Gambling Stone Duel

The atmosphere in the exhibition hall had reached a boiling point.

The news that Ye Chen had successfully cut three consecutive rough stones spread like wildfire throughout the entire stone gambling convention.

The title of "God of Gamblers" spread within a mere ten minutes.

The crowd surrounded Ye Chen tightly, holding their phones higher than their heads, with camera flashes going off incessantly.

Ye Chen stood next to the stone-cutting table, three jadeites worth eighty million placed before him.

Imperial Green, Ice Species with Floating Flowers, and Top-grade Black Jadeite.

Each piece was of top-tier quality.

The light had returned to Ye Chen's eyes, and his entire demeanor was completely different from half an hour ago.

He raised his head, his gaze crossing the crowd to look at the other side of the exhibition hall.

Shen Fei was standing in the VIP area, holding a glass of red wine, chatting and laughing with several jewelers.

Su Qingxue was right beside him.

Ye Chen's jaw tightened.

Just then, the crowd suddenly began to part to the sides.

Someone was walking over.

The footsteps were neither fast nor slow.

But everyone automatically made way.

There was no need for bodyguards to clear the path, nor did anyone need to shout for people to step aside.

Once the crowd saw who was coming, they instinctively retreated to both sides.

Shen Fei.

He set down his wine glass and walked alone through the crowd toward Ye Chen.

Su Qingxue stood still, but her gaze continuously followed Shen Fei's back, her brows slightly furrowed.

The entire venue fell silent.

Everyone realized that a good show was about to begin.

Shen Fei stopped in front of Ye Chen.

The two were less than two meters apart.

One wore a custom suit, exuding a calm and composed aura.

The other wore crumpled old clothes, his face full of hostility.

One stood in the clouds.

The other had just crawled out of the mud.

But it had to be admitted that the three jadeites worth eighty million behind Ye Chen gave him confidence.

At least in this moment, he was no longer that miserable dog locked up in a detention center.

"Mr. Ye, long time no see."

Shen Fei spoke, his tone peaceful, as if greeting an ordinary friend.

Ye Chen stared at him intently, his jaw muscles tight as steel wires.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard someone cut three jadeites in a row at the stone gambling convention, seeing green with every cut, and was crowned the God of Gamblers."

Shen Fei looked around and glanced at the three jadeites.

"I came over to see if he is really that impressive."

"Get lost once you're done looking."

Ye Chen's voice was cold enough to freeze someone to death.

The surrounding crowd collectively gasped.

Normally, the number of people in Jinling who dared to speak to Shen Fei like this could be counted on one hand.

Shen Fei was not angry.

He even smiled.

"Mr. Ye has quite a temper."

"But that's normal. Anyone locked up for twenty days would have a temper."

This sentence seemed casual, but it cut deep.

It was equivalent to reminding everyone in front of hundreds of people that Ye Chen had just been released from the detention center.

Sure enough, whispers immediately broke out around them.

"Detention center? This guy has done time?"

"He's the one who was practicing medicine illegally on the internet before, right?"

"So the God of Gamblers has a criminal record..."

Ye Chen's face darkened to the extreme.

Shen Fei seemed completely oblivious to his change in expression and continued speaking on his own.

"Mr. Ye's eye for stone gambling is indeed quite good. I admire it."

"So I want to make a bet with you."

The entire venue instantly fell silent.

Make a bet?

Shen Fei wants to gamble on stones with Ye Chen?

Ye Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Bet on what?"

Shen Fei held up a finger.

"Each of us picks a rough stone and we cut them at the same time. Whoever's material is worth more, wins."

"The winner takes both pieces of material."

Simple and brutal.

But Ye Chen did not agree immediately.

He wasn't stupid.

There had to be a trick if Shen Fei was initiating a stone gambling bet.

"Why should I bet with you?"

Shen Fei looked at him.

"Because of the stakes."

"What stakes do you want?"

"If you win."

Shen Fei paused slightly.

Then he turned his head and glanced at Su Qingxue in the distance.

Everyone followed his gaze.

Su Qingxue stood in the VIP area, wearing a light blue dress, looking so beautiful among the crowd that she seemed unreal.

Shen Fei withdrew his gaze and looked at Ye Chen.

"If you win, Su Qingxue leaves with you. I will never interfere in your affairs again."

Boom!

The whole venue exploded!

Su Qingxue!

Shen Fei was using Su Qingxue as a stake!

Everyone's eyes widened, looking at Shen Fei in disbelief.

Ye Chen's pupils contracted sharply!

His heart felt like it had been punched, pounding wildly!

Su Qingxue!

Of everything he had lost, the one he couldn't let go of the most was Su Qingxue!

If he won this round, Su Qingxue could return to his side!

But reason told him there must be a trap.

Shen Fei would never make a losing deal.

The reason he dared to propose this stake was that he must be absolutely certain he would win.

"And if I lose?"

Ye Chen suppressed his surging emotions and asked in a deep voice.

Shen Fei looked at him, his tone so light it almost sounded like he was talking to himself.

"If you lose, you kowtow to me three times in front of everyone. Then, from now on, leave Jinling and never appear before Su Qingxue again."

Kowtow!

Ye Chen's body suddenly tensed!

Making him, Ye Chen, kowtow to Shen Fei!

This condition was more unbearable to him than being killed!

He had been raised as a genius by his master on Kunlun Mountain since childhood; it was always others who kowtowed to him!

Kneel to someone?

Never in this lifetime!

But Su Qingxue...

Ye Chen's gaze uncontrollably drifted back toward Su Qingxue's direction.

She stood there like an ice sculpture.

He saw the pearl hair clip behind her ear.

Very delicate, very beautiful.

Not her previous style.

It must be a gift from Shen Fei.

Ye Chen ground his teeth audibly.

His brain was working frantically.

Stone gambling relied on eyesight.

He had the Eye of X-Ray Vision!

He could see through the internal structure of any rough stone!

When it came to stone gambling, he was invincible!

No matter how rich or powerful Shen Fei was, in this field, he was an amateur!

How could an amateur beat him!

Ye Chen took a deep breath.

"It's a bet!"

The words were spoken with resounding force, echoing in the exhibition hall.

The entire venue boiled over!

Hundreds of people let out exclamations at the same time!

Phones were raised even higher, and the live stream chat was exploding!

"Holy shit! He really took the bet!"

"The stake is Su Qingxue! This is too crazy!"

"The God of Gamblers versus the Crown Prince, this is a scene you won't see in a hundred years!"

In the distance, the moment Su Qingxue heard Ye Chen agree, her expression changed.

She walked over quickly.

"Shen Fei!"

Her voice was kept very low, but it clearly carried urgency.

"What are you doing? How can you use me as a stake?"

Shen Fei turned around and looked at her.

Su Qingxue glared at him, her eyes filled with anger, unease, and a trace of grievance she hadn't even realized herself.

Shen Fei lowered his head, leaning close to her ear.

His voice was very soft, audible only to the two of them.

"Trust me."

Two words.

Su Qingxue froze.

She looked into Shen Fei's eyes.

Those eyes were as calm as a lake.

No nervousness.

No uncertainty.

Only an absolute, unquestionable certainty.

As if he already knew the outcome of this bet.

Su Qingxue's lips moved, wanting to say something, but ultimately she said nothing.

She took a step back and stood at the edge of the crowd.

The anger on her face mostly dissipated, but the tips of her ears turned slightly red.

She didn't know why she stopped objecting after hearing those two words.

Perhaps it was because, from the moment she met Shen Fei until now, he had never done anything he wasn't confident about.

Every single time, no matter how dangerous the situation seemed, he was always the one who won in the end.

Every time.

Su Qingxue took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest.

Just watch.

If he lost, she wouldn't mind slapping him right in the face.

...

The stone gambling duel officially began.

The rules were simple.

From the remaining raw stones in the exhibition hall, each side would choose one. They would be cut open simultaneously, and the one with the higher value would win.

One round to determine the winner.

No going back.

Ye Chen walked toward the raw stone area first.

His X-ray vision was activated once again.

Golden light surged deep within his pupils, and the internal structures of all the raw stones were completely exposed to his eyes.

He wasn't in a hurry.

He spent a full five minutes scanning every single remaining raw stone in the hall.

Finally, his gaze locked onto one.

Right in the center of the hall, there was a black raw stone about the size of a watermelon.

Its exterior looked completely ordinary.

But his X-ray vision told him that hidden inside this stone was a cluster of top-grade imperial green jade!

The quality was even better than the previous one!

It had better transparency and a richer color, almost reaching the level of glass-type imperial green!

Jade of this quality was extremely rare anywhere in the world!

If cut out, its value would be at least over a hundred million!

Over a hundred million!

Ye Chen didn't believe Shen Fei could find anything better than this!

"I choose this one."

Ye Chen pressed his hand against the black raw stone, his voice steady and powerful.

The entire audience's gaze shifted to Shen Fei.

Shen Fei stood at the other end of the raw stone area, his hands stuffed in his pockets, leisurely wandering through the piles of stones.

He didn't look anxious at all.

He even seemed a bit absent-minded.

Looking left, looking right, occasionally bending down to pat a stone, then shaking his head and walking away.

The hundreds of people in the audience watched his every move, their hearts in their throats.

Ye Chen was also watching him.

He noticed a detail.

Shen Fei didn't use any instruments, didn't use a flashlight, and didn't even carefully observe the texture of the stones' crusts.

He was just strolling around aimlessly.

Like a tourist who knew nothing.

Most of the uneasiness in Ye Chen's heart dissipated.

Sure enough, an amateur.

Stone gambling relied on eyesight and experience. No matter how rich Shen Fei was, he was just a layman in this field.

Just as he was thinking this, Shen Fei stopped.

He stood in the most secluded corner of the exhibition hall, facing an inconspicuous gray stone.

It wasn't much bigger than a fist.

The surface was pitted and dusty gray, no different from a random stone picked up at a construction site.

Shen Fei bent down and picked it up.

He weighed it in his hand.

"I'll just take this one."

The entire hall fell dead silent.

Then, a massive commotion erupted!

"What kind of garbage is that!"

"That stone is worth five hundred bucks at most!"

"Is Young Master Shen crazy? Using that kind of trash to bet against imperial green?"

"It's over, it's over, Young Master Shen is guaranteed to lose!"

Even the man in white couldn't help but lean into Ye Chen's ear and whisper.

"Brother, it's a sure win! The stone he picked is obviously scrap! You've definitely won!"

Ye Chen looked at the dusty little gray stone in Shen Fei's hand.

He subconsciously used his X-ray vision.

Golden light flooded his pupils, penetrating the gray outer skin, trying to see the internal structure of the stone clearly.

But the next second, Ye Chen frowned.

He couldn't see clearly.

It wasn't that he couldn't see it at all, but the internal structure was unusually complex, as if obscured by some force. It was blurry, and he could only make out a rough outline.

He had never encountered a situation like this before.

A sense of unease rose from the bottom of his heart.

But Ye Chen quickly suppressed it.

No matter what was inside that stone, the black raw stone he had chosen contained something close to glass-type imperial green!

Worth over a hundred million!

Even if there was jade inside Shen Fei's stone, how good could it possibly be?

It couldn't be better than his!

Absolutely impossible!

Ye Chen took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his unease.

"Cut them."

The two raw stones were moved onto two side-by-side stone-cutting tables.

Two stone-cutting masters took their positions simultaneously.

The hundreds of people in the hall crowded together so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through. Those in the back stood on their tiptoes, craning their necks to look.

The number of viewers in the live stream had already surpassed five hundred thousand.

Bullet comments frantically flooded the screen.

"Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!"

"The God of Gamblers will definitely win! Imperial green is invincible!"

"Young Master Shen's stone is just a joke..."

"Su Qingxue is so beautiful! I'll be jealous of whoever wins!"

Shen Fei stood next to his cutting table, his hands in his pockets, his expression unchanging from beginning to end.

Su Qingxue stood ten meters away, her hands clenched into fists, her heartbeat racing to the extreme.

Her reason told her that Shen Fei must be confident.

But her emotions couldn't calm down.

Because she was the wager.

Both cutting machines started at the same time.

Bzzzt!

Bzzzt!

The piercing sound of metal blades slicing into stone erupted simultaneously!

Water splashed, and stone dust filled the air!

Everyone held their breath!

On Ye Chen's side.

The blade advanced three centimeters.

Gray, gray, gray.

And then!

A splash of emerald green suddenly appeared!

Rich, vibrant, and translucent!

Imperial green!

Even greener than the previous one!

Even richer!

Washed by the cooling water, that cluster of emerald green seemed to come alive, exuding a dazzling luster!

"Imperial green! It's imperial green again!"

"It's close to glass-type! This quality! My God!"

"Over a hundred million! This piece is worth at least a hundred million!"

The stone-cutting master's hands were trembling as he carefully continued to push the blade forward.

The area of emerald green grew larger and larger, almost filling the entire core region of the raw stone!

Full green!

Glass-type full green imperial jade!

The crowd went crazy!

Ye Chen's chest heaved violently, and a smile finally tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He turned to look at Shen Fei.

"Shen Fei, you've lost!"

His voice was loud and full of confidence!

The audience's gaze uniformly shifted to Shen Fei's cutting table.

The cutting master on Shen Fei's side was still slowly pushing forward.

Gray.

Gray.

Still gray.

No emerald green.

No changes whatsoever.

"It really is scrap!"

"Young Master Shen is definitely going to lose!"

"What could possibly be in that stone? Even cement is worth more than that!"

Ye Chen's smile grew wider.

But right at this moment.

The stone-cutting master's hands suddenly stopped!

He looked down at the cut.

It was as if he had been struck by lightning.

He froze.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

The stone-cutting master slowly raised his head. The expression on his face could no longer be described as shocked.

It was a kind of terror, as if he had seen a ghost.

"This... this is..."

His lips trembled, and his voice was shrill and distorted.

"A red... a red diamond!!"

The entire hall seemed to have been put on mute.

Dead silence.

Then, everyone rushed toward Shen Fei's cutting table at the same time!

At the cut.

Beneath the gray stone shell.

A red gemstone the size of a thumbnail was embedded in the rock layer, radiating a bewitching, soul-captivating light!

It wasn't jade.

It was a diamond.

A natural red diamond!

One of the rarest gemstone varieties in the world!

The known value of top-tier natural red diamonds ranged from two to three million US dollars per carat!

And the one before their eyes looked to be at least five carats!

A five-carat natural red diamond!

According to international market prices, it was worth at least ten million US dollars!

Equivalent to over seventy million RMB!

Coupled with the scarcity premium and collectible value of a natural red diamond, the actual transaction price could reach 150 million or even 200 million!

Double the value of Ye Chen's imperial green!

The entire venue fell dead silent for a full five seconds.

Then, it erupted like a volcano!

"A natural red diamond!! My God!!"

"How is this possible! How could there be a red diamond inside a rough stone!"

"It's not jadeite! It's something ten times more expensive than jadeite!"

"Young Master Shen won! Young Master Shen won!"

Ye Chen's smile froze on his face.

Like a scene where the pause button had been pressed.

Then, that smile shattered piece by piece.

Starting from the corners of his mouth.

Spreading to the corners of his eyes.

Until finally, his entire face fell.

A red diamond.

A natural red diamond.

He had brought out a trump card-level glass-type imperial green jadeite.

But what Shen Fei held in his hand was something on a completely different dimension than a trump card.

Ye Chen's mind was buzzing.

His X-ray vision couldn't see through that stone.

Now he knew why.

What was inside that stone wasn't jadeite at all.

It was a diamond.

The crystalline structure of a diamond is completely different from that of jadeite. His X-ray vision was meant for observing human meridians and jade structures; its penetrating effect on diamonds was inherently poor!

How did Shen Fei know there was a red diamond in that stone?

How could he possibly know?

Unless he wasn't gambling to begin with!

This showdown, from beginning to end, was never a gamble!

It was an execution!

Ye Chen's knees went weak.

Shen Fei stood by the stone-cutting table, looking down at the red diamond that shimmered with a blood-red light under the lamps.

Then he raised his head and looked at Ye Chen.

His gaze was calm.

Unhurried.

Carrying an indifference that induced despair.

From start to finish, he hadn't shed a single drop of sweat.