“Do you know the name of that great emperor?” Ye Fan asked urgently.

Wang Shu shook his head. “I don’t. I only overheard a single drunken remark from Old Man Zhang the Fifth — that it was an emperor from ancient times, and he had no name to speak of.”

“I heard from my grandfather…” Er Lengzi suddenly began, his tone taking on a mysterious air. “The reason the Zhang Family settled here was to watch over that Purple Mountain.”

“What did your grandfather say?” Ye Fan’s heart stirred with surprise.

“My grandfather heard it from the elders before him — just that one line, nothing more.” Er Lengzi thought it over carefully and said, “He also mentioned something about how, a thousand years ago, the Zhang Family’s Source Heavenly Tome was lost, and that the Purple Mountain was the reason.”

“What does the Source Heavenly Tome have to do with the Purple Mountain?” Ye Fan could not keep his heart from churning. He desperately wanted to lay eyes on that legendary text.

“My grandfather said that one of the Zhang Family’s ancestors, ignoring the clan’s ancestral warnings, entered that great mountain and never came back out — and the Source Heavenly Tome has been lost ever since.” Er Lengzi spoke with an air of cryptic reverence, then glanced nervously over his shoulder when he finished, as if afraid someone might overhear.

Ye Fan’s heart surged and rolled like great waves. That Purple Mountain had an extraordinary background — something truly remarkable lay there.

How many great emperors had there ever been throughout history? The supreme weapons they forged through cultivation were unrivaled across all ages, their power without equal — possessing even one such weapon was enough to dominate the entire world, and the sacred lands treasured them as their most sacred relics.

If one’s body were to become fused with a supreme weapon, they would stand invincible from birth. If they could further supply it with an unceasing flow of divine power, no one throughout the Eastern Wastelands could hope to match them.

The achievements of the ancient great emperors were nearly impossible for later generations to surpass. There was a widely held belief that the several ancient scriptures of the Eastern Wastelands were each individually created by different great emperors in different eras.

How could Ye Fan’s heart remain calm when he thought of all this?

The ancient great emperors — they had forged supreme weapons and created peerless ancient scriptures. Every last one of these things was a priceless treasure of the Eastern Wastelands.

“If this Purple Mountain is connected to a great emperor, and I could find his cultivation method, it would be like obtaining a complete ancient scripture!”

Ye Fan was convinced that any cultivation method capable of producing a great emperor would be absolutely unparalleled.

“And if I could also find a supreme weapon…” Even the thought of it set his pulse racing.

Still, he quickly calmed himself. Old Man Zhang the Fifth had stressed again and again that the place was an inauspicious ground. If there were gains to be had there, they would be harder to obtain than climbing to heaven itself.

Ye Fan left the stone fortress again. Half a quarter-hour later, he arrived once more before the immense Purple Mountain and circled the entire perimeter.

“Is there something inside?” he murmured to himself. But no matter how carefully he examined it, he found nothing unusual — and even when he extended his divine sense outward, he came away with nothing at all.

“Whatever that great emperor left behind here — why does it have anything to do with him?” What Ye Fan wanted most was for this place to contain an ancient scripture that had never circulated in the world — that was what he needed most right now.

Still, he knew he could only think about it for now. The might of the ancient great emperors was beyond what later generations could imagine. Even if something had been left behind, there was no guarantee it could ever be obtained.

Ye Fan climbed once more to the very summit of the Purple Mountain — and in that instant, his expression froze completely, his face filled with disbelief. He could barely trust his own eyes.

That very morning yesterday, he had struck downward with his golden scripture and dug a great pit at this spot. But now the mountaintop was smooth and unmarked, without so much as a single sign of damage. Everything had been restored to its original state, as though nothing had ever happened.

“How is this possible? Yesterday I clearly…” A chill ran down Ye Fan’s spine.

An inauspicious ground. Those four words rose in his mind. He quickly vaulted upward into the air, unwilling to remain standing on the summit any longer.

“Why would this happen — can it repair itself?” Ye Fan’s heart would not settle.

“Or perhaps… yesterday I was deceived by an illusion, and I never truly shattered the mountaintop at all. Could there be some kind of dao-pattern here that’s difficult to perceive?”

Ye Fan considered for a brief moment, then summoned his golden scripture and retreated far back, controlling it from a distance to strike downward.

Golden light swirled. Stone chips flew in all directions. Boulders rolled and tumbled. A great pit was dug into the mountaintop. He drew a large purple stone toward himself and touched it with his own hands — this was no illusion.

Then he cut away a small fragment of the purple stone and flew off to a distant vantage point, watching the Purple Mountain in quiet stillness.

Ye Fan was patient. He kept watch from the empty sky for a full day, until the stars filled the heavens above. The Purple Mountain stood tall and solemn — and still nothing changed.

He felt no urgency. He stood motionless in the sky, extending his divine sense with careful, attentive observation.

This place was connected to an ancient great emperor. He could not afford to take it lightly, and he had placed great hope in it — he wanted to understand everything about this location.

At last, when midnight arrived, Ye Fan noticed that at the very summit of the Purple Mountain, the great pit had been silently and soundlessly changing — slowly leveling out, restoring itself to its original form.

And the stone fragment in his hand had not disappeared. It was still there.

“This great mountain — it can grow back on its own!” Ye Fan was thoroughly astonished.

He did not press further into the matter. At midnight the place was bitterly cold — even with his physique, he could feel waves of bone-piercing chill.

Since the Zhang Family had been guarding this place, they surely knew some of its secrets. He did not want to act rashly. He flew toward the stone fortress and decided to ask a thorough round of questions the following day.

When Ye Fan returned to the village and stepped into his stone dwelling, he found that Old Man Zhang the Fifth had not yet slept. The old man was clearly anxious, waiting for him to return.

“You’re finally back. You went to investigate that Purple Mountain, didn’t you?”

Ye Fan nodded.

Old Man Zhang the Fifth leapt to his feet at once. “You must never go back there again. Haven’t I told you — that place is no good. Lingering around it is a sure way to invite disaster.”

“What exactly is the Purple Mountain, and what does it have to do with the ancient great emperor?” Ye Fan had to have answers to these questions.

“Very well, I’ll tell you everything. Otherwise you’ll certainly go back to investigate on your own.” Old Man Zhang the Fifth let out a long sigh. “The truth is, what I know is genuinely quite limited.”

“Please, take your time.”

“This purple mountain was discovered by the Zhang Family ancestors — specifically by the one who was once known as the Source Heaven Master. He warned all those who came after him never to approach it, saying they could only offer worship from a safe distance.”

The Source Heaven Master had given this solemn warning: the Purple Mountain was connected to a great emperor from before the Desolate Age, and must not be desecrated — it was to be revered, and such reverence would bless all generations to come.

“There is something inside it — objects of power that must not be disturbed. To do so would bring great calamity upon oneself. This is what my ancestors warned again and again.” Old Man Zhang the Fifth let out another sigh. “And yet, a thousand years ago, one of our ancestors ignored the clan’s warnings. He took the Source Heavenly Tome with him, used it to break open the Purple Mountain, and walked inside. He was never seen again. Ah…”

Ye Fan’s heart stirred even more. He felt certain that the mountain most likely contained a peerless divine source — and perhaps even a supreme weapon.

Old Man Zhang the Fifth could see what he was thinking. “There are indeed treasures within that Purple Mountain. More than one divine source. But you must not set your sights on them.”

“More than one?!”

Every time a peerless divine source emerged into the world, it shook the entire Eastern Wastelands. The great sacred lands would offer staggering prices, competing fiercely — events that sometimes turned bloody. The fact that sacred lands would be willing to abandon all pretense of civility made it easy to imagine how rare and precious peerless divine sources were. For the Purple Mountain to contain more than one — how could Ye Fan not be stunned?

“My ancestor, who bore the title Source Heaven Master, had an understanding of sources unmatched by anyone else. He could trace the dragon veins from the shape of mountains and rivers, and lock divine sources in place using the power of the stars.” Zhang the Fifth paused briefly here, then continued, “He too was tempted, and wanted to take the divine sources from within the Purple Mountain — but in the end, he pulled back.”

“Why?”

Old Man Zhang the Fifth shook his head. “He even entertained the notion of asking the immortal maidens of Yaochi for assistance — but in the end he abandoned that idea too, saying he feared it would bring calamity upon Yaochi.”

“What?!” Ye Fan was stunned. “Taking the divine sources from within the Purple Mountain could bring calamity upon a sacred land?”

“He spoke of it vaguely, but that was the impression he gave — that it might cause serious harm to Yaochi.”

Ye Fan found that difficult to believe. The Yaochi Sacred Land was a great power that had been passed down since before the Desolate Age. Its founding patriarch was a female sage-emperor. It possessed a supreme weapon and had even created its own ancient scripture.

It had endured across endless ages, through the rise and fall of seas and lands, through every change and upheaval of the mortal world — and Yaochi had stood apart from worldly conflict, standing firm without ever falling. Could a single purple mountain pose a threat to them?

“Beneath that Purple Mountain…” Old Man Zhang the Fifth said, and as the words left his mouth, his complexion went slightly pale. He turned toward the direction of the Purple Mountain and hastily bowed in reverence — then stood upright again. “…there is a living creature. That is why I say — do not go there. You will gain nothing, and if you force your way in, you will only forfeit your own life.”

Ye Fan’s expression changed at these words. A living thing — that made his chances seem genuinely slim.

And yet there were still things he could not work out. It was known that peerless divine sources could imprison terrifying creatures from before the Primordial Age — creatures that remained alive to this day. But what did any of that have to do with the great emperor? What had he left behind in that place?

“I don’t know either. Whatever that ancient great emperor arranged there — my ancestor left no clues about it…” That was Old Man Zhang the Fifth’s answer to that question.

Over the following three days, Ye Fan consulted Old Man Zhang the Fifth at length, learning from him the art of searching for sources. The Source Heavenly Tome was a remarkable text — even the partial inheritance that remained was of great use to him.

Wang Shu, the quick-witted young man of the stone fortress, observed that Ye Fan had been spending these past several days studying the art of source-finding, and grinned. “Brother Ye Fan, are you thinking of gambling on stones?”

“Gambling on stones?” Ye Fan was surprised. The phrase was not unfamiliar — on the other side of the starry sky, gambling on raw jade had once been wildly popular.

“Of course — haven’t you heard of it?” Wang Shu looked puzzled.

“Tell me more about it.”

“It’s all about gambling on source stones…” Wang Shu explained patiently.

Sure enough, it was very close to what Ye Fan had imagined.

The stone material produced by source veins was exceptionally distinctive. Even cultivators could not see through it — neither divine sense nor divine power could penetrate the interior. Only by actually cutting it open could one know whether a source lay within. Ye Fan had known all this already, but it had not occurred to him that this quality had given rise to an enormously flourishing stone-gambling industry.

“In the past, our fortress was very prosperous. My grandfather’s generation all had the chance to broaden their horizons and take part in stone gambling,” Wang Shu said with a touch of envy.

“Don’t worry — tell me all the details I should know about it, and I’ll take you along sometime.” The idea had caught Ye Fan’s interest.

“It’s actually quite straightforward. There aren’t many rules…” Wang Shu went on at length beside him.

“I want to go too.” Er Lengzi happened to be passing by, caught the conversation, and sidled over. “Though the distance is quite far. The nearest place is several hundred li away — there’s a green oasis covering a thousand li in every direction out there, quite a lively spot.”

“That’s just an ordinary stone-gambling venue. From what I’ve heard, the finest stone-gambling places are tens of thousands of li away, in the most prosperous holy city of the Northern Region.” Wang Shu’s face took on an expression of longing. “All those sacred lands — half of the finest source stones dug from around the great primordial mines end up there. It’s paradise for stone gambling.”

“The great sacred lands…” Ye Fan murmured in surprise.

“Indeed. Gambling there means experiencing everything at the highest level. Even the powerful figures from the Central Continent and the Northern Wastes are drawn in — legendary cultivators, they say, every last one of them. The service is all the finest quality. Even the young women who cut the stones are said to be of immortal-maiden caliber. The food and drink they offer is found nowhere else in the world — made from all manner of exotic beasts, rare fowl, and immortal herbs. The worst wine they serve is aged for a hundred years. To go there and gamble on stones would truly be the height of luxury…” Wang Shu mused dreamily.

“Please.” Er Lengzi curled his lip. “A wandering Daoist told you all that. You haven’t seen it with your own eyes — who knows what’s true and what isn’t?”

“Of course it’s true!” Wang Shu shot back. “Or have you forgotten Old Man Zhang the Fifth’s ancestor? He was a Source Heaven Master — he experienced all of that firsthand and left behind many tales.”

“That’s fair, I forgot about that.” Er Lengzi looked a little sheepish and scratched his head. “Brother Ye Fan, you’ve been learning how to find sources — are you really thinking about going stone gambling? Could you bring me along too? I’d love to broaden my horizons.”

“Hearing you describe it like that, I’m genuinely tempted to go and see for myself. It would be wonderful if I could gamble one of those sacred lands into ruin.” Ye Fan muttered to himself with no small amount of mischievous delight.

“What’s so impressive about those sacred lands anyway,” Er Lengzi said with breezy indifference. “I heard from my grandfather that back in the day, the Zhang Family ancestor — that Source Heaven Master — made those sacred lands so ashamed their faces turned green.”

Hearing this, Ye Fan was genuinely startled. “What? Are you serious?”

“Absolutely serious.” Er Lengzi continued, “Everyone in our village from the older generations knows about it. The Zhang Family’s Source Heaven Master left behind all manner of legendary tales.”

Wang Shu added from the side, “All true — not a word of exaggeration. Old Man Zhang the Fifth’s ancestor actually gambled divine sources out of those sacred lands’ hands. Can you imagine how green their faces must have turned? They probably felt like jumping into a river.”

Ye Fan was struck speechless. What an eye that must have required — to identify a divine source amid all the rest, to pick it out with a discerning gaze. The so-called Source Heaven Master was truly astonishing.

“Back in the day, Old Man Zhang the Fifth’s ancestor didn’t just win a single divine source from them either — those sacred lands were eventually so frantic they practically wanted to enshrine him.” Er Lengzi recounted all of this with a look of pure bliss on his face, as though it were he himself who had done it.

“A Source Heaven Master of that caliber…” Ye Fan’s heart could not settle. He had the feeling that if he mastered such an art, he could make the Yaoguang Sacred Land and the Ji Family itch with unbearable anxiety — without shedding a drop of blood.

“Naturally extraordinary. You must understand — from ancient times to the present, the Northern Region has produced only a handful of Source Heaven Masters in total. By now, all of those lineages have long since been severed. None will ever appear again.” Wang Shu leaned in with an air of mystery. “Old Man Zhang the Fifth’s ancestor accomplished many glorious feats in his day…”

“What other glorious feats?” Ye Fan’s curiosity was piqued.

Wang Shu lowered his voice. “He became a legend through stone gambling — not only did he shame every sacred land into embarrassment, he also gambled a Yaochi Saintess right into his own hands.”

“Pfft!” The tea Ye Fan had just brought to his lips sprayed out in an arc. “That’s… that’s possible? Surely that’s just a rumor?”

“It’s true. Old Man Zhang the Fifth’s ancestor was so masterful at stone gambling that he set his sights on Yaochi’s Source Stone Pavilion and gambled against them for seven days and seven nights straight. The Saintess, desperate to recover their losses, accidentally wagered herself into the bargain — and still lost.”

In that moment, the flame of gossip in Ye Fan’s heart blazed into a roaring inferno. “And then what happened?”

“Ah — what a pity. The Zhang Family’s Source Heaven Master chose not to make things difficult for her. He sent the Yaochi Saintess on her way with great courtesy and graciousness. From that day on, his relationship with Yaochi was something quite apart from the ordinary.” Wang Shu sighed with a look of pure regret.

Ye Fan let out a long, appreciative sigh. That Source Heaven Master must truly have been a remarkable soul. His admiration for the man only deepened his desire to lay eyes on the Source Heavenly Tome.

“I have to find a way to bring that remarkable text back into the world.”

Ye Fan felt it deeply — how frighteningly bottomless the Ancient Holy Body truly was. With every advance in cultivation, everything required multiplied tenfold.

By his rough estimates, for the nine-layer transformation on the other side to reach its great completion, he would need well over a hundred jin of source in total.

If he were to cultivate the first realm of the Dao Palace’s secret territory, multiplied tenfold, he would require a thousand jin of source.

Even in the Northern Region, a small sect of ordinary standing would not possess that much.

If he were to cultivate the second realm of the Dao Palace’s secret territory, again multiplied tenfold — Ye Fan nearly staggered at the thought. It was simply too monstrous! Beyond all reason. As the astronomical figures accumulated further, even a sacred land would likely cough up blood.

“I must obtain the Source Heavenly Tome*!”* Every time Ye Fan thought about the cultivation that lay ahead, his own face began to feel slightly ill.

Without the Source Heavenly Tome, the Ancient Holy Body’s bottomless pit could never be filled. He had to become a Source Heaven Master — he could not afford to be the one with the ill-looking face. He needed others to be the ones going pale.

“It seems that no matter what, I have to take the risk. I won’t touch anything inside the Purple Mountain — but I absolutely must get the Source Heavenly Tome out of there.”

“Brother Ye Fan, why does your face look a little green?” Er Lengzi asked with honest innocence.

“Nonsense — why would my face look green? If anyone’s face is going green, it’ll be the people from those sacred lands.”

“Brother Ye Fan, are you really going to go stone gambling?” Wang Shu asked eagerly.

“Of course I am. I’m planning to gamble the Yaochi Saintess right over to my side — and unlike a certain ancestor, I won’t be sending her back. To do otherwise would be beneath even a beast.”