The celestial pool was barely a zhang in length and more than half a zhang wide. Its material was unknown. Within it, rosy light blazed magnificently, and the essence of heaven and earth was so dense it could not dissolve — it had become liquid, gathered within the pool.
Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye, and his expression immediately froze. He had seen the “hope” of immortality. His complexion shifted through various changes, and for a long while he said nothing.
“It is that!”
It was a bronze vessel — dull and without luster — resting quietly at the bottom of the pool. Across its entire surface were engraved various patterns: birds and beasts, fish and insects, sun, moon, and stars, all of them blurred and indistinct.
It was a cauldron!
It was far from complete, grievously damaged, with less than one-third of the original vessel remaining. Its three legs were still intact, but the circular walls of the cauldron were almost entirely gone, and the bottom had a great gaping hole in it.
“The green cauldron… it is that!” Ye Fan’s eyes blazed with brilliant light.
Were this cauldron whole and undamaged, it would stand nearly a meter tall — ancient and natural, covered throughout with mottled marks of time. It was made of the same material as the two pieces of green copper he carried on him.
Ye Fan stood in a daze for quite some time. It was not that he had never considered this possibility. Before entering the immortal forging ground, he had speculated in countless ways, entertaining every possibility he could conceive — yet even so, actually seeing it left him stunned.
“The hope of immortality is actually it!”
He murmured to himself, his heart shaken beyond measure. He had finally laid eyes on the true form — the thing that had been the object of hope for an unknowable number of people throughout all of history and into the future now lay right before him.
Ye Fan’s emotions were exceedingly complex. A desperate, death-defying search. Countless brilliant figures throughout all of history and across the endless stars tracing its whereabouts. Now that he had finally seen the main body on this day, it gave him a feeling of unreality.
“That’s right — what the Feathered Transformation Divine Dynasty had escorted must have been this very thing!”
When he had been in the Northern Dipper star domain, certain ancient texts had recorded that the Feathered Transformation Divine Dynasty had held dominion over all under heaven more than two hundred thousand years ago, and had once possessed a green cauldron.
As the years passed, the Central Continent Ancestral Temple had emerged, and countless secrets began to circulate. The heroes of the world, including the primordial ancient clans, had all been stirred into motion and surged there en masse, contending for the supreme treasure.
Among them, the great royal clans of antiquity had gone for no other reason than to obtain this green cauldron, for it was of immense significance — every clan desired it.
When Ye Fan had departed, the Central Continent Ancestral Temple had become a convergence point of stormy events, with heroes of the world rising simultaneously. A great battle was about to unfold there, and its primary purpose was the contention for this ancient cauldron.
“Countless heroes have emerged, and even the primordial kings could no longer remain composed — even the Great Sage Hun Tuo had personally descended…”
None of those heroes could have imagined that the green cauldron was not in the Central Continent Ancestral Temple — it was on this side of the starry sky, having been placed here for restoration more than two hundred thousand years ago.
“No wonder the two pieces of old copper trembled slightly when I returned to Earth several years ago.” Ye Fan murmured. That genuine sensation had indeed been real at the time. When descending from beyond the domain, aside from the blurry glimpse of countless towering ancient mountains each tens of thousands of zhang high, the most peculiar thing had been a single tremble from the green copper, which had struck him as unusual.
Ye Fan’s eyes were bright and penetrating as he stared at the bottom of the celestial pool. This was an immortal cauldron of incomprehensible ancient weight, supreme among all things past and present. Its true value was entirely beyond measure.
The immortal opportunity alone was enough to drive people mad — enough to move even the ancient great emperors to act. Once word spread, the vast star-filled heavens would find no peace, and great wars would erupt because of it.
“The long ages, the endless starry sky — how many rises and falls, how many witherings and flourishings, from one ancient star to another…” Ye Fan sighed at length.
All of this was too mysterious and dreamlike. Throughout all of history, how many brilliant figures had been drawn into it — how many secrets had been concealed within it, soaked in blood and bone and tears.
This immortal-gestating ground had ancient origins — at the very least stretching back hundreds of thousands of years — involving primordial emperors and great emperors. As for even deeper secrets, there was simply no way to articulate them fully.
Ye Fan reflected carefully. He could piece together some threads, but truly tracing back to the source — unraveling each ancient period in full — was simply impossible.
In the beginning, it should have originated from the Celestial Court. That era was immeasurably ancient — it should have been before the primordial age, or even more ancient still. It was they who had designed all of this.
“Within the ancient Celestial Court, whether or not there were true immortals is unknown — but they firmly believed that this process could gestate an immortal, and laid out an immense blueprint to this end…”
The ancient Celestial Court was incomparably powerful. The very fact that it could drive ninety-nine dragon mountains from one ancient star to another was testament enough — regardless of how many living source lands were destroyed in the process.
Among them, besides the emperor sovereign, there had even been several other ancient emperors. For from the layout of the ninety-nine dragon mountains and the arrangement of the Kunlun immortal forging ground, Ye Fan had discerned that a Primordial Emperor must have been involved!
From this he deduced that during that era, vitality was at its absolute peak — great emperors could coexist and meet face to face. And it was precisely because of this that the peerless grandeur and might of the Celestial Court had been so manifest.
Ye Fan had good reason to believe that the Primordial Emperor, who could set sun, moon, and stars in motion and reshape the course of mountains and rivers, must have been one of the primary architects of this immense blueprint — pouring an immense amount of effort and devotion into it.
Regrettably, their plan was far too prolonged and far-reaching. Many among them had no possibility of living to see the outcome. During that time, the emperor sovereign died, the divine chaos spread across all domains, the Celestial Court crumbled, and afterwards the immortal cauldron was taken by the victors.
Whether the one who obtained the cauldron had actually become an immortal was unknown. That era was far too ancient; there was simply no way to judge, and even the ancient texts had left nothing behind.
Yet one could well imagine that it was a magnificent and stirring time — surely there had been countless earth-shaking great battles and many glorious moments.
Afterwards, the key events could be read through the world-shaking figures of each subsequent era.
Through what the Monkey and the son of the Celestial Sovereign had said, combined with the secrets that had circulated from the ancient clans, it was known that the Undying Celestial Sovereign must have obtained the green cauldron and made a major breakthrough, becoming venerated by ten thousand clans as the supreme divine being above all.
There were rumors that the Undying Celestial Sovereign had once intended to reestablish the Celestial Court, but ultimately abandoned the idea — and this alone spoke to something significant.
“Exactly when the Undying Celestial Sovereign existed is difficult to say now — all ten thousand ancient clans revered him, and it is said it was before the primordial age, or perhaps even more ancient.”
Ye Fan even speculated that the unknown era after the Celestial Court’s collapse was precisely the age of the Undying Celestial Sovereign — that he had been the victor of the divine chaos, had possibly seen the emperor sovereign, and had been the one to retrieve the immortal cauldron after the emperor’s death.
From the emperor’s death, through the collapse of the Celestial Court, and then into the era of the Undying Celestial Sovereign — this period could no longer be truly traced. Even the ancient great emperors would have had no way to fully understand it, for it was simply far too distant from the present day.
What followed was the vast and resplendent primordial age. The Solar Saint Emperor of the Purple Subtlety Ancient Star Domain must certainly have seen the immortal cauldron — for in a star domain Ye Fan had visited, he had encountered the saint’s divine consciousness remnant. That one-armed old man had been visibly startled upon seeing the incomplete green copper, remarking that it had somehow shattered.
One could well imagine that in the era when the Solar Saint Emperor was jointly venerated across all domains, the immortal cauldron was still whole and intact. And in the period that followed, a tremendous upheaval must have erupted!
Concerning this catastrophe, there were accounts circulating among the ten thousand ancient clans, yet none could articulate it clearly — for the levels it touched were far too high, beyond even the understanding of a royal clan like Divine Spirit Valley.
Back when Ye Fan and Wang Teng had battled at the Ji Family, he had once summoned a black gourd. The young master of Divine Spirit Valley, Zitian, and his elder sister had both been visibly shaken — they had vaguely guessed that the black gourd was an artifact preserved from the divine war, its form matching descriptions in certain divine-text ancient records.
From this one could deduce the scale and terror of that divine war — it must have nearly destroyed the primordial age and annihilated every clan.
Ye Fan had asked others about it, and had sought understanding from the ancient clans. That catastrophe had been far more terrifying than anyone could have imagined — compared to the legendary battle in which the Celestial Court had collapsed, it was not far behind.
It had been a divine war!
“Mmm — I suppose the cauldron was destroyed during that era, its fragments scattered in all directions.”
What followed could be traced to a greater extent. The several great life restricted zones of the Northern Dipper star domain came into being, including Divine Ruins and Immortal Mound, neither of which could be traced back to how long ago.
After that, Spirit Clan Ridge, Blood Phoenix Mountain, Fire Kirin Cave, and other ancient emperors successively reigned over the world, until the Battle Saint Emperor passed away in the waning years of the primordial age — and that era came to its end.
After that, history fractured again and became difficult to articulate clearly. The Undying Mountain and others should have appeared in this period or slightly afterward. Although such restricted zones had existed during the primordial age under different names, the time when they were truly occupied and transformed into untouchable forbidden grounds should have been in these years.
Then there was another blank period — unknown, a long and desolate ancient epoch.
Ye Fan stood lost in thought. A single immortal cauldron had threaded through the entirety of ancient history, touching an unknowable number of ancient stars — beginning with the ancient Celestial Court, extending all the way to the present, and still without end!
Of course, what had existed before the ancient Celestial Court, as well as the equally resplendent eras of various other star domains in later periods, were all beyond verification. Perhaps there were even artifacts of more extraordinary significance than the immortal cauldron.
“Swoosh!”
Immortal radiance surged once more, flooding the pool again. Ye Fan’s eyes flickered. This was the essence of heaven and earth — it had transformed into divine liquid in this place, nourishing the immortal cauldron.
He came back to himself, his heart filled with boundless emotion. This cauldron was of the greatest consequence, threading through past and present alike, and many great historical events were connected to it.
“Does immortality truly exist in this world? Those who obtained this cauldron in the past — did any of them truly become immortal?” He did not know. The mists were thick, and the ages that had passed were far too distant.
At the same time, he thought of Wushi Great Emperor — who seemed to have relied upon nothing in particular, yet had still ascended to the absolute pinnacle. Whether, eighty thousand years ago, he had undergone a feathered transformation, or had forcibly broken open the gates of the immortal domain, remained unknown.
Long Ma gulped down the divine water from the celestial pool with great relish. Little Pine sat quietly to one side, well-behaved, not disturbing Ye Fan — allowing him to contemplate in silence.
“The universe is vast and boundless, immeasurably expansive. Certain incomparably brilliant ancient stars have appeared within it — and if I am not mistaken, even the Celestial Court was only sovereign over one domain for one period of time.”
Ye Fan spoke to himself. For the immortal cauldron was the testament to the Celestial Court — threading through that supreme immortal dynasty’s past, present, and future.
Yet according to his knowledge, there was at minimum one other ancient tower that stood on par with the green cauldron — and it had not been destroyed to this day!
That was not the product of the Celestial Court, and did not fall within the scope of what he had just been pondering.
Concerning it, all was a blur of chaos. At the very least, Ye Fan knew nothing of it — he could not fathom its origins, did not know which star domains it had passed through, nor across how long a stretch of years.
Still less could he deduce its source, or why it had ultimately come to rest in the Northern Dipper star domain.
He also thought of the celestial-treasure ancient scroll — its front face was a vast map of the starry sky, while its reverse held three regions. The section on the immortal forging ground was only one of those three.
“The past is far too distant. I have only traced several eras pertaining to the immortal cauldron — it is negligible against the vastness of the universe.”
“Purple Subtlety is called the Emperor Star — could it be that the Celestial Court originated in that star domain?”
“These ancient star systems stretch beyond sight. The Fire Mulberry Star was inhabited entirely by the Golden Crow Clan, while the Heaven-Spanning Star was inhabited entirely by the divine clan… In the era of the Celestial Court’s dominion, were they within its reach?”
The more Ye Fan thought, the more his head swam. Long ages, ancient history, the endless heavens — there were far too many secrets. Even the ancient Celestial Court was perhaps only a corner of it all.
“Does immortality truly exist — transcending this starry expanse? Is there truly, beyond this stellar void, a vast and wondrous, strange and magnificent world that belongs to immortals?”
This was the question that concerned him most. Yet threading through the ages, having traced out these threads of thought, he fell silent — for never had there been any evidence to show that immortality was attainable.
“Splash!”
Divine liquid splashed out from the celestial pool. Ye Fan let out a soft sigh and began to reach into the pool for the cauldron. He said quietly, “If there are no immortals, then I shall forge a path to immortality myself.”