Chapter 49: Chang Heng Resort
“There are countless multitudes of cultivation techniques but you are unable to cultivate in a majority of the more profound cultivation techniques so I would recommend that you first focus on training in two aspects.”
“Which two aspects?”
“Formations and true fire. Formations are separated into defensive and offensive formations. An offensive formation requires a lot of qi but its strength is also very high. Have you heard of the phrase ‘drawing a prison’?”
“Of course I have.”
“Well ‘drawing a prison’ is a type of offensive formation and formations can be created with a casual drawing, locking the enemy in place for you to deal with, making it difficult for them to escape from the fate of death.”
Tang Zheng was fascinated by the technique and unconsciously sighed: “That… is simply too amazing.”
“Heihei, that’s why I say that a little brat like you still has not truly seen the world. I do not expect you to learn this type of formation yet, instead starting off with a protective formation is a good option. One thing, you need to know is that beginner formations usually need to borrow an outside medium, which is usually precious stones such as jade. Then you must carve the formation onto the jade so that when an enemy attacks you the protective formation will automatically be triggered, protecting you.”
“Jade? Where would I find it.”
“Of course you buy it.”
Tang Zheng’s face turned into a bitter melon. In order to save his grandfather he spent all his money so where would he find the money to buy the precious stones needed for the formation.
“No, this won’t work. I must find a way to make money to buy those stones.”
“Right, can these jades also protect other people?”
“Of course they can. As long as the person is wearing it then it can naturally protect the person.”
Tang Zheng’s heart moved. As of today he was confident in his abilities to protect himself but there were many others around him such as his grandfather and Fang Shishi who are unable to themselves.
“Then hurry up and teach me this defensive formation. Also, you need to teach me the Body Lock Technique. You previously said that as long as I reached the Third grade Body Refining then I could learn this technique.” Tang Zheng has long since wanted to learn this technique as the Pressure Point Technique has saved his life on more than one occasion. Furthermore, this Body Lock Technique is even stronger than the Pressure Point Technique as it is able to work with an incantation without needing one to actually physically touch someone else. This in itself simply makes it the best choice for protecting oneself.
“Okay, the Body Lock Technique only requires a short incantation and this incantation is only used to move the spiritual energy to attack your enemies pressure points helping you achieve the body lock result. However, the result of this technique varies from person to person as the smoother and more efficiently one is able to communicate with the spiritual energy of the world then the more effective the results will be.”
Tang Zheng silently memorized the short incantation, which was only a few short syllables that would only take a few seconds to say.
But as of today he did not have a suitable opponent so he did not know how effective it was.
The following two days was the end of the month mock test and under his careful control, Tang Zheng continued to test last place. The day after the test was the last day of the month of March and the whole senior class was given a day off. Fang Shishi was originally going to spend the day with Tang Zheng but because of an unexpected guest at her house, she unexpectedly changed her plans.
Tang Zheng could not find a solution on how to make money as he couldn’t possibly continue to fight in death matches. Could it be that he had to go find a job?
What a joke, just how much money can working a part-time job make?
Buying precious stones would cost quite a bit of money, at the least it would be several tens of thousands but it could even be as expensive as several hundreds of thousands of dollars. This was simply an extremely large sum of money.
Tang Zheng was just an ordinary high school student so where could he earn such a large sum of money in a short amount of time.
“Boss, today is a rare day off, come with me to a place.” Feng Yong suddenly called and said over the phone.
“Where to?”
“You will know when we get there, I guarantee you that you will not think the trip was made in vain.” Feng Yong secretively said.
Since Tang Zheng had nothing better to do, he agreed and not long afterwards Feng Yong drove a car over to Tang Zheng’s house.
“Feng Yong, you also know how to drive?” Tang Zheng looked at him weirdly.
“Driving isn’t hard. Boss since you are so smart you will learn quickly.”
Tang Zheng did have thoughts of learning how to drive but he was busy with school and cultivating so he had no extra time and could only wait for after the high school exam.
“Boss, the place we are going to today is very interesting and has lots of fun things to play with.” Feng Yong excitedly said.
“Oh? Just what kind of place is it that would make you so excited?”
“Heihei, I won’t say anything for now but you will naturally know in a bit.”
The car speed along the road and the car headed towards the suburbs until an extremely large building complex appeared before them. The greenery on the two sides of the road had also become increasingly beautiful giving one a peaceful feeling without the clamor of the city, with just the trees and a small lake in the surrounding.
The car stopped into front of a large building complex’s entrance and Feng Yong passed over an invitation card to a mic wearing man in a black suit who looked just like a bodyguard from out of the movies. The man then opened the gate in order to let them pass.
The car entered and Tang Zheng felt that the inside was even more beautiful than the outside with hundreds of flowers blossoming, and off into the distance was a large lake and a golf course. If one look even farther they may be able to faintly make out Chang Heng Mountain.
“This is our destination—— Chang Heng Resort. It is said that in the past this was the Emperor’s temporary residence as can be seen from the ancient architect, many of which were left behind from the past. Later, there were many constructions that were added so that it became what it is today. This is the place where many successfully people from Chang Heng gather.” Feng Yong introduced.
Tang Zheng nodded his head, not saying a word as he long since knew that Feng Yong’s background was not ordinary so he was not too shocked.
“Boss you really are amazing, the first time I came here I was overwhelmed by all the views but you don’t have the least bit of a reaction. Could this be what my dad told me about ‘possessing a general aura so as to not be shocked by the big and small things in life? My dad will come here in a bit but before than we can play first. Boss, over here if there is anything you want, they have it so what do you want to play?”
“I am not familiar with this place so you lead the way.” Tang Zheng calmly said. He was not completely unaffected as this was the first time he has been to such a luxurious place. No matter who it is they would be shocked to some degree when entering this place.
It is only that with the progression of Tang Zheng’s strength he has discovered that his heart has also undergone a major change as he does not show all his emotions on his face anymore.
“There is a fun place here that you cannot find anywhere else. Come, let me take you there.”
Each of the buildings in this complex had a hint of the palace of old, all richly ornamented and extremely luxurious. At this time the two arrived at a large hall.
“A casino?” Tang Zheng was shocked.
“Haha, that is why I said there is no other place like this, Chang Heng Resort is so damn amazing, and it is also extremely safe here so many people bet here. It is simply like Chang Heng City’s version of Las Vegas.”
“You play, I will just watch.” Tang Zheng only had a hundred dollars on him and it was not even enough for a single hand. Moreover it would not be good for him to participate in such hobbies.
“How can that be, Boss, I brought you here so how could I just let you watch. Heihei, I have long since made preparations. See this is my private funds, inside there are two hundred thousand dollars which I have saved up over the years from my allowance. Today we will charge forth and win tons!” Feng Yong’s eyes flashed with lights, looking like a pervert who saw a butt naked beauty.
This was the first time Tang Zheng realized that Feng Yong had a potential to be a gambler but he also remembered his grandfather’s teaching—— nine out of ten bets will be lost. So he thought about reprimanding Feng Yong but he was worried that he might pop his bubble of enthusiasm for gambling so he did not say anything.
“Boss, here is two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of chips, we will split this in half and temporarily split up and play alone. In a bit we will see who has won the most.” Feng Yong took the recently exchanged chips and gave them to Tang Zheng. Afterwards he then disappeared into the casino.
Tang Zheng shook his head, and helplessly sighed, there was no guarantees when it came to gambling so he would not randomly take risks with Feng Yong’s money. He knew that even if he lost it all, Feng Yong would not let him repay it but he would not let that happen.
Tang Zheng strolled around, the casino was very large and there were all kinds of gambling apparatuses. As long as you can think of it, they would have it. On the second floor there was also single gambling rooms where one could gamble by themselves.
“Little brat, aren’t you worried about money? Well this is a rare opportunity that only comes once.” Tian Chanzi’s voice suddenly rang out.
“Are you talking about gambling? What if I lose? This is not my money but Feng Yong’s.”
“With me here, would you lose? You are simply insulting me.” Tian Chanzi unevenly said.
“What do you mean? Are you saying you have a way to win?”
“Of course, with me here, it would be hard for you not to win money.” Tian Chanzi bragged with satisfaction.
Tang Zheng felt his heart move, if Tian Chanzi had a way to win then wouldn’t this be the fastest method to win money?”
“Okay, I’ll gamble.” Tang Zheng decided, as in this society one would not be able to move around without money. Moreover he knew that he would need a lot of money in order to continue cultivating so he must make the most money in the fastest time possible.
“Tian Chanzi, what method do you have?”
“I can tell you what cards other people have.”
Tang Zheng was extremely happy. No wonder Tian Chanzi was so confident in himself. If he could see other people’s hands then they would be guaranteed to win.
“Let’s go play Exploding Golden Flowers.” Within the casino this was the one game that Tang Zheng was slightly familiar with so he made straight for the Exploding Golden Flowers table. *TL: So I couldn’t find the translation for the game 炸金花 and just literally translated it as it sounds pretty funny but if anyone knows what it is that would be amazing too!*
He arrived just in time to see someone who lost big throw their cards down, not playing anymore as he murmured: “F*ck, this seat is too unlucky. This daddy just lost five hundred thousand. I will go switch seats and try my luck again.”
Tang Zheng sat down and the others look at him. He made a signal to the dealer to deal the cards. The dealer glanced at him and dealt him a hand without saying a word.
There were a total of five people at the table, everyone received three cards. Four of them did not look at their cards while Tang Zheng picked up his cards.
The other people looked at him with ridicule as they thought internally that it was another person who came to give away their money. From his appearance, Tang Zheng looked different and it was evident that he was not familiar with gambling.
The minimum wager is a thousand dollars, and the person next to the dealer was the first to make his bet: he directly bet two thousand dollars.
The second and third also followed with two thousand dollar bets, making it Tang Zheng’s turn. Since Tang Zheng already saw his cards, if he wanted to follow then he would have to bet four thousand dollars. The others all looked at him while he was in his own thoughts, weighing his hand.
In reality, Tang Zheng was extremely excited as before he saw the cards Tian Chanzi already told him his hand. The only reason he picked it up was to validate Tian Chanzi’s words and Tian Chanzi did not fail him.
Tian Chanzi also told him everyone else’s hand and this time his luck was bad as he had the smallest hand out of everyone. For this reason he did not plan on betting and just folded.
The others looked at him in ridicule thinking that he had no guts: as expected of a new player.
If one is too cautious when betting they would not win much money as the word in gambling was ‘gamble’ so being too careful will usually end up with one losing more money than winning.
This hand was quickly over as in the end the fatty sitting diagonal from Tang Zheng won nearly a hundred thousand dollars.
Tang Zheng internally said that if it wasn’t for Tian Chanzi’s help then maybe he would lose all one hundred thousand chips that he had.
The dealer dealt another set of cards and the second round began…