"However, from now on you will be the leader of the Xiaoyao Sect. How the Xiaoyao Sect develops is naturally up to you. But remember one thing: do not tarnish the name of my Xiaoyao Sect. Even if the Xiaoyao Sect only has one disciple left in the future, it will still be the true pinnacle of martial arts." Xiaoyaozi had only been defeated by Bawang once in his life, and he did not want the Xiaoyao Sect to be trampled underfoot by other sects after entering the world.
"Disciple will remember Master's teachings!" Wu Yazi made up his mind that he must become the pinnacle of martial arts and make all other sects bow down.
"Alright! The Free and Unfettered Sect is now in your hands. Take good care of yourself." With that, Xiaoyaozi used his Free and Unfettered Wind-Riding technique to fly away.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother, on assuming the position of Sect Leader!" Li Qiushui said, clasping his hands in greeting.
"We pay our respects to the Sect Leader..."
In the secret chamber of Lingjiu Palace, Xiaoyaozi chanted an incantation, "The profound origin of heaven and earth, the root of all qi..."
After a long string of words, Xiaoyaozi suddenly widened his eyes, "Unravel!"
Squeak squeak...
The hidden compartment opened, revealing an ancient-looking small cauldron, which was none other than the Divine Wood King Cauldron!
"Xiaoyaozi, you know magic? How did this hidden compartment open automatically?" Hao Jiu asked in confusion.
Xiaoyaozi smiled and said, "God of Wine misunderstands. My little skill is nothing but magic. It is a sound-controlled mechanism that opens or closes hidden compartments through a fixed sequence of musical notes. It is just a minor skill."
"Wow, that's amazing! This isn't some trivial skill, it's cutting-edge technology!" Hao Jiu exclaimed sincerely.
"Xiaoyaozi, what do you mean by this?" Xiang Yu glanced at the small cauldron.
"This cauldron is the Divine Wood King Cauldron, a treasure of my Xiaoyao Sect. It can increase the speed of cultivating any martial art. However, there is an evil and poisonous technique engraved inside the cauldron. If I hadn't been so determined, I probably would have been unable to resist cultivating it long ago."
Since I have decided to leave the Free and Unfettered Sect, leaving this cauldron in the sect would probably be more of a curse than a blessing. Others would find it difficult to resist the temptation of that poisonous skill and might even go astray. Therefore, I think it is better to take it with me.
Moreover, I also want to try whether this treasure cauldron can accelerate cultivation. Xiaoyaozi couldn't help but feel a little nervous. If it could really accelerate cultivation, it would truly be a priceless treasure.
"Let's try it now. If it really has the effect of accelerating cultivation, then we can take it away. Otherwise, let's leave it with the Free and Unfettered Sect for now. This item is an important tool for the future. Your sect does have disciples who have obtained this cauldron and cultivated poison skills. However, their martial arts skills didn't reach that level in the end. It's better to wait until we leave this plane before taking this cauldron with us."
Hao Jiu thought to himself, if Ding Chunqiu lost the Divine Wood King Cauldron, the martial arts world would be missing a major villain. How could the story of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils even continue? What would A Zi steal? Who would Xu Zhu deal with...?
"Ah?" Xiaoyaozi had already confirmed that Hao Jiu could predict the future, so when he heard that his disciple had cultivated poison skills, he immediately became nervous. "Is that person Wuyazi?"
"Don't worry, he's not your apprentice. You'll find out eventually. Even if you find out now, what can you do?" Hao Jiu comforted her.
“What the God of Wine says is absolutely right.” When Xiaoyaozi heard that it wasn’t his disciples, he figured that the Xiaoyao Sect would have many more disciples in the future. But since the God of Wine said that their martial arts skills weren’t that high, he was probably right, so he didn’t care.
Xiaoyaozi sat cross-legged, placed the Divine Wood King Cauldron on his lap, and began to circulate the immortal cultivation technique "Transcending Tribulation and Longevity Scripture" while holding the spirit stone.
Hao Jiu raised an eyebrow. It seemed that this small cauldron was nothing special; it neither emitted light nor floated, so it didn't look very promising.
Sure enough, after cultivating for a while, Xiaoyaozi shook his head in disappointment, "I don't feel any increase in cultivation speed. It seems I was overthinking it."
This was the first time Li Canghai had seen the Divine Wood King Cauldron, and he was quite curious about this treasure. "Master, may I try it? My Northern Darkness Divine Art is still a bit lacking, and I also want to temper my mind."
"Uh, this..." Xiaoyaozi thought for a moment, with himself and Bawang watching over him, he figured that even if Li Canghai was bewitched by the Divine Wood King Cauldron, it shouldn't be a big deal. "Alright, you give it a try."
Li Canghai took the Divine Wood King Cauldron, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating the Northern Darkness Divine Art.
After a moment, Li Canghai frowned. "Master, I don't feel any speed-up effect in my cultivation."
"Huh? How is that possible? It should be obvious. Let me try." After saying that, Xiaoyaozi used the Divine Wood King Cauldron to practice his skills as before, which was a good opportunity to practice his One-Finger Divine Skill.
However, Xiaoyaozi's expression grew increasingly grim. "This cauldron seems to be broken..."
Chapter 401 Golden Light Mantra
Hao Jiu thought to himself, "The Divine Wood Cauldron in Tian Long Ba Bu seems to only increase the speed of cultivating poison skills, right? And you have to burn some specific spices in the cauldron to attract all kinds of poisonous insects."
If we consider this point, even if the Divine Wood King Cauldron can increase the cultivation speed of all martial arts, it is very likely because something magical was burned inside, but the residual medicinal effects have been lost.
Hao Jiu carefully examined the Divine Wood King Cauldron, but still couldn't find any useful clues. However, the material seemed extraordinary; it looked like metal, yet it was called the Divine Wood King Cauldron.
Of course, it's also possible that this cauldron was made by someone called Shenmu Wang, and it might not actually be made of wood. If it were wood, it would be Shenmu, otherwise it would have caught fire as soon as it was lit.
"Well, it's good that this cauldron has lost its accelerating effect. Perhaps that's why the disciple who cultivated poison skills won't be able to make a big impact on the martial arts world in the future." Xiaoyaozi looked embarrassed, as if he had been bragging before.
"Let's put it back then, and then we'll start looking for the people on the list right away." Hao Jiu planned to study the Divine Wood King Cauldron properly after completing the Tianlong Babu mission. For now, let's just let it be a prop.
Xiaoyaozi put the Divine Wood King Cauldron back into the hidden compartment, and then recited the voice-controlled incantation again.
Hao Jiu vaguely felt that something was wrong, and on a whim, he scanned the Divine Wood King Cauldron with the system radar, but there was no reaction.
"Looks like I was overthinking it." Hao Jiu smiled wryly. How could an inanimate object become a host?
Not long after everyone left, a little boy of four or five years old came running in, panting, "Grandmaster, Grandmaster, I want to go cultivate immortality with you."
However, the place was already deserted. Ding Chunqiu's face was full of regret. If he had been braver in the main hall, perhaps Xiaoyaozi would have taken him with him.
Just as Ding Chunqiu turned to leave, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from a wall.
Buzzing...
The sound was like someone whispering, or like an echo in a valley; even as Ding Chunqiu moved much closer, he still couldn't hear it clearly.
"Could it be that the patriarch stood here last time just to listen to the echo inside?" Ding Chunqiu's small eyes darted around, and he mustered his courage to press his ear against the wall.
"Heaven...Earth...Mysterious...Ancestor...All...Qi...Origin...Root..."
Ding Chunqiu was instantly excited; it must be an unparalleled martial art!
Don't let Ding Chunqiu's young age fool you; he's quite shrewd and mature beyond his years.
However, after hearing those two sentences, no matter how hard Ding Chunqiu pressed his ear against the wall, he couldn't hear what came after.
"The profound origin of heaven and earth, the root of all qi, the profound origin of heaven and earth, the root of all qi..."
Ding Chunqiu kept repeating these two sentences, trying to grasp their true meaning, but with his current abilities, how could he possibly understand even half of them?
However, it doesn't matter if he doesn't understand; he can ask his master. As long as the secret of this wall isn't revealed, there won't be any problem.
Ding Chunqiu dashed into his master's house, "Master, Master, your disciple has something to ask you..."
With a creak, the door opened.
wooden barrel
Aromatherapy
Clouds and mist swirl around.
Appearing and disappearing
A vast expanse of white...
Her jade-like arm gently brushed, and water droplets fell.
Li Qiushui rolled her eyes at Ding Chunqiu. "Stop."
Glug.
Ding Chunqiu stopped in his tracks, covered his eyes, turned around, and asked in a childish voice, "What are your orders, Master's wife?"
Li Qiushui chuckled, "What are you shy about, little brat? Come here and give your master's wife a back rub."
Ding Chunqiu opened his mouth wide, "Ah? This disciple has urgent business to discuss with Master..."
“I heard everything. Didn’t you have something to ask? You can ask your master’s wife too. Your master just took over as sect leader and has a lot to do. He doesn’t have time to teach you. Stop covering your eyes, close the door, and come here.” Li Qiushui beckoned.
"Oh." Ding Chunqiu was not even as tall as the wooden bucket, so he found a small stool to stand on before taking the towel and wiping Li Qiushui's back.
One stroke, two strokes, meticulous, wiping carefully, gently and softly.
"So slippery..." Ding Chunqiu thought.
"Speak up, what do you want to ask? Hurry up and say it, what are you thinking about? Your master's wife knows just as much as your master does." Li Qiushui gently soothed Shui Zhiruan.
Ding Chunqiu quickly raised his head. "Oh, I overheard a sentence, but I don't understand its meaning."
"Tell me about it," Li Qiushui said with her eyes closed.
"The profound origin of heaven and earth, the root of all qi." Ding Chunqiu remembered it clearly and could recite it off the top of his head.
“Oh, so it’s the Golden Light Mantra. Your grandmaster liked it very much and once used it as a method of cultivating immortality, but later he gave it up,” Li Qiushui recalled.
"Golden Light Mantra? Why give up? Does Master's wife also know the Golden Light Mantra?" Ding Chunqiu was immediately excited upon hearing about the cultivation method.
"Our Xiaoyao Sect has so many peerless martial arts techniques, we simply can't learn them all, so who would bother with this one? I only remember the first few lines, I've long forgotten the rest. I used it to practice calligraphy when I was a kid. Because after your grandmaster practiced it for a while, he discovered that this divine incantation couldn't be used for immortality cultivation, so he naturally gave up on it." Li Qiushui sighed inwardly. If her master hadn't been so obsessed with immortality cultivation, the Xiaoyao Sect would have become the number one sect in the martial arts world long ago, instead of ending up like this.
"Is that so..." Ding Chunqiu was slightly disappointed after hearing this, but then felt something was wrong, because Xiaoyaozi had not given up on the Golden Light Mantra at all, he just couldn't find the method to cultivate it.
"Hehe, since you've served your master's wife so well, I'll recite it for you. I'll recite as many lines as I can. If you really like it, go look in the library; you should be able to find it," Li Qiushui said with a smile.
"Thank you very much, Master's wife," Ding Chunqiu said happily.
"The profound origin of Heaven and Earth, the root of all Qi. Through countless eons of cultivation, I attain divine powers. Within and beyond the Three Realms, only the Dao is supreme. My body is enveloped in golden light, invisible to the eye and inaudible to the ear. Encompassing Heaven and Earth, nurturing all living beings. Recite this ten thousand times, and your body will radiate light..."
At that moment, Xiaoyaozi, who was on his way, had just finished reciting the "Golden Light Mantra" when the group of people, who were chatting through the voice-activated mechanism, started talking about this topic.
"I felt this spell was extraordinary from the beginning, but after studying it for several years, I still couldn't grasp its true essence. It wasn't until the Overlord taught me the real cultivation techniques and spells that I understood that the Golden Light Spell was not a cultivation technique, but a spell. It's just that I haven't mastered it yet, but I'm sure I can." Xiaoyaozi said confidently.
"Wow, this is amazing! It must be a close-combat spell that combines offense and defense. When activated, it protects the body with golden light, repels evil spirits, and makes one immune to all poisons."
Hao Jiu had felt that the words Xiaoyaozi used when opening the hidden compartment sounded familiar, but after hearing the name "Golden Light Mantra," he suddenly realized that it was the ultimate technique of Longhu Mountain in the excellent Chinese animation "Under One Person." Even the shameless protagonist knew it, but he didn't use it very well.
"Is that so?" Xiang Yu's body suddenly emitted a foot-thick golden light, quite solid, as if he were wearing a thick layer of golden armor.
Xiaoyaozi's lips twitched violently. "Overlord really is a gifted individual..."
Chapter 402 Chongxiao Cave
Xiang Yu could not possibly have mastered the Golden Light Mantra so quickly; he only learned the color-changing part, while the golden light was still formed by his domineering energy.
In fact, true qi and spiritual qi are originally colorless and transparent. Even if they become concentrated to a certain degree and turn into small water droplets to form mist, they should still be white mist.
The special effects used to depict martial arts in TV shows and movies are simply for visual appeal. In actual combat, colorless and transparent martial arts are far more lethal, while effects like golden light changing color should be considered a negative effect.
Since meeting Xiang Yu, Xiaoyaozi's understanding has been refreshed time and time again. He originally thought that his talent was among the best, but now it seems that he is still far behind.
"Overlord is truly gifted; I admire him greatly!" Xiaoyaozi said with a wry smile.
Li Canghai covered his mouth and chuckled, "Master, you'll have to work harder. The Chongxiao Cave in the Taihang Mountains is right below. The cave master is mysterious and unpredictable, and we don't know which sect he belongs to, but his martial arts are extremely high and his moves are bizarre."
"Let's go down and take a look." Xiang Yu withdrew the golden light and landed instantly, only to see three little brats putting on a melodramatic scene.
"Xiao Juan! Don't worry about me, today I'm going to settle things with my junior brother, whoever wins is your man!" the relatively tall kid shouted angrily.