Han Shuo felt dizzy; his head was spinning like a top. He could barely stand still for a moment.
When Han Shuo lifted his head and looked around, he found himself in what appeared to be a container. Mysterious writings lined the wall, bloodied and glowing, moving as if they were alive.
The floor beneath his feet was greenish-brown in colour. It was firm and uneven to the touch.
This place was filled with an unimaginably intense Mystical Yin Aura. The aura surrounding the container looked like a faint mist that would never dissipate and could be directly inhaled by Han Shuo. Han Shuo believed that if he cultivated in such an environment, the rate at which he accumulated demonic yuan would be at least several hundred times faster!
With his heart filled with astonishment, Han Shuo continued to carefully observe his surroundings. He spotted a hazy area above his head. Huge shadows were circling above the hazy area.
Han Shuo's consciousness pulsed. He was horrified to discover that those shadows circling high above his head were the same mystical demons he had seen earlier.
When did these mystical demons become so huge?! Han Shuo was astonished. An idea popped into his head and he began to observe his surroundings more closely with his consciousness.
"Sure, those mystical demons haven't grown bigger, it's my body that has shrunk!" Han Shuo exclaimed in surprise.
Suddenly, Han Shuo noticed that those writings, which were constantly glittering with bloody radiance, began to move rapidly in a mysterious trajectory. A vague and surreal energy appeared out of nowhere.
Before Han Shuo could figure out what was happening, this faintly discernible energy suddenly formed a bizarre connection with his consciousness. Then a message was delivered to Han Shuo: "Hello, I'm Cauldron Spirit. Pleased to meet you, my new master!"
Han Shuo jumped. Having absolutely no idea what the hell was going on, he replied without thinking, "Who are you? Where is this place? Who used the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester?"
"I am the Cauldron Spirit of the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon. You are in the Myriad Demon Cauldron. The person who used everything here was my original master - Gu Tian Xie, the Exalted Demonlord," the voice calling itself the Cauldron Spirit slowly explained to Han Shuo.
Cauldron of Myriad Demon ? Gu Tian Xie, the Exalted DemonLord? What is going on here? Han Shuo was still completely lost and his mind was in a great frenzy.
Han Shuo thought, then exclaimed in surprise, "I am the new master of the Cauldron of Myriad Demon ? How did that happen? What about your original master?"
"My original master, Gu Tian Xie, the Exalted Demonlord, had a great battle with an expert from this universe. It resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. This opponent ambushed the Exalted Demonlord shortly after he had lost a great deal of his energy while traveling between universes, and he suffered devastating injuries as a result. Before dying, he escaped to this material plane and used everything he had before his consciousness completely dissipated.
The Exalted Demonlord had long since perished. You may be the only Demonic Arts cultivator in the universe, and I was the one who brought you here. From now on, you are my new master," the Cauldron Spirit declared.
Han Shuo was so shocked that he almost jumped. How powerful Gu Tian Xie, the Exalted Demonlord, must have been to do all this from his deathbed! This godly expert of this universe, who fought against the Exalted Demonlord and still survived, is this existence even more powerful than him?
As if it could read Han Shuo's mind, the Cauldron Spirit said angrily, "This enemy chose to attack the Exalted Demonlord just after he had used up a great deal of his energy traveling between universes, and as a result, his consciousness had completely vanished. Otherwise, it would have been the attacker who would have perished!"
The Cauldron Spirit's explanation shocked Han Shuo. His heart suddenly trembled as he asked, "You said you brought me here. What exactly did you mean by that?"
"To be precise, it was the Exalted Demonlord and I who brought you here. The Exalted Demonlord set everything in motion here, and I merely carried out his plan!" The Cauldron Spirit paused for a moment before continuing, "There are thousands upon thousands of material planes in this universe. Didn't you find it strange that your soul descended to this material plane instead of the others?"
"A fair point," Han Shuo replied.
"Have you not discovered the numerous traces that the Exalted Demonlord has left on this material plane? The five places of extremes, do you really think they were formed naturally? How could there be so many Places of Extremes here without the Exalted Demonlord doing them before he died?" The Cauldron Spirit explained.
Han Shuo was startled. Soon after, he exclaimed in surprise, "I knew it! I knew there was a reason I did not discover the smallest places of extremes when I was in the Abyss Realm, which was so much more expansive!"
The Exalted Demonlord knew he did not have much time left. He was losing energy in his body and his consciousness was fading with each passing second. With the energy he had left, he could not bring someone directly from another universe to this material plane. So he set up five huge places of extremes, as well as these formations around us, and waited for the right set of circumstances to occur, which was to have an intense fluctuation on the soul of a person in the other universe that matched the wave that was needed to cross over to this universe. When this happened, the equipment here would resonate with the soul and snatch it to this material plane in this universe.
After the entire setup was completed, the Exalted Demonlord waited patiently as his consciousness slowly disintegrated. Sadly, he did not survive long enough to see the completion of his project. So I, the Cauldron Spirit of the Myriad Demon Cauldron, inherited the last wishes of the Exalted Demonlord and waited for that day to come. After eons, the violent undulations of your soul created a resonance with the undulations left behind by the Exalted Demonlord. Using the energy left behind in these formations by the Exalted Demonlord, I have drawn your soul into this universe and brought you to this very material plane," he said.
Han Shuo was astonished. It was only after hearing the Cauldron Spirit's explanation that Han Shuo realised that his soul had not been transferred to this world by accident. It had all been planned by Gu Tian Xie, the Exalted Demonlord, and executed by this Cauldron Spirit of the Myriad Demon Cauldron.
"Because your soul was too weak, I used an excessive amount of energy to ensure that you would be safe to travel to this universe and safely attach to a physical body. The overconsumption of energy here meant that I had no choice but to remain in a dormant state and recharge myself using the mystical yin aura that was constantly gathering in the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester.
I lost track of your location during the time I spent in dormancy. When I awoke some time ago, I immediately tried to call for you. But as we were too far apart and I was still quite weak, you couldn't sense my call.
But who knew that just as I was preparing to risk flying out of the Myriad Demon's Cauldron to look for you, you would miraculously arrive in the Underworld and even come all the way here. It seems that as the person chosen by the Exalted Demonlord, you were destined to come here sooner or later," the Cauldron Spirit said gratefully.
Han Shuo felt a strange sensation in his heart after hearing the explanation. He had never expected that there would be such a unique Cauldron Spirit deep underground, silently watching and waiting for his arrival. Han Shuo was actually touched.
Why did Gu Tian Xie go to all this trouble to bring someone from the universe he came from? Couldn't he just find someone on this material plane to inherit everything he had? He could have saved himself a lot of trouble by doing that instead, right?" Han Shuo was understandably confused.
"First of all, there were no advanced intelligent life forms on this material plane back then! But more importantly, the Exalted DemonLord considered all living beings in this universe to be aliens. He was adamant that his protégé had to be someone from his homeland, not an alien from this universe. He'd rather go to all this trouble to get you here than have those aliens just inherit everything he had! Cauldron Spirit explained.
Han Shuo silently nodded his head after listening to Cauldron Spirit's words. He knew that some of the old people were impervious to reason in their adherence to certain old-fashioned practices. Han Shuo could vaguely understand Gu Tian Xie's way of thinking. He also realised that the things that had happened to Gu Tian Xie in the past had been extremely distant
"So I'm your new master?" Han Shuo asked suddenly after being silent for a while.
"That's right. You are the person chosen by both the Exalted Demonlord and I. You will inherit everything he had as well as this demon-intimidating Cauldron of Myriad Demons - me!" The Cauldron Spirit confirmed.
Han Shuo was overjoyed. He asked, "What has Gu Tian Xie left for me? And what use is this Cauldron of the Myriad Demon?"
"The Exalted DemonLord has left his understanding for you. As long as you follow this path, you will also become an Exalted Demonlord with apocalyptic powers. However, this journey will be very long, and you must remain cautious. As for me, in the universe you come from, I can intimidate and subdue any practitioner of the demonic arts - which is obviously not very useful in this universe. As for what I can offer you, you will soon feel it," the Cauldron Spirit said.
"Feel what?" Han Shuo was stunned.
"Power!" Cauldron Spirit replied.
After receiving the transmission from Cauldron Spirit, Han Shuo discovered that the enormous amount of mystical yin aura inside this Myriad Demon Cauldron had suddenly transformed. Under Han Shuo's gaze, the mystical yin aura began to gather and gradually transform into even purer energy under the effects of the Myriad Demon Cauldron.
"You are too weak! I used up a lot of Mystical Yin Aura when I transferred you. Although the Mystical Yin Aura that the Harvester has collected over the years isn't much, it's still more than enough to allow your strength to take a giant leap! You will also receive a portion of the Exalted DemonLord's understanding and knowledge. Since your consciousness is still too weak, you cannot take in too much at once. I will pass it on to you gradually in the future. Now, open your mind, accept the energy, and let it transform your body," the Cauldron Spirit explained before an enlightening voice of pure wisdom echoed through his consciousness.
At this moment, Han Shuo's mind was so excited that he found it difficult to keep it under control. Normally, he would only need to take a deep breath to calm his mind, but this time, Han Shuo had to make ten times the effort to do so.