C462 Cauldron Spirit

The Abyssal Leviathan's roars thundered across the heavens, trapped within a cage woven with sword light.

He appeared exceedingly restless, as though he sensed the imminent arrival of the Blood Altar.

The evil spirit, subdued by the Bone-Devouring Shuttle, bided its time until the Fallen Star Eyes departed. After several futile clashes with the White Bone short spear, it surprisingly settled down.

Mo Yan's remark, "Just wait," seemed to affirm Yu Yuan's proposal.

Thus, the trial-takers within the Ethereal Vial and the Fallen Star Eyes watched the approaching Blood Altar with tense anticipation, ready for what was to come.

"Crucible of Evil..."

Yu Yuan's face relaxed as he scrutinized the cauldron hovering in his chest. With a mere thought, stream after stream of blood light burst forth from his Vitality Profound Gate, infusing the dark cauldron.

Curiously, the previously defiant Crucible of Evil now seemed to acquiesce.

It appeared to understand that its union with the evil spirit was fraught with challenges, and so it ceased its struggle.

Yu Yuan engaged the Evil Body Refining Technique, drawing the cauldron with his vitality and calling to it with his mind, yet it stubbornly resisted reentry into his elixir field.

Yu Yuan attempted to reconnect with Hei Xun through the Crucible of Evil and the Devil Palace, eager to learn more about the Crucible of Evil, the Blood Altar, and the Abyssal Leviathan.

But the Crucible of Evil steadfastly refused to merge with his elixir field, leaving Yu Yuan without recourse.

"Hei Xun's Soul Voice emanated from a cluster of glyphs..."

After some deliberation, Yu Yuan abruptly shifted his approach. He ceased using his vitality and instead quietly employed the Soul Forging through Enlightenment, using the refined consciousness of the heaven soul to seek understanding.

As the Soul Forging through Enlightenment took effect, a profound melancholy enveloped Yu Yuan.

Gazing at the Crucible of Evil floating before him, his eyes grew hollow, reflecting a deep disillusionment with the world and a creeping sense of despair.

"Alas."

"It seems we're doomed. Once the Blood Altar arrives, we're all likely to perish."

"The cosmic giant beast from beyond, the Crucible of Evil, and the Blood Altar – with such an array of bizarre artifacts converging, what chance do we have of survival?"

"Let's just resign ourselves to fate and await our end."

"..."

Trial-takers from both the Sword Sect and the Forgeroses Sect sighed in despair, their outlooks growing increasingly bleak.

Su Yan sighed softly, wallowing in self-pity. She believed her ill-fortune in facing such an anomaly in the Embers Sea region during her first trial with the Abyssal Dawn Sect was a sign of her doomed path in cultivation.

Liu Ying, too, succumbed to despondency, her brief resurgence of spirit now tainted with sorrow.

Within the expanse of the Fallen Star Eyes, only Kong Banbi of the Sword Sect remained steadfast. He experienced a subtle intuition when Yu Yuan employed the Soul Forging through Enlightenment technique.

He watched Yu Yuan intently, silently musing to himself in amazement. The sadness he sensed was unusual; it wasn't emanating from the Crucible of Evil but from Yu Yuan himself...

"Huh!"

Yu Yuan, who had been discreetly practicing Soul Forging through Enlightenment, felt a tremor pass through his three souls, and his vacant eyes suddenly sparked to life.

He was struck by an enigmatic sensation!

When he engaged the Soul Forging through Enlightenment, it seemed as though a deeply buried consciousness within the Crucible of Evil floating in his chest was stirred by his melancholic emotions.

This consciousness was so faint it was almost imperceptible, as if it didn't exist at all.

Without employing Soul Forging through Enlightenment, without using his heaven soul to perceive, without dispersing his sorrowful emotions, this flicker of consciousness remained still, without the slightest disturbance.

But now, he was certain that a very faint consciousness had been influenced by his sorrowful emotions.

"How odd, truly odd, exceedingly odd..."

At that moment, Kong Banbi of the Sword Sect was no longer internally criticizing but softly pondering, "Sorrowful emotions, the essence of life and death, are also formed from various emotions. Could it be that he has gleaned something from the Crucible of Evil in such a short time?"

It was as if a lightning bolt had struck Yu Yuan's Mindscape, electrifying him with sudden inspiration!

Kong Banbi was correct! The sorrow that naturally emanated during the practice of Soul Forging through Enlightenment was indeed a unique emotion, one that did not require the force of a powerful soul.

The murderous aura was a conglomeration of various emotions—perhaps fear, hatred, or even a yearning for life.

Considering this, the desolate emotions dispersed by the Soul Forging through Enlightenment and the evil spirits condensed by the Crucible of Evil shared a mysterious similarity!

Was it this similarity that allowed him to sense the consciousness hidden within the Crucible of Evil?

With this thought, he concentrated intensely, fixing his gaze and thoughts on the dark cauldron, cautiously attempting to make contact with that concealed consciousness.

He was eager to understand the nature of this consciousness.

"Hu!"

After hovering for an extended period, the dark cauldron, which had eluded his vitality's grasp, suddenly moved toward him.

He was momentarily taken aback. The Crucible of Evil that had emerged from his vitality elixir field slipped back into his middle elixir field and settled into the nascent little world of vitality.

"Ah! The cauldron, where did the Crucible of Evil go?"

A Forgeroses survivor, who had been intently watching the Crucible of Evil, exclaimed in astonishment upon witnessing its entry into Yu Yuan's acupoint.

With the disappearance of the Crucible of Evil, everyone shrouded in sorrow abruptly awoke.

All eyes turned to Yu Yuan once more, and Du Huang inquired, "Have you reabsorbed that object into your body?"

Yu Yuan, still reeling from the shock, ignored Du Huang and instead directed his focus inward, toward the Vitality Profound Gate, to observe the proactive Crucible of Evil.

He quickly sensed that the faint consciousness within the Crucible of Evil, now within his little world of vitality, was actively seeking him out, attempting to establish a connection.

A sliver of thought emanated from the consciousness within the Crucible of Evil, conveying its astonishment, "You, have you mastered the Spirit Magic of the Boulderdawn?"

"Boulderdawn!"

Yu Yuan was jolted, his concentration scattered by the revelation.

After taking a deep breath to collect himself, he sent a silent message, "Indeed, I have studied the Spirit Magic of the Boulderdawn at the Moonfall Sanctuary and received its legacy."

"What lies within the Moonfall Sanctuary?" the consciousness inquired for confirmation.

Within the forbidden area lies a Soulforge Pool and a Soulforge Matrix capable of annihilating evil spirits and demons! Yu Yuan paused briefly before candidly responding, "Beneath the Soulforge Pool, there's an enigmatic space that suppresses a gateway to another realm. I've encountered four archaic black characters that read 'To Know All is to Suffer All.' The technique I practice is known as Soul Forging through Enlightenment."

"That's correct."

The faint consciousness lurking within the Crucible of Evil appeared to confirm its suspicion.

Simultaneously, streams of Yu Yuan's refined vitality were drawn into the cauldron by the Crucible of Evil.

Within the cauldron lay a cryptic and unfathomable glyph, which Yu Yuan's beam of vitality re-engraved, altering it forever.

This glyph was the very one through which Yu Yuan had repeatedly perceived Hei Xun's demonic Soul Voice!

The Crucible of Evil's tenuous consciousness, having verified Yu Yuan's practice of the Boulderdawn's Spirit Magic and learning of the secrets beneath the Moonfall Sanctuary, seemed to have accepted him.

Upon this acceptance, its initial act was to modify the glyph.

This alteration prevented Hei Xun from the Devil Palace from communicating with Yu Yuan via the glyph, severing Hei Xun's connection to the Crucible of Evil and rendering him unable to detect anything within the cauldron.

"I am the spirit of this cauldron!"

The feeble consciousness made certain that neither Hei Xun nor anyone else could eavesdrop before divulging its secret, "Before I became the artifact soul of the Crucible of Evil, I resided in the Moonfall Sanctuary. Since you've earned the recognition of my sect and have taken up the mantle of our Spirit Magic, you are now one of our own."

"What? What?" Yu Yuan was utterly dumbfounded. "You originated from the Moonfall Sanctuary? Are you an extraterrestrial evil demon or a Terra Fiend?"

"I hail from the Boulderdawn!" the artifact soul declared.

Yu Yuan, finally grasping the situation, reflected for a moment before inquiring, "Then how did you become the artifact soul?"

"It's a long tale, and there's no time for an extended discussion," the artifact soul communicated to Yu Yuan from within the cauldron. "If you trust me, follow my guidance. Although you, who have trained in Evil Body Refining, are not fit to be my new master, being a member of the sect grants you enough merit."

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