The Great Dao Immortal Artifact Emerges

[What lies above Immortal Artifacts?]

[This question is beyond the scope of ordinary knowledge.]

[The monk tells you.]

["Great Dao Immortal Artifacts!"]

["Sounds incredibly awesome."]

["Immortal Artifacts, whether forged by contemporary divine craftsmen, passed down from the ancient era, or even miraculously fallen from the heavens—no matter their origin, they are all created by man. But Great Dao Immortal Artifacts are naturally nurtured and born from heaven and earth!"]

[Imagine throwing a pile of metal and stone randomly into the ocean. After being subjected to ocean currents, storms, animal interference, and so on, they eventually assemble themselves into a pocket watch.]

[That is a Great Dao Immortal Artifact.]

[Judging from the way it is born, one can tell that this thing is a true divine object that has usurped the miraculous creation of heaven and earth.]

["So, what the various factions across the continent are currently fighting over is a Great Dao Immortal Artifact?"]

["Yes, the Nine Provinces Cauldron. However, they aren't fighting over it right now. Instead, they are breaking its seal. Those spiritual artifacts flying all over the place were blasted out of the earth's crust during the unsealing process."]

["The Nine Provinces Cauldron..."]

[You mutter to yourself, feeling as though you've heard this name somewhere before.]

[But looking back on your life, even counting your previously simulated lives, you really can't recall exactly where you heard it.]

[You possess an eidetic memory, yet you actually have a fuzzy recollection of this. How bizarre.]

["Who sealed the Nine Provinces Cauldron here?"]

["That, this poor monk does not know."]

"This makes things tricky..."

In reality, Chen Yi felt a bit of a headache.

He had originally planned to arrive at this place early during his next simulation, taking advantage of the fact that no one else knew the Nine Provinces Cauldron was here, to snatch it right from under the world's nose!

He never expected the Nine Provinces Cauldron to have a seal on it.

Big shots from all sides had gathered and were currently joining forces to break the seal.

Even if he came here early, it seemed it would be useless. How could he take the cauldron if he couldn't break the seal?

"Even if I can't break the seal, I still have to come and try. What if some trait takes effect, causing a bug on top of a bug, and it just works right then and there?"

His current simulated self was sixty years old.

This meant that if he rushed to the Eastern Wasteland right at the start of his next simulation, Chen Yi would have decades to experiment.

With the Alien Race Father trait, he didn't have to worry about the demon race in the Eastern Wasteland threatening his personal safety.

Looking at the simulated text, at the words "Great Dao Immortal Artifact" and "Nine Provinces Cauldron."

Chen Yi's expression was like Brother Fa (Chow Yun-fat) looking at the dragon robe.

He could almost hear the background music "I walk along the long street, listening to the actor sing of the capital" playing in his ears.

In the unseen world, he had a feeling.

This treasure rightfully belongs to me, Chen Yi!

"A Great Dao Immortal Artifact... I want it so badly! I dream about having it!"

Chen Yi's expression changed again, this time resembling Hu Hai.

[With the emergence of the Nine Provinces Cauldron, martial factions all over the world sprang into action.]

[The Central Plains Imperial Family, the Southern Border Royal House, the Northern Region Tribes, the Western Liang Religions, the Eight Pillars of the Five Domains, the Martial Arts Aristocratic Families...]

[Every faction that appeared here was a hegemon that struck awe in their respective regions, or a top-tier big shot in a certain field.]

[Any single one of them could shift the world's landscape just by stomping their feet.]

[When the seal on the Nine Provinces Cauldron was broken.]

[That peerless treasure, glowing with a coppery-green patina and standing a hundred meters tall, was laid out before everyone.]

[A test of humanity and righteousness was placed before them.]

[Everyone was unable to avoid this problem: the demon race, the foreign enemy in the Great Wilderness outside the Five Domains, had to be guarded against.]

[Should they fight tooth and nail for the Nine Provinces Cauldron, allowing the demon race to take advantage of their vulnerability, or should they compete for it in a more peaceful manner?]

[Fortunately, these martial arts big shots did not act on impulse and start fighting right then and there.]

[After a cordial meeting, the heads of the various factions decided to hold the Cauldron Contention Tournament!]

[The major factions would send their young disciples under the age of twenty to compete in arena matches.]

[The faction that won in the end would obtain the Nine Provinces Cauldron.]

[You and the monk spent these past few days wandering the periphery. When some people came out from the central area, you asked around and learned all of this.]

[After hearing about the Cauldron Contention Tournament, the monk revealed a benevolent smile.]

["It is truly rare for our human race to be so united. My Buddha is merciful..."]

[You rolled your eyes at him.]

[What the heck does this have to do with your "Buddha"...]

[Isn't it just because these martial arts bigwigs don't want to fight to the bitter end over a cauldron, so they let the younger generation compete to minimize casualties to the greatest extent?]

[Moreover, this matter was able to be facilitated entirely because the threat of the demon race was so obvious.]

[The Azure Dragon that appeared at the Crimson Heart Sect earlier was evidence of this.]

[As long as the demon race didn't want to follow the rules, the big shots among them could just as easily slaughter their way into the Central Plains and annihilate a sect on a whim.]

[If the demon race were even slightly weaker, given the greed of human nature, the various giants would have definitely taken action personally, coming out in full force and fighting until the sky turned dark and the earth went dim.]

[A Great Dao Immortal Artifact is worth such a sacrifice!]

[Year forty-three, sixty-one years old.]

[You replaced Stroke of Genius with The Older, The Luckier.]

[You still did not leave the place where the Nine Provinces Cauldron emerged.]

[If you left just like that during such a major event, you would miss a lot of important information.]

[You had to gather more intelligence for future simulations.]

[The Cauldron Contention Tournament was organized with great grandeur.]

[The various factions joined forces and built a temporary palace directly near the Nine Provinces Cauldron. They also constructed a majestic arena, and even an even more massive viewing platform.]

[The emergence of the Nine Provinces Cauldron was no longer a secret; it had spread throughout the Five Domains.]

[More and more factions and martial artists rushed over to join in the excitement.]

[The giants of the various factions simply sent out invitations far and wide, inviting martial artists from all over the world to come to the Eastern Wasteland to participate in the Cauldron Contention Tournament.]

[Anyone under the age of twenty could participate.]

[As long as you could win, no matter how weak the faction behind you was, the big shots from all sides would back you and grant the ownership of the Nine Provinces Cauldron to you.]

[That was what they said, but everyone knew it was just polite talk.]

[How could young martial artists from ordinary factions possibly defeat the prodigies from major factions?]

[With so many martial artists around, a trading market for martial arts resources naturally formed in the area.]

[You sold the demon race materials accumulated in the Myriad Soul Banner at the market and made a massive profit.]

[With the top martial arts factions gathered here, some items that were not easily seen in local markets ordinarily also appeared.]

[For example, spatial storage spiritual artifacts.]

[You bought a spatial storage ring with crystal stones, and then stored the remaining crystal stones inside it.]

[The Myriad Soul Banner was extremely dissatisfied with this.]

["Seriously, bro? Where's the trust?"]

[You certainly wouldn't trust this guy.]

[Every time you checked the accounts, the numbers never added up.]

[In the process of interacting with martial artists from all sides, you learned a lot of useful information. Your understanding of martial arts and your knowledge of the martial artist circle gradually broadened your horizons!]

[For instance, there was a rumor that many people had heard of, though it might not be very reliable:]

[Hidden within the Great Dao Immortal Artifacts is the secret to becoming an Immortal!]

[We cultivators train bitterly in martial arts, strive to seize destiny, rush about our whole lives, fighting and killing—is it all just to have a slightly bigger fist than a mortal?]

[No!]

[There should be a greater pursuit!]

[Immortality!]

[How does one achieve immortality? Only by becoming an Immortal!]

[But now, within the Five Domains and the Great Wasteland, ascending to immortality is already an unattainable legend.]

[No matter your peerless elegance, or how your beauty crowns the world, in the end, you are nothing but a skeleton beneath the flesh!]

[Even if you are the supreme prodigy of your generation, ruling over a vast empire, you too will ultimately turn into a handful of dust!]

[No matter how powerful a martial artist may be, they cannot withstand the ravages of time; at best, they merely outlive ordinary mortals by a few more years.]

[Becoming an immortal has almost become the obsession of all the titans of the martial path.]