Lin Qi pinched a corner of the brocade and lifted it.
The black brocade slid away.
On the trolley stood a Green Jade Lotus Altar. At its center lay a True Essence Lotus with its roots and stem intact and petals as white as snow.
The seedpod nestled within the blossom was plump and a lush, glistening green.
Three True Essence Lotus Heart Seeds were embedded in its surface. Each radiated an extraordinarily pure, emerald starlight that swirled beneath the lamps, tinting the air several feet around them pale green.
The instant that green glow appeared, everyone in the venue fell silent.
Yi Yang's hand paused against the rim of his teacup.
He recognized this thing. All too well.
A dozen or so days ago, at the center of a lake in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains, he had personally dug up an identical True Essence Lotus, roots, mud, and all, stuffed the whole plant into a jade box, and put it in his Storage Ring.
That lotus's seedpod contained exactly five heart seeds.
Two more than the one onstage.
Yi Yang set down his teacup and leaned back on the cushioned couch.
He had not expected one of the six finale items to be this thing, but after a moment's thought, it seemed only natural.
A vast chasm separated the true astral realm from the profound connection realm.
Of ten martial artists at true astral perfection stalled before that threshold, no more than two could cross it. Yet this heart seed could forcibly raise their chances by thirty percentage points.
For the old fellows below who had spent decades grinding against their bottleneck, this thing was a second life.
Thirty percentage points did not sound like much.
But for someone who had struggled for thirty years, fifty years, or