CHAPTER 269: CHAPTER 141 GESTURES

"You let Li Xiu, a super technical Trial Taker, play strength games with you. I can’t believe you thought of that," Kun Sha laughed and swore.

"What kind of trial projects are there?" Li Xiu was quite interested.

Shale hasn’t been able to become a true Trial Taker yet, so if he can handle it, Li Xiu should have no problem.

Li Xiu’s strength now is not what it was when he entered the Trial Ground with Shale. Even Kun Sha’s strength is no longer comparable to Li Xiu’s.

Shale detailed the trial projects at the Punch Dominator Trial Ground, and actually, the projects are really simple. For trials below Grade A, it’s all about comparing punching power.

There are designated trial-use mannequins in the Trial Ground. As long as you cause a certain degree of damage to the mannequin with your fists within a specified time or number of attempts, you can pass the trial.

With Shale’s strength, he can pass the first round of an A-level trial smoothly, as long as he doesn’t continue further, it won’t be too dangerous.

As for the S-level Punch Dominator trial, Shale hasn’t encountered it yet, and the chance of it appearing is extremely low.

"This trial is pretty good, at least you don’t have to kill each other. We’ll go check it out together sometime," Li Xiu said with a smile.

"There is also mutual slaughter, it depends on what kind of people you’re trialing with," Shale replied with a cold smile.

"What do you mean?" Li Xiu heard Shale’s words and understood that the Punch Dominator trial also has uncertainties.

"The trial itself doesn’t require mutual slaughter, but there’s no restriction before the trial begins, and there are no rules to protect the participating Trial Takers. When you meet those reckless guys, you’re bound to encounter some trouble," Shale said with a sneer.

"That doesn’t matter. Anyway, we’re just going to the trial together, and there are no outsiders," Li Xiu said.

Shale is impatient; as soon as he decides to go, he pulls Li Xiu out the door, not even drinking his wine, drives him to the Punch Dominator Trial Gate in a jeep.

Li Xiu could see from a distance that the area outside the Punch Dominator Trial Gate was crowded with people and surprisingly bustling.

"What’s going on here?" Li Xiu looked at Shale and asked.

"You know the current situation in Tyrone City. Many Trial Gates that originally belonged to Tyrone City are now being encroached upon by people from other cities. Kun Sha has no choice but to temporarily compromise and open those Trial Gates that can no longer be controlled. The Punch Dominator Trial Ground is now shared by Tyrone City and Guyue City. We can come, and people from Guyue City can come too," Shale explained.

"It shouldn’t be this lively, though. It’s practically like a marketplace," Li Xiu said as he looked at the crowd at the Trial Gate, which was brightly lit with many people setting up stalls on the ground.

"Let me finish. Neither side wants to lose, so they sold the slots for the Punch Dominator Trial Ground. Now, many families from both cities have the qualification to enter the Punch Dominator Trial Ground, so a lot of people come, and it’s gradually become like this," Shale said with a sneer. "This actually makes things convenient; we need blue-green tourmalines, which aren’t produced here, to enter the Punch Dominator Trial Ground. Many of these stall owners specialize in exchanging blue-green tourmalines for other gemstones, saving us a lot of trouble."

"What are blue-green tourmalines?" Li Xiu had heard of Blue Tourmaline and Green Tourmaline.

Blue Tourmaline and Green Tourmaline each have many color classifications. For instance, the Trial Ground Li Xiu went to before required Electric Green Tourmaline.

But the name blue-green tourmaline was something Li Xiu really hadn’t heard of before.

"It’s actually just a name based on the colors of tourmaline. The tourmaline produced here is either blue or green, and it’s rare to find one that has both colors. Even if there is, it’s extremely rare. Tourmaline produced in the Ancient Afghanistan Region used to have a variety that had both blue and green colors, with better quality and brilliance than the tourmalines produced here, and the price was much cheaper. So, we usually use Afghan blue-green tourmalines to open the door," Shale walked to a stall, took out some Red Apatite, and exchanged it with a vendor for some blue-green tourmaline.

Hearing Shale’s explanation, Li Xiu understood what was going on.

The colors of tourmaline are very abundant, with many different colors available, including quite a few bicolor tourmalines. Among the famous bicolor tourmalines is the Watermelon Tourmaline.

The so-called Watermelon Tourmaline is a bicolor tourmaline with red and green colors together, resembling a watermelon, hence the name.

Legend has it that Cixi, the empress dowager of ancient times, had a very exquisite Watermelon Tourmaline, which she cherished greatly and kept by her pillow, playing with it every day.

Of course, this is just a legend, and whether Empress Dowager Cixi really had a Watermelon Tourmaline, Li Xiu didn’t know, but Afghan tourmalines are quite famous among tourmaline producing regions.

Tourmalines from other regions tend to have relatively dull colors, while Afghan tourmalines are particularly bright. The same color appears much more vibrant in Afghan tourmalines, which were already very popular in the old days. Nowadays, Afghan tourmalines are priced much higher than ordinary tourmalines from other regions.

The reason Afghan blue-green tourmaline is actually cheaper than those from other regions is due to the high production volume. Other places rarely produce blue-green tourmalines, so the price is naturally higher. It’s not because other regions’ blue-green tourmalines are of better quality than Afghan blue-green tourmalines.

Of course, there’s an exception for a type of blue-green tourmaline called Paraiba, known as the king of tourmalines. No matter where it is, Paraiba is extremely expensive, incomparable to the price of ordinary tourmalines, with its price per carat even rivaling high-quality rubies and sapphires.