blenderwars Chapter 256 The Battle for the Nine Cauldrons, a Battle for the Fate of the Nation!
Chapter 256 The Battle for the Nine Cauldrons, a Battle for the Fate of the Nation!
Seven days after the Battle of the High Seas ended.
In Beijing, China, in a top-secret conference room 300 meters underground at the highest command headquarters.
On the huge holographic projection screen, the scene of Lin Qingge suppressing Atlan, the inheritor of Poseidon, was being replayed at ten times slower speed.
The waves subsided, the divine might remained as still as a prison, and the phrase "The sea dares not be calm" seemed to still echo in the ocean.
But the people sitting around the circular conference table at this moment did not have much joy on their faces after the victory; instead, they all looked solemn.
"The data analysis is complete."
A middle-aged female expert wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood up and tapped a laser pointer on several keyframes on the screen.
"According to the energy level detection, the peak of divine power that Comrade Lin Qingge unleashed during his final attack completely overwhelmed the divine power of Atlantis."
"But the problem is—"
She switched the screen, and a global map of divine power distribution appeared on the screen.
The red area representing China is slowly expanding, but the blue area representing the Western pantheon, the golden light representing Mount Olympus, and the silver runes representing Northern Europe are all flashing intensely.
"This victory inspired all the gods and their lords."
"Starting yesterday, the global activity level of divine power has increased by 300% year-on-year. At least seventeen mythological sites in Egypt, Greece, Northern Europe, and the Arab world have simultaneously experienced abnormal fluctuations in divine power."
"They are accelerating the search for and awakening of their own gods."
There was silence in the conference room.
Old Master Mo sat in the main seat, his hands crossed on the table, his face solemn.
"So, the fact that we just took down one might attract a whole bunch?"
"Yes." The female expert pushed up her glasses.
"Furthermore, according to intelligence, the Olympian pantheon is already holding an emergency meeting of the Gods. Poseidon's defeat is a great humiliation for them."
Yuan Qingsheng, sitting next to Su Fan, snorted coldly and slammed the Gonggong Halberd in his hand onto the ground.
"Humiliation? Let them bring a few more, and see if my halberd is tough enough!"
"Old Yuan, calm down."
Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together, and the gentle Buddhist light soothed the somewhat agitated atmosphere in the conference room.
"When soldiers come, we will meet them with generals; when water comes, we will dam it with earth. The most urgent task is to seize the time to complete our own strategic plan."
All eyes turned to Su Fan.
A yellowed sheepskin map lay open in front of Su Fan. It was the "Map of the Nine Provinces" that he had restored using the "Ancient Artifact Restoration Scroll" provided by the system. It was marked with nine circles drawn with cinnabar.
The location of the Nine Tripods.
"The man in black robes has had the Haotian Golden Palace Seal for ten days now."
Su Fan's finger moved slowly across the map.
"According to Master Xuanzang's estimation, given the black-robed man's strength, it would take him at least a month to fully master the Golden Palace Seal. But we can't gamble; what if he has some special means to master it ahead of time?"
"Therefore, we must find and activate as many of the Nine Cauldrons as possible within this month."
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"The Nine Cauldrons, which suppress the nine provinces, are not only divine artifacts for suppressing the dragon veins, but also the cornerstone of Chinese civilization. As long as we can activate more than three of them, we can initially stabilize the dragon veins, so that even if the black-robed man obtains the Golden Palace Seal, he will not be able to easily shake the foundation of the country."
"If six or more are activated—"
Su Fan paused, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.
"We can then pinpoint the black-robed man's location, and perhaps even... reclaim the Haotian Golden Palace Seal!"
A collective gasp filled the conference room.
To reclaim the Golden Palace Seal?
That's snatching something from a god-level powerhouse!
Yuan Qingsheng grinned.
"Young friend Su, you make it sound so easy. That's a deity. At most, we only have the Venerable Xuanzang as a deity, and that's not even the whole picture."
Su Fan was resolute.
"Therefore, we need the Nine Tripods. When the Nine Tripods are gathered together, we can mobilize the power of the Chinese dragon veins. On the land of China, with the blessing of the dragon veins, we may not be without the power to fight."
Old Mo made the decision: "What's the plan? How do we find it? Nine places, thousands of miles apart, and we have limited manpower."
Su Fan was already prepared.
He tapped the tablet in front of him and projected the data onto the large screen.
"The nine tripods are scattered across the nine provinces, but we don't need to exert our efforts equally."
"According to ancient records and my calculations, the Nine Tripods have different powers. Among them, the Yuzhou Tripod is the central tripod and is the most important, but it is also the one that has been suppressed the deepest and is the most difficult to awaken."
"The three tripods, namely the Jizhou Tripod, the Yongzhou Tripod, and the Jingzhou Tripod, correspond to the north, west, and south directions respectively, and are the three pillars of the dragon vein. As long as these three tripods are activated, the dragon vein of China can be initially stabilized."
Su Fan pressed his finger firmly on the three red circles.
"Therefore, I suggest we split into three groups."
"The first team, led by me, will head deep into the Taihang Mountains to search for the Jizhou Cauldron."
"The second route, led by Elder Yuan, will head to the Kunlun Mountains to search for the Yongzhou Cauldron."
"The third route—" Su Fan looked at Tang Sanzang, "Master Xuanzang, I'm afraid we'll have to trouble you to personally make a trip to Shennongjia to find the Jingzhou Cauldron."
Tang Sanzang nodded slightly: "That is indeed the case."
"And what about me?"
Lin Qingge's voice came from the doorway.
She had arrived at the conference room at some point, wearing a navy blue dress, with the empress's mark on her forehead faintly visible.
After seven days of consolidation, she could now control the divine aura emanating from her, but the divine light in her eyes had become even more profound.
Su Fan said seriously, "Qingge, you will be in charge of the East Sea."
"Mazu is the goddess of the sea, and your divine realm is in the sea. Although we won the battle on the high seas, the West will not let this go easily. Although we have the protection of the mythical arena, the defense line of the East China Sea still needs you."
Lin Qingge pursed her lips, clearly somewhat unwilling, but still nodded.
She knew how heavy the burden on her shoulders was.
"Where's Zhao Dabao?" Old Mo suddenly asked. "That kid's a strategic weapon for us now, where are we going to put him?"
Mentioning Zhao Dabao immediately lightened the atmosphere in the meeting room.
In the past few days, Zhao Dabao has caused quite a few laughs since being brought to Beijing.
For example, when I went to the cafeteria to get food, I subconsciously said to the lady serving the food, "Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment." As a result, the lady's hand trembled, and the ladle fell directly into the soup pot.
For example, when testing abilities at the training ground, someone shouted those five words at a target, but the target didn't fall down, and the entire lighting system of the training ground exploded.
Now everyone in the base avoids Zhao Dabao, afraid that he will "bless" them.
"Zhao Dabao..." Su Fan rubbed his temples.
"Let him come with me. There have been reports of unusual energy in the Taihang Mountains where the Jizhou Cauldron is located recently, which may be a contingency plan left by the man in black robes. Zhao Dabao's abilities might prove surprisingly useful in a critical moment."
Old Mo stood up.
"It's settled then. All departments, prepare immediately and depart in 24 hours."
"Remember, this is not an ordinary matter, this is war!"
"The struggle for the Nine Tripods concerns the fate of the nation; only success is permissible, failure is not an option!"
The crowd responded in unison:
"yes!"
……
Twenty-four hours later.
On the outskirts of a remote primeval forest in the Taihang Mountains.
Three state-of-the-art "Kunpeng" vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft slowly landed on the temporarily cleared open ground.
The hatch opened, and Su Fan was the first to jump out, followed by Zhao Dabao and a team of twelve elite Divine Warriors.
This team, codenamed "Dragon Seeker," consists entirely of hand-picked experts.
The captain's name is Chen Zhan, a man in his early thirties with a stern face. His contracted Chinese deity is Li Siye, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, who is skilled in attacking and breaking through enemy lines.
"Advisor Su, based on the coordinates you provided, the approximate location of the Jizhou Cauldron should be near Duanlong Cliff, about 50 kilometers ahead."
Chen Zhan unfolded the electronic map, on which the route was already marked.
"But the problem is that the magnetic field in that area has been completely disordered since three days ago. Drones that fly in lose contact, and satellite images are also blurry."
"Moreover—" Chen Zhan switched the screen and brought up several thermal images, "There are a lot of abnormal life reactions here, and the energy readings... are very high."
The thermal image shows a dense array of red dots representing life, with the brightness of some dots even reaching the level of an A-level deity.
Su Fan's eyes turned cold.
"The man in black robes did indeed leave something behind. We must hurry; we must reach Dragon Cliff before sunset today."
"yes!"
The team set off quickly.
Meanwhile, Su Fan was not idle either.
He took out his phone and opened the live streaming app.
Since we're looking for Jiuding, let's just do a live stream of the search.
Firstly, it can earn popularity points, and secondly, it can also declare to the world that the divine heritage of China is not something that just anyone can touch!
"Hey everyone, I'm back again!"
As soon as the live stream started, tens of millions of netizens who had been waiting in front of their screens flooded in instantly.
The live chat exploded with comments.
"Su Shen! It's Su Shen! He's finally back on air!"
"Where is this? It feels so primitive!"
"Selling sunflower seeds and benches in the front row, waiting for Su Shen to stir things up!"
"I bet five cents I'll awaken a new god today!"
Su Fan adjusted the action camera hanging around his neck to ensure the image was stable.
"Today we're not judging gods, today we're going on a spontaneous outdoor adventure!"
After speaking, Su Fan pointed to the mountains shrouded in mist in front of him.
"See that? Deep in the Taihang Mountains, there's a place where, according to legend, a dragon vein passes through."
"Our goal today is to find something. Something that concerns the fate of China."
The moment these words were spoken, the live stream chat exploded.
"National destiny? What's so powerful about that?"
"Could it be... the Sword of National Destiny?"
"You've been reading too many novels, haven't you?"
"I bet it's an ancient artifact!"
Su Fan kept everyone in suspense and didn't directly mention the Nine Cauldrons.
As he led the team through the dense forest, he interacted with netizens and shared some myths and legends about the Taihang Mountains.
But soon, everyone's smiles faded.
As the group ventured deeper into the area, the surrounding scenery began to become eerie.
The trees began to twist, and black spots resembling human faces appeared on their trunks.
The moss on the ground turned an ominous purplish-black, and a sticky black liquid would seep out when stepped on.
A faint, fishy stench filled the air, like rotting flesh mixed with rust.
"alert!"
Chen Zhan gave a low shout, and the team members immediately formed a battle formation.
Su Fan also dropped his relaxed expression, and his third eye between his brows slightly opened.
In the field of vision, the entire forest was shrouded in a thin but extremely malevolent black mist.
The black aura shared the same origin as the evil aura encountered in Zhenhai, but it was more concealed and more insidious.
"It should be the evil aura left behind by the man in black robes," Su Fan said in a deep voice. "He is using evil energy to erode the dragon vein, trying to break the seal of the Nine Cauldrons ahead of schedule."
Zhao Dabao shrank his neck.
"What should we do then?"
"What should we do?" Su Fan sneered and pulled out a stack of talismans from his pocket.
This is a Samadhi Fire Talisman that he drew in his spare time these past few days, specifically to ward off evil spirits.
"burn!"
The talisman was flung out and automatically burned in the air, turning into dozens of golden flames that landed precisely on the polluted trees and ground.
sizzle-
When the black energy encountered the Samadhi Fire, it instantly evaporated and dissipated.
But the evil energy was too immense.
As soon as the flames cleared an area, more black energy surged from the ground and deep within the tree roots, one after another.
Chen Zhan pierced through a mutated wild boar covered in black pustules that emerged from the ground with a single shot.
"Advisor Su, this can't go on! The evil energy is giving birth to monsters!"
The voice just fell.
Awooo—
The roars of beasts echoed from all directions.
Pairs of scarlet eyes lit up deep in the dense forest.
The mutated wolf pack, bears, and even several pythons as thick as buckets all lost their minds and frantically pounced on the team.
"Fire!"
At Chen Zhan's command, the team members launched an attack.
Li Siye's illusory sword swept across, slaying the three giant wolves.
Another divine master who had made a contract with the Thunder God summoned heavenly lightning and charred a bear black.
But these mutated monsters are not afraid of death at all, and their numbers are increasing.
"Su Shen! Watch out behind you!"
Sharp-eyed netizens in the live stream exclaimed in surprise.
Without turning his head, Su Fan pointed out with his backhand.
"Certainly!"
A beam of clear light shot out, freezing a leopard that was pouncing from behind in mid-air.
But in just a short while, they were completely surrounded.
The horde of mutated beasts was a dark mass, numbering in the hundreds. Among them, several of the leaders were more than three times the size of normal beasts, and their auras were approaching the seventh rank.
"Advisor Su, should we break through or hold our ground?"
Chen Zhan asked, panting heavily.
Although they are elite troops, they cannot withstand this kind of war of attrition.
Su Fan looked at the increasing number of monsters around him, then at the black mist constantly rising from the ground, and suddenly smiled.
"Breakout? Hold your ground? Neither is necessary."
He turned to look at Zhao Dabao.
"Da Bao, didn't you complain yesterday that the food in the base cafeteria was too salty?"
Zhao Dabao was taken aback: "Huh? It is a bit salty..."
Su Fan patted him on the shoulder.
"Now I'll give you a chance. Shout out your grievances about this land."
"Huh?" Zhao Dabao hadn't reacted yet.
Su Fan said every word.
"Remember, not at the monsters, but at this polluted land. Shout out all your resentment towards the cafeteria, all your anger towards all the bad luck!"
Although Zhao Dabao was confused, his trust in Su Fan had become instinctive.
He took a deep breath, raised the magnifying glass of misfortune that Su Fan had given him, and shouted:
"I...I've had enough!"
Zhao Dabao roared at the ground:
"The cafeteria food is horribly salty! Why am I so unlucky?! I've never had a smooth life! Why is this happening to me?!"
"This dilapidated forest is shrouded in smog and looks gloomy!"
"I--"
His face flushed red, and he shouted out those five words with all his might:
"Fellow Daoist! Please wait!!!"
hum-
An invisible wave spread out from Zhao Dabao.
This time, there were no spectacular special effects.
But everyone in the live stream witnessed a bizarre scene.
The mutated monsters that were charging at them suddenly stumbled.
The giant wolf at the very front slipped and crashed into a large tree, its neck breaking instantly.
The other bear was halfway through its pounce when it suddenly let out a huge sneeze. The sneeze was so powerful that it sent itself tumbling backward, crushing a bunch of smaller monsters to death.
The black mist on the ground began to fight amongst itself.
One part of the dark energy wanted to continue creating monsters, while the other part inexplicably began to dissipate on its own.
In just over ten seconds, the encirclement turned into complete chaos.
The monsters fought each other, and the black energy consumed itself.
The pressure around the team instantly lessened by more than half.
Chen Zhan and the others were dumbfounded.
The live stream chat paused for three seconds, then exploded with messages.
"Holy crap! This is possible?!"
"Has Zhao Dabao brought bad luck to this land?"
"Land: What did I do to deserve this?"
"I understand the logic, but why does that bear's sneeze send it flying?!"
Su Fan nodded in satisfaction.
The law of misfortune, in essence, disrupts cause and effect and creates chaos.
This is the perfect remedy to deal with this kind of pollution that relies on the order of evil.
"Don't just stand there, take this opportunity and rush out!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the team broke through the encirclement. Under Zhao Dabao's constant interference of "Fellow Daoist, please wait," they encountered almost no decent resistance along the way.
Twenty minutes later, they finally arrived at their destination.
Broken Dragon Cliff!