Chapter 106 - 105: "Twin", Black Engraving
Yang Shen frowned for a moment, backing away a dozen or so meters from the river’s surface to prevent the other party from climbing up for a sneak attack.
He also had half of the bead in his hand, but thinking of the recent change, he worried there might be a problem. He quickly tossed it high into the air and controlled the Sun Worm to catch it in mid-flight.
Only now did he have a moment to seriously examine the "half-bead."
His night vision was very strong now; he wasn’t sure if it was an effect of the Marrow Refining Realm or a result of his Cultivation.
The remaining half-bead had the three-dimensional shape of a Hook Jade, with a rounded head, a sharp tail, and a concave inner side.
It looked like a jade-colored, misshapen pearl...
In Yang Shen’s vision, a faint Spiritual Light coiled around it, giving it a more mystical quality than its appearance in the physical world.
Yang Shen pondered for a moment, then remotely infused some Spiritual Power into it.
He now possessed a full Qi Sea, so he infused an amount of Spiritual Power equivalent to nearly 10 points of his old Qi and Blood Value all at once...
But there was still no reaction.
’Well... I’ll just let the Sun Worm keep holding it for now. I’ll find something to wrap it in later.’
However, the moment he issued the command, a shocking scene unfolded before Yang Shen’s eyes.
After receiving the "follow me" command, the Sun Worm suddenly paused.
The next moment, black patterns spread upwards from the Hook Jade, creeping onto the Sun Worm’s carapace.
Then...
The Sun Worm grew another pair of wings...
It went from having two wings to four...
As for the extra pair of wings, Yang Shen was all too familiar with their pitch-black material.
’It’s the Exotic Strange Guest’s ability!!’
Under the bridge, Yang Shen stared at the four-winged Sun Worm, completely stunned.
The dumbass bug’s intelligence was too low. It had simply, instinctively felt that flying while holding something was a hassle, so it grew another pair of wings. Then it continued to float slowly outward, following Yang Shen’s command.
Yang Shen’s brow furrowed. His first reaction was that this "Hook Jade" contained Witchcraft! That it was corrupting his Sun Worm!
But whether it was the feedback from the Bee Control Technique, its obedient attitude... or even its appearance, there was nothing abnormal.
Yang Shen temporarily left the area under the bridge, testing the Sun Worm out in the darkness.
"Fly left." "Fly right." "Spin around."
The Sun Worm spun around, its butt facing Yang Shen.
It obediently completed every command.
"Drop it."
The Sun Worm released its legs, and the Hook Jade fell onto the soft grass. But Yang Shen kept his eyes fixed on the Sun Worm.
The black second pair of wings... vanished!
The Sun Worm was also baffled. It wobbled abruptly, then rubbed its eyes with its legs as if it couldn’t figure out what had happened.
’Does this mean the strange ability comes from the Hook Jade?’
’But... what’s the principle behind it?’
Yang Shen opened his system. Sure enough, Option 2 of the side quest "One Spirit Stone Stumps the Nascent Soul Cultivator" had changed.
It still showed a direction, indicating that the Exotic Treasure was 3 *li* to the north, which should correspond to the Exotic Strange Guest’s half.
And at the end of the description, the words "Not Fully Obtained" had been added.
’The Exotic Treasure really is this thing. Now we each have half...’
Yang Shen looked around. The area was deserted, and there were no surveillance cameras. Clearly, the hiding spot the guest had chosen was safe.
Correspondingly, this also meant that only two people knew what had happened tonight.
The relationship between the Exotic Strange Guest and the "Rebel Species" was complicated. Jinkang Pharmacy had been screwed over by Blood Mother, so the other party wouldn’t tell the "Rebel Species" what was going on...
’In other words, if the Exotic Strange Guest doesn’t recognize me... doesn’t that mean this whole affair is pretty clean?!’
But a curious thought suddenly occurred to Yang Shen.
’If this Hook Jade in my hand "replicated" the other guy’s black tattoo ability...’
’...then what about his piece?’
——————
「Late at night. A park in Jinshui District.」
The surroundings were silent and deserted, even a bit cold, but this couldn’t affect a Martial Arts Practitioner at the Marrow Refining Realm, nor a Cultivator who possessed a Qi Sea.
Yang Shen sat cross-legged on a bench. He wasn’t in a hurry to go home; after telling his auntie he’d be out, he planned to stay outside for the night.
This was to avoid any tails and prevent bringing danger back home.
He repeatedly went over his previous movements and basically confirmed there were no hidden dangers.
He even went back to check on the surveillance situation at the vegetable market. It was safe to say the system was old and in disrepair, recording only intermittently.
Otherwise, the vendors inside wouldn’t dare to so blatantly skimp on weights and measures.
That lettuce weighing seven *jin* and six *liang* was still in his backpack!
Yang Shen looked down at the "Hook Jade" in his palm. After two hours, he had finally figured out the effect of this "Exotic Treasure."
Or rather, its "partial effect."
If he wasn’t mistaken, it was indeed "replication."
For some unknown reason, when the two halves of the Hook Jade were held by different people, one party would replicate a certain trait from the other, "selected based on unknown rules."
This trait probably didn’t include physical attributes like height or leg length, but rather abilities corresponding to "Spiritual Qi" or a "Source."
Yang Shen opened his hand. The Hook Jade in his palm grew slightly warm, and a black tattoo extended outward from the point of contact, forming a black glove over his hand a moment later.
It was simply incredible...
It wasn’t that Yang Shen now possessed this ability, but that the "Hook Jade" contained it.
As long as Spiritual Power was infused, the "Hook Jade" would charge up like a battery. Afterward, whoever held it, even a bug, could use the "Black Engraving" ability.
Incidentally, "Black Engraving" was a name Yang Shen came up with himself; it was weird to keep calling it "the black substance."
Likewise, once the infused Spiritual Power was depleted, it couldn’t be used again until it was recharged. Its capacity was roughly equivalent to 20 points of Qi and Blood Value, and the rate of consumption depended on the intensity of use...
Yang Shen tinkered with it at low intensity for a long time without using it all up. It was very energy-efficient.
But this also brought up a problem... Normally, Low Realm Martial Artists didn’t have the ability for External Output of their "Source"...
Did that surviving guest have it? Yang Shen didn’t know, but he was more inclined to believe it was an effect the other party had to achieve by "eating" something. Only he could use it so conveniently, as an external tool...
Clearly, the guest knew more about this thing’s origins than Yang Shen did.
The young man raised his hand and tried to interpret the "Hook Jade" and "Black Engraving," categorizing them within a system he was familiar with...
"Doesn’t this seem like... a talisman?!"
’It really does! A kind of two-sided "Twin Talismans" that can be repeatedly charged and can record each other’s abilities!’
Yang Shen could use it, but he couldn’t understand the principle behind "Black Engraving." Probing it with his Spiritual Power was also useless...
With a thought, the "Black Engraving" continued to proliferate. There was no strict limit to its total physical volume, only that the larger it was, the greater the consumption.
Gradually, a "long spear" materialized in Yang Shen’s hand. It had the appearance of a "Standard Long Spear," but with some differences in the details.
He felt the tip of the spear. Its hardness and sharpness were rather disappointing.
’This ability... to use it proficiently, it really tests your "Structural Sense" and "proficiency."’
’You need to have a detailed structure in your mind and practice repeatedly to make it realistic.’
’Those Exotic Strange Guests must have been training since childhood... and when they use it, they tend to favor simple structures, like giant arms or black spikes.’
In high-intensity combat, overly complex shapes are actually meaningless.
It’s like when you create a black wall for defense, there’s no need to carve a dog’s head on it.
It was a bit of a pity that he hadn’t completed the "side quest" in one go. If he had both "Hook Jades" in his hands, Yang Shen felt his imagination would be the only limit!
It truly deserved to be called an "Exotic Treasure."
He was lucky tonight. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to obtain the "Exotic Treasure" without any hidden troubles, even if it was just half.
Or in other words, if Yang Shen’s understanding of the "Jade" was correct, perhaps obtaining just half was the most effective outcome.
The Exotic Strange Guest himself wasn’t particularly strong, but the "Black Engraving" ability was absolutely one-of-a-kind on Cyan Blue.
Only through such a fortunate coincidence could he have obtained this magical ability.
If he had the chance, Yang Shen naturally wanted to get the complete Jade and study it slowly... but that thing had already traveled far away underwater.
The system showed that it had already traveled several dozen kilometers down the river and seemed to have stopped at the river’s mouth...
Yang Shen highly suspected... that the reason the other party didn’t die after being stabbed three times with the spear, and even seemed to have a final burst of power...
...was because he had "replicated" Yang Shen’s Martial Artist’s Life Force or physical strength...
It had been a bizarre night, but the gains were decent. At least the trip wasn’t for nothing.
In the pitch-black park, the young man sitting on the bench gave a satisfying stretch.
The next moment, the Black Engraving in his palm began to flow like a viscous liquid....
...forming a pitch-black mask.
The upper part of the streamlined structure extended to the back of his head, like a self-adapting helmet. This way, it not only concealed his face but also his hairstyle.
For the eye, nose, and mouth area, Yang Shen used a simple structure, but he added a small embellishment to the mouth, creating sharp fangs.
This both provided enough space to breathe deeply and concealed the shape of his lips, making it hard for anyone to get a clear look.
The imaginatively designed mask... was now worn on Yang Shen’s face.
In the park, a strange, dangerous, black demon had appeared...
"At least I won’t have to buy face masks anymore..."
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