Chapter 344: Flying Stone

All eyes turned towards them, both inside and outside the First-Class Stone Garden. Ye Fan and Li Yishui became the center of attention.

Everyone was surprised. At this moment, Li Yishui should have been beaming with satisfaction, but instead, his face was grim, clearly in a terrible mood.

Ye Fan, whose stone had been snatched, had a radiant face, his teeth sparkling, truly looking joyful.

As for the dark-skinned boy next to him, he was obviously suppressing a mischievous grin, holding back a loud laugh. His wide grin stretched almost to his ears, like a cunning fox.

“It’s over, Li Yishui must have been tricked.”

“No way, he was so ruthless just now. How could someone so cunning be conned?”

“Didn’t you see those two boys smiling so meaningfully? They looked exactly like weasels eyeing baby chicks.”

Everyone in the arena focused on the two men and the Heavenly Grade wondrous stone.

Li Yishui could no longer remain composed. His previous calm demeanor vanished, and his face darkened. Beside him, Yang Kun’s expression was equally grim as he looked down at the wondrous stone on the ground.

This stone, named “Feathered Ascension to Immortality,” was about one meter long. It had no particular shape, being very irregular, but was covered in numerous feather-like patterns.

The Feathered Ascension Stone lay beneath a thousand-year-old ancient tree. Many cultivators had seen it, but none had dared to cut it open, as it was valued at 120,000 catties of source stone.

“This is a rare treasure stone, imbued with the aura of the primordial beginning, definitely material from an ancient mine,” Ye Fan commented with a smile.

Li Yishui’s face grew even gloomier. Silently, he took out a silver knife and began cutting the stone. His movements were slow, as it was a priceless wondrous stone, and he was afraid of damaging it.

“You’re doing it wrong, Senior Li. To cut such a feathered treasure stone, you must go against the grain, like carving scales, peeling it away little by little from bottom to top,” Ye Fan earnestly advised from the side.

Veins pulsed on Li Yishui’s forehead. “I don’t need you to tell me,” he said.

Beside him, Yang Kun also snorted heavily, an expression of extreme impatience on his face.

But just then, Li Yishui applied too much force, and with a ‘crack,’ the Feathered Ascension Stone fractured.

Yang Kun immediately jumped in fright. “Be careful,” he said.

Even though they suspected they might have been conned, they couldn't help but be meticulous with the stone, which cost 120,000 catties of source.

“You need to cut along the patterns, not with brute force. Go with the flow,” Ye Fan instructed again.

Though veins throbbed on Li Yishui’s forehead, he said nothing more. He had never cut a feathered stone like this before, and doing it incorrectly could indeed cause it to completely shatter.

“Yes, a lighter touch with the knife, and the stroke should be flowing.”

Ye Fan smiled as he instructed, but Li Yishui and Yang Kun felt as though they were being slapped in the face.

Their faces were longer than the Black Emperor’s, and they wished they could cleave him with a knife. But the angrier they got, the more mistakes they made in cutting the stone.

“Crack!”

Another large piece of the Feathered Ascension Stone cracked and fell to the ground, yet nothing was revealed from this section.

Sweat beaded on Li Yishui’s and Yang Kun’s faces. They had gambled 120,000 catties of source on this stone, using not only their own savings but also source borrowed from others.

If this gamble ended in nothing, the thought alone was enough to make them vomit blood. It was entirely their own doing!

“Crack, crack…”

Stone dust fell steadily, and the Feathered Ascension Stone grew smaller and smaller, yet still yielded nothing. Sweat drenched Li Yishui’s back.

Although Yang Kun wasn't doing the cutting, he felt equally distraught, as if a hundred claws were scratching his heart.

Li Heishui opened his mouth wide, laughing silently. Not just Yang Kun and Li Yishui, even Wu Ziming and Li Chongtian felt uncomfortable witnessing this.

“Crack!”

When the Feathered Ascension Stone was reduced to a mere palm-sized piece, Li Yishui and Yang Kun’s faces turned utterly pale. It was clear that this stone was unlikely to yield any treasures.

When they looked up, they saw Li Heishui casually filing his nails with a Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Sacred Spirit Engraving Tool, looking incredibly relaxed.

The two men’s faces immediately shifted from white to green, then to purple. This was truly infuriating. If they weren’t in the Ji Family’s stone shop, they would have genuinely wanted to kill him.

“Smash!”

Li Yishui slammed the palm-sized stone onto the ground with force. It shattered into pieces, revealing no treasures. He stood up, his face ashen.

At that moment, he felt dizzy, the world spinning, and almost vomited blood.

120,000 catties of source stone had gone to waste; nothing was cut out. It was clearly a scam. Misery was the only word to describe it. Such a devastating loss could not happen twice in a lifetime.

“You…” Li Yishui trembled with rage, pointing a finger at Ye Fan and the other boy, his hair standing on end.

“What do you mean ‘you and us’? You snatched our stone, and now that it yielded no treasures, you blame us?” Li Heishui burst into laughter.

Li Yishui and Yang Kun’s vision blurred; they were so furious they felt disoriented and nearly fainted. This loss was too brutal. After all their scheming to seize another’s wondrous stone, they ended up suffering the consequences themselves, with no one else to blame.

Even so, both men were fuming with rage, their hair practically smoking, wanting to howl at the sky.

“Those two old fools are truly pathetic. They fell into the trap themselves, and and now they can’t even vent their anger.”

Everyone outside the stone garden was discussing it, and many couldn't help but mock them, bursting into laughter.

“They brought this upon themselves. They were so shrewd just now, snatching someone else’s source, and this is the outcome.”

“That young man is really something, digging such a massive trap and waiting for people to fall into it. Who would have thought?”

“Greed caused all this trouble!”

“This is quite a skillful job, truly an art,” Li Heishui said with a double meaning, speaking glibly without consequence.

“Haha…” Many couldn’t help but laugh.

Li Yishui and Yang Kun wanted to vomit blood. Being conned in such an artful manner and then being ridiculed—no one could bear it.

Ye Fan walked towards another priceless wondrous stone, patted it gently, and said, “Actually, this one isn’t bad either. I have high hopes for it.”

Another round of laughter erupted among the crowd.

Li Yishui wanted to punch him; such words were simply too humiliating. Yang Kun, even more furious, flung his sleeves and stormed out of the stone garden.

“Have you chosen your stone?” Tuoba Chang asked coldly.

Beside him, the head-sized Divine Source floated quietly, radiating brilliant divine light that was impossible to conceal even with its stone skin.

“Yes, I have!” Ye Fan replied.

To everyone’s surprise, he didn’t touch the last Heavenly Grade wondrous stone. Instead, he moved out a stone from beside the Feathered Ascension Stone.

This stone was quite ordinary, about the size of a millstone. It had no special features, was dark greenish-blue all over, and resembled a stone pillar.

All stones in the First-Class Stone Garden were valuable, and this one was worth 30,000 catties of source. Although expensive, it was by no means the garden’s most prized treasure.

Earlier, while examining the Feathered Ascension Stone, Ye Fan had used his Source Heaven Divine Sense to probe this particular stone, perceiving a subtle wonder that greatly startled him.

He didn’t know if this was a Stone King, but he figured it wouldn’t be far off!

“Seniors, please assist me in sealing this space,” Ye Fan said earnestly.

Everyone looked surprised. Could he really cut out an unparalleled treasure? After all, Tuoba Chang had already revealed a Divine Source, which was almost impossible to surpass.

“Do you really think you can cut out a treasure?” Wu Ziming sneered.

Just now, his senior, Yang Kun, had been conned, and Wu Ziming had witnessed it, feeling immense resentment but unable to help.

“I’d like to see what you can cut out!” Li Chongtian also sneered.

The Grand Elder of the Palace of Illusion and Annihilation, Li Yishui, remained silent, standing aside with an ashen face. 120,000 catties of source had gone to waste, and he had also wagered 80,000 catties here.

A group of old-timers gathered around. Although they admired Ye Fan’s source techniques, they didn’t really believe he could cut out something more precious than a Divine Source.

Nevertheless, everyone worked together to raise a light barrier, sealing the area.

The guardian of the stone garden, a silver-haired old man with crystalline skin, also approached, to prevent any accidents.

Li Heishui secretly reminded him, “Didn’t you say there was a Stone King? Don’t let it interfere with your judgment again.”

“Don’t worry, this time I’ve confirmed with the Source Heaven Secret Art that this stone definitely contains an astonishing treasure,” Ye Fan replied confidently.

However, he still felt a slight uncertainty, always thinking this was a substitute, not the true Stone King.

“Tuoba Chang cut out a Divine Source, and I’ve chosen a stone like this. If both are decoys for the Stone King, then that would be truly terrifying. I wonder what the actual Stone King is nurturing,” Ye Fan mused to himself.

He began to cut the stone carefully, holding the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword between two fingers, steadily paring away the stone fragments.

From a distance, everyone grew tense because they noticed his peculiar posture, as if he was ready to withdraw at any moment.

The Great Xia Prince was nearby. “Brother Gu’s source techniques are astonishing. Is he truly about to cut out another unparalleled treasure?” he asked.

Yao Yuekong, in purple robes, with purple light shimmering in his eyes and the aura of a demon god, said, “Perhaps a surprise truly will happen.”

An Miaoyi smiled faintly, saying nothing, her beautiful eyes sweeping back and forth between Ye Fan and Tuoba Chang.

As for the group of old men, their expressions were solemn, and divine light flickered at their fingertips, indicating they were ready to act.

After all, Ye Fan had previously cut out primordial divine medicine and a Sacred Spirit Engraving Tool, so these people took his words seriously.

Ye Fan wielded his sword with speed. The millstone-sized bluestone rapidly diminished as its outer skin constantly fell away.

Finally, when the stone was reduced to little more than half the size of a human head, Wu Ziming and Li Chongtian could no longer suppress their sneers.

How could a stone of this size compare to the head-sized Divine Source?

Even the Grand Elder of the Palace of Illusion and Annihilation, Li Yishui, gradually relaxed his expression, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his lips, no longer as grim as before.

Many people shook their heads, convinced that Ye Fan would surely lose. Even Li Heishui felt a little tense.

“Clang!”

When Ye Fan used the small black carving tool to cut off another piece of stone skin, a sudden burst of scorching divine light shot out, making it impossible to open one’s eyes.

Everyone was astonished. Many people widened their eyes, trying to observe closely.

Ye Fan swung the small carving tool repeatedly, and as stone skin fell away, a stone sphere about half the size of a human head was revealed. Through its surface, dozens of divine lights shot skyward.

The entire area was illuminated brilliantly. The ancient trees seemed to bathe in the divine light, turning a crystal-clear emerald green, and even the flowers became sacred, glittering with radiance.

“Divine Source!”

Many people exclaimed, never having imagined that a second Divine Source would emerge.

“Half the size of a human head, at the most conservative estimate, it’s worth 250,000 unique sources!” an old man exclaimed, giving a shocked estimate.

“Heavens, another Divine Source has been cut out! Unbelievable!”

“It’s incredible, two Divine Sources cut out in a single day! Even in the past, this rarely happened.”

“Priceless! Why are such rare divine objects appearing one after another?”

Everyone was discussing, and even the little nun in white couldn't help but push forward, blinking her large eyes curiously as she watched.

“My eyes can’t take it! This divine light is too intense; I can’t look directly at it,” someone said, their eyes red, forced to turn their head away.

“Haha…” After his initial shock, Wu Ziming couldn't help but laugh loudly, saying, “Even if it’s a Divine Source, what of it? It’s only half the size of Brother Tuoba’s Divine Source.”

“That’s right, you’ve lost. This Divine Source will be ours!” Li Chongtian also burst into wild laughter, highly excited.

“Hehe…” Li Yishui let out a sigh of relief, then chuckled coldly.

Suddenly, the stone sphere moved, shooting up into the sky, attempting to escape.

“Thump!”

It crashed against the light barrier. If the area hadn’t already been sealed, it truly would have escaped.

“What’s going on? This stone sphere can fly?”

“Heavens, what kind of life is emerging within the Divine Source? Why is it taking flight on its own?”

“A flying stone? How is this possible?!”

Everyone was stunned. This defied common sense; it was unbelievable.

Divine Sources can levitate without falling, but they absolutely cannot fly away. This must be an astonishing rare treasure; there’s likely another marvel inside.

“Thump, thump…”

The light barrier was very strong. The stone sphere crashed around, trying to escape, but it couldn't succeed.

Inside the First-Class Stone Garden! A group of old-timers all took action, but instead of attacking, they used gentle divine light to suppress and confine it, then sealed it.

Because there was an astonishing treasure within the Divine Source, they were afraid of damaging it and dared not use excessive force.

The stone skin couldn't conceal the inner divine source light; many brilliant divine rays shot out from its cracks. It was pulled down.

The elders’ eyes burned with fervor. They fixed it in the air, all of them quite excited.

“Young man, you are truly amazing! You’ve cut out another unparalleled treasure. Please, sell it to us.”

“We are willing to buy it at an astronomical price!”

Those who spoke these words were representatives from major powers, all eager to acquire this stone.

“This wonder is more valuable than that head-sized Divine Source,” said the guardian of the Ji Family Stone Garden.

“That’s right, it’s more precious than that Divine Source,” someone else affirmed with a nod.

Wu Ziming and Li Chongtian looked as if struck by lightning, their faces turning pale on the spot. Just moments ago, they had been full of joy and excitement, never imagining that the situation would reverse in the blink of an eye, leaving them almost despairing.

Li Yishui’s face was even more lined with dark despair, veins throbbing. This outcome was a tremendous blow to him; his body swayed, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

He and Yang Kun had already fallen into one trap, and now they had to hand over another 80,000 catties of source, feeling as though they had been struck by a heavy club.

“Brother Gufeng, please sell this treasure to us. The Great Xia will give you a satisfactory astronomical price!” the Great Xia Prince transmitted via divine sense.

“Little Brother Gufeng, Miaoyi wishes to purchase this treasure. Whatever conditions you have, I will do my best to meet them,” An Miaoyi also transmitted with a sweet smile.

“Brothers…” Jiang Yifei also spoke up.

Instantly, Ye Fan was flooded with various divine senses. Many people secretly transmitted messages to him, with temptations, promises, and all sorts of benefits pouring in.

“Everyone, let’s cut open the stone skin and see what’s truly inside the Divine Source,” Ye Fan responded. He had no desire to sell it without fully knowing its contents.

“Yes, cut open the stone skin! Let’s see what life is emerging inside the Divine Source!” shouted everyone outside the First-Class Stone Garden.

These people couldn’t enter the stone garden, and their status certainly couldn’t compare to the representatives of major powers or the numerous elders. However, they were the most numerous, and their shouts shook the heavens.

At this moment, the news spread rapidly: something even more precious than a Divine Source had been cut out. The entire Divine City was once again in an uproar.

Inside the First-Class Stone Garden, the group of old-timers did not object; they, too, wanted to see what was inside.

“Please, Seniors, proceed,” Ye Fan said, not stepping forward himself.

Finally, the guardian of the Ji Family Stone Garden approached, divine light flickering at his fingertips. He carefully peeled back the stone skin, and in an instant, a brilliant radiance burst forth, as if a sun had appeared in the area.

Those with weaker cultivation couldn’t even open their eyes to look. Only powerful figures could observe this Divine Source, which was truly dazzling with its brilliant light.

“What is that? There’s a living creature within the Divine Source!”

“There really is a living thing!”

“Is it a golden snake? No, it doesn’t look like one; it seems to have horns on its head. Is it a dragon?!”

“It’s too dazzling; I can’t see clearly. It shouldn’t be a dragon.”