395: Chapter 395: Why is it from a hundred years ago again?

The Randan Spirit's body stiffened, but then he relaxed again.

"Declined?"

The old man repeated those two words, his tone carrying a hint of dismissiveness, and even a touch of pride.

"Even if it has declined, the Danding Heavenly Palace is still the strongest Sect in this world. With five thousand years of heritage and millions of Spiritual Cauldrons in the Cauldron Tomb, as long as these things remain, the reputation of the Danding Heavenly Palace will never fall."

He leaned on his staff and took a step forward, the sound of the wooden staff tapping against the ground slightly heavier than before.

"What, could it be that you, little girl, look down on my Danding Heavenly Palace?"

The Randan Spirit's tone was somewhat aggressive.

"Do you have any idea what scale the Danding Heavenly Palace was at its peak? We had over ten million Disciples, with over three hundred thousand at the Foundation Establishment cultivation level or above. The seven outer herb fields were just a fraction; there were also twelve inner herb fields. The Spirit Ruins Pool was open year-round, and at least seven or eight people with excellent Physiques emerged from the pool every year. When it comes to Alchemy techniques, which Sect would dare claim their Medicinal Pills are better than those of the Danding Heavenly Palace?"

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, tapping his wooden staff on the ground three times in succession.

"Even if it has declined, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. For a girl at the Early Stage of Qi Refining like you to be accepted by this old man as a Core Disciple, how much honor does that bring you? How many people outside want to join the Danding Heavenly Palace but can't even find the way to the outer Sect—"

"Senior."

Han Li interrupted him.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was very clear.

The Randan Spirit's words cut off mid-sentence, his mouth still open, the remaining words stuck in his throat.

Han Li looked at him.

She didn't beat around the bush anymore.

"The Danding Heavenly Palace is gone."

When these words came out of her mouth, they were completely unadorned.

"Only ruins remain."

The white space fell silent.

The Randan Spirit stood in place, leaning on his staff, his mouth still hanging open.

After about three or four seconds, he closed his mouth.

"What did you say?"

His voice changed, carrying a hint of anger.

Han Li took a deep breath, not backing down.

"We came in from the outside," she said. "The outside is full of skeletons, covering the ground as far as the eye can see. The buildings have all collapsed, the roads are destroyed, and the alchemists' houses only have their foundations left. Although the herb fields are still there, they have long been neglected."

She paused.

"We haven't seen a single living person here."

There was no expression left on the Randan Spirit's face.

The excitement from before was gone, the dismissiveness was gone, and even the Elder-like attitude of feeling sorry for Han Li had vanished.

He just stood there, leaning on his staff, like a withered tree stump.

Then he spoke.

"Impossible."

Three words.

After saying them, he repeated them.

"Impossible."

His voice was louder than the first time.

The white space suddenly trembled.

The entire space shook from bottom to top simultaneously, as if something had heavily punched the outer shell of this space.

Han Li stumbled and almost lost her footing.

"The Danding Heavenly Palace has ten million Disciples!" The Randan Spirit's voice rose, and he slammed his wooden staff hard against the ground, causing the entire space to shake once more. "Three hundred thousand Foundation Establishment Disciples! Tens of thousands of Golden Core Alchemists! Hundreds of Nascent Soul Elders! Three Grand Elders! And the Palace Master is an almighty expert of the Late Stage of Soul Transformation!"

His beard was shaking, his hands were shaking, and even his wooden staff was shaking.

"Who could destroy such a Sect? Who has the ability?"

Han Li stood in place, saying nothing.

She didn't know what to say.

The Randan Spirit stared at her for a long time.

Han Li did not avoid his gaze, but simply looked at the old man sincerely.

The old man wanted to find any trace of lying in her eyes.

But unfortunately,

he found none.

The space fell silent again.

This time, the silence lasted for a very long time.

Han Li could hear her own heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump, echoing in the white space.

The Randan Spirit slowly lowered his head.

He stared at the ground for a good while, then switched his wooden staff from his right hand to his left, and then back to his right.

"I want to go out and see," he said.

His voice was very low, almost squeezed out from between his teeth.

Han Li was stunned for a moment.

"You said go out—"

"Acknowledge master," the Randan Spirit interrupted her. "If this old man acknowledges you as my master, I can use your senses to see the situation outside, and even walk out of the space of the pill king cauldron."

Han Li hesitated for only a moment.

"How do we do that?"

"Essence blood."

Han Li channeled a trace of spiritual energy to her fingertip and pricked her index finger. A drop of blood flew out, landing in the open palm of the Randan Spirit.

The old man opened his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp.

Han Li's Dantian suddenly grew burning hot, as if someone had stuffed a red-hot grain of sand into it.

The heat lasted for only two or three seconds before fading, but she could feel that there was indeed something extra in her Dantian, as if an invisible thread connected her to that small cauldron.

The white space faded away. Han Li opened her eyes, and a thumb-sized golden cauldron-shaped imprint emerged on the back of her right hand.

The pill king cauldron had successfully acknowledged its master.

Han Li slowly opened her eyes.

She was still sitting cross-legged in front of that palm-sized small cauldron, with Su Mingyuan and Tao Zhe standing to the side, both watching her.

At this moment, the golden light that had been swirling around the cauldron's body suddenly receded, and the small cauldron turned into a streak of flowing light, flying into Han Li's palm and vanishing without a trace in an instant.

At the same time, a thumb-sized golden imprint slowly emerged on the back of her right hand, its pattern exactly in the shape of that small cauldron.

Looking at the imprint, Su Mingyuan couldn't help but be slightly taken aback. He opened his mouth, his expression filled with surprise.

But he didn't have time to ask any questions.

Because the palm-sized pill king cauldron in front of Han Li suddenly lit up, and then a figure emerged from above the back of her hand.

He wore a greyish-white long robe, had white hair and a white beard, and leaned on a dark red wooden staff.

It was precisely the artifact spirit of the pill king cauldron—the Randan Spirit.

The old man hovered half a meter above Han Li, slowly turning around to face the direction of the Cauldron Tomb.

He saw those neatly arranged cauldrons and stone tablets, the broken furnaces and shattered stone slabs on the periphery, and the two Crimson-Flamed Skeletons fighting humans in the distance.

Then his gaze crossed the Cauldron Tomb, passed over the piles of rubble, and looked even further away.

He saw the skeletons covering the earth.

He saw the collapsed residences of the alchemists.

He saw the stone walls with only foundations left and the weathered stone pillars.

The Randan Spirit hovered in mid-air, completely motionless.

"Senior, you..."

"No need to comfort this old man."

The Randan Spirit's voice was very flat, without the excitement from before, nor any anger.

"Actually, this old man had already guessed as much."

He raised his head, looking at that distant Bone Plains.

"For over a hundred years, apart from you all, not a single person has entered the space of the pill king cauldron again."

Han Li was startled.

"Before that, every few days, new Disciples would be sent to undergo the testing of the pill king cauldron. Some had good Aptitude, some had poor Aptitude, but at least someone always came. But after a hundred years ago, not a single person has come."

He lowered his head, looking at the wooden staff resting on his knees.

"This old man felt something was wrong back then. But I couldn't go out, couldn't see the outside, so I could only wait. I waited ten years, no one came. I waited thirty years, still no one. I waited fifty years, eighty years, a hundred years..."

His voice grew lower and lower.

"This old man told himself that perhaps the new Palace Master was just in closed-door cultivation, perhaps there were just no suitable prospects recently, or perhaps something had happened outside, and someone would come once they finished their work."

He paused.

"But in my heart, this old man actually knew that if no one came for a hundred years, there was only one possibility."

He looked at Han Li.

"The Danding Heavenly Palace is gone."

The Cauldron Tomb fell silent for a while.

Zhou Jian's roar drifted over from the distance, muffled and separated by several hundred meters of cauldrons, making it difficult to hear clearly.

"I just didn't expect it to turn out like this."

The Randan Spirit's gaze swept across that boundless expanse of skeletons. "Such a massive Sect, so many people, ten million Disciples, five thousand years of foundation... how could it just vanish like that?"

He did not cry.

An artifact spirit probably had no tears.

But as he sat upon that palm-sized pill king cauldron, his back hunched, the entire person looked several hundred years older than before.

Su Mingyuan stood by the side the entire time, remaining silent.

He was waiting for the old man to process it himself.

But a chord had been struck in his mind.

Once the Randan Spirit's emotions had calmed down slightly, Su Mingyuan spoke up.

"Senior, did you say just now—one hundred years ago?"

The Randan Spirit raised his head to glance at him.

"Yes. One hundred years ago, the last batch of Disciples came to undergo the testing. After that, no one ever came again."

Su Mingyuan turned his head to look at Tao Zhe.

Tao Zhe was also looking at him.

Shock was written all over both of their faces!

One hundred years ago.

Why was it one hundred years ago again?