Chapter 57: Qingming Cauldron

The other passengers did not expect there to be a beautiful woman in this carriage who planned to open a Yuanjing shop and brought a testing device. They all got excited. Several young men hurried over to help the fashionable, attractive woman carry out the testing machine. They brought it into the crowd and started testing the old man’s Third-Grade Yuanjing.

A few minutes later, all the passengers looked at the test results and fell into complete silence.

After a moment, the fashionable, attractive woman took out her phone and rushed toward the old man. “Old man, I have 500,000 Credit Points here. I want to buy ten of your Third-Grade Yuanjing. I’ll transfer the money to you right away.”

The old man smiled and agreed. The fashionable, attractive woman quickly transferred 500,000 Credit Points and happily picked out ten Third-Grade Yuanjing.

“Old man, I want ten too. Give me ten Third-Grade Yuanjing quickly.”

“I don’t have that much money. I’ll just take two pieces.”

“Two is too few. This is a heaven-sent opportunity to make money. Even if I have to borrow, I’ll take ten.”

…

The test results and everything that had just happened left the surrounding passengers with no more doubts. They swarmed toward the old man. Unfortunately, the old man was no longer planning to sell. Seeing the surging crowd, the old man quickly protected his Alchemy Furnace and shouted loudly, “I’m not selling anymore! I have enough for my surgery. I’ll take the remaining Third-Grade Yuanjing to Tianhai City to sell. Don’t rush at me!”

The old man’s words stunned all the passengers. Seeing how carefully the old man guarded his Alchemy Furnace, even the last few skeptical passengers were convinced and came over as well.

But now it seemed too late. Seeing that the old man was not going to sell any more of the Third-Grade Yuanjing, many of the passengers were disappointed and prepared to leave.

“Old man, there are quite a few thieves on this train. You’ve already shown off your wealth, but now you want to hide it like before—it’s too late for that. Rather than waiting for thieves who’ve heard the news to come and steal your Third-Grade Yuanjing, why not sell them to us? You’ll get the money right away and can transfer it back home. Even if you lose a little, you’ll still make a lot. After all, you just picked up these Third-Grade Yuanjing. Isn’t that right?”

Just then, a fierce-looking male passenger spoke sharply, his greedy eyes fixed on the Alchemy Furnace in the old man’s arms.

“This…” Seeing the male passenger’s menacing gaze, the old man trembled all over, quickly hugged the Alchemy Furnace tightly, and was momentarily unable to speak.

Seeing the old man’s frightened reaction, the other passengers immediately saw hope.

“That’s right, old man. Word has already spread about what just happened. Those thieves will be here soon. You’re just a seventy- or eighty-year-old man—how can you protect so many Third-Grade Yuanjing? If they get stolen, you won’t get a single Credit Point.”

“Losing a little money for safety is absolutely worth it, old man. Just sell the remaining Third-Grade Yuanjing to us. That way, you won’t be targeted by thieves. It’s better for you and better for us.”

“I just saw a few thieves enter from another carriage. They’re clearly aiming for your pot of Third-Grade Yuanjing. Old man, I really think you should sell these Third-Grade Yuanjing to us and buy yourself some safety.”

…

The passengers began to frighten the old man. Clearly swayed, the old man showed hesitation on his face. After thinking it over for a long while and hearing more and more passengers urging him, he finally made up his mind. “Alright, I’ll sell all these Third-Grade Yuanjing to you. But I still don’t want cash. Use Shenxia Changtongbao to transfer the money to me.”

Cheers erupted as the passengers swarmed forward, taking out their phones to transfer money to the old man and buy his Third-Grade Yuanjing.

Jiang Xincheng watched all this coldly from the side, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Not a bad scam—quite cleverly designed. What was especially impressive was that they’d even made a fake Yuanjing testing device. Quite the ambitious venture.

Glancing at the fashionable, attractive woman in the corner, Jiang Xincheng clearly saw a smug smile in her bright eyes. A smile also flickered across his own face.

The so-called Third-Grade Yuanjing were naturally fake. The reason nobody could tell was that these were actually Mutated Yuan Crystal—harmful, mutated crystals with unpredictable consequences for anyone who used them.

Combined with the fake Elemental Crystals Tester, this scam was pulled off. But what delighted Jiang Xincheng was that amidst this fraud, one thing was real—a treasure that everyone had overlooked.

That antique-looking Alchemy Furnace—he had seen it in the Xuanyuan Family’s library in his previous life. If he wasn’t mistaken, that Alchemy Furnace was the precious Qingming Cauldron, capable of greatly improving the success rate of third- and fourth-grade pills and allowing an Alchemist to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

In his previous life, as Alchemy became popular, the price of this Qingming Cauldron was driven up to hundreds of millions of Credit Points. It was a famously celebrated treasure in the cultivation world.

He never expected that before Alchemy had even emerged, the Qingming Cauldron would be used as a prop in a scam, unappreciated by anyone. If he could get his hands on this Alchemy Furnace, it would make Alchemy much easier in the future, greatly increasing his success rate.

A brilliant smile on his face, Jiang Xincheng watched with interest as all the passengers scrambled for the so-called Third-Grade Yuanjing. In just half an hour, the old man had netted millions of Credit Points, his aged face blooming like a chrysanthemum.

After selling all the Mutated Yuan Crystal, the old man found an excuse to leave the carriage. Jiang Xincheng quietly followed.

Soon, the two arrived one after the other at the connecting area of another carriage. Suddenly, Jiang Xincheng quickened his pace, grabbed the old man, and pressed him into a corner of the connecting area.

“What do you want?” Startled at being pushed into the corner, the old man’s first thought was that someone had set their eyes on the millions of Credit Points he’d just earned and wanted to rob him. “I’ve already transferred all the money away. Even if you rob me, you won’t get anything. So just let me go. I can give you all the cash I have on me.”

Speaking in a panic, the old man glanced behind him, hoping his partner would hurry over to rescue him. But Jiang Xincheng had anticipated this. At the moment, the old man’s partner was still several dozen meters away. It would take about a minute for them to get here—enough time for him to carry out his plan.

“Your scam was pretty good. Going so far as to specially make a faulty Elemental Crystals Tester just for fraud—that’s quite the grand gesture.” Ignoring the old man’s plea, Jiang Xincheng smiled and praised.

Hearing Jiang Xincheng’s words, the old man’s eyes widened in shock, and he stared at Jiang Xincheng in disbelief…