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

Chapter 55 The Heavenly Stone Garden (Bonus Chapter)

Tuoba Lie swiftly unleashed the Crimson Gold Divine Hand; this was a duel between masters of Origin Arts, where speed was sometimes also a part of strength.

After all, no one knows whether there are source stones of equal value in a stone garden. If your opponent takes the best one first, you won't be able to use your source techniques no matter how good they are.

Unexpectedly, Tuoba Lie was rapidly picking stones, while Li Yao stood calmly in place, watching the busy Tuoba Lie with an unwavering gaze.

"What's going on? Why hasn't Li Yao moved? Isn't he afraid that Tuoba Lie will take the best source stone?"

"This... is my first time gambling on stones. I thought I could take my time choosing, just like when I gamble on stones myself."

"Ding!"

Suddenly, Tuoba Lie stopped and pointed to a stone with striped patterns, which looked like a watermelon.

He held the stone in his hand and continued to select stones along the way, but in the end he didn't change his mind and chose this stone.

"This is a watermelon stone. Even if it were made from a source, it would only be the size of a watermelon seed. Why was it chosen?" Many people were puzzled. If the person who picked the stone wasn't a master of source arts, they might have already started laughing.

"Junior brother, aren't you going to pick out stones?" Yao Xi couldn't help but ask.

Many people present were actually puzzled, not understanding why Li Yao was so calm.

"You're not admitting defeat, are you?" Tuoba Hong also poured cold water on the situation. After the lesson he had just learned, he no longer dared to call someone a brat, but he was still willing to kick someone when they were down.

Li Yao paced back and forth to Tuoba Hong, pointing to the watermelon stone and saying, "There are sources inside, and they are heterogeneous sources. They are about the size of a little fingernail, and there are about twenty of them in total."

As he spoke, he stroked his chin and added, "It's Blue Diamond Source. Twenty-odd Blue Diamond Sources are worth only about seven or eight hundred catties of source, while this source stone is worth more than five thousand catties of source. I won't do a losing business. Are you in?"

Everyone around was stunned. They could figure out what was inside just by looking through the stone? It seemed a little unreal to them!

"Do you think you're the Source Celestial Master, able to say whatever you want?" Tuoba Hong spoke up again, shouting.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Tuoba Lie glare at him fiercely, which frightened Tuoba Hong so much that he shrank back, immediately shut his mouth and lowered his head.

“That Ghost Crack Stone contains a fiery red source, about the size of an egg, and its value is equivalent to more than twenty blue diamond sources,” Li Yao said, pointing to a source stone a dozen meters away.

Tuoba Lie was silent for a moment, then put down the watermelon stone in his hand and said, "Let's go to the Heavenly Stone Garden."

Tuoba Lie didn't say yes or no, but he said everything.

Everyone was astonished. Could a master of Origin Arts really be this powerful? Could they really see through the stone and understand everything inside, even knowing what was inside?

Having this ability is practically like having a key to open a treasure trove at any time. All the gambling stone shops are their private vaults. Whenever they want raw materials, they can just come and take a look.

The people at Jiang's Stone Gambling Shop turned pale. It was more of a curse than a blessing that two masters of Origin Arts had gone to the Heavenly Stone Garden.

At the same time, Jiang Xiong felt a sense of unease. Judging from Li Yao's move just now, his mastery of Origin Techniques was no less than that of Tuoba Lie. Would the final result today really be as he wished?

With these concerns in mind, the group headed deeper into the stone archway.

The Tianzihao Stone Garden is not large. It is an open-air palace, but there are no walls around it. At the edge, there are thirty-six dragon-carved pillars supporting it. The palace is several hundred meters from east to west. In the center of the palace, there is an ancient tree that is so thick that it is astonishing. Its diameter is more than ten meters, like a soaring dragon.

The Tianzihao Stone Garden was usually deserted with few visitors, but now it has suddenly become lively.

In particular, when the news spread, some old monsters soon arrived here; they were regulars at various top-tier stone gardens.

These old monsters don't have much time left, but they don't have the courage to risk their lives in the forbidden zone. Their only way out is through the various stone archways.

Whenever someone gambles on stones at the Tianzi Stone Garden, or a master of Origin Arts comes here to cut stones, their presence is indispensable.

Because the Tianzihao Stone Garden often yields precious medicines that can prolong life, their goal is to buy them as soon as possible.

"Hehehe, another master of source techniques is gambling on stones in the Heavenly Stone Garden. I wonder if he can cut out a treasure that can prolong life this time."

"It's agreed that if a life-extending treasure is found this time, I will buy it first."

"Old Wu, who do you think you are? Why don't you just have the Jiang family cut it all up and give it to you, and let you buy it first? See if I'll even give you the time of day." The old monsters were arguing, but when they arrived around the Heavenly Stone Garden, they all stopped arguing and remained silent.

……

The Tianzihao Stone Garden is overseen by experts, and ordinary people cannot enter; they can only observe from the outside. Only those who select stones are allowed to enter, as the stones here are extremely precious.

Inside the garden, an old man sat cross-legged on a futon, his age unknown, and remained motionless. There were also four or five other old men selecting stones.

When Li Yao, Yun Shang, Yao Xi, Tuoba uncle and nephew, and Jiang Xiong walked in, he remained motionless, like a withered old tree.

The others dared not make any more noise and gathered around the Tianzihao Stone Garden, watching quietly. Fortunately, there were no walls, only vegetation, and everything was visible.

As soon as Li Yao stepped into the garden, he felt an ancient aura, very strong, as if the world had just been created.

"This is the aura of the Primordial Era. The source stones here are all absolute treasures, transported from the Forbidden Zone or from places infinitely close to the Primordial Forbidden Zone," Yun Shang explained to Li Yao.

“The Primordial Forbidden Zone!” Li Yao had already guessed it.

Of the five major regions of the Big Dipper Starfield, why is the gambling on stones so prevalent only in the Northern Region? Part of the reason is indeed that the Northern Region has abundant mineral resources, but the main reason is that it is close to the Primordial Forbidden Zone.

The Primordial Forbidden Zone contains many rare and precious stones. The source stones in the Heavenly Stone Garden are almost all from the Primordial Ancient Mine, and this is true for almost all the other mines.

It was these top-quality stones that created the grand spectacle of all the world's heroes flocking to the Holy City. Ancient families from the Northern Plains, dynasties from the Central Plains, and various schools of thought all established branches in the Northern Region.

The Tianzihao Stone Garden already feels ancient, and now with this primordial aura, it exudes an even greater sense of ancient majesty.

There aren't many stones here, but each one has its own place, and the Jiang family checks them every day because they are so precious.

However, these stones are placed very casually, either under big trees, beside gushing springs, or under dragon pillars.

The stones and the scenery blend together harmoniously, creating a sense of unity between heaven and earth and a return to simplicity.

A dedicated Master Yuan stayed by their side, constantly introducing things to them.

Even though Li Yao was mentally prepared, he still felt it was a bit exaggerated. The source stones here were often worth tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

The source stones here are even comparable in value to divine source stones.

For example, a piece of Origin Stone the size of a bowl is priced at 30,000 catties!

If 30,000 jin of ore were piled up in individual heaps, it could easily make ten heaps.

With so many sources, they could only buy Originium the size of a bowl. The difference was ridiculously exaggerated.

Unless one is extremely confident, who would waste so many resources?

"This is outrageous! Would anyone actually buy this?" Even Yao Xi couldn't help but be surprised. As a saintess, she naturally possessed a lot of resources, but she couldn't come here to buy stones without any psychological pressure.

Master Yuan said, "You rarely see young people here. It's mostly for old-timers. You really can't handle it. For those people, if they can fight for a hope, a future here, they are willing to give everything."

"This stone is worth 100,000 jin of Yuan?!" Tuoba Hong exclaimed in surprise.

Although born into a family of Origin Arts masters, Tuoba Hong was still surprised when he saw a piece of Origin Stone worth 100,000 catties of Origin.

A piece of stone, so expensive it was unacceptable, weighing over a hundred kilograms, lay quietly in the bamboo forest, exuding a Taoist aura.

One hundred catties of stone is worth one hundred thousand catties of resources. That means one catty of stone can be sold for one thousand catties of resources.

Even Li Yao was speechless at this moment; the price was indeed outrageous!
Because of its exorbitant price, this source stone has been sitting in the Heavenly Stone Garden for at least several hundred years.

Because source stones with their own Daoist charm are the most difficult to identify. Their appearance and inner quality may not be consistent. They may have been cut from other main stones with the charm of the Great Dao. They are not easy to choose. Otherwise, why has no one chosen them after they have been here for so long?

P.S.: Extra chapter! Requesting monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and to continue reading. It's the last day, so it would be a waste not to use these. Why not give them to me as a reward?

(End of this chapter)