Harsh Patel left the shop soon after and left Gray alone with his new acquaintance. Anand Patel was an amiable man and showed him around the house and the bedroom where he would be staying. It was small and empty with wooden floorboards and a small window near the ceiling that let some sunlight in. It was better than anything he was used to.

“Sorry about the room…” Anand Patel said, “If you want a bed, you can buy some cushions and pillows from some nearby shops for not much money.”

“It’s okay. I don’t need a bed.” Gray replied.

“I agree, beds are overrated!” Anand Patel said.

"A flat patch of dirt is fine too." Gray added with a smirk.

The old man's lips twitched, "Hey, we have that in the back!"

The two looked at each other and then they both burst into hearty laughter. Gray liked this shopkeeper, he was surprisingly easy to get along with, more than anyone he had met so far.

Still chuckling, Anand Patel led him out of the room and showed him the backyard. It was a walled courtyard with not much except dirt, some stray weeds, and a well in the one corner. The old man gave Gray a very pointed look, indicating that he really needed a wash.

Gray took the hint and Anand Patel left him alone. The walls were high and there weren’t any prying eyes so Gray took off his tattered clothes and cleaned himself. He scrubbed weeks of dirt and grime off of his body, face, and hair. His hair had gotten a bit out of hand was now well past his shoulders. He cut it haphazardly until it all hung loosely down around his neck.

After finishing with everything, he finally looked less like a wild beast and more like a young man.

He put his clothes on and went back into the shop. Anand Patel was at a counter of the main room, peering at a collection of tiny cyan-colored objects the size of grains of rice.

“Jade!” Gray exclaimed.

He recognized what they were from Xueling’s stories. Like citrine, jade was one of the eight elemental gems that existed in the world. Its color was a mixture of cyan, turquoise, and sky blue and contained the attribute of the sky and including air, wind, sharpness, and quickness. The sky attribute suited cultivators who specialized in speed, agility, and the sharpest, penetrating attacks. It was especially popular among swordsmen and those cultivating sword arts.

“That’s right!” Anand Patel’s eyes glittered with excitement, “Jade Hill Town is famous for its bountiful jade mining fields. They are all over the surrounding plains. You probably saw them as you came in from the north. Periodic storms deposit sky-attribute spiritual energy into the ground. Some it goes into the grass and shrubs but a lot of it seeps deeper into the ground. There, it coalesces into gems of pure sky energy, jade!”

“Amazing!”

Gray had no idea that gems formed this way. But thinking about it some more, it made sense for something linked to the spiritual energy of the sky to come from the sky.

“Totally! Jade Hill Town sits atop an area particularly rich in jade. It is the reason why the town exists, as a source of jade for the kingdom.” Anand Patel said while polishing a gem tenderly with a silk cloth.

“Harsh told me you sell gems. Can I buy some of that? I have the money.” Gray asked.

The spiritual energy in jade could be absorbed just like citrine. These jade gems were tiny and probably only the most basic grade. It definitely wouldn’t compare to his heavenly citrine but it was better than nothing. His cultivation had stalled for a long time and he was eager to get started again.

Anand Patel put down the jade, “I wouldn't recommend jade as a cultivation resource. Although jade is a spiritual treasure, it would be a waste to use it like that. Instead, I have these!”

He pulled open a drawer and took out a heavy sack. He opened it and pulled out several chunks of white, opaque stone. They were quite sizable; some were as big as grapes while others were like small tomatoes.

“Old Patel, what are those? Are they spiritual stones?” Gray asked.

“Yup, they are much cheaper than using jade. You can buy these from me.”

“What if I just want some jade?” Gray asked stubbornly, “Since Harsh told you about me, you know that I can afford it.”

“Hahaha, you want jade? Look at this one, it’s around one gram.” Anand Patel held up a tiny piece of jade, “It costs fifty gold coins. Do you still want it?”

“Fifty!” Gray exclaimed.

He didn’t expect it to be so expensive. What kind of concept was fifty gold coins? He would become broke just by buying a small bag of jade!

The old man took back the jade and offered a chunk of spiritual stone. “Now for spiritual stone… You can get one whole kilogram of the thing for ten gold coins. And these two aren’t even equivalent in terms of cultivating your spiritual sea. You will probably need two or three grams of jade to get the same effect as a kilogram of spiritual stones. Ten gold verses at least a hundred gold, do you still want it?” The old man said.

“…”

Anand Patel's eyes glittered with vigor, “A person only uses jade for cultivation if they want to improve their understanding and comprehension of the sky attribute. Each jade gem had a large amount of spiritual energy within that is attuned to the powers of the sky. A cultivator can absorb that spiritual energy to help them with cultivation arts that were utilized and attuned to this natural element. But they only need a small amount for such purposes."

Gray thought about his citrine and couldn’t help but ask, “Old man, if a person absorbs enough jade, will they obtain the attributes of the sky? Won't they be super powerful that way?”

"No!" Anand Patel said loudly, startling Gray, "No, they can't! If they overdo it, it can have more severe drawbacks that outweigh the benefits. Spiritual energies that contain attributes are innately difficult to control, requiring a powerful cultivation art to provide the proper guidance or some kind of innate physique that is naturally attuned to an attribute. Otherwise, the results are dire!"

Gray nodded his head. Anand Patel's word's held some truth. The drawback of cultivating with elemental gems was indeed real but it wasn't a big issue for someone with the Tome of Glorious Fortune. The power of his supreme cultivation art was unrivaled.

"Do you have other types of gems?" He asked.

"Ah! I do!"

Anand Patel brightened once again and quickly reached for a small drawer. He withdrew a small box and pulled out three gems,

He reached towards a small drawer and pulled out more gems for Gray to see. He held out three gems, one blood red, one deep blue, and one which was a familiar bright yellow.

“Look at these… This one is ruby and corresponds with fire… This is sapphire and corresponds with water.” He explained, his voice soft and reverent, “This last one is citrine and corresponds with the earth… These are the only other gems I sell here in this shop. There are others but they aren't found around these parts or they are simply too rare.”

Anand Patel continued his spirited and one-sided discussion of gems. He explained how gems provided more energy the bigger they were and how they were separated by their quality into different grades. The gems in his shop were only at the ordinary grade which provided spiritual energy at the Spiritual Strengthening Realm. The next level was the flawless grade which contained energy at the next realm of Spiritual Control.

A flawless grade gem was over a hundred times more expensive than an ordinary grade gem. There were still higher grades of gems that couldn't be bought even with the entire wealth of a kingdom. As for Gray's heavenly citrine, it was enough to bankrupt the whole world.

Gray had no chance of holding onto such an item with his pitiful strength. He was glad it was safe in Xueling's hands.