"Arcane crystal is a peculiar kind of ore, usually found deep within arcane ore veins, accompanying the arcane ore itself,"
"Unlike arcane ore, arcane crystal contains no arcane energy, it's empty. It's often considered a harbinger of curses or bad luck. Many who mine arcane ore veins fear encountering this thing the most!"
Shen Yunyao walked up to the truck and replied.
"A harbinger of curses and bad luck?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly and looked at Shen Yunyao with a questioning gaze.
"Yes!"
Shen Yunyao glanced at the direction of the arcane ore vein. "For some reason, places where arcane crystals appear are almost devoid of arcane ore. Even if there is some, the quantity is very small, and the quality is extremely poor."
"Take that meter-diameter boulder next to you, for example. If it were mined from an arcane crystal pit, after cutting, the arcane ore inside would likely be only a few finger-widths in size, and most likely cracked into several pieces!"
"Because of this characteristic, when people mine arcane ore veins and dig up this thing, they get infuriated..."
Shen Yunyao pointed to a large rock next to Ye Feng and explained.
"This arcane crystal doesn't sound like a good thing... Why did you say it's more important than this truckload of arcane ore just now?"
Ye Feng looked at Shen Yunyao with confusion.
Shen Yunyao didn't answer immediately. She scanned the surroundings and lowered her voice. "For ordinary people, this thing is indeed useless besides being pretty. However, for us, it has an extremely special purpose! Arcane crystals can be used to make the spark of a mecha!"
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng's eyes widened. "Yun Yao, you mean the spark is made from this arcane crystal?"
"That shouldn't be right... I've encountered quite a few sparks, and most of them are dark... stones?"
As he said this, Ye Feng seemed unsure.
"Ye Feng, arcane crystals come in various colors. While I haven't seen the black arcane crystals you mentioned, they likely exist!"
"As for the dark, black stones you mentioned, those are probably sparks for mechas below the Yellow rank, crafted by low-skilled armor masters!"
"Arcane crystals are highly sensitive to elemental arcane energy. After carving arcane rune arrays with arcane energy, they can be made into mecha sparks!"
"The stronger the armor master's skill, the more powerful the arcane rune array, and thus the stronger the spark's power!"
"Some formidable armor masters can even make the arcane crystal change color entirely, to the color of the armor master's own arcane energy attribute!"
"Such as golden yellow for metal attribute, green for wood attribute, translucent for water attribute, red for fire attribute, and brownish-yellow for earth attribute..."
"Of course, sparks for mechas below the Yellow rank might also be the result of failed attempts to craft advanced sparks, turning them completely black..."
"Even in the Secret Armor Academy, such occurrences are frequent!"
Shen Yunyao clearly knew a lot about arcane crystals and spoke at length to Ye Feng.
"So that's how it is!"
After listening to Shen Yunyao, Ye Feng became even more interested in sparks, even looking forward to crafting one himself.
"Yun Yao, can I take a small piece of this arcane crystal to study?"
"I'm quite interested in this!"
Ye Feng examined the truck bed for a moment, picked up a palm-sized piece of arcane crystal, and asked.
"You can~!"
"Small fragments of arcane crystal like that are usually used for practice and familiarity before officially crafting a spark!"
Shen Yunyao nodded and agreed.
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng immediately stored the arcane crystal fragment in his spatial warehouse.
"The weather is truly hot!"
At this moment, a light flashed in Shen Yunyao's hand, and a folding fan instantly appeared.
It was understandable, as she had been standing in the sun talking to Ye Feng for a good while.
"It is indeed very hot... Do you want to..."
"Huh!"
Ye Feng was about to greet Shen Yunyao, who was fanning herself, when his expression suddenly changed.
Because one of the ribs of Shen Yunyao's fan was a bamboo slip. The style, runes, and color of the bamboo slip were very familiar to him; it was the reddish-brown bamboo slip from the book "Spark Record"!
"Big Brother! The fan!"
Xiao Xiao also noticed Shen Yunyao's fan and whispered to Ye Feng.
"Teacher Cang's Wangfeng Pavilion is so much more comfortable. Even though it's already three in the afternoon, the heat outside is still relentless!"
At this moment, Shen Yunyao spoke again. She turned to look at the giant stone building not far behind them.
Cang Shi was waving at Shen Yunyao and Ye Feng from the balcony of the third floor of the giant stone building.
"Yes, it is indeed quite hot~"
Ye Feng replied casually, his mind elsewhere.
"Goodbye, Teacher Cang!"
Shen Yunyao waved up at Cang Shi and then got into the Hummer.
Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao followed suit.
...
In the Hummer,
Shen Yunyao continued to fan herself. The Hummer had ice blocks loaded on the way, but the ice had melted now, and the car was extremely hot.
"Uh, Yun Yao, where did you buy that fan? It looks nice!"
After thinking for a moment, Ye Feng spoke.
"Fan?"
Shen Yunyao was slightly taken aback. "I made this fan myself. What do you think? Isn't it great!~"
"It's indeed very good!"
Ye Feng looked at the fan for a while, nodded seriously, and then, inexplicably, said, "How about you sell the fan to me? I'll trade you my last popsicle for it."
"Popsicle?"
Shen Yunyao, who was sweating on her forehead and fanning herself incessantly, suddenly's eyes lit up upon hearing the word.
"Yes!"
Ye Feng nodded. "I got it from a silver treasure chest before, and only one is left. I couldn't bear to eat it!"
"Why do you want this fan? Popsicles are very precious!"
"Especially the flavors from the old world, they are rare and hard to come by! While Mech City can make some ice products, the flavors are far inferior!"
Shen Yunyao looked at Ye Feng with bewilderment.
"Uh... Xiao Xiao likes this... Your fan has many flowers drawn on it, and they're pink..."
In a moment of desperation, Ye Feng fabricated a clumsy excuse.
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Xiao's face immediately turned red, because she had never mentioned this to Ye Feng before...
"Oh, alright~!"
Shen Yunyao glanced at Xiao Xiao, didn't think much of it, assuming Xiao Xiao's blush was due to the heat, and nodded in agreement.
"Here!"
A light flashed in Ye Feng's hand, and a Haagen-Dazs popsicle instantly appeared, emitting white mist into the air.
Seeing this, Shen Yunyao quickly handed the fan to Ye Feng and, at the same time, quickly took the popsicle and ate it with relish.
Ye Feng, on the other hand, handed the fan to Xiao Xiao, as he had already made his promise.
Xiao Xiao looked at Shen Yunyao, who was eating the popsicle, then at Ye Feng, pouted, opened the fan, and began fanning herself, looking out the window...
For a moment, the atmosphere inside the Hummer became somewhat awkward.
"Ahem, Yun Yao, you're such a good person~!"
After a moment of silence in the car, Ye Feng took the initiative to speak.
"Mmm~ You're a good person too!~"
Shen Yunyao replied casually, fully engrossed in eating her popsicle.
Hearing Ye Feng and Shen Yunyao's bizarrely awkward small talk, the driver's mouth twitched slightly...
...