Mysterious Stone

Early the next morning, Lin Yi ate a simple meal of dried provisions, left Little Flame sleeping in the wooden hut, and strolled out of the camp alone.

The Flamewaste Tribe's gate looked even more imposing than it had yesterday.

When Lin Yi reached the gate, before he could say anything, one of the guards had already recognized him. That huge herd of Bluemane Horses yesterday had been far too eye-catching.

"Here for the Trade Gathering?"

"Yes, just going in to have a look around."

The guard nodded, waved over a young tribesman, told Lin Yi, "Follow him," and asked no further questions.

Lin Yi followed the young man through the Flamewaste Tribe's main road and arrived at a broad open space.

The open ground was about the size of two or three football fields. The ground had been leveled and covered with a layer of fine gravel.

Rows of orderly wooden sheds had been erected around the open space. Beneath each shed was a neat square stall area, simply partitioned off with wooden stakes.

"This is where the Trade Gathering is held." The young man gestured around the area. "The stalls were marked out in advance. The official gathering doesn't start until tomorrow, but those who arrive early can set up first. Look around as you please, just don't enter the tribe's inner area."

With that, he turned and left.

Lin Yi stood at the entrance to the open ground and swept his gaze around. More than half the entire area was still empty, with only a scattered few stalls already set up.

The wooden sheds displayed miscellaneous goods such as animal hides, dried meat, pottery jars, and stone pots. Occasionally, there were bundles of polished bone arrows and stone spears, all roughly processed goods that could hardly be called refined.

Lin Yi began wandering about at an unhurried pace. His Spirit Eyes opened soundlessly, the pale golden glow deliberately suppressed to the faintest degree. From the outside, it merely looked as though his natural eye color was light, carrying a trace of pale gold. Without close attention, no one would notice anything unusual.

The spiritual energy motes in his vision flowed slowly, rendering every item on every surrounding stall crystal clear.

Ordinary animal hides, ordinary bone tools, ordinary herbs—most stalls truly had nothing special.

As he walked, Lin Yi sighed inwardly. Picking up a bargain really wasn't that easy. Those scenes in novels where protagonists casually stumbled upon priceless treasures were complete nonsense in real life.

He continued onward, already considering whether he should try his luck in another area.

Then, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly spotted a stall.

That spot was somewhat remote, near the innermost corner of the open ground, far quieter than the other stalls.

The stall was small, and its goods were a mixed jumble: stones, broken bones, several blackened metal fragments, a broken-handled remnant blade of indiscernible material, all piled together in a mess. It looked more like a heap of scavenged junk.

Yet when Lin Yi's Spirit Eyes swept across those odds and ends, they suddenly caught a beam of light.

A dense mass of spiritual energy lay quietly dormant within a fist-sized gray-black stone.

Its spiritual energy was not exceptionally pure, but the quantity was considerable.

If not for his Spirit Eyes, which could see through the outer shell and into its interior, that stone would have been no different from any random pebble picked up by the roadside, whether by sight or touch.

Lin Yi's heartbeat quickened slightly. Yet his face revealed not the slightest crack. Instead, he slowed his steps, putting on the air of someone casually looking about, and drifted unhurriedly over to the stall.

The young man tending the stall was younger than Lin Yi had imagined. He was just over twenty, his face tanned pitch-black by the sun, though his eyes were quite bright. Wearing a short vest sewn from some unknown beast hide, he sat cross-legged behind the stall, holding a whetstone and polishing something.

Lin Yi crouched down and pretended to rummage through the goods on the stall.

He deliberately avoided the gray-black stone. First, he picked up several ordinary little ore chunks to make up the numbers, weighed them in his hand, then put them down. Then he examined each of the black metal fragments one by one, his brow slightly furrowed, wearing the expression of someone who had failed to find anything to his liking.

"Is this all your tribe sells?" he asked casually.

"Of course not!" The young man immediately waved his hand, his tone carrying a hint of pride. "Our tribe's good stuff is all in the back. It'll only be put out once the Trade Gathering officially begins. These are things I picked up myself."

"You've got pretty good luck, picking up so much." Lin Yi smiled and pointed at the pile of stones on the stall. "I've recently wanted to forge a weapon that suits my hand, but I've been worried about finding good materials. These stones and ores of yours look decent enough. What do you want in exchange?"

The young man lowered his head and glanced over the few stones Lin Yi had pointed out, including the gray-black stone. Lin Yi had chosen four or five in total, all differing in size and appearance. From the outside, they were nothing more than an utterly ordinary pile of wasteland rocks.

After thinking for a moment, he scratched the back of his head. "Um... do you have ferocious beast meat?"

"I do. What standard?"

"Tidal Surge Realm will do. One piece is enough." The young man spoke readily, probably thinking those things were not worth much himself.

On the surface, Lin Yi showed a trace of hesitation, his lips pressing together slightly as if weighing whether the deal was worthwhile. Only after one or two breaths did he slowly nod. "All right, I'll trade with you."

He took out a piece of processed Tidal Surge Realm ferocious beast meat from the hide pouch he carried and handed it over. It weighed a good two or three jin.

The young man took it and weighed it in his hand. Clearly satisfied with the amount of meat, he grinned as he swept the few stones into Lin Yi's arms.

"Thanks, friend! If you've got any good stuff, come back tomorrow!"

"Sure." Lin Yi answered, casually stuffing the stones into his pouch. He dusted off his hands, stood up, and continued toward the next stall.

Outwardly, he remained calm, but inside, he was already bursting with joy. My friend, it's your own fault for not recognizing treasure—you can't blame me for that. Lin Yi chuckled to himself.

He knew that stone was worth far more than a piece of Tidal Surge Realm ferocious beast meat, but appearing too eager in a setting like this would only arouse suspicion.

By padding his choice out with a pile of junk, then readily producing meat for the trade, the other party would only think he was an easygoing young man. He would never imagine what he had thrown away.

For the next half stretch of stalls, Lin Yi browsed far more carefully. His Spirit Eyes remained operating at low power as they swept over every item beneath every wooden shed.

The goods at the remaining stalls were either ordinary daily necessities to the point of being utterly mundane, or poorly made bone and stone tools.

"That's about enough. Time to go back."

He strolled back the way he had come. As he passed through the Flamewaste Tribe's main road, he encountered that patrol of guards again. They merely glanced at him before passing by.

Lin Yi left the gate without incident and returned to the wooden hut area of the outer camp.

Just as he reached the door of his own wooden hut, the village chief happened to come out from next door. The old man held a bowl of hot water in his hands, and upon seeing Lin Yi return, he smiled and stepped forward to greet him.

"Well? How was your stroll? Find anything?"

Lin Yi patted his hide pouch, unable to hide the trace of delight on his face. "I actually found a little something. Let me study it first."

Seeing his expression, the village chief did not ask further. He merely nodded and said, "All right, you get to it."

Then the village chief carried his bowl back inside. Lin Yi took three steps as two and entered his own wooden hut, shutting the door.

Lin Yi casually tossed the ordinary ore chunks he had used to make up the numbers into the corner. Finally, he held the gray-black stone in his hand and raised it into the light from the window.

It was fist-sized, rough-surfaced, dark gray throughout, and heavy in his palm. From the outside, it was just an ordinary wasteland stone, one that no one would spare a second glance if it were thrown by the roadside in the Great Wilderness.

But Lin Yi's Spirit Eyes could clearly see that beneath that gray-black shell was a full, tranquil mass of spiritual energy, radiating a gentle glow from deep within the stone.

"Interesting..."

Lin Yi turned it over and examined it for quite a while. He weighed the stone in his palm, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.