Chapter 84: Chaos Stone

Among the valley between two mountain peaks, a vast expanse of connected pavilions and halls stood.

Wang Yu landed his mechanical bird in front of a gilded and splendid pavilion and strode inside.

Inside the first-floor hall, only long rows of counters lined the space, behind which stood towering shelves.

Behind each counter stood a dull-witted mechanical puppet, attending to several disciples of the Four Symbols Sect.

Wang Yu paid no attention to the others and walked straight up to one of the counters.

The puppet, which had been motionless moments before, stepped forward instantly, and a lazy male voice emerged from its body:

“If you’re selling, just show me the item—I’ll give you a price. If you’re buying, name it.”

The puppet’s body was emerald green, its limbs plump and rounded, its head a perfect cube, and even its smiling facial features were crudely painted on with a brush.

“I want to buy something, but I don’t know the name of what I’m looking for,” Wang Yu said, staring at the puppet, feeling strange but speaking honestly.

“If you don’t know the name, describe it,” the voice inside the puppet replied, still sluggish.

“I’m looking for a stone that fell from the sky—something hard, smooth, and possibly containing metal ores…” Wang Yu said, gesturing with his hands to mimic the shapes of common meteorites from Blue Star.

“You mean Chaos Stone. These stones often contain rare materials, but their outer crust completely blocks spiritual awareness and cultivation energy—so you’ll only find them in markets or stone-betting arenas. Our Spirit Goods Pavilion has only about seven or eight pieces, each priced at one hundred Spirit Stones.” The puppet interrupted Wang Yu mid-sentence, spouting a flood of words, its voice suddenly quickening.

“Stone-betting? A hundred Spirit Stones? That’s expensive!” Wang Yu was startled, his head spinning.

Blue Star had stone-betting too, but that meant gambling on raw jade—no one ever bet on meteorites.

“These Chaos Stones were all carefully selected by one of our sect’s senior elders, an expert in stone-betting, bought from outside markets. The chance of yielding spirit materials is high, and the price was set by that elder himself—no haggling allowed. But he said if you let him personally crack them open, he’ll give you a twenty percent discount.” The voice inside the puppet grew even more enthusiastic.

“Twenty percent off—that’s eighty Spirit Stones. Fine, I agree—but I must inspect each Chaos Stone first.” Wang Yu paused, then gritted his teeth and agreed.

No matter what, he had to get one of these star stones and see if Star Mind Force could be cultivated.

“Good, good, naturally. How can you bet on stones without inspecting them yourself? Follow this puppet to the second floor. I’ll wait for you in the grand hall upstairs.” The puppet’s voice grew eager, urging Wang Yu on.

Wang Yu felt uneasy, but under the puppet’s persistent prodding, he could only steel himself and follow it toward the second floor.

His actions left several outer disciples at other counters momentarily stunned.

On the second floor, a hall as large as half a soccer field.

As soon as Wang Yu stepped inside, he froze.

The hall was opulently decorated, its walls glittering with golden light—but not a single piece of furniture was present. Instead, the floor was littered with over a dozen mechanical puppets in various states of disassembly: some headless, some limbless, others split cleanly in half.

Unidentifiable mechanical parts piled up in every corner of the hall.

In the center of the hall stood a plump, white-faced man dressed like a wealthy landowner. Seeing Wang Yu approach, he beamed and hurried over:

“Young fellow, you want to bet on Chaos Stones? Pick quickly—old man hasn’t cracked a stone in ages, and I’m itching to get started.”

“Elder… who are you?” Wang Yu hesitated.

“Are you a new disciple? You don’t even recognize me? I’m the guest elder Jin Can. I’m on duty here at the Spirit Goods Pavilion this time. Call me Elder Jin.”

“Hmm, times have changed—new disciples these days are bold! Right after joining, they come to bet on stones? That’s more daring than I was at your age. Are you from the Yun family or the Li family?” The fat man seemed to instantly gauge Wang Yu’s cultivation level but didn’t care, firing off questions rapidly.

“So you’re Elder Jin. I’m Wang Yu, from the Yin family,” Wang Yu replied, bowing respectfully.

“Yin family? Never heard of it. Probably a minor clan. Doesn’t matter—pick your Chaos Stones first.” Jin Can thought for a moment, shook his head, then waved it off.

He gestured for Wang Yu to step back a few paces.

Wang Yu, confused, obeyed. Then Jin Can shook his sleeve forward.

“Boom!” “Boom!”

Seven loud crashes followed, and seven massive stone spheres—one meter at minimum, up to several zhang in diameter—appeared one by one in the center of the hall.

The entire hall trembled from the impact.

“Heh, don’t be afraid. This hall was reinforced by a master of arrays—no matter how loud, it won’t disturb anyone outside. Now, pick one.” Jin Can reassured Wang Yu.

“Elder Jin, are all Chaos Stones this big?” Wang Yu stared at the seven colossal stones, speechless.

“Big? I once saw a Chaos Stone thirty to forty zhang across—these are nothing.” Jin Can dismissed it.

Wang Yu, inwardly shocked, stepped closer to examine each stone.

Three were reddish-brown, three were yellow-green, and one was gray.

“According to stone-betting rules, as long as you don’t damage the outer crust, you may use any technique, spell, or artifact—that’s part of the thrill.”

“Back when I traveled through Feng Country, I once saw a Golden Core elder use a secret technique to bet on ten giant Chaos Stones—and three of them yielded spirit materials listed in the Chaos Ten Thousand Treasures Catalog. The whole of Feng Country was stunned. That Golden Core elder’s wealth multiplied several times over.”

“My greatest wish in life is to crack open a heavenly treasure listed in the Chaos Ten Thousand Treasures Catalog.” Jin Can’s face flushed with excitement, his eyes gleaming as if he wished Wang Yu would buy all seven stones so he could crack them all at once.

Wang Yu, hearing this, pretended not to hear.

He’d seen too many reports on Blue Star about people ruined by stone-betting—how many had lost everything? This Elder Jin was so obsessed, he was likely headed for ruin himself.

He’d already tried injecting cultivation energy and spiritual awareness into the stones—and as the man said, none of it penetrated the crust at all.

Even his Golden Touch ability failed instantly upon contact.

But he wasn’t selecting these stones to find spirit materials—he was here for star stones.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu placed his palm on the largest Chaos Stone and, following a passage from the Star Mind Technique, began activating his mental energy, vibrating it rapidly at a specific frequency. His eyes, fixed on the spherical stone, slowly began to glow.