Ghost Catching System

The first cut indeed revealed jade—an old pit Glass type, with translucency in the high grades.

”Old pit, there’s still a chance,” Taoist Bei Sheng said, staring intently.

However, from another direction, red jade with floating flower patterns was cut out.

”Two-color floating flowers!” one of the judges exclaimed in surprise.

Two-color floating flowers were rare and valuable, but winning this competition with them would be very challenging.

Bei Sheng clenched his fists tightly. Two-color jade can’t beat them, he thought. Three-color won’t do either. Only if there’s four-color.

If it were a four-color floating flower type, the value of this jade would be earth-shattering.

But in the end, there were only two-color floating flowers. The jade stone was also large enough, and the judges valued it at one hundred million.

”Lost.” Taoist Bei Sheng’s mind buzzed, his whole body shaking violently.

Outsiders murmured among themselves. ”The Gambling King has lost.”

”How could he not lose? The gap in the first round was so large; the first two contestants were just too impressive.”

”There are always people better than oneself. Xu Sheng’s loss isn’t unjust.”

The white-haired, seventy-year-old Taoist snorted coldly, anger evident in his eyes. If there weren’t so many people, he would have taught Taoist Bei Sheng a harsh lesson. Is this the seventy percent confidence you spoke of? You fucking don’t have a shred of confidence!

Taoist Bei Sheng wanted to cry, his head hanging low, utterly confused.

Now it was Su Huansheng’s turn with his stone. Everyone watched eagerly, wondering what would be cut this time and if any jade could be better than what had already emerged.

With one cut, a judge’s voice announced, ”A top-notch old pit Glass type!”

The crowd didn’t erupt but began to discuss, ”Even if it’s a top-grade Glass type, it still can’t compare to Imperial Green.”

”Imperial Green is the king of jade; a mere old pit Glass type can’t possibly match it.”

Suddenly, the seventy-year-old judge exclaimed, ”Wait! There seems to be something inside this old pit Glass type!”

The crowd leaned in for a closer look, but the area was too small to see clearly.

”Could it also be jade within jade?”

Chu Hao’s ”jade within jade” had contained the character for ’jade’. True jade within jade, however, actually consists of two distinct types of jade encased together.

The crowd urged impatiently, ”Quick, cut it out and let’s see!”

WHIRR! Stone chips flew. In a short moment, it was revealed that hidden within the old pit Glass type was another type of jade, perfectly and naturally formed within.

”There’s a layer of Imperial Green inside the Glass type!” a judge exclaimed.

The whole room was astounded. A Glass type jade enclosing Imperial Green—it was a miraculous stone!

However, when almost the entire stone was cut, a middle-aged judge exclaimed, ”Ah! This Imperial Green inside... it looks like a peach!”

”Cut quickly, cut it all out!”

Boss Nie was thrilled. Today was truly an eye-opener, seeing so many rare jades cut.

Finally, the large piece of old pit Glass type was completely cut out. Its translucency surpassed that of glass. This was no mere glass, but jade, glowing with a rich luster.

Inside this jade, there was a lifelike peach, as green as if it were painted.

”Look quickly! There’s something small on this jade peach!”

The onlookers observed closely. Indeed, there was a small object resembling a tiny monkey climbing on the peach.

”The Great Sage Stealing Peaches?” someone ventured.

”Yes! Yes! It’s just like ’The Great Sage Stealing Peaches’! I’ve never seen such jade before,” the seventy-year-old judge said excitedly, his eyes brimming with tears of emotion. To see so many precious jades in his lifetime was truly astounding.

Boss Nie said excitedly, ”How much is this jade worth? I’ll buy it! If someone else makes an offer, I’ll top it by fifty million!”

People gasped. This Boss Nie truly had deep pockets.

Someone commented, ”It’s similar to the ’jade within jade,’ but this inner jade is extremely precious—and it’s Imperial Green! Starting price, two billion!”

Boss Nie frowned. ”Two billion is too little. I bid thirty billion! That’s just the cost of a few companies to me.”

”Damn it!” The owner of Longhua Pavilion wanted to cry. Although he was rich, he wasn’t as outrageously wealthy or spendthrift as Boss Nie.

The second mysterious businessman was speechless. ”You’re something else,” he managed.

A businessman clutched his heart. ”My heart... I think it might give out from shock today!”

”No kidding! I still feel like I’m dreaming. This jade gambling is too thrilling!”

A difference of twenty-five billion! It was a huge, seemingly insurmountable surge. How could Chu Hao possibly surpass that?

Mu Yuxun asked worriedly, ”Chu Hao, you’re not... you’re not going to lose, are you?”

Mu Chenglong also said helplessly, ”It’s going to be incredibly tough to win now. The value of this single piece is more than the highest jade price I’ve ever heard of in my entire life.”

Although many speculated that Chu Hao would lose, they also felt that even in defeat, he was still incredibly impressive—certainly more so than the ”Gambling God” Xu Sheng.

Su Huansheng turned his head and smiled faintly. ”Young friend Chu, although I don’t know much about jade, you’ll need to surpass thirty billion to beat me. As for this stone of yours?”

Su Huansheng had previously tried to sense any jade within the Seven Apertures Sky stone but had felt nothing. He couldn’t understand why Chu Hao had chosen it.

Chu Hao waved his hand. ”My stone,” he declared, ”once cut, will be so astonishing it will amaze the heavens. I can’t even guarantee what might happen then.”

Everyone was taken aback. His boasting is a bit over the top, they thought. What jade could be cut that would amaze the heavens? The previous ones were already astonishing enough!

Su Huansheng said, ”Then I, too, want to see what’s inside.”

With that, the stone was placed on the cutting machine. The machine whirred to life, and they began to cut.

After the first cut, there was no jade within the stone’s crust.

The second cut, still nothing.

The third cut, nothing as well.

At this, everyone grew nervous. Could he have gambled and lost completely?

The large Seven Apertures Sky stone had three-fifths of its bulk cut away, layer by layer. What remained was only about the size of a football, and still, there was no sign of jade.

”The stone is only that big now. Even if it were Imperial Green, it couldn’t possibly win.”

”He’s lost. It seems he made a misjudgment.”

Pang Zhengguang exclaimed excitedly, ”He’s losing! Chu Hao is going to lose!”

Pang Dalong slapped him on the back of the head, scolding, ”Even if he loses, he’s still far better than you, kid! If you were half as capable as him, I could finally rest easy.”

How could I compare? Pang Zhengguang thought, aggrieved. We’re not on the same level at all!

From the beginning of the gambling match, Tina had been watching intently. Like everyone else, she was shocked and shaken, unable to describe her current emotions. She finally understood just how formidable Chu Hao was. Suddenly, she found the young man standing on the stage to be incredibly charismatic.

Mu Chenglong also sighed. ”There’s no chance now.”

With the stone cut down so much, of course, there was no chance. Even if it contained Imperial Green or top-quality emeralds, it couldn’t possibly be worth enough to beat that thirty billion valuation.

Su Huansheng looked at Chu Hao. ”Young friend Chu, this stone of yours is somewhat disappointing.”

Chu Hao waved his hand dismissively, clasping his hands behind his back. ”You can’t really think I’ve lost just because we’ve cut this much, can you? If that’s what you believe, then I’m sorry, but you’re all merely seeing things with mortal eyes.”

”Ding! Host has successfully been pretentious, gaining 2000 Pretentiousness Points.”