, it is not as powerful as what I had imagined. Compared to the demonic dragon dwelling in the Great Yan Mountain, it is much more inferior." The Blind Swordmaster felt very confused as he fled.

He had imagined the legendary Undying Phoenix to be a demonic beast ranked higher than all the other Emptiness Realm Demonic Beasts. Even if the Undying Phoenix wasn’t stronger than the demonic dragon Violet Rain, there shouldn’t have been much difference. However, the Undying Phoenix here felt much weaker. In fact, this Undying Phoenix was just slightly stronger than him, a human who had achieved Emptiness Realm Culmination.

To some extent, the strength of one’s soul reflected how powerful one was...

"Tie Wu, stop running. You won’t be able to escape!" Teng Qingshan’s voice sounded in the Blind Swordmaster’s ears.

The distance between the two was decreasing very quickly.

"They are too quick." The Blind Swordmaster’s face darkened as he thought to himself.

Bang! Bang!

When the Blind Swordmaster rocketed out of the earth and flew into the sky, the Undying Phoenix carried Teng Qingshan out of the ground as well.

"Eh?"

The Blind Swordmaster was stunned when he saw a huge godly bird immersed in flames hovering before him. The bird had fiery red feathers. This bird was the legendary Undying Phoenix. On the back of the Undying Phoenix stood a young man dressed in white. He held a red tassel spear in one hand and lifted up another man with his other hand. This man was the Lord of Qing Hu Island, Tie Pan.

"Tie Wu, the grudge between me and you, as well as the grudge between me and Qing Hu Island, will be resolved here!" Teng Qingshan’s voice sounded loudly.