Pushing aside the heavy gold-threaded velvet curtain, a wave of heat hit Lin Mu square in the face—a mixture of stone dust, sweat, and the restless fluctuations of Primeval Essence.
The Stone Gambling hall was packed and deafening.
Hundreds of Bright Light Gu hung from the domed ceiling, illuminating the massive tent as bright as day.
Countless Gu Masters from Black Blood Stockade mingled with traveling merchants, crowding around long display tables.
Some studied the stones in breathless concentration; others argued until their faces turned red.
Lin Mu lowered his bamboo hat and swept his gaze across the room.
His eyes quickly locked onto a corner of the outer hall.
There sat a pile of fossils with a faint purple-gold sheen on their surfaces. A wooden sign beside them read: "Purple-Gold Stone. Ten Primeval Stones each. No bargaining."
Ten Primeval Stones.
Pocket change for the current Lin Mu.
He could recall the scene from the original novel with perfect clarity: this very year, on the first night of the merchant caravan's arrival, at this very counter, some lucky bastard had cracked open a Rank 2 MudSkin Toad.
Sold it for five hundred Primeval Stones on the spot. An overnight fortune that became legend.
That MudSkin Toad later became Fang Yuan's first pot of gold.
That stone was somewhere in that pile.
Lin Mu's steps faltered. His heart skipped two beats against his will.
If he walked over now, his foreknowledge would almost certainly let him intercept it. Five hundred Primeval Stones, right there for the taking.
But he didn't move.
"This is the caravan's forward outpost. How far is it from Gu Yue Mountain Village? Does the timeline overlap exactly?"
"If I disturb this foundational stone, will it trigger unpredictable butterfly effects? Will it draw the attention of that Spring Autumn Cicada's host?"
Lin Mu interrogated himself coldly.
Fang Yuan's karma was a massive black hole. Against that reborn old demon with schemes reaching the heavens, the current Lin Mu wasn't even qualified to be an opponent.
Risking unknown consequences for five hundred Primeval Stones wasn't worth it.
"That stone is bait left for Fang Yuan. My opportunities lie elsewhere."
Once he thought it through, Lin Mu took a deep breath. Clarity returned to his eyes.
He forced his gaze away, walking past the pile of purple-gold stones as if he hadn't seen them at all. He cut straight through the noisy outer hall toward the elevated platform known as the "Golden Jade Stage."
The inner hall.
The young masters' domain.
"Halt."
Two burly Rank 2 guards extended their arms to block his path, their eyes scrutinizing the plainly dressed youth before them.
"The inner hall is restricted. Entry fee: fifty Primeval Stones."
This was class hierarchy.
The outer hall was where common Gu Masters came to dream. The inner hall was where real games of power and profit were played.
Lin Mu said nothing. Expressionless, he pulled a heavy leather pouch from his robe and loosened the drawstring just enough to reveal the contents.
Under the Bright Light Gu's glow, the grayish-white gleam from inside the pouch was mesmerizing. A full bag of Primeval Stones, packed tight—two or three hundred at minimum.
One guard extended his hand. A wisp of pale-red Primeval Essence swept over the pouch.
Only after sensing the distinctive density and weight of genuine stones did he withdraw. The cold hardness in his expression thawed noticeably.
In the Stone Gambling hall, Primeval Stones were the best passport—and the only dignity that mattered.
"My apologies, young master. Please, enter."
The guard stepped aside, his attitude considerably more respectful.
Lin Mu tucked away the pouch and climbed the steps.
The moment he entered the inner hall, the noise dropped significantly.
The décor here was far more luxurious: thick beast-hide carpets covered the floor, and the air carried the scent of calming incense.
Private rooms lined the perimeter, allowing guests to crack their stones in secrecy—maximum discretion guaranteed.
This was precisely what Lin Mu needed. His Red Mud Gu was useful, but it required privacy.
At the center of the inner hall, a crowd had gathered, erupting periodically into cheers.
"Excellent! Young Master Jia has wonderful luck!"
"That color, that glow—definitely a winner!"
At the heart of the crowd, a youth in brocade robes stood before a stone-cutting table, a folding fan in hand, his face flushed with excitement.
Jia Jinsheng—the Jia Clan's illegitimate young master.
At his feet lay three chunks of worthless slag, each stone originally expensive. But on the tray in his hands, two freshly extracted Gu emitted a soft glow.
One was a Rank 1 Bright Light Gu. The other was a Rank 1 Qi Gathering Gu, a support-type that aided Primeval Essence recovery.
Together, these two Gu were worth roughly fifty Primeval Stones on the market.
To extract them, Jia Jinsheng had invested at least two hundred Primeval Stones—recovering barely a third of his capital.
But in the Stone Gambling trade, as long as you didn't go completely bust, any return counted as a win.
Jia Jinsheng showed no hint of disappointment.
He raised the tray high and laughed loudly: "Honored guests, behold! This Bright Light Gu shines like morning clouds! This Qi Gathering Gu hums with lasting vitality!"
"What does this mean? This is an 'auspicious opening'! It foretells that our Jia Clan Caravan will prosper greatly on this journey—fortune flowing in like rivers!"
"Young Master Jia speaks true!"
"What wonderful omens!"
His entourage and several Black Blood Stockade Gu Masters eager to curry favor immediately chimed in with thunderous applause.
Jia Jinsheng's cultivation talent might be mediocre, but his ability to spin the narrative was impressive—covering his losses while lifting the mood. Not a complete waste of space after all.
"Hmph. Playing to the crowd."
A contemptuous voice rang out not far from Lin Mu.
The speaker was a young man in dark cyan robes, arrogance written between his brows. Lin Feng.
Having just made a killing "reselling Green Pouch Grass," his pockets were fat and his confidence high. He stood with several lackeys, browsing the stones.
"Cousin Lin Feng, that's not a pleasant thing to say."
From the other side, a slightly portly young man approached, rolling two iron walnuts between his fingers. His smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Young Master Jia is simply seeking good fortune. Unlike certain people who make a bit of blood money and suddenly think they're somebody."
This was Lin Ze, a rising star in the Lin Clan's commerce division.
He belonged to the new-money faction and had always looked down on Lin Feng's old-guard style of profiting through underhanded schemes.
Lin Feng's expression darkened. He turned to Lin Ze with a cold sneer: "Brother Lin Ze just took over commerce and already you're spending so freely."
"Don't tell me you've converted the clan's caravan procurement funds into gambling capital for yourself?"
"You—!" Lin Ze's face changed. Clearly struck a nerve.
He fired back immediately: "Still better than certain people who hoard Green Pouch Grass to exploit fellow clan disciples. At least my money comes from legitimate sources!"
The two faced off, their words thick with hostility.
The visiting Gu Masters from other regions watched with undisguised amusement. The caravan only came once a year—rare entertainment to watch the local powers tear into each other.
Lin Mu retreat silently into the shadows.
"The Dark Gold Lineage and the Storage Lineage are already at each other's throats. Things have barely started and they're already fighting in front of outsiders."
He didn't rush to join in. Instead, he observed his surroundings with careful discretion.
After studying the layout, he noticed the stone arrangements followed a subtle pattern.
The well-lit shelves near the windows displayed high-risk showcase pieces—thick-skinned stones difficult to assess.
But the shadowy shelves in the corners, though unremarkable, occasionally held stones with fine-grained textures and a faint earthy smell.
These characteristics resonated subtly with his Red Mud Gu's aura—telltale signs of Earth Path Gu habitation.
More interesting still, he noticed Jia Jinsheng's Primeval Essence control during extraction was rather crude. The wing edges of that Qi Gathering Gu showed slight abrasion damage.
"That aggressive cutting style might look satisfying, but it's easy to damage the Gu inside. I'll need to request a private room later and handle the extraction myself. No room for error."
Lin Mu's gaze lingered on those neglected corner shelves.
Primeval Essence circulated slowly within his Aperture. Though the Liquor Worm remained sealed, the heightened perception from his purified mid-grade essence persisted.
He made no move.
He was waiting.
Waiting for these people to escalate their conflict. Waiting for the atmosphere to truly heat up.
That would be the perfect moment to fish in troubled waters and make his fortune in silence.