CH 26.1

Chapter 26.1

Seeing what the Jiang Ke fans had to say, this time it was the others who became silent.

Although many people on Starnet didn’t like Jiang Ke’s pretentious look, as far as the betting war was concerned, they all tacitly agreed that Jiang Ke would win.

Everyone knew, that because of the limit on betting rates, a level 2 Stone Gambler was many times more valuable than a level 1 Stone Gambler.

More than half of all Stone Gamblers would be stuck on the path to becoming level 2 Stone Gamblers, with the majority unable to advance.

Although this ‘Gu Yun’ guy was handsome, that didn’t mean he was a good Stone Gambler.

They could lick their screens while screaming, but they couldn’t bet because of his face, after all, no one would mess with starcoins.

After the two were introduced, the sweet voice of the MC Tan Shu rang in the ears of the guests from the stage.

“Please take a look at the rough stones chosen by the two Stone Gamblers. Numbers 1-5 are the rough stones chosen by the Stone Gambler– Gu Yun, and numbers 6-10 are the rough stones chosen by Stone Gambler–Jiang Ke.

These ten rough stones are all from Zone D and are all sold for 30,000 starcoins.”

A magnified view of the ten rough stones was shown on the screen in holographic mode with a 360 degree view, which could be viewed from any angle. What’s more the audience on Starnet could touch them to place their bets.

“Starting from now, guests are invited to place their bets for a period of fifty minutes. The countdown starts now!”

Apart from a few passers-by who came because of Bai Jing’s face, all the other participants in the betting process took a closer look at the rough stones. Many of them even brought along magnifying glasses, strong lights and other equipment.

Most of them didn’t look at the rough stones one by one in the order they were numbered, but skipped the first 5 numbers, and started with rough stone number 6.

Time was running out. As for the rough stones chosen by the level 1 Stone Gambler, what? They could look at those ones last–

Bai Jing was a little bored as he sat on the seat on the side. Four or five live balls were still floating around dutifully filming, and the live viewers could switch views at any time through the live balls.

[It really is a 360-degree beauty bombardment. He’s so beautiful no matter which angle I look at him from.]

[His body is also great. Look at his thin waist and those long legs, suck it up~]

[And those eyes, ah ah ah, they’re killing me. The moment I look over I stop breathing!]

Some people were full of praises and likewise, some people were displeased.

[What’s the use of looking good? He should win if he can.]

[Exactly. What’s wrong with the ethos nowadays? If it’s a betting war you should naturally focus on the gambling on rough stones.]

[Beauty dogs, get lost!]

Under the live ball shots, Bai Jing couldn’t use his light brain without revealing his identity, so he looked at Jiang Ke who was across the stage from him in boredom.

According to Bai Jing’s observations, within ten minutes, Jiang Ke had changed at least five movements, three sitting positions, and had a ‘stiff’ smile on his face the whole time.

? Wasn’t he tired?

After Jiang Ke showed off his body from many angles, he immediately turned on his light brain to interact with his fans and had a raffle to attract fans. He wanted to use all his 18 skills.

Bai Jing measured the distance between them. It was less than 20 meters, and he was bored anyway, so he slowly used his sense perception ability to look into the rough stone placed in front of Jiang Ke.

After a while, he withdrew his sense perception ability.

Of the five rough stones Jiang Ke had chosen, only one had an active reaction, and the reaction was very weak. It was probably of the coarse bean variety or lower.

And the area of activity he sensed wasn’t large. It wouldn’t necessarily be a bet up.

Looks like there wasn’t much suspense in this betting war.

The minutes ticked by and with the sweet voice of the host, the one-minute countdown appeared on the screen.

Horrified, those who hadn’t yet placed their bets seized the last opportunity to do so.

“Countdown, 10, 9, 8 ……2, 1 –it’s time to bet!”

As the numbers counted down one by one until they stopped, everyone turned off their light brain and waited for the odds to be revealed.

Two minutes later, the odds were tallied, and clearly displayed on the big screen.

Rough stone odds for numbers 1-5 were: 9.3, 10.2, 8.9, 9.6 and 11.0 [Gu Yun].

Rough stone odds of 6.1, 5.5, 7.4, 6.5 and 5.8 for numbers 6-10 [Jiang Ke].

That was an awfully close comparison!

Seeing his odds, Bai Jing raised an eyebrow gently: what a shame, he couldn’t bet as a spectator.

Wouldn’t he have made a fortune by putting all the hundreds of thousands of starcoins into his account?

Next up was the most exciting part of the unraveling of the rough stones.

Ten experienced Stone Solvers came to the front of the stage to secure the rough stones as the crowd looked on in anticipation.

Bai Jing, who hadn’t scribed the rough stones when he chose them, now walked up and casually finished scribing the five rough stones in one fell swoop.

Taking a look, the five Stone Solvers realized that Bai Jing’s scribing wasn’t random, but extremely precise and just right.

Some were based on the direction of the pine and python bands, some on the depth of the skeins on the crust, some on the distribution of the withering. He had done all these with an eye comparable to that of a seasoned veteran, basically eliminating the need for them to make further judgements.

The Stone Solvers looked at each other and saw the same thought in each other’s eyes.

It seemed most people had made a mistake in their assessment of this young man. This pretty young man might only be a level 1 Stone Gambler, but he was definitely not weak!

Jiang Ke also conferred with a few Stone Solvers, but his mind was clearly not on it.

The solving of a rough stone was when the attention was at its peak, so how could he give up the shot to a Stone Solver? Of course he had to solve it himself first.

The five rough stones were all carefully selected by him, and he was most pleased with the No. 7 rough stone.

The rough stone was large, about the size of two basketballs side by side and roughly estimated to be at least fifty to sixty kilograms.

It was flat at the base and uneven above, with a long band of grey python bands running from the top to the base with a few less obvious clumps of pine and ringworm around the band and looked like it would do well.

Jiang Ke was very impressed with this rough stone. He had examined it many times during the selection process; it was rare to find such a large piece of rough stone with no cracks, no hogshead ringworm, no straight ringworm, or anything else that could damage a rough stone.

Even if it was a poorly seeded jadeite, if it was located 5 or 6 centimeters deep into the rough stone, with the size of the rough stone he wouldn’t lose the bet and might even make a great gain!

Naturally, such a highlight had to be his.

Jiang Ke, with a cute smile on his face, said to the Stone Solver: “Master, I won’t bother you with this rough stone. Let me do it myself!

However, I’ll need you to wait, until I’ve finished before you start. Is it okay?”

The Stone Solvers naturally nodded in agreement. This rough stone had been picked by the Stone Gambler, they were just here to help solve it.

The handling robot secured the larger rough stone to the cutter and looking at the live balls floating around him, Jiang Ke adjusted his pose for the angle of the live feed, putting the perfect side view on display.

He had a nice smile on his face and a soft voice.

“Everyone please take a look. I have long drawn a hidden line on this rough stone. Next, I will draw one along the python band with the pine flower first to rub the stone, everyone should support me more oh-“

Before he could finish, he heard the crowd burst out in a succession of shrieks.

“Look, it’s fog!”

“And it’s white fog–“

“By the looks of it, the water shouldn’t be bad!”

Horrified, Jiang Ke unconsciously looked across at Bai Jing.

The delicate-faced youth had rolled up the shirt on his right arm loosely, revealing a jade-like white wrist and his previously bland eyes had turned sharp, glowing with a faint cold light.

His long, white fingers gripped the abrasive wheel, the muscles in his arm tensing slightly, revealing a smooth line, full of beauty.

He was rubbing along the lime green pine of the first rough stone, his movements clean and smooth, a pleasure to watch as he solved the rough stone.

All eyes were on him, with no one paying any attention to Jiang Ke’s performance at all.

The rough stone revealed a two-finger-wide white haze as he polished it.

The white haze indicated that the jadeite had few inclusions and a clean base. If there was green under the white haze, it would normally be a jadeite with good seed water and a bright color.

The grinding wheel continued to turn, rubbing the stone along the mist surface, and soon an opening the size of a baby’s fist was rubbed out.