The Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron trembled lightly, as though it had taken on a divine will of its own. The ordinarily unadorned walls of the cauldron emitted a halo of light, and the markings carved into it by the tribulation lightning came alive like one living creature after another, stirring from their long slumber.

At the same time, the golden figure between Ye Fan’s brows opened its eyes. For so many years, this golden primordial spirit had been cradling the small cauldron, meditating together with it, contemplating the ancient scriptures.

“The Bronze Immortal Palace… I can sense its aura!”

Ye Fan’s expression was one of disbelief. This immortal palace, capable of moving of its own accord, had been roaming beneath the Eastern Wasteland all this time, appearing in a different location each time it surfaced. It held secrets connected to immortality itself.

Long ago, he and Ji Ziyue had wandered into it by mistake, facing nine deaths before managing to emerge — and it was precisely because of that experience that he had obtained the source root of the Myriad Things Mother Qi.

So many years had passed, and he had nearly forgotten this place. According to the records, the Bronze Immortal Palace only revealed its whereabouts once every several thousand or even ten thousand years.

“It is indeed that place… there is no mistake!”

Ye Fan’s brow bone shone with a lustrous white glow, and lines of divine markings appeared upon it. The golden figure seated in meditation on the immortal platform trembled, and in a trance, he glimpsed the word “Immortal” written in blood deep within the palace.

Was it the blood of an Ancient Great Emperor, or the blood of a true immortal?

This place harbored far too many secrets. It was said that one of the Fierce Man’s incarnations had been inside, though in the end the transformation failed and his physical body shattered there.

“The Yao Guang lineage has those who understand the Indestructible Heavenly Art, and now the immortal palace deeply connected to the Fierce Man has appeared within this place. From this, can it truly be said that this is her great tomb?” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

Ye Fan understood why the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron had trembled with its resonant cry. It was because the cauldron was not perfect — it was incomplete, nothing but a source root, and not the entirety of the material from that time.

Outside the Bronze Immortal Palace, layers upon layers of Mother Qi, heavy as mountain ranges, surged and billowed like something that would suffocate you. He had only used the green bronze to obtain the quintessential source root; the remaining divine materials were all still there.

The Fierce Man Emperor had already obtained the Demon Jar of Heaven Devouring, yet had still sought out the Mother Qi from the time of heaven and earth’s creation — naturally because she intended to forge an even more powerful weapon. If successfully cast into an immortal weapon, it would be without equal in the world.

Ye Fan had always been building the cauldron’s foundation in accordance with his own Dao. Over these past few years, he had often thought: if he could refine all the immortal materials outside the palace, the cauldron should be able to reach perfection.

“That Mother Qi and this cauldron are inseparable — they were always one entity. I should make them whole again.”

In a trance, he seemed to see a great bronze palace rising and sinking within the sinkhole, wreathed in Mother Qi, releasing immortal sounds that shook the deaf and awakened the enlightened, drawing one toward the cusp of understanding.

“Master, what is wrong with you?” Ye Tong called out softly.

Ye Fan’s expression had gone distant and unfocused. After a moment, he came back to himself and said: “Did none of you hear it?”

“What are you talking about?” Duan De’s eyes gleamed with a sharp light.

Ye Fan looked once more toward the high ground. It lay in ruins, and only from the abyss below did wisps of immortal mists erupt at intervals. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

“It is the Fierce Man Emperor’s tomb!” Ye Fan voiced everything he had felt and perceived.

He could not see the scene at the deepest point of the great tomb — he could only know that the Bronze Immortal Palace had appeared, suspended above a mysterious region, and might surge up into the sky at any moment.

“The Bronze Immortal Palace holds the supreme secret of immortality. It was once entered and claimed by the Fierce Man, and has not been seen since for all these years — who would have thought it was drifting about within her own tomb!” Duan De rubbed his hands together, his face alight with excitement.

“You have the Demon Jar of Heaven Devouring Lid, don’t you? Offer it up quickly — it might be able to sense what lies within the tomb.” The Black Emperor said.

“I did not dare bring it along. It was forged from the Fierce Man’s skull, and I fear that if this is truly her tomb, some unforeseen change might occur. I am worried this poor Daoist’s small life might be forfeit here.”

Huo Tan stood above the abyss, his face dark and overcast. Several of his followers had died, yet he could not find Ye Fan’s trail. His pupils flowed with a deathly light, inspiring dread in all who saw it.

“He’s blocking the way over there. There is nothing we can do to pass. If this is an immortal opportunity, why isn’t he being struck down by lightning from heaven?” Long Ma cursed.

Suddenly, two divine rainbows blazed across the Southern Region and came hurtling in at speed, descending onto the high ground. From each of them, ripples of divine light overflowed, setting them apart from all around — elevated, high above the rest.

Two Saint-level Ancient Kings had arrived. Their power was formidable, surpassing Huo Tan’s. These were veteran Saints, and their appearance drew exclamations from the Ancient Tribes as members surged forward to pay their respects.

“Huo Tan, what have you found?” One of them was enveloped in undying divine radiance, his features indistinct. Behind his head hovered a divine disc, blazing like the great sun — a supreme deity among deities.

His words carried an imposing gravity without a trace of emotional fluctuation. Even toward Huo Tan, a fellow Ancestor King, his bearing was one of lofty superiority — looking down on all of creation from high above.

Huo Tan was inwardly displeased, but he did not dare be insolent. He had only just attained Sainthood, and compared to these veteran Saints he was truly far behind. He replied honestly: “Below, immortal radiance flows in streams. I was unable to go deep.”

The other Ancient Saint swept a glance at him, then stepped directly forward, coming to hover above the abyss. A slit cracked open between his brows, shooting out a beam of immortal light that illuminated the bottomless emperor’s tomb within.

However, after a long time had passed, he furrowed his brows. He could not sense anything at all — not even the slightest impression.

“The great mausoleums of the Primordial Kings all have known locations, and none of them are here. This must certainly be the ancient tomb of a human race Great Emperor. It is inconceivable that not even a Saint can see through it.”

“Let us go down together. I believe that even if we cannot break through the ancient mausoleum, we can at least preserve ourselves.”

“Agreed. If there are imperial treasures within, they may help us attain the Dao and open the path to the Great Saint’s road.”

In a flash of light, the three of them vanished together, plunging into the abyss below, joining forces to probe the great tomb.

“Boom!”

At that very moment, the great tomb cracked open again. The sinkhole expanded several times over, as immortal mists erupted and iridescent fog billowed, surging straight toward the sky.

The speed at which the great tomb was splitting open had intensified. The high ground was crisscrossed in every direction with cracks, rocks shooting skyward, the entire area becoming a wasteland of ruin.

“One of the Nine Celestial Divine Jades — the Jade of Cerulean Transcendence!”

Someone cried out. An Ancient Tribe Half-Saint reached out and snatched a piece of translucent emerald jade, about the size of a baby’s fist, from the air. It radiated flowing, brilliant light that made his fingers appear nearly transparent.

“Mutton Fat Divine Iron!” A human race sect leader raised a hand and seized a fist-sized block of divine iron — spotlessly white, glistening with points of radiance.

The earth below was exploding. Enormous boulders were blasted upward, bringing with them precious materials, and many people’s eyes turned red with greed. The treasure within this emperor’s tomb was boundless.

“What are you all waiting for?! Everyone find a way to seize these treasures!” Duan De shouted in the dark, secretly stirring the crowd, hoping to take advantage of the chaos to sneak inside and grab rare wonders.

Otherwise, with three Ancestor Kings below, there was no way to deal with them. If everyone went in together, mixed into the crowd, it would be difficult to be singled out.

“There is the aura of an Ancient Great Emperor within. Even if we go in, there is little we can accomplish. The risk might kill us.” Some people grew dispirited.

“No matter. Each time the immortal mists have finished erupting, there is a period of stillness. We can act within the safe zones, seize the divine materials — there is no need to go deep into the innermost parts of the emperor’s tomb.”

People will die for wealth just as birds die for food. With Mutton Fat Divine Iron and the Jade of Cerulean Transcendence appearing in succession, even Half-Saints could no longer sit still — to say nothing of everyone else. Their hearts were all moved.

Half an hour later, the immortal light had run dry. A mass of people rushed toward the sinkhole, which had expanded to ten times its former size, and leapt in. Even as their souls trembled, none could resist the temptation.

In an instant, treasured artifacts filled the sky — all manner of secret devices and tools gleaming as cultivators used them as protection and entered the great tomb.

In addition, there were the fluctuations of even more powerful sacred artifacts, sending out sounds like ocean waves. These were supreme powers standing high above the clouds, forcing their way in using such means.

Ancient Tribes, human race, demon race — great numbers of cultivators appeared and plunged into the abyss below. The ancient mausoleum of the Great Emperor had seized the heart of every single one of them.

“Let us go. We should make our move as well. If we wait any longer, we may truly be beaten to it.” The Black Emperor said.

Duan De led the way. This was a hidden passage — running through underground veins directly to the great tomb — a contingency prepared in advance during the early days of exploration.

“It’s chaotic up above. They’re fighting.”

After entering the sinkhole, looking upward, treasured artifacts were clashing in collision upon collision, like cascades of meteorites falling from the outer reaches, interwoven into a tapestry of all-consuming destruction.

“It’s raining — no, this is blood. Some of it is from the human race, and some from the Ancient Tribes…”

Duan De raised his head and wiped the moisture from his face. A rain of blood was falling from above, and from time to time a corpse plummeted down as well, along with the explosions of shattered and broken treasured artifacts — it was absolute pandemonium up there.

At the heart of the sky above, there was an even deeper tomb pit, its bottom invisible, and that was where the true emperor’s tomb lay. Mutton Fat Divine Iron, the Jade of Cerulean Transcendence, Great Luo Silver Essence, and the like would occasionally shoot upward on the backs of erupting rocks — flickers of immortal light.

“This is… what is happening? Are there truly endless rare wonders here? The Nine Celestial Divine Jades and the Great Luo Silver Essence are divine materials that would move even Saints!” Long Ma exclaimed in astonishment.

The fragments were not abundant, but some could be seen — erupting upward with auspicious mists, as though below lay a great mine rich with immortal materials.

“I understand now. This is a primordial immortal ground of chaos left over from the era when heaven and earth were first opened. Look — there are fine wisps of rosy light erupting, and they originate from that place.” The Black Emperor’s heart was profoundly shaken.

According to its reasoning, the Fierce Man Emperor’s Myriad Things Mother Qi had been found precisely in this place — the quintessential immortal root born and nurtured within this chaotic immortal ground, dug up and taken away by her.

In a place like this, even the outer layers and surrounding strata would have rare wonders to offer. Beyond the Myriad Things Mother Qi immortal root itself, the Jade of Cerulean Transcendence, the Great Luo Silver Essence, and the like must surely have taken form in the outer soil of this chaotic immortal ground — they were secondary growths.

“Just as how a true dragon’s lair may have sacred herbs growing outside it — the most precious thing is naturally the true dragon within the lair itself, yet even those herbs at the cave’s edge are rare wonders to ordinary mortals.” Duan De said.

His heart was already itching with desire. This was a chaotic immortal ground. Below it there was likely a small chaotic world, and heaven only knew what divine wonders had taken shape within. He was almost overcome with the urge to rush straight in.

“Can you feel it? There is a powerful vitality in this place. The immortal light and everything else is spilling out from the small chaotic world. This is truly a transcendent divine earth!” The Black Emperor exclaimed in awe.

According to it, the Great Emperor Wushi had wished to forge the mightiest emperor bell, and had traveled all under heaven — possibly even to many ancient stars — seeking a small chaotic world that contained life force. He searched and searched, but found no suitable materials.

In the end, the Great Emperor Wushi had journeyed far to the Qin Mountains in the western part of the Central Province, and in the Pool of Immortal Transformation he had obtained chaos stones by chance, from which he refined the immortal materials he needed for his own cauldron.

Duan De said: “For a Great Emperor, refining chaos and opening a small world can be done with ease. But finding life force within chaos is extremely difficult. Anything born from the midst of chaos is a supreme treasure — something rarely seen across ten thousand ages.”

They all understood now: they had arrived at a divine site — a chaotic immortal ground rarely seen across ten thousand ages. If they entered, there was no telling what priceless things they might find.

“Thump!”

That small pit at the center — immortal light shimmered, and an ancient structure rose and sank, blocking the entrance, preventing anyone from going within.

The aura of the Ancient Great Emperor permeated the air, nearly crushing them to pieces. Fortunately, Ye Fan’s body emitted a hazy green light that opened up a curtain of protection, shielding the group.

Otherwise, without Sainthood, one could not walk to this place at all.

Standing at the right position, Ye Fan, Duan De, the Black Emperor, and the others all wore expressions of astonishment, discovering that all three Ancient Tribe Saints had been blocked here and had fallen into a life-or-death crisis.

An ancient bronze palace emitted a soft, dim radiance, rising and sinking in the small abyss at the bottom of the sinkhole. At the entrance to the palace, an enormous gravitational force was at work, with hundreds of millions of strands of immortal light that had nearly devoured Huo Tan and the other two.

Even as powerful as three Ancient Saints — they struggled to resist.

Ye Fan stood dazed. It truly was that place. After decades apart, he had once again seen the Bronze Immortal Palace.