Chapter 3132 — The Way of Cooperation

So refining pills with this first-grade automatic cauldron was remarkably simple and convenient. As long as the alchemist could read and knew how to control pill fire, all he had to do was adjust the fire's temperature according to the prompts. The screen even displayed the actual temperature, so that errors caused by an unsteady sense of heat were reduced even further!

Xiao Kong was astonished by the intelligence of this first-grade automatic cauldron, but amid his excitement he hurriedly did as the screen instructed, swiftly adjusting the pill fire's temperature until it matched the target exactly, and then another countdown began to display!

"Before the next refining prompt appears, please maintain the current temperature until the countdown ends! The next refining temperature is XX degrees; alchemists, please prepare in advance to change the temperature."

Above the countdown was a prompt like this, letting the alchemist see everything at a glance—remarkably user-friendly. Xiao Kong had never seen such a simple way of refining pills. All one had to do was change the pill fire's temperature step by step according to the prompts, with no need to consider the strength of the flame or anything of the sort, and certainly no need to practice refining a given pill beforehand!

As everyone knew, many alchemists, in order to refine a certain pill, would first waste some materials simulating and experimenting. A formidable alchemist might fail once or twice, but a lesser apprentice might waste many attempts before finding the feel and the pattern!

But the first-grade automatic cauldron had no need of that. It did not require you to find any feel, nor to know the steps of refining or how a pill was made—the screen showed it all. The operation was utterly foolproof. Not only was Xiao Kong shocked; even Vice President Ouyang, standing to one side, was dumbstruck!

If this thing truly reached the market, one could well imagine what terrifying attention it would draw. By then, not only would the hidden families, ordinary sects, ancient families, and ancient sects rush to snap it up—even some rogue cultivators capable of condensing pill fire would come running to buy one!

Vice President Ouyang had long dealt with rare treasures and divine artifacts, so he naturally knew just how formidable this first-grade automatic cauldron was. The profit and influence such a thing would bring were boundless!

Now the only thing left to wait for was whether the first-grade automatic cauldron could actually refine a pill successfully!

Vice President Ouyang was quite nervous. In truth, Wei Zhao was nervous too. Though out of trust in Han Jingyi he knew the first-grade automatic cauldron should present no problem at all, Wei Zhao after all could not test it himself—he could not change the temperature of pill fire, and the first-grade automatic cauldron was of no use to him either. That was why Wei Zhao had asked Vice President Ouyang to summon a disciple to run the experiment.

Time passed, second by second, until at last a prompt appeared on the cauldron's liquid-crystal screen: "Spirit-Gathering Pill refined successfully! Please stop condensing the pill fire, then open the cauldron and remove the pill!"

"It succeeded, just like that?" Xiao Kong was somewhat startled. Though he had followed the cauldron screen's instructions strictly the whole way through, he had no confidence in himself—after all, he was a pill inspector, not an alchemist, and he had not touched pill refinement in a very long time!

Even back when he had first studied alchemy, it would have been impossible for him to refine a Spirit-Gathering Pill successfully, let alone now!

Yet Xiao Kong still did as instructed and opened the cauldron's lid. At once a medicinal fragrance wafted from within and spread through the entire private room!

Everyone present—Wei Zhao, Vice President Ouyang, and Xiao Kong alike—was no fool. Only when a pill had been refined successfully would opening the cauldron release such fragrance; if the refinement had failed, what came out would be a burnt, scorched stench!

"It really succeeded?" Vice President Ouyang's eyes went wide as he stared at the cauldron in Xiao Kong's hands, his whole body thrilling with excitement! This had been refined right under his nose, by his own disciple—there could not be the slightest trace of fraud. So the only explanation was that this first-grade automatic cauldron lived up to its name!

"A pill halo! A first-grade pill, and it even has a pill halo?" Xiao Kong carefully took the Spirit-Gathering Pill out of the first-grade automatic cauldron, but the moment the pill touched his hand, he let out a supreme cry of shock: "How is this possible?!"

"How is it impossible? What's so surprising about a pill halo? The pills Mr. Ling provided before all had pill halos..." Vice President Ouyang trailed off as he realized something was off. "What?! You're saying the pill refined automatically also has a pill halo?"

"Yes, Vice President, look!" With that, Xiao Kong held the pill up before Vice President Ouyang's eyes.

"Hiss... it really is... a pill halo! And the color and smoothness of this pill are simply top-tier!" Vice President Ouyang was thoroughly shocked. Though most of the first-grade pills Kang Jingming provided were of similar quality, those had been refined by the Mystic Pill Sect's senior alchemists—how could they be compared to a common disciple like Xiao Kong?

This was entirely the work of the first-grade automatic cauldron! At the thought, Vice President Ouyang itched to snatch up the cauldron before him and plant a kiss on it, crying out, "A divine artifact!"

But with Wei Zhao present, Vice President Ouyang had to restrain himself no matter how excited he was. He asked Wei Zhao in disbelief, "Mr. Ling, are you truly resolved to hand this first-grade automatic cauldron over to our Cultivator's Guild? Then what price must we pay?"

"Vice President Ouyang, I think you've misunderstood. The first-grade automatic cauldron I brought is meant as a partnership with you—a partnership is a win for both sides, and requires no price from you!" Wei Zhao smiled and said, "Auction it as you normally would, and take your commission—that's all."

"To be honest, Mr. Ling, even if we took no commission at all, auctioning this first-grade automatic cauldron here would bring our Cultivator's Guild unimaginable fame and popularity. So by rights, even a free auction should require some price from us!" Vice President Ouyang said with feeling. "But you and I are hardly strangers, Mr. Ling. Since you put it that way, I won't decline!"

"Naturally! The Cultivator's Guild isn't Vice President Ouyang's alone to decide, but with the credit of our long-term partnership behind you, promotion should be no problem!" This was precisely what Wei Zhao valued—the higher Vice President Ouyang's position, the more advantageous it was for Wei Zhao!

After all, as Wei Zhao's rank rose, he required more and more exotic rare treasures. Apart from having Yang Qiqi help investigate and collect them overseas, here he could only rely on the Cultivator's Guild!RS