Wang Dong took the silver box with both hands. The cold touch against her fingertips instantly cleared her mind. She lowered her gaze to the faint light flowing across the box's surface, then looked up at Lin Yuan. Her pink-blue eyes brimmed with complicated emotions that ultimately condensed into a soft, "Thank you."
That thank-you carried her longing for the Soul Bone, her gratitude toward Lin Yuan, and an indescribable awkwardness. She clearly wanted to rely on herself, yet she still accepted a gift that far exceeded the meaning of a "loan."
Lin Yuan patted her shoulder without saying more, then turned and continued browsing the stalls. The exhibits at the Treasure Appraisal Meeting were indeed plentiful, with Soul Bones, pills, Soul Tool blueprints, and everything else one could imagine. Yet none of it seemed particularly rare to him. It was not until he reached a stall in the corner that he stopped.
Inside the display case lay a palm-sized black crystal. Its surface was covered in fine cracks, as though it had been shattered and forcibly pieced back together. It emitted weak but exceptionally pure spatial fluctuations. The placard beneath it read: "Unknown crystal, origin unknown, no apparent use. Price: one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."
"This thing..." Lin Yuan gently pressed his fingertips against the display glass, silver-white patterns flowing through his purple eyes. He could clearly sense a wisp of extremely faint Spatial Origin hidden within the crystal. Though broken, it was extraordinarily resilient. If the Dragon God Plane could devour it, perhaps its original area could expand considerably.
"A broken rock costs one hundred thousand? Who would buy that?" Wang Dong leaned over and stared at the cracked black crystal, her face full of confusion. In her view, it could neither increase Soul Power nor assist