Chapter 106: 106. Chapter 106: The Cauldron and the Coffin (Requesting Subscription)

106. Chapter 106: The Cauldron and the Coffin (Requesting Subscription)

Fang Xing held the Ten Thousand Edicts Token in his hand.

The token, gifted by Chen Yi the Ironsmith, was now enveloped in a dense glow, as if it might slip from his grasp and fly away.

And the source of this pull? This bronze cauldron!

“Hm?”

Fang Xing circled the cauldron once, then suddenly noticed something odd.

On the back of the cauldron was a depression, the size of a thumb, its shape strikingly similar to his own Ten Thousand Edicts Token.

Click!

He pressed the token into it—the token fused seamlessly with the cauldron’s surface.

In an instant, the glow flashed, and the seam vanished entirely.

The token had simply merged into the bronze cauldron!

Boom!

The next moment, inscriptions across the cauldron blazed to life—dense, golden scriptures surging into Fang Xing’s third eye.

“Ugh…”

Fang Xing grunted, his spiritual force surging from his crown chakra to defend—but felt no impact.

Instead, a mantra appeared in his mind: the method to refine this “Ten Thousand Transformations Cauldron.”

Excellent!

According to the mantra, this treasure was named “Ten Thousand Transformations,” an extraordinary artifact coveted by cultivators.

But Fang Xing blinked, suddenly speechless: “Wait… I don’t have any Qi. What the hell am I refining?”

“Still, if any cultivator knew about this ‘Ten Thousand Transformations Cauldron,’ they’d all go mad with envy.”

His expression turned deeply complex.

In the cultivation world, artifact tiers: first-rank magical tool, second-rank spiritual tool, third-rank magical treasure, fourth-rank spiritual treasure…

Magical treasures could only be used by Golden Core experts; spiritual treasures were reserved for Nascent Soul true masters.

But the rank of the “Ten Thousand Transformations Cauldron” surpassed even spiritual treasures!

“No! This isn’t a spiritual treasure, nor anything above fifth-rank—it’s an extraordinary artifact!”

An extraordinary artifact had no rank—it could be used simply by inputting Qi.

Yet in rarity, this “Ten Thousand Transformations Cauldron” was no less precious than any fifth-rank treasure—perhaps even more so.

…

As Fang Xing was momentarily stunned, an anomaly erupted!

Click!

The third-rank talisman inside the white jade coffin spontaneously ignited, turning to ash.

The corpse lying within opened its eyes.

“Damn it!”

Fang Xing moved like a fleeting shadow, appearing before the ice coffin in an instant, his palm slamming down.

Roar!

Amidst a dragon’s cry, a golden dragon head materialized and plunged downward.

The humanoid opened its eyes—its gaze filled with fury—yet offered no resistance as Fang Xing’s palm crushed its dantian.

“Huh? This Qi fluctuation… it feels like a Qi Condensation cultivator?”

Fang Xing was startled, then a sharp pain pierced his third eye—his facial muscles twisted, his body stiffened, frozen in place…

“This… is a spiritual consciousness attack!”

His crown chakra surged with spiritual force; the four realms of meaning flared, beginning to dissolve the assault.

“Such strong spiritual consciousness… far beyond Qi Condensation… no, even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t paralyze me like this…”

A sudden realization struck Fang Xing.

Starlight martial artists excelled in spiritual will—after all, they could withstand demonic god corruption. How could a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator’s spiritual attack affect him?

Yet now, his third eye throbbed violently—his body locked rigid…

This level of spiritual assault couldn’t possibly be from a Foundation Establishment cultivator…

“Golden Core-level spiritual consciousness?!”

Fang Xing’s eyes widened.

“Youngster…”

The boy’s eyes fully opened: “To withstand my spiritual consciousness, you may take pride…”

He spoke with ancient, aged tones—still in the language of the cultivation world, but laced with archaic phrasing.

Fang Xing, whose extraterrestrial language and culture course had nearly perfect scores, immediately deduced much.

The next moment, he silently recited the Great Sun Tathagata Mantra, visualizing a crimson sun rising from his mind sea.

Instantly, his mobility returned—he wasted no time, unleashing his palm’s force, shattering the humanoid’s organs and severing its meridians… utterly dead.

“You…”

Blood spilled from the boy’s mouth and nose; his breath vanished instantly.

He never imagined encountering someone so ruthless!

No—he never imagined waking up to find someone so unusual!

Not only unafraid of his spiritual attack, but able to break free instantly—and without a word, destroyed the body he’d planned to possess for years!

As soon as he struck, Fang Xing leapt back, his laser pistol materializing in hand, surrounded by swirling dragon shadows.

From the corpse in the coffin, a pale green glow emerged.

Within the green radiance was a strange green infant!

It was no larger than an adult’s fist, entirely naked, emaciated, with a single horn growing from its forehead.

Though it resembled an infant, its face was that of an adult, now fixed on Fang Xing with venomous hatred: “Youngster, you dare destroy my possession body? I will take your life in recompense!”

Before the words finished, a laser beam pierced the green infant.

“No—it was an afterimage…”

Fang Xing’s heart jolted—he knew the laser hadn’t struck true.

Before him, the air rippled, and the green infant reappeared.

A thought flashed through his mind as the green infant’s face twisted into a sinister sneer and plunged straight into his third eye!

A thought flashed through him—then the green infant’s face twisted with malice, diving straight into his third eye!

A green Nascent Soul appeared—a one-horned, green-skinned infant with wide, terrified eyes: “Impossible… how could you be a mortal without any spiritual roots?”

A green Nascent Soul appeared—the horned, green-skinned infant stared wide-eyed, filled with horror: “Impossible… how can you be a mortal without a spiritual root?”

This was even more shocking than the destruction of his possession body!

Followed by the crushing sense that heaven itself wished him dead.

He had clung to life through forbidden arts, waiting for a suitable vessel to possess.

Now, his vessel destroyed, his Nascent Soul—crafted by forbidden arts—was unstable.

Without immediate nourishment from a new body, he would vanish swiftly.

He scanned the surroundings with his spiritual consciousness—only Fang Xing remained.

He’d assumed the man was a cultivator; any spiritual root would have sufficed.

But he never expected this man to be nothing but a mortal martial artist!

No spiritual root—impossible to possess—was heaven truly ending him?!

“No… how could a mere mortal withstand my ‘God-Slaying Spike’?”

His cultivation heart, forged through countless trials, immediately deduced more: “This man hides secrets—I must seize them to replenish myself!”

But before the green infant could act, a crimson sun blazed to life within the mind sea!

The green Nascent Soul wore an air of pride; his Nascent Soul body, though temporarily granted by forbidden arts, was still the pinnacle of immortal cultivation.

The green Nascent Soul sneered—his Nascent Soul body was the pinnacle of immortal arts, even if temporarily granted by forbidden methods, it was no trivial thing.

In possession battles, he feared nothing—unless facing a Nascent Soul of equal rank, or a higher Transformation Realm master.

He never imagined anything could crush his Nascent Soul within the mind sea.

But the next moment, he regretted it.

Endless radiance emerged from that crimson giant sun.

Endless radiance erupted from the crimson sun.

Infinite solar power bound, enveloped, then… burned the green Nascent Soul!

Waves of terrifying crimson flames erupted and burned fiercely across the Nascent Soul’s body.

Terrifying crimson flames erupted across the Nascent Soul’s body.

The agony of soul combustion drove the Nascent Soul to scream: “Ahh… what kind of flame is this? Great Sun True Flame? Solar True Fire? Ancient Poison Flame? Why does your mind sea hold such a spiritual fire?!”

Too bad—he never got Fang Xing’s answer.

The sun ignited the Nascent Soul, glowing brighter still, its radiance drowning the infant completely…

…

Outside, Fang Xing sat cross-legged, cursing: “You piece of shit, why the hell did you run into my mind sea? Looking for death?”

He knew the Great Sun Tathagata Mantra furnace’s nature well.

Moreover, he had never even wanted the Great Sun Buddha Mantra to improve.

But this time, it was the other party who came to him willingly, forcing him to burn and consume everything!

“If you hadn’t entered my mind sea, I wouldn’t have used this technique… because the Great Sun Buddha Mantra’s improvement carries too many risks…”

Fang Xing sighed, and now could only watch as the proficiency of the Great Sun Buddha Mantra in his attribute panel surged rapidly!

10!

20!

…

90!

100!

In the blink of an eye, the Great Sun Buddha Mantra rose from “Beginner” to “Proficient”!

At the Proficient tier, the Great Sun Buddha Mantra gained an additional ability: while burning away external evils, it could absorb fragmented information.

In Fang Xing’s mind, fragmented fragments surfaced, like watching a film, giving him fleeting glimpses of this cultivator’s life:

“I am Wanfa… no, I am Wang Dageng… I was born in Shu Huang Land, Dahe Town, Erqing Village…”

“Since childhood, I was extraordinary, with astonishing comprehension—whether farming, hunting, fishing, or medicine… I learned instantly, and mastered immediately… When I grew up, I obtained a martial arts scripture, ‘Black Tiger Strength,’ and directly attained the Primordial State through this martial path, even glimpsing the realm beyond Primordial…”

“After mastering martial arts, I saw a far vaster world… a world of cultivators who could soar through heaven and earth, living for ages!”

“Cultivators must have spiritual roots… I used a small trick to obtain a Spirit-Testing Talisman, only to discover I possessed only a low-grade mixed spiritual root…”

“I found a cultivator sect called ‘Wanfa Sect.’ Though my root was poor, my comprehension was excellent and my willpower extraordinary, so I still passed the test and became a lowly servant disciple of the sect…”

“Ten years later, I painfully broke through to Qi Condensation Mid-Stage and finally understood what a poor spiritual root meant… But I did not give up. I shifted my focus to spells. In less than three years, I mastered the Five Elements spells; in another three, I comprehended spells of wind, thunder, and ice—spells tied to rare spiritual roots; in yet another three, I created my own techniques, mastering everything, excelling in all—until I stunned everyone in the Grand Competition, won first place, entered the Inner Sect, and earned the nickname ‘Wanfa Jietong’!”

“I sought Foundation Establishment, but the sect withheld my Foundation Establishment Pill, citing my low root. Enraged, I defected, encountered a miraculous treasure—the ‘Wanhua Cauldron’—and successfully established my Foundation, formed a Golden Core, returned to the sect, exterminated all my enemies, and enjoyed vengeance for centuries, known as ‘Wanfa Shangren’!”

“My lifespan neared its limit, yet my low Zizhi prevented me from forming a Nascent Soul… I hate it! If I had possessed a high-grade spiritual root—even a mid-grade one—why would I have wasted so much time during Foundation Establishment and Golden Core formation? Why did it become so hard to form a Nascent Soul?”

“If given enough time, I would have surely achieved Nascent Soul Great Completion!”

“So… I retreated into a secret realm, pondering ways to enhance my spiritual root…”