Shrouding the Heavens: Starting by joining the Holy Land of Yao Guang

Chapter 36 Ancient Insect Origin

Li Yao chuckled and ignored Liu Shi's advice. However, since Liu Shi meant well, regardless of whether his good intentions were ulterior motives, he still thanked him.

"Thank you for the reminder, junior brother, but it's alright. I've already cut out a piece of the Fiery Source. At worst, I'll just consider today as an opportunity to broaden my horizons."

After speaking, Li Yao looked around and said, "Since everyone is interested, let's all participate."

The onlookers immediately became excited; they had already pocketed 100 jin of Yuan.

Sure enough, youthful impetuosity prevails, because luck is always an element.

One hundred catties of source stones is no small amount for anyone present; they wouldn't normally dare to gamble with that much. This time, it was because the source stones Li Yao chose were so deceptively appealing that they couldn't resist trying to make a quick buck.

Watermelon stones are known for their quality, but calling them worthless stones isn't entirely accurate. Watermelon stones can indeed yield valuable resources, although the harvested items are very small. They're generally only the size of a watermelon seed, and even if they do exceed that, they're at most the size of a fingernail.

Even if Li Yao is lucky enough to find a rare alien source, such a small alien source, unless it is extremely rare, will not exceed 100 jin.

These people are confident in this, which is why they dare to gamble, because the chances of losing are very small.

"Fellow Daoist, let's open the stone." Someone urged impatiently, his wide grin revealing his immense joy.

The others echoed, urging Li Yao to hurry up and start cutting the stone.

"Alright, then I won't spoil everyone's fun." Li Yao's lips curled up slightly as he raised his hand and cut into the watermelon stone.

Stone chips flew everywhere, and the watermelon-sized stone shrank rapidly, soon becoming only the size of a baby's fist.

Even now, no treasure has appeared, and the onlookers burst into laughter.

"Watermelon stone, it will at least yield some source material that looks like melon seeds. Fellow Daoist, you're out of luck. The stone you chose is truly exceptional, but not a single source material has been found. It seems there's not much hope left."

Liu Shidu, standing to the side, felt like he was being driven crazy. Just when he thought Li Yao couldn't possibly use Source Technique, he pulled out his treasure. Just when he thought Li Yao could use Source Technique, it seemed like he was about to fail again.

Moreover, this failure was no ordinary failure; calling it a Waterloo wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Even if someone with some skill in Source Techniques makes a mistake, they'll still find a treasure. It's just that what they cut out won't be worth the price of the stone, but at least they can salvage something.

But this time, it seems that Li Yao is really going to lose everything, because the stone has now been cut to the size of a pigeon egg, and there is still no sign of finding any treasure.

"Don't rush, it's not over yet." Li Yao remained confident and unaffected.

"Haha, young people are really competitive. But it's alright, we're not in a hurry. Fellow Daoist, you can cut slowly. If there really is a source the size of a watermelon seed inside, it would be a waste to cut it badly."

"This is truly appalling, not even a single melon seed, haha... It seems like a complete failure. Let's just consider it a lesson learned; it's not good for young people to have it too easy."

Those who had gambled were in high spirits. By now, everyone understood that it was a blank stone, containing nothing at all.

Seeing the happy crowd, Li Yao said nothing more, but continued cutting the stone. Finally, when it was only the size of a finger joint, he stopped and picked up the source stone.

"Crack!"

With a forceful squeeze, the small stone, no bigger than the tip of his index finger, shattered instantly. In that instant, a blinding light burst forth, and the dense spiritual energy was impossible to dissipate.

"This...a treasure has appeared!" someone exclaimed.

Several figures rushed forward, examining the object in Li Yao's hand up close, their eyes wide and fixed on it intently. "What kind of source is this?"

In Li Yao's palm was a source the size of a corn kernel, very small, but radiant and mysterious.

"Ancient insect origin!"

"It really is an ancient insect source. It is a spirit insect from ancient times, sealed in a source to form the source."

"That's right, it is indeed a spirit insect from the ancient times, but it's too young."

"Don't underestimate its size. This tiny worm, the size of a corn kernel, is worth eight hundred kilograms of pure source material. Some people with a real need for it would even spend thousands of kilograms of pure source material to buy it. It has no clear value."

"This is no ordinary insect. It has been extinct for countless ages. In the ancient times, it ate the source and spat out the essence of the source, which is extremely rare."

Those who had participated in the gambling instantly turned pale; they had encountered a one-in-a-million chance.

The piece cut from the watermelon stone was indeed not very big; if it were just a regular source, it probably wouldn't even weigh two ounces.

But what has been cut out now is an ancient insect source, which is definitely a rare species among alien sources, and its value is many times higher than that of the Fiery Source.

In Li Yao's palm was a tiny worm, about the size of a corn kernel, crystal clear, formed from the source.

A piece of fiery red source the size of a human head is worth thousands of kilograms of pure source, while an ancient insect source the size of a corn kernel is worth hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of pure source. One can imagine how precious this ancient spirit insect is.

"The ancient insect source can be used in medicine. All the major holy lands have some ancient secret recipes, and it is needed when making medicine. There is a huge shortage of it."

People around were talking about it. Those who hadn't gambled all felt like they had survived a disaster.

To be honest, when they saw Li Yao choosing a watermelon stone, they really wanted to get involved, but in the end, reason prevailed over greed.

These people are very rational. They think this industry is very strange and pays great attention to fate and luck. Li Yao just opened a fiery red source a moment ago, which is obviously a sign of good luck. Even if he doesn't know anything about gambling on stones, it is possible for him to cut out good things one after another.

With this in mind, more than a dozen of the thirty-odd people in the third courtyard did not gamble; they were undoubtedly lucky.

Look at those who are gambling; their faces have turned pale. In the third courtyard, there are very few people with deep backgrounds. Those with power and connections have all gone to the deeper courtyards.

Most of the people here are better off than those at the bottom, but haven't escaped the bottom either.

A hundred jin of Yuan is a huge amount for them, something they can manage by gritting their teeth, but it represents almost all of their life savings.

"Fellow Daoists, the outcome is already clear. Give the source."

Li Yao did not let these people off the hook. Since they dared to stand up and gamble, wanting to win and turn their lives around, they should bear the consequences of losing.

Their game this time was already on a very small scale; the other type, where both sides open stones, is even more exaggerated.

Taking this as an example, if they had played the second game, the loser would have lost the ancient worm source, which is nearly a thousand kilograms of pure source.

Liu Shi was very perceptive. He acted as an errand boy to collect the source. Given his status as a disciple of Yao Guang, no one else dared to renege on their promise. They gritted their teeth, took out the source from their bodies, and handed it over to Liu Shi.

(End of this chapter)