Chapter 24: Playing for High Stakes

"That seems to make some sense."

Zhao Chen’s gaze cleared, but he remained unmoved. He sneered and retorted, "Your offer is tempting, but who can guarantee that once I go with you, your subordinates won't hold guns to my head and lock me up, forcing me to appraise jade for you day and night?"

"I can give you my word of honor that I will never deceive you," Wen Min said with a sincere expression.

In her eyes, Zhao Chen's ability to appraise jade raw materials alone was of immeasurable value. Now that he had also displayed such astonishing combat prowess, he was certainly worth the effort of recruiting.

However, Zhao Chen did not believe her at all. He curled his lips in mockery and said, "Your word of honor isn't worth a fart to me. You..."

Lin Bin, possessing sharp eyes, saw a team of about a dozen people from a distance, hiking up the mountain path. Zhou Kai was among them. It seemed he had followed the right trail; this was the treasure-hunting team from the International Security Agency.

Just as the Blind Man and the Lingming Lion successfully merged, a roar erupted from the void, far away from Huazhou.

Facts proved this to be true. While extreme specialization has its advantages, its disadvantages are also very prominent and striking.

After the Ghost River Old Freak crossed his bone claws in front of his chest, he still failed to block the sword radiance of the Slaughter Dao Sword.

At the Hundred-Household Office, Zhao Shun stood solemn. Inside the main hall, Li Li frowned as he looked at the Jinyiwei Commander sitting in the seat of honor.

Wanzi ran out of the room ahead of him. There might be a battle later, and she needed to return to her room first to arm herself.

The East Sea Royal Court—this was a subject everyone had avoided mentioning in front of Fang Ao. Now that he had brought it up himself, no one knew what to say.

Sun Ying had made up her mind; if Li Li hadn't finished what he was doing in a little while, she would definitely drag him out of the room herself.

"Our current strength does not permit us to be too conspicuous. What we need is constant accumulation. 'Gather grain, delay declaring yourself king'—that is the strategy we have formulated!" Fang Ao looked at the two, and seeing them awaken, he felt relieved. They had only been temporarily blinded.

Qin Ge had made up his mind, paying closer attention to any opportunity that might allow him to slip away unnoticed.

After a while, Tian Feng finally collected his thoughts and hurriedly ordered a retreat. Zhang He looked back at Zhao Yun; although they hadn't been able to engage in a face-to-face duel, Zhang He was not a reckless fool. Since the Emperor was not in the team, there was no point in continuing the fight.

The eldest prince lay on the straw, his lips blackened and his arm bandaged, though the dressing was already soaked with blood.

After Krote's persuasion, Linge also decided to strive with all his might to make the annual best lineup, which meant he would have to compete with Ibrahimovic. At this moment, he couldn't afford to be timid, not even in words.

But at this moment, Xiao Youran could no longer appreciate the artistic conception of the sculpture. He only felt the world spinning, a pain in his head as if it were about to explode. The six-grid compass between his eyebrows spun rapidly in reverse, and within his sea of consciousness, aside from the upheaval, it seemed as though a mountain had cracked.

Zhang Yang nodded; this was within his expectations. Seeing Zhang Xiaoyue's attitude when he arrived, he knew there must be internal strife within the Zhang family.

In China, such things had been used since the Zhou Dynasty, and it wasn't until the two Western self-ringing clocks arrived during the Ming Dynasty that they had the qualification to replace them.

No matter how one listened, it didn't sound like an elder; instead, it fit the image of a playboy, causing the impression in his mind to collapse almost entirely.

As he started running, he felt a chill behind him. Reaching back to touch, his face turned ash-gray. It turned out that when the claw shadows had closed in earlier, they had shredded his clothes from his lower back to his thighs, especially the fabric around his buttocks, which was nowhere to be found. Touching his own fair, cold, firm rear, Xiao Youran felt such misery he wanted to die.

As for Bo Hancheng, his heart warmed again at the way Luo Zheng defended him, a feeling he couldn't quite put into words.

Watching Zhang Yang's righteous and stern demeanor, the children's hearts were suddenly filled with courage and determination. As long as Brother Yang was by their side, they feared nothing.

He couldn't be sure if it was cerebral edema or a cerebral hemorrhage. In his memory, he had heard from his elders that it was "cerebral edema," so that was what he said.

"Fortunately, there is still time," Lin Nan sighed in relief after hearing this. He then performed a few hand seals, stopping the illusion formation on the back mountain.

Wei Qingcheng was shaken awake, only to find herself leaning on Qi Feng's shoulder. Her face turned red, but before she could react, Qi Feng's sudden acceleration made her heart flutter.

"During the period before Professor Zhang went missing, were there any particularly volatile emotional swings?" Qi Feng asked casually.

The man leaped high to dodge the sword, but the horse suffered; swept by the sword qi of the Tai'e Sword, it fell directly to the ground.

"What are you thinking about? Haven't you noticed that she is acting a bit abnormal?" Jiang Fan frowned.

But the question was, how would Tong Yan give him such an opportunity? The Death-Defying Blade Technique had already been unleashed; whether his demon core could escape remained unknown, let alone his physical body.

Behind this stone tablet lay the periphery of the sect's protective formation, capable of blocking all pressure.

Originally, Tong Yan only cultivated at night, but considering the time was tight, he decided to cultivate during the day as well. Over the next two days, he informed the Great General that he needed to calmly analyze the war situation and asked not to be disturbed unless there was an urgent matter.

"Xiao Shan, you're here. I called you because the Northeast Field Army has already made moves. How is it? Has there been no intelligence sent from your side?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Shan realized that Lin Biao had already acted, and Du Yuming was starting to lose his composure. However, calculating the time, Ye Ming should have arrived, so he looked at Du Yuming.

"Produced by Blizzard, it must be a masterpiece." This phrase was not spoken lightly. The CG animations of the Diablo series were hailed as masterpieces in the 20th century. With the CG technology of that time, they created such realistic effects that many players called for Blizzard to stop making games and focus on making movies.

Two peerless beauties, white-clad as snow, stood respectfully to the side with their heads bowed. The older one was stunningly graceful and elegant, while the younger one was even more beautiful—ethereally and unimaginably so.

Lindi thought for a moment; he hadn't come to bicker. It was better to end the match quickly and get to business. To leave Zhang Rui with nothing to say, he added one more sentence.

"That is not your property." Mo Lin was completely unaffected by her threats and continued to grip her wrist.

A few words left Yi Kai feeling completely devastated. He did not continue to pursue, and she did not take it to heart.

When he first lost the Turtle Mirror, he hadn't gone mad trying to get it back. Although this was largely due to his fear of the Dragon Emperor, it was also a matter of letting things take their natural course. Otherwise, the Dragon Emperor couldn't have guarded it there day and night without sleep; he would have always found an opportunity to retrieve the Turtle Mirror from the spirit vein.

Seeing that this pathetic character had actually arrived at his home today, Guan Xiaojun was both surprised and delighted. He had just been thinking about how to make contact with this person, and here he was.

"It's all your fault. How can I face anyone later?" Anna glared at Lin Yu, her face flushed with shame and anger.

The most famous opera house in the United States in the 21st century was the Metropolitan Opera in New York. This opera house had not yet begun construction; it would not start until 1880.