evil tycoon

【Life Cauldron】

Blood, essence, and lifespan—these three elements transform into the life-giving fire, forging precious treasures.

Excessive depletion of blood and essence will shorten one's lifespan.

[Master of the Cauldron: Han Ping'an]

Lifespan: 31 years

[One piece of Yin Jade, one year's lifespan, cast into Yin Essence Blood Jade—swallowing Yin to nourish essence and change one's constitution]

[Is it cast?]

A strangely large, brightly lit cauldron.

A brightly lit data panel.

Han Ping'an stared in disbelief, the shock and shock gradually receding, replaced by a look of surprise and joy on his face.

  

The pallor brought on by fear was quickly replaced by crimson.

The Cauldron of Destiny?

To forge a treasure using blood essence and lifespan?

Wait, I only have thirty-one years left to live?

Short-lived!

Han Ping'an's joy froze.

Thirty-one years old, the age of establishing oneself, the age of striving, and yet I'm going to die.

Damn it.

Han Ping'an took a deep breath, slowly pulled over a chair and sat down, staring intently at the ancient cauldron and the control panel in front of him.

The original owner was physically weak; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so frightened by the fighting between demons and martial artists that his soul was scattered.

Living to the age of thirty-one is not bad.

Practicing martial arts should be able to extend lifespan, right?

Furthermore, the Life Cauldron's function is to forge precious treasures...

Han Ping'an was extremely calm at this moment, and the wealth of information and experience left behind by the original owner came in very handy.

Upon discovering the Yin Jade, it was forged and refined with longevity, transforming into an even more powerful and astonishing treasure.

The most direct result is the increase in its value.

If one possesses extraordinary medicines or treasures, as long as the value after transformation exceeds the loss of blood essence and lifespan, there will be no loss but only profit.

In addition, martial arts training...

Originally, it was impossible to practice, but with this thing, it might not be impossible.

Thinking of this, Han Ping'an's composure was completely shattered by his excitement.

Looking at the description above of "swallowing yin to nourish essence and change constitution," I hardened my heart.

It's just a year of life.

What's the difference between 31 and 30?

If something unexpected happens halfway through, they won't even live to be thirty.

Crucially, this jade also has remarkable effects, such as changing one's constitution.

"Cast!"

Han Ping'an grabbed the Yin Jade with one hand and silently shouted in his heart.

Swish!

[Lifespan reduced by one year, remaining lifespan is thirty years]

【Yin Essence Blood Jade, Usage: When Yang is declining and Yin is flourishing, hold the blood jade in your mouth, calm your mind and focus your spirit, swallow the Yin to nourish your essence, and change your constitution】

hum!

The Yin Jade in his hand suddenly became even colder and more piercing. Han Ping'an looked down and saw that inside the originally dark blue Yin Jade, he could faintly see streaks of blood.

Things have really changed.

At the same time, he felt a wave of weakness.

But as if it were an illusion, after a moment, there was no more ripple.

Lifespan is merely a reduction in numbers.

Realizing this, Han Ping'an's spirits lifted. He couldn't help but think of the chess game he played in his previous life, where health points were the least useful. As long as he could continue his northern expedition, even if he only had one drop of health left, it would be enough.

Invincible with low health, but so what if you have low health?

No one can take away my last drop of blood.

Suddenly, he felt the coolness in his hand disappear. He looked down and saw, "Where's my jade?"

Startled, Han Ping'an subconsciously looked at the Life Cauldron.

Jade lay there, seemingly inside the cauldron of life.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

The jade appeared in his hand, and with another movement, it disappeared again and returned to the cauldron.

"This cauldron can actually store things... It should only be able to store things forged by the Life Cauldron."

Han Pingan tried the other things he had on hand, but they didn't work.

However, this alone is quite convenient.

His thoughts returned to reality as he examined the Yin Essence Blood Jade.

"It all depends on whether this jade can bring me more than a year of lifespan."

"When yang declines and yin flourishes, isn't that the time between sunset and sunrise?"

"In mouth..."

Han Ping'an's expression stiffened slightly.

Where did this jade come from?

The origins of items like Yin Jade and Corpse Jade are mostly not from good places.

Some can even be found inside the mouth or body of the corpse.

"Oh shit."

Han Ping'an cursed under his breath, picked up the jade, got up, and went to the back to wash it several times with clean water before he stopped.

It was some consolation.

We've already used up our lifespan, we can't just let it go to waste, can we?

He sat down again and suddenly frowned.

Thirteen taels, how should this account be recorded?

If it's for bookkeeping, Gu Ming will definitely want to see this jade when he gets back.

The original Yin Jade has been transformed into Yin Essence Blood Jade, greatly increasing its value. As a martial artist, one can easily perceive the mystery within.

There's simply no way to explain it.

Moreover, how could he take away the cultivation after keeping the accounts?

"Thirteen taels, I should have negotiated the price down a bit more."

Han Ping'an rubbed his temples. This was a difficult situation, but not impossible.

They concealed it and didn't keep records.

Just pretend this never happened.

He's been working at the shop for four years.

Gu Ming and his nephew trusted each other completely, and they usually only checked the accounts once every two weeks or so, or when there were any large shipments coming in or going out.

As long as the money is paid up in a short period of time, it will be fine.

"Money... Good heavens, the original owner actually saved up more than twenty taels."

Upon closer reflection, Han Ping'an was shocked.

Twenty taels is no small sum.

However, after sorting through the memories associated with the money, it all seems normal.

In the first year, Gu Ping'an paid him one qian (a unit of currency) per month, with room and board provided.

In the second year, it was three coins a month.

Especially after they truly became one of their own and learned the inside story of the grocery store, they received a full ounce of it every month.

In the past two years, the original owner was physically weak, so he spent most of his money on medicine to improve his health.

These twenty-odd taels were saved up later.

Food and lodging were provided. He spent most of his time reading and rarely went out for leisure. He just stayed at the shop, so there was no need for him to spend money.

That's how I saved up this money.

"Okay, okay, that will save me from worrying anymore."

Han Ping'an felt completely relieved. He ran to his room in the backyard, took thirteen taels of silver, put it in the cabinet, and made up for the shortfall.

There's no need to keep accounts.

He wasn't afraid that the hooded man would come again.

This is not a pawn shop.

"Let's look at the other things."

The general store had a wide variety of items, all sorts of strange and unusual things.

Han Ping'an put away the blood jade and stepped into the shop to look around.

Start with the small ones.

Suddenly remembering that a while ago a little kid from the neighborhood had come and sold a three-copper-coin trinket, he quickly walked to the corner of the shelf and casually picked up a stone bead the size of a fingernail.

The little boy said he was playing in the dirt and dug it out of the ground.

It can be said to be worthless.

However, Gu Ming was also there at the time. He squeezed the bag and found that it didn't break. So he gave the kid three copper coins and casually tossed them into a corner, just to make sure the kid didn't come for nothing.

The moment I picked up the stone bead.

【Natural clay beads, made from ten drops of blood and cast in scorched yellow clay, can nourish the body and strengthen vital energy】

[Is it cast?]

Han Ping'an was stunned.

It was even more shocking than when I first saw the Yin Essence Blood Jade.

This thing can actually be forged?

These are not stone beads, but natural soil beads.

Wait, could it be that it can cast anything?

Han Ping'an frowned, put down the earth bead for the time being, activated the life cauldron, and reached for the shelf.

No response.

Pick up a book, a piece of iron, a can, a dagger, an ink line, and so on.

One of the herbs didn't even react.

No response.

Han Ping'an returned to the earthen bead, lost in thought.

It seems that anything that can be forged by the Destiny Cauldron must contain some mysterious secrets.

Anyway, if it can be forged, the Life Cauldron will give a notification as soon as it is in your hands.

His gaze shifted to the panel, and his eyes narrowed.

Yellow scorched earth, soil, can actually nourish the body and strengthen the body.

This effect is just right.

This thing is completely worthless; it wasn't even recorded in the ledgers, and nobody would even know it was thrown away.

Ten drops of blood are nothing.

Han Ping'an no longer hesitated.

"Casting".

He only felt a wisp of liquid being drawn from his body, with almost no other effects. Then, the stone bead in his hand had inexplicably turned into a five-inch square yellow clod of earth.

[Blood loss of ten drops]

【Yellow scorched earth, usage: crush and boil, swallow with the broth, to nourish the body and strengthen vital energy】