Chapter 107: The Whereabouts of the Divine Dragon Cauldron

Ling Bingyan gradually pulled herself back from the depths of her artifact forging. Over the past month, she and Long Xian'er had made commendable progress; at this pace, within another month, all the magical treasures and dragon pillars required to establish the Jiuzhou Barrier would be completed.

One day, Qingxu approached Ling Bingyan. “Daoist Qingxu at your service. Is there something you require, Senior?”

Qingxu cupped his hands respectfully. “I mean no disturbance, Senior, but there is a certain elder who insists on meeting you, and we…”

Before Qingxu could finish, a boisterous laugh rang out: “Envoy, we meet again. Don’t blame little Qingxu here; it was I who insisted he bring me to see you.”

Hearing that familiar voice, Ling Bingyan instantly recognized the visitor and felt a surge of pleasure. Yet, a question lingered in her mind: wasn’t he supposed to be controlling the spiritual vein? How did he have time to visit her now?

“Ghost King,” she inquired, “didn’t you have urgent matters? How do you have time to come here?”

The visitor was none other than the Mangshan Ghost King. He waved his hand roughly and said with some irritation, “Envoy, let’s not mention that matter. The spiritual vein has completely slipped beyond my control; it no longer obeys any bindings. Since my presence there serves no purpose, I thought I might come see if there’s anything with which I can assist you.”

At his words, Ling Bingyan felt a thunderous shock in her mind. The spiritual vein was no longer controlled? Even with the Mangshan Ghost King’s late-stage Ghost Emperor strength, he could no longer restrain the rebellious vein?

Seeing the troubled expression on Ling Bingyan’s face, Mangshan Ghost King added, “For an old ghost like me, a little spiritual vein is no concern. The real challenge is to stabilize it without threatening human safety. The only solution now is to quickly reestablish the Jiuzhou Barrier. That’s the only way.”

He paused, then continued, “I know you still need to find three Divine Dragon Cauldrons. Since I can no longer help suppress the spiritual vein, let me travel about and see if I can locate any of those cauldrons.”

Sensing that his words were more to comfort than assurance, Ling Bingyan’s heart warmed slightly. Beside her, Long Mingxi blinked her large eyes curiously. “Mistress sister, is the Divine Dragon Cauldron the small one, about two palms in size, with an ancient-looking Eastern five-clawed golden dragon coiled atop it?”

Indeed, despite having lived through countless ages, Long Mingxi appeared as a little girl—though a faux one at that. Her innate tendency to feign innocence and youth, paired with subtle witch-like qualities, hinted at potential yet to be fully realized.

Ling Bingyan barely minded the odd “mistress sister” title and quickly asked, “Mingxi, where did you see one?”

“I only have one!” Long Mingxi’s startling reply made both Ling Bingyan and Mangshan Ghost King’s hearts leap—though with joy.

“You say you have one?”

“Yes!” Long Mingxi said happily, “I found it when I was wandering the mortal realm. It looked quite exquisite, so I took it back.” Then her expression darkened, “Unfortunately, it’s still kept at my home in Heaven, not carried with me.”

Ling Bingyan didn’t care whether it was with her or not; the key was that they now knew the whereabouts of one cauldron. “Can you bring it here?”

“Of course! Should I go now?” Long Mingxi was eager, clearly delighted to aid Ling Bingyan.

Ling Bingyan nodded. Upon receiving the promise, Long Mingxi’s form flickered and vanished, already en route to Heaven.

Mangshan Ghost King and Ling Bingyan exchanged a look that said, “This servant of yours is worth every bit.”

Two elders nearby—the Daoist Qingxu spoke up, “The Divine Dragon Cauldrons you speak of—I might have a rough idea of their existence.”

Ling Bingyan’s eyes lit up. “You know where they are?”

Qingxu nodded. “Our cultivation realm is divided into nine regions according to the Hetu Jiuzhou map. We currently stand in the Eastern Southeast Divine Continent of the Morning Earth. In the Southwest Rong Continent dwells an ancient tribe—the Divine Dragon Clan. I believe the Divine Dragon Cauldrons may very well be in their domain.”

Ling Bingyan reflected and agreed; indeed, the Divine Dragon Clan’s name bore a strong connection to the Divine Dragon Cauldrons. But why had none of the six cauldrons in her possession reacted? If one existed within the cultivation realm, it should have responded—unless the cauldron linked to that one was also not in her hands.

If one cauldron was in the cultivation world, and one with Long Mingxi, then the remaining one might well lie outside the ordinary planes.

“Envoy,” said Mangshan Ghost King, “let me make a journey. The planes are limited; I’ll first visit the Western Demon Realm. Perhaps I’ll find something unexpected. If not, I’ll search a few more planes.”

Ling Bingyan considered this and finally nodded. This brute-force approach was the most practical at present.

“Old ghost will not disappoint you…” With that, Mangshan Ghost King vanished into the cavern as suddenly as he had appeared.

“Allow me to visit the Divine Dragon Clan on your behalf,” Qingxu volunteered. “I have some rapport with their people. If we explain the situation, they may willingly surrender the cauldrons.”

“Very well. I appreciate your help, Daoist,” Ling Bingyan said gratefully. It wasn’t that she was unwilling to go herself but lacked the ability to split into multiple forms. She needed to focus on forging the dragon pillars. As Mangshan Ghost King said, the spiritual vein was beyond his control; better to let it run free and concentrate on finding the cauldrons and erecting the Jiuzhou Barrier. Yet this meant that recent calamities might intensify.

“Daoist Qingxu, please notify all cultivators in the cultivation realm to prepare. Should the mortal world face unforeseen disasters, they must defend Huaxia with all their might—even if exposed to the eyes of mortals, it is a risk we must accept.”

Qingxu promised, “Rest assured, Senior. Though we reside in the cultivation realm, Huaxia is our root. We will not stand idly by.”

Ling Bingyan waved him off, signaling he could depart, then returned to her work forging the dragon pillars.

Of the 1,296 divine dragon pillars, she had already crafted about 800 in one month. Much work remained. These pillars formed the foundation of the Jiuzhou Barrier; their importance was paramount, as they constituted the framework supporting the barrier.

Celestial spiritual energy continuously surged forth, swirling between Ling Bingyan’s hands. Time allowed no relaxation. She prepared to attempt forging three pillars at once—a task requiring far more energy than crafting one. Now, she raced against the clock.

Long Xian’er was likewise increasing her output, forging more magical treasures each time.

Ten days later, the remaining three hundred or so dragon pillars were completed, and Ling Bingyan breathed a sigh of relief. The method was effective.

Yet she could not afford complacency. Completing the dragon pillars merely meant the basic framework of the Jiuzhou Barrier was formed; the subsequent forging was the most fundamental.

Ling Bingyan shifted to a more spacious area. Sitting down, she withdrew a large quantity of crystal stones from her storage ring. Some were originally stored there; others had been supplied by various sects. Seeing the piles of crystals, a flicker of reluctance passed across her eyes, but she steeled herself—one cannot spare the child and not catch the wolf. She began forging.

These were high-grade crystals, precious in normal times. But since they were to be used in crucial work, Ling Bingyan felt no hesitation.

The crystals floated in midair as she slowly refined them with the Nine-Flavors True Fire. The crystals were of fine quality, containing few impurities. After just two days’ work, the piles were fully refined.

Ling Bingyan took a deep breath; the real challenge was yet to come. She separated about one-sixth of the crystals. Under her control, they slowly changed shape. Though only a sixth, the volume was substantial, so the object forged was far larger than the previous dragon pillars.

The crystals gradually morphed into a column. One formation after another was embedded within it, until the pillar emitted a white glow. After three continuous days, during which she inscribed no fewer than a thousand arrays onto the pillar, its surface took on an irregular form.

Finally, a magnificent scene of myriad birds singing appeared upon the pillar’s surface. At its top, in the center, was a magnificent phoenix with outstretched wings.

Its glazed eyes shimmered with refined brilliance, as though alive—vivid and majestic, lordly above all beings.

This phoenix-carved column was at least ten times larger than the earlier dragon pillars, both in size and height.

Upon completion, Ling Bingyan exhaled and set about replicating the process to forge similarly sized giant dragon pillars.

Next, she completed the slightly smaller Four Symbols Pillars: the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North.

Looking back, nearly twenty days had passed.

According to her original estimation, about a month remained. In all, after over two months of forging, Ling Bingyan had completed the central dragon and phoenix giant pillars, the four directional pillars, and 1,296 divine dragon pillars.

Two continuous months of forging had honed her skills to a level worthy of a top-tier expert. Moreover, during the process, the ceaseless cycle of consuming and replenishing celestial spiritual energy within her body elevated her mastery to a new height.

She glanced toward Long Xian’er, who had just set down her work. Sitting upright, she appeared unusually mature, exuding a subtle, unique charm.

“Miss, I’ve nearly finished here. I forged over ten thousand magical treasures, though their quality ranges mostly between precious and spirit-grade artifacts.”

“That is already very good. With such tight timing, achieving this level is impressive,” Ling Bingyan said.

Long Xian’er’s output, combined with Ling Bingyan’s previous thousands of items, meant they now had almost enough treasures to serve as the array eyes for the Jiuzhou Barrier.

All was ready, save for the crucial element: whether the Divine Dragon Cauldrons could be found in full.