Chapter 102: Unaware of the Value—Waste Stones

The two of them had already sorted out everything else, so there was no worry about being discovered sneaking out by their fellow disciples or elders.

Thus, they sat there for the entire afternoon, only moving once all the stones that had been bought were cut open.

“How did it go?” Xu Xianxing looked at Lian Mu, who was busy scribbling, “This is our Xu family’s specialty. Using this method to pick stones, each one is spot on.”

They had chosen a rather secluded spot, so no one noticed them over the course of the day. When the session ended, the crowd dispersed.

Lian Mu held a half-burnt twig in her hand, the top already turned into charcoal, just right for writing.

She had been here for a while, always keeping her original habit of writing with twigs rather than using a brush. She had filled her Spatial Pouch with a large number of twigs, and whenever she needed to write, she would use spiritual power to ignite one, turning it into charcoal.

Lian Mu placed a piece of paper on her knee, bent over, and wrote a large number of characters. She sat in silence for a while.

Xu Xianxing had never seen such a unique way of holding a pen. He couldn’t help but look at her for a bit longer, then said, “Your handwriting is so strange…”

Lian Mu finished writing, handed him the paper, and explained, “When I was young, no one taught me to write. I only knew how to doodle with twigs, and after I learned to recognize characters, I just got used to writing like this.”

Xu Xianxing paused for a moment. “Is that so… At first, I thought you came from the Returning Immortal Sect, a cultivator. Back then, I was young, and my family didn’t let me get involved with such things. Seeing you live under the Immortal Sect’s mountain and even scolding bad people, I naturally assumed you were one of them.”

He had once been curious why a cultivator’s life seemed so hard, and back then, he thought she was deliberately hiding her identity. Now, he realized that her life was genuinely difficult.

He glanced at the paper, noticing that she had guessed correctly the composition and vein of every stone cut today.

And she had only been taught once.

Xu Xianxing said, “…You truly have talent in this.”

Lian Mu smiled. “It’s a pity they’re just stones below the sixth grade. I wish I could see some higher-grade stones.”

“Once we go back to Xuanwu North, I’ll take you to my house,” Xu Xianxing said. “Although my father doesn’t allow me to be a sword cultivator and fight, he loves sword cultivators. When he was young, he wanted to be a famous sword cultivator, fighting great beasts every day. Unfortunately, his spiritual roots weren’t strong enough… If you come to my house, he’ll be very happy.”

Lian Mu: “…”

So, it’s a family tradition of being a bit melodramatic?

“That might take a while. This is only the second round. By the time we finish and head back to Xuanwu North, we might not make it in time,” Lian Mu said.

She planned to raise Wealth Bringer to its highest usable grade before the Immortal Sect’s competition ended.

Xu Xianxing put away the paper, his expression serious. “Not long. After we finish the Pangu Illusion Realm in the Four Great Sects, we’ll head to the Four Realms Contests held by the sects. At that time, we’ll go back to Xuanwu North again.”

He seemed quite excited. “When we go back, I can finally see Master and the others. I still haven’t asked Ye Shixiong how the sword I repaired for him is working.”

Lian Mu paused for a moment, then proactively ended the topic. “We’ll talk about it then.”

She planned to first cut the original stone she had on hand, extract the refined jade, and try out her first refining attempt.

Just then, Seven-Two suddenly found them. “So, you two are here. Why didn’t you say hello? I can guide you anywhere you want to go.”

Lian Mu was about to ignore him, but Xu Xianxing said, “Where do you sell the original stones? Can we still buy some now?”

Seven-Two was taken aback, then immediately smiled. “Are you dissatisfied with the stones in the Four Halls and want to see something better? Of course, I can show you, but you’ll need to pay in spirit stones, and it won’t be cheap.”

Lian Mu asked, “What do you need the original stones for?”

Xu Xianxing gave her a look and said, “The three million I bet earlier has all been returned, and I’ve even made a profit. I promised to split it with you. Now that we have the chance, we can try our hand.”

He took out a Spatial Pouch and handed it to Lian Mu.

Refining a sword not only requires refined jade, but also other spiritual materials to stabilize it. Lian Mu thought about earning some money by fighting in the Beast Arena, and then buying the materials once she had enough. But since the money was right in front of her, she didn’t see a reason to refuse.

“Can I watch you refine Wealth Bringer later?” Xu Xianxing asked. “Consider this money as a fee for observing.”

Xu Xianxing had always been curious about how Lian Mu refined artifacts, but Artifact Refiners usually don’t reveal their refining processes. It’s a very private matter, and to observe, one must get permission from the person refining.

Xu Xianxing knew that Lian Mu loved money, so as long as the price was right, she would surely agree.

As expected, Lian Mu didn’t hesitate. She patted his shoulder. “As expected of my best friend, you know me so well. You want to watch? Of course, no problem. Do we need to worry about such things between us?”

Seven-Two: “Have you two agreed? Please, follow me.”

Lian Mu followed Seven-Two to the place where original stones were sold in the Three Halls, where the shopkeeper was also counting the stones.

Every corner of the Three Halls had guards stationed, keeping watch over all the passages.

There were quite a few people there, moving between various stone racks.

Seven-Two didn’t let Xu Xianxing enter, as the rule in the Three Halls was that the buyer picks the stone. Moreover, with his expertise, even if there wasn’t such a rule, Seven-Two would find a way to stop him.

After all, Seven-Two had witnessed Xu Xianxing’s ability to discern the composition of original stones with a single glance. An insider like that was rare, and if he were to guide other customers, they could lose a lot of money.

This General Dou’s Beast Master, who had never taken action in the Four Halls, seemed clueless about the trade. Spiritual mines liked customers like him—rich and easy to deceive.

However, under special instructions from above, Seven-Two kept a pleasant demeanor and smiled. “When it comes to identifying original stones, I also have some experience. If you don’t mind, I can help. What price range are you looking for? We have stones at all kinds of prices here.”

His probing intentions were too obvious, but Lian Mu said, “Do you have anything for one spirit stone?”

Seven-Two: “…”

“One spirit stone…?” Seven-Two’s smile froze.

Lian Mu didn’t want him to help. She could guess his little thoughts just from the toes, but she didn’t ask him to leave, just kept him trailing behind her without responding.

She went straight to the shopkeeper. “Where are the ones over a million?”

The shopkeeper turned around, startled. “A million? There’s only one left at that price today, and several people are competing for it. Are you interested in bidding?”

“Let me see first,” Lian Mu said.

The shopkeeper led her to the Purple Domain area, where the stone racks were nearly empty, with only the highest platform still holding one stone.

Lian Mu saw a pile in the corner and asked, “Is this also priced at a million?”

“That’s waste stone,” the shopkeeper said. “It hasn’t been processed yet.”

In front of the last stone priced at a million, several people were gathered discussing, one of whom looked very familiar.

Gong Yu turned around, saw her, and raised an eyebrow.

The shopkeeper asked, “Have you all come to an agreement? Who’s backing out?”

No one said anything. No one wanted to give up.

The shopkeeper shrugged. “Looks like we’ll have to bid then.”

His tone sounded regretful, but his face was beaming with happiness as he said to Lian Mu, “This stone is our shop’s treasure for the month, with a starting price of one million.”

Lian Mu glanced at Gong Yu, who remained silent. He still had bloodstains on his clothes, likely having just dealt with Linghu Meng’s matter. He had probably rushed over without changing.

This original stone had cracks on its surface, and dark red could be faintly seen in the crevices.

“It has already been confirmed that it contains refined jade, with a crimson core. I’m sure everyone understands what that implies.”

In the spiritual mine world, crimson refined jade was the highest grade of this level, followed by yellow, with white being the lowest.

This stone was likely of around the seventh to sixth grade, a pure gold attribute vein, just right for filling a gap in a gold vein of refined jade.

The shopkeeper said, “One million, starting bid!”

Before Lian Mu could speak, Gong Yu jumped in first. “Five million.”

Lian Mu: “…”

He started bidding way beyond her budget.

“Six million.”

“Eight million!”

Hearing the bids shoot up so quickly, Lian Mu felt that her four million seemed like nothing.

She shifted her gaze to the other stones.

Lian Mu released her spiritual power to sense the surrounding stones, originally thinking the one on the highest platform would have the most abundant spiritual energy, but to her surprise, it wasn’t. The last stone, priced at a million, emitted only a faint aura.

Lian Mu: “?”

She looked at the shopkeeper, whose face didn’t change, looking as innocent as ever.

Lian Mu sensed something was wrong. The spiritual energy coming from that stone was thick, but it was very shallow, almost as if the stone shell contained a thin layer of crimson refined jade, but the interior was very ordinary, even inferior to the shell itself.

She quietly withdrew from the bidding and used her spiritual power to sense the other stones.

The shopkeeper didn’t notice her actions and continued to listen to the others’ bids with a smile.

Lian Mu scanned around and felt a slight heat in the palm of her hand. Having used too much spiritual power, she began to feel a bit dizzy. Then, a sudden unfamiliar sensation flashed in her mind. She turned her gaze to the pile of waste stones in the corner.

“…”

For a brief moment, she had sensed pure spiritual energy coming from that pile, but it quickly disappeared.

Lian Mu observed the pile of waste stones. It looked very ordinary, with dull shells and scattered patterns in the translucent parts. She compared it to the few stone identification techniques she had just learned, but none of them matched.

The highest bid was called out, and when no one else shouted, the shopkeeper turned to Lian Mu, who had been silent. “Why aren’t you bidding? Don’t you want it?”

Lian Mu pointed at the pile of waste stones in the corner. “How much for this pile?”

The shopkeeper’s eyelid twitched. “You want this? I’ve already checked it. Most of these are junk stones. They won’t yield anything good.”

“Name a price,” Lian Mu said.

The others, hearing this, all stared at her with strange looks.

“You’re buying this? Don’t waste your spirit stones if you don’t know any better.”

“Little friend, why are you still spending money on trash?”

The shopkeeper smiled. “Well, selling it to you isn’t impossible. This pile of original stones is quite large, and it’s not cheap. How about this: I’ll sell it all to you for fifty thousand, and you can open them right here. I won’t charge you for cutting the stones.”

Gong Yu’s mouth twitched: “…”

A pile of waste stones for fifty thousand? No wonder he was the shopkeeper of a spiritual mine shop—he sure knew how to charge.

Lian Mu immediately took out the money. “Deal.”

After thinking for a moment, she pointed to the smallest stone at the far side and said, “Let’s open this one first.”