Crack! Crack!
Tang Hao walked past a small hill made of broken pill cauldrons.
The pill cauldrons came in a variety of appearances. Some were only the size of a water kettle, while others were as big as a water tank. The only similarity was that they were all broken and could not be used anymore.
Tang Hao looked around as he walked. He wanted to find something valuable among the trash, but they were all broken and worthless.
“Are you looking for scrap, kid? If there’s anything worth something, someone would’ve picked it up a long time ago!” Someone beside him laughed.
“Speaking of which, that kid is really lucky! He wouldn’t have been able to advance to the second stage if not for those unique circumstances. That ten thousand crystals was worth it.”
“Isn’t that so!”
Everyone laughed.
Ten thousand crystals to experience two stages was worth it.
Tang Hao ignored them and continued searching.
The cauldrons were all rusted, and some were stained with dirt. After searching for a while, Tang Hao’s clothes were dirty, and he looked quite sloppy.
“Hah! There’s a scavenger over there!”
Someone said shrilly. His voice was brimming with mockery.
Tang Hao turned his head toward the voice and saw the prodigy of Wood Cauldron Mountain was standing on the peak of a small mountain, stepping on a pill cauldron, and looking down at him from above.
When the people noticed him, those people covered their mouths and began to chuckle.
“Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?” The young man immediately flew into a rage. “All of you have applied for the test so many times, but you’ve failed every single time. You don’t have the right to laugh at me, you trash!” He yelled.
“And you! You’re joining the test only for the experience. Why are you laughing, dammit! I get angry whenever I see your face!”
The young man had nowhere to vent his anger. In a fit of rage, he kicked a pill cauldron toward Tang Hao.
Tang Hao reached out and caught it firmly.
His eyes narrowed, and a cold glint flashed through them.
That guy was quite annoying. Tang Hao would have punched him if not that they were in the middle of the test.
However, he had to teach that guy a lesson somehow. He stomped his foot, and the small mountain of pill cauldrons shook and tumbled.
The youth lost his balance and rolled down the slope.
He seemed quite pathetic when he landed at the bottom.
“Dammit! That was an underhanded move!”
He leaped up. His face was already contorted from anger.
“Come at me if you have the guts!”
Tang Hao laughed mockingly and beckoned at him.
The young man was going to explode with anger. How dare a nobody treat him, a prodigy of Wood Cauldron Mountain, that way? Wood Cauldron Mountain was a formidable force in the southern region.
Even in the pill-making world, Wood Cauldron Mountain was second only to the academy at Channel Mountain.
He was panting heavily with a malevolent expression on his face. He was about to charge forward and teach that detestable brat a lesson.
Tang Hao smiled at him. Then, he craned his head and shouted, “Help! The prodigy of Wood Cauldron Mountain wants to beat me up! How shameless he is to bully someone with inferior status!”
The young man instantly froze on the spot, and his face changed several colors.
“You, you, you…”
The young man stomped his feet in anger. That kid was simply too detestable!
Tang Hao rolled his eyes at him.
“What are you trying to do? Don’t you know the rules? You can’t get physical. If you do, you’ll be automatically disqualified and forbidden from applying to the test for three years. It doesn’t matter if you’re from Wood Cauldron Mountain,” the academy disciple on the cliff shouted coldly.
The young man took a deep breath to calm himself down, then poked Tang Hao with a finger. “I’ll remember you, you filthy brat! I still have serious business, so I’m not going to waste any more time on you. You’re not going to pass this stage anyway, so why not continue looking for scrap?”
As he said that, he started to laugh mockingly again.
He figured that he should not waste any more time with a nobody whom he was not going to encounter in the next stage.
Thinking of that, he felt much better.
“So what if I’m picking up scrap? Are you looking down on people who pick up scrap? I might be able to find a treasure here!” Tang Hao sneered.
“Hahaha!”
The young man threw his head back and laughed loudly. “Did you guys hear that? That kid is so naive. Does he think that he can find anything of value here? Doesn’t he know that this place has been rummaged through many times already?”
Everyone also chuckled softly.
That Tang Ritian kid was indeed naïve.
“F*ck! I don’t believe it!” Tang Hao was riled up.
Everyone laughed again, treating it as a joke.
“Sure, go ahead! If you can find something useful today, I’ll call you Grandpa!” The young man sneered.
“You said it yourself!” Tang Hao was instantly amused.
“If you don’t find anything useful, you’ll call me Grandpa. Do you dare?”
Tang Hao hesitated a little. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said assertively, “Why not? I hope that you won’t go back on your word!”
“There are so many people here bearing witness to what I said. I, Su Zhengyu, have always been a man of my word. You can rest assured about that!” The young man thumped his chest and said.
Hearing the dispute between the two, more and more people gathered around.
“It’s a deal then!” Tang Hao shouted.
“It’s a deal!” Su Zhengyu said.
Seeing that, the surrounding crowd immediately started to jeer.
“Haha! Things are getting interesting!”
“What an idiot! It’s impossible that he’ll find anything useful here, but he still accepted the dare anyway. He’ll be a grandson today!”
“Hahaha! I’ll wait for you to call my Grandpa, my good grandson! Good luck!”
Su Zhengyu laughed again and walked away proudly.
Tang Hao bent over and continued to dig. He combed through the hills of cauldrons one by one.
“Damn, there’s really nothing!” Tang Hao crouched there, feeling depressed.
“Hey, young man, why are you staying at the same place? There’s more over there. This place is very big. Let’s go over there and take a look!” Grandpa Wei leaned on his walking stick as he walked over shakily.
“This place used to be called Myriad Realms Mountain. Back then, this was the holy land of pill makers, and that’s why there are so many scrapped cauldrons here.
“There is also a legend that the supreme treasure of Myriad Realms Mountain is buried somewhere in the Cauldron Tomb, and that’s why the cauldrons have souls.”
Grandpa Wei seemed wistful as he spoke.
“So many people came to search for that treasure, including me, but we didn’t find anything. The academy also searched through the place many times, but they found nothing either. Perhaps it’s only a legend!”
As he spoke, he laughed at himself.
“Take your time, young man! There’s no rush. You still have eight hours!”
After Grandpa Wei finished speaking, he turned around and walked away with his walking stick.
Tang Hao stood where he was. His eyes were sparkling with greed.
‘Supreme treasure?’
That was the only thought left in his mind.
He received a fresh boost of morale and started to dig once more.
“Treasure, treasure! Where are you?” He mumbled as he dug.
