Chapter 282 - Ancient Gambling Store
“Jianghuang City is separated into thirteen main streets; each street focused on trading pills, selling treasures, selling Martial Skills, etc. One of the streets is named the ‘Street of Gold Sc.r.a.ping’.” Sima Kong’s eyes turned fiery as he blurted out, “The Trading Alliance has opened up an Ancient Gambling Store in the Street of Gold Sc.r.a.ping. The Ancient Gambling Store purposely mixes up various fragmented pieces of treasures and junk together, and disguises them with a unique method, preventing one from recognizing the pieces, and sells them together. It’s similar to a gamble.”
After hearing the words, Qin Nan’s eyes glistened slightly.
The way the Ancient Gambling Store operated was simple; by mixing the fragmented pieces of treasures and junk, and concealing their auras, it would prevent the cultivators from identifying them. If the cultivators ended up picking the fragments of junk, the Ancient Gambling Store would benefit from it. If the cultivators selected the fragments of a treasure, then they would be the one benefiting.
It was extremely easy to attract the attention of the cultivators, as they only need to pay an affordable price, and what if they ended up buying the right piece?
Qin Nan did not get excited instantly, as he asked, “Does that mean that the Trading Alliance allows cultivators to use their eye techniques?”
“Of course.” Sima Kong said with a smirk, “The Trading Alliance is very confident in their skills, and challenges every cultivator who has learned any kind of eye technique to have a go. Even if you have three black lines, you are not banned from gambling there. They are very proud of themselves, as they are never worried that their forbidding auras would be peeked through.”
“Challenge any cultivators with eye-technique, huh?”
A grin appeared on Qin Nan’s face.
Sima Kong’s plan was simple—to have Qin Nan buy all the treasure fragments by peeking through the forbidding auras with his eye technique.
No matter how powerful the forbidding auras were, they would stand no chance against Qin Nan’s left eye of the Divine G.o.d of Battle!
It was as if Sima Kong had made up his mind as he clenched his teeth and said, “Brother Qin Nan, let’s head to the Ancient Gambling Store. If you are able to get a great catch, I will only take fifty percent of the profits, and I will teach you how to conceal the black lines.”
“Fifty percent? Only thirty percent for you!”
Qin Nan immediately said.
He was not familiar with the Ancient Gambling Store, but through his brief contact with Sima Kong, he was aware that this person would never allow himself to suffer any losses.
“Thirty percent?” Sima Kong’s expression changed continuously, turning blue and purple at times, before he said with a painful expression, “Sigh, fine fine, since fate has brought us together as if we were brothers who had lost contact with each other for many years! Thirty percent is fine, I’ll take it!”
“Haha.”
Qin Nan glanced at him and said, “Let’s cut the bulls.h.i.+t and head straight to the Ancient Gambling Store!”
……
……
The Street of Gold Sc.r.a.ping—as soon as Qin Nan and Sima Kong arrived, to their surprise, the enlivened atmosphere intensified further.
“Yo, buddy with three black lines? I’ve got a pile of fresh fragmented pieces from Skeleton Hill, there must be some fragments of Emperor Weapons or Dominator Weapons here, don’t miss the chance!”
“Come and take a look. I don’t care if you have three black lines or whatever, as long as you are willing to pay, feel free to pick anything you like!”
“HAHA, three black lines? I only had one black line back then. Come over here and I’ll offer you a discount!”
“……”
Countless merchants on the street stared at Qin Nan and yelled.
In front of each merchant was placed a stall, which was filled with various fragments, with visible stains of soil and rust on them, as if they had existed since the ancient era.
Qin Nan simply glanced at the fragments and immediately discovered that most of the fragments were fake. Apart from a few which possessed a certain value, the rest were pretty much fakes.
“That’s the Ancient Gambling Store!”
Sima Kong pointed his finger at a tall three-floored hall and spoke.
“Let’s go!”
Qin Nan immediately made his move, heading straight toward the Ancient Gambling Store.
The ground floor of the Ancient Gambling Store did not cover a huge area, being only a hundred meters square. The place was crowded with cultivators—more than a hundred of them—as they chatted with one another, resulting in a lively atmosphere. Besides that, many of the cultivators wore reddened faces and excited expressions. Some of them had twisted expressions instead, with their eyes reddened.
“Cultivators and seniors, let’s begin the second round of gold sc.r.a.ping for the day!”
At that instant, a long-robed elder appeared and said in a loud tone.
Following his words, a large cart was pushed out from behind him. On the cart were hundreds of fragments, all covered in obvious forbidding auras, causing all the fragments to look the same.
The elder continued to utter a yell, his voice full of provocation, “Here are a total of a thousand and two fragments, including thirty fragments of Emperor Weapons, which are placed inside the pile by the Trading Alliance; each has a value of at least two hundred Arcane Realm Stones! Besides that, the other fragments are all retrieved from various forbidden areas, hence there is a chance you might find fragments of Dominator Weapons among the pile, which means you have a chance of becoming a millionaire today!”
As soon as his speech finished, the crowd of cultivators rushed forward with l.u.s.tful eyes.
“I’m buying! I’m buying! I’m buying the ninety-third fragment!”
“HAHA, I’ll be taking number eighty two, that’s gotta be it! It must be a fragment of an Emperor Weapon!”
“Quick quick quick, I want number seven hundred and fourteen! I can feel it’s my lucky star!”
“……”
The cultivators crazily bought the fragments they had set their eyes on, and in just less than the period it took for an incense to burn, the fragments were almost sold out.
Sima Kong looked at Qin Nan with high hopes and said, “What do you think?”
“Not promising; most of them are fake, and there is nothing too extraordinary. Most of the fragments of Emperor Weapons were bought by minions of the Trading Alliance.”
Qin Nan shook his head and wore a hysterical smile on his face.
He had already discovered a few cultivators among the crowd who only bought three to four pieces, but two of which were fragments of Emperor Weapons.
If one cultivator doing so could be considered a coincidence, were a few people doing the same thing still a mere coincidence?
If this is how the Trading Alliance treated their customers and self-acclaim to be fair and just, it is a total joke!
Sima Kong became enraged too, “You’re right, that’s how the Trading Alliance behaves. Let’s go, there’s no point staying on the ground floor, let’s head to the second floor!”
Now that Sima Kong was feeling super confident, his only thought was to earn a fortune from the store.
At that instant, a cultivator who had just bought ten fragments turned around after hearing their conversation, and snapped with a furious expression, “You with three black lines, why are you trying to defame the Trading Alliance? The Trading Alliance has always been fair and just. If you keep on uttering nonsense, make sure you stay away from me when you leave Jianghuang City!”
The cultivator was a Martial Emperor Realm expert.
He was extremely addicted to this kind of gamble at the Ancient Gambling Store, as he managed to buy a fragment of an Emperor Weapon at the very beginning, causing his confidence to skyrocket. Although he had tried his luck a few more times, and always ended up going home empty-handed, he still believed that it was his luck’s fault, instead of the Trading Alliance manipulating the chances of winning behind the scene.
Qin Nan’s footsteps came to a halt as he glanced at the person and said, “My friend, the ten fragments you just bought are all fakes.”
After saying this, the duo left the scene.
The cultivator glared.
Fakes?
How was that possible!
He believed that one of the fragments would definitely be a bullseye!
The cultivator clenched his teeth and brought the ten fragments to the place specifically setup to remove the forbidding auras on the fragments. When the process was completed, he was dumbfounded on the spot, Is this real?
At that instant, Qin Nan and Sima Kong had already arrived at the first floor.
As soon as they entered the first floor, a cold voice could be heard, “Qin Nan, right? You are not welcomed here at the Ancient Gambling Store. If you want to gamble and buy the fragments, you can do so by paying ten times the price!”