Chapter 585: Nine-Colour Soul Crystals

"Fellow daoist, may we speak for a moment?" Shen Xu asked and Xuanyuan Han nodded.

Seeing the nod, the double removed a jade box from his storage ring and opened it.

"This..." Xuanyuan Han exclaimed with a shocked expression.

"Primordial qi fruit." He said and Shen Xu nodded before closing the box.

"The fruit is yours if you answer two questions truthfully." The double said and Xuanyuan Han couldn’t help but be surprised.

’Do they want to ask about Xue’er or the triplets?’ He wondered but then shook his head.

’We have never met so they don’t know that I am Xuanyuan Han.’ He concluded with a thoughtful expression.

"I will decide after hearing the questions." He said and Shen Xu nodded before pointing at a sky stone.

"First question, what’s the real name of these stones?" He asked and quickly continued.

"Second, what’s the recipe of the liquid that you have been pouring on the sky stones?"

Xuanyuan Han narrowed his eyes when he heard the questions.

’Why have they been mining the nine-colour soul crystals if they don’t know what they are?’ He wondered, but didn’t ask since he didn’t like to delve into other people’s business.

"Just that?" He asked and Shen Xu nodded.

"Just that." He confirmed.

"I agree to the trade." Xuanyuan Han said and proceeded to make a truth oath.

When that was done, the man looked at a sky stone and sighed.

"Let’s talk privately." He said and Shen Xu immediately understood.

Soon after, he released their portable cave and the three went inside.

After settling down, Xuanyuan Han reached for a glass of wine, sipped it, and then began talking.

"The real name of the sky stone is the nine-colour soul crystal." He said and quickly continued.

"The lowest form of this type of crystal has one colour, and the highest has nine colours."

According to the agreement, Xuanyuan Han only needed to tell the two the name of the sky stone.

However, Xuanyuan Han was indebted to Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan so he revealed more than they asked.

"The nine-colour soul crystal is a soul refining treasure, but it can only cultivate evolved souls." Xuanyuan Han explained and the other two exchanged a glance.

They had already guessed that the sky stones had something to do with soul evolution.

However, it was one thing to guess it and another to confirm it.

Seeing that they were not surprised or confused, Xuanyuan Han lowered his eyes with a thoughtful face.

’They even know about soul evolution.’ He thought but didn’t say anything.

"As for the recipe..., soak a soul nurturing grass and a piece of soul nourishing wood in soul water for one year. The resulting mixture will be able to extract the nine-colour soul crystal." He said.

"What about the proportions?" Shen Xu asked.

"Atleast one thirty-thousand years old soul nurturing grass for every twenty litres of high grade soul water. As for the soul nourishing wood, one piece is enough but the piece needs to be more than one hundred thousand years old." Xuanyuan Han said and Shen Xu nodded.

[One year is twelve real days. That’s enough time for Xuanyuan Han to excavate all the nine-colour soul crystals in the surroundings.] He said with a melancholic expression.

[It’s a big loss.] Zhen Yuan said.

"Fellow daoist,..." Shen Xu started and removed another jade box from his storage ring.

"This soul nourishing fruit is yours if you agree to leave half of the nine-colour soul crystals for us." He said and Xuanyuan Han didn’t hesitate.

"Deal." He agreed.

First, nine-colour soul crystals were like soul water and the more one used, the less effective they would become.

Knowing this, Xuanyuan Han didn’t hesitate to give up half of the surrounding stones.

After sealing the deal and concluding the trade, the three drank a few cups of wine before exiting the portable cave.

In the following days, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan continued to forage while supervising the puppets and Xuanyuan Han.

Five days later, Xuanyuan Han finished collecting his half of the nine-colour soul crystals and after bidding farewell to the two, he left the monster mountain.

"Finally!" Shen Xu exclaimed and Zhen Yuan chuckled.

Soon after, the two released their portable cave and entered the space.

"I am going to research the nine-colour soul crystal." Zhen Yuan said and Shen Xu nodded.

"I will prepare the liquid." He said.

Zhen Yuan easily found the research materials now that he knew the name of the treasure.

As Xuanyuan Han said, the highest form of the crystal had nine colours while the lowest had one colour.

However, the grade of the crystal didn’t just involve the number of colours but also the distribution of the colours.

For example, a two-colour crystal with more of one colour and less of the other was less valuable that a two-colour crystal with equal of each colour.

In addition to the grades, Zhen Yuan learned that nine-colour soul crystals could be soaked in soul water to produce nine-colour soul water.

Most importantly, while soaking in soul water, low-grade crystals could evolve into higher grades. If soaked for a long time, even a one-colour crystal had a chance of turning into a nine-colour soul crystal.

"It’s a worthy treasure." Zhen Yuan muttered and couldn’t wait to retreat to evolve his soul.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye and the two finally exited the space.

"I prepared one hundred litres of the mixture." Shen Xu said and quickly continued.

"We only need one hundred millilitres to excavate one nine-colour soul crystal. However, the sky stones often appear in and around Tianchang city. We can use the remainder of the mixture when we return in the future." He explained and Zhen Yuan nodded.

With the mixture, the two easily extracted the surrounding nine-colour soul crystals.

When that was done, they didn’t linger in Tianchang city and instead used the teleportation array to head to another city.

After all, although the sky stones were ’useless’, they were aesthetically pleasing and someone would eventually notice that most of the stones in Tianchang city had been taken away.

Knowing this, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan didn’t want to be around when the truth was discovered.