Before the five-hour mark, Russell received a piece of mutton fat jade that could be cut into six standardized spiritual stones with a purity even higher than the one he previously acquired.
Damn, a jade seal crafted from over 500 grams of premium mutton fat jade? Was such a rare gem becoming commonplace?
Russell realized how lucky he was to acquire the previous jade piece. Even if he scoured every inch of Macau's Financial Street, finding another like it was unlikely. It wasn't that high-quality mutton fat jade was impossible to find, but rather such pieces were extremely rare and fortuitous to encounter.
Yet this pestering rich kid managed to bring him one back, and it was carved with the name of Jiang Fuqi.
Russell had heard of Jiang Fuqi, even though the distance between southern Beijing and Hong Kong was significant. This guy had brought back a jade seal of one of Hong Kong's major family founders?
"What is Jiang Fuqi to you?" Russell asked with an odd expression.
"Hehe, Jiang Fuqi is my dad's dad. Impressive, right?" The other man wore a smug look, almost provoking Russell into kicking him. Damn! Even if you stole your grandpa's personal jade seal, don’t bring that trouble to me. Such a legendary figure’s private seal was not something to be trifled with!
"Master, oh boss, can you take me in now? I guarantee if you come to Hong Kong, you won't have to worry about anything, let alone need to carefully win a few million," O’Neil boasted confidently.
In Hong Kong, Jiang Fuqi might not be the most powerful, but he was easily ranked in the top five. In regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, where underground forces were deeply rooted, Jiang Fuqi was a figure who rose from the underground to become legitimate.
"Fine, if you have the tenacity to stick it out, I can teach you," Russell conceded. This wealthy scion was pestering him for what Russell termed the "art of listening to dice," a skill O'Neil considered a king’s technique from gambling movies. Of course, Russell didn't possess such cinematic prowess.
But since he had accepted the young man's princely jade gift, he couldn’t refuse him flatly. If this guy insisted despite being told otherwise, Russell would have no choice but to entertain his whims.
Such idle rich boy antics could be deterred with some rigorous training; he’d likely give up on his own. At worst, once Russell succeeded, he could compensate the rich kid with a few million for the jade seal. But as for the legendary Jiang Fuqi’s jade seal? Russell wasn’t about to let go. His determination to follow the path of divine cultivation was unwavering.
"Hehe, boss, you won’t scare me off that easily. I'm not one to back down," O'Neil bragged.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Unable to say more, the two spent the night in silence, taking a ship to Shenzhen and then immediately boarding a train back to southern Beijing. The haste was driven by necessity: Russell needed to vanish from Macau quickly to minimize attention, and returning to mainland China reduced Jiang Fuqi's influence.
Upon returning to southern Beijing, Russell kicked the rich kid out, arranging for him to stay in a hotel while he headed to a small laser engraving workshop.
"Can you engrave inscriptions on jade here?" Russell asked as soon as he entered. "Money is no object; precision is key."
Upon receiving a confident affirmation from the owner, Russell finally felt a burden lift from his heart.
To complete his task and create the four spiritual stones, he had been stretched thin over the past few days.
The spirit entrapment matrix required jade stones to be accurately cut to specifications and inscribed with precise runes on six sides—only then could they qualify as basic spiritual stones.
In ancient times, engraving complex arrays of runes required the expertise of a highly insightful magic master, but on modern Earth, such tasks could be easily managed. What could be more precise than a machine? What intricate engraving couldn’t a carving machine accomplish?
Even the legendary master engravers would be challenged by modern technology.
Thus, when Russell downloaded the necessary runes for the spirit entrapment matrix from the system into schematic forms, everything became straightforward.
He didn’t need to master the vast knowledge of rune lore and formation design, but could perfectly replicate an array of inscribed spiritual stones through mechanical precision.
When Russell presented two large and one small premium mutton fat jade pieces to the workshop and requested they be precisely cut into small, specified pieces, the owner and craftsmen were stunned, wearing peculiar expressions.
While they occasionally encountered eccentric requests from idle rich kids, like commissioning a large online game item, cutting several million-dollar jade into small pieces with engravings was quite the spectacle.
Of course, despite their concern, the workshop owner eagerly accepted the job, ready to profit from this lucrative opportunity.
With a promised fee of 50,000 for the precision work, the craftsmen, along with the owner, threw themselves wholeheartedly into the task. How could they not, with such a windfall at stake?
Under the influence of generous payment, within two hours, Russell obtained eight pieces of jade measuring 4.49cm in length, 2.49cm in width, and 1.49cm in thickness.
To prevent the secrets of the spirit stone from being exposed, Russell personally engraved the final critical rune. Even though without it, others couldn’t harness the spirit stone's energy absorption, he was careful to ensure all secrets remained hidden.
Holding the eight lustrous, dense, and pure "white jades" in his hand, Russell’s awaited system prompt finally appeared: "Obtained eight superior spirit stones; mission overfulfilled. Task completion time: 4 days 04 hours. Task rating: A+. Reward: Shen Yuan power cap +1, reward points: 495 points!"
"Activated chain side quest 2—Formation of the Divine Matrix. Build the Heavenly Witch Spirit Entrapment Matrix to gain Shen Yuan power cap +1 and a random item reward."
The system's back-to-back prompts resonated in Russell's mind, leaving him overwhelmed with excitement.
His Shen Yuan power cap was now 13, edging him closer to the 15-point advancement threshold. As he thought about unlocking the four greyed-out host skills, Russell was almost beside himself with joy.
Of course, amidst his elation, he remembered to check his current total of 220 plus 495 points, reaching an unprecedented 715 points.