Cultivating immortality begins with discerning the secrets of heaven.

Under the watchful eyes of many cultivators, Lin Yun used the carving knife in his hand to cut open the stone in front of him.

With each strike of the blade, stone dust fell continuously.

Soon, a strong aura of fire and evil energy poured out from the stone.

boom!

Almost instantly, the leaked fiery energy condensed into a phantom black dragon.

This scene caused all the cultivators present to gasp in shock, and someone exclaimed:

"You cut out a black dragon?"

"Hiss, could there be a real dragon egg hidden inside?"

Even the cultivator guarding the stone gambling market could no longer remain calm. He lowered his magic sword, worried that someone might take the opportunity to steal the stones.

However, the illusory black dragon that had solidified in the air quickly dissipated, leaving only a jet-black, jade-like scale emerging from the stone.

Lin Yun brought down his final cut, slicing it out of the stone.

"It's a scale, could it be a dragon scale?"

"No, it should be a scale from a black dragon, but unfortunately it has been buried for too long and much of its essence has been lost."

"This is truly unbelievable; they can even cut through dragon scales..."

Soon, the changes here alarmed a Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding the gambling stone market. This person was a Foundation Establishment elder of the Taiyuan Sect.

Lin Yun felt quite helpless about this, thinking that if the other party insisted on buying the scale, there was really nothing he could do.

"Greetings, senior!"

The Foundation Establishment stage elder had a solemn expression as he took the black scale from Lin Yun's hand and examined it repeatedly.

After a long while, he sighed and said, "It's a true scale of a third-tier Black Flame Dragon. It's a pity that it has lost a lot of its essence, which greatly reduces its value."

With that, he returned the jet-black scale to Lin Yun.

"I am an elder of Cuiwei Peak in the Taiyuan Sect. Young friend, would you be willing to trade this scale to my gambling stone shop?"

"If you don't want to, you can take this item with you."

Elder Ma did not use his power to intimidate others; a scale that had lost most of its essence and spirit was not worth his efforts.

  

Hearing this, Lin Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

"I wonder how many spirit stones you intend to offer to buy back this scale?"

After some deliberation, Elder Ma said, "Five hundred spirit stones is roughly the maximum value this scale can fetch."

"After all, it has lost too much essence and energy, so it can't compare to real third-tier demon beast materials."

That's not a small amount. With these five hundred spirit stones, he should have enough resources for his cultivation at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

"Very well, I'm willing to trade this item with you, senior!"

Seeing Lin Yun agree so readily, Elder Ma smiled, patted his storage bag, and took out five hundred low-grade spirit stones to give to Lin Yun.

Cash on delivery!

"Well, don't say I'm taking advantage of you. Consider this bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills a bonus."

As he spoke, Elder Ma gave Lin Yun an extra bottle of pills suitable for cultivators in the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

"Thank you so much, senior!"

Lin Yun gratefully accepted the bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills, which were exactly the supplies he urgently needed.

Elder Ma said calmly, "You don't need to worry about anyone harming you in the Immortal City, but once you leave the Immortal City, it's hard to say."

This was a reminder to Lin Yun that the spirit stones in his hand were a bit too hot to handle, and it would be best to leave them in the Immortal City and spend them as soon as possible.

However, Lin Yun had already made up his mind about this matter. He would be attending the Ascension Conference in Taiyuan Immortal City.

Everything went smoothly, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should be able to pass the weapon-refining assessment and then directly join the Taiyuan Sect.

In this way, one can safely keep this windfall.

That's why he dared to come to the stone gambling shop to cut stones; that's exactly what he was planning.

"Thank you for the reminder, senior!"

And so, Lin Yun walked out of the gambling stone market, enduring a barrage of strange looks.

As soon as he stepped outside, people rushed over to befriend him.

"Hehe, greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Jin Shaofeng of the Jin family of Helian Mountain. May I ask your name?"

A scholar-like cultivator stopped Lin Yun. He had a refined demeanor and a kind and friendly smile.

Lin Yun responded with a nonchalant fist salute, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Jin, from the Huangzhulin family of Xiangnanling."

The Jin family of Helian Mountain is a famous family with a history of over a thousand years in the Southern Region.

Lin Yun sighed inwardly, surprised that he had attracted trouble so quickly.

Jin Shaofeng squinted and smiled, "So it's Fellow Daoist Lin. I've heard of the Lin family of Huangzhu Mountain."

"Fellow Daoist seems to have achieved considerable success in the art of jade gambling. Could it be that you have studied some feng shui or physiognomy techniques, enabling you to discern the true nature of the stones?"

Lin Yun shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Brother Jin, you are joking. My family has been cultivating spirit bamboo for generations. How could we possibly know these strange arts?"

"I only bought these two stones on a whim; I was just lucky."

Upon hearing this, Jin Shaofeng understood. He didn't press the matter further, but simply recommended his family's shop in Taiyuan Immortal City to Lin Yun.

The Jin family owns a Jin Fu Lou in Taiyuan Immortal City, which specializes in selling talismans, including even second-tier talismans.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Brother Jin, but I'd better not. I plan to participate in the weapon crafting assessment."

"If I fail the test, I'll consider buying some more of these protective talismans."

A glint of light flashed in Jin Shaofeng's eyes, and he nodded, saying, "Hehe, in that case, I wish you success in your ascension to immortality, fellow Daoist."

"Thank you for your kind words!" With that, Lin Yun clasped his hands in a fist and left the gambling stone shop.

Watching Lin Yun's departing figure, Jin Shaofeng's eyes revealed a thoughtful expression.

"Let's observe the Lin family of Huangzhushan further. If this person truly possesses some skill in appraising stones, he will definitely come to the stone gambling workshop to cut stones again."

"As for today, it's not a good day to gamble on stones."

...

Lin Yun naturally understood that he had been targeted by some people with ulterior motives. Putting aside everything else, the one mid-grade spirit stone and five hundred low-grade spirit stones that he openly carried in his pocket were enough to make many Qi Refining cultivators' hearts flutter.

Fortunately, he wasn't entirely without connections, and he was currently in Taiyuan Immortal City.

After reuniting with the rest of his family, Lin Yun's anxiety gradually subsided.

With the protection of the family elders here, there is no worry that anyone would risk their life for a few hundred spirit stones.

"The next step is to successfully pass the Ascension Ceremony, otherwise, if we fail, the journey back to the family will be quite eventful."

Six hundred spirit stones are enough to make many late-stage Qi Refining cultivators risk their lives for it.

Soon, news spread throughout Taiyuan Immortal City that he had successfully cut two stones and delivered them.

As a result, the gambling stone market became much busier, and many independent cultivators wanted to replicate Lin Yun's deeds.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the guidance of the Book of Insight.

In the end, it still proved the saying true: nine out of ten gamblers lose.

Nine out of ten people cut nothing, and the remaining one might not even be able to break even.

...