"Oh really?" Rocky asked with his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Matriarch, are you really going to tell him?" The elders and advanced ordinary spiritual beings of the
Phoenix Master Clan, as well as Felicia and Erica, were also shocked. They didn't understand why the
matriarch had changed her mind and why she was planning to tell Rocky the truth.
"Well, I think he can do something that not even we can do. So it might not be a bad thing to let him
know the truth," explained the matriarch. Then she turned to Rocky and said, "Prince Crimson, follow
me." With that said, she left without a backward glance, leaving the others with disbelief still written on
their faces.
When she was gone, their watchful eyes followed Rocky instead, but he soon left to follow the
matriarch.
Not long after, they stopped at the gate of a sacrificial hall not far from the nest of the legendary
guardian beast.
As he approached the sacrificial hall, Rocky could clearly feel a powerful demonic aura coming from it,
which was very similar to the aura emitted by the mutated spirit manipulators and the Ice Phoenix
Queen.
"Where are we?" Rocky asked as he spun around and cast a curious look at his surroundings.
"This sacrificial hall is one of the forbidden areas of our Phoenix Master Clan. No other members are
allowed to enter here, except for me and several elders. But today, I will make an exception for you." As
the matriarch finished speaking, she walked into the hall and gestured for Rocky to follow her.
Rocky felt an overwhelming demonic aura rush towards him as soon as he stepped foot inside, and he
could not help but scrunch his nose in discomfort. He looked around a little to see where it could be
coming from, but the hall was as bereft as the day it was built. There was nothing but a black and cyan
cauldron, which came up almost to his chest, placed on the central platform. He didn't know what
material it was made of, but it gave him an ominous feeling. The evil aura that he had been feeling
since earlier seemed to be coming from the cauldron.
As he gave it a closer look, he realized that the cauldron and the evil aura felt vaguely familiar, as if he
had encountered it before. More than that, he felt strangely attracted to the cauldron, which inexplicably
made him want to get closer to it.
"This cauldron is called the Demonic Soul Cauldron. It was used to suppress the soul of the most
powerful demonic beast in the ancient times. However, a few days ago, several formidable spiritual
masters of the spiritual race broke into this sacrificial hall and forced the Demonic Soul Cauldron open,
so the soul sealed inside escaped." The matriarch looked at the Demonic Soul Cauldron in the hall
sorrowfully as she told Rocky the truth.
"It held the most powerful demonic beast in the ancient times? I've only heard of ancient spiritual
beasts before." It was the first time that Rocky had heard of the ancient demonic beast, so he was
eager to know more.
"Back at the beginning of the spiritual race, the ancient demonic beasts and the ancient spiritual beasts
coexisted in the world. The former was evil, while the latter was considered good. The ancient demonic
beasts were too ferocious and bloodthirsty, and they liked to hunt the members of the spiritual race as
food. For this reason, the spiritual race had no interest in preserving them, so they later became
extinct. As for the herculean demonic beast in the ancient times, it was said that it had lived for over a
thousand years before it was suppressed inside the cauldron. It was so formidable that its soul
remained intact even after its body was destroyed, so it had to be suppressed in the cauldron," the
matriarch explained.
"So the legendary guardian beast is affected by the soul power of the most powerful demonic beast in
the ancient times? But if that's the case, what made the spirit manipulators in the martial arts contest
mutate?" Rocky said with a puzzled look.
"The cauldron is not only used to suppress, but it can also refine the souls into potent power which can
be used by its owner. The soul of the herculean demonic beast from the ancient times had been refined
by the former owner of the cauldron into an original soul and countless remnant souls a long time ago.
However, it turns out that the process was left unfinished, and it was still one step away from being
completed," the matriarch continued.
"Why didn't you continue to refine it?" Rocky asked in confusion.
"The cauldron is a taboo object. Since it was brought back to our clan, it has been frowned upon and
perceived as dark and dangerous. That is why it had been sealed in this hall, and no one is allowed to
get close to it. This time, however, it was opened, and the original soul and countless remnant souls
escaped. Although we arrived to stop some of them in time, many of them escaped and scattered all
over the Magic Phoenix Empire. The mutated spirit manipulators that you saw in the martial arts
contest were all affected by the scattered remnant souls. The reason why our legendary guardian beast
has become like that is that it has devoured the original soul of the most powerful demonic beast from
the ancient times," the matriarch said.
"Yeah, I think I am beginning to understand now. I have a question, though. If the cauldron didn't
belong to your clan, where did it come from? Based on what you said, it should have existed for long.
So, it must be ancient too, right?" Rocky asked curiously.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that." It seemed that Rocky had hit a stone wall in his investigation, as the
matriarch didn't look willing to answer any more of his questions. He decided to shelve that thought for
later.
Rocky opted to turn his attention back to the cauldron this time, peering closer at it before glancing at
the matriarch questioningly. "Can I get a closer look?"
"All right, but please be careful." Thankfully, the matriarch didn't refuse him and only opted to warn him.
Rocky's curiosity was killing him, and his body felt like it was being pulled closer to the cauldron by an
unknown force.
With a respectful nod, he approached the cauldron on the central platform of the hall. With every step
he took, he felt the evil power in his body as it surged in excitement.
"Why does the cauldron give me such a feeling?" Rocky murmured to himself in wonder.
When he was less than two meters away from the cauldron, it suddenly started shaking violently, and
demonic light flashed and sparked around its surface.
The evil power of the Holy Dragon Bead in Rocky's body came out almost at the same time, and the
evil light radiated in all directions. It set off the demonic light emitted from the cauldron, similar to the
way a powder keg could explode with a single spark.
The next moment, a streak of demonic light shot out from the cauldron with a loud rumbling sound. It
vaulted off the ceiling, breaking the roof in the process and lighting up the sky.
The whole hall seemed to shake and tremble as if it was a living thing shaking in fear.
As the demonic light that rushed out of the hall flew outside, it exploded like fireworks that lit up the
evening sky, and surely, everyone in the Phoenix Cloud Mountain could see it. The members of the
Phoenix Master Clan who saw this stopped in their tracks to admire the view, thinking that something
momentous had happened.
The matriarch, who was standing behind Rocky, was also taken off guard by this development. She
didn't expect that Rocky could cause such a violent reaction from the cauldron. Why did it respond to
him in such a way?
It had never reacted this way, ever. Even when it was brought back to the Phoenix Master Clan, there
had been no abnormal movements. It had always been like an ordinary cauldron, except for the
astonishing demonic aura and the forceful opening of it not long ago. Therefore, it was the first time
that the matriarch had seen it react this way. What a shock! And to think that a mere human was the
one who caused such an abnormal response!
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