Cat, I'm on fire

Wutong Temple, Underground Palace.

"The Black Cauldron is stirring!"

The body of the white cat trembled, its eyes filled with astonishment, joy, excitement, and confusion.

The Black Cauldron finally reacted to the outside world for the first time.

It wasn't easy, really not easy at all!

Since the Black Cauldron brought him to this world, it had been passively obeying his commands, mechanically refining elixirs as per his requests.

The Black Cauldron had never shown any sign of initiative, lying in its space like stagnant water, obedient to his commands.

Duke had pondered over how to enhance the Black Cauldron's abilities.

Although the Black Cauldron could refine anything into pills, Duke felt its current abilities were not perfect.

First refinement: removing impurities, second refinement: compressing and strengthening.

But Duke felt that the Black Cauldron was only revealing the tip of its capabilities iceberg.

Yet now, the Black Cauldron broke its usual pattern and actively trembled, making requests to Duke.

Obviously, there was something in this grand hall that the Black Cauldron needed.

And that something might be what Duke had been searching for all along - something to enhance the Black Cauldron, to further unleash its potential.

"What is it? What is it?"

Duke's gaze wandered around the hall, and with each movement, the Black Cauldron became more agitated.

Finally, when Duke's gaze locked onto the giant alchemy furnace, the Black Cauldron reached its limit of excitement.

At this moment, the Black Cauldron resembled a hungry beast trapped in a cage, eager to break free and devour the flesh and blood it needed.

"Do you want this alchemy furnace?"

Duke furrowed his brow, then hesitated, "Or is it the flames within this furnace?"

As soon as Duke spoke, the flames inside the Black Cauldron burst out like a volcanic eruption, filling the entire space within the cauldron.

"Alright, it seems to be the flames in this furnace."

Duke confirmed what the Black Cauldron desired, while also wondering, "I've seen flames before, and the Black Cauldron never reacted like this."

"Could it be that the Black Cauldron needs a specific kind of flame, or perhaps it's the legendary Spirit Fire that cultivators in this world often talk about?"

Duke recalled from the miscellaneous records of seeking immortality that Spirit Fires were born with the creation of the world.

They were extraordinary and extremely rare.

Each type of Spirit Fire had unique properties.

For example, the author of the seeking immortality records once encountered a special Spirit Fire that could burn flowing water as fuel.

Once it touched any form of liquid, it would instantly ignite, spreading like wildfire and burning all accessible water sources.

Now, Duke, who had been captivated by the Black Cauldron's waves of desire upon entering the hall, finally took a closer look at the flames in the giant alchemy furnace.

Suddenly, he let out a soft exclamation.

The flames in the furnace are divided into five colors, namely gold, green, blue, red, and yellow. These five colors constitute the flames while also merging and restraining each other.

It's like a citrus with only five segments of flesh, tightly connected yet easily separable.

That's how he feels about the flames in the furnace.

"It seems that the flames in this furnace are one of the celestial spirit fires." Du Ke rubbed his chin, forming a speculation in his mind.

"Could it be that in order to strengthen or unleash the power of the Black Cauldron, one needs to continuously use different spirit fires for the Black Cauldron to absorb?"

"If that's the case..."

Du Ke suddenly fell silent, his mind sinking into the space of the Black Cauldron. He gazed at the Black Cauldron in the space and murmured, "This thing might become an incredibly terrifying devouring beast!"

"Huh?"

Thirteen raised his head, looking at Du Ke with confusion.

Seeing the puzzled look of the dog, Du Ke raised his hand and patted the dog's head, smiling, "It's nothing, everything's fine on my end!"

"What we need to worry about now isn't us."

As Du Ke spoke, he also glanced at the head of Wutong Temple.

The wealthy old Taoist, Wutong Temple's master, was currently standing with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the alchemy furnace.

The expression of the head of Wutong Temple was calm, and his gaze on the furnace was also serene.

Seeing that the head of Wutong Temple was only focusing on the furnace, Du Ke immediately urged Thirteen and said to him, "Let's go around and take a look at the other side of the furnace."

"Be careful, don't cause any disturbance."

"Mm-hmm!"

Thirteen nodded vigorously, tapping his toe and leading Du Ke to the other side of the furnace.

Du Ke gazed at the huge furnace in front of him and couldn't help but exclaim, "This furnace is really huge, I wonder how it was forged."

"These people from Wutong Temple are really damn!"

Du Ke muttered to himself as Thirteen also approached the furnace.

For the dog, since the cat was interested in the big furnace, it might as well get closer.

This way, the cat could see more clearly.

As the dog's woof-woof, he must always consider the cat's feelings.

Who could compare to him in this regard?

Just as Thirteen approached the furnace, Du Ke's Black Cauldron suddenly shook, and immediately the flames in the cauldron directly broke through the space of the Black Cauldron, surging into the boundless void.

At the same moment, Du Ke's face changed drastically, shouting, "Not good, too close!"

The next second,

Du Ke involuntarily opened his mouth, spewing out rolling flames, which instantly surged into the furnace, also aggressively intruding into the flames inside the furnace.

Also at this moment, Du Ke broke free from the state of being one with the light and dust.

In just an instant, the flames in the furnace, like wild beasts invading territory, directly counterattacked the flames of the Black Cauldron.

The spirit fires of five colors rapidly transformed, enveloping the flames of the Black Cauldron for a counterattack.

But the flames of the Black Cauldron suddenly changed, from a long snake-like form to sea urchins, extending countless fiery thorns.

In just an instant, these five-colored spirit fires were pierced from within by the flames of the Black Cauldron.

Du ke and Thirteen watched helplessly as the two flames in the furnace clashed, causing the furnace to tremble incessantly.

"Uh-oh."

Du ke thought to himself that things were not going well, but the Wutong Temple master, who was staring at the huge furnace, remained indifferent, even watching the trembling furnace with indifference.

As if all of this had nothing to do with him.

At this moment, the black cauldron's flames began to retreat, pulling the five-colored flames back with them.

With his mouth agape, Du ke watched as the black cauldron's flames quickly returned to his own body.

In just a moment, the flames in the furnace were pulled back into Du ke's body by the black cauldron's flames.

In contrast, as soon as Du ke swallowed all the flames, he felt an inexplicable restlessness spreading throughout his body.

Not only that, but this restlessness intensified with time.

Du ke's flawless hair shimmered with a faint red hue, and the demonic energy within him was stirred up by the flames, erupting directly.

Boom!!

At the moment of the demonic energy's eruption, Thirteen, carrying a cat, was directly blown away by Du ke's erupting demonic energy, and a plume of smoke rose from Du ke's head towards the dome of the hall.

Unable to control his body, Du ke could only watch helplessly as his hair radiated sparks and then burst into flames with a whoosh.

The plume of smoke above Du ke's head also began to burn, turning into a column of flames towering above him.

"Damn it, if you're going to swallow the Spirit Fire, can't you do it quietly?"

Du ke grumbled inwardly, and Thirteen, who was blown away by his erupting demonic energy, quickly got up from the ground, shook his head, and then ran towards Du ke.

"Don't come near!"

Du ke shouted, stopping the dog, "I'm in a very bad state right now, you'd better stay away from me!"

As Du ke spoke, the black cauldron in the black cauldron's space also began to hum, and as the cauldron vibrated, tiny fragments fell from its surface.

The flames in the cauldron returned victorious, but instead of returning to the cauldron immediately, they expanded throughout the entire black cauldron's space.

Sizzle...

The sound of flames burning echoed continuously in the black cauldron's space, and the boundaries of the black cauldron's space expanded along with it.

As the black cauldron's space expanded, Du ke's body also began to tremble violently.

He could feel that with the expansion of the black cauldron's space, his physical strength, his blood, and his inner energy were being consumed frantically.

No, it was not consumption, but rather, they were being burned!

The cat, now covered in flames, roared in pain with its mouth open.

Unable to move, he could only let the flames of the black cauldron burn and roast him.

The roar echoed through the hall, but the Wutong Temple master seemed to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to it all.

But just because he turned a blind eye to it didn't mean others would do the same.

Just as Du ke had just caused a stir, the supervising elder rushed into the hall, and as soon as he entered the hall, he looked directly at Du ke.

Seeing Duke, whose body was burning with eerie flames and with demonic aura swirling above his head, the elder of Wutong Temple couldn't help but reveal a mix of astonishment and realization, swiftly followed by hatred.

"You cursed spirit cat, how dare you show yourself!"

"Today, I'll make sure you don't escape death!"

The elder of Wutong Temple, with his robes billowing without wind, took a step towards Duke, but just as he began to move, Duke turned his head and stared directly into his eyes.

"Boom!"

As the elder of Wutong Temple witnessed Duke's change in expression, a sense of warning arose within him. However, before he could react, the Sun Essence Pellet hidden in his bosom cracked open.

With a crack, violent golden flames surged out, engulfing the elder of Wutong Temple in an instant, unleashing an unparalleled impact that swept him away.

The golden flames flashed through the hall, and the elder of Wutong Temple immediately turned into a ball of fire.

"The True Fire of Sun..." a sigh sounded, and Duke couldn't help but turn towards the direction of the voice, a hint of killing intent in his eyes. "So what?"

"Nothing much, just admiring your skill, sir."

The Master of Wutong Temple had already strolled over by the furnace.

At this moment, the body of the elder of Wutong Temple had turned into a charred corpse. Even a congenital warrior, under the close range and the full force of the Sun Essence Pellet, could only meet a dead end.

Glancing at the still burning corpse of the elder of Wutong Temple, the Master of Wutong Temple shook his head and stepped over the body towards Duke.

"Wuwuwu!!"

Thirteen immediately rushed out, standing in front of Duke, his body tense, his eyes fierce as he snarled at the Master of Wutong Temple.

"What, do you also want to taste the True Fire of Sun?"

While enduring the burning of the black cauldron, Duke kept his eyes fixed on the Master of Wutong Temple.

However, the Master of Wutong Temple shook his head, saying calmly, "Besides having a talent for communicating with spirits, I'm just an ordinary mortal!"

"If I were to be your enemy, I'm afraid I would die too quickly."

"What will you do then?"

"I want you to help me thank the one behind you."

The Master of Wutong Temple's expression became unusually sincere as he said this.

"Thank the one who rescued me, the Master of Wutong, from the depths of misery."