Chapter 114: Death for Wealth by Human Folly

Chen Xian saw no need to reveal the truth to Guo Xinzi.

As time passed into midnight, all one thousand jade boulders at the gambling stone convention had found buyers. The lowest price for a single piece was over one million US dollars, while the highest soared beyond ten million. The organizers of this Three Nations Jade Gambling Convention had indeed earned a handsome profit.

Yet the greatest winner was Chen Xian himself. He had secured all ninety of the finest boulders alone, their combined value easily exceeding eight billion dollars.

Moreover, he had obtained pieces numbered 666 and 999—two jade boulders rich with potent spiritual energy.

Chen Xian was thoroughly satisfied with the outcome of the convention. As the closing bell tolled, he walked directly to the jade collection point, swiped his card for over two hundred million dollars, inspected the jade, and left with the precious stones in hand.

Guo Xinzi invited him to join her for a late-night meal, but he declined.

Watching Chen Xian’s retreating figure, Guo Xinzi sighed softly, “He truly is an enigma. It seems he holds little interest in me...”

Only after the crowd of jade gamblers had dispersed did the young woman in the red dress, who had contended with Chen Xian for the 666th jade boulder, gradually regain her composure. Her eyes brightened anew.

Glancing around the empty venue, she seethed in frustration, “That wretched man subdued me with his divine will for so long and snatched away the two spiritually charged jade boulders. I had planned to win at least one to present to my master as a gift. Now, everything is ruined. I must find him and settle this score!”

Yet as she calmed herself, the memory of how effortlessly he had intimidated her filled her with dread.

This was a person she could never provoke—only her master could hope to suppress him.

With this thought, the young woman in red stifled her anger and prepared to return for counsel.

...

After leaving the Guangsheng Stadium, which seated eighty thousand, Chen Xian slipped into a secluded corner. With a thought, the faint glow from the ring on his finger swirled into a vortex, absorbing the large bag of jade stones behind him.

His hands were empty once more.

He then closed his eyes briefly to sense the direction of the spy insect 002, reopened them, and hailed a taxi headed that way.

In the taxi, Chen Xian glanced back to see several suspicious vehicles tailing closely.

Remarkably, the taxi driver, a careless fellow, remained oblivious to the pursuit, humming a tune as he drove on.

Chen Xian smirked inwardly, thinking, “Man dies for wealth, bird perishes for food.”

Half an hour later.

When the taxi reached a remote outskirts area, the trailing vehicles suddenly sprang into action.

An SUV charged forward, forcing the taxi to a halt.

The startled driver slammed on the brakes.

Within moments, dozens of armed men poured out from the pursuers’ vehicles, encircling the taxi with black gun barrels aimed at Chen Xian and the driver.

Terrified, the driver’s legs trembled uncontrollably—he even lost control of his bladder.

At that moment, a pig-faced middle-aged man wearing a gray pinstripe suit stepped out of the rear vehicle and approached the taxi.

This was none other than Xiang Kui, the most notorious local gangster of JK City—whom Chen Xian had previously defeated.

“Kid, if you know what’s good for you, hand over all the jade and cash you won at the auction. Then I might spare your miserable life. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you die without a trace!” Xiang Kui snarled, eyes blazing with murderous intent.

Chen Xian’s lips curled into a rebellious smirk. “You refuse the path of heaven and insist on barging into hell.”

As the words left his mouth, faint ripples spread out like waves across a pond.

Xiang Kui and his men were enveloped by the ripples, frozen in place as if cursed—motionless with vacant stares.

Minutes later.

Xiang Kui, his dozens of henchmen, and their vehicles vanished without a trace.

Only the stunned driver and Chen Xian remained on the scene.

Chen Xian stepped forward and gently patted the driver’s head, awakening him.

“Sir, why am I standing here? Oh no, I... I wet myself!” the driver exclaimed, bewildered.

“What happened just now?” he asked.

Chen Xian shrugged with a smile. “I don’t know either. You said you needed to relieve yourself, so you stopped the car... and then you wet your pants.”

Still confused, the driver fetched a spare pair of trousers from the trunk, changed, and resumed driving Chen Xian toward their destination.

Chen Xian reclined in the backseat, eyes closed in restful meditation.

In truth, it was he who had unleashed a thunderous strike to annihilate Xiang Kui and his gang, absorbing their bodies and vehicles into his ring, planning to later dispose of the cars in some remote wilderness.

He had spared Xiang Kui once before at the Guangsheng Grand Hotel—never expecting the scoundrel to attempt an assassination again.

As the wheels rolled forward, Chen Xian drew ever closer to the spy insect 002—and to the mysterious silver-haired youth with a childlike face.

...

In country T, deep within the vast mountain ranges, a small stone temple stood.

Tapping sounds echoed steadily.

The silver-haired youth sat before a white tiger statue, striking a wooden fish with closed eyes. A string of black prayer beads rested in his hands as he murmured prayers.

Suddenly, a crisp snap rang out—the string holding the beads broke, scattering the dark beads across the floor.

The silver-haired youth’s eyes snapped open, reflecting for the first time a flicker of terror.

As a master of both martial and mystical arts at the grandmaster level, he placed absolute faith in omens—because they were invariably accurate.

The breaking of his meditative prayer beads was an ominous sign.

Unease filled his heart. Rising, he ceased striking the wooden fish and did not retrieve the beads. Instead, he paced restlessly within the temple, trying to discern the cause of this disturbance.

After much thought, he concluded the problem must stem from the mysterious, powerful youth with the close-cropped hair.

The more he contemplated that transcendent martial artist, the deeper his unrest grew.

Having reached his own exalted state, his mind was usually as still as an ancient well, untroubled by worldly matters. Yet now, very little in the world could unsettle him—except this.

Time passed amid his disquiet.

As night fell, a cold, clear full moon hung high in the sky. No clouds obscured the stars, which glittered brilliantly.

At that moment, a figure raced swiftly through the mountain forest, faster than a nimble leopard.

This figure’s destination was the ancient stone temple.