A Gambler’s Defeat

Azure Cloud Peak, Main Hall Plaza.

Smack!

Luo Youmeng slammed the worn-out broom in her hand onto the bluestone pavement.

A frosty expression covered her breathtakingly beautiful face.

Taking a deep breath to suppress the injuries within her body, she strode over to Qin Lin, who was lazily basking in the sun.

“Qin!”

“I refuse to accept this!”

She glared at Qin Lin, who lounged in the Grand Master’s chair.

An intense unwillingness burned within her cold phoenix eyes.

“I admit I’m penniless.”

“And I admit the contract is valid.”

“But yesterday, I lost because the Heavenly Dao cursed me with misfortune!”

“You merely took advantage of the fact that I had no money!”

Without even lifting his eyelids, Qin Lin casually rolled two walnuts in his hand.

“So?”

“Gamble with me.”

“Just you and me.”

“No cultivation.”

“No Divine Sense.”

Luo Youmeng clenched her teeth.

Like a desperate gambler backed into a corner, she declared,

“If you can beat me with nothing but pure gambling skill…”

“…I, Luo Youmeng, will willingly remain in the Wentian Sect as your servant for the rest of my life.”

“But if you lose…”

“…return my contract.”

Qin Lin finally opened his eyes.

Looking at the Empress before him—who had already gambled away everything she owned, yet stubbornly refused to admit defeat—he smiled faintly.

“Very well.”

“If you insist on losing with complete understanding…”

“…I’ll show you what real skill looks like.”

Qin Lin leisurely walked to the stone table in the center of the courtyard.

He casually plucked three leaves from a nearby tree before picking up a shriveled red bean from the table.

“First game.”

“‘Three Immortals Return to the Cave.'”

“An old mortal street trick.”

He placed the red bean on the table and covered it with one of the leaves.

“The rules are simple.”

“I move the leaves.”

“You guess where the bean is.”

“Watch carefully.”

His hands moved instantly.

There wasn’t a trace of spiritual light.

Only impossibly fast afterimages.

This was the pinnacle of close-up magic and street swindling techniques that Qin Lin had painstakingly studied for an entire decade in his previous life.

His wrists danced.

The three leaves crossed over one another in a dazzling blur, constantly changing places.

Luo Youmeng snorted.

Although they had agreed not to use Divine Sense…

As someone who had spent countless years gambling, her eyesight was exceptionally sharp.

Every movement Qin Lin made seemed to slow down in her vision.

She saw it clearly.

The red bean had remained beneath the leftmost leaf the entire time.

It had never moved.

Smack.

Qin Lin stopped.

“The left one.”

Luo Youmeng pointed at it disdainfully.

“Go ahead.”

“Lift it.”

Qin Lin looked at her with an amused smile.

Slowly…

He lifted the leftmost leaf.

Nothing.

The sneer on Luo Youmeng’s face instantly froze.

She lunged forward and flipped over the other two leaves.

Both were empty.

“Impossible!”

“I watched it the whole time!”

She was utterly shocked.

“You only watched…”

“…what I wanted you to watch.”

Qin Lin snapped his fingers.

The red bean mysteriously dropped from behind his ear onto the tabletop.

“This is called directing your audience’s attention.”

“Again?”

“Again!”

Luo Youmeng’s eyes immediately turned red.

It was the feverish excitement of a gambler confronting the ultimate challenge.

“Second game.”

“You’ll be the dealer.”

Qin Lin somehow produced three wooden dice and a bamboo dice cup, pushing them toward her.

“You roll.”

“I guess.”

“If I get the result wrong…”

“…you win.”

Luo Youmeng snatched up the bamboo cup.

She tossed the three dice inside and shook them furiously.

Clatter! Clatter!

The bamboo cup became a blur in her hand.

Although she wasn’t using cultivation, her exquisite wrist control allowed her to manipulate exactly how the dice landed.

She was absolutely certain…

Inside were three ones.

Bang!

She slammed the cup onto the table.

Her hand pressed firmly against it as she stared vigilantly at Qin Lin’s hands, terrified he might tamper with it.

“You don’t need to guard against me.”

“I won’t even touch the table.”

Qin Lin leaned comfortably against the Grand Master’s chair with his arms folded.

Then he calmly spoke three words.

“Six.”

“Six.”

“Six.”

“Hahaha!”

“You’ve lost!”

Luo Youmeng burst into triumphant laughter.

She immediately lifted the bamboo cup.

“I clearly rolled three one—”

Her laughter stopped abruptly.

The three wooden dice lay quietly beneath the cup.

The bright red dots were painfully conspicuous.

Six.

Six.

Six.

“Impossible!”

“Absolutely impossible!”

Luo Youmeng looked as though she’d been struck by lightning.

Her entire body trembled.

She had clearly judged the dice by sound.

She knew they had landed on three ones.

Had the dice somehow grown legs and flipped over by themselves?

“When you were shaking the dice…”

“…you kept your eyes fixed on my hands because you were afraid I’d cheat.”

Qin Lin sighed.

“But the moment you slammed the cup onto the table…”

“…your muscles naturally carried it forward.”

“For the briefest instant…”

“…the bottom of the cup lifted ever so slightly.”

“That tiny gap…”

“…was more than enough.”

“I simply used a burst of finger force to flip the dice over.”

“What kind of sorcery is this?”

Luo Youmeng’s mind was in complete chaos.

“This isn’t sorcery.”

“It’s cheating.”

Qin Lin stood and walked over to her.

“One last game.”

He placed the red bean into her hand.

“Hold it tightly.”

“Don’t let go.”

Luo Youmeng immediately clenched her right fist.

She even used the full strength of her physical body.

She refused to believe that something already inside her own hand could somehow sprout wings and fly away.

“Now…”

“Look into my eyes.”

Instinctively, Luo Youmeng raised her head.

Her gaze met Qin Lin’s unfathomably dark eyes.

“You’ve already lost.”

Qin Lin lightly tapped the back of her fist three times.

“I haven’t lost.”

“The bean is still in my—”

She sneered as she opened her hand.

Her voice stopped cold.

The shriveled red bean had vanished without a trace.

In its place…

…was a tiny pile of yellow dirt.

Thud.

Luo Youmeng’s knees gave out.

She collapsed onto the bluestone pavement.

Her worldview.

Her pride.

Everything she believed she knew about gambling…

…was utterly shattered beneath Qin Lin’s godlike sleight of hand.

There had been no Heavenly Dao.

No overwhelming cultivation.

Only an understanding of human psychology…

Visual blind spots…

And the manipulation of attention.

Only now did she realize…

What she had truly lost at Golden Toad House wasn’t merely money.

It was control.

And the man standing before her…

…was a god who controlled everything at the gambling table.

“I’ve lost…”

Luo Youmeng lowered her head.

Her voice was hoarse.

Yet a completely different light ignited within her eyes.

It was the gaze of a gambler who had witnessed an even higher realm…

…and now longed desperately to reach it.

Whoosh!

The Divine Phoenix Empress who had once ruled the Nine Heavens suddenly dropped to both knees.

She kowtowed several times in succession.

“Master!”

“Please accept this disciple’s bow!”

She looked up again.

Not a trace of arrogance or unwillingness remained on her stunning face.

Only pure admiration…

…and fanatical reverence.

She stared at Qin Lin with trembling excitement.

“Disciple is completely convinced!”

“Utterly convinced!”

“I beg you, Master!”

“Please teach me these gambling techniques!”

“As long as I can learn such divine skills—skills that control people’s hearts instead of relying on luck…”

“…forget sweeping floors and chopping firewood.”

“I’d gladly spend my entire life carrying your washbasin if that’s what it takes!”

Qin Lin looked at the once-proud Empress.

Her Dao Heart had been completely rebuilt.

She had transformed from an arrogant Empress…

…into a fanatic obsessed with gambling tricks.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

“You want to learn?”

Turning toward the main hall, Qin Lin waved his sleeve.

Only his mysterious back remained in view.

“Clean the courtyard first.”

“Tomorrow morning…”

“…I’ll teach you how to shuffle cards.”

“Yes, Master!”

Luo Youmeng sprang to her feet.

Grabbing the broom, which had snapped cleanly into two pieces, she charged excitedly toward the pile of fallen leaves.

[Ding!]

[Detected that Second Disciple Luo Youmeng’s Dao Heart has been completely reshaped.]

[Loyalty has reached Fanatically Loyal.]

[Today’s AFK cultivation settlement: Obtained two years of cultivation foundation.]

[Passive Trait Unlocked for Second Disciple: Imperial Pressure (Beginner).]

Listening to the pleasant system notifications echoing in his mind, Qin Lin stretched contentedly.

“No matter how careful you are…”

“…it’s impossible to guard against a master swindler.”

“The people of this cultivation world…”

“…are still far too innocent.”