Everyone's Disappointment

"Young friend, do you plan to cut the stone open here, or take it away directly? If you cut it here, I can do it for you free of charge," Qian Duoduo said as he walked over to Long Xuan.

"Let's cut it here. I don't have that much storage space." Long Xuan casually stroked the enormous Stone King.

At those words, everyone present immediately perked up. Their eyes lit up as they all crowded over.

Watching others cut open stones was their greatest pleasure, especially when the stone to be opened was the world-renowned Stone King. Everyone was thrilled and rushed over impatiently to watch the spectacle.

Even those selecting stones put down the fossils in their hands and ran over excitedly. In the blink of an eye, a huge crowd had gathered here.

Seeing that Long Xuan intended to cut open the Stone King here, Qian Duoduo revealed a delighted smile. Doing so would not only satisfy his curiosity, but also draw a crowd and stimulate business. If a good Spirit Insect emerged, he could secure it immediately—a single stroke, many gains.

He took a large red axe from his storage bag, then turned to Long Xuan with a beaming smile. "This spirit axe is a Superior Spirit Artifact. It cuts iron like mud and can slice through even the thickest fossil. Where do you plan to cut first?"

After curiously examining the Superior Spirit Artifact, Long Xuan used a pen to draw a line across the fossil, dividing it in two almost directly through the center.

He could see the Spirit Insect's progress within the fossil. By observing where the numbers appeared, he could roughly determine its location.

From the numbers' height and width, he could also roughly judge the size of the Spirit Insect inside the stone.

This cut would pass right by the Spirit Insect, perfectly avoiding its position.

What he had seen and heard at jade gambling sites in his previous life had given him this inspiration. At such sites, if several cuts failed to reveal jade, one could still sell off the remaining material.

Of course, after the first few cuts failed, the remaining material's value would plummet. Yet some people still harbored hopes of picking up a bargain at a low price and would pay Spirit Stones for it.

Long Xuan's plan was simple. Using his golden finger's ability to pinpoint the Spirit Insect's location, he could pretend that his first several cuts had failed before selling the leftover pieces.

He would cut the portion containing the Spirit Insect down to the size of a fist. With a leftover piece that small, the chance of it containing an insect would be infinitely close to zero. At a relatively high price, naturally no one would buy it; everyone would focus on the much larger leftover pieces.

Then he could simply take away that fist-sized leftover piece, concealing the truth beneath the sky and crossing the sea.

Long Xuan now rubbed his hands, putting on an extremely nervous act. Pointing at the line, he said, "Cut along this line first!"

Qian Duoduo's spirit axe flew from his hand and gently chopped downward. It did not seem to carry much force, yet the fossil was cut open like tofu, a clean notch appearing without the slightest resistance.

To avoid harming the Spirit Insect inside, the spirit axe did not split the fossil in one blow. Instead, it carefully peeled away layer after layer, which took some time.

Everyone widened their eyes and held their breath, staring unblinkingly at the crack in the stone.

When the fossil split in two, the crowd immediately surged forward. Seeing that the cut surfaces were smooth and flat, everyone was deeply disappointed. No Spirit Insect had appeared.

Long Xuan also revealed a profoundly disappointed expression, looking as devastated as could be.

Qian Duoduo patted him on the shoulder and comforted him. "Don't lose heart. With a fossil this large, it's perfectly normal not to hit the right spot. The good stuff must be somewhere else."

At that, light immediately returned to Long Xuan's eyes. He picked up the pen again and drew another line through the middle of both fossil pieces, dividing each in two.

This cut would turn the fossil into four pieces, and once again the lines deftly avoided the Spirit Insect's location, brushing past it perfectly.

"Please cut along these lines," Long Xuan said decisively.

"Alright!" Qian Duoduo once again controlled his spirit axe, repeating the previous process. Cut after cut, beneath everyone's tense gazes, he split the two fossil pieces in half again.

As expected, the cuts were smooth and no Spirit Insect appeared.

"Still no Spirit Insect?"

The crowd cried out in alarm, and a slight commotion arose. When cutting stones, the first few cuts were usually what mattered most. If several horizontal and vertical cuts through the center revealed no insect, the hope would become exceedingly slim.

Such an enormous, fine-looking top-grade fossil had failed to yield a Spirit Insect. Everyone found it hard to believe; it was far beyond their expectations.

Quite a few people revealed looks of schadenfreude. Some people simply could not bear to see others doing well.

"How could this be?"

Long Xuan showed a stunned expression and hurriedly rushed over, rubbing the cut surfaces again and again, looking incomparably anxious.

"Here! Here! Here! Keep cutting for me!"

Long Xuan frantically pointed out several more spots. At this moment, he looked like a gambler who had lost all reason.

Over the years, Qian Duoduo had seen countless gamblers wearing such expressions. It no longer surprised him.

He shook his head helplessly and controlled the spirit axe, continuing to cut the fossil according to the locations Long Xuan had marked.

As expected, the cuts once again perfectly avoided the Spirit Insect's location. Seemingly stripped of all reason, Long Xuan drew more lines and continued cutting.

No one knew how much time passed. As the sky gradually darkened, the enormous Stone King had somehow been cut into fifty pieces, yet even after fifty pieces had been cut, there was still no sign of a Spirit Insect.

Everyone had lost interest and was deeply disappointed. The tense excitement they had felt at the beginning had completely vanished, and quite a few people were already shaking their heads as they left.

In everyone's eyes, after so many cuts without producing an insect, there was basically no hope left. They all looked at this poor fellow with sympathy.

Long Xuan dropped onto the ground as though his soul had left his body. His gaze was vacant as he muttered, "How is this possible? How could such a huge stone not yield an insect? There's no justice in this."

Qian Duoduo also looked utterly bewildered and confused. This should not have happened. It was clearly certain to produce an insect, so how could there be none? It was truly as though he had seen a ghost.

"Young man, accept your fate. This is stone gambling. In the stone gambling world, there are no stones that are one hundred percent guaranteed to yield insects. Otherwise, the Qian Clan Merchant Association would have cut this Stone King open themselves long ago. Why would they have left it until now? Were they not simply trying to sell it to others and shift the risk?" an old man in the crowd consoled him.

Yet his consolation was of no use. Long Xuan still looked utterly lost, his eyes filled with despair as if the heavens were about to collapse.

That acting could have won him an Oscar.

"No! No! I haven't lost yet!"

Long Xuan suddenly sprang to his feet in a frenzy and shouted at the people around him, "There must be a Spirit Insect inside this Stone King. I merely happened to avoid its location. It's only because my luck was bad."

"The Spirit Insect must be in one of these fifty stone pieces. Now, I intend to give all of you this good opportunity. I plan to sell these fifty fossils. Whoever buys the fossil containing the Spirit Insect will depend on your luck."

At those words, everyone present smiled and shook their heads. Did he really take them for fools? These stones had basically been confirmed as a losing bet. Who would still buy them? Whoever bought them would be an idiot.

Yet Long Xuan's next sentence left everyone present stunned.