Feeling the aura of death and despair, along with the terrifying force that surged out, everyone had a look of shock on their faces.
The aura of this energy source was far stronger than that of the kingsfall energy source. Even if a xian realm expert encountered it, they would be affected by the aura of despair.
A heterogenous killing source was lying on the ground, a light gray light emanating from it. The light wove itself into a scene, depicting countiless xian realm experts being torn up and brought down.
Listening to the screams, all those under the xian realm felt as if their hearts were being squeezed. Even the xian realm fighters looked terrified.
Raising his head proudly, Xuanyuan said with a smile, “This is the Immortal’s Grave pattern. Where there is life, there exists death. Since these stones were found in the same place, there has to be a counterpart to the kingsfall energy source. How do you think this xian-slaying energy source compares with the kingsfall energy source. After all, the Immortal’s Grave is engraved on this.”
The imperial master trembled as he thought, “This kid really has the talent of the great emperor in terms of stone refinement. I think my suspicions are confirmed.”
Joy flashed through Yin Zhenluo’s eyes. Xuanyuan’s growth was truly pleasing to see. After all, just a few years ago, he was someone who had never cultivated. Now, he was able to stand toe-to-toe with the experts of the world. She knew that it was mainly due to his unrelenting effort to better himself. While it was true that she was the one who introduced Xuanyuan to this world, any trace of the Yin family;s influence on him was already long gone. Xuanyuan had depended solely on himself to get where he was now.
The eldest of the five earth masters turned pale, and stammered.
“H-how come? He managed to unearth such a peerless treasure. Who is this kid? Where did he learn such a powerful stone refinement technique from?”
The other masters were also shocked. Seeing that they had practiced stone refinement their whole lives, they knew that anyone who was superior to them in stone refinement had to come from the family of stone techniques.
“Did you see how he cut the sword just now? It seems that he already knew that the stone contained the Immortal’s Grave before even cutting it open. I’ve never seen such a precise stone refinement technique, I wonder where he learnt it from.”
“That’s true. It’s scarily impressive.”
The Eight Virtuous Kings frowned tightly. His heart was troubled as he thought, “What kind of stone refinement technique dos he cultivate. Looks like I must force him to choose stones at the same time as me. If I can kill him, I can steal his stone refinement technique, while also maintaining my face. I’ve never once killed a stone master in my life, despite gambling all my life. Xuanyuan, you have forced my hand. Is it my misfortune or great fortune to plunder such a talented man on my first kill.”
The saint of the Xuanwu Sect was shocked. He never expected Xuanyuan to be so talented. Plotting on how to best rob his riches, the saint thought to himself, “Xuanyuan’s accomplishments in stone refinement are impressive. But he’s still far too arrogant, acting so domineering in the Northern Dynasty. I’m certain that somebody will attack him for his treasures. Once they distract the Nightmare Ghost, I’ll kill him and rob him of everything.”
The Saintess of the Bingleng Sect looked at him even more hotly. She clearly coveted the stone technique that Xuanyuan practiced.
The Lady of the Nine Heavens showed a look of surprise on her face for an instant, but she soon masked it and her expression turned impa.s.sive once more.
Cheng Yang and Cheng Xu exchanged a look between each other.
“Haha, our eldest brother managed to get into trouble with such a person. Looks like his gambling house is going to lose a lot today.” Cheng Xu laughed helplessly as he shrugged. “It’s the first time I’m seeing my eldest brother so cornered. I really wish he were here so that I could see his expression.”
Cheng Xu laughed heartlessly, attracting weird looks from everyone. Cheng Yang forced a laugh and said, “I a.s.sume his face would be as black as ink. ALas, if it’s meant to be, it will be. ELder brother has been fighting against destiny his whole life, and has succeeded for the most part. But that has made him grow complacent. It’s good to face setbacks at times.”
The royals who supported Cheng Yin rolled their eyes upon hearing how these two were talking about Cheng Yin.
Xuanyuan picked up the heavy energy source. It weighed several thousand kilograms. It had formed naturally in the Immortal’s Grave, and had acc.u.mulated the resentment of all the xians who had perished in the disposition. Xuanyuan knew that this energy source had also consumed the souls of countless xian realm fighters. While incomplete, these souls were still strong. Putting it into his ring, Xuanyuan looked at the Sage King and said, “Sage King, let’s proceed to the last round.”
“As expected, Master Xuanyuan possesses excellent stone refinement techniques. How about we choose stones together for the third round? After all, once can’t call it a proper stone duel if we don’t pick stones together. What do you say?”
Xuanyuan was aware that the Sage King had murderous intentions masked under his pretty words. But if it was just stone refinement techniques, Xuanyuan was confident that he could beat the Sage King. While he may lack experience, the knowledge from the Book of Acquisitions was more than enough to balance the scales. It all came down to his judgement on the spot.
“Haham that’s fine by me.” While he couldn’t match the Sage King in terms of fighting techniques, he knew that he could match him in stone refinement. After all, there were some great emperors who didn’t know the slightest bit when it came to stone refinement. Even they couldn;t be Xuanyuan’s opponent.
“That’s great. Let the third round begin!” Stepping out, the Sage King’s body glowed with a golden light which integrated with the heavens and the earth.
Xuanyuan stepped out as well, and summoned the golden chessboard. It felt as if he controlled the entire situation.
“Let’s decide the victor with this final round.” Xuanyuan laughed and said.
“Looks like it’s about to start, the duel of life and death between stone masters.”
“That’s right. Stone duels between stone masters are no easier than fighting and are extremely dangerous.”
“Finally, I can see a good match between two experts!”
The Sage King began a.n.a.lysing the stones according to his senses, which integrated with the source stones. Xuanyuan did the same using his golden chessboard.
Xuanyuan walked up to a source stone, a golden light in his hand. As he was about to caress the stone, it suddenly exploded, and a sharp golden wheel came out of it and rushed Xuanyuan.
Startled, Xuanyuan immediately activated his Wind Boots and dodged the wheel. The wheel continued to rush towards another xian realm expert, who sneered and knocked it away.
Two terrifying forces collided, and the xian realm fighter’s sleeve was blown to shreds, causing an uproar.
Xuanyuan narrowed his eyes and said, “Sage King, are you scheming something against me?”
Hurriedly, Yuechang said, “This Wind Ghost Stone was worth 40 billion King coins. Who will pay for it?” Each of these stones were worth billions of king coins, and if they were allowed to be destroyed recklessly, Cheng Men would face a ma.s.sive loss.
“According to the rules, Xuanyuan broke the stone, and thus he will pay for it. Charge it to him.” The elder of the five earth masters laughed. In terms of pure technique, Xuanyuan may have surpa.s.sed the Sage King, but when it came to using stone refinement technique to attack the opponent, he was inferior to the Sage King.
“Oh is that so? Very well, I shall pay for it.” Sneering, Xuanyuan readied himself. A golden light glinted in his eyes.
“What a fool, do you not know the rules of a stone duel despite being a stone master?” Another one of the five earth masters sneered.
The Sage King thought to himself, “This boy is still very naive. I can use that to my advantage.”
The Sage King had immersed himself into the world of stone refinement for several years, and had learned several things. One of them was the rules of stone duels. When it came to a duel, either party could use stone refinement techniques to try and kill their opponent. These rules were known to all.
“Looks like it’s not going to be easy for Xuanyuan to win.”
“It’s very dangerous. The Sage King just utilised the power contained within the Wind Ghost Stone to directly attack Xuanyuan.”
“Exactly.”
The Sage Kin reached out towards a stone that gave off a sense of endless sharpness, when it suddenly exploded. A sharp aura rippled out, and a golden sword dragon that was interwoven into a big net rushed to cover the Sage King. It was filled with a strong killing intent, and the violent aura that it gave out made several people jump back.