Chapter 292: Opening the Stone Tool Left by Master Pouyuan

Ye Fan's golden fists throbbed with power; a slight wave caused the void to hum and tremble, giving him the illusion he could slay a true dragon.

A colossal thousand-meter waterfall cascaded down, a vast, roaring expanse of white. Standing in the pool below, Ye Fan punched upwards, and the mighty cascade reversed, soaring back up like an inverted white ribbon.

"A month of isolated cultivation and he's already surpassed his previous realm," Tu Fei gasped, "The Desolate Saint Body truly is terrifying."

Ye Fan single-handedly lifted a boulder weighing tens of thousands of jin, then turned and hurled it with immense force. The massive stone rapidly diminished in size as it vanished into the sky.

At the edge of the horizon, a flock of wild geese flew by, only to be all knocked down.

Tu Fei stared, dumbfounded. After a long silence, he finally yelled, "You animal! You actually used a tens-of-thousands-jin boulder to knock down a whole row of geese from the sky! I've never seen anyone as monstrous as you!"

Ye Fan's physique was simply too powerful; he possessed the strength to pull up mountains and lift peaks. Who could withstand a blow from such a body?

"Woof, woof, woof..." From over twenty li away, frustrated barks echoed. The Black Emperor wailed miserably, "Is there any justice?! I was just sleeping and nearly got crushed to death by a stone falling from the sky!"

After his initial shock, Tu Fei burst into raucous laughter upon hearing the black dog's pained yelps.

"Woof! You Tu, just you wait! This Emperor knows you're behind this!" the black dog howled from afar.

"What's that got to do with me?!" Tu Fei cursed back.

Ye Fan stood at the base of a thousand-meter-high stone mountain, striking it with his golden fists. A continuous "thud-thud" sound filled the air as he punched, seemingly effortlessly, as if he were merely hitting mud, each blow sinking deep into the mountain.

Finally, he unleashed a powerful blow with his golden fist, piercing straight through into the mountain's core.

"What an animal!" Tu Fei's jaw nearly hit the ground. He then summoned an Eight Trigrams bronze mirror, which glowed with hazy purple light, and sent it forward. "Let me test your current cultivation," he said.

This was a precious purple-bronze mirror, a weapon only cultivators in the Four Extremities Secret Realm were capable of wielding. It was sturdy and powerful, descending like a towering purple mountain.

"Clang!"

Ye Fan flicked his finger. His golden digit struck the purple-bronze mirror with a crisp *crack*, and the Four Extremities Treasure Mirror instantly fractured, shattering into a brilliant, firework-like display in the air.

Purple light shot skyward, and a powerful energy surged in all directions, causing the waterfall to reverse course and the stone mountain to tremble. Yet, Ye Fan remained perfectly still.

Tu Fei cried out, "Is your body forged from a sacred artifact?! My precious!" He was utterly heartbroken. Though he possessed many weapons, having one so easily shattered was truly painful.

Ye Fan's vital energy flowed like mighty rivers, and he deeply felt his own immense strength. Through cultivating the "Western Emperor Scripture," he had finally entered the Dao Palace's third heaven, successfully cultivating the Divine Organ of the Liver, which corresponded to the Wood element among the Five Elements.

However, he still hadn't manifested a divine protector, unlike others who seemed to have divine beings guarding their bodies.

At the same time, he realized he was cultivating in a reversed Five Elements order: his heart belonged to Fire, his lungs to Metal, and his liver to Wood. He had first cultivated the Divine Organ of the Heart, then the Divine Organ of the Lungs, and now the Divine Organ of the Liver, which perfectly aligned with the sequence of Fire conquering Metal, and Metal conquering Wood—a true reversal of the Five Elements.

If nothing unforeseen occurred, his next cultivation realm would undoubtedly involve cultivating the Divine Organ of the Spleen, as it corresponded to the Earth element, and Wood conquers Earth.

"You don't need any weapons at all; your physical body is stronger than any magic treasure," Tu Fei said, clearly envious.

"I'm short on Origin; I need a massive amount of it."

Tu Fei's expression became complex as he sighed, "As long as you have Origin, you'll face no bottlenecks in the Dao Palace Secret Realm; you can advance by leaps and bounds."

"So, I'd like to borrow some Origin. Whatever amount you have, lend it to me, and I'll return it tenfold in the future," Ye Fan said earnestly. He felt a sense of urgency, desperate to enter the Four Extremities Secret Realm.

"My meager amount of Origin isn't even enough to fill a gap in your teeth. You know, to enter the fourth heaven of the Dao Palace, you'll need one hundred thousand jin of Origin—that's a staggering figure!"

"How much Origin do you have?" Ye Fan was too eager to break through.

"I have a bit over one square, perhaps around four thousand jin."

"Still less than ten thousand jin? You're a descendant of a great bandit, aren't you?"

Tu Fei rolled his eyes. "If great bandits had plenty of Origin mines, they wouldn't be great bandits anymore," he retorted. "Besides, how could I dare to touch my grandfather's treasury?"

"Origin is a big problem," Ye Fan muttered to himself.

"Don't worry," Tu Fei said. "I'll go out for a while; gathering twenty thousand jin for you won't be an issue." He planned to seek out Li Heishui, Liu Kou, Jiang Hairen, and Wu Zhongtian.

"But I'm just a cripple," Ye Fan said. "It's not worth helping me like this."

"I, Tu Fei, am not a pretentious person. To be honest, I have a feeling that you might break the curse of the Desolate Saint Body. Just imagine, if one day you become a perfected Desolate Saint Body, I won't have to cultivate for the rest of my life; I'll still be able to run rampant across the Eastern Wasteland and the Central Plains. As long as you're alive for a single day, my descendants will be able to dominate the world. A perfected Saint Body can surely live for ten thousand years, right?"

"What if I can only reach the Dao Palace Secret Realm in my lifetime?" Ye Fan asked.

"If you can't break through," Tu Fei said, half-seriously and half-jokingly, "then give the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron to me; it'll be perfect for completing the lid of my Heaven Swallowing Jar."

"Woof, woof, woof..." The black dog appeared on the horizon, radiating murderous intent. It had been peacefully sleeping, only to be smashed black and blue, leaving it extremely displeased.

"I'll leave now. I'll be back in half a month at the earliest, or a month at the latest, and I'll definitely have seven squares of Origin for you," Tu Fei said, then shot into the sky.

The black dog ran over with a scowl, fixing its unfriendly gaze on Ye Fan. "Why do I suddenly feel like you were responsible?" it demanded.

"What did I do?" Ye Fan feigned ignorance.

"Stop playing dumb! A tens-of-thousands-jin boulder fell from the sky and slammed this Emperor down! No ordinary person could do that!" The black dog's bald tail almost pointed straight up into the heavens.

Ye Fan adamantly denied it, ultimately managing to bluff his way through and avert a human-canine battle.

The stone village had been fully rebuilt, nestled amidst green mountains and clear waters. The houses were exquisite, far superior to their previous state.

Most importantly, the environment had changed. The girls and children were the happiest, now able to play in clear springs daily, no longer enduring constant dust storms as they once did.

Outside the village, stones were piled into small hills, though most were merely foundation stones. Ye Fan had moved every stone from the original stone village, fearing he might miss something important.

Ye Fan and Old Man Zhang were busy sorting through the piles of rocks, picking out stone rollers, stone piers, and grindstones. In total, there were over fifty stone implements.

The black dog "watched like a tiger" from the side, afraid of missing out on any potential benefits.

"Old Man, are you sure you want to cut it open?" Ye Fan asked.

"Go ahead and cut it," Old Man Zhang replied calmly. "I want to see what our ancestors left behind."

Ye Fan began working, cutting open three stone piers, but they were all empty, containing nothing. Old Man Zhang also personally tried, opening four stone locks, but similarly, found nothing.

"Could we have guessed wrong? Did that old Daoist misjudge?" The two exchanged glances.

"Why are you being so cautious?" the black dog urged. "Just smash them all at once; it'll be more satisfying."

"Go wait over there!" Ye Fan glared at it.

Suddenly, a fragrance wafted out, like orchids and musk, refreshing the mind and intoxicating the very bones.

"What's that smell?" The Black Emperor, true to a dog's keen sense of smell, was practically prostrate on the stone roller, nearly drooling.

"Something's been cut out!" Old Man Zhang's expression turned solemn. He was cutting a stone roller, and the fragrance was indeed wafting from a crack in the stone.

Ye Fan was startled. He dropped the grindstone in his hand and rushed closer to examine it. This was truly peculiar; how could cutting stone produce such a fragrance?

Could it be something like an ancient creature sealed within?

His fingers flickered with golden light, and he signaled Old Man Zhang to step back. He then took the stone roller into his hands, while the black dog craned its large head over, also staring intently.

"Ssssk... ssssk... ssssk..."

Stone chips flew. Soon, most of the stone roller's outer layer was peeled away, and Ye Fan noticed liquid seeping out.

Old Man Zhang had just applied a little too much force. The stone roller was brittle, and a crack had burst open. The liquid, and the fragrance, were emanating from this fissure.

"A treasure has been cut out!" The black dog, with its broad head, large ears, and eyes like copper bells, stared with intense concentration.

Ye Fan carefully peeled away the stone skin, eventually revealing a pink, peach-like fleshy fruit from the center of the roller.

"This... it's fleshy," the black dog stammered, looking a bit dumbfounded.

"What is this thing?" Ye Fan wondered. He had read the Source Heaven Book but had never seen any mention of something like this.

Old Man Zhang was also a little dumbfounded, finding it hard to believe.

The fragrance emanated directly from this fleshy fruit. Its skin was already broken, and half of its clear liquid had seeped onto the stone roller, creating an intoxicating aroma that made one instinctively want to swallow it whole.

"It smells so good! Could it be an Immortality Fruit?" The black dog's eyes glowed green.

Hearing this, Old Man Zhang's heart stirred. "Our ancestors said that what's sealed within stones isn't limited to just Origin," he remarked.

"These... these must be rare, wondrous stones, and what's inside is unpredictable," Ye Fan murmured, staring at the stone implements.

There was no such record in the "Source Heaven Book." This fleshy fruit clearly transcended the realm of ordinary stone materials and could only be classified as a wondrous stone. Perhaps the items left by the Source Heaven Master held extraordinary significance.

"The fruit's color is changing, and the fragrance is fading. What's happening?" Old Man Zhang's expression shifted.

The pink fleshy fruit gradually turned greenish, and the fragrance had indeed diminished significantly.

"Eat it quickly, or its essence will dissipate!" the black dog urged anxiously.

Ye Fan was uncertain if such a thing was edible. He dipped a finger into the liquid and put a drop into his mouth. In an instant, he was overwhelmed by an extreme bitterness, almost crying out.

The bitterness was so intense that his tongue immediately went numb, followed by a dizzying sensation that almost made him collapse to the ground.

"Let me have a taste!" The black dog impatiently snatched it, chomped off a piece, and swallowed it whole, liquid and skin included.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!..."

The next instant, the black dog began to convulse, barking madly and trying desperately to spit it out. Immediately after, it started foaming at the mouth, lying on the ground, twitching.

Old Man Zhang was completely startled. He had originally wanted to taste it, believing it to be some kind of fleshy immortal fruit, but now he recoiled as if from a viper.

After an unknown period, Ye Fan finally recovered, no longer dizzy. "What kind of fruit is this?!" he exclaimed in horror.

By this point, the black dog was almost like a dead dog, only its limbs still twitching, continuously frothing at the mouth.

Ye Fan examined it, concluding that its life wasn't in danger, but its current state was quite dire, and he had no idea when it would recover.

He surveyed the remaining stone implements, feeling the gravity of the situation for the first time. "These are rare treasures left by the Source Heaven Master," he said. "We have no idea what their purpose is. We shouldn't cut any more of them. Let's wait until we understand them better before proceeding."

Ye Fan vaguely felt that these might be extraordinary items, and the fleshy fruit could be precisely what the old Red Dragon Daoist was searching for.

These were likely priceless treasures. Since they didn't understand them at this stage, they absolutely couldn't act rashly anymore.

"Since this grindstone has already been cut open by you, let's go ahead and finish dissecting it," Old Man Zhang said. "We'll save the other stone implements."

Ye Fan nodded. He had already cut open several stone implements but had only extracted one fleshy fruit. There was no guarantee that this grindstone would yield anything.

But as he peeled back the stone layer and cut into the center of the grindstone, ten thousand rays of divine light burst forth, so dazzling that they forced one's eyes shut.