The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-835

Chapter 835: The Saint Artifact’s Spirit

Su Yu was shocked. He knew exactly what an imperial saint artifact was. It was an artifact that all All Creation Old Monsters and even the nine prefectures’ kings would fight over.

Su Yu wondered… Shangguan Yunque just handed over a cultivation technique to me, so why did it turn out that it was an imperial saint artifact? He had a misconception that all of this wasn’t real, and he suspected whether Jian Wusheng’s phantom image was telling the truth.

“You don’t need to suspect what I have stated.” It seemed like Jian Wusheng had read Su Yu’s mind as she said, “The Five Elements Divine Prison is present in the Ancient Gods Ten Thousand Weapons List, and it’s rumored that it was once owned by an ancient faction. But it disintegrated, and the Five Elements Divine Prison disappeared along with it at that time.”

Su Yu was shocked. It wasn’t his first time hearing about the Ancient Gods Ten Thousand Weapons List. When Tian Jizi had passed down the Milky Way Star Sand to Su Yu, he had stated that it was ranked twenty-first in the Ancient Gods Ten Thousand Weapons List.

Su Yu couldn’t contain his surprise when he heard the name “Ancient Gods Ten Thousand Weapons List” once again. It now seemed like all of the divine weapons ranked in this list were, at the very least, imperial saint artifacts, as even the Five Elements Divine Prison, which was ranked among nine thousandths, was still an imperial saint artifact.

“Senior, what is the ranking of the Five Elements Divine Prison’s power?” Su Yu asked in confusion.

He had already used the Milky Way Star Sand once, and he could deduce that its effect was heaven-defying. Thus, he wondered whether the Five Elements Divine Prison, which was ranked at the end of the list, possessed any powerful might.

Jian Wusheng looked at Su Yu and replied after she mulled over it for a bit, “The Ancient Gods Ten Thousand Weapons List isn’t a secret among people at the All Creation Realm, so I guess there is no harm in informing you about it.”

She then said, “The Five Elements Divine Prison was famous in ancient times, as it deterred people with its power of sealing the world. Regardless if it was a human emperor, ancient demon emperor, or even a Devilish God that ruled a whole world, once anyone was trapped inside the Five Elements Divine Prison, it would be impossible for him to escape from it. The only exception to this is if the Five Elements Divine Prison’s owner released them of his own accord.”

She then added, “In the Jiuzhou Continent, even if someone ascended the throne and became the Jiuzhou Emperor, he would still not get an opportunity to come into contact with an imperial saint artifact.”

Jian Wusheng’s gaze was ardent, and she looked at Su Yu as she said, “Lad, this imperial saint artifact isn’t a blessing to you, but a calamity! Why don’t you give it to me? I will obviously not let you suffer a loss, and as long as you are willing, I will foster you as a young prefecture’s king. You will become my last disciple, and in the future, you will take control of the Lifeless Sword Prefecture and become one of the this world’s nine kings.”

It was clear that Jian Wusheng really desired to get this artifact! After all, once a prefecture’s king got it, no one in all of Jiuzhou could rival him!

In the past, when the central prefecture’s king discovered that Su Yu possessed the Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron, he didn’t hesitate to send five great All Creation experts after him. By this rash act, it could be seen how frantic he to obtain an imperial saint artifact.

The conditions proposed by Jian Wusheng seemed quite alluring. After all, being a prefecture’s queen last disciple and becoming the future master of the Lifeless Sword Prefecture could be said as being equal to reaching heaven in a single step. The central prefecture’s king would then be forced to restrain himself and wouldn’t dare rashly attack Su Yu.

If it was a normal person in his place, Su Yu would have already lost his mind from the shock and wouldn’t consider anything at all before accepting this proposal. But, Su Yu already had the Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron and the Milky Way Star Sand, so he wasn’t really affected much by this offer.

Gifting the artifact to her would really bring Su Yu unimaginable benefits, but Su Yu wasn’t really after status and authority, as what he sought was power. After all, it was only his body’s own power that could be considered true power.

So, his sacrificing an extremely powerful imperial saint artifact to get a higher status in exchange for it just didn’t make sense to Su Yu. It simply wasn’t up his ideal.

“Can I ask you a question before replying?” Su Yu’s eyes lit up as he asked, “I want to know whether the true Jian Wusheng is aware of what happened here?”

If she was aware of it, she should have already learned about the Five Elements Divine Prison. Then, he couldn’t preserve it, regardless of how hard he tried. If that was the case, it might be better for him to give in and accept her request. However, if she wasn’t aware of it…

Jian Wusheng’s phantom image’s gaze flickered several times, while hesitation appeared on her face. After a long while, she looked at Su Yu and sighed softly before she said, “It’s really a pity. My true self just left behind a phantom image and didn’t leave any way of contacting her. As for me, I will soon disappear because you defeated me. My true self won’t learn about what happened here.”

A bitter expression appeared on her face as she added, “My true self’s gravest mistake was that she ended up missing an imperial saint artifact here. This was probably her fate…”

The phantom image possessed Jian Wusheng’s true character, and it seemed from her behavior like she was quite an upright woman. She didn’t get angry, nor did she despair or and wallow in regret.

Su Yu heaved a sigh of relief, then said, “I’m really sorry, but I can’t give it to your true self right now. Rather than depending upon other people, I prefer to reach the apex of the martial path myself.”

Jian Wusheng was quiet for a long while before she sighed softly and said, “It will be a blessing if I get it, and it will be my sad fate if I lose it. Fine. It will be better for my true self to not hear about it. By immersing herself wholly in sword techniques, it won’t necessarily be impossible for her to break through her bottleneck. If she got the imperial saint artifact, she might become incapable of concentrating wholly on the sword path.”

The phantom image seemed to talk herself into getting over this matter completely, and she now wore her usual expression as she said, “Now, let me reply to your first question about how you can cultivate the art inside of it.”

She paused to take a breath, then said, “In fact, the Five Elements Mysteries Art that you mentioned is just a technique that is used to control this imperial saint artifact, and you have just mistaken it for a common cultivation technique.”

Su Yu was bewildered. It seemed like even though the Shangguan family got this artifact, they were still unaware that it was an imperial saint artifact. They even took its control technique for a cultivation technique!

Jian Wusheng then said, “To cultivate its control technique, you must first communicate with the saint artifact’s spirit, and it’s only through its guidance that you can master each process that is needed to control it.”

Excitement appeared in Su Yu’s eyes as he asked, “How can I communicate with the saint artifact’s spirit?”

Su Yu looked at the artifact and tried using his Soul Eyes on it. However, they were incapable of penetrating the Five Elements Tower. His soul power was incapable of invading it and was immediately deflected by it.

“You need soul power at the All Creation Realm in order to communicate with an Artifact Spirit, and even though your soul power is pretty good, it’s still far from being strong enough,” Jian Wusheng said.

Upon hearing this, Su Yu felt like a bucket of cold water had just been poured at him.

She then said, “However, the rewards for defeating me doesn’t stop at just giving you directions. It also includes helping you communicate with it.”

As Jian Wusheng looked at the Five Elements Divine Prison, the space between her brows split open and a pure ray of light shot out from that spot. It then quickly disappeared among the Five Elements Divine Prison.

Jian Wusheng’s phantom image’s eyes were shut tightly, while her face’s muscles twitched. A grimace of pain was apparent on her face, and it seemed like the act of communicating with the Artifact Spirit wasn’t easy for her.

Su Yu detected that something was amiss, and just as he was about to stop Jian Wusheng’s phantom image, her eyes suddenly snapped open. She then exclaimed with astonishment, “The Five Elements Divine Prison’s internal space is too broad, and looking for the Artifact Spirit within it was more difficult than I had expected.”

Confusion flickered in Su Yu’s gaze for a moment as he looked at Jian Wusheng’s phantom image and wondered… Why did pain appear on her face a moment ago? Moreover, why did it seem like she wasn’t aware of it at all?

“Well, did you manage to find the Artifact Spirit?” Su Yu asked.

Jian Wusheng’s phantom image nodded, then said, “Yes. I already found it, but it’s a pity that the Five Elements Divine Prison has existed for too long, so its Artifact Spirit’s spiritual power is already too weak. As such, it’s likely that it will soon disappear from the world entirely.”

Su Yu was already prepared for this, as it seemed like his own Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron didn’t have an Artifact Spirit either.

“I will help you summon it, but it will be up to you to get its recognition and ask to be taught the control technique. Everything will depend upon you alone,” Jian Wusheng’s phantom image said.

She then gradually turned into countless symbols, which disappeared as they floated among this private room. Her gaze was still fixed on Su Yu, and she wore a faint smile as she said, “I hope that we can someday meet on the Jiuzhou Continent. I wish you good luck, you lucky lad.”

After she said this, she disappeared completely. Just before she was completely gone, Su Yu stood up and cupped his fists at her, while saying, “Senior, many thanks for guiding me. I really can’t thank you enough.”

It was at this moment that a colorless light spread out from the Five Elements Divine Prison, and an awe-inspiring voice drifted from the Five Elements Tower. This voice seemed strange, not like a human’s voice.

The voice asked in wonder, “The person who got the Five Elements Divine Prison is still just a human? A demon like me must again waste a great amount of effort to teach him the Demon Clan’s language!”

Su Yu’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed in surprise, “The Demon Clan’s language?”

Even though he got all of Yun Yazi’s life research and had most of the world’s living beings’ languages, he wasn’t proficient in all of them, but only roughly understood them and could hold simple exchanges with those who spoke them. Still, he could tell that this voice was speaking in the Demon Clan’s language!

“Wow! A human who is proficient in the Demon Clan’s language!” A startled exclamation echoed out from the Five Elements Divine Prison. The speaker seemed quite surprised.

The Five Elements Divine Prison started shaking lightly, while a flood dragon-like living being with a dark green body came out from it. It was just as big as a thumb, and after it flew out of the Five Elements Divine Prison, it stood on top of it.

The dark green flood dragon was vivid and lifelike, and it looked as if it was a real living being. However, when Su Yu observed it with his Soul Eyes, he saw just a Soul Body.

He could also tell that it was extremely weak, much weaker than even a Level One Fairy’s soul. Hence, if Su Yu wanted to extinguish it, he could do so easily at any time.

“Are you the Artifact Spirit?” Su Yu asked, trying to use the Demon Clan’s language to communicate with it.

Although the dark green flood dragon was small, it was still awe-inspiring as it nodded slowly and said, “I really didn’t expect that I would have such good luck as to run into a human proficient in the Demon Clan Language! It seems like the Five Elements Divine Prison has a qualified successor!”

After it spoke, the dark green flood dragon stood up, while its illusory body started expanding. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, it was at eye level with Su Yu.

“Human, I’m the Five Elements Divine Prison’s Artifact Spirit, and you can call me Yuan Jiao,” Yuan Jiao said. “I’ve lived for more than 10,000 years and have served nine human masters. You will be the tenth!”

Su Yu raised his brows asked, “Are you really the Artifact Spirit? Why is the spirit of our Human Clan’s imperial saint artifact a demon?”

Upon hearing hims question, Yuan Jiao unexpectedly just laughed. “Hahaha! You ignorant people are really fearless. The Human Clan’s imperial saint artifact? Your Human Clan is ranked at the end of the Ten Thousand Ancient Beings List, as you are just weak and inferior living beings! You can’t even decide your own fates, so how can you possibly possess an imperial saint artifact?”

Ten Thousand Ancient Beings List? What is that? Are there more powerful living beings besides humans? All of this was new to Su Yu.

The flood dragon then said, “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be willing to serve a human as my master. This is because a human’s cultivation level is low, and a human’s lifespan is quite short. A human will mostly need to spend his whole life just learning how to control the Five Elements Divine Prison, and then his lifespan will inevitably come to an end just after learning it. I will then be forced to serve a brand new master!”

The flood dragon shook its head, then said, “If it was an outstanding person from the Demon Clan, he would need just 300 years to control it completely. Moreover, demons have a lifespan of several thousand years, which means that they could control the Five Elements Divine Prison for a much longer period of time.”

Su Yu squinted his eyes, then said, “You really don’t need to compromise and serve a human.”

Yuan Jiao, who was standing proudly there, stiffened upon hearing this. He then snorted and said, “Since I’m an Artifact Spirit, it’s my duty to teach my master how to control the magical artifact.”

Upon hearing this retort, Su Yu asked calmly, “Is that the case? Then… Why does it feel to me like you are making a compromise just because you are afraid of death?”

Even though he had never come into contact with beings like Artifact Spirits before, Su Yu could still understand that they needed nourishment. Hence, an Artifact Spirit that didn’t have an owner to feed it would gradually become weaker and weaker.

Now, Yuan Jiao was so weak that he was just at the same level of a Level One Fairy. If he wasn’t nourished by anyone soon, he would probably disappear completely. Yet even now, he still dared to put on airs in front of Su Yu!

Yuan Jiao glared at him angrily and said, “Human lad, you…”

Su Yu interrupted him, not allowing him to finish his speech. He then snorted coldly and said, “You should listen to what I have to say. Since you want to continue existing as an Artifact Spirit, you should stop putting on airs in front of me just because you are a demon.”

Su Yu then added, “I really don’t care about imperial saint artifacts, and it doesn’t matter to me if I get one more. If you aren’t willing to do your utmost to help me control the imperial saint artifact, I will seal you forever!”

Upon hearing this, Yuan Jiao didn’t get angry, but only laughed instead. “It doesn’t matter to you? You are just an ignorant lad, yet your tone is still so arrogant. Are imperial saint artifacts something that trifling humans like you can get…”

His speech came to an abrupt end because a dazzling layer of Milky Way stars’ radiance appeared in Su Yu’s right arm.

“The Milky Way Star Sand ranked twenty-first in the Ancient Gods Ten Thousand Weapons List!” Yuan Jiao exclaimed after he sucked in a breath of cold air.

He assumed that it was this human lad’s greatest fortune to get the Five Elements Divine Prison, which was ranked in the nine thousandths, yet Su Yu unexpectedly possessed an imperial saint artifact of the highest grade, which was ranked twenty-first!

“Who are you? How can a human possess an imperial saint artifact of such an impressive grade? It’s impossible!” Yuan Jiao cried out, clearly shocked.