Chapter 14: Stone Gambling (or Stone Betting)

Chapter 14: Stone Gambling (or Stone Betting)

Her thoughts raced as her hands continuously rubbed the rough stone. Spiritual energy seeped from her fingertips, penetrating the rough surface of the stone and striking its core.

It was a dud.

Before Yun Wan even realized she had figured out the trick to stone gambling, her mind automatically concluded.

Ah, of course! Spiritual energy!

Machines couldn’t detect it, but spiritual energy could probe whether there was something different inside the stone. Although it couldn’t reveal the specific item, it was much better than most blind guesses.

Yun Wan had just started channeling spiritual energy into her body, and she didn’t have much of it—just five or six strands. Each stone she probed would consume one strand.

By this calculation, she could only examine five or six stones. The stones in front of her numbered at least a few hundred, and finding Purple Gold Ore was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Forget about finding anything valuable; just finding something would be enough.

Yun Wan picked six stones that looked promising and used her spiritual energy to examine them one by one.

By this time, she had already figured out a way to save spiritual energy.

There was a subtle, almost invisible pattern inside these stones. When spiritual energy followed this pattern, it encountered no obstruction, moving smoothly all the way to the core. This method used half the spiritual energy compared to the brute-force approach.

So, she could check a few more stones.

Yun Wan got lucky. After going through a pile of stones, she found two promising ones.

After some thought, she added one dud and bought three stones in total.

Most people here didn’t find anything valuable. If she managed to extract something from every stone, it would stand out too much. She needed to include some duds to throw people off.

Still, a two-thirds success rate was high, but she wasn’t willing to spend more money on worthless stones.

She wasn’t a sucker!

Anyway, she just needed to play the part of someone with good luck.

Yun Wan and Liu Li each took their selected stones to the cutting area.

Liu Li’s stones, as usual, were all duds.

This time, he wasn’t as disappointed.

After experiencing so many bad things, he had become numb. He had already prepared for the worst, so when it happened, he could only sigh and think: "As expected."

Therefore, Liu Li now had the mood to pay attention to Yun Wan’s stones.

Seeing Yun Wan looking so relaxed, he couldn’t help but ask, "How did you pick your stones?"

Most people picked stones without any method.

But he noticed that Yun Wan wasn’t like that. She had examined each stone carefully, and it was clear that these stones were meticulously chosen.

There must be some method to it.

"I just picked them randomly, whatever caught my eye."

As soon as Yun Wan finished speaking, the first stone was cut open—it was the dud.

Liu Li thought it was no big deal, after all, he always ended up with dud stones and was already used to it.

But Yun Wan looked at the waste stone without a hint of emotion, which took him aback.

Even if you’re mentally prepared, knowing you’re going to open a dud, it’s hard not to feel let down when it actually happens. Just like him, you can’t help but feel bummed.

But the girl in front of him seemed unfazed, like a bystander, just watching indifferently.

She had some serious composure.

Still, trying to see things from her perspective, Liu Li comforted her, "There are still two more!"

He tossed it out there, not expecting much from the last two stones Yun Wan had "randomly" picked. Unexpectedly, as the grinder cut deeper, a white material was revealed, and his expression turned serious.

This looks like...

Liu Li couldn’t believe it.

The Stone Master’s voice overlapped with the one in his head:

"It’s a mecha core."

This wasn’t Liu Li’s stone, but he was over the moon.

A white mecha core is only good for A-level mechas, but it’s still a valuable item, worth 500,000 star coins.

"Wow, you hit the jackpot!" Liu Li couldn’t contain his excitement.

Yun Wan stayed cool as a cucumber, mainly because she didn’t know what a mecha core was and was letting the system explain.

A crowd of stone gamblers gathered, drawn by the Stone Master’s voice.

"Someone actually scored mecha material!"

Regardless of what material it was, anything related to a mecha had to be a good thing.

"Who opened it? Talk about luck!"

"Hey, kid, you’re all worked up—is it your stone?"

Liu Li’s skills didn’t go unnoticed, and many had been watching him. If he’d opened the mecha material, it would’ve been expected.

But it wasn’t his stone.

He shook his head, his face a mix of emotions. "It was opened by my friend."

He gestured to Yun Wan beside him.

The crowd went wild, looking at the calm girl as if they couldn’t believe it.

"She’s got one more stone to crack open," Liu Li said.

"Did this kid really score the mecha material?"

"How can she be so calm?"

"Is she a noble lady from some family?"

As soon as these words were spoken, all eyes were on Yun Wan, sizing her up.

Worn-out sneakers, tattered pants, a shabby outfit, and a ragged bundle made her look like a trash picker. Apart from her face, there was nothing that suggested she was noble.

"Wow, I’d be thrilled if it were me!"

Yun Wan, who had just learned about the value of the mecha material, was also excited, her face flushed.

"Haha, I’ve never seen it before; I thought it was just an ordinary thing." Yun Wan didn’t want the crowd to make too many assumptions. Finding something valuable was already drawing attention, and attracting malicious looks would make it worse.

The onlookers caught on.

That’s more like it! She’s just a young girl who hasn’t seen much of the world, after all!

Yun Wan’s third stone was halfway through being opened, but nothing had appeared yet.

If nothing shows up halfway, the stone is basically worthless, and the Stone Master would just split the rest.

"Ah, I mean, the luck couldn’t be that good—who finds good stuff twice in a row!"

"It’s unlikely, but still worth it—300 star coins for a 500,000-star-coin mecha material… wow, why not me?"

"Whatever, I’ll go buy another one, maybe I can find something good too!"

The Stone Master announced the final result: "Just one piece of waste stone."

"Hold on!"

Yun Wan was confident in her intuition. Since she sensed something, it couldn’t be waste—there had to be at least a piece of blue crystal ore.

"Could you check again?" Yun Wan gestured to the split stone pieces.

The Stone Master didn’t like this request and frowned.

Liu Li was also taken aback by Yun Wan’s request to cut the stone again.

Logically, once a stone is cut like this, there’s no chance of finding anything good left.

"Kid, this is indeed waste stone, no need to cut it further!" said the Stone Master.

"Yeah, you don’t find good stuff every time you cut a stone—this girl’s just too young!"

"Young? I think she’s out of her mind! Found something good once and thinks it’ll happen every time!"

"Hey, girl, are you done? Let others have their turn, don’t waste time on this waste stone!"

"Yeah, it’s still waste stone no matter how much you cut it!"

"Hahaha!" they laughed.

The crowd burst into laughter, thinking their words would talk her out of cutting the stone again, but she remained stubborn.

"Is it illegal to cut it again?" Yun Wan asked softly.

Liu Li, who was closest to her, heard clearly and replied, "Not really."

He didn’t finish, but it came off as pretty rude.

Sure enough, the Stone Master looked annoyed and spoke sharply, "You want to open it again, right? If nothing comes out this time, don’t come back to me next time!"

The Stone Master had to open countless stones daily. If everyone wanted to open them once or twice like this, even ten Stone Masters wouldn’t be enough.

He figured this young girl was either too naive or just trying to stir up trouble.

"Ah, why so stubborn! Let’s move on, I’m still waiting to open my stone!"

Many people left, most of them having already predicted the outcome and lost interest, while a small number stayed to watch the spectacle.

The Stone Master didn’t hesitate and immediately began polishing the stone again.

One, two, three… all were duds. Only a few pieces were left. The Stone Master glanced at the girl in front of him. No matter how much hope she had for this stone, she should’ve given up by now!

Unfortunately, the girl didn’t call for a stop.

The Stone Master, now angry, decided to finish the last few pieces in one go, just to see the disappointed look on the girl’s face and vent his frustration.

Unexpectedly, when he opened one particular stone, he was completely stunned.

That was…

He didn’t dare to be careless, his hands growing more gentle, afraid of damaging it even slightly.

When the stone was fully polished, a clear purple crystal lay in his palm.

Purple with a golden hue. Although he didn’t often come across this, as a seasoned Stone Master, he recognized it immediately.

It was Purple Gold Ore.

A tiny piece, perhaps only a dozen grams, but it was high-grade mecha energy, its value… incalculable.

This was a regular at auctions, yet it was nearly dismissed as a waste stone.

At that moment, his face burned with shame. He didn’t dare to look at the girl in front of him, nor face the few onlookers, and he even hesitated to announce the outcome.

"Huh? Did she actually get something?"

The unexpected turn of events amazed the onlookers.

"She actually got something twice in a row!"

At that moment, no one recognized what the Stone Master was holding.

The Stone Master closed his hand and quickly apologized to Yun Wan, murmuring, "Hello, this was my mistake. Here’s an invitation to the Golden Sand City auction. While it can’t make up for anything, it’s a token of my apology. I hope you can be magnanimous and not publicize this matter too much."

Yun Wan nodded, accepting the Stone Master’s sincere gesture.

He had just made a mistake based on experience, something anyone could do. Any other Stone Master would’ve done the same. It wasn’t that he intentionally targeted Yun Wan, and she didn’t plan to be aggressive.

"Be more careful next time."

The Stone Master nodded repeatedly, accepting Yun Wan’s reminder. Even if she hadn’t said anything, he wouldn’t dare to be so careless again. His entire career was almost over.

Fortunately, the girl was easy to talk to. He didn’t dare to imagine the uproar this incident could cause if it got out. Not only would his professionalism be questioned, but this method of stone opening, which almost every Stone Master used, might have missed some good things.

Even if it hadn’t, wouldn’t other stone gamblers think so?

It would undoubtedly lead to a massive PR crisis.

He had to propose to his superiors that stones must be fully opened in the future, no matter how troublesome.

"Guest, what you’ve uncovered is a very precious Purple Gold Ore. If you need, it can also be sold at the auction."

This was also why the Stone Master offered the auction invitation, showing his thoughtfulness and sincerity.