Chapter 407: Complete Kill

Fiery pillars of flame shot up from the fractured Origin Stone on the platform, with sparks flying everywhere, like a fireworks display.

The previously boisterous trading hall suddenly fell silent as the pillars of flame erupted. Faces that moments ago were filled with anticipation for a good show were now completely frozen.

They stared almost blankly at the rising pillars of flame. It was a spectacular sight they had never witnessed in a stone-gambling hall before.

Who had ever seen an Origin Stone being opened only for it to result in a fireworks display?!

The pillars of flame shot skyward and after a long moment, gradually subsided. From within the Origin Stone, a blood-red liquid slowly flowed out, emitting an astonishing heat.

As the flames receded, the countless stunned gazes finally began to refocus.

The next moment, their hearts began to pound wildly.

They discovered that among the ten Origin Stones, three contained one-hundred-year Origin Marrow, four contained five-hundred-year Origin Marrow, and two had reached seven hundred years…

The most astonishing was the last one; its color, like viscous blood, unmistakably indicated a thousand-year-old Origin Marrow!

The entire trading hall erupted in an uproar. Countless individuals who cultivated fire-attribute Origin Qi or Origin Arts gazed at the Origin Marrow with fervent, greedy eyes. For them, it was truly a rare treasure.

Then, their gazes shifted to Zhou Yuan, filled with shock. They had never witnessed anyone extract such high-grade Origin Marrow from Origin Stones, let alone all at once.

And not a single Origin Stone had been empty!

This clearly wasn't mere luck!

Some gazes fixed intently on Zhou Yuan. If it wasn't luck, then there was only one possibility: Zhou Yuan's mastery of Origin Stones had reached an unimaginable level.

He could be called a Grandmaster.

"Impossible!"

A sudden roar broke the silence. Su Duan, too, was staring wide-eyed at the Origin Marrow before Zhou Yuan. His face contorted, and his eyes turned bloodshot. "You must have cheated! How could you possibly extract high-grade Origin Marrow from every single stone?!"

His previous composure had completely vanished.

Because anyone who witnessed this scene would likely find it impossible to remain calm.

Zhou Yuan's expression remained quite calm. Facing Su Duan's bloodshot eyes, he said, "These Origin Stones were all taken from your establishment. Are you suggesting that the stone gambling at your Flame Cauldron Sect is incapable of yielding high-grade Origin Marrow?"

Su Duan faltered. This would be tarnishing the Flame Cauldron Sect's reputation; how could he possibly say that?

The proud young talents from the local forces who had been cheering for Su Duan were now speechless, looking at Zhou Yuan with a hint of fear in their eyes.

They had previously considered Zhou Yuan a country bumpkin who knew nothing about stone gambling. Who would have thought he was so secretly talented? Clearly, even the masters within the Flame Cauldron Sect could not achieve such a level of expertise with Origin Stones.

Meanwhile, Zuoqiu Qingyu's tightly clenched small hand relaxed. A smile bloomed on her exquisite face. "This guy really does have some skills," she thought.

However, she knew Zhou Yuan quite well. This guy shouldn't have had much contact with Origin Stones before, yet he was able to achieve this. He must have used some unknown methods.

"Is there a result for this match?" Zhou Yuan asked with a smile.

Su Duan's face was ashen. He had originally intended to humiliate Zhou Yuan through stone gambling, but unexpectedly, he had been thoroughly slapped by Zhou Yuan, losing all his prestige.

"You!" A murderous glint even flashed in Su Duan's eyes. However, he ultimately suppressed it. Zhou Yuan was no ordinary person; he was a disciple of the Cangxuan Sect. If Zhou Yuan had lost the stone gambling, Su Duan could have freely humiliated him. But if he were to retaliate against Zhou Yuan out of pique, the Saint Children of the Cangxuan Sect would likely not permit it.

Zhou Yuan, observing the malice in the depths of Su Duan's eyes, smiled indifferently. He then stepped forward, reached out, and grasped Su Duan's arm, patting it reassuringly.

Then, under Su Duan's furious gaze, he gently slid the ancient wooden bracelet off Su Duan's wrist.

"Heh heh, thank you," he said with a gentle smile.

Su Duan's mouth twitched slightly. Suppressing the urge to lash out, he forced a chilling smile and said, "Brother Zhou Yuan, you certainly keep your abilities well hidden."

Zhou Yuan toyed with the ancient wooden bracelet, feeling the surging power of the Wood Element Qi within it. His heart felt quite pleased. He casually chuckled, "Young Sect Master, if you have any other treasures you'd like to gamble with next time, feel free to come find me."

Upon hearing this, Su Duan nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Zhou Yuan, however, ignored him. He walked back to the stone and amidst the many eager gazes, pointed to the Origin Marrow on the platform, smiling, "You just said that the extracted Origin Marrow is also mine?"

"Then I really must thank the Young Sect Master; you're truly generous."

Zhou Yuan gave a thumbs-up, then with a flick of his sleeve, he collected all the Origin Marrow. This Origin Marrow was also of great use to him, as the "Heavenly Sun God Record" he cultivated was also a fire-attribute Origin Art.

His "Heavenly Sun Fire" was currently only at the minor accomplishment stage. If he could absorb and refine this Origin Marrow, its power would surely increase, making it a potent offensive technique for him.

Su Duan watched with a bleeding heart as Zhou Yuan collected the Origin Marrow. The combined value of this Origin Marrow was probably tens of millions of Origin Crystals, which was no small sum.

Having reaped all the benefits, Zhou Yuan glanced around the stone-gambling hall with a lingering sense of unfulfillment. There were at least tens of thousands of Origin Stones here, but unfortunately, all the high-grade Origin Marrow had already been extracted by him. What remained were mostly worthless pieces.

"The remaining Origin Stones have no value either," Zhou Yuan said with a slight smile, looking at the countless gamblers. He then wasted no more time, directly pulling Zuoqiu Qingyu by her fair wrist and walking straight through the crowd.

Su Duan, fuming with rage, watched Zhou Yuan depart with the beautiful girl. Zhou Yuan's last remark was even more malicious. It seemed casual, but given the skill he had just displayed, it was likely that no one would truly come to gamble on stones here anymore.

After all, the good ones had all been picked. With only worthless pieces left, people no longer had any thoughts of trying to turn a small stake into a large fortune.

Therefore, these tens of thousands of Origin Stones were essentially going to rot in their hands. This was enough to cause the Flame Cauldron Sect a loss of tens of millions of Origin Crystals.

"Zhou Yuan!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and a malevolent glint surged in his gaze as he stared at Zhou Yuan's retreating back.

While the trading hall was still buzzing from Zhou Yuan's earlier actions, the second floor remained silent for quite some time.

"Wow, Qingchan, your junior brother from the Cangxuan Sect is incredibly impressive!" Feng Ying was the first to snap back to reality, exclaiming, her pretty face filled with admiration.

"Next time, I'm going to try a few rounds too. Have him give me some pointers!" Feng Ying said excitedly. She also had some interest in stone gambling and occasionally tried her hand at it.

On Li Qingchan's cold, icy face, a hint of surprise also appeared. This outcome had also exceeded her expectations.

But she quickly recovered, glancing at Zhao Zhu, Qin Hai, and the others beside her, and said, "It seems he doesn't need us to interfere."

Zhao Zhu withdrew his gaze and twitched the corner of his mouth. He had nothing to say. Zhou Yuan's performance this time was indeed astonishing. No one had expected him to possess such skill with Origin Stones.

Judging by this, it seemed that from the moment Su Duan appeared, this so-called stone-gambling agreement was a trap.

It's just that before, they thought it was a pit dug by Su Duan, but now they realized that while Su Duan was digging his pit, he hadn't noticed at all that he was already standing in a much larger pit dug by Zhou Yuan…

"Let's go."

Li Qingchan's cool gaze swept over Wang Li, Cao Jinzhu, and the others opposite them, then she rose and walked straight out.

Zhao Zhu, Bai Li, Qin Hai, and the others also followed.

Seeing Li Qingchan and her group leave, Feng Ying and the Saint Child of the Northern Sea Suppressing Dragon Palace also dispersed.

Wang Li gently rolled the scorching red iron ball in his hand. His gaze swept over the spot where Zhou Yuan had just left. He chuckled faintly, "This lad from the Cangxuan Sect is quite interesting."

However, he immediately lost interest. A fourth-stage disciple posed no threat whatsoever. Even if he had some skill with Origin Stones, it was merely a trivial trick.

Wang Li's gaze lingered on the spot where Li Qingchan and her group had been sitting. Then he turned his head to the smiling Yang Xuan across from him and said, "With this meeting, we now have an estimate of their strength."

"In this Origin Marrow Vein expedition, our Sacred Palace will claim the best area. If the Cangxuan Sect tries to contend with us, then we'll make them kneel."

He looked at Yang Xuan and smiled, "What do you say?"

Yang Xuan nodded with a smile, flicking his finger, a faint whooshing sound echoed.

"It's not difficult at all. Besides Li Qingchan and Zhao Zhu… everyone else is just trash."

He tilted his head slightly, looking in the direction where Li Qingchan had left with Zuoqiu Qingyu. His lips curved into a playful smirk.

"As for this Zhou Yuan…"

"If he loves stone gambling so much, then when we're in the Origin Marrow Vein, I'll make him kneel and play to his heart's content…"