The Audacious Cauldron

The South Sea stretched vast and boundless, its waves majestic and untamed. A grand palace hung suspended above the waters, bridging the visible and hidden dimensions. Here slept an Otherworld Ancestral God, guarded by a Half-Ancestor of the Ninth Heaven to prevent any disturbance.

Xiao Chen yearned to unleash the formation diagram and shatter the sealed second space. He suppressed the urge. An Ancestral God’s resting place was surely rife with unknown peril — a rash strike would only alert the enemy. He had but one chance, and it must succeed.

To enter the secondary space silently, he had to eliminate the Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor in one clean blow.

The formation diagram flickered in and out of visibility, seeming to fuse with his body.

Then, an overwhelming surge of divine power erupted, spreading across heaven and earth like the sky collapsing or countless stars falling at once. The Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor trembled. His eyes flew open. “Ancestral God, have you awakened?” he asked, his voice quivering.

Xiao Chen’s hair stood on end. In an instant, he withdrew the formation diagram, his palms slick with cold sweat. Had he struck at that moment, the outcome would have been disastrous.

The Ancestral God’s energy shook the South Sea. Below, monstrous waves crashed against the high heavens, like great rivers flowing in reverse. The roar of the sea was thunderous, white foam surging and tumbling. Yet the Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor’s question received no reply.

Ancestral God-level fluctuations tore through the ten directions. The sheer terror of the power distorted space itself. And this was only the leakage from within the dimensional barrier — one could only imagine the horror inside.

Xiao Chen’s heart clenched. The Ancestral God seemed to be undergoing a Nirvana-like transformation, giving rise to such terrifying phenomena.

At that moment, a vast, cold voice came from the distant West Sea: “It seems Qiu Tian is about to ascend another step. In a few months, he will surely succeed.”

Only then did Xiao Chen learn the sleeping Ancestral God’s name: Qiu Tian.

At the same time, a chill ran through him. An Ancestral God had taken notice of this place — his actions had become far more difficult.

He stood frozen in the void, already merged with the formation diagram, completely hidden from the world. Were it not for the mysterious power of the broken diagram, he would surely have been discovered by that mighty Ancestral God.

The Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor’s reaction exceeded his expectations — panicked, trembling: “Mighty Ancestral God Aier, you who are great as the heavens, you would not harm my clan’s Ancestral God, would you?”

A cold snort. The Otherworld Ancestral God in the West Sea said, his voice like ice: “Do not measure a gentleman’s heart with a petty man’s measure. Though I have grievances with him, I will not disregard the greater cause and slaughter our own.”

“Forgive me, Supreme Ancestral God Aier.” The Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor, so close to the Ancestral God realm, was now terrified. He knelt and kowtowed toward the west. One could see how strict the hierarchy of the Otherworld was.

“Do you think I would lower myself to argue with an ant like you? My disputes with Qiu Tian will be settled at the arena combat in due time.”

Even a Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor of their own side was treated as an ant. The cruelty and coldness of the Otherworld were laid bare. The emotionless voice faded slowly, and the probing divine thought vanished in an instant toward the West Sea.

“The Ancestral God is using his own body as a cauldron; the critical moment has come. It is time to seal the only exit.”

The Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor produced a black scroll, very similar to the seven demonic diagrams that sealed Ancestral Dragon Village, but much smaller and weaker in energy. This diagram was a copy forged by Qiu Tian himself. Though a replica, it could still unleash great power. Its only weakness: a short lifespan of only a few months. He had handed it to the Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor before going into seclusion, to be used to seal the second dimensional space during the most dangerous phase of his transformation.

The demonic diagram blazed with light, sealing one corner of the celestial palace and cutting off that dimensional space.

At the same moment, a flash of light over the South Sea — Xiao Chen vanished utterly. The next instant, he was back in the Death World, before the God Village.

Standing on the Ancestral Lord Warship, which was as massive as a mountain, he merged again with the broken formation diagram. A mysterious, tremendous power flowed forth. Only by borrowing the diagram’s might could he properly control the warship.

Dark light shimmered. The Ancestral Lord Warship shrank until it was but a zhang long, just enough for one person to ride. When Jin Sanyi and Fatty Zhuge ran over, they saw only a beam of dark light flash across the sky — Xiao Chen had vanished on the warship.

The next instant, he was over the South Sea, completely silent.

From afar, he gazed at the enormous, majestic palace. Using the broken formation diagram to conceal the warship’s energy and form, he slowly approached the celestial palace.

Without doubt, the dimensional space where the Otherworld Ancestral God Qiu Tian slept was surely strange and unpredictable, likely very hard to break into. Otherwise, he would not have been arrogant enough to let only a Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor guard the exit. Now even the exit was sealed, completely cut off from the outside.

Xiao Chen planned to use the Ancestral Lord Warship to cross over. This vessel could traverse even the greatest world barriers with ease. He believed it could silently break into the second dimensional space.

At this critical juncture, he took out the half stone skull. Even with the broken formation diagram suppressing energy fluctuations, he was still uneasy. He fixed the skull at the warship’s prow to absorb any scattered energy.

Back in the Burial Weapon Valley and the Most Evil Place, the half stone skull had already shown its extraordinary nature — it could silently absorb all divine power that struck it.

The broken diagram merged with Xiao Chen as he guided the warship forward. Without the slightest energy tremor, the Ancestral Lord Warship slipped like a ghost across the dimensional barrier into the second dark space. In that instant, it vanished. Throughout the process, the half stone skull remained calm, but it slowly absorbed the energy of the dimensional barrier, letting no trace escape.

In the palace, the Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor sat cross-legged in silent guard, sensing nothing.

Like passing through a waterfall, the Ancestral Lord Warship slowly emerged into a mysterious, strange space. It was deep and dark, with stone mountains stretching endlessly out of sight.

Here, the terrifying divine power fluctuations had already quieted. Yet Xiao Chen still felt a suffocating pressure, as if a primordial beast slept in his heart, making his soul tremble.

The one-zhang-long warship carried him like a ghost, floating silently toward the sea of stone ahead.

Crossing hundreds of great rocky peaks, he finally neared the central region. What he saw there was a horrific scene.

An altar over a hundred meters high, built entirely of reddish-brown boulders, with a broad top thousands of square zhang across. Now blood drenched the altar — the glaring red of Ancestral God blood stained the entire platform.

An Otherworld powerhouse sat naked in the center of the altar. His body was bronze, muscles coiled like flood dragons, bulging with explosive strength, shimmering with a faint, terrible luster. But now his head was split open. A tender, white-skinned infant was struggling to crawl out, bringing with it endless Ancestral God blood. Its tiny white hands were smeared with viscous paste — the brain matter of the bronze body. The vast divine energy fluctuations moments ago had come from this. The Ancestral God named Qiu Tian was undergoing a complete transformation — it had reached its most critical moment.

At that instant, he was at his weakest.

Using his own body as a cauldron, he had achieved a self-sublimation, a terrifying Nirvana rebirth.

Xiao Chen was about to strike. But then he changed his mind. A mad decision took shape in his mind — a plan of audacious daring!

Without question, the Otherworld Ancestral God Qiu Tian was still far from reaching completion. Using oneself as a cauldron was the hardest path — the Ancestral God body was difficult to fully refine. The newborn infant still had to grow, and the split cauldron had not yet finished its work. True perfection came when the infant and the cauldron merged into one.

This was the great art of Shatter Demon, Plant God, using oneself as the vessel.

Xiao Chen suppressed his urge. He did not deploy the broken formation diagram. Instead, he resolved to use the Otherworld Ancestral God Qiu Tian as his cauldron!

What a world-shaking decision!

He wanted to pluck Qiu Tian’s achievement! It was a heaven-daring, wildly insane idea.

Qiu Tian was using himself as a cauldron, struggling through Nirvana rebirth. Xiao Chen intended to cut in midway, to thrust himself into the process and take advantage of the ready-made vessel to transform himself.

Long ago, he had learned the process of the Shatter Demon, Plant God technique from Yan Qingcheng. Though he had not fully mastered it, he knew deeply the relationship between “planting the god” and “the cauldron.” He had experienced it himself — he had once been Yan Qingcheng’s cauldron. He understood their connection and knew how to seize the fruit.

Qiu Tian was at his weakest. He had no idea that a pair of watching eyes lurked in the void nearby, coveting his every move.

“Ah—” The white infant let out a piercing shriek as it finally struggled free of the bronze Ancestral God body. It was drenched in blood and smeared with sticky brain matter. Exhausted, it collapsed heavily onto the altar, having escaped its vessel.

The altar, thousands of zhang wide, blazed with the blood-light of Ancestral God blood, dazzling and terrible.

In the void, Xiao Chen fought a fierce urge. Though this was the best chance to kill Qiu Tian, it was not the right time to “plant the god.” To use an Otherworld Ancestral God as a cauldron, he must seize the perfect moment — strike at the most critical juncture!

A bold, mad plan!

The exhausted infant sat slumped on the altar for a long time before slowly climbing to its feet. The cold light in its eyes was terrifying, gazing at its original Ancestral God body like a predator eyeing prey.

It sat cross-legged on the altar, hands raised to the sky, slowly recovering its divine power.

Meanwhile, the cauldron was changing. The bronze treasure-body shimmered with radiance. The split skull slowly closed. The fresh blood that had flowed across the altar seeped back into its Ancestral God body through the pores.

The infant had used Qiu Tian’s original body as a cauldron, planting the “god-seed” within that body. Though the seed had grown and emerged, the most dangerous moment had not yet arrived. It had to return to the cauldron, absorb all the latent potential of the past, and merge the newborn god-seed with the shattered vessel. Only by truly shattering the demon and allowing the planted god-seed to surpass the original self would the work be complete.

Chiyou was truly a genius of the ages, creating such an extraordinary method. Had he been given time to continue the Shatter Demon, Plant God path, reaching Ancestral Godhood would not have been a problem. This was a supreme demonic art, an endless temptation even for Ancestral Gods.

A full half-month of rest. The infant had fully recovered to its peak state, and the cauldron too had returned to perfection. Now was the best time for demon-shattering and god-rebirth!

“Boom!”

The mindless Ancestral God body, though lacking intelligence, reacted instinctively. Radiance erupted from every pore, blasting back the charging infant.

The white-skinned infant shrieked, turning into a brilliant beam of light as if burning itself, and charged again at its original body.

This was a battle between the “god-seed” and the “cauldron” — the most dangerous phase. A single mistake could shatter both vessel and seed, plunging into eternal doom.

The infant and the mindless body writhed together, each trying to break the other and strengthen itself.

The entire dark dimensional space trembled. Had this space not been forged by Qiu Tian himself to near-indestructibility, it would have shattered many times over.

Piercing screams, terrifying roars, shook the soul. Even Xiao Chen in the void, protected by the formation diagram and warship, found it hard to endure.

Such was the dreadful might of Ancestral God-level combat. The divine energy fluctuations released would be unbearable even for a top Half-Ancestor.

In the end, the cauldron — lacking wisdom — was overcome. The infant merged into it, sitting in the dantian of the bronze Ancestral God body. But the danger had only just begun.

It had to shatter the demonic body, fully refine and absorb all its past potential. Only then would the work be complete.

A man’s greatest enemy is himself. Breaking the original self is the hardest thing! Using oneself as a cauldron was the most perilous path.

This was an agonizing tug-of-war. It lasted a full seven days, yet the infant still could not shake the cauldron. By now, it was utterly exhausted and had to fall silent, slowly recovering its power.

A terrible aura surged outward. Though the god-seed and the cauldron had quieted, their boundless potential radiated with a crushing, soul-shaking pressure. One could imagine that, once the Shatter Demon, Plant God succeeded, this would be a newborn Ancestral God of unimaginable terror!

After a brief rest, the infant urgently resumed its “demon-shattering.” Though still weak, nowhere near its peak divine power, it had to act now. The bronze body was another version of itself, also recovering. If it did not seize the initiative, the mindless cauldron might gain the upper hand and destroy the god-seed. Then, for eternity, it would be lost in a fog, never to regain itself.

“Ah—” The infant let out a miserable shriek, violently shaking within the cauldron, hoping to shatter the demon and merge, achieving true rebirth!

The two clashed, divine power surging endlessly.

At last, the bronze Ancestral God cauldron began to crack. The infant inside was also badly wounded, its divine power nearly dried up, cracks appearing on its body.

One could say that using oneself as a cauldron to achieve rebirth was an excruciating ordeal, nearly mutual destruction. At this moment, the “god-seed” and the “cauldron” were both in dire straits, with the seed holding only a slight edge.

The success or failure of the Shatter Demon, Plant God was about to be decided.

But at that very moment, Xiao Chen struck!

He drove the Ancestral Lord Warship, breaking through time and space. In an instant, he was there, coldly unleashing the broken formation diagram. In that same heartbeat, the slowly rotating diagram materialized, radiating world-shaking divine might!

“Boom!” The diagram directly sliced open the cracked cauldron and pressed down toward the utterly weakened infant.

At the same time, the Ancestral Lord Warship and Xiao Chen rapidly shrank and plunged into the cauldron, using the Ancestral God’s body as their shell!