Chapter 48: The Fabled Origin Stone

Who exactly was Senior Sister Wang?

She was the Saintess’s foremost confidante, a favored individual by the Saintess’s side. Her status far surpassed that of outer sect elders, who were Core Formation or Nascent Soul cultivators with no hope of breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage.

Even most core disciples, who were Nascent Soul cultivators with a chance of reaching Soul Transformation, did not command as much prestige as Senior Sister Wang.

After all, the Saintess of this realm had achieved truly remarkable feats. Even Bai Ruxue, a peerless prodigy rarely seen in a century, had ultimately been defeated by the Saintess. Furthermore, the Saintess had condensed two strands of immortal qi.

It was simply incomparable. No one could truly measure up.

The Saintess’s formidable power had led to her confidantes becoming equally formidable. No one knew if Wang Qiu’er had saved the Saintess in a past life or some other reason, but despite countless complaints against her, the Saintess always handled them with leniency. This only fueled Wang Qiu’er’s growing arrogance.

Now, with the Saintess having broken through to the Nascent Soul stage and acquiring two strands of immortal qi through some unknown fortuitous encounter, even some Nascent Soul cultivators dared not provoke this confidante.

“Hmph! Do you know what it means to lie to us?” Just then, the leading Nascent Soul outer sect elder’s expression turned grave. She had finally composed herself. The young Ye Xiaozi, a mere Fourth Layer Qi Condensation cultivator, stood before her. Did she truly understand what an Origin Stone was? Did she grasp its immense value? Most likely, she had mistaken a low-grade Gold Spirit Stone for an Origin Stone.

Indeed, there had been numerous such farces before. So, upon seeing the inexperienced Ye Xiaozi, everyone subconsciously assumed she had confused a Gold Spirit Stone with an Origin Stone.

As this Nascent Soul outer sect elder prepared to unleash her fury, another elder, who had been speculating about the relationship between Wang Qiu’er and Ye Xiaozi, quickly intervened. “Elder Wu, please don’t be angry. This Junior Niece Ye knows a close aide of the Saintess.”

Upon hearing these words, the enraged Nascent Soul elder abruptly paused. The terrifying pressure emanating from her body dissipated into thin air within moments.

Her stern face immediately softened. “Ah, so Junior Niece knows your Junior Sister Wang!”

Elder Wu’s sudden politeness was clearly due to Wang Qiu’er. Not long ago, Elder Wu herself had been an outer sect elder at the peak of the Core Formation stage.

However, during a previous encounter with Wang Qiu’er, even though Wang Qiu’er had only recently broken through to the Core Formation stage and was still in its early phase, her terrifying foundation meant that Elder Wu, despite her peak Core Formation cultivation, gained no advantage whatsoever.

From that day on, she understood that powerful individuals surrounded other powerful individuals. She simply couldn’t defeat them, and indeed, couldn’t even provoke them. Now, knowing that Ye Xiaozi was associated with Wang Qiu’er, Elder Wu could only swallow her anger.

Nevertheless, the elder adopted a lecturing tone. “Junior Niece, in the future, you must not be so hasty. Even if you hadn’t mistaken it, and truly discovered an Origin Stone, you must not panic like this. If you encounter a special situation later and your haste causes trouble, the Hundred Flowers Palace will not forgive you.”

“I… I’m sorry… Elder, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have panicked so much.”

“Hmm, that’s more like it. You are teachable.” The elder nodded, thinking the young girl was sensible enough to accept the olive branch.

However, Ye Xiaozi continued, “But, Elder, I truly found an Origin Stone here. Please take a look.” With that, Ye Xiaozi presented the Origin Stone the Miner Auntie had given her.

Elder Wu, who had initially thought Ye Xiaozi was trying to cause trouble again, instantly scowled, preparing to reprimand her. But as her gaze fell upon the object, her eyes widened in an instant.

Not just Elder Wu, but the other two elders also looked utterly shocked upon seeing the stone in Ye Xiaozi’s hand. Even the foreman and the district head’s expressions slowly grew more complex.

After a long moment, Elder Wu was the first to recover. She reached out a trembling hand, took the Origin Stone from Ye Xiaozi, and examined it carefully. Finally, she gave a stiff nod. “Indeed, it’s… it’s truly the fabled Origin Stone.”

Though Elder Wu spoke, her voice was filled with disbelief, as if she were still dreaming. In truth, the rarity of Origin Stones in the cultivation world far exceeded the imaginations of Ye Xiaozi and the miners.

Origin Stones differed from Spirit Stones. Their formation was incredibly stringent. Sometimes, one might dig a few times in a barren area and unearth an Origin Stone. Unfortunately, most people never saw a single Origin Stone in their entire lives, not even a mere scrap.

The same held true in the cultivation world. While Origin Stones aided high-level cultivators in rapid advancement, very few Soul Transformation cultivators could actually utilize them. Even among Void Refinement cultivators, less than half had ever used Origin Stones for cultivation.

Only upon reaching the Body Integration stage, when one merged with the Dao and became the Dao itself, did Origin Stones become crucial. They were sought after to accelerate this perfect fusion. Even at the Mahayana stage, vast quantities of Spirit Stones were still required to fully comprehend the Grand Dao.

Simply put, the Hundred Flowers Palace possessed Origin Stones, but only cultivators at the Body Integration stage or higher were qualified to use them. For those below Body Integration, one had to make do with Spirit Stones.

Therefore, despite being just one Origin Stone, its value was enough to secure a tremendous opportunity for Elder Wu. If there were enough Origin Stones, they could even elevate Elder Wu’s Dao foundation by a full grade, potentially extending her path to immortality.

As this thought took root, Elder Wu’s previously lifeless heart slowly began to revive. Her immediate goal was to ascertain how many people knew about this matter. If it were only the few individuals present, she could subtly eliminate Ye Xiaozi and the others.

However, if she were to harm a fellow disciple, she would face endless pursuit and a life on the run, perhaps dying on the road at any moment. Yet, ‘life and death are predestined, wealth and honor are in heaven.’ ‘Man will be annihilated if he does not look out for himself.’ ‘Man dies for wealth, just as a bird dies for food.’

Elder Wu encouraged herself with these maxims for two full minutes. Her gaze, initially wavering, grew deep and resolute, as if she had made a definitive decision in her heart.

Then, Elder Wu lightly coughed, feigning a benevolent demeanor, and asked Ye Xiaozi, “Excellent, excellent. I truly didn’t misjudge you. Besides yourself, how many others know about this?”

As Elder Wu’s words fell, the others also snapped back to reality. Now that they had seen the physical evidence, they naturally understood that Ye Xiaozi hadn’t been lying; their own preconceived notions had simply delayed them.