Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

After hearing Mu Chen’s words, the man in the crowd looked at him with an unsurprised expression and chuckled. "I knew you’d say that. Truth is, stone gambling is often more thrilling than regular gambling, so most outsiders who come here can’t resist trying their luck. But let me be clear, young man. While the profits from stone gambling can be massive, the risks are just as great. If you don’t have a Pupil Technique for it, I’d advise you to just make a small bet. Buy a cheap one for fun, and that’s it. As for that ten percent cut, I think we should just forget about it."

The man’s words had an unspoken message: he would show Mu Chen the ropes, but he wouldn’t be responsible for any losses. Still, Mu Chen was quite moved by the man’s sincerity. He smiled and replied, "I may be young, but I have my principles. So please, lead the way."

Seeing Mu Chen’s sincere expression, the man from the crowd smiled. "If you insist, then follow me." With that, he led Mu Chen toward the Original Stones. The large piles of stone had blocked the view, so Mu Chen hadn’t been able to see the merchant selling them until now. As he got closer, he finally made out the Original Stone merchant half-hidden behind a mound of rock.

When Wan Xian’Er saw Mu Chen leave with the man from the crowd, she discreetly followed behind them. She was still wearing the same tattered white dress she had on when Mu Chen first met her. He had asked why she didn’t carry extra clothes on her travels, and the answer he got was... "I gave my Storage Ring to that old beggar."

All Mu Chen could think was, ’This girl’s naivety is truly terrifying.’ That was why the first thing he’d wanted to do after arriving in Stone City was buy Wan Xian’Er some new clothes and a Storage Ring. He just hadn’t expected to run into Stone City’s stone gambling event, which had delayed his plans.

But now, as these two outsiders, Mu Chen and Wan Xian’Er, walked up from the back of the crowd, they naturally drew the attention of the Stone City locals. However, upon seeing Mu Chen’s plain clothes and Wan Xian’Er’s ragged dress, many of them revealed faint looks of disdain.

"Hey, Old Niu, those two are outsiders, right? The blue-haired one is clearly just a kid."

"Isn’t it obvious? I know everyone in Stone City. But yeah, he’s really young."

"Heh heh, they must be here for the stone gambling, drawn by its reputation. Judging by their clothes, they’re not from any rich family. They’re probably just here to watch the excitement."

"Probably. Anyway, it’s not the first time this has happened. They come, they lose. Every single one of them, guaranteed."

"Haha, now I’m actually a little excited to see if this kid has any luck. This is way more interesting than watching Tufei Yuan open Original Stones." After that, the surrounding people all started focusing their attention on Mu Chen.

Arriving before the pile of Original Stones, Mu Chen finally got a clear look at the merchant. He was a short man wearing a square cap, with shifty, beady eyes. Add to that the two small tufts of a handlebar mustache, and he looked every bit the part of a crooked dealer.

When Mu Chen arrived, the man was fiddling with a few Purple Elemental Crystals in his hands. The man from the crowd walked up to the merchant and said, "Mouse, you and your old habit of hiding in corners. You’re already short; now you’re practically invisible."

This "Mouse" seemed to know the man well. Upon seeing him, he became rather deferential and said hastily, "Ah, it’s Lord Xu! Are you back in town again to lead a new batch of Spirit Selectors to the annual Spirit Selection Conference?"

The man, addressed as Brother Xu, chuckled. "What else would I be back for? I don’t have any family here anymore. You, on the other hand, haven’t changed a bit after all these years. Still the same as ever."

Mouse nodded and smiled sheepishly. "Well, when you get to my age, you start to prefer a quiet life. Otherwise, I would’ve liked to go to the Imperial Capital and make a name for myself among the Original Stone merchants there. A pity I never got the chance."

Brother Xu sighed. "We can only blame the fact that Stone City has produced too few High-level Spirit Selectors over the years. We have no standing in the Imperial Capital. And those old Spirit Selection Masters are all arrogant, unwilling to lend us any aid. That’s why I come back every year—to find some outstanding Spirit Selectors to participate in the Empire’s Spirit Selection Conference and win a bit of prestige for our Stone City."

Mouse’s expression cleared. "So, have you found any promising candidates?"

Brother Xu shook his head. "They’re all just barely passable. That Jiang Tao isn’t bad, but unfortunately, finding Attribute Spirit Crystals is a matter of luck for him. You have to understand, in the Imperial Capital, they’re all true Spirit Selection Masters. They can find not just Attribute Spirit Crystals, but even Jade Transformation Crystals hidden inside Original Stones. How can someone like him ever make a name for himself there?"

Mouse added, "I hear the final prizes for the Spirit Selection Conference in the Imperial Capital are always very tempting. I wonder what the reward is this time."

Brother Xu said, "The prizes have already been announced. After all, the Spirit Selection Conference is in just five days. And let me tell you, this year’s rewards are truly extravagant. One of them is a complete set of Attribute Spirit Crystals, including Rare Spirit Crystals! It’s practically priceless! The other is a medicinal herb someone discovered. It’s a very strange one, though, since it was found growing inside an Original Stone. I haven’t studied medicinal herbs, so I only vaguely heard its name. I think it’s a type of herb called ’Stone Immortal’."

Mouse said, "That is tempting indeed. Forget about the medicinal herb for a moment, a full set of Attribute Spirit Crystals... Tsk tsk, the Imperial Capital is really on another level. I’ve been selling Original Stones for so many years, and I’ve never even seen all the common Five Attribute Spirit Crystals, let alone a complete set. I’m really quite envious."

Brother Xu and Mouse continued to talk about the Spirit Selection Conference. The speaker may have been casual, but the listener was paying rapt attention. When Mu Chen heard the words "Stone Immortal," his entire being, down to his very soul, trembled. ’Stone Immortal, it’s actually the Stone Immortal!’ If Mu Chen remembered correctly, he had paid special attention to this particular herb in the Golden Dragon Scripture. One could say that on the continent today, this herb was absolutely a Rare Level medicinal herb, perhaps even rivaling an Immortal Level one. This was because its growing conditions were simply too demanding—so demanding that even Mu Chen wondered if it was because the herb was too heaven-defying, so the gods had deliberately suppressed it when creating the world.

As its name implied, the Stone Immortal had to grow in the middle of a stone. Anywhere else, and if it was exposed to sunlight before reaching maturity, it would immediately evaporate and vanish without a trace. And "growing in the middle of a stone" didn’t mean it entered through a crack and then took root, sprouted, flowered, and bore fruit inside. If it were that simple, it wouldn’t be considered demanding at all; after all, plenty of plants grow from cracks in rocks.

According to legend, for a Stone Immortal seed to take root, sprout, flower, and bear fruit, it had to overcome a series of unimaginable hardships. First, the seed had to appear amidst the sand and gravel of a seashore. Second, the seed could only survive for thirty days—one month—under the light of the sun and moon. During that single month, the Stone Immortal seed had to endure the crashing of countless waves or the fury of storms and somehow find its way into a ball of sand, where it could hide from the sun and moonlight.

This was only the first step. The sheer amount of fortune required for this step alone was staggering. Its place of origin had to be a seashore, where strong winds and massive waves could sweep it away and destroy it at any moment. Next, it had to get inside a ball of sand, which was undoubtedly even harder. The seed had no feet, no consciousness, no means of movement. To get inside a sandball, it had to successfully sink beneath the sand as waves churned the beach, and then be carried deeper by the tumbling action of the water. Only through the constant rolling, settling, accumulating, and washing of the sand could the Stone Immortal finally find its way into the center of a brand-new stone. And it had to be a brand-new stone!

This led to the next requirement: it had to grow along with the stone. As the stone formed, so did the Stone Immortal. But just imagine—to grow inside a solid, extremely dense stone, what incredible toughness and Life Force it would need! Every single root, stem, leaf, and petal had to be honed until it was like a Steel Blade. Only then could it spread out and fully mature within the dense rock.

This was the third stage. If it wasn’t sharp enough, wasn’t tough enough, it would likely die inside the stone without even a chance to sprout.

If all of the above wasn’t enough to prove its rarity, then there was one final point: the Stone Immortal had no reproductive ability. In other words, for every one that was used, there was one less in the world!

Mu Chen had never imagined that he would encounter a medicinal herb he thought was long extinct in a mid-sized Empire like this. The mere thought made every cell in his body thrum with excitement. If he could obtain this Stone Immortal, then... then there was a very high chance he could succeed in refining that pill. A pill at the Peak of Saint Grade!

At this thought, an audible gulp came from Mu Chen’s throat. He stuck out his tongue and licked his dry lips, making a silent vow. Since his Purple Sky Demon Pupils could peer into the interior of objects, he would absolutely, positively participate in this so-called Spirit Selection Conference!

But what Mu Chen didn’t know was that he wasn’t the only one utterly shocked to hear of the Stone Immortal. Behind him, beads of sweat formed in Wan Xian’Er’s tightly clenched palms, and a strange light flickered in her pure eyes. If Wan Xian’Er was like a blank sheet of paper when it came to worldly matters, then when it came to medicinal herbs, she was a walking Golden Dragon Scripture! Because, in the Ding Palace, the only person to have ever read the Golden Dragon Scripture from cover to cover was her! And she... she was also the only person in the Ding Palace deemed qualified to form a Contract with the Golden Dragon Scripture!

But all of that had been shattered by the appearance of one person. And that person was Mu Chen...