Sea Dragon Bone and Dragon Gold

After finishing his meal, Lin Yu did not rush to settle the bill. Instead, he ordered a pot of tea and sat quietly.

This restaurant was a large establishment. The owner had even hired opera performers to sing pieces in the main hall that were said to whet one's appetite.

As he watched the performances onstage, Lin Yu considered what to do next.

He had not come on a whim. He had done his homework beforehand. This rest day happened to coincide with a modest festival in Eastsea City, during which some shops held discount events at night.

But he would have to wait until it got later.

As Lin Yu pondered, someone entered the restaurant, looked around, then sat across from him. "Brother, looks like you're done eating too. You don't mind sharing a table, do you?"

Lin Yu looked the other person over. The boy had short chestnut hair, and his clothes were very familiar to Lin Yu: the inner uniform of Eastsea Academy, paired with his own jacket.

Judging by the color of the inner uniform, he should have been a new student this year. Lin Yu nodded, then drew his teapot a little closer to himself.

"Straightforward." After saying that, the boy picked up a menu and began ordering. Lin Yu observed him for a while before asking, "Eastsea Academy?"

The boy looked up at Lin Yu, wariness appearing in his eyes. "What? Is there a problem?"

Lin Yu smiled at him. "I'm from Eastsea Academy too."

Hearing that, the boy's guard dropped somewhat. "Really? Which year are you in?"

Lin Yu took out his Eastsea Academy student ID and waved it at him. "First-year Class One. Lin Yu."

The boy froze briefly, then extended a hand toward Lin Yu. "So you're Lin Yu. Your name was one of the first called during class assignment, so I remember it. I'm Xie Xie."

Lin Yu shook Xie Xie's hand. Xie Xie spoke more warmly, "Since it's fate that we've met, can you give me a hint about the team for Class One's promotion match?"

Lin Yu smiled. "If we talk about the promotion match, we won't be able to have a pleasant conversation afterward. I can't sell you the team roster, but I can tell you this: just treat it as participation being what matters. I'm not looking down on you."

Before Xie Xie's expression could change, Lin Yu released his soul rings for an instant. When three purple soul rings appeared around him, Xie Xie's face, which had been about to turn angry, immediately became one of astonishment.

"Y-you... you're a Soul Elder?" Xie Xie's voice trembled as he pointed at Lin Yu in disbelief.

Lin Yu nodded. "I'm one of the competitors in the promotion match. Now you understand why I said you should just focus on participating. Success is welcome, but defeat is nothing to be ashamed of."

If it had been a two-ring Grand Soul Master speaking to Xie Xie like that, he would have refused to accept it and argued back. After all, if he worked hard enough, reaching the two-ring level was not beyond him.

But once Lin Yu displayed the cultivation of a three-ring Soul Elder, all Xie Xie could sense in those words was friendliness and humility. After all, a Soul Elder actually believed his team still had a chance of winning.

And losing to a Soul Elder really was nothing embarrassing.

Then Xie Xie suddenly thought of the icy Wu Changkong. A look of utter misery appeared on his face as he said, "We're done for. Teacher Wu is definitely going to work us over hard."

Feigning curiosity, Lin Yu asked Xie Xie, "Is your class's training that brutal? I've noticed that Class Five seems to do whole-class physical training every so often."

Xie Xie was only eleven or twelve years old. How much scheming could he possibly have? He immediately complained to Lin Yu, "It's more than brutal! Aside from the morning training you can see, those of us competing have extra training at night too. It's downright deadly!"

"I only got to come out tonight after begging and pleading for time off."

Lin Yu smiled. "Since you had to work so hard just to get this break, why aren't you hurrying back to the dorm to rest? Why come out here?"

Xie Xie put on a serious face. "Playing dumb isn't fun. You've been sitting in this restaurant drinking tea all this time because you're waiting for tonight's big event too, aren't you? I'm telling you, there'll be something huge to see tonight."

That piqued Lin Yu's interest. "What huge event? Let's hear it."

Xie Xie glanced around. Seeing that the other diners were focused on the opera performance onstage, he leaned close to Lin Yu and lowered his voice. "A fleet my father sailed with is returning tonight. They say they salvaged a complete Sea Dragon Bone from the deep-sea region this time."

Lin Yu paused in surprise. What was a Sea Dragon Bone? He had heard his father mention it before. It was essentially the remains of a dragon salvaged from the sea.

What made it rare was that it could fuse with metal, becoming a rare material for making Battle Armor and mecha.

Aside from that, some fresher dragon bones could yield a certain amount of Sea Dragon Marrow, which could be sold as a heavenly treasure.

It was indeed a treasure. But calling it something truly major would have been a bit of a stretch.

After all, the key factors in whether Battle Armor was good or bad were still the forging process, the production technique, and its compatibility with the Soul Master who wore it.

Sea Dragon Bone Alloy. The only and most famous example of Battle Armor made from it was Yun Ming's set. Legend had it that his chest armor, arm armor, leg armor, and greaves all used Sea Dragon Bone Alloy as one of their materials.

But that was only a legend. Yun Ming was still very much alive, after all, and no one could rip off his four-word Battle Armor and take it apart to see what metals were actually used. Besides, Yun Ming was formidable mainly because he was Yun Ming, not because his Battle Armor was so powerful.

In his hands, Battle Armor was merely an auxiliary tool.

Besides that, they had also salvaged a large chest on this trip. After prying it open, they discovered another chest inside. Beside that smaller chest was a pile of Dragon Gold. If even Dragon Gold could only serve as decoration, then it was hard to say what might be inside that chest.

However, the chest had yet to be opened, so they were bringing it ashore to find someone fated to open it.

Xie Xie made it sound impressive, but in truth, they were using the Dragon Gold as bait to sell a chest that even the mecha masters aboard the ship could not open to the next sucker.

Logically speaking, since Dragon Crystals and the chest had been placed together inside another large chest, it was natural to assume that the contents of that chest were valuable. But there was always the possibility of something going wrong.

And there was more than one such possibility. What if the owner had been joking and the chest was empty? What if the people on the ship had put it there themselves as a gimmick to fetch a higher price?

No one was willing to bear those risks, because the ship's owners themselves could not open the chest.

But since Xie Xie's father was on that ship, Lin Yu did not point out those risks in front of him. Besides, it was clear that the little pocket money Xie Xie had could not possibly afford any of those things.

Lin Yu said to Xie Xie, "I really wasn't here for the Sea Dragon Bone or Dragon Gold at first. But since you've brought it up, I'll definitely stay and take a look at what a complete sea dragon looks like."

Xie Xie smiled at Lin Yu. "That's the spirit. Just wait. In another hour or two, it'll be time."

As he said that, the food Xie Xie had ordered arrived. The server set the dishes on the table and bowed before withdrawing. Lin Yu leaned back and looked around. "By the way, this is obviously a big restaurant aimed at tourists. As a local from Eastsea City, you eat here too?"

Xie Xie ate as he replied, "Locals are people too. If the food's good, why not? Besides, this place is close to the boarding point. Following the sailors, we can get to the exhibition hall showing those things the fastest."

Lin Yu nodded. After Xie Xie finished eating, he ordered a pot of tea as well to digest the somewhat greasy seafood. Two hours later, the sound of a ship's horn drew both of their attention.