Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk wandered through the ruins of the Desolate Ancient Era, chatting idly.
Just then, a sudden radiance erupted in the distant void.
This light appeared without warning, shooting straight into the heavens like a pillar of brilliance.
What surprised Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk was that this radiance was none other than the Light of Original Sin.
Although many ruins within the Primordial Nine Palaces had already bloomed with the Light of Original Sin, most of those lights were dim, flickering, sporadic, and mist-like. The one that appeared now, however, was exceptionally bright and dazzling, coiling upward like a soaring azure dragon or standing like a pillar holding up the sky.
Seeing this Light of Original Sin, Gu Qingfeng lost interest in continuing his idle stroll through the ruins. He leaped into the air and flew toward it. Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't linger either, following closely behind.
They had assumed the source of this Light of Original Sin would be another ruin of the Desolate Ancient Era. To their surprise, it wasn't.
This Light of Original Sin seemed to have emerged from thin air, bursting directly from the void.
As the two flew into the void and were about to rush over to investigate, the Light of Original Sin vanished just as mysteriously as it had appeared.
When the light disappeared, Gu Qingfeng clearly saw a cauldron floating in the void.
This cauldron was as massive as a mountain range.
It was a nine-cornered black cauldron.
The black cauldron exuded a dense Breath of Original Sin!
"Was that Light of Original Sin just now released by that cauldron?" Gu Qingfeng asked.
Da Xing the Mad Monk replied uncertainly, "Probably."
"What the hell is that thing?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk shook his head. He didn't know what the mountain-sized black cauldron was either. He couldn't imagine how a black cauldron could release the Light of Original Sin. From his understanding of the Light of Original Sin, it seemed only the Flower of Original Sin and the Essence of Original Sin could bloom with such light. This nine-cornered black cauldron didn't look like a Flower of Original Sin, and it certainly couldn't be the Essence of Original Sin. How could it release the Light of Original Sin?
"Damn it all!"
Suddenly, Da Xing the Mad Monk seemed to remember something. His face paled in horror as he exclaimed, "Could this thing be... an Original Sin treasure?"
"What's an Original Sin treasure?"
"This old monk has heard... heard that back when the Wu Dao Age opened in the Desolate Ancient Era, some people used resources like the Flower of Original Sin, the Essence of Original Sin, and many other Original Sin materials to forge magical treasures."
"That's possible?" Gu Qingfeng was inwardly shocked. "Didn't you say, you old bald donkey, that the Wu Dao Age back then only opened for an instant before ending? How could anyone forge treasures from those Original Sin resources in just an instant?"
"The Desolate Ancient Era was an age of fierce contention over the Dao, where talents emerged in droves. They could slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos and even open the Wu Dao Age. What's impossible about forging an Original Sin treasure in an instant?" Da Xing the Mad Monk argued. "Besides, if the True Blood of Original Sin could survive to this day, why couldn't someone seize Original Sin resources first and then slowly forge a treasure later? Moreover, when the Wu Dao Age opened for that instant back then, the sky was filled with the Light of Original Sin, the Breath of Original Sin, the Flower of Original Sin, and the Essence of Original Sin dancing like sprites everywhere. Who can guarantee that a natural, innate Original Sin treasure couldn't be born from such conditions?"
Gu Qingfeng pondered this carefully and found Da Xing the Mad Monk's reasoning not without merit. Although he hadn't experienced the Desolate Ancient Era and didn't know what the scene was like when the Wu Dao Age opened, he had experienced the revival of the Great Nature in the Present-Ancient Era. After the Great Nature revived, spiritual energy became abundant, and all kinds of cultivation resources sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain—flowers, plants, trees, rare treasures, exotic fruits, mountain beasts, and even stones could become spirits. Although the Wu Dao Age's opening was just an instant, as Da Xing the Mad Monk said, with the sky filled with the Light of Original Sin, the Flower of Original Sin blooming across mountains and plains, and the Essence of Original Sin dancing like sprites everywhere, it wasn't impossible for a natural, innate Original Sin treasure to be born under such circumstances.
"If this nine-cornered black cauldron really is a so-called Original Sin treasure, how did it just pop out of nowhere?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk responded, "Perhaps it was affected by the changes in the Primordial Nine Palaces, or maybe the void is rotating, or the ruins are merging, and this thing just happened to emerge."
"Wrong!" Gu Qingfeng said.
"What's wrong?"
"Feel the Breath of Original Sin carefully."
Da Xing the Mad Monk was puzzled but still focused on sensing the Breath of Original Sin. He didn't notice anything unusual—it was still as dense and intense as before. If there was anything odd, it seemed the Breath of Original Sin was drifting slowly like thick fog. This wasn't hard to understand, given the Nine Palaces were constantly changing and the void was continuously rotating; the Breath of Original Sin naturally wouldn't remain still.
Wait!
Da Xing the Mad Monk suddenly realized something was off. He clearly remembered that the Breath of Original Sin didn't change with the transformations of the Nine Palaces, nor did it rotate with the void. Why was it drifting now? And it didn't feel like mere drifting—all the Breath of Original Sin was flowing in the same direction.
And that direction was toward the nine-cornered black cauldron.
Good heavens!
That nine-cornered black cauldron was silently devouring the Breath of Original Sin from the void.
"If it really were a natural, innate treasure born when the Wu Dao Age opened, it probably wouldn't devour the Breath of Original Sin, right?" Da Xing the Mad Monk asked. "Are you saying this thing was forged later?"
"Most likely, yes. This damn thing definitely has an owner." Gu Qingfeng laughed. "Moreover, if I'm guessing correctly, this is probably a deliberate trap set by someone. I remember earlier, when we were in the Li Palace, we ran into an old Original Sin fellow—what was his name again? I think it was something like Patriarch Blood Cauldron. He used a blood cauldron to lure those mindless Karmic Retribution Bodies of Original Sin, then refined and devoured their Original Sin." Gu Qingfeng didn't proceed further but hid in the void, saying, "The difference is, that Patriarch Blood Cauldron set a trap to lure the mindless Karmic Retribution Bodies. The trap this bastard set is probably meant to lure those Original Sin Dharmakayas scheming for the title of True Lord of Original Sin."
Da Xing the Mad Monk nodded in agreement; he thought the same. Ever since the Light of Original Sin bloomed in the Primordial Nine Palaces, all sorts of demons and monsters scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin had emerged, searching everywhere for the Flower of Original Sin to seize the initiative in the Original Sin game. Now, this nine-cornered black cauldron had appeared out of thin air, not only releasing a pillar of Original Sin light but also possibly being an Original Sin treasure. For those Original Sin Dharmakayas wanting to seize the initiative, this would be an absolutely fatal temptation. Those profound and unfathomable Original Sin Patriarchs might see that this nine-cornered black cauldron is a trap, but the Original Sin Dharmakayas cultivated by various cave heavens and blessed lands might not. In fact, Da Xing the Mad Monk felt that even if those Original Sin Patriarchs knew it was a trap, they might still take the gamble. Because at this critical juncture, an Original Sin treasure represented a heaven-sent opportunity.