Holy Bone

Chapter 2023 The Truth About the Immortal Cauldron of Investigation and Azure Gold
"Young man, what's this...?"

"This Immortal Cauldron of Investigation of Things really does contain lapis lazuli..."

The old Taoist priest stared in disbelief.

Jin An looked at the jealous man, whose reaction was still intensifying, and said with a solemn expression, "This Immortal Cauldron of Investigation of Things not only contains lapis lazuli, but the content of lapis lazuli is also quite high!"

"Didn't you notice? The reaction of the vinegar is intensifying and shows no signs of stopping. This means that as time goes by, more lapis lazuli is participating in the reaction of the vinegar!"

The old Taoist priest nodded vigorously and said, "Indeed!"

"And this Immortal Cauldron of Investigation of Things stinks terribly, even worse than eggs or pork that have been left out for seven days... The more I smell it, the more it smells like a corpse!"

The old Taoist priest wasn't exaggerating; there really was a slight stench of decay.

At first, it just smelled bad, but as the stench intensified, it gradually changed and began to smell like a corpse.

"There is a stench of decay."

Jin An frowned and said, "Cannibalism, cannibalism, could this cannibalism be closely related to this stench of corpses?"

The old Taoist priest nodded and said, "Of course! Cannibalism and the stench of corpses are not good things. They are both filthy things filled with bad luck, and ordinary people can hardly stand them!"

The reaction in the vinegar jar was intensifying; the color was becoming increasingly turbid, and the stench was growing stronger. As another fifteen minutes passed, it showed no signs of stopping and continued to worsen.

"Cough cough..."

"Cough cough cough..."

The old Taoist priest and Fatty Li couldn't stand the stench and started coughing uncontrollably.

The two tried to hold their breath, but how long can a normal person hold their breath? After a while, they were gasping for air and coughing violently again.

Jin An looked at the two people coughing violently. He knew that he had gotten the result he wanted, so he opened the human stomach pouch at his waist and put away the vinegar jar.

Then, using the fourteenth transformation of the Seventy-Two Transformations, the Wind-Borrowing Technique, a few swirling breezes blew and refreshed the air in the stone chamber, removing the stench and restoring freshness.

"Hahoo!"

"Hahoo!"

"Hahoo!"

The old Taoist priest and Fatty Li gasped for breath, regaining their breathing. The moment they held their breath had almost made them suffocate.

Finally, the air was fresh, and the two of them greedily inhaled the fresh air, letting it continuously fill their lungs to quickly restore their strength.

"Young man, young man, we still have to rely on you. Otherwise, this old Taoist priest and Fatty Li would be done for today. We would either become cannibals or walking corpses!" the old Taoist priest said with lingering fear and relief.

Fatty Li was still panting heavily, too weak to speak, and could only nod vigorously in agreement with the old Taoist priest.

Jin An smiled and then lowered the three of them back to the ground.

After landing back on the ground, the old Taoist priest sighed and said, "It's always good to be down-to-earth. I feel like I'll have a plan no matter what happens next."

What else could Fatty Li say but nod vigorously in agreement?

At this moment, Jin An went to examine the Gewu Immortal Cauldron in front of him and found that the Gewu Immortal Cauldron, which was originally magnificent, exquisite, and full of the unique metallic luster and precious texture of bronze ware after being hammered and refined, now had some rust on its surface.

The rust resembled verdigris, but it wasn't entirely verdigris, as it also had a grayish tinge. Jin An touched it, picking up a layer of grime from the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry, and sniffed it. It smelled terrible. However, this layer of grime wasn't thick; it was just a very shallow, diluted layer.

Perhaps it's because the vinegar soaking time wasn't long enough...

Jin An thought to himself.

Jin An then began to walk around the Gewu Immortal Cauldron and discovered that there was dirt on all four sides of the cauldron, which seemed to be the result of being soaked in vinegar.

The old Taoist priest and Fatty Li, who had regained their breathing and strength, also noticed the filth on the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry. They marveled at it and discussed it endlessly.

However, they were not as bold as Jin'an, who directly touched the filth with their hands.

After all, they were all terrified of being infected by the lapis lazuli poison and turning into mindless, cannibalistic creatures that everyone wanted to kill...

Tear!

The old Taoist priest tore off a corner of his inner robe and wrapped it around his fingers before he dared to touch the filth on the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry.

Seeing this, Fatty Li's eyes lit up. Then, taking advantage of the old Taoist's inattention, he grabbed a corner of the old Taoist's inner robe, tore it off, and used it to wrap his fingers to touch the filth in the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry.

The old Taoist priest, who had been taken advantage of, rolled his eyes at Fatty Li. However, the allure of the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry was greater, and he then shifted his attention to the filth within it, temporarily refraining from cursing Fatty Li for being so immoral.

"Young man, what do you think of these filthy things?" the old Taoist priest asked Jin An curiously.

Jin An shrugged and said, "How else can we tell? These must be lapis lazuli from bronze artifacts. Adding lapis lazuli when making bronze artifacts is perfectly normal."

"but……"

Jin An continued, "We only used the folk method of soaking it in vinegar for a while, without using any other more sophisticated methods, and we were able to extract some lapis lazuli. It seems that the lapis lazuli content in this Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry is far greater than we imagined."

"The amount of azure gold in this Immortal Cauldron of Investigation and Discovery has probably reached an extremely terrifying level."

Upon hearing this, the old Taoist priest slapped his thigh and nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, I feel the same way!"

"So what do we do next? Should we destroy this Immortal Cauldron of Investigation and Prediction to prevent it from harming people again in the future?"

"The grain stored in this Immortal Cauldron of Investigation and Discovery can create countless cannibalistic creatures. Bah! This treasure is better off gone. Let's destroy it and do justice to the people, a great deed indeed!"

Jin An pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly and said, "No matter what, this Gewu Immortal Cauldron is now Young Master Yiyun's property. If we destroy this cauldron without Young Master Yiyun's permission, it would be somewhat selfish."

"Young Master Yiyun already knows the dangers of the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry into Things. Now that the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry into Things is in Young Master Yiyun's possession, it can be considered a good ending. I believe that Young Master Yiyun will handle the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry into Things properly."

Jin An shrugged and said, "Moreover, the fact that this Immortal Cauldron of Investigation of Things has been able to exist for so long without being destroyed in the vast ocean of time also reflects the extraordinary nature of this cauldron. It is probably not so easy to destroy."

"Otherwise, my Erlang Shen's Water Conferring Talisman would have catalyzed and evaporated all the immortal liquid and nectar in the cauldron long ago."

The old Taoist priest nodded and said, "That's true."

It's unclear whether the old Taoist priest agreed with Jin An's earlier or later viewpoints.

However, none of that mattered anymore. Having finished their study of the Immortal Cauldron of Inquiry, the three of them left the stone chamber and went out to meet up with Mr. Bai, the Mountain Guardian, the Corpse Master, and the Blind Man.

When they saw that Jin'an and the other two had come out safe and sound, Mr. Bai and the others breathed a sigh of relief and cupped their hands, saying, "Daoist Jin'an, seeing that you have come out safely, we can finally put our minds at ease."

"You are a benefactor of Young Master Yiyun, you must not be harmed."

Jin An also cupped his hands in a polite gesture and said, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you, Mr. Bai."