Chapter 333: Chapter 320: There Is a Universe Inside the Cauldron
Zhouyang was indeed close to the end of his rope.
The power of Tuoba Gui’s sword talisman was not diminished in the slightest.
If it weren’t for some unforeseen events, Zhouyang might have really fallen to that sword Qi on the spot.
But although he seemed exhausted and drained, he was not completely powerless.
He counterattacked the still vigorous Zhu Wuya, using the "Godslaying Needle" secret technique and the Sharp Gold Sword of the "Pure Yang Celestial Sword."
When Tuoba Gui, thinking he had seen through him, also came wielding his sword to attack the Guardian Array of the valley, Zhouyang used a bit of his newly recovered magical power to perform the True Flame Sword of the "Qianyang Celestial Sword."
At that time, Tuoba Gui was concentrating all his effort to break down the valley’s Guardian Array, full of ambition, wanting to personally slay Zhouyang.
Little did he anticipate Zhouyang’s hidden ace.
Thus, Tuoba Gui met a tragic end.
His body was directly hit by the True Flame Sword, and then he was completely engulfed by the blazing True Flame, turning him into ashes.
As Zhouyang unleashed his final ace, he finally felt relief, slumped down on the ground, and completely relaxed.
Tuoba Gui’s previous speculation was indeed correct; Zhouyang was bluffing.
If he had chosen to retreat at that time, Zhouyang would indeed have been powerless to pursue him.
However, while bluffing, Zhouyang was simultaneously prepared in case of any eventuality, hence uttering those threatening words.
If Tuoba Gui had chosen to retreat, that would have been ideal.
But if he was angered by those words and charged forward, he would fall into Zhouyang’s trap, allowing him to eliminate Tuoba Gui once and for all, avoiding the Profound Water Sect finding out that he killed Zhu Wuya.
Thus, when Tuoba Gui believed he had seen through Zhouyang’s feigned weakness and approached, Zhouyang also played along, deliberately luring him into perceiving weakness while retreating into the valley, using the Guardian Array to buy time to recover magical power, misleading the enemy into believing he was truly powerless.
Sure enough, Tuoba Gui fell into the trap, presenting himself for Zhouyang to seize the opportunity to strike.
Reflecting on the battle, Zhouyang felt filled with a lingering fear, with his pale face full of introspective murmuring:
"Today was truly a lesson learned!"
"Anyone who has cultivated to the Purple Mansion Stage is no weakling!"
"I can repeatedly use treasures to transcend minor realms and slay powerful enemies, so why can’t others do the same?"
"If not for the true nature of the Azure Dragon Cauldron manifesting today, the one meeting their end could have been me!"
First was Luo Yunqing, then Murong Qianqian and Zhu Ziyu. After establishing my Purple Mansion, without counting demon beasts, I have slain three Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivators.
This made my mindset swell a bit, thinking that Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivators were not that formidable, that I could single-handedly overcome them.
But is that the actual case?
Clearly not!
Slaying Luo Yunqing and Murong Qianqian was completely due to the assistance of the Golden Light Celestial Stabilizing Mirror talisman treasure for instantly killing the enemy.
And for killing Zhu Ziyu, it was when he underestimated me and I trapped him with a sword array, then harnessed the power of the Tier Seven spiritual artifact "Qianyang Treasure Pearl" to successfully defeat him.
If it weren’t for the aid of talisman treasures and the power of the Tier Seven spiritual artifact "Qianyang Treasure Pearl," my strength would at most be able to hold its ground against Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivators, making it impossible to kill.
Even if the fight prolonged, I might be the one losing, as my magical power is significantly inferior to that of Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivators.
All of this assumes the opponent lacks strong cards like mine.
If Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivators had talisman treasures like the Golden Light Celestial Stabilizing Mirror or protective sword talisman treasures like the white-robed youth Tuoba Gui’s, or some Tier Five spirit talisman.
The one fallen might very likely be me!
In a life-and-death battle, who has strong cards and who doesn’t cannot be discerned ahead of time.
Thus, to avoid dying prematurely at the hands of my enemies, the best strategy is not to make enemies and avoid enmity with peers.
Reflecting on the cause of today’s battle, Zhouyang realized the primary reason lay with Zhu Wuya and Tuoba Gui—they sought to seize the Cloud Mist Immortal Tea he protected for two years, leading to this conflict.
But if he had initially declined their request and been less rude and arrogant, could this battle have been avoided?
Or even if a fight was inevitable, after displaying his strong prowess, couldn’t the white-robed youth Tuoba Gui, whose pride was hurt by his words, have refrained from rashly using his cards for a life-or-death showdown and listened to Zhu Wuya’s advice to momentarily retreat?
This question, with the demise of Zhu Wuya and Tuoba Gui, will remain unanswered eternally.
Zhouyang told himself in his heart that he must never make the same mistake again in the future.
Never underestimate any opponent, and never underestimate anyone.
This was the profound lesson he learned from today’s incident.
Two days later, the "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea" was completely mature. Zhouyang, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately harvested it and stored it in his Storage Ring. Only then did he feel secure enough to enter the cave and meditate for healing.
Although most of the power of the "Taibai Geng Metal Sword Qi" was blocked by the "Azure Dragon Cauldron," the remaining sword qi still caused significant harm to Zhouyang’s body.
If not for the high quality of magical power attained from cultivating the "Qianyang Immortal Scripture" and the protection of the Tier Seven Spiritual Artifact "Qianyang Treasure Pearl" in his Dantian Qi Sea, the sharp sword qi would have long breached his defenses and pierced through his Dantian!
After more than a month in seclusion for healing, Zhouyang finally refined all the remaining sword qi in his body with the "Qianyang True Flame" and truly recovered.
With his injuries fully healed, Zhouyang finally had the time to review the gains from the battle a month ago.
In that battle a month ago, although he killed Zhu Wuya and Tuoba Gui, two Purple Mansion Stage cultivators, Tuoba Gui’s entire body, along with his Storage Bag, was burned to ashes by the "Qianyang True Flame." Zhouyang only salvaged the flying sword Tuoba Gui had carried on his back.
The quality of this flying sword was extremely high. It was a Tier Four High-grade Flying Sword named "Feihong."
In terms of quality alone, this sword was even superior to Zhouyang’s "Great Derivation Divine Light Sword."
With such a treasured sword, it’s no wonder that despite being a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, Tuoba Gui chose to carry it on his back at all times.
It was with this treasured sword that Tuoba Gui was able to hold on without defeat for an hour under Zhouyang’s sword array.
"The sword is a good sword, but it’s of little use to me!"
Zhouyang admired the silver-white treasure sword in his hands for a moment, then shook his head and stored it back into the Storage Ring.
He already had twelve "Great Derivation Divine Light Swords," which were sufficient. Although the "Feihong Sword" was good, it was of no practical use to him.
Then he checked Zhu Wuya’s Storage Bag.
From Zhu Wuya’s Storage Bag, Zhouyang garnered over eighty thousand Spirit Stones, along with numerous Spirit Elixirs growing in the "Cloud Mist Marsh," and some magical artifacts, elixirs, and spirit talismans.
But the greatest gains were the two mature "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea" leaves and a Tier Four High-Grade Attack Spirit Talisman, the "Ice Soul Cold Light Talisman."
With the two mature "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea" leaves and the four he had, Zhouyang now had six Immortal Tea leaves, just enough for two Purple Mansion Stage cultivators to consume.
And that "Ice Soul Cold Light Talisman," as a rare ice attribute attack spirit talisman, was considerably more valuable than ordinary Tier Four High-Grade Spirit Talismans of the Five Elements attribute, second only to talismans of the same tier.
Besides the Emerald Green Flying Knife Talisman Treasure received from Murong Qianqian, Zhouyang currently had no other high-power attack talismans or talisman treasures. Hence, he could barely keep this spirit talisman as a trump card.
Of course, neither Tuoba Gui’s "Feihong Sword" nor the treasures in Zhu Wuya’s Storage Bag were Zhouyang’s greatest gains from this battle.
His greatest gain from this battle was the revelation of the true appearance of the "Azure Dragon Cauldron" under the attack of the "Taibai Geng Metal Sword Qi."
The "Azure Dragon Cauldron" originally belonged to Xiao Bufan, a Yellow Sand Sect Purple Mansion Cultivator. Later, Xiao Bufan was killed by the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect Golden Core Cultivator Blood Nether, and this artifact fell into Blood Nether’s hands.
After Zhouyang obtained Blood Nether’s relics, this artifact also fell into his possession, becoming his Protective Spiritual Artifact after being refined.
Just that, even though he had refined this artifact and knew it was an exceptional piece among defensive spiritual artifacts, he never expected that beneath its ancient exterior lay another hidden realm.
At this moment, with the artifact in front of him, the bronze giant cauldron stood about ten feet tall. On the side of the cauldron facing him was a sword wound penetrating over two inches into the body of the cauldron.
In the depth of the sword wound, a faint blue-violet light appeared, completely different from the bronze material on the surface of the cauldron.
"It’s actually a cauldron within a cauldron! And it even eluded my detection as the owner who refined the artifact!"
"Such an artifact refining technique is truly unheard of!"
Zhouyang’s eyes sparkled with golden light as he gazed into the sword wound from which the blue-violet light emerged, his face full of astonishment.
Being a Tier Four Refining Master, he had considerable expertise in artifact refining, with his refining heritage reaching as high as Tier Five.
Yet, even so, he had never heard of an artifact containing another hidden artifact. If not seen with his own eyes, he would have scoffed at such a notion.
"Let me see what kind of treasure is hidden within you!"
He mumbled to himself, raising his palm and summoned the "Qianyang True Flame" to refine the bronze giant cauldron before him.
The original "Azure Dragon Cauldron" had already been broken by the "Taibai Geng Metal Sword Qi," rendering its internal magic ban unsalvageable. Therefore, Zhouyang felt no remorse in destroying this artifact.
Besides, knowing there was a hidden realm inside the artifact, even if the "Azure Dragon Cauldron" had remained intact, Zhouyang would do the same.
After all, this artifact was something he "picked up." The damage wouldn’t cause him much heartache.