Chapter 347: The Divine Pit
"I refuse to believe it! There's no way you can turn this around now!" Wu Ziming's face was twisted in a sneering, cold smile.
Not just him, but everyone else also refused to believe that a miracle could still happen.
What was Divine Source? It was the most precious type of source, formed from the purest primordial essence of heaven and earth. Even the Holy Lands craved it desperately.
Divine City hadn't seen such a piece cut out in years. A chunk as big as a human head, priceless beyond measure—who could possibly turn the tables under these circumstances? What could be more precious than this? It was almost impossible.
"Today, I'll pawn everything I own to bet against you!" Wu Ziming sneered repeatedly.
Not long ago, he had lost tens of thousands of jin of source to Ye Fan. Now, he finally had a chance to get his revenge. He immediately began borrowing source from others alongside Li Chongtian.
Their connections were fairly extensive, and they knew quite a few people. More importantly, their sects were major powers in the Northern Domain—the Five Elements Palace and the Illusory Extinction Palace were both renowned. With senior figures from their sects present, the two managed to gather a considerable amount of source.
It wasn't just these two who were tempted. Since Ye Fan had already made his declaration, many others were eager to try their luck.
A piece of Divine Source as large as a human head had already been revealed. Few believed Ye Fan could reverse the situation—it was nearly impossible. Such a divine object was a rarity in the world.
"We'll bet against you too!"
More than twenty cultivators pooled their resources, gathering fifteen thousand jin of source. They strode forward and dumped it on the ground with a clatter.
Just then, Wu Ziming and Li Chongtian also finished gathering their source. With the support of their sect elders, they had managed to collect a total of thirty thousand jin.
"I've been waiting for this day for a long time!" Wu Ziming almost gritted his teeth. Last time, he had not only lost a huge amount of source but also been humiliated and mocked by others.
Now, with such an opportunity, he felt it was a gift from heaven.
"Anyone else?" From start to finish, Ye Fan remained very calm. After standing up from the priceless strange stone, he walked forward and asked a few more times if anyone else wanted to bet.
"He's way too composed and collected."
"Does he not understand the value of Divine Source? A piece that big—unless he cuts out a complete ancient divine medicine, there's no way to compare."
Many wanted to join in, but seeing Ye Fan so calm and composed, without any sign of dejection, everyone began to have second thoughts.
People couldn't help but recall last time, when the nine-orifice stone man was more than half cut open, and everyone thought there was nothing inside. Yet it turned out Ye Fan had dug a pit, waiting for people to jump in.
Although many had confidence in Divine Source, they still hesitated, afraid that, like last time, Ye Fan had held something back.
"Really no one else? That's Divine Source, you know. Don't you have faith in Tuoba Chang?" Ye Fan asked again, walking quite far away, letting the falling blossoms and crystalline petals drift onto him.
The flowering trees swayed, their fragrance overwhelming. Ye Fan walked beneath the ancient trees, already some distance from the two priceless strange stones.
Suddenly, two figures strode into the arena, quickly approaching the stone material that Ye Fan had just carefully examined and almost confirmed.
"Our hands are itching. We'll pick a stone too."
The two selected the strange stone Ye Fan had just been observing, dumping one hundred and twenty thousand jin of source on the ground.
These were two old men who had also been in the stone garden not far away, so they quickly reached the spot.
One of them was none other than Li Yishui, the Supreme Elder of the Illusory Extinction Palace. Last time, he had been the one to instigate and lend tens of thousands of jin of source to Li Chongtian and others to bet against Ye Fan.
Today, he hadn't acted rashly. He had been observing all along, waiting for the critical moment to make this move.
"You..." Li Heishui's face changed color immediately. He had faith in Ye Fan, believing he could definitely select something extraordinary and rare.
But he never expected Li Yishui to act like this, teaming up with another old man of great background to snatch the source halfway.
This was absolutely intentional, almost shameless, exploiting this loophole to buy that stone material.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Li Yishui said with a faint smile, looking completely unconcerned.
"Have you no shame?" Li Heishui was so angry he pointed at them, finally unable to hold back and cursing.
Li Yishui's face immediately darkened. "Young man, don't speak rudely, or I'll have to discipline you on behalf of your elders."
"You're just..." Li Heishui was so furious he wanted to curse them out, to spit in their faces. He couldn't swallow this anger.
Ye Fan quickly stepped forward to stop him, then turned to face Li Yishui, his expression dark. "You two, aren't you going too far?"
Li Yishui replied casually, "Oh? How so? Are you talking about stone selection? You hadn't chosen it just now, so we purchased this stone now."
"You old bastards, didn't you see Gu Feng just now knocking on and examining that stone? He had clearly chosen it!" Li Heishui wanted to beat these two up.
"In the end, he didn't select it. Didn't he walk away?" Li Yishui answered with a half-smile.
At this moment, the stone garden was in an uproar, filled with discussions—some envious, some cursing, some sympathetic, and some gloating.
"These two old foxes, really shrewd. Making such a decisive move, truly unexpected."
"So despicable, so shameless. How could they do this?"
"As expected, old age brings cunning. Making such a move, but it's really not aboveboard."
"Why didn't I think of that? That source art genius is too green, letting someone exploit this loophole."
The area outside was noisy and hard to calm down. Some were indignant, some sneered, some wanted to fight for justice...
Everyone acknowledged Ye Fan's source art skills. Seeing the confidence he had shown earlier, they believed the stone he had chosen would likely contain something extraordinary and rare.
Although many thought it would be hard to compare with that piece of Divine Source, everyone agreed it would yield something valuable.
"Don't stop me. If I don't beat them up, I won't be able to let this go!" Li Heishui was truly furious, wanting to throw the black iron token from his bosom to smash the two in front.
"You're young, but your tone is quite big. Didn't your elders teach you to respect your seniors?" Li Yishui's face darkened, revealing a cold smile, a trace of killing intent flickering briefly.
"Stealing our strange stone and then showing killing intent toward us..." Li Heishui wanted to throw the black iron token to teach them a lesson.
But Ye Fan held him back tightly, not letting him go forward.
Li Heishui calmed down and didn't act rashly. He turned to face the Ji family members and said, "We already paid one hundred and twenty thousand jin of source first. Are you just going to let them do this?"
The Ji family source master showed a troubled expression. "Although you paid the source, it was only for the garden's treasures. You hadn't finalized which stone to choose."
Ji Biyue, dressed in green, her figure curvaceous, her crystal-clear jade feet bare, walked forward gracefully with a light smile. "Young friends, there's really nothing to be done. You can only blame yourselves for not confirming earlier."
Since the Ji family had spoken like this, it was certainly unchangeable, leaving Li Heishui seething with indignation.
Yao Yuekong stepped forward to console Li Heishui. "Forget it."
The Great Xia Prince also shook his head and transmitted a message. "You were too careless."
Some people found Li Yishui's actions disgraceful, but they could only discuss and curse verbally. Nothing could change the fact that this was the Ji family's Heaven-grade stone garden, and everything had to follow the rules.
Even some senior figures found it hard to watch but couldn't say much.
The small island was resplendent. The human-head-sized Divine Source floated in the air, not sinking. Several dozen divine beams shot out from the stone skin, bathing the ancient trees and the fluttering crystalline petals in a sacred radiance.
Li Yishui, calm and composed, glanced at Ye Fan and Li Heishui. "Young people, this world is fair in some ways and unfair in others. There are many things worth learning."
"Gaining an advantage and then acting smug. You're something!" Li Heishui pointed at the two in front.
Li Yishui didn't mind, leisurely adjusting himself. "Old Yang Kun and I borrowed some source from old friends. Besides wanting to buy a priceless strange stone, we also want to bet against you."
"That's right!" The old man named Yang Kun, the Supreme Elder of the Five Elements Palace, dumped sixty thousand jin of source on the ground.
This move was too ruthless. Having just snatched someone else's stone material, they now took the opportunity to bet against them. It was utterly vicious, purely aiming to finish them off.
"Aren't you going too far?" Ye Fan's face darkened.
"Words spoken are like water spilled. You said it yourself—you wanted to bet against everyone present." Li Yishui replied with a half-smile.
Although many felt it was too much, they couldn't say much. The two sides clearly had old grievances. The two youths had been schemed against and probably had to accept their loss.
Li Heishui immediately flared up. The other side was simply bullying them too much, using any means necessary. This kind of move made him unable to hold back.
"You old bastards, trying to use your authority to crush us? You're not good enough!"
"Oh? And what can you do about it?" Yang Kun asked.
Li Yishui was very calm, speaking casually. "I'm quite interested in the Dragon-Pattern Blackgold Holy Spirit Sword on you. I think it's worth one hundred thousand jin of source. How about I borrow some more source from a few old friends, make it one hundred thousand jin, and then you can pay off your debt with the Holy Spirit Sword?"
Yao Yuekong, An Miaoyi, and others had previously estimated the Dragon-Pattern Blackgold Holy Spirit Sword to be worth three hundred and fifty thousand jin of source. Li Yishui saying this was clearly ill-intentioned, trying to seize the sword at a low price.
"Dream on!" Li Heishui exploded.
"It's fine. Let him!" At the critical moment, Ye Fan secretly transmitted a message and pulled him back.
"Little Leaf, you..." Li Heishui turned to look at him, then seemed to remember something. He suppressed his inner turmoil and slowly calmed down.
"I only borrowed twenty thousand jin of source. That's all. A total of eighty thousand jin to bet against you." Li Yishui revealed a faint smile. "I really do like that Dragon-Pattern Blackgold Holy Spirit Sword."
"Fine, I accept. You cut the stone first." Saying this, Ye Fan asked loudly, "Anyone else want to join?"
Yao Yuekong transmitted a message, advising, "Brother, are you really going to bet against them? Better to just accept the loss this time."
"There's no need to act on impulse." The Great Xia Prince also advised.
At this moment, everyone looked over. Jiang Yifei, in snow-white clothes, had a calm expression, elegant and handsome. An Miaoyi, with spiritual light in her eyes, was dreamlike in her beauty, watching quietly. Jin Chixiao stood solemn and motionless.
More senior figures remained silent, watching everything unfold.
"Since that's the case, we'll give it a try too!"
More than ten people stepped forward, pooling their resources to gather eighteen thousand jin of source, glittering and sparkling, forming a large pile.
Although many others were tempted, they held back. First, they felt it was too unscrupulous to kick someone when they were down. Second, seeing Ye Fan actively inviting others, he was too calm.
"Alright, since there's no one else, it's just us." Ye Fan revealed a smile.
The first group of over twenty people had gathered fifteen thousand jin of source. Wu Ziming and Li Chongtian had gathered thirty thousand jin. Li Yishui and Yang Kun had pooled eighty thousand jin for the bet. The last group had gathered eighteen thousand jin.
All their source combined totaled one hundred and forty-three thousand jin.
At this moment, Li Yishui's face changed color, because he saw Ye Fan smiling at him—a bright, brilliant smile on his clean face, showing all his white teeth.
His heart immediately sank. His mind roared, and he cried out inwardly, *Damn! I might have been tricked by this harmless-looking little bastard again!*
"Senior Li, aren't you going to cut the stone? Let us all broaden our horizons." Ye Fan said with a smile.
Everyone was stunned. Their gazes all turned sharply to Ye Fan, Li Yishui, and that priceless strange stone.
Li Heishui completely relaxed, almost laughing uproariously. He muttered with a grin, "Ye Hei, Ye Hei, this really is a craft. Tricking people is an art form."