Shrouded Sky

Chapter 329 - Nine-Aperture Stone Man

As soon as Ye Fan spoke, the surrounding elders were taken aback, and the people outside the Stone Workshop were first stunned, then burst into noisy chatter.

“A wager? Are you using that white rock on the ground? It’s clearly just white flower stone, there’s no chance it contains any source energy. Even the lowest-level stone gamblers know that!”

“Young man, even if the Nine-Aperture Stone Man turns out empty, don’t take it so hard. There will be other chances.”

“He’s gone mad, clearly! To this extent and still wants to gamble?”

Outside the Heavenly-Rank Stone Workshop, discussions broke out everywhere. Wu Ziming and his group laughed loudly.

“You want to gamble with that white stone? Do you expect to cut out Godsource from it? What a joke!”

“He can’t take the loss, he’s lost his mind. We told him he was overestimating himself.”

“Now he’s been knocked off his high horse, huh? Thought he was a source technique cultivator, pointing fingers and giving advice, and now he’s crashed from the clouds straight to the ground!”

“How ridiculous, hahaha!”

Ye Fan remained calm. “Who will gamble with me? I’ll use the Nine-Aperture Stone Man as my stake. If I lose, I’ll pay fifty thousand kilo of source.”

At first, silence. Then, an uproar.

“This guy’s insane. Doesn’t even know what he’s saying.”

“Fifty thousand kilo of source? If you can really put that up, I’ll bet you!” someone shouted provocatively.

“Can’t handle the loss, so now you’re throwing everything away?” someone mocked.

Inside the garden, Yao Yuekong stepped forward to dissuade him. “Brother, no need for this. You can start over. That white stone can’t possibly contain anything valuable.”

Ye Fan shook his head firmly. “It’s fine. I just want to gamble with them. Today I even cut out a godly medicine, heaven itself must be on my side.”

On the ground, the fist-sized white stone gleamed blindingly. Thinking of its astronomical price made everyone sigh in disbelief.

“To have cut out godly medicine, that was a miracle, the rarest of fortunes. And now you expect another divine treasure? Ridiculous.”

“Do you even have the source to back this wager? If you do, I’ll gamble with you!”

No one outside believed that any source could be found in white flower stone.

Blackwater secretly sent Ye Fan a sound transmission. “Are you sure? That’s white flower stone. Even beginners know it can’t contain any source.”

“There’s still some chance,” Ye Fan replied calmly.

“For real?” Blackwater doubted him, though Ye Fan’s composure made him hesitate.

“Why would I lie to myself?” Ye Fan muttered.

“You’re devious, you’re baiting them! Everyone says I’m dark-hearted, but you’re darker than me. You already know there’s something good in there, and you’re still so calm, setting up this trap. I should call you Black-Heart.”

The entire garden buzzed with noise. Absolute Dao Sacred Ground’s old Daoist nun had to step forward, worried someone might get too worked up and rush inside.

Ye Fan scanned the crowd. “I’m speaking the truth. Look, what’s this!” He waved his sleeve, revealing a pile of radiant source on the ground, overflowing with spirit energy.

Wu Ziming, Li Zhongtian, and the others had collectively lost forty-two thousand kilo of source to him earlier. The Grand Xia prince had also lost ten thousand kilo. Together, it totaled just over fifty thousand.

Everyone was stunned by the sheer amount. Most of them were young and had never even seen so much source in one place.

“Who dares to gamble with me?” Ye Fan asked again.

This time, the crowd fell silent. Fifty thousand kilo of source was an enormous fortune. Anyone with that much would normally be an elder, not a hotheaded youth.

Even figures like Jiang Yifei and An Miaoyi looked slightly astonished.

Many people swallowed dryly, eyes locked on the glittering heap of source, unable to look away.

Some elders could afford it, but their pride stopped them, many of them had followed Ye Fan around earlier, helping him choose stones, and it would look bad to turn around and gamble against him now.

“Fine,” Ye Fan said. “I’ll lower the bar. Anyone can join by pooling together a single piece of source. I’ll take you all on.”

He divided the pile into fifteen portions, each equal to about one piece of source worth a thousand kilo.

“I’m in!” shouted several people, seven or eight of them gathering ten thousand kilo together to be the first group.

Wu Ziming and Li Zhongtian could hardly contain themselves, they burned to avenge their earlier humiliation.

“Those fools are doomed. Too bad we don’t have any source ourselves.”

“Isn’t that Elder Li Yishui from Illusion-Destruction Palace? He’s Li Zhongtian’s grand-uncle. Go borrow some source from him!” someone suggested.

“Good idea. I’ll try.”

Not long later, Li Zhongtian returned, with ten thousand kilo borrowed from Li Yishui.

Ye Fan stayed calm, unsurprised; he had predicted this. Li Yishui smiled faintly from outside the garden, his expression cold and calculating.

“Old bastard,” Blackwater muttered under his breath. “Let’s see if you’ll still be smiling later.”

“Anyone else?” Ye Fan asked, scanning the crowd.

Some wanted to join, but Ye Fan and Blackwater’s calmness made them hesitate. Even the old cultivators inside showed signs of curiosity.

“No one else?” Ye Fan asked again.

The white-robed young nun was still crouched on the ground, chin resting on her hands, her large clear eyes blinking impatiently. “Cut it already!” she said.

“Little sister, since you’re so eager, how about you do the cutting?” Ye Fan teased.

She wrinkled her nose and ignored him, focused on the stone.

The Grand Xia prince frowned and came over to stand beside his sister.

“Hurry up and cut!” Wu Ziming and the others urged.

“Alright,” Ye Fan said solemnly, picking up the silver knife. “Let’s witness the birth of a rare treasure.”

Crack!

The sound of stone cutting silenced the crowd. Everyone stared, breath held.

The silver blade moved quickly. The fist-sized rock soon halved, still pure white, no sign of anything inside.

Though Wu Ziming and the others wanted to mock him, they couldn’t. The atmosphere was too tense.

Finally, only a piece the size of a date remained, still showing nothing unusual. People began whispering again, convinced it was empty.

Even Blackwater was sweating now. Everyone looked at Ye Fan, but he remained steady, cutting precisely and fast.

Crack!

When the piece was down to the size of a lychee, its color suddenly changed, dark red. Gasps filled the air.

Ye Fan slowed, carefully chipping away the remaining stone. The crowd fell silent again.

At last, he revealed a dark red, heart-shaped stone.

The elders sighed. “A pity. The Nine-Aperture Stone Man was close to evolving. Its heart had taken form. Given a few more million years, it might’ve developed true intelligence and become a Paragon Spirit.”

“What a shame, it shouldn’t have been unearthed so early. Now everything’s lost.”

They shook their heads, lamenting the loss of what could’ve been a peerless existence.

“So this is all, no rare treasure after all,” someone said.

Wu Ziming laughed. “Source technique prodigy? Hand over your source!”

Ye Fan ignored him, cutting open the red heart. It was hollow.

“Ha! Empty!” Li Zhongtian and the others laughed wildly.

The audience was in an uproar, many cursed themselves for not betting.

Elder Li Yishui of the Illusion-Destruction Palace sneered coldly.

Even the Grand Xia prince and Yao Yuekong shook their heads, pitying Ye Fan’s rashness.

“Young man,” one elder said, “you shouldn’t have done this. Gambling with source stones, nine times out of ten you lose.”

Ye Fan said nothing, his face unchanged.

Blackwater, however, was sweating bullets. “Nothing came out… that’s bad.”

“Cat got your tongue?” Wu Ziming mocked. “Maybe go home and practice your ‘source mastery’ a few more years!”

“Not so cocky now, are you?” others laughed. “You thought you were a reborn Celestial Source Master!”

“Hahaha, let’s collect our winnings!”

The crowd outside boiled over.

“Wait,” Ye Fan said calmly. “The Nine-Aperture Stone Man isn’t finished yet. Why are you touching my source?”

Everyone froze. Even Jiang Yifei and An Miaoyi were surprised.

“You’ve got more stone left?” Wu Ziming sneered, looking down.

The white-robed nun’s clear voice rang out again. “Cut it open! I want to see what’s inside.”

Ye Fan picked up a flat stone piece, half the size of his palm, barely an inch thick.

“That thin thing? You still think it’ll have something?”

“He just doesn’t know when to quit!”

“Fine, let’s see what comes out this time.”

The two groups betting against him looked on mockingly.

“Can we still join?” someone shouted from outside.

“Count me in!”

“Me too!”

The Heavenly-Rank Stone Workshop erupted in noise. The sight of fifty thousand kilo of source made everyone greedy.

“What do we do?” Blackwater whispered.

“Just wait to collect source,” Ye Fan replied.

“Oh, I get it, you’re rage-baiting them again! No wonder they call you Ye the Black,” Blackwater realized.

This time, Ye Fan hesitated deliberately. “Everyone, is this really necessary?”

“What, backing out now? You said anyone could bet!”

“Too late to take it back!”

“Damn old fox,” Blackwater muttered, noticing Li Yishui lending even more source to his disciples to push the crowd.

Ye Fan smiled faintly. “That’s fine, he’s the fish I want to catch. He alone has tens of thousands of kilo.”

Eventually, three more groups rushed in with thirty thousand kilo, joining Wu Ziming’s side. Dozens more were too late.

“Fifty thousand against fifteen portions,” Ye Fan said calmly. “Don’t forget your word when you lose.”

“You mean when you lose!” Wu Ziming sneered.

Li Yishui suddenly felt uneasy, but it was too late, his source was already committed.

“Cut it! Let’s see you lose all fifty thousand!”

Ye Fan smiled serenely and turned to the old nun. “Senior, please seal this space, lest a rare treasure escape.”

The crowd gasped again.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“I’m certain. A peerless treasure is about to emerge.”

His conviction stunned everyone. Some scoffed, but many instinctively believed him.

The old nun wordlessly sealed the area with a transparent barrier.

The young Daoist nun from Absolute Dao Sacred Ground remained calm and distant, while the white-clad little nun pouted impatiently. “Cut it already!”

“Brother, are you really sure?” Yao Yuekong asked. The Grand Xia prince also looked on.

“There’s a fair chance,” Ye Fan said.

This surprised the elders most. The Nine-Aperture Stone Man had fascinated them for years, if it yielded nothing, they’d be disappointed.

This time, Ye Fan was completely focused. This fragment was from the Stone Man’s forehead, its brow region. He’d known since earlier that something incredible was inside but had saved it for last.

He carefully scraped away the stone, blade slow and precise.

Crack.

At the final stroke, the stone fractured on its own. From the brow area rolled out a silken object, about an inch long, half an inch thick.

It was dark-golden, metallic, glowing faintly, a metal cocoon pulsing with mysterious energy.

“It really contains something!”

Everyone gasped. A treasure inside white flower stone, it defied logic.

“This came from the Stone Man’s brow! What is it?”

Bang!

The metal cocoon quivered violently.

“It moved! Could it be a living ancient creature?”

The crowd paled. Legends of ancient beings stirred in everyone’s mind.

Ye Fan stepped back quickly, he sensed danger.

An overwhelming killing intent burst out, making everyone’s hearts tremble.

“What’s coming out?!” the elders readied themselves.

“Crack!” The cocoon shattered, and a beam of black light pierced the sky, breaking even the nun’s seal.

The air was filled with killing intent so sharp it seemed to slice souls apart.

When the light faded, a tiny black sword, only an inch long, hovered there, humming violently.

“It’s alive!” someone exclaimed. “Its killing aura carries Dao and Law, it’s no ordinary relic!”

“If not unearthed prematurely, the Stone Man could’ve become a Paragon Spirit. This must’ve been the weapon it was gestating!”

“Amazing… look closely, that’s Dragon Rune Black Gold!”

“Indeed, it’s the same material as the Dragon Rune Cauldron of the Radiant Light Sacred Ground!”

The crowd was beside itself.

A small sword of Dragon Rune Black Gold, material reserved for ancient emperors, had been born.

“The Nine-Aperture Stone Man was extraordinary indeed! To have naturally formed such a weapon, it could’ve rivaled Grand Emperors one day!”

Everyone moved to seal the sword as it thrashed violently.

“Quick, suppress it! It was born too soon, endure a while and it’ll calm down!”

When the sword finally quieted, the realization sank in. This was a divine relic of Dragon Rune Black Gold, a sacred material of emperors.

Wu Ziming, Li Zhongtian, and even Elder Li Yishui were ashen-faced. They had lost tens of thousands of kilo of source.

“Damn it! Those two devils! They’re darker than ink!”

The gamblers were on the verge of collapse, cursing endlessly.

But no one paid them attention. All eyes were on the black-gold sword, so small yet so dazzling, born from the Stone Man’s brow.

Jiang Yifei sent Ye Fan a secret transmission, followed by the stunning An Miaoyi, who would have entered the workshop herself if it weren’t sealed.

Everyone wanted that dagger-sized sword, no matter what.