The High Price of Moonstone Spirit Essence

Shortly after, Liu Xi emerged from the ruins.

Inside the sprawling ruins space, Gene Warriors continued to flow in and out in a steady trickle — new challengers pressing in past those who had already finished. With so many having died in the trials, the number of participants still present had fallen by more than half from the opening count.

Before long, Gelin emerged as well.

He looked like he'd been put through a grinder. His face was mottled with bruises, his armor sat in half-shattered pieces on his body, and his great shield was pocked all over with dents. But his mouth was curved in a smile.

"Captain's out!"

His teammates surged forward to meet him. Gelin swept a quick count of his group — only four of them had walked out alive: himself, Zhuo Ming, the blond youth, and the dark-haired young man.

"Captain, how did it go? What level did you reach?"

Gelin smiled broadly. "Good luck and a lot of tricks. Barely scraped through Elite Level 2."

After a moment, both he and Zhuo Ming fell silent, brows drawn together.

He frowned and let out a slow breath. "Looks like Xiao Yu and John didn't make it."

Lu Yuan nodded alongside them, quiet.

Gelin and Liu Xi both had teams to wait for, and neither had been in a hurry to leave. The wait had stretched on.

Just then, one of the Tianfu Consortium Gene Warriors at Liu Xi's side leaned in and murmured, "Director, there was someone who entered the Genius Trial during this run."

A beat of silence passed.

"Someone actually cleared Elite Level 4?!" The blond youth's eyes snapped wide. "That's a full thousand dark-gray stone men — how is that even possible?!"

"A Genius Trial?!"

Shock spread through the group. Gelin stared, jaw slightly slack.

The blond youth turned to Lu Yuan. "Brother Lu Yuan, how did it go for you? With your strength, you had to have entered the Elite Trial at least?"

Lu Yuan nodded with an easy smile. "Cleared Elite Level 2."

The blond youth brightened. "Captain, you're amazing — you and Yuan-bro cleared the same level!"

Gelin heard that and his expression went dark. "What's that supposed to mean, you little punk? Lu Yuan being strong doesn't mean I'm weak, does it?!"

Zhuo Ming and the blond youth exchanged a quick sideways glance and both let out strained laughs, neither saying a word.

Gelin's face darkened further.

Lu Yuan, meanwhile, was briefly, internally caught off guard by the news about the Genius Trial.

After all... that person was him.

He turned it over in his head. *That challenger can't possibly be stronger than me. We're probably about the same level, give or take.* He kept his expression perfectly blank.

Liu Xi made her way over and smiled. "Brother Lu Yuan! How did the trial go for you — you must have made it into the Elite Trial?"

"Cleared Elite Level 2," Lu Yuan confirmed with a nod.

Surprise flashed in Liu Xi's eyes, and her smile warmed. "You've only been Awakened for half a month, and you've already cleared Elite Level 2? If you'd Awakened last year, you'd probably have surpassed me by now. Your talent truly is something else." She paused. "Are you genuinely not going to reconsider joining the Tianfu Consortium? I can petition on your behalf for additional benefits — with your gift, I'm confident the higher-ups would agree."

Lu Yuan shook his head with a smile. "I appreciate it. I just can't stand being tied down."

*Working under someone else's thumb? Not a chance. Not in this lifetime.*

"Such a shame."

Lu Yuan smoothly changed the subject. "Going by Liu-ge's expression, I take it you cleared Elite Level 3?"

Liu Xi's smile carried a trace of quiet pride. "Barely squeaked through."

"Fewer than ten Gene Warriors in this entire ruins could have pulled that off," Lu Yuan said. "Liu-ge, you're easily among the best here."

"Ha — you flatter me, Brother Lu Yuan."

Coming from most people, the compliment might not have meant much. Liu Xi's standing in Sandy Rock City was already considerable. But Lu Yuan was a prodigy of rare talent, and his praise landed differently.

Liu Xi then turned to Gelin. "Mr. Gelin, you cleared Elite Level 2, which means you should have earned one drop of Moonstone Spirit Essence. I'll be direct — I'd very much like to purchase it from you, if you're willing."

Gelin looked at her. "You want to buy my Moonstone Spirit Essence? What kind of price were you thinking?"

"You're a friend of Brother Lu Yuan's, which makes you a friend of mine. I wouldn't lowball a friend." Liu Xi smiled. "Three thousand Spirit Crystals — how does that sound?"

Gelin stared. "Three thousand Spirit Crystals? That price..."

He caught himself. "No — that's not what I meant, Director Liu. I think the price might actually be too high."

"I'm completely sincere, Mr. Gelin." Liu Xi held his gaze without blinking. "That's my best offer. I wouldn't go lower."

Gelin worked through it for another heartbeat.

"I'll sell!"

Three thousand Spirit Crystals for a single drop? Only a fool would walk away from that.

The transaction was finalized in short order. Liu Xi came away looking thoroughly satisfied. Gelin, who had just come into a very significant pile of Spirit Crystals, was grinning wide enough to make his eyes crinkle.

Lu Yuan watched the exchange settle with something close to genuine surprise.

He hadn't expected Liu Xi to name a price that high.

He did the mental arithmetic quietly. One drop of Moonstone Spirit Essence held spirit power roughly equivalent to a hundred Spirit Crystals — on par with a hundred drops of Moonstone Spirit Dew, which in turn ran about even with ordinary Spirit Crystals. The raw spirit power value of a single drop worked out to around a hundred. Liu Xi had paid thirty times that.

Yes, the Essence had other effects beyond raw spirit power — healing, physical enhancement, various bonuses layered on top. But for any one person, a single drop was still just a single drop. Its practical utility for an individual wasn't so exceptional that thirty times the base value felt obvious.

For a Trainee Rank Gene Warrior, three thousand Spirit Crystals was already an enormous sum. He understood why someone would pay it. He had simply never worked out the arithmetic from the seller's side before.

His thoughts drifted, almost involuntarily, to his own inventory.

He didn't have one drop of Moonstone Spirit Essence. He had a hundred and thirty-nine.

If he sold every last one of them at three thousand apiece, that came to four hundred and seventeen thousand Spirit Crystals.

For a Trainee Rank Gene Warrior, that was close to incomprehensible wealth.

Not that it mattered. He had no intention of selling — he was not short on Spirit Crystals, and he still needed every drop for his own cultivation.

Liu Xi turned to him. "Brother Lu Yuan, what about yours? Would you like to sell?"

Lu Yuan shook his head with a light smile. "I'll hold on to mine. Planning to use them for cultivation."

"A shame."

She let it go without pressing. Then, after a brief pause, her expression shifted to something softer. Almost consoling.

"Brother Lu Yuan, don't feel too discouraged. You only just Awakened, and you've already cleared Elite Level 2 — if you'd Awakened last year, you would absolutely have made it into the Genius Trial. There's no reason to feel down about yourself. Your talent is genuinely exceptional." She smiled with quiet encouragement. "And as for that challenger who actually entered the Genius Trial... they might not even be stronger than you."

Lu Yuan stood very still.

*Discouraged?*

*When exactly did I become discouraged?*

He maintained his composed expression, a rather different thought moving underneath it. *...Right. Because that person is me.*

Beside him, Zhuo Ming and the blond youth exchanged a quick glance, both settling into carefully neutral expressions that communicated several things at once. Neither of them spoke.

Lu Yuan let out an awkward laugh. "You're right, Liu-ge. I'll keep working at it."

Liu Xi glanced back at the Shiman Tower, expression turning thoughtful. "It's been quite a while now, and no one else has come out. I'd say the rest likely didn't survive."

She looked around at the thinned-out ruins space, then back at Lu Yuan. "Brother Lu Yuan, would you like to leave with us? Everyone who survived came out with something valuable — there will be people watching for survivors to ambush on the way out."

Lu Yuan thought it over briefly, then gave a measured nod.

He wasn't one to shy away from difficulty, but he had no particular fondness for unnecessary complications. Traveling with Liu Xi's group would smooth out a fair number of them.

"That works for me."

"We'll come along as well," Gelin said.

"Then let's move out together."

The group departed the ruins space in a cluster, steady and unhurried. Solo practitioners had mostly slipped away quietly on their own the moment they'd exited the tower, not waiting around to be seen.

Among the gnolls.

Bertha watched Lu Yuan walk away at Liu Xi's side, her eyes cold.

She turned sharply to Maosi. "Maosi! Didn't you tell me they wouldn't be leaving together?! Explain yourself!"

Maosi's gaze slid sideways. "Well... they really weren't together when they arrived. It's probably just that everyone came out with a haul — leaving as a group is the safer move."

Bertha drew a slow, deliberate breath and reined in her frustration.

"I don't care what the reason is. What about my plan going forward?"

Jingba bared his teeth in a grin, sharp and angled. "Third Miss, don't worry. He won't be able to enjoy himself much longer."

He kept his voice measured. "Third Miss, this time Lu Yuan is leaving with the Tianfu Consortium — there's no opening for us right now. But we'll have chances later. We already know exactly where he is. As long as we keep our eyes on him, the right moment will come."

Bertha let the words settle.

She nodded, slow and precise. "You're right." Her voice went flat. "Fine. From now on, keep him under constant surveillance — don't lose him for a second. This damned human is progressing too fast. He's cleared another trial; he'll only come out stronger for it." A pause. "We have to kill him before he gets any further."

Her gaze stayed fixed on Lu Yuan's retreating figure, cold as winter stone.