“Boom!”

When Ye Fan’s hand reached into the celestial pool, a strange and peculiar force repelled it, preventing him from reaching the bottom of the pool. He looked carefully and saw that within the pool walls were fine thread-like nets — each strand crystalline, flowing with immortal radiance, resembling a living creature’s blood vessels. They could even breathe and draw in the surrounding energy.

“There truly is life in it!”

He could not help but be astonished. This pool had originally resembled a placenta, smashed apart into a pool by the Savage Emperor’s single palm strike, yet even now retained powerful vitality.

Ye Fan did not act rashly. He carefully examined the pool walls, his expression filling with astonishment, then looked toward the distant mountains. The essence exhaled by over ten thousand dragon-headed peaks all converged here, transforming into a divine pool that nurtured an immortal fetal form.

“That is…”

When he opened his Heavenly Eye to look carefully, he was profoundly startled. Every one of the dragon heads had a crack in the center of its brow — as though someone had pierced a hole straight through — with smoke and clouds drifting through.

Ye Fan focused intently, his eyes radiating a strange light. Without a single exception, every one of the ten thousand dragon heads bore a slender palm-print at the center of its brow, which had seized away the essence held within the mountain.

“The dragon treasures are lost!”

The so-called dragon treasures were the spiritual essence of each dragon-headed peak — the true spirits gestated after descending upon one ancient star after another. They were the immortal essence accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years.

Ye Fan’s eyes flickered with divine light as he looked carefully. Although divine liquid still flowed from those open draconic maws, the loss of the dragon treasures had diminished their efficacy by many times over.

“Was this… the doing of the Savage Great Emperor?”

His gaze continued to move, then fixed once more upon the celestial pool. It was undeniably a placenta — connected to over ten thousand dragon-headed peaks, nourished by the immortal life-essence they provided, truly capable of wresting the creative forces of heaven and earth to gestate an immortal fetal form.

Yet now, all of it was gone. This place for gestating immortality had been smashed apart by the Savage Emperor’s single palm strike. Ye Fan could not help but quietly marvel — true to the name “Savage,” she cared for nothing, and she was indeed savage enough.

Ye Fan dispersed the immortal radiance to reveal everything within the pool. One could see that the crystalline “blood vessels” along the pool walls led to every one of the ten thousand dragon-headed peaks — the Savage Emperor had, by this method, severed every one of ten thousand true dragons with a single stroke!

The killing energy was earth-shattering!

It was lamentable. The ancient Celestial Court had laid out this arrangement, setting down an immense blueprint, enduring through ten thousand ages — yet in the end it had been undone in a single palm strike by the Savage Emperor, destroying the immortal placenta.

Ye Fan gazed intently and carefully, perceiving that the incomplete immortal cauldron at the bottom of the pool had also been caught up in the impact — clearly the Savage Emperor had struck it simultaneously with that one palm!

This was the hope of immortality. The Savage Emperor had no concern for becoming immortal or otherwise. She had left it untouched, not taking it away. Ye Fan drew a deep breath, activated the Soldier Character Art, and with a swoosh hauled the immortal cauldron out from the pool. Even that strange force could not obstruct him.

Water splashed in all directions. Immortal energy steamed upward. Colorful mist suffused the air. This place was a blaze of splendor, with all manner of radiant flows flooding everything.

“Boom!”

Long Ma made his move — or more precisely, he made his hoof his instrument. He reared up on his hind legs and brought a pair of hooves the size of large plates smashing down toward Ye Fan — he was trying to snatch away the hope of immortality by force.

Ye Fan showed no fear. He extended his right hand horizontally and with a powerful push shoved Long Ma away, preventing him from getting close.

“This creature of yours really is unruly. If you ever make it to the Northern Dipper someday, I will have to find you some friends to exchange pointers with — the Black Emperor and Duan De, for instance.”

The divine steed let out a long cry, its dragon cry shaking the nine heavens. Dragon scales all over its body shimmered like phoenix-blood red gold, its brilliance shooting skyward, its mane blazing like a raging fire, shaking violently.

Ye Fan glanced at it, saw that it was charging in again, and tossed the Myriad Origins Mother Qi Cauldron in its direction. In an instant, mother qi descended like a staggering waterfall, pressing down upon Long Ma.

This was a supreme treasure of heaven and earth. Each strand of mother qi was heavier than a mountain range. Back when Ye Fan had been able to draw it into his body, it was entirely due to the green copper’s achievement — it had attracted and absorbed these things, which he had only been able to make use of after refining them.

Without that, the sheer weight of this mother energy, the root source of all things, would have been enough to crush him to death. Very few people could withstand it.

Long Ma stomped and kicked, but could not break free at all. The cauldron had been refined by Ye Fan tens of thousands of times over, and had by now become his Dao treasure — unbreakable, combining offense and defense in one. It was a true divine rarity of the world.

Little Pine grumbled softly. Long Ma’s earlier attack on Ye Fan had greatly displeased it. It rolled its eyes vigorously at Long Ma and waved its small medicine hoe with emphasis.

Ye Fan examined the cauldron attentively. Still connected to it were some crystalline, thread-like strands — they were the ones engaged in restoring this cauldron. The more carefully he looked, the more astonished he was: they truly did carry life.

This cauldron was severely damaged. Originally, its three legs and its base must have been separate. Clear fracture lines were visible upon it, though they had since healed and fused back together.

“Return to the Origin!”

Ye Fan spoke softly. He moved his hands and deployed a breathtaking great divine ability. This was one of the manifestations of the Dao Fruit he had attained after entering the third boundary of immortality. He wished to observe what had occurred in the celestial pool in the past.

This was a heaven-defying divine art — immensely draining on one’s essence, energy, and spirit. For to reconstruct the final moment before the celestial pool’s destruction was an act that heaven and earth would not permit.

“Boom!”

In the end Ye Fan succeeded, though with considerable blurriness — merely a momentary impression, a glimpse of a thread of heavenly mystery from over two hundred thousand years ago. He perceived a placenta shattering, an immortal cauldron sinking to the bottom of the pool, the existing cracks on it widening, and then the cauldron breaking apart — lying there motionless.

Ye Fan remained silent for a long while. The Savage Emperor was truly ferocious. She cared about nothing — she had even struck the hope of immortality down with a single palm and had no interest in it whatsoever.

Of course, he had not seen that slender hand. When it concerned an ancient great emperor, he dared not use the ancient reversal art to pry into it, lest he suffer unimaginable and terrible consequences.

But the moment when the placenta and the cauldron had shattered was now imprinted in his sea of consciousness, replaying over and over, allowing him to see it with complete clarity. The immortal cauldron had originally borne cracks that had since healed — yet upon receiving that world-shaking strike, the cracks widened, and it broke apart again.

The divine placenta was already destroyed, and the restorative effect was far diminished compared to before. And so, after another two hundred thousand years had passed, the cauldron’s three legs and base had only just now come together again.

Ye Fan gently pulled away those crystalline, transparent threads, fully exposing the immortal cauldron. And in that same moment, over ten thousand dragon-headed peaks let out a unified dragon cry.

“Boom!”

A supreme and sacred aura billowed outward, soaring above the nine heavens. In that instant, every cultivator on Earth felt a tremor in their heart — and the stronger the cultivator, the more pronounced the sensation. Some even heard the dragon cry.

“I have actually obtained it.”

Ye Fan felt as though he were in a dream, a sense of unreality gripping him. This was what countless brilliant figures throughout all of history had gone mad over — originating in the Celestial Court, contested by ancient sage-emperors and great emperors alike, with great sages and quasi-emperors even giving their lives for it.

The green cauldron bore numerous age-mottled impressions. Yet every engraved mark was blurred — for time had stretched on far too long — looking simple and unadorned, dim and natural and genuine.

Ye Fan ran his hand along its surface. No supreme Dao aura emanated from it, yet it filled him with a deep sense of gravity. Even in its incomplete state, holding it in one’s hand was enough to sweep across all domains.

Before entering the Kunlun immortal vein, he had already exhausted his efforts to extract the two pieces of old copper from within his body. Throughout the journey, the green copper pieces had shown no ripple of energy — until Ye Fan brought them to align with the cauldron, and only then did a blazing radiance burst forth!

Ye Fan was startled. These copper pieces had been like sleepy old elders since the day he had obtained them — never once proactive. Yet now they were emitting rolling, thunderous sounds.

The base of the cauldron had a great gaping hole. When the two copper pieces were placed upon it, they fit perfectly, sealing the gap completely, with immortal radiance flowing between them. They bonded together.

“Have they simply been patched like this?”

When the brilliance faded and the green cauldron grew dim again, Ye Fan exerted all his strength and, with a crack, pried the two pieces of old copper apart once more. They had not truly fused.

“Indeed it cannot be done this way. They need to be gestated and nurtured within the immortal placenta.”

Where exactly did the secret of immortality lie? Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye, not letting a single inch escape him, examining every interior and exterior surface of the cauldron with complete and thorough clarity.

The ancient markings upon it were the true image of ten thousand ages of time — having endured an unimaginably long span of years. Upon it were birds, flowers, fish and insects, sun, moon and stars, and even the primal ancestors and divine beings of the age before the primordial era!

“This cauldron is extraordinary. The one who cast it harbored immense ambitions — it is a pity they did not live to see that day.”

Ye Fan’s expression grew solemn. Each marking engraved upon this cauldron bore extraordinary meaning. The first beginnings of heaven and earth, the initial birth of all things — all of it could be found upon it. This was the Myriad Origins Cauldron — able to encompass everything!

He fixed his gaze on the divine beings of the pre-primordial age, his eyes unwavering, wishing to see them through completely. He murmured, “Could there be the secret of undying immortality here?”

In the measureless ages of the past, divine beings had existed between heaven and earth — only whether they could live forever and never die was unknown. The Monkey had once revealed that his father, the Battle Saint Emperor, had said the divine war was the most terrifying thing of all.

“Where is the opportunity for immortality?” Ye Fan shifted his gaze away from the divine markings and looked toward the primordial ancestors, then observed the sun, moon, and stars, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, birds, flowers, fish, and insects carved upon it.

“Myriad Origins Cauldron — exactly where is the secret of immortality contained?” He sat down cross-legged and, cradling the cauldron, fell into deep contemplation.

For a full half month, Ye Fan did not move a single inch — like an immovable boulder, his mind and spirit fully submerged within the cauldron, contemplating its immortal secrets of ten thousand ages.

Little Pine stood guard beside him with quiet obedience, serving as his protector in meditation — its primary concern being to prevent Long Ma from breaking free. The little purple creature was wholehearted and devoted, its large eyes bright and glistening.

Ye Fan finally opened his eyes. Upon the cauldron were inscribed all things, and each thing was a Dao marking. The scope of it was so immense and profound that a lifetime would likely not be enough to comprehend it all completely.

As for the interior of the cauldron — the laws and markings woven within it were beyond comprehension, interwoven into the most supreme form of all: the Dao!

Ye Fan rose to his feet. After a long silence, he looked up toward the vault of heaven and said, “To fully attain the method of immortality, I must enter the starry sky and seek guidance from the ancient sages of former times. Only then may I come to understand the cauldron’s secrets.”

The ten thousand ancient clans perhaps knew something — otherwise why would they contend for the immortal cauldron? The Ancestral Temple of the Feathered Transformation Divine Dynasty perhaps also held records. Yet on this side of the stars, he could only rely on his own deductions and could not fully grasp it all.

“The immortal cauldron is damaged — it would be better to refine it into my Myriad Origins Mother Qi Cauldron.” Ye Fan said this aloud, his heart stirring with temptation.

To speak truly, the two were remarkably similar. One was the Myriad Origins Cauldron, the other the Myriad Origins Mother Qi Cauldron — as though heaven had made them to match.

In the end, he did not act on it. This cauldron was of immense consequence — reckless action was out of the question. And even if he had truly wished to recast it, with his current cultivation it was simply beyond him by a vast margin. By his level of cultivation, he could not speak of dissolving the green copper — even attacking it lightly might cause him to be killed by the rebound!

“In ancient China, the cauldron was a divine artifact, surrounded by countless customs and significances. I suspect it all originated from this very immortal cauldron.”

Ye Fan’s own cauldron and this one were identical in form — both three-legged, two-eared, round cauldrons. One cauldron, two ears, three legs — a tangible form of the Dao. Corresponding to “the Dao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, three begets the ten thousand things.”

“Friends on the other side of the stars — are you all well?” Ye Fan murmured softly.

Now, having obtained the immortal cauldron — even if less than one-third of it — he believed he could already stand proudly in one corner of the world. He could contend against supreme Dao weapons!

If the day ever came that he returned to the Northern Dipper star domain, whether it was Yao Guang the Holy Son wielding the dragon-marked black gold imperial weapon launching an assault, or those such as Huang Xu Dao and others coming with ancient emperor weapons to kill him — he would fear none of it.

“The immortal cauldron must have many fragments scattered in various places. I hope that one day I will be able to gather them all.”