Whoever wins is orthodox; whoever loses is a barbarian

[This kind of problem is not fatal in the face of Heaven-tier, Earth-tier, or even lower-grade spirit artifacts.]

[Because even for Heaven-tier spirit artifacts, a skilled artifact refiner has ways to reforge their artifact spirits.]

[Or they can simply do without an artifact spirit altogether; the martial artist themselves can act as the spirit, using spiritual energy to control the artifact instead of relying on an artifact spirit.]

[This is because spirit artifacts below the Heaven-tier are not so complex that martial artists cannot comprehend them at all.]

[But immortal artifacts are different.]

[Anything worthy of being called an immortal artifact has a structure beyond normal human comprehension.]

[To put it bluntly, it's like a mountain of spaghetti code. Once the artifact spirit is lost and it stops running, no one can fix it.]

[If immortal artifacts are like this, let alone the even more complex, profound Great Dao Immortal Artifacts, which are even related to achieving immortality.]

[After understanding all this, you recall the images that just flashed before your eyes.]

["Why did the Jiuzhou Cauldron let me see Da Chun? What is it hinting at..."]

Chen Yi, both inside and outside the simulation, thought of it at almost the same time.

"Da Chun is the artifact spirit?!"

This idea was too crazy.

How could a village guardian in a remote little village have anything to do with a Great Dao Immortal Artifact?

"Wait... if Da Chun really is the artifact spirit..."

Chen Yi then thought about the massacre of Luoding Village.

An ordinary little village, almost entirely populated by farmers, was suddenly targeted by a group of professional killers who slaughtered them all.

Could that also be related to Da Chun?

Were they actually trying to kill Da Chun?

But because they didn't know who Da Chun was, they just killed everyone?

However, why would anyone want to kill the artifact spirit of the Jiuzhou Cauldron?

"In the next simulation, I must bring Da Chun to the Jiuzhou Cauldron. Maybe a miracle will happen!"

Just a moment ago, Chen Yi felt that because of the seal, even with the foresight of the simulation, he wouldn't be able to obtain the Jiuzhou Cauldron in the short term.

Now it seemed that might not be the case!

[When the various factions learned that the artifact spirit of the Jiuzhou Cauldron was lost, leaving only an incredibly heavy cauldron body that couldn't perform any functions, they were all very disappointed.]

[After all, even if their own faction couldn't get it, an additional Great Dao Immortal Artifact for the human race would break the balance of power with the demon race.]

[The Sword Master himself also let out a sigh.]

["What a pity. If we had a complete Great Dao Immortal Artifact in our hands, our martial artists of the Five Domains could march into the Great Wilderness and take back the three thousand Heaven-tier spirit veins occupied by the demon race."]

[The other figures standing in the air also expressed their regret.]

["Records regarding Great Dao Immortal Artifacts have been blank for tens of thousands of years. It's truly a shame that one finally appeared, only to be missing its artifact spirit."]

["Currently, the only ones in our human race who possess a Great Dao Immortal Artifact is the Starry Sky Shen Family, who ignore worldly affairs."]

["The Shen Family's Qiankun Mirror isn't complete either. It is severely damaged and frequently goes out of control. Once, when I went to visit the Shen Family, I was almost sent into the turbulent flow of space and time by the Qiankun Mirror."]

[From the casual chat of these big shots, you unexpectedly heard about the Starry Sky Shen Family!]

["Good heavens, Third Brother-in-law is truly incredible! This Starry Sky Shen Family is actually the only faction that possesses a Great Dao Immortal Artifact!"]

[At this moment, you only had one firm thought in your mind.]

[I am Shen Qingshan, and Shen Qingshan is me! Forefather, in the next simulation, you must bring me home!]

[Year 44, 62 years old.]

[The Cauldron Claiming Assembly concluded.]

[Without its artifact spirit, the Jiuzhou Cauldron couldn't even be stored inside a spatial storage artifact.]

[Left with no choice, the Sword Master had to act personally, using a thousand flying swords to carry the Jiuzhou Cauldron back to the Wuji Sword Sect.]

[You and Zhenpin headed to Xiliang.]

[You left the Eastern Wasteland.]

[You crossed the Cangqiong Ridge.]

[You entered the territory of the Central Plains.]

[You crossed the Qing River and passed through your hometown, Baling Commandery in Qingzhou.]

[You took a detour to Baiyun County.]

[Seeing that Da Chun, Third Sister, and the others were living well, you didn't disturb them.]

[It was no longer realistic to bring Da Chun to the Wuji Sword Sect now to test if he was the artifact spirit.]

[He wasn't a martial artist and was now over sixty years old. Although he was free from illness and disaster, he was an old man after all.]

[The journey was long and arduous, with demons roaming about. How to cross mountains and rivers with an old man and how to face the demons would truly be a huge problem.]

[Even if you were Zhao Yun and Da Chun was Adou, and you strapped him to your body to charge in and out of enemy lines seven times, his old bones wouldn't be able to take it.]

[Let's leave it for next time.]

[At least let Da Chun live out this life carefree and without worries.]

[Passing through Divine Weapon Commandery, you discovered that "Divine Monkey Temples" had appeared locally. The temples enshrined a Divine Monkey General and had flourishing incense offerings.]

[Zhenpin, this guy, would worship at every temple he encountered along the way, saying it was a monk's rule.]

[So he bowed to the golden monkey statue.]

[Looking at the appearance of the golden statue, it was clearly the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey.]

[However, you didn't see a statue of the other spirit monkey with four eyes and six ears.]

[You asked around among the locals who came to offer incense.]

[You learned that the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey had been subduing demons and exterminating devils for Divine Weapon Commandery over the years, saving many people.]

[The commoners, grateful for his kindness, sculpted a golden statue for him and enshrined it in the temple to receive incense and prayers.]

[At first, there were very few Divine Monkey Temples.]

[But the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey was someone who couldn't sit still.]

[Whenever the commoners came to offer incense and pray for blessings, muttering about their recent difficulties, the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey would actually show up to help them solve their troubles.]

[From corrupt officials oppressing the commoners to digging a well but failing to find water, the golden monkey could solve it all.]

[He didn't just rely on martial prowess.]

[This monkey's master was the Pavilion Master of the Divine Weapon Pavilion, the leader of one of the Eight Pillars of the Five Domains. This background was massive enough.]

[So, he could also handle worldly affairs and social nuances perfectly.]

[After offering incense, you continued on your journey.]

[Year 47, 65 years old.]

[The Central Plains were vast, and you didn't deliberately speed up your pace.]

[Before you knew it, you had been wandering for three years.]

[During these three years, you also had the Myriad Soul Banner sense the location of the earth veins.]

[Unfortunately, there were no discoveries.]

[The Central Plains were not peaceful nowadays.]

[The Empress of the Southern Frontier was constantly launching northern expeditions, claiming that she was the orthodox ruler of the Central Plains.]

[The Tribal Khan of the Northern Region wanted to march south to capture the dragon, claiming that his ancestors had intermarried with the imperial dynasty of the Central Plains, so his bloodline was also of orthodox royal descent.]

[The Emperor of Great Qian was sitting in his palace, and the label of 'barbarian' fell on him from the sky.]

[When the war situation was tense, the imperial court had proposed peace talks.]

[But the current Empress of the Southern Frontier and the Great Khan of the Northern Region were both extremely aggressive individuals. The peace envoys sent by the imperial court were all slaughtered by them.]

[In short!]

[In the struggle for supremacy over the Central Plains, whoever wins is orthodox, and whoever loses is the barbarian!]

[The imperial court was fighting wars on both the north and south fronts simultaneously, which was extremely strenuous.]

[The lives of the common people in this era of raging war were also destined to be difficult.]

[The only good news was that no matter how the wars were fought, the highest cultivation level of the martial artists appearing on the battlefield would not exceed the Spirit Condensation Realm.]

[This seemed to be some kind of tacit understanding to prevent the war from causing the withering away of the human race's martial arts experts.]

[But the war had to be fought, because some conflicts couldn't be resolved by sitting down and slowly talking it out.]

[As for the martial arts sects, they already had a principle of not participating in the struggles between human regimes, not to mention that right now they were all busy studying the Jiuzhou Cauldron.]