“Many thanks then.” Ning Cheng unceremoniously received the one billion Blue Coins.
Qiu Hongfang smiled and spoke, “I just happened to hear Brother Ning mention something about nobody wanting to gamble with you in our casino. Since Brother Ning is a master when it comes to gambling, would Brother Ning mind going for a round or two with me?”
Ning Cheng spoke up with without care, “Gambling with the owner itself, that definitely is an interesting proposition. However, just gambling with two people is boring and senseless. Let us invite Steward Fu and Deputy Owner Yan Fahan. The four of us can then pick a table to gamble.”
“Haha….” Qiu Hongfang laughed aloud after hearing Ning Cheng’s words, “Brother Ning sure is quite bold. If I say no, it would only make us look bad. Good, let us continue as proposed, the four of us can gamble together.”
The surrounding crowd immediately burst into chatter. The owner and the deputy owner of this casino were taking the field simultaneously along with Master Fu, the chief steward of the casino. This round definitely would be explosive. At the same time, everyone also felt that Ning Cheng willing wanted to kill himself for daring to pick a fight with these three people of the casino at the same time. These three people, arguably, were also the most influential people within the casino.
Ning Cheng still acted as if he did not care as he spoke up, “Naturally, I have to have some courage. You do not need to worry though; I do not care if the three of you decided to join forces against me. Since it my own request, I do not have to care about anything else at all. All I care about is whether I can win a lot of money today or not.”
When Qiu Hongfang heard those words, his face could not help but twitch a bit; was this fellow a real idiot or was he pretending to be an idiot?
Whether Ning Cheng was a real idiot or pretending to be an idiot, his words had already pulled in a large portion of the crowd at the first level of the casino. At this moment, almost all the cultivators were watching the proceedings. Even addicts, who loved to gamble, paused their own matches and came to watch this round. None of them wanted to miss such an exciting game.
Ning Cheng along with Qiu Hongfang, Yan Fahan and Steward Fu, sat down at a table for four, with 108 Array Flag Cards neatly placed at the centre of the table. At the same time, there were also many spectators quietly staring at the full picture. At this moment, it was impossible to cheat even if one wanted to.
The theme of gambling this time around was ‘Betting on Arrays’ which involved building Array Formations. With Perfection Arrays, Major Engraving Array, Minor Engraving Arrays, and Coarse Arrays as the respective array formation divisions.
If you arranged a Coarse Array, and others could not complete their array line-up, the others would then have to compensate you with an amount equivalent to your own bet. If you won with a Minor Engraving Array, and the others could not complete their array line-up, then you would earn a three times compensation from each of them. However, if someone came up with a Coarse Array, the payment would go down to two times. If you managed to arrange a Major Engraving Array, and if no one could complete his or her line-up, you could potentially earn an eight times compensation from each person at the table. At the same time, if someone came up with a Coarse Array, the payment drops to seven times, and four times if someone came up with a Minor Engraving Array.
However, if you manage to arrange a Perfect Array Formation, no matter if others lined-up their arrays, you will earn a compensation of 20 times from each player, without exception. The last time Jing Wuming had completed a Perfection Array; however, someone had labelled him as a cheater.
Qiu Hongfang put down a chip for 100 million Blue Coins and spoke, “Let me be the first to start. I put down a 100 million.”
Seeing Qiu Hongfang put down a 100 million Blue Coin Chip as his first bet, Yan Fahan and Steward Fu also put down a hundred million Blue Coins.
The people watching around turned even more excited; if the first bet placed were a 100 million Blue Coins, then how high would the following stakes go? In any case, this round of gambling definitely would see many Blue Coins changing hands. Looks like a good show was on its way.
Ning Cheng smiled and put down 5 billion Blue Coins worth of chips, “I like to go big from the beginning; however, I only have 5 billion Blue Coins. The winner takes all, I guess.”
This time, the surroundings no longer buzzed with excitement; instead, the surroundings turned utterly silent. Nobody had ever gambled small inside the Ocean Gambling’s Premier Casino; however, nobody could place bets like Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng had put down 5 billion at the first instance. If Ning Cheng lost, he would have to pay, at least, twice of 5.1 billion in total as compensation; his stake of 5 billion along with the winner’s 100 million bet. If the round resulted in a payout of several times the amount bet, it would all finally depend on the winner, if they choose to come to an agreement.
If Ning Cheng won, then others would have to shell out twice of their own bet plus the 5 billion to Ning Cheng.
“Brother Ning indeed is quite the hero.” Qiu Hongfang spoke with appreciation and cupped fists towards Ning Cheng. He then reached out and motioned Ning Cheng to pick the first card.
Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness had already scanned the 108 cards and learned the order of each of the 108 cards and the number of Spirit Lines on each card. If he took the first draw, then the subsequent draws would allow Qiu Hongfang, or the other two, to arrange a Minor Engraving Array. People just would not need to exchange any cards at all before they opened up a Minor Engraving Array. It would essentially signify Ning Cheng’s loss.
Because of the starry skies-like Sea of Consciousness, resulted from crossing the Sea of Consciousness’ Nirvana Tribulation, Ning Cheng’s use and concealment of his Spiritual Consciousness could no longer compare to ordinary cultivators. Even if Qiu Hongfang’s cultivation turned out many times stronger compared to Ning Cheng, it could not interfere with Ning Cheng’s starry sky-like Sea of Consciousness.
Qiu Hongfang knew that the cards coming to his hand could help him in arranging a Minor Engraving Array, which also meant that he knew, at least, the general order of the deck. From this, Ning Cheng concluded that Qiu Hongfang could also use his own Spiritual Consciousness in this place. Alternatively, at the very least, Qiu Hongfang had a method to learn the contents of the cards.
The opposite party knew everything about the cards at every moment, which literally was the very essence of the term ‘cheating’. How could Ning Cheng let such a situation persist?
Ning Cheng spoke with a smile, “Good. Many thanks to Stage Master Qiu’s generosity. However, to provide against contingencies, let us both not grab cards one after another, let’s switch up the order of drawing cards at random, what does Stage Master Qiu think?”
Although Qiu Hongfang felt furious in his heart, he still showed a smiling face and spoke up calmly, “That’s only natural. Since I asked Brother Ning to draw the first card, then I must also naturally agree to Brother Ning’s proposal for the card drawing.”
He anyway did not believe in losing to an outsider like Ning Cheng, even without obtaining a Minor Engraving Array on the first try.
Each person quickly secured twelve cards at random; at the same time, Ning Cheng also saw every card in the hands of the rest of the people. Looking at the flag cards, that person named Fu obtained the best set out of the four. While Qiu Hongfang held a lousy hand, with Yan Fahan holding an almost similar level of cards.
However, Ning Cheng did not feel flustered about such a situation at all; as long as this Fu did not exchange for a card that could allow him to open up his array immediately, Ning Cheng did not have to worry about anything else. On the other hand, if the opposite party managed to obtain the right card and opened up a winning spread, Ning Cheng would not have the slightest chance to resist.
Ning Cheng did not obtain an excellent set of cards; however, he did not care about it. He only needed three cards to lay down a Perfection Array, the Phantom Fire Array.
If replaced by an average person, not to mention about the missing three cards, a lack of even a single card would instigate a complete loss of hope. Otherwise, anyone could easily arrange a Perfection Array
However, Ning Cheng did not care. He already knew about how to obtain the three required cards. Except for the one in the hands of Yan Fahan, he could change the Spirit Lines in the remaining flag cards at any time. As for the card in Yan Fahan’s hand, Ning Cheng cannot obtain it by just altering his card’s Spirit Lines as that was a completely different seated card. With his present skill, Ning Cheng anyway cannot wholly change a seated flag card.
Ning Cheng did not change his cards immediately; he knew that Qiu Hongfang could definitely examine his cards with his Spiritual Consciousness. Therefore, even if he wants to alter them, he would have to do it during the layout of the Perfection Array. Moreover, to arrange the Perfection Array, Ning Cheng also had to wait for Yan Fahan to put down the 17-line Spirit Qi Flood Seated Card.
That Flood Seated Card was quite useful for Yan Fahan; that is, Yan Fahan could use it to arrange a Minor Engraving Array as long as he exchanges two cards.
However, it could not stop Ning Cheng, who decided to throw in a 6-line Pin Seated Card. If Yan Fahan took this card, then he had to give up the 17-line Flood Seated Card; at the same time, he would only lack a card to complete a Major Engraving Array. Only fools and idiots would not immediately exchange for this card.
“6-Line Pin Seated Card….” Ning Cheng secretly changed the Spirit Lines on his Pin Seated Card and threw it out.
“Haha, thank you, Brother Ning, I was just missing a 6-line Pin Seated Card.” Just as Ning Cheng expected, the moment he threw out the 6-line Pin Seated Card, Yan Fahan gave a laugh and immediately took the card as his own.
Previously, he did not want to arrange a Major Engraving Array, because of the rarity of the 6-line Pin Seated Card. At the same time, even if one had such a card, people would not easily discard it. Almost all the people seated here wanted the 6-line Pin Seated Card and had never thought that Ning Cheng would actually throw it out. Since Ning Cheng had discarded it, how could Yan Fahan miss such an opportunity?
Even the surrounding people shot regrettable looks at Ning Cheng, how could the people at the betting table not want the 6-line Pin Seated Card? Even if Yan Fahan did not desire it, Qiu Hongfang and that Fu definitely would want that card.
Qiu Hongfang showed a frown. He also felt that this matter was somewhat strange; did Ning Cheng have something up his sleeve?
“17-line Flood Seated Card.” After Yan Fahan picked up the 6-line Pin Seated Card, he did not hesitate to discard the 17-line Flood Seated Card.
Qiu Hongfang shook his head internally, not required. That Fu also shook his head inwardly, not needed.
Ning Cheng hesitated a bit before picking up the 17-line Flood Seated Card.
All the people could not help but stare at Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng discarded a 6-line Pin Seated Card only to pick up a 17-line Flood Seated Card; it was too strange.
“Since you do not want it, I will take it. Let’s see if I can use this card for creating a Perfection Array….” Ning Cheng spoke with hesitation while calculating with his fingers.
Yan Fahan showed a sneer and spoke up, “Brother Ning, real swords and real spears build a casino if you cannot form a Perfection Array by now, then with all the time you wasted it is entirely possible to say that you might not have a Perfection Array at your hands. With a wrong Perfection Array, you will have to compensate the remaining three for their losses.”
Ning Cheng seemed startled by those words, “Oh, not the right array and still compensate for the loss, then I should quickly put together the right Perfection Array.”
“Pop…” 13 cards fell down onto the table in front of Ning Cheng and arranged themselves; for a moment, every pair of eyes in the room fixed their stare on Ning Cheng’s Perfection Array.
“Aah….” A sharp scream suddenly emerged.
Followed by someone else shouting, “A Perfection Array, not only is it a perfect Perfection Array, it actually is a perfect Phantom Fire Perfection Array Formation.”
When the 13 cards came together, a clump of flames suddenly flashed over the cards, indicating that it definitely was a perfect Phantom Fire Perfection Array.
Qiu Hongfang’s face turned pale as he thought, ‘it’s impossible, absolutely impossible’. His Spiritual Consciousness had always remained trained at Ning Cheng’s cards. Ning Cheng needed at least three other cards to form the perfect Phantom Fire Array. Even if he obtained Yan Fahan’s 17-line Flood Seated Card, Ning Cheng still needed two more. How could it result in this?
“Oh heavens, how much compensation do they have to pay?” Some of the people could not help but exclaim about the amount of Blue Coins coming Ning Cheng’s way after calculating the numbers in their head.
Ning Cheng had put down 5 billion Blue Coins, and the other three had each put down 100 million Blue Coins; with everything added up, everyone had to shell out 102 billion Blue Coins to Ning Cheng.
This definitely was an extremely frightening number; even the Ocean Gambling’s Premier Casino would feel the pinch with this amount.
