Chapter 1018: Giant Cauldron

Inside the hall, which was several dozen yards wide, waves of red mist billowed. A dozen or so fiery pillars surrounded the hall, each adorned with lifelike statues of red flood dragons. From the dragons' heads, streams of crimson mist sprayed forth, coalescing into a dense shroud that completely enveloped a colossal cauldron positioned in the very center of the hall.

The cauldron itself stood six or seven yards tall and possessed an ancient, unadorned design. Compared to any other cauldron Han Li had ever encountered, it was truly immense.

What truly astonished Han Li, however, was that the cauldron had been calcined crimson red by the mist, its original color completely obscured. The searing heat radiating from its surface was so intense that even standing twenty or thirty yards away, he felt as though he were trapped inside a volcano.

Since entering the hall, his mouth had become parched, and his exposed skin immediately experienced a stinging, burning sensation. He was certain that if his protective spiritual light hadn't automatically formed a green barrier, he would have suffered considerable harm the instant he stepped inside.

Despite this intense environment, Han Li felt a surge of delight rather than anger. After a quick scan of the fiery pillars, his gaze settled firmly on the colossal cauldron.

The cauldron stood perfectly still in the center, yet a continuous rumble, like distant thunder, emanated from within. Based on Han Li's extensive experience in artifact refining, this sound indicated that something was constantly being forged inside.

It seemed he wouldn't be leaving empty-handed after all!

With that thought, Han Li exhaled, nimbly dodged the spraying crimson mist with a few swift movements, and then calmly made his way towards the colossal cauldron.

When he was still six or seven yards from the cauldron, Han Li slowed his pace. Simultaneously, his spiritual sense detected the astonishing fire spiritual energy emanating from the cauldron's surface, and he began to circle it slowly.

Whatever lay inside, after tens of thousands of years of continuous forging, must have undergone unknown transformations. Despite his burgeoning curiosity, he would not open it rashly.

After seven or eight circuits, Han Li paused, then thoughtfully began to survey the rest of the hall.

With so many years having passed, these fires and the colossal cauldron were still active, indicating that some formation must have been continuously activated. His task was to locate and destroy the control node of this formation, thereby temporarily deactivating the surrounding fiery pillars, before he could retrieve the treasure.

Since this formation was merely a control-type restriction, it had not been concealed or hidden in any way. Moments later, a blue light flashed in his pupils, and he suddenly fixed his gaze on an inconspicuous corner of the hall, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Disregarding the colossal cauldron, he raised one hand, and a golden beam, roughly ten feet long, shot directly from his palm, striking a spot on the floor in that corner.

With a resounding "boom," that corner erupted in a flash of golden light. The dozen or so fiery pillars flickered once, and the crimson mist spewed from the dragon heads abruptly ceased.

After the golden light faded, a pit about ten feet in diameter appeared at that spot.

Scattered around the pit were fragments of a broken formation disc. A small golden sword, several inches long, floated serenely above the crater.

The flying sword's strike had instantly annihilated a formation disc buried at that location. Consequently, the medium-sized formation, which was spread throughout the entire underground of the hall and controlled by this disc, immediately ceased its operation.

Han Li offered a faint smile, then beckoned towards the distance. With a whistle, the flying sword shot back, performed a single circle, and vanished into his sleeve.

With the fiery pillars no longer replenishing the mist, the crimson shroud around the colossal cauldron finally began to dissipate.

However, Han Li did not immediately turn his attention to the cauldron. Instead, he lowered his gaze to the ground, a blue light flickering in his eyes, revealing a look of surprise.

Without the concealment of the formation, he now realized that the ground tens of yards below was entirely ablaze with a fiery red glow. The entire hall was actually constructed atop a top-grade fire pool. No wonder the surrounding fiery pillars had been able to continuously provide an inexhaustible supply of crimson mist.

With this sudden realization, Han Li withdrew his gaze and then, using his spiritual eyes, faintly peered towards the colossal cauldron, intending to first discern what was being forged within it.

The result, however, left him momentarily stunned.

What met his spiritual gaze was another expanse of fire, appearing even more intensely crimson than the earth-fire pool below. Before he could discern anything clearly, the cauldron emitted a resonant hum, as if sentient, and then, with a soft 'poof,' a layer of crimson flames erupted, re-enveloping the cauldron.

Han Li's mouth hung slightly open, his face a mask of astonishment. However, after blinking and a brief moment of contemplation, his expression shifted to one of pleasant surprise.

It turned out that this cauldron, having undergone such extensive tempering and absorbed the power of the earth fire for so many years, had refined that energy to an astonishing degree. This process had spontaneously elevated the cauldron from a mere ordinary artifact into a fire-attributed exotic treasure, explaining its newfound sentience.

The spontaneous advancement of an artifact through prolonged infusion of a specific spiritual energy attribute was not unprecedented in the Immortal Realm, and the resulting treasures indeed possessed astonishing power. However, such artifacts typically formed only through rare coincidences.

In ancient times, some immortal cultivation sects had attempted to refine high-grade treasures using similar methods, but they soon abandoned their efforts.

This method proved not only incredibly time-consuming—often requiring thousands of years and the efforts of several generations of cultivators—but also had a pitifully low success rate. Even on the rare occasions it succeeded, the increase in the treasure's power was only marginal, rendering the effort completely disproportionate to the time and resources invested.

As for the cauldron before him, it was certainly not the case that the ancient cultivators intended to use this method to elevate its rank; rather, it was most likely...

The ancient cultivators in charge of the Spirit Transformation Hall must have been forced to evacuate this mountain for some unknown reason at a critical juncture of their refining process. It was only out of helplessness that they activated the hall's formation to automatically continue forging the item within the cauldron.

They probably harbored the illusion that they or their disciples would someday be able to return and retrieve this item.

However, this scenario could only unfold if the mountain had been sealed for untold tens of thousands of years.

After all, even ancient cultivators wouldn't idly waste their time tempering something with earth fire for over ten thousand years. Otherwise, the cultivator responsible would have perished due to old age before the refining process was even complete.

Han Li's eyes darted slightly as he speculated wildly about the events of the past. Meanwhile, his protective spiritual light automatically flared, resisting the searing heat, which was now nearly twice as intense as before.

After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly slapped his waist with one hand, then flipped it over, producing a stack of blue formation flags.

He then moved swiftly around the hall, planting the formation flags into various corners.

With a flash, Han Li reappeared before the colossal cauldron. After re-examining the object for a few moments, he began to chant. Immediately, a blue barrier materialized within the hall, enveloping both Han Li and the cauldron.

The intense heat, reacting to the water-attributed barrier, immediately receded considerably.

Han Li did not stop. He casually tossed his spirit beast pouch into the air, and numerous half-foot long, snow-white centipedes, flapping their wings, shot out.

These were the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, now evolved with a pair of wings.

After a series of agile and peculiar maneuvers, the centipedes, with a buzzing sound, all converged above the colossal cauldron, baring their fangs and claws, poised for action.

Only then did Han Li relax. He rubbed his hands together, and a layer of purple flames suddenly appeared on one of his palms. Then, without hesitation, he made a grabbing motion in the air towards the colossal cauldron before him.

A large purple hand materialized above the cauldron, then unceremoniously reached out and grasped the cauldron lid.

The colossal cauldron trembled slightly with a faint rumble, and the crimson flames on its surface immediately surged, roughly doubling in height. They instantly condensed into a crimson firebird, which spat red flames as it flew to meet the large purple hand.

An unusual explosive sound immediately rang out as the two entities made contact. Amidst the flickering and intertwining crimson flames and purple light, the firebird surprisingly managed to resist the purple hand for a moment, preventing it from being immediately suppressed.

Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise at this sight, but he immediately let out a low cry.

Upon hearing this, the dozen or so Six-Winged Frost Centipedes that had been circling above the colossal cauldron immediately opened their mouths. Torrents of white frigid air surged down from above, instantly enveloping both the firebird and the cauldron beneath it.

Simultaneously, Han Li raised his hand and gravely pointed a finger at the large hand formed by the Violet Netherflame.

Propelled by the spell, the hand suddenly expanded by about twofold in mid-air. Combined with the frigid air from the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, its power was astonishing. With immense strength, its five fingers finally crushed the crimson firebird, and then the purple hand unhesitatingly snatched at the cauldron lid below.

With a soft "clang," the cauldron's inherent power was clearly far greater than what it had displayed. However, being a sentient artifact without a master's direct command, its lid was easily struck several yards away by Han Li's attack, revealing a burst of red light within.

Han Li was about to examine the cauldron's contents more closely when he suddenly heard an extremely harsh, bird-like screech. Immediately, a crimson streak shot out from within the cauldron, hurtling towards the hall's ceiling with incredible speed. It forced its way between two of the snow-white centipedes, leaving them no time to react.

With a "bang," the crimson streak slammed into the blue light barrier. It paused for a moment, then began to melt and break down the barrier, appearing as though it would pierce through in an instant.

Although Han Li was inwardly surprised, he naturally could not allow this object to truly escape. Without a second thought, he immediately flicked his fingers, sending out over a dozen streaks of green sword energy in quick succession. These vanished in a flash, striking the crimson light with pinpoint accuracy.

After a series of crackling sounds, although the crimson light was not sent flying by the sword energy, its radiance visibly dimmed with each strike. After being hit by over a dozen sword energies in succession, it became increasingly unsteady.

The crimson light seemed to sense its precarious situation and immediately trembled, preparing to shoot off in another direction.

However, a purple light suddenly flashed behind it, and a large purple hand materialized from thin air. With a lightning-fast grab, it snatched the crimson light.

The large hand then flew directly towards Han Li.

At this point, the colossal cauldron, its lid now open, also seemed to lose its power to resist. Not only did the thunderous rumbling within cease, but the flames on its surface vanished on their own. Furthermore, it was directly frozen into a crystalline, transparent block of ice by the frigid air from the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes hovering above it.

However, Han Li at this moment paid no attention to the cauldron's state; his gaze was completely captivated by the object he had just grasped in his hand.

"This is Solar Essence Fire!"

Han Li stared at the object, muttering in stunned disbelief.

"This is naturally not Solar Essence Fire," a melodious voice Han Li hadn't heard in a long time suddenly resonated leisurely within his spiritual sense, "but rather Lunar True Flame, a fire equally renowned as Solar Essence Fire and one of the three great True Spiritual Flames of the Human Realm!"

(First update!)