The moment Ye Fan stood up, he found himself before an expanse of snow-white jade forms — several Holy Maidens standing right in front of him, with no way to avoid them.
Li Heishui, nearly trembling with envy, grabbed his arm and muttered under his breath, “Mind that your bestial blood doesn’t start boiling!”
Ye Fan inwardly recited the names of the revered ones and the titles of the Buddhas, repeating his prayers of repentance. The several Holy Maidens from Wan Chu Sacred Ground and the Great Derivation Sacred Ground were standing far too close — he had no way to look away.
“Why would choosing stones cause Little Brother Ancient Style’s face to turn red?” An Miaoyi smiled softly.
She was called one of the most beautiful women in existence — some even claimed she was the foremost beauty of the Eastern Wasteland. Her every expression was incomparably captivating, her beauty without equal.
She appeared to possess a transcendent, inviolable grace — yet for Ye Fan, it was an entirely different experience. He felt utterly overwhelmed.
An Miaoyi possessed a figure to bewitch the soul — her body enchanting, her curves full and slender and lush… crystalline as jade, her physique enough to make the mind reel.
Ye Fan gave a dry cough. “Selecting stones is very draining on the mind and spirit.”
“Brother, are you alright?” Yao Yuekong asked with concern.
Li Heishui stood to the side and curled his lip. “Don’t worry. Not only will he be perfectly fine, he’ll be full of vigor — his blood has most definitely surged upward, filling him with energy.”
An Miaoyi smiled sweetly. “Little Brother Ancient Style is truly interesting. I wouldn’t take you for a shy person, yet why are you so constrained now?”
Li Heishui grinned. “Esteemed and honored Immortal Miaoyi, it is precisely because your allure is boundless — your jade body fragrant and your stunning beauty world-shaking — that Ancient Style simply cannot handle it.”
The several Holy Maidens present all looked puzzled, even a little baffled, feeling his words were odd — as though they carried some hidden meaning.
Ye Fan covered for himself. “I’m fine. I spent a bit of mental energy just now. A little rest and I’ll be alright.”
The Holy Maidens all smiled gently, graceful and captivating — even the bystanders nearby were left dazzled, their minds wandering. For Ye Fan, who possessed eyes that could see through all things, it was immeasurably worse. He truly experienced what it meant to be surrounded by ten thousand kinds of tender beauty — yet for him, it was not a pleasure, but a torment.
He hastily turned back to face the Immortal Tomb, studying it anew. If he didn’t, he genuinely feared he would suffer divine retribution.
For these were several Holy Maidens — the inheritors of the undying legacies of the Eastern Wasteland, the future mistresses of this vast, boundless land. Today, he had seen through their “heavenly secrets.”
In the future, if those “heavenly secrets” were to leak out and people learned he possessed divine eyes, it would certainly bring about a great karmic consequence. The Holy Maidens would likely chase him to the ends of the earth.
“Bald-headed elder brother, daoist elder brother…” Ye Fan rambled off a few more incantations and Buddhist invocations at random, and completely stilled his mind.
The Immortal Tomb was as deep as an abyss — though it was not large, it was unfathomable. He furrowed his brow and observed it for a long while before standing up.
“Young Master Ancient, what do you think — will you select this stone?” A group of old men watched with keen attention, one of them saying, “There may truly be immortal treasures hidden within.”
“If this stone were truly a burial mound sealed by heaven, would Yao Guang leave it sitting here for people to cut?” Ye Fan shook his head. He could not make up his mind.
Before long, he came to a spring pool and fixed his gaze on a stone roughly the size of a human head. He could make out nothing unusual about it. Yet his heart stirred — and he used his Source Heavenly Divine Sense to look through it.
A divine Source stone!
The strange stone was not large, yet within it was a block of divine Source bigger than a fist — this astonished him considerably.
His divine eyes flashed like lightning, the purple gleam sinking three inches into the stone, clearly capturing what appeared to be a small sun sealed within. It was impossible for this to be a false divine Source fabricated by Nangong Qi.
This block of divine Source, glowing golden-yellow like an eternal divine light locked within the stone, was worth a full seventy thousand catties of pure Source.
Ye Fan weighed the head-sized stone in his hand for a moment, intending to purchase it separately — not counting it among the three stones in the contest.
Suddenly his expression shifted dramatically. He hurled the stone upward and darted into the midst of the group of weathered old men.
Boom!
It was as though a great star had plummeted from the cosmos and detonated in midair. Blinding golden energy erupted like endless lava.
“The aura of divine Source!”
Everyone was alarmed, and at the same time seized by fear. Such a massive explosion of divine power erupting all at once was enough to shatter any of the senior figures present.
Just a moment earlier, had Ye Fan been even one step slower, he would already have been reduced to a smear of bloody pulp. The force was beyond measure.
“The old scoundrel is truly ruthless — he didn’t even hesitate to destroy a divine Source stone!” Ye Fan gritted his teeth.
Everyone present felt their hearts clench. The Source technique contest had truly escalated to matters of life and death. Even in the stone-selecting phase, traps were being set — one moment of carelessness could mean utter ruin with no hope of recovery.
Only Shen Can was excited, soaring into the sky and gulping down the divine Source energy in great mouthfuls, smacking its lips repeatedly with an expression of complete bliss.
Repay a blow with a blow — that is only proper courtesy.
Ye Fan strolled through the bamboo grove, his movements unhurried, treating the Yao Guang Stone Workshop as a battlefield. He applied the Dragon-Transforming Technique, Earth Vein Technique, and Life-Ending Killing Art to activate strange stones one by one.
And in the process, he discovered eight or nine more traps — each one deadly, and the lightest of them enough to cripple. It was truly one alarming step after another.
Boom!
Purple light erupted skyward. A purple crystal unusual Source detonated. Though Nangong Qi reacted quickly, half his sleeve was still reduced to ash.
And beside him, a disciple let out a wretched cry — his flesh and blood mangled, his abdomen nearly torn open front to back.
Nangong Qi’s face darkened as he issued an order. “The rest of you, stand to the side. Do not follow.” The young members of the ancient Source technique family all stepped back upon hearing this, no longer following along.
The air grew thicker with the scent of gunpowder. Both sides were at each other’s throats — one moment of inattention could mean death.
Ye Fan made a full circuit of the stone garden and finally found a stone that suited him. It was shaped like a stone grinding wheel, not particularly large, priced at eighty thousand catties of Source, and named the Wind Hollow Stone.
“This stone looks practically weathered through — it’s full of little holes, like wood gnawed by insects. Why pick this one?” Li Heishui couldn’t understand it.
The surrounding old men were equally puzzled. One said, “This stone has been sitting here for several hundred years. No one has ever taken an interest in it.”
To everyone’s surprise, Ye Fan firmly bought the Wind Hollow Stone without offering any explanation.
A cry of astonishment came from the other side of the bamboo grove — Nangong Qi had selected his first stone, causing a great stir.
“Grandmaster Nangong has chosen the Blood Sacrificial Platform!”
“It is said to be stone material transported from within the Primal Forbidden Zone.”
“It is worth three hundred thousand catties of pure Source — the most precious stone in the Yao Guang Stone Workshop, and capable of ranking in the top five among all stone workshops of the great sects.”
“What a breathtaking move — three hundred thousand catties of Source piled up would form a mountain, yet it is spent on a single stone!”
……
People could not help but be stunned. The stone garden erupted with clamor.
Ye Fan’s brow creased. The opponent’s decisiveness had caught him off guard. He had also examined the Blood Sacrificial Platform — like the Immortal Tomb, it was impossible to see through. He had not expected the opponent to buy it so readily.
“I want the Immortal Tomb!” he said to Yao Guang’s people, uttering those four words.
The crowd gasped, and then another wave of exclamations erupted. The second most expensive strange stone had been claimed, and today was certain to be a fine spectacle.
“The Immortal Tomb is worth two hundred and fifty thousand catties of pure Source!”
“These two sides have both gone mad — spending tens of thousands of catties of Source on a single stone!”
The stone garden was filled with uproar as people debated the matter, and outside was even more frenzied.
Too many people had come today. The overwhelming majority could not enter — they could only watch from beyond the bamboo grove in the distance.
“A world-shaking gamble — spending tens of thousands of catties of Source in a single stroke, more lavish than even a Sacred Master.”
“Both the Immortal Tomb and the Blood Sacrificial Platform have been chosen. Today will absolutely be a feast for the eyes. We’ve always wondered what was inside.”
Nearly everyone was stirred. Every one of the Sons and Holy Maidens was deeply shaken — after all, it was tens of thousands of catties of Source, enough to make even them draw a sharp breath.
As for those weathered old men, they were the most restless of all. Some had been watching the Immortal Tomb and the Blood Sacrificial Platform for no one knew how many years — but after a Source technique grandmaster’s veto, no one had dared make a move. Until now.
“Grandmaster Nangong has selected his second strange stone!”
A cry came from the other side of the bamboo grove. Nangong Qi’s second stone was worth one hundred and eighty thousand catties of Source — not the highest price, but the largest in volume, roughly the size of a small house.
The Great Dull Elephant!
The stone’s name was unglamorous, its bulk enormous, its price steep — and it had long sat with no takers. Nangong Qi bought it without hesitation.
Ye Fan felt a hint of pressure. The opponent had genuine boldness of vision: selecting stones with precision and acting decisively.
Li Heishui grumbled, “In name, Nangong Qi is the one selecting stones — but in reality, all four grandmasters of the ancient Source technique family are looking at the stones together. This is four against one. It’s completely unfair.”
“I choose the Demon Embryo!” Ye Fan selected his third stone.
It was that perfectly round, naturally spherical strange stone — worth one hundred and twenty thousand catties of Source, named the Demon Embryo, warm and smooth to the touch.
“Young friend, have you finished choosing?” Nangong Qi walked over. He too had selected his third stone.
“I have.” Ye Fan replied.
“In that case, let us cut the stones.” Nangong Qi was composed and steady, as if everything were already within his grasp.
Ye Fan’s three chosen strange stones were: the Wind Hollow Stone, the Demon Embryo, and the Immortal Tomb — worth eighty thousand, one hundred and twenty thousand, and two hundred and fifty thousand catties of Source respectively, totaling four hundred and fifty thousand catties.
Nangong Qi’s three chosen strange stones were: the Blazing Sun Stone, the Great Dull Elephant, and the Blood Sacrificial Platform — worth eighty thousand, one hundred and eighty thousand, and three hundred thousand catties of Source respectively, totaling five hundred and sixty thousand catties.
The stone garden fell utterly silent. Everyone was stunned. Between the two of them, over one million catties of Source had been spent, leaving people utterly speechless.
Whether senior figures, various Sons, or the other cultivators who could not enter the Heaven-grade stone garden — all were left shaken to the core.
“Cut the stones!”
“Hurry and cut them open to see what’s inside!”
……
The first to break the silence and shout these words were the group of weathered old men — every one of them red-faced and straining, waving their fists and crying out loudly.
“Yes, cut the stones now!”
“We want to see immediately what world-shaking immortal treasures are sealed within!”
The others were infected by their fervor and likewise began shouting. Inside and outside the stone garden, everything seethed.
“Cut the Immortal Tomb first — open that naturally-formed burial mound and see what lies buried within!”
“Cutting the Blood Sacrificial Platform first would also be fine — that stone material was transported out of the ruins of an ancient temple in the Primal Forbidden Zone. Its origin is astonishing!”
Nangong Qi smiled and said, “Since everyone is so eager to know, then let us open everyone’s eyes.”
He said he would need the assistance of several old friends, for even someone as powerful as himself could not alone see through this stone.
The Blood Sacrificial Platform had an astonishing origin — it came from the Primal Forbidden Zone, a component of an altar from an ancient divine temple, its entire body a deep blood-red hue, carrying a demonic quality.
It was said that the altar had been composed of nine blood stones. Yao Guang Sacred Ground had cut open six of them and obtained nothing. The smallest of the nine was sent to the stone workshop.
At this moment, Nangong Qi and the other three grandmasters opened their palms, divine light blooming from within — each one manifesting a resplendent divine wheel.
“The Source Heavenly Treasure Wheel!”
“No — it’s the Source Heavenly Divine Wheel!”
“Heavens — it is truly the Source Heavenly Divine Wheel, achieved at the pinnacle of mastery!”
The four divine wheels merged into one — crystalline and brilliant — and shone upon the Blood Sacrificial Platform, making its interior seem to grow suddenly clear.
“Heavens — there is a person in the stone!”
“A young woman!”
“A peerless beauty of incomparable grace!”
The stone garden instantly erupted. Ye Fan’s heart sank. This was too incredible to believe!
“Quickly, go summon the great powers!”
“Bring all the Sacred Master-level figures in the Divine City here — have them inscribe protective formations to suppress this stone!”
Several ancient relics cried out urgently, sending people to summon the great powers within the Divine City.