Chapter 529: Star Mental Force and Chaos Stone

“Good, good—this chunk of chaos stone’s surface isn’t just covered with precious silver sand; beneath the skin, there are several more bulges packed with more material. This stone has much higher betting potential.”

“Is that so? Let me take a look too.” Wang Yu replied calmly, pressing one palm against the chaos stone’s surface while releasing a thread of mental force to sense inward.

Based on his past experience buying chaos stones at the Four Symbols Sect, since Star Mental Force was cultivated using “star stones,” and these so-called chaos stones were in fact “star stones,” Star Mental Force could partially ignore the chaos stone’s suppression of spiritual awareness, seeping slightly inside to produce faint impressions of internal anomalies.

But this sensation was far from precise.

After all, chaos stones contained many anomalies, and most of what Star Mental Force could detect were worthless ordinary ores and debris.

Even so, compared to other cultivators who guessed blindly when betting on stones, the probability of finding spiritual materials inside was still far higher.

The next moment, Wang Yu’s expression subtly shifted, as two distinct spots within the chaos stone sent faint echoes, resonating weakly with his Star Mental Force.

He glanced again at the wooden sign standing beside the stone pedestal, its price marked: “Seven hundred and fifty spirit stones.”

This price was far higher than those of the chaos stones stored at the Four Symbols Sect.

Yet the price of chaos stones depended heavily on origin reputation and surface betting potential, so this stone wasn’t necessarily overpriced.

“Alright, I’ll take this one.” Wang Yu removed his palm from the chaos stone and instructed a nearby attendant.

“Yes, I’ll record this stone as sold to the elder.” The attendant immediately replied, swiftly jotting down notes with his brush, then pulling a yellow talisman from his sleeve and pressing it onto the chaos stone’s surface.

These attendants were all young, yet each possessed cultivation around the mid-Building Foundation stage.

“Younger Brother Wang, shall we cut it open now, or wait until you’ve chosen the other two stones and open them all together?”

“According to the rules here, all chaos stones sold by stone shops must be cut open on-site. If spiritual materials are revealed, the shop has first right of purchase.” Yan Lingxiang asked with a grin.

“Let’s do them all together—saves trouble.” Wang Yu replied without hesitation.

“Good idea. I’ll keep accompanying you to pick the remaining two stones.” Yan Lingxiang perked up at this.

“No need. Aren’t you going to pick a few yourself? If you don’t hurry, others will snatch them up first.” Wang Yu gestured toward other customers in the shop selecting stones.

“You’re right, Brother. I’ll take my leave then—I’ll hurry and pick a few promising stones.” Yan Lingxiang swept his gaze around and indeed saw attendants sticking talismans onto several stones; his expression changed slightly.

He then strode off swiftly toward another chaos stone he’d already spotted.

Wang Yu watched Yan Lingxiang tap and strike a triangular chaos stone with his crystal rod before smiling and turning his attention back to the largest stones in the hall’s center.

For him, the purpose of coming to San Zun Stone Shop wasn’t really to gamble on stones—it was for the chaos stones themselves. Naturally, the larger the chaos stone he bought, the better the value; extracting spiritual materials to offset the cost was merely a side benefit.

The number of “star stones” required for the fourth layer of Star Mental Force was over ten times the total of the first three layers combined; the fifth and sixth layers demanded numbers that were staggering.

So he wasn’t greedy this time—he only planned to acquire enough chaos stones to cover the needs of the fourth layer, and would gradually gather the materials for the fifth and sixth layers on future trips.

Otherwise, buying them all at once would mean an absurd quantity—so large that even claiming he was gambling on stones would draw unwanted attention.

As Wang Yu considered this, he walked toward the several massive chaos stones in the hall’s central storage area.

The largest of these was as big as a pavilion, standing four zhang tall—slightly larger than the chaos stone screen at the entrance, while the smaller ones were roughly the size of ordinary houses.

The spirit stone prices marked on the pedestals beneath these stones were equally astonishing.

The largest chaos stone was directly priced at seven thousand spirit stones; the smaller ones ranged from two to three thousand.

After seeing these prices, Wang Yu’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, such a large chaos stone at just a few thousand spirit stones might not seem expensive—but this was gambling. The chance of extracting spiritual materials from chaos stones was pitifully low; it was normal to crack dozens or even hundreds without finding a single valuable item.

Yet the chaos stones sold at a major shop like Seven Stars Stone Shop had likely been carefully pre-selected and already possessed some betting potential.

Even so, Wang Yu estimated the probability of extracting spiritual materials from these stones was still very low.

Otherwise, the shop owner would have opened them himself instead of putting them out for others to gamble on.

As Wang Yu thought this, he reached the largest chaos stone. The attendant who had recorded his previous purchase hurried over immediately.

Before the largest chaos stone stood a middle-aged man with a grim expression, using a mirror-like artifact to repeatedly scan a dark red patch on the stone’s surface, as if trying to discern a flower within.

Beside him stood another attendant, dressed similarly.

Wang Yu ignored the man, walking to one side of the chaos stone and pressing his palm against another patch of surface, quietly unleashing Star Mental Force to sense deeper within.

After a moment, he frowned.

Perhaps because the chaos stone was so massive, the Star Mental Force that had penetrated it produced no sensation at all.

A stone this large contained absolutely no anomalies?

At the very least, some ordinary ore should be present.

Wang Yu was slightly puzzled, glancing sideways.

The middle-aged man had just shaken his head, retrieved his mirror artifact, and walked away from the giant stone; an attendant immediately followed him.

Now, only Wang Yu and the attendant remained beside the massive chaos stone.

Seeing this, Wang Yu closed his eyes and directed his Star Mental Force further inward.

He could clearly feel that as the mental force penetrated deeper, its sensing power rapidly weakened—this amount was clearly insufficient to probe further.

He exhaled softly, raised one hand, and formed a seal with his fingers, then touched his forehead.

A soft “puff” echoed.

A stronger, invisible mental force surged from his brow, vanished in an instant, and sank into the chaos stone—its previously weakened sensing power instantly multiplied several times, probing deeper still.