Chapter 418: The Quake Cauldron
That head was very large, and the blood lump swelling on it was also not small, but when he emerged from underground, he wasn't tall, only about five feet in height. His face was covered in a wild, unruly beard that grew horizontally and vertically, quite haphazardly.
Qin Mu quickly said, "Chieftain of the Earth Traveler Divine Clan, this manor was refined by the Four Lords of the Upper Heavens. They put a great deal of resources into it."
"Those bastards again!"
The short man jumped out, landing with a heavy thud on the ground. Although his body was short, it was astonishingly heavy. He looked up and said, "Earth... giant, are you the Human Sovereign? Did that arrogant Human Sovereign before you die?"
Without waiting for Qin Mu to answer, he said joyfully, "Good riddance! Did he die horribly? He must have died a miserable death, right? Hahahaha! I knew that guy would die miserably. Always swaggering around, always calling us over for counterattacks. Doing it once or twice is fine, but if you often walk by the river, how can your shoes not get wet? He played too many times, and sooner or later, he was bound to capsize. Now he's dead, right?"
Qin Mu looked back but didn't see the Village Chief. He thought to himself, "The Village Chief was just here a moment ago. Where did he go now?"
"I am Earth Traveler Peak of the Earth Traveler Divine Clan, the current chieftain. My ancestors were the local land gods during the Kaihuang era. The whole family is this short. You should have seen the local land god temples in the Great Ruins, right? They enshrine our family's ancestors."
That short man was very talkative and spoke quickly: "Our clan is very fertile, so during the Kaihuang era, local land gods were everywhere. There were land god temples all over, and every mountain peak had a god from my Earth Traveler clan. But the purer our bloodline, the shorter we are. Since the end of the Kaihuang era, our clan's bloodline has gone to hell. We've been growing taller and taller. Even this height of mine is already a giant among the Earth Traveler Divine Clan, and our ancestors would look down on me. Oh, by the way, I have twenty-eight brothers. I'm the eldest. My second brother is called..."
Qin Mu coughed and said, "Everyone, please come inside."
Suddenly, a gust of demon wind swept in. When it subsided, five men and women of different appearances stood in the pitch-black demon wind. "Leaders of the demon race, the Five Immortal Elders, have come at the Human Sovereign's invitation."
Qin Mu was surprised. The Imperial Preceptor of Yan Kang said beside him, "These five are all demons, extremely powerful."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. The Five Immortals were a folk saying: Fox, Weasel, Porcupine, Snake, and Rat. The Fox Immortal was a fox, the Weasel Immortal was a weasel, the Porcupine Immortal was a hedgehog, the Snake Immortal was a snake, and the Rat Immortal was a rat. These five demon clan leaders should be the spirits of the five demon tribes.
He thought that when the first Human Sovereign had saved the people back then, he had also saved the demon race. Therefore, the demon leaders had also contributed treasures and jointly refined the Human Sovereign Seal.
"Five Elders, please!"
Qin Mu invited everyone into the manor. They entered the main hall and took their seats. The Village Chief also arrived. Everyone looked at this old man who had been shaved down to a stick, and for a moment, no one recognized him.
Besides the Village Chief, the Butcher, the Mute, the Blind Man, Old Man Ma, the Cripple, the Deaf Man, the Pharmacist, and Granny Si also took their seats. Earth Traveler Peak kept staring at the Village Chief, feeling he looked familiar. The Village Chief was a bit embarrassed.
After a while, Qingyou Shanren arrived with the two elders Youhe and Youyun. They greeted Qin Mu and then the Village Chief, laughing, "We're late!"
"Little Qingzi, Little Youzi, and Old Youzi!"
Earth Traveler Peak was overjoyed. He jumped up and shouted, "You're still alive? I thought you were dead! Little Qingzi, you were on good terms with the previous Human Sovereign. Did that bastard die or not?"
Qingyou Shanren was a bit embarrassed. He quickly pointed to the Village Chief and said, "Hasn't the old Human Sovereign been here all along?"
The Village Chief wished the ground would swallow him up. But Earth Traveler Peak and the others burst out laughing and came forward, saying, "We recognized you a long time ago. We just wanted to have a little fun with you."
"Although you often summoned us here, we also cherish the time we spent fighting alongside you!"
"It is our great honor to be able to fight shoulder to shoulder with you in our lifetimes!"
...
The Village Chief suddenly burst into tears, sobbing and unable to speak.
The Imperial Preceptor of Yan Kang was filled with emotion. The previous Sword God had so many close friends, something he himself could never achieve.
The Old Tathagata and the Old Dao Master arrived, and everyone made a lively fuss again.
"The human race is still at its peak. No wonder they can dominate the land." The Kun Peng King saw that the human race had the most experts present, and all the other races combined could only barely match them, or even fall slightly short. He couldn't help but sigh.
The Snake Immortal looked at Qin Mu and said, "Human Sovereign, now that you have taken out the Human Sovereign Seal, what are your orders?"
The Snake Immortal was a woman. Her name sounded like a willow tree spirit, but in reality, she was a green snake spirit with the bloodline of the Azure Dragon. This Snake Immortal had lived for who knows how long. Although she called herself an old woman, she didn't look very old.
Humans had a maximum lifespan of over eight hundred years, while other races exceeded this limit. Qin Mu couldn't tell how long this Snake Immortal had lived, but most of the powerful figures invited had fought alongside the Village Chief, so they shouldn't be too young.
The other Four Immortals—the Porcupine Immortal, the Weasel Immortal, and the Rat Immortal—were all men, while the Fox Immortal was a woman.
"To intercept the Upper Heavens."
Qin Mu looked around and said, "Fellow senior brothers and sisters, I assume you have all seen the stone statues and treasures across Yan Kang, right? The gods of the Upper Heavens will come to release the calamities within those treasures, triggering celestial phenomena. Earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, thunderstorms, and storms will all strike at once. I imagine your own clans will also find it hard to survive."
Everyone frowned. Indeed, on their way here, they had noticed many stone statues. If what Qin Mu said was true and the calamities erupted, their own races would also be unable to escape destruction.
The Imperial Preceptor of Yan Kang said, "Before I came, I brought one of the treasures that appeared underground. Please, everyone, take a look."
He took out a Taotie pouch, carefully opened it, and channeled his magical power to lift a round, vermilion cauldron, placing it on the ground with extreme caution.
Everyone gathered around to examine it. This large cauldron was vermilion in color, with flames spilling out from within. Occasionally, a flame would burst out and float around the cauldron, covering an area of about an acre. The cauldron had a sealed mouth, with a huge lid tightly covering the opening. Around the lid were layers of runic seals.
Inside the cauldron seemed to contain an immense, unrestrained, terrifying energy that was constantly vibrating. The entire main hall was also shaking, and the glazed tiles on the roof made a rhythmic clattering sound.
The entire manor was trembling, and the trees swayed gently.
The Imperial Preceptor of Yan Kang was extremely cautious, as if afraid of triggering the violent energy inside the cauldron.
"This is the Quake Cauldron."
Earth Traveler Peak circled the cauldron twice, his voice like thunder. "The Quake Cauldron contains the energy of earthquakes. If it erupts, tens of thousands of mountains in the nation of Yan Kang will be completely leveled! My ancestors once followed the Emperor's orders to refine this kind of treasure, used to collect earthquake energy."
He took out a large hammer with a pointed corner. The front of the hammerhead was flat, and the back was a sharp point. With a deafening clang, he struck the Quake Cauldron.
The Imperial Preceptor of Yan Kang tried to stop him, but it was too late.
Inside the manor, everything was still safe, but outside, within a radius of over a hundred li, the mountains suddenly shook violently, dancing as if in a frenzy. The mountain ranges quaked, the earth churned, rocks split, and countless trees collapsed in an instant!
Qingyou Shanren was furious. He reached out to snatch the hammer, but was almost crushed to the ground by its weight. He quickly let go and shouted angrily, "You three-inch nail, have you gone mad?"
Earth Traveler Peak picked up the hammer, handling it as if it were light, and said, "I know this thing well. One tap won't hurt. This area is desolate, and there's no one around... There's no one nearby, right?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "No one lives nearby. But Chieftain Earth Traveler, please don't act rashly."
"Let me try!"
Xuan Shengwu, the chieftain of the Black Tortoise clan, stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Three-inch nail, strike the Quake Cauldron. Let me see if I can suppress the earthquake waves."
Earth Traveler Peak's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "The Black Tortoise Shield is said to be the strongest defense. Maybe you can block the impact of this Quake Cauldron! Alright, let's give it a try!"
Qin Mu was about to stop them when suddenly Granny Si reached out and held him back, shaking her head gently. She whispered, "Mu'er, they respect the Human Sovereign Seal, not you. They won't listen to your words. Let them try. They won't be willing to go with you to confront the Upper Heavens until they've hit their heads and bled."
Qin Mu immediately stopped dissuading them and said, "Imperial Preceptor, take this cauldron outside the hall and let them try."
The Imperial Preceptor of Yan Kang channeled his magical power and carefully carried the Quake Cauldron out of the main hall.
Everyone came outside. Xuan Shengwu, with a Flying Serpent coiled around him, let out a fierce shout. Instantly, layers of tortoise-shell runic marks flew out, sealing the area around the Quake Cauldron. Layer upon layer, interlocking, they formed nearly a hundred layers of sealing systems, shimmering with light!
Earth Traveler Peak swung his pointed hammer and struck the Quake Cauldron with a earth-shattering boom. The energy inside the cauldron erupted instantly.
That wave of destruction, capable of annihilating everything, broke through Xuan Shengwu's nearly hundred layers of strongest defenses in an instant. Xuan Shengwu's face changed drastically. The Black Tortoise and the Flying Serpent shouted in unison, revealing their true forms as a giant Black Tortoise, trying to suppress this wave. But they were immediately blasted, spitting blood, and their massive bodies flew high into the air before crashing backward!
Everyone's faces changed. They each unleashed their strongest defensive measures, trying to seal this energy. For a moment, the rumbling and shaking were incessant. Everyone's divine repositories were fully opened, their primordial spirits were raised, and one by one, incomplete Divine Bridges stretched across the sky. Their primordial spirits stood on the broken bridges, and their magical power erupted simultaneously, pressing down on the Quake Cauldron!
The energy wave inside the Quake Cauldron subsided slightly for a moment, then erupted again. Huge figures were sent flying in all directions, crashing heavily into the surroundings of the manor.
Everyone stood up, their faces pale. They looked at the vermilion cauldron, unable to hide the shock on their faces.
That terrifying energy, although they had managed to block it, had still injured them to some extent.
"Three-inch nail, how much of the Quake Cauldron's power did that hammer strike unleash?" Xuan Shengwu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, reverted to human form, and called out loudly.
Earth Traveler Peak shook his head. "It hasn't even unleashed one percent of the cauldron's power..."
Everyone's hearts sank.
The most powerful figures in the current world were all gathered here, and they couldn't even fully block one percent of the Quake Cauldron's power. If the gods of the Upper Heavens came and activated all the power of these treasures...
The Imperial Preceptor of Yan Kang, afraid that Earth Traveler Peak would act recklessly again, quickly put away the Quake Cauldron and said, "There are seventeen more similar treasures. These eighteen treasures are very difficult to move. Any slight carelessness could trigger the energy within them."
"One cauldron is enough to destroy the nation of Yan Kang. Seventeen more... that's truly extravagant."
The Kun Peng King's eyes flickered as he said, "This is no longer just a human matter. It is a matter for all the races living in this world. If the power of these eighteen divine and demonic heavy treasures erupts, even the races in my ocean will not escape."
Earth Traveler Peak said, "All the Earth Traveler clans underground will probably be shaken to death."
The Roc King said, "Storms and thunder will fill the sky. My Roc clan will also not escape."
"In that case..."
Qin Mu looked around and said in a deep voice, "Let us set out now and intercept the Upper Heavens!"