Sacred Land of China, No Foreign Bullying Allowed

Just as Warren Yuan's heart was pounding with anxiety, the elderly man across from him let out a cold snort and said, "No problem. I'll see this through to the end!"

After speaking, the old man turned and grinned at Warren Yuan, "Master Yuan, shall we begin? Same rules as always—let's start with stone gambling!"

"Alright, alright!" Warren Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, suddenly feeling that the old man's calmness meant he'd already seen through all his tricks.

"Uncover it!" Harvey "Million" Jin, oblivious to any tension, waved his hand and had the red cloth on the ground pulled away, revealing thousands of raw jade stones underneath—proof of his outrageous wealth. The rules for this stone gambling match were simple: no tools allowed, pick three raw stones, then cut them open on the spot to see if there's jade inside and how good it is!

So, this round was all about sharp eyes and intuition.

In an instant, the old man strode over, narrowed his eyes, and suddenly flicked two fingers lightning-fast across several raw stones. With a swish, one of the stones was sucked into his hand; he weighed it, looking quite satisfied.

"Master Wu, still sharp as ever! No wonder you're North Burma's number one jade gambler. That stone-flick sound-testing technique—you can't master that without at least thirty years of practice!"

"Exactly! That guy wants to go up against Master Wu? He's way out of his league. So-called jade appraisal master—totally fake!"

"Might as well kneel and admit defeat now, save yourself the embarrassment later. For China to produce a real jade master, I guess we'll have to wait another hundred years!"

Watching the old man's performance, the others all started shouting arrogantly, their eyes full of disdain for Warren Yuan.

Warren Yuan was proud, and now this had become about the honor of all China. Even if he didn't have much confidence, he had to give it his all. With a grim face and clenched fists, he strode forward.

The old man moved quickly. In just a minute or two, he'd already picked out three raw stones and walked to the table, looking supremely confident.

Warren Yuan, on the other hand, was nowhere near as calm. He tapped and listened over and over, agonizing for more than ten minutes before finally picking three stones. The pressure and nerves left his back drenched in sweat.

Harvey "Million" Jin wasn't stupid—seeing Warren Yuan so tense, his own expression changed and he hurried over.

Ryan Ling leaned in too. He actually had a Magic-Item Tester and could easily win if he wanted to, but since Old Yuan was invited as the 'master,' he couldn't just steal his thunder. Besides, he was curious to see what tricks this 'North Burma Jade-Gambling King' had up his sleeve.

"Cut the stones!" shouted a servant nearby.

Immediately, the raw stones were brought to two cutting machines. With a loud screech, a dark-skinned woman in the crowd yelled, "Master Wu, amazing! This one's got green jade inside!"

"The second one's got jade too, and it's even higher quality!"

"The third stone's got some impurities, but there's still green inside!"

The other side's crew was thrilled, and the old man stroked his beard, looking even more smug.

On Warren Yuan's side, the first stone barely showed a hint of green, but the second and third were just worthless scraps.

In that instant, Warren Yuan's face went pale. He deeply regretted all the 'big talk' he'd thrown around earlier, and couldn't even bring himself to look at Harvey Jin.

Harvey Jin felt dizzy too—he hadn't expected Warren to lose so badly right out of the gate. This was supposed to be his last trump card. If they really lost, personal shame was nothing; it was national pride on the line. If word got out, public opinion might drown the Jin family.

"Master? Ha! This is the level of your so-called Chinese jade appraisal masters? What a joke—I'm dying of laughter!" the old man immediately mocked.

"Master Yuan, enough—pay your gambling debt and cut off your hand! And take down that 'Land of Jade' plaque, too. This place doesn't deserve it!" the dark-skinned woman shouted.

At that moment, everyone's faces turned green.

"Anyone who tries anything—touch Old Yuan and see what happens!" Jason Lin jumped out, and Frank Qin didn't hesitate either. After all they'd been through together, their brotherhood ran deep.

"What, Chinese people can't gamble jade, but they're great at playing dirty and dodging bets? Fine, you can skip cutting off your hand, but we filmed the whole thing and it's livestreaming right now. If China's so shameless, everyone ought to see it!" The dark-skinned woman pulled out her phone and sneered.

"Enough!" Warren Yuan's face was black as coal. He gritted his teeth: "A bet's a bet—do it! If I so much as frown, you can keep me as your pet!"

"At least you've got guts!" the woman snorted. Right then, a pockmarked man pulled out a curved blade and walked over.

"Stop!" Ryan Ling couldn't hold back any longer and jumped in front of Warren Yuan.

"Master, I lost fair and square and bragged too much. Just let them cut!" Warren Yuan shouted.

"Shut up! As long as I'm here, nobody touches you!" Ryan Ling glared, then cupped his hands to the old man: "Sir, he's my disciple—I'll take on his gambling debt. But I also want to see what North Burma's number one jade gambler can really do!"

"Master? You think you're worthy of facing Master Wu?" the dark-skinned woman sneered.

"Afraid, are you?" Ryan Ling shot her a razor-sharp look.

"Afraid? Not a chance. But what are you betting, little master? I don't need another pair of hands!" the old man scoffed.

"I'll bet my life against yours. We can play a few rounds—if I lose any round, or even tie overall, it's my loss. How about that?" Ryan Ling finished, and everyone around was stunned, especially Harvey Jin, who nearly jumped up. Honestly, when Warren Yuan first called Ryan his master, Harvey hadn't believed it at all, but now, seeing Ryan's sheer swagger, he couldn't help but feel fired up.

"You've got guts! I'll play!" The old man gritted his teeth—he was being challenged, and if he backed down now he'd lose all face, especially with his own people egging him on.

(Chapter not finished ^.^, please click next page to keep reading!)

Soon, the old man walked over to the pile of raw stones again, much more cautious this time. He spent nearly ten minutes picking out three stones with care. Meanwhile, Ryan Ling was totally casual—he grabbed three stones in just a few seconds, like a kid picking pebbles for fun.

"Ryan—Brother, you're betting your life here! You'd better be careful!" Harvey Jin was sweating bullets, seeing how unfazed Ryan was.

Warren Yuan stared at Ryan Ling in a daze. He didn't say anything, but inside, he was worried sick.

To Warren, Ryan Ling was unfathomable—but gambling on jade was a huge risk, and even the best could get it wrong.

The stones were cut again. The old man's results were about the same as before—almost all of them had green jade inside.

Seeing this, the old man let out a sigh of relief and shot a smug look at Ryan Ling.

At that moment, everyone was watching nervously. But Ryan Ling looked completely at ease, sipping his tea as if the suffocating tension had nothing to do with him.

"Little punk, still putting on airs? Gambling jade with me at your age—unless you started learning in the womb!" the old man cursed under his breath.

But right then, Harvey Jin suddenly shouted in excitement: "Whoa! Old-mine glass jade—top grade!"

"What?" The old man spit out his tea in shock.

He rushed over to look—and sure enough, Ryan Ling's first stone had revealed old-mine glass jade.

"Luck—it's gotta be luck!" The old man clenched his fists, glaring at the second stone as it was cut, cursing in his heart that it had to be worthless.

But just as that thought flashed through his mind, Harvey Jin and Warren Yuan shouted at the same time: "Oh my god—it's old-mine glass jade again! And this time, it's top quality!"

The old man felt dizzy, nearly collapsing. His hands were shaking—he'd been in jade appraisal and gambling for over thirty years and had never seen luck like this.

Still unwilling to accept it, he shouted, "That guy's just insanely lucky! The third one's definitely trash—definitely!"

The third stone was slowly cut open, and for a moment, a flash of green seemed to streak by—everyone around was stunned.

After half a second, Harvey Jin stammered, "Em—Emperor Green—my god, it's Emperor Green!"...