Chapter 164: Auspicious 88
Within a single day, the Truth Stone underwent a complete transformation in its mindset—from “Once my master kicks the bucket, I’m making a run for it” to “My master absolutely has to live a long, long life.”
And its master, Cheng Qisheng, soon discovered another benefit of the Truth Stone.
Whenever someone asked it a question, she could see the answer the Truth Stone provided.
It was essentially a perk exclusive to its master.
Normally, only the person who asked the question could see the answer, and even after receiving it, the asker could not pass the answer on to anyone else.
But Cheng Qisheng could attach a portion of her mental power to the Truth Stone and see the words that appeared on it.
Some of the words were written in Moon Silk script, while others were in the native languages of other city lords’ civilizations. Yet perhaps because of the Truth Stone, the instant she saw them, she could understand their meaning.
Moreover, by using the Truth Stone as a medium to send a question through the channel leading to the answerer, she could catch a glimpse of what the answerers from other worlds looked like.
She had to admit, even for the Blue Sea Creator God, who had already seen quite a lot of the world, getting to glimpse fragments of countless other worlds was a pretty amazing experience.
In summary: she now had a steady stream of nuclear crystals coming in, could freeload on the answers to other people’s questions, and could also catch glimpses of countless different worlds.
She was making an absolute killing!
Granted, for now, the questions people asked were either things Cheng Qisheng wasn’t interested in or things that weren’t particularly useful to Blue Sea.
But the Truth Stone wasn’t going to exist for just one day.
Sooner or later, she’d be able to freeload on the answers to all sorts of important questions.
“It’s only been one day, and we’ve already made a hundred thousand nuclear crystals.”
Cheng Qisheng felt utterly refreshed.
She could clearly sense that ever since the Safe City had advanced to Tier 6, the number of nuclear crystals required had been increasing exponentially.
And because the residents needed nuclear crystals for their own advancements, they could no longer send every single crystal they collected back to Blue Sea like they had before. Even if Old Eighth and the others were willing to do so, Cheng Qisheng wouldn’t allow them.
Weapons were certainly important, but improving the combat strength of the residents was the top priority. After all, there was a limit to how powerful the weapons on Moon Silk could become, while no one knew where the upper limit of ability users lay.
And now, she finally didn’t have to worry about nuclear crystals anymore!
These crystals could not only be used to develop the Safe City, but could also be used to supply her residents, allowing them to advance their supernatural abilities more quickly.
The Truth Stone also sent over an image of a strange-looking humanoid frantically banging its head against the stone, conveying that it, too, desperately wanted to kowtow to its master.
It couldn’t speak, nor could it independently make words appear on the stone. So whenever it wanted to express something, it could only communicate through emotions or extract images from the memories of the various questioners and send them over.
It was essentially the Truth Stone’s version of a collection of reaction images.
For example, just now, when it had eaten until it was stuffed, it had sent Cheng Qisheng a picture of a stone man raising both arms and shouting:
“God! I finally don’t have to live a hard life anymore!”
Cheng Qisheng could understand the Truth Stone’s change in attitude perfectly well.
Although this stone had been alive for many years, it wasn’t very good at hiding its emotions. After binding herself to it, Cheng Qisheng couldn’t exactly claim to know everything it was thinking, but she certainly understood most of it.
As for the fact that the Truth Stone had previously appeared obedient on the surface while secretly having its own little schemes, Cheng Qisheng didn’t mind at all.
It was alive, after all. Naturally, it would have thoughts of its own.
From its perspective, it had originally been free to do whatever it wanted, eating as much as it earned. Then, all of a sudden, it acquired a master. It was perfectly normal for it to resist.
At its core, the Truth Stone was no different from other intelligent lifeforms. It simply had the instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm.
It had resisted because it believed having a master would bring it disadvantages.
Once it discovered that having a master came with benefits, naturally, its attitude would change.
To be honest, if Cheng Qisheng’s circumstances were not so special, and the Truth Stone had actually bound itself to another city lord, things probably wouldn’t have turned out this way.
After all, the Truth Stone really was a priceless treasure.
Ten billion nuclear crystals!
Once the city lords obtained it, they most likely wouldn’t dare make its existence public, let alone do what Blue Sea was doing now—actively promoting the Truth Stone everywhere.
Cheng Qisheng dared to do this because she could guarantee that every Blue Sea resident appearing in various parts of Moon Silk was absolutely loyal to her. There was no risk of them leaking any information.
That was why she could freely send people out to spread the word.
And now, Cheng Qisheng could confidently guarantee that even if she severed her bond with the Truth Stone at this very moment, the little thing would still happily tag along with Blue Sea.
The Truth Stone had no idea what its great master was thinking.
If it did, it would only express its wholehearted agreement.
The Truth Stone’s eating habits were rather bizarre, somewhat similar to the way humans ate.
Under normal circumstances, it ate one meal a day, with a minimum of one thousand crystals per meal. Three thousand crystals were enough to stuff it completely full.
By the next day, it would feel hungry again and need to eat once more.
But when times got tough, the Truth Stone could also imitate the Bearman civilization and consume its own fat—its body—to enter a sort of hibernation state, replenishing its energy by slimming down its body.
It was basically like eating itself.
That was why the Truth Stone could suddenly become fat or thin, large or small. It also had a habit of saving up. Whenever it encountered a particularly gullible questioner, it would fleece them for everything it could.
The more it fleeced, the less hungry it would have to go later.
Normally, the Truth Stone operated on the principle of quality over quantity.
By “quality,” it meant latching onto a single questioner and squeezing them for all they were worth.
Who could have imagined that one day, it would actually be able to go for quantity?!
Forget the crystals brought in by safety cities and military legions. Just the ordinary Moon Silk people who had come rushing over after hearing the news were enough.
One person gave it a crystal, another gave it ten, another gave it dozens…
With all those crystals being fed to it, the total was already enough to keep the Truth Stone full for two or three days.
Its first reaction was to gorge itself, eating until it was completely stuffed.
Even so, there was a limit to how much it could eat. After consuming three thousand nuclear crystals, the Truth Stone simply couldn’t eat another bite.
It was satisfied, yet at the same time, it felt uneasy, afraid that Cheng Qisheng would take away the extra nuclear crystals.
Cheng Qisheng noticed this and sent it a single sentence through her mental power:
“Let’s split them fifty-fifty. You keep the remaining nuclear crystals that belong to you. And you can store my share for me, too.”
The Truth Stone had a habit of saving things precisely because it had the ability to do so. Just as it could open passages to various worlds and send questions through them, it could also store nuclear crystals inside some kind of dimensional space within its body.
In the past, no one except itself could retrieve those nuclear crystals. Now, Cheng Qisheng could, too.
So she had no problem leaving the nuclear crystals stored inside the Truth Stone for the time being.
The stuffed Truth Stone: !!!
Not only had its master not taken away the portion of the remaining nuclear crystals that belonged to it just because it was already full!
She had even entrusted her own nuclear crystals to it for safekeeping!
At this point, the Truth Stone practically wanted to carve the words “I, the Truth Stone, swear to defend my master Cheng Qisheng to the death” right into its own stone forehead.
It carefully divided the nuclear crystals into two piles—one for itself and one for its master—deliberately keeping them far apart and storing them safely.
The Truth Stone had thought that being able to earn nuclear crystals from ordinary people like this was already an incredibly abundant and prosperous life. After all, a little accumulated over time would eventually become a lot.
But as it turned out, Cheng Qisheng had much bigger plans.
“It’s still not enough, Little Stone.”
The great Blue Sea Creator God smiled as she patted its stone head.
“These hundred thousand nuclear crystals are only an appetizer.”
“There are plenty more nuclear crystals coming later.”
Across Moon Silk, rumors about the Truth Stone also began spreading as it appeared in one place after another, growing more numerous by the day.
People gradually discovered that the Truth Stone could be used in all sorts of ways.
It only ever told the truth, and the number of nuclear crystals it charged varied according to the importance of the question.
In other words, if someone asked it a question they weren’t even sure had an answer, and the Truth Stone named a price, that meant the question did have an answer.
If it didn’t name a price, then the question most likely had no answer.
One Blue Sea resident who wished to remain anonymous was kind enough to share a “painless way to check the future” with everyone, completely free of charge.
“Go find the Truth Stone and ask it: ‘Truth Stone, within the next xx years—for example, the next five years—what do I need to avoid in order to remain healthy and safe?’”
“If the answer only costs a small number of nuclear crystals, then there’s no need to bother checking further. It means that, in all likelihood, the area where you live won’t encounter any major dangers over the next five years.”
“If the answer requires a large number of nuclear crystals, that means you’ll definitely face some kind of life-or-death crisis within those five years.”
“The more nuclear crystals the Truth Stone demands, the greater the danger you’ll encounter. The fewer nuclear crystals it demands, the more easily that danger can be avoided.”
“Of course, you need to have enough nuclear crystals on hand when you ask the question. If the Truth Stone determines that you don’t have enough, it’ll simply remain silent. Also, there’s one thing you need to pay attention to: questions of this nature can only be asked once. So be careful about the time span when you ask. It’s best not to make it too long, or the Truth Stone might not be able to answer either. Consider this a free way to find out whether you’ll encounter any danger in the future and give yourself a heads-up.”
As soon as this free tip was shared, it immediately went viral across the entire Moon Silk.
Naturally, the kind-hearted Blue Sea residents scattered across the various regions had played no small part in spreading it.
Whether they were Moon Silk natives, safety-city residents, or even city lords—every intelligent lifeform showed tremendous enthusiasm for this painless way of exploiting a loophole to get an answer while saving a huge amount of nuclear crystals.
The main reason was simple:
It was free.
Everyone wanted to try something that was free.
Finally, when the Truth Stone randomly descended near a certain Safe City, the city lord sent a trusted aide to ask it the question.
“Truth Stone, what does Hanming Safe City need to avoid over the next five years in order to continue operating safely?”
The surface of the towering red stone began to ripple with one vortex after another.
As it spun rapidly, digits began appearing one after another.
In the end, the number of nuclear crystals required to answer the question stopped at 880,000.
Actually, it had originally intended to stop at 800,000.
But the Truth Stone had happened to hear its master mention that, in her civilization, the number 88 was considered especially auspicious.
Hehe.
The Truth Stone, which had recently become its master’s most loyal subordinate, decided to use a number that would bring its master even more good fortune.
The trusted aide of the Hanming City Lord’s expression gradually changed.
The question wasn’t asking about the safety of the city lord herself. It was asking about the safety of the entire Safe City.
The fact that the Truth Stone demanded so many nuclear crystals meant that the danger facing their Tier-5 Safe City could very well be the destruction of the entire city.
Hanming Safe City had originally just wanted to follow the crowd and get some peace of mind for free.
Now, they were anything but reassured.
The trusted aide practically sprinted all the way back to deliver the news.
The Hanming City Lord’s expression also shifted between pale and grim after hearing it. She didn’t hesitate for long.
This concerned the survival of their entire civilization. This was hardly the time to be stingy.
“Give it 880,000 nuclear crystals.”
A huge quantity of nuclear crystals poured into the vortices of the Truth Stone.
Inside Blue Sea Safe City, the Pope, Tianxing, who had been assigned to serve as the answerer, also received the treatment of an answerer for the first time.
Words slowly began appearing before him:
‘What does Hanming Safe City need to avoid over the next five years in order to continue operating safely?’
Pope Tianxing looked at the words and quietly stated the answer.
“Hanming Safe City needs to leave Moon Silk before the Great Annihilation. The time is…”
It was the truth, and therefore it was successfully recognized as a genuine answer.
The next second, a massive amount of nuclear crystals came pouring down, smoothly making their way into Blue Sea’s nuclear crystal storage vault.
Cheng Qisheng had finally accomplished what she had been planning to do all along.
The questions were being asked by other safety cities under Blue Sea’s guidance.
The answers were being provided by one of her own people.
The platform was her very own stone.
One question cost 880,000 nuclear crystals.
Aside from the 8,000-crystal channel fee, the rest effectively went straight into Cheng Qisheng’s pocket.
And the Hanming City Lord, having spent 880,000 nuclear crystals to obtain the answer, would realize that the answer applied to every Safe City.
She couldn’t resell the answer a second time.
But after losing 880,000 nuclear crystals, would the Hanming City Lord want to find some way to recoup at least part of her loss?
For example, by encouraging other city lords to ask the Truth Stone themselves.
Of course, that encouragement wouldn’t come for free.
“It’s been over an hour, right?”
Cheng Qisheng checked the time.
“The residents of Hanming Safe City should have made it back by now.”
She opened the city lords’ group chat and silently counted the time.
“One, two, three…”
When she reached seventeen, the Hanming City Lord appeared in the group chat.
[Hanming Safe City: Everyone, I have a very important source of information. The kind that concerns life and death. Just to be clear, I’m not telling you the actual information. I’m giving you a channel and instructions for obtaining it.]
[Hanming Safe City: The price is 1,000 nuclear crystals. I guarantee it’ll be worth every crystal. Anyone interested, come to me.]
Cheng Qisheng took a sip of her homemade fruit juice, a smile spreading across her eyes.
Success.
She didn’t need to do anything else from here on out.
The city lords would guide one another.
A huge number of safety cities would line up to ask the Truth Stone that one question—the question concerning the very survival of their safety cities.
The safety cities on this planet were all extremely wealthy.
And there were more than four hundred of them.
One Safe City… 880,000 nuclear crystals.
Let her do the math.
Just how many crystals would that bring in?
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