Chapter Fifty-Four: The Opportunity Yet to Be Seized

Alcohol is like an arrow piercing the gut, lust is a steel blade stripping flesh from bone, gambling is the source of all evil, and wealth is a poison that ensnares the soul.

In the outer city, Ye Chen often saw groups of people idly gathered together—sometimes in alleys, sometimes in dilapidated tin-roofed shacks—playing games that involved only small amounts of money, yet could utterly ruin a person. He never imagined that the games played by those in the inner city would be so sophisticated, using upgrade items for Awakeners. Ye Chen marveled inwardly... the city truly knew how to play!

But to his relief, the Transcendent Mansion wasn’t acting as the house; at most, it served as a custodian and extractor, perhaps also as an injector.

The thought of injections prompted Ye Chen to ask, “Can the energy in these imbued primal stones be injected multiple times?”

“Of course, why not!” Yuanzi blinked and replied, “But don’t imagine it’s that simple. The primal stones are expensive, and the energy they contain is unpredictable.

“To rely on them for upgrades is nearly impossible.

“Only those Awakeners whose imbued values are right on the threshold, needing just one final push, would attempt it.”

Ye Chen gazed at the dazzling array throughout the room and slowly nodded. Now that he had seen these primal stones himself, he understood that this method of upgrading was hardly a shortcut. It merely left a crack in the door of “hope” for Awakeners longing for advancement.

Moved as he was, Ye Chen decided to leave early, mindful of his empty pockets. The experience alone had been worthwhile—a bit like witnessing a legendary, exorbitant banquet without tasting it, but seeing the extravagant spending of the rich up close, enough to boast about for ages.

As he was about to exit the room, inspiration struck him—the ability of his Insightful Back Eyes! He wondered if these primal stones would respond to his technique.

After all, there was no harm in trying. In the next moment, the eye patterns on his back appeared, constructing a three-dimensional, x-ray vision in his mind. In the monochrome space, countless points of light emerged—like stars scattered across a dark night sky. Promising!

As he slowly shifted his steps, bringing more stones into his observation range, a dazzling white light suddenly pierced from his front right. In a world of black and white, Ye Chen couldn’t tell the true color of the source, but its brilliance far exceeded any around it, like the brightest star in the night.

Ye Chen instinctively turned to look, disengaging his detection mode—because it was simply too blinding!

His gaze landed on an unremarkable little stone, about the size of a baby’s fist. Its only distinguishing feature was a crack on its surface, from which a milky-white light faintly shone.

Ye Chen slowly moved closer.

Yuanzi, sensing that Ye Chen had again fallen behind, turned curiously and saw him standing before a stone numbered 77.

Yuanzi looked at the stone, then at Ye Chen, and asked, “Why are you suddenly staring at this stone? It’s not even pretty, its glow isn’t strong.

“There are so many primal stones here, but none have caught your attention like this one.

“Don’t tell me you have x-ray vision?”

That direct guess nearly startled Ye Chen, as if someone had grabbed his secret tail.

He stroked his chin, feigning seriousness, and replied, “I thought it would fit nicely in my hand—good for smashing someone, would probably hurt!”

Yuanzi stared at him, baffled.

But Ye Chen made sure to memorize the stone’s number. If given the chance, he wanted to verify his discovery—was it truly as he suspected? It might well be the most energy-rich primal stone in the entire room.

If his guess proved correct, he might become a big winner himself.

This excitement made him clench his fists when Yuanzi wasn’t looking.

...

Before leaving, Ye Chen paused, then asked with a broad smile, “Yuanzi, I forgot to ask—how much discount does my Apprentice Researcher card get me on recovery agents?”

Yuanzi covered her mouth with both hands, didn’t answer, but instead pulled out a bag from beneath the bar and handed it to Ye Chen.

“Here, the Chief Director instructed me to give you this gift, free of charge!”

Ye Chen thought to himself, what a stroke of luck!

He asked casually, “Is the Director a man or a woman?”

“Of course it’s Chief Director Youya!” Yuanzi replied, as if it were obvious.

Ye Chen, never one for false modesty, opened the bag on the spot. “Wow, the Director is so generous!”

Two bottles of E-grade recovery agent, each restoring fifty points, plus a bottle of deep green D-grade agent, restoring a hundred. Altogether, a gift worth tens of thousands.

Ye Chen felt a famous saying rise within him: Auntie, I don’t want to try anymore!

...

Outside the Transcendent Mansion, Ye Chen contacted Qiao Mucao, who said she needed a bit more time and told him to make his own arrangements.

So, carrying a book in one hand and the recovery agents in the other, Ye Chen strolled toward the most bustling commercial district of the inner city.

The books he’d promised to bring to Aunt Chen had already been gathered from the mansion’s library, saving him a trip to the bookstore.

Then, by sheer coincidence, he wandered into a kitchenware shop.

Who knows what spell the clerk cast on him, but he ended up gleefully buying a non-stick skillet—a high-class gift for Ye Shanshan.

Now, standing before an opulent hotel, left hand carrying two bags, right hand holding the skillet, Ye Chen looked up.

Snow fell from the pitch-black sky; through the swirling flakes, Ye Chen could make out the hotel’s name—Emerald Crown.

Ye Chen had never seen such luxurious splendor. Even without approaching, he could see through the spotless glass doors into the lobby bathed in warm orange light, the grand chandelier reflecting dazzling brilliance, and the proud, elite citizens of the inner city within.

If this was what a hotel should be, then the ones in the outer city could only be called “inns” or mere places to sleep.

Ye Chen stepped forward, intending to take a look inside.

He wasn’t worried about being snubbed by staff; he felt confident now. Counting the five thousand he’d brought and the two hundred thousand stipend from the mansion, Ye Chen figured he was a man of means.

Just as he neared the entrance, the doors swung open ahead of him.

A group of black-clad men filed out in two lines.

The leader, seeing Ye Chen blocking the main path, tried to shove him aside, only to be repelled himself.

Quick-witted, the leader immediately barked, “How dare you block the Young Lord’s path?!

“Are you tired of living? Or is your whole family tired of living?”

Ye Chen’s expression tightened, his brows furrowing...