Chapter Thirty-Three: The Weight of the Nine Cauldrons

"All are equal under the Saint."

This was a phrase Caesar had heard his parents whisper since he was a child. The uniqueness and nobility of the Saints had once left a deep imprint on his young soul. For a time, he had held a genuine, heartfelt reverence for those beings residing above the clouds.

That changed when he was twelve. His father, an accountant, was "suicided"—permanently taken from them—simply for upholding his professional duties. His terrified mother took him and his younger sister and knelt on the cold floor before the former Godfather of Vina City. In that moment, the fairy tale of "equality for all" in young Caesar’s heart shattered. He realized with chilling clarity that even outside the realm of the Saints, deep inequalities persisted between men.

Even so, he harbored no rebellious thoughts at the time. His only wish was that his mother would never again have to grovel before anyone just to survive.

Later, Caesar awakened his superpowers and began working under the former Godfather. After saving enough money, he set out for the Imperial Capital. Technology was not as advanced then as it is now; the Saints, out of a desire to cherish the natural environment, had deliberately slowed the pace of industrialization. It took Caesar a month of travel to reach the capital in time for the New Year’s Grand Parade. He couldn't even see the Azure Dragon Gate, stuck as he was in the sea of humanity. He listened to the fanatical cheers that seemed capable of overturning the heavens, rolling toward him like a tide from the distance. He strained on his tiptoes, but his vision could only reach the square formations of the army, navy, and air force, the orderly rows of tanks, and the helicopters and fighter jets soaring side-by-side like steel hawks in the sky.

In that moment, an indelible shock swept through Caesar’s entire being. An unprecedented, burning ambition began to grow wildly within him: *To be a man, one must be like the Saints.*

To draw closer to that unreachable figure, he did not hesitate to eliminate the former Godfather who had loomed over him. He then used thunderous tactics to sweep away the other two major factions in Vina City, establishing himself as the sole ruler and radiating his influence to the surrounding regions. He even secretly commissioned the carving of a jade seal.

Yet, even sitting upon the underground throne of Vina City, Caesar felt that the hope of becoming a Saint was as distant as the stars in the sky. It was only when he transformed into an immortal being that he suddenly realized his once-unattainable dream might actually be possible. But he never dreamed that this goal would manifest before him in such a dramatic fashion. He stared at Bai Yu-Jing on the treetop, his eyes burning with wild fire and defiance, awaiting an answer.

"Presumptuous!"

Li Qingwan’s angry shout pierced the air like an icicle. "The weight of the Nine Cauldrons is not something a lowly creature like you is qualified to question!"

Before the words had faded, her petite frame had turned into a streak of sharp, golden light, charging fiercely at Caesar.

Caesar did not even shift his gaze. His Solidification-type clone stepped out, the ground trembling slightly as it collided head-on with the golden light.

*Boom! Crash! Crackle!*

The two figures instantly became entangled.

Fists flew like a rainstorm, and kicks lashed out like thunder. Every impact erupted with deafening roars, as if countless thunderclaps were exploding within the forest. Hundreds of lightning-fast exchanges passed, and yet they remained evenly matched.

Wang Hu, at the edge of the sea of fire, had eyes burning red. He let out a beast-like roar, his massive body charging forward like a war chariot.

"Humph."

The Transmutation-type clone snorted coldly, clapping his palms together before his chest.

*BOOM!*

Raging flames erupted from his body instantly. Like a ignited gasoline drum, they swallowed him whole. A burning, twisted cross outline flickered within the inferno.

"Cross-Fire!" came Caesar’s low roar from within the flames.

*Rumble!* The towering waves of fire covering the clone suddenly exploded outward. A sea of fire, even more violent and scorching than before, surged in all directions like a burst dam of molten lava, carrying a destructive, overwhelming force.

"Ahhh! I’m burning!"

Wang Hu bore the brunt of it. Even with his Origin Energy shielding, the terrifying heat penetrated his defenses, scorching his skin. His massive body was like a broken ship struck by a giant wave; he was sent screaming through the air, tumbling down the mountainside. Everywhere he passed, wood turned to charcoal, and the forest burned.

The Empathy-type superhumans at the foot of the mountain turned pale and roared in unison, "Earth Wall, rise!"

They slammed their palms into the ground. *Rumble—* the earth shook. A thick wall of rock rose from the scorched earth like the spine of a giant beast. Several Solidification-type superhumans dashed forward, pressing their palms against the stone wall, pouring their Origin Energy into it without reservation. The stone wall instantly took on a metallic luster, becoming denser and more solid.

*BOOM!*

The violent waves of fire slammed into the reinforced stone wall. Amidst a deafening roar, the entire wall shook violently, and debris rained down. The superhumans behind the wall turned pale, blood leaking from their lips as they held on with all their might.

And this was merely the shockwave.

The true core of the fire—the main thrust intended to incinerate everything—was aimed directly at Bai Yu-Jing on the treetop. More lethally, within the seemingly simple waves of fire, a sudden mutation occurred. A giant phoenix, composed of pure Origin Energy, took shape within the sea of fire. It let out a silent screech and, wrapped in the power to incinerate the heavens, lunged toward Bai Yu-Jing. This was the work of the Projection-type clone.

At the same time, the Manifestation-type clone swung his raised hands downward.

The sky suddenly darkened. A grim Reaper, over ten meters tall, wearing a tattered black cloak and wielding a massive scythe, manifested from thin air. The scythe tore through the air, carrying the aura of death, and descended silently toward the top of Bai Yu-Jing’s head.

The cold voice of the Empathy-type clone echoed across the battlefield like a judgment: "Stop your heart from beating."

"Saint!" Li Qingwan’s scream was filled with unprecedented horror. In the moment of her distraction, *thud*—a heavy fist slammed into her cheek. Intense pain flared, but she ignored it, her eyes locked on Bai Yu-Jing, her own heart nearly stopping in terror. If the Saint suffered even the slightest harm here because of her negligence, ten thousand deaths would not atone for it.

Faced with this world-ending, multi-layered assault, the composure on Bai Yu-Jing’s face did not diminish in the slightest. He simply raised his right arm, slowly curling his five fingers into a fist.

Then, he struck forward.

*BOOM!!!*

An indescribable roar instantly drowned out every sound on the battlefield. It was as if the entire firmament had been shaken by that single punch. A peerless, vacuum-shattering force, like a giant axe splitting the heavens, howled forward, crushing everything in its path.

The sky-incinerating flames, along with the awe-inspiring Origin Energy phoenix within them, shattered into pieces like fragile glass the moment they touched the fist’s wake. The deafening explosion was swept up and reversed by the even more terrifying force. The Reaper’s scythe, which had come to harvest souls, let out an unbearable "crack" before shattering into clouds of black smoke. The Empathy-type command to stop his heart was easily crushed and blown away by the force of the punch.

The overwhelming shockwave, carrying the pulverized fire, fragments of Origin Energy, and the embers of death, surged toward Caesar’s main body with unstoppable momentum.

It was too fast, too strong!

Caesar didn’t even have time to register shock; he only felt as if he had been struck head-on by a high-speed maglev train.

*Squelch.*

A sickening, dull thud echoed. His proud, immortal body, along with the four clones radiating the aura of the Legend-peak, instantly burst apart, turning into a mist of blood and gore. With the main body gone, the Solidification-type clone vanished instantly. The raging fires on Peter Mountain were wiped away as if by an invisible hand, extinguished in an instant.

The scattered specks of flesh and blood seemed to possess a life of their own, rapidly converging, wriggling, and reshaping toward the center...

In the blink of an eye, Caesar stood back in his original spot, completely naked. But this time, there was no trace of his world-conquering aura—only the bewilderment of one who had survived a catastrophe and a terror that reached into his very marrow.

A light, airy voice drifted clearly into his ears:

"This is the weight of the Nine Cauldrons that suppresses the world."