Betting on Stones

"Qiu Nuo, this is good. It's simply tailored for you. Based on your energy now, it's easy to find out if there's a Soul Jade contained in these stones!" Xue Ling said agitatedly.

"Alright, let's give it a shot then. I don't have any more money now, anyway."

Qiu Nuo tossed the money bag in her hands and squeezed into the crowd of onlookers.

At this time, a middle-aged man in his thirties already bought a stone. He was carefully cutting it by the side.

He had a sharp steel knife in his hands. He only cut off a thin layer every time his knife went down.

Qiu Nuo knew that he was afraid he would accidentally destroy the Soul Jade contained in it. If any.

However, with just a glance, Qiu Nuo knew that there wasn't anything in it. She immediately lost interest and shifted her gaze to the counter.

"The performance of this stone's not bad. I'm buying it." A man in his twenties suddenly threw a money bag down. He carried a stone the size of a watermelon excitedly to the side and started to cut it.

Qiu Nuo swept her gaze over it and was shocked to find that there was actually something precious inside. However, it was just a Sapphire Jade the size of a walnut.

A Sapphire Jade was the most invaluable type of Soul Jade. Also, as it wasn't large in size, it was worth at most seven or eight hundred gold coins.

Upon seeing this, Qiu Nuo no longer wanted to waste time anymore, lest the good products get chosen by others. By then, no matter how strong her energy was, she wouldn't be able to fully exert its efficacy.

Not to arouse suspicion, Qiu Nuo followed the rest and just walked down the long counter.

After taking a look at all the stones, she fixed her gaze on two of them.

"Boss, I want this stone." Qiu Nuo placed one hundred gold coins on the counter and pointed to one of the stones.

The manager at the counter looked at Qiu Nuo, puzzled. There were still a lot of good stones around. Why did this girl choose this grey stone? In the past, such stones were normally sold only at the very end…

However, this manager didn't ask any further questions. After confirming that the number of gold coins on the counter was correct, he gave Qiu Nuo the stone.

Qiu Nuo smiled at the manager. She carried the stone and walked toward the place to cut it.

Who knew that at this time, a ruckus could be heard suddenly?

"Oh my. He's so lucky. He actually obtained a Sapphire Jade!"

"It looks a little small, but at least it's something good!"

"How lucky. I don't know what year it belongs to…"

Upon seeing that someone obtained a jade, the manager immediately waved his hands. A white-haired old man walked out.

"Not bad, lad! Would you like our treasure appraiser from Qiwu Pavilion to appraise the year of this Sapphire Jade?" The manager came to that young man and smiled.

"Of course." The young man nodded excitedly.

The appraisal fee from Qiwu Pavilion was just ten gold coins. Compared to this Sapphire Jade, it was a small amount of money.

Now, he couldn't wait to find out the value of this Sapphire Jade. One had to know that he had already been losing for half a month here.

The white-haired old man stroked his beard and slowly approached the young man. He took that piece of Sapphire Jade.

He squinted his eyes slightly and stared at the Sapphire Jade. After sizing it up, he said slowly, "The quality of this Sapphire Jade's not bad. It has almost no impurities. It's a pity that it's only a hundred-years-old. It's worth at most eight hundred gold coins. However, if you're willing to sell it at our auction house, you might be able to get thousands of coins instead. As long as we get to withdraw a portion as commission."

Although Sapphire Jade was common, it wasn't as easy to buy a piece of it.

As such, as long as there wasn't a clearly-marked price, it wasn't difficult to increase the selling price of this Sapphire Jade by thirty percent in an auction house.

"No." After hearing the white-haired old man's words, he shook his head with a bitter smile. "I'm coincidentally lacking a Soul Jade. I'll keep it for myself!"

Initially, he only had enough money to buy a good piece of Soul Jade. However, he wanted to come here to try his luck. In the end, he lost horribly. Thankfully, the stone today produced a Sapphire Jade. Otherwise, he would only be receiving beatings upon returning home.

Seeing that the young man was unwilling to hand over the Sapphire Jade to Qiwu Pavilion for sale, the white-haired old man shook his head regrettably. He turned around and wanted to leave.

"Mister, help me take a look too!" A crisp female voice suddenly sounded.

The white-haired old man turned around and saw a girl in a long blue dress. She was smiling and carrying a large stone that was cut only a little.

"Miss, you haven't cut this stone deeply yet. Could it be that a jade was produced so quickly?" The white-haired old man frowned.

The stone Qiu Nuo was holding in her hands wasn't smaller than the one that the young man bought just now.

After cutting a small piece, the stone basically didn't change much. As such, the white-haired old man asked this question.

"Yes. Thankfully, I've cut it carefully. Otherwise, the Soul Jade inside would definitely be destroyed." Qiu Nuo flipped over the stone and revealed the big cut.

Upon seeing that a piece of red was wrapped in the stone, everyone couldn't help but suck a breath of cold air.

"Could this be… Blood Soul Jade?" The white-haired old man widened his eyes in disbelief. He pointed at the stone in Qiu Nuo's hand with trembling fingers.

Qiu Nuo curved her lips and didn't say anything.

"Miss, do you mind if I cut the stone for you?" The manager rubbed his palms and looked at the stone in Qiu Nuo's hands with glowing eyes.

He hadn't sold anything of good quality from this counter for the past few months. If he could really cut out a piece of Blood Soul Jade, it would definitely bring a crowd to his counter.

Also, if this girl was willing to put up the Blood Soul Jade for sale at their Qiwu Pavilion, he would be able to get a considerable amount of commission.

Qiu Nuo didn't have experience in cutting stones. Although she could estimate the size of Soul Jade in this stone, she was really afraid that she would damage it. As such, she nodded and said, "I'll trouble you, then."

"That's no trouble at all." The manager smiled until his eyes formed a line. He took out a tool meant for stone cutting from the counter, then placed Qiu Nuo's stone on top of it carefully.

As the layers of stone were peeled off, the red crystal inside was completely revealed. There was actually a red Soul Jade the size of an adult human fist.

"Hurry up and let me take a look." The white-haired old man hurriedly took the red Soul Jade from the manager's hands. Without asking Qiu Nuo if she wanted it to be appraised, he stared and started to examine it carefully.

The onlookers by the side exclaimed.

"The size of this Soul Jade is huge. This girl has made it big!"

"Could this really be a Blood Soul Jade? If it is and this girl is willing to auction it, Tianluo City will be lively today!"

"This Soul Jade's really pretty. It's almost transparent. It must be very pure…"

After a long while, the manager noticed that the white-haired old man didn't say anything. He couldn't help but ask, "Elder Lao, how is it?"

The white-haired old man sighed and returned the red Soul Jade to Qiu Nuo. "I've made a misjudgment just now. It's simply because this piece of Soul Jade's very pure and looks almost the same as a Blood Soul Jade…"

Upon hearing his words, a trace of disappointment flashed past the manager's eyes. However, he said very quickly, "Elder Lao, don't leave us hanging. Even if it's not a Blood Soul Jade, it shouldn't be much worse. Share the result with us quickly!"