The Jade of Life's Strange Reaction

With the final item secured by Tang Xiao, the rare treasures auction drew to a close.

Fan Haige was the first to rise. He glanced at Tang Xiao and his two companions and let out a cold snort.

Then his expression softened slightly as he said to Jun Yan, "Come on, let's go get your jade."

"All right." Jun Yan rose as well.

Dugu Bo said to Jun Yan, "I didn't buy anything, so I'll take my leave first. If you're free tomorrow, you can visit me at my residence."

Jun Yan did not ask him to stay. "All right! I'll be sure to pay you a visit tomorrow."

Dugu Bo nodded, then strode out of the auction center.

Fan Haige and his two companions had just left the auction center with Jun Yan when an attendant ushered them into a room nearby.

The room was spacious but elegantly furnished, with a comfortable white leather sofa and four kinds of exquisite fruit on a round coffee table.

They had only been seated a short while when an attendant brought over the Jade of Life.

"Honored guest, the ginseng king you consigned sold for 1.2 million Gold Soul Coins. The auction house's ten-percent commission comes to 120,000 Gold Soul Coins. You purchased the Jade of Life for 1.3 million Gold Soul Coins, so you still need to pay the difference of 220,000.

"Since this is your first visit to our auction house, I can waive the odd amount. You'll only need to pay 200,000 Gold Soul Coins."

Before Jun Yan could speak, Fan Haige handed over a red card.

"Use my card!"

Then he turned to Jun Yan and said, "I'd said I would buy you something, but I never had the chance. Let me cover the difference!"

"Since you insist, uncle, it would be impolite of me to refuse."

Jun Yan went along with the offer. He really did not have that much cash on hand; if Fan Haige had not paid, he would have had to sell another medicinal herb.

Besides, favors were best exchanged both ways! If he refused every kindness people offered, he would only make them unhappy.

The attendant took the gold card, placed the Jade of Life in front of Jun Yan, and turned to leave.

Jun Yan stepped forward and held the Jade of Life in his palm. He could almost distinctly feel pure, rich life energy flowing out of the jade and entering his body through his hand.

"Well? Is there a way to use the energy in it?"

Seeing Jun Yan holding the jade with his eyes closed, Fan Haige asked the question.

"I have a few ideas, but I'll need to study it some more." Jun Yan gave no definite answer, then put the jade into his Soul Tool.

Soon, the attendant returned and gave Fan Haige his gold card. The group then prepared to return to the Martial Soul Sacred Temple.

In the Martial Soul Sacred Temple, Jun Yan sat alone at a table, gazing solemnly at the emerald-green jade before him.

He had been sitting there studying it for a long time since his return.

Jun Yan's intuition told him he could use the jade, but he had gained nothing from his efforts.

The Jade of Life was indeed constantly releasing life energy, just as the auctioneer had said. So Jun Yan held it in his hand and began absorbing the pure energy it gave off.

As the Jade of Life's energy entered his body, Jun Yan felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring, even though there was not much of it. His whole body relaxed considerably.

But the sensation vanished in a flash. The jade did not give off much energy.

After a few breaths, the energy released by the Jade of Life had been exhausted. If he wanted to absorb more, he would have to wait for a while.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Jun Yan. He gripped the jade and channeled the life energy in his body into it.

At first, the Jade of Life showed no reaction, and the abundant energy swirled around it. But as Jun Yan poured in more and more, the Jade of Life did react.

The Jade of Life stopped releasing its faint life force and instead began absorbing the energy Jun Yan fed it.

In no time, all of Jun Yan's energy had been absorbed. The jade even produced a suction force, as though craving more.

"Still want more?" Jun Yan murmured.

But instead of continuing to feed it life energy, he began channeling Soul Power into it.

To his surprise, the jade was quite a picky eater and paid no attention to the Soul Power offered to it.

"What about spiritual energy?" Jun Yan then channeled spiritual power into it, but the result was the same as before.

"Looks like it only wants life energy."

Jun Yan resumed feeding it life energy. Sure enough, the Jade of Life refused nothing, swallowing all the energy he gave it.

He kept feeding it for a full hour, until even he felt somewhat tired, yet the jade was still not satisfied.

When Jun Yan stopped, it gave off a faint spiritual fluctuation expressing its craving.

Jun Yan said helplessly, "There's no more. You've squeezed me dry."

With that, he prepared to put the Jade of Life away.

To his surprise, the jade gave off another faint spiritual fluctuation, this one tinged with guilt, and then released a stream of life energy of its own accord.

Although the amount was less than Jun Yan had just fed into it, it was far more than the jade usually released.

Jun Yan happened to be feeling somewhat tired, so he accepted the energy. A warm sensation instantly spread throughout his body.

Jun Yan thought to himself, Looks like there's a living being in here. I don't know whether it's some unusual species or an old grandpa or something. But judging by the nature of its energy, it probably isn't anything evil.

But another question also arose in his mind. How come no one discovered before that the Jade of Life would react if life force was fed into it?

He had forgotten that not everyone possessed life force as abundant as his. Never mind Soul Douluo-even among Titled Douluo, few could match him.

By now, the color of the sky was changing. Having gone a night without sleep, Jun Yan did not plan to sleep now and walked straight out of his room.

After taking a few steps through the temple, he happened to run into Salas.

"Brother Jun Yan, did you rest well last night?" Salas asked warmly.

Jun Yan gave a wry smile. "Not very well."

"Huh?" Salas looked at Jun Yan in confusion.

Jun Yan had no choice but to explain. "After I came back yesterday, I was so caught up studying the Jade of Life that I didn't sleep all night."

Understanding dawned on Salas. "So that's what happened. Well? Did you find anything?"

Jun Yan nodded. "A little, but it'll probably take quite some time to figure it out completely."

Judging by his experience the night before, feeding the Jade of Life until it was completely full would be a monumental undertaking, unless he used some special means.

Hearing this, Salas said, "At least you found something. If you hadn't found anything, wouldn't all that money have gone to waste? By the way, Teacher sent me to call you to eat."

Jun Yan followed Salas into a hall, where Fan Haige was already sitting at the table, waiting.

"Good morning, uncle," Jun Yan called as he approached.

"Little Jun Yan, hurry and sit down to eat! You too, Salas."

"Yes, Teacher."

The three sat around the table and began their meal.

During the meal, Fan Haige asked how Jun Kuang had been lately and chatted with Jun Yan for a while.

Afterward, Jun Yan took his leave of Fan Haige, saying that he was going to visit Dugu Bo and would then leave Heaven Dou City.

Fan Haige tried a few times to persuade him to stay, but seeing that Jun Yan had made up his mind to leave, he did not insist. He then took out a letter and handed it to Jun Yan, asking him to pass it to Jun Kuang.

Jun Yan readily agreed. After bidding Salas farewell as well, he left the Martial Soul Sacred Temple.