Luo Yue helplessly pushed her aunt away, wiping the fresh lipstick mark from her cheek with a faint look of disgust. She could not understand why a mere threefold increase had made her so happy...
The greatest taboo at a gambling table was popping the champagne halfway through, so Luo Yue remained composed instead of losing herself in delight like Luo Qingluan.
The real show was still to come.
The biggest prize had not even been cut open yet. The stone she had just asked them to cut was merely the worst-looking of the three.
Besides, that disciple from a Source Arts family did have some ability. The other two stones he had selected came from old pits on the outskirts of the Primordial Ancient Mine and carried traces of the Forbidden Zone of Absolute Beginning's aura. Even Luo Yue could not see through them to read the qi inside.
"Something's damned strange today. The very first stone turned a huge profit. That woman really stepped in dog shit and found herself some luck." Li Huan looked thoroughly displeased and could not help cursing under his breath.
"Brother Li, be patient. We've only just begun." Having lost the first round, the white-robed young man from the Source Arts family narrowed his eyes slightly.
Still, he remained perfectly composed and even offered words of comfort to Li Huan beside him.
This wager had been set as a best-of-three contest from the outset. Until the very last moment, the winner would remain uncertain. Although his first raw stone had gotten him off to a poor start, he did not take it to heart. He merely thought Luo Qingluan had been lucky.
"Yao Li, did you see that ugly look on Li Huan's face? Haha, he looked like he'd swallowed a dead rat."
"Well? There's still time for you to take a stake. Go round up twenty or thirty thousand jin of source. If we win, I'll give you half!" Luo Qingluan urged excitedly, her eyes sparkling.
The prospect of such an enormous wager sent her adrenaline soaring. She desperately needed someone to share that tremendous temptation and its potential risks.
Hearing this, Yao Li showed no sign of being swayed by Luo Qingluan on her exquisitely beautiful face. Instead, she shook her head gently, her movements carrying the distinctive elegance of a lady from a great family, and said:
"I would like to take a stake now, but unfortunately, I don't have twenty thousand jin of source."
Never mind twenty thousand-even ten thousand was already beyond what young scions of great families like them could produce.
Even some of their families' elders in the Immortal Platform Realm would probably feel the pinch if asked to bring out ten thousand jin of source at once.
"Have you really thought this through? Today's wager will reach at least a hundred thousand jin of pure source. It would be such a shame if you didn't take a stake." Luo Qingluan had no intention of giving up.
She was not wrong. That head-sized piece of azure crystal source alone was worth three thousand jin of pure source.
Multiplied tenfold, that meant a wager of thirty thousand jin!
If the next two stones were cut open, the wager really might reach the astonishing sum of a hundred thousand.
The exquisitely beautiful fairy of the Yao Family knitted her delicate brows slightly, as though making some serious calculations. Then she said somewhat helplessly:
"But I really don't have twenty thousand jin of source on me..."
"Hehe, you don't, but other people do!" Luo Qingluan grinned wickedly.
She knew very well how popular her dear friend was in Qingyun Province.
To put it bluntly, Fairy Yao Li's suitors in Qingyun Province could form a line stretching from Luo City to Moon City!
Sure enough, the moment they saw the beautiful fairy looking troubled, the crowd around her with ulterior motives eagerly took the bait.
"Please don't worry, Fairy. I, Wang Mazi of the Hengyue Sect, am willing to lend Fairy Yao Li a thousand jin of source!"
The first to speak was precisely the yellow-robed man who had taken offense at the white-robed young man earlier. Once he took the lead, everyone behind him began clamoring:
"I, Zhang Dafan of the Qingyun Sect, will put up eight hundred jin!"
"And I, Fang Yuan of the Gu Yue Family, offer a thousand jin!"
"Count me in too! Han Li of Yellow Maple Valley, nine hundred jin!"
For a time, waves of voices rose one after another.
Yao Li had countless suitors in Qingyun Province. Now that the beauty was frowning, this was the perfect moment to shower her with attention.
Besides, many of Yao Li's suitors had been angered by Kong Yuan's earlier, punch-worthy boast that he would win Fairy Yao Li. Naturally, they were eager to see this disciple of a Source Arts family capsize in a gutter.
These admirers either diverted family assets or dipped into their private stashes.
In mere moments, they actually gathered an enormous pile of source pouches at Yao Li's feet. They formed a little mountain, shimmering with radiant light. A rough estimate put the total well above twenty thousand jin!
"This is madness!"
"Good heavens! I, Donkey Aotian, have never seen so much source in my life!"
The surrounding spectators cried out in amazement.
Clearly, her title as Qingyun Province's most beautiful fairy was no idle boast.
Gathering twenty thousand jin of source in so little time showed just how frenzied the army of lapdogs behind her was.
"Hahaha!"
Luo Qingluan was grinning so widely she could no longer close her mouth.
Fairy Yao Li was too embarrassed to bend down and collect them, but Luo Qingluan had no such concerns. She darted forward and gathered up the source, afraid it might disappear if she was even a moment too slow.
Brimming with triumph, Luo Qingluan swept a hand toward Yao Li and laughed with uncontainable delight. "My dear sister, you're in! Once we win, I'll divide it proportionally and give you thirty percent!"
Yao Li: "..."
Didn't we just agree that I'd get half if we won?
How come you're taking seventy percent?
Seeing her shameless behavior, Luo Yue could not help rolling her eyes either.
She had never expected her aunt to independently figure out the whole "venture capital plus lapdog economy" model.
Her methods were still crude, but with that level of shamelessness, she certainly had the makings of a crooked merchant.
Still, this was fine too.
After all, Luo Yue would lose nothing, and she could even pull Yao Li and her crowd of lapdogs into Fang's camp. Even having them wave flags and cheer for her side would be useful.
Meanwhile,
Luo Qingluan's side was noisily raising enormous sums, and her triumphant laughter still echoed through the stone garden.
On the other side, Li Huan and the white-robed young man's expressions had grown so dark they could practically drip water.
"Hmph, nothing but a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat!" Li Huan forced down his displeasure and barked at the stone cutter he had hired:
"What are you standing around for? Cut my second stone!"
He pointed to the second stone Kong Yuan had selected for him: a grayish-brown rock about the size of a millstone, its surface covered in strange patterns resembling cracks in a turtle shell.
The stone exuded the weighty aura of countless years. It was one of those brought from the old pits on the outskirts of the Primordial Ancient Mine, priced at a staggering fifteen hundred jin of pure source.
Its outer rind seemed to naturally block probing. Even Kong Yuan could only rely on the experience passed down through his Source Arts family to judge that something extraordinary lay within.
The stone cutter dared not delay. Carefully taking up the Jade Knife, he cut slowly and precisely along the finest seams in the stone's surface.
Stone
chips flew everywhere. Everyone stared intently at where the blade fell. Kong Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, his earlier composure and confidence restored, as though the stone were already a prize safely in his pocket.
"Hiss..."
As the stone-cutting blade descended, a faint yet unusually dazzling beam of golden light suddenly shot from the crack!
That light carried an indescribably sharp and noble aura, instantly overwhelming every other light in the Earth-Ranked Stone Garden!
"Gold... golden! Is it a supreme-grade metal-aspected variant source?" someone cried out.
"No, it's essence of Geng Metal-an extremely precious material for forging artifacts!"
An even more experienced stone gambler cried out involuntarily, his voice pitching strangely.
The stone cutter's hands trembled slightly with excitement, and he peeled away the rind with even greater care.
At last, a walnut-sized substance that flowed like molten gold was extracted intact!
It was not solid, but something between liquid and solid. Like melted gold flowing around itself, it emitted vast metal qi of the utmost purity, incomparably sharp.
"It really is essence of Geng Metal! It's a top-grade forging material that even Holy Lord level figures would smelt into their weapons. Although it's only the size of a walnut, it's still worth seven thousand jin of source!"
Someone exclaimed in admiration.
Hearing this, the surrounding crowd was instantly filled with envy and jealousy. It had gained in value, and by a full five thousand!
"A disciple from a Source Arts family is simply heaven-defying!"
"Exactly! No wonder they once dared claim they could rival Source Heavenly Masters." Discussion rippled through the crowd.
Li Huan and his disreputable friends were beside themselves with joy as well.
"Brother Kong, your Source Arts truly are brilliant. I bow before you in utter admiration!" Li Huan exclaimed delightedly.
"A mere trifling art. Not worth mentioning."
The white-robed young man remained breezily composed, as though everything had gone exactly as expected.
In truth, only he knew that a fine layer of sweat had already formed on his palms...
Because this round had been won entirely through luck!
He had chosen this stone because he was certain there was "variant source" inside. In the end, he had not seen so much as a shadow of source, but through an unexpected twist, he had instead unearthed a piece of essence of Geng Metal...
In stone gambling, no matter how brilliant one's Source Arts were, finding nothing in nine attempts out of ten was commonplace. Even the legendary Source Heavenly Masters sometimes misjudged a stone.
He knew his own limits. Two stones yielding huge gains in succession today, for a total of six thousand jin of pure source, was already a performance beyond his usual abilities!
A combined gain of six thousand jin of source-that alone was enough for him to brag about for the rest of his life in the Northern Region!
As for the third stone, he dared not count on his luck...
Still, with the total value of these first two stones and a gain of six thousand jin, that should already be enough to decide the winner!
My luck can't stay this good forever, and neither can hers! No matter how you look at it, the advantage is mine! Kong Yuan thought.
He did not believe anyone could uncover something more precious than this essence of Geng Metal.
Hmph... let's see what you can answer with this time.
Sneering inwardly, Kong Yuan looked toward Luo Qingluan and the others. Yet his gaze happened to fall on the silver-haired little girl whose hand she had been holding all this time, and it suddenly froze.
Wait?
Why was she using the Qi Gazing Art...