Chapter 764: Truly Fragrant
Qin Mu was in the thick of battle when suddenly, in the distance, Lu Li raised a square, four-sided cauldron lid.
Although the lid was square, beneath the square lid was a circular imprint, stamped with the stars and constellations of the heavens, symbolizing the celestial plate. At the four corners were imprints of four demon gods with ox heads, human faces, and tiger bodies. These four demon gods, their mouths full of fangs, bit down on the celestial plate, symbolizing the Netherworld.
Lu Li raised this cauldron lid high, and suddenly a beam of pure white light shone in from an angle, landing with a *hum* on Qin Mu and the others. Qin Mu sensed danger immediately. The world spun around him, and he was involuntarily lifted into the air. Along with several other gods and demons, he was captured by that beam of light and drawn towards the cauldron lid in Lu Li’s hand!
Three other gods and demons were also captured by the light, panicking and shouting, “The Heaven-Confounding Net of Subduing Gods!”
Qin Mu’s heart shook violently. Just as he was about to escape, the sky suddenly darkened. He looked up and saw the sky filled with stars.
Lu Li grabbed the cauldron lid and slammed it down with a *clang* onto the Netherworld Life-Taking Cauldron, which had been refined from the Earth Lord’s reincarnated body. It fit perfectly, sealing it tight!
Lu Li breathed a sigh of relief and shouted, “Why aren’t you helping?”
Xuan Ming, Han Lei, and Jue Huang immediately each placed a palm on the Netherworld Life-Taking Cauldron. Lu Li also made her move. The four of them pressed their four palms onto the four corners of the great cauldron, activating the power of the Life-Taking Cauldron and the Heaven-Confounding Net.
Suddenly, a group of Netherworld overlords descended. Yan Qianchong stepped forward and shouted, “You cannot activate the Life-Taking Cauldron! Just now, three fellow Daoists were also drawn into the cauldron. If you activate it, they will be refined to death as well!”
Lu Li glanced at him and said with a smile, “Then let’s open the lid, release the Netherworld Little Tyrant, and let the Red Emperor personally deal with him and send him back.”
Yan Qianchong snorted coldly and said nothing more.
“If we release the Netherworld Godchild, we will all die.”
Xuan Ming said calmly, “You are all seniors, but without physical bodies, you are naturally restrained by the Netherworld Godchild. This time, the Netherworld Godchild has returned, different from twenty-two years ago. He has already made up for his shortcomings. His divine powers are now extraordinary, and being in the Netherworld, it is almost impossible to kill him. To slay him, we need the Heaven-Confounding Net and the Life-Taking Cauldron.”
Everyone fell silent.
They had witnessed the power and terror of the Netherworld Godchild twice. The first time was in the second month after his birth. Back then, the Netherworld Godchild caused a great chaos, devouring countless gods and demons from various Netherworld factions, growing larger and more arrogant.
However, in that battle, although the Netherworld Godchild was powerful, he was not invincible. He didn’t understand divine powers or Dao techniques. He relied solely on his innate strength and his identity as the first post-natal living being born in the Netherworld. Being in the Netherworld allowed him to recover at any time and devour the souls and primordial spirits of others to strengthen himself, which was how he survived.
Now, twenty-two years later, the Netherworld Godchild had returned to the Netherworld, displaying strength incomparable to twenty-two years ago.
In the battle just now, over a hundred experts at the Lingxiao and Dizuo realms suffered heavy casualties, with more than half dying by his hand.
After the experts of the Lingxiao and Dizuo realms died, they lost their physical bodies, leaving only their primordial spirits. Their strength was indeed greatly diminished, equivalent to gods and demons of the Yujing and Lingxiao realms. However, their former insight and experience remained, far surpassing those of the Yujing realm.
Despite being besieged by so many experts, they still suffered heavy losses, which truly made their hearts pound with fear.
Lu Li caught him off guard and trapped the Netherworld Godchild in the cauldron. If they opened the Life-Taking Cauldron and he escaped, recapturing him would be extremely difficult, and countless ancient beings would die!
“These three fellow Daoists sacrificed themselves to eliminate the Netherworld Godchild. Their righteousness reaches the clouds. We admire them.”
Suddenly, Gao Tianwang spoke with a sorrowful expression, placing his hand on the Life-Taking Cauldron. Tears fell as he said, “Such noble righteousness from these three fellow Daoists! I should weep loudly for them, to see off these righteous warriors!”
The other ancient beings looked mournful, choked with sobs, and said in unison, “Farewell to the three fellow Daoists!”
The crowd was filled with weeping.
Lu Li watched them with a smile, then suddenly beamed and said, “Alright, alright, no need to grieve. The Netherworld Godchild has fallen into the cauldron, but he may not die immediately. To prevent the three fellow Daoists from suffering further, let’s activate the Life-Taking Cauldron now and send the three fellow Daoists and the Netherworld Godchild on their way together!”
The crowd’s expressions darkened. Yan Qianchong said coldly, “Lu Li, the Jiedushi, your ambition is too heavy. The three fellow Daoists died because of you, yet you can still laugh!”
Lu Li burst into loud sobs, tears streaming down like rain. Wiping away his tears, he said, “Others call me ambitious, but who knows that I am forcing a smile?”
Xuan Ming found it unbearable and said softly, “The main matter is urgent. Let’s deal with it first.”
Gao Tianwang raised an eyebrow and said, “After refining the Netherworld Godchild to death, who gets his physical body?”
Everyone’s heart skipped a beat.
Gao Tianwang chuckled and said, “Four Jiedushi, the Heaven-Confounding Net was jointly refined by us Netherworld overlords specifically to counter the Netherworld Godchild. Now that so many fellow Daoists have died, we are certainly grieved. But the Netherworld Godchild’s physical body is extraordinary. We should first discuss who gets this body.”
Lu Li frowned slightly and said with a smile, “Gao Tianwang, what are your thoughts? Feel free to speak plainly.”
Gao Tianwang chuckled softly, “We are merely dead men. What thoughts could we have?”
Yan Qianchong’s mind stirred and said, “The four Jiedushi all have physical bodies, while we old fellows do not. Once the Netherworld Godchild is refined to death, his physical body naturally belongs to us. The four Jiedushi should yield.”
Jue Huang sneered, “There are so many of you ghosts, but only one Netherworld Godchild. How will you divide him? Since his physical body doesn’t belong to us, why don’t you all decide now who among you gets it?”
The ancient beings felt a chill in their hearts.
The allure of the Netherworld Godchild’s physical body was immense. Imagine, if they were reborn, controlling an ability comparable to the Earth Lord, and growing stronger over time, replacing the Earth Lord would be within reach!
Silence fell around the Life-Taking Cauldron. The ancient beings stood by the cauldron, saying nothing.
Lu Li sneered inwardly. The other three Jiedushi stood by her side, studying the faces of these ancient beings, on guard.
Inside the cauldron, Qin Mu and the three Lingxiao realm primordial spirits fell in almost simultaneously. The light of the Heaven-Confounding Net faded.
Darkness surrounded them.
Qin Mu looked up and saw the stars shining brightly, the Milky Way swirling above their heads.
He looked down and saw profound darkness. Floating in the darkness were countless faces—some human, some of gods and demons.
They were as thin as the finest paper, without thickness, drifting in the darkness, appearing and disappearing.
These were the strong who had died in this cauldron. After being refined by the Life-Taking Cauldron, they became imprints within it, enhancing the cauldron’s power.
“The Heaven-Confounding Net!”
One of the primordial spirits showed despair, his voice shrill: “The Heaven-Confounding Net we refined ourselves is being used against us by that little beast Lu Li!”
“And the Life-Taking Cauldron!”
The other two ancient primordial spirits showed deep fear, their voices hoarse: “The Life-Taking Cauldron refined from the Earth Lord’s reincarnated body, the Netherworld’s number one treasure, the number one killing artifact!”
“Back in the Longhan era, the Earth Lord went on a killing spree, using this cauldron to destroy the souls of countless ancient gods and half-gods!”
“We’re finished!”
“Let us out!”
The three primordial spirits shot up into the sky, flying towards the Milky Way. Qin Mu looked up and saw the Milky Way and stars begin to move. The three Lingxiao realm primordial spirits charged into the Milky Way, only to be knocked back down into the darkness, where they exploded, their flames slowly extinguishing.
“Pity, couldn’t eat them…” the big-headed doll said regretfully.
Qin Mu looked around, his expression grave.
He saw the faces of the three ancient beings appear in the darkness, becoming three more imprints.
Those who had been refined to death here were extremely powerful, but under the power of the Life-Taking Cauldron, they had almost no resistance and were directly obliterated!
Back then, the Earth Lord, driven by grief and rage over his wife and daughter’s deaths, was consumed by demonic nature, forging the Netherworld’s number one killing artifact!
His resentment and demonic nature reached their peak at that moment, allowing him to break free from the control of the Netherworld’s rules. The Life-Taking Cauldron he forged then carried his strongest demonic nature and hatred. One could imagine how terrifying this cauldron was!
“The cauldron hasn’t attacked us yet.”
Qin Mu looked at the faces drifting around him, his heart tense: “Is the Earth Lord controlling this cauldron? No. After the Earth Lord’s killing spree in the Longhan era, he felt his sins were grave and imprisoned his reincarnated body in the Jade Lock Pass to suffer karmic fire torment. This cauldron was probably abandoned by him, or taken by the Heavenly Court and given to Lu Li and the other Jiedushi to manage. That means the cauldron hasn’t activated its strongest killing power because no one outside is driving it.”
He steadied himself. The three primordial spirits had just been knocked down by the Heaven-Confounding Net, triggering the Life-Taking Cauldron’s power and being directly obliterated. This showed that the cauldron’s power could be triggered, but as long as it wasn’t triggered, there was no danger. Unless Lu Li and the others directly activated the cauldron’s power.
“When the Earth Lord forged the Life-Taking Cauldron in the Longhan era, his mathematical skills must not have been high.”
Qin Mu remained calm, opening the eye on his forehead to look around, thinking: “Back then, the Dao Ancestor should have only created the Sunü Calculation Classic and the Taixuan Calculation Classic. The Earth Lord probably hadn’t learned them yet, so there should be flaws in the killing formation of this cauldron.”
He looked around, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He saw no flaws.
Then he remembered the most crucial thing!
The Daoist mathematical calculations were used to explain the great Dao of heaven and earth, but the Earth Lord himself was a naturally born ancient god, the incarnation of the Netherworld’s great Dao!
He had no need for mathematical calculations!
To him, mathematical calculations were a lower art!
Abandoning his own Dao achievements to study mathematical calculations would be like buying the box and returning the pearl!
“This is going to be bad…”
Just as he thought this, Qin Fengqing on his right took a deep breath and praised, “This is a great place. The air is full of fragrance. Truly fragrant—”
Qin Mu blinked. “Truly fragrant?”
Qin Fengqing nodded. “Truly fragrant! Don’t you smell the sweetness in the air? It’s the flavor of souls, full of pain, fear, despair, hatred, regret, and all kinds of malicious little thoughts. The taste is excellent!”
Qin Mu was stunned. Suddenly, he launched a divine technique into the darkness. With a thunderous *boom*, the darkness churned, but contrary to his expectations, it didn’t provoke a counterattack from the Life-Taking Cauldron!
The cauldron was completely unmoved by his attack. Only a face floating in the darkness showed a pained expression, opening its mouth in a silent wail.
Qin Mu was startled, then suddenly realized and laughed, “I understand! We brothers are the Earth Lord. To this cauldron, we are the same as it. It won’t attack the Earth Lord; it won’t attack itself!”
His interest piqued, he moved his feet but still didn’t provoke an attack from the Life-Taking Cauldron.
Qin Mu flew to a face floating in the darkness. The enormous face rolled its eyes, looking at him in terror.
Qin Mu circled behind the face, only to find it was still the same face. No matter the angle, he could only see the front, never the side or back!
He marveled, saying, “Brother, can you tell what Dao techniques and divine powers this cauldron uses? How did the Earth Lord create this face?”
“Wait a moment!”
Qin Fengqing raised his hand, plunging his arm into the eye on his forehead, rummaging around inside. In the Qin Continent, the Heavenly Duke, the Red Emperor, and the Great Sun Star Lord quickly dodged.
After a moment, Qin Fengqing grabbed a head from the Qin Continent, blew on it, and the head flew up, drifting into the darkness. “Like this,” he said.
Qin Mu was dumbfounded. He circled the head a few times and, sure enough, it had a front face on all sides, with no side or back.
“What Dao techniques and divine powers are used here?” Qin Mu asked, bewildered.
“I don’t know.”
Qin Fengqing said, “Since there’s no danger, I’ll digest for a while. You figure out how to get out yourself.”
—Have you added Zhai Zhu’s public account?