System Journey to Godhood

"I-it...it's impossible! H-how can this cauldron in your possession?!" exclaimed Snowy, who seemingly had lost her composure several times today, while glared at the old man sharply.

Although the veil was still covering her face, it couldn't hide her disconcerted looks. Snowy didn't seem aware that her emotion became more vivid and her breathtaking face colored with various expressions after she unlocked her memories.

The old man chuckled, not minding her vigilant attitude, and then he said, "She entrusted the cauldron to me and asked me to pass it to the fated one. If you're not that existence, then I might have given this cauldron to the little bird there. Even if she didn't practice alchemy, merely the fire inside the cauldron could make her unrivaled within her generation."

"How can it be...this cauldron was her soulbond true-life treasure... it can't be here, unless..." Her fist clenched hard, and a deep frown appeared on her forehead.

Feng Xue was perplexed by Snowy's strong reaction after seeing the broken cauldron. Despite the fact that she couldn't see the worth of the item due to her shallow cultivation, she was certain that the item held an unbelievable origin otherwise Snowy wouldn't be this shaken.

On the other hand, Rong Hua, who had dabbled in the Grand Dao for the past half-millennium, could peer into the item mystery and instantly flabbergasted by the cauldron's profoundness.

Although the rune on the cauldron's surface had been damaged to a certain degree, Rong Hua could still sense the vast Grand Dao presented by the rune, which, in her opinion, didn't lose to the Spatial Dao taught by the Old Man. She wouldn't be surprised if someone told her that the item didn't come from this world.

If Feng Xue and Rong Hua could only guess the origin of the cauldron, Snowy knew the item like the back of her hand.

The cauldron, Myriad Flames Golden Cauldron, was the first and the longest item that had accompanied her second host, Alchemy Goddess, throughout her journey. At that time, the cauldron wasn't as illustrious and peerless as today since it was only a profound-rank treasure called Brightflame Bronze Cauldron.

By the system's quest, the cauldron had been upgraded, repaired, and reforged several times using many rare metals, including the elusive Divine Pristine Gold, resulting in a near-indestructible body that capable of defending against devastating attack of godly armies or even divine beasts.

The cauldron's inborn flame also evolved several stages, from a measly Bright Flame into a Myriad Flame that grew stronger by devouring another Immortal Flame. Any flame could only become a flickering fire before its presence.

Although Alchemists were highly respected in most of the cultivator's society, there were many people who believe that it was only because of their expertise in making any kind of medicines and elixirs and not because of their battle prowess.

Some cultivators even disdain them because of their preconception that alchemists were depending only on their reputation and big name to scare people but actually a paper-tiger in combat.

These notions were flipped around by the time Alchemist Goddess had successes to refine her cauldron to the apex. There were many cases in where the goddess made a reversal in a disadvantageous battle by using the power of the cauldron.

She even left unscathed when she had a showdown with Sword Fairy, whose attainment in Sword Dao had reached Sword God level. This event had stirred commotion across the Heaven Plane at that time.

Sword Dao was publicly acknowledged as the supreme among offensive-oriented Dao, the phrase "Cutting a steel like a butter" wasn't merely an exaggeration. Even if they had nine lives, they still could perish if they were facing someone with high attainment in Sword Dao.

Yet, the Alchemist Goddess, an alchemist, could survive unharmed after the battle. These results made the public viewed the alchemist in a new light and hailed the Alchemist Goddess as the pioneer of the new path for Alchemist, Battle Alchemist. Little did they know, the Myriad Flame Golden Cauldron was actually the main contributor to the Goddess' success.

The combination of the impenetrable metal body and a flame that could burn gods and immortals to ashes caused everybody to think twice to mess with Alchemist Goddess. Even the ruler of heaven, Jade Emperor, acted cordially whenever he met the Goddess.

In fact, the mightiness of Myriad Flames Golden Cauldron alone was enough for her if she wanted to vie for heaven plane's supremacy. Alas, Alchemy Goddess was far too gentle and uncompetitive, she prefered making more friends than adding adversaries. Despite that, many of the top godly cultivators acknowledge her as one of the top experts across the Mortal and Heaven Plane.

Snowy's knowledge about the cauldron's fearsomeness was the reason for her shock and uncertainty. The fact that the cauldron showed up in front of her in a horrible state invoked a bad omen about the Goddess' fate.

Soulbond treasure and weapon were practically an eternal companion for a cultivator. If the owner didn't give permission, only by killing the owner or severing their soul could someone take over the weapon or treasure.

The Alchemy Goddess was someone who valued sentiment and feeling highly, she even considered the cauldron as her family rather than a tool, so, it was only to her successor she might willingly hand the cauldron over.

Snowy glanced at the old man again and shook her head.

This most likely wasn't the case because there wasn't any fragrance of medicinal ingredients that usually lingered around an alchemist in the old man's body.

Another probability was the old man actually the goddess' enemy and the one who forcefully seize the cauldron. But, she quickly dismissed this idea due to a lot of reasons that indicate otherwise.

If he had seized the cauldron forcefully, then why did he hand the cauldron to Snowy, which indirectly means handed it back to the Goddess?

If he was the Goddess' enemy then he might be her enemy too, so why did he help Feng Xue and her? If he wanted to take advantage of her, he could do it from the beginning.

Snowy pondered several probabilities but no matter how hard she thought, she always arrived at one conclusion which she reluctant to accept.

"I-is she already...?"