Chapter 271: The Secret of the Alchemy Cauldron

“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, not knowing what exactly Tianxuanzi was up to.

“It seems you’ve already discovered the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tianxuanzi frowned.

“You know about it too!” Yang Hao had thought he was the only one who had heard of it.

“That’s because there’s a secret recorded in the ancient texts of the Dan Ding Sect.”

Tianxuanzi sighed deeply, “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding Sect. We used to take great pride in it, but who could have imagined that it would ultimately lead to our sect’s destruction.”

Yunhezi added, “This secret has always been accessible only to the successive sect leaders. Although your master, Hunyuanzi, became the sect leader, he encountered the catastrophe shortly after taking office, so he never even got to see the secret texts.”

“What is it?” Hunyuanzi became very curious. He had once been just one step away from unraveling the mystery of the sect leader’s texts, but everything was destroyed by the Supreme Being, and even the sacred texts were taken away.

Tianxuanzi was lost in thought for a while, his gaze fixed on the green grass beneath his feet, as if it held his memories from the texts. After a moment of contemplation, Tianxuanzi finally spoke:

“It’s about the method of becoming the Supreme God…”

“What?!” Yang Hao and Hunyuanzi exclaimed in unison.

The method of becoming the Supreme God? Was it truly recorded in the sacred texts of the Dan Ding Sect?

This was too incredible. Becoming the Creator God was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved again after the Creator God’s demise billions of years ago. How could such a secret be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s texts?

If such a method truly existed, why hadn’t any of the ancestors of the Dan Ding Sect ever become the Supreme God?

As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tianxuanzi said, “Possessing the method does not ensure success. Every ancestor of the Dan Ding Sect after ascending devoted themselves to this goal, yet they always failed at the final hurdle. I came closest among all generations, but I’m still light-years away from attaining the Supreme God’s power.”

“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao supported Tianxuanzi and sat cross-legged on the grass.

Tianxuanzi covered his chest with his hand. Whether it was due to injuries from resisting the heavenly tribulation earlier or emotional distress from recalling the past, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of, known to outsiders as the Creator or the Maker, has countless names. Yet all beings in this world revere him as the supreme being because he created this world. Although the Supreme God possesses immense power, he is still subject to the laws of life and death. After his demise, the majority of his power was sealed in a mysterious location, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless parallel universes.”

“In other words, if we can find the Supreme God’s energy, we can become the new Supreme God.” Yang Hao naturally had thought of this already. The star map behind him was the very map indicating where that power could be found.

“Do you really believe that possessing the star map alone is sufficient to become the Supreme God?” Tianxuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young grand-disciple, you are mistaken—gravely mistaken. The wisdom of the Supreme God is delicately and intricately interwoven, without the slightest loophole. Naturally, he wouldn’t leave such an opportunity to just one individual. Nearly every thousand years, in each parallel universe, a so-called heir to the Creator God appears. This person might have the chance to obtain the star map, but that’s all it grants. For instance, in our universe, the heirs of the Supreme God have almost exclusively originated from the Dan Ding Sect. I possess the star map, Yunhezi has it, Hunyuanzi holds it, and so do you.”

Yang Hao was stunned—completely stunned.

He had originally thought that both Hunyuanzi and himself being heirs to the Creator God was already a remarkable coincidence, bordering on miraculous. But he never imagined that the world could become even more coincidental—every thousand years, an heir emerges, all within the Dan Ding Sect.

But upon further reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s first patriarch himself was an heir who had learned certain secrets. Since then, the sect had deliberately selected heirs of the Creator God to serve as its successive leaders, ensuring that this secret would never be leaked outside the sect. And should someone truly inherit the position of the Supreme God, the Dan Ding Sect would then endure forever.

Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom and foresight of the Dan鼎 Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god within his own weapon, but he had also made such extensive long-term plans—it was truly remarkable.

Yet even the most brilliant person could make mistakes. The ancient ancestor who had calculated everything for ten thousand years hadn’t anticipated that one day, the Supreme Being would destroy the Dan Ding Sect and steal the sacred texts.

“This was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor considered every possible scenario, yet he never imagined that a powerful figure from another universe would appear,” Tianxuanzi said.

“Another universe?” Even Hunyuanzi gasped in surprise. He had fought the Supreme Being before and although he lost, he hadn’t noticed the Supreme Being’s ability to cross universes. That person seemed to have only truly become a celestial being later on.

“The first patriarch of the Dan Ding Sect left instructions that almost all the heirs of the Supreme God in our universe were gathered into our sect, ensuring that no unexpected incidents would occur,” Tianxuanzi clearly knew more of the facts. “But nothing is ever perfect. The Supreme Being was an heir from another universe. He might have been caught in a major conflict within his own universe and was blasted through space-time by a powerful force, entering our universe with his strength reduced to only a fraction of what it once was.

From my estimation, he might have once reached the level of a Golden Immortal, which explains why his cultivation path was so smooth.”

Hunyuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme Being had indeed once been a Golden Immortal, then Hunyuanzi’s defeat didn’t seem so disgraceful after all—he hadn’t even reached the level of a loose immortal before.

No one knows how the Supreme Being discovered that our Dan Ding Sect possessed a sacred text detailing the method to become the Creator God. Therefore, he settled in this universe, meticulously planning for many years, waiting for the perfect moment when one sect leader had ascended and the next had not yet assumed leadership, before launching a sudden, full-scale attack.

“But if everyone is an heir, and we have the sacred texts, why hasn’t anyone successfully obtained the Creator God’s power?”

“We all have obtained the Creator God’s power,” Tianxuanzi’s answer was profound. “From the moment we were born, we’ve carried the Creator God’s energy. Every living being, every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator God’s power. Therefore, our strength is essentially the Creator God’s strength. We haven’t become new Creator Gods not because we lack cultivation, but because we haven’t yet found the majority of the Creator God’s sealed power hidden in a secret location.”

“If so many generations have failed to find it?”

“You lack sufficient power to even open the door to the treasure,” Tianxuanzi said solemnly. “The sacred texts passed down in the Dan Ding Sect actually teach us how to gather enough energy quickly to locate the secret treasure.”

“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapidly seizing power bring side effects?”

“Worse than side effects—it could destroy the entire world,” Tianxuanzi’s face turned pale yet resolute. He placed his hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, my young grand-disciple, although the ancestors of the Dan Ding Sect were often labeled as heretics, they were all righteous individuals. They restrained their desires to protect the continued existence of this world. They weren’t incapable of becoming Creator Gods—they simply could not bear to.”

“Couldn’t bear to?”

“Exactly. Couldn’t bear to.” Tianxuanzi closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “The sacred text clearly records a method—a shortcut to rapidly gain power. According to this method, within just a few years, one could quickly ascend to the level of a Golden Immortal.”

“Just like the Supreme Being?” A chill ran down Yang Hao’s spine.

“Yes,” Tianxuanzi said. “I will teach you this method. Whether or not you use it will depend entirely on your conscience.”

Yang Hao’s posture stiffened. Perhaps it was just too much information for one day.

“The fastest way to seize power,” Tianxuanzi lowered his voice, speaking slowly, “is to plunder the power of the stars themselves. As the great secret states, all the stars and galaxies in this universe are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power, albeit only a small portion of it. Yet even this small portion is enough to dominate the universe. Therefore, our first ancestor discovered that by absorbing the power of all the stars in the universe, one would essentially be absorbing a part of the Supreme God’s energy, allowing for rapid cultivation.”

Yang Hao was stunned. This was an unimaginable method of cultivation—plundering the energy of stars. Was that even something humans could do?

Hunyuanzi, naturally more experienced than Yang Hao, quickly grasped the crux of the matter.

“If the power of the stars is completely drained, what will happen to those stars?” Hunyuanzi asked.

“The only result would be death,” Tianxuanzi said expressionlessly. “Stars drained of their power would become lifeless and inert. All life on those stars—humans, other creatures, everything—would perish. The stars would cease their eternal cycles of rotation, never again producing any form of life.”

Suddenly, Yang Hao recalled a strange phenomenon in the universe—the death of stars.

This phenomenon had existed for many years, even before Yang Hao was born. Entire stars had gradually begun to die out. According to the laws of physics, the universe would eventually die in a state of heat death, but that would be the death of the entire universe, not just individual stars or galaxies.

Take, for example, the Milky Way Galaxy, the birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy contains over two hundred billion stars, yet it had completely died hundreds of years ago. These stars had no energy, no heat or light, and could no longer cause the surrounding planets to rotate. The entire galaxy had fallen into an era of absolute zero.

To keep the dead Milky Way Galaxy functioning, the Brain King installed thermonuclear devices on many of its stars and mobilized energy from across the universe to provide special propulsion, allowing the galaxy to function normally under the Brain King’s control.

This history was recorded in every textbook of the Empire, and people had long become accustomed to it. But now the question was—how had the Milky Way Galaxy died?

Logically, a galaxy’s life cycle should be extremely long. To them, even billions of years would be but a fleeting moment. Yet why had the Milky Way Galaxy completely lost all life within just a few hundred years?

Yang Hao had never understood this before. But now, after hearing Tianxuanzi’s words, he finally realized—the entire Milky Way Galaxy had had its energy sucked dry by someone.

It was terrifying.

The Supreme Being, determined to uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s great secret, plotted meticulously.

After becoming the leader of the righteous sects, he ruthlessly annihilated the Danding Sect led by Hunyuanzi. With the sacred texts now in his possession, it was easy to imagine how elated the Supreme Being must have been. He was almost too eager to put into practice the method recorded within those texts.

That method was enough to kill an entire galaxy, even wiping out all life within it. Although the丹鼎 Sect’s ancestors were often called heretics, not a single one had ever dared to attempt it—they had remained resolutely righteous.

Yet it was precisely the leader of the righteous sect who used it without hesitation.

The Supreme Being’s eagerness had reached its peak. He couldn’t even endure waiting for a few more days, let alone spend time cultivating and gaining the ability to travel to other galaxies.

Thus, the Supreme Being chose the Milky Way Galaxy as his first target.

The only sliver of rationality in his mind was that he spared the Earth, the place where he himself lived. All other stars and star clusters in the Milky Way became sources of power for him.

No one knows how long it took, but one by one, those star systems withered. The brilliant star clusters lost their colors. The entire Milky Way Galaxy rapidly died under the Supreme Being’s frenzied absorption.

The丹鼎 Sect’s method of stealing stellar energy was indeed powerful, but it had a major flaw—it was extremely wasteful. The majority of the stellar energy was lost uselessly, with only a small fraction being absorbed for personal use.

To become even more powerful, the Supreme Being grew increasingly frenzied in his absorption of stellar energy. Eventually, he realized that the entire Milky Way Galaxy, aside from Earth, had been entirely stripped of all life and energy.

He himself had also entered a state of terrifying stillness—a lifeless void devoid of any warmth, light, or even the faintest breeze.

The Supreme Being finally understood the terrifying nature of this method, but by then it was too late. Like a drug addict tasting the sweetness of narcotics for the first time, he had already fallen too deep to escape.

This was why, aside from Earth, there were no longer any intelligent life forms in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Supreme Being’s experiment had wiped out all intelligent life except for humans in one fell swoop.

Billions upon billions of living beings perished at the hands of the Supreme Being. He had become the most bloodthirsty and cruel killer in the world.

Although most of the stellar energy was wasted, the portion absorbed by the Supreme Being was already enough to transform him into a loose immortal and allow him to unify all cultivation sects on Earth.

That was enough. For a first attempt, the Supreme Being had already achieved everything he desired.

Since then, the Supreme Being began his path to dominate the entire universe. He used the opportunity of the divine and demonic war to seal away all the immortals and gods, then supported the rise of the Galactic Empire’s royal family, spreading the empire’s influence far and wide, almost bringing the entire universe under his control.

What exactly was the Supreme Being trying to do?

Why did he need to control the entire universe and conquer so many planets? Was it merely to satisfy his lust for power?

Tianxuanzi’s words today finally allowed Yang Hao to understand what the Supreme Being had been doing all these years—it was a secret so dark, so unforgivable.

That old monster was like a vampire, sucking the very blood from the universe.

According to official reports from the Galactic Empire, the entire northern region of the universe had already completely died.

This indicated that over the years, the Supreme Being had already drained countless star systems in the north, absorbing the energy of countless stars. All the intelligent life, all the creatures, all those once-beautiful and brilliant stars had been destroyed by the Supreme Being.

He became a flying immortal, expanding his power at an astonishing rate—but it came at the cost of a quarter of the universe’s life.

Thinking of this, Yang Hao couldn’t help but shudder. He could imagine the Supreme Being like a blood-sucking scorpion, clinging to the universe and greedily sucking away its life force. As for the fate of humanity and other life forms in the universe, he didn’t care at all. Even if this universe was destroyed, the Supreme Being would simply move on to another, treating each universe as a mere stepping stone toward his ultimate goal of becoming the Supreme God.

Seeing Yang Hao lost in thought, his face pale, Tianxuanzi simultaneously implanted into Yang Hao’s mind the very method recorded in the sacred texts—the same method that had caused so many Dan Ding Sect ancestors to hesitate.

But this heavy consciousness was like a knife, piercing Yang Hao’s heart.

He wanted to oppose the Supreme Being, but did that mean he had to become like the Supreme Being, a hideous blood-sucking scorpion that drained the life from the universe? Could he really ignore the lives of others and use their existence as a stepping stone for his own success?

Yang Hao wanted victory, but if all his friends and everything he loved were gone, what meaning would that victory hold?

If he had to do the same hideous things as the Supreme Being to achieve ultimate victory, wouldn’t Yang Hao become just like the Supreme Being? Even if only one of them remained after their battle, the universe would see no difference.

These thoughts churned in Yang Hao’s mind, leaving him restless and unable to decide what to do.

Just at this moment, a sudden burst of divine light appeared in the sky.

This light came from far to the south. No one knew what kind of divine artifact it was, but its radiance covered the entire universe.

Yang Hao was startled and turned his gaze southward.

The divine light seen by Yang Hao and the others was emanating from Xinkui’s hands on an unnamed planet in the southern universe.

Shi Mingyuan, Lan Ling, and Xinkui—these three women were already in a very dangerous situation. The platform at the summit of the mountain they were on had long been overrun by countless Supreme Church followers. The space left for the three of them was less than ten square meters. They were completely surrounded, only able to hold their ground by standing back-to-back.

Their strength was limited, but their enemies seemed endless in number. The three women could barely hold on, relying solely on the power in their hands.

Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan were both experts at the Saint Realm level. To them, those Church followers were insignificant. But the problem was, even if they could kill one or two, it still required effort.

They could kill hundreds or even thousands, but after seeing so many blood-soaked corpses, even they began to feel their hands tremble. Yet the Church followers, already brainwashed, kept charging forward recklessly, using their bodies to carve a bloody path.

Xinkui was in an even worse situation than Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan. Although Xinkui was a goddess and had once shared a body with Yang Hao in the Hidden Divine Realm, if it came to innate power, even combining Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan’s strength multiplied several times over wouldn’t match Xinkui’s. However, the divine race bore divine restrictions. Now that she had left the Hidden Divine Realm, her power had been sealed a hundredfold. To ordinary eyes, she might not even be considered a swordsman.

The only thing she could rely on was the divine artifact in her hands—the silver axe, whose origin and power remained a mystery.

Although the divine artifact was powerful, Xinkui was nearly out of strength to wield it. The Church followers seemed to have realized that Xinkui was the weakest link and concentrated their attacks on her.

Xinkui sighed deeply. This was truly a moment of crisis. Without the divine restrictions, she could have destroyed the entire planet in an instant. Yet now, she was cornered by these insignificant beings.

With no choice left, Xinkui had to abandon her principles and unleash the true power of the divine artifact.

With all her strength, she raised the divine axe high and recited a strange incantation.

This incantation was truly strange, sounding ancient and profound. It didn’t seem to belong to any known intelligent species. Each syllable was like a massive bell striking the soul, causing the heart to tremble.

If any ancient dragon race were present, they would have been shocked, for the incantation Xinkui had just recited was a dragon language spell. These spells were bestowed by ancient dragons specifically for high-ranking dragon clans. In this world, only black dragons and silver dragons could use them.

Yet now, Xinkui had recited it effortlessly.

She merely recited it without any real magical power, but the power of the dragon language spell erupted from the silver axe in her hand.

It was a dragon’s roar.

A mighty and magnificent dragon’s roar suddenly erupted from the small silver spear, startling the two Saint Realm experts nearby. Fortunately, the roar wasn’t aimed at them, or even they would have suffered greatly.

But now, the suffering belonged to the surrounding Church followers.

Dragon language magic contained many powerful spells, but for mass attacks, nothing was more effective than a dragon’s roar. A dragon’s roar once sealed in Yang Hao’s divine ring had killed over a hundred magical beasts at once, a scene so horrifying it was unforgettable.

The biggest flaw of a dragon’s roar was that it spread its power evenly like peanut butter, making it relatively weak against individual targets. Therefore, it wasn’t the best choice against opponents with strong inherent power.

But now, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

The Church followers relied solely on their numbers, and each individual’s power was actually quite ordinary—some were even ordinary humans with no martial arts skills at all.

As the dragon’s roar spread, thousands of Church followers on the mountaintop platform simultaneously had their skulls exploded by the immense sound wave.

To an outside observer, it might seem as though the sound wave from the roar was so powerful that everyone on the platform exploded at the same time. In reality, it wasn’t like that at all. Lan Ling and the others barely heard the sound of the dragon’s roar.

Dragons have always been beings of immense spiritual power, and their divine techniques naturally relied on spiritual force. The power of a dragon’s roar wasn’t in its volume but in the spiritual wave it emitted. Only the intended targets could hear that deadly sound.

This spiritual wave was too powerful. It was beyond the capacity of ordinary human brains to withstand, so all those thousands of people had their heads explode simultaneously.

Thousands of headless corpses fell to the ground, their blood flowing like a river, seeping through the cracks in the rocks and gushing down the mountain. The people still desperately climbing the mountain were drenched in blood before they even reached the summit, becoming blood-soaked figures.

Although these people were drenched in blood like rain, the Church’s orders had long since overcome their fear, so they kept climbing recklessly, using dozens of lives as the price to allow one person to stand on the mountaintop platform.

But on the platform itself, these Church followers encountered the most terrifying scene of their lives.

It was like hell itself—no, even worse than hell.

Everywhere were headless corpses, blood and brains mixed with shattered skulls, forming a blood-soaked muddy swamp. To charge forward, they had to step through this swamp-like mire.

But this was the brain matter of their own comrades.

Those who thought themselves as steadfast as stone, who had long worshipped the Supreme Being as more important than their own lives, began vomiting uncontrollably. The smell of fresh brain matter floating in the air made them feel that in the next second, their own brains would also be added to the swamp.

Although the Supreme Church had its own doctrines and rules, even if someone violated the Supreme Being’s holy orders, the punishment was having their head exploded by thunderbolts.

But today, they had already witnessed thunderbolts from five directions, and now they were experiencing head explosions. These were the most terrifying things imaginable.

Even the most foolish and fanatical Church followers felt the greatest fear in the world—they dared not take another step forward.

Lan Ling leaned on her silver spear, gasping for breath. The piles of corpses made her feel nauseous, but compared to death, a little nausea was nothing.

“So powerful,” Lan Ling panted, looking at Xinkui.

“It’s not me—it’s this,” Xinkui smiled bitterly, shaking the silver axe.

“What kind of divine artifact is this?” Shi Mingyuan asked in confusion. “Judging by its appearance, it seems even more powerful than the Creator God’s divine artifacts. Has such a divine artifact ever existed in this world?”

Xinkui fell silent and shook her head. “I’ll tell you when we survive.”

“Are those people still daring to approach?” Shi Mingyuan disdainfully pointed at the Church followers. “They’re just mindless puppets, but even puppets know fear.”

“They won’t dare, but there are others.” Xinkui looked up, somewhat dazed. “Look, the real opponents are coming.”

Shi Mingyuan and Lan Ling also looked up. Their real opponents had indeed arrived.

In the sky, twenty-two figures appeared. They flew directly from outer space with clear intent, landing precisely on the mountaintop platform. Obviously, their target was that divine artifact.

Lan Ling’s heart sank the moment she saw them—sinking to the very bottom.

Because she recognized all of them, knew them well, and understood their strength.

Among them were twenty elders dressed in dark purple robes—the twenty most senior elders of the Elder Council. During the battle at Elder Mountain, nearly half of the elders were defeated by Yang Hao, but these twenty had survived, proving their formidable power.

The other two, a man and a woman dressed in black robes, made Lan Ling feel immediate despair. If it were just the twenty elders, the three of them might not be able to win, but there would still be a chance to fight their way out.

But with these two present, there was nothing more to say. Their fate was no longer in their own hands—even dying would be difficult.

Descending from the sky were Elder Rongtong and Elder Heifeng—the two stewards, whose cold, piercing gazes locked onto Lan Ling, making her feel as if needles were pricking her back.

“Kill!” Heifeng raised his hand and slashed downward.

The twenty elders immediately rushed forward. They must have been observing the battlefield from the sky for some time, thoroughly analyzing the strength of the three women.

Moreover, their main target was the silver axe, so the twenty elders each had their own roles.

Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan each faced two elders. Even though they were slightly stronger than ordinary Saint Realm experts, they were still suppressed by the elders, unable to move freely and unable to provide more help to Xinkui. What was even more terrifying was that the stewards had actually assigned sixteen elders to deal with Xinkui.

This was almost absurdly unreasonable. A Saint Realm elder was already a top-tier expert in the universe, killing a swordsman as easily as squashing a mosquito. Yet against someone like Xinkui, who wasn’t even at the swordsman level, they had deployed no fewer than sixteen elders.

But Xinkui’s spirit soared. This woman thrived when faced with stronger opponents. Although her divine power was sealed, she was still a goddess, and the divine race had its own pride. How could she be intimidated by a few Saint Realm experts?

As the sixteen elders surrounded her, Xinkui’s eyes flashed with sharp light. She gripped the silver axe, and immediately, divine domain light flickered from the axe.

This shocked the elders greatly. After all, only gods and immortals possessed divine domain light, and in the current world, only the Supreme Being possessed such immense power.

Yet now, divine domain light was emanating from this axe.

Before the elders could recover from their shock, Xinkui had already unleashed two devastating axe strikes with incredible speed.

It was an axe technique that wove together time and space, so exquisite that even Hed’s golden-cutting slash seemed like child’s play in comparison.

Two elders were cut down by these world-shaking axe strikes. Their four severed bodies collapsed lifelessly, their rotting internal organs spilling onto the ground. The remaining twelve elders stared in stunned disbelief.

But Xinkui had already exhausted her strength with those two axe strikes. Her face turned deathly pale, and despair filled her eyes. Those two axe techniques shouldn’t have been possible for her to execute, but in such a desperate situation, she had no other choice.