Wu Tie, also known as Gu Mo Holy Cauldron, woke up.
He felt warm and cozy all over, as if immersed in a hot spring, with no worries or negative emotions in sight.
His heart was filled with energy and fighting spirit, bubbling with enthusiasm. He felt like there was no obstacle in the world that he couldn't overcome, no difficulty that he couldn't conquer. There was nothing to worry about, nothing to fear. As long as he worked hard, he could achieve anything, everything should be done.
Wu Tie lifted his left hand and silently looked at the slightly darkened first section of his finger beneath the fair skin.
Having absorbed the essence of the Gu Mo Relic, this first finger bone seemed to be undergoing a strange transformation. Wu Tie could sense that it was undergoing a tremendous change that would benefit both him and the finger bone greatly.
However, he couldn't enjoy the benefits of this transformation just yet.
His greatest gain was the restoration of his state of mind.
As a young child, he had experienced great changes, witnessing the death of his father and brothers before his eyes...
Falling into the abyss, wandering in a treacherous and unfamiliar realm...
Even after encountering Lao Tie...
That guy, was he someone who could comfort and soothe others?
No, he would only temper and forge Wu Tie in his own unique way, transforming him into a qualified warrior in Lao Tie's eyes.
That guy didn't care that Wu Tie was just a child.
He would even entice Wu Tie to take the initiative to provoke and kill enemies...without considering the immense psychological trauma it would bring to an eleven or twelve-year-old child.
Wu Tie had been fortunate enough to stumble along this path without the opportunity to repair his inner self.
And then Lao Tie, that guy, fell into a deep slumber just when Wu Tie had regarded him as his emotional support... Who knows when he would wake up? In Wu Tie's eyes, that old guy had already succumbed to sorrow and anger, right?
Unbeknownst to him, Wu Tie's heart had long been riddled with wounds, leaving behind severe aftereffects.
Over time, there was a great possibility that he would mutate into a bloodthirsty demon or some other terrifying violent being.
Fortunately, here in Gu Mo Holy Cauldron, Wu Tie obtained a trace of the essence left behind by a powerful existence. This insignificant essence merged harmoniously with some of the insights, experiences, and fragmented life experiences of that powerful being when it integrated with Wu Tie.
Despite being young and fragile, with a heart full of wounds, Wu Tie's mind miraculously healed perfectly.
At this moment, Wu Tie's heart was calm and steady, like a stable cauldron. His mental state was agile and transparent, like a flawless pearl. His spiritual strength was lively and enthusiastic, like a thriving tree.
In short, his "mind" had reached a state of perfection.
A golden radiance glowed brightly and vividly on his brow, appearing translucent. Compared to before the fusion with the Gu Mo Relic, this golden radiance seemed slightly dim. However, now it resembled a clean mirror, free of dust. It was difficult to describe the brightness and glossiness of it in words.
"Father... Three brothers... I will avenge you."
"No, I will definitely become the saint that Lao Tie mentioned...and bring you back to life."
"Lao Tie, trust me, I will find the most suitable body for you and awaken you from your slumber."
"Haha, maybe I don't even need to find one. Since someone can create your body, why can't I do the same? I'll forge a body that's part human and part dog...hee, you'll definitely like it."
Wu Tie muttered to himself with a smile on his face, then jumped up, stepping on the dark gray smoke around him, surveying his surroundings.
Eerie smoke clouds filled all directions, with numerous strange illusions faintly appearing within the smoke.
Faint and peculiar sounds could be heard coming from all around, varying in thickness and weight.
Wu Tie waved his hand to disperse several clusters of smoke around him, furrowing his brows as he solemnly said, "Am I inside the Gu Mo Holy Cauldron? How can I get out of this treasure?"
"Hmm? Hmm?" Wu Tie suddenly furrowed his brows.
The smoke in front of him swiftly revolved and danced until it formed a whirlpool with a diameter of a hundred zhang, hovering in front of him. Accompanied by gentle, melodious music, a large black lotus bloomed from the whirlpool.
When Wu Tie was at the location where Niu Yingxiong died, he saw a lotus in the water basin in front of the palace. Therefore, when the black lotus formed by the condensed smoke appeared, Wu Tie recognized what it was.
The black lotus, with a diameter of three chi, floated in front of Wu Tie. Then, a faint halo of light rose from the center of the lotus, slowly expanding to create a thin and translucent light curtain. Two twisted characters floated out of the light curtain—Wu Tie recognized them as the characters "因果" ["cause and effect"].
When Lao Tie was still at the ancient divine weapons camp, he taught Wu Tie various combat skills and survival techniques. Even the cultural lessons were not neglected. He taught Wu Tie several complex ancient words.
Therefore, Wu Tie recognized that these two characters "因果" were written in an extremely ancient and esoteric golden text, just like the "Gu Mo Bone Devil Scripture" outside. When he saw these two characters, information flowed into Wu Tie's mind naturally.
It was straightforward, frank, and even rough and wild.
By leaving behind the Gu Mo Relic, especially the essence within it, the powerful being straightforwardly told Wu Tie, "You owe me a favor, so you have to repay it... If you don't repay it, then you will slowly perish in this cauldron!"
"That person who fell a long time ago, the powerful being who risked everything to set up a final lifeline," said this.
Wu Tie was astonished.
Then he smiled.
"It's interesting, indeed, I did gain from you... Friendship, now it's time to repay a debt, right?"
Wu Tie shook his head and nodded, saying, "So, this is..."
Information continued to flow in, and Wu Tie's expression became more mesmerizing. He stared intently at the two characters "因果" for a long time, then helplessly pointed at those characters and said, "Aren't you afraid that you've done your calculations wrong?"
"Actually, you did miscalculate, at least you woke up earlier than you expected... However, I can understand slight deviations... It's just that those miners outside, as well as the experts from the Shi and Lu families, they are truly unfortunate."
"In that case, you really aren't a good person... I truly can't rely on my own strength to leave this cauldron?"
Wu Tie looked around for a long time. He fiercely punched and kicked, but no matter how hard he tried, all he saw was an endless expanse of gray-black smoke. He couldn't see the end of this smoke cloud, nor did he have any idea how to break free.
After a quarter of an hour, Wu Tie wrapped himself in an invisible energy field and tried to fly in all directions. However, he flew around aimlessly in the gray-black smoke for a long time, and before he knew it, he returned to the black lotus.
Having exhausted all his methods, Wu Tie finally discovered that he couldn't rely on his own strength to escape from this cauldron. He possessed the White Tiger Split, a divine weapon, but he couldn't find the cauldron's true form, let alone attack it.
Wu Tie sat down cross-legged, settling on a patch of smoke. He silently gazed at the black lotus and the characters "因果" on it.
"What is the power of creation? Do I have it?"
"You fellow, leaving behind these words... I find it hard to believe." Wu Tie raised his head, looking at the thick and immeasurable gray smoke above him, and suddenly laughed. "But, I don't have time to waste here. If I slowly die here, when can I bring my father and brothers back to life?"
"If I slowly perish here, when can Lao Tie awaken?"
"I am still young, I have so many things to do."
"Let's bet that you won't set a trap to deceive me so many years ago. I bet that you have the power to deceive me, but your character is good, and you won't deceive me!"
"After all, if you were really going to deceive me, I would've died by now, right?"
Wu Tie shook his left hand vigorously, looking at the first joint of his finger, and sighed deeply, "From now on, don't be so greedy. This time, I let you deceive me."
Sighing deeply, Wu Tie clenched his teeth and let the Strange Soldier's Edge emit its edge. He gently made a cut on his left wrist vein.
Fresh red blood flowed out and dropped into the depths of the cauldron through the bottomless smoke beneath Wu Tie.
The blood continued to flow, and Wu Tie took nine deep breaths. He started reciting the ancient secret technique, the "Holy Demon Soul Shattering Curse," that was transmitted through the characters "因果."
This was a brief scripture with just over three hundred words. It was tonguetwisting and involved complex intonations. Although each word of the scripture was imprinted in his mind, Wu Tie, in his first attempt, lost his rhythm due to the rapid changes in tones and the bizarre language when he reached the fifteenth word.
Helpless, he had to start over.
So he recited it over and over, making mistakes and re-reading.
When nearly half of his blood had flowed out, Wu Tie's complexion had become extremely pale. Finally, after reciting the "Holy Demon Soul Shattering Curse" in its entirety, his golden light sphere on his brow violently writhed, and a terrifying pain assailed him, causing his vision to black out.
The golden light sphere on his brow split into two spheres of average size. One golden light sphere flew out of Wu Tie's brow, rapidly descending below.
Wu Tie was dripping with sweat, and his shaking couldn't be restrained. The bones in his body emitted slight tremors as the energy stored within was frenziedly absorbed by the bones. Through the transformation occurring within his bone marrow, the newly formed blood merged drop by drop into his body... Rivers of blood still continued to flow from the wrist.
Wu Tie's skin gradually shriveled.
The stored nutrients and energy within him were continuously consumed. His muscles visibly withered, transforming into skin and bones. His body was turning into a mere husk.
Right when Wu Tie felt weak and was no longer able to support himself, the characters "因果" on the broken black lotus quietly shattered. The black lotus turned into a stream of light, entering the wrist wound that Wu Tie had cut open.
The wound on his wrist quickly healed, leaving no trace in no time.
Within the shattered black lotus, a three-chi-long black banner quietly appeared. The spearhead of the banner was a mysterious and well-formed beast bone, long and straight, with faintly discernible grooves on its surface.
The banner was more than six chi long, twice the length of the spearhead.
The banner's surface had rolling patterns of wind and clouds. The winds blew and clouds revolved, creating a continuous movement on the surface. Faint sounds of wind could still be heard emanating from the banner.
Wu Tie gritted his teeth and grabbed the banner's pole, biting his tongue and spraying a drop of blood onto the banner's surface.
He vaguely felt a mysterious connection between himself and the banner.
"For giving half of my soul power and releasing nearly three times the amount of blood in my body...well, I don't even know what use you have. Hopefully, you can be of some use... After all, you should also be considered an ancient treasure, right?"
Wu Tie waved the banner gently, and the boundless gray-black smoke around him emitted sharp whistling sounds. Strands of smoke swiftly flowed towards the banner, quickly disappearing into it.
In just a few breaths, the endless gray-black smoke surrounding Wu Tie was completely swallowed by the banner. It became heavy in his hands, and the banner's surface flapped against him, making crisp snapping sounds.
The next instant, the Gu Mo Holy Cauldron Wu Tie was in shattered into the tiniest particles, transforming into streams of seven-colored, dazzling lights that flowed rapidly towards Wu Tie.
"What a waste, what a waste! It's too wasteful!" Wu Tie stared blankly at the disintegrating Gu Mo Holy Cauldron, his mouth twitching in pain.
"Elder, no matter who you are, for the sake of this slim chance of survival...you did such a thing...directly destroying an immensely powerful and mysterious ancient treasure...you are too extravagant." Wu Tie simply squatted on the ground, quietly watching a cluster of seven-colored light, the size of a water barrel, rapidly rotating in front of him.
Everything was so unimaginable.
Wu Tie really didn't expect that there would be someone who, a long time ago, set up a final lifeline for him, many years in the future.
This was not merely pure 'power'...
"This is wisdom!" Wu Tie sighed sincerely.
Through the transparent seven-colored light, Wu Tie saw a drop of blood the size of a green bean, exuding a faint white glow. A faint, extremely weak, almost soul-like aura emanated from this tiny drop of blood, spreading out.
So weak that it came close to complete collapse, it was already between existence and non-existence...
This tiny, weak droplet that might fade away at any moment, after obtaining half of Wu Tie's soul power and a blood plasma equivalent to three times his entire body's blood, finally formed under the convergence of the Gu Mo Holy Cauldron's immense power.
It was difficult to imagine how weak this droplet was before receiving Wu Tie's "selfless aid."
The blood trembled lightly, and the seven-colored stream of light shaped by the shattered Gu Mo Holy Cauldron collapsed, sinking into the core of the blood.
After several rounds of rotating light, a fist-sized white egg appeared in front of Wu Tie. It was pure white, opaque, without any patterns, and crystal clear. It looked fragile and tender, emanating an intimate and warm feeling.
"Ah, I still have to learn how to raise a child."
Wu Tie sighed, helplessly muttering to himself, "I owe you. By raising the afterhand you left behind, we will be even... I don't owe you too much, right?"
Helplessly shaking his head, Wu Tie grabbed the white egg with his hand.
(End of the chapter)