Dragon Prince Yuan

Pillar after pillar of scorching hot fire blasted out from the shattered remains of the flame rocks on the stone table, sparks flying everywhere as if it was a fireworks show.

The originally noisy fair had abruptly turned deathly silent when the fire pillars rose into the air. The faces filled with gloating amusement just moments earlier were now completely frozen.

They stared as if in a daze at the rising fire pillars. This was a grand spectacle they had never seen before in a flame rock glambling...

Who has ever seen a fireworks display when opening flame rocks?!

The flame pillars rose into the sky, lasting for quite some time, before gradually falling back to the earth. One could only watch as a red blood like liquid slowly flowed out from the flame rocks, pulsing with an astonishing heat.

As the fire pillars fell, the countless stunned gazes also finally returned to their senses.

A split second later, their hearts began to beat like mad.

They had realized that amongst the ten flame rocks were three hundred year essence flames, four five-hundred year essence flames, and two seven-hundred year...

The most frightening was the final rock. The lustre of that viscous blood like liquid clearly belonged to a thousand year essence flame!

The entire fair was shaken, numerous individuals who either cultivated fire type Genesis Qi or practiced fire type Genesis techniques greedily staring at the flame essences. These flame essences would be amazing for them.

Next, these gazes turned towards Zhou Yuan in shock. They had never seen anyone open so many quality flame essences in one fell swoop.

Moreover, not a single one had been a dud!

This could not possibly be pure luck!

Several lumininous gazes looked towards Zhou Yuan. If it was not luck, there was only one possibility left. Zhou Yuan had reached unimaginable heights in the art of flame rock gambling.

Maybe even the apex.

“It can’t be!”

A howl suddenly ripped through the place. Su Duan was also stupefied as he gazed at the essence flames in front of Zhou Yuan. His face soon began to twist hideously as his eyes turned red with anger. “You must have cheated! How can every flame rock you selected contain such high quality essence flames?!”

His earlier confidence was now nowhere to be seen.

Because anyone who saw such a scene could not possibly maintain calm.

Zhou Yuan was rather composed in comparison. Under Su Duan’s scarlet red gaze, he said, “These flame rocks are from your sect’s flame rock gambling business. Are you trying to say no one should be able to get any good essence flames from your business?”

Su Duan froze. How could he possibly dare to say anything that would compromise the reputation of his sect.

The local geniuses that were originally cheering on Su Duan were silent as they cast fearful gazes at Zhou Yuan.

They had previously taken Zhou Yuan to be a country bumpkin that had never seen flame rock gambling before. Who could have imagined that he had actually concealed his abilities so deeply… such skill was something even the great masters of the Flame Cauldron Sect would not be able to match. 

Zuoqiu Qingyu’s tightly clenched hands also relaxed at this moment, as a smile blossomed on her gorgeous face. As expected, he was indeed a capable person.

However, she knew Zhou Yuan quite well, and was pretty sure he had never dabbled in flame rocks before. It was almost certain that he had used some kind of technique no one knew about.

“So is the competition over?” Asked Zhou Yuan with a smile.

Su Duan’s complexion was ashen. He had originally planned on thoroughly humiliating Zhou Yuan, and never expected he would instead be given a slap across the face but the latter. His face was all gone now.

“You!” Killing intent flashed in Su Duan’s eyes, but was ultimately suppressed by him. Zhou Yuan was a disciple of the Cangxuan Sect. If Zhou Yuan lost the game, Su Duan could humiliate the latter as he pleased, but if Su Duan acted against Zhou Yuan in anger, the Chosens from the Cangxuan Sect would not permit it.

Zhou Yuan noticed the murderous look in the depths of Su Duan's eyes, but merely smiled uncaringly. Zhou Yuan then walked over and reached out to pat Su Duan's arm in a consoling manner. 

Next, Zhou Yuan gently removed the ancient wood bracelet from Su Duan's wrist under his fire spitting gaze.

"Hehe, thanks." Zhou Yuan displayed his most warm and friendly smile. 

The corners of Su Duan's mouth twitched. He forcibly resisted the urge to attack as he smiled in an eerie manner and said, "Junior brother Zhou Yuan has concealed your abilities very well."

Zhou Yuan played with the wood bracelet, feeling rather happy as he sensed the surging Yimu Qi within it, before he offhandedly replied with a smile, "If junior sect master has any more treasures in the future, do remember to invite me for another rock gambling game."

Upon hearing these words, Su Duan nearly vomited a mouthful of blood. 

Zhou Yuan ignored the former as he walked back to the flame rocks. He pointed to the essence flames under numerous greedy gazes, as he said with a wide grin, "Didn't you mention earlier that these essence flames will be gifted to me?"

"Since that is the case, I really have to thank you. You're such a generous person."

Zhou Yuan gave a thumbs up, before keeping all essence flames with a wave of his sleeve. These essence flames were going to be very useful for him, because the Heavenly Sun God Record he practiced was also a fire type Genesis technique.

His Heavenly Sun Flame was still at the initial stage, and absorbing these essence flames would definitely increase its firepower, making it a formidable weapon in his arsenal.

Su Duan felt as if his heart was bleeding when as he watched Zhou Yuan sweep up the essence flames. The combined value of these essence flames were likely over ten million Genesis crystals, not a small sum at all.

After taking all the benefits, Zhou Yuan looked towards the rock gambling area in a longing manner. There were at least ten thousand Flame Rocks inside, but unfortunately, all of the quality essence flames had been taken away by him earlier. All that was left were the crappy ones.

“The rest of these Flame Rocks don’t have much value.” Zhou Yuan turned towards the countless gambling customers as he chuckled softly. Without further ado, he pulled Zuoqiu Qingyu’s wrist, bringing her into the milling crowd.

Su Duan angrily glared at Zhou Yuan’s leaving figure. His final words had been extremely malicious. It may seem offhanded, but due to the amazing ability he displayed earlier, there was likely no longer anyone who would come over to try their luck at rock gambling.

All the good stuff was already gone after all, and the remaining low quality stuff was obviously not going to be akin to winning the lottery.

Hence, these ten thousand Flame Rocks were basically now expired goods, incurring a loss of several tens of million Genesis crystals for the Flame Cauldron Sect.

“Zhou Yuan!”

Su Duan’s eyes were red with rage, a sinister look surging within his gaze as he watched Zhou Yuan leave.

　　…

While the fair was still abuzz with Zhou Yuan’s previous display, the second floor had likewise also fallen silent for quite some time.

“Wow! Qingchan, this little junior brother of yours is just too amazing!” Feng Ying was the first to return to her senses as she cried out in surprise, her pretty face filled with admiration.

“Get him to give me some pointers the next time I try my luck!” Feng Ying was in high spirits. She was quite interested in rock gambling, and would occasionally give it a try or two.

Li Qingchan’s frosty face was also quite stunned. Such an outcome had likewise surpassed her expectations.

However, she soon recovered and looked towards Zhao Zhu, Qin Hai and the rest as she said, “It seems that he does not require our interference.”

Zhao Zhu withdrew his gaze as the corners of his mouth pulled outwards. He did not say anything in response. Zhou Yuan had indeed astonished everyone this time, and no one had expected him to have such talent in flame rock gambling.

If they thought about it now, the so-called rock gambling competition had basically been a trap the moment Su Duan appeared.

However, they had believed Su Duan to be the one digging the pit for Zhou Yuan to fall into earlier. Only now did they realize that while Su Duan was digging his pit, he was completely unaware that he was already in a bigger pit that Zhou Yuan had dug.

“Let’s go.”

Li Qingchan’s coldly glanced at Wang Chi, Cao Jinzhu and the rest, before rising to leave. 

Zhao Zhu, Bai Li, Qin Hai and the rest also followed.

Upon seeing Li Qingchan and her team leave, Feng Ying and the Chosen from the North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall also took their leave.

The burning hot metal ball in Wang Chi’s hand continued to revolve as he swept a glance towards the direction Zhou Yuan had left in and said with a faint smile, “This kid from the Cangxuan Sect is a little interesting.”

However, his attention only lasted for a brief moment. A four layer disciple was basically no threat. Even if he had a little skill in flame rock gambling, it was ultimately only useful in silly games.

Wang Chi’s gaze shifted towards where Li Qingchan and the rest had been seated earlier, before turning his head towards the still smiling Yang Xuan. “This meeting has given us a grasp of their capabilities.”

“Our Sacred Palace intends to occupy the best essence flame vein districts. If the Cangxuan Sects plans to compete with us, we’ll beat them to their knees.”

With his eyes still on Yang Xuan, he smiled and asked, “What do you think?”

Yang Xuan nodded with a chuckle. With a flick of his finger, the faint sound of rushing wind was heard.

“There’s not much difficulty. Besides Li Qingchan and Zhao Zhu… the rest are basically trash.”

He tilted his head slightly, looking towards the direction Zhou Yuan and Zuoqiu Qingyu had left in, as his lips curled into a playful smile.

“As for Zhou Yuan…”

“Since he likes to play with rocks so much, I’ll make sure he has a fun time kneeling to me in the essence flame vein…”