Chapter 1333: Good Teeth

Hei Chi Gu chuckled, "The Serpent race is truly declining. You expect to strike it rich here with a mere thousand Yuan Stones? Let me tell you, over the years, even in this 'Yellow' room, no one has ever found anything valuable in these cheapest, lowest-grade rough stones. Only complete novices would be so naive."

Now that the bet was made, he wasn't afraid of them backing out. In a situation like this, winning wouldn't feel complete without a few taunts.

Yu Yanluo frowned slightly, but Zu An quickly retorted on her behalf, "Aren't there still two rough stones left to open? What's the rush?"

Hei Chi Gu sneered, "Oh, still dreaming big, are we?"

Zu An calmly stated, "Since you're so sure we won't find anything, how about we bet again?"

"Do you even have any more Yuan Stones? Who would bet with you?" Ban Ka, standing nearby, noticed Shi Min and the others watching like spectators. Convinced they wanted to teach these Serpent people a lesson, he cast aside all reservations and jumped in to taunt them, thinking it would curry favor with the Lion race.

Zu An frowned. "Alright, let's not bet Yuan Stones, let's bet something else. If these stones don't yield anything later, I'll eat them on the spot. Otherwise, you'll eat them. How about that?"

Yu Yanluo gasped, quickly tugging his sleeve and whispering, "A'Zu, I'm not sure if every stone will yield something."

Although she was quite confident that these two rough stones would yield something, she wasn't entirely certain about each one. There was also a chance she might have misjudged both, which would be disastrous for her lover.

Ban Ka, who had been somewhat hesitant, immediately became resolute upon seeing her nervousness. "Haha, it's a deal! I'll bet with you."

Hei Chi Gu, standing by, also revealed a sinister grin. "Count me in."

"Double good fortune!" Zu An smiled, then reassured Yu Yanluo, "Don't worry, my luck has always been good."

Seeing his confidence, Yu Yanluo finally relaxed.

Yan Xuehen, watching from the side, was puzzled. "Even Yu Yanluo isn't completely certain. Where does he get such courage? Isn't he afraid of losing and having to eat those stones?"

Yun Jianyue snorted, "Rather than him winning, I'd prefer to see him lose and watch him eat those stones."

She had been exposed by this fellow before, but she couldn't hit him, nor could she kill him. All her pent-up frustration had nowhere to go. Watching him suffer a setback would be satisfying. *Hmph*, let this be a lesson from Heaven. Was her body something so easily seen?

Yan Xuehen was speechless.

"Cut it faster, cut it faster!" Hei Chi Gu and Ban Ka urged impatiently.

Shi Rong and Shi Gong also looked excited, eager to see Zu An make a fool of himself.

Only Shi Min had a strange expression, his eyebrows raised as if he had something to say, but he ultimately swallowed his words.

At this moment, the Bi Yuan steward wiped the fine sweat from his forehead. Normally, when cutting rough stones in the 'Heaven' or 'Earth' rooms, he remained calm and unperturbed. Yet, today, this 'Yellow' room was making his blood boil.

He carefully cut open the rough stone, and inside it was still a dull greyish-white. Hei Chi Gu and Ban Ka burst out laughing. "Kid, hurry up and eat those stones!"

Yu Yanluo, after all, was a clan leader and incredibly beautiful. Even as adversaries, no one could bear to make such a peerless beauty eat stones. So, the task naturally fell to Zu An.

Zu An calmly replied, "It's not finished cutting yet. What's your hurry?"

"Still not giving up? It's cut down to this little bit..." Ban Ka's voice abruptly trailed off as he stared incredulously at the table.

A brilliant gleam flashed, and a rich wave of primal energy dispersed.

"This is..." Even the stone-cutting steward was astonished.

The surrounding crowd quickly gathered, seeing a grape-sized Yuan Stone, crystalline and translucent, remaining in the very center of the rough stone.

"An Earth-grade Yuan Stone!" Someone with sharp eyes immediately recognized it.

"This one is of excellent quality; it's worth at least ten standard Earth-grade Yuan Stones."

The steward shook his head. "More than that. Its color, purity, and the primal energy it contains are all top-tier. The only pity is its small size, but it's still worth twenty standard Earth-grade Yuan Stones."

Zu An had been in this world for a while now and had grasped some basic common knowledge.

In this world, one Earth-grade Yuan Stone was equivalent to one hundred ordinary Yuan Stones. Yuan Stones primarily circulated among cultivators, while the general populace mostly used gold and silver.

What Wei Suo had once told him at Brightmoon Academy—that an ordinary Yuan Stone could fetch ten taels of gold on the black market—was not entirely accurate.

Normally, one Yuan Stone was equivalent to one tael of gold. However, one tael of gold didn't necessarily guarantee buying a Yuan Stone, as few cultivators would willingly sell their cultivation resources unless they were truly strapped for cash.

One Heaven-grade Yuan Stone, on the other hand, was equal to one thousand Earth-grade Yuan Stones. The higher the grade, the more precious it was, and the greater its benefit to cultivators.

As for Yuan Stones above the Immortal grade, there were no standard exchange rates; they were usually bartered or sold at auctions for the highest bid.

All in all, this grape-sized item was worth two thousand Yuan Stones.

Zu An, with a playful expression, spread his hand before everyone. "My apologies, everyone, my luck is a bit good today. As per our agreement, each of you owes me two thousand Yuan Stones."

The surrounding crowd wore looks of utter disbelief. Who would have thought the other party could actually find something? They had encountered such a low-probability event.

Seeing no one move, Zu An chuckled, "What, are you all trying to renege on the bet?"

At this, Shi Rong snorted. "Such a bumpkin. It's only two thousand Yuan Stones. Do you think I, a prince, would welch on such a small amount?"

With that, he pulled a pouch from his pocket and tossed it over.

Shi Gong also threw a pouch over with a displeased look.

Only Shi Min remained calm when handing over his Yuan Stones.

Zu An took the pouches but didn't put them away immediately. Instead, he opened them and began counting the Yuan Stones one by one.

Shi Rong and Shi Gong roared in anger, "What do you mean by this? Do you think we'd cheat you?"

"You never know," Zu An said without lifting his head, continuing to count the Yuan Stones.

The surrounding crowd was speechless.

*How despicable is this guy?*

Zu An's smile grew wider. Seeing his triumphant smile, everyone felt a knot of frustration in their chests.

After counting, Zu An handed the Yuan Stones to Xingnu, who was standing nearby, then urged the others to pay up.

The others were utterly dejected, but since even the Lion race had paid, they had no choice but to accept their loss.

Two thousand Yuan Stones was no small sum for those frequenting the 'Yellow' room. Some even had to hand over most of their savings, filled with regret for having joined in the excitement.

After this round, Zu An had collected tens of thousands of Yuan Stones in total, all of which he handed over to Xingnu.

Yu Yanluo's return to the Serpent race had been too hasty; she was essentially operating with almost nothing. This income would serve perfectly to support her clan.

Finally, Zu An approached Ban Ka and Hei Chi Gu. "Thank you both for the Yuan Stones you just gave us. Without them, how could we have afforded these rough stones and extracted such treasures?"

The two men were so furious they nearly vomited blood. It was like they had paid to be publicly humiliated and had lost a significant sum. If only they had known, they wouldn't have been so boastful earlier.

Ban Ka glared resentfully at Hei Chi Gu. If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have agreed to the bet. Two thousand Yuan Stones was already a painful loss for him.

However, with so many people watching, he couldn't go back on his word, so he grudgingly handed over the payment.

This time, Zu An didn't count the stones himself, leaving Xingnu to do it. He had another important matter. "Have you two forgotten something?"

He gestured towards the stones on the table.

The surrounding people's spirits lifted. Although losing two thousand Yuan Stones stung, witnessing two prominent figures eat rocks on the spot felt like getting some value back.

Even Shi Gong, Shi Rong, and others who held grudges against Zu An now watched them with great interest. After all, they had never seen anything like this before.

Ban Ka and Hei Chi Gu's faces instantly turned crimson. They had intended to see the other party make a fool of themselves, but now everyone was laughing at them instead.

The two wanted to leave, but the Bi Yuan steward seemed to subtly block their path to the door. Coupled with the ambiguous attitudes of the Lion princes, Ban Ka finally hardened his resolve. "Eat, then! I'm not afraid of you!"

With that, he picked up a piece of stone from the table and shoved it directly into his mouth. A crunching sound emanated as the hard stone was instantly ground into powder.

Zu An secretly clicked his tongue. He recalled watching nature documentaries where predators usually ate meat, but hyenas could chew up and consume bones. He hadn't expected the hyena clan in this world to have such formidable teeth.

Soon, he swallowed the stone powder in his mouth, then pointed to the remaining half and said to Hei Chi Gu, "Don't just stare at me. This half is yours."

Hei Chi Gu was speechless.

He snorted, picked up the remaining half of the stone, and began biting it directly. The stone was crunched into pieces, as if it were an ice pop.

The surrounding crowd whispered amongst themselves. No wonder the Hei Chi family took 'Chi' (tooth) as their surname; their dental prowess was truly astounding.

"Alright, are we done?" After finishing, Hei Chi Gu felt utterly disgraced and turned to leave.

Zu An quickly called out to him, "Don't be in such a hurry! There's still one more stone to be opened."