Peerless: I Became Huo Yuhao's Dark Personality

Chapter 118 Xuanhe Gambling Crystal (Two Chapters Combined)

Si Wumingkun is an absolute playboy, but born into a large family like Si Wu, he has been deeply influenced by various cultures since childhood. He knows who he can mess with and who he cannot.

He was known as the "Earth Prince" at Mingdu Soul Master Academy. He had done a lot of bullying and tyranny, but he only bullied students from commoner backgrounds or small factions. He never laid a hand on students whose family power exceeded that of medium-sized families.

What kind of power surpasses the mid-level? It must be a power with a Soul Master at the Soul Douluo level. Offending such a power would put his father in a very difficult position.

As for those forces that are at most a Soul Saint or even no Soul Saint, it doesn't matter if you offend them, because his father is a level nine Soul Master!
Si Wuyuan is a level nine Soul Master. As a Soul Master of such a level, he is definitely smart and always has a sense of justice. Even his indulgence has its limits.

Si Wumingkun was well aware of this, so he always kept his behavior within acceptable limits. In addition, given that he was the only son, Si Wuyuan naturally tolerated him to the end.

In order to act arrogantly and domineeringly at the Mingdu Soul Master Academy, he had a list in his hand, listing all the students with powerful backgrounds. The number of such people was not large, only about a hundred.

For a college, a hundred people are just a drop in the ocean. He memorized all their information and never crossed any lines in five years.

Of course, he also wanted to humiliate those girls from wealthy families, and to see those self-proclaimed pampered girls groveling beneath him, their faces filled with humiliation, but he restrained himself.

Si Wuming thought he could stay this way until he was married to Fengyi, but then he met Meng Hongchen.

With just one glance, he was captivated, utterly mesmerized. Her stunning beauty, slender figure, and aloof demeanor made him irresistibly want to ravage and tear her apart.

For the first time since then, he couldn't resist the urge to get closer, breaking the rules he had set for himself.

At that time, a level nine soul master was also standing behind Meng Hongchen, so Si Wumingkun kept a close eye on things and never did anything excessive, only trying to get closer.

Jing Hongchen couldn't do anything about him, because his father was also a level nine soul master, and besides, he just kept following the other party without taking any extreme actions.

Even if Jing Hongchen really came knocking on their door, his father could easily brush it off with a simple, "What business is it of ours to deal with the affairs of the younger generation?" After all, he did nothing but talk.

A week ago, Guan Zhenxiao took over as the dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. News of Jing Hongchen's death circulated in the circle, and heaven knows how happy he was.

This means that Meng Hongchen no longer has a backer who is equal to him, but rather someone who is inferior to him. However, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, and Hongchen and his sister still have considerable power.

Therefore, his plans could not be carried out openly, but only in secret. Once his plan succeeded, the rest would be extremely easy.

No, if Meng Hongchen only needs to consider revenge, her father will be in a difficult position. If she succeeds, Meng Hongchen will have many more things to consider...

Meng Hongchen pulled Huo Yumiao and Xiao Hongchen along, walking very fast. After walking a long distance, she slowly slowed down and let go of their hands.

Huo Yumiao was somewhat puzzled. Judging from Si Wumingkun's behavior just now, he was definitely a shameless person. However, he didn't chase after Meng Hongchen after she left, which was a bit strange.

"Although Si Wumingkun is a playboy, he has some brains. He has never done anything substantial to Meng, at most he just talks a bit frivolously."

"Besides, his father is a level nine Soul Master, so even when my grandfather was still alive, there was nothing he could do." Xiao Hongchen noticed Huo Yumiao's confusion and explained in a low voice, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"Without any substantial action, there is no reason to directly obstruct him. This Si Wumingkun is indeed no ordinary playboy."

Huo Yumiao's gaze held a hint of something unusual. People from big families are different; even a playboy is a playboy with the ability to think. However, judging from the other party's eyes just now, it seems that he was being targeted.

Meng Hongchen's expression was not good; Si Wumingkun's appearance had clearly spoiled her mood.

"Dream, where did you bring this to us?" Xiao Hongchen noticed her younger sister's irritable mood and immediately changed the subject.

The buildings lining both sides of the road were all similar shops, and you could faintly hear the clanging sounds. Huo Yumiao glanced at them and saw that the names written on the signs were almost identical.

The names are very straightforward, such as Soul Beast Materials, Metal Merchants, and Smelting. Judging by the naked eye, Huo Yumiao felt that this was a commercial street that specialized in selling items related to Soul Guidance Devices.

Meng Hongchen raised her head blankly, her eyes gradually focusing, and said with some annoyance, "Why did I end up on Academy Street? Why didn't you remind me!"

"Me?" Xiao Hongchen pointed at himself, looking completely bewildered. "Did I remind you when you asked Yu Miao? You were clearly in the middle of your emotions and couldn't listen to anything!"

Meng Hongchen was slightly stunned upon hearing this. She seemed to have heard someone speaking in her ear, but she was in a bad mood at the time and didn't listen carefully.

"I don't care, you're paying for today's expenses." Meng Hongchen said confidently, looking at Xiao Hongchen who was full of question marks.

"It's me again? Why do I always have to pay the bill when we go out?" Xiao Hongchen's question mark turned into disbelief.

"Why so many questions?" Meng Hongchen frowned, clearly displeased with Xiao Hongchen's protest.

"What is Academy Street?" Huo Yumiao watched the two arguing and found it quite interesting.

This argument was different from the one before. The mutual insults at the test site had a somewhat deliberate feel to them, but this one felt very natural.

"The 'academy' in 'Academy Street' refers to our academy. Most of the shops here are frequented by students from our academy, and all the shops here are related to soul tools."

"This place sells rare metals and some soul beast materials, and also buys back the soul tools made by the students." Xiao Hongchen explained as he walked, his hands behind his head.

"Rare metals? Doesn't the academy have a special place to sell them? Why come here to buy them?" Huo Yumiao asked, somewhat puzzled.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy has a warehouse that specializes in selling rare metals and soul beast materials. He has been there several times, and the quality has always been quite good.

"Our academy's admission standards are not particularly difficult. As long as you are under twelve years old and have a spirit ring, you can successfully enroll. Many of the students who come in come from very ordinary families."

Being a Soul Master is an expensive profession. For students from ordinary families, the registration fee of five gold soul coins is already a considerable expense, not to mention the cost of purchasing rare metals for practice.

Xiao Hongchen did not directly answer Huo Yumiao's question, but instead said the following before continuing:

"Our academy's warehouse mainly sells materials for level three and four soul tools. We hardly have any low-grade or high-grade rare metals. Low-grade rare metals can be bought anywhere and take up space in the warehouse. We don't even have enough high-grade rare metals to supply Mingde Hall, so it's impossible for us to sell them. The shops here mainly sell low-grade and high-grade rare metals."

The low-grade rare metals are targeted at freshmen who need to practice their skills. For students who are short of money, these shops also support loans with a repayment period of up to one year.

Becoming a Level 1 Soul Master is quite simple; out of 100 people, at least 40 will pass the exam, and these students will soon be able to start making Soul Masters to sell for money.

For students like us, we don't need to worry about high-grade rare metals. But it's different for ordinary sixth-year students. Rare metals of this level usually start at tens of thousands of gold soul coins.

The practice costs are high, and the difficulty of crafting soul tools increases significantly at this stage, with a very high probability of errors. The high-grade rare metals here are of slightly lower quality, but they are cheap, making them perfect for practice.

"Why are you going in there? We don't need rare metals." Meng Hongchen asked, puzzled, as she watched Xiao Hongchen walk forward.

"Since we're already here, let's take Yu Miao there to have some fun." Xiao Hongchen's tone was enigmatic, as if he meant something.

"You mean, betting on crystals?" Meng Hongchen raised an eyebrow, a hint of interest appearing in his eyes.

"What is a gambling crystal?" Huo Yumiao asked with a puzzled look in his eyes. This was yet another new term he had never heard of before.

“When mining veins, you will encounter some large vein stones. The crystal gambling shops specialize in selling these vein stones. After the buyer buys the vein stone, it is cut on the spot. As for what you can get, it all depends on luck.”

As Xiao Hongchen finished speaking, Huo Yumiao was surprised, "People actually buy this? The mineral vein stone is mined from which rare metal vein, so naturally it contains what rare metal."

"The 'crystal' in 'gambling on crystals' is not the 'gold' of metal, but the 'crystal' of crystal. The rare metal you're betting on in 'gambling on crystals' isn't from the vein itself, but from the associated crystal."

Associated crystals are formed from pure minerals underground over hundreds or thousands of years. Unlike mineral blocks that need to be smelted after mining, associated crystals can be used directly for carving.

Moreover, the associated crystals are far stronger than the source ore in all aspects, and their prices have increased by dozens of times.

For example, in addition to mining Heavenly Soul Silver, the Heavenly Soul Silver Mine also has a chance to produce Heavenly Soul Silver Crystals. Heavenly Soul Silver is sold for 500 Gold Soul Coins per gram, and Heavenly Soul Silver Crystals are sold for 20,000 Gold Soul Coins per gram, so there's no shortage of buyers.

Heavenly Soul Silver can only be used as a material for level 7 soul tools, while Heavenly Soul Silver Crystal can be used in level 9 soul tools.

However, it is worth noting that not only associated crystals from the same mineral vein are mined, but sometimes unexpected events can lead to the discovery of other types of rare metal associated crystals.

Such huge profits will inevitably attract a large number of people to try it, even if they know the probability is less than one in a thousand. They are still blinded by desire because they know people who have made a fortune by gambling on crystals.

Upon hearing Xiao Hongchen's words, Huo Yumiao revealed a knowing expression. It made sense that he was gambling on companion crystals; once a gambler gets carried away, he won't listen to anything else.

Where there are gamblers, they lose every day; where there are children, they cry every day.

However, can the ore used for crystal gambling be manipulated?
Huo Yumiao began to consider whether the gambling crystal shop could operate under the table. After all, it was hard for him to believe that anyone involved in gambling was controlling him.

"Is this crystal gambling really just a matter of luck? Doesn't the owner of the crystal gambling shop know beforehand?" Huo Yumiao said. This is the Douluo World, isn't it easy for anyone with X-ray vision to gamble on crystals?

Moreover, there's also mental energy, which can penetrate the surface of objects; Huo Yuhao's mental detection can directly see through it.

There are also earth-attribute soul masters who can easily separate the stones and then reassemble them.

With this thought in mind, Huo Yumiao voiced her idea.

Meng Hongchen smiled upon hearing this, "This situation is impossible because the associated crystal has unique characteristics."

Associated crystals come in a variety of colors, but they all appear bright white before being exposed to air.

We don't yet know why this is happening, but we speculate it's due to the excessive energy contained within, which prevents the situation of cutting and then resealing from occurring.

After Meng Hongchen finished speaking, she paused for a moment, "As for the problem of spiritual perception that you mentioned, it is almost impossible for it to occur, because spiritual power is also energy, and once it penetrates, it will definitely leave a trace."

The stronger a person's spiritual power, the longer it remains. To penetrate a mineral vein, one would need to be at least a Soul Douluo level to do it. At this level, spiritual power can remain for one or two months without any problem.

The crystal gambling shop has a special soul guide device for detecting mental strength, which will be used to test it before cutting.

If the buyer doesn't trust you, they can bring their own spiritual energy detection soul tool. If any residual spiritual energy is detected on it, they can take the mineral vein stone for free.

Seeing that Huo Yumiao seemed to have something to say again, Meng Hongchen added, "Each vein stone has a special mental energy sensing and blocking device around it, so there is no chance to get any mental energy residue on site for free."

Huo Yumiao felt a sense of admiration; these preventative measures were indeed quite effective. If he were the owner or buyer of the gambling crystal shop, he wouldn't be able to come up with any countermeasures.

After the three of them walked through the college street, they walked another two hundred meters or so, and a rather large trading company appeared before them.

The building is four stories high, and the walls are made of some kind of metal that gleams with a bright luster. The four large characters "Xuanhe Gambling Crystal" are engraved vertically on the surface.

At this moment, the sun was shining brightly, and people were coming and going at the gate in an endless stream. Huo Yumiao sensed them slightly and found that even the most ordinary people had the strength of a Great Soul Master.

Come to think of it, mineral vein stones are not cheap things. How could an ordinary first-ring Soul Master afford them, let alone ordinary people?

People of all ages came and went, mostly young soul masters, but there were also many elderly people with graying temples. Those who went in mostly looked excited and had fiery eyes, while those who came out mostly had dejected expressions.

This gives a glimpse into the nature of a gambler.

"Xuanhe, it doesn't sound like a shop name." Huo Yumiao subconsciously read the shop name out, feeling that it was a bit awkward to pronounce.

"Xuanhe is not a store name, but a family, the Xuanhe family."

(End of this chapter)