By now, word of the spectacle had spread, and more and more people gathered around to watch.
Although this Gambling Stone Workshop of the Great Evolution Sacred Land had only recently put down roots in Luo City, business was exceptionally good. Cultivators streamed in without end, making it the hottest stone yard in the city.
The main reason for its booming business was its abundant supply of stones supposedly transported back from near the fringes of the [Primordial Ancient Mine]. With such an irresistible lure, it would have been hard for business not to flourish.
After all, stones from the Primordial Ancient Mine were rarely seen elsewhere and were highly sought after.
Even when stones were excavated from those old seams, most were transported by the great holy lands and Desolate Ancient Families to the [Holy City] at the heart of the Northern Region. Very few ever reached the outside world.
"Since we're betting on stones worth a thousand jin of source, let's go straight to the Earth-Ranked Stone Garden!"
The Great Evolution stone yard was divided into four gardens, graded Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.
The Yellow-grade and Profound-grade gardens were the cheapest. A jin of stone cost only about half a liang of source, and most of their visitors came from minor sects and families or were low-level wandering cultivators of the Northern Region.
The crowd poured into the Earth-grade garden. Its stones had all been excavated from various old seams and famous mines, far beyond anything in the two outer gardens, and their prices were frighteningly high.
A single jin of stone could fetch the astronomical price of over a hundred jin of pure source. If the gamble failed, it amounted to spending hundreds of jin on a worthless rock.
However, those who gambled here were all people of some standing. After all, more than a thousand jin of pure source was already beyond what ordinary small sects and families could afford, let alone individuals.
Some cultivators struck it rich here overnight.
Of course, far more were gambling addicts who clung to a lucky chance and brought their entire fortunes to try their luck, only to lose so badly in a single round that their Dao hearts collapsed.
Stone gambling did untold harm...
Luo Yue had even heard of a small sect in the Northern Region made up entirely of female cultivators.
Because its palace mistress was obsessed with stone gambling, she had gambled away the entire sect. Every fairy and female cultivator in it had become a plaything in someone else's hands...
"Eldest Miss of the Luo Family, how would you like to wager?" The man from the Blazing Cloud Sect looked at Luo Qingluan with a mocking expression.
"The usual rules. A wager within the wager."
"We'll each choose three stones from the Earth-Ranked Stone Garden. Whoever cuts out the more valuable treasures wins. Everything the loser cuts out belongs to the winner, and the loser must also pay an amount equal to the value of what the winner cuts out."
Luo Qingluan laid down the rules.
This was how she had always gambled with others. Normally, she would not have dared to wager so much, but she could not withstand the people beside her fanning the flames and egging her on.
"Fine, but matching the value is too petty. If we're going to gamble, let's make the payout tenfold!" Li Huan folded his fan and slowly held up five fingers.
The entire crowd erupted!
Even Luo Yue, who had been standing quietly to one side, could not help narrowing her eyes.
A tenfold wager was rather excessive.
This could already be called a monumental gamble!
She carefully studied the young man in the distance, dressed like the scion of an eminent family. He clearly thought he had them in the palm of his hand and did not care in the slightest whether this would damage relations between their families.
With stakes this high, things would be fine if Luo Qingluan won. If she lost, however, it would be hard to bring the matter to an end.
One wrong turn might even force the family's senior members to intervene. When that happened, they would lose both their wealth and their dignity.
A little gambling between juniors was one thing; the elders generally would not interfere. But once the stakes grew too high, even winning might not bring an easy resolution.
It seemed the Luo Family's current situation really was far from good. By setting up such a huge wager, the successor of the Fire Cloud Palace was clearly showing no regard for the Luo Family. He deliberately wanted to humiliate Luo Qingluan and test the family's limits.
"Tenfold? Will you be able to pay up when the time comes, Li Huan?"
Luo Qingluan had clearly thought of this too. Her eyes narrowed, and a trace of killing intent entered her gaze as she looked at Li Huan. Her voice was ice-cold.
Yet he paid it no mind at all. Still looking at her mockingly, he said, "A mere tenfold wager? Of course I can afford it."
"Rather than worry about me, Eldest Miss Luo should worry about herself first. I hear the Luo Family has suffered devastating losses lately. I'm afraid... heh."
He did not finish, but Luo Qingluan's face had already frosted over. She clenched her fists, and her beautiful phoenix eyes nearly spat sparks.
"Auntie, take his bet!"
Luo Yue was no great saint either. Since someone was courting death, she had no intention of stopping him.
She carried a token the Jiang Family Holy Lord had given her, supposedly worth a hundred thousand jin of source!
The only question was whether he would dare reach out and take it...
Thus, Luo Yue was not worried at all. Even if the Yellow River Chart and Lo Shu lost, she still had this as a safety net!
Why had the Jiang Family Sacred Lord given her the token?
To reveal her identity?
No. Throwing her weight around, stirring up trouble, riding roughshod over others, and bullying the weak with her backing-those were its true uses!
After all, she could bear the surname Luo,
or she could bear the surname Jiang!
She was someone who could swagger unchecked throughout the entire Eastern Wasteland!
Wouldn't failing to make use of that identity be a criminal waste of heaven's gifts?
Besides, Luo Yue was only seven years old...
Suppose the Jiang Family's little divine maiden went out and was "accidentally" caught in a setup, swindled out of an enormous fortune and the token she carried. What should the Jiang Family do?
Scold Jiang Yue?
No, she was only a child!
What could a seven-year-old child possibly understand?
Therefore, it could only be the villains' fault!
More importantly, the others did not yet know that Luo Yue also had the surname Jiang hanging over her head.
Right now, the Jiang Family would have loved nothing more than for Luo Yue to stir up earth-shattering trouble outside. That way, they would have a reason to arrange someone else's funeral with great fanfare.
Moreover, when Luo Qingluan had taken Luo Yue out of the Luo Residence that morning, not a single person had come forward to stop them. That was very suspicious...
Could they really have failed to notice that Luo Yue, this young Divine King Body, was being led around by her unscrupulous aunt to gamble on stones?
Of course not.
Luo Yue had reason to suspect that the Jiang Family and Old Master Luo were using her as bait for a sting operation...
Though thoughts flashed like lightning through her mind, the stone gambling had already begun in the real world.
Luo Yue swept a seemingly casual glance across the piles of stones and began using the [Qi Gazing Art] she had only learned yesterday.
Although she had only studied the Qi Gazing Art for one night, with the Yellow River Chart and Lo Shu's deduc-
tion and tracing abilities supporting her, even the most ordinary Qi Gazing Art could blossom into something extraordinary in Luo Yue's hands!
The [Yellow River Chart and Lo Shu]'s deduction and tracing functions operated alongside the [Qi Gazing Art]. In an instant, the world outside turned a monotonous black and white, while the stones alone became a riot of colors.
Gray, white, red, yellow, green, blue, and violet!
Some stones were dull and gray. Some rippled with emerald waves like beautiful jade. Some exuded rising violet qi, displaying their nobility. Some shone brilliantly amid golden clouds, while others bore crimson rainbows piercing the sun, red as blood.
Only a very small portion of the stones were wrapped in a layer of dense, heavy aura that Luo Yue could not see through, even when she exhausted every means at her disposal.
Those were probably stones excavated from the outskirts of the [Primordial Ancient Mine], tainted with primordial qi that her current strength could not penetrate.
The Great Evolution Sacred Land really had not been boasting. There were indeed quite a few stones transported back from the Primordial Ancient Mine.
But they really were shamelessly crooked!
After a rough inspection, Luo Yue discovered that as many as one-fifth of the stones had lifeless gray-white qi floating above them. They were all fraudulent counterfeit filled stones.
She did not know what methods they had used, but their counterfeits were convincing enough to pass for the real thing. They could even imitate the "qi signatures" of the source stones inside.
Even if an ordinary Qi Gazing Art detected the qi emanating from within, it would only perceive a false image. Without the assistance of the Yellow River Chart and Lo Shu, Luo Yue really would not have been able to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Returning to reality, Luo Yue opened her eyes and extended her soft, fair little hand, precisely pointing out three stones in different locations whose colors shone the brightest.
"This one, this one, and that one over there." Her divine-sense transmission reached Luo Qingluan's ears clearly. "Buy them all."
She did not risk choosing any of the stones excavated from the old seams of the Primordial Ancient Mine, since she could not see through the primordial qi covering them at all. To be safe, she chose the three stones whose colors she sensed were the most vivid.
Without the slightest hesitation, Luo Qingluan immediately called to an attendant. "Someone come here. I'll take those three stones."
She did not even bother asking the price, simply tossing over a small pouch containing two thousand jin of pure source. Her haughty manner was entirely in keeping with her usual style.
Seeing that it was the eldest miss of the Luo Family, and that she was so decisive, the veteran stone cutter dared not dawdle. He hurriedly opened the pouch and counted the source stones inside. Then he looked up and said awkwardly:
"Miss Luo, you haven't given enough. These three stones cost a total of three thousand seven hundred jin of pure source. You haven't brought enough source."
Luo Qingluan's face immediately stiffened, and she looked awkwardly at her little niece.
Luo Yue was rather speechless too.
Fortunately, Li Huan and his band of spoiled heirs were choosing stones elsewhere. Otherwise, another round of snide mockery would have been inevitable.
Just as the two were about to give up one of the stones, a voice suddenly sounded beside them:
"How much is she short? I'll pay it for her."
The newcomer was a blue-clad woman who looked about Luo Qingluan's age. With bright eyes, pearly teeth, and a slender figure, she was as fresh and lovely as a lotus emerging from the water-a truly beautiful woman.
She had not come alone. Her exceptional beauty had drawn quite a few followers around her.
Luo Yue knew her. She was one of her aunt's "good friends," the eldest daughter of the Yao Family in Moon City, southwest of Qingyun Province-Yao Li.
The Yao Family held a rather special position in Qingyun Province. Although it had no mighty expert presiding over it and could not compare to the province's overlord, the Luo Family, it was by no means weak. It was said to have some connection to the Yaoguang Holy Land.
Yao Li's appearance surprised Luo Qingluan too, but she soon smiled rather flippantly and said:
"Oh? Has the sun risen in the west? The eldest miss of the Yao Family has finally decided to part with a little of the source in her purse. I've never seen you offer to lend me any before."
Despite the teasing, Yao Li's lovely expression remained unchanged. Her slender, pale hand had already passed a heavy brocade pouch to the stone cutter. Then she said softly to Luo Qingluan:
"I wouldn't lend you any before because I was afraid you'd refuse to repay me."
"I'm lending it to you now because I want to see how badly you lose."
Those two short sentences struck precisely at the two things Luo Qingluan cared about most-her pride and whether she won or lost.
"You make it sound like I'd borrow money and never pay it back!"
Provoked by her words, Luo Qingluan reacted as though someone had stepped on her tail, her voice rising several notches.
Then, seemingly struck by an idea, she rolled her eyes and deliberately leaned closer, lowering her voice. "How about lending me a little more? I'll give you a share if I win!"
"I'm telling you, I'm guaranteed to win this round..."
Unfortunately, Yao Li did not fall for her coaxing. She merely listened quietly, wearing a gentle expression that said, "Go on, do your best. I'll watch the show," and settled in to enjoy the spectacle.
Seeing how utterly impervious she was, Luo Qingluan looked rather regretful that she had failed to drag her dear friend into the water with her. She muttered, "When I win, you'll be crying with regret..."
The two adults' barbs and bickering left Luo Yue unmoved. Her gaze merely studied the little girl before her, dressed in a moon-white dress.
The little girl had come with her elder sister, Yao Li. The two girls sized each other up, staring wide-eyed at one another.
The other girl looked with some puzzlement at Luo Yue's waist-length silver hair, seemingly wondering why this girl, who was clearly the same age as her, had such a beautiful head of silver hair reaching her waist.
Luo Yue, meanwhile, was looking behind the little girl at the phantom palace faintly rising and falling there.
This little girl has a tremendous treasure on her!
Luo Yue was secretly startled. This was the first time she had ever seen an image automatically deduced by the [Yellow River Chart and Lo Shu].
Behind the little girl, clouds and mist swirled around the phantom of an enormous palace floating amid a sea of stars, like the ethereal Guanghan Palace upon the Lunar Star.