Hearing Xiao Fan praise the object in his hand so highly, Yun Yun looked at the unremarkable lump of wood in surprise.
"Does this thing really have such a powerful effect?"
Xiao Fan looked at Yun Yun smugly and said, "You wouldn't know, would you? This thing is extremely rare. Not many people recognize it in the first place, so even finding one is exceptionally difficult. And the stench it gives off is enough to drive away more than half of them."
Yun Yun nodded in agreement. After all, the shopkeeper's reaction back in the shop had made the power of that stench abundantly clear.
"Didn't the shop assistant say it had a rich fragrance at first? Why does it stink so badly now?"
Yun Yun remembered the assistant saying that the shopkeeper had bought this lump of wood because of its rich fragrance. Yet after buying it, not only had the fragrance vanished, but the thing had grown increasingly foul-smelling.
At Yun Yun's question, Xiao Fan smiled mysteriously. "That is the unique way hundred-foot fragrance conceals itself."
"As hundred-foot fragrance grows, it constantly releases a rich aroma that it has no way of concealing. This attracts many magical beasts and humans to harvest it, which is why mature hundred-foot fragrance is so rarely seen."
"But once it matures, all its essence gradually gathers inward, expelling the impurities within it and forming this dark, grayish-brown shell on its surface."
Xiao Fan pointed at the dull coloring of the wood and its small, raised brown spots, explaining to Yun Yun, "These are all the impurities it expelled. The truly good stuff is inside."
Hearing his explanation, Yun Yun asked curiously, "Then couldn't you just cut it open? Surely this method wouldn't fool everyone."
After all, anyone who obtained such strange wood