Emperor’s Domination

Yang Ling took Li Qiye to Myriad Cauldron Peak after they left Comprehension Peak.

Myriad Cauldron was the shortest and thickest among the nine, looking like a giant cauldron and a volcano from the distance. It spanned for a thousand miles; the pinnacle was the mouth of the volcano.

One could hear metallic clankings before arriving. It could mistake them for being in the wrong location. Why would there be blacksmithing at Duality Academy?

But this was indeed a main peak of Duality. It was also a favorite among the students. They could force and refine their weapons here.

The heat emanating from this peak was obvious. Though the temperature didn't seem particularly high, staying here for a long period would make people feel as if their body has been lit on fire. This magical fire somehow had penetrated them and wanted to burn everything from within.

This naturally resulted in an uncomfortable experience. Nonetheless, the students still went for the sake of improving their arsenal.

A coiling stone path started at the base with a considerable gap between each step. One could see the mouth of a cauldron sticking out of the peak. The cauldrons themselves were embedded into the peak. The color of the smoke varied as well - normal, yellow, colorless…

This formation extended all the way to the pinnacle. Perhaps there were more than ten thousand cauldrons. This might be the origin of the peak's name.

"We're at Myriad Cauldron Peak, a very famous place with an incredible background." Yang Ling explained: "Rumor has it that after starting Duality, our founder dragged a peak from a broken area of the past. He then ignited the divine flames within and added the cauldrons. This allowed future generations access to augmentation."

While standing at the base and sensing the heat, Li Qiye didn't need to use his eyes and still knew everything about it.

"It's a great cauldron." He smiled.

"Of course. A teacher told me that everyone wants to borrow this place for blacksmithing. Only a few are lucky enough such as Ancient Zen Dao Lord and Three-truth Dao Lord. They used the peak to create their dao lord weapons. Some stronger Heavenly Sovereigns had this privilege too."

In history, all the top masters sang praises about this peak after visiting. Virtually everyone desired to craft their artifacts here.

In fact, even the invincible Apricot Dao Lord took advantage of this for her weapon during Duality Master's era.

"It's understandable why everyone wants to use it." Li Qiye had sensed the peak and understood its magical properties.

The great cauldron was truly tempting but the top masters didn't dare to rob Duality Academy. They had no choice but to ask the academy for permission.

"So back then when Apricot Dao Lord used the peak to create her weapon, incredible visual phenomena emerged. Gods and immortal images manifested, even the legendary land of the immortal dao took form. This shocked all the big shots in Eight Desolaces." Yang Ling turned red with excitement while recalling the glory days of the cauldron as if she was there in person.

He smiled and eventually said: "Unfortunately, the glory days are long gone."

This was akin to pouring cold water on her head; her expression wilted like an eggplant struck by frost and winter.

"Can't you let me have a little fun?" She pouted.

"I'm just telling the truth." He waved his hand.

"The teachers said that the peak has been borrowed by too many dao lords. The divine flame inside has been depleted and extinguished." She revealed.

The creation of dao lord weapons required immense fuel and energy from divine flames, especially those capable of invoking visual phenomena. Thus, each attempt severely weakened the divine flame.

The main one was no longer around. Only the remnant sparks from the minor cauldrons remained.

Alas, ten thousand cauldrons weren't comparable to the divine flame of the main cauldron. The latter was the thing capable of creating invincible weapons.

Because of this, the academy stopped letting others borrow the peak. Only the students had access from then on.

"Poof!" One cauldron sent out a wave of flame with a golden wheel visual phenomenon.

"Looks like an upperclassman has finished crafting." Yang Ling enthusiastically said: "Young Master, let's go take a look." She then grabbed his hand again and ran up the steps.

Li Qiye smiled and played along. During the ascension, they saw that the cauldrons had varying affinities.

One cauldron was of the wood element; another was frost; then the next was draconic flame…

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one could create a weapon of any desired affinity. This was something only possible in Myriad Cauldron Peak.

The two heard metallic clankings - the students were diligently working.

One tried to craft something new completely with fresh materials. The more experienced ones were refining their old weapons. They utilized the various affinities from the cauldrons to remove impurities and increase power.

If one could add the right affinity to their previous weapon, this would truly increase its potential.

That's why the students loved Myriad Cauldron Peak. Whenever they had idle time, they would come running for further improvements.

Yang Ling occasionally stopped to watch the senior brothers and sisters at work. Though what they did was quite simple, she still enjoyed watching unlike Li Qiye who had zero interest. He was more focused on the makeup of the peak.

Suddenly, they heard groups clamoring and rushing towards the ridge.

"We gotta hurry, Sampan Decapitator's weapon is about to come out, I heard it's amazing." Someone shouted while running up the steps.

"What?! We can't miss it then!" The other students couldn't help running towards the ridge.

"That axe has been inside the cauldron by the ridge for half a month now. It's about to finish soon." Groups talked about it along the way.

"Senior Brother's weapon is coming out?" Yang Ling's eyes lit up after hearing this: "Young Master, let's go take a look. Senior Brother's blacksmithing skill is top-notch; everyone is jealous of his special flame."

"We can go." Li Qiye smiled since this was on the way anyway.

She grabbed his hand and the two of them rushed towards the ride.

"Senior Brother also has an inborn fate palace, his cauldron of life possesses a special flame." Yang Ling elaborated along the way.