Today’s four pieces of third-rank Gold Talisman raw stones can at least yield Gold Talisman Stones worth over four Primordial Pills.

That’s all!

Yan Chuan earned big!

...

"Is Senior Brother aiming to become a ’Stone Cutting Master’ or an ’Artifact Refiner’?" Ding Xiang had been watching Yan Chuan spend an entire day at the North Mansion, observing as he extravagantly bought up second and third-rank Gold Talisman raw stones at Wanshan Trading Company, making her heart ache.

Young people don’t realize the value of Essence Stones!

Don’t realize the value!

Yan Chuan is extravagant!

And consider that Second Rank Peak ’Sky Collapse Earth Sinking Purple Gold Hammer’, 999 pounds of Essence Stone, truly, what use does Yan Chuan, a dignified Innate Divine General, have for buying it?

As a display piece?

Ding Xiang doesn’t understand.

Lu Yuru doesn’t understand either, but after Yan Chuan’s visit to the Exotic Treasure Area on the second floor of Wanshan Trading Company, she remained in delight all day—

"First-Rank Strange Weapon, 30 pounds of Essence Stone."

"Second-Rank Odd Weapon, 300 pounds of Essence Stone."

"Third-Rank Strange Weapon, 3000 pounds of Essence Stone."

"Fourth-Rank Weapon, 5 Primordial Pills."

"Fifth-Rank Odd Weapon, 50 Primordial Pills."

"The value of Exotic Treasure generally fluctuates three to five times based on the function compared to weapons of the same rank."

"And I have 59 pieces of strange weapons and treasures, including 17 first-rank, 29 second-rank, 12 third-rank, and 1 fourth-rank, with a total value exceeding 100,000 pounds of Essence Stone."

Only then did Lu Yuru realize that from the moment she left Tan Valley Royal City, she was already sitting on an enormous fortune.

While Ding Xiang was still distressed over hundreds or thousands of pounds of Essence Stone, even borrowing money from Yan Chuan, she already possessed high-quality assets worth at least 100,000.

Comparing oneself with others leads to discontent!

If Ding Xiang found out, she’d be overwhelmed with envy.

Lu Yuru chuckled to herself, prior worries about the consumption and desire for Essence Stone by Yan Chuan and Ding Xiang vanished completely.

With the Wisdom Eye!

No need to worry!

But Lu Yuru also doesn’t understand: "Is Brother Yan really going to gamble on stones?"

"Yes and no." Yan Chuan didn’t elaborate much; his purchase of the ’Second-Rank: Sky Collapse Earth Sinking Purple Gold Hammer’ cost 999 pounds of Essence Stone, sweeping Gold Talisman Stone cost 2580 pounds, and he also bought a set of second-rank stone cutting weapons including the ’Golden Talisman Hammer’ and ’Golden Talisman Chisel’ along with the matching simple "Eighteen Stone Cutting Skills" cost 1660 pounds, totaling an expenditure of 5239 pounds of Essence Stone, a hefty sum indeed.

However, to perfect his craft, these were necessary expenses, unavoidable and irreducible.

Now, with raw stones in hand and tools ready and having repeatedly memorized "Eighteen Stone Cutting Skills" with Absolute Focus, theoretically, Yan Chuan could start stone cutting.

However—

"Not that easy, right?" Ding Xiang hesitated. If tool and "Stone Cutting Skill" were all it took to cut stones, wouldn’t everyone be able to do it?

"Of course, it’s not that easy." Yan Chuan didn’t underestimate the industry of ’stone cutting’. To become a good ’Stone Cutting Master’, not only must the tools be excellent and handy, not only must one be proficient in "Stone Cutting Skills", but what’s most crucial is experience—

Knowing which hand skill to use on different kinds of raw stones, whether tight or slow.

Which strength to apply at specific points, whether light or heavy.

A ’stone cutting master’ must have a general, indeed thorough understanding of each raw stone to be opened, allowing them to proceed methodically like a skillful butcher.

Every master among stone cutting masters has been honed over decades of consistent practice, cutting stones by day, pondering by night, only then becoming quick and proficient.

Yan Chuan is a beginner, still far from there.

But he has a unique advantage—

"Mutual Teaching and Learning!"

...

"Qian Three: The method of head and shoulder pertains to the firm and pure of Heaven Qian."

"Kun Three: The method of foot and knee pertains to the tranquil and steady of Earth Kun."

"Yin Yang Harmony, energy circulates through the body, embodying the virtue of Qian’s firmness and Kun’s gentleness, in its stillness, Yin and Yang subsist, unseen, as it moves. It appears very gentle, yet is extremely firm, with Soft and Hard complementing each other, elusive. This is called Yin Yang Harmony, thus drawing from Qiankun."

...

From this day, aside from cultivation, Yan Chuan studied "Eighteen Stone Cutting Skills" diligently. This Earth-level Secret Scripture is not cheap and is considered superior in the stone cutting skills domain.

In his leisure, Yan Chuan pondered and wandered every corner of the raw stone market in Golden Talisman City, using the ’Second-Rank: Sky Collapse Earth Sinking Purple Gold Hammer’ and "Treasure Rock" to sense second and third-rank Gold Talisman Stones—

A second-rank raw stone varies in quality, starting at 10 pounds of Essence Stone, with its price scaling up. Few go for thirty or fifty, while others, the kind that seems capable of producing ’dual attribute’, ’single attribute’, or even ’mutant attribute’ Gold Talisman Stones, can reach several hundred pounds.

Price range for raw stones of the same rank is vast.

Once a Gold Talisman Stone is unearthed, its price within that rank also varies greatly.

Second-rank Five Elements Mixed Gold Talisman Stone can only sell for 100 pounds of Essence Stone, but Five Elements Balanced can sell for three to four thousand pounds of astronomical prices.

Yan Chuan strolled casually, purchasing a lot, opening few on the spot, yet often managed to earn a few hundred to a thousand pounds profit margin.

However, stone gambling, earning money, these were secondary.

The real reason Yan Chuan traversed the raw stone market was to learn skills stealthily. He often pointed and gave advice while a Stone Cutting Master was working on his stones, utilizing his half-baked "Eighteen Stone Cutting Skills" to instruct the experienced ones, annoying them to no end. Yet since the stones were bought at Yan Chuan’s expense, most Stone Cutting Masters tolerated it, except for a few with fiery tempers who were annoyed but dared not offend Yan Chuan, openly an Innate Divine General, so they could only swallow their anger and perform the task silently.

Mutual Teaching and Learning.

Bit by bit, receiving continuous feedback, Yan Chuan’s proficiency in "Eighteen Stone Cutting Skills" continued to deepen—

[Your "Eighteen Stone Cutting Skills" have improved, First Realm: Beginner → Second Realm: First Glimpse]