Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

"Of course I won't lend it, because I have other valuables I can use as collateral!"

After saying this, Xian Kongzi suddenly flipped his hand and took out a jade pendant that was entirely emerald green.

Gou Anding looked at it and found that the jade pendant was full of spiritual energy, and it was obviously not an ordinary object.

"This is the Jade of a Hundred Lifespans!" Xian Kongzi chuckled. "It's a treasure I obtained from the East Sea Secret Realm half a month ago. Wearing this for a long time can increase one's lifespan by up to one hundred years."

Upon hearing this, the other gamblers at the table became interested.

After all, lifespan is extremely important in the world of cultivation.

Often, what prevents us from reaching a higher level of cultivation is not talent, but time.

In theory, given enough time, even someone with the lowest talent level of a low-grade human-rank spiritual root can cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage.

Therefore, any treasure related to increasing lifespan is extremely valuable.

"I wonder how many spirit stones this can be mortgaged for?" Xian Kongzi handed the Hundred Life Jade in his hand to the female cultivator Zhuangjia.

The female cultivator examined the Hundred Life Jade carefully for a moment before finally saying, "This item is quite good; it's worth sixty mid-grade spirit stones."

"Only sixty?" Xian Kongzi frowned immediately.

"Young friend, I'll offer seventy, how about you give it to me?" An older cultivator suddenly spoke up.

Immediately afterward, another cultivator followed up with a bid: "I'll offer eighty mid-grade spirit stones!"

"I'll offer eighty-five yuan!"

Seeing the price soaring, Xian Kongzi suddenly said to everyone present, "Whoever gives me a hundred mid-grade spirit stones, I'll sell it to them!"

But after this price was announced, everyone present fell silent!

After all, one hundred mid-grade spirit stones is not a small amount; it's worth 100,000 low-grade spirit stones.

"You can pawn it to our gambling den, and if you have enough spirit stones, you can redeem it!" The female cultivator, the gambling den owner, spoke up. "If you sell it to someone else, who will return it to you?"

Xian Kongzi frowned, clearly somewhat tempted.

"I'll offer a hundred!"

Just then, Gou An suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this, Xian Kongzi immediately turned to Gou An excitedly: "Fellow Daoist, is this true?"

"Of course it's true!" Gou An nodded, took out his storage bag and poured it onto the table, instantly creating a pile of one hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

"Good! Good!" Xian Kongzi snatched the Hundred Life Jade back and handed it to Gou An: "This jade is yours from now on."

After saying that, he turned around again, wanting to turn the tables.

However, Gou An noticed that after the Hundred Life Jade was handed to him, the female cultivator who was acting as the dealer seemed to look at him with a strange gaze.

"Master, you..." Long Youzi was speechless for a moment.

"It's alright. When asking someone for a favor, consider it a small gift. Besides, this jade pendant is indeed a treasure!" Gou An put the jade pendant away and continued to stand behind Long Youzi to watch the battle.

Having regained his leverage, Xian Kongzi regained his fighting spirit and prepared to make another big splash.

The female cultivator, however, looked at Gou An and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, aren't you going to come up to the table and try your luck?"

"I won't!" Gou An waved his hand, "I've always had bad luck; I always lose when I gamble."

"Perhaps this time will be different?" the female cultivator still extended the invitation with a smile.

Before Gou An could refuse, Xian Kongzi impatiently urged, "If others aren't coming, they aren't coming. Hurry up and start, stop talking nonsense."

The female cultivator had no choice but to start the next round of betting.

But this time, Xian Kongzi's luck was still not on his side, and his hundred mid-grade spirit stones were quickly depleted again.

"Stop gambling!" Long Youzi urged again, "If you keep gambling, you'll lose everything you have left!"

"No, no, no, I can still turn things around!" Xian Kongzi patted his face, trying to clear his head.

"Gambling is all about luck!" Gou An added, "You've won for several days in a row, which means your luck was at its peak. But everything has its limits, and your current losing streak means your luck has run out."

"If you keep gambling, even a thousand mid-grade spirit stones won't be enough for you to lose, let alone a hundred."

Faced with the two men's attempts to dissuade him, Xian Kongzi finally calmed down and realized that he had acted impulsively.

"Yes, you're right!" Xian Kongzi sighed, then put the remaining mid-grade spirit stones into his storage bag, shaking his head. "I'll try my luck again tomorrow!"

After saying that, he got up and left.

Long Youzi was afraid that the guy would change his mind, so he quickly pulled him out of the room and downstairs.

Before leaving, Gou An turned back and exchanged a meaningful glance with the female cultivator.

After descending the stairs, Xiankongzi, though away from the gambling table, still couldn't resist the urge to gamble.

My mind was completely focused on reviewing why I had lost so much money so quickly, and how I should have stopped while I was ahead.

Long Youzi stood by, comforting him and calming him down: "As long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood. There's no need to rush into winning or losing."

"I'll definitely win next time!" Xian Kongzi gritted his teeth, his mind filled with thoughts of turning the tables next time.

Just as the two were about to leave the main building and head out of the courtyard, Gou An called out from behind them, "Wait a minute!"

The two stopped simultaneously, and Long Youzi asked curiously, "Master, is there anything else?"

"Let's exchange something!" Gou An smiled slightly at them, took out the Hundred Life Jade he had just obtained, and walked to the place in the courtyard where spirit stones could be exchanged.

"How much can this be exchanged for?" Gou An pushed the Hundred Life Jade to an older cultivator inside.

The older cultivator's eyes lit up when he saw the Hundred Life Jade. He quickly took the jade pendant and examined it carefully before finally raising his head to quote: "At most sixty-five mid-grade spirit stones."

"Eighty dollars!" Gou An offered a new price.

The older cultivator gave an awkward smile: "Fellow Daoist, you jest. This item is not worth that much."

"Since you think it's not worth it, then I'll sell it to someone else!" Gou An said, reaching for the Hundred Life Jade.

Upon seeing this, the older monk quickly changed his tune: "Seventy, I suppose!"

But Gou An remained unmoved.

"Seventy-five!" the older monk continued to quote.

"Give it back to me!" Gou An demanded, spreading his hands.

"Eighty, it's eighty then!" The older monk sighed and finally chose to compromise.

After Gou An obtained the eighty mid-grade spirit stones, he immediately turned around and left without stopping, heading straight out of the gambling den.

On the way, Long Youzi became even more curious: "Master, you just bought this for a hundred mid-grade spirit stones, how come you sold it for eighty?"

"Yes!" Xian Kongzi, standing to the side, also looked puzzled. "Fellow Daoist, are you perhaps having some kind of mental breakdown?"

But Gou An simply pointed to a restaurant nearby, as if he could smell the aroma inside: "Let's go in, eat and chat."

Before long, the three of them were already in a private room at the restaurant, enjoying a hearty meal.

Long Youzi asked curiously again, "Master, you still haven't told us why you sold that Hundred Life Jade again."

"It's all because someone in the gambling den has taken a liking to this stuff!" Gou An picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

"Someone has taken a liking to him?" Long Youzi was even more puzzled.

"Who has taken a liking to him?" Xian Kongzi asked curiously.

"I don't know exactly who it is either!" Gou An smiled slightly. "It's just a feeling!"

"Feeling?" Long Youzi clearly didn't understand.

Gou An had no choice but to explain, "According to you, my fellow Daoist, you've lost nine out of ten times in the past!"

"No, that's not true!" Xian Kongzi immediately retorted, "At most, you lose eight out of ten times, but you can still win occasionally."

"Fine, even if you lose eight times out of eight!" Gou An sighed. "But how could it be such a coincidence? You only obtained the Hundred Life Jade from the secret realm half a month ago, and your luck has been on a winning streak for the past few days?"

"I was just lucky!" Xian Kongzi replied.

"No!" Gou An denied it outright: "You weren't lucky, you were set up."

"Setting up a trap?" Xian Kongzi frowned immediately.

"If I'm not mistaken, quite a few people probably know you have this Hundred Life Jade, right?" Gou An asked with a smile.

Xian Kongzi nodded: "That's right, quite a few people know about it."

"That's right!" Gou An said, "You frequent gambling dens, so the people there must know that you have a treasure that can extend your life by a hundred years."

"If someone in the gambling den wanted your Hundred Life Jade, what would they do?"

Faced with this question, both Long Youzi and Xian Kongzi shook their heads.

"The simplest and most direct way is to buy it with spirit stones!" Gou An said, then looked at Xian Kongzi and asked, "Think back, is there any?"

"There really are! And quite a few!" Xian Kongzi nodded: "However, I've been asking for 100,000 low-grade spirit stones, which is 100 mid-grade spirit stones, so no one has been able to reach an agreement."

"That's right!" Gou An laughed. "It's precisely because you asked for too high a price that others were unwilling to be taken advantage of, so they set up a trap for you."

"They know you like to gamble and get more and more addicted, so they deliberately let you win from the beginning and let you win more and more, allowing you to climb higher and higher."

"When the right opportunity arises, we'll let you start losing. Once you're hooked on the losses, won't you naturally hand over your treasure as collateral?"

"After you pledge the spirit stones, they might even win them all. In this way, they can say that they got the treasure in your hands without spending a single spirit stone, and they might even make you owe them a large sum of money."

After listening to Gou An's analysis, Xian Kongzi felt a cold sweat break out on his back: "What you said, fellow Daoist, seems to make a lot of sense!"

"I knew it! How did your luck suddenly become so good?" Long Youzi chimed in from the side, "So that's how it is."

Xian Kongzi rubbed his head and asked, "Then why did you sell that Hundred Life Jade, fellow Daoist?"

"Since I've been targeted by some big shot, keeping this on me will only attract unwanted attention." Gou An yawned, his tone calm. "So rather than waiting for them to cause me trouble, I might as well get rid of the trouble sooner rather than later. It's just a waste of a few spirit stones."

"Oh, right!" Xian Kongzi suddenly remembered something: "Didn't you call me because you need something? What is it?"

He looked at Long Youzi with a puzzled expression.

"I want you to take us to the Wuxiang Black Market!" Long Youzi replied in a low voice, "We want to buy some things."

"I'm not going!" Xian Kongzi shook his head and refused.