Chapter 196: Transformation

“A White Stone?”

Shen Youran’s eyes widened.

A White Stone this large?!

“Are White Stones that valuable?”

Yan Jing blinked.

“Extremely.”

“As one’s Tier increases, failing to fully purify Inner World power during an advancement is common. A White Stone prevents that. Moreover, for those on an Inner World Pathway, it stops them from losing control.”

“But... I’ve never seen a White Stone this massive.”

“For a piece this big...”

Shen Youran pondered. “At least forty million Surface World Currency. Probably more.”

“I see...”

Yan Jing nodded. He tapped the White Stone lightly with his finger, and it visibly began to shrink before their eyes.

Before long, it completely integrated into the White Stone Cage within his body.

Then, weird energy surged from his fingertips. Under Shen Youran’s shocked gaze, several strips of white silk poured out, crisscrossing in the air until they formed a half-human-tall cage.

An instant later, it shifted again, transforming into a die.

One side of the die bore the carving of a tree. Another side depicted a human figure, their hands weaving an endless web of silk threads.

“Jackpot.”

Yan Jing was in a great mood. He could clearly feel that the Power of the White Stone had ascended to a new level, drastically increasing how much it amplified his abilities.

For this alone, he was entirely satisfied with the Platinum Box.

He had already experienced the effects of the Power of the White Stone during his previous advancement. Precisely because this power had dampened that interweaving sensation of extreme heat and cold, his Calming Rite had been able to reach the black quality tier.

This power, which stood in direct opposition to the power of the Inner World, was far more valuable than it appeared.

“Teacher Shen, why don’t you draw something?”

Yan Jing offered with a smile.

“...Alright.”

Meeting Yan Jing’s smiling eyes, Shen Youran nodded. She took the Peach Wood Charm from him and reached into the box, praying silently:

“Let it be something good, let it be something good...”

Hum—

A brilliant light bloomed. What appeared before the two of them was a damaged glove.

The patent leather on its exterior had entirely peeled off, exposing mottled fabric threads and electronic wiring. It was even missing its middle and ring fingers.

Yet unexpectedly, the moment Shen Youran saw it, her fox-like eyes immediately lit up.

“Nice! That’s the good stuff!”

Yan Jing looked at the glove’s description panel.

[Item Name: Gloves of Chaos (Replica Version)]

[Quality: None]

[Tier Requirement: None. Cannot be used for a Ritual.]

[Effect: Fuses three items together. The Tier requirements of the three items cannot exceed your own Tier.]

[Description: Within the Domain known as the Heavenly Kingdom, there exists a faction renowned for its machinery. Its people developed these gloves to fuse items and birth entirely new creations. The glove before you is a rare treasure. What you need to do is simple: find three perfectly balanced items, place them on the fingertips of the glove, and you can birth a creation entirely your own.]

“You could say the Gloves of Chaos are an absolute favorite among the major Clans,”

Shen Youran explained.

“Things like the Ritual Blessing Coupon are bound items; you couldn’t buy one even if you wanted to. But the Gloves of Chaos are different. They can still be bought in certain places as long as you can afford the price tag. A two-fingered glove like this goes for around thirty million surface coins.”

“Look here, Xiao Yanzi. This glove has three fingers left, which means it can hold three items.”

“But there are requirements for these three items. First, they have to belong to different Pathways. Second, they must be of different qualities.”

“The quality of the final creation fused by the Gloves of Chaos will take the highest quality among those items and elevate it by half a tier.”

Hearing Shen Youran’s words, Yan Jing’s eyes flickered.

If that was the case, the glove in front of him was an incredible prize indeed.

Stacked with the Ritual Blessing Coupon, that meant... it was entirely possible to instantly raise an item’s quality by a full tier.

And it would be an absolutely unique item at that.

“Last one.”

Yan Jing focused his mind and reached into the box.

After a moment of rummaging, he slowly withdrew his hand.

He was holding a syringe filled with a green medicinal liquid.

Within the fluid, tiny tentacle-like organisms drifted about. They constantly multiplied, only to slaughter and devour one another before rapidly multiplying once more.

Yan Jing was stunned. An Inner World Box always contained one item tailored to the opener’s personal needs. He had assumed it would be a supplementary item for the Fear Tree or the Lord of Execution Silk Thread like last time. He hadn’t expected it to be something like this.

[Item Name: Potion of Heracles]

[Quality: None]

[Tier Requirement: None. Cannot be used for a Ritual.]

[Effect: Your physical strength will be elevated to match your current combat power, and will continue to scale naturally as your combat power increases.]

[Description: Within the Domain known as the Heavenly Kingdom, there exists a faction renowned for its biotechnology. Its people loved to collect the genes of Deities. Although many genes were lost during a great war, as luck would have it, a vial has fallen into your hands.]

Looking at the item, Yan Jing quickly recognized its unique nature.

Whether it was the previous Fear Source Liquid or the current Gloves of Chaos, both came with corresponding notations—either “extremely impure” or “replica.”

But this potion had no such notation.

Moreover, judging by the description, this thing was absolutely genuine.

He’d hit the jackpot.

As expected of a Platinum Box, he couldn’t help but marvel. Right now, he wasn’t lacking basic combat methods, but his physical constitution had indeed failed to keep pace. There was nothing he could do about it—he had just been too poor.

Originally, he had planned to make do with the Physical Enhancement Potion he had obtained recently. But now that he had this, he could save the Physical Enhancement Potion for later.

Beside him, Shen Youran stared at the item and muttered, “No wonder... No wonder the last guy who got a Platinum Box claimed the title of sovereign in less than ten years.”

The effect of the Potion of Heracles provided a qualitative leap in a person’s progression.

After all, this wasn’t a consumable that lost its value once used. According to its effect, once injected, his future physical strength would continually scale with his combat power, functionally granting him an entirely new method of confronting enemies out of thin air.

Without hesitation, Yan Jing plunged the syringe into his arm.

Thump!!!

He heard a massive boom echo from his own heart.

As the potion rushed in, a qualitative mutation took place. The tiny tentacles seemed to root themselves into his blood vessels, initiating a comprehensive, full-body transformation.

Then, Shen Youran watched in shock as enormous tentacles sprouted from Yan Jing’s body one after another. The moment they appeared, they began endlessly slaughtering and devouring each other. Finally, Yan Jing’s body completely devolved into an ocean of tentacles that continuously swelled until they filled the entire room.

A second later, however, Yan Jing opened his mouth and began tearing the tentacles off, swallowing them whole. With every bite he consumed, his body recovered a little more. In the end, as the last of the black blood sprayed from his wounds, he reverted to his original appearance.

Only, compared to before, his physique looked far more perfectly proportioned, as if he had undergone some brutal tempering and been reborn from the ashes. Every muscle was full and tightly bonded to his bones, radiating a faint, crystalline luster. It wasn’t hard to imagine the terrifying explosive force hidden within.

He threw a casual punch, and the air in front of him instantly detonated with a violent sonic boom.

The biting gale of the punch blasted a massive hole straight through the door.

“Teacher Shen? Teacher Shen?”

Yan Jing looked at Shen Youran, who was staring fixedly at him, and felt a wave of confusion. He lowered his head, only to realize that the clothes on his body had been torn to shreds.

“...”

Yan Jing’s figure flickered. In just a few short seconds, he had fully dressed himself again. He looked back at Shen Youran with a smirk.

“It seems Teacher Shen isn’t shy about feasting her eyes.”

Snapping back to her senses, the tips of Shen Youran’s ears instantly flushed bright red. Feigning composure, she let out two light coughs, spun on her heel, and sprinted out the door in a flash.

Yan Jing watched her fleeing back and chuckled. He really hadn’t expected Shen Youran to have such a huge reaction.

...

...

The two of them hailed a cab.

They arrived at the address Fan Jue had given them right on time.

Ling’an Tower in Ling’an.

As the landmark building of Ling’an City, it boasted around two hundred floors and served as the primary venue for all sorts of major events and conferences.

The moment they stepped out of the car, the sharp-eyed Fan Jue spotted them and walked over.

Another person was following closely beside him.

“Old Yan!”

Xu Weizhou waved his hand excitedly.

“Wei Zhou, long time no see.”

Yan Jing smiled.

Today, Xu Weizhou was wearing the uniform of the Public Security Association. Unlike traditional uniforms, it featured a red and white color scheme, with a long-sleeved undershirt worn beneath a flowing outer robe.

“Before the meeting starts, there’s an exhibition.”

Fan Jue and Xu Weizhou led Yan Jing and Shen Youran into an elevator heading for the 66th floor.

“It’s primarily set up to showcase some of the secret incidents from the Inner World over the past few years, just to mentally prepare everyone.”

“The attendees this time are mainly split into three groups: our Ling’an locals, the crowd from Rainbow City, and the outsiders...”

Xu Weizhou lowered his voice.

“Those outsiders generally have terrible tempers. You’d best steer clear of them later, Old Yan.”

“Got it.”

Yan Jing nodded with a smile.

Beside them, Shen Youran listened to Xu Weizhou’s words, her eyes flashing behind her sunglasses.

Her outfit today wasn’t in her usual mature or radiant style; instead, she was dressed quite conservatively in long sleeves and trousers, with a silk scarf wrapping her head.

She did this for a single reason: she didn’t want to bump into any acquaintances.

Given just how thoroughly obnoxious those bastards were, she was terrified that her own Xiao Yanzi would end up beating them to death.

If that happened, she would definitely have to throw money at the problem to settle it.

The family’s funds were running dry, and she needed to save what she could for Xiao Yanzi to use.

“This is the most significant incident that occurred in the Fifth Ring Domain over the past few years.”

Fan Jue pointed at a display area in front of them.

There, canvases and photographs depicted a variety of grotesque ‘monsters’ dressed in the attire of a bygone era.

There was a zombie-like creature wearing a short coarse-cloth jacket, its entire body covered in hideous wounds.

There was a creature whose entire body looked like it was melting, dripping fluids everywhere.

There was a creature with the head of a toad, clutching a pile of wealth in its hands, with coins even stuffed into its mouth and crotch, spilling them as it walked. There was a humanoid entity constructed entirely of wooden mechanisms, and a creature whose head was a Pai Gow tile...

And they were violently tearing into and massacring the ‘enemies’ before them—

Humanity.