"Hey, brother, what are you doing here?" The man approached with a smile, looking at Jiang Hai with surprise.
"Oh, I came to see. But why are you here?" Jiang Hai replied, curious.
"This is my shop!" The man smiled broadly and pointed behind him.
Following his gesture, Jiang Hai saw a shop specializing in gems, jade, and similar items.
Such shops were not uncommon near Panjiayuan. Jiang Hai had seen at least a dozen of them on his way here. But what puzzled him was that this man had mentioned being in the jewelry business, so why had he opened a shop here?
"Well, I usually introduce raw materials to big companies, but I also opened this small shop to make a bit of extra money," the man explained with a smile, perhaps noticing the confusion in Jiang Hai's eyes.
Jiang Hai recognized the man—he was none other than Wang Yang, the overweight man who had sat next to him on the plane back to China. Hearing Wang Yang's explanation, Jiang Hai responded with a brief "Oh" and glanced around at the shop.
As expected, for someone who could casually return to China in first class without breaking a sweat, Wang Yang's shop may not have the best location, but it certainly wasn't small. The shop covered at least 300 square meters, with numerous display counters filled with various items.
What was sold here were hard goods—gems and the like—quite different from cultural relics. These were tangible, valuable items.
"Your shop is impressive!" Jiang Hai said, genuinely impressed.
"It's alright," Wang Yang said with a grin. "Come in and sit."
As they walked into the shop, Jiang Hai's smile instantly faded into a look of surprise. It wasn't the shop being empty that surprised him—it was the sudden surge of spiritual energy. Since returning to China, the growth of his scales, which had nearly stopped, seemed to accelerate. It felt as though the spiritual energy of the world was flowing into him at a rapid pace. This was a new and unexpected phenomenon, and he couldn't understand why it was happening.
Though curious, Jiang Hai chose not to delve into it right now. He suppressed his questions and followed Wang Yang further into the store, his eyes scanning everything as he tried to figure out where this surge of energy was coming from. For Jiang Hai, it wasn't wealth that excited him; it was either protecting his assets or increasing his power.
The second-level Dragon Pattern was already extraordinary. Jiang Hai was eager to see what the third, fourth, and fifth levels would bring. His body had already transformed from having the pattern of a snake to that of a dragon—would it eventually become a real dragon? The possibilities intrigued him deeply.
As they walked through the store, Jiang Hai's curiosity was evident, and he wasn't the only one who was interested. Everyone else, except Minister Qin, couldn't help but admire the sparkling gems around them. Women, in particular, seemed especially drawn to the glittering displays.
"Come on, brother, let me introduce you to some of these," Wang Yang said with a smile, noticing the group's interest in his items. He had invited them in not only to chat but also to show off his collection. After all, Jiang Hai was an important customer for his business.
"Sure!" Jiang Hai agreed, eager to figure out where the spiritual energy was coming from.
Wang Yang led him to the counters, where his selection was impressive. The five most precious gems in the shop were diamonds, rubies, sapphires, beryls, and chrysoberyls—though they were not cheap.
A ring made from chrysoberyl could cost tens of thousands of yuan, beyond the reach of most people. These gems served as attention-grabbers, but the real money was in the other stones.
Next, Wang Yang showed him the colored gemstones—tourmaline, spinel, topaz, peridot, garnet, crystal, feldspar, tanzanite, pyroxene, iolite, and zircon. Jiang Hai picked up a few, but after trying them out, he was certain none of them contained the spiritual energy he was seeking.
It wasn't surprising, considering the vast pile of gems he'd encountered at the shipwreck. Those had been just as impressive, yet he hadn't felt any spiritual energy from them. And now, nothing had changed.
When Jiang Hai moved on to the organic gems, Wang Yang introduced coral, amber, and pearls. The red coral, while valuable, was not the source of the energy Jiang Hai sought. Some corals had energy, but it was too weak to absorb. Amber, which could fetch a high price, was similarly unimpressive. Jiang Hai was sure that none of these were what he was looking for.
Wang Yang began to notice that Jiang Hai seemed less interested in the collection than he'd hoped. The enthusiasm from earlier seemed to have waned. Still, Wang Yang wasn't discouraged—after all, people from the capital were always conscious of their reputation, and he had to continue showing his items. With a forced smile, he led Jiang Hai to the final section: jade.
Jadeite was currently the most popular type of jade, but to Jiang Hai, it looked no different from any of the other gems. He didn't feel any energy from it, unlike the coral and amber he had already examined. He wasn't sure whether the jadeite was genuine or fake. It was hard to tell.
Wang Yang then pulled out a jade pendant from the cabinet and handed it to Jiang Hai.
"This is Hetian jade, but I'm not bluffing—you won't find this in China. Though China produces the best, I couldn't get any of it. This is from Russia. It's blue-white jade. A few years ago, it was highly sought after, though its popularity has waned recently. I have a lot in stock, but I heard that the government might designate it as national jade soon, so its value could rise again."
As soon as Jiang Hai touched the jade pendant, his eyes widened in shock.
He immediately felt a surge of spiritual energy pouring into his body. Unlike the small amounts he'd sensed before, this energy was substantial, and it was unlike any ordinary energy. It was as if the jade was not only sending energy into him but also actively drawing in more energy from the world around him.
The spiritual energy began circulating through his body at an accelerated pace. Jiang Hai's eyes gleamed as he realized the potential of this jade pendant—it was exactly what he'd been searching for.