208: Chapter 207 The Last Session

He collected a batch of wild medicinal herbs with any medicinal value and stored them in his space.

He gathered as many wild vegetables, wild fruits, and wild mountain mushrooms as he could, as genuine wild ingredients are not easily bought on the market.

It is worth mentioning that there was a fairly large sea of wildflowers in the core area, surrounded by more than a dozen bee colonies.

From that spot alone, he obtained several hundred kilograms of natural honey, and he also harvested over ten jin of royal jelly.

Like a goose plucking feathers as it passes, he ravaged that sea of flowers, transplanting a large number of ornamental flowers he intended to use at Tianxing Garden.

Flowers with unique scents were all collected and refined into essential oils; once he developed a perfume formula, he could combine them with ambergris to create some unique fragrances.

There weren't many animal pelts—five tiger skins, two bear skins, twelve crocodile skins, and eighteen python skins.

In fact, the density of wild beasts in the core area was unexpectedly high, but he didn't want to kill unnecessarily.

Mainly, he couldn't use that many, and he couldn't give them away or sell them, so there was no point in getting more.

The tiger and bear skins could be used for chair cushions, the python skins for summer sofa cushions, and as for the crocodile skins, they would be good for making shoes or bags.

He had explored the core area of Yeren Mountain thoroughly.

He also knew about the existence that the Huang father and son regarded as a taboo, but compared to that giant tree with its monstrous aura, it was nothing.

Their commonality was that they all possessed a certain degree of intelligence and some peculiar abilities—not that they could be called superpowers or sorcery, but rather, for some inexplicable reason, their instincts in certain areas had been greatly enhanced, such as strength, speed, physical toughness, or toxicity.

To say nothing else, even an ordinary venomous snake would become incredibly troublesome if it had the intelligence of a seven or eight-year-old child.

But in Cao Xiao's view, their terror lay in their unknown and eerie nature.

In a frontal battle, a Huajin martial artist could wipe them all out.

They were only "invincible" to ordinary people.

Perhaps the true taboo referred to that super giant tree; with the tree's level of intelligence, even if it didn't move itself, it could command other animals to turn the core area into a no-man's-land for humans.

If he were to use his space ability, he could naturally kill or capture them without any effort, but he didn't do so.

If he took the giant tree away and they were missing from Yeren Mountain, it probably wouldn't take many years before the area suffered severe damage.

The harvest this time was too great.

He couldn't just keep so many things in his space forever; he wasn't a gluttonous collector.

These items were the dream of any tycoon, but he didn't value them that highly.

As for precious metals like gold, as long as he wanted them, he could get ten thousand tons or so given some time.

The same went for gemstones; things that were too easy to obtain didn't feel rare to him.

As for antiques, to be honest, he didn't really like old objects.

In his eyes, an antique worth millions wasn't as pleasing as a piece of modern art; this was his psychological quirk.

It was obviously unrealistic to digest thousands of tons of gold through jewelry stores, and he couldn't trade with the state again, otherwise even a fool could guess there was a big problem.

The only way was to slowly release it into the international futures market.

Of course, if the opportunity arose, he wouldn't mind ruthlessly "shearing the sheep."

Thousands of tons of gold were enough to move the market, but the premise was to have sufficient funds and a meticulous plan, and it had to be hidden well enough not to be exposed to the gaze of those big sharks.

There were tens of thousands of miscellaneous antiques in his space.

He could plan a museum outside Tianxing Garden to house them, or slowly release them through auctions.

Future themes for the Tianxing Auction would be curiosities, but adding some antiques and jewelry to fill the numbers was also fine.

The emeralds obtained from Somalia, the blue amber from Hengyu Coal Mine, the diamonds from South Africa, and the amethysts from Baiyun Mountain, plus precious metals like gold, platinum, and silver—if low-end jewelry was purchased externally, it would be enough to support long-term sales for a large international jewelry company.

As for the jade, the quantity was too large, and almost half of it was of high quality.

If he were to digest it through his own jewelry company, even selling it at half price might take hundreds of years to finish.

He had already figured out a way to offload it, but he had to wait until he was free to first resolve the issue of the jade's origin.

The first two days of the blind auction were just a warm-up; the last day was the main event.

Forty percent of the rough stones for the entire public auction would be traded today, while the open bidding only accounted for about twenty percent.

As luck would have it, just as he arrived at the entrance, he ran into an old acquaintance, or rather, an old nemesis—Jiang Hezheng.

In addition, there were several familiar faces, who were none other than some of the people he had scammed out of a large sum at the last gem expo.

Taking someone's money is like killing their parents.

Upon seeing Cao Xiao, their expressions naturally changed drastically, and they gnashed their teeth.

Including Jiang Hezheng, their eyes all revealed undisguised killing intent, while Cao Xiao, upon seeing this, was all smiles.

"Gentlemen, we really are destined to meet from a thousand miles away! I can see you everywhere.

I donated that money of yours to charity; you should be thanking me.

Why are you all looking at me like that? Still unconvinced? Do you want to bet again?"

Cao Xiao didn't expect these people to harbor murderous thoughts toward him, but he didn't care.

People with narrow minds were all like this.

These people had massive fortunes, each thinking themselves extraordinary and superior.

In the past, they were the only ones who could extort others.

Having had a large chunk of flesh carved off by him, and now that Cao Xiao had appeared abroad, it was only natural that they, relying on Jiang Hezheng—a half-local snake of Myanmar—would all simultaneously harbor the greatest malice toward him.

But he really didn't fear these people.

How much capability could a mere Jade King have?

At most, they were some local evil forces or jade mine owners.

As long as it wasn't official power, he could completely ignore them.

In fact, he was even looking forward to these people taking the bait.

"Hmph! The insolent brat is rampant just because he had some success! This isn't the country, we shall see!"

Jiang Hezheng gritted his teeth, snorted coldly, said no more, flicked his sleeves, and turned to leave.

Cao Xiao watched their retreating backs with some regret and shouted, unwilling to give up, "Hey, don't rush off! I'm very sincere.

If one billion us dollars isn't enough, then two billion.

Otherwise, I'll go easy on you—as long as you can cut out a glass species, you win!"

Hearing this, Jiang Hezheng seemed to have been greatly insulted.

He paused, looked at Cao Xiao with a livid face, and then looked at the few people beside him who were clearly very tempted.

Feeling his dignity challenged, he didn't respond to Cao Xiao but said to the people around him in an unquestionable tone, "Let's go.

If you have the ability, go and bet with him yourself!"

Seeing that Jiang Hezheng was so resolute, Cao Xiao knew there was no hope.

Regardless of what conspiracy Jiang Hezheng was brewing, he said uninterestingly, "Tch! And they call him the Jade King! He's just a fraud who fools children."

Just then, a big fat man appeared before his eyes.

Cao Xiao was startled, and upon seeing Zhang Wenfu's laughing Buddha-like round face, he said speechlessly, "Brother Zhang, what is this?"

"Haha! Brother Cao, it really is you! Did I see that correctly just now?

You scared Old Man Jiang away! He didn't even dare to fart! Do you own jade mines?"

Zhang Wenbin asked in surprise.

"Oh! No, but that old man has been beaten by me, so he's afraid I'll beat him again!"

Cao Xiao said truthfully.

"Uh! Tsk tsk! Brother Cao, you really have a personality!

If you have time, go and beat up everyone on the rich list, regardless of age or gender, and you'll be able to walk sideways!"

Zhang Wenbin was thunderstruck, staring at Cao Xiao in a daze, before offering this suggestion with great interest.

"Haha! If I have a chance to meet Uncle Zhang, I'll give it a try!"

Cao Xiao was also amused.

This Zhang Wenbin really could think of anything.

He actually thought that he had Jiang Hezheng cornered just by relying on brute force.

If that were really the case, he would have already been running rampant across the world.

"Then the one getting beaten would definitely be you.

My old man is frail and weak, has offended many people, and is quite afraid of death, so he often stays at home and doesn't go out.

My family has three teams of more than twenty professional bodyguards, and we also keep more than a dozen fierce dogs and a tiger."

Zhang Wenbin said without a care.

"Your old man is really a weirdo... Forget it, let's not say these witty remarks.

Brother Zhang, what has your harvest been like these past two days?"

Cao Xiao didn't expect someone to be more exaggerated than himself, but it was a bit immoral to maliciously discuss someone's father in front of his son, so he changed the subject.

Zhang Wenbin said blandly, "I've had some harvest.

I just like jade; I know absolutely nothing about rough stones.

For safety's sake, I hired three stone-gambling masters this time, but I didn't expect that they wouldn't pick out a few stones, and my ears were numbed by their arguing!

I got annoyed and drove them all away.

I just picked them directly; I bought whichever one caught my eye.

It's all a matter of probability anyway.

What about you? I haven't seen you for the past few days.

Did you go directly to the mines?"

Cao Xiao said, "I went out to play for a few days.

Although my teacher is a famous geologist, I, as a student, haven't learned even one percent of his skills.

I came to participate in the public auction just to play around; I'll just buy some casually as an investment."

Zhang Wenfu looked at Cao Xiao with even more satisfaction.

He patted Cao Xiao's shoulder and said happily, "Haha! We are the same kind of people.

The rough stone market has risen too fast this year.

Judging from the situation these past few days, it's estimated to be forty percent higher than last year.

This is the only high-quality jade production area, but many mines are almost bottoming out.

It is said that after the public auction, the Myanmar government will introduce policies to restrict mining output and implement planned mining.

If this is really implemented, it might double next year.

I was thinking of buying more this time and hoarding it without cutting it open.

No matter what, I'll make a profit if I resell it next year.

How much capital have you prepared this time?

Why don't we buy together and distribute it according to our investment ratio after we get the goods?"

"I didn't specially prepare funds, and I haven't thought about how much to buy.

Let's just buy our own."

Cao Xiao shook his head and refused without thinking.

He was here to sweep the goods.

Although Zhang Wenfu had helped him, their relationship hadn't reached the point of sharing interests.

Moreover, what he was going to do couldn't see the light of day, and he didn't want anyone to discover any clues.

The two were just compatible.

The saying "a drop of water in need shall be returned with a gushing spring" was just a proverb teaching people to be kind and grateful.

If one had to repay every small favor with all their might, then one would only do two things in this life... repaying favors and bestowing favors.

Zhang Wenfu just liked jade; he could just give him a few good pieces.

If he brought him along to get a batch of rough stones containing high-end jade, and he didn't cut them open but resold them, it would just benefit someone else.

Zhang Wenfu was a little disappointed, but he didn't force it.

After a few pleasantries, he said goodbye and left.

Having missed two blind auctions, he felt some regret that many of the top-quality materials he had his eyes on had been bought by others.

Fortunately, the majority of them were to be auctioned today.

As long as he bought this batch today, his goal would basically be achieved.

There were too many bids to make.

If he bought them all in his own name, it would attract the attention of the organizers.

So, he first casually filled out some bid forms and let his bodyguards scatter and cast them randomly.

When the bidding stopped before the opening, he would use his space ability to secretly swap the original bid forms.

The bid forms would all have the bodyguards' names, and each bid price would be slightly higher than the highest price in the bid box, ensuring that he could take everything he wanted when the bids were opened without anyone being suspicious.

Cao Xiao's goal was to collect as many rough stones containing high-end jade from this public auction as possible.

Coupled with the fact that he had sabotaged the vast majority of jade production areas in Myanmar, the output of high-end jade in the future would definitely hit rock bottom.

When high-end jade became very scarce on the market, he would openly and forcibly "create" some jade mines in Yunnan Province back home, which would allow him to achieve the goal of monopolizing the world's high-end jade trade, thereby securing absolute say in the entire jade industry, further encroaching on the jewelry raw material and gemstone mineral supply market, and using this as a foothold to plot domination of the world mining industry.

Therefore, after this jade public auction, the Myanmar jade public auction would no longer be as grand as in the past.

The depletion of most jade veins would directly lead to a major depression in the jade market.

Lacking high-end rough stones, they wouldn't even have the strength to organize another public auction.

By the time he had everything set up in Yunnan Province and announced the discovery of more jade mines, the Myanmar jade public auction would be completely relegated to history!

The blind auction went without a hitch.

Cao Xiao splashed out nearly 400 million us dollars and successfully won the rough stones he had designated.

However, something went wrong with the open auction on the second day.

Jiang Hezheng had conspired with a group of people to deliberately go against him.

Whenever he bid on a rough stone, someone would intercept the bid, sparing no expense to forcibly drive the price up by a large margin.

The price was higher than the actual value of the jade inside, so buying it would be a loss.

Having his bodyguards bid in their own names yielded the same result.

Cao Xiao was very annoyed, but there was nothing he could do.

However, he didn't want Jiang Hezheng and the others to get the good things he couldn't get either, so he simply went against them to the end.

He would bid until it reached their bottom line before letting them win the bid, pretending to be indignant to confuse them, while secretly tampering with those rough stones.

Seemingly finding a sense of accomplishment in him, this group of people were psychologically satisfied and became even crazier when bidding.

To others, it looked like Jiang Hezheng and the others were deliberately bullying Cao Xiao.

But when the auction ended, Cao Xiao suddenly laughed out loud.

He walked up to the beaming Jiang Hezheng, cupped his hands, and said loudly, "Old Master Jiang, congratulations!

You spent three or four hundred million us dollars to buy a pile of rock eggs.

I think the Myanmar government will definitely thank you warmly when they find out!"

Jiang Hezheng thought that Cao Xiao was just talking sarcastically because he hadn't won a single stone, and wanted to use some conspiracy to get the rough stones back from him.

He didn't take Cao Xiao's words to heart.

He stood up leisurely, looked at Cao Xiao mockingly, and said proudly, "Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?

Did I get this skill of stone-gambling for nothing?

Can't I tell whether a stone's appearance is good or bad?

No matter how you use your glib tongue, don't think about taking them back.

However, I still have to thank you.

If it weren't for your sharp eye, I would have almost missed some good stones.

This is truly 'bitterly hating that every year I press the gold thread, only to make wedding clothes for others'!

Hahaha!"