The old man opened his eyes, disbelief etched in his gaze. "You're only here for the Medicine King Cauldron?"
"That's right, I want the Medicine King Cauldron. After all, Du Jinpeng promised to give it to me as soon as I got my hands on it. Before that, I helped him resolve some trouble, saving them from annihilation. The price they had to pay was this Medicine King Cauldron."
As Lin Xiaotian spoke, he feigned a helpless sigh. "It's a pity those fellows didn't know its true worth. After buying the Medicine King Cauldron from you, they thought they had acquired the genuine article."
"But they had no idea it was merely a facade you put up. When he presented that item to me as a treasure, I was displeased. I wanted to see who was the one creating fakes."
"He honestly told me everything, informing me that it was something sold by your auction house. This was originally mine, yet such a major incident occurred. This made me very unhappy."
"Old man, if you honestly hand over the Medicine King Cauldron, this matter can be considered settled. I can intercede on your behalf, as you did eliminate the sole expert in Du Jinpeng's family."
"It's easier to resolve enmities than to create them. What do you say?"
No one dared to contradict Lin Xiaotian now; they wished to live a few more years.
Lin Xiaotian said with a half-smile, "I've said all there is to say. Whether the Medicine King Cauldron is produced or not will determine whether the people in your family can live healthy lives."
"I've given you a chance, but that doesn't mean you can push your luck. I am the blade now, and you are fish on a chopping block. Do as I say, hand over the item directly, and I might even spare your lives."
"In fact, old man, I could even spare your life's strength. After all, no matter when, dealing with you is as simple as a single palm strike."
Having said that, Lin Xiaotian pressed his palm into the air.
The table and chairs behind the old man instantly shattered into pieces. A massive handprint was pressed into the wall, causing it to sink several centimeters without collapsing.
This scene caused the old man's pupils to contract violently. If it were merely a palm strike to the wall, he could have done it easily.
But for the wall not to collapse, only to sink a few centimeters, required an extremely profound internal energy cultivation. To this day, he could not discern Lin Xiaotian's true cultivation level.
To him, it was an insurmountable myth.
"I will immediately send someone to prepare the Medicine King Cauldron and deliver it to you at once."
With that, he took out his phone without hesitation. The people within his family were merely their family's experts, not those responsible for business.
He himself didn't even know how many such individuals there were in their family.
Those involved in business were considered the outer circle of the family, while they were the true core. Without their formidable strength, they could not protect the family's assets.
In this world, it has always been the strongest who dictates.
For a large company like theirs, especially an auction house, without absolute power to protect it, the consequences could be being completely devoured.
His call was quickly made, and after more than ten seconds, it was answered by a deep voice.
"Patriarch, what do you need me for?"
"We have the Medicine King Cauldron in our family's business. Whatever means you have, bring it to me immediately. Within ten minutes at the latest," the old man said without hesitation.
He didn't want to anger Lin Xiaotian now; the consequences would be unbearable.
However, an astonished voice came from the other end. "Patriarch, we don't have the Medicine King Cauldron. We did have a few fakes before, but those fakes were also sold to us by others."
"The price for acquiring the Medicine King Cauldron was very cheap, and combined with their carvings, they were indeed incredibly lifelike, so I took it upon myself to accept them. Those who took the auctioned items are also people our family generally cannot afford to offend."
"When doing this, we were selective. I certainly wouldn't dare to provoke powerful experts; I only dealt with those who were not worth mentioning."
Upon hearing this, the old man's gaze shifted to Lin Xiaotian. His heart pounded rapidly.
What if the formidable figure before him was displeased and simply crippled him with a palm strike?
Lin Xiaotian's eyes narrowed slightly. "Ask him where he acquired the antique. I urgently need the Medicine King Cauldron; this item is of great use to me."
Upon hearing this, the old man, without hesitation, inquired again.
The answer he received filled him with disappointment. "Even our auction house doesn't know where the item was acquired. The seller was very mysterious; he simply handed over the item, never showing his face. The money was transferred to an overseas account without a real name. If you don't believe me, I can bring all the transaction records from our antique auction house. I guarantee our family is not lying in the slightest."
Lin Xiaotian could already tell that this old man would not dare to lie to him. As soon as he made a request, the old man would immediately comply.
These people saw him as a harbinger of doom and wished nothing more than to send him away quickly.
A sense of helplessness arose in his heart. He had originally intended to find the third furnace cauldron as quickly as possible, but it turned out to be so troublesome. However, he would not let go of this lead easily.
"Have your people find a portrait, by any means necessary. If there's any video footage of him selling the Medicine King Cauldron, even better. I need to see what this person looks like."
Lin Xiaotian had a nagging feeling that this Medicine King Cauldron seemed to be deliberately luring someone.
Was the other party truly trying to attract him here?
As he pondered these matters, the old man had already instructed someone to send the surveillance footage to his phone.
He quickly handed it to Lin Xiaotian. "Sir, please take a look. This is the footage from that time. He's the one who sold the Medicine King Cauldron to our auction house, and he even delivered several fake cauldrons consecutively. Our family members were not thorough enough and ended up accepting such fakes. I will definitely teach them a good lesson."