Chapter 1009: Guangu

Chapter 1010: Through the Ages

The Immortal Pool was about a zhang long and over half a zhang wide. Its material was unknown, but inside, a brilliant light glowed. The essence of heaven and earth was so dense it had liquefied, pooling within.

Ye Fan opened his Celestial Eye, and his expression froze instantly. He saw the "hope" of becoming an immortal, and his face changed repeatedly as he remained silent for a long time.

"It's it!"

It was a dull, lusterless bronze artifact, lying quietly at the bottom of the pool. Its entire surface was inscribed with various patterns, including blurry depictions of dark beasts, fish, insects, the sun, moon, and stars.

It was a cauldron!

It was incomplete and severely damaged, with less than a third of the original artifact remaining. Its three legs were still intact, but the circular walls were almost entirely gone, and there was a large hole at the bottom.

"The Green Cauldron... it's it!" Ye Fan's eyes shone brightly.

If this cauldron were intact, it would be a meter tall. It possessed an ancient, natural feel, its entire surface bearing mottled marks. It was made of the same material as the two pieces of green copper he carried.

Ye Fan stared blankly for a long time. It wasn't that he hadn't considered this possibility; before entering the Immortal Ascension Land, he had speculated endlessly, considering every possibility. Yet, upon actually seeing it, he was still stunned.

"The hope of becoming an immortal is actually this!"

He mumbled to himself, his heart filled with immense shock. He had finally seen its true form—the object of hope for countless beings throughout ancient and modern times, and even the future—now right before his eyes.

Ye Fan's feelings were incredibly complex. The life-or-death search, the pursuit across the starry sky by countless heroes of ancient and modern times—to finally see the main body gave him a sense of unreality.

"That's right, this is what the Feathered Divine Dynasty should have escorted!"

In the Big Dipper Star Domain, some ancient texts recorded that the Feathered Divine Dynasty, which held supreme power over 200,000 years ago, once possessed a Green Cauldron.

Many years later, the Central Plains Ancestral Temple emerged, revealing various hidden secrets. The heroes of the world, including the Primordial Races, were all alarmed and swarmed there to contend for the supreme treasure.

Among them, the great royal families of the Primordial Era went specifically for this Green Cauldron, not for anything else, because it was of immense importance, and all races desired to obtain it.

When Ye Fan left, clouds had gathered at the Central Plains Ancestral Temple, and heroes from all over the world had arisen. A major battle was about to take place there, primarily to contend for this ancient cauldron.

"So many heroes emerged," he thought, "even the Primordial Kings couldn't remain calm, and even the Great Sage Huntuo personally arrived..."

The heroes would never have expected that the Green Cauldron was not in the Central Plains Ancestral Temple, but on this side of the starry sky, having been placed here for restoration over 200,000 years ago.

"No wonder that old piece of copper I had vibrated when I returned to Earth years ago," Ye Fan muttered to himself. He had indeed felt it then.

When descending from beyond the domain, besides vaguely seeing numerous mountains tens of thousands of zhang tall, the most peculiar thing was that the green copper had vibrated, which he found strange.

Ye Fan's eyes gleamed as he stared at the bottom of the Immortal Pool. This was an Immortal Cauldron of immeasurable ancient significance, the greatest of all time; its true value was simply incalculable.

A mere chance at immortal ascension was enough to drive people mad, causing ancient Great Emperors to take action for it. If word got out, the vast starry sky would be unable to find peace, erupting into frenzied battles because of it.

"Long ages, endless starry skies," Ye Fan sighed deeply, "how many rises and falls, how much decline and prosperity, from one ancient star to another..."

All of this was too mysterious and dreamlike. Throughout history, countless heroes had been involved, concealing too many secrets, filled with blood, bones, and tears.

This Immortal Nurturing Land had an ancient origin, dating back at least several million years. It involved Primordial Emperors and Great Emperors, but many more hidden secrets could not be fully explained.

Ye Fan pondered. He could piece together some clues, but to truly trace the origin and clarify each ancient period was simply impossible.

Initially, it should have originated from the Heavenly Court. This period was extremely distant, likely before the Primordial Era, or even older; they were the ones who designed all of this.

"It's unknown if there were immortals within the ancient Heavenly Court," he mused, "but they firmly believed that this could nurture immortals, and thus laid out a grand blueprint..."

The ancient Heavenly Court was incredibly powerful. Its ability to steer the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains from one ancient star to another was testament to this, even at the cost of destroying many life-origin lands.

Among them, besides the Heavenly Sovereign, there were even several other ancient Emperors. Ye Fan realized this from the layout of the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains and the arrangement of the Kunlun Immortal Ascension Land: there must have been a Source Emperor involved!

From this, he inferred that era was one of extreme prosperity and power, where Great Emperors could coexist and meet. It was precisely this that demonstrated the Heavenly Court's supreme and formidable nature.

Ye Fan had reason to believe that the Source Emperor, capable of influencing the movement of the sun, moon, stars, and the flow of mountains and rivers, was one of the main designers of the grand blueprint and had invested immense effort and dedication into it.

Unfortunately, their plan was too long and far-reaching; many involved could not wait for the outcome. During this period, the Heavenly Sovereign died, divine chaos erupted across the domains, the Heavenly Court disintegrated, and afterwards, the Immortal Cauldron was retrieved by the victors.

It was unknown if anyone who obtained the cauldron achieved immortality, because that era was too ancient; it was impossible to determine, as not even ancient texts left any records.

However, it could be imagined that it was a magnificent and tumultuous period, during which many earth-shattering battles surely occurred, and many glorious deeds took place.

Subsequently, the major historical events could be interpreted through the peerless figures of each era.

From what the Monkey and the Emperor Son said, and from secrets passed down among ancient races, it was known that the Undying Emperor must have obtained the Green Cauldron, made significant breakthroughs, and was revered by all races as the supreme deity.

There were rumors that the Undying Emperor once intended to re-establish the Heavenly Court but ultimately abandoned the idea; this alone was enough to indicate certain matters.

"It's hard to say what era the Undying Emperor truly belonged to," he mused. "All races in the Primordial Era revered him, claiming he was from before the Primordial Era, or even further back."

Ye Fan even speculated that the unknown period after the Heavenly Court's collapse was the era of the Undying Emperor, and that he was the victor of the divine chaos, possibly having seen the Heavenly Sovereign and being the one who retrieved the Immortal Cauldron after the Heavenly Sovereign's death.

From the Heavenly Sovereign's death to the Heavenly Court's disintegration, and then to the Undying Emperor's era, it was difficult to truly verify clearly. Even ancient Great Emperors probably couldn't understand it, as it was too far in the past.

Subsequently, came the vast and brilliant Primordial Era. The Solar Saint Sovereign of the Ziwei Ancient Star Domain must have seen the Immortal Cauldron, because Ye Fan had encountered his divine thought in that star domain; the one-armed old man was surprised upon seeing the broken green copper, exclaiming that it was shattered.

It could be imagined that in the era when the Solar Saint Sovereign was revered across all domains, the Immortal Cauldron was still intact. However, in the subsequent period, a great upheaval must have occurred!

There were legends about this catastrophe among the Primordial Races, but it was difficult to explain clearly because the level involved was too high; even royal families like the Divine Spirit Valley couldn't fully comprehend it.

Earlier, when Ye Fan and Wang Teng fought at the Ji Family, Ye Fan had brought out a black gourd. The young master of Divine Spirit Valley, Zi Tiandu, and his sister were shocked, vaguely guessing that the black gourd was an artifact preserved from a divine war, and that its shape matched descriptions in certain ancient texts with divine inscriptions.

From this, it could be inferred that the scale and terror of that divine war must have nearly destroyed the Primordial Era and annihilated all races.

Ye Fan had previously sought advice from others and learned from ancient races that the catastrophe was far more terrifying than people imagined, not much less than the legendary collapse of the Heavenly Court.

It was a divine war!

"Hmm, I suppose the cauldron was destroyed and scattered during that period."

As for subsequent events, much could be traced: several major life forbidden zones emerged in the Big Dipper Star Domain, including the Divine Ruins and Immortal Mausoleum, whose origins were immeasurable.

Afterwards, ancient Emperors from places like the Divine Race Ridge, Blood Phoenix Mountain, and Fire Qilin Cave successively reigned over the world. This period ended when the Battling Saint Sovereign passed away at the end of the Primordial Era.

After this, history became fragmented again, making it difficult to clearly state when places like the Undying Mountain appeared, whether during this period or slightly later. Although such forbidden zones existed during the Primordial Era with different names, their true occupation and transformation into untouchable lands likely occurred during these years.

After that, there was another blank period, difficult to ascertain—a long period of Desolate Ancient times.

Ye Fan stared blankly. An Immortal Cauldron ran through all of ancient history, involving an unknown number of ancient stars, from the ancient Heavenly Court to the present, its story not yet over.

Of course, what existed before the ancient Heavenly Court, and equally glorious eras in various star domains later on, were all difficult to verify. Perhaps there were even more extraordinary artifacts than the Immortal Cauldron.

Swish!

Immortal light surged, once again submerging the pool. Ye Fan's eyes flickered, realizing this was the essence of heaven and earth, transformed into divine liquid here to nourish the Immortal Cauldron.

He came back to his senses, his heart filled with endless emotion. This cauldron was of immense significance, spanning ancient and modern times, with many major historical events connected to it.

"Are there truly immortals in this world?" he wondered. "Did anyone who obtained this cauldron back then achieve immortality?" He didn't know; it was shrouded in mist, as the bygone ages were too distant.

At the same time, he thought of Emperor Wushi, who seemed to have reached the peak without relying on anything. It was just unknown whether he had ascended eighty thousand years ago or forcibly broken through the gates of the Immortal Domain.

The Dragon Horse drank the divine water from the Immortal Pool with gulping sounds. Little Pine, meanwhile, was very quiet, sitting obediently to the side, not disturbing Ye Fan and allowing him to ponder in peace.

"The universe is boundless, too vast," Ye Fan murmured. "Some incredibly glorious ancient stars once appeared. If I'm not mistaken, the Heavenly Court only ruled over one domain for a period."

Ye Fan mumbled to himself, because the Immortal Cauldron was a witness to the Heavenly Court, spanning the past, present, and future of this supreme immortal dynasty.

However, as far as he knew, there was at least one Desolate Pagoda that could rival the Green Cauldron, and it had not been destroyed even to this day!

This was not a product of the Heavenly Court and did not fall within the scope of his recent thoughts.

Its origins were a mystery; at least Ye Fan did not know, unable to guess its background, or which star domains it had spanned, or for how many ages.

There was no way to deduce its origin, or why it ultimately ended up in the Big Dipper Star Domain.

At the same time, he thought of the Ancient Scroll of Immortal Treasures, whose front showed a vast star map, and whose back had three regions, with the Immortal Ascension Land being just one of them.

"The past is too distant," he mused. "I've only managed to clarify a few periods related to the Immortal Cauldron, which is insignificant compared to the vast universe."

"Ziwei is called the Emperor Star," he wondered, "does that mean the Heavenly Court originated from that star domain?"

"Ancient galaxies are endless," he continued. "Fiery Mulberry Star is entirely inhabited by the Golden Crow race, and Heaven-Reaching Star is entirely inhabited by the Divine Race. Were they once under the Heavenly Court's rule?"

The more Ye Fan thought, the more overwhelmed he felt. Long ages, ancient history, and the endless cosmos held too many secrets; the ancient Heavenly Court might have been just one small corner of it all.

"Are there really immortals, beyond this starry sky?" he wondered. "Is there truly a bizarre, vast, wonderful, and mysterious world belonging to immortals?"

This was his most pressing question, but throughout history, after organizing some thoughts, he fell silent, because there had never been any evidence showing that one could achieve immortality.

Splash!

Divine liquid splashed in the Immortal Pool as Ye Fan let out a soft sigh and began retrieving the cauldron. "If there are no immortals," he declared, "then I shall forge my own path to immortality."