In the Purple Stone the toad flies to sleep

**The deeper he went, the more splendid and bustling it became.**

The small stalls became fewer, while large tents grew more numerous.

He saw tents of various colors—red, blue, yellow, green. Some were rectangular, others cylindrical. Some had entrance curtains flanked by two pillars, while others had large red lanterns hanging. Some were brightly lit inside, while others were dim.

Fang Yuan walked and observed, eventually stopping at a gray tent.

"This is it," he thought, looking up to see the tent's entrance marked by two standing pillars, each inscribed with a couplet using a yin carving technique.

Left side: **"Small acts of courage bring blessings of spring, summer, autumn, and winter."**

Right side: **"Great displays of skill bring wealth from all directions."**

The horizontal inscription in the middle read: **"Fortune turns with the tide."**

Indeed, it was a gambling house.

This gambling house covered an acre, classifying it as a large tent.

Fang Yuan walked inside. Along the sides of the tent were three rows of counters. On the counters were pieces of amber or fossils. Some were as small as a palm, others as large as a washbasin. Some even stood as tall as a person and were placed directly on the ground.

Unlike the bustling atmosphere of other tent shops, this place was quietly serene.

Small groups of Gu Masters stood before the counters. Some carefully examined the stones on display, others rubbed fossils in their hands to feel their texture. Some whispered with companions, while others negotiated prices with the shop assistants.

Regardless of their activities, everyone spoke softly to avoid disturbing others.

This was a stone gambling house.

In the world of Gu, there were countless types of Gu, each with its unique characteristics. Gu insects required specific foods, and without them, they could only survive for a limited time before dying.

However, nature, both cruel and kind, offered a slim chance for survival if food was scarce: Gu insects could enter a state of hibernation and self-seal.

For example, if a Moonlight Gu ran out of Moon Orchid petals, it might seal itself. It would retract its energy, akin to hibernation, entering a deep sleep. During this time, its body would lose its blue glow and transform from a transparent crystal into a gray stone, covered by a stony shell. Over time, the shell would thicken, becoming a stubborn stone.

Similarly, a Wine Gu, if self-sealed, would form a white cocoon, curling up and sleeping inside.

Of course, not all Gu insects would enter this sealed sleep state. It was rare, and most Gu insects would starve to death under normal conditions. Only a few would self-seal under specific circumstances.

Some Gu Masters had the luck to find these sealed Gu insects in stones or cocoons, awakening the sleeping Gu inside. Some made a small fortune, while others struck it rich, changing the course of their lives. These stories, real or rumored, often circulated in the Gu Master world, fueling imaginations.

The stones in this gambling house came from such origins. Naturally, these stones only appeared to be potential Gu containers. Only by opening them could one confirm if they indeed held Gu insects.

"In small gambling houses like this, eight or nine out of ten stones are solid, without any Gu inside. Even if a stone contains a Gu, it's likely dead. But if you bet on a live Gu, you usually make a substantial profit. If the Gu is rare, you either rise to prominence or risk being murdered for it."

Fang Yuan understood the workings of these places well.

In his previous life, he had participated in trade caravans and worked as an assistant in a gambling house. Later, he even managed a medium-sized gambling house, larger than this one, swindling many gamblers and occasionally witnessing valuable Gu insects being won.

After standing at the entrance for a while, scanning the room, Fang Yuan slowly approached the left counter.

Behind the counter, shop assistants stood every few meters, both men and women. They wore green belts, signifying they were not ordinary people but Rank One Gu Masters, mostly at the initial level, with a few at the mid-level.

Seeing Fang Yuan approach, a female Gu Master nearest to him walked over with a smile, speaking softly, "Sir, what kind of Gu are you looking for? The stones on this counter are all priced at ten primeval stones each. If you're trying this for the first time and want to gamble lightly, you might prefer the stones on the right counter, priced at five primeval stones each. If you're looking for excitement, the high-end stones directly ahead are priced at twenty primeval stones each."

This was an experienced female Gu Master who had worked in the gambling house for some time.

Seeing Fang Yuan enter, she guessed he was a student based on his appearance, age, and height.

Only Gu Masters came to gamble on stones, not mortals. Students, as prospective Gu Masters just starting their cultivation, usually had limited funds due to the costs of feeding their Gu insects. They seldom had spare money for gambling.

Students like him often just came to look around for novelty. Most didn't buy anything; only a few with better family backgrounds might make a small purchase, usually the cheapest stones.

Therefore, she did not expect Fang Yuan to buy many stones.

"I'll look around first," Fang Yuan nodded at her expressionlessly and then focused on examining the stones.

In his memory, it should be this gambling house's left counter.

But five hundred years was a long time. Many details were fuzzy, and the vast amount of memory over five centuries was overwhelming. To be honest, Fang Yuan's recollection was not very clear.

He vaguely remembered that in this year, on the first night of the caravan's arrival, a lucky person had spent ten primeval stones to buy a fossil with a purple-gold hue on its surface.

After opening the stone, he found an Earth Leper Toad inside. This toad Gu was then purchased by someone, earning the lucky person a substantial profit.

Fang Yuan watched for a while, frowning slightly.

**On the counter, there were over twenty fossils with a purple-gold sheen. Which one held the Earth Leper Toad?**

Each stone on this side was priced at ten primeval stones. Fang Yuan currently had ninety-eight primeval stones, which meant he could buy at most nine stones.

But in reality, it wasn't that simple.

Any adventure or gamble must consider the consequences.

Fang Yuan was no longer a reckless youth or a gambler who thought himself favored by fate. Those who believed they were chosen by destiny usually fell victim to its tricks.

"I am alone, without the support of friends or family. I must keep some primeval stones for living expenses and to buy food for feeding my Gu insects," he calculated. After ensuring his basic needs, he could purchase at most seven fossils.

"This stone, with its purple-gold star-like specks, is too flat like a pancake. It won't contain the Earth Leper Toad."

"This one is dazzlingly purple-gold but only the size of a fist. If it really held the Earth Leper Toad, it should be at least thirty percent larger."

"This one is large enough, but its surface is too smooth. The Earth Leper Toad's stone skin is always pitted and uneven. This one is clearly not it..."

Fang Yuan continued to observe and eliminate stones.

Once sealed and in hibernation, Gu insects formed fossils that were solid and impermeable to most detection methods. The remaining detection techniques were usually so harsh that using them would directly kill the nearly lifeless Gu inside.

Therefore, Gu Masters could only rely on guesses, experience, luck, and occasional flashes of intuition to select stones.

Otherwise, this wouldn't be called a gambling house.

Of course, in this vast world, there were all sorts of strange occurrences, and it was possible that a few mild detection methods existed, allowing Gu Masters to know in advance whether a stone contained a Gu insect.

In his previous life, Fang Yuan had heard rumors of such methods, but upon investigation, they always turned out to be false.

Fang Yuan privately speculated that if such methods did exist, they must be part of secret legacies held by a very few mysterious individuals. They wouldn't impact the gambling industry as a whole.

In the Qing Mao Mountain area, gambling houses were relatively modest. But further east, gambling houses became more prevalent. In the Bai Tou Mountain region, every village had its gambling house. Some large villages even had several big gambling houses. In the three famous villages for stone gambling—Panshi Village, Gumu Village, and Cangjing Village—there were super-large stone gambling houses.

Each of these super-large stone gambling houses had over a thousand years of history and still thrived, with gamblers coming in an endless stream. There had never been an incident of someone clearing out a gambling house.

The tent Fang Yuan was in now was, at best, a small gambling house.

But for any other fifteen-year-old boy coming here, the sight of all these fossils would dazzle them. They would pick stones purely by random chance.

Fang Yuan was different.

Firstly, he already knew part of the answer in advance, which narrowed his selection to fewer than thirty stones.

Of course, choosing the one stone from over twenty fossils was still not easy.

But Fang Yuan had the foundation of five hundred years of experience. With such a solid background, after a short observation, he filtered out the six most suitable purple-gold fossils.

He was eighty percent sure that the Earth Leper Toad was sleeping inside one of these purple-gold fossils!