“Since I started picking first, you may start with me.” Ou Yangming smiled and pointed at one of the gemstones. “Open this one first!”
Various tools had already been prepared in the Yi Pavilion, and professional stone-cracking masters had also come.
A middle-aged man amid the masters took the lead, and his eyes looked fierce as he glanced around. Ou Yangming felt a tingling sensation when he noticed it.
He was slightly taken aback. ‘This stone-cracking master is actually a Yang Grade powerhouse?
‘Since when were Yang Grade powerhouses so worthless?’ ‘Brother Ou, this is Yue Dingtian, the number one powerhouse in the prefecture’s Yi Pavilion. His greatest hobby is stone gambling,” Ni Yunhong whispered to Ou Yangming, then spoke even softer after a pause. “He’s rewarded very generously, but he uses all his money in stone gambling. When he’s out of money, he satisfies himself by doing stone-cracking, and he’s considered the person who’s the most addicted to it.” Ou Yangming nodded. There really is any kind of person in this world.
‘But since he’s a stone-cracking master who’s also a Yang Grade powerhouse, his speed must be superior to an ordinary person’s.’
Yue Dingtian studied the raw gemstone for a while before he retrieved a slicing knife to shave it. As the crowd watched the stone being shaved continuously, as though its skin was being peeled, they were nervous.
Even the people from He Liangce’s side, who were confident about being victorious, were tensed up.
He Liangce stole a glance at Ou Yangming but did not notice any sign from his face. He was moved, and he guessed that the young fellow was either extremely confident or an amateur who did not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth. He Liangce also furrowed his eyebrows a little because he was surprised that he could not perceive Ou Yangming.
Yue Dingtian worked extremely fast, and he announced after the last shave was made, “No
gem.”
The people from He Liangce’s side were instantly relieved. They exchanged looks as though they were telling each other that they knew Ou Yangming was only a pretentious person without genuine skills. On the other side, the workers and supervisors from the Yi Pavilion looked embarrassed, and they were strongly displeased with Lin Yichen, who had just been promoted and transferred here.
‘It’s fine that you failed to invite Old Tributary Shen, but why did you ask a weird and insignificant young fella to take the challenge instead? Aren’t you ruining the Yi Pavilion’s reputation on purpose?’
He Liangce grinned and took one of the ten raw gemstones in front of him. “Thank you for the trouble, Elder Yue.”
Yue Dingtian was stunned, and he stared at He Liangce with his cold eyes as he commented, “Young Master He, you even know who I am, you’ve indeed come prepared.”
“Since I was coming to the prefecture, I asked around for some information. Hehe, that’s all, Elder Yue, you’re overthinking,” He Liangce responded calmly. “I hope that’s the case,” Yue Dingtian said.
Without further ado, he accepted the half-naked raw gemstone and wielded the knife. The same scene of a stone being turned over appeared once more.
Ou Yangming shook his head a little. Perhaps the other people had not noticed, but with the integration of Heaven and man, as well as the thoroughly meticulous state, he could easily tell that Yue Dingtian valued this raw gemstone more than he did Ou Yangming’s.
It was evident that the powerful Yang Grade powerhouse had doubts about Ou Yangming too.
Yue Dingtian maneuvered the slicing knife at the speed of light. Once he shaved roughly half of the gemstone, he suddenly slowed down.
A green luster was emitted from within the raw gemstone. “It’s glowing, there’s indeed a gem inside!” The people around He Liangce smiled brightly. ‘Sure enough, our young master is impressive.’
After a brief moment, the gem was successfully removed from the raw gemstone. It was not a huge gem, and its color seemed to be flawed, but it was much better than the raw gemstone that was chosen by Ou Yangming, which contained nothing.
Yue Dingtian announced coldly, “A Good Grade gem. It can improve some Physique.”
When the crowd turned to look at Ou Yangming, he smiled and retrieved the half-naked raw gemstone.
The people from He Liangce’s side looked disgruntled, but they could not do anything about it. They also had contradicting thoughts because they did not know if they wanted the raw gemstone to contain a gem or not.
Nevertheless, they did not need to wonder anymore after a short while because they quickly became furious.
This was because a red gem was seen in Yue Dingtian’s hands.
Based on its color alone, everyone knew the gem’s grade was above Good Grade.
As expected, a flash of a smile was seen on Yue Dingtian’s face. “This is a Fire-resistant Gem, and it’s of Fine Grade. Master Ou, you have a good eye indeed.”
He Liangce’s people were indignant. ‘Does Ou Yangming have a good eye? It was picked by our young master, okay?’ Lin Yichen’s eyes lit up, and he smiled gladly.
‘Lucky, he’s really lucky! ‘With this Fine Grade gem, we won’t be defeated today.’ The supervisors and workers, who were standing behind him, reacted as if they had just seen a ghost. “This… How is that even possible!’
He Liangce’s eyes glowed because he was rather surprised and regretful too.
Despite having paid importance to the half-naked raw gemstone, before stone-cracking was done unto it, he did not know exactly what its grade would be…
After looking deeply at the expressionless Ou Yangming, He Liangce was finally feeling a little uneasy.
‘He actually acquired a Fine Grade gem. Have I really used up my good luck after challenging seventeen cities, and I’m going to fall badly here?’
Chapter 150 - The Last One
“Young Master He.” Yue Dingtian nodded at He Liangce and asked, “Which raw gemstone are you choosing?” “I choose this one,” He Liangce quickly curbed his thought and answered. He changed his original plan and chose the raw gemstone that he deemed to be the best among all. During the whole hour, He Liangce had not observed all gemstones like he was fishing for a needle in the sea. Instead, he focused on roughly 50 half-naked raw gemstones. On top of that, He Liangce had actually eliminated about 30 of them in his head, so he only had eyes for about 20 of them.
In actual fact, he was already mentally prepared when he let Ou Yangming make the first pick. Therefore, he was calm even when the white-haired elder and the rest stamped with rage. Despite that, He Liangce was not a deity, after all. Although he had a good feeling about the 20 raw gemstones, he was not 100% sure they contained a gem, and he did not know what grade the gems had. Hence, He Liangce was absent-minded for a split second upon seeing a Fine Grade gem. Though he had regained his composure, there was an extremely subtle change in his mentality. When Yue Dingtian asked He Liangce this time, he no longer answered with a casually picked raw gemstone, but one that he was the most confident about and had the best representation.
Yue Dingtian did not crack the stone right away after receiving it. He studied it for a while and nodded slowly. It was worth mentioning that based on the half-naked stone’s portrayal alone, it looked much better than the one that contained a Fine Grade gem.
Nonetheless, Yue Dingtian had seen plenty of raw gemstones that had a fine exterior but a poor interior. Thus, after he nodded, he began shaving it without any hesitation.
As the crowd watched anxiously, or with eagerness, or while cursing the raw gemstone, it was opened very quickly.
Sure enough, the stone contained a gem. It was a smooth and round gem, which was obviously superior to the first one, but it was not as eye-catching as compared to the Fine Grade gem.
“A High Grade gem, not bad.”
It was quite difficult to hear such a remark from Yue Dingtian, but in actuality, it was because the gem was already at the peak of High Grade. He had cracked uncountable raw gems
tones in his life, but there were very few gems that were on par with this one.
Yue Dingtian subconsciously glanced at the Fine Grade gem, then at the faint smile on Ou Yangming’s face. He could not help but feel suspicious.
‘Did Ou Yangming have sheer dumb luck or did he really notice something in it? ‘But the fact that he was able to find the best one among the 50 half-naked raw gemstones, which were carefully picked by his opponent, his luck… It doesn’t seem like it could be merely explained with luck, right?’
Nevertheless, Yue Dingtian was from the Yi Pavilion, so he did not have anything against it, and he chuckled to himself instead.
Ou Yangming already had a well-thought-out plan, so he casually picked a raw gemstone and handed it to Yue Dingtian.
The same process repeated, and soon enough, Yue Dingtian had cracked 18 raw gemstones. Only a powerful Yang Grade martial artist could continuously crack stones without any effort while keeping a straight face. If Ou Yangming was in a battle of life or death against Yue Dingtian, perhaps he could kill the Yang Grade powerhouse, but he could definitely not contend with him in terms of endurance.
Needless to say, everyone’s focus was not on Yue Dingtian’s endurance at the moment.
Even if he was one of the best Yang Grade powerhouses among those who were present, he could not deprive the two young men of their glory.
Once 18 raw gemstones were cracked, the winner and the loser had somewhat been decided already. Unless a superb gem was suddenly found in the two remaining gemstones, there was no longer suspense.
Among the 18 raw gemstones, apart from Ou Yangming’s Fine Grade gem, 3 High Grade gems, 4 (TN: The original number given is 5, but it doesn’t add up correctly. We’ve corrected it for the context) Good Grade gems, and 1 Common Grade gem were also obtained. The crowd unceasingly praised the 50% success rate (TN: Author originally stated that the success rate is above 50%, but in the correct case where only 9 gems were acquired, the success rate should be only 50%. We’ve corrected it for the context), and the high-quality gems made them feel like they were dreaming
Out of the 9 (TN: The original number given is 11, but there should only be 9. We’ve corrected it for the context) gems acquired, 7 of them came from He Liangce’s raw gemstones.
He had chosen 9 raw gemstones where 7 of them contained a gem, 3 of which were even High Grade gems. Even though he had only picked half-naked raw gemstones, his skill amazed the crowd.
In comparison, the crowd felt rather complicated about Ou Yangming.
Only 2 gems were found from the 9 raw gemstones that he had chosen. Other than the Fine Grade gem, which he had only gotten through plain dumb luck, there was only another Common Grade gem, which was the most ordinary one of them all. If Ou Yangming did not have the Fine Grade gem as a base, the result would be so shameful that he would want to bury his head.
However… There were no ifs!
When the other people looked at the dazzling Fine Grade gem, they did not know how to describe and evaluate it.
Yue Dingtian suddenly said, “The last two gems. Young Master He, I’d like to crack yours first, what do you think?”
The meaning behind his request was obvious. If the last raw gemstone did not contain a convincing gem, the challenge’s winner and loser were already decided.
He Liangce responded gracefully, “Okay, thank you for the trouble.”
Yue Dingtian worked at the speed of light as he cracked the last raw gemstone that was chosen.
“Wow, it has a gem!”
“Young Master He truly deserves his reputation. Ah, it was a glorious defeat!” “Yes, he lost by luck, not by skills.”
The number of spectators had increased by a few times. Other than the Yi Pavilion’s supervisors and workers, many outsiders had come to watch. Even then, Lin Yichen gave an order that everyone was welcomed.
Of course, it was also because he felt that their victory was already guaranteed. Without the Fine Grade gem, he would not have given the order.
Nonetheless, the whispers between the outsiders perfectly represented everyone’s thoughts.
It was true that He Liangce had lost, but everyone regarded him as a big winner.
“Everyone, my task has ended.” Yue Dingtian laughed and glanced at the crowd as he said, “I don’t need to say more about this challenge’s outcome, right?”
“Hmph!” The white-haired elder behind He Liangce scoffed angrily. “He just had a lucky stroke, and he stole the victory from my young master, what’s so great about that!”
“Enough, don’t make it seem like we can’t afford to lose.” He Liangce furrowed his eyebrows and waved his hands. He cupped his hands and expressed, “My skills are inferior, so I admit my defeat!”
Lin Yichen sighed a breath of relief. He was already certain about their victory when the Fine Grade gem was attained. Fine Grade gems were the finest of all gems. Even Lin Yichen had not seen many of them, and according to records, gems of that grade were basically found by accident. In raw gemstone appraisal challenges as such, the chances of finding a Fine Grade gem was incredibly low.
That said, before He Liangce acknowledged his defeat, he was still quite worried.
It was only after that when he stopped overthinking.
He Liangce cupped his hands at Ou Yangming and the rest. “Master Ou, I hope we’ll have another chance to exchange views again in the future.”
Ou Yangming grinned. “Okay.” The white-haired elder had a grave expression on his face as he blurted, “Young Master, the challenge hasn’t completely ended yet!”
He Liangce was stunned, so he asked, “What?”
“Isn’t there another raw gemstone left? Brother Yue, could you please crack it too?” The white-haired elder said with a smile.
“Is it necessary?” Yue Dingtian asked.
“Since it’s a challenge, let us be convinced about the defeat. Hehe, perhaps the last raw gemstone contains another Fine Grade gem!”
The other people exchanged glances because they quickly figured out the elder’s intention.
He Liangce had chosen 10 raw gemstones, 8 of which contained a gem, 3 of which were High Grade gems. His high success rate was enough to silence those who questioned him.
On the other hand, while Ou Yangming obtained a Fine Grade gem from his raw gemstone, he had only acquired 1 other Common Grade gem among the 8 remaining gemstones.
He ended up being victorious because of the Fine Grade gem, but if the last raw gemstone did not contain a gem, his 80% failing rate could not convince the crowd.
Even if the challenge’s final outcome was spread far and wide, He Liangce’s reputation would not be ruined.
Yue Dingtian had obviously guessed this earlier, hence he decided to crack He Liangce’s last raw gemstone. Who knew, after He Liangce admitted his defeat, someone actually brought up the matter.
“Master Ou, the winner and the loser have been decided, you have the right to not crack the last stone.” Yue Dingtian hesitated before he turned to look at Ou Yangming. Ou Yangming laughed out loud. “Head Shopkeeper Lin, you promised to let me keep all the gems that I gained if I’m victorious, right?”
Lin Yichen’s face twitched. He was so regretful that he did not want to talk about it…
‘Mother, if I knew that a Fine Grade gem would be found, I wouldn’t have been so generous!’
The thought of giving the Fine Grade gem to Ou Yangming under everyone’s watch gave him a tingling sensation. ‘How am I going to explain to the headquarters…’ In spite of that, he could only bite the bullet as everyone looked at him. “Yes, as long as the gems were found from the raw gemstones that you picked, they belong to you.” ‘I may have lost one Fine Grade gem, but there are 3 High Grade gems to compensate for the loss. I hope they’ll be enough.’
Ou Yangming smiled and said, “Great. If that’s the case, why shouldn’t I crack it?”
Yue Dingtian shook his head and sighed. He felt sorry for Lin Yichen.
Since Lin Yichen had given away the Fine Grade gem, even if the Yi Pavilion won the challenge, one could not tell if the headquarters’ boss would regard the outcome as a blessing or a misfortune…
The knife in Yue Dingtian’s hand flashed, but he suddenly slowed down after a brief moment. Everyone was stunned, but they quickly became thrilled.
The white-haired elder’s face changed as he wondered, ‘That fella isn’t struck with dumb luck again, is he?’
As Yue Dingtian’s knife kept flashing, finally, another gem was presented to the crowd. Everyone was stupefied when they saw the gem, and they widened their mouth so big that they could swallow the gem at once.
Chapter 151 - A Benevolent Act
“It’s a unique gem, but its attribute is unclear…” Yue Dingtian opened his mouth and uttered with difficulty, “A Fine Grade
gem.”
He turned to look, but he neither looked at He Liangce nor at the furious and regretful white-haired elder. He fixed his gaze on the Yi Pavilion’s new head shopkeeper, Lin Yichen.
When Ou Yangming first acquired a Fine Grade gem, Head Shopkeeper Lin was delighted
Although he had lost the valuable gem, he managed to ruin He Liangce’s reputation, hence the merit offset the fault. Nonetheless, when the second Fine Grade gem appeared, Lin Yichen’s face took on a ghastly expression.
Letting Ou Yangming have the first Fine Grade gem was still within Lin Yichen’s authority limit, but if Ou Yangming were to take both Fine Grade gems, the head shopkeeper would likely lose his position.
This was because he could not hide the matter even if he wanted to.
There was only one thing that Lin Yichen lamented about at that moment…
‘Young Master Ou, can you not have such nature-defying luck!’
Nevertheless, deep down, he could not help but wonder, ‘Is everything really a result of his luck?’
“N-nice one, a Fine Grade gem! Brother Ou, we’ll meet again if we’re fated to,” He Liangce said out loud while looking deeply at Ou Yangming. Following that, he nodded at the crowd and left in a hurry with his people. As for the white-haired elder, who had spoken a few times, he lowered his head with a sullen look on his face without saying a word.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 89