At this moment, Ye Fan had fully extracted the pink fruit, intact and unbroken. Its fragrance was enough to make one feel drunk with pleasure, and Li Heishui was swallowing his saliva.

“Unquestionably a divine medicine of incomparable rarity. If you want it, Daoist, bring out three hundred thousand jin of Source!” Li Heishui quoted an astronomical price. Ignorant of the Scarlet Dragon Daoren’s identity, he felt not the slightest restraint.

As he spoke, he retrieved a jade bottle, poured out the pill inside, and tucked the pink fruit neatly within — quick and efficient.

“These are the stone materials this poor Daoist selected…” The Scarlet Dragon Daoren’s face was expressionless.

“But I truly did sell them to these two.” The old caretaker of the Celestial Pivot Holy Land leaned on his cane and spoke in a feeble voice.

“Indeed — Daoist, you wouldn’t resort to forcible seizure, would you? That would quite undermine your standing as an elder and a man of great cultivation.” Li Heishui said.

Ye Fan quickly cut Li Heishui off before he could say too much and bring disaster upon them. This old Daoist and the Peacock King were alike in their disregard for the world’s rules and their self-determined ways — he had nearly beaten the Yao Guang holy lord half to death.

“Daoist, if you truly need it, I am willing to give it to you.” Ye Fan prepared to do him a genuine favor.

“How can you just give it away — this is worth over ten thousand jin of Source!” Li Heishui cried out.

Ye Fan dared not transmit his voice at this distance, fearing the Scarlet Dragon Daoren might hear. He simply tugged at Li Heishui’s sleeve, signaling him not to push things too far.

Li Heishui was no simple man — he was a mind full of cunning schemes. He immediately reversed course and said, “Something this precious — you truly intend to give it to this Daoist? That’s rather too generous of you, isn’t it?”

The Scarlet Dragon Daoren directly accepted the jade bottle and sealed the fruit within. Only then did he speak, his face still expressionless: “This poor Daoist will not take advantage of you.”

“Daoist, there has been a misunderstanding. We saw you had been away for a long time, so we purchased them, and then cut them open. Now that you have returned, regardless of how precious this fruit may be, we would not keep it. It was the stone material you selected — returning it to you is only right.”

Ye Fan had no wish to make the Scarlet Dragon Daoren feel any animosity toward him. For the man could casually find any excuse and crush them both to dust. He was magnanimous in his offer to give it away, wearing an air of expecting nothing in return.

Sure enough, the Scarlet Dragon Daoren’s expression eased at once. “In the end you were the ones who purchased it first. This poor Daoist will not make you suffer a loss. Source, as so-called, is meaningless to me — only a fruit like this has meaning.”

The Scarlet Dragon Daoren gave his robe sleeve a shake. A clattering rush of sound — and a great heap of Source appeared on the ground, radiating in five colors, radiance soaring skyward, spiritual energy rolling out like cloud and mist, so thick it was nearly solid.

A full thirty thousand jin of Source, handed over without the slightest reluctance — as casually as if he were tossing aside ordinary rocks.

“This poor Daoist only has this much. I will find a way to give you the remainder later.”

“Daoist, please do not do this — it makes me feel deeply ill at ease. Receiving Source like this makes me feel I have not earned it.” Ye Fan kept declining.

The Scarlet Dragon Daoren cradled the jade bottle and turned it slowly in his hands. Having obtained this fruit, his mood was excellent, and his expression had softened. “If I tell you to take it, take it. Things like this are no more than common copper coins of the mundane world to me — they ceased to hold any use long ago.”

“If that is truly the case, then your junior accepts. I truly cannot decline without seeming ungrateful — though I still feel unworthy of receiving it.” Ye Fan declined no further.

Then, letting genuine puzzlement show on his face, he asked earnestly: “Senior, may I ask — what exactly is the use of this kind of fruit?”

The Scarlet Dragon Daoren glanced at him and replied, “This fruit is called the Humanyuan Fruit. Its wonders are many. In the hands of a great alchemist master, it could be refined into a divine pill. In my hands, it can at least extend my lifespan by fifty to a hundred years.”

Refining divine pills. Extending lifespan. This was unquestionably a supreme rarity of the world!

One had to understand — ordinary spiritual medicines were entirely without effect on cultivators of this caliber. Only legendary divine objects could provide even the slightest assistance to experts of this tier.

This single pink fruit could help the Scarlet Dragon Daoren extend his life by fifty years. If it were given to an ordinary person instead — how many years might it add?

Truly a priceless treasure without equal!

The Scarlet Dragon Daoren had been trapped within the Great Emperor’s array markings left by the Holy Cliff for fifteen hundred years. He was now approximately three thousand years of age, and his lifespan was likely nearing its end. For him, this object was absolutely the most precious thing imaginable.

“Can a fruit like this increase one’s cultivation?” That was what Ye Fan most wanted to know.

“The Humanyuan Fruit is more precious than divine Source — yet it cannot be consumed recklessly, for it also carries potent poison. It must first be dissolved, and only the fragrant aura it releases has its miraculous effects. It should be capable of increasing one’s cultivation, but no one would waste it in such a manner.”

The Scarlet Dragon Daoren made it quite plain — those who sought this kind of supremely rare fruit were all ancient existences, and they did not seek it for the purpose of advancing their cultivation.

“In different hands, its value is different as well. To me, right now, it is worth over ten thousand jin of Source — but in the hands of a holy lord with only a few years left to live, it would be far, far more precious than that.”

The Scarlet Dragon Daoren drifted away. Li Heishui transmitted his voice privately: “Over ten thousand jin of Source — you just gave it away like that?”

“Do you know who he is? That’s the Scarlet Dragon Daoren — the one who nearly beat the Yao Guang holy lord to death not long ago. He is a supremely terrifying existence!”

“What — it’s him!” Li Heishui was stunned. He had already sensed the old Daoist’s status was out of the ordinary, but never imagined it would be this extreme. This was someone who could walk sideways through the entire Eastern Desolation.

Ye Fan transmitted his voice: “Didn’t he say it himself — that he’ll be staying in the Sacred City for the near future, and that if there’s anything, one can find him at the holy land stone workshops. This is a tremendous backer to have. I may be walking directly into the Restricted Heaven-word stone gardens of certain holy lands, and if I stir up too great a storm, I’ll need someone to keep a lid on it.”

Li Heishui nodded and said, “I’ve been a little worried too — afraid you might gamble too recklessly and cause a serious incident. Running into the Scarlet Dragon Daoren today by chance was truly a pleasant surprise within a surprise!”

“Old man, please accept some Source.” Ye Fan spoke to the last caretaker of the Celestial Pivot Holy Land.

“This isn’t my Source — I can’t take it. You paid more than enough when you bought the stones.” The old man was bent and stooped, weak and feeble, shaking his head as he leaned on his cane.

Ye Fan swept his sleeve and gathered up the large heap of Source — but left a small portion behind. He and Li Heishui walked out together.

“Today’s harvest was tremendous — thirty thousand jin of Source. At this pace, within a month you could gather everything you need.”

On the way, Ye Fan asked Li Heishui which auction house in the Divine City had the best reputation.

“The Divine City has seven great auction houses. I think the Celestial Demon Palace’s Treasure Pavilion is the best.” As he said this, Li Heishui pointed upward into the sky: “There — in the sky above this part of the city.”

There it was — a magnificent celestial hall, imposing and colossal, standing tall in the heavens. The Celestial Demon Palace’s Treasure Pavilion.

“What do you want to auction?” Li Heishui couldn’t resist asking.

“I want to auction half a fruit — but it must absolutely be anonymous, with no one knowing who it’s from.”

“What fruit? Don’t tell me it’s similar to the pink fruit from just now.” Li Heishui was curious.

Ye Fan produced a jade box and opened it. Inside lay half a withered, broken fruit. A faint, delicate fragrance drifted out. One could clearly see on its surface — teeth marks.

“I feel like this is almost identical to the fruit from before?!” Li Heishui was startled, and a puzzled look came over him. “Why does it look like there are some… canine tooth marks?”

“It is exactly that kind of fruit. A dog bit it.” It was the pink fruit that had been bitten by the Black Emperor — afterward, Ye Fan had collected and kept it rather than discarding it, because he felt it might come in very handy.

When Li Heishui learned the full story of what had happened, he nearly spat blood. “That wasteful dog — one bite worth two hundred thousand jin of Source! He deserves to be skinned alive and eaten!”

Ye Fan was deeply aggrieved as well. To have that greedy dog chomp off so much Source in a single bite — anyone would be speechless. The medicinal potency had dissipated; in the state it was now, it might fetch perhaps two or three thousand jin of Source at auction.

He thought it over. “Now is not the right time to auction it. Wait until after the holy lands have attacked Purple Mountain and suffered heavy losses. No — wait until a holy lord is on the verge of death before putting it up for sale.”

“Holy—” Li Heishui was utterly dumbfounded. “You’re not seriously going to auction off a dog-chewed fruit to some holy lord to eat…”

“What’s wrong with that? I’m saving their lives. Not only should they give me Source — they ought to thank me for it.” Ye Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly, and a smile crept across his face.

“Little Ye — you’ve got a bright future ahead of you!” Li Heishui clapped him on the shoulder, then laughed out loud. “I’ll be waiting for that moment. Just imagining the scene is deeply satisfying.”

Along the ancient streets of the Divine City, travelers came and went in an unceasing stream, celestial halls lining both sides as far as the eye could see. At this moment, the two were not heading to the holy lands’ stone workshops — for those places involved spending eye-watering sums at a single stroke.

It wasn’t that having too little Source meant one couldn’t enter. Rather, Ye Fan had far greater ambitions: he intended to go to the holy lands’ stone gardens to gamble on rarities and exotic Source — and he didn’t want to draw too much early attention there by accumulating a reputation prematurely.

In the days that followed, Ye Fan kept to the smaller stone workshops, engaged in what he privately called “primitive accumulation.”

Of course, even these so-called small gambling stone workshops were expansive complexes of halls and courtyards — many times larger than the biggest stone workshops in any other oasis.

Eight consecutive days. Ye Fan went out early and returned late, practically living among the many smaller stone workshops in the southeastern corner of the Divine City.

Over eight days of continuous effort, he bought Source stones and cut them open himself, collecting a total of over ten thousand jin of Source.

Li Heishui’s jaw nearly hit the floor — to him, it was staggering. He gazed on with envy so profound that he almost drooled.

For other cultivators, this was an enormous fortune, more than sufficient to spend lavishly for a lifetime — and most would never accumulate so much.

Yet for Ye Fan, this was merely a drop in the bucket — far, far from enough. The road ahead was long and the burden heavy. He furrowed his brows. Even at this astonishing rate, gathering everything he needed would still take over two years.

And throughout that process, he could do nothing else — he would have to pour every scrap of his energy into gambling on stones.

“It seems I truly will have to go to the Restricted Heaven-word stone gardens of the various holy lands to gamble on rarities and exotic strains of Source.”

The holy lands’ Heaven-word stone gardens were a different matter entirely. One could not simply purchase stone materials and take them away to cut — they could only be cut on-site, for the holy land’s people had to observe and learn from the experience. This had been a hard rule since ancient times — no one knew exactly which era it had started in. Some speculated that an ancient Source Heavenly Master had once made such fools of the holy lands, cutting their stone gardens down to nothing, that they’d had to deduce Source arts from the experience as a form of remediation.

In truth, over all these years, the Source arts of the various holy lands had genuinely improved considerably. The vast majority of even the most deeply accomplished Source arts practitioners would struggle to match them.

Over these past several months, Ye Fan had nearly imprinted the Source Heavenly Scripture into every inch of his blood and flesh. Even while busy in the Sacred City gambling on stones, not a single moment passed without him pondering and refining his understanding of it.

It could be said: his Source arts had reached a staggering level. Even stones harboring divine Source were within his ability to detect.

“Starting today — I am going to sweep through every great holy land.”

“You’re finally going?”

“That’s right. I can’t wait any longer!” Ye Fan had made his decision.

On the ninth day, Ye Fan and Li Heishui came to the Daoist Unity Holy Land. They had heard that eight madmen were causing a great stir there of late, loudly proclaiming they intended to win away the Daoist Unity Holy Land’s holy maiden in a stone-gambling match. The two came hoping to fish in troubled waters.

The young Daoist woman of the Daoist Unity Holy Land had left a deep impression on Ye Fan. She had once purified thousands of yin-corpses and yin-horses with just the four characters of Amitabha, spoken in a heavenly voice.

He wanted to see exactly what kind of extraordinary figures these were — bold enough to act this recklessly, not fearing the holy land in the slightest. If they could be persuaded to join forces, having these eight go and stir things up at other holy lands together — that would be rather an excellent plan.

The Daoist Unity Holy Land was surrounded by ancient trees soaring into the sky, casting vast patches of cool shade below. The Daoist temple was serene, and within the opulence of the Divine City, it carried a flavor of returning to simple, natural origins.

Amid the endless red dust of the mortal world, this place felt like a patch of pure earth. Ancient trees spread in every direction, and in the sunlight, the Daoist temple gleamed with a faint golden radiance, appearing sacred and inviolable.

This temple complex occupied a vast expanse, half-veiled by grass and trees. The moment Ye Fan came to the entrance, he spotted two familiar faces — none other than the Great Xia Imperial Prince and the white-robed little Buddhist nun.

Beside them were several individuals, clearly all of high standing — none of them ordinary young people.

“Is His Highness the Prince here to gamble stones against the Golden Family’s Jin Chixiao, or to have a contest against the Celestial Demon Palace’s young lord Yao Yuekong?” someone asked.

“Neither — we’re in no hurry for that. First, let’s see what these eight peculiar talents are actually about. I’ve been hearing about them for a while but never laid eyes on them.” The Great Xia Imperial Prince answered. His black hair cascaded like a waterfall, his eyes blazed like twin torches, and he moved with the powerful stride of a dragon and tiger — radiating a commanding, heroic bearing.

“Oh? That little country bumpkin has actually shown up here — don’t tell me he’s going to stare blankly at a watermelon stone again?” One of the group caught sight of Ye Fan approaching and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Brother Wu, do you know this young man?” someone asked.

“I’ve seen him before at a small stone gambling workshop. He went and bought a pile of watermelon stones, then trotted off looking absolutely pleased with himself.” Wu Ziming mocked.

The others burst into laughter at this — even the Great Xia Imperial Prince and the little Buddhist nun couldn’t help but let smiles show on their faces.

“He is the head disciple of the Five Elements Palace’s presiding master — name’s Wu Ziming.” Li Heishui transmitted his voice to Ye Fan.

Through Li Heishui’s introduction, Ye Fan learned that this group were all disciples of major sects. Even if none of them quite matched the Great Xia Imperial Prince, their backgrounds were all extraordinarily noble.

Wu Ziming wore a mocking smile as he waved toward Ye Fan and called, “Today, have you come to the Daoist Unity Holy Land to buy watermelon stones?”

“What’s wrong with watermelon stones?” Li Heishui shot back.

The group erupted in laughter. Wu Ziming shook his head with contempt. “Even if you cut Source out of a watermelon stone, it’ll be nothing but a few watermelon seeds — a pitifully tiny amount. Do the two of you even understand Source stones? Showing up here is an insult to the Daoist Unity Holy Land.”

“Young man, turn back while you still can. This is not a place for the likes of you.” Someone else shook their head in mockery.

“Don’t be so harsh — come walk in with me. I’ll save the watermelon stones for you two and leave them for you to pick up from behind me.” Wu Ziming laughed uproariously.

Many of the onlookers couldn’t hold back their laughter. The Great Xia Imperial Prince also laughed and shook his head.

“What’s wrong with watermelon stones? Want to bet against all of you using nothing but watermelon stones?” Li Heishui had enormous confidence in Ye Fan’s Source arts, and issued the challenge to the entire group.

“Hahaha — did you all hear that? Someone wants to bet against us with watermelon stones!”

“Two country bumpkins — there’s nothing left to say…”

Wu Ziming, finished with his laughter, scoffed: “Fine, follow along behind me today and pick up watermelons.”

Even the Great Xia Imperial Prince was unable to suppress his amusement and laughed: “Ziming, you’re all being too hard on them.”

Wu Ziming retorted: “We’re not being hard on them. They came running up here to be laughed at themselves. If we don’t tease them, they’d be unhappy about it.”

Ye Fan transmitted his voice to Li Heishui: “These birds — get ready to collect Source from every last one of them.”