The surroundings were so silent that even a whisper was audible!
"What? Did I hear wrong? The Lord of Jade will compensate Ling Yun with his Green Dragon Out at Sea?"
"Eh… He bought it for two hundred million. Someone even offered four hundred million for it, which he didn't take. Now he's going to give it away for free?"
"Just for a chance to cut the King of Stones? That guy might have really good luck, but that King of Stones might not contain jade in it, right?"
"Yes, the Lord of Jade will have made such a huge loss if it's really just a trashy piece of rock…"
"He made a huge loss already. The three cartloads of stones he sold to Ling Yun at eighty million had jade in every single one of them. Now there's even such a huge piece of top-grade red jade…"
"He was so petty just before but so generous now. The Lord of Jade is really mysterious…"
"Don't you understand? The Lord of Jade wants to befriend that guy…"
There were all sorts of comments. However, most of the people within the circle had their own understanding of the matter and didn't say much.
Song Zhengyang had known the Lord of Jade for many years. He understood the Lord of Jade the most and could guess what he was thinking.
The Lord of Jade was a businessman, but he wasn't a black-hearted one.
Most jade stones had spiritual energy, it was just a matter of more or less. A piece of good jade grew with the person. Black-hearted people wouldn't be able to bring out its shine.
Legend had it that as long as the owner of the jade carried it with him regularly, it would protect its owner even at the expense of its life.
Sometimes, the owner of the jade would find a crack on the jade even though there wasn't any impact to it. That meant that the jade blocked a disaster for him.
The Lord of Jade loved jade his whole life and sincerely believed in it.
At the start, the Lord of Jade was afraid that he might have made a mistake when Ling Yun wanted to buy the three carts of jade. That was why he deliberately upped the price to test Ling Yun.
He even angered Song Zhengyang and Murong Wenshi for it.
That was because someone would only pay such a high price for the raw stones if they truly believed that there was jade inside.
The three cartloads of stones might be trash in others' eyes, but the Lord of Jade knew that they weren't trash in Ling Yun's eyes. He believed that the person Song Zhengyang brought with him wouldn't be a fool.
They had to go by business rules. If not, the only one making a loss would be him!
The Lord of Jade had to make sure that he wouldn't regret selling the three whole carts even if all of them had jade inside. That was the rule of the trade.
Therefore, while he did jack up the price, he would, of course, had allowed Ling Yun to bargain. His bottom line was actually forty million yuan. He could have even gone down to thirty million yuan because he was friends with Song Zhengyang.
However, the Lord of Jade didn't think that Ling Yun would just accept and pay on the spot when he gave his opening figure of eighty million yuan.
At this juncture, anyone would think that the Lord of Jade bullied Ling Yun.
However, both Ling Yun and the Lord of Jade agreed to this price. That was the spirit behind stone gambling. Everything was fine as long as both sides were happy.
Everyone thought that the biggest loser was Ling Yun before they cut the stones.
Almost everyone knew that the real losers were actually the Lord of Jade and Han Laosan. Ling Yun only took sure bets.
The tables turned then. Everyone thought that Ling Yun was the greatest winner here, and the Lord of Jade was the opposite.
However, such were the rules of gambling. The Lord of Jade had already obtained a premium from the sale. Whatever was in the stones was of no concern to him.
That was because they had already obtained the profits they felt they were due to have. They were selling raw stones and could only rely on their intuition.
The Lord of Jade and Han Laosan finally understood that they met with someone better than them. That was why the Lord of Jade gave Ling Yun a hold fist salute out of respect and admiration.
In any industry, the one who was most accomplished was the one to be looked up to. That principle hadn't changed.
The Lord of Jade knew that top-grade red jade was worth at least one billion yuan once he laid his eyes upon it. This was just one-fifth of the candied gourd.
Now it seemed like this gourd could be in the top three precious stones in China!
That also meant that an additional five billion yuan was added to Ling Yun's net worth.
The Lord of Jade was respectful to Ling Yun not because of his deep pockets but because he managed to turn 100% of the trash he had into treasures. Could this be done by someone normal?
It was something unachievable even if the Lord of Jade, Song Zhengyang, Han Laosan, and Murong Wenshi were to team up together to try.
None of the stones in the Lord of Jade's yard was comparable to Ling Yun. There could be many prodigies but only one that really understood things. Just like how there were many stones but only one Ling Yun.
Some of the smarter ones had already caught on. The Lord of Jade was showing a gesture of friendship.
Ling Yun had 100% accuracy. The biggest question was this, would that King of Rubbish contain jade in it?
Song Zhengyang was certain that the Lord of Jade would never have another night of sound rest if he couldn't cut the stone open today.
Since that was the case, he might as well give the Green Dragon Out at Sea to Ling Yun as goodwill.
What was this stone compared to a friendship with Ling Yun?
Everyone would benefit.
Which of the people present wasn't smart? They didn't make a sound because they were impressed with the Lord of Jade's generosity and were waiting to witness the cut of the King of Stones.
Since Ling Yun got what he wanted, there was no need to delay the crowd from what they wanted.
"Little pal, I'm sure you know that this King of Stones was sold by cuts of ten centimeters at five hundred thousand yuan per cut. That was to keep the thrill alive," the Lord of Jade said.
"Yes, your staff told me about it. What are you getting at, Lord of Jade?" Ling Yun acknowledged.
"What I mean is, since you have bought this stone, why not cut it personally?" the Lord of Jade answered almost cheekily.
He wants to checkmate me! The Lord of Jade wants to see me cut the stone personally. How would I know what to do?
"No problem!"
Ling Yun wanted to reject him outright, but he realized that it was getting late. He still had tons of things to do, so he agreed instead.
It was just cutting stones, easy peasy.
The Lord of Jade roared with laughter excitedly. He cleared his throat and said to the audience, "Everyone, listen carefully. This little pal here agreed to cut his stone personally!"
Everyone heard it. Excitement surged through the air towards the King of Stones.
Ling Yun laughed bitterly, only to hear the Lord of Jade give his order. "You lot there, move the stone cutting machine!"
It was impossible to move the King of Stones due to its size and weight.
Ling Yun didn't want to make it so troublesome. "No need, I have my ways."
He walked towards the King of Stones without another word. At that moment, the forgotten King of Stones became the highlight to an eager crowd once again.
The group of security guards moved to the battlefield once they heard Ling Yun was going to cut the stone. However, the place where the King of Stones was placed was surrounded by many raw stones. There wasn't much space to move. Many people had to stand atop mountains of rocks.
Ling Yun moved to the King of Stones in a jiffy. Beside him was Long Wu, and he was followed closely by Song Zhengyang, Murong Wenshi and his granddaughter, the Lord of Jade, Han Laosan, and the rest. Every one of them was aching to know the answer.
Tie Xiaohu and his brothers from Green Dragon didn't follow. They were protecting Ling Yun's stones.
"Please step a bit farther away, everyone. I only need a moment…"
Ling Yun paced around his King of Stones with a boyish grin.
Ling Yun stepped back and activated his Yin-Yang harmony balance and his Yin-Yang Eye to the maximum!
He then conjured the Dragon Vein Sword via telekinesis and flashed his arms around in a lightning motion!
"Whoosh!"
Ling Yun was too fast. Most only saw a white flash of light!
Plonk!
A piece of half-circle stone that was the size of a pot two centimeters thick fell from the highest point and crashed onto the floor.
A bright, shiny, and translucent green filled the eyes of the people.
It was soul-enticing imperial green jade…