On a bustling street, people flowed like a sea. After walking for a while, Su Yu stopped at the entrance to the Dao Yi Holy Land's stone workshop.
When the cultivators at the Dao Yi Stone Workshop saw the vigorous dragon Qi Su Yu held in reserve, they knew he was an expert of the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm and courteously welcomed him inside.
The stone workshop was extraordinary. Su Yu rounded a corner and saw a great lake set into the earth like a crystalline sapphire. The warm breeze left visitors drunk, green willow tendrils brushed past, and a string of painted pleasure boats drifted on the lake. That was the Miaoyu Nunnery.
Ethereal singing rose from the lake, accompanied by strings and flutes, echoing all around.
In the distance, a Daoist temple shimmered with pale golden light beneath the sun, gleaming like gold and looking exceedingly sacred...
Su Yu looked straight ahead, paying no attention to the place of pleasure.
If all he had wanted was to enjoy a woman's charms, he would never have left in the first place. He could simply have accepted Lin Jia...
This was the first-level stone garden. After entering the stone-selection area, Su Yu opened his divine eyes. Light shimmered in a riot of colors as he saw through every Source Stone, one by one.
He had only three hundred jin of Source left. He had used up the rest in Purple Mountain, so he urgently needed to replenish his supply on this visit to the Divine City.
Su Yu pointed out a round stone with cracks in its surface. After paying two hundred jin of Source for it, he pressed down with one finger and broke the Source Stone open.
Stone fragments pattered down. A flash of purple light appeared, supremely divine and sacred, dazzling the eyes. Amid the hazy purple mist, an immortal presence could vaguely be sensed.
"That's Purple Moon Stone, a rare variety of Source! A piece that big must be worth at least three thousand jin of Pure Source!" The people on this level were astonished, and then a bystander in Shrouding the Heavens explained the origin of this kind of Source...
Unlike Ye Fan, Su Yu inspired great awe in the many cultivators with his dragon Qi, and no one came forward to pick a fight.
At this point in time, Dragon Transformation cultivators carried considerable weight, comparable to bureau-level officials in his previous life. Few dared to cross them.
Su Yu glanced at the Purple Moon Stone, shaped like a divine moon, and put it in his storage bag. Then he made his way deeper into the stone garden, embarking on a stone-cutting journey.
To the onlookers, the unfamiliar Daoist seemed to have divine help. Every cut revealed Source, drawing cheers and exclamations of astonishment.
And so, more and more people gathered behind Su Yu.
They followed him all the way to the Heaven-Class Stone Garden. Experts stood guard here, and ordinary people could not enter. They could only watch from outside; only those selecting stones were allowed in. After all, the stone materials here were too precious.
An elderly Daoist nun sat cross-legged on a prayer mat in the garden. She was very old, her hair streaked with gray, and she sat there without moving.
Quite a few important figures were already inside, including members of the Ji Family. The stone materials here were exceedingly expensive. Ordinary people simply could not afford them; only cultivators from holy lands and great sects could select stones here.
Ji Haoyue, the Ji Family's Divine King Body of this generation, stood attending a family elder, with a mischievous little moon at his side.
The Ji Family elder was focused on selecting a stone when a clamor suddenly came from outside the garden. Somewhat displeased, he glanced at the cultivators of the Dao Yi Holy Land and asked, "Why all the commotion?"
The elderly Daoist nun of the Dao Yi Holy Land opened her eyes and looked in the same direction. The noise outside was growing louder.
"Daoist Cao, please come in."
"We are all fellow Daoists. Why call me Daoist Cao? Everyone, please!"
At the entrance to the stone garden, a Daoist with an extraordinary bearing was chatting freely with several Dragon Transformation cultivators. Surrounded by them, he strode into the Heaven-Class Stone Garden.
"This is Daoist Cao Yusheng. He just cut a Divine Origin Grass out of a stone in the seventeenth-level stone garden! Quite a few fellow Daoists have come running," an elder of the Dao Yi Stone Workshop transmitted to the Daoist nun and the Ji Family elder.
The Ji Family elder was greatly surprised. His expression shifted, and then he forced a smile onto his aged face, intending to exchange a few pleasantries with Su Yu.
Divine Origin Grass was a divine medicine that extended life and the main ingredient in the Divine Essence Pill. The pill could extend one's life by twenty years, and even taking the herb directly could add fifteen. It held tremendous appeal for a cultivator like him, whose life was nearing its end.
He wanted to get on good terms with this master ahead of everyone else and secure the Divine Origin Grass...
Ji Haoyue remained composed and silent beside him. Ji Ziyue, meanwhile, studied Su Yu curiously, somewhat skeptical of the Daoist whose fame was rapidly rising.
"Something just doesn't feel right..." The little moon wrinkled her nose and fixed her black eyes on Su Yu, sensing that something was out of place.
Su Yu naturally paid no attention to the juniors in the stone garden. The people he dealt with now were all elder-level figures from great sects and holy lands. The Dragon Transformation Secret Realm was the threshold; those juniors in the Dao Palace Secret Realm were not even in the same world as him.
He exchanged a few pleasantries with the two half-step great powers without mentioning the Divine Origin Grass. Then he excused himself and began selecting stones.
The others obligingly made way for him.
Straight as a pine, Su Yu stepped with a dragon's stride into the garden among the stones and began carefully examining the stone materials.
He had fought his way from the first-level stone garden to the eighteenth. The Source Stones he carried were already worth more than a million jin of Source, yet he still had not cut out any Divine Source. That showed just how precious Divine Source was.
Su Yu was in no hurry, though. He knew there was a divine treasure here even more precious than Divine Source.
The first thing to catch his eye was the Nine-Aperture Divine Stone. It was only a little over a foot long, with nine apertures and eight openings, and was wreathed in the light of the sun and moon. It was hard to miss...
Chapter 29: The Dao Sword Emerges, a Flying Immortal's Shadow Flits Past
Su Yu crouched in front of the Nine-Aperture Stone Man and examined it closely. He was not putting on an act; he was checking what he had learned from the Source Heaven Book.
A moment later, he shook his sleeve and deposited a heap of brightly colored Source in a riot of hues on the ground. He said to the cultivators of the Dao Yi Holy Land:
"I'll take this Nine-Aperture Divine Man."
The pile of rare Source and Pure Source on the ground, overflowing with auspicious Qi and light, amounted to ninety thousand jin of Source. Source Qi drifted through the stone garden, its dazzling colors so magnificent that people could barely keep their eyes open.
Spending ninety thousand jin of Source in a single move was truly extravagant. Everyone sighed, envy mingling in their gazes.
Even Ji Haoyue was surprised, thinking it was too quick. He was a direct heir of a Desolate Ancient Family and could draw on plenty of Source, but he could not squander it so freely.
The Daoist had reached a decision in only a few dozen breaths. He was either a master of the Source Dao or a fool, and he had already proved himself on his way here...
Could there really be something inside? Ji Haoyue wondered, then shook his head.
He had never been particularly interested in stone gambling. Nine bets out of ten were lost. In the Divine City, there were too many profligates who had ruined their families. One great power's own son had even gambled away his wife, and in the end his family was destroyed and he died... There were many such tragedies.
To the east of the stone garden stood a grove of emerald bamboo, with spirit springs welling up around it, giving the place a tranquil, peaceful feeling. The stone platform on which the Nine-Aperture Stone Man stood rose high, facing the sun and gathering its essence.
By now, news that the Nine-Aperture Stone Man had been purchased had spread outside.
Before long, cultivators from many holy lands were hurrying to the Dao Yi Stone Workshop, eager to see it for themselves.
Without employing any strange technique, Su Yu took out a Purple Light Jade Marrow sword, a weapon he had refined himself. Dense dragon Qi surged over it, but it bore no interwoven Dao patterns, only several dozen strange runes imbued with an ancient air.
The runes came from the Three Lifetimes Bronze Coffin. They held no particular power, but their presence was astonishing, making them well suited for Su Yu's travels in the Eastern Wasteland.
The crowd soon recognized the Purple Light Jade Marrow as well. It was a precious divine material that could be refined into a Holy Lord's divine weapon; the stone-cutting sword alone was worth a fortune. One of the laws of cause and effect in this world was that no rare treasure could escape a bystander's recognition.
Su Yu lightly swung the jade sword, and stone dust pattered down.
This time, he had no desire to play any stone-gambling tricks. His purpose was clear: to take what he wanted. There was no Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon here, and no one could stop him.
Whoever stood in his way-
would die!
Before long, he had cut open the Nine-Aperture Stone Man's forehead.
Crack!
Su Yu brought his sword down. His movement was not elegant in the least, but downright brutal. In an instant, the stone man's head shattered completely. The stone cracked apart, and an object like a silkworm cocoon fell out, only an inch long and half an inch thick.
It was dark gold and radiated dazzling divine light, with astonishing sword Qi raging within.
Sssht!
As Su Yu swung the blade again, the dark-gold metal cocoon rapidly cracked. A black sword beam shot straight upward, its icy killing intent making souls tremble and its bone-piercing killing aura striking terror into hearts!
The outer cocoon shattered completely into powder, and a tiny black sword no more than an inch long emerged.
It vibrated with a ringing hum, unleashing a sky-soaring killing aura that pierced through the sealed space. A streak of dark light shot into the clouds.
The tiny black sword was less than an inch long, its surface covered in naturally formed dragon patterns, simple and unadorned. Yet now a dark radiance soared from its edge. It pierced the clouds, cold, fierce, and murderous, striking fear into people's very bones. Even their souls quivered, and both body and mind shuddered.
"It really is the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Dao Sword!"
Su Yu's eyes shone. The divine power within him activated of its own accord and brought the sword under control. He reached out and beckoned, and the cold little sword, black and crystalline, flew into his hand.
The little sword still tried to stir. The patterns on its blade glowed, threatening to unleash boundless sword Qi.
Su Yu suppressed it directly with dragon Qi and took it into his Bitter Sea.
The Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Sword, which had resisted fiercely only moments before, became docile the instant it touched the pitch-black Devouring Heaven Demon Lid. It stayed motionless in Su Yu's chaotic Bitter Sea.
Everyone present was utterly shocked. Many cultivators from Extreme Dao holy lands spoke up at once. They knew this was Dragon-Patterned Black Gold, an Immortal Gold material used to refine Extreme Dao Weapons, naturally inscribed with Dao dragon patterns. Yaoguang's Emperor Weapon was made from the same material, and its value was immeasurable.
"Daoist Cao, how about selling this sword to my Great Xia Divine Dynasty for one hundred eighty thousand jin of Source?" A spirited old man in golden robes was the first to speak, immediately doubling the original price of ninety thousand jin.
"Daoist, my Ji Family is willing to offer one hundred ninety thousand jin of Source."
The Ji Family elder also gazed at the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Sword with burning desire. This was Extreme Dao Immortal Gold; no Extreme Dao power would ever think it had too much.
Before the deception trumpeted by the Yaoguang Holy Land-that a sage had forged an Emperor Weapon-was exposed, many cultivators believed that miracle could be replicated, and their pursuit of Immortal Gold grew ever more frenzied.
The Great Xia Divine Dynasty had the deepest pockets of all. Their Taihuang Scripture was highly compatible with Dragon-Patterned Black Gold, so they made a high offer outright. "My Great Xia Divine Dynasty offers two hundred ten thousand jin of Source."
"Not enough. I would offer two hundred fifty thousand jin of Source. If any of you have a similar Immortal Gold Dao sword, you may trade it to me," Su Yu said calmly, turning the tables and putting an end to the bidding.
The crowd began to settle down, realizing there was no point in saying more. He was not short of Source and had clearly set his sights on this Immortal Gold sword interwoven with Dao and principle.
The sword was indeed valuable, but the piece of Dragon-Patterned Black Gold was too small. At only an inch long, it could not be worth that much Source.
What they did not know was that this was the Age of Dharma Decline, so Source was hard to come by and Divine Source was harder still. Once the Age of Dharma Decline ended and the laws of the world grew active, the scarcity of Source would plummet.
This was the pricing system of the Shrouding the Heavens universe.
Su Yu understood this, so naturally he would not begrudge Pure Source. Trading Source for divine treasures could never be a loss, just like buying a house in the capital in 2005...
The Nine-Aperture Stone Man's body remained on the stone platform, and no one dared touch it. Su Yu did not continue cutting, instead stroking the Dao sword, greatly fond of this treasure.
Looking at the Nine-Aperture Stone Man, its head gone and only its torso left, the crowd broke into another round of discussion, strange lights flickering in their eyes.
The Great Xia prince, Xia Yiming, asked, "Daoist Cao, you haven't finished cutting this Nine-Aperture Stone Man. Why not continue?"
The other cultivators could hardly contain themselves either, wanting to make an offer for the torso.
Su Yu looked at the group of fervent old men and shook his head. These stone-gambling addicts really were full of vigor!
As he saw it, he had cut only the head, and what remained uncut was as good as scrap.
But from a different perspective, cutting stones was like gambling on jade to those people. A divine treasure had already appeared in the head, so there was a good chance a rare treasure would appear in the torso too. The gamble had clearly paid off.
After a fierce contest, a member of the Great Xia Divine Dynasty bought the torso for one hundred thirty thousand jin of Source. He then had someone cut it open, only to find nothing.
Su Yu paid it little mind. If someone wanted to be taken for a sucker, no one could stop him...
Still, for the little nun's sake, he also sold the Divine Origin Grass to the Great Xia Divine Dynasty.
Once the ripples had subsided, Su Yu's eyes flickered as he searched the stone garden for the stone containing the Immortal Divine Medicine that belonged to Emperor Zun. It cost three thousand jin of Source, was not small, and contained Source.
With those conditions to narrow the search, his Source Heaven Divine Eyes quickly found the stone, and he bought it without hesitation.
After obtaining it, Su Yu became somewhat anxious about losing it. He cut with the jade sword very carefully, afraid of damaging the Immortal Divine Medicine inside.