Rose Hotel.
As the largest establishment in Soto City, it naturally caught Yunchuan's eye the moment he began looking for lodging. Judging by the timeline, Tang San and the others hadn't yet arrived, but that hardly mattered. He casually booked a room at the front desk, took the key, and made his way upstairs.
The key turned smoothly in the lock, and he stepped into an elegant, luxuriously furnished suite.
After a brief inspection revealed nothing amiss, Yunchuan drew the heavy curtains shut. From his soul tool, he took out the head‑sized crystal and set it gently on the table. As his fingers brushed across its uneven surface, the rune in his brow began to tremble faintly. His mind wandered, recalling what the original novel had said about such a piece.
This was no ordinary crystal—it was a hair crystal, the rarest kind of all. Sometimes, under unique conditions, natural crystal would develop fine golden threads within—these were called "crystal hairs" or "golden hairs," like the crystal's own strands of hair. Regardless of a crystal's color, a single golden hair would make it more valuable than the finest flawless crystal. And a crystal bearing such hairs was called a hair crystal.
The one before him was rarer still—a "plate crystal," the highest grade among hair crystals. Most contained hairs in scattered, random patterns. Only those that had existed for extraordinary spans of time would see their golden hairs grow in abundance, eventually collecting into flat, plate‑like formations within the crystal.
Because of its dense, orderly pattern, the plate crystal was revered as the pinnacle of hair crystals.
On the table before him, the murky surface veiled flashes of gold beneath. The golden plate inside was merely hidden by surface impurities. If his memory served, this one contained tens of thousands of golden hairs—a miracle possible only in plate crystals over one hundred thousand years old. For some collectors, even two million gold coins would be worth such a prize, never mind two thousand.
'This would make for a fine hidden weapon,' Yunchuan mused, 'but I'm no lover of such fancy tricks. Why, then, would the rune react to this of all things?'
He shook his head. "Forget it. Let's get the golden hairs out first."
Placing both hands on the crystal, he poured soul power into it until the entire piece was cocooned. Then, with a decisive press—
Bang!
A muffled thunderclap sounded as the unassuming crystal burst apart. Immediately, countless golden motes of light surged outward, only to be stopped short by the soul power barrier he'd laid down in advance. Every thread of light was trapped within.
When all movement inside the shattered crystal stilled, Yunchuan dispersed the barrier. Where the crystal had been lay a mound of golden grains—each the size of a grain of rice, perfectly round, shimmering faintly. He picked one up, squeezed it experimentally, and found it slightly soft yet incredibly elastic, impossible to crush.
'Just what's so special about these?' The rune answered by trembling harder than ever, sending out a faint pulse. A peculiar sensation welled up within him.
Staring at the golden grain in his palm, Yunchuan felt an odd hunger.
This could be eaten.
Under the rune's guidance, his body insisted it was so, though his mind balked. These weren't candy—they were curled, condensed needles. With a surge of soul power, they could become Dragon Beard Needles, designed to pierce the toughest defenses. If he swallowed them and inadvertently activated them inside…
'Well, here goes nothing.'
After a brief hesitation, he chose to trust the rune. The thing had never harmed him before. Without soul power to trigger them, they should be harmless in his body.
He tossed one golden grain into his mouth and swallowed. Closing his eyes, he followed its path inward—and felt the rune flare. The grain melted into a fine, warm stream that flowed along his meridians and sank into his lungs, merging seamlessly.
And with it came a subtle change.
'It really can be absorbed!'
Opening his eyes wide, surprise lit his face. He looked at the mound of grains on the table and no longer hesitated, scooping up hundreds and swallowing them all.
Again the rune pulsed, again the grains became warm currents converging in his lungs. With each breath, he felt himself growing stronger. His long‑stalled physical improvement surged forward, leaping by at least a full percent—and that was only the beginning.
The effect wasn't limited to his lungs. The enhancement spread throughout his body, for the organs were part of the whole. Move one, and all responded.
'What if I ate them all?'
Riding that rush of benefit, Yunchuan began shoveling handfuls into his mouth until the table was bare. Wave after wave of warm current poured into his lungs.
Eyes closed, he savored the changes. His physique climbed swiftly—defense, resilience, stamina—all improved. The lungs especially underwent some mysterious transformation.
"This feeling…"
He raised his hands before his eyes, examining his neatly trimmed nails. A thought, and they began to grow, lengthening into golden talons like blades hammered from pure gold.
Curiosity piqued, Yunchuan reached out and dragged his hand lightly across the tabletop—
Like slicing through tofu.
The ten‑centimeter‑thick slab of marble now bore five clean gouges that cut right through to the carpet beneath.
"So sharp!" He hadn't used soul power or force, just a casual pass. Yet each nail carried an uncanny energy that sliced the marble with ease. It wasn't soul power—it felt like a pure elemental force. In his bones, he knew it could cut through anything.
'This power comes from the lungs. Lungs correspond to metal—the Geng Gold energy, perhaps?' He recalled the cultivation novels he'd read. Golden hairs were metal, inherently sharp and piercing. Consuming them could indeed bring the attributes of Geng Gold into his body.
'This… this is armor‑breaking.'
Another thought, and the nails shrank back, returning to their normal flesh‑colored state.
His skin was tougher, his bones denser; every part of him was stronger. And the Geng Gold energy wasn't bound to his nails alone—he could infuse it into any object, or even into his own strikes, to tear through defenses.
To test it, he drew a brush from his soul tool, focused, and willed the metallic power into it. A faint golden aura sheathed the brush. It looked unchanged, but when he slashed it at the edge of the table—
Crack!
The marble corner fell cleanly to the floor.
"It works!" Any object infused with this force would not only be reinforced but endowed with piercing sharpness, turning it into a deadly weapon.
"With Geng Gold, my close‑quarters combat options just got a lot broader." He imagined the energy coating his fists, knees, any strike—it would be devastating.
'These unique metallic minerals… they're to me what soul bones are to other soul masters.' As the thought struck, one place surfaced in his mind—the City of Metal, Gengxin City.
The greatest trove of rare metals in the world.
One day, he would have to go there.