Believe Me? Buy That One

Though the disturbance had subsided, greed had not.

That tamed blood crystal was now like a slab of fresh, bloody meat, drawing wolves to circle around it.

Primordial King's Heartblood.

Even with the risk of being devoured, it was hard to resist the temptation of such a supreme treasure.

What was more, some reclusive great clans possessed secret arts capable of subduing it.

"Little friend, this stone—I offer ten million Spirit Stones!"

An old man in brocade robes did not even wait for anyone else to speak before roaring out his bid. Spittle flew everywhere, and his eyes nearly bored into the stone.

"Ten million? Are you trying to fob off a beggar?"

A fragrant breeze swept over them.

The beautiful woman from the Acacia Sect swayed her slender waist, the skin beneath her gauze robes half-concealed and half-revealed.

Ignoring the sounds of people swallowing around her, she wrapped Ye Xingchen in a seductive gaze. "Little brother, give this stone to your sister, and I'll grant you the position of inner sect elder in the Acacia Sect. Not only that, your sister can personally teach you... the secret arts of dual cultivation."

Her voice was so soft and numbing that the lower bellies of the male cultivators present burned with heat.

"Shameless demoness! You have no sense of propriety in broad daylight!"

An elder from Ageless Mountain pushed forward with a dark face, righteous energy radiating from him. "Little friend, this item is fierce and baleful. Your fate is too light; you cannot suppress it. Hand it over to Ageless Mountain, and I will grant you an Earth Tier defensive treasure, ensuring you peace for a lifetime!"

The black-robed man from the Heavenly Demon Sect chuckled darkly, demonic qi rolling around him. Clearly, he too wanted a share of the spoils.

For a time, bids rose one after another.

The ominous stone that had just been regarded as worthless scrap had become a coveted prize that drove everyone mad in the blink of an eye.

Outside the crowd.

The gray-robed elder of the First Saint Sect quietly approached and murmured in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Are you an outer disciple of the First Saint Sect?"

"Yes." Ye Xingchen nodded slightly.

"Very good... It seems your fortune is not shallow. After the convention, return to the sect with this old man."

The gray-robed elder said nothing more.

Ye Xingchen toyed with the blood jade in his hand without even lifting his eyelids.

This old man still had a bit of a cultivator's backbone.

He nodded faintly, taking note of that goodwill.

As for everyone else?

A pack of fools.

Ye Xingchen flipped his palm.

The bloodstone that had made countless people green with envy vanished into thin air and entered his storage ring.

"Not for sale."

Two words.

Crisp and decisive, without the slightest room for negotiation.

The air around them instantly turned several degrees colder.

The greed in many eyes gradually transformed into killing intent. Their gazes carved back and forth over Ye Xingchen's body, as though calculating where to strike for the quickest kill.

Just as killing intent surged beneath the surface.

Dong—!

A deafening boom, like the tolling of a great bell, shook the beams and pillars of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

"The hour has arrived."

Nangong Yan's cool voice suppressed the unrest of the entire hall. "Open the skylight!"

Rumble—

The formation atop the Myriad Treasures Pavilion's dome roared to life. The sealed roof opened like a blooming lotus, revealing the deep night sky.

The river of stars hung upside down.

Brilliant starlight gathered into an enormous pillar of light, crashing straight down onto the white jade platform in the center of the second floor.

Eighteen raw stones of different shapes bathed in the starlight.

Some exhaled rosy radiance, some were ancient and unadorned, while faint dragon roars and tiger howls even emerged from others.

The eighteen Stone Kings!

These were the true stars of the convention. Every one was worth a fortune, and every one might yield a heaven-shaking divine treasure.

Of course, they could also leave someone bankrupt, with nothing to show for their investment.

"It's begun!"

The crowd instantly shifted its attention and surged toward the central stone platform like a tidal wave.

Zuo Tianhe's face was deathly pale, his palms drenched in cold sweat.

This was the Left Clan's last chance.

And their only chance.

After the Myriad Treasures Pavilion steward briefly explained the rules, the once-in-ten-years Stone Gambling Convention officially began!

Shen Wanshan's face glowed with health and pride.

Behind him, the black-robed evil cultivator named "Netherworld" rapidly calculated with his withered fingers inside his sleeves. Threads of black blood even seeped from his fingertips, making him look exceptionally eerie.

A moment later, the evil cultivator's fingers stopped.

"This one, this one, and... this one."

Shen Wanshan did not hesitate. With a grand sweep of his hand, tens of millions of Spirit Stones poured out like water.

No one competed with him, and three Stone Kings fell into his hands.

The stone-cutting blade rose and fell.

The first stone revealed nothing but white rock—waste.

The second was still waste.

Waves of jeers rose from the crowd, and many watched with undisguised delight at his misfortune.

Yet Shen Wanshan remained as steady as Mount Tai, even wearing a hint of mockery at the corner of his lips.

Until the third Stone King was cut open.

Crack.

The instant its stone skin fell away, a medicinal fragrance so rich it could not be dispersed swept through the entire second floor like a storm.

Merely taking one breath made the whole body feel at ease, as though even old injuries from years ago were healing.

"This is..."

Zhang Sanqian's eyes flew wide open as he cried out in shock, "Purple Qi from the East, shaped like an infant... This is Millennium Purple Infant Lingzhi!!"

Whoosh!

The entire hall erupted.

Within the peeled-away stone skin lay a purple, crystalline lingzhi, its surface flowing with the luster of time as though it were alive.

"The main ingredient for refining the Nascent Soul Condensation Pill! It can greatly increase the chance of successfully forming a Nascent Soul!"

"Heavens, this one plant is worth at least fifty million Spirit Stones! It rose in value! A massive rise!"

Shen Wanshan burst into loud laughter, his provocative gaze stabbing toward Zuo Tianhe. "Brother Zuo, it seems today's heavenly fortune is all on my, Shen's, side."

Zuo Tianhe's face turned ashen, and fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

He no longer hesitated and looked toward Master Gu He and the Sky-Eye Daoist.

"You two... I leave it to you."

The time that followed became a countdown to the Left Clan's despair.

Master Gu He and the Sky-Eye Daoist joined forces, veins bulging on their foreheads as they used everything they had learned in their lives.

"Green has appeared! It's Blood Marrow Jade!"

"This one isn't bad either—Millennium Refined Gold, superb material for forging flying swords!"

The Left Clan cut open two stones in succession, and both had risen in value.

Under normal circumstances, Zuo Tianhe would have been wild with joy.

But now, as he looked at the precious jade and refined gold in his hands, there was only despair in his eyes.

These things might be valuable, but they could not save the ancestor's life!

What he needed was Innate Spiritual Milk.

An unparalleled divine treasure capable of extending one's lifespan, preserving one's life, and cleansing the marrow and remolding the body!

Anything else was worthless.

"Are there any left? Which other stone looks like it might contain spiritual milk?"

Zuo Tianhe's voice trembled. His fists clenched tightly, veins standing out.

Master Gu He shook his head bitterly and let out a long sigh. "Clan Head Zuo, Innate Spiritual Milk is an object that seizes the creation of heaven and earth. It can be encountered but not sought. Among the remaining Stone Kings... this old man truly cannot see any sign of it."

The Sky-Eye Daoist also put away his compass and said helplessly, "Do what man can, then heed Heaven's decree."

Zuo Tianhe's body swayed, as though he had fallen into an icy abyss.

It was over.

The Left Clan was finished.

Amid that suffocating dead silence.

A lazy voice suddenly slipped into Zuo Tianhe's ear.

"Clan Head Zuo, do you believe me?"

Zuo Tianhe shuddered and abruptly turned around.

Ye Xingchen was leaning against a pillar, somehow holding a spirit fruit in his hand and munching on it with loud crunches.

Seeing Zuo Tianhe look over, Ye Xingchen casually tossed away the core, then pointed toward the very edge of the stone platform.

There.

In a dark corner untouched by starlight.

There lay a lonely, ugly black stone, as black as coal.

It did not even qualify as a Stone King, merely an extra thrown in to make up the numbers.

"If you believe me, buy that black stone."