Emperor’s Domination

While others rushed towards the pinnacle, Li Qiye pulled his hand back from the peak.

He had a handful of dirt or rather, dregs from the peak. The dregs have turned into the toughest rocks after millions of years, unafraid of dao truefire. However, Li Qiye's fire managed to melt them.

"Zzz…" What's left started disintegrating in no time at all. What resembled a large rock became the size of a pinky. The rest turned into smoke instead of a molten form.

Yang Ling naturally found this impressive since her fire couldn't damage the rocks at all, let alone disintegrating them completely.

Eventually, what's left was only slightly thicker than a strand of hair. It rolled and coiled within his fiery hand, looking like a tiny dragon. The fire didn't seem to affect it anymore.

Yang Ling took note of this and realized that this tiny piece might be extremely precious and tough.

"What is it, Young Master?" She became curious.

Li Qiye actually dropped the little thing into her hand. She instinctively caught it before thinking about the implication - Li Qiye's fire has already burned it red. It would definitely burn her hand.

Surprisingly enough, it didn't have a hint of heat at all. On the contrary, it felt rather cool and soft just like a tiny snake playing on her palm. She was surprised to see the dregs refined into something so magical.

"There's a saying - one hundred refinements to make fine steel. What about ten thousand refinements?" Li Qiye smiled.

"Ten thousand refinements?" Yang Ling had heard of this popular phrase before.

"This place is perfect for creating an excellent weapon." Li Qiye stared at the top and continued: "Duality Master had his reason for bringing this peak here, the same with letting dao lords and Heavenly Sovereigns borrow it."

"What is the reason?" Yang Ling became curious.

Li Qiye answered with a smile and continued moving up the steps.

"Young Master, you want to refine the weapon right now?" Yang Ling followed right along.

"No rush, the time isn't right yet. Let's just go take a look." Li Qiye chuckled.

Yang Ling stared at Li Qiye and thought that he was more and more mysterious and unfathomable.

Previously, she assumed that he was just a woodchopper. This was no longer the case. A woodchopper living in the wilderness wouldn't be so knowledgeable. The question became - who the hell is he?

Meanwhile, the pinnacle was filled with people. All the students came to see the show; of course, some wanted to grab the best spots to start early for potential refinement.

It wasn't as flat as expected and had the concave shape of a pot. As for viewing from a distance, it would resemble an inactive volcano.

For millions of years, the sovereigns and dao lords refined their weapons in this place. The dregs and impurities were left behind around the master cauldron, stacking up into piles.

These piles and layers gave the appearance of an iron pot at the top. They have turned into tough dirt and rocks by this point, acting as part of the peak.

The students had no idea what these layers were made of and assumed that this was the normal shape of the peak.

Some might have known about this history after listening to the teachers but they wouldn't care either. These dregs were useless at this point.

The center looked like the bottom of a pot with an opening serving at the cauldron's mouth. Next to it was a large stone anvil, extremely old with weeds growing on it. It was entirely black and didn't look special.

An iron hammer was placed on top. It had rust spots all over. The handle was made from some type of wood, as dirty as can be.

All eyes were staring at the mouth of the cauldron since there was a fire, only a little brighter than a candle.

"It's true, the master cauldron has fire again." The spectators were astonished.

This little fire was far from enough to start refining. However, it carried special significance.

"Seems like the master cauldron is awakening." An older student said: "I wonder how much time is required for a full awakening."

"We can start refining our weapons when it's strong enough." Another student became eager.

"We need to line up. I'm the first here so I'm up first." One more said loudly.

Everyone followed the voice and saw that it was Liu Jinsong.

The rules of the peak required people to sign up in an orderly fashion, first-come-first-serve.

"You're not the first here." One unhappy student said.

He wasn't afraid of anyone and retorted: "I'm the first to sign up, plus, this spot is reserved for Senior Brother Li. If anyone disagrees, then you can compete with him for it. I'll gladly hand it over when you win."

"Then when and how long? So that we can register." A different student asked.

"We'll start once the fire is strong enough and after we gather our materials." Jinsong said.

"So you just want to keep it for yourself." The response wasn't well-received. Who knows when this fire would be truly ready?

"That's not my intention, I'm just following the rule since I'm the first to start the list." Jinsong said.

The others had nothing to say since this did make sense.

"It's useless to be hasty, that much fire is far from enough." Another friend glanced at the candle-like fire.

Everyone agreed. The fire was weak enough and might actually go out at any moment. They didn't need to compete with Jinsong for now.

"What about the hammer? Can we take it?" The attention turned towards the iron hammer on top of the anvil.

"It's the hammer used by the dao lords back then. I'm afraid we can't pick it up." One upperclassman answered.