"Then what happened to the Dafang Pot?"
"It was fine. The Qianling Treasure Lid was forged into its lid. Because the Furnace of Heaven and Earth suddenly exploded, interrupting the forging, the fusion between the treasure lid and the Dafang Pot was only half complete, and its artifact spirit wasn't fully devoured either."
Master Sanshui paused. "Thinking back later, perhaps the Dafang Pot was quietly assimilating something even more important at that moment, leaving it no time to devour the lid's artifact spirit."
"You mean...?" The Dafang Pot wouldn't even spare the Furnace of Heaven and Earth?
"Primordial true qi," Master Sanshui said slowly. "I fear it stole the primordial true qi."
He Lingchuan pressed his forehead. Given the Dafang Pot's insatiable greed, it truly wouldn't pass up such a supreme treasure.
That thing really dared to swallow anything.
"Having forged a pot into such a monstrosity, I was filled with doubts and grieved for my Qianling Treasure Lid, so I demanded we separate the lid from the pot and retrieve Qianling. But Immortal Shou'an inspected the Dafang Pot and discovered that the power within it had already begun to differentiate, and the order it derived was methodically arranged. Thus, he believed this was the work of the artifact spirit. Everyone else claimed what was done could not be undone, so we might as well keep observing the Dafang Pot's evolution and progression.
"Yet that thing was covetous. There was no telling what it might eventually evolve into, nor could mortal power control it. I argued my case repeatedly to no avail, so I simply seized the Qianling Treasure Lid by force and fled to distant lands."
He Lingchuan thought for a moment. "Since the pot and the lid weren't an original pair, why could the Heavenly Fiends use the lid to track down the Dafang Pot? And vice versa?"
"Both are extraordinary treasures. Once they began to fuse, an entanglement formed, only forcibly interrupted." Master Sanshui offered a strange analogy that caught He Lingchuan completely by surprise. "Hating someone leaves just as deep an imprint on your bones and heart as yearning for them."
He Lingchuan recalled the divine bone necklace's ecstatic delight when it swallowed the tea lid; it was likely celebrating that the fusion interrupted thousands of years ago could finally resume.
The pot lid, on the other hand, was full of resistance, rejecting the Dafang Pot even to this very day.
One was an obsessive pursuer, the other haughty and cold.
Indeed, if both treasures had been forged from the Tianluo Star fragment and were originally one, why would the lid resist the Dafang Pot to the death?
Besides, if there had been any leftover Tianluo Star fragments, why would those immortals forge a mere pot lid? Wouldn't it have been better to forge a few more cups so each person could have one?
"Why were you so bent on tearing them apart?" The other immortals had resigned themselves to letting things take their course since matters had already come to this.
"I always believed that rather than saying we forged it, it used our hands to enter the world. As for our original intention... who remembered it in the end?"
Master Sanshui's legs had already dissolved into froth, but he seemed to feel no pain. He merely let out a long sigh. "Worst of all, after the earth-shattering cataclysm caused by forging the Dafang Pot, another peculiar power emerged along with it. To this day, I do not know whether the two were inextricably linked."
"What kind of power?"
"We named it 'origin power.'"
He Lingchuan sprang to his feet, his expression shifting drastically. "Wait. Are you saying the origin power of the mortal realm came from the Dafang Pot?"
That couldn't be right, could it?
Origin power was widespread across the human world; how could it possibly have been produced by the Dafang Pot?
"Incorrect," Master Sanshui corrected him. "The Tianluo Star altered the laws of heaven and earth, bringing nightmare energy into the human world, but that does not mean all nightmare energy originated from the Tianluo Star. Likewise, even if origin power emerged because the Dafang Pot came into being or because of the struggle between it, the Furnace of Heaven and Earth, and the Qianling Treasure Lid, that was still the birth of an entirely new set of laws—not that all the world's origin power was spawned by the Dafang Pot."
He Lingchuan remained silent, working hard to digest this revelation.
The Tianluo Star could alter the worldly laws. As a major fragment of it, the Dafang Pot might very well have had the power to alter the rules a second time.
Come to think of it, origin power indeed did not exist in ancient times. It seemed to have appeared around the same time as nightmare energy—namely, after the war of immortals and gods, the ancient cataclysm.
Thus, those in the know deduced that it was very likely tied to the Tianluo Star or the Dafang Pot.
"After this incident, we discovered that the Dafang Pot had developed a monstrous appetite and devoured anything: nightmare energy, foul yin-fiend qi, heavenly treasures and earthly wonders, naturally born spirit creatures—everything, whether useful or useless. Within half a month of its creation, it even devoured two of Dahuan Sect's founding treasures."
Master Sanshui caught his breath. "Leaving such a self-generating, evolving, and entirely uncontrollable monster in the mortal realm was far too dangerous. But worst of all was the emergence of origin power—it might doom us beyond redemption... I proposed destroying the Dafang Pot, but the other exalted immortals disagreed. Immortal Shou'an believed that since the laws governing origin power had already formed, destroying the Dafang Pot might not make it disappear. Moreover, the Dafang Pot was so profound that they wished to keep it, study it thoroughly, and seek ways to harness it."
He Lingchuan's eyes flickered slightly. Immortal Shou'an's attitude was remarkably scientific.
As for Master Sanshui, he naturally viewed the emergence of origin power as utterly disastrous. In antiquity, immortals could move mountains and drain seas while mortals could only prostrate themselves in worship, completely defenseless. But after the war between immortals and gods, both immortals and demons declined steadily. Meanwhile, origin power proved unmatched in enhancing physical prowess, mitigating spells and wide-area divine powers, and warding off ghosts and gods. As things progressed, mortals gradually learned to harness origin power to contend with them.
This shifting balance of power was something the immortals, Master Sanshui included, certainly did not want to see.
"Not long after, however, we learned from certain Heavenly Fiends that ever since the Tianluo Star was created by their so-called 'ancient god,' it had likewise acted entirely on its own, obeying no command whatsoever." Master Sanshui shook his head. "It had been in the hands of the Heavenly Fiends for so long without being understood; I held no hope for the Dafang Pot.
"And so... before it could fully come into its power, I pried away the Qianling Treasure Lid, hoping to stop it from evolving further."
To think there were so many hidden secrets behind all this. "How did you end up turning into a Que beast?"
Master Sanshui sighed faintly. "The artifact spirit of the Qianling Treasure Lid changed. It could no longer communicate with me. It seemed to have been altered by the Dafang Pot; it began drawing in every soul that died nearby. After I passed away and shed my mortal form, my soul was also pulled into the lid, turning into... what you see now."
He Lingchuan felt sympathy for him from the bottom of his heart. The Dafang Pot truly possessed the ability to transform external objects: Mitian's finger bone had been refashioned by it into a necklace connecting to He Lingchuan, and the Juluo tree seed had been planted inside the Panlong World. Back then, the immortals had sought to use the artifact spirit of the Qianling Treasure Lid to control the Dafang Pot, undoubtedly full of confidence, only for the pot to turn the tables on them.
Master Sanshui's fingers had also dissolved into froth. He could only lift his palm toward General Red's battle armor. "Look at everything here—is it not the same? It is just that we have existed for too long, slowly losing our original memories and being reshaped at will...
"The duel between you and me was akin to a battle between two artifact spirits, representing the friction and reconciliation between the Dafang Pot and Qianling." His laugh was exceedingly bitter. "Both you and I have been manipulated and used by the Dafang Pot. But now... I am finally about to be free.
"Reflecting all these years, I deeply regret it: why did we perform a spirit infusion on the Dafang Pot back then?" Master Sanshui forced himself to look up at the night sky. "Possessing a spirit is not necessarily better than having none. It took me a hundred years alone in another world to finally realize this truth."
A rare opportunity at hand, He Lingchuan immediately asked, "Could having no spirit truly be better than possessing one?"
"Let me ask you: does heaven and earth possess a spirit, or not?"
He knew this one. "None."
"Does the Great Dao possess a spirit, or not?"
"None. The Dao follows nature, beyond words."
"And you?"
"Naturally, I do." Humans have divine souls, after all. Hearing this, He Lingchuan already understood.
"Do you surpass heaven and earth, or the Great Dao?"
"I couldn't hope to match them in the slightest." The difference in dimension and realm was far too immense; how could they compare?
"If only we had understood sooner," Master Sanshui murmured. "Remember this: the Dafang Pot still has countless ties to the Heavenly Fiends. If this thing falls into the hands of the Heavenly Fiends, the mortal realm will..."
What would happen to the mortal realm? No one knew, because Master Sanshui had already dissolved.
A gust of wind blew, lifting the froth, which dispersed without a trace. Only a few final wisps of dim light drifted toward General Red's burial mound.
Master Sanshui's true self had passed away long ago. The complete dissipation of this remnant soul lingering within the Qianling Treasure Lid signified that the lid's resistance had completely vanished as well.
Interrupted for thousands of years, the pot and the lid had finally merged into one complete whole.
He Lingchuan looked up at the sky. The night canopy was pitch-black. Lightning, thunder, phosphorescent glow, the colossal red silhouette—all had vanished.
In other words, Nailuotian's avatar had also been subdued.
Originally, flaws had appeared in the Dafang Pot because it was fighting on multiple fronts, expending immense power on every side.
Now that He Lingchuan had eliminated Master Sanshui, the Que Beast King, and the human expedition had been cast out of the secret realm, the pressure on the Dafang Pot was drastically reduced. Suppressing a single avatar of Nailuotian and fully refining the Qianling Treasure Lid was well within its capability.
These two major troubles had finally been resolved.
Immediately afterward, the battle armor on his body and the spear behind him gradually transformed into crimson smoke, drifting away like mist.
He Lingchuan removed the helmet, held it before him, and said gratefully,
"Thank you!"
No matter how meticulously he planned, changes always outpaced calculations. Nailuotian's avatar had actually breached the vast ocean inside the pot, slipped into the Panlong Realm, and come straight for this mortal vessel.
That He Lingchuan had been able to turn defeat into victory and stand here with his sanity intact was entirely thanks to General Red.
To put it bluntly, his life had been saved by General Red.
When enveloped by the armor, he had felt that steadfast, unwavering protection.
He Lingchuan also understood now: the one who had made a promise to him back then was not the Dafang Pot, but Zhong Shengguang's daughter.
If, as Master Sanshui said, the Dafang Pot had no spirit, it would never have communicated with him, much less made him a promise.
The war helmet gave no reply, merely dissolving into smoke and drifting away.
He Lingchuan reached out but grasped only empty air, feeling a pang of deep regret.
That terrifying power, which felt capable of tearing heaven and earth asunder, had vanished along with the armor.
It turned out the armor had never been a gift for him; it was merely trial gear for fighting the boss, and a single-use one at that.
It made sense upon reflection. The laws here were far too peculiar; the strength and home-field advantage he gained in the Panlong World were never meant to be carried out into the external world.
He Lingchuan clenched his fists, feeling a profound sense of loss. Yet the sensation of that power and the feeling of battling at such an exalted level were already deeply etched into his mind, something he could revisit and savor again and again in the future.
Chapter 852