The Divine Cauldron

The Divine Cauldron is an Eastern fantasy novel by Xiao Xuan, serialized on Motie Chinese Network from August 7, 2011; according to Motie Chinese Network, the book runs to about 780,000 characters. The story begins in Wulong Town, a remote town under Jiuyang City in Longzhou, Xuandi Empire. The legend of the black dragon and the annual “Dragon Worship Ceremony” deeply influence everyone in the town, and the true purpose of the ceremony is to welcome envoys from the Jiuyang Hall of the Tianyuan Sect, who come to select young disciples of exceptional talent. From such a small town, the protagonist Feng Wuyang sets out on the path of martial contest. The book builds a clearly tiered cultivation system: from the Martial Realm, which tempers the body and martial skills, to the Mystic Realm, which values both spiritual energy and the soul, then to the Void Realm, where the soul becomes independent and one first glimpses space, up to the Saint Realm that ranges across the starry river, and finally to the Divine Realm of the Netherworld, Asura, and the divine realms. Between these realms are checkpoints such as Great Perfection and the seven-color elixir tiers, together forming the main measure of a character's growth. The worldview comprises many arcs—the continent, the sea, the starry sky, the Netherworld, Asura, and the divine realms: on the vast continent empires stand and sects carve out territory; the East Sea Shrine stretches misty and vast; the starry world is boundless; and the Netherworld hell cycles without end. One of the story's core threads centers on the ancient artifact, the Medicine King Divine Cauldron, as various factions maneuver in secret to seize it; it also includes the plot in which Mo Fenyou sacrifices himself to complete the cauldron spirit and fight powerful enemies. Factions such as the Tian Du Sect and the Gu Shen also appear, expanding the story's scope from a single town and prefecture toward the many realms.