Earthly Fate Fruit

As the two traded verbal blows, the atmosphere all around was oppressive.

Even the true disciples of the great sects gathered behind them did not dare say much, leaving the stage to the two of them.

Yet one place remained endlessly noisy, until the clamor completely drowned out the two men.

"A peerless genius! An absolute peerless genius in the art of source!"

"God of Gamblers! God of Gamblers, please take me as your disciple!"

"This is the last one. Once Lord God of Gamblers finishes cutting this piece, which family does he plan to bring misfor—cough, grace next?"

Jiang Yichen frowned deeply as he listened. What the hell was this God of Gamblers?

And what exactly was the manager of this Stone Gambling House doing?

He was the grandson of a Jiang Family great cultivator, yet he had waited outside for so long without anyone from his own side coming to receive him?

Sweeping his Divine Sense into the stone workshop, Jiang Yichen froze at first, then roared with a savage expression, "You bastard, you dare show up again!"

With that, he abandoned Ji Haiyue and strode straight into the stone workshop.

"He is even ignoring me, his archenemy, and reacting so excitedly... Heh, it seems there is going to be a good show." Ji Haiyue wore an amused expression as he followed him inside.

Jiang Yichen was shouting as he entered, but the moment he stepped inside, he was dumbfounded.

This was our Jiang Family's Stone Gambling House, right? Why did it look as though thieves had broken in?

The stone workshop was extremely spacious, with raw stones scattered sparsely about.

Instead, in the innermost corner, a large crowd of red-faced people had gathered together, shouting even more excitedly than he was!

At a glance, he recognized the man gambling on stones—it was Shen Ye, the one he had been "thinking about day and night"!

"Shen Ye, you actually dare come to the Jiang Family Stone Workshop to gamble on stones!" Jiang Yichen charged forward in a fury.

Shen Ye, who had been about to cut open the final raw stone, paused and looked at the newcomer. "Oh, you are that someone from the Jiang Family, right?"

The gamblers around them, red-eyed and carried away with excitement, had initially wanted to curse at the troublemaker. But upon hearing that someone from the Jiang Family had arrived, they swiftly calmed down.

"So his name is Shen Ye!" Quite a few people stirred inwardly. This name was far from unknown across the Eastern Wasteland.

Jiang Yichen's face twisted with rage. "You bastard, you cannot even remember my name?"

Shen Ye shook his head slightly. "It does not matter. Tell me, what do you want this time?"

"Of course I came here to..." Jiang Yichen's roar suddenly weakened. Looking into Shen Ye's eyes, that same indifferent gaze as before made it feel as if an invisible giant hand had seized his heart in a death grip. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and he could not force out another word!

"Why is this happening? Say it! Say that I want to fight you again!" Jiang Yichen roared inwardly, but his body remained utterly unable to move.

He had thought that after cultivating an ancient phenomenon and greatly increasing his strength, he would surely be able to wash away his past humiliation if he fought this man again!

But when he truly stood before that person, he realized just how absurdly wrong he had been. That despairing terror once again coiled around his heart, impossible to shake off!

The people around them were puzzled. What was wrong with him? Had he suddenly become constipated?

While Jiang Yichen was in a bind, Ji Haiyue was also hesitating inwardly. "Should I challenge him?"

Leaving aside how Shen Ye had suppressed a Ji Family elder in Green Emperor's Tomb three years ago, Shen Ye's connection with Crow Daoist alone gave him reason to strike and suppress him!

Yet when he saw the troubled look on Jiang Yichen's face, he could not help but hesitate.

Could it truly be as Jiang Yichen had said—that he had only been defeated by a sneak attack because he had used less than ten percent of his strength?

"Or... were the rumors not exaggerated in the slightest?" Ji Haiyue was suddenly startled, and sweat seeped from his temples.

Amid the strange silence, Ji Haiyue suddenly spoke. "He believes that you ambushed him before and won unfairly. He wants to compete with you again!"

After saying that, he looked at Jiang Yichen again. "I know you are embarrassed to bully the younger generation twice, so I spoke for you. No need to thank me!"

The corner of Jiang Yichen's eye twitched wildly as he ground his teeth. "I really must thank you!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Shen Ye looked at Jiang Yichen and asked.

"Mhm..." Jiang Yichen gave a stiff grunt.

"I understand. Then let us go to the Martial Arts Arena. But... let me finish cutting this last stone first!" With that, Shen Ye casually sliced open the raw stone.

The next instant, an incomparably rich medicinal fragrance drifted out from within the raw stone.

It was fragrant and lush, refreshing the heart and clearing the mind!

The people around them merely took a breath of it and felt as though they were floating among the clouds, their entire bodies seeming to have grown ten years younger!

Silvery-white radiance bloomed from within the stone, incomparably holy.

Everyone looked closely and saw that the source of the sacred light was a round, pearl-like fruit. Its brilliance was dazzling, like a dragon pearl!

The stone workshop fell silent for a moment, then every kind of shout and cry erupted at once, nearly lifting the roof off the entire place. The uproar soared to the heavens!

"Earthly Fate Fruit! It is the supreme immortal treasure, the Earthly Fate Fruit!"

"A Human Origin Fruit can extend the lives of Imperial Lords and Holy Lords by a hundred years. The value of this Earthly Fate Fruit is beyond measure!"

"An Earthly Fate Fruit can extend one's lifespan by eight hundred years—this is practically the same as living a second life!"

The manager of the stone workshop had gone green in the face. The stones in the workshop had basically all been inspected by source arts grandmasters; most were worthless stones, which was why they had been put up for sale.

And yet, an invaluable immortal treasure like the Earthly Fate Fruit had slipped through his fingers. If those clan elders found out, they would probably want to kill him.

Even Shen Ye was somewhat surprised. He had genuinely only intended to have a little fun!

Very soon, mighty figures from every direction descended in streams of divine rainbow light, like cats that had caught the scent of fish!

Yaochi Sacred Land, Great Evolution Holy Land, Myriad Beginning Holy Land...

Everyone around them was dumbfounded. Ever since the Earthly Fate Fruit had been cut out, those streaks of light had never stopped arriving.

The lowest-ranking among the newcomers were Grand Elders from major sects, while even more were mighty figures from the various Sacred Lands!

These mighty figures were even continuously sending messages back to their sects and clans, telling them to hurry over with enough source and people!

"Young friend, this old man is Li Yishui of Illusory Extinction Palace. I am willing to pay one million jin of source for this Earthly Fate Fruit!"

"One million jin of source!" The crowd had barely been frightened out of their wits by that staggering price when they heard another mighty figure sneer disdainfully.

"Are you trying to threaten people by invoking the name of your Illusory Extinction Palace? Heh! No one here is beneath you in status!"

"You want the Earthly Fate Fruit for just one million jin of source? My Yaoguang Sacred Land offers 1.2 million jin of source!"

"My Yaochi Sacred Land offers 1.5 million jin of source. I hope everyone will grant me this favor!"

"Yaochi Fairy, please forgive me. Everything else is negotiable, but the Earthly Fate Fruit absolutely cannot be yielded. I offer 1.7 million jin of source!"

They did not care whether Shen Ye intended to sell it or not. They would name their prices first and talk later.

The price rose steadily, quickly surpassing two million jin of source!

Everyone listening had gone numb. They had to haggle over every last jin of source, yet when these mighty figures raised their bids, they did so by hundreds of thousands at a time!

Finally, once the price reached three million jin of source, the mighty figures stopped bidding.

It was not that the Earthly Fate Fruit was worth only this much, but that this was all they were willing to offer.

On the one hand, Sacred Lands possessed vast foundations, but they could not possibly spend so much source to extend the lifespan of a Holy Lord or some Grand Elder—unless they were certain that the extended lifespan would allow that person to break through to the next realm. Otherwise, it would simply be throwing money into the water!

On the other hand, a minor Dao Palace cultivator was not worth their fighting desperately in a bidding war.

A mighty figure from Purple Mansion Sacred Land looked at Shen Ye with a smile. "Young friend, how do you intend to handle this Earthly Fate Fruit?"

The elderly woman from Dao One Holy Land smiled kindly. "If you are worried about provoking resentment, there is no need. Everyone here is a senior expert; we would not stoop to taking our anger out on you!"

The moment they arrived, they had learned the general course of events and knew that Shen Ye's "source arts" were extraordinary, so they had no intention of pressing him too hard.

Of course, that was only because Shen Ye had yet to make a choice. Once he did, they would no longer be so amiable.

Shen Ye shook his head slightly. Naturally, he had no intention of selling it.

In truth, the Earthly Fate Fruit was simply too difficult to measure in source!

If it were put up at an auction attended by Saints or even Great Saints, selling for ten million jin of source would not be difficult at all.

Shen Ye calmly put away the Earthly Fate Fruit, then smiled at Jiang Yichen. "Seniors, please wait a moment. I still have an agreed battle to fight. Let us discuss the Earthly Fate Fruit after I finish with this Jiang Family friend!"

For a moment, every mighty figure turned to look at Jiang Yichen.

As the dissatisfied, gloomy gazes of all those mighty figures fell upon him, Jiang Yichen was on the verge of tears!

That was not how this was supposed to work!

Some readers may wonder why the great families and Sacred Lands do not buy the Earthly Fate Fruit for those Saints and Great Saints in their hidden reserves who are nearing the end of their lifespans. Without a Great Emperor to refine divine source, once the ancestors emerge, they cannot return. Although their lives would be extended by eight hundred years, doing so would waste a future chance to resolve a clan-destroying crisis. It might allow them to awe the Northern Dipper for eight hundred years, but the Ancient Desolate Families have existed for hundreds of thousands of years. What they value is continuation, not a mere eight hundred years. Moreover, the other Sacred Lands also possess hidden reserves. If you push others too hard, they might join forces and use their reserves to wipe you out first.