"Tiger, we've been stuck here for millions of years, maybe close to ten million. If that God really has abandoned the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron, then we'll never get out. Do you really want to stay here forever, not even knowing what the outside world is like?" said Sovereign Eagle.
"I do want to get out. I've had enough of this place," said Sovereign Tiger.
"Exactly. Actually, Wolf and I already agreed: if someone can control the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron, even if they're bare-handed, we'll help them. Besides, even you lost to him—that at least proves he's not weak, right?" said Sovereign Eagle.
"Then I'll do the same as you two. If we can leave, let's leave," said Sovereign Tiger.
Evan Yang had no idea what they were thinking. At the moment, inside the mountain peak, things were pretty simple: there was just a temple, and it was completely empty inside.
"Just an empty temple—what does this have to do with the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron?" Evan muttered curiously to himself.
At first, Evan was puzzled that the temple was completely empty. But as soon as he stepped inside, the walls around him changed: words and images appeared, showing all kinds of spirit beasts, some eventually becoming Sovereigns. In the end, all the Sovereigns were bowing to a single person. That person's face was blurry—Evan couldn't make out what he looked like.
But what shocked Evan was that the person was holding two things—one in each hand: a stone stele in his left, and a pot in his right.
That pot was the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron, and the stone stele was the Beast-Soul Stele. "So both the Beast-Soul Stele and the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron belong to him?" Evan had already guessed the person's identity—it was the God the Sovereigns talked about.
Staring at the mural, Evan took out the Beast-Soul Stele. The moment he did, light erupted all around him.
This shocked Evan—had the Beast-Soul Stele activated the murals here?
Sure enough, a mural appeared in front of Evan: it showed an old man surrounded by a group of small spirit beasts, smiling at Evan. "I never expected a human would bring the Beast-Soul Stele here. It's hard to believe."
"May I ask who you are, senior?" Evan knew this was just an image, not a real person, but it could still talk to him.
"Me? Everyone calls me the Old Fiend. Strictly speaking, I'm a member of the beast race, but that's not important anymore. What's important is that you've come here, and I can sense a powerful spirit beast aura on you. Human, you're impressive—being recognized by those two spirit beasts." The old man chuckled.
Evan knew the old man was talking about Luna and Brocade, but those two were sealed inside his treasures—how could this old man tell?
"What's wrong? Got lots of questions? Don't worry about it. Since you've made it here, I can't let you leave empty-handed. I'll give you the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron." said the old man.
"The Hundred-Fiend Cauldron?" Evan asked suspiciously.
"That's right. But I'm taking back the Beast-Soul Stele—it won't do you any good anyway." The old man smiled, then handed Evan a small pot, identical to the one he'd seen outside.
Except this pot was clearly a miniature version. Evan took it, looked at the old man, and said, "Uh—"
"Go ahead, take it," said the old man.
Evan stared at the small pot, about to ask how to use it—when the old man vanished.
No matter how Evan called out, the old man didn't reappear.
"Uh..." Evan muttered, looking at the small pot—the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron.
Evan picked up the small pot and examined it closely. Then he tried refining it to see what would happen. With the help of the Sacred Ice, Evan quickly absorbed the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron into his body.
Inside Evan's body, the small pot spun. Evan tried sending his divine sense into it and found the scene inside was just like what he'd seen before. At the cauldron's center were three Sovereigns—right in front of him, they seemed like tiny figures. If he wanted, he could destroy them with a single thought. That idea shocked him.
Wanting to test if it was real, Evan tried speaking to the three.
The three had been waiting for Evan, when suddenly a voice came—it was Evan's.
The voice said, "Can you hear me?"
Hearing the voice, the three were shocked. Sovereign Eagle immediately guessed Evan had been recognized by the artifact and was using a special method to talk to them. The other two quickly understood as well, so all three looked curiously toward the sky.
Sure enough, Evan was able to do exactly what he wanted, and was delighted. With a single thought, he found himself back inside the barrier outside the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron. With a wave, the cauldron merged with the small pot inside his body.
"This thing is amazing," Evan muttered.
Just then, Sovereign Eagle spoke to Evan from inside the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron: "Can you let us out?"
"Sure," Evan thought, and with a single thought, all three appeared before him.
The moment they realized they'd left the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron, the three Sovereigns were overjoyed and all looked at Evan.
Then, all three said at once, "Master."
Evan was stunned—he'd only just gotten the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron, and now he was the master of three Sovereigns? That was a bit more than he'd bargained for.
"Don't call me master. I'm not that powerful," Evan said.
"Doesn't matter. Even if you were just an ordinary person, as long as you're the master of the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron, you control our life and death," said Sovereign Eagle.
Evan asked curiously, "So, can the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron actually collect Sovereigns?"
"Of course. But first, a mark has to be placed on the Sovereign—you should know this one. Here." Sovereign Eagle rolled up his sleeve, revealing a Hundred-Fiend Cauldron mark on his arm.
Seeing the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron mark, Evan wondered how it was made. He checked his connection with the cauldron and found it really could do this—but only if the target was extremely weak. In other words, you had to defeat them before you could collect them.
"Once the mark is branded, it can't be changed—until the cauldron's master dies," Sovereign Eagle added.
(Irrelevant webnovel navigation line skipped.)
Evan hadn't expected to gain such power from the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron. Just imagining himself controlling Sovereigns was spectacular—even if he only had three now, there were nine living ones outside. Suddenly, Evan set his sights on those nine outside Sovereigns.
"Are you guys really sure you want to follow me?" Evan asked.
"Absolutely. Just tell us what you need," said Sovereign Eagle.
"Alright, there are nine fish Sovereigns outside, but every one of them has reached the Sovereign realm. I'm worried the three of us aren't strong enough," Evan said.
"Nine? Where are you, exactly? How can there be so many Sovereigns?" Sovereign Eagle was shocked. Back in the beast realm, seeing even a few Sovereigns was rare, but Evan was facing nine at once.
Evan didn't know where he was either—he could only say he didn't recognize the place.
Seeing Evan was clueless, the three quickly came up with a plan. Since there were nine, a group attack was impossible—they'd have to pick them off one by one. That meant someone had to be bait, and Evan was the obvious choice, since the nine outside Sovereigns had no idea he controlled the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron. If they took down one, they'd gain one more under their control.
So, after discussing with the three Sovereigns, Evan put them back into the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron.
Once they'd gone in, Evan steadied himself and walked out of the barrier. Outside, he saw a ring formed by the Nine Lake Kings.
Lady Waterfiend, seeing Evan emerge, exclaimed in surprise, "I can't believe you made it out alive! What was it like in there?"
"Hard to explain. There are so many of you—should I really tell everyone? It was a great place, but you can't go in. It's a shame," Evan said.
"Oh? What kind of place? What's inside? Tell us!" Lady Waterfiend pressed, curious.
"Come closer, I'll tell you," Evan said to the woman.
"Just say it out loud," Lady Waterfiend replied.
"Fine, I'll tell you." Evan was closest to Lady Waterfiend, so he took another step forward. No one really noticed what that meant, and the other Lake Kings felt nothing strange.
Just then, the three Sovereigns suddenly appeared, targeting Lady Waterfiend. She barely had time to react before being hit by their powerful joint attack.
Evan took advantage of Lady Waterfiend's injuries, summoned the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron, and a beam of light shot out, enveloping her. Lady Waterfiend vanished inside.
Lady Waterfiend's sudden disappearance shocked the other eight Lake Kings. King Blade roared, "Kid, you dare play tricks on us?"
The remaining Lake Kings stared at Evan and the three Sovereigns.
"Now there are eight of you and four of us. By rights, you should be able to overpower us—but do you know what's inside the barrier?" Evan said with a smile.
"What?" King Blade asked, startled.
"Something that can control you all," Evan replied.
"Control us? Arrogant fool! Who do you think you are—a god?" King Blade snorted.
"Don't believe me? Come and try," Evan said, smiling.
Evan's group of four stood there, but King Blade didn't dare approach alone. He exchanged glances with the other Lake Kings, and all eight joined forces against Evan's group. Just then, Lady Waterfiend reappeared, giving Evan a strange look.
"Sorry, circumstances forced my hand. As long as you don't hurt me, I won't ask anything of you," Evan said, knowing Lady Waterfiend was now under his control and he could end her life at will.
When the eight Lake Kings saw Lady Waterfiend, they were shocked and all rushed to ask what had happened. Lady Waterfiend didn't answer directly, but turned to Evan: "Is this the artifact you got inside the barrier?"
"That's right. It's the Hundred-Fiend Cauldron," Evan replied.
"It really is a powerful artifact. I never thought I'd end up in your hands," Lady Waterfiend said, regretting letting Evan into the barrier, but there was nothing she could do now.