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Chapter 978 The Cauldron Within a Cauldron, the Flame of Nothingness [Happy New Year!]

The gluttonous beast Qin Ming was engaged in a fierce battle.

The once dark abyss seemed to come alive, and began to tremble violently.

Following this, the surrounding space gradually brightened, and the range of divine sense that the old monsters could clearly see also widened.

However, the constant turbulent flow of the heaven and earth's primordial energy formed violent gusts of wind, and even these old monsters at the Integration Stage needed to use their abilities to withstand this impact.

"How can this aura carry the bloodline power of a primordial behemoth?"

Just then.

As the range of their divine sense continued to expand, a boundless black wall suddenly appeared before them, densely covered with mysterious runes and restrictions.

It resembled the interior space of some kind of enormous cauldron.

At this moment, Tian Sha Shangren and Xuan Jing Wang suddenly realized what was happening:
"Could we be inside a giant cauldron?"

At the same time, as the black mist dissipated and their divine sense returned to normal, the Snake Queen on the other side also discovered their whereabouts.

Heavenly Sand Master and King Xuan Whale clearly did not want to confront a powerful being like Snake Queen, and were just about to leave when...

Below the Snake Princess, a tree of light appeared, densely covered with orbs of light containing hanging treasures.

Moreover, the higher up the tree trunk, the stronger the Daoist aura emitted by the treasure.

Clearly, since its creation, the Taotie Devouring Cauldron has collected the most exquisite parts of all the treasures it has devoured here.

At the very top of the canopy of this cyan light tree, there is a dazzling golden ball of light that is most eye-catching.

Through the outer layer of the light, one could even see what was inside: a golden statue with a human head and a snake's body.

The moment the Snake Princess saw this object, even her usually calm mind was thrown into turmoil.

"Our clan's serpent spirit statue is indeed here!!"

Without saying a word, she vanished and headed straight for the Tree of Light.

Tian Sha Shangren and Xuan Jing Wang, who originally intended to avoid the limelight, also turned back upon seeing so many treasures appear.

“King Xuanjing, let’s settle our grudges later. You’ve risked everything to come here for this opportunity, haven’t you? Why not join forces to deal with Snake Queen?” Master Tiansha said coldly.

The Xuanjing King stared intently at the tree of light with his vertical pupils and said, "Alright."

Without saying a word, he transformed into a giant black whale, whose size was several thousand feet. The moment his body appeared, it exuded a powerful sense of oppression, causing the surrounding space to distort.

Furthermore, surrounding his powerful physical body, a whirlpool of giant waves emerged out of nowhere, radiating the essence of water, and swept towards the Snake Queen.

In the hand of the Celestial Sand Master, a golden seventh-tier talisman appeared, which he immediately infused with his magic power to activate.

In an instant.

The golden talisman transformed into a golden arrow, radiating unparalleled power and a sharp, piercing aura that seemed to penetrate everything, and it too struck towards the Snake Princess.

"Snake Queen, even if you are powerful, my seventh-grade 'Heavenly Origin Golden Spear Divine Talisman' contains a trace of the power of the Law of Gold. Let's see how you resist it!"

As the Snake Princess was heading towards the treasure, she sensed a divine attack coming from behind, and her eyes were filled with chilling killing intent!
"You two old fools who don't know their own mortality, how dare you ruin my plans!"

"Old Monster Tiansha, don't think that just because you've gotten some opportunities from the Black Sand Rift Valley and gotten to this point, you can contend with me."

After the Snake Queen finished speaking, a primordial power surged around her, and in an instant she transformed into a seven-colored giant python with the body of a human, beast, and snake.

Her hair also transformed into countless tiny snakes, twisting and dancing in the air.

An even more terrifying spiritual pressure suddenly descended, colliding violently with the Xuan Whale King.

A violent collision erupted in the void; had this place not been located within the inner space of the Taotie Devouring Heaven Cauldron, spatial turbulence would likely have occurred.

Rumble!
The enormous body of the Xuanjing King was blasted away by a flick of its snake tail.

The difference in cultivation level is clearly not something that can be made up for by physical size alone.

Immediately afterwards, a gray vertical pupil opened on the Snake Princess's forehead, unleashing a large beam of petrifying light that swept backward.

The Heavenly Origin Golden Spear Divine Talisman unleashed by Master Tiansha was frozen in mid-air, then instantly petrified and dissipated like a bubble.

"How is that possible?"

Upon seeing this, Master Tiansha was immediately shocked. This was a high-grade seventh-rank secret talisman, which he had finally managed to find from an ancient site. It could be considered one of his most treasured techniques.

Even if you encounter them in the later stages of their combined form, you should still be wary.

Unexpectedly, the Snake Queen was so powerful that she easily broke the divine talisman.

Snake Queen easily repelled the two, a hint of killing intent flashing in her eyes, as she twisted her massive body and gave chase.

In an instant, the entire space trembled violently as the three combined-level powerhouses clashed.

……

the other side.

Following Qin Ming's orders, the Sky-Devouring Rat and the Silver-Winged Frost Bee flew towards the altar below.

After the Silverwing Frost Bee broke through to the seventh level of the Fusion Realm, its cultivation became incredibly powerful, which made the Devouring Sky Rat extremely envious.

"Third brother, with you here, I can rest assured about going to retrieve that Xuanling treasure."

After learning that it was inside the belly of the Gluttonous Devouring Cauldron, the Devouring Rat felt extremely uncomfortable.

A moment later.

The two of them arrived at the foot of the altar, below which lay a vast rift valley, surrounded by numerous complex high-level restrictions, the existence of which was unknown.

And in the unfathomable abyss, something seemed to be suppressed within.

Seeing that someone had come to help, the Devouring Rat said to the Silverwing Frost Bee, "Third brother, I'm better at breaking restrictions. Please wait a moment."

Having said that, it directly revealed its true form, transforming into a giant gray-furred rat, opening its abyssal maw and spewing out a large patch of forbidden black light downwards.

Buzz!
After the Devouring Sky Rat broke through to the late stage of the sixth rank, its bloodline supernatural power became even more formidable, and its forbidden profound light fell upon those mysterious formations.

In an instant, all kinds of restrictions melted away like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun, without even taking much effort.

The light curtain that had enveloped the abyss then vanished.

The Sky-Eating Rat said smugly, "It's open. Third brother, let's go down."

Silverwing nodded, and the two figures blurred and disappeared. Not long after, an extremely shocking scene appeared in their sight.

In the depths of the abyss, there stood a colossal four-legged cauldron, hundreds of feet in size, its surface covered with dark taotie patterns, exuding an ancient and weathered aura.

The ultimate cauldron!

Around and beneath this giant cauldron, a black, strange fire burned fiercely. Although its temperature could not be felt, it was eerily unsettling.

"Third brother, what is that?" The Devouring Rat could clearly sense that if it got even a little bit of the black flame, it would probably become a roasted rat today.

It quickly and nimbly retreated behind Silverwing, its eyes revealing a rare fear.

Silverwing frowned slightly. Since she refined the essence of the Mother of Calamity and advanced to the Fusion stage, this was the first time she had encountered something that could threaten her.

"This is probably the top-tier spiritual fire of heaven and earth that Master is looking for, the 'Flame of Nothingness.' It is said that there is only one of its kind in the entire Spirit Realm, and I never expected it to be here."

Upon hearing this, the Devouring Rat was overjoyed: "The strange fire that Master wanted is right here, so aren't we going to do two great deeds?" "We'll each do one."

"But when I first saw this giant cauldron, I felt a strange sense of connection to it."

"Could it be related to the fact that the Taotie Devouring Cauldron fused with our clan's bloodline back then?"

Silverwing looked down with a solemn expression. She saw the true form of the Taotie Devouring Heaven Cauldron, which was sealed and locked in the abyss by the Void Flame.

It will be quite difficult for them to remove the giant cauldron from the seal of the Void Flame.

Silverwing immediately said to the Devouring Rat, "I will use a secret technique to separate the giant cauldron from the strange fire in a moment. You stay away from the Void Flame and take the cauldron away as needed."

The Sky-Eating Rat blinked and nodded: "Okay, no problem."

next moment.

The Silverwing Frost Bee transformed, revealing its true form as a gigantic silver moth, radiating a terrifying aura.

It was as if the ancient ferocious insects had descended once again.

Looking at the ferocious and overwhelming Silver-Winged Frost Bee before him, the Devouring Rat couldn't help but sigh in admiration:

"The third brother has changed so much!"

Under its gaze, dozens of silver threads were spewed out from the body of the ancient moth, instantly passing through the black flames of nothingness and wrapping around the Taotie Devouring Cauldron.

The silver threads of the Silverwing Frost Bee exude a mysterious and profound power.

The black flames, which were enough to pose a fatal threat to cultivators at the Integration Stage, all avoided the silver threads.

Immediately afterwards, the Silver-Winged Frost Bee used its profound power to shrink the silver threads, and the Taotie Devouring Heaven Cauldron, which was enveloped in black flames, was pulled and tugged.

However, the Void Flame was too domineering, and the Silverwing Frost Bee could only drag the cauldron out little by little.

Roar! !

Just then.

A sudden change has occurred!

A beastly roar erupted from within the Taotie Devouring Heaven Cauldron, as if it had realized that someone was plotting against it, and a violent emotion emanated from it.

Upon seeing this, the Silverwing Frost Bee unleashed the will of an ancient ferocious insect from its terrifying moth body, suppressing the originally restless giant cauldron.

The Sky-Eating Rat hid in the distance, watching the scene below with a tense expression, when it discovered something incredible.

As the giant cauldron was pulled upwards by the silver wings, a phantom of a giant purple-gold rat from the Spirit Devouring Clan appeared inside the pitch-black cauldron.

An ancient spirit's will emerged and began to contend with the Silverwing Frost Bee's will.

Just as Silverwing was about to take out the giant cauldron, the Taotie Devouring Cauldron sank down again amidst the ebb and flow of the two ferocious beasts.

The Devouring Rat, growing increasingly anxious, couldn't help but curse loudly:
"Oh ho! I wonder which blind relative didn't see that I, the great one, have come in person?"

"How dare they obstruct our attempt to retrieve the cauldron!"

On the other side...

The gluttonous beast that was fighting Qin Ming felt that its main body had been broken from its seal and was being pulled outwards, trying to get rid of Qin Ming's entanglement and return to the cauldron.

Qin Ming, in his primordial demonic ape form, had sharp eyes and would not allow it to have its way. He formed a huge fist shadow and unleashed a barrage of punches at the gluttonous beast.

Rumble!
The gluttonous beast opened its massive maw and bit down hard on the demonic ape's arm, but it was unable to break through the outer defenses.

With a thought, Qin Ming caused a miniature mountain of four colors to appear on the giant panda's hand; it was the True Spirit Five Extremes Mountain.

next moment.

Under his Tongbao Technique, the miniature mountain emitted astonishing power, growing larger and instantly transforming into a gigantic divine mountain.

Four ancient spirit phantoms suddenly emerged from within the mountain, making the entire sacred mountain incomparably holy and radiant.

Then, an extremely shocking scene unfolded.

A primordial demonic ape, wielding a divine mountain, smashed it down on the gluttonous beast, crushing it completely.

At the same time, Qin Ming's powerful divine sense also observed the surrounding situation.

He was extremely excited to see the Sky-Eating Rat and the Silver-Winged Frost Bee, and to discover the legendary 'Flame of Nothingness' beneath the altar.

If his Primordial Poison Flame absorbs and devours this strange fire, he will be able to advance to the eighth-order Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire level.

Moreover, according to Qingyang the Old Demon, he might even be able to use the Myriad Transformations Heavenly Demon to control his true body, forcibly refine the corpse of that True Immortal and integrate it into himself, thus achieving the body of that True Immortal.

Even with Qin Ming's calm and composed state of mind, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion when he thought of such an extraordinary opportunity.

However, something went wrong with the Devouring Sky Rat and the other two, so Qin Ming used all his strength to crush the Gluttonous Beast and prepared to rush over to provide support.

He summoned the Golden Crow Fire Spirit and instructed, "Go and help the Devouring Sky Rats."

Upon receiving the order, Jin Ling transformed into a blue firebird and rushed towards the area below the altar.

She was equally excited to detect the existence of the Void Flame.

At the edge of the abyss, the Sky-Devouring Rat was pacing anxiously in circles.

Upon seeing the Primordial Poison Flame transform into a firebird to provide support, he immediately showed great joy and pointed below, saying:

"Hurry, hurry, we're almost there!"

The Primordial Poison Flame streaked across the void in a long, tassel-like tail, heading straight for the Black Void Flame, and the two began to devour each other in a frenzy.

In an instant, the stalemate on the scene was finally broken.

Without the constraints of the Void Flame, the pressure on the Silverwing Frost Bee was greatly reduced, and the silver threads easily lifted the Gluttonous Devouring Cauldron.

"It's a success! It's a success!" Upon seeing this, the Devouring Rat rubbed its little hands together, becoming extremely alert and ready to support Silverwing and the others at any moment.

Roar! !

The phantom of the Purple-Gold Giant Rat of the Soul-Devouring Clan inside the giant cauldron began its final, violent struggle, trying to resist the will of this Mystic Treasure.

The Devouring Sky Rat could no longer bear it and immediately jumped out, transforming into a giant gray rat, and sucked at the Gluttonous Devouring Heaven Cauldron.

From its abyssal maw, a black hole vortex suddenly condensed, unleashing an astonishing suction and repulsion force that pulled the giant cauldron toward it.

But the next moment.

The giant purple-gold rat of the Devouring Spirit Clan inside the cauldron seemed to sense the pure bloodline of the Devouring Sky Rat, and actually gave up struggling, forcibly driving the Taotie Devouring Sky Cauldron toward the Devouring Sky Rat.

The Devouring Rat is unleashing astonishing potential and is diligently collecting spirit cauldrons.

The giant cauldron, which was originally hundreds of feet in size, suddenly shrank and turned into a black light, which entered its mouth with lightning speed.
This sudden turn of events left the Devouring Rat completely bewildered.

It covered its neck, choking until its face turned red and its neck bulged.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

"Oh no, I ate it all."

　Wishing all fellow Daoists a Happy New Year! May all your wishes come true! Good health! And a prosperous Year of the Horse!! [clasped hands in greeting]

　　
　
(End of this chapter)