The second chapter of The Legend of the Divine Eye narrates how the protagonist, Li Lei, discovers and begins to utilize his “opportunity.”

In the first chapter, after waking up, he notices a strange object in the room that emits a faint, hazy glow in his eyes, captivating his attention.

“What… what is that?!” Li Lei pointed in a direction, his eyes wide with astonishment.

The old steward turned around in confusion, following Li Lei’s gaze, and spotted a decorative stone. He quickly walked over and pointed at it, asking, “Young Master, are you referring to this peculiar stone?”

“Yes, yes, that’s it!” Li Lei leaped out of bed without even putting on his shoes, his hair disheveled, and rushed to the stone, which was about half a person’s height. He circled it, examining it closely. This was the object he had seen when he first opened his eyes.

It had been glowing earlier, but now the light was gone.

“What is this?” Li Lei asked.

The old steward gave his young master a puzzled look and explained, “Young Master, this is just a stone. It was acquired by our shop because of its unique shape, resembling a tree. When the master saw it during his last visit, he ordered it to be made into a decorative piece for the house.”

“I remember you were there at the time.”

This reminder jogged Li Lei’s memory. Indeed, this was a stone his father had been fond of. However, when they left, it was too heavy to carry, so they left it behind in the old house.

But Li Lei clearly remembered that the stone had never glowed before. If it had, he would have noticed it earlier, and so would everyone else. It wouldn’t have gone unnoticed until now.

Thinking this, he asked again for confirmation, “Uncle Li, have you ever seen it glow?”

“Glow?” The old steward glanced at the stone and then at the young master, who was curiously touching it. With concern, he asked, “Young Master, are you feeling alright? How could a stone glow? It’s just a stone.”

“Perhaps I should call a physician for you.”

The old steward’s words clearly indicated his worry that the young master might have suffered a head injury when he was knocked unconscious in the street earlier. Otherwise, why would he ask such a strange question?

A stone is just a stone; it cannot glow. If stones could glow, what would be the point of candles?

Facing the old steward’s concerned gaze, Li Lei quickly realized his mistake.

He forced a laugh and said, “Ah, never mind, I must have been mistaken.”

Li Lei pretended to yawn. “You can leave now. I’m going to sleep.”

But the old steward replied, even more bewildered, “But Young Master, you’ve been unconscious for a whole day and just woke up.” How could someone who had been asleep for a day need to sleep again?

At this, the old steward’s expression grew even more peculiar.

Li Lei: “…”

Oh right, he had just woken up.

Realizing that if this continued, the old steward might indeed send for a physician, Li Lei calmed down and stopped mentioning sleep. Instead, he said he was hungry and watched as the old steward arranged for food and had hot water brought in for him to wash up.

When the food was served, he casually picked some dishes and quickly finished his meal. Then, he made an excuse to the old steward and the servants, saying, “I’m full.”

“You can all leave now. I’m going to read for a bit.”

Li Lei planned to study the glowing stone in detail once they left, to figure out what was going on.

But as soon as he finished speaking, his personal servant, Jixiang, looked up in surprise and said, “Young Master, you hate reading! And there are no books in your luggage. Before we left, you told me to secretly remove them, saying only fools read books.”

Li Lei: “…”

He hadn’t expected both of his excuses to fail. So, he decided to drop the act and asserted his authority as the young master.

“Enough! I just want to be alone. All of you, get out. Don’t get in my way. If I need anything, I’ll call for you.”

He then touched his stomach, stopping the servant from taking the dishes away. “Leave the food here. I’ll have someone collect it later.”

Seeing that the young master was back to his usual self, the old steward felt reassured. He gave a few instructions and left with the others, leaving only one servant at the door to attend to Li Lei if needed.

Once the door closed, Li Lei’s expression turned excited. He rushed to the half-person-high stone, examining it from all angles and touching it repeatedly. While absentmindedly washing up earlier, he had begun to understand what this thing was.

This was his “opportunity”!

The “opportunity” that the old beggar had spoken of, the one that would bring him benefits!

There was no other explanation for why only he could see the “glow” on the stone, while the old steward, the servants, and everyone else who passed by could not.

This was his unique “opportunity”!

Realizing this, Li Lei’s breathing became rapid.

…

At this point, Fu Wenyu took out his notebook.

This was the notebook he used when studying jade and antique knowledge at Jinshizhai. He had written down some important points that he thought might be useful later.

Jinshizhai was an antique shop, and most of the jade there was ancient jade. Although the ancient jade, which had been cut and carved and had experienced many years in the mortal world, was different from what Fu Wenyu was writing about now, there were still some similarities. So, after careful searching, he found some useful information.

Shopkeeper Zhang had arranged for him to study at two shops.

One was Jinshizhai, which sold antiques, and the other was Jubaolou, which sold trendy jewelry.

Originally, Fu Wenyu had planned to go to Jubaolou first, as the first plot in The Legend of the Divine Eye involved “stone gambling,” which required specialized knowledge about jade. Unfortunately, the shopkeeper and master craftsman at Jubaolou had gone out to purchase goods.

They were buying “raw stones.”

Stone gambling existed in ancient times, and it involved raw stones.

However, the threshold for this was high, and raw stones were monopolized by the government and a few individuals, so ordinary people were unaware of it. Those who participated in stone gambling were usually silver shops. They would travel long distances to the sources of raw stones to buy both cut jade and raw stones of unknown quality.

The people from Jubaolou had gone out this time to buy jade for making jewelry.

After learning about this situation, Fu Wenyu decided to go to Jinshi Zhai first. Once Jubaolou brought back the raw stones, he would go there to study and observe the ancient stone-cutting process.

As for the “opportunity” that Li Lei encountered in the story, Fu Wenyu happened to be in a state of “knowing a little,” so the description he wrote carried just the right amount of “awkwardness.”

It was a happy accident.

…

In the second chapter of The Legend of the Divine Eye, after realizing that the large stone was his “opportunity,” Li Lei tried various methods to investigate and understand it.

He poured tea on it…

He brought a candle close to burn it…

He patted, tapped, and caressed it, trying to uncover the stone’s secrets.

Unfortunately, after trying many methods, Li Lei still couldn’t find any clues. However, there was some good news: he saw the “glow” again!

Through his experiments, he discovered that as long as he focused intently and stared at the stone, he could see a faint, hazy glow emanating from within it. The glow was very weak, like a candle covered by ten layers of lampshades. It was almost imperceptible unless one looked carefully.

As for why he had noticed it immediately upon waking up, Li Lei thought it must have been because he had just obtained his “opportunity” at that time.

But how could he unlock this “opportunity”?

Li Lei thought and thought, looked and looked, and finally decided to smash it!

“Smash… smash it?” Jixiang, his personal servant, asked in disbelief. “Young Master, you want to smash this big stone? But… but this is a stone the master likes. What if he finds out…”

He shivered involuntarily.

Li Lei waved his hand dismissively. “If you don’t tell, and I don’t tell, and no one else tells, how would my father know? He’s still in Ping’an County and won’t be back anytime soon.”

“Go and call someone. I want to smash this stone!”

Jixiang thought about it and agreed.

After all, the young master was the master’s own son. Although he wasn’t highly regarded, the master wouldn’t punish him over a stone left in the old house. At most, he’d scold him a few times.

And when it came to being scolded, the young master had plenty of experience!

So, Jixiang immediately agreed and informed the old steward. He then gathered three or five people, some carrying hammers and others with iron rods, ready to follow the young master’s orders and smash the stone.

“Young Master, where should we start?”

By now, the stone, which resembled a tree and glowed in Li Lei’s eyes, had been moved to an open area in the courtyard. Jixiang held a hammer, eager to begin.

“Hmm, let me see…”

Li Lei circled the stone and cautiously pointed to a spot where the glow was the faintest. “Start here. Just make a palm-sized hole, less than an inch deep.”

“Just a palm-sized hole?” Jixiang scratched his head in confusion. Since the young master had initially said he wanted to “smash the stone,” Jixiang had brought heavy tools, thinking the young master might want to break it into two or ten pieces. But now that the young master only wanted a small opening, the tools he had brought were unsuitable.

Fortunately, although Jixiang sometimes couldn’t keep his mouth shut, he was loyal to Li Lei. He quickly found a set of stonemason’s tools and, following Li Lei’s instructions, carefully chiseled a palm-sized window into the top of the stone.

“How is it? How is it?” Li Lei asked nervously.

“Nothing special,” Jixiang wiped his stone-dust-covered hands on his clothes and said, puzzled, “Young Master, it’s just an ordinary stone.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”