From within the Spiked Stone, a terrifying killing energy emanated. It gave off an ancient feeling, a cold, desolate energy from times long gone.
As the one closest to the heterogeneous killing source, the Sage King stretched his hands towards it, when the roar of a tiger could be heard. A tiger imprint slowly appeared on the source, and the Qi shook the heavens and the earth. The imprint was interwoven with an undeniably strong killing intent, that even shook the most experienced experts.
Unprepared for the wave of energy, the Sage King had his palm cut by it. Blood began to slowly seep out from the thin wound, but the Sage King was no weakling wither. He began channeling Qi through his palms and the bleeding slowly began to stop. He decisively grabbed onto the killing source and smiled, satisfied with what he had cut out.
“A killing source huh. It’s definitely extremely powerful, filled with the ancient energy of the heavenly tiger. Truly, a treasure hidden amongst the other source stones. When the extremely powerful beasts die, they integrate their soul into pure energy sources. After countless centuries, the pure energy source slowly evolves to become a killing source. The heavenly tiger was at least at the peak of the emperor realm, which explains the strong killing intent held within the energy source.”
The spectators were all amazed at the Sage King’s stone refinement technique. Apart from those who were amazed, there were also those who were envious, lamenting the fact that they were too slow to pick up the stone despite noticing it earlier.
“The heavenly tiger energy source is an extremely rare source. It’s suitable for those practicing the arts of necromancy, and it can be used to strengthen their undead soldiers. Despite weighing only seven pounds, if auctioned, it’ll be worth ten thousand pounds of pure energy source at the very least.”
Adding to the value was the fact that it was the Sage King himself who cut out the killing source, since the experience he had would ensure that he had cut it in the optimal manner. His profit was 25 times his investment, since ten thousand pounds of pure energy source was valued at 25 billion king coins. However, it was no surprise. Stone gambling was such an activity. When one wins, they win big, and when they lose, they lose everything. It was always one of the two extremes.
Xuanyuan frowned, not expecting the Sage King’s luck to be so strong. The very first round he had managed to cut out a piece of heavenly tiger energy source. If Xuanyuan did not manage to match the value of the killing source, he would lose this round. This meant that if he lost a second round, Xuanyuan would lose 4 million pounds of pure energy source. This was no small matter.
Excited, Cheng Yao sneered at Xuanyuan, saying, “You are dead for sure. My father is far superior to the likes of you and me.”
The Sage King looked towards Xuanyuan, his face calm. He slowly said, “Brother Ji, it’s your turn now. I look forward to seeing your exquisite skill.”
Smiling gently, Xuanyuan replied, “Haha, the technique of the Sage King is truly exceptional, compared to my superficial knowledge. It seems that I will lose here.”
Saying that, Xuanyuan stepped forth. Around him, a golden light descended, slowly weaving to form a ma.s.sive golden chessboard. If you looked carefully, one could see a huge source stoen in the middle, framed on the chessboard.
Seeing this, everyone inhaled deeply. None of the could recognise the technique Xuanyuan used. A flash of recognition ran through the Sage King’s eyes, as he was shocked at what he saw.
“A field of stars, and a golden chessboard… A complete understanding of source stones, and a mastery of the art of stone refinement… This has to be the Stone Field of Acquisitions, one of the skills of the Emperor of Acquisitions. This man is not as simple as he seems.”
Yuechang looked at Xuanyuan in surprise; she didn’t expect him to be so skilled. Despite not knowing much about the art of stone refinement, she could sense the harmony between the heavens and the earth, showcasing the strength of the technique. It was on par with the skills of the Sage King.
“Xuanyuan is truly terrifying, seeing that he can perform the integration of man and dispositions. His achievements in the field of stone refinement are not to be ignored. It’s a pity that the Nightmare Ghost is protecting him at all times, otherwise there’d be several chances to kill him.” Yuechang’s eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out a way to deal with Xuanyuan.
The chessboard was filled with mysterious marks, as the entire thing covered the entire area. The gold tendrils sensed the energy flow within all the stones, and the information was fed back to Xuanyuan. The sudden flow of information took Xuanyuan by surprise. As he slowly sifted through the information, he came to a square source stone, as tall as a person. Nodding, Xuanyuan indicated towards this source stone.
“That’s the one I want.”
“Huh? He finally chose something that the experts all agreed would contain pure energy source. But there’s no way that stone will contain ten thousand pounds of pure energy source.”
“He’s doomed to lose…”
“He’s still far too young compared to the Sage King.”
Frowning, Yuechang asked, “This stone requires only 50 million king coins. Are you certain?”
Xuanyuan nodded in a.s.sent, saying, “Yes, I am.” He took out 50 million king coins and handed it over, leaving no money on him.
Seeing this, Cheng Yao laughed and said, “That’s right, use up all your money.”
Xuanyuan was determined to buy this particular stone. Yuechang wasn’t one to deny him, after all if he lost, it was good for her. Especially if the Sage King dealt with him. In that way, all of Xuanyuan’s ire would be directed towards the Sage King. Furthermore, Cheng Yin was not fond of the Sage King either. No matter who lost, Cheng Yin would see it as a win.
Xuanyuan took out his Devouring Sword and began cutting the stone down. Softly and silently, he began carving down the ma.s.sive stone. Such delicate, fine swordsmans.h.i.+p captured everyone’s eyes. The way Xuanyuan cut the stone was also exquisite. One of the most important aspects was the quality of the cut. If cut the wrong way, the energy source within the source stone would get damaged. In the worst case scenario, the entire energy source would just dissipate into the atmosphere.
The Sage King was impressed by Xuanyuan’s technique, and a flash of jealousy ran across his eyes. He wanted to get his hands on all of Xuanyuan’s stone refinement techniques, however he could simply look on for now.
Xuanyuan carved the stone down extremely fast. The stone which stood at the height of a full-fledged man was now the size of a baby. Everyone sighed collectively.
“Looks like it’s decided. There’s no way that such a small fragment of source stone will yield ten thousand pounds of pure energy source.”
“You’re right, he has lost.”
Xuanyuan’s sword continued to fall, precisely cutting the stone down, when finally, a flash of light burst out. An extremely heavy energy caem out of the source stone.
The Sage King was surprised, and said, “This energy… It feels as heavy as Mount Tai…”
Frowning, Xuanyuan set down his sword and lifted the Mount Tai Source. Weighing it, he sighed and declared, “Looks like I lose. This weighs only nine kilograms/”
All the other gamblers shaprply inhaled. Xuanyuan was truly amazing. If this compet.i.tion followed the official gambling rules, Xuanyuan would have won. The official rules took into consideration the value of the profit as compared to the initial investment. The Sage King’s total profit was 25 times his investment. On the other hand, Xuanyuan’s profit was a whopping 445 times his investment. However, since their current compet.i.tion looked at only the absolute value of the winnings, Xuanyuan had lost.
Even the Sage King knew that he would have lost if this were an official game, and thus he didn’t show any excitement. All the others fell silent; none of them wanted to offend the Sage King for Xuanyuan’s sake.
The Sage King calmly said, “Haha, how unfortunate. I won only because we are comparing the value of the cut, rather than the total profit we’ve each made.”
Xuanyuan nodded and said, “I know, luckily there are two more rounds left.”
Although Cheng Yao was surprised by Xuanyuan’s skill, he still gloated.
“Haha, you are dead, boy!”
He clearly had no idea how close the match was, and instead shamefully gloated. He came off as one of those cheesy villains who gloat for a minor victory.