Gold-Quenching Stone

The first thing he saw was a girl of about sixteen or seventeen, with curly blonde hair and a tall, alluring figure nearly 1.7 meters in height—not much shorter than Liu Feng himself. Her delicate oval face was sweet and lovely, but the slight upward tilt of her lips and those phoenix eyes brimming with disdain thoroughly revealed her spoiled, willful nature.

Seeing Liu Feng looking at her, the girl arched her willow-leaf brows again and said in a sweet voice, "What are you looking at? Never seen a beauty before?"

Pfft! Liu Feng nearly laughed out loud. The girl was fairly pretty, but having seen Elena's peerless beauty in that weapon shop, Liu Feng's standards had naturally risen considerably. He truly did not think much of this girl's looks.

"Uh! Young Master, Catherine's stone business hasn't been going very smoothly lately, so her temper hasn't been good these days. Please don't lower yourself to her level!" Seeing displeasure already on Liu Feng's face, Butler Bard hurried over and explained in a low voice with a bitter smile.

Catherine? The name sounded rather familiar. Liu Feng looked at the spoiled girl again and suddenly remembered. This Catherine was, in a sense, Nicholas's cousin, though they were not actually related by blood. She was an orphan adopted by his second uncle, Claude. It was said that Claude had originally adopted two sisters, but the elder sister had disappeared without a trace several years ago. No one knew where she had gone, leaving only this spoiled younger sister behind.

Nicholas had met Catherine before, and they had even lived together for quite a long time as children. But that had been before he turned seven. Ever since Nicholas had been sealed and turned into a good-for-nothing at the age of seven, he had moved to the side courtyard of the Count's Mansion and had basically lost contact with the outside world.

In Nicholas's memories, Catherine had merely been a snot-nosed little child who often tugged at his clothes begging for food. Yet in the blink of an eye, ten years had passed, and the little girl had grown up so much that he could barely recognize her.

Moreover, it was said that not only was this girl beautiful, she was also skilled at business. Though still young, she had begun taking over the stone trade handled by Claude for the Palister Family in recent years, and she had made quite a success of it. She could be considered a small-scale strong businesswoman. No wonder she looked so arrogant.

Since she was merely that spoiled cousin, Liu Feng truly could not be bothered to argue with her. He gave Bard a wry smile and shook his head, no longer paying the girl any attention as he walked into the manor.

Butler Bard did not seem to share the same contempt or disdain for this useless young master as the others did, though perhaps he merely hid it deeply and had not shown it yet. He arranged a fairly lavish dinner, allowing Liu Feng to truly experience the luxury and exquisite cuisine of a noble household.

Naturally, Catherine did not stop with her contemptuous and provocative remarks throughout the meal. But when Liu Feng considered that she was only sixteen, he immediately lost all interest in arguing with her. He had already been twenty-six in his previous life. Although Catherine's age counted as adulthood on the Falan Continent, in Liu Feng's eyes she was still merely a high school student. How could an adult possibly stoop to a child's level?

After dinner, Butler Bard led Liu Feng to the residence that had long been prepared for him: an independent little courtyard behind the manor. Its living conditions were much better than those of the Count's Mansion's side courtyard, and nearly ten servants lived there, responsible for attending to Liu Feng's daily needs.

Within this manor, Liu Feng finally felt for the first time that he seemed to possess the status of a noble.

After dismissing the servants, Liu Feng chatted with Butler Bard for a while. Once he had gained a rough understanding of the manor's situation, he smiled gently and asked, "Butler Bard, how much liquid capital does the manor currently have?"

This was a procedure every family member assigned to Grave Guarding had to go through, so Bard was not surprised. He seemed to have prepared for it already and replied with a smile, "In answer to Young Master, aside from funds necessary for business operations, the manor currently has around one hundred thousand Gold Coins in liquid capital!"

So little? Liu Feng was slightly stunned. In his impression, though the Palister Family had declined, this manor—where the family's main funds were concentrated—should have had at least several million Gold Coins. He had not expected there to be only one hundred thousand. It seemed the family's decline was far worse than he had imagined.

But one hundred thousand was not a small sum for him now! It could accomplish quite a lot. At that thought, Liu Feng's eyes lit up, and he smiled again. "Then how much can I use?"

Butler Bard's smile froze. He gave an awkward, bitter smile and said, "Ordinarily, Young Master can use all of this money. However, the family head once gave instructions that a family young master sent here for Grave Guarding... cannot use more than one thousand Gold Coins. Any more than that requires the family head's approval!"

"But Young Master, rest assured. Before you came, the family head instructed that you would receive twenty Gold Coins a month as pocket money. You will not be left to suffer!" As though afraid this eldest young master would be upset, Butler Bard kindly added at once.

Damn it! One thousand Gold Coins, and twenty a month! Liu Feng instantly had the urge to curse. Even buying Turner a fairly ordinary wolf-tooth club would cost fifty Gold Coins. What could one thousand Gold Coins possibly do? It was nowhere near enough to use as capital for any business!

With a bitter smile, Liu Feng shook his head. He knew this was already not bad. After all, back in the Count's Mansion's side courtyard, let alone one thousand Gold Coins, even those less than one hundred Gold Coins had been accumulated by Nicholas over who knew how many years.

Even so, Liu Feng still felt incomparably frustrated. This was far too different from his original plans. In his imagination, he should at least have been given tens of thousands of Gold Coins to spend. Even ten thousand would have been fine—enough to try starting some other business. Yet he had only been given one thousand.

Listlessly waving his hand, he sent Butler Bard back to rest. Liu Feng lay bored on the bed and began staring blankly into space. For a time, he had no interest even in cultivation; his mind was filled with glittering Gold Coins...

The night passed amid endless fantasies of Gold Coins. Early the next morning, Liu Feng was called up. According to the rites, he needed to head to the cemetery within the manor today to perform the most solemn ancestral worship ceremony.

Although he had never liked Derek, Liu Feng had developed an inexplicable sense of admiration and reverence for the ancient Palister Family, especially after seeing Haojue Parist, the first family head, outside the Count's Mansion. Naturally, he did not dare be careless. After preparing according to the usual procedure for nearly two hours, he did not even have time for breakfast before Bard led him toward the cemetery.

The cemetery lay in the deepest part of the manor, and the journey was not short. The group walked for nearly half an hour before they saw its entrance. The scenery along the way was quite pleasant, with lush green trees providing shade, but what puzzled Liu Feng was that within this stretch of woods, large quantities of beautiful stones shimmering in all colors had been piled up.

Seeming to notice Liu Feng's confusion, Butler Bard shook his head with a somewhat depressed bitter smile and explained, "These are the Glaze Stones recently mined by the family. But for some reason, fewer and fewer Glaze Stones have been coming out of the quarry lately. Instead, a very strange kind of stone has appeared. Miss Catherine has been losing her temper so often lately because of this."

A strange kind of stone? Liu Feng was startled and even more puzzled.

Butler Bard gave another bitter smile and gestured for a servant to bring over a small stone. He handed it to Liu Feng. Seeing the servant's cautious manner, as if afraid the stone might suddenly undergo some terrifying change, Liu Feng became rather curious.

This stone differed greatly from the Glaze Stones, which were roughly a foot in diameter and ideally suited for construction. It was about the size of an ordinary stone, with multicolored radiance flowing across its surface, making it rather beautiful. What puzzled Liu Feng was that he could actually sense a fluctuation of energy within it.

"Could this be the legendary Magic Crystal Ore?" Liu Feng cried out in surprise.

"Heh! It would be great if it were Magic Crystal Ore. Magic Crystal Ore is much more valuable than Glaze Stone. This kind of stone is called Gold-Quenching Stone. It was originally one of the finest supplementary materials for forging, able to greatly increase metal's hardness and toughness. It used to be the most sought-after material in the forging industry!" Butler Bard continued explaining with a bitter smile.

"A sought-after material? Wouldn't that make it even more profitable than Glaze Stone? What is there to worry about?" Liu Feng was even more confused. On the Falan Continent, the prevailing worship of strength had caused every trade capable of increasing one's power to flourish. Weapons and equipment from the forging industry were indispensable to every strong person. By all reason, this kind of supplementary material that could enhance durability ought to have been very valuable.

"Heh! Gold-Quenching Stone really was valuable in the past. Each piece was basically worth at least a hundred Gold Coins, but that was over a hundred years ago. The technique for removing the chaotic energy within Gold-Quenching Stone has since been lost, so this stone became worthless. No one would want it even if it were given away!" Butler Bard gave another bitter smile.

More than a hundred Gold Coins per piece? Liu Feng was instantly speechless. Before he could say anything, Butler Bard explained again, "It is like this, Young Master. This stone contains many kinds of magical elements and other energies. If they are not removed, Gold-Quenching Stone cannot be used, because it will produce a violent explosion the moment it touches fire. It is extremely dangerous. A hundred years ago, someone researched methods to remove this energy, but those methods have now been lost. So no one dares use this stone anymore!"

Explode? It could not be used unless its energy was removed? Liu Feng's heart suddenly stirred. A flash of inspiration streaked through his mind, and he blurted out, "If the energy inside the Gold-Quenching Stone is removed, can it still be sold?"

Seeing Butler Bard nod in confusion, a bold idea instantly surged into Liu Feng's mind. An incomparably excited expression flashed across his face, and even his body began trembling slightly.

Because Liu Feng had suddenly realized that he had finally found a way to make money quickly! And this method seemed as though it had been tailor-made for him from the start...