Chapter 786: Recognizing the Master

Ma An looked at the incredibly beautiful woman not far away with a shocked expression. How did this woman appear out of thin air?

However, he soon stopped caring about that, instead becoming utterly captivated by her beauty. In his role at the palace, he had seen countless stunning beauties, such as the Empress, the Crown Princess, and Consort Bai, none of whom were necessarily much less beautiful than this woman. But the woman before him possessed a mesmerizing charm that could overturn all beings. She didn't even need to speak or move; simply standing there and casually blinking, she seemed to draw his very soul away.

Such a femme fatale actually existed in the world!

Ma An, having grown old, had long since lost interest in women. Yet, as he smelled the faint, lingering fragrance in the room that appeared with the woman, he felt as if he had returned to his youth, and his once stagnant heart suddenly stirred to life.

"What is this woman's relationship with Zu An, and why is she here?"

"It seems she was summoned by Zu An's words?"

"How can Zu An, a mere street ruffian, be so capable? First, he gained the favor of Miss Chu, and now he has such an intimate relationship with a stunning beauty like her!"

Rage points from Ma An +444 +444 +444...

Zu An was speechless. What was happening? Why was seeing a beautiful woman making him angry?

He couldn't be bothered with it, turning directly to the beautiful woman beside him and saying, "Daji, control him and find out who is behind him."

Daji had three abilities, one of which, 'Bewitching the World,' allowed her to control members of the opposite sex for a short period.

Daji nodded, then gracefully walked up to Ma An and revealed a smile that could topple kingdoms.

Ma An was utterly dazed in that instant, his mind filled only with thoughts like "I'm going to die, I'm going to die," and he even began to drool uncontrollably.

"Who exactly is the person behind you?" Since Daji couldn't speak, Zu An had to ask.

"The person behind me is my master..." However, in Ma An's eyes, it seemed as if Daji herself was asking him.

"Who is your master?" Zu An quickly pressed.

"My master is..." Ma An instinctively murmured, when suddenly his expression changed, and he instantly sobered up. "You scoundrel, Zu An! What kind of evil magic are you using?!"

Zu An frowned. How could the other party wake up at this moment?

At that moment, Mi Li's voice came: "Did you forget there's a condition for 'Bewitching the World' to work? The target's cultivation must be lower than Daji's."

Zu An sighed. "Of course I remember. I just thought Ma An's cultivation was similar to Daji's, both around the early sixth rank. And I specifically drained his power just now, but I didn't expect it still wouldn't work."

"Since 'Bewitching the World' requires the target's cultivation to be lower than Daji's, that condition must be strictly adhered to. As for you draining his power, it doesn't affect his realm. Although cultivators don't train their souls in the early stages, their souls are subtly nourished. You drained his power, but his soul and realm still remain at the sixth rank," Mi Li analyzed.

"So what do we do?" Zu An had a headache. This Ma An was also cunning, having already tampered with his own body. He couldn't be beaten, nor could he be tricked now. There was truly nothing he could do.

Mi Li pondered for a moment and said, "Didn't I mention before that the Gathering Yuan Pill can raise her skill levels? Now's a good time to try it out."

Zu An's eyes lit up. "You're right!"

"You... who are you talking to?" Seeing Zu An talking to himself, Ma An felt a chill down his spine. He instinctively wanted to escape, but his body was limp, allowing him only to move a small, awkward distance.

Zu An ignored him, simply knocking him unconscious with a palm strike. He would deal with him after he had refined the pill.

However, he quickly realized a problem: "Empress Sister, even Master Shenxu doesn't know how to use this thing, does he?"

As he spoke, he pulled out the small, greenish-yellow cauldron from his embrace. Honestly, at first, its color seemed inauspicious, but after looking at it for a while, it actually looked quite pleasing.

"Master Shenxu couldn't use it because he didn't know the method," Mi Li's red figure appeared, taking the small green cauldron from his hands. Her slender fingers caressed its surface. After a long moment, she let out a faint sigh. "Alas, it's incomplete. But that's probably for the best; otherwise, the complete Nine Cauldrons wouldn't be something you could control in your current state."

Zu An felt a pang of discomfort. His Tai'a Sword was also sealed, and now the Nine Cauldrons were incomplete. Was his luck good or bad?

Of course, what concerned him at the moment was a more practical question: "Actually, I've tried before, and this thing doesn't really look like an alchemy furnace."

"What do you know?" Mi Li snorted. "The Nine Cauldrons are symbols of power, but they originally had the function of cooking. Have you forgotten what you saw in the Yin Ruins secret realm?"

"You're right," Zu An nodded. In early times, tripods were indeed vessels for cooking, though there were strict regulations regarding the size and number of tripods used by people of different statuses.

"It's a pity that during my many years as the Shang King in the Yin Ruins, I never tried the Nine Cauldrons." Zu An suddenly felt some regret. Logically, since the Nine Cauldrons mysteriously disappeared around the time Qin unified the six states, the Shang Dynasty must have possessed them. Unfortunately, at the time, his mind was solely focused on how to pass the trials, and he hadn't considered these things.

Mi Li shook her head. "The Nine Cauldrons possess extraordinary power. King Wu Geng of Shang wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to simulate their functions in the Yin Ruins. In that secret realm, the Nine Cauldrons were likely no different from ordinary cauldrons."

"I see." Zu An thought. No wonder, despite being in the Yin Ruins for so long, he hadn't detected any powerful Nine Cauldrons within the palace.

Mi Li examined the small green cauldron in her hand. "The Nine Cauldrons were forged by Yu the Great of the Xia Dynasty. Logically, only the cultivation methods of the Xia royal family should be able to activate them. However, later Shang and Zhou royal families also collected the Nine Cauldrons, so theoretically, their cultivation methods should also be able to activate them. Try circulating the 'Taotie Devouring Heaven Art' or the 'Phoenix Nirvana Scripture' and inject your vital energy into the cauldron to see what happens."

Zu An nodded. As the 'Taotie Devouring Heaven Art' was too aggressive, he activated the 'Phoenix Nirvana Scripture'. As his vital energy flowed in, the small green cauldron suddenly emitted a shimmering light. Its outer surface, originally uneven and unremarkable save for its eye-catching color, now transformed.

Now, with the light radiating, lines seemed to faintly appear around the small cauldron. Gradually, the unevenness around its body became regular, many parts resembling famous mountains and rivers, while other strange patterns were unidentifiable.

Mi Li's expression became excited. "Excellent, excellent! According to ancient pre-Qin texts, the Nine Cauldrons are adorned with the mountains and rivers of the Nine Provinces, as well as various mythical creatures."

As the Great Qin Empress back then, she had never seen the Nine Cauldrons, but now, unexpectedly, she was seeing them.

Gazing at the small cauldron, now shimmering and translucent as it floated in mid-air, bathed in a circulating glow, no longer resembling its previous unfortunate appearance, she thought that if Master Shenxu saw it, he would probably be reluctant to part with it.

Zu An felt an ancient, desolate, yet majestic and weighty aura emanating from it. Along with it came many images he had never seen before.

Like slides fast-forwarding at dozens of times their speed, Zu An felt his head about to explode in that instant, unable to discern any detail in the images.

"Focus your mind, and let the five energies converge!" Mi Li's anxious voice vaguely reached his ears.

He didn't know how much time had passed, or if it was just an instant, but Zu An finally opened his eyes. He felt a splitting headache and found his clothes torn to shreds. His skin was covered in tiny beads of blood, as if all his capillaries had burst.

He was appalled. "How could this happen?!"

Mi Li breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems your cultivation is too low, and the Nine Cauldrons are too powerful. Forcibly activating them caused a backlash. Fortunately, your body has been tempered multiple times by the Primordial Chaos Scripture, becoming incredibly tough; otherwise, you would have likely exploded and died by now. However, it seems you have successfully made the Nine Cauldrons acknowledge you as their master, which is a blessing in disguise."

Zu An was startled. He looked at the small green cauldron again, and indeed, he felt a subtle sense of blood connection.

"It really acknowledged me as its master?" Zu An was both surprised and delighted.

At that moment, Mi Li snorted. "Put your clothes on first. Stop standing around like that."

At the same time, she looked with some surprise at Daji, who had turned away at some point. "How strange. This woman clearly has no consciousness, yet why does she look shy?"