It was a small white stone, just about the size of a thumbnail, mixed in with a plate of other randomly-colored stones. There were more than just white stones in there, there were yellow, black and red stones as well. The white stone was completely inconspicuous among them. But Garen’s gaze was still fixed onto that one stone.
“It’s a bit like…” He was not very sure either.
He reached out his hand to pick up that plate of pebbles. In the black, palm-sized stainless steel plate, there were seven or eight stones just like that one.
“These are the Rainbow Stones from the Thousand Island Region, fifty units for one. The differently-colored stones will emit colorful sparks when rubbed with a hard object, they’re mostly used in chemical experiments to make Glowing Light R,” the cart owner immediately began to explain the origins and functions of the stone to Garen when he saw that Garen was interested.
Garen knew that as well, the Mother Planet Federation was currently split up. Each of the territories was divided into regions, and different regions had different specialties.
“Dazzling Light R? Do you mean that special combustible fuel that only high-level Mechs could use?” He searched his memory for that information.
“Yup yup, that’s the one. You interested? I can give you a discount, you can take this whole plate back for just two hundred units.” The cart owner waved his hand nonchalantly, acting as though he was just trying to clear his stock even at a huge loss.
“A hundred units.” Garen held the plate in his hand, and felt a jolt in his shock in his heart. Once he made his conclusion, he offhandedly returned an offer.
“A hundred units?!” The cart owner’s expression immediately turned exaggerated. “I wouldn’t even be able to break even with a hundred units, a hundred and eighty at the least!”
Garen nodded.
“I can only do a hundred units.”
Perhaps the cart owner had never met someone so decisive when shopping. On the other end, someone was asking him about a mechanical component, that was a treasure worth five hundred units, he could earn a lot from that. After doing some calculations, he decided that these stones were just the most common item from the Thousand Island Region, and he had bought them at only five units each. Eight stones were worth only forty points, so it was a pretty good haul if he could sell them at a hundred units.
He waved his hand.
“Alright, alright, a hundred units it is. I’m only selling it to you because you were honest, remember to stop by again next time…”
“If you have more of these white stones next time, I can buy them in bulk for twenty units each,” Garen said, picking up that white stone with a smile. He seemed to be in a very good mood.
The cart owner immediately paused, and appraised Garen carefully. “You sure?” he asked.
“Of course, I can give you my phone number,” Garen said with a nod.
“How many do you want?” Seeing that this could be a big deal for him, the cart owner hurried calmed down the other customer, and began to discuss the prices face-to-face with Garen.
“At least a hundred or more,” Garen replied bluntly. “And I might need more later.”
“A hundred or more…” The cart owner licked his lips, and was thoroughly intrigued. If he bought in bulk, he might even be able to lower the price. If he bought one for four units there and sold them for twenty each here, then he would earn sixteen units for one stone, and 1600 for a hundred!
He immediately felt immensely pleased. 1600 units was equivalent to his profits for a month. This one deal could earn him what he used to earn over a month.
The cart owner’s eyes began to shine, and his expression grew gentler.
“Are you sure you want more than a hundred? What if there are even more than that?”
“I want as many as possible, but I don’t have enough funds for now, three hundred might be my extent,” Garen said calmly. In truth, he was also overjoyed inside.
If he was not mistaken, this white stone actually contained parts of the White Peacock Stone!
He had not found any antiques or potential points, but he somehow managed to find a stone containing traces of the White Peacock Stone. This gave Garen a complicated, indescribable feeling.
That was the White Peacock Stone, the most basic necessity for training the Hellfrost Peacock Technique. He could not make any progress in the last world just because he could not find this item, and now he had accidentally discovered it in a flea market.
Such a precious material was being used as fuel? What a waste of resources!
According to the knowledge in his memories, the combustible parts of the White Peacock Stone were the most useless parts. The true essence lay in what was left behind, to think that they sell the shell and toss the pearl over here.
“Less than three hundred but more than one hundred, right? No problem!” the cart owner agreed heartily. “When do you need the stock? I can bring it in for you within two days.”
“The sooner the better, naturally,” Garen replied.
Tossing the white stone in his hand, the smile on his face grew more natural.
The cart owner also had an irrepressible smile on his face, with his connections, it was ridiculously easy for him to get these stones.
******************
Garen continued to take a few more rounds around the flea market, but he did not discover anything else, only the impure White Peacock Stones he had found by accident at that cart.
Returning home from the flea market, Garen immediately darted into his dorm room with that stone, and hung up a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door.
Pinching the stone, Garen sat cross-legged on the bed. The curtains were drawn, it was still raining heavily outside.
Closing his eyes quietly, Garen sank into his spiritual space.
In the pitch-black space, the two basketball-sized Soul Seeds were spinning on their own, floating in the middle like two bright light orbs, one blue and one green, both unusually eye-catching.
And behind the two Soul Seeds, he could vaguely see two tiny lights, the size of fireflies, floating there.
Garen reached his consciousness over, and touched the two dots of lights lightly.
He swept over the red light, this was a Living Secret Technique seed with the metal attribute, it required training deep in the ore mines. He could not accomplish that at all now.
The other blue one was the Hellfrost Peacock Technique he had practised before. Ever since he stopped being able to make progress with it and left that world, this seed returned to being a Living Secret Technique seed, floating quietly in the depths of Garen’s soul.
Once his consciousness touched the blue light, in an instant, an icy blue mist spread over his consciousness.
Waah! Waah!
The cry of a phoenix that sounded like a child’s wailing rang in Garen’s ears.
The waves of blue mist from the Hellfrost Peacock Technique instantly spread out from his head.
Sitting on the bed cross-legged, a hint of deep blue flashed past the bottom of Garen’s eyes, waves of invisible blue mist spreading out from the depths of his soul, expanding inside his body. That was a sense of deep cold, icy and slow, starting from his head and moving downward, going past his neck, his chest, spreading towards his limbs.
“Only Living Secret Techniques can completely ignore the difference in worlds, and the difference in bodies, this is a powerful martial arts made from the most basic of rules… It’s a shared principle that can be used in any world!”
The same words were repeated in Garen’s heart.
Waves of blue mist that could not be seen with the naked eye extended to all parts of his body.
A dot of blue light was beating and twinkling lightly on his chest, brightening and dimming, as though it was breathing.
Garen’s whole body was trembling slightly, this body was still different from the other ones, after all. Its basic genetic structure was different, but that was okay. No matter what structure it was, the Living Secret Technique was itself alive, so it could grow accustomed to a human’s body, slowly absorbing nutrients to grow into the secret technique system most compatible with the user’s body. Even if there were a thousand seeds given to a thousand people to train with, those thousand people would end up with a thousand different Living Secret Techniques.
Garen’s whole body was so cold that his shivered, his skin growing whiter and whiter. It even had a trace of blue to it, and there was even a light layer of white frost on his hair.
After nobody knew how long, the cold creeping up on his body finally retreated slightly, and only then did Garen recover, his gaze landing on his Ability’s attribute pane.
There was a new icon on the secret technique pane.
‘Hellfrost Peacock Technique: Grade one elementary level (Total of five grades, with three grades of derivative grades, a total of eight grades) Every time the practitioner reaches the next level, their blood and veins will be purified, and they will slowly approach the Hellfrost Peacock body type, finally becoming the ultimate form, the Hellfrost Peacock King, with Army Level being the limit.’
“As expected, it is very easy to enter the elementary level.” Garen opened his eyes, raised his hand, and looked at the white stone in his hand.
Sensing the power pathways spread like dense spiderwebs in his body, he felt the wisps of cold energy flow tightly down these three-dimensional paths, like the tubes in the most precise piece of equipment.
Garen moved slightly, and a wisp of cold air immediately rushed out of his palm, precisely piercing into the stone in his hand.
The Hellfrost Peacock Technique’s first grade was very easy to reach, but it did not do much other than lowering his body temperature. This time it was different, he had the White Peacock Stone, even if it was merely an impurity, this stone naturally contained a material very similar to the Hellfrost Peacock Technique’s bloodline, so it had the effect of speeding up the Peacock Technique.
Sitting on the bed, Garen watched as the white stone in his hand melted rapidly, and collapsed, turning into a small mound of white powder in his palm.
“This is a Living Secret Technique, only someone who owns a Living Secret Technique seed may truly practise this secret technique,” Garen was slightly thoughtful. He felt the material seep into his palm like water, and then it was rapidly split up and absorbed by the countless cold energy inside his body.
After all the material had been split up, Garen felt as though his Peacock Technique had improved a little.
Glancing at his skill pane, he saw that there was a new blood-red explanation symbol behind the Hellfrost Peacock Technique’s strange ice-blue peacock icon.
‘Hellfrost Peacock Technique: Grade one elementary level, grade 2 completion at 12%.’
“There’s 12% completion in one tiny impure stone, not bad…” Garen carefully stored the white ash into a small bottle and capped it properly. This was the distilled fuel for a high-level Mech, if he gathered enough of it, he could also sell it for money.
In the next two days, he still calmed himself down and trained properly every day. The effect of the Hellfrost Peacock Technique’s first grade was very minor, and it had no effect at all on his Willpower. Garen guessed that they would help each other to some extent at the higher levels.
Every night he would persist with joining a few simulation battles, so that he could understand the ways Mechs fought in this world.
After going on like this for so long, he began to build a reputation for himself in battle, and he had also risen up to the top 150,000 in the Level 1 area. After winning more than ten battles consecutively, he earned more than a thousand Universal Units. Therefore, simulation battles became Garen’s only method of earning money quickly.