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

Chapter 60 Divine Source (Seeking First Subscription)

But we'll win!

Everyone felt that there was little hope. Although Tuoba Lie had cut out a Human Essence Fruit, it had almost been transformed into an Earth Life Fruit.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was a flawed Earth Destiny Fruit. It had many wonders, and in the hands of a master alchemist, it could be refined into a divine pill that could add 150 to 200 years to the lifespan of the Holy Lord.

Such a rare treasure is worth at least 300,000 to 500,000 jin of Yuan.

If it were an old Holy Lord with only a few years left to live, they would accept an additional 200,000 jin of source energy.

Such treasures are extremely rare. For a moment, people couldn't imagine how precious a treasure they would need to obtain to win this duel.

Golden light flashed in Li Yao's eyes, transforming into two beams of light that landed on the Phoenix Blood Stone. The silver blade moved with the two beams of light, slashing swiftly.

Stone chips flew everywhere. Li Yao's movements were light and graceful, but they were indeed somewhat inferior to Tuoba Lie's.

It is beautiful, but it lacks that sense of skill that approaches the Tao.

It's just cutting stones; as long as it can be cut open, that's fine. I don't necessarily care about aesthetics.

"What could possibly be better than a flawed Destiny Fruit!"

"Unless you actually cut out an item related to the phoenix."

"Silence!"

Without any noise, the Tianzi Stone Garden was exceptionally quiet. At some point, the guardian of the stone garden, the old man from the Jiang family, erected a screen of light, as if to prevent any rare treasures from escaping.

"Clang!"

The silver knife paused, and a different sound came from the source stone.

Suddenly, a divine ray shot upwards, illuminating the Heavenly Stone Garden and making the entire palace sparkle.

The light was dazzling, and a sacred aura soared into the sky, making everyone's pores open and feel completely relaxed, as if they were enveloped by divine energy.

"What's this?!"

"A divine object has been cut out!"

At this moment, the Heavenly Stone Garden was in an uproar. Everyone was in a frenzy. This treasure was too amazing. Even a wisp of divine light shining through the crack in the stone was so extraordinary. One could only imagine that it must be an extremely rare treasure.

Li Yao was excited, so he slowed down the speed of his knife and was very careful, afraid of cutting something bad.

A stone sphere the size of a human head was cut out, and beams of divine light shot out from the cracks. The thin layer of stone could no longer block the divine light within.

The stone ball remained suspended in mid-air, without sinking at all.

"My God, the Divine Source, it's actually the Divine Source!"

"That's right, the Divine Source is as big as a human head!"

Even the older generation was excited, as such a divine object was extremely rare in the world and all the holy lands longed for it.

"At the most conservative estimate, its value is definitely over 500,000 jin!"

When an old man revealed such value, everyone gasped in astonishment. This was divine source; a piece the size of a human head was equivalent to a mountain of ordinary pure source!

Li Yao did not peel off the thin layer of stone skin, for fear of blinding himself. Even so, the dozens of divine rays that shot out made the Heavenly Stone Garden dazzling, like a sun shining in all directions.

The emergence of the divine source, a phenomenon that had not been seen in the Holy City for many years, was absolutely sensational news and shocked everyone.

"Hahaha, a divine source! It's actually a divine source! We've struck it rich!" Everyone was shocked, but Tuoba Hong was the only one who burst into laughter.

"Are you kidding me? This piece of divine source is worth at least 500,000 jin of source. How do you think you can win?" Yao Xi said lightly, her voice clear and melodious, like heavenly music.

"Fairy, as everyone knows, the value of longevity-enhancing treasures is immeasurable. Their value varies depending on who possesses them. To young people like us, they're worth only three or four hundred thousand jin of source energy. But to those old holy lords nearing the end of their lives, they could say they're worth a million jin of source energy, and no one would object. So, haven't we won?" Tuoba Hong's face flushed red; the sheer size of the divine source energy made it impossible for him to remain calm. "Nonsense! What about divine source energy? Who would exchange divine source energy for pure source energy? That's still worthless." Yao Xi's gaze was cold, as if she were looking at a glib-tongued dog.

“The most recent Human Essence Fruit was auctioned at the Heavenly Demon Treasure Palace, and the transaction price was 300,000 catties of Origin. Judging from this, you have lost,” Yun Shang also stepped forward and said.

The Human Essence Fruit is extremely precious. Many powerful figures in the Yao Guang Holy Land have reached the end of their lifespan. The Human Essence Fruit is worth a million catties of Origin to them. They could have lost this bet, but now they have to win.

“Fellow Daoist Yun, the Human Origin Fruit from three years ago cannot be compared to this one. It’s not fair to judge this one by the value of that one,” an old monster stepped forward to refute.

The other old monsters also had a slight glint in their eyes. They knew very well that once this Human Essence Fruit fell into the hands of the Yao Guang Holy Land, it would never be put out for sale; they needed it themselves.

On the other hand, the oldest member of the Tuoba family is still far from his death date, so they don't really need him.

“Yes, indeed. That Human Essence Fruit is far inferior to this one. I would be willing to buy this Human Essence Fruit even if it were worth 600,000 catties of Origin.” An old monster stepped forward.

“Indeed, my Five Elements Palace is willing to make a deal for 650,000 jin of Yuan.”

The old monsters stepped forward, determined to forcefully set a price for the Human Yuan Fruit.

Their status is quite high; they are all senior elders from various holy lands and aristocratic families, and their words carry great weight.

They have now reached a tacit agreement not to let this flawed life fruit fall into the hands of the Yao Guang Holy Land. As for who it will ultimately belong to, that will be decided by the highest bidder.

However, they were unwilling to offend the Yao Guang Holy Land, so they only said that this flawed life fruit was worth more than 600,000 jin of source, but did not mention that the Yao Guang Holy Land had lost.

Yun Shang was somewhat helpless. It was really difficult to price this thing because what everyone said was true. If it was just an ordinary Yuan Fruit, then there was really nothing to argue about, because the price would be around 300,000 jin of Yuan.

But the price of this Human Essence Fruit—no, to be precise, this flawed Earth Life Fruit—is hard to say. To say it's worth 300,000 catties of Origin is far-fetched.

Because the effects of the two medicines are vastly different, the former is estimated to extend the life of the Holy Lord by fifty to one hundred years, while the latter can extend the life of the Holy Lord by at least one hundred and fifty years, or even two hundred years.

"Even so, it's a draw. To say they've won is a stretch," Yun Shang said.

Everyone was speechless. A divine source the size of a human head was worth at least 500,000 catties of source, and if such a divine object were to be put up for sale by a spendthrift, someone would be willing to buy it for 600,000 catties of source.

The prices are so similar that it's hard to say which one is better.

"I think we should just call it a draw and continue gambling with source stones. Whoever cuts out the most rare items in total wins," an old monster suggested.

The Jiang family members' faces turned even greener. Cutting out the flawed life fruit and the head-sized divine source had already caused them heavy losses, and now they still wanted to come. Who could bear this?

Jiang Xiong, in particular, was filled with deep regret. He had underestimated Li Yao's skill in Origin Techniques, which led to the current situation.

His initial plan was to intercept Li Yao in front of the Tianzi Stone Garden.

If he had known this situation beforehand, what would have been the point of inviting Tuoba Lie? Why not just bring another master of Origin Arts to the Heavenly Stone Garden to cut stones?
Jiang Xiong wanted to bang his head against the wall; if this continued, the Jiang family's stone archway would likely suffer a serious blow.

In fact, the loss of Qizhen is not a serious blow to the Jiang family. In fact, if they stop now, the business of Shifang might even surge in the short term.

The Jiang family could use the rare treasures that were cut out this time to promote themselves and let others know that they can find rare and precious treasures at the Jiang family's stone workshop.

This is a living advertisement, but if the gamble continues, things will be completely different.

Just imagine, two masters of Origin Arts gambled on stones here and cut out several extraordinary treasures, but they didn't touch the remaining Origin Stones. What would others think?
Others wouldn't think that the Jiang family's source stones had a high yield of treasures; they would only think that all the good stuff had been picked over, and what was left was junk. Since it was all junk, who would still come to the Jiang family's stone workshop to gamble on stones?

No one will come back for at least several years. The stone workshop will only recover when new Originium gradually replaces this batch.

Such a loss is far greater than the loss of the rare treasures cut out today.

Jiang Xiong realized this, and so did the others. For a moment, many people looked at Jiang Xiong with pity.

Damn it, these Source Technique Grandmasters can really be a menace sometimes. This was the thought in the minds of many powerful individuals present who also owned stone workshops.

"Alright, this farce has gone on for so long, it's time to end it." Just as everyone was waiting to continue watching the two Source Arts masters cut the stone, Li Yao stood up and said this.

Hearing him say that, everyone looked over, not understanding what he meant. What did he mean by "it should end"?
(End of this chapter)