Myriad Treasures Pavilion

Outer Sect, Ye Xingchen's residence.

With a casual wave of Ye Xingchen's hand, the wooden table could no longer bear the load and let out a dull thud.

Chilling Profound Ice Jade Marrow, a small mountain of Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, and five bottles of lustrous pills.

At that moment, treasure light shot skyward within the crude dwelling.

"System, appraise them."

[Profound Ice Jade Marrow, gained 50,000 Source Points.]

[Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, gained 5,000 Source Points.]

[Fifty Blood-Coagulating Pills, gained 25,000 Source Points.]

[Current balance: 5,500 Source Points.]

His total worth soared to 85,500.

Ye Xingchen stared at that number, lightly tapping his fingers against the tabletop in a brisk rhythm.

He had become rich overnight.

"So this is what being rich feels like? No wonder so many people want to become bandit cultivators." Ye Xingchen sighed. "Sure enough, a person can't be too honest."

His gaze shifted to the grayed-out icon on the system panel—the second level of the Origin Heaven Art.

Ye Xingchen did not hesitate. His will pressed down hard.

"System, skip the cultivation process for the second level of the Origin Heaven Art!"

[Ding!]

[One-click cultivation skip activated...]

[Deducting 30,000 Source Points. Deriving the second level of the Origin Heaven Art...]

Boom!

It was as though a star had exploded deep within his mind.

The world collapsed before his eyes, then reassembled.

It was as if the gauze over his eyes had been ripped away in one stroke, and the entire world became crystal clear.

The drifting dust in the air, the paths of spiritual energy, even the veins of vibration caused by wind rustling the leaves outside—all of it was reflected in his mind with incomparable precision.

His divine sense spread outward.

Thirty meters.

One hundred and fifty meters.

Three hundred meters!

Everything within the reach of his divine sense was incomparably clear.

Now, the strength of his divine sense directly crushed that of the Foundation Establishment Realm!

At the same time, the spiritual power within his body, already at its bottleneck, was drawn by that immense force of divine soul and surged like a flood bursting through a dam, effortlessly breaking through the barrier.

Crack.

A crisp sound came from within his body.

Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, peak.

He was only one step away from Foundation Establishment.

Ye Xingchen slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his originally pitch-black pupils, a black and a white ray of light slowly circulated, weaving together into a complex and obscure formation diagram.

[Congratulations, Host, on cultivating the second level of the Origin Heaven Art.]

[Obtained innate divine ability: Source Heaven Eye (pierces falsehood, points straight to the origin).]

[Obtained accompanying skill: Origin Heaven Yin-Yang Formation.]

"Origin Heaven Yin-Yang Formation?"

Ye Xingchen's thoughts stirred.

Buzz!

Black and white qi instantly spread beneath his feet, but this was no longer the previous "Tai Chi Domain." It was a true killing formation.

The Tai Chi diagram, which had previously only been used for defense and slowing enemies, now had its two formation eyes spinning madly under the reinforcement of formation patterns, like two enormous millstones.

The black qi governed slaughter, the white qi governed sealing. They strangled each other in reverse, producing a tooth-aching grinding sound in the air.

The former Tai Chi Domain could only be considered a "control skill."

The current Origin Heaven Yin-Yang Formation was a genuine "meat grinder."

"If Liu Qingqing were standing before me right now."

Ye Xingchen loosely clenched his five fingers, and the formation moved according to his will. "Her Ice-Sealing Domain wouldn't last even a single breath."

Thirty thousand Source Points—worth every penny.

He struck while the iron was hot.

Ye Xingchen turned his gaze toward the black jade slip that recorded One Qi, Three Purities.

Three clones, four times the combat power—the ultimate weapon for gang fights.

"System, load One Qi, Three Purities."

[Technique recorded.]

[Detected that the Host's divine soul strength meets the requirements. Begin cultivation?]

"Begin!" Ye Xingchen declared with soaring boldness.

Wasn't it just money? This lord still had over fifty thousand. Even a pig could be piled up into Marshal Tianpeng.

[First Realm: Dao Source Awakening. Required Source Points: 500,000.]

The air suddenly fell silent.

The smile on Ye Xingchen's face froze at the corner of his mouth, slowly cracking before finally turning into a savage grimace.

"How much?"

He thought his eyes had deceived him and stared fixedly at that string of zeroes.

Five hundred thousand.

Not fifty thousand—five hundred thousand!

His proud savings of over eighty thousand, before that number, were like two copper coins in a beggar's bowl—so shabby it made one want to weep.

Then wouldn't the second realm and third realm require millions, tens of millions... not to mention Great Perfection?

"What kind of father-pitting scam is this?!"

Ye Xingchen slapped his forehead and collapsed into his chair.

He had thought he was a little tycoon, but in the blink of an eye, the system had taught him how to behave. How was this cultivation? This was clearly a bottomless gold-devouring pit!

"I'm afraid only Old Ma can fill this pit!"

What now? Artifact refinement?

No, too slow.

A Black Tier middle-grade weapon only earned twelve hundred. To scrape together five hundred thousand, he would have to hammer iron day and night until the year of the monkey and month of the horse. By then, forget clones—his original body would die of exhaustion in the blacksmith shop.

Ye Xingchen irritably rubbed his brow, his gaze inadvertently sweeping across the new skill on the system panel—[Source Heaven Eye].

Pierces falsehood, points straight to the origin.

Those eight words circled through his mind, then suddenly became like lightning splitting the night sky.

In this cultivation world, which industry was the most profitable?

Pills? Artifact refinement?

No.

Gambling.

Azure Cloud City, Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

Not only was it the largest trading center within a thousand li, it also had a business that had driven countless cultivators to ruin and allowed countless others to become rich overnight—stone gambling.

Those raw stones excavated from ancient ruins or deep within spirit mines were wrapped in stone skins. Divine sense could not penetrate them; only after cutting them open could one learn whether rare treasures lay within.

One cut brought poverty, one cut brought wealth, one cut left you wearing sackcloth.

Some spent enormous sums on a useless stone and coughed blood to death on the spot; others used only a few Spirit Stones to uncover supreme spirit marrow, then rose straight to the clouds.

But for Ye Xingchen, who possessed the [Source Heaven Eye]...

Could this even be called gambling?

Ye Xingchen abruptly sat upright. His eyes, once dimmed by poverty, now gleamed green and frighteningly bright.

He could see through essence. He could see the structure of spiritual energy.

Then wouldn't those heaps of stones be merchandise with clearly marked prices in his eyes?

"What stone gambling?"

Ye Xingchen rose to his feet, straightened his robe, and curved his lips into an exceedingly dangerous smile.

"This is clearly an ATM prepared for me by the heavens."

Outside Azure Cloud City, atop a high ridge.

A lone figure stood upright like a javelin.

Azure Cloud City beneath the setting sun was magnificent and grand, like a gold-devouring beast crouching upon the earth.

But in Ye Xingchen's eyes.

It was not a city at all.

As the black-and-white formation diagram deep within his pupils rotated, the world in his vision instantly changed. Above the distant city, treasure qi could faintly be seen soaring into the sky while spiritual charm flowed and swirled.

"Five hundred thousand Source Points..."

Ye Xingchen licked his somewhat dry lips, his body slightly crouched like a hungry wolf about to pounce upon a flock of sheep.

"Myriad Treasures Pavilion, I hope your stock is plentiful enough."

"After all, when I buy things, I never look at the price."

Boom!

The rocks beneath his feet shattered.

His figure left behind an afterimage as he shot toward that city overflowing with the fragrance of gold coins.

Tonight.

Azure Cloud City was destined to remain sleepless.