The clown was struck speechless for a long while.
On one hand, he was awed by Zangier's reach. Even though this Divinity extraction experint hadn't been conceived by the man himself, the core material still traced back to him, and the experinters were disciples of the Creation Alchemy Departnt's lineage. Zangier's influence within that departnt was truly terrifying.
On the other hand, he didn't dare say too much for fear of revealing how he knew about this experint. At the sa ti, he was watching the Blind One, wondering whether Zhen Xin had told her about everything she'd witnessed inside Zhen Yi's mories.
After a lengthy observation, Cheng Shi concluded that the Blind One appeared unaware of the trial that had taken place within the Stars Dagger. That gave him so relief — no need to fabricate lies to patch past loose ends.
As for whether this would blow up later...
Future problems were for future Cheng Shi to worry about. What did present Cheng Shi care?
Just like that, Cheng Shi "peacefully" continued listening, because the discussion about the Tower of Logic and Zangier was far from over.
"Why can Zangier's finger gather Divinity? And what exactly is the Abyss Colorful Crystal — what kind of existence can harbor Divinity?
If sothing like this exists and has such a connection to the Tower of Logic, we shouldn't be completely ignorant of it."
The question ca from Qin Xin. If even a mory follower couldn't dig up the relevant mories, Cheng Shi knew even less. In this "symposium," aside from playing the role of "bad-cop enforcer," he couldn't contribute a word.
"I keep feeling that this thing called Abyss Colorful Crystal resembles a certain item I know of. It can also extract Divinity — only the Divinity inside it isn't chaotically distorted."
The mont the Blind One finished speaking, Qin Xin raised an eyebrow: "Faith Marrow."
"Exactly! Faith Marrow."
This ti, Cheng Shi had heard of it. Faith Marrow did indeed resemble ore, but it was a smooth, rounded jade stone of varying sizes. The Divinity contained within was said to be the devout faith that mortals had offered to the gods, only to be discarded — buried in history and compressed by spaceti into stone marrow.
It sounded impressive, but honestly... it was diocre.
Any discussion of value that ignores quantity was misguided. Faith Marrow did contain Divinity, but the amount was minuscule — so minuscule that even a truckload might not yield the bare minimum experintal quantity. And the extraction thod wasn't sothing just anyone could master.
So this S-grade item — yes, it was actually S-grade — was extrely underwhelming.
In the eyes of most Truth or Folly followers who needed Divinity for experints, it was valuable because the Divinity within, though scant, was stable and easy to study. But in the eyes of the vast majority of players, it was simply a "gold mine" for fleecing experint-obsessed truth seekers.
Yes, the current consensus among most players was that the "S" in this S-grade item stood for the ability to sell it at an exorbitant price to experintal fanatics in exchange for real resources.
"Faith Marrow is born from spaceti folding and compression. Abyss Colorful Crystal is obviously also a type of ore, clearly also born from compression. So could these two things possibly be one and the sa?"
With that, the Blind One produced a jade stone tablet from her personal space — a playing card that appeared to be carved from jade!
"What's this?" Cheng Shi sidled over quietly.
"A little gift from Xin Xin." The Blind One smiled.
"?" Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Carved from Faith Marrow?"
"Correct. This is Faith Marrow. So, gentlen — and Lady Shi Lolin — would you please produce the Abyss Colorful Crystal in your possession? Let's compare and see what differences there are between these two materials."
Both Folly wise n stared hungrily at the jade in the Blind One's hand but dared not speak. They'd long since exhausted every last fragnt of their Abyss Colorful Crystal. Shi Lolin, however, clearly had so — she'd ntioned the wise n performing a demonstration for her. Even if that had happened in another tiline, it still proved the Extre Desire Brotherhood possessed resources.
Shi Lolin's expression tightened. She nodded and nad a location.
The three players exchanged a glance. Qin Xin understood instantly and vanished. Before long, he returned with two large chunks of utterly unremarkable gray ore.
The ore was an extrely dull color, irregular in shape. Set on the ground, it would blend perfectly into a heap of rubble with no distinguishing features whatsoever. It couldn't have been more different from its na. Cheng Shi even suspected Qin Xin had found the wrong stash — but the two wise n's eyes erupted with blazing fervor the mont they spotted such sizable chunks of Abyss Colorful Crystal.
"That's it! That's it! Mo Rabic — how long has it been since we've seen Abyss Colorful Crystal of this magnitude?"
Mo Rabic didn't answer. He stared unblinkingly at the ore, already murmuring fervent prayers under his breath.
"So... what's colorful about it?" Cheng Shi was even more confused.
"May I... please?" Mo Rabic extended a trembling hand toward Qin Xin. His calloused fingers quivered, and though he hadn't yet touched the ore, he already looked as if he were cradling sothing far too heavy for him to bear.
Qin Xin nodded and handed over the smaller piece. Mo Rabic was beside himself with excitent. He clutched the ore tightly, raised the finger, and seed about to use the legendary Creation Alchemist Zangier's finger to slice open the ore's "pocket" and extract Divinity right then and there.
But a split second before he could move, Cheng Shi pressed a scalpel against his throat in one swift motion.
"Mr. Mo Rabic, we've already shown you ample leniency. I trust this will be a demonstration only — and not an attempt to deliver a 'surprise' that no one here wishes to see."
Mo Rabic's excited expression froze. He nodded with utmost seriousness: "I know what I'm supposed to do, sir. I don't want to die — not before my Lord descends, at least."
With that, he lifted Zangier's finger and gently pressed it against the ore's surface. That rough digit — its skin hardened almost to the point of calcification — truly did slice into the ore's soul like a keen dagger. Yes, its "soul."
Because the instant the finger touched the ore, Cheng Shi clearly saw the ugly, unremarkable stone erupt with dazzling radiance. As if spirit were separating from flesh, a cloud of seven-colored mist slowly erged from within, and within that mist, threads of faith power — visible to the naked eye — twisted and coiled like mindless little serpents, chasing each other in endlessly winding spirals.
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