The jade in Lin Qian’s hand was made of special material, crystal clear. Embedded in the center was a character, surrounded by grooves forming intricate patterns across the entire surface.
"Senior brother, catch." Lin Qian weighed the three jade plates in his hand and tossed them to Gao Benli.
Catching the jade plates thrown at him, Gao Benli curiously lowered his head to examine them.
The three shimmering jade plates appeared to have characters embedded at their center. On closer examination, he saw the words "Scout," "Hide," and "Communication."
"Except for the ’Communication’ jade, the others last for an entire day. You can use them right now," Lin Qian pointed at the jade plates in Gao Benli’s hands and indicated to him.
"This is quite novel, I want to give it a try," Gao Benli said, intrigued. He stored away the communication jade and infused Soul Power into the other two jades.
However, when Gao Benli infused his Soul Power into the jade plates, nothing happened at all, not even the slightest reaction.
Seeing that the jade plates in his hands elicited no response, Gao Benli raised his hand and signaled to Lin Qian, "Junior brother, is this thing broken? It doesn’t work."
"This skill jade isn’t activated using Soul Power; no wonder it didn’t work," Lin Qian explained in response to Gao Benli’s confusion. "The method to use this skill jade is by ingesting it."
"Oh!" Gao Benli suddenly realized and moved the jade plate toward his mouth, but just as he was about to pop it into his mouth, he abruptly stopped and removed it.
"You little rascal, are you treating your senior brother like a fool? Stop playing around and tell me how it really works," Gao Benli pointed at Lin Qian, shaking his head repeatedly and urging him.
Hearing Gao Benli say this, Lin Qian spread his hands innocently, "Senior brother, I’m telling the truth, you really do have to swallow this."
"…" Gao Benli looked helplessly at Lin Qian and after a long silence said, "Stop joking, this clearly is a semi-transparent white jade, how could it possibly be edible?"
"Senior brother, let me explain slowly. This thing is called a skill jade, made from a specially made edible jade that can store special soul skills."
"For example, this ’Scout,’ after you eat it, it significantly enhances your perceptual powers. And the ’Hide,’ once ingested, will conceal your presence, making it impossible for others to detect you."
"This edible jade is made from a special type of fruit that naturally holds Soul Power. After special treatment, it can store soul skills inside."
"To ensure that consumers enjoy its taste, juice is added too. This one is lychee-flavored and very delicious. If you want, why not try heating this skill jade with Soul Power to see?"
Not only Gao Benli, but everyone around was dumbstruck, staring at Lin Qian.
But Gao Benli indeed followed Lin Qian’s advice, releasing a weaker Soul Power to produce heat through its dissipation.
To his surprise, he discovered that the jade plate in his hand began to soften and was very elastic.
"If heated before eating, it will be very chewy and quite amusing," Lin Qian looked sincerely at his senior brother in front of him.
Gao Benli took a deep breath, looked at Lin Qian and said, "Then senior brother will trust you this time, I’ll eat it!"
As soon as his words fell, Gao Benli closed his eyes tightly, clenched his teeth, and decided, stuffing both into his mouth.
After stuffing the skill jade Lin Qian spoke of into his mouth, Gao Benli, with a tense heart, tentatively chewed it a couple of times.
Everyone else watched Gao Benli curiously and anxiously, waiting for his reaction.
"Yum!!!" A high-pitched sound hummed from Gao Benli’s nose as he suddenly opened his eyes, the intensity of his chewing increasing.
"Mmm, not bad. I don’t know what this lychee flavor you mentioned is, but it really tastes good and the bite is especially satisfying!" While chewing the skill jade in his mouth, Gao Benli gave Lin Qian a thumbs up, praising him continuously.
"So, you really can eat these jade plates," Ye Lin said, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape as she watched the exhilarated Gao Benli, feeling as if her understanding of the world was collapsing.
"In fact, this effect is similar to that of a talisman, but with many more advantages."
"One, talismans need to be affixed to the body to work. If they are knocked off or damaged during battle, they lose their effectiveness. However, skill jade is ingested and becomes active once digested inside the body."
"Two, after using a talisman, continuous infusion of Spiritual Energy is necessary. Skill jade is different; it inherently contains the necessary Soul Power, so there is no additional expenditure."
"Three, skill jades are very tasty!"
After listening to Lin Qian’s explanation, everyone was astonished and turned to look again at the happily chewing Gao Benli.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Gao Benli swallowed the nearly chewed skill jade in his mouth, "Why are you watching me? It really does taste good."
As soon as his words fell, everyone clearly felt a noticeable change in the aura around Gao Benli.
Originally, as a Sky Breaking Realm Soul Martial Artist, even though Gao Benli concealed his aura, in the eyes of individuals like Ding Zhirong who were below Sky Breaking Realm, some intrinsic sensing of Soul Martial danger remained.
Moreover, being human, Gao Benli naturally had breath and body temperature.
But now, although they could clearly see Gao Benli, they couldn’t sense any aura from him at all.
Even as they clearly saw Gao Benli’s chest moving, they couldn’t sense his breathing or the sounds of his breaths.
Simultaneously, Gao Benli’s expression changed rapidly, and he suddenly turned around, "Junior brother, this skill jade is really amazing!"
In Gao Benli’s mind, the happenings of Maoqing Mountain and its surroundings all appeared. Even the several mountain peaks, shrouded and concealed by Arrays, were clear to him in his exploration.
At the same time, others were also amazed by the changes in Gao Benli, proving the skill jade’s effectiveness.
"Now that it’s settled, I’ll leave it to senior brother."
"No problem, leave it to me." Gao Benli nodded earnestly, then turned and was about to leave.
However, after walking a few steps, Gao Benli turned back, "Junior brother, do you have more skill jades? Or even those that have not stored any soul skills, just the prepared edible jades."
"I do have edible jades. What do you want them for?" Lin Qian looked at Gao Benli, curiously asking.
"Nothing much, just give me a few to chew on when I’m bored." After finishing his statement, Gao Benli reached out his hand to Lin Qian.