Chapter Twenty-Three: The Birth of the Golden Chalice

Led by Shopkeeper Wu, Liu Junhuai selected a nearly top-tier flying sword of the earth grade, then picked out some pills and materials. Including the two manuals, after all was settled, he still had about twelve or thirteen thousand mid-grade spirit stones left from the original thirty thousand.

By the time he left “Shangbao Pavilion,” night had already fallen.

Moving against the flow of people, Liu Junhuai made his way quietly to a secluded mountain valley. After confirming through his divine sense that no one was watching, his figure flickered and entered the Myriad Phenomena Tower.

The day's harvest was tremendous. Though he had not acquired any truly rare medicinal herbs, everything else—whether cultivation methods or flying swords—left Liu Junhuai more than satisfied.

And then there was the golden cauldron hidden within the battered old tripod. Thinking of it, Liu Junhuai took out the dilapidated three-legged cauldron, broke open its outer wrapping, and before him appeared a resplendent, exquisitely carved golden cauldron, gleaming with a heavy body and intricate patterns.

At the center of the cauldron’s body were engraved the words “Mixed Metal Goblet,” and around it were tadpole-like characters similar to those on the “Iron Mysterious Metal Record.” Comparing them with the ancient stone drum script, Liu Junhuai translated their meaning: “The golden handle above, the balance of hardness and softness, auspicious rain dispels regret; though enemies of the Dao exist, they cannot approach, so no harm will come in the end.”

Liu Junhuai roughly understood this passage as: At the top of the cauldron is a golden handle, symbolizing the harmony of yin and yang, the blending of hard and soft, allowing timely rain to appear and eliminate hidden dangers; on the great path there are evil foes, but as there are no gaps to exploit, they cannot do harm, ensuring a smooth journey ahead.

His mind was a blur, unable to grasp the true meaning of these words, nor could he see where the golden handle was. The handle, after all, was the connecting lever between the two ears atop the cauldron.

After pondering for some time without a clue, he decided to set it aside for now and focus on refining the “Mixed Metal Goblet.”

Both the body and belly of the cauldron were densely covered with numerous restrictions—removing them all would be no small feat. He resolved to ignore the next day’s auction and instead entered the cave within the Scarlet Flame Valley of the training chamber, where the air was filled with metallic spiritual energy and free from the disturbance of spirit beasts.

Arranging the time and a spirit-gathering formation, the golden orb in his sea of consciousness began to spin automatically. His divine sense peeled off a trace of restriction to begin refining, while his dantian rapidly supplied energy.

As time passed, the restrictions were stripped away one by one. Because they formed an interwoven network, the process was endless: removal after removal, refinement after refinement, so much so that his divine sense nearly fell into a ceaseless, mechanical repetition. Yet, with a hint of sentience, his divine sense began to actively seek out the patterns of the restrictions.

It seemed that every tiny thread of these ancient restrictions contained a faint trace of Dao rhyme from antiquity. These threads connected through his divine sense to the golden orb, which in turn fed these traces of Dao rhyme back to his sea of consciousness. At this moment, Liu Junhuai found himself gaining a mysterious insight into these ancient Dao patterns, though the understanding was shrouded in a thin mist—vague and indescribable.

In the formation, three days passed in a blink. Countless restrictions had been all but refined away, yet Liu Junhuai, immersed in enlightenment, was utterly unaware. Not until the final wisp of restriction was melted did a beam of golden light shoot up from the cauldron’s belly, then fall back to whirl ceaselessly above the cauldron.

This beam of light carried a powerful aura of ancient runes as it surged into Liu Junhuai’s sea of consciousness. With a resounding snap, the thin mist in his awareness was swept clean, and a sudden epiphany of the patterns of time from distant antiquity became vividly clear in his mind.

While still in the Qi Refining stage, Liu Junhuai grasped a trace of the Dao pattern of time. At a thought, this trace entered his divine sense, which guided it into his dantian, where it merged with his true essence. Sweeping through his meridians, there was a soft pop like a bubble bursting on the surface of water, and Liu Junhuai’s cultivation jumped to Qi Refining level nine. His momentum did not stop, climbing to the mid-level of the ninth stage before stabilizing.

Only then did Liu Junhuai return to his senses. With no time to organize his thoughts, he saw the golden light still spinning. His divine sense transformed into an ethereal hand and reached out to grasp it.

The swirling light condensed into a golden cauldron handle.

When Liu Junhuai held this golden handle, a sense of bloodline connection surged into his consciousness.

The “Mixed Metal Goblet” reacted as well. The cauldron trembled lightly, and the handle in his hand flew into the round hole between the two ears of the goblet, merging seamlessly with its aura.

When Liu Junhuai sent his spirit into the cauldron’s belly and willed it, the “Mixed Metal Goblet” flew into his hand, shrinking and enlarging at his command, as if joyfully dancing.

As their connection deepened, the goblet spun rapidly in his hand, and a set of tiny characters gradually appeared on the lower part of its body.

These, too, were inscribed in the ancient stone drum script, and upon translating, Liu Junhuai found a body-protection technique—a shield method similar to the Golden Bell Cover, called the “Primordial Shield Cauldron.” Delighted, Liu Junhuai realized that while the cultivation methods he had previously encountered were all incomplete, this one was supreme and peerless.

He played with the goblet, caressing the handle tenderly.

Suddenly, Liu Junhuai comprehended the true meaning of that initial passage.

The “Mixed Metal Goblet” and the cauldron handle were two halves of yin and yang—the former yin, governing defense; the latter yang, focused on attack. Only through their harmonious union, balancing hardness and softness, could their power reach its peak, leaving no gaps for enemies to exploit and paving a smooth path for their master’s great Dao.

Yet this unexpected revelation also left Liu Junhuai with a new puzzle.

The shield method was the “Mixed Metal Goblet’s” body-protection technique, but where was the offensive technique for the cauldron handle?

He searched every nook and cranny of both goblet and handle, but found nothing new. Perhaps only by mastering the shield method would its secrets reveal themselves, he consoled himself.

Reluctantly, he put away the “Mixed Metal Goblet,” and the handle, along with the goblet, automatically flew into his sea of consciousness, spinning beside the golden orb like a fish leaping into the sea.

His divine sense swept out from the Myriad Phenomena Tower; it was only the second watch of the night.

Thinking of the evening’s auction, Liu Junhuai took out the three storage rings he had seized.

The storage ring of the Foundation Establishment cultivator contained several hundred spirit stones, mostly mid-grade; an earth-grade mid-tier flying sword; an earth-grade mid-tier black mountain-splitting axe; few medicinal herbs; large blocks of ten-thousand-year cold iron and fire-natured purple sand for forging; and dozens of pills such as Essence Cultivating and True Essence Pills.

The Qi Refining seventh-level youth’s ring held just over a hundred spirit stones, mostly low-grade; a mystic-tier mid-grade flying sword; some herbs and materials; and over a dozen yellow-tier low-grade pills.

The third young master of the Qi family’s ring was by far the richest. One storage pouch alone held over ten thousand spirit stones, more than a hundred top-grade stones, several thousand mid-grade stones; an earth-grade top-tier Black Xuan Dagger, an earth-grade mid-tier flying sword, a mystic-tier mid-grade imitation Heaven-Turning Seal, a mystic-tier mid-grade Silver Training Spear, over a dozen hundred-year-old Seven Star Herbs, three Dragon Scale Fruits and three Rainbow Dress Herbs (main ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills), one Longevity Fruit for making Longevity Pills, two Spirit Candle Fruits for crafting Creation Pills, more than twenty Fire Essence Dates, and a section of Spirit Eye Wood—one of the three great divine woods. Judging by the haul, most of it had been violently seized.

There was also a sizable collection of pills and materials, as well as miscellaneous items.

He erased the spiritual imprints from the weapons and did a basic refinement; most important of all, he had amassed a great trove of spirit stones, giving him confidence for the evening’s auction.

Having sorted his belongings, Liu Junhuai did not immediately read the two manuals he had acquired from “Shangbao Pavilion.” He planned to spend the coming day cultivating the “Primordial Shield Cauldron.”

He focused his mind, regulated his breath, and cultivated true energy to open his meridians. As he silently recited the shield cauldron incantation, he felt a growing warmth in his chest, which gradually extended downward toward his dantian. His focus followed, his lower abdomen gurgling with sound, expelling stagnant air. He guided the warm flow to guard the dantian; as it accumulated, the energy mass grew larger. When the warmth filled the dantian to overflowing, it surged up along his spine, his will following. The fuller his dantian, the more powerful and swifter the upward rush. As the energy broke past the Jade Pillow Pass at the back of his head and entered his sea of consciousness, Liu Junhuai’s scalp tingled, his tongue trembled, and electric currents seemed to dance across his body, his skin crawling as if ants were scurrying over it.