The Nine Cauldrons

......

The eruptions of more than seven volcanoes that evening determined the birth of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus in the Blazing Flame Territory. On that night, a great number of Martial Cultivators hastened to the Blazing Flame Territory, and all of their hearts were filled with desire. Each and every one of them hoped they could obtain the Blazing Flame Red Lotus!

The acquisition of one Blazing Flame Red Lotus determined one’s fate of becoming a Martial Saint. Moreover, the superfluous lotus seeds could allow one to befriend great forces like the Tianfeng Clan and the Rising Sun Trading Company!

Whoever obtained the Blazing Flame Red Lotus would be successful!

“Just wait til the day I obtain the Blazing Flame Red Lotus, then I too will be a Martial Saint! By that time, those people in my house will have no audacity to look down on me,” a handsome young man mumbled. Simultaneously, he looked toward the Blazing Flame Territory which was glowing with a red light in the northeast.

Countless Martial Cultivators, akin to the handsome, young man, were rushing to the Blazing Flame Territory.

The Tianfeng Clan, the number one clan of the Duanmu Continent, dominated the entire Northern Frosty Region.

A completely dark brown, ancient spired castle had been constructed on the summit of an icy mountain several Li away from the Tianfeng City. This was a place where only specially trained members of the Tianfeng Clan could enter. Usually, the population of the ancient city was just several hundred, which was very few when compared to the several ten thousand members of the Helian Clan residing in Tianfeng’s Main City.

TLN: Helian Clan is Tianfeng Clan.

However, this ancient castle had an extremely high status in the hearts of the Tianfeng Clan’s members. This was because the highest authoritative figure of the Tianfeng Clan, the Tianfeng Martial Immortal, would mostly reside in the castle whenever he departed from Tianfeng Canyon. Tianfeng Canyon, where the Tianfeng Martial Immortal usually dwelled, was not very far from the ancient castle.

Therefore, this castle was also called...... the Martial Immortal’s Palace.

Only the Martial Immortal of the Tianfeng Clan had the right to become the head of the Martial Immortal’s Palace.

In the gloomy and cold hall:

Dressed in a long black cloak, a cold man with long silver-colored hair sat high up in the hall. Due to his presence, the atmosphere of the entire hall seemed freeze over.

“Teacher,” the Steel Sword Martial Saint Helian Haoyan bowed and said.

Helian Haoyan’s aura was already considered cold enough. However, this cold aura of Helian Haoyan was no match for that of his teacher. The Tianfeng Martial Immortal remained seated. As he drew closer to the Tianfeng Martial Immortal, the temperature seemed to get even colder.

“Haoyan, I’m sure you’ve also heard the news.” The Tianfeng Martial Immortal looked down at the Steel Sword Martial Saint with an air of superiority. His eyes, which were as trenchant as sword, seemed to pierce into the Steel Sword Martial Saint’s heart. “This time, more than seven volcanoes erupted. Therefore, a Blazing Flame Red Lotus must definitely have emerged, and the Blazing Flame Red Lotus this time has at least five leaves.”

“No matter what, I want you to take the Blazing Flame Red Lotus.” The Tianfeng Martial Immortal said coldly, “You can decide for yourself what you need to do and the number of people you should dispatch.

“However, there is one thing...

“I hope you won’t fail again.” Due to the indifferent and cold voice of the Tianfeng Martial Immortal, the Steel Sword Martial Saint didn’t even dare to breathe.

The Steel Sword Martial Saint had failed during the struggle for the Fiery Gilt Steel ore Deposit. Therefore, the Tianfeng Martial Immortal was naturally dissatisfied.

......

Under the order of the Tianfeng Martial Immortal, the Steel Sword Martial Saint led one thousand experts of the Tianfeng Clan and rushed toward the Blazing Flame Territory.

In the faraway Dreamy Cloud Ancient City in the west, the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal had also instructed the Great Elder Mu Wang to head to the Blazing Flame territory. The forces of the Rising Sun Trading Company were spread throughout the entire continent. When the Great Elder Mu Wang arrived the Easter Flower Region, he could easily dispatch people over to search for the Blazing Flame Red Lotus.

In conclusion......

The number of people gathered in the Blazing Flame Territory increased continually over time. By the third day, over ten thousand people had already assembled and begun searching. There were even more leisure Martial Cultivators than the members of the Great Clans.

On the third day, in Teng Qingshan’s residence:

“Mister Teng!” A shout rang out from the outside. Mu Yunji, Fu Dao, and Duan Shijin walked into the house together.

Hearing the shout, Teng Qingshan and Li Jun walked out of the house in succession.

Li Jun grinned and said, “Why are you here at this time? Lunch isn’t ready yet.”

Mu Yunji and the other two burst out in laughter. Then Mu Yunji said, “Mister Teng, the Fiery Gilt Steel Ore Deposits were completely excavated last night. We have organized all the ores. There are a total of 310,000 Jin of Fiery Gilt Steel Ores. Mister gets a cut of 30%, which is 93,000 Jin!”

“You’re already done with the distribution?” Teng Qingshan couldn’t help but feel a great sense of joy.

At the side, Fu Dao nodded as he said with a smile, “We have allocated the portion that belongs to Mister, and we have loaded it into three super big wooden boxes.”

“Three super big wooden boxes?” Teng Qingshan froze briefly as he pondered and thought to himself, “A Fiery Gilt Steel Ore is extremely light. It is only slightly heavier than water. Therefore, the density of the Fiery Gilt Steel and water should be similar. 46 cubic meters of water weighing 46 tons would be 92,000 Jin. According to my estimation, 93,000 Jin of Fiery Gilt Steel would be around 45 cubic meters.

“After dividing that number by three, the result shows that each super big wooden box is around 15 cubic meters!”

Teng Qingshan calculated and immediately knew the size of the three wooden boxes.

“Take me to see it,” Teng Qingshan said hastily.

“Mister, this way please.”

Mu Yunji and the other two immediately led Teng Qingshan to see his portion of the Fiery Gilt Steel.

“Yunji, why didn’t you guys go to the Blazing Flame Territory to search for the Blazing Flame Red Lotus?” Teng Qingshan asked while they were on the way to the Fiery Gilt Steel Canyon.

“The Blazing Flame Red Lotus is very difficult to find. It is impossible to locate it alone. I have dispatched 3,000 soldiers to search.” Mu Yunji smiled and said, “Besides, Teacher arrived two days ago and is currently searching the Blazing Flame Territory with the men of our Mu Clan.”

“Brother Mu Wang?” Teng Qingshan was shocked. He then smiled and said, “If even Brother Mu Wang is here, then perhaps all the clans have sent people into the Blazing Flame Territory.”

......

At this moment, Teng Qingshan and the others arrived a huge tent. The spacious tent had a width and length of around ten Zhang, and there were many huge wooden boxes inside.

“Mister Teng, take a look at these three.” Mu Yunji pointed towards the three massive wooden boxes. “Mister’s portion of the Fiery Gilt Steel Ores is in these three wooden boxes, with a total of 93,000 Jin. Each box contains 31,000 Jin. Not too much, and not too little.”

Teng Qingshan walked over and pull out the nails on the top with ease, then he opened the lid.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The three box lids were placed to the side. At this moment, Fang Xingjian was looking at the ores of blood-red Fiery Gilt Steel in the wooden box. The small Fiery Gilt Steel Ores were as small as fingernails, while the big ones were as big as water jars. All these Fiery Gilt Steel Ores filled the entire wooden box to the fullest, and the three wooden boxes were of the same size.

The length of the box was around 1.56 Zhang (3.8 Meters), while the height and width were around 8 Chi (2 meters).

“Haiya!”

Teng Qingshan tried to lift the three wooden boxes. With Teng Qingshan’s precise control of strength, he could sense that each of the three wooden boxes did weigh around 30,000 Jin. Taking away the weight of the box, there were indeed a great amount of Fiery Gilt Steel Ores in the box.

“Mister Teng, our army will leave the Fiery Gilt Steel Canyon this afternoon and send these Fiery Gilt Steel away.” Mu Yunji said, “Mister, do you need us to escort your portion of the Fiery Gilt Steel Ores? Or do you plan to deal with it yourself?”

Even though the Fiery Gilt Steel Ores had been all excavated, it was all the end.

Since the great clans of the continent coveted it, they could be waiting on the road to rob them and steal it.

“No worries. I can do it myself,” Teng Qingshan said. “Just find me a few iron ropes and tie these three wooden boxes together. I don’t want the three boxes to tumble and roll away when I am carrying them.”

“Alright. No problem.”

The three wooden boxes weighed a total of over 100,000 Jin. However, binding the three wooden boxes was a very easy task.

After a while, the group of soldiers carried the three boxes outside the tent. They then worked together to tie Teng Qinghsan’s three wooden boxes together with iron ropes as thick as an adult’s arm

“Yunji, Fu Dao, Duan Shijin, I will be leaving first.” Teng Qingshan grasped the thick iron ropes and exerted a slight force.

“Whew!”

Teng Qingshan lifted up the three gigantic wooden boxes. As he carried them on his back with ease, the three massive wooden boxes were like a tiny hill. An earthy yellow light emanated from Teng Qingshan’s feet, and each time there was a flash of the yellow light,, Teng Qingshan would appear over a dozen Zhang away. His every step caused the earth to tremble as a footprint one to two Cun deep was imprinted into it.

Within a short period of time, Teng Qinghsan had disappeared from the Fiery Gilt Steel Canyon.

Watching Teng Qingshan leave with the three wooden boxes on his back, Mu Yunji and the two others were stunned.

“Why do I feel that...... the protection of 100,000 soldiers is not as safe as the protection of Mister Teng alone?” Duan Shijin commented. He didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh.

“Furthermore, our army won’t move as fast as Mister!” Fu Dao added helplessly.

While Fu Dao, Duan Shijin, and Mu Yunjin arranged for the army to have lunch and then prepared to depart...

“Look!” Fu Dao pointed towards the sky.

A tiny hill was seen piercing through the air rapidly. Duan Shijin and Mu Yunji were only able to see the afterimage before the tiny hill disappeared from their sights.

“Mister Fu, you are right,” Mu Yunji said with a helpless smile, “The shipment of our Fiery Gilt Steel Ores won’t be as fast as Mister Teng.”

......

Amidst the clouds in the high altitude:

The Blue Luan was soaring with its wings spread open, while Teng Qingshan stood on its back. His right arm carried the three wooden boxes which were tied together with iron ropes. The three wooden boxes weighed 100,000 Jin, but to the Blue Luan, a demonic beast which was faster yet as strong as the Six Legged Bladelike Chi, the flight of 3,000 Li was effortless.

When the Blue Luan neared Nanshan City, it flew downward to the lowest layer of clouds.

“We have arrived.”

Seeing the lofty Godly Axe Mountain, Teng Qingshan thought to himself, “Now, the powerful experts of the continent are gathered in the Blazing Flame Territory. The Blazing Flame Territory is currently too chaotic. If I place my portion of the Fiery Gilt Steel Ores there, I won’t be able to cultivate peacefully. It would be better to store it in the Godly Axe Mountain and have the Six Legged Bladelike Chi protect it for me.”

In the afternoon, Teng Qingshan rode the Blue Luan and flew back to the Ox-Head Mountain Range. Through this, one could tell how just fast the Blue Luan was. Amongst the bird-type demonic beasts, the Blue Luan was indeed number one in strength and speed.

......

On the seventh night after the volcanic eruptions:

“Brother Mu, it’s rare to see you here.” Teng Qingshan smiled as he drank with Mu Wang. The Ox-Head Mountain Range was near the Blazing Flame Territory. Since Mu Wang knew that Teng Qingshan was here, he took the time to drop by for a visit.

“Brother Teng, why aren’t you going to the Blazing Flame Territory to search for the Red Lotus?” Mu Wang said with a smile. “All the Martial Saints in the world have gone to find the Blazing Flame Red Lotus. The search is totally based on luck. Of course...... only we, the Martial Saints, can enter the depths of some lava lake. With Brother Teng’s skills, you may be able to find it. Once you find it, you can create five or six innate experts with it.”

Before Mu Wang’s voice even faded away—

“Buzz~~”

A strange vibration of the Spiritual Power of the Heavens and the Earth spread across the land, causing Teng Qingshan and Mu Wang, who were both one step away from the Emptiness Realm, to look northward simultaneously.

Unexpectedly, there was a blazing red light condensed in the sky above the depths of the Blazing Flame Territory. During this dark night, the red blazing light was very conspicuous in the night sky.

“Whew!”

Simultaneously, Teng Qingshan and Mu Wang stood up in astonishment.