Chapter 138: Gains and Losses
Chapter 138: Gains and Losses
Gao Jing and Ji Yu flew back to the country, just after the start of winter.
Yuncheng was a city with distinct seasons: warm spring, hot summer, cool autumn, and cold winter. Right after winter began, the temperature suddenly dropped, and many people on the streets wore down jackets.
As night fell, the taxi stopped steadily at the gate of the community.
Gao Jing got out and opened the trunk, helping Ji Yu take out the suitcase and many bags of stuff.
This time in American, they had fun for three weeks.
The two traveled across a small part of USA.
They brought back many things.
Inside were both the fashion cosmetics Ji Yu bought for herself and gifts she got for family and friends.
Senior also bought Gao Jing quite a few clothes.
“I’ll help you carry them in,”
Gao Jing said: “With so much stuff, how could one person manage?”
“No need,”
Ji Yu hugged Gao Jing and gave him a kiss.
She quickly let go, looked around left and right, pursed her lips and smiled: “I’ll call my younger brother to be the porter—he’s been looking forward to me coming back—you hurry up and get in the car.”
“Alright then,”
Gao Jing didn’t push: “Call me if anything happens.”
“Mmm, bye-bye.”
Their relationship was a bit strange now.
Said to be lovers, but neither meant to set up a real boyfriend-girlfriend thing.
Said to be that kind of thing, yet it was clearly a lot closer and warmer.
Plus, Ji Yu helped run Gao Jing’s company.
Of course, both Gao Jing and Ji Yu liked and enjoyed this way of being together.
As for the future, they’d leave it for later.
After saying goodbye to Senior Ji, Gao Jing returned to the taxi and told the driver to head to Minglan Grand View.
Reaching his own home, he relaxed completely.
This American trip, Gao Jing gained a lot but was also quite tired.
This tiredness wasn’t from his body; it came from his spirit.
He had killed eight gang members in New York City.
At that time, he acted cold and ruthless.
But to say it didn’t have any effect on him was definitely false.
Gao Jing didn’t regret it at all.
But then, during the days in USA, he always had a lot of mental pressure.
In the end, it was because he wasn’t strong enough!
Back home, as usual, he took a hot bath, drank two cups of Hundred-Fruit Wine, and went to sleep comfortably.
Waking up after a long sleep, he naturally felt full of energy again!
Time passed quietly, and in a blink, another two weeks went by.
That evening, Gao Jing summoned Nine Apertures out of the Ling Dang Witch Artifact.
Meow~
Xiao Jiu rolled twice on the desk, smoothly jumped up, and leaped into Gao Jing’s arms.
Meowing softly while rubbing its head against his chin!
“Good baby,”
Gao Jing couldn’t help but smile.
Nine Apertures was an embodiment of the Earth Spirit Cat Soul, not really a living thing.
By itself, it was pretty weak.
Last time, digging for diamonds in Arkansas, its effort was huge, so it got a lot weaker.
Since then, Gao Jing hadn’t summoned it out again.
He let Nine Apertures rest slowly inside the Witch Artifact.
Even when Ji Yu wanted to see it, Gao Jing made excuses to say no.
Now it was finally all better.
And the diamond sealed with the spirit soul had shrunk to one-third of its old size.
Its surface glow was dim, making it look unusable now.
Gao Jing wouldn’t let the little one down after all its hard work.
Putting aside the diamonds Xiao Jiu had dug up, just the five cute pet Vlogs posted on Bilibili, Weibo, and Kuaiv earned him a huge amount of Power of Faith!
Holding Nine Apertures in his left hand, Gao Jing took out three diamonds from his Storage Space.
He placed them on the desk.
The three diamonds were about the same size, had different shapes, but their colors were close.
All weighed a bit over two carats.
Gao Jing rubbed Xiao Jiu’s head a little and put it on the desk too.
He let it choose the raw stones it liked.
Meow!
Nine Apertures quickly stuck out its tiny paw and pressed on the diamond to the right.
Then it lifted its paw.
And gently placed it down on the raw stone in the middle.
It looked up and meowed at Gao Jing: “Meow~”
“You like this one the most?”
Gao Jing was a bit surprised and pointed to the diamond on the left: “What about this one?”
The little one looked where his finger pointed, lowered its head, and sniffed that diamond with its nose.
With a yucky face, it pushed it away with a paw!
What the heck!!
This result really took Gao Jing by surprise.
The three diamonds Gao Jing brought out came from different places.
The one on the right was one of the 27 raw stones Xiao Jiu dug up in Arkansas.
The middle one came from the Popigai Crater in Russia—a so-called Russian diamond.
Of course, it was a real natural diamond.
As for the left one,
it was a domestically produced synthetic diamond!
All three were gem-grade rough stones, uncut and unpolished.
Apart from the one dug up by Nine Apertures, the other two were acquired by Gao Jing through jewelry trade channels.
For testing purposes.
The result was that Nine Apertures liked the Loresia Stone best, followed by the one it dug itself.
But it showed zero interest in the artificial diamond — even disliked it!
This left Gao Jing scratching his head.
Originally, he’d thought artificial diamonds could replace Gangpo Stones to power Witch Artifacts.
He’d even planned for it to become a key Great World export.
Turns out, it didn’t work.
It felt like losing billions!
Extremely frustrating.
Gao Jing had assumed it’d please Nine Apertures most.
Reality slapped him hard instead!
Unwilling to give up, he tested if the artificial diamond could match the Weaver’s Wrist Gangpo Stone.
Still failed!
In theory, artificial and natural diamonds share identical composition and physical structure.
Artificial ones even surpass most natural diamonds in purity.
Best of all — they’re cheap.
Gao Jing considered starting his own synthetic diamond production.
Unlimited supply whenever needed.
Pure bliss.
Now… all hopes shattered!
Oh well.
Gains and losses go hand in hand.
Can’t hog all the world’s fortune.
Gao Jing had no interest—
nor energy, time, or ability—to investigate the cause.
He quickly steadied his mind and took out a natural diamond.
Time to give Nine Apertures a new home.
This diamond weighed 23.75 carats, one of the finest among his 27 rough stones.
Far larger than Ji Yu’s “Pink Crown”!
Priceless beyond measure.
But for his little companion? Gao Jing didn’t hesitate.
Truthfully, he’d gladly use his biggest diamond if the Ling Dang artifact’s capacity allowed.
Bigger, finer Gangpo Stones meant stronger effects.
For Nine Apertures? The improvement was clear-cut!
No reason for Gao Jing to skimp.
Need more? Just dig more! Blue Star had endless diamonds to squander.
Meow~
Re-materialized with fresh Gangpo Stone, Nine Apertures had grown bigger.
Softer for petting too.
Gao Jing felt its cuteness level rose several notches.
Absolutely unreal!
It also turned livelier and smarter.
Even its soul-bond with Gao Jing strengthened.
Now, even if others with Totemic Power or Spiritual Energy held the Ling Dang artifact—
They couldn’t sway Nine Apertures’ loyalty.
From this moment on, Gao Jing was its true master.
Securing 100% allegiance.
Betrayal? Impossible!
Meow~
The little one clung to Gao Jing more than ever.
Post this on Bilibili? Millions would lose their minds!
Nine Apertures was already an internet-famous cat.
Much of Gao Jing’s hard-earned fame had transferred to it now.
This was undeniably good.
If “Xiao Jiu” couldn’t represent him in channeling Power of Faith,
his own gains would be pitifully small.
Chuckling, Gao Jing played with it awhile.
Then retrieved his largest diamond:
This beige rough stone — undisputedly his greatest score from USA!
Weighing a staggering 47.95 carats!
Its value? Beyond description.
Gao Jing used it to replace the Weaver’s Wrist’s depleted Gangpo Stone.
Frequent practice sessions had nearly exhausted it.
The golden wolf spider spirit lacked any emotion or intelligence.
Hence, the new Gangpo Stone would plainly enhance the artifact’s power.
Gao Jing burned to test this upgrade!
He re-fastened the Weaver’s Wrist and headed to his balcony.
Then leaped straight into the night!