When the team from the Purple Moon Kingdom went to the Gem Kingdom, the blood beasts used to pull the carts, even the lowest-level blood beasts, were barbarian-level blood beasts, so they were naturally traveling extremely fast.
In just three days, the Purple Moon Kingdom team had left the Purple Moon Kingdom, passed the defense line of the Gem Kingdom on the border, and entered the Gem Kingdom.
The Gemstone Kingdom is a mountainous kingdom with not much arable land. It purchases food from the Purple Moon Kingdom and the Crimson Kingdom almost every year.
However, it is precisely because of this mountainous terrain that this kingdom is rich in gems and is extremely wealthy. If there is any kingdom among the three kingdoms of Purple Moon, Crimson, and Gem that is richer, it is the Gem Kingdom.
The large number of precious gems that can be used as materials for runes make this kingdom's wealth extremely astonishing, ranking first among the three kingdoms.
After traveling in the Gem Kingdom for another three days, the team from the Ziyue Kingdom arrived at the Gem King's capital.
This is a huge city with a hexagonal shape. The city walls and many other places are inlaid with gems. From a distance, it looks like a huge multi-colored gem.
"Welcome everyone from the Purple Moon Kingdom!"
Under the warm welcome of the Gem Kingdom, Gray and his party entered the palace and met the current king of the Gem Kingdom, Oroko Austin.
This is a majestic man, wearing a jeweled crown on his head, a golden coat inlaid with jewels, and holding a jeweled scepter in his hand. His whole person exudes a noble and awe-inspiring aura that cannot be offended.
Judging from his age, he should be a middle-aged man, but in fact, the King of the Gem Kingdom is now in his early 60s. The reason why he is so young must have a lot to do with his strength.
If nothing else, he should be a king-level powerhouse just like the King of Ziyue Kingdom.
Being able to become the king of a country already shows that the potential of the other party ranks first among the royal family's peers. Coupled with the royal family's terrifying and almost endless supply of precious resources, for ordinary families, becoming a king-level powerhouse It's difficult, but not too difficult for people like them.
Behind the King of Gem Kingdom, slightly further back, there are two men and one woman. One of the men should be over 30 years old, while the woman and the other man are slightly younger and should be in their early 20s. .
"That is the Gem Princess Glynnway Austin!"
Saroyan introduced Gray in a low voice.
Gray looked at this woman. She was a tall and beautiful woman with very long legs. Under the long skirt that just reached her knees, she looked extremely slender and graceful.
The woman has long black hair, extremely delicate skin, as bright as a gem, a high nose, rosy lips, and extremely delicate facial features.
There is a red diamond-shaped gem between her eyebrows, which makes people look at her smooth and jade-like forehead.
After a brief meeting between the two parties, Gray and the others were arranged to stay in one of the courtyards of the Gem King's palace.
They learned from the Gem Kingdom that people from the Crimson Kingdom had arrived before them, and tonight the royal family of the Gem Kingdom would hold a grand banquet for the two countries' visit.
It was still noon, and after lunch, while Gray was thinking about how to arrange his time, Frances and Sophia arrived together.
"Don't you want to see gambling on stones? Let's go!"
Francis smiled slightly.
Riding in the carriage provided by the royal family of the Gem Kingdom, the three Grays left the palace and appeared on the streets of the Gem Kingdom.
The street is wide enough for four horses and carriages to pass through. The shops on both sides of the street are very busy, and people can be seen coming in and out of them from time to time.
Among these shops, you can often see shops with many stones in the shops, which are stone gambling shops.
Obviously, as described in the book that Gray once read, stone gambling is very common in the Gem Kingdom.
The carriage finally stopped in front of a three-story building. This was also a stone gambling shop, but the size was larger than what it had seen before.
The three Grays got off the carriage and walked into the stone gambling shop.
The huge space was extremely lively with many people, all of whom were either rich or noble judging from their attire.
These people passed by one stone platform after another, looking at the rough stones placed on the stone platforms. Sometimes they nodded and immediately paid for them, and sometimes they shook their heads and walked to other stone platforms.
In some places, a group of people gathered around. It seemed that someone was dissecting stones on the spot, which attracted these people's attention.
"It's gone up, it's gone up!"
Not far away, a group of people surrounding them suddenly exclaimed, as if they had cut out something good.
The three Grays walked over and squeezed into the crowd with their strength. When they entered the innermost part, they saw a stone in front of them, about the size of a winter melon, being slowly cut open, revealing a pink color.
"I've made a profit, I've definitely made a profit. With only three gold coins, a pink gem was cut out. I'm sure I'll make a lot of money!"
"I'm so lucky, I actually cut out the top-grade rune material pink gem!"
Many people were talking about it, and next to the stone, a young man had an excited face, watching nervously as the stone-unlocking master worked on the stone.
Finally, a pink gem that was about the size of an adult's fist appeared in front of everyone, and was held in the hands of the young man with great care.
"Such a big piece, I'm afraid it's worth more than 1,000 gold coins!"
"I'll pay you 1,000 gold coins to sell me this mahogany stone!"
"I'll pay you 1,100 gold coins."
"1,200 gold coins."
In the end, the pink gemstone was bought by a middle-aged man in well-dressed clothes, and everyone gathered around dispersed.
"Would you like to give it a try?"
Francis asked with a smile.
"Okay, let's see who has better luck."
Sophia smiled slightly, showing great interest.
Gray is naturally quite interested. Of course, this interest is not to make a lot of money. He just wants to enjoy the process of betting on stones. After all, with his current net worth, even if he cuts out the most precious gems, it will be difficult for him to do so. There are too many mood swings.
In the end, each of the three people chose a rough stone and asked the stone-cutting master to cut it on the spot. Gray and Francis didn't cut anything out, but Sophia cut out a small piece of green wood stone the size of a table tennis ball, which was probably worth one or two. One hundred gold coins, I feel very good.
"Your Highness Francis, Your Highness Sophia, I went to look for you before and found that you were not there. It turns out you are here!"
Following the sound, several young men and women came, led by a young man with red hair.
The young man was very elegant, with red hair that was as dazzling as a burning flame.
Under the flame-burning hair, there is a pair of sword-like eyebrows, which adds a bit of masculinity to his overly handsome appearance.
"Your Highness Liles, why are you here?"
Seeing the person coming, Francis nodded to him slightly unexpectedly.
"Come in with your companions to meet us."
Liles Scarlet explained with a smile, then looked at Sophia.
"Your Highness Sophia, long time no see!"
"Your Highness Liles!"
Sophia nodded and greeted the other party.
"Who is this one?"
Liles Crimson looked at Gray next to Frances and Sophia and asked.
"This is Gray Fergus, a friend of ours."
Francis introduced both parties.
"Gray, this is His Highness Liles from the Crimson Kingdom!"
Gray nodded and greeted the other party. For some reason, Gray faintly noticed that the other party seemed to have some hostility towards him after knowing his name.
This made him quite strange. Logically speaking, it was the first time that he and the other party had met each other today. They had never interacted with each other before, so the other party should not be hostile to him.
Gray almost thought he felt wrong, but in fact he didn't feel wrong, because the two parties met, and everyone picked a rough stone. When they were about to try their luck, the other party came to him.
"Do you want to take a bet with me, Mr. Gray?"
Liles Austin's handsome face and dazzling red hair attracted the attention of many young women in the hall. He looked at Gray and smiled slightly.
"No."
Gray glanced at Liles Crimson and refused.
It seems that the other party is indeed still somewhat hostile to him, but he doesn't know why the other party's hostility arises.
"It's just a casual bet. You don't have to bet."
Liles Crimson said with the smile on his face unchanged.
"No, if His Highness Liles is interested, you might as well take a gamble with others."
Gray still refused.
Not to mention that he knew nothing about stone gambling, even if he had a lot of research on stone gambling, he would not agree. The best way to deal with such an inexplicable provocation is to ignore it.
Seeing Gray's refusal twice in a row, several young people who followed Liles Scarlet couldn't help but frown, and looked at Gray with cold eyes.
One of the fair-skinned young men said with dissatisfaction in his voice.
"What do you mean, His Highness Liles invited you, but you didn't agree? Do you look down on His Highness Liles?"
"If you don't agree to Stone Gambling's invitation, you're looking down upon me. Isn't your logic a bit abnormal?"
Gray couldn't help but look slightly cold, and he was inexplicably hostile to himself. Although the other party was a prince, he was really not afraid.
This is the Gem Kingdom, not the Crimson Kingdom controlled by the other party, and it is definitely not a place where the other party can do whatever they want.
Moreover, as a noble of the Ziyue Kingdom, he is not under the jurisdiction of the other party, and the other party cannot go to the Ziyue Kingdom to attack him. Naturally, he has nothing to fear.
"Well, it's just our first meeting, and I'm quite interested in Mr. Gray. Since Mr. Gray doesn't want to bet on stones, then forget it!"
A cold look flashed through Liles Austin's eyes, but his expression remained unchanged and he waved his hand to stop the argument.
"His Royal Highness Liles wants to bet on stones, right? Then let me accompany you!"
Francis also issued an invitation at the right time, which resolved the tension between the two parties.
(End of chapter)