Chapter Thirty-Two: If You Repent, I Will Ensure Your Race Does Not Perish

As soon as he sensed trouble, King Dou forced himself to remain alert and made the cauldron reveal its true form. It stretched over two thousand meters, which was already the upper limit for a downgraded Dao Artifact. Yet, not only did it fail to burst through the passage, but as the cauldron expanded, the passage widened accordingly, making it seem as if the cauldron had never moved at all.

Only those who had shrunk down were sure that the cauldron had reached its limit; any larger, and it would need to be repaired and restored to its original might. A dead silence fell. Not even Long Yi could fathom what was happening—who could contain a Dao Artifact? Was this yet another Heavy Artifact?

Just as he was about to address his elder, Wuyun stood dumbfounded. Of the remaining twenty-five, the three he most dreaded had still come. Wuyun’s face darkened. He could sense the missing little insect; the lingering Buddhist light was cocooned somewhere, protecting itself, while a dark power threatened to devour it.

“The little insect is in danger!” Wuyun hurried to seize control from King Dou, taking command himself. With a flick of his finger, a surge of magic struck the “Bull-faced Nether Clan, Fanna Celestial Emperor, Ninth-level Emperor Number Soul-Suppressing Immortal Cauldron.”

Instantly, the sixteen colossal and ancient immortal runes blazed with boundless radiance, enveloping the cauldron. As Wuyun tapped each rune, a thunderous sound rang out. If all sixteen runes resonated together with the swirling light, it would surely unleash the cauldron’s most powerful attack.

Suddenly, with a roar, a mass of black gas erupted from the cave. The cauldron was blasted out, and in seconds, it burst through the labyrinthine passage that had seemed impossible to escape.

When the cauldron resumed its proper size, before it appeared a pitch-black object, wedged into a rift in space, entirely blocking the way.

Everyone peered closer. It was black, rough, and resembled a scorched dog’s head. One eye socket was empty, a cavern flickering red and black; the other eye was half-shut, revealing no light at all. Portions of its mouth and nose were missing, as if chopped off, with scars exposed.

“We were just inside its nasal passage!” Long Yi exclaimed, astonished. For all his experience, he couldn’t identify it—was it some exotic beast from another celestial realm?

At that moment, the beast opened its jaws and exhaled a foul breath. The sharp-eyed Flood Eagle spotted the glowing insect lying atop its tongue, submerged in black saliva.

“I thought it was a Heavy Artifact, but even after escaping the spatial rift, it was still subdued by a calamity and became a Dao Artifact. It’s not enough to set me free. Perhaps, I’ll never escape, not even in death.” The voice was flat, yet every word was clear, carrying a chill and a deep melancholy.

Wuyun uttered a string of strange words. The beast listened for a while, then finally opened its other eye and, with interest, said, “That secret phrase is the ancient tongue of our celestial realm. I hail from the Grand Tonggu Celestial World!”

“The First Celestial World, Grand Tonggu!” Even as an Immortal King, Long Yi knew of other celestial realms. Long ago, the realms had established connections and exchanged philosophies, agreeing upon hierarchies—Grand Tonggu stood at the very top.

Wuyun nodded and sighed. “Within this dimension are countless intermediate spaces, each giving rise to myriad realms—what we call the immortal worlds. I’ve learned much through exchanges between immortals and mortals, but only within the Qianluo Space.”

The dog-headed beast listened quietly, appearing almost docile.

“One day, a beam of immortal light pierced through, granting the spirit of this space a gift. Out of curiosity, I listened closely and learned a secret about you!”

“Dread Wolf Demon Emperor. Special attention. Neither dead nor alive, neither living nor perished! It seems you committed an earth-shattering crime in the First Celestial World, slaughtering 1.2 billion cultivators and leading your race to extinction!”

Wuyun had barely finished when the head sprang to life, inhaling the giant cauldron in one gulp.

Strangely, although the cauldron was larger than the dog’s head, with a single breath, it shrank steadily. Amid the crushing force, Wuyun seized the moment to rescue the little insect back into the cauldron. Outside, the sound of gnashing filled the air as the dog-head bit down, desperate to chew Wuyun and the cauldron to pieces.

Yet the cauldron was no ordinary artifact. Immortal runes swirled around it, defending on all sides. Each bite left a row of wolf tooth marks on the exterior, and occasionally, the fangs pierced deep, nearly breaking through.

Everyone was tense with fear. Wuyun chanted incantations one after another. In the end, at his urgent shouts, the battered cauldron was spat out again. The Dread Wolf Demon Emperor declared, “Don’t bother trying to escape. After thousands of years, finally a tough bone has come to me. I’ll savor it slowly.”

The terror was palpable. Wuyun, pressed by the others, looked troubled and said to Long Yi, “If it were a Heavy Artifact, we might escape, but with a dire shortage of restoration materials, it’s hopeless.”

Even the all-capable Senior Wuyun had lost hope. Bear Third immediately changed his demeanor, seizing King Dou mid-sentence and shaking him. “Serves you right for showing off just now!”

King Dou, though shaken for a while, remained unfazed. With the cauldron augmenting his form, his body was even sturdier.

After another failed negotiation with the dog-headed Demon Emperor, the newly restored cauldron was once again gnawed and then spat out.

“I can save you!” Wuyun lied through his teeth, swallowing hard, scheming for a way out. He even considered luring the Tiger-faced Immortal to stir up the situation.

“Is it to save me, or are you plotting with that feline demon to take me down?” The Dread Wolf Demon Emperor sneered. “I once led billions as the mightiest king. No scheme can escape me. That cat, its master’s bell still around its neck, is watching. You know how patient cats can be when hunting mice.”

“You old dog in wolf’s skin, if you have the guts, fight fair and square! Why keep relying on sorcery?” Wuyun finally lost his temper and cursed him, but the more he raged, the more the Dread Wolf relished it, as if the strong were meant to be envied by the weak.

Seeing this, Wuyun changed tactics. As soon as he mentioned their extinct clan, he was sucked in and chewed again. This time, however, he grew addicted to cursing, switching to the language of the First Celestial World, growing more furious with each word.

The wolf’s jaws bit harder, blood and broken teeth spilling out.

Never before had the Dread Wolf Demon Emperor believed someone could know his origins, his pain. In a fit of rage, he spat them out through the tunnel dug by the little insect.

Before Wuyun’s ruse could succeed, a wave of despair crashed down on them. The Tiger-faced Immortal had seized the moment, seeing his prey fall into the trap, and unleashed his mightiest attack, aiming to shatter the damaged cauldron and kill Wuyun.

In an instant, Wuyun submitted and hurried back through the tunnel, landing before the Dread Wolf Demon Emperor.

The wolf laughed, though his face never moved, mocking, “Here, you can live a little longer, tell a few more tales. Go on, I’m curious about your true purpose.”

Wuyun fell silent, directing King Dou to operate the cauldron’s formation, repairing it with the metallic liquid they had found earlier.

A rare calm settled as the two sides began a contest of patience.

After some time, the Soul-Suppressing Immortal Cauldron gradually recovered from Dao Artifact back toward its original state. If all materials were available, it would be no trouble to restore it as a Heavy Artifact.

The Dread Wolf Demon Emperor bared his broken fangs through his ruined snout and mouth, his voice chilling. “That cat demon struck a deal with me—offering three hundred thousand lives in exchange for you. I just agreed, and the first batch will be here soon!”

Wuyun was furious. Long Yi was shocked—the cat demon had resorted to such a despicable ploy.

The Dread Wolf flicked his tongue, half missing, the charred black tip rolling over his half-missing nose, flakes of burned flesh dropping away.

“I want to eat slowly. Yes, I want to shrink.”

With that, the wolf’s head shrank, and the spatial rift followed suit, becoming as small as a puppy’s. He grinned smugly, “With this form, I can savor the bones longer. I’ll start from the toes, one by one, and tear the tasty heart and liver into shreds to relish.”

“Ugh!” Liu Ruyan retched, and the more the wolf spoke, the worse she felt.

“I’ll teach them the art of bodily regeneration—eat their limbs and organs, and they’ll grow back. I’ll even feast on their memories, savoring their life’s joys and sorrows. I will, I must…”

The Dread Wolf swelled again, swallowing Wuyun whole—the prerequisite for his deal was to capture Wuyun alive. This time, the cauldron in his mouth was not bitten, but coated in a viscous slime.

Around the cauldron, a tearing sound arose as a thin layer was corroded away. At this rate, the cauldron would eventually dissolve.

Could it be this wolf’s maw was a forge, capable of refining weapons?

Just as Bear Third wondered aloud, Long Yi nodded. For a demon emperor of this class, forging weapons in his mouth was perfectly normal. Even he harbored dragon energy suitable for refining spiritual devices, as easy as plucking them from his jaws.

As they discussed how to escape, a commotion broke out in the outer space. A hundred-man team appeared aboard a spirit ship, the soldiers crushed by the oppressive force yet still struggling desperately, though their fate was sealed.

The Dread Wolf’s eyes gleamed. With a spit, the cauldron emerged, and the hundred soldiers with their ship landed before his nose. Now, shrunk to a dog’s size, he watched as a soldier, unable to resist, was sucked over, legs splayed—just as the wolf had promised, he would start from the toes.

Would a beast as foul as this even care if its food had athlete’s foot?

Seeing the soldier on the brink of death, Wuyun roared, “If you repent, I’ll spare your race from extinction!”

At once, the Dread Wolf halted, intrigued. “Go on, you know my weakness, but you also know it’s not a lie!”