Ye Fan came before the immortal tomb, quietly examining it, carefully sensing it. With a flash, he drew out a silver radiance and was about to swing his spirit blade down upon it.

Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of crisis arose in his heart. A spine-chilling aura enveloped him entirely, and he retreated with the immortal tomb like a bolt of lightning.

Yet nothing appeared in that spot — no danger descended, no abnormality manifested. Everything remained as tranquil as before.

“What happened, Little Ye?” Li Heishui secretly transmitted his voice, his expression turning anxious.

“Nothing!” Ye Fan shook his head and stood in place, preparing to cut the stone again.

Hum!

Ye Fan’s eyes flickered with violet light. The divine perception of the Source Heaven Scripture gave rise to another warning — he felt the threat of death pressing upon him once more, making him shudder.

He shifted his steps lightly, graceful as an exiled immortal, and slipped to one side. What was happening? His heart was filled with shock and uncertainty.

Could it be that those old bastards were trying to kill him? Yet he hadn’t sensed any dragon qi rushing toward him, nor any fluctuation in the earth’s veins — there were no telltale signs.

“What are you doing, dancing with an immortal tomb? How utterly ridiculous!” A young disciple from one of the ancient source arts clans sneered.

“If you’re not going to cut the stone, just give up. Prancing about with a stone coffin like this — do you find that entertaining?” Another disciple from a source arts clan laughed openly, mocking him in front of everyone.

“Shut those two rags you call mouths — stop spewing filth!” Li Heishui snapped back, his words equally infuriating.

“You… you’re the ones making no sense, hauling a stone coffin around everywhere. Who is there to blame for that?!”

Ye Fan paid them no mind. He fixed his gaze on the immortal tomb and pondered carefully. Could it be that something inside was leaking a terrifying killing intent, triggering his warning senses?

As that thought struck him, a cold shiver ran through him. This would be an extremely grave situation — was there truly a living creature inside the immortal tomb?

And had it awakened — fully revived?! If that were the case, there would most likely be a catastrophic bloodbath, and he would be the first to bear the brunt of it.

Was it truly that serious? Ye Fan set the immortal tomb down on the ground and examined it carefully with the divine perception of the Source Heaven Scripture. To his considerable surprise, no killing intent leaked from within — instead, thin threads of sacred energy flowed through it.

Just then, a cloud drifted past and covered the sun, casting a shadow over everything. He suddenly became alert, and something occurred to him.

Ye Fan raised his head and looked across the way. Nangong Qi and the other three old figures stood with their hands clasped behind their backs, smiling, motionless, their gazes fixed upon him.

“Utterly vicious,” Ye Fan’s expression darkened considerably, his face falling.

Those men had struck at him repeatedly with clear intent to kill — and he had done nothing but defend himself passively — yet they were only escalating their efforts.

If he had not studied the Source Heaven Scripture, if his mastery of source arts had not been so refined, if he had not known so many ancient secret techniques, if that flash of intuition had not struck him just now — he might have died without ever knowing how he’d been harmed.

Nangong Qi and the others had not employed dragon qi or earth veins. They were killing through the manipulation of force — one of the unparalleled secret arts of source techniques, capable of slaying a man without leaving a trace.

Their positioning had been deliberate. They had suppressed the “Celestial Force” and “Terrestrial Force” of the heaven-ranked stone garden. With its abundance of strange stones, this place naturally commanded a force no weaker than a naturally formed dragon vein.

The four of them had been channeling the “great force” of the dragon vein using ancient source art methods, preparing to unleash a thunderous blow that would dissolve him into a puddle of blood and pus without his ever realizing it.

Ye Fan was truly furious. These men’s mastery of source arts ran so deep that they even knew such secret techniques — yet their methods were so insidiously vicious, striking at him again and again through underhanded means.

“Are you going to do it or not? Admit defeat if you won’t cut the immortal tomb!”

The young disciples of the ancient source arts clans sneered coldly, all of them watching Ye Fan with contemptuous eyes.

“Pacing back and forth, never daring to open the ancient tomb — don’t you find that laughable?”

“How do you expect me to cut it when your elders are trying to kill me?” Ye Fan stated it plainly, pointing out the reason in front of everyone present.

And then he suddenly strode forward, moving swiftly to several key positions within the stone garden, continuously disrupting the great force of the dragon vein.

Nangong Qi and the others instantly changed color. All four old men quickly vacated their original positions, while simultaneously shouting to their disciples nearby: “Retreat!”

Splat!

A disciple who had been sneering coldly at Ye Fan felt his expression freeze. The great force of the dragon vein in that place dissolved his internal organs into a puddle of blood and pus. Though his outer body remained intact, his life force was utterly extinguished, and he collapsed stiffly to the ground.

Uproar!

A clamor erupted both inside and outside the stone garden. That source arts could kill without leaving a trace left everyone’s heart pounding with terror — it was truly this horrifying!

“You’re not the only ones who know the ancient secret techniques of source arts — I know them too. If it’s killing you want, I’ll play along!” Ye Fan showed not a shred of fear. He faced Nangong Qi and the others and said, “Shall we continue? I’ll keep going as long as you will. I haven’t even used my great killing techniques yet!”

The onlookers all stepped back. A clash between source arts grandmasters was this terrifying — capable of taking lives without anyone even noticing.

People finally understood why, in the days when Source Heaven Masters had roamed the land unchallenged, even the great holy lords had been powerless against them. Even without knowledge of orthodox cultivation methods, they still possessed world-shaking means.

“You…” The surviving disciples of the ancient source arts clans turned pale and retreated one by one.

Nangong Qi and the other three wore dark, icy expressions and said nothing.

“You four old bastards ganging up on Gu Feng — have you no shame?!” Li Heishui raged.

“It doesn’t matter. If they have tricks, let them bring them out — I’ll take them all on,” Ye Fan replied calmly, sweeping his gaze across all four source arts grandmasters with contemptuous ease.

Everyone was stunned. The young source arts grandmaster had subdued the people of the source arts clans — the entire crowd stood in a daze.

Ye Fan did not continue cutting the immortal tomb. Instead, he began setting up arrangements within the jade bamboo grove, saying, “For the safety of everyone present, I’ll seal off a clean space.”

Source art duels carried life and death stakes. The disciples of the ancient clans had long declared they would crush Ye Fan in such a duel — and it was only now that everyone truly believed those words had not been mere provocation, but genuine intent.

At this point, the great master of the Ji Family, Xu Tianxiong, and the Imperial Uncle of the Great Xia had finished carving the array markings and placed the blood sacrifice altar in the center.

“You may cut this stone now,” the Scarlet Dragon Old Daoist signaled to Nangong Qi.

“Very well — let me go first then.” Nangong Qi stepped forward, though he did not approach closely. He intended to cut from a distance in the air. The four grandmasters had already probed the inside and determined there was a divine maiden within — he had no desire to awaken her only to be struck down.

“Is this array formation reliable?” Some of the older figures were uneasy. If an ancient royal were to emerge, it could very well mean mountains of corpses and rivers of blood — bodies numbering in the millions.

“Other formations may not hold, but this one will. These are the Dao-inscription laws of the Divine City’s Celestial Prison — capable of restraining any expert.” A Supreme Elder from one of the holy lands spoke.

The Divine City had existed alongside the world since time immemorial, traceable to the earliest age of humanity. No one knew its true origins.

The Celestial Prison it possessed was beyond imagination — even the most supreme of experts who fell into it would struggle to escape. Hence, the three individuals of holy lord caliber were not especially worried.

Crack!

Nangong Qi swung his blade from a distance. The silver radiance coiled like a matched pair of silks, dancing through the air with extraordinary grace — like a true dragon in motion.

And in that very moment, a dense, overpowering aura burst forth. Even those who knew nothing of source arts felt a jolt in their chests, sensing a great Pressure Aura bearing down upon them.

“The aura of the Primordial!”

Any cultivator with even a basic understanding of source stones recognized this as the distinctive and potent aura of the Primordial — far stronger than anything they had ever encountered.

People even began to wonder whether this stone had come from a primordial ancient mine.

Stone shavings cascaded down in a rustle, and the bone-chilling aura grew denser by the moment. Many people could not help but tremble, as though they had been transported into the Primordial forbidden zone of life.

“Why does a single stone bring such an overwhelming sense of terror?”

“Could this truly be a blood stone that flowed out from a primordial ancient mine?”

Many of the older figures pressed the people of the Yao Guang Stone Workshop with questions — how far had the temple originally been from the primordial ancient mine, and how had they transported the blood sacrifice altar out?

The Yao Guang people wore blank, numb expressions. No one responded. They had cut six blood stones without gaining a thing — and now this edge piece was about to yield a divine maiden. It was a devastating blow.

Thud!

A large piece of stone skin fell to the ground. The blood sacrifice altar had been cut open by one third, and unbeknownst to anyone, an incomparably bone-chilling killing intent seeped through the stone.

The creature sealed within did not seem like a divine maiden at all — it seemed more like a supreme demon-fiend, causing people to shudder involuntarily. Many cultivators of weaker cultivation felt their hearts hammering with terror.

“Step back — this is a spectacle best not watched from close range!”

Many people’s hearts seized with dread, and they chose to retreat to a greater distance. Some even left the stone garden entirely, not daring to remain any longer.

“This is no world-shaking treasure. If an ancient king were to emerge, countless lives could be lost in an instant, with blood flowing like rivers. Preserving one’s life is what matters most.”

Some people were extremely cautious, suppressing their curiosity and impulse, and truly departed then and there.

However, the vast majority chose not to leave. They wanted to witness the miracle with their own eyes, placing their faith in the Celestial Prison of the Divine City, and trusting in the capabilities of the several holy lord-level figures.

Bang!

Another large piece of stone skin fell away. Bone-piercing killing intent surged out, sending chills from head to toe and making hearts and gallbladders run cold — people trembled uncontrollably.

By this point, even Nangong Qi’s blade strokes had become sluggish. Fear had risen within him too — the killing intent had infiltrated his very bones.

Crack!

This time, his blade stroke was unsteady. A thick layer of outer stone skin was hewn away, and a world-shaking killing intent burst forth. Nangong Qi staggered backward several steps, nearly sitting down on the ground.

And out in the surrounding area, many people’s calves cramped. Quite a few of weaker cultivation could not stand steadily and collapsed to the ground.

No one laughed. For every person was enveloped in that killing intent — cold aura permeating their entire bodies, every hair standing on end.

Crack!

It was not Nangong Qi striking. A piece of stone fragment broke away from the blood sacrifice altar on its own. The crazed killing intent surged out like a tidal wave, causing heaven and earth to tremble!

“A spearhead, mottled with rust!”

“A battle spear from before the Primordial age!”

The oppression was immense. Many people were shaking, utterly tense, stumbling backward. More still crumpled to the ground, their skin breaking out in goosebumps.

Within the stone was a spear tip — red as blood, covered in rust, nearly rotted to pieces. Yet it radiated an incomparable bone-deep menace, a world-shaking killing intent.

Everything that made people tremble, everything that filled them with dread — it all originated from this. The blood-stained spear tip was the embodiment of destruction and death!

It was not sharp, not luminous — the ages had nearly ground it into oblivion. Yet its killing intent had not diminished.

Its form teetered on the edge of decay, yet the endless, bone-chilling killing intent would never fade, harboring within it an aura capable of making heaven and earth tremble.

“This is a peerless deadly weapon — it must have slain unimaginable existences!”

Several holy lord-level figures spoke gravely, one after another.

“This spear must have pierced the bodies of paramount figures, stained with their blood, carrying forever the supreme bone-chilling killing intent of that world-shaking blow from ages past!”

Would the divine maiden within the stone emerge wielding this peerless deadly weapon?

When that thought arose, many people began to tremble. Boundless terror enveloped their hearts, and people shuddered as they retreated.

Nangong Qi steadied his composure. After a very long while, he stepped forward again — but one could see that the silver blade he had brought out was trembling.

Splat!

Suddenly, just as that gleaming silver blade approached the spear tip, it shattered inch by inch into fine powder, ground apart by the world-shaking killing intent.

Nearly rotted away — yet what kind of existence’s blood had that spear tip absorbed? After untold ages, it still carried a killing intent that made people tremble.

“Allow me.” The great master of the Ji Family stepped forward. Pinching another silver blade, he carved from a distance through the air, stone powder cascading downward.

He avoided the crimson blood-soaked battle spear, steering clear of the area around it, wanting to cut out the other parts of the divine maiden’s body first — he had no desire for that peerless deadly weapon to emerge too early.

Crack!

Stone skin continued to peel away. A sacred aura spread outward, and a gentle, luminous light burst forth, radiating an exceptionally holy and serene power.

“What kind of source is this — silver and gleaming, like starlight, like moonlight?” Some of the older figures were astonished.

“She’s been cut out — a divine maiden — there truly is a divine maiden inside!” Many people were shaken to their core.

“An ancient king — she must be an ancient king!” Even the Supreme Elders of the holy lands were stunned.

“Let’s see what you have to bet now!” The disciples of the source arts clans were both terrified and thrilled, sneering as they fixed their gaze on Ye Fan and Li Heishui.