Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

The students of Yuntian Academy stood around the crimson pillar of light, looking up in fear at the object slowly descending from above.

That's what they summoned.

Others might not be able to see it clearly because their vision was obscured by the blood-red beam of light, but they could see it perfectly.

That was a bronze cauldron.

A black cauldron.

The entire body is pure black, with a long, extremely black dragon carved on each of its four legs. The four sides of the cauldron are carved with a distorted and crooked face that is not human. Its ears are long and thin, its sharp teeth are curved into fangs, and its irregular eyes shoot out streaks of scarlet blood light.

Countless wisps of unknown black demonic energy surrounded the cauldron. Unlike the demonic energy commonly seen, the demonic energy swirling around the cauldron was much denser, and it seemed to contain something inside, causing the demonic energy to expand continuously and emit a strange blood mist.

Yunping squinted, looking at the black cauldron that was gradually falling with a puzzled expression.

"The Demon-Slaying Cauldron..."

He murmured to himself, as if incredulous.

This thing shouldn't be here; rather, something that has already been destroyed shouldn't be here.

Yunping clearly remembered that this object had already appeared once during the reign of Emperor Wen of the past.

It was created by a certain demonic saint in order to overcome the tribulation of becoming a half-immortal. He drew upon the breath of the great Dao of the demonic path and used demonic techniques to refine it. Once this object was created, it not only failed to help that demonic saint overcome the tribulation and become a half-immortal, but because that saint himself could not control the cauldron, in the end his physical body and soul were all devoured by the cauldron.

The moment this cauldron appeared, countless evil cultivators across the land went mad with fervor. In an instant, this cauldron became the object of desperate struggle for all the evil cultivators in the three great heavens, and the war between the righteous and evil factions in the three great heavens intensified.

In the end, he destroyed the evil cauldron with his own hands...

Why are you here again?

Moreover, he always felt that this Demon Cauldron was somewhat different from the Demon Cauldron he had destroyed in the past.

Could it be...?

A sudden realization dawned on Yun Ping. He first took a step back, then addressed his disciples:

"You all go out first, I'll handle this."

Continuing to keep the apprentices here will obviously cause considerable trouble.

After all, even he didn't know what would happen next.

Ye Yuchan and the others exchanged glances. They all understood Yunping's meaning—staying here would not only be of no help, but might also cause them more trouble.

So, almost without the slightest hesitation, everyone pushed open the dark red door, which was inexplicably broken in half again, and left the shattered bridal chamber.

Before everyone left, Ye Yuchan stopped, turned around, glanced at the Demon Cauldron slowly falling from the sky, and then looked at Yun Ping.

"You old rogue... don't let me down at the crucial moment."

Yunping was taken aback, turned around, and glanced at Ye Yuchan with a smile: "Is this your way of showing concern for me?"

"No!"

Ye Yuchan's lips twitched, then she rolled her eyes at Yun Ping: "Anyway... hurry up and finish this... we'll wait for you outside."

After saying that, she followed Zhang Ruoxue and the others, and turned to leave.

Looking in the direction Xiaoyuchan had left, Yunping grinned and said softly, "That girl seems to lack a sense of security..."

"but--"

He didn't think that a mere Demon Cauldron could cause him much trouble.

Yun Ping gradually straightened his expression. He could indeed feel the exceptionally terrifying and sinister demonic aura emanating from the Demonic Cauldron. Unlike ordinary demonic aura, the demonic aura of the Demonic Cauldron was refined through the breath of the Great Dao of the Demonic Path, and its destructive power was certainly different from that of ordinary demonic aura.

But for the old rogue, it's just a difference between a peanut and a larger peanut.

Anyway, it's all edible.

"Get down here!"

Yun Ping gave a low shout, his right hand twisting in the void, several profound spells swirling in his palm. The twisting of his hand seemed to distort the entire space, and his palm was like a pitch-black hole, with endless suction force spreading throughout the entire Demon Cauldron.

The Demon Cauldron seemed to have become sentient. As soon as it sensed the suction force, endless blood gushed out from within it, and thousands of blood-red lights rose into the sky. In the blink of an eye, the cauldron was covered with a layer of bright red, and strange blood flowed within the patterns on its body.

At the same time, the demonic aura surrounding him enveloped him, as if resisting Yun Ping's power.

It is resisting.

Yunping stared blankly, completely unconcerned about the cauldron's resistance.

He twisted his hand again, and the space around his palm shattered completely. Colorless fragments fell from mid-air and then vanished into nothingness.

The suction force within his palm was amplified countless times once again, and this time, even the demonic energy he used to protect himself was drawn away.

Yunping's palm was like a bottomless pit. He accepted the surging demonic energy without hesitation, and the profound magic that appeared in his palm continuously devoured the demonic energy.

The Demon Cauldron, now free from the protection of the Demonic Fiend, seemed to sense the danger. It struggled desperately in mid-air, but all its efforts were in vain.

boom!

With a deafening roar, the Demon Cauldron could no longer resist the terrifying suction force and flew out diagonally from the blood-red pillar of light, finally landing in front of Yun Ping.

Without any hesitation, the old rogue raised his right foot and stomped on the Demon Cauldron the moment it hit the ground.

This kick effectively extinguished any thought the Demon Cauldron could have of escaping.

"I see……"

Yunping approached the Demon Cauldron, examined it carefully, and then revealed a knowing expression.

Indeed, this is the Demon-Slaying Cauldron.

However, it is not the complete Demon Cauldron.

Unlike the Demon Cauldron that he had destroyed before, the Demon Cauldron in front of him was a fairly well-made replica—and it was cast from the fragments of the original Demon Cauldron.

In other words, this thing should be considered a degraded version of the Demon Cauldron.

Clang, clang, clang...

The Demon Cauldron throbbed restlessly, its four legs shaking violently, trying to escape from Yun Ping's feet.

Seeing this, the old rogue slapped down with his palm.

hum~

A violent tremor resounded, and the Demon Cauldron shook violently, eventually ceasing its shaking.

"Hmm, that's much better now. You really deserved a beating."

Yun Ping glanced at the Demon Cauldron, which was finally behaving in a more obedient way, with satisfaction, and revealed a sly smile.

If the Demon Cauldron could express emotions at this moment, it would surely be extremely aggrieved...

It had only just been summoned, and before it even landed, a lunatic thug dragged it over and stomped on it. It didn't even know what was going on.

However, the old rogue wouldn't pity a single bronze vessel; he didn't have that much leisure and inclination.

"Speaking of which..."

The old rogue stared at the Demon Cauldron before him, then glanced at the portrait already covered in blood, and frowned.

Since this is Liu Xunkong's secret realm, then all of this must be related to him.

Whether it's the painting, the demon relic, or the ring that was a token of their love, they are all related to Liu Xunkong...

If that's the case, then the Demon Cauldron summoned through the painting must also be related to Liu Xun Kong.

As if he had thought of something, the old rogue first put his feet down, but before the Demon Cauldron could escape, his two hands gripped the Demon Cauldron tightly like pliers.

He slowly leaned forward and looked into the pitch-black cauldron.

The next second—

Endless memories flooded my mind.

Those weren't Yunping's memories...

Instead, it belongs to the memories of Liu Xun Kong and Qu Wen Xue.

40. The Truth

All living beings are subject to birth, aging, sickness, and death.

Nothing is eternal and indestructible—humans, demons, immortals, and everything else.

While it is true that something can live forever without being disturbed by external things, as time goes by, what can remain eternally undisturbed by all things?

Perhaps even time itself has a moment when it comes to an end.

That was indeed painful.

At least Liu Xunkong felt that the moment of death was extremely painful.

Especially when witnessing the death of a loved one, it is truly heart-wrenching. The heart seems to stop beating, the veins in the whole body contract, the muscles tremble uncontrollably, and a suffocating pain surges into the brain.

Qu Wenxue died on the battlefield, wearing black armor, holding a blood-stained spear, and with her hair tied up—if she hadn't lost her life, she would have looked every bit the valiant female general.

Liu Xun Kong remembered that day very clearly. The Azure Sky Alliance went to war with the major righteous sects and evil sects for the sake of that ancient demonic artifact—the Demon Slayer Cauldron.

The ending was happy because the evil sect ultimately failed to obtain the Demon Cauldron.

However, the ending was not pleasant, because Qu Wenxue and Liu Xunkong were besieged and killed by three evil cultivators who were considered saints of the demonic path. In the end, Qu Wenxue took a combined blow from the three saints in order to protect Liu Xunkong and fell in front of him.

Liu Xun Kong did not die.

Liu Xunkong remembered... Qu Wenxue had said...

If one day the world is at peace and the demons in the Abyss of Demons perish, then perhaps I would prefer to be an ordinary person.

From then on, slaying demons became Liu Xun Kong's lifelong pursuit.

However... the person who could have enabled him to slay demons and defend the righteous path is already dead.

He couldn't accept any of this.

Holding the corpse of his beloved, he sacrificed his own soul, burning his own lifeblood as a price to furiously kill the three demonic saints. After that, although he was severely injured and his cultivation was greatly reduced, he survived the great battle.

Do not……

Others thought he had survived, but in reality, Liu Xunkong had already died in that battle along with Qu Wenxue.

The one who survived was nothing more than a pitiful person who couldn't accept reality.