Stone gambling

Several days later, Lu Chen entered a Life Oasis named Qingyun, spanning a full five thousand li, and arrived in a city where the Human Race gathered.

Cultivation required vast resources to support it. Besides containing immense vital essence, Source also served as currency in the cultivation world, the equivalent of gold among mortals. Naturally, it was indispensable to Lu Chen.

He had obtained the Source Arts of the first Source Heavenly Master. Although he could search for mineral veins and mine Source Stone himself, how could mining be as fast as Gambling on Stones?

Source was encased in a special Source Stone rind. Even a cultivator's divine sense, heavenly eye, and many other methods could hardly see through it. The rind could even affect the Source's weight and various other properties.

A piece of Source weighing a hundred jin, for instance, might feel like only ten jin in the hand when wrapped in its Source Stone rind, leaving cultivators unable to determine whether a stone contained Source or something else.

Precisely because Source Stone was so difficult to probe, the Gambling on Stones trade had emerged. Across the many Life Oases of the Northern Region, nearly every major city had Gambling on Stones houses.

At the small end, individuals set up street stalls with a few stones. At the large end, there were stone houses run by the Desolate Ancient Families and the Various Holy Lands.

They first sifted out the Source Stones they were confident about, then put out those they could not judge accurately or see through at all, marking them with different prices for others to gamble on. This was the Northern Region's Gambling on Stones trade.

Before long, Lu Chen arrived at a Gambling on Stones house named Zhou Ji. It did not look particularly large and probably belonged to a small sect in this oasis, but that did not matter. He was merely giving his ox-cleaving blade a small test, first putting the Source Arts in the Source Heaven Book to the proof.

Although he had already used Source Arts to prospect for Source mines in the Southern Region, Gambling on Stones was different. After all, one involved observing mountains, rivers, and terrain to locate mineral veins, while the other involved examining whether a stone contained Source. There were still many differences.

Source Stone houses generally occupied large grounds enclosed by high walls, with numerous Source Stones laid out inside for people Gambling on Stones to choose from.

"Please come inside, young master." Several ordinary people stood at the entrance to welcome guests. Seeing Lu Chen's fine clothes and extraordinary bearing, they naturally knew he was a powerful cultivator and immediately greeted him with smiles.

Besides cultivators, some ordinary people also came to Gambling on Stones houses to try their luck. After all, gambling never lacked people of any kind.

The Gambling on Stones house had multiple courtyards, with Source Stones scattered everywhere. The largest stood several meters tall and weighed tens of thousands of jin, while the smallest were Fist-Sized, no bigger than a child's fist, and weighed less than a jin. Every strange shape imaginable was present.

Naturally, the first courtyard held the most ordinary Source Stones, mostly hauled back at random to fill out the stock. They were almost certain to contain no Source, and visitors to the stone house hardly ever lingered here.

Lu Chen, however, was in no hurry to leave. Having learned Source Arts, he naturally needed to practice the basics first. It was not about how much Source he could cut out here; the main purpose was to accumulate experience.

After all, no matter how brilliant the Source Arts one cultivated, one could not ascend to heaven in a single step.

He walked back and forth through the first courtyard, turning over one stone and measuring another, looking deeply absorbed in thought.

"Young master, although this is only the first courtyard, these Source Stones might still yield a great haul." A middle-aged man approached with a smile. He appeared to be in charge of the Source Stones.

"Is that so?" Lu Chen smiled faintly as he carefully compared the stones against the knowledge in the Source Heaven Book. He knew that in gambling, no matter what one gambled on, fraud, deception, and swindling were rampant.

"Of course. Why not cut open a few Source Stones, young master? There might be some fine Source inside!" the middle-aged man said ingratiatingly. In his eyes, this young master was a Gambling on Stones novice. With a little coaxing, he might sell quite a few stones.

Just then, several more people entered the stone house. They all looked young, and judging by their auras, they were all cultivators.

"This is the first time I've ever seen someone choosing stones in the first courtyard. Where did this country bumpkin crawl out from?" said a man dressed in blue, holding a folding fan, his face full of arrogance.

"Stone houses have no threshold for entry. Sometimes even mud-legged peasants bring several generations' savings to try their luck, thinking they can get rich overnight. But even they wouldn't linger in the first courtyard. Looks like this fellow really is a country bumpkin!" another young man chimed in.

The others accompanying them also sneered, saying he must be some rustic hick from an unknown backwater.

Everyone who came to Gambling on Stones, including mortals with no cultivation, knew that the first courtyard contained worthless stock used to fill space and would not linger there. It was practically common knowledge in the trade.

Now someone was looking here and feeling there. In everyone else's eyes, what could he be but a hick? Even the middle-aged man managing the first courtyard's Source Stones was probably laughing at him inwardly.

So now I'm a hick! Lu Chen rubbed his nose in amusement, paying no mind to their remarks. In a sense, he really was a country bumpkin entering a Gambling on Stones house for the first time.

"Esteemed disciples of the Divine Ring Gate, please come inside!" An employee emerged from an inner courtyard and welcomed the young men in. Clearly, they were regular customers here, disciples of a sect.

"Let's go."

They filed in one after another, heading deeper into the Zhou Ji stone gambling house. That was where the good Source Stones were.

In the end, Lu Chen made a full circuit of the first courtyard, comparing what he saw against the knowledge in the Source Heaven Book. He discovered that among the more than ten thousand Source Stones here, only a few contained Source, and the amounts were pitifully small. Even cutting them open would cost more than they were worth.

Shaking his head slightly, he left and stepped into the central area of the stone house. This left the middle-aged man who had tried to coax him into cutting stones somewhat disappointed.

This time, he did not linger. After making a circuit, he headed for the innermost courtyard. This area was quite different, with young women assigned to welcome guests and introduce the various Source Stones, as well as Source masters responsible for helping cut them open.

Unexpectedly, the young cultivators who had mocked him-the Divine Ring Gate disciples-were also in this courtyard.

"Well, well, our country bumpkin brother wants to try his hand here too?" one of them remarked.

Hearing this, Lu Chen glanced at them indifferently and said, "Who's really the country bumpkin? A contest in Gambling on Stones will tell us!"

"Ha ha..."

The young men froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "You? Compete with us?"

"If you want to gamble with us, how much Source do you have? Take it out and let us see!"

They did not take him seriously at all. Their first impression of Lu Chen was that he was some Loose Cultivator kid from a remote corner of the world.

Light flashed, and five jin of Pure Source appeared in Lu Chen's hand, crystalline and translucent, flowing with an enchanting luster. "Let's start with five jin. Do you have that much?"

Suddenly, they fell silent. Then greed appeared in their eyes, and one of them hurriedly said, "I'll gamble with you."

In their eyes, this newly arrived kid was practically handing them Source!

Their exchange immediately drew the attention of those nearby, and quite a few people looked over. A wager of five jin of Source at once was no small sum in a place like the Zhou Ji stone house.

"If you gamble, you accept your loss. Everyone in this stone house is a witness. When you lose, don't accuse a Divine Ring Gate disciple of bullying you," the man declared loudly. His name was Wang Sheng.

"All right, we'll bear witness!" Quite a few bystanders joined in, egging them on. Those watching the spectacle never minded if the trouble grew bigger.

The people of the Zhou Ji Gambling on Stones house were the happiest of all. Regardless of which gambler won or lost, their stone house was guaranteed a profit.

Soon, the Divine Ring Gate disciples selected a Source Stone. Wang Sheng patted it and said, "Kid, your turn. Hurry up and pick one."

Lu Chen walked around the courtyard, revealed a faint, mysterious smile, and chose a stone with "no Source" inside.