Finally.
Gu Qingfeng arrived beside the Crimson Blood Cauldron. He leaped up and stood atop the cauldron's mouth.
The Crimson Blood Cauldron was nine meters tall, its body carved with profound yet sinister runes that flickered mysteriously. Set against the backdrop of the blood mist, it resembled a savage Desolate Ancient Era fierce beast. Standing atop it, Gu Qingfeng felt as if he were perched on the very maw of that ancient beast, as though he could be devoured at any moment.
The cauldron's mouth looked like an abyss—a crimson abyss.
When the Crimson Blood Cauldron first appeared, Gu Qingfeng had felt something within it calling to him. Now, standing directly over its mouth, that sensation grew even stronger.
"You Di!"
"This cauldron appears exceptionally evil. I advise you to think twice before acting!"
Changfeng Great Emperor couldn't help but offer a word of caution.
He was well aware that, given his status, publicly advising You Di was highly inappropriate. After all, he was a Great Emperor of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao, while Gu Qingfeng had once burned the Nine Heavens and could be considered their mortal enemy. If word got out, Changfeng Great Emperor's reputation would undoubtedly suffer, and some would surely label him as colluding with heretical demons.
However.
Changfeng Great Emperor didn't care about any of that. In his heart, he regarded Gu Qingfeng as a kindred spirit, a friend. Seeing his friend now risking his life, Changfeng Great Emperor felt compelled to offer a warning.
Gu Qingfeng looked up at Changfeng Great Emperor, smiled, and nodded, indicating he understood.
"If it's fortune, it cannot be misfortune; if it's misfortune, it cannot be avoided. What is destined to come will come; what is destined to happen will happen. You might evade the first day of the month, but not the fifteenth."
Gu Qingfeng uttered words that no one present could fully comprehend.
He had never believed in fate. But after entering this Desolate Ancient Black Hole, he had no choice but to believe, for events had spiraled completely beyond his understanding. The only thing left to do now was to gamble—to see if his life was tough enough!
He merely stood atop the cauldron's mouth, neither descending nor taking any action.
However.
That summoning sensation grew increasingly intense.
And as the feeling intensified, a foreboding sense arose within Gu Qingfeng's heart.
This feeling told him that either he would jump in voluntarily, or the Crimson Blood Cauldron would swallow him. One way or another, there was no escaping today.
Sure enough.
The moment this ominous thought surfaced, the Crimson Blood Cauldron suddenly underwent a bizarre transformation. The faintly visible runes on its body seemed to come alive, erupting with a sinister crimson radiance. Simultaneously, the blood-water within the cauldron churned into a vortex, spinning wildly.
Instantly, a powerful suction force erupted. Gu Qingfeng was immediately pulled downward. Fortunately, he had been mentally prepared and reacted swiftly, stabilizing his physical body at once and summoning his Absolute Force to resist the cauldron's pull.
His Absolute Force was indestructible in attack and impregnable in defense—a truly absolute power of the Great Dao. As the Crimson Blood Cauldron's suction struck, Gu Qingfeng immediately channeled his Absolute Force to clash against it, preventing himself from being fully dragged in.
Yet.
This was only a temporary reprieve.
Although it appeared his Absolute Force was holding against the cauldron's powerful suction, Gu Qingfeng had no idea how long it could last.
He wasn't particularly anxious, though.
He simply maintained his Absolute Force, resisting the cauldron's pull. As the eerie runes on the cauldron's body flickered, its suction grew increasingly powerful, as if determined to devour Gu Qingfeng whole.
Thankfully.
Gu Qingfeng had long since comprehended the Dao of Life, granting him boundless vitality. As long as his life force remained unbroken, his Absolute Force would flow endlessly.
He could afford to wait.
He could wait until the next lifetime if needed.
However, the Crimson Blood Cauldron seemed unwilling to engage in a battle of attrition. Its sinister runes continuously shifted and flashed. With a thunderous boom, an extremely savage and violent roar erupted from within the cauldron.
The roar truly sounded like that of a Desolate Ancient Era fierce beast. When it struck, it felt as if Gu Qingfeng's head were splitting apart, his entire body wracked with excruciating pain, as though being burned by fire. Whether there truly was such a beast inside, Gu Qingfeng didn't know, nor did he care to find out at that moment. Because the instant the roar echoed, his legs were already being pulled into the crimson vortex within the cauldron.
Was that all?
No!
The situation was far more dangerous, terrifying, and bizarre than imagined!
After Gu Qingfeng's legs were sucked into the crimson vortex, the blood and qi within his body began to boil and churn uncontrollably, rampaging and flowing backward in utter chaos. It felt as though his blood and qi had suddenly gone mad, desperate to burst out from within him.
A roar—! The savage cry erupted once more.
In a flash, half of Gu Qingfeng's body was dragged into the crimson vortex.
The rampaging blood and qi within him surged out in a frenzy from all the acupoints across his body. In an instant, Gu Qingfeng became a man drenched in blood.
In the blink of an eye.
Gu Qingfeng immediately sealed all his acupoints and blocked every meridian in his body.
With nowhere to go, the frenzied blood and qi madly rampaged within him. Gu Qingfeng held his breath, channeling the Dao of Stillness to infuse his entire being, finally stabilizing the chaotic situation.
Before he could even catch his breath.
Another roar erupted.
He had no idea what exactly was roaring.
But these roars were truly formidable.
With each roar, Gu Qingfeng not only felt his head splitting with pain, but his entire body also trembled violently, wracked with unbearable agony. His sealed acupoints and meridians quivered faintly, as if his physical body might shatter into pieces at any moment.
Ever since awakening ten thousand years after igniting the Original Sin Karmic Flames on Mount Wudao, Gu Qingfeng had been deeply dissatisfied with his physical body. He felt it had completely petrified. While it was good that others couldn't damage it, the problem was that he himself couldn't fully control it either—it was as if this body didn't truly belong to him.
Now.
Facing the savage and bizarre Crimson Blood Cauldron, Gu Qingfeng was profoundly grateful to possess such an indestructible physical body.
Otherwise.
Even if he weren't swallowed today, he would have been shaken until his flesh and blood flew in all directions.
He used his Absolute Force to resist the cauldron's suction while channeling the power of Stillness to suffuse his entire body, barely managing to hold on for now. At the very least, his body stopped sinking further, and his blood and qi were no longer being forcibly drawn out.
Faced with this situation, Gu Qingfeng was somewhat surprised but not panicked in the slightest. Knowing the Crimson Blood Cauldron was no ordinary artifact, he had long been mentally prepared.
Since he had decided to gamble on whether his life was tough enough, he naturally wouldn't submit to fate easily.
Even if today's events were arranged by destiny, destined for him to be swallowed by the Crimson Blood Cauldron, Gu Qingfeng would still make it lose a few teeth in the process!
He wasn't in a hurry.
Not in the slightest.
Even with half his body already sucked into the crimson vortex of the Crimson Blood Cauldron, he remained completely unperturbed.
He could afford to wait.
He could wait out the Crimson Blood Cauldron. He could wait out those old-timers lurking in the Desolate Ancient Black Hole. He could wait out every existence in heaven and earth. He could even wait out fate itself.
He feared nothing. Absolutely nothing.