Electrolux's voice suddenly shattered the silence of the Sea of Consciousness.
Su Hui's entire sea of consciousness trembled with it.
"Elder Yi? Is that really you? You're awake!"
He replied within his sea of consciousness.
How could he not be happy?
Ever since Electrolux had fallen into a deep sleep, Su Hui had called out to him every few days.
But that gray sphere had simply floated there, quiet and still, like a dead star.
Now that star had lit up again, however faintly—so faintly its light might go out at any moment.
Su Hui wanted nothing more than to plunge his consciousness inside and chat with Elder Yi for three days and nights.
But in the next instant, the Ice Empress's actions doused his joy in a wave of icy water.
In the Sea of Consciousness, the Ice Jade Scorpion, Xiao Bing, was hissing at Elder Yi.
Its shell had arched like a bowstring drawn taut.
Its tail, gleaming with a jade-green chill, stood straight up, its stinger pointed at the gray sphere in midair. A low hiss rumbled from deep in its throat.
Every inch of the little creature's shell was screaming the same word: danger.
It was the aura of the undead.
A soul fluctuation from another plane, tainted by fragments of the laws of the undead.
Even a mere wisp of a remnant soul was enough to make a high-level Soul Beast like an Ice Jade Scorpion bristle on instinct.
Xiao Bing didn't know who Electrolux was. It only knew that its instincts were sounding the alarm.
Whatever was hidden within that gray light could tear it to pieces.
Thump!
The Ice Empress smacked Xiao Bing on the head, judging her strength precisely: not enough to hurt the little creature, but enough to bring it to its senses.
"Calm down. He isn't an enemy."
"Put that stinger away. Have you no shame?"
The Ice Empress's tone was icy.
After the smack, Xiao Bing's tail stinger dropped at once.
It let out a pitiful little cry.
In the end, it obeyed and didn't take up an attack stance again.
But its compound eyes remained fixed on the gray sphere, as if ready to pounce at any moment.
The Ice Empress paid it no further attention.
She turned to face the floating gray sphere.
The usual condescension and nonchalance in her golden eyes had vanished completely.
In their place was a solemn gravity.
She scrutinized the state of Electrolux's soul from every angle, her brow furrowing tighter the longer she looked.
"Lord Electrolux."
The Ice Empress spoke.
For a Ferocious Beast with four hundred thousand years of cultivation to address someone this way was, in itself, a rare show of recognition.
There was none of the casual banter she used when sparring verbally with Su Hui. Instead, her tone carried a measure of respect for a powerful being.
"Your soul fluctuations are far too weak."
"Your outer spiritual sense has developed cracks, and there's more than one. At least seven or eight obvious tears."
"Spiritual particles are still leaking from your spiritual core."
She paused, her voice growing grave. "Forcibly awakening in this state must have cost you dearly, didn't it?"
Su Hui's heart clenched when he heard that.
He had assumed Elder Yi had awakened naturally after his soul recovered to a certain point.
He had even been quietly congratulating himself.
Now, after hearing the Ice Empress, he felt as if ice water had been poured over him from head to toe.
Elder Yi hadn't recovered at all. He had forcibly dragged himself out of his slumber, enduring the pain.
"Elder Yi, you..."
Su Hui's throat tightened.
The gray sphere flickered faintly, its light even weaker than a candle guttering in the wind.
Yet Electrolux's aged voice rang out, calm and unruffled. "The damage to the source of my soul is indeed severe."
"Under the laws of the Douluo Continent, natural recovery will likely be difficult."
There was nothing else he could do.
The laws of the God-Demon Continent were completely different from those of the Douluo Continent.
His remnant soul had forcibly torn open a planar rift to cross over. During the journey, spatial turbulence had stripped away most of his soul's source.
To preserve even a wisp of his true spirit was already a stroke of luck.
"My forced awakening this time wasn't for nothing, though."
Electrolux changed the subject. The gray sphere's light pulsed, as if sensing something.
"I sensed an extremely unusual presence. It's faint.
Su Hui's heart leaped, and his breathing quickened.
If Electrolux described something as "extremely unusual," it certainly couldn't be ordinary.
"Elder Yi, what did you find?"
"Little one, don't rush. Look to your right."
Su Hui immediately followed Electrolux's guidance and turned his head.
In the corner of the wall to the left of the shop entrance sat a huge pile of dusty, broken stones.
The largest were as wide as washbasins.
The smallest were only as big as fists.
Not one of them had a regular shape.
Their surfaces were rough and yellowed, and some were caked with dried mud.
They were plainly scraps left over from cutting ore. They weren't even fit to be the cheapest decorations, and had been swept into the corner to gather dust.
Su Hui was looking over the pile of scraps.
Behind the counter, the shopkeeper had just finished counting the Gold Soul Coins again.
The old man tucked the money pouch into his robe, thoroughly satisfied.
Then he looked up—and saw that the young master who had spent so lavishly still hadn't left.
The shopkeeper's heart gave a thud, and shot straight into his throat.
Oh no!
He clutched the money pouch, and a fine sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead, trickling down his temples.
A thought raced through his mind, and the more he considered it, the more certain he was that disaster was at hand: "Could this young master have stepped outside, felt the breeze, realized he overpaid, and come back to demand a refund?"
That batch of junk had been sitting in his shop for two whole years.
No one had bought it. No one had even asked how much it cost.
Three years ago, he'd had a sudden impulse and brought in a batch of metal ore.
Then he'd discovered that most of it was far below his expectations in quality—not even good enough to meet the material standards for low-grade Soul Tools.
For the past two years, the sight of the stuff had filled him with worry. He'd have gladly paid someone to take it away.
Today, he'd finally run into a sucker—no, a discerning buyer—and sold him every last piece in one go.
His hands had been trembling while he counted the money.
He'd already been planning to buy a few taels of liquor that evening and celebrate properly.
If this young master changed his mind and demanded a refund now, the duck in his mouth would fly away.
No way. Absolutely not!
The shopkeeper hurriedly arranged his face into an ingratiating smile.
He slipped out from behind the counter.
Taking three steps for every one, he hurried over to Su Hui.
"Honored guest, is there anything else you need?"
The shopkeeper bent over, rubbing his hands together with more eagerness than if he were serving his own father.
"My little shop may be small, but I still have a few treasures stashed away. How about I bring them out for you? I promise you a fair price!"
Su Hui didn't even glance at him. He pointed to the pile of scraps in the corner. "Shopkeeper, what are those?"
The shopkeeper followed his finger. His smile froze for an instant.
That pile of junk was all waste left over from cutting ore.
It was so poor in quality that you couldn't even grind it into the cheapest Moonlight Stone. It would be uncomfortable to walk on, even if you used it to pave a road.
It had been sitting there for at least a year. When sweeping up the dust, he usually couldn't even be bothered to reach his broom into that corner.
What did this young master want with it?
The shopkeeper wondered uneasily, then asked with great care, "Those are scraps from cutting ore. They're completely useless. May I ask what you want with them, honored guest...?"
"Oh, do you sell those scraps?"
Su Hui kept a straight face, his tone as casual as it had been when he bought every metal ingot in the shop.
"Huh?"
The shopkeeper's composure failed him completely.
His mouth hung slightly open, and his eyelids twitched twice.
"..."
Standing beside Su Hui, Shui Bing'er's expression also turned peculiar.
From the start, she'd thought Su Hui's behavior was strange.
A Soul Elder walking into an ore shop and buying up every metal ingot the owner had.
You wouldn't find a second person at all of Skywater Academy who'd do that.
And now he wasn't even letting the pile of scraps in the corner go?
She'd glanced over those stones.
They were indeed just scraps. She couldn't sense even the slightest trace of energy from them.
She pressed her lips together, wondering whether she should remind Su Hui.
But when the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back.
Every move Su Hui had made since entering the shop seemed inexplicable.
Yet his expression had remained utterly certain.
That wasn't the look of someone throwing money around at random.
He seemed genuinely interested.
The shopkeeper was also in two minds.
First, this young master had bought up every metal ingot in the shop. Now he was asking about scraps. Was he just so rich he didn't know what to do with his money?
Or did he have some unusual hobby no one knew about?
Did he like collecting unwanted rocks?
But as a man who'd been in business for thirty years, the shopkeeper knew a truth etched into his bones: never try to understand what every customer is thinking, especially the kind who don't even blink when paying.
If you couldn't understand them, don't force yourself to.
Keep your manners up and take their money. That was what mattered.
"Ah, honored guest, what do you mean, 'sell them'?"
The shopkeeper waved a hand grandly, as if he were ready to become sworn brothers with Su Hui on the spot.
"They're just scraps left over from cutting ore. They're only taking up space. If you want them, please take them. How could I charge you?"
"Just a little token of thanks for supporting my shop today. A little something, that's all!"
"Sure."
Su Hui nodded, without bothering to be polite.
"Then help me pack them all up. Don't leave a single piece behind."
The shopkeeper briskly turned to find a sack.
As he lifted the curtain to the back room, he nearly tripped over the threshold.
He came scrambling back with a huge sack, rushed to the corner, and bent down to shovel in every last scrap.
He moved so quickly, you'd think he was afraid Su Hui would change his mind the very next second.
As he stuffed the rocks into the sack, the shopkeeper happily thought to himself, This deal couldn't be better.
Not only have I cleared out this stock, I'll get to send this patron of fortune on his way feeling thoroughly taken care of.
The last fist-sized fragment went into the sack.
The shopkeeper first patted the dust off the bag with all his might.
Then he respectfully handed it to Su Hui with both hands.
His face crinkled into a mass of folds as he smiled.
"Here you are, honored guest. Is it heavy? Would you like me to help carry it back for you?"
"No need."
Su Hui took the sack and hefted it to judge its weight.
The coarse hemp rope bit into his palm, and the stones inside knocked together with a dull clatter.
On the outside, they looked like a pile of worthless junk, but his heart was pounding faster despite himself.
There was a treasure in there that even Elder Yi had his eye on.
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