The cutting station had become a graveyard of Franklin's shattered reputation. Stone fragments littered the work surface like broken dreams, each piece a testament to his spectacular failure.
"This can't be happening," Franklin muttered, his weathered hands shaking as he stared at the fifth worthless stone. "Forty years of experience. Forty years!"
Liam's face had gone from pale to ashen. Sweat dripped from his forehead despite the warehouse's cool temperature. "Master Vance, surely the next stone will contain jade. It has to."
I watched the desperation creeping into both men's voices. The trap I'd set was working perfectly. Every stone Franklin had selected now contained nothing but ordinary rock, their jade essence absorbed into my cultivation during my earlier examination.
"Should we continue?" Chen asked, wiping stone dust from his cutting tools. "There are still twenty-five stones remaining."
"Yes!" Liam practically shouted. "Cut them all! Every single one!"
