Chương 1583: 1581. Stone Gambling

---Konan---"Oh, we were not here before; this looks interesting," Fin exclaimed, pointing to a whole section of the bazaar that seemed to sell... rocks? After the disaster that was the Loose Bowel, they had finally gotten back to the bazaar, the day after the auction.

"It's stone gambling. People are selling rough boulders and rocks in the hope they may contain high-grade spirit stones, or materials," Mina recited her notes, only confusing the blacksmith further.

"Wait, to make this clear. So these guys are selling rocks from who knows where and claim they might contain rare ores or gems, or whatever, and people buy them?" the blacksmith asked, perplexed by the naivety. Nothing stopped these people from just selling ordinary rocks and claiming the buyer was just unlucky... who would do that?

"Now that you mention it, it was in the notes; I forgot for a moment.. Let's go and try our luck," Fin said, excited for some good-natured gambling. People with the money, duh, and addicts.

"Well, not all of them seem to be scams, or this business wouldn't survive. Some stalls sell ores and mining wastes from bigger mines that may contain materials that were missed by the main operation," Mina chimed in with the common knowledge of the continent.

"Some of them are sold in auctions; others you can buy directly. Obviously, the ones with a better chance to have something will be auctioned for a higher price," the cat girl added, her gaze wandering over the displayed rows of stones.

"I see..." he mumbled. Seth glanced at the stones. He didn't like gambling, but it wasn't gambling if he just appraised the stones, right? He would just buy the ones that seemed interesting. Using <Eyes of the Maestro> and <Theia's Discerning Eyes>, he gazed at the rocks and boulders before them, and a completely new appraisal result was added to his catalog. <Rock that might hold a mystery, Common-Epic, This rock may or may not hold materials ranging from common to epic rating. Gambling is no fun if you cheat.

Can be appraised correctly after gaining ownership. > This was the appraisal result was the same for all stones on display! The system actually blocked material appraisal for gambling purposes! Seth didn't know why he felt so offended for being stopped from cheating, but it reminded him how arbitrary the system could be. He had somewhat forgotten about it after not venturing out for a while. Still, it felt like a challenge. The blacksmith had only felt mildly interested before, but now he felt motivated.

Let's see if I really can't cheat. Just because appraisal was blocked didn't mean he had no other means.

"Can I tough them?" he asked the stall owner. Although he saw people and cultivators all around, holding up boulders or tapping at them, he still felt the need to ask.

"Of course, honored one, feel free to do anything but crack them," the owner said with a fawning smile. Picking up a stone, Seth tried using his <Earth Affinity>, <Mineral Detection>, and <Superior Mining> to get some info out of the stone. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Nothing. However, Seth was finally able to feel something from a couple of stones on the table.

The feeling was still vague and clearly obscured compared to when he used it normally. Still, it was something; how good it was, he would need to test.

"Hmm, I want this one, this one, and this one." The blacksmith chose a couple of the ones that gave off a signal, after playing around and acting like he wasn't aiming for these from the beginning. He bought five stones roughly the size of soccer balls for 10 Low Grade Spirit Stones, quite cheap.

"Would you like for me to carve them open?" he offered, pointing at a grinding wheel and stone saw at his stall.

"Of course, it is free," he added with a smile. Seth looked at him for a moment, but he could not see any lies in his words.

"Hmm, sure, let's see what is inside these," the blacksmith said, despite already knowing it. In his eyes, they were all duds, despite not being ordinary rocks. Since he owned them now, nothing stopped his appraisal.

"Oh, this one has low-grade spirit stones inside! It's a big hit!" the seller exclaimed loudly, so everyone in the vicinity would know that someone won buying from his stall. One such stone was worth at least triple what it sold for.

"Another big hit!" the Stall owner exclaimed, shocked, after cutting open the second stone. It was another geode of low-grade spirit stones. Seth watched, less interested in his prize and more so in the reaction of the stall owner, as this was bound to happen 2 more times. By the 4th time, he didn't shout out anymore. He only looked awkwardly, almost apologetically, at the crowd that had assembled around his stall. People were already murmuring about a scam in hushed voices.

Meanwhile, Seth had collected four geodes worth roughly 180 low-grade spirit stones. Now, only one stone remained for the stall owner to cut. Stepping on the little pedals to speed up the stone saw. He constantly moistened the stone to keep it from throwing sparks and lower the wear on his saw. However, he was unable to cut through the whole stone. The ordinary wheel was unable to cut through the uncommon <Black Iron Ore> inside the nodule. The stall owner gave up halfway through, seeing the inside of the stone.

"It's cold iron! It's actually cold iron!" the man exclaimed excitedly. The crowd around also clamored in sudden excitement. They had not reacted like that at the sight of the spirit stone geodes. Was uncommon iron ore that much better in their eyes?

"Who is the buyer? Fellow Daoist, I offer you 60 Low Grade Spirit Stones!"

"I offer 70!"

"I offer 1 Medium Grade Spirit Stone!" After the first offer, a flood of prices came from the crowd. At the sudden chaos, the stall owner looked embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, esteemed customer. I inadvertently exclaimed the result," he asked apologetically. He had done it on purpose when there were only spirit tones, but exposing a hit on rare ore seemed like a blunder on his end. Seth didn't really mind. He was not interested in <Black Iron Ore>; he had a lot of it back home. It would have been different if it was <Meteorite Iron>, but there was no way that would show up from these kinds of stones.

The blacksmith ultimately sold the bucket-sized stone with ore inside to the highest bidder for 110 low-grade spirit stones and left the stall behind. Although he found a way to cheat, he was not really interested in this sort of gambling. While Seth had some hits abusing his skills, Fin had managed a bunch of worthless but pretty stones. Mina had managed one hit. She had acquired a piece of <Spiritual Jade>, a rare-rated gemstone the size of her thumb.

They were in the middle of comparing their hauls when the bazaar suddenly became chaotic. People started running, some toward something, others away from it.

"It's a Realm Gate!" someone exclaimed.

"A Trial Realm has opened!" another cried ecstaticly. Many cried out similar things, either in fear or excitement, making quite clear what was going on. A Pathway had opened on the bazaar.

"Another void gate!"

"Here too!"

"Help!" The original excitement started flipping quickly into a panic, as more games opened on the bazaar, to the point even the trio could see the edge of one a couple of rows away.

"System God Shenanigans?"

"System God Shenanigans."