Chapter 25: Stone Gambling

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Stone Gambling

Without another word, Yin Ruxue left.

’That woman is nuts,’ Jiang Fan grumbled to himself.

Fortunately, they didn’t dock his pay at the company. At the very least, he’d have a guaranteed ten or twenty thousand.

When Mengmeng got home, she started her homework, with Yin Ruxue explaining things and grading her work.

After dinner, Jiang Fan felt a little tired.

Saving that person earlier today must have taken a huge toll, leaving him completely drained.

So, he went to bed early.

In the middle of the night, there was another knock on Jiang Fan’s door.

Bleary-eyed, he opened the door to find Yin Ruxue in a nightgown, holding Mengmeng in her arms, who was fighting to stay awake.

"Daddy, Mengmeng wants to sleep with you."

Yin Ruxue couldn’t understand it. It had only been a few days, yet Mengmeng had already grown so attached to Jiang Fan.

It was as if Jiang Fan had some strange charm that drew Mengmeng to him.

Unsurprisingly, without Mengmeng sleeping beside her, she was bound to suffer from insomnia again.

Inside Jiang Fan’s room, the little girl, Mengmeng, absolutely refused to sleep. Jiang Fan felt like he was about to relive the nightmare of being at a child’s beck and call.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Mengmeng was demanding a story, and then a song. Jiang Fan felt utterly drained.

Fortunately, Mengmeng’s demands weren’t endless.

"Daddy, look at the thing Grandma gave me. It looks different."

"I remember it was white yesterday, but today it changed color. It’s so magical!"

Mengmeng took out the jade pendant to show Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan recalled what had happened the previous night. He’d seemingly been bitten by this very jade pendant, and afterward, he had started developing all sorts of superpowers.

Everything suddenly clicked into place for Jiang Fan. He finally understood.

It must have all been because of this jade pendant.

He picked it up to examine it closely, but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

Jiang Fan didn’t probe any further. At least, for now, it didn’t seem to be a bad thing.

’Some things are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that others can only dream of, yet I obtained this so easily.’

’I guess this is God’s way of opening another window for me.’

Jiang Fan shook his head.

When he snapped out of his thoughts, he found the little girl, Mengmeng, already fast asleep in his arms.

Jiang Fan gently covered Mengmeng with the blanket.

Then, he lay down and went to sleep himself.

What Jiang Fan didn’t know, however, was that upstairs, Yin Ruxue had been staring at him through a monitor for the past half hour.

Only after Mengmeng and Jiang Fan were both asleep did she finally go to sleep.

「In his dream.」

Jiang Fan found himself in that familiar dreamscape once again.

The Celestial Return Medical Records hovered in mid-air.

A light touch was all it took for myriad characters to appear.

The world around him was a primeval forest, filled with towering ancient trees, strange beasts, and bizarre rock formations—a truly fantastical scene.

A dragon’s cry and an elephant’s trumpet echoed from the distance.

Jiang Fan looked toward the sound and saw a dragon and an elephant locked in battle.

They then multiplied, becoming ten true dragons and ten massive elephants locked in combat.

Innumerable ancient characters flew out from their struggle.

....

An unknown amount of time passed.

Jiang Fan woke from a deep slumber.

Nanny Chen had already prepared breakfast. Seeing that he was awake, she said, "Young Master."

"Breakfast is ready."

Jiang Fan asked, "Where’s Mengmeng?"

Nanny Chen answered, "The Young Miss already took her to school."

"She left a few thousand for you and said you should go get a check-up today."

"You had a fever again last night."

’What? I had a fever again last night?’

’Did I really have a fever?’

Right now, Jiang Fan felt an indescribable sense of vigor all over his body, as if he were brimming with inexhaustible power that he could unleash with a single roar.

He also noticed a foul stench coming from his body.

His skin seemed to be caked in a thick, gray sludge.

"Nanny Chen, I’m going to take a shower first."

Looking at the grime, Jiang Fan felt disgusted and wondered if he was sick.

While showering, he mentally consulted the Celestial Return Medical Records.

He discovered that it seemed to be related to a unique kind of transformation.

Furthermore, within his body, in the location of his Lower Dantian, a full and abundant current of energy had appeared.

He could direct this flow of energy to any part of his body at will.

A passage of text also flashed through Jiang Fan’s mind.

"Observe the Way of Heaven, enact its will. With the might of Dragon and Elephant, be impervious to all arts..."

"Flowing up to the chest’s center, down to the Sea of Qi, connecting the power of a hundred apertures, manifesting transformation throughout the body..."

Dragon Elephant Profound Skill!

Jiang Fan’s mind reeled.

There was a time when he used to fantasize about being a Cultivator or a Martial Artist, possessing an Invincible Cultivation Technique.

But at that time, he was just a college student who loved to read novels.

Now, having just entered the workforce, he was a down-to-earth young man trying to make his way.

His only goal was to make money.

Who would have thought that his old, whimsical fantasies would actually come true?

’It’s a real Cultivation Technique.’

’The original owner of the Celestial Return Medical Records must have been one of these people, too.’

Jiang Fan’s thoughts turned to Mengmeng’s jade pendant.

’The one left to her by her grandmother.’

’So where did her grandmother get it?’

.....

After circulating the energy along his acupoints as described, he found that his X-ray vision had also completely stabilized.

By focusing the energy in his eyes, he could enhance his vision without any side effects. If he wanted to, he could see through almost anything.

But there was a range limit.

He could only maintain it within a ten-meter range.

Even so, that was incredibly powerful.

Jiang Fan pressed his palm against the bathroom wall, then channeled the Dragon Elephant Profound Skill and applied a bit of force.

A perfect impression of his palm appeared on the wall.

The wallpaper gave way like cotton, sinking a centimeter deep.

’This... I did this?’

Jiang Fan suppressed the excitement welling up inside him.

It seemed that Mengmeng’s jade pendant had changed everything about him. It wasn’t just a transformation of his strength and abilities; his entire mindset had undergone a massive shift as well.

He was more grounded, more confident, and had a hint of an assertive aura he himself hadn’t even noticed.

After breakfast, Jiang Fan’s first stop was the bank. He cashed the promissory note from Thunder Dragon and deposited the money into his account.

He also paid off all his debts.

Debt-free, Jiang Fan felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders.

In three years, he had gone from over a million in debt, down to eight hundred thousand, and now, finally, to zero. The mountain that had been crushing him was gone.

’It feels so good to be debt-free.’

’Should I quit my job?’

’With the remaining four million, I could live a very comfortable life on my own.’

Then, Mengmeng’s face unexpectedly popped into his mind.

A smile touched the corners of Jiang Fan’s lips. ’Actually, being this little girl’s dad isn’t half bad.’

Afterward, Jiang Fan drove to a stone-gambling market on East Ring Road.

’With this X-ray vision, I should obviously make some money. No reason to turn down an opportunity like this.’

The stone-gambling market on East Ring Road was a relatively small-scale operation.

It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t tiny either. The clientele was mostly middle-class.

They didn’t require proof of funds, so you could just walk right in.