“What a loss, what a loss,” Li Feng muttered bitterly as he left the rest room. He’d gone to great lengths to save Feng Ling’er, used top-grade Yunnan Baiyao, and all he got was her promise to repay him later. He felt he’d been short-changed and regretted saving her.
Glancing back at the rest room, he said meaningfully, “But there’ll be plenty of chances later.”
At the training base’s control room, Li Feng activated the restricted defence system. This system limited access to certain areas, as he didn’t trust Feng Ling’er, whose origins were unclear. The base was his biggest secret, filled with things that couldn’t see the light of day, so he had to keep them hidden. This was the restricted defence.
If Feng Ling’er overstepped and tried to snoop, Li Feng wouldn’t go easy on her just because she was beautiful.
Once activated, Feng Ling’er could only move in designated areas. Any violation would trigger an automatic counterattack, and with her skills, she’d be severely injured or worse.
After handling this, Li Feng informed Feng Ling’er and left the base.
Back at his villa, Hu Yuanyuan wasn’t home. Li Feng took a shower and collapsed into bed.
When he woke, it was the next morning. Checking the time, he realised he’d slept for over ten hours.
“Time to check. Liu Shichao should be calling soon,” he thought.
Sure enough, after washing up, Liu Shichao called. Li Feng didn’t hesitate, driving to the suburban warehouse.
“Master Feng,” Liu Shichao greeted, waiting alone at the warehouse entrance, rushing to open Li Feng’s car door as he parked.
“The raw stones are kept here?” Li Feng stepped out, eyeing the warehouse with a frown.
With Tianhai City’s booming economy, the government had built a large warehouse district in the suburbs. This was one of those warehouses.
Liu Shichao had procured billions worth of raw stones from Biannan Province. If they yielded jade, their value would be immense. In Li Feng’s view, such stones should be stored in a specialised warehouse, not some randomly rented one.
“No jade will come from them, so it doesn’t matter where they’re kept,” Liu Shichao said carelessly. The plan was to procure raw stones, most deemed worthless, with a jade yield chance of less than one in ten thousand. He didn’t care about the warehouse.
Li Feng gave a wry smile but said nothing. He’d approved the plan to lure bigger fish, using someone else’s money, so he wasn’t worried. Still, he hadn’t expected Liu Shichao to be so irresponsible.
“Lead the way, let me see those stones,” Li Feng said.
“Master Feng, what’s there to see?” Liu Shichao asked, puzzled. Li Feng had told him to call when the stones arrived, expecting some grand plan, not just to look at them. To Liu Shichao, they were worthless. In Biannan, he hadn’t carefully selected, simply buying a batch from a dealer whose stones had the lowest jade yield in the province, per local advice.
Li Feng smiled faintly. Liu Shichao couldn’t understand his purpose. What seemed worthless to him could be priceless to Li Feng.
Martial cultivation defied nature, but relying solely on training was slow. To boost strength, rare treasures were needed, and spirit stones were among them.
Spirit stones, imbued with rich spiritual energy, were highly coveted in his past life, divided into low, mid, high, and top grades. Martial artists used them to cultivate or replenish energy quickly.
In his past life, spirit stones, not native to Earth but mined from other planets in the galaxy, fuelled martial arts’ growth.
On this Earth, centuries earlier, Li Feng wasn’t sure if spirit stones existed, as records were unclear.
So, he settled for the next best thing: jade like emeralds or Hetian jade, which contained spiritual energy, though far less than spirit stones. Still, for the current Li Feng, they were invaluable.
At the body refinement stage, without true energy, he still wanted as much spiritual jade as possible.
Jade mining in this era relied on luck, but not for Li Feng. As a martial artist, he was sensitive to spiritual energy, easily detecting its presence.
That’s why he rushed over once Liu Shichao brought the stones to Tianhai City. Among billions worth of stones, even one with spiritual energy could transform his cultivation.
Inside the warehouse, stones of various sizes filled the space, from as large as a person to football-sized.
“Master Feng, all the stones are here, 1,850 in total,” Liu Shichao said.
Li Feng nodded, moving to the centre, silently channelling the Nine Heavens Heart Sutra to sense spiritual energy.
Truthfully, he worried that none of the stones would have what he needed, making the trip pointless.
Fortunately, the moment he activated the sutra, he sensed four or five sources of spiritual energy, thrilling him.
An hour later, Li Feng selected five stones brimming with energy, his face pale from mental exertion.
“Master Feng, you alright?” Liu Shichao asked, confused. Why did picking a few stones leave him so drained?
Li Feng shook his head, pointing to the five stones, “I’m taking these.”
“Take them, Master Feng,” Liu Shichao said, puzzled by Li Feng’s choice of these oddly shaped stones. Why not pick prettier ones?
But it was Li Feng’s call, so he added, “Shall I arrange to have them delivered?”
“No, I’ll handle it,” Li Feng declined. Each stone could yield jade, and though he didn’t know the quality, their spiritual energy suggested high value.
What mattered wasn’t the jade but the energy, equivalent to a low-grade spirit stone from his past life.
This was crucial. Once he cultivated true energy, absorbing this would skyrocket his strength.
In his past life, he received one low-grade spirit stone monthly in the military, later upgraded to mid-grade in the special forces. He’d never seen high or top-grade stones and wasn’t sure they existed.
Knowing the value of a low-grade stone’s energy, he wouldn’t trust these to anyone else.
The stones were small enough to fit in his car.
“Proceed with the stone-cutting plan,” Li Feng told Liu Shichao.
“Don’t worry, Master Feng, I know what to do,” Liu Shichao nodded, then added with concern, “But this might risk your shares in Xiangfeng Investment.”
Li Feng sneered, “If they want my stuff, let’s see if they’ve got what it takes. Liu Shichao, just do your part. I have my own plans.”
