Raise a sword!

Jiang Peng sat cross-legged in the hall, her eyes closed, her consciousness focused entirely on the purple-gold cauldron in her mind.

Since arriving in this world, this cauldron has remained in his mind.

But this was the first time the cauldron had responded to Jiang Peng's call.

"This at least proves my previous guess," Jiang Peng thought to himself.

For Jiang Peng, the cauldron had always been just a cheat code with a fixed function.

But Jiang Peng always felt that the cauldron must have really existed, appearing in his mind in a way he couldn't imagine.

After all, he appeared in this world because he actually touched the purple-gold cauldron in the Taoist temple where the filming took place.

Now that Jiang Peng has transmigrated, there's no reason why the instigator of all this, the Purple Gold Cauldron, wouldn't follow.

This time, Jiang Peng's guess was finally proven true.

Although the purple-gold cauldron in her mind was still visible but intangible, the slightly opened lid and the strange purple flames inside were undeniably present on Jiang Peng's body.

At this very moment, the cauldron in my mind still has its lid slightly ajar.

Jiang Peng felt an unprecedented surge of heat within her body.

He opened his eyes and tried to extend his right index finger to activate the "Golden Flame Technique" to transform spiritual power into fire.

The next moment, a tiny flame appeared on his fingertip.

It was a purple flame.

It was completely different from the blue flames originally produced by the Golden Flame Technique.

The moment the purple flames reignited, Jiang Peng keenly sensed that the extremely dense Yin energy around them was dissipating at an incredibly rapid pace.

No, it didn't dissipate.

Just as fire needs oxygen to burn, spiritual fire needs spiritual energy to sustain it. And this purple flame in front of us, this strange flame that comes from the cauldron, requires yin energy to burn.

"It's not just Yin energy," Jiang Peng thought to himself. "In the past, whether it was refining pills, refining useless magical artifacts, or even earlier when I was being controlled by the Old Demon Dan to purify Yin energy during corpse refining... all the losses in all of these processes may not have dissipated, but rather become fuel for this purple flame."

"Could it be... that when I cultivate and absorb Qi, a portion of the spiritual energy that should have been transformed into cultivation power is silently intercepted by the Purple Gold Cauldron?"

Despite this speculation, Jiang Peng did not have any reservations about the Purple Gold Cauldron. He even believed that since the Purple Gold Cauldron was so useful, some price was only natural.

They even felt that the current price was relatively low.

These thoughts confirmed Jiang Peng's previous guesses about the Purple Gold Cauldron, but what he was really puzzled about now was the cauldron's current state.

"Does being able to slightly manipulate the purple flames within the cauldron mean I've taken a step further in controlling it? Or does it mean the cauldron has developed a self-protective consciousness?"

Jiang Peng pondered, but still couldn't come up with a solution.

He wasn't even quite sure why the cauldron had suddenly responded to him.

Was it because he, the host, was facing a life-or-death crisis?

After all, without the cauldron, he would definitely have been successfully possessed by that remnant soul this time.

If that's the case, does it prove that the cauldron actually possesses some kind of consciousness?

Is it a spirit of a weapon?

"Cauldron, can you hear me?" Jiang Peng asked in his mind.

no respond.

So he asked again, "I know you're inside, the spirit of the artifact, right?"

There has still been no response.

Jiang Peng remained silent for a long time before finally deciding not to dwell on the matter any further.

Whether the cauldron has consciousness or not is not important. He is just a minor Qi Refining cultivator. Even if he has had some fortuitous encounters, he is still just an ant.

Thinking about these things is too far off.

Even if a treasure like the Purple Gold Cauldron is extraordinary and possesses extraordinary abilities or an all-knowing spirit, it is still beyond his ability to control and wield with his meager Qi Refining cultivation.

"We can only study this slowly when our cultivation level is higher."

Putting aside her doubts about the cauldron, Jiang Peng's gaze finally fell on the little finger of her left hand.

At this very moment, a remnant soul was wailing in that little finger, while purple flames were burning in the meridians of Jiang Peng's left hand.

The purple flames couldn't harm Jiang Peng in the slightest, but they drove the arrogant remnant soul to a dead end, causing it to scream in agony.

It was a rather strange feeling.

An unfamiliar consciousness was trapped on his own finger.

If Jiang Peng were to carefully sense it, she could even feel some of the pain that was happening to that remnant soul, the kind of pain that came from the depths of the soul.

The pain came from being burned by the purple flames, but Jiang Peng only felt it for a moment before actively severing the connection.

But even after experiencing it for only a moment, he felt a pang of sympathy for the remnant soul that had just tried to possess him.

It was indeed a bit too painful.

So Jiang Peng manipulated the purple flames to temporarily slow the burning, ensuring that the remnant soul was unable to escape and remained inside his little finger.

"I'll ask, you answer," Jiang Peng said calmly. "If you conceal anything, I'll let you taste that purple fire again."

"Tell me! Tell me! I'll tell you everything I know!" the remnant soul responded in terror.

Jiang Peng cheered up.

Who are you?

"The Crippled Taoist".

"Why are you here?"

"I was framed by a villain; I was a person of high moral character and prestige..."

Before the remnant soul could finish speaking, he was burned by the purple flames again.

At the same time, Jiang Peng sneered, "You think I'm young and inexperienced? The Yin energy here is so dense; what kind of good person could you be, thriving in it like a fish in water?"

The remnant soul actually let out a panting sound, which echoed in Jiang Peng's mind as if a real person were right beside her.

"Hmph... I'm an evil cultivator, a demon in the eyes of righteous people! Alright!"

Jiang Peng gave a noncommittal snort and then asked, "Why are you here?"

The remnant soul seemed to know that there was no hope of escaping, so it gave up and started to act recklessly.

"While I was committing evil deeds, a righteous person passing by dealt with me... The person who dealt with me was of profound cultivation, beyond my comprehension, and with a single thought, suppressed me deep within this earth's veins!"

"With a mere gesture, he was able to alter the course of the Earth's veins in the Earth-Ringing Mountains! Even though this is only the northern foothills, and the veins here are merely branches and remnants, such methods still exceed my comprehension."

The remnant soul exclaimed, "I've been suppressed here for who knows how long, but it must have been at least three to five hundred years... In those three to five hundred years, my physical body had long since decayed, but fortunately, I knew a wicked technique called Yin Sha Nourishing Soul, which allowed my soul to survive until now!"

"I'm not afraid to tell you, young man, but I was terrified by that person long ago. For the past three to five hundred years, I've thought about escaping this predicament every single moment, but I haven't had even the slightest thought of seeking revenge against him."

Jiang Peng nodded slightly.

This self-exposure of one's shortcomings actually sounds like the truth.

"Who sealed you away?"

"I don't recognize him, I only know that he calls himself the Taoist of Falling Dust."