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Chen Guan untied the massive black metal coffin and stood it upright in the corner of the room.

Chen Guan pulled up a chair and sat down, casually placing the box given by the logistics department on the desk.

He flipped the lid open.

A pitch-black stone without any luster lay quietly in the shockproof sponge.

Its surface was rough, looking like a piece of cinder casually picked up from a mine. It had no special features on the outside, nor did it emit the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy.

The logistics director had said it was absurdly hard.

Chen Guan stretched out two fingers and picked up the Withered Source Stone.

It felt cold to the touch and was much heavier than metal of the same volume.

Chen Guan waved his hand, calling his pet cheetah over.

The cheetah obediently crawled over and submissively laid down at his feet.

"Inject your spiritual energy into it."

Chen Guan said. He didn't have pure spiritual energy himself, but this cheetah did. Originally, Chen Guan was only interested in its spatial abilities, but now it seemed this cheetah had other uses as well.

It wasn't a bad find; he had agreed to let this big cat come home with him.

The cheetah obediently did as told, but there was no reaction.

The spiritual energy hit an invisible wall and bounced back completely intact.

This indeed matched the logistics department's records: a piece of scrap that could neither channel spiritual energy nor be cut.

Chen Guan withdrew the spiritual energy.

Next came the real test.

He closed his eyes, and a gray mist seeped out from his palm.

The gray energy touched the surface of the Withered Source Stone.

The previously inert stone lit up with a faint shimmer, a gray glow radiating from within.

Fine cracks appeared on its indestructible surface.

The cracks expanded rapidly. Pieces of black stone skin peeled off, crumbling into fine powder as they fell onto the desk.

The disguise was stripped away.

Hidden inside the stone was a diamond-shaped, grayish-black crystal.

This crystal floated half an inch above Chen Guan's palm. Pure gray energy flowed along the crystal's edges, creating a synchronized resonance with the gray energy inside Chen Guan's body.

Sure enough, there was a connection.

Chen Guan didn't stop; he continued to increase the output of his gray energy.

The crystal began to spin, faster and faster.

Wisps of gray mist were drawn out of the crystal, drilling into his veins through his palm.

This mist did not stay in his body. Instead, it directly bypassed the limits of his physical shell and surged into the black iron coffin in the corner.

The coffin let out a muffled hum.

The cheetah lying nearby had its fur stand on end. Its limbs went soft, and it buried its head between its front legs, trembling uncontrollably.

It felt a hierarchical suppression far more terrifying than that of a Frostbone Wolf—a fear acting directly on the depths of its bloodline.

Chen Guan could clearly sense the changes in his true body.

His true body inside the coffin had an extreme thirst for this gray mist.

This was a restoration at the fundamental source.

Not only that, but as the gray mist poured in, fragmented images appeared in Chen Guan's mind.

A dim sky, cracked earth, and fierce winds whipping up black dust that blotted out the sun and moon.

A majestic black altar stood in the center of the wasteland. Surrounded by countless figures clad in ancient armor, they knelt toward the altar, chanting bizarre syllables.

The vision was brief, lasting only a few short seconds.

But Chen Guan saw clearly what was in the center of the altar.

It was a coffin.

Exactly identical to the one currently sitting in the corner of his room.

After transmitting the last bit of gray mist, the crystal completely exhausted its energy and turned into a pinch of white ash scattered in Chen Guan's palm.

Chen Guan clapped his hands, dusting the white ash into the trash can.

His guess was right.

This thing unearthed from the Black Wind Ruins indeed shared a very deep origin with his true body.

The Withered Source Stone was not scrap material at all; it was a crystallized relic left behind by that lost civilization.

Only by using the same kind of energy to activate it could one obtain the gifts inside.

Chen Guan glanced at the system panel.

This combat assessment had successfully reaped a massive wave of popularity points.

With these popularity points, his confidence grew significantly.

Once he left the Northern Territory, he absolutely had to take a tour of all the various ruins bearing the words "Black Wind".

Just then, the communicator on the desk lit up with a green light.

Chen Guan pressed the answer button, and Hong Yuan's piercingly loud voice instantly filled the entire single dorm room.

"Chen Guan, are you there? Tell me who's right here. That guy Yin Chen insists that the rich little miss Su Yuehe gave us too many materials, and he wants me to share some with him to forge defensive gear. Tell me, isn't he shameless? I pulled in that sponsorship with my own skills!"

Hong Yuan's tone was full of absolute dissatisfaction.

Yin Chen's unhurried voice came through the communication channel: "Even if your giant axe is entirely plated with Deep Sea Black Gold, swinging it around will just make you a sluggish, living target. Rather than wasting those high-strength metal plates, you might as well give the extra scraps to me. I'll use ice magic to fuse and coat them. This is called rational allocation of resources."

"Bah, don't think I don't know what you're plotting." Hong Yuan sneered, "You just want to make accessories for your broken magic wand. Stop acting so high and mighty."

Chen Guan listened to their pointless bickering and asked, "Did you really send over the material list to Su Yuehe?"

Hong Yuan laughed wildly. "I sent it! An Changqing's face turned green when he saw the list, but Su Yuehe didn't even frown. What does that mean? It means my asking price was still too low."

Yin Chen chimed in on the channel, "The Su family controls the resource allocation routes of the Human Council. This little bit of material is just a drop in the bucket for her."

"However, you'd better guarantee that the Mystic Turtle can spit out a few more Ancient Demon Runes in three days. Since Su Yuehe's thirst for knowledge borders on paranoia, if the turtle has no reaction by then, her temper will probably become terrifying."

Chen Guan casually changed the subject. "What did that turtle eat today?"

Hong Yuan answered nonchalantly, "It ate two bags of compressed biscuits and half an apple. Right now, it's still snoring away under my pillow. That thing really glows! No matter how I poke its shell, it just shrinks its head inside and refuses to come out."

Chen Guan replied patiently, "Don't use brute force to knock on it, and don't kill the turtle, or we won't be able to deliver the goods."

Hong Yuan cleared her throat, her loud voice booming from the speaker. "Put your mind completely at ease. This bastard's shell is thicker than my heavy armor. It eats and drinks well, and I'm treating it like an ancestor. There will absolutely be no problems before delivery. As for the materials, don't even think about it."

Yin Chen's voice still carried that unhurried elegance, completely unfazed by Hong Yuan's rudeness, as he pulled the topic back again.

"Student Hong Yuan, let me remind you one more time. The melting point of Deep Sea Black Gold is extremely high, and it fiercely rejects conventional high-temperature forging. Did you think you could just find any random blacksmith to melt it down for you?"