Chapter 3147 — Counterfeit Cauldrons

"I wouldn't dare tinker with it myself. This thing is quite delicate, and I was afraid of breaking it, so I brought it straight to you, Father-in-law," Kang Jingming said.

"This object seems to be a hybrid of the ancient and the modern—part electronic, part old craftsmanship. It truly won't be easy to study!" Ancestor Xuanchen remarked, then turned to Little One beside him. "Little One, go fetch your Second Uncle Xuanchen and bring him here. We'll study this first-grade automatic cauldron together!"

"Yes!" Little One answered at once, turned, and left the room to find Ancestor Xuanzhen.

After a while, Ancestor Xuanzhen arrived at Ancestor Xuanchen's room with Tianchan. In truth, Ancestor Xuanzhen was quite interested in this first-grade automatic cauldron as well. Naturally, though, he had no intention of telling Ancestor Xuanchen too much—given Xuanchen's domineering nature, if he learned that the little girl they had met back then could likewise modify cauldrons, he would likely have her seized and dragged back on the spot!

So Ancestor Xuanzhen and Tianchan tacitly each picked up a cauldron and began examining it, offering no opinions of their own.

"Very intricate. The material of this cauldron is not the same as that of a true first-grade cauldron!" Ancestor Xuanzhen concluded after studying its exterior for a time.

"Oh?" Ancestor Xuanchen had not noticed this before. He had simply assumed that the material of this first-grade automatic cauldron was identical to that of a true first-grade cauldron. But now that Ancestor Xuanzhen mentioned it, he saw the difference. "This seems to be a metal material fairly common in the secular world—not the rare colored steel!"

"It should be titanium!" Kang Jingming was no utter fool; he had spent a long time in the secular world, and with Ancestor Xuanzhen's prompting he identified the material at once. "This sort of thing is often used in secular products! But this titanium appears somewhat different as well—it has been through some kind of processing!"

"Mm. Any other observations?" Ancestor Xuanchen nodded and looked at Kang Jingming with a trace of expectation.

"Father-in-law, Second Uncle, this first-grade automatic cauldron contains electronic circuitry, and none of us understand such things. If we recklessly take it apart, we could very well damage the device. So my suggestion is that we hire a computer expert to crack this cauldron—there are definitely electronic programs inside!" Kang Jingming advised.

"Mm, you're not wrong. But the Five Luminaries Sect has always dealt with these ancient sects, and which of them excels at such things?" Ancestor Xuanchen frowned. "Zhaoming, do you know anyone?"

"I do have a candidate we could try! I imagine she should have a way," Kang Jingming said after a moment's thought.

"Who?" Ancestor Xuanchen asked.

"And this person is someone you know as well, Father-in-law—the head of the Fire Wolf Gang, Miss Luan!" Kang Jingming said. "The Fire Wolf Gang is an organization much like an ancient sect but built on high technology. Going to them for help is our only option."

"Indeed. Zhaoming, your mind works quickly—I hadn't even thought of it until you said so." Ancestor Xuanchen nodded. "Very well, Zhaoming. You will be in charge of contacting Miss Luan. Whatever demands she makes, let her state them freely!"

"Yes, Father-in-law. I'll go make contact right now." Kang Jingming nodded and withdrew from the room to make the call.

Meanwhile, in the room, Ancestor Xuanzhen and Tianchan finally understood what Ancestor Xuanchen and Kang Jingming intended to do! It appeared they meant to crack and counterfeit the first-grade automatic cauldron!

Ancestor Xuanzhen frowned slightly. He felt a measure of contempt for this business of ripping off another's technological achievements—after all, the Five Luminaries Sect was a leader among the ancient powers, and doing such a thing would truly stain its reputation!

Tianchan, for her part, was deeply worried. She wanted to speak up and stop them, but she had no sufficient grounds, and so she could only hope that Kang Jingming and Ancestor Xuanchen would fail in their cracking attempt.

Ancestor Xuanzhen, however, did speak up. "Xuanchen, you intend to counterfeit this first-grade automatic cauldron?"

"Yes, Second Brother. You surely know the business opportunity here as well. Above all, this cauldron sells for two hundred million for the single version and eight hundred million for the five-in-one version—an astronomical price! If we manage to counterfeit it, we could make a fortune!" Ancestor Xuanchen said.

"Xuanchen, we would be relying on the Xuandan Sect's name to sell these. As a leader among the ancient sects, don't you think it rather improper to have the Xuandan Sect engage in counterfeiting?" Ancestor Xuanzhen said. "This is a matter that will ruin our reputation!"

"Second Brother, I'll say it again: you're not the one managing the household, so you don't know how dear firewood and rice have become!" Ancestor Xuanchen said with a bitter expression. "You have no idea—earlier, we refined a great batch of first-grade pills and poured all our working capital into refining them. Then, when we delivered the pills to the Cultivators' Guild, they actually told us that this first-grade automatic cauldron had appeared, and that it was invented by Wei Zhao of all people! It was maddening—wasn't this plainly setting themselves against us? All those pills are stuck in our hands now. If we don't counterfeit this first-grade automatic cauldron, the Five Luminaries Sect really is on the verge of bankruptcy—where would we find the money to buy the pill-refining materials for launching the Cloud Terrace Island project?"

"Then why did you refine so many first-grade pills?" Ancestor Xuanzhen snorted. "Don't think I don't know—wasn't it just to keep Wei Zhao's pills from selling? Xuanchen, you really are petty-minded. Now that the pills won't sell, you've started blaming Wei Zhao again. When you finally counterfeit this cauldron, I expect he'll have come out with something new again!"

"Enough, Second Brother. You needn't concern yourself with these matters—just focus on refining pills. I'll take full responsibility for these worries!" Ancestor Xuanchen declared, settling the matter with a final word.

"Fine, I'm going back to refine pills! Silkworm Transformation, let's go!" Ancestor Xuanzhen waved his hand and said to Tianchan.

Watching the departing backs of Ancestor Xuanzhen and Tianchan, Ancestor Xuanchen smiled disdainfully. Something new? How could that be? This cauldron was likely already Wei Zhao's limit. Once he counterfeited it himself, he could seize Wei Zhao's market!

After all, in Ancestor Xuanzhen's understanding, cauldrons were extremely difficult to manufacture. Even if Wei Zhao had found titanium alloy to replace the material of a first-grade cauldron, a second-grade cauldron could not be substituted so easily as a first-grade one! (To be continued.)