The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

They looked on in horror as the 3,000 challengers transformed into demonic creatures, each taking up a place in the tremendous army of the beasts. No one was able to put into words the astonishment and dread they felt in their hearts.

“This is the nature of the disaster of beasts!” Su Yu remarked coldly. “Kindness and evil coexist in human nature. The sublimations that have fallen from the demonic beasts have elicited qualities like greed, brutality, abusiveness on the part of the humans. We are the ones who are beastly in nature! Once we fail to resist temptation, the beastliness in our nature will be unleashed. The disaster of beasts will then tear our souls from our human bodies, and we’ll end up as demonic beasts!”

“Each and every demonic beast we saw among the deluge of beasts was transformed from the geniuses who perished in the past! Just like those 3,000 challengers, they failed to suppress their beastly nature and got turned into demonic beasts.”

Everyone was speechless for a long time after listening to Su Yu’s explanation. This was the real disaster of beasts!

The disaster of flowers turned challengers into rocks; the disaster of books turned challengers into books, and the martial disaster turned the challengers into virtual shadows. Now they had discovered the disaster of beasts turned challengers into beasts!

“Thank you, Senior Brother Su. Your immense benevolence will be remembered as long as I live!” A challenger whose hands were soaked in blood was quivering with trepidation, but he was filled with gratitude inside. It had been Su Yu’s command that brought him back to sobriety amidst the massacre. Otherwise, he would have become a demonic beast by now.

“Me, too! Senior Brother Su, there’s nothing I can do to repay your kindness. You can send me on any missions from now on. I swear to spare no effort in serving you!”

“Senior Brother Su, thank you so much for all that you have done for us. Despite our feeble and trivial powers, I believe we can still be of some use to you.”

To the challengers who had just escaped the catastrophe by a hair’s breadth, Su Yu’s reputation had escalated and was now almost comparable to Han Fei’s.

“It’s not my place to send you on missions. After the two incidents, all of you should have realized the nature of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland already. This is absolutely not a place of sublimations! It’s an eternal conspiracy against the younger generation of the Jiuzhou continent!”

“I hope all of us put a stop to our participation in the upcoming expedition right now and seek a safe shelter to hide in until the Glittering Jewel Wonderland draws to a close. Before that, do not head for any more dangerous yards.”

Having small-scale adventures posed no threat, but if they allowed greed and desire to get the better of them, they would perish in other traps even if they survived the four great disasters.

“Senior Brother Su, aren’t you coming with us?” The challengers detected his intentions. Su Yu had asked them to take care of themselves.

Su Yu pointed at the deluge of beasts that were gradually receding over the horizon. “Everything has to come to an end. The black dog has murdered my fellow compatriots of the Jiuzhou continent. At the end of the day, someone has to stand up and own up to such a nefarious sin.”

In normal circumstances, they would have found his words pompous, hypocritical and pretentious. They would have sneered at him and ridiculed him. However, now they thought that he sounded exceptionally ardent and convincing in the present circumstances, which pulled their heartstrings.

“Senior Brother Su, we’re more than willing to lend you a hand in this!” Many challengers volunteered dauntlessly. Some of them did so out of respect for Su Yu, and others had the intention of avenging their companions that died at the hands of the black dog.

Su Yu shook his head. “If you join me on this revenge mission, it will be exactly what that black dog wants to see happen! That devilish dog is skilled at meddling with the minds of people. The more of us that are present, the more easily it can manipulate us.”

“You people can go on your separate ways from here. Remember, try not to form groups with too few people. Even if that monstrous dog is massively powerful, it will be too preoccupied to deal with all of you at once, and it’ll lower your risk.”

Having been rejected, many challengers contemplated for quite a while. Then, they led their acquaintances away in search of a safe hiding place where they could wait for the gruesome Glittering Jewel Wonderland to be over. With some advice and persuasion, even the people of the Red Blood Palace were sent away. In the end, only a handful of people were left: Su Yu, Bing Wuxin, Han Fei, Dongfang Tianfeng and Bi Lingtian.

The others were fine, but Bi Lingtian…

“Haha, Brother Su, I greatly admire your noble character and unquestionable integrity. Having been with you these past few days, you have truly left me with a profound impression. There is still a long way to go in the future. I believe you and I will meet again in the Glittering Jewel Wonderland. See you another time.” Sensing the awkwardness of the situation, Bi Lingtian retreated calmly.

Staring in the direction in which he had left, Su Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. Bi Lingtian was still a precarious person whom Su Yu was secretly guarding himself against.

“That Bi Lingtian is rather strange!” Dongfang Tianfeng stroked the stray lock of hair on her forehead. “Even with the intelligence data of my Great Oriental Family, his background remain a mystery. He seems to have emerged overnight out of nowhere and made his appearance at the Heavenly Knife Region ten years ago. Everything before that was like a blank piece of paper, which we failed to successfully find out about despite probing via many channels.”

As the most ancient family of the continent, the Great Oriental Family had an influence that projected to the entire continent. Investigating a person’s background was a breeze to them.

“Of course, there are some people whom my family is unable to investigate, such as Senior Brother Su. A few years ago, you first made your sudden appearance at the Demonic Ape Mountain Range, then you entered the Blue Mountain Range, and then you finally joined the Red Blood Palace. Your life before that is a blank as well.” Dongfang Tianfeng toyed with a delicate notebook in her hands, as a series of information surfaced with clarity.

Dongfang Tianfeng cast a thoughtful look at Su Yu. The notebook in her hands was known as the Jiuzhou Booklet. Despite seeming like a notebook, it was, in fact, an astounding celestial treasure! It contained an extremely enormous amount of information, which was subdivided by Dongfang Tianfeng to great numbers of subordinates all across Jiuzhou.

It was the topmost intelligence agency of the continent, which consistently renewed its important data on a daily basis and delivered the information to the Jiuzhou Booklet through certain means. With just one click on the Jiuzhou Booklet, one could acquire information concerning anything one wished to know in an instant, from global issues and celebrity news, to folklore and cultures, and the Jiuzhou geography. Furthermore, the content in it was continually updated at a shocking pace.

People like Su Yu, who had gained some fame in the Blessed and Heavenly Lands, had certainly become a target to the informers of the Great Oriental Family. His background had been thoroughly scouted out and recorded in the Jiuzhou Booklet.

The people of the Great Oriental Family never had to take even a step out the door to learn about the matters of the world. They were undoubtedly in a position of supreme dominance over the continent.

“Miss Dongfang, are you so fearless about investigating my background brazenly, because you have your family as your backing?” Su Yu cast a dispassionate look in Dongfang Tianfeng’s direction.

“I’m just curious!” Dongfang Tianfeng was engaged in her own explanation, with her hands behind her back. “The Heavens have rootless waters, but no one in this world exists without roots! Anyone who enters the horizon of my Great Oriental Family won’t be able to escape investigation!”

“Very few people belong to the small minority that is impenetrable to my Great Oriental Family. For instance, Bi Lingtian, who rose with a military mutiny a decade ago! For instance, the ruthless demonic man who suddenly appeared a few years ago! For instance, you, who emerged out of nowhere a few years ago!”

Su Yu was calm and composed on the surface, but a slight feeling of insecurity rose from the bottom of his heart. He could perhaps keep his identity from the others. However, the Great Oriental Family had seized all information in the world, and they might be able to work out the connection between Su Yu and the ruthless demonic man. It was even possible that Dongfang Tianfeng already knew Su Yu’s identity.

All this while, she had been fearing Su Yu and dared not even snatch the flower yard master from him. There must be a reason behind her fear.

“Is this the case?” Su Yu asked with nonchalance as if it didn’t matter to him. “How can I be more mysterious than Bi Lingtian? He has legendary cultivation techniques all over him!”

Just as expected, Dongfang Tianfeng’s attention was diverted. Or perhaps, she could have noticed Su Yu’s displeasure, thus keeping the Jiuzhou Booklet. “Him? He’s very awesome indeed! During the last Starry Sky Gathering, he was only just behind Gu Taixu in the sixth position. If he hadn’t deliberately made things easier for him, he could have fought his way into the list of starry sky elites, and achieved even more than that.” She talked about the groundbreaking matters absent-mindedly.

“He’s the heir of a kind of powerful Visual Spiritual Body- Emerald Eyes, Flowery Pupils! This visual technique that originated from the Ancient Spiritual Body is truly an existence that defies the laws of nature! Any cultivation techniques performed in front of him will be unconditionally duplicated and become his own! In other words, performing techniques before him will make you die faster!”

Duplication of cultivation techniques? Su Yu’s pupils constricted. This visual technique is way too illicit and nature-defying, isn’t it? No wonder Bing Lingtian possessed nearly a hundred legendary cultivation techniques! Most importantly of all, Bi Lingtian was extremely masterful at concealment! Su Yu would keep his guards even higher now.

“He has left, and we don’t want to die. We should focus on dealing with that black dog as soon as possible,” Bing Wuxin said as she pondered the matter. “We’ll always be in danger as long as it is still alive.”

The black dog’s tricks and tactics had put them in constant dread. At the moment, no one could guarantee that the black dog wasn’t watching them in secret, preparing to strike them with another deadly blow.

“This haunting black dog must indeed be dealt with,” Han Fei said indifferently. “I’m just curious, Su Yuxian, did that vehement speech you delivered just now really come from the bottom of your heart?”

Su Yu shrugged. “Of course not! What do their fates have to do with me anyway? I was just trying to persuade them to stop following us and causing us trouble.”

Upon hearing that, Han Fei chuckled softly. “If it really was heartfelt, it would have been appalling.”

Those who proclaimed themselves to be righteous were often prone to evil.

“The imperative task right now is to look for that black dog. I have a premonition that it won’t just leave matters alone. It could be devising an even more perilous destruction.” Han Fei revealed the reason she stayed behind to deal with the black dog.

The hundred-story martial tower master, continuously summoning the disasters, was making them suffer endlessly, and putting them at constant risk. This cunning, insidious enemy was the most dangerous creature in the whole Glittering Jewel Wonderland. It was also the only creature that could unravel the mysteries.

“The problem is, where do we look for that godda*n dog?”

This was the difficult puzzle they were currently faced with. The Glittering Jewel Wonderland was vast and boundless. Every yard was extensive without borders, let alone the entire Wonderland.

“If it is determined to hide, I’m afraid we won’t be able to find it even after the Wonderland ends.”

However, Su Yu coolly said, “Hasn’t it told us where it has gone?”

What? The people were stunned. Did it tell us?

“Have you forgotten? As the unique martial yard master that’s capable of manipulating all disasters, there is only one disaster that hasn’t been triggered!” This was the final disaster, and the most terrifying of all: the disaster of dead spirits! It was an absolute disaster that even the Nine Great Prefecture’s Kings were powerless to fend off!

Once it began, it would never stop and would keep intensifying until all challengers were eliminated. No one had ever been able to alter their fates since time immemorial!

At the thought of it, the challengers’ faces fell slightly, as an ominous feeling crept into their hearts.

“All this while, the black dog hasn’t been counting on obliterating all of us with the three disasters. It was merely buying time! Moreover, it has successfully bought eight full days for itself!” Su Yu said in a lowered voice.

As they were joyfully complacent about having resolved the three disasters, they were totally clueless that it was an intentional trap the black dog had devised.

“You’re saying that the black dog is in the last yard, the mausoleum?” They thought that Su Yu’s speculation was almost certainly accurate.

The exception was Han Fei, who frowned and expressed her doubts. “It doesn’t seem quite like the black dog’s style to leave behind such obvious clues and reveal its whereabouts.”

“That’s why I said, it’s the black dog who told us its location! It has left this clue for us on purpose,” Su Yu said coldly. “It isn’t a hidden intrigue, it’s an open one!”

It had most probably finished preparing for the disaster of dead spirits and was now waiting for them to make their choice. They could either hide like homeless dogs head for the mausoleum and confront it.