Chapter 75

"Bone Demon Holy Cauldron?"

Wu Tie stood dozens of meters away, solemn yet his heart brimming with wild joy as he looked at this big guy.

The square cauldron had four short, stout round feet; planted on the ground it looked especially heavy. Strands of black smoke kept spewing from inside, turning into patches of mist that swirled and danced around the cauldron.

The entire cauldron was pitch black, its surface smooth as a mirror, without any ornamental patterns.

But within the black smoke spewing from the cauldron, one could occasionally see flying figures dancing wildly, heaven scattering flowers, strange mountains and rivers, and countless auspicious beasts like dragons, phoenixes, and qilin galloping madly.

The cauldron itself had no form, yet it used smoke and mist to manifest countless forms.

These black smokes… probably aren't anything good. Wu Tie watched the smoke swirling and dancing around the cauldron, silently warning himself.

After quietly watching for a while, Wu Tie suddenly shouted loudly, he lunged forward a step, and a long exhalation of white breath turned into a long dragon that burst forth.

This was a condensation to the extreme of magnanimous righteous qi, fierce and majestic, the righteous qi vast.

The white qi slammed hard onto the Bone Demon Holy Cauldron, and with a loud bang the whole spacious room measuring a li in length and width shuddered violently, the black smoke entwined around the cauldron shattering apart.

Scattered black qi drifted away, then was ignited by the white flame, turning into wisps of light smoke that vanished without trace.

The pitch-black Bone Demon Holy Cauldron let out a faint groan, and its deep black color gradually receded.

Originally a bone cauldron, not only did its color change, but its very substance seemed to be rapidly transforming—gold, silver, copper, iron, jade, stone, bone……in just a few breaths its texture shifted dozens of times.

Several times it turned into a ball of fire, a pool of water, a bolt of lightning, a ray of light……

Whether flame, flowing water, lightning, or light, they all condensed into the shape of a four-legged cauldron, sitting heavily before Wu Tie.

The cauldron rumbled continuously; after its color and texture had shifted dozens of times, a full quarter hour passed before it returned to its original state—still pitch black and dark, still of black bone.

Strands of black smoke slowly seeped from the cauldron, gradually forming layers of mist that enveloped it. Within the mist, endless illusions flickered in and out, and strange sounds kept coming.

"Indeed, being careful is never wrong." Wu Tie gazed at the cauldron with fervent eyes.

His left index finger trembled violently; this time he wasn't actively triggering it, but his finger was urgently urging him on, an uncontrollable throbbing urging him toward that cauldron.

Wu Tie endured the violent trembling of his left index finger, standing motionless where he was, still wanting to see if the cauldron would show any other tricks.

Suddenly his left hand shot forward, a tremendous force dragging him toward the cauldron.

Caught off guard, Wu Tie staggered forward several steps, now less than ten meters from the cauldron. His index finger trembled ever more violently, a dim light shooting from the first joint of his finger.

The dark light shot from his fingertip over three feet, a fine beam pointing at the cauldron's……mouth.

It wasn't the cauldron itself, but something inside the Bone Demon Holy Cauldron that attracted Wu Tie's finger, which had fused with that bone fragment; or rather, it was an instinct left by the broken bone, urging Wu Tie to obtain what the cauldron hid.

"Are you related to it?" Wu Tie lowered his head to look at his restless finger.

The faint trace of spiritual awareness left in the bone fragment had long dissipated; the bone had already merged with Wu Tie. Thus his question naturally received no answer.

"This place is thick with evil qi, not a good path, but……" Wu Tie's mind flashed to the mutated miners in the Nether Demon Mine, the outrageously overpowered mutant warriors at the mine entrance, and the two black skeletons on the Black Bone Gate.

"But there's really nothing to fear." Wu Tie chanted lowly: "Heaven and earth possess righteous qi…… Old Tie said, I needn't fear ghosts when walking at night……"

"This place is swarming with ghostly qi, so what are you afraid I'll do?"

Wu Tie kept cheering himself on, step by step, gripping the White Tiger Rend tightly with both hands, he walked into the cauldron.

Low, mournful wails came from within the cauldron; an old, hoarse voice seemed to rise from underground, echoing faintly in the hall. Gusts of icy wind blew from the cauldron, making the vast hall chill to the bone.

Black ice crystals fell from the ceiling.

The temperature here dropped to extreme low, all moisture in the air condensing into ice crystals.

This place lies at the bottom of a mine shaft over ten li deep; the air is extremely humid, and tiny ice crystals continually fall, soon laying a half‑inch thick layer on the ground.

Wisps of white light spewed from Wu Tie's pores, his magnanimous righteous qi filling his body; emboldened, he approached the cauldron, his body slightly levitating as he lowered his head to look inside.

"No matter your myriad abilities, you cannot defy fate……"

That old, hoarse voice seemed to sound right beside Wu Tie's ear, yet also as if coming from underground, from the surrounding walls.

Wu Tie shivered violently, he looked around.

"Heaven and earth are not benevolent, treating all things as straw dogs……"

That voice let out a long sigh.

Wu Tie furrowed his brows; Grey Master had once said this to him, and Grey Master himself didn't understand what it meant.

In the secret realm, Wu Tie had mentioned this to Old Tie, but Old Tie scoffed at the saying.

Even now, Wu Tie still didn't know what this phrase meant.

"Fate, luck……"

That voice came faintly; this time Wu Tie finally ascertained that its source lay inside the cauldron.

Looking down, strands of extremely fine black smoke swirled and entwined inside the cauldron; the wisps of black smoke sometimes condensed into countless characters, sometimes into strange patterns, and occasionally evolved into the external phantasms of flying frenzy, falling blossoms, and so on.

From the outside, this cauldron is only about two meters tall, with sides roughly four meters long.

But when Wu Tie hovered and looked down into the cauldron, those threads of black smoke seemed boundless and bottomless; no matter how hard he strained his eyes, he could see no end to them.

It was as if the cauldron contained infinite space.

Just as Wu Tie was examining it, his left index finger jerked uncontrollably; a wisp of dark light from his fingertip suddenly swept into the cauldron. Where the light passed, the black smoke was shattered to dust, and the next instant Wu Tie's left hand sank sharply.

That old, hoarse voice sighed repeatedly.

In the square hall spanning a li in length and width, strange "kakaka" sounds echoed continually from the walls, while a dim green gloomy light poured down from the ceiling, illuminating the whole hall.

Wu Tie suddenly glanced around.

On the surrounding walls, skeletons half‑embedded in the stone were gradually breaking free of the wall's restraint, slowly struggling out.

There were normal human skeletons, also giant skeletons up to ten meters tall, and even dragon skeletons tens of meters long.

Among them were also the bones of strange birds and beasts struggling out; a faint green fire sparked in their eye sockets, all gazing gloomily at Wu Tie.

Like the two black skeletons on the Black Bone Gate outside, these skeletons also began to move.

And it was obvious they did not welcome Wu Tie.

A tremendous force came from his left hand, nearly dragging him into the cauldron; Wu Tie barely managed to steady himself, gritting his teeth as he looked over.

At the tip of the dark light emitted from his left index finger, a fist‑sized crystal sphere was violently trembling.

The black crystal ball was translucent throughout, filled with endless swirling smoke; though black, it felt utterly devoid of evil, instead exuding an inexplicable sacred, pure aura.

"Evil to the extreme, yet holy."

Quite inexplicably, these four words appeared in Wu Tie's mind.

The faint light slowly retracted into his fingertips, and the black crystal ball was gradually pulled toward Wu Tie's index finger.

The old, hoarse sigh echoed from all directions, seeming to sound right beside Wu Tie's ears. Black ice crystals kept falling from the ceiling, filling the great hall with a soft shush.

Several of the smallest black skeletons broke free from the walls and hurriedly charged at Wu Tie.

They tore the air, producing sharp sonic booms that left white ripples in the air, reaching Wu Tie in an instant.

The black crystal ball was extraordinarily heavy; Wu Tie exerted all his strength just to steady himself so as not to be pulled into the great cauldron.

The black skeletons surged forward, and he could not dodge at all.

"What the hell is this?"

Wu Tie let out a loud shout, swinging White Tiger Split with his right hand, tracing a bright arc beside him.

Several skeletons slammed hard into the cold light traced by White Tiger Split, emitting continual crack sounds; Wu Tie's blow sent them flying, shattering countless bones.

"The path ahead is cut off..."

"The way to transcendence is broken..."

"There is no road left..."

"Truly... I am unwilling..."

The old, hoarse voice sighed faintly; the cold qi in the air grew thicker, coating Wu Tie's skin with a thin layer of frost.

Several giant skeletons broke free from the walls, their eyes blazing with green light as they fixed their gaze on Wu Tie and stepped slowly toward him. Unlike the swift, whirlwind-like skeletons, these giants moved slowly but with immense weight, each step shaking the great hall.

The great hall was only one li in length and width; beneath the feet of those giant skeletons, after just a few breaths, they had reached Wu Tie.

The giant skeletons clenched their fists, raised them high, then came down hard.

Wu Tie remained unable to move; he involuntarily cursed, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and allowed the heavy force on his left hand to drag his whole body into the great cauldron.

Boom boom several heavy blows struck, as the giant skeletons' heavy fists hammered the great cauldron, shaking black smoke and spraying countless flames tens of meters high.

Hum a muffled sound rang out; in the black smoke, a tiny flying immortal lightly plucked the strings of its pipa, causing vast black smoke to explode outward in waves of black qi, shattering several heavy, fierce, domineering giant skeletons.

The terrifying air blast swept through the hall, shattering even the struggling skeletons on the walls.

Wave after wave of the blast surged out through the open gate, instantly engulfing the entire mine tunnel. The corpses of several elders from the Shi and Lu families lying in the tunnel were also shattered by the blast, turning into vast black dust.

Wu Tie was pulled into the great cauldron, hovering in the boundless black smoke.

Countless flying immortals danced wildly around him.

Countless flowers swirled around him.

Countless strange, fantastical images flickered in and out of existence around him.

Real and illusory, appearing and vanishing instantly, phantom light and bubbles, ever-changing and unfathomable...

That black crystal ball was now grasped in his left hand.

Wu Tie instinctively clenched hard, pouring all his strength into that grip.

The finger bones of his left hand shook violently; his flesh tore apart, spraying blood across the black crystal ball.

The dark, faintly glowing finger bones locked tightly onto the black crystal ball; streams of mysterious light burst from the ball, absorbing the blood Wu Tie had shed, and then the ball merged directly into the first phalanx of his left index finger.

A strange thread of information arrived, and Wu Tie learned the name of this crystal ball.

"Formless Relic"

"Formless Relic" condensed by a mighty adept who cultivated the Formless Bone Devil Classic.

Within the Formless Relic had originally been stored the full power of that mighty adept, but for some reason almost all of its power had dissipated, leaving only the relic itself and a trace of its essence.

What Wu Tie's left index finger's first phalanx craved was precisely this relic itself.

Evolution!

An opportunity for evolution!

Or rather, it is not evolution, but a chance to restore power to that shattered bone.

Wu Tie floated silently in the endless black smoke as the Formless Relic merged with his finger bone; that sliver of essence entered without obstruction into the golden light cluster at his brow.

The old, hoarse voice echoed around Wu Tie, but as the Formless Relic fused with his finger bone and that essence was swallowed by the golden light cluster, the vast righteousness merely relaxed slightly, and that lingering trace of sound unwilling to fade from heaven and earth completely dissipated.

"Poor soul..." Wu Tie muttered.

The essence slowly dissolved; fragmented, incomplete images flashed before Wu Tie's eyes, blurry and indistinct.

Some inexplicable insights merged into the golden light cluster formed from Wu Tie's soul power; he seemed to have learned something, yet also seemed to have learned nothing.

However, he suddenly gained a profound understanding of the contents of the Formless Bone Devil Classic.

It was as if he had immersed himself for countless years in this cultivation method that is both righteous and wicked, the evil-skinned holy bone technique.

Gradually, Wu Tie also understood the true origin of the bone devil sacred cauldron outside him.

This great cauldron ought perhaps to be called the Formless Divine Cauldron; its nature is ever-changing and formless.

It was only because that mighty adept, over long years, cultivated power with the Formless Bone Devil Classic and continually refined it that it evolved, as if going with the flow, into its present utterly black, strange appearance.

"Very good, very interesting."

Wu Tie laughed.

A wave of numbness came from his left index finger; Wu Tie felt his eyelids grow heavy, and he fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, countless texts and patterns drifted by silently.

Outside the entrance of the Nether Demon Mine, a large troop suddenly arrived.