Supernatural Insight Eyes
Chapter 359 - 0358 borrowing someone

Chapter 359: 0358 borrowing someone

The jadeite before him was tender and seemingly dripping wet, its greenery nearly spilling out water.

If it weren’t for the person inside, it would undoubtedly be a delightful gemstone to behold.

The jade stone felt cool to the touch, smooth and emitting a green glow.

The person inside was motionless, as if eternal, forever curled up within.

Ye Qiu attempted to use his "penetrating eyes" to get a clear look at this person’s face, but when his gaze penetrated the jade stone, it was obstructed by a mysterious substance, rendering him utterly unable to peer any deeper.

Ye Qiu was slightly surprised; there had never been anything his "penetrating eyes" couldn’t see through before, not even the thickest steel-reinforced concrete or special materials could escape his gaze.

However, when it came to the person within the jade, he encountered resistance.

He couldn’t discern their features.

Ye Qiu circled around the person in the jade, unable to use his "penetrating eyes" on them, he had to focus on the black qi.

Regrettably, the black qi was like an uncontrollable bomb, which Ye Qiu couldn’t command; the black qi would only move on its own accord.

The black qi pulsed within the Dantian—not particularly strong but possessing a sense of impending activity.

What exactly was the connection between them, Ye Qiu wondered with a slight frown.

Ye Qiu tried to stir the black qi once more, but unfortunately, it merely circled above the pool of True Qi in his Dantian.

Ye Qiu was stumped; it seemed he couldn’t unravel the mystery between the two.

An hour passed, and Ye Qiu was still no closer to finding the method, only able to watch helplessly as the person within the jade stood quietly there.

With no other choice, Ye Qiu sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate.

The True Qi in the Dantian was pushed to one side by the black qi, forming a contrast of black and white, as if in tacit response to each other.

Ye Qiu breathed gently, expelling the impure qi from his body while circulating the Dantian, allowing the True Qi to flow through his meridians in what’s known as the Zhou Tian cycle.

Around Ye Qiu’s body appeared streams of Spiritual Energy from heaven and earth, which entered the Dantian with his inhalations and exhalations, slowly transforming into True Qi.

This scene lasted until midnight. Ye Qiu opened his eyes. While he managed to refine his True Qi to a certain degree in the later stage of the True Qi realm, progressing further proved difficult.

Ye Qiu prepared to condense his True Qi into droplets, purifying it further.

As Ye Qiu refined the Qi, it began to liquefy, transforming into True Qi Droplets. Inside the Dantian, a vast amount of True Qi quickly collapsed, converging into points that formed droplet after droplet.

Soon, these True Qi Droplets reformed into a True Qi pool, within which lay a shallow layer of crystal-clear water.

The rate at which Spiritual Energy from the outside world was absorbed and transformed into True Qi inside his body was slow, leading to the True Qi side soon being reduced to just a pool.

Only a small amount of True Qi diffused.

Just then, the black qi suddenly stirred. It formed a tendril and reached over, directly absorbing the True Qi Droplets from the pool.

Ye Qiu’s expression shifted.

"Not good."

The already mysterious black qi was now beginning to devour his strength, a situation Ye Qiu couldn’t allow to happen.

He spurred his True Qi into action to block it. The tendril formed by the black qi was thin, yet powerful. Ye Qiu, sweating profusely, barely managed to resist, but still a small portion of the True Qi Droplets were absorbed.

This left Ye Qiu’s hard-refined True Qi Droplets as mere sustenance for the black qi.

It stopped!

Having achieved some success, the black qi ceased its assault on the True Qi and began to stir.

Ye Qiu watched intently. The waters of the former True Qi pool rippled with the movement of the qi, releasing burst after burst of energy, similar to black fog. These too started forming into droplets, seemingly challenging the True Qi. In no time at all, droplet after droplet of the black qi had transformed the original True Qi pool into a black qi pool.

Now, the contrast between the two was even more pronounced.

The True Qi Droplets were clear and smooth, as if they were divine water from the highest heavens.

The droplets formed by the black qi were pitch black, like lumps of jet-black iron – the distinction between them stark.

Just as the pool of black gas formed in an instant, unbeknownst to anyone, the jade figure’s finger actually moved, swaying ever so slightly. Ye Qiu had no idea whatsoever.

The black gas quieted down considerably, perhaps due to the condensation of black droplets, making it seem somewhat fatigued.

True Qi was no longer under attack, and Ye Qiu breathed a sigh of relief.

But he knew in his heart that this might only be temporary; if he hadn’t forcefully stimulated his True Qi, the black gas might have taken away all his True Qi Droplets.

Ye Qiu realized a problem; he must speed up his True Qi cultivation, and preferably break through the barrier of True Qi realm. Only then, with a qualitative change in strength, he might be able to suppress the black gas.

Otherwise, once the black gas grew stronger and devoured his True Qi, he, Ye Qiu, would be rendered powerless.

A sense of crisis grew stronger, making Ye Qiu anxious. He worried that during a fight with someone else, he would give the black gas an opening and if that happened, he would truly be in danger.

Ye Qiu closed his eyes, pondering on how to quickly increase his strength, lest the black qi would consume him. At that point, he feared he would no longer be himself.

Ye Qiu dared not slack off and continued to cultivate until dawn before taking a short rest.

These two days, the Houjiang mining area was actively being mined. Ye Qiu and his people had scoured a large area just yesterday, and they would have to wait another two days for new rough stones to be extracted.

Everyone woke up early in the morning. Du Hao brought breakfast, and the three experts, seeing Ye Qiu appear safe and sound in front of everyone, flashed a hint of disappointment on their faces. However, the three simultaneously moved to the position farthest from Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu only took a sip of the bone broth before returning to his room alone, leaving everyone looking at each other in bewilderment. Li Jinglong laughed heartily and urged everyone to continue eating.

"Brother Ye must be tired. Let’s let him rest more. No one should disturb him," Du Hao said.

Nobody really had the intention to bother Ye Qiu, although the two female bodyguards showed a hint of concern.

After eating a few bites, Du Hao went out and told everyone that they were free to move around nearby, but it was best not to leave the area to avoid any trouble.

After the meal, with nothing to do and feeling rather dull, Li Jinglong asked the three experts about jade, while the twelve bodyguards stood guard at the four sides of the room.

It was expected to be an uneventful wait for the next two days; however, the next day, unexpected visitors arrived.

Everyone exited the makeshift building to see a group of people standing outside.

A short man walked out from the crowd, with an Asian face, and said to Du Hao, "Mr. Du, I am Ozawa Ichiro. I heard you have an expert in jade appraisal here, and I was wondering if I could have the pleasure of an introduction!"

The short-statured man, with a smile, directly stated his purpose.

A man from the island nation!

Both Du Hao and Li Jinglong, along with the three experts behind them, looked at Ozawa Ichiro.

With an indifferent tone, Du Hao said, "I wonder, Mr. Ozawa Ichiro, what business do you have with our jade appraisal expert?"

Ozawa Ichiro, putting on a very gentlemanly front, said, "I wish to borrow the expertise of your jade appraiser. I am aware of Mr. Du’s reputation and naturally would not ask this favor for nothing. For compensation, well, this amount!" With that, Ozawa Ichiro gestured with a finger.

"Nine million!"

Surprised, Du Hao found Ozawa Ichiro to be quite generous with his offer. What kind of favor did he need from Brother Ye?

"Mr. Du, this is not a small price. Could you do me the honor?"

Du Hao was slightly tempted. Despite having sold many high-quality jadeite pieces before, he had only made a profit on a portion of them, and the money to buy the raw stones had largely come from Li Jinglong’s family. The amount he had actually gotten wasn’t much.

Thinking this over, Du Hao smiled and said, "It’s not impossible for me to introduce you. The jade appraiser you’re looking for is in that room."

After these words, Ozawa Ichiro’s face lit up with joy, and he said, "Thank you, Mr. Du. I will remember this kindness."

Afterward, Ozawa Ichiro hurried straight to the front of Ye Qiu’s simple room.

He pushed the door and entered.

Ye Qiu was cultivating when someone suddenly barged in and started speaking with a heavy island nation accent, causing Ye Qiu’s brow to furrow.

"My name is Ozawa Ichiro, and I have come to specially request..." Ozawa Ichiro hadn’t finished speaking when he was suddenly interrupted by Ye Qiu.

Immediately, it made him look displeased.

"Get out."

The word echoed quietly, heard clearly by Du Hao, who had just stepped through the door, and everyone behind him.