Chapter 37

Drop! Drop! Drop! Drop…

Stop!!!

Chen Yan stood at the gate of his villa, directing a truck to reverse its tail into the courtyard.

Then, hands in his pockets, he watched as several workers jumped off the truck and unloaded a load of green stone slabs, two men per slab, carrying them one by one into the yard.

“Careful, masters! Thank you all for your hard work!”

Chen Yan pulled out several packs of cigarettes and stood by the gate, slipping one into the pocket of every worker who passed by.

The cigarettes weren’t expensive—just twenty yuan a pack.

Two hundred yuan bought a single slab, enough to distribute.

How many times more expensive were these green stone slabs than the cost of the cigarettes? A little extra spending would make them work more carefully, handle things gently—if even a corner of the carved runes got chipped, the array wouldn’t form properly.

People are social creatures.

The stone factory owner came along too, standing beside Chen Yan, waiting until he’d handed out the cigarettes before smiling and pulling him aside: “Fifty green stone slabs, all cut and polished, engraved by machine—I watched every step, absolutely precise.”

“Boss, about the final payment…”

Chen Yan glanced at the boss—this guy was a crook! This shipment cost him at least three times the profit he should’ve paid.

Still, a deal’s a deal; Chen Yan didn’t give him a cold shoulder, and quickly pulled out his phone to scan and pay the balance.

“Very smooth! Thanks, Boss Chen!” The stone dealer beamed as he put away his phone: “Hope you’ll give me more business in the future.”

Chen Yan looked at the man again.

Sure, he was a bit of a crook, and a bit too greedy with prices.

But the goods were solid and genuine.

Chen Yan had watched the unloading—he’d seen that each two-meter-long slab was cut perfectly straight and polished smooth.

The engraved patterns were flawless too.

A thought struck him: “Boss, do you have any jade?”

“Jade?” The stone dealer blinked. “I do have some—but… they’re all rough blanks, plain low-grade jade. If you’re looking for collectible jade, I don’t have that—you’d need to go to a jade shop.”

He dealt in renovation and building stone materials; jade was just a side item. Some families liked to decorate their background walls with jade accents.

Like on a crane-and-longevity mural, picking out two jade pieces to serve as the crane’s eyes.

Just trying to look cultured.

But as he said, they were all the lowest-grade jade.

Who in their right mind would set top-tier Hetian jade into a background wall?

“No problem—I just want cheap stuff.”

Chen Yan thought for a moment, gesturing with his hands: “Cut them into matchbox-sized jade plaques, half a centimeter thick—that’s enough. But they must be real jade. Don’t try to fool me with quartzite.”

The stone dealer blinked. “Matchbox-sized, square, half a centimeter thick… how many?”

“First, a hundred.”

The boss smiled.

Such tiny pieces—only a hundred.

Altogether, it was less than a set of mahjong tiles.

After a brief pause, the boss spoke sincerely: “For a job this small, I’d normally have to source material, fire up the machine, pay labor… most people won’t take it.”

But you just gave me a big order—I owe you a favor.”

“For each one, I’ll give you this price…”

He grinned and named a figure.

Chen Yan listened—and it was cheap! Half the price of the green and white jade he’d bought before, stripped of two zeros!

Still, he had to haggle—he slashed it by one…

Wait—he remembered last time he haggled with this guy: he’d cut the price in half.

This time, Chen Yan slashed it by eighty percent!

The boss slapped Chen Yan’s hand and laughed: “Deal! I’ll deliver in a few days.”

Chen Yan: “…………”

Damn it, I paid too much again!

·

After the unloading was done, the workers climbed back onto the truck, and the boss took the passenger seat, waving goodbye to Chen Yan.

Hmm…

Didn’t expect delivering goods could be this profitable.

In the corner of his own warehouse, there was a pile of low-grade jade scraps—leftovers from previous orders’ cutting waste.

Poor quality, couldn’t be carved into sellable pieces.

Too small and fragmented to make display ornaments.

Completely useless.

They just sat there gathering dust, taking up space. Hard to throw away, hard to dispose of.

And now… he could sell them?

Hmm, there was quite a bit of that scrap. He’d better build a good relationship with this young boss Chen and try to sell him all of it!

·

Chen Yan returned to the courtyard and stared at the pile of green stone slabs stacked in one corner.

He walked over, grabbed one slab at random, and squeezed hard.

A two-meter-long slab that normally required two workers to carry—he lifted it effortlessly in one hand, as if it were no heavier than a bamboo pole.

Not because his Qi had nourished his body into superhuman strength.

But because in his palm, he clutched a talisman—the Yi Jun Talisman.

The manual described its effect: “Turn a thousand jin into a feather.”

It didn’t make him stronger—it made the object lighter.

But “Yi Jun” was too awkward to say; Chen Yan found it headache-inducing, so he renamed it: Light Body Talisman.

One talisman lasted an hour, two hours total.

Chen Yan thought…

If he used this to start a moving company, wouldn’t he make a fortune?

Use this thing to start a moving company, and wouldn’t you make a fortune?

Using this to do manual labor was like learning teleportation and then becoming a food delivery guy.

Use this thing for manual labor? What’s the difference from learning teleportation only to deliver takeout?

·

In the afternoon, Chen Yan locked the courtyard gate and began working inside.

He personally carried and arranged the fifty two-meter-long green stone slabs into position around the yard.

He paused occasionally, pulling out the Luo Pan to measure and recalculate.

Hmm—the Luo Pan was new too, bought from the same Taobao seller.

As a returning customer, he chatted with the boss and got twenty yuan off.

The price dropped from 180 to 160.

Holding the Luo Pan 2.0, Chen Yan verified the directions once more, then placed each of the fifty slabs precisely.

A poor man’s makeshift version of a Spirit Gathering Array was now ninety-nine percent complete.

The final step—the most critical one: the array’s core.

He had no artifacts of that caliber.

The Luo Pan 2.0 didn’t count!

The only two things he owned that could truly be called “treasures” were:

One: the ring on his thumb.

The other: the half-burned white candle, carefully hidden away, left by the Old Grandma.

But he dared not use either as the array’s core.

The candle—the Old Grandma had clearly said it was a life-saving treasure, not to be touched unless in direst need.

The ring—he couldn’t risk it. What if he damaged it using it as the core?

So he’d have to keep making makeshift versions of it.

No artifact? Then follow the previous plan: use jade imbued with Qi.

He still had some in reserve.

He’d bought them during his scouting trip to the Luoyunzhai commercial street, at a jade shop he’d passed.

Ever since selling the Luo Pan 1.0 cheaply to Boss Fang…

Chen Yan had thought: what if he met another generous guy like Fang? He needed to be prepared.

While scouting near Luoyunzhai, he’d casually bought two white jade plaques.

Low quality, but still expensive.

After bringing them home, he’d infused them with Qi.

Filled them to the brim—overflowing!

Filled to the brim, high up!

For now, use this as a temporary solution; a few days later, when the stone yard owner’s shipment arrives, we’ll have much more room to maneuver.

The array’s focal point is beneath the flower platform at the entrance of the villa’s first floor.

After placing the white jade tablet, Chen Yan stepped back two paces, swiftly formed several hand seals, chanted an incantation, then pointed at the focal point and barked: “Open!!”

Instantly, qi flowed through the tablet, then spread to the fifty green stone slabs surrounding the courtyard; the engraved runes on each one flickered with a faint dark glow…

Chen Yan stood still for several seconds, then suddenly felt a gentle breeze coming from all directions.

Opening his Heavenly Eye to observe the qi, he saw countless fine streams of heavenly and earthly qi surging toward him from every side, as if drawn in, flooding into his courtyard.

The density of the qi slowly increased; Chen Yan’s spiritual perception was sharp—he felt as if his entire body were immersed in warm water, every one of his hundred thousand pores opening in relief.

“So comfortable…”

Chen Yan exhaled.

Even this makeshift version is this pleasant—if I set up a proper Spirit Gathering Array, wouldn’t I ascend to heaven in broad daylight?

He couldn’t resist bringing a chair out and sitting in the courtyard, eyes half-closed, savoring the sensation.

Quietly activating the Qi Transportation Technique, the efficiency of qi entering his body increased by more than threefold.

But as he sat there until nearly dusk, Chen Yan began to feel a growing itch on his skin.

He stood up, went straight to the master bedroom, entered the bathroom, and stripped off his clothes to shower.

After a hot shower, Chen Yan felt he’d scrubbed off nearly half a pound of grime.

He wasn’t alarmed—he could guess this was because the sudden surge of qi entering his body had forced out impurities trapped in his flesh and skin.

Indeed, after showering, standing before the mirror, his skin was clean—oil, acne, blackheads had all diminished greatly.

Even the bruise on his forehead from today’s fall had healed more than half, leaving only faint pink patches where the flesh hadn’t fully regrown.

Still, this speed was already miraculous.

But just as he finished showering and hadn’t yet dressed, Chen Yan felt a faint itch returning to his skin.

“Figures—this detox phase isn’t over yet.”

Chen Yan slapped his forehead, then went over and turned on the massage bathtub, letting water fill it while he sat beside it, meditating and circulating qi.

Once the tub was full, he stepped inside.

He felt the water’s currents swirling, washing over his skin in rhythmic waves.

Chen Yan closed his eyes.

Let it all drain out…

The bathtub had automatic temperature control—he could soak all night without issue.

·

On the hill outside the villa, along the forested slope leading into the mountains, gentle winds carried faint traces of qi, all flowing toward the villa at the mountain’s base…

This mountain range is called General Mountain, with several ridges intersecting to form a stretch of mountains five or six li long.

Between two of its ridges lies a wild lake, small in area but deep in water.

Locals call it Yinlong Lake.

Suddenly, the lake’s surface churned; as waves parted, a dark shadow rose from beneath the water.

It was an ancient water turtle, as large as a millstone.

Qi scattered everywhere, yet all flowed toward the distant villa—the old turtle opened its eyes…

Where’s my qi?!

I was hibernating!!!

All my qi is gone?!

What’s the difference between this and dragging someone out of a warm bed on a freezing winter night?!

Who the hell did this disgusting thing?!

·