Ye Qiu was somewhat curious about what kind of treasure Zhang Tianshi’s meeting gift to him might be.
Though he hadn’t opened the wooden box, he knew the contents must be extraordinary.
After all, given Zhang Tianshi’s status, his gift wouldn’t be anything shabby.
Ye Qiu bent down to retrieve the box, but then his expression turned odd.
“Little brat, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and take it out!” Elder Longbrow urged impatiently.
“Old man, if you’re in such a rush, you take it!” Ye Qiu said, stepping back two paces.
Elder Longbrow stepped forward, grasping the box with both hands, intending to pull it from the hollow. The next second, his face changed.
“What are you stalling for? Take it out already!” Ye Qiu laughed from the side.
“Hmph, don’t think I can’t do it.” Elder Longbrow exerted force with both hands, yet the box didn’t budge.
“Ah—” With a loud shout, he summoned all his strength, his face flushing red, veins bulging on his forehead, but the box still didn’t move an inch.
“Damn it, what’s inside this thing? Why’s it so heavy?”
Elder Longbrow let go, retreating to Ye Qiu’s side, staring at the box with astonishment.
The box was square, about thirty centimeters long. Even if it held a gold brick, he should’ve been able to lift it easily.
What he hadn’t expected was that the box wouldn’t budge, as if it had taken root.
After taking the Bliss Pill, not only had his cultivation recovered, but he’d also grasped True Qi. His full strength now reached a thousand jin.
Yet even so, he couldn’t shift the box in the slightest.
This suggested the object inside weighed at least two thousand jin!
Shocked yet intrigued, Elder Longbrow said, “Little brat, take the box out. Let me see what’s inside.”
Ye Qiu, equally curious, bent down again, grasping the box with both hands.
“Up!”
With a light shout, he lifted the box from the hollow and placed it on the ground.
Elder Longbrow and Shuisheng crowded around.
The three of them stared at the box.
Shuisheng asked, “Martial Uncle, what do you think’s inside?”
“Guess what? Just open it and find out,” Elder Longbrow replied.
He opened the box, and when they saw what was inside, all three froze.
“A cauldron?”
Inside the box sat a fist-sized bronze cauldron.
Elder Longbrow found it hard to believe, exclaiming, “No way, such a tiny cauldron is that heavy?”
“Very heavy?” Shuisheng was skeptical. “Martial Uncle, you’re not joking, right?”
“If you don’t believe it, try it yourself.”
Shuisheng gripped the bronze cauldron with both hands, straining with all his might, but couldn’t lift it from the box.
“Damn, who could lift something this heavy?”
No sooner had he spoken than Ye Qiu, using just one hand, effortlessly picked up the cauldron.
Shuisheng, stunned, said, “Dr. Ye’s a real strongman.”
Elder Longbrow was equally shocked by Ye Qiu’s strength, muttering under his breath, “Freak!”
Ye Qiu examined the cauldron closely.
It had three legs, cast in bronze, adorned with intricate dragon patterns, exuding an ancient, majestic, and weighty aura.
This was Zhang Tianshi’s meeting gift to him?
Ye Qiu found it puzzling.
Why would Zhang Tianshi give him a bronze cauldron?
And though it was small, its immense weight defied common sense.
Anyone who’d taken a physics class knew bronze was less dense than gold, meaning even a solid gold cauldron couldn’t weigh two thousand jin.
So why was this one so heavy?
“Hey, there’s writing at the bottom of the box,” Elder Longbrow suddenly exclaimed.
Ye Qiu looked down and saw several lines of text etched there, in Zhang Tianshi’s handwriting.
“Ye Qiu, keep the Qiankun Cauldron safe, it will be of great use to you in the future.”
Qiankun Cauldron?
The name sounded impressive.
“Old man, ever heard of the Qiankun Cauldron?” Ye Qiu asked.
Elder Longbrow shook his head. “Never.”
Ye Qiu held the cauldron in his palm, studying it further, but found nothing unusual.
This left him baffled.
“A bronze cauldron, how could it be of great use to me?”
Elder Longbrow said, “The founder’s actions always have deep meaning. If he says the Qiankun Cauldron will be useful to you, it definitely will be. Little brat, you’d better keep it safe!”
“Martial Uncle’s right, Dr. Ye. Even if you don’t want it, neither he nor I could move this thing!” Shuisheng laughed.
“If you hadn’t come here, who could’ve lifted this Qiankun Cauldron?”
His words were casual, but they struck Ye Qiu.
He turned to Elder Longbrow. “Old man, do you think Zhang Tianshi calculated a thousand years ago that only I could lift this cauldron?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Elder Longbrow replied. “It’s precisely because he foresaw you’d come here that he left the Qiankun Cauldron as your meeting gift.”
Ye Qiu’s eyes flickered.
Another thought crossed his mind.
If Zhang Tianshi had predicted a thousand years ago that only Ye Qiu could lift the Qiankun Cauldron, did that mean he knew Ye Qiu had cultivated the Nine-Turn Dragon Art?
Ye Qiu’s strength stemmed from that very technique.
Could there be a connection between the Qiankun Cauldron and the Nine-Turn Dragon Art?
He pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure it out.
Seeing Ye Qiu lost in thought, Elder Longbrow patted his shoulder. “Alright, little brat, if you can’t figure it out, stop thinking. The founder wouldn’t mean you any harm.”
“With things settled here, let’s head back!”
“Mm.” Ye Qiu nodded, placing the Qiankun Cauldron back in the box.
Carrying it, he turned with Elder Longbrow to leave the cave. Only Shuisheng lingered, eyes fixed on the coffin, gleaming with excitement.
Elder Longbrow glanced back and barked, “Kid, what are you staring at? Let’s go!”
“Martial Uncle, let’s figure out a way to take that coffin out. It’s worth fifty billion! If we sell it, we’ll be rich,” Shuisheng said.
“Vulgar!”
Elder Longbrow glared at him, saying sternly, “Money’s just an external thing, you don’t bring it into life or take it to death. What’s the use?”
“Besides, a gentleman loves wealth but earns it honorably.”
“You’ve killed the guy, and now you want to sell his coffin? Is that something a person does?”
Then he turned to Ye Qiu. “Little brat, let’s find a way to get this coffin out and split the profits.”
