Chapter 534: Chapter 523: The Sword Cultivator Father
Three days had passed, and countless Heavenly Tribulations had struck the Immortal Cauldron, yet not only did they fail to shatter it, but they also made its radiance grow ever more intense.
"Notify everyone to be on high alert." Just before the final bolt of Heavenly Tribulation descended, Elder Zhao solemnly instructed.
Because once the Immortal Cauldron survives the Heavenly Tribulation, it becomes a true Immortal Artifact, and moreover, a growing one at that, which speaks volumes about its preciousness. It’s not that he harbors petty thoughts, but the Immortal Artifact has yet to recognize an owner, and who knows if some schemer with ulterior motives might take advantage of the chaos to steal it?
"Little Jin, I’m counting on you." Ye Qiu’s powerful Divine Soul had already sensed that in the past two days, numerous elders at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage were approaching, and he was equally worried about his son at the center of the crowd.
"No problem, anyone who dares to rob my nephew’s possession will never return home." Little Jin puffed out his chest, raised his head, and fluttered his short, chubby wings as he flew into the mid-air.
One the other side, while everyone’s attention was on the Immortal Artifact’s tribulation, Lin Shen used a pretext to lure his Master and great-Elders to an open area, where he had laid an Array in advance.
"Lin Shen, you mentioned the news of an Immortal, where is it?" Master Wu’an asked.
Lin Shen, with his head down, hooked up a cruel smile at the corner of his mouth, thinking that there was no better way to attract his Master and great-Elders than the prospect of attaining immortality and the Tao.
"Master, death can lead to attaining the Tao." Lin Shen lifted his head, and his eyes turned pitch black.
Master Wu’an felt something was amiss and asked with a frown, "What do you mean?"
"It means nothing much? It just means I’d like my Master and great-Elders to help their disciple attain the Tao." As soon as his words fell, the Array he had set up around them suddenly activated, with Black Flames engulfing them from all sides.
"Lin Shen, what are you trying to do? This is an act of utmost betrayal against the Tao!" Master Wu’an and the other cultivators practicing the Heartless Dao resisted the Dark Netherworld Fire while chastising Lin Shen.
"Utmost betrayal against the Tao? Didn’t I learn all this from you, Master?" Lin Shen laughed indifferently, "Master, for the sake of attaining the Tao, you could personally deal with your own parents, and my martial grand-uncles and great-Elders aren’t you the same, having killed your own wives and children? How am I any different from you? Before, I could only be considered a half-hearted disciple of the Heartless Dao, but now, killing my Master and great-Elders, wouldn’t that perfectly align with your aspirations to truly follow the Heartless Dao?"
"Lin Shen, don’t you forget, it was I who brought you back from the Mortal World!" Among the group, Master Wu’an, with the lowest cultivation, had already started screaming in agony from the burning by the Dark Netherworld Fire.
"Master, your parents also struggled hard to give birth to and raise you, didn’t they?" Lin Shen, without a shred of remorse, said, touching a chord deep within Master Wu’an.
Feeling Master Wu’an’s regret and pain, the Dark Netherworld Fire burned even fiercer.
"Master, great-Elders, whether or not your disciple can attain the Tao depends on you now." As he spoke, he was engulfed by the Dark Netherworld Fire, facing the onslaught of negative emotions without pain, but rather, with enjoyment.
As the flames grew higher, Lin Shen’s cultivation level also gradually increased, from the Mid Void Refining Stage to the Late Void Refining Stage and then to the Peak of the Late Stage.
"That’s enough, ascending any further will attract the Heavenly Tribulation, do you want to be struck dead by it now?" The voice in Lin Shen’s mind timely reminded him.
Upon hearing this, Lin Shen opened his eyes, and his pitch-black pupils took on a hint of blood-red color.
At the same time, Ye Sheng’s Immortal Cauldron finally faced the last Heavenly Tribulation. Everyone watched unblinkingly, some elderly monsters at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage were itching to move, seemingly just waiting for the Immortal Cauldron to become a true Immortal Artifact before starting to snatch it.
If this Immortal Artifact were something else, these old monsters might not be so excited; however, it was precisely a cauldron that primarily boasted defensive power. Moreover, after being baptized by the Heavenly Tribulation, mysterious patterns began to appear on the cauldron.
As everyone knows, since the great war of Ancient Times, the Cultivation World split into nine thousand worlds, and the Immortal Realm has since vanished. Since then, not a single person has become an Immortal again.
The first threshold that obstructs these elderly monsters at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage from becoming Immortal is the Immortal Ascension Tribulation. As no one has crossed it yet, rumors persist that Immortals haven’t disappeared—just that Heavenly Dao has raised the threshold for becoming Immortal.
Although the chance of becoming Immortal is extremely slim, and although no one has successfully passed the Immortal Ascension Tribulation since that time, all cultivators are unwilling to give up; they do not want to be cultivators at the Tribulation Stage only to die with their lifespan exhausted and their Dao dissipated, nor do they wish to dissipate into an Earth Immortal and have no place to belong.
Although Earth Immortals bear the character for ’immortal’, they are not true Immortals. While nominally said to have immortality, they face a Heavenly Tribulation every thousand years, each more severe than the last. So far, no Earth Immortal has been able to withstand five Heavenly Tribulations.
However, it only adds five thousand years to life, and Spiritual Power cannot be used at will—it’s better to remain a cultivator at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage. Only those old monsters whose lifespan has reached its end choose to dissipate into an Earth Immortal. After all, an extra thousand years is one year more, who knows if there will be another fortunate encounter within that thousand years?
So it is precisely because the Immortal Ascension Tribulation and Earth Immortal Tribulation are so formidable that they need better defensive Magic Treasures, and the Immortal Cauldron refined by Ye Sheng is the best choice.
This is an Immortal Artifact! It may even be possible to trace the path to become Immortal through the Immortal Text!
Almost all elderly monsters at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage have arrived, some are determined to snatch, and others plan to fish in troubled waters. That’s why Elder Zhao and Ye Qiu are so tense, because these people have almost turned into demons for the sake of becoming Immortal; they could not care less about the Tianyan Sect.
"Boom boom boom..." The last bolt of Heavenly Tribulation that descended was accompanied by seven-colored light, causing all the cultivators present to draw in a cold breath of air. No one was without greed—that was a lie; who wouldn’t want such a Magic Treasure!
"Buzz..." As the seven-colored Heavenly Tribulation descended, the Immortal Cauldron let out a buzzing sound, continuously circling around Ye Sheng.
"It’s taking on a Spirit; the Immortal Cauldron is taking on a Spirit!"
"Young talents are truly fearsome!"
"So beautiful!"
Cries of amazement rose from the crowd, and at this moment, three elderly monsters at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage acted at the same time, setting their sights on the Immortal Cauldron above Ye Sheng’s head.
"Let the Immortal Cauldron recognize its master, ignore everything else." Ye Qiu quickly came to Ye Sheng’s side, taking out the Shenghong Sword.
As two Immortal Artifacts appeared at the same time, those originally planning to fish in troubled waters also became eager to act.
"Do you really not give face to our Tianyan Sect?" Elder Zhao said solemnly, "You should know Ye Sheng is still young, as long as you have the materials, we can discuss artifact refining later. If you make a move today, don’t even think about collaborating with our Tianyan Sect in the future."
With these words from Elder Zhao, indeed some hesitated. There was only one Immortal Cauldron, and it was unknown into whose hands it would fall. If they made a move today, it would be difficult to enlist Ye Sheng to refine an Immortal Artifact in the future.