Chapter 121: So Simple?

"Where does it start?"

"Right here."

"This is it, right?"

"Right, start shoveling!"

It was supposed to be enough to move just three Buddha statues, but now Ling Dongxuan has moved the entire Great Hero Hall.

His efficiency is high; he immediately dug up to the spot where the Jizhou Cauldron is located.

An underground space containing only a smooth round stone sphere, about three meters tall and four meters wide.

Ling Dongxuan looks at the sphere; without Yu Lin saying much, he can already infer—the Cauldron is inside!

He turns back to Yu Lin and Ning Ya and says, "Step aside, I'm afraid I might hurt you."

"Move back a bit."

"Alright." Yu Lin and Ning Ya immediately step back and watch his actions.

Ling Dongxuan lightly runs his fingertip over the stone sphere's surface, feeling its rough texture.

"Interesting..." he mutters to himself, a flash of brilliance flickering in his eyes.

He takes a deep breath, and a faint light suddenly emanates from his body.

He steps back half a pace with his left foot, clenches his right fist at his waist, and his aura instantly becomes razor‑sharp.

"Open!"

With a low shout, Ling Dongxuan's fist flies out like lightning.

As the fist wind ripples, the air emits a harsh booming sound. The punch lands solidly on the stone sphere, producing a "Bang" with a huge impact!

Shockwaves surge, dust flies.

When the dust settles, Yu Lin and Ning Ya stare— the stone sphere hasn't moved a hair, not even a crack.

Instead, Ling Dongxuan's right hand trembles slightly, the knuckles glowing with an unnatural red aura.

"Hey!" He flicks his hand, his eyebrows shooting up.

"No effect at all? I still don't believe this nonsense!"

He quickly forms seals with both hands, muttering incantations.

As the spell takes effect, his right arm gradually takes on a jade‑like sheen, with faint blue streams of light visible beneath the skin.

The next moment.

Ling Dongxuan throws another punch, this time even more forceful than before.

Where the fist passes, the air is compressed into visible ripples!

Boom—

The deafening roar echoes through the underground space, shaking even the monks above until their eardrums throb.

Yet when the smoke clears, the stone sphere remains intact, not even shifting a fraction.

"........" Ling Dongxuan withdraws his fist, looking at the bloodstains on its surface, about to pull out an artifact to try again.

Yu Lin steps forward: "Old Ling, let me try."

"You? Are you sure you can?"

"Dragon Lord can."

Yu Lin says no more, because Dragon Lord has already manifested, including the Cauldron.

Then, under Ling Dongxuan's astonished gaze.

Dragon Lord flies to the stone sphere, grabs the Great Cauldron, and smashes it straight at the sphere:

"Wake up, stop sleeping!"

Clang—

A crisp collision rings through the underground space.

At the moment the Great Cauldron meets the stone sphere, a dazzling Golden Light bursts from the point of contact.

Crack—

A hair‑thin crack suddenly appears on the sphere's surface, spreading from the top downward.

The crack lets out brilliant Golden Light, illuminating the entire underground space like daylight.

With a "Whoosh" thunderous blast, the sphere splits in two, crashing to the ground!

When the dust clears, an ancient, dignified Bronze Cauldron appears before everyone.

The Cauldron's body is a deep teal‑black, its surface engraved with mountain‑river patterns; its legs are sturdy, and two ancient characters on its belly emit a faint halo.

"Ha...."

A lazy yawn suddenly emanates from the Cauldron.

Yu Lin and the others look, and see a qilin, its whole body golden‑yellow and snow‑white, leisurely crawling out of the Cauldron.

Its fur is as smooth as silk, its four hooves tread on auspicious clouds, and the single horn atop its head glows with a faint silver light.

"Who is it?"

Dragon Lord steps before it and slaps its rear:

"Me!"

"Ouch." The qilin's drowsiness vanishes instantly; seeing Dragon Lord, the insult at the tip of its tongue turns into surprise:

"Long Ge, it's you?"

"It's me, it's me." Dragon Lord wraps around its neck, flips its head toward Yu Lin:

"See? From now on, he will be your master."

"Huh?" the qilin looks at Yu Lin, shaking its head:

"No, no, no—only with the Cauldron's approval can it work; what I say doesn't count."

"Simple." Seeing it didn't immediately agree, Dragon Lord said little more and waved at Yu Lin:

"Yu Lin, come quickly, just like that time with me, touch the Cauldron."

"Fine." Yu Lin nodded, stepped forward to the Jizhou Cauldron, raised his hand and placed it on it.

Only this time he didn't see Da Yu; instead a faint light flickered, the Jizhou Cauldron shrank rapidly, then surged into the Ding Pattern on his chest!

The speed was such that even Ning Ya and Ling Dongxuan hadn't time to observe it closely before it ended!

The Qilin, even more surprised, opened its mouth wide: "This, this........"

"So simple?"

"Are you a contemporary emperor of men?!"

Yu Lin shook his head: "No."

"I'm merely a Nine Tripod Cauldrons collector driven by hobby."

"........." The Qilin didn't know what to say, but now it had subdued the Jizhou Cauldron, and Dragon Lord had already followed it, so it could only concede, yawned, and said:

"Whatever you like, I'm a bit sleepy, I'll nap a bit more."

As it spoke, it tried to fly into the Ding Pattern on Yu Lin's chest, but Dragon Lord grabbed it: "Hey, don't rush back."

"Do you know their whereabouts?"

Qilin shook its head: "Don't know."

"If I knew, you'd know as well."

"By the way, how did you find me?"

Dragon Lord, seeing its clueless expression, asked no more, waved a claw: "We'll talk later, go back and sleep."

"In a few days I'll give you a surprise, guaranteed you'll not want to sleep for a long, long time!"

"What? What?!" The Qilin was intrigued, but Dragon Lord flicked its tail, sending it flying into the Ding Pattern; it could only suppress its curiosity, close its eyes, and fall asleep within the Ding Pattern.

Dragon Lord flew back to Yu Lin's side and patted his shoulder:

"Alright, now that it's over, I'm going back to continue gaming; call me if anything comes up."

"Bye."

Having said that, it flew straight into the sky, and in the blink of an eye vanished.

Watching this, Ling Dongxuan was left stunned, then sighed:

"I've long heard Senior Dragon enjoys online games; now I see, indeed.............. uh."

"Indeed, keeping up with the times!"