Chapter 324: Tianxuan Red Dragon

**Chapter 328: The Scarlet Dragon of Tianxuan**

In ancient times, the emergence of a Holy Body instilled awe throughout the land. Wherever it went, powerful figures would retreat, not daring to confront it.

Unfortunately, it has been in decline for too long. Nowadays, even a disciple from a minor sect, when discussing this physique, would refer to it as a "wasted body."

As time flowed and fortunes rose and fell, the Holy Body became indistinguishable from common people. It was difficult for it to display its supreme grandeur again, and its decline was unstoppable.

Ye Fan wanted to break the curse and change his current predicament. He urgently desired to become stronger, especially after the secrets of Emperor Wu Shi were revealed, which deeply agitated him.

The Divine City was truly enormous. For many days, Ye Fan had only explored a small corner, not venturing deeply into it.

Of course, this was also primarily because he wanted to gamble on stones. It was impossible to simply browse; once he chose a stone shop, he had to stay for a long time.

Today, Li Heishui took Ye Fan a bit further. This ancient street was very wide, but there weren't many pedestrians, making it exceptionally quiet.

On both sides of the road stood ancient trees with branches reaching the sky. Their old, cracked trunks were so massive that a dozen people couldn't encircle them. They blocked out the sun, casting an eerie gloom over the area.

After walking a bit further, Ye Fan noticed something was off. There was a stone shop by the road, quite large in scale and covering a vast area, but it was exceptionally desolate.

Weeds grew thickly, and old trees grew wildly, almost submerging the pavilions. Evidently, it had not been maintained for years and had almost become a wilderness.

"Good grief!"

Ye Fan was dumbfounded because he actually saw a rabbit—that's right, a wild rabbit hopped out of the weeds and darted into the depths of the garden.

This was the Divine City, where every inch of land was worth gold! Why had such a vast estate become so desolate?

Surprisingly, no one maintained it, allowing old vines to run wild and trees to form a dense thicket, making it quite peculiar. The most outrageous part was the presence of wild rabbits.

Soon after, Ye Fan spotted two pheasants flapping their wings and flying into the deep bushes. He was quite speechless; this was truly too unusual.

"What is this place? In the Divine City, would anyone be willing to abandon such a valuable piece of land?!"

"This place... is the stone shop of the Tianxuan Holy Land," Li Heishui replied.

Ahead, by the road, was a magnificent gateway like a city tower, obscured by ancient trees. On it was a weathered copper plaque carved with two ancient characters: Tianxuan.

"It's that Holy Land!" Ye Fan exclaimed in surprise, walking closer to examine it carefully. "No wonder," he murmured.

He thought of the Old Madman. In the past, when this Holy Land was at its peak prosperity, it had launched an attack on the Primordial Forbidden Land with the full strength of its sect, resulting in near annihilation.

"Didn't other Holy Lands have any ideas about this?" Ye Fan asked.

In the distant past, there were more Holy Lands than there are now, but to this day, many of their legacies have been broken. The treasures they left behind were all divided among other Holy Lands, which is also one reason why the current Holy Lands are becoming increasingly prosperous.

"Back then," Li Heishui explained, "only three or four people from the Tianxuan Holy Land managed to escape. How could they possibly ward off the covetous gazes of the various Holy Lands? Many of their remaining treasures were divided, including the vast source ore mines outside the Primordial Restricted Zone."

"Why wasn't this place divided?" Ye Fan asked, puzzled.

"Well, there are some reasons for that..." Li Heishui explained.

The Tianxuan Holy Land was located in the central region of the Eastern Wasteland. The three or four individuals who escaped quickly had their lifespans depleted, and both their bodies and souls perished.

All the Holy Lands initially wanted to divide Tianxuan evenly. However, later, every full moon night, crying sounds would emanate from the Tianxuan Holy Land. Several Holy Lords went to investigate late at night but found nothing.

Not long after, this largest stone shop within the Divine City also began emitting sorrowful wailing during the full moon. Powerful figures from various Holy Lands came to investigate, but they couldn't even find a shadow of anything. In the end, they didn't dare to touch this place.

In the years that followed, every thousand years, the sorrowful wailing would appear once in the dead of night, truly deterring all Holy Lands.

To this day, no one has dared to touch this place.

"Huh, the door is open," Ye Fan noted, surprised.

"So many years have passed," Li Heishui replied, "and only an old gatekeeper remains. He's a descendant of that loyal old servant from back then, but this lineage is also about to die out, as the current gatekeeper has no descendants."

"Can we go inside and look?"

"You can go inside," Li Heishui said, "but the stone materials were already transported away by the major Holy Lands long ago. There's nothing good left."

"Can one still gamble on stones here?" Ye Fan asked, a little surprised.

"The old servant guarding this place also needs to make a living," Li Heishui explained. "He only guards this old residence. As for the stone materials, if someone wants to buy, he naturally sells them."

Back then, the major Holy Lands had already transported away many valuable stone materials before the midnight wailing began. Although they didn't occupy this place, it was impossible for them to return the "source" ore they had taken.

Decayed stone steps and collapsed pavilions were all covered by vegetation. An old, bent-backed man with dim eyes sat on a bluestone.

He was decrepit, with little lifespan left, nearing the end of his days. Looking at the desolate garden overgrown with weeds, his eyes were filled with nostalgia and sadness.

Seeing this scene, Ye Fan couldn't help but sigh. This was a loyal and honest family, with generations having guarded this courtyard that held no future or hope.

The old man, somewhat stiffly, slowly turned his head. His face was full of wrinkles, and his old eyes were cloudy.

"Youngsters, are you here to buy stone materials?"

"What a heartbreaking old man," Ye Fan thought. "He guards this place, but what is he waiting for?" Ye Fan couldn't comprehend what strength or belief sustained the old man.

"Yes, I want to buy many stone materials!" Ye Fan nodded, placing a considerable amount of "source" ore in front of the old man.

"You don't need so much," the old man said tremblingly, using his rough old hands to push the "source" ore back. "There aren't many valuable stones here... Besides, you haven't even chosen your stones yet."

"I'll go choose now," Ye Fan said.

"Search carefully," the old man said, his eyes dull, gazing sadly at the dilapidated garden. "Maybe you can still find one or two treasures. Occasionally, legendary powerful figures come here to seek them. Just now, another person came in and went to search in the depths; perhaps it was just such a figure."

Li Heishui chuckled and joked, "Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll actually run into a legendary powerful being."

Suddenly, Ye Fan's expression froze, and his heart pounded, for he had truly seen a terrifying figure!

Deep within the weeds, an emaciated old Taoist, clad in an ancient, worn robe, was squatting on the ground examining stone materials. It was none other than Daoist Scarlet Dragon.

Fortunately, Ye Fan's self-control was sufficient; an ordinary person would surely have cried out in surprise. He instantly calmed his emotions, and his pulse showed no sign of disturbance.

This was the sworn elder brother of the Peacock King, a terrifying existence that caused headaches and dread for all Holy Lords. Ye Fan never imagined he would encounter him here.

He couldn't help but glance at the old man and Li Heishui, truly unsure whether to call them jinxes or grand seers, for they had indeed pointed out a terrifying figure.

Daoist Scarlet Dragon glanced over, looked at the old man and Li Heishui, and said nothing more.

Several months ago, Daoist Scarlet Dragon had selected a pile of stone artifacts in a stone village, but Ye Fan had completely taken them all, even pulling out the foundations of the villagers' homes, leaving him absolutely nothing.

Ye Fan could imagine Daoist Scarlet Dragon's expression when he returned that day. He dared not show any flaw; if the other party knew he was responsible, he would most likely face severe consequences.

He and Li Heishui casually searched for stones under the ancient trees, showing no unusual expressions.

Not long after, Daoist Scarlet Dragon selected over a dozen seemingly ordinary stones, which showed no special characteristics. He piled them in front of the old man and was about to pay with "source" ore.

Suddenly, Daoist Scarlet Dragon seemed to sense something. A terrifying aura emanated from him, and he instantly vanished from the spot, rushing out as if chasing something.

"Why did he leave...?" the old man wondered aloud, then said to Ye Fan and Li Heishui, "How about you don't bother choosing anymore? Just buy these stones; they're all good ones he picked."

Ye Fan hesitated. Should he, once again, scoop up everything that old Daoist Scarlet Dragon had set his eyes on?

"Buy! If that old Taoist doesn't come back, it'll be my great luck. If he does, I'll do him a favor." Ye Fan secretly made this decision and walked over.

"Just cut them open here," Li Heishui said, not too concerned, as he was unaware of Daoist Scarlet Dragon's identity.

"Wait a bit more," Ye Fan said, fearing Daoist Scarlet Dragon's return.

However, after waiting for a full quarter of an hour, the other party still hadn't returned. He secretly cheered his luck and immediately began cutting the stones.

He continuously peeled open thirteen stones, but there was nothing inside; they were all empty.

The fifteenth stone was only the size of a fist. As soon as Ye Fan cut it open, he smelled a fragrance like orchid and musk, deeply refreshing and intoxicating to the bone.

He immediately trembled; this scent was too familiar. Not long ago, he had cut it out from the stone artifacts left by the Source Master, and it had almost poisoned the greedy black dog to death.

"Why is Daoist Scarlet Dragon's discernment so sharp? Does he also understand the most profound source techniques?!" As Ye Fan's heart was shaken, he was also filled with endless doubt.

Of course, at the moment, it was more of a headache. This kind of thing had been cut out again; surely, it wouldn't be wasted again?

"A treasure was cut out!" Li Heishui excitedly shouted. Such a rich fragrance overflowing from the stone surely indicated a rare and precious find.

Even the old man next to them, whose cloudy eyes were no longer dull, showed a look of surprise.

Ye Fan peeled off the stone skin, revealing a pink fruit, only half the size of a fist. It was exactly like the previous one, just half the size.

*Whoosh*

Suddenly, with a flash of light, Daoist Scarlet Dragon silently reappeared on the spot, his face showing a look of shock and anger. "Why did you touch my stone materials?" he demanded.

Ye Fan didn't answer immediately. He wanted to do Daoist Scarlet Dragon a great favor and absolutely couldn't let the other party blame him.

"You left and didn't return, so I proactively sold them to them," the old man, whose life was flickering like a candle in the wind, replied at that moment.

Daoist Scarlet Dragon was a bit surprised and couldn't help but give the old man a few extra glances.

"We've already bought them," Li Heishui said. "If you want them, bring enough 'source' ore to buy them." Although Li Heishui could tell Daoist Scarlet Dragon was extremely powerful, he would never have imagined the other party was terrifying enough to be the Peacock King's sworn elder brother.

"Stop with the useless talk!" Daoist Scarlet Dragon exclaimed, extremely anxious, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Quickly get jade artifacts to seal it, or else, at the most conservative estimate, something worth over a hundred thousand jin of 'source' will be ruined!" He searched his entire body but couldn't find any jade artifacts.

"Over a hundred thousand jin of 'source'?!" Li Heishui almost bit off his tongue in shock.

"That damn Black Emperor!"

At this moment, Ye Fan felt like cursing, the corner of his mouth almost twitching. "Damn it," he thought. "That greedy cursed dog swallowed over two hundred thousand jin of 'source' in one bite!"

Yet, it was completely useless; it only poisoned itself, causing it to foam at the mouth, nearly die, and convulse for half a month.