Chapter 361 Nine Cauldrons

"This way, the Cold Ice Holy Sect will be unable to perceive our world, and the Sect Master's plan to refine this world into a Grotto-Heaven will naturally fail."

Although he only spoke a few short sentences, Yan Chu could imagine that the experience back then must have been extremely dangerous.

To refine an entire world into a Grotto-Heaven, the so-called Sect Master of the Cold Ice Holy Sect must be an unimaginable powerhouse.

As Gu Xingzhou recounted these things, Emperor Wu Lie, Ji Hengjiang remained calm, while the two young men from the Cold Ice Holy Sect had ugly expressions on their faces.

From the looks of it, everything Gu Xingzhou said was the truth.

The world rumored that the formation of the Nine Great Blessed Lands was entirely because Great Zhou wanted to solidify its reign forever and cut off the path of advancement for others in the world.

Now it seemed that everyone had misunderstood the Great Zhou Dynasty and misunderstood this Last Emperor of Great Zhou.

"Then... what does this have to do with the nine cauldrons?"

Yan Chu asked another question:

"Are these nine cauldrons still the same nine cauldrons cast by the Human Emperor back then?"

On the surface, these nine cauldrons were indeed extraordinary, but to reach what Gu Xingzhou said—the era of the Human Emperor was at least tens of thousands of years ago—these didn't look like things tens of thousands of years old no matter how one looked at them.

"Of course not!"

Gu Xingzhou shook his head and said:

"I invited the Number One Artifact Refiner Under Heaven, Ou Yezi, to collect precious iron materials from the entire world, and it took eighty-one years to finally refine these."

"Although they may not compare to the historical nine cauldrons, they can still serve the purpose of suppressing the world's Luck."

"The nine cauldrons you see were each refined within one of the Blessed Lands, connected to the leyline Luck of the entire world."

Yan Chu's brow twitched slightly as he asked again:

"Then what is the relationship between these nine cauldrons and the Heavenly Gate?"

Gu Xingzhou smiled slightly and said:

"This, we should wait until everyone has arrived before discussing!"

Yan Chu curled his lip and said no more.

A moment later, a rainbow light flashed below, and Li Jichuan of Great Jin, carrying the zhan yue sword, flew down.

"Eh?"

Li Jichuan's gaze swept over the people present, and he also let out a sound of surprise. After landing, he took a deep look at Yan Chu and said slowly:

"It seems Fellow Daoist Yan is truly a hidden dragon!"

Just as he finished speaking, Ascetic Dingyan and Daoist Taiwei arrived one after another. After them, others arrived at the top of the Heavenly Pillar.

Although the astral winds and thunder layers below were somewhat threatening, for those who had reached the Yuantai Realm, they could still pass through safely as long as they were careful.

However, some people looked a bit disheveled, their auras unstable.

For example, Master Kongming of the Ten Thousand Buddha Cave and Venerable Zixiao of Dragon Tiger Mountain.

As the leaders of the two great Buddhist and Daoist Holy Lands of the current era, their foundations were still a bit weaker compared to others who had cultivated for a thousand years.

Soon, almost all the Yuantai Realm experts from below had arrived, and everyone was looking around the top of the Heavenly Pillar.

The most eye-catching things here were naturally the large cauldrons on the nine high pillars. The Qi of these cauldrons was linked, faintly converging into a massive light barrier that shrouded the top of Heavenly Pillar Mountain within it.

Other than that, this place was no different from an ordinary plaza.

"Gu Xingzhou, Master of the Number One Estate Under Heaven, what exactly is the connection between this Heavenly Pillar summit and the Heavenly Gate? Please speak plainly!"

The Old Dean of White Deer Academy looked toward those nine large cauldrons.

He had naturally heard the legend of the Human Emperor casting the nine cauldrons, but he did not believe these nine cauldrons were the Human Emperor's nine cauldrons from ancient times. It was more likely they had some connection to the Heavenly Gate, though he couldn't see the truth of it for the moment.

"Good! Now that everyone is here, I will give you all a proper account of the connection between this Heavenly Pillar Mountain and Ascension."

Gu Xingzhou stood with his hands behind his back, smiling at the crowd as he began to recount secrets they had never heard before.

The matter of the Cold Ice Holy Sect's Sect Master wanting to refine this world into a Grotto-Heaven went without saying, causing great shock among the crowd.

According to Gu Xingzhou, since the creation of the Nine Great Blessed Lands, this world had lost contact with the Upper Realm. The reason was that the nine cauldrons connected to the Nine Great Blessed Lands suppressed all the power of heaven and earth in this world.

If one wanted to reconnect this world with the Upper Realm, one must first remove the nine cauldrons and release the power of the Nine Great Blessed Lands, using the power that had accumulated in the Blessed Lands for thousands of years to forcibly break open the Heavenly Gate.

"Then what did you mean below when you said we need to gather all our strength to help one person ascend?"

Ji Bo, the Clan Chief of the Hidden Dragon Clan, asked with a frown:

"Since removing the nine cauldrons can break open the Heavenly Gate, why do we need to combine our efforts?"

Gu Xingzhou said with a smile on his lips:

"This Fellow Daoist can try and see if he can take down any one of the nine cauldrons?"

Ji Bo's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. After a moment of deliberation, he went beneath the cauldron closest to him.

This cauldron shimmered with blue light all over, having three legs and two ears, and was over a zhang tall. Standing beneath the cauldron, Ji Bo could only see the walls of the cauldron by looking up. The walls were covered in complex runes that faintly converged into two large characters: Kan Water!

Ji Bo took a deep breath, the muscles in his arms tightening, bulging out his wide sleeves. He grabbed one of the cauldron's legs and then lifted with all his might...

It didn't budge!

It truly didn't move an inch. Even though Ji Bo's old face was flushed red like a monkey's butt from the strain, the large cauldron still didn't show the slightest movement.

Ji Bo helplessly let go, slowly exhaling. He withdrew his hands into his sleeves to soothe his numbed muscles and said solemnly:

"This cauldron is indeed extraordinary. Even fifty percent of my strength could not move it."

"Presumably, Fellow Daoist Gu has another way?"

Gu Xingzhou smiled and explained:

"These nine cauldrons are connected to the leylines of the Blessed Lands and are placed according to the formation of the Nine Extremes Return to Origin Array. If you want to lift one, all nine must be lifted simultaneously."

"Therefore, opening the Heavenly Gate is absolutely impossible by relying on one person's strength alone; it requires the collective strength of everyone."

"Then after opening the Heavenly Gate, why can only one person successfully ascend?"

On the other side, Li Jichuan of Great Jin spoke in a heavy voice.

Gu Xingzhou smiled slightly.

"That involves the rules of Ascension!"

"You are all the strongest in martial cultivation; you should know that Ascension is not only about cultivation and strength, but also depends on the World Will."

"Every powerhouse is a Martial Artist born and raised in this world, like a child nurtured and grown within this world. Once you ascend, it represents breaking out of the womb, and you will take away a massive amount of this world's Origin and Luck, which will take a long time to recover."

"Ask yourselves, in the history of cultivation, in which era have several ascenders appeared at the same time?"

"If the Heavenly Gate opens, it naturally requires you all to compete. Whoever is truly the Number One Under Heaven today, whoever can defeat the others, will be the one to enter the Heavenly Gate alone!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present turned solemn.

They began to size each other up, and the gazes of those with slightly weaker cultivation were even more wavering.

Gu Xingzhou had laid the truth bare. To enter the Heavenly Gate, a tragic struggle was inevitable.

Except for themselves, everyone else present was an enemy!