Chapter 3247 — The Second-Rank Automatic Cauldron

"So colluding with an outsider to assassinate a family member gets you driven out of the Ancient Feng family!" That was what Cheng Yiyi said as well.

"Haha!" Feng Tianhu burst out laughing. "And Wei Zhao agreed?"

"He agreed. That call was made right in front of me!" Cheng Yiyi said.

"Good, good!" Feng Tianhu let out a breath of relief. "Yiyi, you've done well. Don't worry—I'll take some recent photos of Yiran and send them to you. Stay close to Wei Zhao and play the mole well. If he so much as twitches, you tell me at once—especially anything concerning me!"

"Of course. Thank you, Boss!" Cheng Yiyi said, putting on a grateful air.

"No need for gratitude. I know you actually hate me. We're just using each other, that's all," Feng Tianhu said mildly. "Besides, Wei Zhao is a young man of talent; you're hardly losing out staying with him. Must be quite a thrill, quite the show of prestige. Frankly, I've burned my bridges. Had I known Wei Zhao would come to this, I'd have had Nitian acknowledge him as leader long ago—would it ever have fallen to Feng Shipian?"

Cheng Yiyi said nothing and hung up.

The night passed without a word. Early the next morning, Cheng Yiyi went to find Xu Shilan for breakfast. Plainly, Xu Shilan had no idea about Cheng Yiyi's undercover role; Cheng Yiyi started to speak several times and stopped, and just as she was about to open her mouth, she saw Wei Zhao walk into the orphanage canteen and shake his head at her, signaling her to hold off for now. Cheng Yiyi's face flushed despite herself as she recalled the events of the previous night—but she would do as Wei Zhao said. If Wei Zhao said wait, then wait.

The misunderstanding between Cheng Yiyi and Xu Shilan was something the two of them could settle easily enough by talking it out—but with the old director present, it would only make things worse. The old director would surely be angry, because she did not understand the bond between Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi.

So it was better to wait until they were back home before bringing it up. Here at the orphanage, better to keep things happy and light.

"Old Director, I called Feng Shipian yesterday. He'll pass your identity on to Uncle Tianlin. But Uncle Tianlin may only be able to call—it isn't convenient for him to come in person right now," Wei Zhao said.

"I understand... A phone call is already more than enough." The old director seemed quite calm, not especially excited. After all these years, she had clearly come to terms with things.

Wei Zhao nodded and said no more. It was, after all, their family matter.

After breakfast, Wei Zhao took Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi to say goodbye to the old director, Yu Xiaoke, and the others, and they returned to Donghai City.

Once home, Cheng Yiyi dragged Xu Shilan upstairs to talk, while Shen Yushu and Han Jingyi sat on the living room sofa chatting. Seeing Wei Zhao return, Shen Yushu pulled him over and pressed him for the amusing tales of the Songshan trip.

Wei Zhao gave her a rough account—including the matter of the Black Horse Society's grand elder and the Blood-Clad Yellow Springs Sect. There was no need to hide anything from Xiaoshu and Jingjing; the thrills and perils of it all left both of them secretly counting their blessings.

Once the storytelling was done, Xiaoshu went off to watch television, while Han Jingyi sought out Wei Zhao to discuss the second-rank automatic cauldron.

"Brother Wei Zhao, Jingjing has nearly finished researching your second-rank automatic cauldron, but the only problem now is that it can only be used by a second-rank alchemist..." As she spoke, Han Jingyi pulled a cauldron out of Wei Zhao's cabinet. So she had taken advantage of his absence to commandeer his room outright and study the cauldron there while waiting for him to return.

"Oh? A second-rank automatic cauldron is meant for second-rank alchemists, isn't it? Don't tell me it can be used by first-rank alchemists too? That doesn't add up either!" Wei Zhao looked at Han Jingyi, puzzled, not quite following her meaning.

"No, Brother Wei Zhao. The thing is, you have to understand—the reason our first-rank automatic cauldrons sell so well is that the bar is low. Anyone who can condense alchemical fire can use a first-rank automatic cauldron to refine first-rank pills. But a second-rank automatic cauldron is different. The people who use it are second-rank alchemists, and the bar to becoming a second-rank alchemist is far higher than merely condensing alchemical fire!" Han Jingyi said. "Condensing alchemical fire alone can never make you a second-rank alchemist. Second-rank alchemists are all cultivators with dual fire-and-wood attributes, and most of these people are already quite skilled alchemists. I wouldn't say they succeed every time, but their reliance on a second-rank automatic cauldron is certainly nothing like their reliance on a first-rank one. And there's another crucial problem: the number of second-rank alchemists is limited—there are only so many of them. Once we've sold cauldrons to all of them, there'll be no more sales to be had, unless the cauldrons in their hands break."

"That's true." Wei Zhao was enlightened. Han Jingyi's reasoning was sound. Beneath Meng Jingjing's exterior lay the mind of Liu Jinghan, a business genius. She had analyzed all of it thoroughly. Wei Zhao had no head for business, so naturally he had not thought as far as Han Jingyi.

"So if our second-rank automatic cauldron could be used by first-rank alchemists—or even ordinary cultivators—sales would surely surge!" Han Jingyi said.

"The logic holds, but putting it into practice would be very difficult, I'm afraid!" Wei Zhao shook his head. "Not everyone is a Han Jingyi. You mean to have those who can condense alchemical fire cultivate up to second-rank alchemical fire, and then use this cauldron?"

"That's not a bad idea at all!" Han Jingyi's eyes lit up. "Brother Wei Zhao is more thorough than Jingjing! Getting them to cultivate up to that level isn't very hard—no alchemy success rate required, just the ability to condense second-rank alchemical fire is enough!"

"Jingjing... Hearing you say that, I'm almost ashamed!" Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile. "If I didn't know you were Liu Jinghan, I'd take that as praise for me. But you are Liu Jinghan—how could I possibly think of something you hadn't?"

"Jingjing isn't perfect; of course there are things she misses." Han Jingyi said it as a matter of course. "Brother Wei Zhao, this really is something Jingjing didn't think of. Jingjing's thinking had wandered into a dead end before. Jingjing wanted to let those cultivators who can condense alchemical fire use the second-rank automatic cauldron to convert their alchemical fire into second-rank alchemical fire, but that process is far too complex and very hard to achieve. If it could be achieved, then Jingjing refining third-rank pills would be just around the corner! So Jingjing was focused entirely on how to use the cauldron to raise the grade of alchemical fire, and never thought of having the cultivators themselves raise the grade of their fire!"

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