Stone Cutting

"I want to buy some stones." Having chosen his targets, Fang Yuan spoke to the female Gu Master.

Newbie! The female Gu Master immediately thought of that word.

Even the worst gamblers would first inspect the stones before buying them. They would study them carefully, then hold them in their hands and rub them repeatedly, feeling the texture and weight of the stone skin.

After examining them for a while, if something felt off, the gamblers would give up. They would not simply open their mouths and say they wanted to buy.

People like Fang Yuan, who wanted to buy the moment they spoke, were undoubtedly first-time stone-gambling novices.

Though the female Gu Master thought so, her expression did not change. Her smile remained as radiant as a flower as she softly asked Fang Yuan, "Then which one would you like to choose, sir?"

Fang Yuan pointed. "This one."

The female Gu Master immediately took it out.

Fang Yuan pointed again. "This one."

The female Gu Master was slightly surprised. She had not expected this young man to buy two stones at once.

Looks like this young man is the type with a strong gambling streak, she secretly assessed.

But right after that, Fang Yuan pointed again. "And this one, and that one. I'll take them all."

The female Gu Master froze for a moment, greatly surprised. She could not help sizing Fang Yuan up again.

It seems this ordinary-looking young man comes from quite a good family. Otherwise, how could an ordinary Gu Master have this kind of spare money? At that thought, the female Gu Master's smile became several degrees gentler and friendlier. She had not expected the youth before her eyes to truly be such a customer.

This was an unexpected delight.

Yet Fang Yuan surprised the female Gu Master once more. He pointed at the Purple Gold stones in the farthest corner. "Oh, and those two over there as well."

The female Gu Master could not help being slightly startled. Which family's young master is this from Gu Yue village? From the looks of it, he seems to be the successor of a Lineage branch. If I can latch onto him, perhaps I will not have to toil here as a shop assistant anymore.

With that thought, the female Gu Master's smile became even softer. Even her gaze toward Fang Yuan gained a touch of flirtatious charm.

Six stones were placed before Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took out sixty Primeval Stones on the spot and handed them to the female Gu Master without the slightest hesitation.

His actions in paying immediately drew the attention of the other Gu Masters in the tent.

"Hm? Someone's starting to gamble on stones."

"We've been looking for over an hour and still didn't dare make a move. Now someone is testing the waters—might as well watch."

"He's an academy student, yet he took out sixty Primeval Stones in one go. Quite wealthy, huh. He really is a greenhorn through and through. Hmph, is stone gambling really that easy? Today, he's going to smash his head until blood flows."

The Gu Masters stood where they were and murmured among themselves, all their gazes turning toward Fang Yuan.

"Young master, would you like to cut the stones on the spot? Our gambling den will unseal and cut them for you free of charge." The female Gu Master gently suggested, sending him coquettish glances.

Fang Yuan swept his peripheral vision around the room, and an inscrutable smile tugged at his lips. He waved his hand, refusing the female Gu Master. "Purple gold is my lucky color. This is my first time gambling on stones, so it carries great meaning. I want to cut them myself!"

The female Gu Master's eyes brightened even more. Such boldness—he truly is a wealthy young master.

She would never have imagined that Fang Yuan could be said to have neither kin nor connections in Gu Yue village. Like duckweed adrift on the water, he had no backing whatsoever; everything depended solely on his own struggle.

"Tch, so what if he has money?"

"Who knows which brat is out here squandering his elders' hard-earned money again!"

"The kid doesn't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth. Who chooses stones based on lucky colors? Sigh, this kind of behavior is practically throwing Primeval Stones onto the water just to watch the splashes."

The Gu Masters in the tent all darkened in expression. Having decided Fang Yuan was a wastrel, their already-low expectations immediately dwindled to almost nothing.

Some Gu Masters even withdrew their gazes outright, turning back to inspect the fossilized stones on the counters.

The changes around him did not affect Fang Yuan's state of mind in the slightest. Expressionless, he silently mobilized the primeval essence in his primeval sea and poured it into the Moonlight Gu.

The next moment, the crescent-shaped mark in his right palm emitted a mass of pale blue radiance, fluid as water.

Fang Yuan used that right hand to pick up a Purple Gold stone and cradle it in his palm. Then he curled his five fingers, slowly kneading and rubbing the fossil's surface.

Blue light flickered without end. Amid ripples like water, the Purple Gold stone grew smaller and smaller, while large amounts of powdered stone chips slipped through Fang Yuan's fingers and fell onto the tent's carpet.

"Young master, what excellent skill!" Seizing the chance, the female Gu Master immediately praised him.

"This youth isn't completely useless after all. He has genuine skill." Seeing this, the Gu Masters' eyes flashed with complicated emotions. They began to view Fang Yuan in a new light.

Fang Yuan used the blue light to grind away the stone's surface. This was a subtle application of the Moonlight Gu. Usually, only Gu Masters who had used the Moonlight Gu for two or three years could attain such a level.

For someone Fang Yuan's age and status as an academy student, being able to do this was quite rare.

"Look, he's using the Moonlight Gu unique to our Gu Yue Clan." Some Gu Masters noticed this and immediately felt honored by association, finding Fang Yuan much more pleasing to the eye.

"But this technique is still too rough for cutting stones." Some mature and steady Gu Masters merely Shook Their Heads.

The Purple Gold stone grew smaller and smaller. At first, it was so large that one palm could not hold it shut; after a moment, it had shrunk to the size of a fist, wrapped within Fang Yuan's fingers.

The blue light grew increasingly brilliant, and the fossil became the size of a marble. In the end, nothing remained but a pile of stone powder, falling onto the carpet and forming a small mound.

It was completely solid stone. There was no Gu worm inside at all.

"As expected, it was unreliable." The Gu Masters shook their heads repeatedly.

"Young master, there are still five Purple Gold stones left." The female Gu Master gently encouraged him.

Fang Yuan's face remained calm, unaffected in the slightest. He picked up the second Purple Gold stone and continued grinding.

But this stone was still solid, with no Gu worm inside.

He switched to the third stone. It was the same.

One of the Gu Masters grew impatient. "Stop watching. Stones chosen by color aren't worth gambling on at all."

"If he manages to gamble out a Good Gu, I'll eat all the stone powder on the ground." Someone smiled lightly and mocked him.

"Young master, don't lose heart. Aren't there still three stones left? You've only cut open half of them." The female Gu Master breathed fragrance as she cheered Fang Yuan on.

Fang Yuan picked up the fourth stone. When he had ground it down to palm size, his movement suddenly paused.

"Huh? There's something inside!"

"The material changed. It isn't Purple Gold stone anymore—it's turned an ink-black color."

"Could he really have stumbled into a dead rat like a blind cat?"

A wave of soft exclamations erupted from the surrounding Gu Masters.

"Young master, please be careful cutting the stone from here on. Do not use too much force. Dormant Gu worms are extremely fragile. If you exert too much strength, you may accidentally kill the Gu worm inside." The female Gu Master had not expected this to happen either. After staring blankly for a moment, she hurriedly reminded him with great caution.

Fang Yuan's movements slowed considerably. As his fingers rubbed, bits of powder occasionally fell with soft rustling sounds, intermittent now instead of flowing continuously as before.

Black stone powder drifted down. The stone grew smaller and smaller, while Fang Yuan's movements became slower and gentler.

The stone powder on the carpet piled higher and higher, until the ink-black stone core in Fang Yuan's hand was finally ground away completely.

"Sigh, what a pity. It was only a stone within a stone."

"You made me waste my emotions. I thought there really was a Gu worm inside."

"You people are too easily fooled. Is stone gambling really so easy? Eight or nine out of ten are empty. Otherwise, would the shops still make any money?"

"Young master, your luck is actually already quite good. Gambling out a stone within a stone on your first try is something ordinary people cannot accomplish." The female Gu Master changed her approach to comfort Fang Yuan, while also laying the groundwork for the results to come.

Coming away empty-handed from stone gambling happened eight or nine times out of ten; it was far too common. In her view, Fang Yuan had merely acted on a whim, and the possibility that he had selected a fossil containing a Gu worm was minuscule.

Fang Yuan smiled but did not answer. Instead, he took out the fifth stone.

He ground it carefully. This time, after only the time of ten breaths, the Purple Gold Stone Skin on the surface had been completely worn away, revealing an uneven yellow mud ball.