24 Cauldron

In the path of immortality, time holds no sway. Liu Lang had been conscious for several minutes, gazing at the swaying waters of the lotus pond.

"Ten days and ten nights?"

He felt the surging vitality within him; the *Imperial Spirit Saint-Derivation Art* had been successfully initiated.

"Mmhmm, the Acacia poison in my body has been completely cleared, and my cultivation has even increased a bit." Xiao Rong had already stepped out of the Lotus Heart Pond. She sat on a rock, crossing her legs, holding a small mirror in one hand and applying lipstick with the other.

She pursed her lips and pouted at the mirror, looking quite satisfied.

"Didn't you say that just by smelling the fragrance and meeting one's gaze, one could increase their cultivation? Why did we have to do..." Liu Lang felt empty inside, with an indescribable sensation.

Xiao Rong moved with grace, stepping back into the pond and walking up to Liu Lang.

"Because we are truly in love. Only through true love can one activate the special cultivation state."

Liu Lang was stunned. Was this really the kind of "love" the Acacia Sect spoke of?

"Brother, do I look pretty?" Xiao Rong turned around.

"In love? What is true love?" Liu Lang finally asked.

Xiao Rong gave a mischievous smile, kicked the water playfully, and said with relaxed ease, "Why do you care what true love is? The *Imperial Spirit Saint-Derivation Art* cannot be wrong! The Grandmaster cannot be wrong! You, you don't just like me; you love me deeply! I was worried for nothing before."

"You need to compensate me." Xiao Rong feigned anger and cupped Liu Lang’s "upright and unyielding" face.

"How to compensate?" Liu Lang blurted out, immediately wondering why he should compensate her, but he no longer had the chance to speak.

Saintess Liu Rurong of the Acacia Sect knocked down her true love, Mr. Liu Lang, sending splashes of water everywhere.

When the ripples slowly calmed, they embraced.

She closed her eyes, the pleasure in her body continuous and endless, while the joy in her heart carried the excitement of one who had survived a catastrophe.

In this moment, she was so happy she wanted to cry.

Liu Lang cast aside the various doubts in his mind and focused on practicing the Acacia Imperial Spirit Saint-Derivation Art.

***

In the Hall of Merit Transmission, Mizuki and Haru Sakura, covered in wounds, scrambled up from the ground again, staring fixedly at the "Minato Namikaze" before them.

For these ten days, they had racked their brains trying to force Xu Fu out of Minato Namikaze’s body.

In terms of strategy, Minato Namikaze was the mastermind of their team.

In terms of strength, even combined, the two of them could barely hold their own against Minato Namikaze. Now, facing an ancient monster who had lived for who knows how many years—the forefather of ninjas—they were naturally no match.

"It’s been ten days, and I’m hungry. Rest assured, I won’t harm this boy; I’m just borrowing his body. Now, let me take you two out."

Without allowing them to question him, Xu Fu grabbed their hands and teleported them out of the Hall of Merit Transmission.

***

Haru Sakura was about to struggle when she realized they had already left the Hall.

"Space-time ninjutsu?" Mizuki blurted out, feeling a resemblance to Minato Namikaze’s Flying Thunder God Technique. "We tried so many ways to get out of that Hall of Merit Transmission, yet you could actually do it."

Xu Fu couldn't be bothered to respond.

"This is the location of the Acacia Sect’s headquarters. Back in the day, they were the leaders of the Demonic Path! I’ll take you to their medicinal garden to find some good things!"

The figures of the three flashed a few times, and when they reappeared, they were already in the medicinal garden.

"This is a Water Spirit Fruit. Tsk, tsk, tsk, for a lad like you with water-attribute chakra, Mizuki, this is a great supplement!"

"These few Immortal Herbs will be saved for me to refine pills after I am resurrected."

"And that young girl, Haru Sakura, right? This Blue Flower Fruit has the effect of preserving one's youthful beauty..."

Xu Fu tossed the Water Spirit Fruit and the Blue Flower Fruit backward, but no one caught them, and they fell directly to the ground.

"Tsk!" Xu Fu turned around impatiently, ready to lecture them for their ignorance, but the two people were nowhere to be found, as if they had never existed.

"Could it be that the Acacia Sect still has a master?" he wondered in shock. Only the master of the Acacia Sect could snatch people from right under his nose.

"Lotus, my dear sister, is it you? I knew it was you! I didn't expect you to still be alive!" he shouted loudly, but there was no response.

Xu Fu sighed and went to pick up the immortal fruits, but there were no fruits on the ground. Looking up, he realized the surrounding area was no longer the medicinal garden; he had returned to the Hall of Merit Transmission.

He struck several void nodes, but they were firm and solid; he could no longer use his space-time techniques.

"Damn it! Who is it!"

He paced anxiously. If the Acacia Sect still had a master, then as an old rival from the past, he didn't think he would meet a good end.

He had gone to great lengths to set up this trap, seizing all the fortune to resurrect himself. If he were to fall here, it would be a laughingstock.

"Lotus, oh Lotus, even if you’re dead, you’re still so annoying! Wait..."

He remembered something. In Minato Namikaze’s mind was a space-time ninjutsu called the Flying Thunder God.

When performing this technique, one could teleport to the location of a special seal.

"Some clever ingenuity; it has provided the old man with some ideas..."

***

Lotus Pond.

Xiao Rong leaned against a large rock, panting heavily. "Where did these thieves come from, daring to steal from my Acacia Sect?"

Mizuki and Haru Sakura lay by the pond, both unconscious.

"I’ll leave this male ninja aside for now, and let this female ninja become a cultivation cauldron for my brother. My brother has a special constitution and unique spiritual power; to accelerate his cultivation, he can only use cauldrons. And that vampire is also a decent cauldron..."

***

Eons ago, at the Acacia Sect.

Five fairies in palace attire stood before a jade talisman—the Acacia Sect’s *Imperial Spirit Saint-Derivation Art*. Their Eldest Senior Sister sat opposite them.

"Only one person can practice this art, whether in the past or the future. We have all tried, and every one of us has failed."

The Eldest Senior Sister crushed the teacup in her hand. "Who else could it be?" She was clearly the successor to the Sect Master.

No one was more qualified than her to practice this supreme art of all time.

"Could the Master still be alive?" someone asked.

The Eldest Senior Sister shook her head, staring at the ground, lost in thought.

"Shall we bring out the Mirror of Reincarnation?" someone cautiously suggested.

The Mirror of Reincarnation was the only karmic artifact in the world. One of its functions was that with just a trace of karma, one could track someone through a hundred or even a thousand lifetimes.

The price, however, was the severing of equivalent karma.

"What are you prepared to pay?" the Eldest Senior Sister smiled, not looking at them.

"The catastrophe is imminent. Without the *Imperial Spirit Saint-Derivation Art*, our top combat strength no longer holds the advantage of crushing force."

The Eldest Senior Sister sighed and took another sip of immortal tea.

"Prepare a few more geniuses for me, from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Mahayana stage, according to my aesthetic preferences, and send them to my cave dwelling to assist my cultivation."

Late at night.

The Eldest Senior Sister was alone in her cave dwelling, the Mirror of Reincarnation floating before her.

*Master, why did you pass the technique to someone else? Didn't you know the catastrophe was approaching?*

She was utterly bewildered.

*Or perhaps, this is the solution you envisioned.*

The Eldest Senior Sister looked at the intelligence reports, unable to stop the worry in her heart.

The light of the Mirror of Reincarnation faded away, and the night sky outside the cave dwelling was filled with tranquil stars.