C553 The Bird Took over the Nest

Deep within the Lost Lands, a barren mountain rose five hundred feet into the sky, devoid of any vegetation. This mountain, known as Ochre Mountain, was rumored to harbor veins of yellow copper ore.

Once refined, this ore could be used to construct furnaces and be smelted into various artifacts, such as carriages and Flying Shuttles capable of traversing the heavens and burrowing through the earth. As the spiritual energy within the Forgotten Ruins began to rejuvenate, the ores of Ochre Mountain showed signs of gradual crystallization.

At the base of the mountain, Su Xiangtian declared, "This is as far as I'll accompany you."

Gazing up at the towering mountain, Su Che's face lit up with excitement. He pointed to a recently carved inverted triangular mark on the mountainside, exclaiming, "This has to be it!" A similar mark, a greenish-black inverted triangle, adorned his forehead.

This mark was seared onto him by a wandering cultivator named Liang Jingyin, who they had encountered in the Shadowlight Empire six months prior. It contained a fragment of the cultivator's intricate spell. Whenever Su Che focused his mind on the mark, he could discern the subtleties of Liang Jingyin's spell.

"The Spirit Walk realm of cultivation is certainly not weak," Su Xiangtian observed, his eyes surveying the mountain. "Being selected by such a cultivator as a hand-chosen disciple is a stroke of fortune. While different from training within a grand sect, following a master like him has its own advantages."

Su Che responded with fervor, "Thank you, Patriarch, for your protection along the way. I will not forget that I am a member of the Su family!"

"Simply dedicate yourself to your cultivation," Su Xiangtian advised.

Su Che, brimming with determination, declared, "Once my cultivation bears fruit, I will confront that Yu family scion and show him the consequences of crossing the Su family!" He scoffed, "Without the backing of a sect or the favor of a powerful cultivator, he's nothing but a fortunate fool. I refuse to believe he can defy the odds!"

After careful investigation, Su Che was convinced that Yu Yuan had not been taken in by a sect nor had he been chosen as a hand-chosen disciple by a cultivator of stature like his own master.

Su Che was confident that he could overtake Yu Yuan, surpassing him in both cultivation level and combat prowess.

The path to mastery in cultivation was arduous, but he held onto the belief that one day, he would stand before Yuan Lianyao with pride, as both Liang Jingyin's hand-chosen disciple and the future head of the Su family.

"Go on," Su Xiangtian said with a dismissive wave of his hand, offering no further words.

As Su Che disappeared into the distance, Su Xiangtian's expression shifted subtly, and he instinctively glanced towards the opposite side of the mountain. A formidable phantom drifted away from another part of Ochre Mountain. It must have been a Lunar Spirit on its journey. Su Xiangtian focused intently but could only detect a flash of golden light before it vanished towards the new city constructed by the seven lower sects.

"Whose fearsome phantom could that be? They must have come here in search of that independent cultivator..." Su Xiangtian mused, then shook his head.

"Thank you, Brother Su, for the escort," came a voice from the mountainside of Ochre Mountain, where a stone door had swung open at the site of the inverted triangle mark. Liang Jingyin, clad in yellow robes, stood smiling at the entrance, nodding his head in acknowledgment to Su Xiangtian.

"Disciple Su Che greets Master!" Su Che called out with vigor.

Liang Jingyin, still smiling, beckoned, "Come on up."

Suddenly, a stone beneath Su Che's feet lifted him, and he floated gently up to the stone doorway where Liang Jingyin awaited.

"Senior Liang, the Su family is in your care," Su Xiangtian said, bowing with clasped fists before turning to leave.

Half a day later, Tong Laoqian, piloting the battered Jade Tower, materialized at Ochre Mountain. This mountain was once his personal domain. Before the Ethereal Void Sect had established its teleportation circle, Tong Laoqian, a formidable figure in the Lost Lands, practiced his cultivation here. The copper ore beneath the mountain was the magic item he coveted, essential for crafting the Jade Tower. He had entrusted Yu Yuan with the task of helping him return to the Forgotten Ruins, surmising that as the spiritual energy there rejuvenated, the copper ore under Ochre Mountain would coalesce even more rapidly.

He had intended to gather the brass and refined iron to recast the Jade Tower.

Upon his arrival, however, he immediately sensed that something was amiss and erupted in fury, "Who dares to usurp my abode?"

No sooner had he spoken than he caught sight of a familiar inverted triangle mark, and his expression turned grim.

Halfway up the mountain, Liang Jingyin, clad in yellow, emerged with a smile, cradling a golden pagoda in his hand. "Tong Laoqian, weren't you at the Sundering Isles?"

"Old Monster Liang! Why have you taken over my Ochre Mountain?" Tong Laoqian bellowed.

"Your Ochre Mountain?" Liang Jingyin's face was etched with mockery. "As someone who once reigned over the Lost Lands, how could you be ignorant of its rules? Here, the one with the mightiest fist makes the rules. I declare Ochre Mountain mine. If you disagree, we can settle it with a battle."

With a whoosh, the golden pagoda soared from his palm, hovering between him and Tong Laoqian.

The brilliance radiating from the pagoda was so intense that it caused Tong Laoqian's skin to sting.

"The Jade Tower, which took you a century to perfect, has been destroyed in the Sundering Isles. What will you use to contend with me?" Liang Jingyin stood with his hands clasped behind him, exuding tranquility. "Consider your next move carefully."

Tong Laoqian glowered at the golden pagoda, then declared, "I shall return!"

With those words, he departed in a huff aboard the remnants of the Jade Tower.

"Return?" Liang Jingyin scoffed. "Until the Jade Tower is rebuilt, a hundred returns will yield the same outcome."

Behind him, Su Che watched with eyes full of reverence, his fists clenched in awe.

...

The moon shone with a pristine glow.

A fifth-level Lunarphite stood upright, its arms lifted high above its head, drawing in the moon's radiant essence, refining it within its sinews and flesh.

"Hu! Hu!"

The spiritual energy within a five-mile radius swelled like the tide, and as the Lunarphite consumed the moonlight, it too absorbed strands of the divine force.

The Lunarphite that had traveled from Godsblight Marsh to the Forgotten Ruins was elated, feeling its strength grow in this place.

Crackle!

Silver moonlight coursed through its flesh like lightning.

A fifth-level Lunarphite possessed a combat prowess comparable to a cultivator at the Subtlety level. With each rise in rank, reaching the eighth level would enable it to break free from the Everlands and venture extraterrestrially to cultivate on the moon itself.

Such a Lunarphite would be immensely formidable.

Legend has it that the Moonfiend clan once suffered greatly at the hands of a Lunarphite.

A ninth-level Lunarphite, having traversed moons, extensively harvested moon essence to temper its demon form, compelling the Moonfiend clan to launch an assault.

Ultimately, the Lunarphite was slain by the combined forces of the Moonfiend, yet the Moonfiend sustained severe casualties.

Three moons, lying exceedingly distant from the Everlands, were shattered as a result.

The Lunarphite, in the midst of refining its demon form, displayed a flicker of panic in its icy Demonic Eyes.

A dark cauldron, situated beneath the full moon, abruptly expanded in size.

Enveloped by strands of smoky magic light, the cauldron unleashed a torrent of terrifying magic power that threatened to rend the Lunarphite's demon form.

Boom!

The cauldron descended, and the fifth-level Lunarphite was torn asunder in an instant.

The physique of a fifth-level Fellbeast was no match for the formidable blow of the Crucible of Evil, its bones shattering one after another.

An ice-blue shadow emerged from the cauldron and slipped into the Lunarphite's body.

Before the towering and robust Lunarphite could let out a cry, it was rapidly encased in ice from head to toe.

It was then that Yu Yuan leisurely made his way over from a distance.

"Is this cauldron the young master's prize from the Embers Sea?" Qin Yun inquired, trailing behind him. Watching Yu Yuan effortlessly dispatch a fifth-level Lunarphite with the cauldron, he exclaimed, "I never imagined it was true."

"What's true?" Yu Yuan asked.

"When Miss Yu Zhu was present, I visited the new city built around the teleportation circle. I heard tales of the young master's astonishing exploits during his trial in the Embers Sea." Qin Yun observed the dark cauldron as it enveloped the frozen Lunarphite, noting an ice-blue shadow ascend from the Lunarphite's crown.

"I had thought it was an exaggeration. I even believed that if it were true, young master, the Devil Palace would demand the Crucible of Evil back from you after your acquisition."

"That cauldron was once a Divine Artifact!"

When Qin Yun learned that Yu Yuan had acquired the long-lost Crucible of Evil during his trial, he found it hard to believe.

In the vast Everlands, the great cauldron that had once made the Terror Claws infamous across the world was still considered a Divine Artifact, despite its severe damage.

No item of Divine Level should be easily wielded by a cultivator like Yu Yuan.

Yet now, Yu Yuan had summoned the Crucible of Evil and effortlessly slain a fifth-level Lunarphite, which was on par with a being of the Subtlety realm, confirming the truth of the rumors.

"The Devil Palace has implicitly consented to my possession of the cauldron."

With a radiant smile, Yu Yuan leaped into the Crucible of Evil and utilized the Blood Altar within the little world to extract the essence of the fifth-level Lunarphite's flesh and blood.

Swoosh!

Tong Laoqian, looking worse for wear, returned from Ochre Mountain and halted beside Qin Yun, gazing at the dark cauldron.

"Why have you come back?" Qin Yun asked, surprised.

With a heavy sigh, Tong Laoqian replied, "Ochre Mountain has been taken."

​