In the end, Morax's suggestion to buy all of them was rejected by Paimon and Lumine.
Morax then realized that Mora was indeed a problem.
In order to pick out the best quality noctilucous jade from the ones the stall owner provided, Morax had no choice but to reveal a secret, worth a thousand gold in the jade market, to Ryan and Paimon.
High-quality noctilucous jade has a higher affinity for the Pyro element, so under high temperatures, the brighter and bluer the luster of the noctilucous jade, the better its appearance.
Using this method, they could identify which of these pieces of noctilucous jade was the best quality.
Upon learning this identification method, Paimon immediately made a suggestion to the stall owner.
However, the stall owner naturally wouldn't let them just burn his goods, so after some discussion, the stall owner reluctantly agreed to take off a few small samples for them to appraise.
"It's just such a tiny piece! Wouldn't it just burn away if we set it on fire?"
Holding the few tiny noctilucous jade samples, Paimon found them as thin as cicada wings and couldn't help but say, somewhat dejectedly.
"No matter. As long as the Hydro element is used for protection, there's no need to worry about the high temperature of the Pyro element instantly burning the samples to ash."
Morax glanced at the samples, which were as thin as cicada wings, but didn't mind. Instead, he offered a solution.
"You mean to soak the samples in water and heat them? If so, where should we conduct the experiment?"
Lumine immediately understood what Morax meant.
"I can help. I have an alchemy furnace that's perfect for this."
Ryan, who was beside them, rubbed his eyes and then suggested.
After the unpolished jade didn't react, he had stared intently at the noctilucous jade for a while, but he still couldn't get information about them using his golden light.
He had to admit that his ability could currently only be used on elixirs.
"An alchemy furnace, you say... That works. I'll trouble you, young friend Ryan."
Morax pondered for a moment and agreed to Ryan's suggestion.
Lumine and Paimon were curious about the alchemy furnace Ryan mentioned, so they had no objections.
However, starting a furnace and making a fire would be quite conspicuous, and given that Lumine's wanted status was still active, it wasn't suitable to do so within Liyue Harbor.
Therefore, at Ryan's suggestion, everyone left Liyue Harbor and went to Mt. Tianheng.
Now they only needed to start a fire to test the quality of the noctilucous jade, not to refine elixirs, so Ryan didn't have to worry about attracting monsters like last time.
"Three mountains form, four seas gather qi, true fire circulates, the elixir cauldron devours stars."
Arriving at an open space in the mountains, Ryan took out his alchemy furnace from his qiankun bag and threw it forward.
The alchemy furnace grew with the incantation, quickly returning to its normal size and landing on the ground.
"How amazing! I heard that in Liyue, alchemy is a skill only adepti possess."
Seeing the cauldron enlarge, Paimon exclaimed and then explained to Lumine beside her.
As Lumine's travel guide, she had some superficial understanding of Mondstadt and Liyue.
"Indeed, the art of alchemy requires precise control of fire. Flames lit with firewood naturally won't do. Unless one possesses a Pyro Vision, we mortals truly cannot perform alchemy."
Morax nodded slightly, then elaborated on Paimon's explanation.
"So that's how it is... Huh? What about the water? We came up the mountain without getting any water."
Lumine nodded understandingly, but upon seeing Ryan open the lid of the furnace, she suddenly realized an important issue.
The noctilucous jade samples were too small and thin. If they weren't protected by Hydro elemental power as Morax said, they would probably burn away instantly.
"How about... Paimon flies down the mountain with a bucket to fetch water?"
Morax pondered for a moment, then looked up at Paimon and suggested.
"No way! Why me? And I can't even lift a bucket of water."
Paimon refused without hesitation; she would never do any heavy lifting.
"Don't worry, I have water here. Paimon, just put the samples into the alchemy furnace. Remember to place them separately so it's easier to distinguish which one is of good quality."
Ryan explained at this point, then told Paimon to put the noctilucous jade samples in.
"Oh, oh, Ryan, you're so thoughtful. I'll put them in right away."
Hearing that Ryan had water, Paimon then took the noctilucous jade samples, flew up, went inside the alchemy furnace, and placed them one by one, separately.
"..."
Watching Paimon arrange the noctilucous jade samples inside the alchemy furnace, Ryan swallowed, suddenly feeling an urge to close the lid and start a fire to refine her on the spot.
Fortunately, Ryan quickly came to his senses, shaking his head to stop himself from overthinking.
He was inexplicably excited to be back in Liyue Harbor, which was why he had such an impulse.
"Ryan, you can start now~"
After Paimon finished arranging the noctilucous jade and flew out, she said to Ryan.
"Alright, later, you all can see which numbered noctilucous jade sample is brighter. Let me know once you've distinguished them."
Ryan nodded.
Since he needed to observe the brightness and color of the noctilucous jade, he didn't close the lid of the furnace. Instead, he directly began to cast his adeptal art.
"Adeptal Art! Please, Martial Uncle, possess me!"
Ryan formed a hand seal with his left hand, and the next moment, the surrounding air was suddenly filled with mist.
A blue girl phantom appeared behind Ryan's left, extending her right hand to rest on Ryan's left shoulder.
At the same time, the Hydro elemental power in the air converged into the alchemy furnace, turning into pure water that slowly immersed and submerged the noctilucous jade samples.
"Please, Martial Uncle, possess me!"
At this moment, Ryan formed another hand seal with his right hand. Instantly, the mist in the air became mixed with waves of heat, raising the surrounding temperature significantly.
At the same time, a red girl phantom appeared behind Ryan's right, and like the blue girl phantom, she raised her left hand to rest on Ryan's right shoulder.
Whoosh—
The next moment, flames ignited beneath the alchemy furnace.
To prevent the water inside the alchemy furnace from boiling instantly, Ryan had to control the temperature and heat it slowly.
"He also has two elements..."
Lumine was slightly astonished to discover that Ryan could also use two elements; this was the first time she had seen such a thing.
However, since he was an adeptus's disciple, it wasn't entirely unacceptable... While Lumine was astonished, Paimon quickly flew to a higher position to observe the situation of the noctilucous jade inside the alchemy furnace.
Lumine, having come back to her senses, also climbed onto a large rock nearby, which allowed her to barely see what was happening inside the alchemy furnace.
Morax, however, did not observe the noctilucous jade in the alchemy furnace. His gaze lingered for a moment on the two phantoms behind Ryan, a hint of nostalgia flashing in his eyes, as if he was recalling something from a long time ago.
However, the other three were all focused on their respective tasks, and no one noticed Morax's situation.
Soon, as Ryan heated it up, the water in the alchemy furnace began to boil, and the noctilucous jade samples glowed one by one.
"Number three... Number three noctilucous jade is clearly the brightest!"
Soon, Paimon distinguished the differences among these noctilucous jade pieces.
"Alright, Ryan, we've distinguished them. Among these types of noctilucous jade, the sample of number three noctilucous jade is the best quality."
Having distinguished the quality of the noctilucous jade, Paimon then flew down to remind Ryan.
Hearing Paimon's words, Ryan finally let out a long breath, and the two phantoms behind him instantly vanished.
Hiss—
Inside the alchemy furnace, the three samples instantly turned into ashes. The already boiling water vaporized in a blink of an eye, turning into a burst of scorching steam that Swirled outwards, and at the same time, the flames beneath the alchemy furnace burst outwards.
"Stone upon stone."
The moment the steam and flames scattered, Morax raised his hand, using Geo elemental power to erect a Geo elemental shield, isolating the scorching steam and wild flames.