The Nine Cauldrons

Loss and gain

Boom!

During the torrential rainfall, a deafening thunder could be heard from time to time. It seemed that this heavy rain would not stop anytime soon.

“This is really embarrassing.”Teng Qingshan looked at his clothes. Just now during the fight with that monster python inside the Frost Jade Pool, he went all out and used his blood to circulate internal strength through his arms and legs, thereby tremendously increasing his power. While doing so, the sleeves of his pants had burst open, turning his pants into a rag. As for his boots ……Teng Qingshan went into the mountain wearing boots, but before he dived into the Frost Jade Pool, he removed them and put them aside.

During his escape, he didn’t have the time to retrieve them.

“That big python went crazy and probably crushed my boots under the rubble. If I go back like this, how embarrassing would that be?”Teng Qingshan looked at Teng Jia Village in the distant and could not help but reveal a wry smile.

If this beaten up appearance was seen by his clansmen, they will probably start to speculate what turned Teng Qingshan into this state.

Phew!

In this ravaging rainstorm, Teng Qingshan turned into an afterimage while flying toward the wooden wall that protected Teng Jia Village. With one dash, he had already rushed over. With a small push of his sole, he jumped one Zhang (3m) high, easily surpassing the height of the wooden walls. Behind the wall, there were sharp wooden stakes planted in the ground nearby several houses.

With a slight touch on the wooden stake, Teng Qingshan jumped on the roof of one house. As Teng Qingshan circulated inner strength around his body, he became as light as a swallow, stepping gently on the tiles as he dashed forward.

Luckily, because of the rainstorm, all of the clansmen had stayed at home. Moreover, it was still early in the morning, and every household was busy preparing breakfast. During this rainstorm, no one noticed that the clan’s first rated hero was “making his way” above the roof.

……

Inside Teng Qingshan’s home.

Teng Qingyu was just lighting a fire while her mother, Yuan Lan, prepared the dough for breakfast.

“Huh? Someone came in.” Yuan Lan took a look outside, her expression full of surprise.

“Mother.” Teng Qingshan pushed the door to enter the courtyard while calling towards his mother, Yuan Lan. Quickly grabbing an umbrella, Yuan Lan rushed over and looked at Teng Qinshan. Shocked, she asked anxiously, “Qingshan, what happened? Your clothes are completely ripped apart. Ah. Where are your boots? Why did you come back barefooted?”

His Father, Teng Yongfan, also arrived from the living room and looked Teng Qingshan, who was standing outside full of surprise as well.

“Qingshan, you, what did you encounter in the mountain? You are so beaten up. That’s right, where is your Damascus Steel Spear?”Teng Yongfan asked.

Teng Qingshan threw down the withered leaf in his hand, and a part of the Damascus Steel Spear that was wrapped inside fell out. Revealing a wry smile, he said, “Father, there was no other way. This is the only remaining part.”After listen to this, Teng Yongfan’s complexion immediately changed since he knew his son’s strength. Teng Qingshan was a first-rate warrior.

Being able to push a First-rated warrior to the point that not even half of the weapon remained, how dangerous was the situation his son encountered?

Father, I am going to wash myself and change my clothes,”Teng Qingshan said with a smile.

“Ok, go quickly and change your clothes. Come find me afterwards,”Teng Yongfan said.

Teng Qingshan nods and entered his room.

“Brother Fan, what danger did Qingshan encounter? A Wild Boar King? A Wolf King?” Yuan Lan inquired, puzzled as as to what could possibly push her son to such a state. Teng Yongfan shook his head and replied, “Do you still not know your son’s ability? He was able to kill the Wolf King when he was ten years old; now, even a hundred Wolf Kings couldn’t threaten him. He is already a First-rated warrior! I can’t image what could beat up Qingshan to this extent in this mountain.”

“Mother, quickly turn the pancake or it will get burned.” Teng Qingyu, who was lighting the fire, shouted.

“Ah.” Yuan Lan instantly ran over.

Inside Teng Qingshan’s room.

After taking a shower, changing clothes, wearing some shoes and tying up his hair with a string, Teng Qingshan finally felt refreshed. In this ancient era, barber shops didn’t exist. Since the clansmen’s hair was quite long, Teng Qingshan couldn’t shave it short, so the next best option was tying up his hair.

“Losing my clothes, boots and half of my long spear in exchange for these two ores…”Teng Qingshan carefully checked out the two ores in his hands.

One of these two ores was bigger than the other. They were completely black and appeared quite ordinary.

These two ores were discovered by Teng Qingshan at the bottom of the Frost Jade Pool where a large number of them could be found. At the time, Teng Qingshan was not able to carry a lot and just casually took two, placing them in his breast pocket.

“Huh, didn’t they send out a purple halo within the Frost Jade Pool?” While placing it in front of him, he couldn’t see the purple halo. Teng Qingshan immediately blocked the light with his both hands while covering ore. In the darkness, Teng Qingshan could barely see the very weak purple halo and estimated that within the complete darkness of the Frost Jade Pool, this purple halo would be more obvious.

“While inside the Frost Jade Pool, this ore felt very hot, but now, it’s only lukewarm.” Teng Qingshan also understood that this ore was only lukewarm while outside of the pool’s water.

While in the deep cold bottom of the Frost Jade Pool, touching the ore and thinking that it felt very hot was normal under extremely freezing conditions.

“I don’t have any knowledge about ores. I should ask Father what this it.” Teng Qingshan placed these two ores inside his breast pocket, opened the umbrella, and left the room. Passing through the courtyard, he walked towards the living room.

After putting down the umbrella, Teng Qingshan sat down at the table.

Although a rainstorm was pouring outside of this room, it was actually quite comfortably warm inside.

“Qingshan.” Teng Yongfan inquired with a worried look, “After going into the mountain, what did you encounter during this past hour? It even made you lose half of your Damascus Steel Spear.” Walking into the mountain and diving into the Frost Jade Pool seemed to have taken a long length of time, but in fact, with Teng Qingshan’s speed, it didn’t even take an hour for him to go to and from the mountain.

His mother was still preparing their breakfast.

“What did you encounter?” Teng Qingshan smiled helplessly at this question. “Father, I also wouldn’t have thought that our Great Yan Mountain, which is not that big, had a monster residing within it.”

“Monster?” Teng Yongfan was caught by surprise. “What kind of monster?”

“A python with a silver horn on its head and a body over ten Zhang (30m) long.” Teng Qingshan recalled the python and felt the anxiousness in his heart. That python could be called invulnerable. Even his unique technique ‘Toxic Dragon Drill’’ could only damage its skin. His spear, combined with his inner strength, had a penetrative power that already exceeded the previous world’s numerous pistol weapons.

Perhaps, even some of his previous world’s missiles couldn’t damage the python’s defense, let alone kill it.

More than ten Zhang long and a silver horn on its head? A Flood Dragon?”Teng Yongfan was also surprised.

Pythons born with horns were called Flood Dragons in the Nine Prefectures.

“Flood Dragon, that is a Demon beast as well as a Godly beast. Qingshan, did you encounter a Flood Dragon?” Teng Yongfan couldn’t believe it. “There was a Flood Dragon inside our Great Yan Mountain?” Within the many legends of the Nine Prefectures, there were some that spoke of incredible powerful monsters that were either called ‘Godly beast’ or ‘Demon beast’.

Each of these monsters had a fearsome power strong enough to destroy a city.

Teng Qingshan revealed a smile. “Father, I dived into the Frost Jade Pool… to have a look why it was always so cold. At the bottom of the pool, I encountered that Flood Dragon! I was lucky that I escaped so quickly.”

“You rascal, you only have mischief in your head.” While listening, cold sweat started to run down Teng Yongfan back.

The thought of his son being killed by a Flood Dragon at the bottom at the Frost Jade Pool made Teng Yongfan panic-stricken. What would he do if his son had died?

“Father, didn’t I come back?” Teng Qingshan continued, “That’s right, Father, we should let our clansman know that when they go to the Great Yan Mountain to fetch water from the Frost Jade Pool, they should remember that it’s better not throw stones inside it. If the stone sinks to the bottom of the lake and wake up the monster, it will come out once again. Our clansmen will probably not be able to escape.”

Teng Qingshan was well aware how frightening this Flood Dragon was.

Its speed was faster than Teng Qingshan‘s.

If that Flood Dragon had been willing to leave the Frost Jade Pool and stubbornly chase down Teng Qingshan to kill him, it would be difficult to say whether he would have made it back safely today.

“Relax, nobody is as bold as you, son.”Teng Yongfan looked his son. Instead of scolding him, he couldn’t help but smile.

He didn’t know whether he should be proud that he son fought a Flood Dragon, a Demon Beast mentioned only in legends, and survived or angry that he was so bold.

Teng Qingshan also knew that his behavior provoked his father and made him dissatisfied. He immediately shifted the topic. “That’s right, Father, when I was inside the Front Jade Pool, I discovered an ore. This ore was still giving off heat at the bottom of the Frost Jade Pool; it’s somewhat strange. Can you have a look and tell me what it is?”

Teng Qingshan took two black ores from his breast pocket.

At first glance, this ore looked very ordinary.

“Oh, from the bottom of the Frost Jade Pool?”Teng Yongfan’s eyes lit up. As a master blacksmith, Teng Yongfan had a profound knowledge of refining ores.

After touching this black ore, Teng Yongfan’s face reveals a pleasant surprise. “It unexpectedly produced heat ……” Taking this black ore closer to his body, he covered it with both hands to block the light. After taking another carefully look, Teng Yongfan shouted out, “It’s really it, it’s really it, Purple Radiant Coldsteel, it’s Purple Radiant Coldsteel!”

Puzzled, Teng Qingshan asked, “Father, what is Purple Radiant Coldsteel?”

Raising his head, Teng Yongfan looked at Teng Qingshan with a face full of ecstasy. “Qingshan, you might not know Purple Radiant Coldsteel, but it’s also called Ten Millennia Coldsteel!”

“Ten Millennia Coldsteel?” Teng Qingshan was dumbfounded.

Teng Qingshan thought about Millennium Coldsteel, he remembered that it was quite different from the ore he found at the bottom of the Frost Jade Pool. In the past, when he travelled to Wan Xiang Tower, Teng Qingshan had seen Millennium Coldsteel, which had a cold and dark texture while radiating a cold chill. The price was extremely expensive since one Jin of Millennium Coldsteel cost two taels of gold.

“Yes, I had previously bought a book that described various types of ore in Wan Xiang Tower, and inside, it described this Purple Radiant Coldsteel. Purple Radiant Coldsteel is also called Ten Millennia Coldsteel. It is a priceless treasure! According to the book, it could only be found in the northern Grasslands, although some people were lucky enough to find it in the cold North Sea.”

“This Ten Millennia Coldsteel was the most precious type of Coldsteel. Ordinary Millennium Coldsteel feels as if an icy coldness is penetrating the bones. However the Ten Millennia

Coldsteel actually reached the extreme opposite; instead of being cold, it warms up like jade.”

“Ten Millennia Coldsteel is indestructible. While refining a weapon, it can be refined it into a godly wepean by mixing it with steel,” Teng Yongfan spoke in an excited tone. “This Ten Millennia Coldsteel would have a price hundred times more expensive than Millennium Coldsteel! Moreover, there is no market value!”

“Hundred times more expensive than Millennium Coldsteel!?” Teng Qingshan stared at these two black ores and couldn’t even utter a word.

Teng Qingshan discovered that even though he lost a pair of clothes, boots and half of his spear in exchange for these two stones, his loss had yielded a tremendous gain.