“Half a month from now, at Qixia Plain — I look forward to the moment your head flies and golden blood scatters across the ground!” Yuangu gave Ye Fan one final glance before turning and departing.
“Never having the chance to fight the Primordial Sovereign in his prime is truly one of life’s great regrets. Guess I’ll have to settle for cutting down his bloodline as consolation,” Ye Fan remarked casually.
The moment these words left his mouth, the entire area fell into dead silence. Even Huo Lin’er and the others stood stunned — everyone was shocked, the silence absolute.
What manner of overwhelming arrogance was this? In their hearts, the ancient sovereigns of the primeval era were comparable to deities — no one had ever dared to place themselves on equal footing with them, and yet here was the Human Sacred Body speaking in such a tone.
Yuangu whirled around abruptly and said: “How outrageously arrogant. Fifteen days from now, at the rising of the morning sun, at Qixia Plain — do not fail to appear. I will wash my hands in your sacred blood!”
The crowd erupted in an uproar, a wave of chaotic discussion breaking out, everyone talking excitedly, filled with anticipation for this battle — it would be the strongest confrontation of all.
There was no gimmick to it — this would be a genuine, blood-soaked battle on the Path of Emperors, the Human Sacred Body against the bloodline of an ancient sovereign, set to ignite a war that would shake the heavens.
“This is going too far — daring to compare himself to the Primordial Sovereign, does he really think he can achieve the Dao himself?!”
“I must go witness that battle — I want to see with my own eyes the Primordial Sovereign’s descendant cut down the Human Sacred Body, to display the supreme divine might of our primeval sovereigns!”
Within the Heavenly Bazaar, many living beings discussed the matter — after all, this place was dominated primarily by the various primeval factions, and naturally most sided with the ancient sovereign’s descendant, feeling that Ye Fan had shown great disrespect.
Of course, there were also a small number of human cultivators present, and hearing this, their blood boiled with excitement, hoping Ye Fan would achieve victory in this battle, striking down Yuangu and bringing honor to the human race.
A storm was about to break!
People knew that fifteen days from now, the world would surely erupt into excitement — all eyes under heaven would focus on the Northern Territory, as a world-shaking battle was about to stir the winds and clouds of all five domains, formally opening the prelude to the great age.
“Little sister, it’s settled then. I’ll be visiting the Ji family in the Southern Domain before long — you must take good care of this extraordinary flower for me.” Huo Lin’er smiled, bidding farewell to Ji Ziyue with a turn of her head, and at the same time inviting her to visit the Fire Qilin Cave sometime during her stay in the Northern Territory.
“We should get going too. With our identities recognized, an ordinary man carrying a piece of jade commits no crime, yet the jade itself invites disaster — leaving now will likely bring great trouble.” Duan De said. He had no shortage of enemies, having dug up many people’s ancestral graves, and had grown accustomed to being cautious in daily life.
Ye Fan nodded. This unexpected acquisition of such an enormous piece of divine material had left them all rather unsettled, and they departed along the street of extraordinary stones.
“Hmm, that piece of stone material contains a chunk of Lamb Fat Divine Iron — pity the asking price is too high.”
“Wait a moment — that piece of stone ahead has divine origin essence within, containing refined gold inside. Ah, what a pity, it’s only purple bronze after all, not a true divine material.”
…
Ye Fan observed as he walked, hoping to cut out a few more precious materials before leaving. This place had waste stone piled up like mountains, but genuinely good items did exist here too — only the prices were all absurdly unreasonable.
“Huh, the stone material in this area is quite extraordinary — nearly all of it contains something, though nothing especially precious.” Ye Fan was surprised.
Ahead, this section of stone material covered a vast area, all of it fine, extraordinary stone, possessing a rather unusual aura, wreathed in divine refinement and spiritual energy.
“This place has produced a good number of fine items, but the owner’s requirements are equally strict…”
Though extraordinary stones were being sold here, if divine material was cut out from within, the sellers had the right to buy it back at fair market value — the pricing was quite reasonable, without any padding.
“So many rules — who would even want to come here.” Li Tian muttered.
However, Ye Fan came to a stop, for there was something extraordinary here, particularly a stone he was staring at, containing divine origin essence with a living being sealed inside.
“Could we negotiate with them to simply buy the entire extraordinary stone outright, without cutting it open here?”
Hearing this, the Monkey shook his head, saying: “That’s definitely not possible. I’ve heard the owner of this stretch of stone material has an extremely impressive background — it’s the Nine Phoenix King, who might one day become a Great Sage. He won’t be easy to negotiate with.”
Everyone drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. The Nine Phoenix King had once appeared at the Jasper Pool Gathering; during the primeval era, he had once been praised by the Battle-Winning Sacred Sovereign as having excellent talent, and the comment had made him famous throughout the world.
“What should we do then…” Ye Fan found himself in a difficult position, because he had truly discovered something extraordinary.
“Kid, did you find a treasure? If not, let’s just loot the place and make a run for it,” the Great Black Dog suggested, offering its usual terrible idea. It had seen far too many treasures in this place already, its eyes had long since turned red with envy, and it had brought this up several times, wanting to pull off one big score before making its escape.
“Go stand somewhere cool and calm down. There are definitely people watching, waiting for us to make a mistake. If you want to loot the place, come back another day on your own.” Ye Fan grabbed it by the neck, warning it not to cause trouble.
“Kid, did you really spot something good? I just don’t know if they’ll actually give fair value when buying it back.” Duan De’s eyes gleamed with thieving light.
The Monkey said: “Don’t worry, the Nine Phoenix King’s fame spans the entire primeval era — he’s one of the rare true masters under heaven. His stone-trading business won’t pull any dirty tricks; he can’t afford to lose that kind of face.”
“Alright then, I’ll go cut it open. I just don’t know what they’ll be able to offer in exchange when the time comes — this time we’ve really found a treasure,” Ye Fan said.
By now, he had seen nearly every kind of good treasure imaginable, so for him to evaluate something this way meant it truly was an extraordinary rarity, instantly exciting everyone around him.
“Little Ye, what did you find?” Even Ji Ziyue grew curious, tilting her head to ask, the corners of her mouth curving gently into a soft smile, her entire being ethereal, carrying a divine refinement.
“A dragon!” Ye Fan answered.
“What?!” Everyone’s jaws dropped, seeing clearly that he wasn’t joking — his expression was entirely serious.
The asking price for this stone wasn’t unreasonably high, entirely within their means. Ye Fan purchased it and immediately began cutting the stone on the spot. Many had been watching all along, and upon seeing him make another move, they all gathered around.
“I can hardly wait — what exactly is this dormant dragon?” The Black Sovereign drooled, sprawled in front of this bluish stone, refusing to move even half a step away.
This was a piece of blue-toned stone material about a meter long, quite unremarkable in appearance, placed off in a corner, clearly attracting little attention — even the several guards responsible for watching over the stone material paid it no mind at all.
Once the stone’s outer shell was scraped away, dazzling radiance burst forth. No matter how one looked at it, divine origin essence had been cut out — this would certainly not be a loss.
“There’s a living being sealed within!” someone with sharp eyes exclaimed in shock.
“Crack!”
Ye Fan moved swiftly, nearly instantly cracking open the stone, revealing a chunk of divine origin essence the size of a washbasin — within it lay a coiled dragon, its entire body gleaming with golden light, dazzling and resplendent.
“Could it be another Divine Silkworm that’s been cut out?” Li Heishui asked, uncertain and astonished.
However, everyone else stood dumbstruck — this could not possibly be a Divine Silkworm; the characteristics were too distinct, entirely different from that species’ form.
“Is this a true dragon? Why do I smell medicinal fragrance, rich and intoxicating — I could hardly resist taking a bite!”
Many exclaimed in astonishment, all with their mouths agape, staring incredulously at the coiled dragon within the origin essence. If fully extended, it would measure nearly a meter in length, possessing a very distinctive aura — sacred without needing to display might.
“It’s dead — not a living creature, but this is definitely a heaven-defying treasure!”
Many had personally witnessed Ye Fan cut out Great Silver Essence, and now seeing him crack open stone again to reveal yet another divine treasure, all were shocked, instantly the area fell into a clamor.
“What exactly is this thing, it smells so fragrant — could it be some kind of dragon-shaped divine medicine?”
“A heaven-defying treasure — these people truly have extraordinarily deep fortune, cutting open stone twice and obtaining rare treasures both times, it’s enough to make anyone jealous!”
A massive crowd surged forward, all marveling in astonishment, unable to identify exactly what this was. Some speculated it might be the remains of a true dragon’s corpse.
“Damn it, you dead dog, you got my shoes all wet.” Ye Fan kicked it.
At this point, the Great Black Dog’s drool was pouring down in torrents, like a small river, its large paws clutching the chunk of divine origin essence, crying out: “This is mine — none of you are allowed to snatch it!”
Duan De too seemed possessed by some malevolent spirit, shoving Ye Fan aside and mounting the Great Black Dog’s back, wrestling over this piece of divine origin essence, wanting to claim it for himself.
For two of the most shameless and greedy scoundrels to grow this excited needed no further explanation — it too was clearly a heaven-defying rare treasure. Evidently both had recognized what it was, fighting desperately over it, brawling openly in front of everyone.
“Could it be…” Ye Fan looked closer, suddenly understanding.
Just then, several powerhouses responsible for guarding the stone material appeared, saying: “We must reclaim this heaven-defying treasure.”
“Reclaim my ass, what are you going to trade for it?” The Black Sovereign grew anxious, immediately murmuring with fat Duan De, actually discussing looting the place right on the spot.
“A rare Dragon Loach, and one this large at that — nearly equivalent to a true dragon, beyond price, priceless in this world.” an elderly man said.
“Truly a Dragon Loach? How could it be this large — absolutely heaven-defying, a supremely rare medicinal treasure!” Many exclaimed in astonishment.
In the present era, there were no more than ten Dragon Loaches in existence throughout the entire world, the longest merely a foot in length — three of them resided at Jasper Pool, one in the Immortal Mansion realm, which Ye Fan had once had the fortune to see.
A foot-long Dragon Loach could nearly rival the Medicine King in value — needless to say, a specimen like this, nearly a meter long, its fragrance permeating through the divine origin essence itself, was beyond comparison.
“Unfortunately, it has died — its blood has solidified, its medicinal potency sharply diminished. Otherwise, a Dragon Loach of this size, rarely seen in all history, would absolutely be worth nearly half an Undying Medicine.” an elderly connoisseur sighed.
Even so, this Dragon Loach was still priceless beyond compare, with nothing else in the world truly comparable to it. If used as the primary ingredient in an alchemical brew, it could extend life by six hundred to a thousand years.
What kind of concept was that? Even ancient Sages of the primeval era would bow and beg for such a thing — in this world, nothing was more precious than lifespan, especially when one’s own was nearing exhaustion.
The meter-long Dragon Loach, its entire body golden, coiled within the origin essence, appeared even more like a true dragon than the three specimens seen at Jasper Pool’s marsh — lifelike and vivid, its golden dragon body resplendent, spiritual energy radiating outward, every single drop of its essence blood a precious treasure of “life” itself.
In the end, the Black Sovereign and Duan De’s looting scheme fell apart, as a great number of powerhouses appeared all around, each one exuding overwhelming battle-aura, terrifyingly strong — if a real fight broke out, there would certainly be no way to break through the encirclement.
“What will you offer in exchange for this dragon?” Ye Fan asked, remaining perfectly calm, seated in a treasured chair specially brought over for them.
Ji Ziyue also spoke up with a smile, saying: “This is a priceless immortal treasure. Do you have Undying Medicine? Do you have materials exclusively reserved for Great Emperors? Aside from these, I can’t think what else could possibly be offered in exchange.”
“This…” Several of the Nine Phoenix King’s subordinates looked troubled, having genuinely no treasure of equivalent value to offer.
“Might we borrow a moment of your time, gentlemen?” Just then, a black-robed powerhouse appeared, and everyone instinctively made way for him as he approached the Nine Phoenix King’s subordinates.
“He’s the eldest grandson of the Chaos-Opening Great Sage, already having one foot into the realm of an Ancestral King!” people exclaimed in shock, all understanding exactly why he had come — he possessed the Nine-Aperture Spirit-Connecting Divine Liquid, which could be traded for this Dragon Loach.
The Nine Phoenix King’s subordinates dared not act carelessly — just how powerful was the Chaos-Opening Great Sage? A single person capable of wiping out half the living beings of an entire ancient star. Offending him would leave no place to hide, in all heaven and earth, including the Nine Phoenix King himself!
“This matter, we must immediately report to the Nine Phoenix King. This Dragon Loach is simply too precious — we cannot make this decision ourselves.” After conversing with the other side, the Nine Phoenix King’s subordinates spoke with evident difficulty.
“Very well, we’ll await the Nine Phoenix King’s response,” the Chaos-Opening Great Sage’s grandson said.
Ye Fan sighed inwardly — he had known this situation would arise. Yet even if he hadn’t cut open this stone himself, someone else would have discovered it sooner or later.
The stone material already bore a crack; the slightest further disturbance could have caused it to split open, and the fragrance sealed within would inevitably have wafted out — any ordinary passerby could have detected it, let alone these powerful ancient races.
Rather than let that happen, it was better that he had been the one to cut it open — at least this way he could trade for some immortal treasures to use.
Two hours later, a powerhouse returned, saying: “The Nine Phoenix King holds the Chaos-Opening Great Sage in boundless reverence. Learning that he intends to wager eight hundred years of life in a contest against heaven itself, he is deeply moved with admiration, and is willing to part with an immortal treasure!”
“Much gratitude — I shall repay this generously one day!” the Chaos-Opening Great Sage’s grandson said, then walked over, addressing Ye Fan and the others: “I am willing to trade the Nine-Aperture Spirit-Connecting Divine Liquid for your Dragon Loach — would that be acceptable?”