Chapter 0911: King Grade Emperor

Chapter 0911: Emperorgrade Source Stone

Qin Yun immediately sensed something fishy about the so-called Emperor Melons, as Emperorgrade Source Stones usually grew from Imperial Mother Stones.

He himself possessed many Imperial Mother Stones and was well aware of the process of how Emperorgrade Source Stones were formed. He had never heard of Emperorgrade Source Stones growing from Emperor Melons.

However, many people were unaware of the details regarding Emperorgrade Source Stones.

The Artifact Pavilion had displayed dozens of Emperor Melons, and a stout elder shouted, "Here are forty Emperor Melons, all picked from the same vine! A single vine bears forty melons, but only one melon contains an Emperorgrade Source Stone!"

"Old Fatty, if a vine produces forty melons but only one has an Emperorgrade Source Stone, what’s the use?" asked another elder, who was an Emperor Wu and also in great need of Emperorgrade Source Stones.

The stout elder chuckled, "What you don’t know is that if a vine produces more than twenty Emperor Melons, the melon containing the Emperorgrade Source Stone will have at least two stones, and their quality will be at least high-grade, possibly even top-grade!"

"And if a vine produces forty melons—hah—the Emperorgrade Source Stone inside will definitely be Emperorgrade!"

Qin Yun frowned slightly, as the stout elder spoke with such conviction that it almost sounded believable!

"Do these Emperor Melons even exist?" Qin Yun quickly asked Yao Fang, but she claimed she’d never heard of them.

Ling Yuner also had no idea.

Qin Yun carefully examined the Emperor Melons and even used his Spirit Eye, but he couldn’t see through them.

After a closer inspection, he noticed that the Emperor Melons placed in the center of the Artifact Pavilion’s hall appeared to be naturally formed, with a hard outer shell. His mental energy couldn’t pierce through them, which meant even his Spirit Eye couldn’t observe their interiors.

"Could these Emperor Melons really produce Emperorgrade Source Stones?" After scrutinizing them, Qin Yun suddenly felt he had been too quick to judge earlier.

These Emperor Melons might not be a scam—they could very well be real!

"No one knows which Emperor Melon contains the Emperorgrade Source Stone! If you think you’re lucky, come and pick one. Who knows? Several might even contain Emperorgrade Source Stones among these forty!" The stout elder grinned. "Right now, they’re just two billion purple crystal coins apiece!"

A low-grade Emperorgrade Source Stone was worth ten billion, mid-grade fifteen billion, high-grade twenty billion, top-grade thirty billion, and Emperorgrade forty billion!

Most of the Emperorgrade Source Stones Qin Yun possessed were low-grade.

Higher-quality Emperorgrade Source Stones could be worth several lower-quality ones, and their energy extraction speed was much faster than low-grade stones.

Now, for just two billion purple crystal coins, one could potentially win an Emperorgrade Source Stone worth tens of billions.

"Limit two per customer!" The stout elder laughed. "Anyone interested? Oh, and I can’t guarantee that these Emperor Melons contain Emperorgrade Source Stones. If you buy one and find nothing inside, don’t blame us!"

Those who needed Emperorgrade Source Stones the most were Emperor Wu and Martial King-level experts.

Emperor Wu usually had plenty of purple crystal coins—ten or even eight billion was pocket change to them.

Finally, an Emperor Wu forked over four billion purple crystal coins and went in to pick two Emperor Melons.

After selecting them, he handed them to the stout elder.

The stout elder took out a king-tier short blade and cracked open the Emperor Melon’s shell!

As the shell was being cut, Qin Yun and many others stared intently.

Finally, the shell was split open—but it was hollow inside!

Absolutely nothing!

The crowd erupted in laughter, as the Emperor Wu had just wasted four billion purple crystal coins on nothing.

Qin Yun squeezed through the crowd and approached the short, stout elder, observing the melon shells up close.

Qin Yun tried and found that he could use the Piercing Mystic Art combined with mental energy to penetrate the melon shells.

He secretly rejoiced, "Natural materials? My Piercing Mystic Art can pierce through them!"

Because one Emperor Wu had lost billions of purple crystal coins, many Emperor Wu and Martial Kings hesitated to participate.

Qin Yun, wearing a hat and a large fake beard, dressed like a middle-aged man, pondered for a moment and decided to give it a try.

"I'll buy one Imperial Melon!" Qin Yun took out his purple crystal card and called out to the short, stout elder.

The short, stout elder laughed, "Bearded Brother, you must have good luck! May you find an Imperial Mother Stone!"

Qin Yun transferred two billion coins to the elder and entered the area where the Imperial Melons were displayed.

Two billion coins was nothing to him—he was merely driven by curiosity to study these melons.

He walked over and tapped the melons, producing dull thuds, feigning serious selection.

"Hey brother, you buying watermelons or what? Tapping them like that—don’t smash the Imperial Melons!" a middle-aged man joked.

The crowd erupted in laughter.

"If you could tell whether there’s an Imperial Mother Stone inside just by tapping, the Arcane Hall wouldn’t have put these out to scam people!"

"Exactly! Even the people at the Arcane Hall aren’t sure if there’s anything inside—that’s why they’re selling them!"

"Brother, just pick one randomly. If you get scammed, so be it—just enjoy yourself!"

The short, stout elder chuckled, "Everyone, the shells of Imperial Melons are extremely tough. Even a Dao Artifact can’t easily damage them. Unless you hit them really hard, it’s hard to break them. Even a Martial King couldn’t crack them, no matter how hard he slapped!"

"Even if we shake the melons, we can’t tell if there’s an Imperial Mother Stone inside. No way to tell!"

Many here knew these Imperial Melons were just a scam for gamblers.

While tapping the melons, Qin Yun quietly used the power of the Piercing Mystic Art, sending his mental energy inside.

He realized these melons felt somewhat similar to the Imperial Mother Stone when touched.

He’d used the same art before to extract the Imperial Mother Stone from within. Otherwise, even a Half-Immortal would struggle to retrieve it.

The shells of these Imperial Melons were far inferior to the Imperial Mother Stone—even a king-grade weapon could crack them.

Qin Yun tapped each melon one by one and finally discovered that one of them contained something!

"This one!" Qin Yun picked up a half-meter-wide Imperial Melon and cheerfully walked toward the short, stout elder. "Old Man, can I take the shell with me?"

"Of course! It’s all yours—shell and all!" the elder laughed.

Though Qin Yun had taken his time selecting, everyone assumed he was bound to be scammed.

The short, stout elder slowly sliced open the melon with his king-grade dagger.

Though most believed nothing was inside, they couldn’t help but watch intently, leaving the hall dead silent.

When the melon split open, two glowing golden orbs—each as large as a watermelon—were revealed inside!

The entire hall erupted in exclamations of astonishment!

Judging by the intensity of the glow, those were indeed Emperor-grade Source Stones!

Qin Yun was also taken aback—he hadn’t expected Emperor's Melons to actually exist. He had initially assumed they were just a scam by the Qiweng Hall!

"Haha, jackpot!" Qin Yun laughed, swiftly stowing away the two Emperor-grade Source Stones.

The two Emperor-grade Source Stones were incredibly heavy and of the highest quality!

The portly elder was equally shocked, his face twisted with the expression of someone who had suffered a major loss!

A single Emperor-grade Source Stone was valued at four billion, but since they could be absorbed rapidly, their worth far exceeded that. Some super-rich buyers would even pay five billion for one.

Qin Yun grinned, "Got any more Emperor's Melons for sale? I’d like to take another shot!"

The crowd now looked at Qin Yun like he was some kind of god!

Earlier, they had found his tapping and knocking on the melons amusing, but now it was clear—this man knew what he was doing. He must've known some tricks!

In other words, the remaining Emperor's Melons in the hall were all empty!

The Qiweng Hall had got totally screwed!

Out of this batch of Emperor's Melons, they had only sold three, only made six billion. And yet, one of those melons had contained two Emperor-grade Source Stones.

The portly elder’s face turned the same sickly yellow as the melons, his expression sour.

The Qiweng Hall had assumed that even if all forty Emperor's Melons were cut open, there might not be a single Source Stone inside. Once opened, the melons would lose all value.

So they had put them up for sale, letting folks take their chances—this way, the Qiweng Hall could still earn some Purple Crystal Coins.

They had made good money before; this was just a rare loss.

The Qiweng Hall often devised games of chance—it was part of their tradition.

"Chubby, do you still want these Emperor's Melons?" Qin Yun asked.

"Well... are you looking to buy?" The portly elder got suspicious real quick.

"Yep. Five billion Purple Crystal Coins for all of them. Deal?" Qin Yun offered.

"No way. Twenty billion!" the portly elder countered.

"Six billion, then!" Qin Yun shot back. "There’s nothing left in these Emperor's Melons. Go ahead and cut them open if you don’t believe me!"

With Qin Yun’s words, the Emperor's Melons became even harder to sell.

An Emperor's Melon without a Source Stone was completely worthless.

"Then why do you want to buy them?" the portly elder asked suspiciously.

"I want to run some tests! I’m curious about what makes this batch of Emperor's Melons unique!" Qin Yun chuckled. "If you won’t sell, forget it. There are plenty of Emperor's Melons for sale in the Profound Domain anyway!"

"Wait, wait! Six billion it is!" The portly elder finally caved.

Qin Yun forked over six billion Purple Crystal Coins and took all the Emperor's Melons away.

He stored them inside the Nine-Sun Divine Pouch, placing them beside the Imperial Mother Stone. He wanted to see if the two would cause any reaction.

Qin Yun also remembered his main purpose for coming to the Arcane Sigil Hall—to purchase materials for crafting Dao artifacts.

He bought quite a lot of materials, worth over a billion spirit stones.

In the Mortal Domain, this would definitely cause quite a stir.

But in the Profound Domain, materials worth a billion were nothing special. Mid-tier clans or sects often purchased materials of this scale.

After finishing his purchase, Qin Yun walked out of the Arcane Sigil Hall and saw a very familiar face.

The man was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man with a big bald head—Lan Chen himself—once the head of the Blue Spirit Star Palace!

Back then, Qin Yun had envied Lan Chen’s strength. But now, Lan Chen was only at the Mid-stage Martial King Realm, while Qin Yun had reached the Late-stage Martial King Realm, leaving him in the dust.

"I remember this big bald guy had a Star Totem on his head—why is it gone now?" Qin Yun thought to himself.

Just as Lan Chen was about to enter the Arcane Sigil Hall, Qin Yun quickly walked over and gave Lan Chen’s bald head a smack.

Lan Chen bristled instantly. It seemed this wasn’t the first time his bald head had been slapped. He said coldly, "Friend, that’s downright rude. If you apologize to me, I’ll let it slide!"