Chapter 540 - 474: Mountains and Rivers Awaken!

A moment later, a deep, heavy hum that seemed to carry the vicissitudes of eternity emanated from deep within the cauldron.

"BUZZ..."

The hum was not loud, but it caused the entire Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple to tremble. The withered leaves clinging to the dead tree’s branches rustled down, twirling in midair, reluctant to fall to the ground for a long time.

The Mountain River Cauldron had awakened. This was not the half-asleep, half-awake state of weak spiritual nature from before, but a true, complete awakening with its consciousness fully returned.

"Fourteenth Brother!" Cai Shen’s voice pitched up, his spiritual nature violently fluctuating as he nearly burst out from his own cauldron.

The Mountain River Cauldron did not respond to his call. On the body of the cauldron, the divine dragon with the most proudly raised head slowly turned its gaze. Brilliant light flickered in its dragon eyes as it swept over the courtyard, the dead tree, and the dark blue figure beneath the tree. Finally, its gaze fixed upon Qi Yun.

Qi Yun slowly opened his eyes and met the divine dragon’s gaze. He didn’t speak, simply watching it quietly.

A moment later, the divine dragon slightly lowered its head. It was a posture of submission. An Imperial Soldier submitting to a True Monarch.

Qi Yun accepted this with equanimity. He slowly stood up, walked over to the Mountain River Cauldron, raised his hand, and gently rested his palm against it. Primordial multicolored intent flowed from his palm like the gentlest spring water, silently seeping into the depths of the cauldron. Wherever this multicolored intent passed, the Profound Yellow aura that had previously only been slowly circulating on the cauldron’s surface suddenly became lively, as if injected with new vitality.

The Mountain River Cauldron trembled slightly, emitting a comfortable hum. The nine divine dragons all raised their heads. Their dragon roars were much louder than before, shaking the entire Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple.

"From now on, you will follow by my side," Qi Yun said flatly, retracting his hand.

The Mountain River Cauldron trembled again, and the nine divine dragons on its body nodded in unison.

Watching from the side, Cai Shen’s eyes grew hot, but he didn’t say anything. He knew this was the best destination for his Fourteenth Brother. Following by Qi Yun’s side was not only completely safe, but it also allowed him to rely on the Primordial Power to nourish his spiritual nature. Given time, restoring the might of his prime would not be an extravagant hope.

"Fourteenth Brother," Cai Shen’s voice sounded with a hint of caution. "Do you... do you still remember what happened back then? Who placed the Seal on you? Why did they do it?"

The Mountain River Cauldron fell silent. The swimming motions of the nine divine dragons on its body also came to a halt.

"BUZZ..."

An extremely faint, blurry will emanated from deep within the cauldron. The will was intermittent, like a flickering candle in the wind that could go out at any moment, but both Qi Yun and Cai Shen clearly perceived its contents.

"They... were afraid I would know."

"Know what?" Cai Shen pressed.

The Mountain River Cauldron fell silent again. This time, the silence lasted even longer. Just when Cai Shen thought it wouldn’t answer—

"Your Majesty... did not perish from a depleted lifespan."

Nine words. Intermittent as they were, these words exploded like a clap of thunder within Qi Yun and Cai Shen’s Heart and Spirit!

Your Majesty did not perish from a depleted lifespan? What did that mean?

Qi Yun’s pupils contracted slightly. Multicolored intent spun madly in his eyes as he used the Dao of Primordial to deduce with all his might. However, the result of his deduction was sheer chaos. It wasn’t being obscured, but rather... he simply didn’t have enough "information" to make the deduction. Those events had happened far, far too long ago. So long ago that only fragments remained in the ancient texts and secret records of the Profound Yellow Origin Realm. So long ago that even True Monarchs only knew the surface of what happened, but not the underlying truth.

"Fourteenth Brother!" Cai Shen’s voice grew tight. "Explain yourself! Your Majesty... didn’t perish from a depleted lifespan? Could it be?!"

The Mountain River Cauldron did not answer. On the cauldron, the divine dragon with the proudest head gently shook it in Qi Yun’s direction. It wasn’t a refusal, but rather... it couldn’t be said. Or perhaps, it didn’t dare to say.

Qi Yun remained silent for a moment before slowly nodding. "There is no rush," he said flatly. "It won’t be too late to talk about this once you’ve fully recovered."

The Mountain River Cauldron trembled slightly, and its nine divine dragons nodded in unison.

Cai Shen opened his mouth to speak but ultimately swallowed his words. He knew Qi Yun was right. Fourteenth Brother had just awakened, and though his spiritual nature had returned, he was still incredibly weak. Pressing him for secrets that had been buried in the dust for eternity at this moment would only add insult to injury.

"That’s enough." Qi Yun flicked his sleeve and turned, walking back under the dead tree to sit cross-legged once more. "You brothers haven’t seen each other in a long time. Catch up."

Cai Shen hastily agreed, his spiritual nature sinking into the Mountain River Cauldron. The nine divine dragons swam across the cauldron’s surface with even greater vigor, and the brilliance in their eyes grew even brighter. The auras of the two Imperial Soldiers, sharing the same origin, intertwined, echoing and nourishing each other, forming a heartwarming scene in this small courtyard.

Qi Yun watched this quietly, the multicolored intent swirling in his eyes. It was unclear what he was thinking. A moment later, he retracted his gaze and closed his eyes again.

But this time, he did not fall into dead silence. Instead, he sank his Heart and Spirit deep into his Purple Mansion to begin something he had been planning for a long time: refining that wisp of remnant thought.

Midnight on the forty-sixth day.

The moon was hidden, the stars were submerged, and all was dead silent. The Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple was shrouded in a darkness so thick it was almost solid. The Profound Yellow luster on the Mountain River Cauldron was the only source of light in this darkness.

Qi Yun sat cross-legged beneath the dead tree, his eyes half-closed, the aura around him as dormant as a hibernating snake. But deep within his Purple Mansion, things were boiling.

That grayish-white wisp of remnant thought that had been sealed for a long time was currently floating in the center of his Purple Mansion, wrapped in endless layers of chaotic, multicolored intent. The multicolored intent acted like countless invisible tentacles, cautiously probing into the depths of the remnant thought to untangle those polluted, sealed, and forgotten fragments of memory. It was an extremely delicate and dangerous process. The slightest carelessness would trigger the hidden traps within the remnant thought, leading to unimaginable consequences.

But Qi Yun didn’t flinch. He had waited a very long time for this day.

"BUZZ—"

The remnant thought trembled slightly. The frozen, broken images slowly began to flow at an incredibly slow and weak frequency. A towering ancient city, a high-hanging plaque, faintly discernible Sword Intent... Everything was coming back to "life" in a terrifying manner.

Qi Yun’s Heart and Spirit firmly locked onto these images, refusing to miss a single detail. He saw it. He saw that behind the gates of that ancient city were not the palaces and pavilions he had imagined, but a stretch of nothingness. A pure, absolute nothingness that seemed capable of devouring everything. And in the deepest part of that nothingness, something was slumbering.

Qi Yun couldn’t make out what it was. He could only vaguely perceive that a terrifying Sword Intent, one that made even his heart palpitate, circulated around the entity.

Qi Yun’s heart stirred. Just as he was about to probe deeper—

"BUZZ."

The remnant thought violently trembled. Its grayish-white halo abruptly dimmed, and the broken images instantly froze, as if held down by an invisible giant hand, unable to flow any further.

The refinement was interrupted. It wasn’t a failure; rather, the will deep within the remnant thought had actively severed the connection.

Qi Yun slowly opened his eyes, the multicolored intent in them slightly receding, but he showed no signs of disappointment. Looking down at the grayish-white halo in his palm, the corners of his mouth curled into a faint smile.

"Unwilling to show your face?" he muttered under his breath.

The remnant thought remained silent. Only its grayish-white halo pulsed a bit faster than before, seemingly responding, yet also like it was silently agreeing.

Qi Yun didn’t say anything more and stored the remnant thought back into his sleeve. He didn’t attempt to refine it again, because he knew that this wisp of remnant thought was not ownerless. It had its own will and its own plans. Forcibly refining it would only backfire. It would be better to sit back and watch how things played out.

Meanwhile, in the outer void of the Outer Realm, deep within the endless darkness.

That cold, indifferent gaze, filled with condescending scrutiny, lit up once more. It pierced through layers of the void, through that Seal Dao Pattern, through the Profound Yellow luster of the Mountain River Cauldron, and through the layers of Restrictions around the Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple. Finally, it fell upon the dark blue figure sitting cross-legged beneath the dead tree.

There was neither hostility nor goodwill in this gaze—only a pure, emotionless scrutiny. A moment later, the gaze shifted slightly, looking towards a certain direction further away. That place was the dojo of the World Honored One. An extremely faint, almost imperceptible chill seemed to flash through its gaze.

Then, it looked in another direction. That place was True Monarch Shen Yi’s Longevity Immortal Island. The chill in its gaze deepened a fraction more.

But ultimately, it didn’t do anything. It merely "watched" quietly, like an invisible, sharp sword hanging above the nine heavens, waiting for the moment to be unsheathed.

Then, the gaze slowly retracted. The nothingness returned to dead silence. Only the extremely faint aftertaste of Sword Intent drifted slowly through the void, like some sort of silent declaration.