The Casino (Part 1)

Casinos were people eaters. They were a bottomless pit that did not spare even the bones of those who sank into it.

Raizel had travelled far and he had seen what gambling had done to a lot of people. People who sold their wives and children only to gamble the money again. Wealthy people who turned into paupers because of their lack of control.

And it was not just the mundanes, even cultivators were not spared. He had seen many outer and inner disciples who complained that the sect's monthly allocation was too little yet squandered their entire savings betting at different fights or gambling away in hopes of earning a huge fortune.

What gambling does is, it dug at the foundation of people. Destroying their perception of money. After a little sweetness, it was easy to go out of control.

Raizel sighed as he scanned the Box Ponzi room curiously. 

There were ten rows of counters on one side. On the counter were black coloured boxes. Some were as small as a jewellery box, others were as big as a suitcase. There were also others that were even bigger; over three feet tall. They obviously could not fit on the counter, thus they were directly placed on the ground.

Different shapes but the same colour. The Aramide ore was embedded when making the boxes. Aramide was a unique ore, it had the ability to block spiritual essence. One can not peer into a box that was made with Aramide. This made it to be the favourite metal used to build prisons in sects.

The room was different from other rooms. It was clean and silent.

Different cultivators stood before the counters, some meticulously observing the boxes on the display counter while others took the box and rubbed it in their hands to get a feel of it even though they knew that they could not penetrate the box.

Some were discussing quietly with their companions, their voices were low as they tried their best not to disturb others. 

Come to think of it, when Nathan had spoken, his voice had also been low. He glanced around the room and finally saw the cause. On a large sign was written..#No Noise…#No Fighting.

A clear mellow voice soon sounded near him, "Good afternoon." It was a girl that wore the uniform of the casino. She looked at him with a daze before looking behind him and paled, "Nathan, what are you doing here? Didn't the management fire you?" Then realising what she had blurted out, her cheeks tinted in embarrassment and she bowed.

Nathan rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Good afternoon to you too, Cynthia. It would please you to know that I was not fired rather, I quit. Those two words mean different things, please pay attention next time. I came here to have fun with my friends or is that not allowed too?" 

The girl seemed to pale even further, her job training was the only thing keeping her there.

Austin cleared his throat before he began in a kind and gentle voice, "My apologies. Can you tell us the rules here?"

"Every box on these two counters is sold at fifty spirit stones each. The boxes at the right counter are sold at only twenty spirit stones. The boxes in the middle counter are sold for a hundred spirit stones." She started in a confident voice.

"Like there is a difference…" Nathan murmured.

"You can win anything here. You can get treasures, pills, weapons, cultivation methods or techniques. You can even find million spirit stones in one of those boxes. It is our goal that within these walls, you will find all that you desire." Her voice had taken on a rather bewitching quality. It was clear that she has been working in the casino for quite a time.

"Or nothing at all. You didn't mention that." Nathan muttering had no intention of stopping. 

Raizel rubbed his brows. 

"The boxes would be unveiled here in this room. Of course, the casino promises you security within these walls and outside if you desire."

"For money."

The voices of the people around them had started to increase.

"Someone is unveiling his boxes. Honoured guest can watch." She bowed and left but not before throwing Nathan an utter look of contempt.

Nathan gave her the sweetest smile before dragging Austin and Raizel to watch the fun.

Raizel watched the tanned hand on his pale hands with a dizzying feeling. How troublesome. It was so alike.

A tall muscular girl was unveiling her boxes. Empty boxes were scattered around her. She was on the twentieth and final box.

Her hands were shaking slightly and her face was filled with both intense excitement and nervousness. 

"Ah! If Sila does not get anything this time, it means her luck is more rotten than mine." A male voice commented.

The woman next to him agreed, her hands were wrapped tightly around the man's waist. "True, she has been coming here every day this week. Heard she made a killing during the last hunt so she came to relax."

The discussions around her affected Sila's state of mind at all. She had made quite a lot of money but she had almost spent it all. She needed to win big this time or else..or else she did not know what she was going to do. 

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down. She expressionlessly activated the spiritual essence within her sea of consciousness, pouring it into the sealed black box.

The box opened, swallowing slightly as she looked in before gasping. Inside was a round wax pill. A large smile adorned her face, the Heavens had finally smiled upon her.

There were countless symbols on the wax pill. The scent of herbs and decay seemed to fill the air. Many cultivators took several steps back. 

"What on earth is that pill?" Someone asked with an uncertain tone.

The person next to him rolled his eyes, "Which mountain did you come out from, That is a tier 5 poison pill, Deathroot Pill. Only an Earth rank Alchemist and above can refine such a pill." He then sent his voice into the mind of the man, "I heard that it can poison even an early stage Dao Tribulation Cultivator."

Raizel's eyes calmly glanced at the Deathroot Pill. He was very familiar with it. This was the creation of Lucas, his junior martial brother. Lucas, for all of his craziness, was extremely talented. He was grounded in both the Dao of Fire and Metal. Crafting weapons came so easy to him and in his spare time, he loved to play with poison. The Deathroot Pill was one of his experiments.

It was a unique pill that used not only herbs but also metal in its refining process. It was also a terrible pill that caused the decay of one's body targeting the blood and meridians. If ingested for a long time, it can destroy the person's hope of even cultivation, leading to a slow and painful death. The Pill was supposed to be used for war, to fight against the invading Devils and after the recipe was meant to be destroyed, never brought to light.

His lips pressed into a thin line. What was this pill doing here? It was just 300 years…

"Haha! To think that I will see this here." A short old man soon came in from the door. "Old Jiang is becoming more generous. Little girl, I will give you twenty thousand spirit stones for that pill."

A middle-aged man soon rushed to the old man with the most flattering smile possible, "Mr Jun, Welcome. Welcome."

The short old man just waved his hands to stop him from speaking, "I just came to see Lady Jiang. Does Old Jiang plan to give out all his wealth at this rate?"

The manager just smiled before he gave the gamblers a look, "Not at all. Today is Old Jiang's birthday so he is in a good mood. To celebrate, of course, luck must fall on our esteem guests." His voice was louder than it should be and all the cultivators perked their ears. 

The short old man soon entered another door followed by Sila and the manager. The cultivators eyed each other warily before rushing to the counters.

Wide-eyed, Raizel watched them before he turned to his companions. Austin seemed as surprised as he was, as for Nathan, he looked back with a crazy grin on his face, a pile of black boxes at his feet.

Raizel rubbed his brow again. Really Familiar.