The Years I Served as My Master's Cauldron - Chapter 1

Snow fell upon the Nine Netherworlds.

Ethereal, fragmented snowflakes drifted down with the cold wind, landing on Shen Yunjin’s palm. He lowered his eyelashes, his gaze fixed on the snowflake that was about to melt into muddy water.

“What are you dawdling for? Move faster!” Li Zhanyan pushed him forward frantically, fearing that they would miss the appointed hour.

In the dead of winter, Shen Yunjin wore only a thin layer of coarse, rough-woven hemp clothing. The newly added wounds on his body had not yet scabbed over, and the biting cold wind scraped across his skin like the blades of sharp knives.

Shen Yunjin lowered his eyes indifferently, the chains on his wrists clanking with every step he took.

He was led before a towering palace platform. The white jade pillars were carved with fierce tigers and beasts, and a thin, scarlet line of blood dripped down the gray stone steps.

Clouds surged around them, and silhouettes of people flickered. Cultivators in magnificent robes laughed and chatted within the pavilion. Above the vast sky, a warm, faint orchid-colored barrier hung like a celestial curtain, blocking out the falling snow and frost, leaving only the cozy warmth of spring within.

Thousands of eyes fell upon Shen Yunjin. He turned a deaf ear to it all, continuing forward with a numb expression.

Before long, they arrived at the center of the Beast-Taming Platform of the Nine Nether Sect. Shen Yunjin looked up and gazed into the distance, catching a glimpse of a blurry, snow-white figure

That person was as white as snow, detached and transcendental, sitting high up with a noble and indifferent air. His cold, aloof eyebrows and eyes swept over him just once, as if looking at an ant.

Xie Weiyuan.

Shen Yunjin knitted his brows, his fingertips clenching deeply as a surging hatred churned in his chest.

Around him, elders and disciples from the various halls of the sect sat and whispered to each other under the barrier. Their gazes, whether filled with disdain or curiosity, fell upon Shen Yunjin without concealment.

“Pray for your own good fortune,” Li Zhanyan said, shoving him violently to the ground.

His palms were scraped raw by the coarse gravel. Before he could even inspect the wounds, a foul, wild animal stench suddenly wafted from in front of him.

He looked up and saw a majestic demon wolf standing right before him!

The demon wolf’s sideburns shimmered with silver light, its ghostly green eyes carried a bloodthirsty edge, and viscous drool dripped from its fangs. It circled Shen Yunjin cautiously, not in a rush to pounce and tear him apart.

Shen Yunjin’s pupils constricted violently as he finally realized why they had brought him here today.

These lunatics actually wanted him to tame a wolf!

The wolf must have attained a degree of intelligence, and not yet knowing Shen Yunjin’s true strength, it stood alert three feet away with its fur standing on end.

Suddenly, a long, bone-chilling whistle rang out.

It was unclear which wicked cultivator had used the whistle to rouse the beast’s bloodthirsty instincts, causing the demon wolf to abandon its caution. With a roar, it lunged forward with lightning speed.

Shen Yunjin secretly cursed, “Damn it,” and only managed to use his arm to block the demon wolf’s bite.

Rip!

Flesh and bone were crushed; the demon wolf’s sharp teeth gouged deeply into his arm, and with a violent jerk of its head, it tore away a chunk of flesh!

The pain was suffocating. He balled his other hand into a fist and smashed it into the wolf’s face.

His punches landed on the demon wolf without any technique, unable to stop it in the slightest.

The wolf had completely lost its sanity; it felt no fear, opened its blood-stained maw again, and bit into Shen Yunjin’s forearm.

He was in agony…

Shen Yunjin ground his teeth until they were nearly shattered, his features twisted in pain. He struggled to break free, but the demon wolf plunged its sharp claws into his shoulders, pinning his body down without loosening its grip.

As if venting its anger, it tore off more of Shen Yunjin’s skin and flesh, and he could no longer help but cry out in pain.

Why… can’t I just die?

Why is even death a luxury I cannot attain…

If he were dead, he wouldn’t have to suffer, wouldn’t have to sleep in a drafty shed, wouldn’t have to be whipped by his master, wouldn’t have to eat leftover slop, wouldn’t have to endure mockery and insults…

Li Zhanyan stood behind the fence, leaning against it in a relaxed, comfortable manner, and mocked, “Why don’t you stand up? weren’t you just being very stubborn?”

Shen Yunjin lay on the ground, his sinister eyes filled with boundless hatred as he glared at Li Zhanyan.

All around, the sounds of mockery, the heavy breathing of the demon wolf, and the noisy, bustling crowd continued to swirl.

Snow fluttered down, melting against the faint orchid barrier. Shen Yunjin appeared exhausted, lying on his back in a pool of blood, his vision blurred by the red liquid streaming down his cheeks.

Flesh and blood were stripped away bit by bit; bone and muscle were ground into pieces.

His body temperature began to plummet.

No one could survive such terrifying pain and sensation, and no one could endure the feeling of their own flesh and blood being torn away, leaving behind nothing but a bare skeleton.

Half of his body was already ruined, and he could no longer resist the biting of the demon wolf.

Shen Yunjin looked resentfully at the snow-white figure. Xie Weiyuan, that beast, deserves to go to the Shura hell for all eternity.

But he could no longer hold on; he could only look desperately at the collapsing world and the seat full of cold-blooded cultivators not a single one willing to show him mercy.

A sense of near-death despair flooded his body. As his breathing grew weak, everything became clear, and he could even hear the conversation taking place a few feet away.

Something within him seemed to be slowly awakening.

…

“Such bravery; this demon wolf must be a wolf king. Using it for alchemy will surely increase one’s cultivation greatly, hahahaha,” an elder stroked his graying beard and laughed heartily.

“Speaking of which, this kid is truly resilient; even such a fierce demon wolf hasn’t bitten him to death yet.”

Xie Weiyuan swept a glance at him indifferently. “He will not die.”

“Lord Linghua is so certain? That is not necessarily true; this kid absolutely cannot block three moves from this demon wolf.”

Xie Weiyuan snorted, noncommittal, and only lowered his eyes to look at the blood-splattered Beast-Taming Platform. Shen Yunjin was still being mauled by the demon wolf; his body was already unrecognizable, his arms hanging at his sides as if he had lost all feeling.

“Master…” Ji Yunlan seemed unable to bear it, hesitating to speak.

Xie Weiyuan gave his young disciple a cold glance, his eyes as cold as a frozen pool. “Why, do you wish to accompany him?”

Ji Yunlan shuddered at that look, hurriedly lowering his head and shrinking back, looking worriedly at Shen Yunjin, who was still struggling against the demon wolf.

“Release two more inside,” he said, his voice as cold and sharp as an icicle.

Ji Yunlan thought he had misheard and looked up in disbelief, shocked as he gazed at the cold-as-ice Xie Weiyuan on the high platform, feeling horrified in his heart.

He hurriedly pleaded, “Master! If this continues, Senior Brother won’t be able to hold on!”

“If he dies just like this, then he is not the person with the Divine Seal I am looking for, nor can he be considered the most suitable human furnace.”

“But…”

“Enough, say no more.”

Ji Yunlan’s breath hitched, his brows furrowed tightly. He turned and knelt. “Master, please spare Senior Brother just this once.”

A flash of impatience crossed Xie Weiyuan’s eyes. He laughed grimly, “Either you go release the beasts, or—”

“—you go accompany him.”

Ji Yunlan was left speechless. He ultimately could not resist Xie Weiyuan’s command. He stepped down from the high platform and walked toward the iron cage beside the Beast-Taming Platform.

Inside were several more demon wolves, though their spiritual power could not compare to the one currently fighting Shen Yunjin.

Li Zhanyan was chewing on a dog-tail grass. Seeing Ji Yunlan approach from afar, he hurriedly piled on a smile and asked, “Senior Brother Ji, what is it?”

“Choose two more and put them in,” Ji Yunlan’s expression was dark and cold.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhanyan smiled, spat, and cursed, “Heh… I’ll release them right away; let this little bastard get a taste of some real power!”

The sound of tearing continued nearby. Ji Yunlan could not bear it; he pointed at one of the smallest wolf breeds to throw inside.

“Isn’t this one a bit too small?”

Ji Yunlan gave him a cold look.

Only then did Li Zhanyan notice his impatience and hurried to lower his head and retreat to the side.

The two small wolves landed on the Beast-Taming Platform and began to look around warily. Before they could even figure out their situation, the sound of the bone whistle rang out again.

The two wolves were controlled once more, their eyes flashing with bloodlust as they bared their fangs and lunged toward Shen Yunjin.

This was no longer simple beast taming; it was a massacre!

Ji Yunlan closed his eyes, not daring to watch what would happen next.

He had expected the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones to fill the arena, but unexpectedly, a brilliant light flashed in the next moment. Before he could dodge, the resulting gale blew him to the ground.

Ji Yunlan’s cultivation was not high, and the force of this light caused his internal organs to shift.

He coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

Before he could look up, hot, fresh blood splattered onto his face, followed by a human head rolling past him with a thump-thump sound.

Ji Yunlan widened his eyes in shock.

He had just seen this person, so he naturally remembered him clearly.

The head that had rolled over was actually Li Zhanyan’s!

Amidst the swirling blood mist, a blood-soaked figure slowly stood up. Before he could see clearly, he was knocked unconscious by the powerful pressure emanating from the figure.

…

Shen Yunjin’s eyes were now filled with blood-red light, and a strange, black pattern had grown across his face. In just a moment, the three demon wolves had been crushed into dust by him.

His skin and flesh were healing at a terrifying speed, a level far beyond what an ordinary cultivator could achieve.

Violent spiritual energy surged, nearly bursting out of his body. Shen Yunjin felt increasingly restless and agitated, constantly unleashing those formidable spiritual techniques one after another.

The cultivators nearby scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing for their lives in a panic.

Shen Yunjin stepped through the pool of blood, picked up a cultivator who hadn’t managed to escape in time, and revealed a hair-raising smile.

The cultivator trembled all over, looking at him in terror. “Please… don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”

Snap.

The person didn’t even have time to scream before his neck was twisted.

“Stop him!” The other cultivators finally reacted, attempting to form a formation to suppress Shen Yunjin.

Five-colored brilliance descended from the heavens, and the suppression formation was about to take shape, but their meager spiritual energy could not suppress this fierce beast that had completely fallen into darkness.

Shen Yunjin’s gaze was heavy. With a flick of his finger, the formation shattered into pieces of light.

He gave a sinister laugh and walked toward them step by step.

The once clear Beast-Taming Platform was instantly reduced to a purgatory on earth. Shen Yunjin slaughtered to his heart’s content. He snatched a spiritual sword from a cultivator, hacked off his arm with one stroke, then turned and thrust the sword through another man’s chest.

Wherever the blade passed, severed limbs fell like rain.

The hatred that had accumulated in his chest for years finally felt a bit of release.

To hell with revenge! He wanted everyone who had bullied him to pay the price in blood.

The flames of hatred in his heart grew a hundredfold, pouring into the painful memories of the past. The pool of aged, strong liquor had finally met that single spark of fire.

He severed the heads of those who had mocked him, cut off the feet that had trampled him, and sliced off the hands that had humiliated him.

The blood-red light covering his body stained his black clothes bright, the bone-deep hatred seeping into his eyes.

Until the sound of footsteps rang out behind him.

Almost imperceptibly, as if he had expected it, he bared his white teeth in a savage grin.

His master, the graceful and honorable Lord Linghua.

Finally willing to step down from the high platform, allowing his pure robes to be stained with foul blood.

He looked coldly at Xie Weiyuan, who was gripping the Yunyin Sword, its blade wrapped in a layer of flowing silver-white light.

This person was finally coming to end him personally.

He suddenly laughed, his blood-stained eyes dancing with excitement.

Shen Yunjin knew he was no match for this person. Even if he hated him, loathed him, and dreamed of eating his flesh, drinking his blood, and grinding his bones to ash, he lacked the power to resist him in the slightest.

But the thrill of being able to battle Xie Weiyuan filled his nerves, permeating every single vessel of his body.

He raised his sword and hacked down fiercely, putting all his strength into the blow. The gale stirred up by the blade caused the man’s white robes to flutter, yet it did not hurt him at all.

Xie Weiyuan looked at him indifferently, his face devoid of any expression.

The agitation in Shen Yunjin’s chest grew heavier, and he stabbed the sword forward again in a nearly demented state.

Unfortunately, before the blade could fall, a sense of heaven-and-earth-shaking dizziness flashed through his mind. His forehead pulsed with bulging veins, and he stumbled, nearly collapsing into the pool of blood.

Suddenly, a wave of sweet-tasting blood surged up his throat, and another mouthful of black blood fell upon the moss-speckled stone slab.

He clenched his fingers tightly, his fingertips digging deep into his own flesh.

He was unwilling to give up and raised his sword again, but he could no longer use any spiritual techniques. The sword in his hand felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, and he could only let it fall limply.

Clang! The sword hit the ground, splashing droplets of blood.

The spiritual energy within Shen Yunjin’s body was completely exhausted. He collapsed heavily, closing his eyes in preparation to receive the final blow from Xie Weiyuan.

The expected heart-piercing strike did not arrive; instead, he fell into a warm embrace.