The watermelon stone bore stripe-like patterns across its surface, resembling watermelon rind. Even when source was cut from it, the yield was meager — granular, like melon seeds, which was the origin of its name.

Of course, nothing was absolute. Long ago, someone had once cut out dozens of melon-seed divine source from one, sending shockwaves through the Divine City.

Now, cutting out forty-nine grains of violet crystal melon seeds was no match for divine source grains, but it was still enough to astonish.

Now it was Li Heishui’s turn to roar with laughter while Wu Ziming and the others turned dark in the face. Over forty thousand catties of source — the sheer number was dizzying, the quantity overwhelmingly enormous.

“The dozen or so esteemed guests, stop standing there in a daze. Pay up — forty-two thousand catties. Your generosity truly moves us.”

Ye Fan and Li Heishui stepped forward and began collecting the source, extending their hands toward the group.

Wu Ziming and Li Chongtian were utterly miserable, their hearts so full of grievance they could barely breathe. It felt like soaring high in the ninth heaven only to have someone suddenly rake them into a cesspit.

They had intended to mock the two of them, to treat them as a joke — yet in the end, they themselves had become the fools, inexplicably forced to each hand over three thousand catties of source.

It was infuriating. Every single one of the dozen-odd people felt their scalps smoldering as though they had caught fire — it was just too humiliating.

All they had done was casually mock a couple of country bumpkins, and now they’d sunk this much source because of it. Even the breath they exhaled carried the heat of their anger.

“Damn it all, is there any justice in this world?! A watermelon stone — and it actually produced violet crystal source. What the hell, I want to hit someone!” one disciple from a great sect muttered, his face dark with ill fortune.

“Three thousand catties of source — my god, half my entire fortune is just gone like that. That cursed violet crystal source!” another great sect disciple, rougher in manner, raged and cursed bitterly.

Wu Ziming’s face had gone iron-blue. If he and Li Chongtian hadn’t latched onto these two country bumpkins so persistently, they would never have ended up as such colossal suckers.

“Brother Wu, are you ill? Your complexion has gone even more purple than violet crystal source,” Li Heishui said, waddling his big head over, drawing close with a look of simple-minded concern.

“Don’t gloat after taking advantage, you dark-skinned boy!” Wu Ziming’s nostrils flared as though fire was about to shoot out of them, and it felt like his very nosebleed was being driven out by rage. He flung his sleeve and hurled three thousand catties of source onto the ground.

These people were all disciples of great sects — they carried more source than Tu Fei, but still only two or three square blocks’ worth. Having to produce nearly one square block all at once was agony for anyone.

Everyone’s veins bulged and throbbed as they grudgingly flung their source to the ground. They all had status to maintain — with so many eyes watching, they couldn’t very well renege and lose face.

“Many thanks, Your Imperial Highness.” Ye Fan personally received three thousand catties of source from the Great Xia prince’s hands.

Then he turned and looked toward the little white-robed novice nun, smiling as he said, “Little miss, do you have any source?”

The little white-robed nun pouted her small lips, her pure wide eyes filled with innocent bewilderment. She had been swept up in all this for no reason at all — a completely undeserved calamity. She hadn’t mocked anyone, hadn’t wagered any source, yet somehow source was being demanded of her too.

The Great Xia prince’s brow furrowed. He very much disliked Ye Fan smiling at his little sister like that, and stepped directly in front of her to block him, then flung out one square block of source.

Clatter, clatter, clatter…

A heap of source lay on the ground, gleaming with light, spiritual energy surging, radiance shimmering in every hue. These glittering, lustrous objects were truly bewitching to the mind.

“Ha ha ha!” Li Heishui roared with laughter.

Every one of the dozen-odd people went dark in the face, bellies full of smoldering rage that had nowhere to go — this was just too unjust!

Ye Fan paid them no mind. With a sweep of his sleeve, he gathered all the source and collected it away — in one clean sweep, over forty thousand catties of source, bringing him one step closer to breaking through his cultivation realm.

“This time, I’ll truly wager stones against you. Do you dare?” Wu Ziming asked in a low, heavy voice.

“Why wouldn’t I dare — but do you still have any source?” Ye Fan asked with careless ease.

Wu Ziming opened his mouth, then closed it. Just moments ago, many people had been short on source and had borrowed from one another just to scrape together the forty-two thousand catties — it was impossible for them to carry their entire fortune on their persons.

“How can you wager without source?” Now it was Li Heishui’s turn to look down on them, his dark face written all over with contempt.

“Dark boy, don’t get too smug!”

“What the hell, when did I get dark? This is what they call masculine appeal — do you understand that? Do you even have it?” Li Heishui didn’t feel the slightest bit dark, and argued loudly.

The onlookers fell into a collective silence. Someone muttered, “He’s that dark and he still claims he isn’t dark…”

“I have source to wager with you.” From among the crowd, only the Great Xia prince seemed unconcerned by the earlier gains and losses, and stepped forward.

“How much source do you have?” Li Heishui asked very directly.

“Three square blocks.”

The surrounding people drew in a sharp breath. The Great Xia prince truly had deep reserves — worthy of being an heir to one of the four great undying dynasties of the Central Continent. He carried over ten thousand catties of source on him as a matter of course.

“Good — no problem. I’ll wager with you.” Ye Fan smiled and nodded.

The Great Xia prince moved with the stride of a dragon and the step of a tiger, wreathed in a swirl of dragon energy, tall and upright, radiating pressure. He led the way deeper into the stone garden.

The little white-robed nun was quite displeased. She had had one square block of source taken from her by Ye Fan for no apparent reason, and felt thoroughly wronged — this had absolutely nothing to do with her.

She scrunched her delicate, lovely nose, shook her small fist in Ye Fan’s direction, then turned on her heel with light grace and followed her brother away.

Ye Fan and Li Heishui were utterly unbothered and followed along. Everyone else followed as well, knowing there would certainly be excitement to watch.

Yaoyue Kong, the young lord of the Celestial Demon Palace, also came along. Clad in violet robes, his eyes deep and unfathomable, he was a figure who commanded attention — his status comparable to that of the Great Xia prince — and a sizable crowd gathered around him.

In the early morning, the rising sun scattered its radiance, gilding the corners and edges of the Daoist temple complex with a layer of sacred brilliance. Walking here instilled a sense of peace and harmony, as though one’s body and spirit had been cleansed and renewed.

The group followed the small path paved with pebbles, passing through several groves of ancient trees and past a number of Daoist temple halls, walking ever deeper. It was not until they reached the eighteenth-level stone garden that the Great Xia prince finally stopped.

The stone materials here were already exceedingly expensive — one catty of stone was worth ten catties of source, stone being more precious than source itself. Ordinary people simply could not afford it.

Beyond the eighteenth-level stone garden, the wagering was no longer for pure source, but for things far more precious, at a far greater cost.

This, however, suited Ye Fan very well indeed. If it were pure source, he truly had no idea how many years it would take him to gather what he needed. But these precious stones — if something was cut from them, it would necessarily be extraordinary, and could speed up his rate of accumulating source considerably.

“How about right here?” the Great Xia prince asked.

“Since we’ve already walked this far, why not go to the Celestial-Grade stone garden?” Ye Fan said with a smile.

Ssss!

Many people drew in sharp, cold breaths. The Celestial-Grade stone garden — the extraordinary stones there were priced at figures that inspired terror. The younger generation rarely ventured there; only elders of great renown and standing frequented the place.

“That’s a place where a single stone can be worth a thousand catties of source. Many people go there to try their luck and end up losing until their faces turn white.”

“Some stones weigh only a few catties yet are worth over ten thousand catties of source — even Grand Elders from the various sacred grounds feel the pain of paying such prices.”

The crowd discussed among themselves. The mere mention of the Celestial-Grade stone garden sent many people into a mix of excitement and helplessness — the threshold was simply too high, far beyond what most could bear.

Not everyone was familiar with it. Someone asked in bewilderment: “That outrageously expensive? It’s frightening — and people still go to pick stones there?”

“You don’t understand. Those are all extraordinary stones. If something is cut from them, it’s bound to be a rare and precious treasure of staggering value.”

“Exactly — once a treasure is cut out, never mind tens of thousands of catties of source. Even hundreds of thousands of catties might not be enough to stop people from bidding!”

Some who frequented the stone workshops year-round said this, making many people draw in a sharp breath.

“In that case, why don’t the sacred grounds cut them open themselves? Why set it up this way and let others do the picking?”

“Do you think the sacred grounds want to do it that way? They also can’t determine whether there are treasures inside the stones. To maximize their profits, they display them here at sky-high prices for people to gamble on.”

“Indeed — that’s the fundamental reason stone workshops of the sacred grounds exist.”

…

The Great Xia prince hesitated only for a brief moment, then readily agreed: “Very well. Since that’s what you want, let us go to the Celestial-Grade stone garden.”

At once, the assembled crowd erupted with excitement. They knew that today there would be a grand spectacle.

“Are you certain you want to go to the Celestial-Grade stone garden?” Wu Ziming, Li Chongtian, and the others were all utterly astonished.

Now it was Li Heishui’s turn to be thoroughly imperious, arms folded, saying with leisurely composure, “You haven’t gone to wager there before, have you? Consider this your chance to broaden your horizons.”

“To think… these two country bumpkins are looking down on us in return!”

Wu Ziming’s group was as aggrieved as they could possibly be, every one of them fuming.

“Dark boy… next time I’ll settle the score with you!” One after another, people from the group of over a dozen spoke up this way.

“I am not dark — stop bringing up that word in my presence. And next time, bring enough source. This wagering saint of mine will wager until your faces turn green.”

“The dark boy is far too arrogant!”

“Who are you calling dark?! Your whole family is dark!” Li Heishui rolled his eyes and retorted.

Inside the Celestial-Grade stone garden stood an ancient vine of staggering girth, its diameter a full ten meters — enough to leave anyone gaping — sprawling like a great grey-green dragon laid across the ground, spreading its tendrils in every direction.

This was no tree. It was merely a vine, yet it was this immense. The Daoist Yishi workshop covered an enormous area, and its tendrils could be found weaving through entire clusters of Daoist temple halls.

Beside the ancient vine stood a well, its rim built from source stone, the rope above it worn into grooves from countless years of use. How many ages it had existed, no one knew.

“This ancient vine is tens of thousands of years old…” Li Heishui said, introducing it to Ye Fan.

Legend had it that it had nearly transformed into a dragon, but in ages past a great master had suppressed it back into ordinary wood. All its spiritual energy flowed through the ancient well, nourishing this entire stone workshop.

There was also another saying: that within the Divine City, no matter how ancient a plant, it was impossible for it to become a demon spirit. Whatever spiritual energy it gathered could only nourish the city itself.

Yaoyue Kong, the violet-robed young lord of the demon clan, stepped forward. His bearing was imposing and distinguished, carrying the air of a demon god — his edge restrained within, his star-like eyes carrying in their depths a faint impression of supreme, solitary dominance.

“The two young brothers — if you cut out a precious treasure later, would you consider bringing it to my Celestial Demon Treasury for auction?”

“No problem at all. If we cut out something of quality, we will certainly trouble Brother Yaoyue Kong.” Since the other party had extended an olive branch, Ye Fan was naturally happy to forge the acquaintance.

The Celestial-Grade stone garden was quite deserted, with few people coming and going — but now it had suddenly become lively.

People from the other stone gardens had been stirred, and a considerable crowd had gathered.

“I thought it was those eight lunatics again. Turns out it’s someone else coming to the Celestial-Grade stone garden to pick stones.”

“The Great Xia prince is wagering with someone — equally good entertainment.”

…

Senior cultivators stood guard here; ordinary people could not enter and could only observe from the perimeter. Only those selecting stones were permitted inside — after all, the stones here were simply too precious.

Inside the garden sat an old Daoist nun, cross-legged on a rush mat, her age impossible to determine, utterly motionless — and four or five old people were already inside selecting stones.

When the Great Xia prince, the little white-robed nun, Ye Fan, and Li Heishui entered, she didn’t move a muscle, still as a withered old tree.

The others likewise fell quiet, gathering around the Celestial-Grade stone garden to watch in silence. Fortunately there were no walls, only plant growth, so everything could be seen.

The moment Ye Fan stepped into the garden, he sensed an aura of primordial antiquity — extremely dense, as though he had been transported back to that night when he had stood within the forbidden zone.

These were absolutely all precious stones!

Ye Fan surmised that many of these stone materials had likely been transported from within a forbidden zone, or were at least nearly adjacent to the primordial forbidden zones.

“I’ve walked around the Celestial-Grade stone garden a few times before, but this is actually my first time inside,” Li Heishui transmitted through sound.

Ye Fan smiled in return, transmitting back: “There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. The great sacred grounds are all waiting for us.”

The Great Xia prince and the little white-robed nun were clearly not here for the first time; they moved about with an air of complete familiarity.

Many people couldn’t understand why the Great Xia prince always brought his younger sister along. Only Ye Fan had guessed at part of the reason — this Great Xia princess had entrusted herself to Buddhism, and was likely now undergoing worldly cultivation.

The Celestial-Grade stone garden had no shortage of jade-green bamboo, lush and verdant, lending the place an added quality of serene stillness.

The stone materials here were not numerous, but each one occupied its own position. The people of the Daoist Yishi sacred ground inspected them daily — the stakes were simply too high.

Yet all these stone materials were arranged with a natural ease: some beneath the green bamboo, some beside the gently gurgling spring water, others nestled within the green tendrils of climbing vines.

Stone and scenery blended together in perfect harmony, carrying a quality of heaven and earth returning to unity — a return to simplicity and truth.

A diligent and attentive source master followed at their side, introducing each piece to them in turn.

Even though Ye Fan had mentally prepared himself, he was still given a tremendous shock. Many of the stones were not large, yet all were worth several thousand catties of source.

Even more outrageous: some stone materials were worth a thousand catties of source per catty of weight. Even he found that unbearable to absorb.

“Master, isn’t this a bit too outrageous? Can anyone actually afford this?” Ye Fan said.

The source master replied, “Young visitors are a rare sight here on ordinary days — these are prepared for some rather ancient figures. Truthfully, you youngsters really can’t afford them. For those people, if they can wager on even the faintest sliver of hope, the smallest chance at a future — they’re willing to pour out everything they have.”

“What sorts of treasures have been cut here before?” Li Heishui asked.

“Divine source has been cut here. Rare and wondrous treasures have been uncovered — beyond description in their marvel.” The source master smiled.

“This stone is worth a hundred thousand catties of source?!” Li Heishui cried out in shock.

A stone priced at levels that beggared belief — it weighed over a hundred catties and lay quietly in the bamboo grove, with an actual breath of the Dao flowing around it.

“This is outrageous. Are you selling stone materials here, or are you selling divine source?!” Li Heishui muttered.

“It is worth that price,” the source master said.

Li Heishui transmitted privately: “This stone really is unusual — it seems to have a Dao resonance. My spiritual senses are naturally keen, and I’ve detected it.”

Ye Fan shook his head, transmitting back: “This stone is hard to read. Even I can’t see it clearly — the inside may not match the outside. It’s possible it was cut from a larger host stone that once bore the divine resonance of the Great Dao. It’s not easy to choose. Otherwise, why has no one selected it after all this time?”

“That’s fair — the Dao resonance draws the heart, yet no one dares touch it. There must be a reason. After all, the old figures who come to select stones here are each sharper than a fox.” Li Heishui came to understand.

After looking over quite a few stone materials, Ye Fan felt a great jolt in his chest. The Celestial-Grade stone garden of a sacred ground truly was something extraordinary, and he could not help but grow more cautious.

“This stone…” Li Heishui said in surprise.

They came upon another stone — only slightly more than a foot long — and yet it had naturally formed nine orifices, making it look uncannily like a stone figure of a person.

“Is this naturally formed, or was it carved?” Li Heishui asked.

“It is naturally an extraordinary stone, of course. Otherwise, why would it be priced at ninety thousand catties of source?” the source master said.

“Can you make anything of it?” Li Heishui asked Ye Fan in a private transmission.

“This stone is opaque to me — don’t touch it for now,” Ye Fan said, shaking his head.

“Have you made your selection?” the Great Xia prince called over from not far away. He had already chosen his stone — only seven or eight catties in weight, yet priced at a staggering two square blocks of source.

“Your Highness, you only brought over ten thousand catties of source. If you’ve already spent two square blocks, you only have one square block left — how will you wager with us?” Li Heishui asked.

“I still have source!” The little white-robed nun spoke up, her large eyes rolling around with a lively gleam as she cast a few glances at the two of them.

“Don’t cry when you lose…” Ye Fan teased.

The little white-robed nun scrunched her nose and rolled her eyes at him in an exaggerated fashion, while the Great Xia prince let out a cold snort.

Ye Fan turned to walk back, saying, “We’ve made our choice too — it’s this one.”

What he had chosen was an exceptionally large piece of stone — tall as a man — yet its price was not as wildly inflated as the others: three thousand catties of source.

Though still enormously expensive by ordinary standards, relative to the stones in this garden, a piece this large was practically floor-price.

Those watching from around the garden were all astonished. These two were spending far too much.

Nevertheless, Wu Ziming couldn’t resist landing a blow: “You really think just because you picked a large stone, you’ll cut out something rare and precious? You truly understand nothing!”

Li Chongtian sneered in turn: “Selecting stones this way in the Celestial-Grade stone garden is rather laughable.”

Li Heishui replied with pure contempt: “You’ve wagered away all your source and you’re still here pointing fingers? Better pay close attention and learn something.”

“Let’s see what you cut out of it!” Wu Ziming, Li Chongtian and the others laughed coldly.

“Then watch carefully — and learn well!” Li Heishui roared with laughter.

Ye Fan looked toward the Great Xia prince. “Your Highness, the stakes for this round shall be ten thousand catties of source. Whoever cuts out something of greater value in precious source wins. Does that suit you?”

“Agreed. Let us cut the stones.” The Great Xia prince nodded.

“Good!” Ye Fan answered. This time he was very careful, personally cutting the stone himself, slowly peeling away its outer shell.

“Are you confident?” Li Heishui asked through a private transmission.

“This stone should be able to yield something. I sense that something rare and precious lies within — but until it’s actually cut out, I still can’t say with absolute certainty,” Ye Fan replied.

Crack!

The stone skin slowly fell away. Ye Fan brought down the blade with care — this time nothing like the casual way he had thrown the watermelon stone before. Every cut was deliberate and precise, deeply afraid of ruining whatever lay inside.

Snap!

Suddenly, Ye Fan brought the blade down gently once more, and the stone naturally split open. A burst of dazzling radiance shot out, blindingly brilliant — and then a luminous silhouette surged upward, soaring toward the sky.

“Heavens, what is that?! How is something flying out of it?!” Many people cried out in shock.

“It looks like a human silhouette!”

“That’s right — did a person just fly out?!”

Outside the Celestial-Grade stone garden, the crowd of onlookers erupted in an instant.

“An immortal flying from the stone!”

“It truly does look like a human silhouette!”

Ye Fan was genuinely stunned. And in that same instant, the old Daoist nun who had sat cross-legged without moving a muscle suddenly snapped her eyes open.