Chapter 49: The Meridian Void-Refining Cauldron

Upon catching sight of the single gold soul coin, the eyes of both individuals instantly lit up!

"Great benefactor, if you give me the gold soul coin, shall I show you the way?" The bearded man asked with a flattering smile, stretching out his hand.

"Big brother, give the gold soul coin to me! My home is right on the path in Lesser Guo Village, and I'm very familiar with it. I can guide you anywhere you want to go."

The two of them talked over each other, and remarkably began to trade blows in a contest to win that single gold soul coin.

"Alright, stop fighting. Both of you will guide me, and you will each get one gold soul coin."

"You got it, boss! We'll listen to whatever you say. Come along with us right now!"

On the way to Lesser Guo Village, Gu Chen also gained some understanding of the two.

The bearded one was called Cao Huhui, and the pockmarked one was called Guo Banban. One was a villager of Lesser Guo Village, and the other hailed from Cao Family Manor; both had come to Notting City to attend the market.

Upon entering Lesser Guo Village, he immediately sensed that something was amiss. The two previously money-obsessed individuals instantly transformed into ferocious, terrifying figures.

The suffocatingly dense demonic aura of Lesser Guo Village rolled over them in waves.

Gu Chen could clearly see clusters of black mist darting haphazardly about in the sky.

Regardless of whether they were men or women, young or old, everyone in the village wore a sickly, pale complexion.

They wandered aimlessly along the village paths, resembling a group of soul-less walking corpses!

"Hand over your life!"

Without a single word of redundant nonsense, Cao Huhui lunged toward Gu Chen without hesitation.

Her long blue hair, which reached down to her waist, instantly began to surge wildly, enveloping Gu Chen like a massive net.

Simultaneously, Guo Banban launched an attack as well. Her fingernails grew crazily, stretching to twenty centimeters in the blink of an eye, radiating a faint black glow and looking incomparably sharp.

Like a nimble cat, she too pounced upon Gu Chen.

Though the two looked ordinary, to Gu Chen's surprise, the strength they displayed was by no means inferior to his own.

"The two of you, my sole purpose in coming here is to seek the source of the demonic aura; I have no wish to take lives! Depart swiftly, and I shall spare you from death!"

"Ah... Keep dreaming! Since you've come, stay behind and become blood food for the Demon King!"

"Obstinate and unyielding!"

They actually still wanted to use him as blood food—what sheer delusion!

"Vajra Mammoth, First Soul Ring: Savage Charge."

Gu Chen exerted force through his soles, charging through the terrain like a robust bull.

He launched his attack first against Guo Banban, who was closer to him.

"Black Cat Martial Soul, First Soul Skill: Dark Cat Claw."

With a "meow," Guo Banban lunged at Gu Chen, her black claws slashing toward his face.

Gu Chen sidestepped the blow and delivered a fierce kick straight to her stomach.

Yet her abdomen felt just like cotton, immediately caving inward to absorb the greater part of Gu Chen's force.

Then, with a sudden rebound, she catapulted Gu Chen backward through the air.

Taking advantage of the brief window while Gu Chen was landing, Guo Banban capitalized on her speed to launch another assault.

Meanwhile, Cao Huhui's azure hair lashed toward Gu Chen like a barrage of steel whips.

In mid-air, it produced a series of sharp, explosive cracks as the whips cleaved through the wind.

These two were somewhat troublesome!

One excelled at ranged attacks while the other specialized in close combat, and their coordination was remarkably seamless.

Without deploying some hidden trump cards, he feared he wouldn't be able to subdue them in a short time.

"Merit Golden Body! Savage Charge!"

Gu Chen's speed, strength, and agility were much greater than before. In a single exchange, acting with his hand as a blade, he knocked one of them unconscious with a single blow.

The remaining Cao Huhui, who specialized in hair-based ranged attacks, was just about to lash Gu Chen with her whips.

"Dragon Scale Armor!" Gu Chen summoned his Dragon Scale Armor, taking the blow head-on and retreating three steps.

"Thunder Strike!" Having weathered the frontal strike, the skill within his soul bone completed its charge.

He unleashed his attack upon Cao Huhui. After being wracked by a series of electric shocks, she too collapsed unconscious to the ground!

Gu Chen tied the two of them to a large willow tree and walked straight into the depths of Lesser Guo Village.

The people here wandered about with vacant expressions, paying no attention whatsoever to Gu Chen as a stranger.

They neither bothered him nor attacked him, which saved Gu Chen a great deal of trouble!

As he penetrated two or three li into the village, the people grew scarcer and increasingly emaciated.

Corpses of children who had starved to death littered the ground everywhere—a truly heartbreaking sight!

Frowning, Gu Chen pushed deeper still, until he discovered an opening in the center of the village resembling a pitch-black well mouth roughly one meter in diameter.

Over the past two days, under Lu Zhaoran's meticulous guidance, Gu Chen's pupillary power had improved tremendously, nearing the threshold of initial mastery.

He could clearly see that the vast majority of the demonic aura drifting through Lesser Guo Village originated from this very well.

Gu Chen stepped into the well. It was hollow inside, devoid of both water and soil.

There was only a basketball-sized, pitch-black little tripod.

"Is this the little tripod emanating the demonic aura?"

Gazing at the small tripod, which was engraved with mountains and rivers, sun, moon and stars, as well as mermaids, birds, and beasts, Gu Chen murmured to himself.

Every single stroke and line of the carvings on the tripod seemed to contain a divine charm, and the figures of men and beasts upon it were all lifelike and vivid, appearing extraordinarily resplendent!

Yet at this moment, it was enveloped by a ball of black mist, having lost its luster.

"This is... the Zi-Wu Refining Void Tripod!" Lu Zhaoran's ethereal, startled cry resounded in Gu Chen's mind.

This also made Gu Chen realize that this tripod was likely no ordinary artifact!

"Master Zhaoran, is this tripod very powerful?"

"Powerful? Hmph... To call it merely powerful is an understatement!"

"Have you ever heard of refining the void to return to the spirit?"

Gu Chen shook his head.

"Refining the void to return to the spirit, as the name implies, means melting illusory things and forging them into something possessing divine charm, or even tangible substance."

"To give you a simple analogy, suppose you are thirsty right now and want a drink of water; then you can use this little tripod to forge some illusory things into the exact water you desire."

"Things like life, time, dreams... these are precisely the sorts of things the Zi-Wu Refining Void Tripod favors most."

"Master Zhaoran, since this tripod is so miraculous, subduing it must be extremely difficult, right!"

"Naturally! Although the Zi-Wu Refining Void Tripod cannot be used as a weapon for attack, its utility surpasses that of ordinary divine artifacts—even some super divine artifacts cannot compare to it."

"Your realm is far too low for you to understand its subtle wonders! Wait until you grow stronger in the future, and this master will explain them to you one by one."

"A formation has been set upon this tripod, and breaking the array above is mandatory if one wishes to claim it. My soul power hasn't recovered much right now; it may take half an hour to dismantle the formation above. During this time, do not let anyone disturb me!"

"Yes, Master!"

Time ticked away second by second. A massive amount of soul power surged from Lu Zhaoran, locking in a mutual attrition with the formation atop the Zi-Wu Refining Void Tripod.

The black mist shrouding the Zi-Wu Refining Void Tripod gradually dissipated. Just as the mist was about to vanish completely, allowing the tripod to reveal its true splendor,

a rumbling peal of thunder echoed through the heavens, and the sky gradually grew dim.

"Not good, it's the aura of a Titled Douluo. We may be in trouble!" Lu Zhaoran frowned.

"Quickly summon the Ghost Slave, absorb the surrounding demonic aura, and conceal yourself. Once I collect this Zi-Wu Refining Void Tripod, I am confident I can lead you away from this place safely!"

"Yes, Master!"

Gu Chen summoned the Ghost Slave without hesitation. Titled Douluos were far too formidable; only a Ghost Slave possessing equivalent Titled Douluo strength could do battle against one.