With her brother’s money, Anji bought some moderately priced goods that caught her eye. Unlike everyone else, who was scrambling for the more expensive products at open auction markets, Anji paid more attention to the pop-up shops with no crowd. Many of these ’shops’ sold local goods instead of imported ones. Not many people were interested in buying river rocks or geodes.
"Why did you buy so many rock eggs?" Bai Dajin finally asked when they left. "Surely, the gold flakes in a glass jar or polished river pebbles would make a better souvenir. They even had cute accessories made from low-grade gems perfect for little girls like you. Why rock eggs? How many paperweights would you need at your shifu’s sect?"
Still in a great mood, Anji giggled. These people did not know the true value of these geodes. Truthfully, it was Grandpa Jin who wanted them. Anji only bought them because the golden dragon insisted. From the outside, it looked like a regular unknown geode. Most geodes contain crystals within them. However, they were usually low-grade crystals that were not worth much, even after polishing and crafting. Hence, even commoners could afford to buy them and wear these trinkets. The geode was often valued more when unopened because of its hidden surprise. Nobody knew what a geode would hold, but many hoped it would contain a rare type of gem inside when they broke it open. Geode gambling was common in this town, and Mingshen advised Anji against buying them. However, his sister was insistent. Moreover, Anji chose her rocks carefully. It did not seem like she was gambling, so he let her do as she wanted.
With seventeen different rock eggs, Anji had to distribute her purchase to Gu Ying and Bai Dajin to help her carry them back to the hotel. Mingshen claimed that his hands were full with one paper fan and that he could only hold one geode in his other hand. Nobody believed him, but Anji chose the biggest geode and entrusted it to her brother. He helped her pay for the purchases so she would let him off this time. It was obvious to everyone how Mingshen was embarrassed to be seen carrying rock eggs on the way back. Her brother had very thin skin. On the other hand, Bai Dajin had no shame. He removed his shirt and used it to bundle most of her rock eggs, carrying it back to their inn on the hilt of his sabre.
Once they returned to Golden Halo, Anji urged everyone to participate in the rock egg-hatching session. Gu Ying chuckled a little at how enthusiastic Anji was. However, these were still rocks and could not hatch living things.
"But they’re not all rocks?" Anji blinked seriously after they returned. "There are a few eggs in here."
Puzzled, they exchanged glances and followed Anji to the room. After Mingshen closed the door, Bai Dajin carefully placed all the rock eggs on the table. Everyone was curious about what Anji was going to do next. They still had the afternoon free.
Anji quickly sorted the rock eggs into two piles with her Heavenly Eyes. On the left side of the table, there were three rock eggs. These were smaller and rounder. Grandpa Jin said they were hibernating and waiting for the right owner to show up. However, most people would break them open and use them as regular crystals because they reside inside the crystal geode as guardians. However, if a cultivator pours enough energy into it, the creature will wake up and turn into a living stone. Anji was excited to know what type of living stone golems they would turn into. However, she would save that for later. Living stone golems took on their attributes and personalities from those who nurtured them. She wondered what type of living stone golem Gu Ying, Bai Dajin and Mingshen would birth.
On the right pile were actual crystal geodes. However, they differed slightly from the other geodes because these crystals could store small amounts of energy, making them perfect materials for crafting cultivator tools. However, Anji bought them for a different reason.
"Let’s break open those on the right," she told everyone. "Try to break them from the long end instead of the short so I can carve them."
With three proficient cultivators in the room, it took less than five minutes for all the geodes to be cut perfectly into halves using qi. Anji grinned at the perfect materials she could work with. Some of them had such pretty colours too!
"What are you going to do with these?" Mingshen pointed to the three round rock eggs on the left pile.
Grinning, Anji handed each person one rock egg with a large smile. While she worked on crafting crystals into talismans, they could help her incubate them.
"These are living stone golem eggs. If you nurture them with enough qi, they will hatch. Right now, they are hibernating. Help me incubate them while working on these crystal versions of talismans. If it works, we’ll have rain-proof, light-emitting talismans to use!"
Puzzled, the three cultivators looked at their little rock eggs. Living stone golem? Nobody had heard of it before. However, it might be something Anji learned about from her mysterious teacher in one of those books. Living stone was a mysterious phenomenon that was said to only happen in the mountains, where dense spiritual energy had accumulated for thousands of years. If energy accumulates enough, even rocks can walk. However, nobody had actually seen it happen until now.
"How long do we have to cultivate for?" Mingshen asked, looking at the ugly rock.
Anji shrugged. "If it likes you enough, it will hatch. If it doesn’t, you should continue giving it energy daily until it does. Nobody told me how living stone golems were created. I only know they exist."
Sighing and feeling ridiculous for incubating a rock, Mingshen looked at Gu Ying and Bai Dajin. Unlike him, the two of them seemed to be having fun. Already, Gu Ying was poking her rock and teasing it while giving it some energy. On the other side of the room, Bai Dajin infused the rock egg with his ferocious energy, willing it to become the best living stone warrior the world has seen. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NoveIＦire.net
Looking at his little rock egg, Mingshen glared at it sceptically. How much would it be worth if it truly were a living rock golem? Thinking along the line of profit, Mingshen fed it his energy casually as he sat down and watched Anji work.