The Taiji Array emphasized three rotations.
The first rotation divided the array positions.
The second rotation determined the arcane law.
The third rotation condensed the Profound Mystery Manifestation.
Now the array positions had been divided, and the arcane laws determined. The third rotation began to condense and derive the Profound Mystery Manifestation.
A soft hum sounded as the Taiji Array Eye at the center of the gambling table rotated once more, its radiance beginning to flicker, signifying the start of the Profound Mystery Manifestation's condensation.
Those at the table needed to form hand seals and deduce the Profound Mystery before the manifestation fully condensed.
If dividing positions and determining the arcane law earlier relied on fortune, then this moment tested genuine skill.
Although the determined arcane law was the Three Powers, the Profound Mystery Manifestations contained within the Three Powers were countless. No one knew what kind of Profound Mystery Manifestation the Taiji Array Eye would condense from the Three Powers. This was where one's personal deduction skills were required.
Everyone knew Taiji Transformation was based on arcane laws, so the condensed Profound Mystery Manifestation would also be based on them. However, the arcane law of One Origin gave birth to Two Forms, the Two Forms derived the Three Powers, the Three Powers transformed into the Four Symbols...
Each derivation held countless possibilities. Exactly what array manifestation the Taiji Array would condense was unclear to anyone. The only certainty was that the Profound Mystery Manifestation about to be condensed would be of the Three Powers attribute.
The Taiji Array Eye continued its condensation. Everyone at the table stared intently, their thoughts racing like lightning as they continuously deduced in their minds.
At this moment, one couldn't rush. They first had to deduce what kind of wondrous manifestation it would be.
Although victory was determined by whoever condensed the most Profound Mysteries.
The prerequisite was that the Profound Mystery you condensed had to match the wondrous manifestation.
If later the Taiji Array deduced the Three Powers Parting Sorrow Profound Mystery, but you condensed the Three Powers Illusory Light Profound Mystery, you would undoubtedly lose.
Time passed bit by bit. Soon, the radiance condensing from the Taiji Array Eye began to weaken, meaning the Profound Mystery Manifestation was about to succeed. If they didn't form hand seals now, it would be too late. The first to move and form hand seals was the deputy leader of the Great Luo Gang. He had been assigned the Nine Palaces array position, the most garbage position this round, requiring him to deduce backward from the Nine Palaces to the Three Powers.
With a cold snort, the deputy leader slammed his Gambling Cup down hard over the Position Stone. Then, with both hands forming seals, a series of crisp crackling sounds rang out as Spiritual Arts condensed and emerged, passing through the Gambling Cup to strike the Position Stone inside.
Simultaneously, Jin Jun also moved all ten fingers of his hands, forming seals as Spiritual Arts passed through his Gambling Cup to strike his Position Stone.
In contrast, Bai Yuanrui appeared quite confident, one hand resting on his Gambling Cup, the other forming a Spiritual Art seal. However, when he glanced at Gu Qingfeng opposite him, he couldn't help but frown deeply. The white-robed man across from him was merely sipping his wine, watching the Taiji Array Eye with interest. Then he picked up his Gambling Cup, weighed it in his hand unhurriedly, covered the Position Stone, and lightly tapped the cup with his five fingers. A flash of light appeared at his fingertips as, in an instant, he formed five Spiritual Arts that, like five centipedes, condensed from his five fingers and drilled into the Gambling Cup.
Seeing this, Bai Yuanrui was greatly puzzled, for he had never seen anyone form Spiritual Arts in such a manner.
Not just him; even the gambling hall's steward, Elder Yan, standing nearby, frowned deeply upon witnessing this.
Forming Spiritual Arts emphasized technique. With a thought, the divine sense moved, pulling the spirit, guiding the spiritual power within the body, moving through acupoints, coursing through meridians, then using the fingers to form the seals.
Although there was no fixed method for forming Spiritual Arts—each person's habits differed, leading to different techniques—some methods were broad and sweeping, like this deputy leader of the Great Luo Gang; some were flashy but insubstantial, like Jin Jun; and some were relatively sharp and fierce, like Bai Yuanrui.
Elder Yan, as the gambling hall's steward, had seen all sorts of bizarre techniques, every kind of fancy method imaginable. But a technique as casual and effortless as this white-robed man's—simply flicking his five fingers to condense five Spiritual Arts—was a first for him.
Wasn't this a bit too simple?
Could this even be considered forming seals?
With just a flick of the fingers, could one control the strength of the spiritual power?
Elder Yan found it strange and somewhat hard to believe.
Just then, the radiance from the Taiji Array Eye stopped condensing. At this moment, a mysterious pattern appeared within the Array Eye.
It was the Three Powers Shattering Origin Profound Mystery.
"Damn it! Why is it a Three Powers Shattering Origin wondrous manifestation?"
The deputy leader of the Great Luo Gang, his face flushed red with anger, slammed both fists on the gambling table. Clearly, this brute had deduced incorrectly. The Taiji Array Eye had derived the Three Powers Shattering Origin wondrous manifestation, while he had deduced the Three Powers Flowing Frost Profound Mystery. Although both were Three Powers attributes, they were not the same Profound Mystery.
Jin Jun sneered, opening his Gambling Cup. The Position Stone inside immediately bloomed with three rays of light, meaning he had deduced correctly and had even deduced three layers of the Shattering Origin Profound Mystery.
His Position Stone was of the Six Harmonies attribute. Being able to deduce three layers of the Shattering Origin Profound Mystery on a Six Harmonies attribute Position Stone was enough to prove Jin Jun was not merely an unlearned second-generation rich kid.
There were nine people at the table in total. The remaining few also opened their Gambling Cups. One, like the Great Luo Gang's deputy leader, had deduced incorrectly. Others, though they deduced correctly, had only deduced one or two layers of the Shattering Origin Profound Mystery. They all looked toward Bai Yuanrui, for this round was his turn as banker. Win or lose depended on how many layers of Profound Mystery he had deduced.
"Heh heh..." A confident smile curved at the corner of Bai Yuanrui's mouth. He opened his Gambling Cup, and to everyone's surprise, his Five Elements Position Stone actually bloomed with six rays of light. Clearly, he had deduced six layers of the Shattering Origin Profound Mystery. Since he was the banker this round and now had deduced the highest number of layers at the table, his was naturally the greatest.
"Congratulations, Young Master Bai! Looks like you're going to sweep the table again this round!"
Jin Jun, casually holding the beauty in his arms, said offhandedly. He was on good terms with Bai Yuanrui, so Bai Yuanrui's win naturally pleased him too.
Bai Yuanrui looked at Gu Qingfeng opposite him and smiled. "Your turn."
Gu Qingfeng, while sipping his wine, opened his Gambling Cup. His Three Powers Position Stone bloomed with seven rays of light—exactly one layer more than Bai Yuanrui, no more, no less.
"Seems your luck is truly good!"
After all, Gu Qingfeng held a Three Powers Position Stone, giving him a uniquely advantageous condition. Deducing Three Powers attribute Profound Mysteries was smoother for him than for others. Neither Jin Jun nor Bai Yuanrui found this particularly surprising. In their minds, Gu Qingfeng was just lucky.
Yes.
Lucky.
They thought Gu Qingfeng was lucky, but they hadn't expected his luck to be this good. Because in the second round, the third round, and for nine consecutive rounds, Gu Qingfeng's luck remained consistently excellent.
The second round, he was assigned the Two Forms position; the Taiji Array Eye determined the Three Powers Profound Mystery.
The third round, he was assigned the Five Elements position; the Taiji Array Eye determined the Six Harmonies Profound Mystery.
For nine consecutive rounds, Gu Qingfeng had nothing but favorable situations. Even when assigned the Eight Trigrams position and the Taiji Array Eye determined the Nine Palaces Profound Mystery, he still managed a favorable situation. Moreover, each time the Profound Mystery he condensed was the greatest at the table. He won nine rounds in a row, and in one round when it was his turn to be banker, he swept the table entirely. After nine rounds, he had won over two hundred thousand directly.
Was that all?
No!
The gambling continued into the tenth, twelfth, fifteenth rounds...
Gu Qingfeng still had favorable situations, and the Profound Mystery he condensed was still the greatest, each time surpassing the second place by just one or two layers.
After sixteen rounds, Gu Qingfeng had already won four hundred thousand, his mood greatly uplifted.
He was feeling good, but the expressions of everyone else at the table grew uglier by the round, especially Bai Yuanrui and Jin Jun. Gu Qingfeng had won sixteen rounds in a row; aside from the first round, the two of them had actually lost fifteen consecutive rounds.
No one was happy about losing money, not even these two profligate second-generation rich kids. Fei Kui, standing beside Gu Qingfeng, seemed quite excited. Indeed, seeing Gu Qingfeng win money naturally pleased him, especially since he was winning from these very second-generation rich kids who had earlier forced him to slap himself. Watching Bai Yuanrui's embarrassed expression, Fei Kui's heart truly blossomed with joy.
Within the hall, the gambling hall's steward, Elder Yan, had been silently observing, his brow furrowed, glancing at Gu Qingfeng from time to time.
His glances at Gu Qingfeng weren't out of suspicion.
As the gambling hall's steward, he had seen not just eighteen consecutive wins, but even a hundred consecutive wins. While not common, it wasn't rare to see someone have entirely favorable situations throughout a day. What truly struck him as strange was that every time Gu Qingfeng formed his Spiritual Arts, his right hand's five fingers merely rested lightly on the Gambling Cup, gave a light flick, and five Spiritual Arts condensed and emerged.
Every round, it was five, no more, no less.
The key was that every round, the Profound Mystery he condensed was the most numerous, and always just one or two layers more than second place.
This was what Elder Yan found utterly bewildering.
In his nearly two hundred years working in the gambling hall, this was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre situation.
Was he cheating?
Impossible!
The reason Taiji Transformation had been passed down since ancient times and remained popular even after tens of thousands of years was precisely because no one could cheat. It didn't matter how profound your cultivation was; even immortals and demons couldn't do it. This thing was created based on arcane laws; no one could cheat.
If it wasn't cheating, then how could this guy...
Could he be a gambling expert?
Unclear. Elder Yan only felt it was eerie.
The gambling continued. The nineteenth round began.
The Taiji Array operated. Gu Qingfeng was assigned the Seven Stars position, while Bai Yuanrui got the Five Elements position.
When the Taiji Array rotated for the second time, Bai Yuanrui's originally somewhat ugly expression instantly turned brilliant, because the Taiji Array determined the Profound Mystery to be the Six Harmonies Profound Mystery. This meant Gu Qingfeng was in an unfavorable situation, while he was in a favorable one—a highly favorable one at that.
Not only Bai Yuanrui was excited; everyone at the table was excited, because they were all in favorable situations too. Only Gu Qingfeng was in an unfavorable one. Most importantly, this round was Gu Qingfeng's turn as banker; he might lose everything.
When the Taiji Array rotated for the third time, the Array Eye began condensing the Profound Mystery Manifestation.
This round, everyone was both tense and excited, especially Bai Yuanrui and Jin Jun. Having lost over ten rounds in a row, now that they finally encountered a favorable situation, with Gu Qingfeng the banker in a highly unfavorable one, the two were determined to make Gu Qingfeng lose everything he owned this time!
As the Profound Mystery Manifestation condensed and emerged, everyone had also finished their deductions.
And Gu Qingfeng, just like in the previous rounds, sipped his fine wine while his right hand's five fingers lightly tapped the Gambling Cup a few times, similarly condensing five Spiritual Arts. Just as he was about to open his Gambling Cup, Bai Yuanrui opposite him suddenly stood up and shouted.
"Hold it! This round, I want to raise the stakes!"
"I'm raising too!"
"And me!"