“A seed?!”
Ye Fan’s fingers had turned crystalline purple as he gently cradled the bowl-sized violet divine crystal. He was bathed in a sacred power, his entire body wreathed in a layer of purple mist.
The Crimson Dragon Old Daoist was extremely agitated, the scarlet gleam in his eyes flickering as he stared at this world-shaking divine crystal. His words were faint, drawing the attention of only a handful of people.
The Heaven-grade stone garden was a sea of voices, deafening beyond measure. People could not contain themselves — what they had witnessed was too extraordinary. Truly, it was a purple Qilin.
The purple Qilin sealed within the divine crystal was very small — no bigger than an infant’s fist — yet it possessed life force without equal. It breathed in and out the quintessence of the sun and moon.
Boundless spiritual energy was drawn and set into motion. With each breath, it was like the surge and ebb of a tide, making those present feel as though they had received a baptism, their entire bodies at ease.
All of this was profoundly wondrous. Everyone knew — this was a matchless immortal treasure of immeasurable value.
“A purple Qilin… such a being truly exists in heaven and earth! A creature ranked alongside the Immortal — I almost feel as though I am dreaming. This is too incredible to believe!”
“It is a sacred spirit gestated by heaven and earth in perfect harmony — born in the ancient past, perhaps even further back than that, in the primordial age. And today it has appeared in the world…”
……
No one in the crowd was not stirred. Not a single person could remain calm. Had it not been for the Crimson Dragon Daoist standing there, a bloody battle would surely have already broken out.
Even so, the group of weathered old men all seemed to have swallowed some spring-invigorating tonic — vigorous as dragons and tigers, they pressed to the front, their eyes reddened, including the Supreme Elders of various sacred grounds.
As for the various Sons and Holy Maidens — even as powerful as they were, they could not compare to their own elders and the powerful demon lords who commanded entire regions. All of them were left in disarray.
The younger generation was nearly entirely shoved out, causing several of the Holy Maidens to frown deeply. Little Moon of the Ji Family and the little nun in white from Great Xia were crying out in protest at the top of their voices, complaining about the senior figures.
Wounded. That was the most honest description of Yao Guang’s people in that moment. With an extraordinary purple Qilin appearing, the stone garden’s guardians had the urge to cut their own throats.
The strange stone “Demon Embryo” had been placed in the stone garden for who knew how many years, long treated as a half-wasted stone and given the cold shoulder — and yet it had produced a world-shaking immortal treasure of this magnitude.
“On behalf of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect, this old one… would like to purchase this rare treasure!”
“Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect — what makes you so special? On behalf of the Yin-Yang Sect, this old one sincerely wishes to purchase this immortal treasure!”
“Can any of you actually afford it? Do you know what a purple Qilin is worth?!” A Supreme Elder from one of the sacred grounds scoffed lightly.
“If we can’t afford it, can you?!” The undying-level figures from the various sects were not afraid of the Supreme Elders of the sacred grounds. They retorted coldly, returning the scorn in kind.
The group of weathered old men looked very much as though they were about to come to blows. Every one of them was immensely agitated, without a trace of the frailty of old age — they were in better fighting form than even some of the young Sons.
Little Moon of the Ji Family and the little nun in white, clutching the unruly Shen Can, cried out again and again in protest as the senior figures trod on their small feet.
“That is enough! Stop quarreling!” The Ji Family’s great power spoke, his voice not loud — yet it silenced everyone at once.
He was tall and powerfully built, his hair silver as snow, his skin like mutton-fat white jade. He was a Sacred Master-level figure in every sense of the word. No one dared to take his words lightly.
The Crimson Dragon Old Daoist let out a cold snort as well, and said, “What is there to quarrel about?”
He clasped his hands behind his back and swept his gaze over everyone present. Wherever his eyes passed, people shivered involuntarily — not a single person dared open their mouth to contradict him.
A supremely terrifying figure of this caliber — who had dared, boldly and openly, to seek to kill the Sacred Master of Yao Guang, and still dared to linger within the Divine City — that said everything.
Even the Ji Family’s great power, Xu Tianxiong the Third Great Bandit, and the Imperial Uncle of Great Xia from Zhongzhou all kept him at a respectful distance, separating themselves from him by a safe margin.
“This seed… Great Xia wishes to contend for it!” The Imperial Uncle of Great Xia stepped forward. Even though he held the Crimson Dragon Daoist in awe, before a divine object like this, he absolutely could not let it go.
It was of exceptional rarity — worth seeking out and obtaining, even at the risk of danger. It was something worth gambling on.
“My Ji Family is also willing to offer a sky-high price to acquire it!” The Ji Family’s great power stated his position with resolve.
Only Xu Tianxiong said nothing. Though he dared stand against the various sacred grounds, at this moment he had no means to compete — in terms of capability, he feared the Crimson Dragon Daoist; in terms of wealth, he could not match the other two.
As for everyone else — their hearts had already gone cold. As precious as the purple immortal Qilin might be, it was not their place to reach for it.
“How can it be a seed?” Many people didn’t understand, staring blankly in astonishment.
“Why is it a seed? Isn’t it a little Qilin creature?” the little nun in white, who had finally managed to press through to the Imperial Uncle of Great Xia’s side with no one daring to crowd her further, murmured quietly.
“It is as with the Immortal — whether the Qilin truly exists, no one can say with certainty. And even if it does, it does not tread in the mortal world. We cannot see it.” The Imperial Uncle of Great Xia was quite fond of the little white-robed lolita, and explained to her gently.
“Great-Great-Grandfather, what exactly is it?” Ji Ziyue said coquettishly, swaying the Ji Family great power’s arm, not the least bit afraid of him.
“This is the seed of a divine medicine — the most precious sacred object in the world!” The Ji Family’s great power answered.
The seed of an ancient primordial Qilin divine medicine!
Ye Fan had seen the True Dragon divine medicine in the Ten Thousand Dragon Lair. From that, he could readily imagine what a Qilin divine medicine would be like.
The crowd was in an uproar. No one had expected this. How could a seed take the form of a Qilin, and possess such immensely powerful life force?
In Ye Fan’s hands, within the violet divine crystal, the little Qilin was vivid and detailed in miniature — its body clad in dragon scales, as though gliding lightly across water.
It had a dragon’s head, a deer’s antlers, a lion’s eyes, a tiger’s back, and a bear’s waist. Upon its back were dotted markings resembling a heavenly chart — profound and mysterious beyond measure.
“So the legend was true…” An elder among the senior figures murmured to himself.
Divine medicine was extraordinarily rare. Even in the ancient past, one could scarcely find a few specimens. It could give those great experts whose lifespans had nearly run dry a chance at renewal.
To say nothing of its efficacy for cultivators of other levels — it was thus revered as the most precious sacred object between heaven and earth.
Nearly every divine medicine was unique. A second specimen identical to the first was nearly impossible to find — which itself spoke to its preciousness and sanctity.
Almost every divine medicine could not be propagated. Each was singular. If it were destroyed, it meant its permanent erasure from heaven and earth — and thus it was called a supreme divine product.
This was also the fundamental reason why no trace of divine medicine remained in existence today, why it had vanished entirely.
“It cannot be propagated — so why does this seed exist?” Someone puzzled over this, murmuring under their breath.
“Because the divine medicine itself achieved nirvana and transformed into this seed…” An elder explained.
The divine medicines of the ancient past were each without equal, and all possessed a form of spiritual awareness. When facing destruction, they could flee — capable of soaring through the sky or vanishing into the earth.
What was even more wondrous was that sometimes they also underwent nirvanic rebirth. The divine medicine would condense itself, transforming into a single seed and breaking through the void, seeking out more suitable immortal earth in which to grow.
“This is the seed formed by an ancient divine medicine undergoing nirvana?!”
Everyone in the stone garden was left speechless. Inside and outside, a dead silence fell — one could hear a pin drop. People were deeply astonished.
Divine medicine bore another name — the Undying Medicine. It possessed the heaven-defying power to bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to dry bones. And they themselves were nearly unkillable.
At this moment, everyone understood just how precious it truly was. To any of the sacred grounds, it was absolutely a priceless sacred object.
This seed’s incomparably powerful surging life force proved it was brimming with vitality — without doubt, it could be planted and grown to flourish.
The sacred grounds had endured for hundreds of thousands of years without fading. Cultivating a single divine medicine — they could certainly wait, even if it took several thousand years to mature. That was nothing to them.
Every several thousand years, harvest the divine medicine once, accumulate several harvests, and use it to continuously extend the lives of those outstanding individuals with the potential to walk the path of the Supreme Emperor. Perhaps they could stack those lives together and produce a Supreme Emperor!
Thinking of this outcome — how could the sacred grounds not be red-eyed with longing? This was a supreme sacred object!
Ye Fan had cut out an incomplete humanoid primordial divine medicine before. Though it had roots and stems, without a divine spring to water it, there was no possibility of bringing it back to life.
Not to mention it was severely incomplete. Even if it had been whole and undamaged, if it could not be brought to life, it still could not compare to this seed teeming with life.
Now, without anyone needing to say it, everyone understood — this seed far surpassed the head of the ancient royal clan in value. Especially to the sacred grounds, it was an immortal treasure worth tearing all pretense aside to fight over.
Moreover, in terms of the seed itself — it was also a treasure for extending life, because it was formed from the nirvana of a divine medicine and retained within it the inexhaustible essence of the Undying substance.
Everyone’s eyes had gone red. Were it not for the Crimson Dragon Daoist standing beside Ye Fan, his life would have been in serious peril.
“The fairest method — let the highest bidder prevail!” The Ji Family’s great power spoke.
The people of the various sacred grounds agreed. With no powerful combatants present on their side, they could only contend through wealth. Otherwise, a single Xu Tianxiong alone would be enough to slaughter everyone present.
The Crimson Dragon Old Daoist spoke. “I know what you mean — do you wish to exclude me from this?”
His voice was calm, yet it made hearts clench with fear. He continued, “The great emperors of antiquity were not made by accumulating divine medicine. If someone cannot comprehend the Dao on their own, even giving them nine cycles of rebirth would be entirely wasted!”
The seed of a divine medicine — shaped like a Qilin, bearing Dao patterns on its back like a celestial map, profound and mysterious, wondrous beyond all telling.
At this moment, it continuously absorbed the quintessence of the sun and moon, as though returning to life — breathing in and out the refined essence, like the rise and fall of ocean waves, bathing all those within the stone garden in a sacred aura.
Ye Fan held the Qilin seed, his entire body suffused with crystalline purple radiance like jade. Truly, he did not wish to sell it. He hoped very much to keep it in his own hands.
“We have no way to hold onto this seed…” Li Heishui transmitted secretly, sighing repeatedly in dismay.
At this moment, the gazes that fell upon Ye Fan were visibly different from before. He had first cut out the Ancient Worm Divine Source, and then the seed of the Qilin divine medicine — surpassing a grandmaster-level figure with both — leaving people astounded.
Even the proud and lofty Sons and Holy Maidens were extending goodwill, reaching out with olive branches. To say nothing of everyone else.
The future Source Master of Heaven!
Many had already stamped him with this label. To surpass a Source technique grandmaster at such a young age — his future achievements were limitless. There was a very real possibility he would become a remarkable figure of his generation.
Even the few Sacred Master-level figures, when their gazes swept across him, looked at him with distinctly different eyes.
“Let us continue cutting stones!” Nangong Qi said, his expression unmoved.
“What does it matter that he cut out a divine medicine seed? Could it possibly compare to a divine maiden? In the end, it will all go to us when we win.” The young disciples of the ancient Source technique family were very discontented, sneering under their breath.
“Hmph — let him keep cutting. We almost hope he cuts something even rarer from the Immortal Tomb. That way, our gains would be all the richer!”
They were confident they would cut out the divine maiden — they would witness a miracle in the history of Source technique, and they refused to believe there was anything in the world more precious than this.
“Then open your eyes wide and watch carefully. Watch us cut an Immortal out of the Immortal Tomb!” Li Heishui said stubbornly — though in his heart, he had very little confidence at all.