The abrupt voice and familiar cadence caused Luo Chen's ecstatic mood to plummet in an instant.
He had assumed that the voice heard earlier during the Five Trials of the Alchemy Realm had merely been left behind by the formation's creator. Yet now, hearing someone speak with that voice again undoubtedly indicated that a living presence truly existed!
Guardedly scanning his surroundings, he blurted out, "Who is it?"
The hall was desolate and utterly silent.
In the end, Luo Chen's focus fell upon the black cauldron.
"It's you?"
"It is I."
The weak voice emerged from the black cauldron once more. As though gathering what little strength remained, it spoke with difficulty: "Inheritor, tell me your name."
Luo Chen hesitated for a moment before earnestly giving his real name.
"Luo Chen!"
As he spoke, he had already deduced the other party's identity.
Clearly, this was an artifact spirit!
In legend, only spirit treasures could birth a true artifact spirit.
Such beings possessed power capable of destroying heaven and earth, overturning rivers and seas—by no means comparable to the pseudo-spirits attached to ordinary spirit-imbued magic treasures.
Realizing this made Luo Chen even more certain that the black cauldron before him was a genuine spirit treasure!
Upon learning Luo Chen's name, the black cauldron's artifact spirit fell silent for a time before asking slowly, "Are you prepared to truly receive Master's inheritance?"
Luo Chen started. Having passed the trials, hadn't he already accepted the inheritance?
Seventy-two volumes of alchemical treatises, thirty-six pill recipes.
Furthermore, three great recipes—Calming the Spirit, Discerning the Void, and Harmonizing with the Dao—that led directly to the Great Dao.
Could it be...?
Luo Chen asked tentatively, "Is there more to the inheritance?"
His gaze drifted across the black cauldron.
Sure enough, the cauldron's artifact spirit spoke slowly: "The principal treasures of the inheritance are myself, the Heaven Refining Cauldron, and the items contained within me. If you are ready, I shall use what remains of my strength to help you receive the true inheritance."
The Heaven Refining Cauldron?
The items within it?
In an instant, Luo Chen's heart surged with heat.
Without hesitation, he asked, "What does being ready entail?"
"Agreeing to two conditions."
"What conditions?"
"When your cultivation bears fruit in the future, watch over Master's clan, and fulfill a debt from a promise he made in life by personally concocting pills for a certain entity."
Look after a clan?
Concoct pills once?
Luo Chen's brows furrowed tightly.
Looking after Heaven Refining Demon Lord's clan was not surprising; after someone perished, there were bound to be people they cared about left behind.
But concocting pills on his behalf was rather astonishing.
Given Heaven Refining Demon Lord's alchemical prowess, if he wished to concoct pills for someone, he could have easily done so with his own hands. Why would he need a successor to do it in his stead?
Most importantly...
"What counts as 'when my cultivation bears fruit'?"
"That depends on your own conscience."
Confronted with this answer, Luo Chen was speechless.
Acting despite knowing failure was certain, acting within one's ability, or acting only when one had strength to spare—each of these situations corresponded to entirely different realms of cultivation and power.
Yet with just four words, the cauldron's artifact spirit tossed the dilemma back onto Luo Chen.
Purely depending on his conscience?
He took a deep breath and asked earnestly, "Where are the True Monarch's clan members now? What is their current situation? Do they face internal strife or external perils?"
In the face of this barrage of questions, the artifact spirit replied weakly, "I do not know."
Luo Chen frowned and asked further, "Is that promise mandatory? And for whom am I to concoct pills? How do I contact them, or rather, how will they believe that I am the True Monarch's alchemical successor?"
This time, the artifact spirit gave an answer.
"That promise was made during Master's lifetime. He originally intended to fulfill it after advancing to the Body Integration stage, but ran out of time. The one he promised was the Yaochi Merchant Maiden. When you meet in the future, she will understand on her own."
The Yaochi Merchant Maiden... Luo Chen committed the name to memory.
Then, Luo Chen asked once more, "If I do not agree to these two conditions, may I still receive the true spirit treasure inheritance?"
The cauldron spirit replied, "No."
Luo Chen's brows knitted slightly. "Then what of the alchemical treatises and recipes I obtained earlier, as well as the pills I concocted within the Alchemy Realm?"
The cauldron spirit: "You may take them. Those are the blessings bestowed upon anyone who passes the trials, as has always been the case."
Luo Chen pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked another question: "Must those who passed the trials in other inheritance sites face these two conditions as well?"
Cauldron spirit: "I do not know."
Luo Chen fell into contemplation.
It was probably not required—at least regarding concocting pills for someone, other inheritors wouldn't meet the criteria.
But what about watching over the Heaven Refining clan?
Why place that condition on the alchemy inheritance? Was there something special about this particular legacy?
While he pondered, the artifact spirit did not press him, quietly awaiting his decision.
After a long while, Luo Chen looked up and posed yet another question: "What is actually inside the Heaven Refining Cauldron?"
This time, unlike before, the black cauldron's artifact spirit gave a different answer:
"Only after you accept the inheritance will I tell you what lies within."
It knew, but refused to say.
*Is that so?*
Luo Chen muttered to himself, his expression gradually hardening with resolve.
Whatever Heaven Refining Demon Lord had left inside was bound to be extraordinarily precious.
Even without those contents, the Heaven Refining Cauldron alone—a spirit treasure that had birthed an artifact spirit—was worth taking the plunge.
What was more, after enduring the hardships of the Five Trials of the Alchemy Realm, these things ought to belong to him anyway!
Luo Chen hesitated no longer and immediately agreed to the two conditions before the black cauldron's artifact spirit.
With that, the scene within the hall shifted abruptly.
A golden curtain of light rose slowly from the cauldron, across which tadpole-like characters swam.
Luo Chen stared at the characters he could not recognize at all, looking bewildered.
Meanwhile, the artifact spirit's voice drifted over:
"In his lifetime, Master forged thirteen spirit treasures in total, every single one possessing power capable of piercing heaven and earth.
"Of those thirteen spirit treasures, one was gifted to the Yaochi Merchant Maiden, one fell into the hands of Grand Venerable Tianyuan, and one remained with his clan. Of the remaining ten, five were destroyed at the hands of Primordial Monarch Qixia, leaving only five preserved within Mingzhao Heaven. They are the Heaven Refining Cauldron, the Black Demon Jar, the True Yang Crown, the Spirit Dotting Brush, and the Myriad Beasts Chart.
"Among these five spirit treasures, only the Heaven Refining Cauldron, the Black Demon Jar, and the True Yang Crown stand above the rest—they are heavenly spirit treasures that transcend ordinary spirit treasures, representing the culmination of Master's lifetime of cultivation.
"For low-stage cultivators such as yourself to wield such treasures at will, you must first cultivate the Treasure Harmonizing Formula.
"Under normal circumstances, it would take you decades or even a century to fully master the Treasure Harmonizing Formula. However, this time, with the aid of my true spirit, that timeframe can be drastically shortened; at the very least, claiming ownership will pose no difficulty.
"As for thereafter, I am powerless to assist, and everything will depend on your own fortune..."
As it spoke, the golden tadpoles in the curtain of light swam toward Luo Chen.
Character by tadpole-like character sank into his mind.
Even without understanding the written script, its meaning became intimately familiar to him.
"Focus your mind into a single point—entertain no stray thoughts!"
As it assisted Luo Chen in cultivating the Treasure Harmonizing Formula, the cauldron spirit offered a warning, clearly having sensed the turbulence in Luo Chen's mind.
It assumed Luo Chen was merely overwhelmed by Heaven Refining Demon Lord's prowess and the exalted grade of the spirit treasures, which was why it gave that reminder.
Little did it know that a tempest had broken out in Luo Chen's heart.
All because that speech had mentioned a name:
Primordial Monarch Qixia!
If his memory served, within Mount Cangwu, the sacred land of the Feather Clan in the Eastern Desolation, three halls stood tall: Duzhen, Zhoukong, and Tongxuan!
Duzhen had no master, with Youquan serving temporarily as vice hall master.
Zhoukong had a master: Demon Emperor Qingshuang.
And the master of Tongxuan Hall was the most mysterious figure of all.
Even when the Soul Formation grandmaster of the Mingyuan Sect assaulted Mount Cangwu, this figure had never been seen making a move.
Luo Chen did not know this figure's personal name, but he knew the Daoist title: Primordial Monarch Qixia!
Was it a shared name, a coincidence, or truly the exact same person?
But the Primordial Monarch Qixia of the Mountain Sea Realm was at most a Soul Formation cultivator; how could such a being contend with Heaven Refining Demon Lord?
After all, in Taisui's words, Heaven Refining Demon Lord was acclaimed as the foremost Void Refining expert of all time!
Over these past twenty-odd years in the Land of the Fallen Demon, Luo Chen had also glimpsed the tip of the iceberg of Heaven Refining Demon Lord's might through countless details—he was unimaginably powerful.
And against such a paramount existence, Primordial Monarch Qixia had actually fought him?
Primordial Monarch Qixia had even destroyed five of Heaven Refining Demon Lord's spirit treasures!
Luo Chen was reluctant to believe this conjecture.
It would mean the disillusionment of Heaven Refining Demon Lord's supreme might, and it would also mean the shadow cast by Primordial Monarch Qixia in his heart grew even larger.
Countless stray thoughts swarmed in.
Had the cauldron spirit not scolded him repeatedly, Luo Chen would almost have pried further.
Yet with great matters at stake, Luo Chen ultimately suppressed these emotions, forcing himself to calm down as he committed the Treasure Harmonizing Formula to memory.
Later on, with the cauldron spirit's assistance, he began casting incantation seals toward the Heaven Refining Cauldron.
As each seal sank into the black cauldron, Luo Chen's consciousness seemed to be drawn inside as well.
In a daze, he caught sight of what Heaven Refining Demon Lord had left within.
It was a beam of gray light hovering deep within the cauldron. Its power and capability were unknown, but inexplicably, Luo Chen's consciousness felt as though it would be devoured and refined by it.
Aside from that, two other entities occupied the exact center of the black cauldron, standing directly opposite one another in a deadlock.
They were two flames: one nine-colored, the other golden yellow!
Beneath the presence of these two flames, the Wither-Bloom True Fire that Luo Chen had once taken immense pride in shivered like an ant. It was not merely a disparity in power, but an intrinsic suppression of grade and spiritual status.
The latter flame in particular felt somewhat familiar to Luo Chen—as though he had seen it somewhere before.
"Are these three the items the True Monarch left for me?"
The world called the artifact spirit's master Heaven Refining Demon Lord—that was his Daoist title.
But Luo Chen and Taisui dared not speak that honorific lightly, often referring to him simply as the True Monarch.
Just as Golden Core cultivators were honored as Masters and Nascent Soul figures were addressed as Perfected Persons, ancient texts often accorded Void Refining cultivators the title of "True Monarch."
To his inquiry, the artifact spirit promptly replied, "Yes, exactly. This is the true inheritance obtained by passing the alchemy trials.
"The two flames are a wisp of source true fire left by Master, named the Nine Refining Beacon Fire, and Primordial Monarch Qixia's source true fire, named the Nirvana Holy Fire.
"During that battle of the past, Master severed a wisp of Primordial Monarch Qixia's source true fire and trapped it inside my body, using the Nine Refining Beacon Fire to wear it down.
"After so many years, with Master's passing, the Nine Refining Beacon Fire possesses no conscious will, and the Nirvana Holy Fire is likewise masterless; both retain only a trace of instinct.
"Refine the Heaven Refining Cauldron first. Once you gain complete control over it in the future, you can use the cauldron's power to attempt subduing these two high-grade flames, allowing you to walk much further along the path of alchemy."
Luo Chen pursed his lips.
His expression did not change.
Upon hearing the name "Nirvana Holy Fire," a ripple had stirred in his thoughts, but he quickly suppressed it.
Perhaps he had been shocked too many times earlier, so he was no longer fazed.
Or rather, he now thoroughly understood that Heaven Refining Demon Lord and Mount Cangwu's Primordial Monarch Qixia truly shared a profound connection.
Because he had indeed seen the Nirvana Holy Fire on Mount Cangwu!
Although the Nirvana Holy Fire on Mount Cangwu back then had greater outward might, in terms of quality, the two were worlds apart.
The flame here was far purer and more profound!
Suddenly, as if recalling something, Luo Chen spoke up: "And what about you? You keep saying 'in the future, in the future.' Will you not help me then?"
Once the Heaven Refining Cauldron acknowledged its master, the artifact spirit should also come under Luo Chen's command.
Recalling the artifact spirit's exceptionally feeble voice from earlier, an ominous premonition surfaced in Luo Chen's mind.
Sure enough, grim news arrived.
The artifact spirit said despondently, "Your divine sense has wandered inside the Heaven Refining Cauldron—can you not see those wounds?"
Luo Chen parted his lips. Naturally, he had seen them, but had subconsciously chosen to overlook them.
"For over a thousand years, the Nine Refining Beacon Fire and the Nirvana Holy Fire have warred incessantly within my body. Their power was consumed madly, but how could my true body not be battered and riddled with holes as well? Above all, the majority of my power was committed to sealing that gray light, leaving me entirely powerless to stop any of it.
"Once you complete one full cycle of the Treasure Harmonizing Formula, I shall disperse my spirituality and use the portion of the Dao of Refining's laws I have comprehended to reinforce the seal Master placed upon that gray light.
"Thereafter, you can only rely on yourself.
"Do not worry about the Heaven Refining Cauldron. Its inherent grade remains. Though scarred and riddled with holes, if nurtured for a thousand years or so, it will have the chance to birth an artifact spirit once again and reclaim its status as a heavenly spirit treasure."
As it spoke these words, an unmistakable sorrow tinged its voice.
A thousand years from now, would the reborn artifact spirit of the Heaven Refining Cauldron still be it?
In all likelihood, things would remain while people had changed.
"What is that gray light?" Luo Chen asked in a low voice. In that hurried glance earlier, he hadn't dared to look any longer.
"Do not ask, and do not dwell upon it. Once you reach the Void Refining stage, you will naturally understand everything."
The artifact spirit left behind these parting words.
Thereafter, its voice grew fainter and fainter, as though it had reached the very end of its path.
Standing quietly within the grand hall, the black cauldron trembled slightly, as if radiating an emotion of reluctance and sorrowful resignation.
Luo Chen pressed his lips tight, understanding that the spirit had already sacrificed itself, plunging into that gray light.
He formed hand seals, continuously casting the Treasure Harmonizing Formula into the Heaven Refining Cauldron.
Having previously experienced the artifact spirit guiding him through the cauldron, this initial step of refining and claiming ownership proceeded exceptionally smoothly.
Barring accidents, before long, he would obtain this heavenly spirit treasure that surpassed ordinary spirit treasures!
Even in its damaged state, it would undoubtedly stand as one of the paramount treasures of the Mountain Sea Realm!
Time flowed by slowly.
Unbeknownst to him, over a month slipped past.
Luo Chen had cast the Treasure Harmonizing Formula into the Heaven Refining Cauldron at least a hundred times, and faintly, he seemed on the verge of bringing it entirely under his command.
On this day, Luo Chen ceased his movements, sitting in meditation and cycling his cultivation technique to recover his magic power.
Suddenly, his brow twitched, and he instinctively glanced toward the black cauldron.
A wisp of golden light peeked out from within.
"Nirvana Holy Fire?"
Luo Chen froze.
The next moment, his face drained of color!
That golden flame was barreling straight toward him!
How could Luo Chen dare let such a thing touch him?
The terror etched in his memories was something he had never forgotten.
By instinct, he raised a protective barrier of magic power and prepared to take evasive action.
Yet the golden flame moved at blinding speed. In the blink of an eye, with lightning swiftness, it reached him, bypassing his protective barrier entirely and sinking directly into his body!
Luo Chen was stunned.
Why did it feel like a wandering traveler returning home?
Instinctively, he recalled what he had been doing just moments ago.
To replenish his magic power, he had cycled his natal cultivation technique...
The Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture and the Nirvana Holy Fire?
Before the thought could fully crystallize, a shrill screech abruptly shattered the hall.
Along with that screech, a cluster of nine-colored flames surged up from the damaged Heaven Refining Cauldron.
It locked onto Luo Chen—or rather, onto the Nirvana Holy Fire inside his body!
Then, the nine-colored fire broke free of the cauldron.
"Not another one!"
Luo Chen turned pale with fright.
Even as he retreated frantically, he was too slow to dodge, powerless to do anything but watch as the nine-colored flame bored into his body.
A single thought flashed through Luo Chen's mind:
*The struggle between Nine Refining and Nirvana hasn't ended?*
Just as he suspected, the instant the Nine Refining Beacon Fire entered Luo Chen's body, the Nirvana Holy Fire detected it. The latter immediately mobilized Luo Chen's magic power to strengthen itself; even his Wither-Bloom True Fire, amidst silent wails, was absorbed into the Nirvana Holy Fire, stoking its fury into something hotter still.
The battle bypassed opening skirmishes and plunged straight into a white-hot clash upon contact.
The battlefield widened relentlessly: flesh, bones, the five viscera, meridians, acupoints, and even his qi sea!
In an instant, the two violent forces detonated with rumbling roars inside Luo Chen.
Wisps of flame burst forth from his pores, turning him into a living man of fire.
An aura of pure destruction radiated from him.
Pain, agony, fury... all sorts of expressions contorted across Luo Chen's face.
"They're using my body as a battlefield!"
Chapter 694