Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 265 Medicine Cauldron

药鼎

After Jingzhou City was taken over, Mo Yuming fulfilled some of his promises to Wu Yan and his advisors' families, preserving their family assets and allowing them to continue doing business in Jingzhou. However, they would no longer enjoy the privileges they had previously enjoyed as advisors to the city lord; all their treatment would be the same as that of ordinary merchants. As for Wu Yan, after being stripped of his position as city lord, he was given some shops and private property. As long as he didn't squander it, he would be well-off for life. The symbolic sword with its gold-threaded dragon-skin scabbard was not to be left to him. Although it was only a low-grade spiritual treasure, it had always been a legacy of the Jingzhou city lord. Therefore, it was impossible for it to remain within the Wu family. The Jingzhou City Lord's Mansion was naturally also taken over by the Great Xia government. Some of Wu Qing's collections in the mansion were also confiscated as public property. Naturally, all these arrangements were handled by the newly established prefectural officials.

Mo Yuming was currently in a secret room, practicing the Wu family's swordsmanship with the sword in a scabbard adorned with gold thread and dragon skin. Both Wu Qing and his son were cultivators of the metal-based profound arts, and Wu Qing, in particular, possessed remarkable strength at the third level of the Heavenly Realm.

This secret chamber, built beneath the city lord's mansion, was a specially treated training room discovered by county officials during an inventory of the mansion's materials. Ji Xianlin entered and found that the chamber was equipped with a spirit-gathering array, capable of attracting large amounts of external spiritual energy for cultivators to use. Cultivating in this chamber greatly aided in absorbing spiritual energy, accelerating cultivation. The chamber also contained many profound martial arts manuals collected by Wu Qing, including the Wu family's inherited martial art, the 'Azure Shadow Sword Technique.' After examining it, Ji Xianlin felt that Mo Yuming could cultivate the 'Azure Shadow Sword Technique,' a relatively advanced advanced martial art.

Advanced martial arts techniques are generally divided into three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Beginner and intermediate levels are suitable for those at the Human and Earth ranks, while advanced levels are suitable for those at the Heaven rank. Mo Yuming urgently needs to learn various combat techniques to improve himself. Because Mo Yuming hasn't learned any good combat techniques, aside from the mid-grade Heaven rank martial art 'Nine Palms of Dugu,' he hasn't learned any other good ones. The Huo family's 'Blazing Sun Hammer' is only a mid-grade Earth rank profound martial art, and it's adapted from a weapon-refining hammer technique, making it unsuitable for Mo Yuming's level. Therefore, Mo Yuming's lack of usable martial arts techniques is becoming increasingly apparent in combat.

The martial arts techniques obtained from the Wangchuan Cave were all Heaven-rank martial arts inheritances. After Li Mubai examined them, he found that most of the inherited techniques were not particularly outstanding. After all, these people were people who fell into the canyon, and many of them were not unparalleled masters in their lifetimes. After being trapped in the canyon, they were unable to make any breakthroughs. Otherwise, none of these people would have broken through to the eighth level of the Heaven-rank over the countless years. Instead, they were trapped and died in the canyon.

Tang Tianhao had said that if one's cultivation reached the eighth level of the Heavenly Rank, it would be possible to escape the Valley of Heartbreak.

Of course, there are indeed some good things in these inherited jade slips, but the starting requirements for these good things are too high. At least one must break through to the Heavenly Rank before one can cultivate them.

These valuable legacies were likely left behind by powerful beings trapped in the canyon ten thousand years ago. The canyon might not have looked like it does now back then. Otherwise, the owner of the Forgotten River Cave wouldn't have left his secret realm within the canyon.

'Azure Shadow Sword Technique' is a very high-grade metal-type cultivation technique, divided into three levels. The beginner level consists of some basic sword techniques, suitable for beginners with low cultivation levels. The intermediate level includes many techniques and combat skills, which can only be practiced by those with Xuan Gong strength reaching the Earth Rank or above. The advanced level is suitable for those with Heaven Rank cultivation or above.

The sword technique emphasizes speed, ruthlessness, and precision. Upon mastery, the longsword in one's hand becomes like a fleeting, ethereal blue shadow, omnipresent and all-pervasive, possessing immense power. Furthermore, the 'Azure Shadow Sword Technique' is a family heirloom, passed down through generations, and has become highly refined. The technique's notes also include the insights and secrets of past masters, aiding beginners in learning quickly.

Mo Yuming's metal-type profound skill cultivation has already reached the fourth level of the Earth Rank. Within Mo Yuming's five-attribute profound skill system, it lags behind, similar to the wood and water elements, and is a system urgently in need of improvement. Furthermore, metal-type martial arts are primarily offensive, giving him a certain advantage in combat, and improving his metal-type profound skill cultivation will allow him to better utilize the power of his soul sword.

Mo Yuming had been practicing swordsmanship in the secret room for a day. With Ji Xianlin's guidance, he had made rapid progress and had memorized all the sword techniques. With more practice, he would be able to use them proficiently.

Even the best sword techniques require countless hours of practice to master and use effectively, maximizing their power. Only when sword techniques are honed to the point of being second nature can they be used freely in actual combat. At that point, one's own profound spiritual power will naturally and effortlessly flow into the sword techniques, allowing for precise execution of the sword moves and the unleashing of maximum combat strength.

Inside the secret chamber were more than a dozen oddly shaped stone pillars, arranged haphazardly with varying density. There were also some stone blocks of different heights on the ground, some several feet in diameter and others only the size of a palm. They were scattered among the stone pillars.

After reviewing the notes and comments at the back of the sword manual, it was learned that this stone pillar formation was created by an ancestor of the Wu family. He designed this formation based on the footwork and sword techniques of this sword manual. The stone pillars on the ground correspond to the footwork, while the stone pillars correspond to the target positions that the sword's edge should pierce and slash when the sword technique is executed. Mo Yuming carefully examined these stone pillars. Certain areas on these pillars bore numerous dense sword marks, some deep and some shallow, some high and some low. It was clear at a glance that these were left by practitioners who were not proficient in the sword technique during training and did not control the force well when thrusting.

When combat skills are mastered to a high degree, the blade will leave only a small dot or a line as thin as a hair on these parts.

When Mo Yuming first started practicing, he only practiced footwork in the stone formation, moving and jumping between the uneven stones according to the moves in the secret manual. After continuous practice, he was able to quickly change his position on these stones, and his accuracy improved more and more.

After a full day of practice, Mo Yuming was able to move and change positions quickly on these stone pillars.

After Jingzhou was captured, Mo Yuming and Ji Xianlin temporarily moved into the city lord's mansion. With the overall situation initially stabilized, Ji Xianlin needed to stay there for a period of time as a precaution. With the surrounding battles intensifying, Lord Long and the others had been mobilized to various border passes to provide assistance. Currently, Ji Xianlin was the only Heavenly Rank official stationed in Jingzhou.

The secret chamber within the city lord's mansion was built beneath the artificial hill in the lord's backyard. Besides the training room, it also contained a treasure room, hidden behind a shelf displaying martial arts manuals. Ji Xianlin discovered it by accidentally triggering a mechanism while examining the manuals on the shelf.

After pushing aside the display rack, a small, secret room filled with various brocade boxes appeared before the two. The room was only ten feet long and twenty feet wide, built of solid obsidian. Each of the four walls had a display rack made of red nanmu wood, containing hundreds of brocade boxes, some only the size of a palm, others several feet square. In the very center of the room was a separate stone platform, on which sat a wooden box about six feet high and four feet wide, bound with very strong mithril rope.

Mithril is a very special and precious metal material, highly flexible, with properties that can repel poison and suppress elemental attributes. It is ideal for crafting soft weapons; high-quality spiritual weapon-type soft whips are typically made primarily of mithril, combined with other elemental ores and materials like black iron and soul iron. The fact that it's used here to make rope for binding wooden boxes is indeed somewhat surprising. After all, rope for binding could easily be made from other, cheaper materials, and its strength wouldn't be inferior.

The choice to use the precious mithril rope was certainly not for showing off wealth; it must have a specific purpose. And that purpose is very likely attribute suppression.

Upon seeing this huge, unique wooden box, all attention was drawn to it, and no one was in a hurry to look at the brocade boxes displayed on the display cabinet.

"Wait a minute, let me set up a barrier before we make a move. This wooden box is bound with mithril rope, so it must be something special. We need to be careful," Ji Xianlin said quickly when he saw that Mo Yuming was eager to open the box.

Ji Xianlin stood at the exit of the secret chamber, waved his hands, and a green vine net appeared inside, completely obscuring the exit. Only then did he signal Mo Yuming to open the box.

Mo Yuming untied the mithril rope with his hands. Just as he was about to open the wooden box after removing the coils of rope, he sensed something unusual about it; there seemed to be spiritual energy circulating within the box. Mo Yuming perceived that a spiritual array on the box had been activated. Startled, he quickly waved his hand and pushed out two earthen shields in front of him as a precaution.

"It's alright. The talisman on that wooden box is just a sealing rune, used to ensure that the spiritual energy of the object inside doesn't leak out. After you untied the mithril rope, the wooden box was no longer tightly sealed, and the sealing rune was destroyed, so the spiritual energy flowed out." As expected of Ji Xianlin, who was knowledgeable, he saw the change in spiritual energy on the box at a glance.

Mo Yuming then realized that the treasures displayed in the jewel chamber were definitely not some hidden killing formation. They couldn't possibly pose a danger. So he opened the wooden box.

A rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire secret chamber. Even the restrictions set up by Ji Xianlin were affected by this fragrance, and the green vines became even greener under its influence.

A simple, ancient medicine cauldron, six feet tall and four feet six inches wide, appeared before the two. It was a three-legged, two-eared cauldron, with dragon patterns on both the legs and the ears. The drum-shaped body was engraved with numerous dragon and flame patterns both inside and out. The cauldron was entirely copper-green, while the raised parts of the cauldron patterns were a smooth, shiny golden yellow.

Just as Mo Yuming was about to reach out and touch it, the medicine cauldron emitted a soft hum, and the entire cauldron emitted a faint green light, blocking Mo Yuming's hand. This green light seemed faint, but it contained extremely strong spiritual power, like a powerful protective shield.

After repelling Mo Yuming's arm, the medicine cauldron emitted a few more 'buzzing' sounds, then floated up and darted around the sealed chamber, trying to escape.

"This is an ancient divine cauldron! It's a divine artifact with a spirit! Ming'er, quickly use your wood-attribute spiritual power to suppress it. Then refine it!" Ji Xianlin shouted excitedly at the exit of the secret chamber.

"Master Ji, my wood-elemental profound skill is only at the third level of the Earth rank. I'm afraid I can't suppress it. Why don't you do it?" Mo Yuming had just tried it out, and this treasure cauldron was of a very high level; his strength was barely enough. Ji Xianlin was also a wood-elemental profound skill practitioner, and a fourth-level expert of the Heaven rank. It should be much easier for him to handle it.

"Alas, how I long for such a treasure! But I am already over a hundred years old, beyond that limit. Even if I were to refine it, it wouldn't make much difference. At most, it would just be another high-grade spiritual treasure, and such treasures aren't for actual combat. To me, having one or not makes little difference. Although I am also a wood-element cultivator, I haven't studied alchemy. The medicine cauldron is of little use to me. Besides, at my age, it's impossible for me to learn alchemy anymore."

"You're different. You have plenty of time to learn alchemy. When you advance to the Heavenly Rank and refine the Heavenly Profound Pill, you'll need a divine artifact like this to assist you," Ji Xianlin said.

"Heavenly Profound Pill? What's it used for? Is it very effective?" Although Mo Yuming had come into contact with pills before, and the old man Mo Wen who adopted him was a Heavenly Rank pharmacist, he had never heard of a Heavenly Profound Pill in all his years of life. He had mostly heard of Demon-Breaking Pills, Spirit-Nourishing Pills, Profound-Dispelling Pills, and Yuan-Strengthening Pills, etc. These pills were mostly used for healing injuries, detoxification, calming the mind, and restoring spiritual power. Although high-quality pills were quite effective, Mo Yuming rarely used them. As the saying goes, every medicine has some degree of toxicity. After taking these pills, more or less some toxicity would remain in the body, which, if not cleared in time, would harm the body and create hidden dangers.

"Tianxuan Dan isn't a type of pill; it's a term for the highest level of pills. A little lower than Tianxuan Dan is called Dixuan Dan, and a little lower still is called Renxuan Dan. The specific classifications are too complex to explain in a few words; I'll tell you later when I have time. Right now, focus on refining this cauldron," Ji Xianlin said.

"it is good!"

Mo Yuming activated his wood-elemental profound energy, his hands radiating a pale green spiritual power as he slowly reached towards the medicine cauldron suspended in mid-air. As Ji Xianlin had said, this medicine cauldron already possessed sentience. Mo Yuming felt he should tame it like a small animal, first eliminating its wariness and hostility, making it feel safe and trusting. Then he could find a way to tame it. Just like those sentient animals, it naturally possessed a high level of perception, able to judge whether those who approached it had good intentions.

Sure enough, after several attempts, the cauldron became less resistant, and Mo Yuming's hand successfully touched its body. The instant they made contact, Mo Yuming's soul resonated with the cauldron's spirit.

A voice like that of a wronged little girl entered Mo Yuming's mind: "Who are you? Why did you lock me up here! And why did you seal me with attribute suppression!"

Upon hearing this, Mo Yuming quickly explained using his divine sense: "I am Mo Yuming. The person who sealed you was not me. I have already driven him away. I am here to rescue you. You should be able to sense that my aura is different from that of the person who sealed you."

"Let me out! I want to find my master. I don't want to stay here," the spirit of the medicine cauldron said anxiously.

“Your master is probably long gone, otherwise, why wouldn’t he come looking for you after all this time?” Mo Yuming said.