When Wang Jiu was pushed to the card table, Shen Qingming didn’t have much hope, treating a dead horse as a living one in need of medicine.

The green cards of QingCyan Cloud City were not merely a game of simple card counting or memorizing patterns. It emphasized a psychological battle between people more. You had to guess what cards your opponent held, what cards they might play, and how you should respond. Would you gamble big, be cautious, or abandon small gains in pursuit of larger ones?

The strategy of the green card was more about understanding people’s minds. Wang Jiu’s calculating abilities were undoubtedly reliable, after all, his Intelligence Index was as high as 9. Having lived with him for nearly a year, at least this was something Shen Qingming had to admit. But on the other hand, the Celestial Divine Sword’s sharpness in perceiving people’s minds also left a profound impression on her.

Thus, Shen Qingming didn’t have high hopes for Wang Jiu’s win rate. But on the other hand, so what if he lost? It would be a good opportunity to leave Golden Jade City and say a final farewell to Zhao Chenlu, after all, it was her own father who wanted them gone. They couldn’t be blamed for being unrighteous.

With a grim smile, Shen Qingming sat comfortably in a resting spot in the room, nibbling on fruits and snacks, while calmly waiting to enjoy the spectacle of Wang Jiu stepping down with an inexplicably puzzled look on his face.

At that moment, she would definitely raise her head in pride: "What use is it having an Intelligence Index twice as high as mine? You still ended up being a loser like me!"

——

On the other side, when Wang Jiu sat down at the card table, he knew he was bound to win.

After watching two matches on the sidelines, Wang Jiu had deeply grasped the essence of this green card game. On the surface, it was a game of deception and concealment between players, competing in psychological tactics while assisted by some card-playing strategies. But in reality, the content of the game was much simpler than it seemed.

"Three consecutive green, red, and white, I win."

Two minutes later, Wang Jiu laid down his three-color consecutive cards, strategically suppressing Zhao Hongxue’s winning move of three greens.

Zhao Hongxue looked at the green, red, and white on the table in disbelief and asked tremblingly, "You kept this green card until now just to play against my three greens? How did you know I would end with three greens?"

Wang Jiu said, "Because I have mastered the essence of this game."

"Nonsense! You obviously cheated!" Zhao Hongxue angrily slapped the table, then chanted a formula and summoned the monitoring equipment in the room. A cat-eye gem embedded in the ceiling began to glow blue with the flow of True Essence.

"Blue, blue!?" Seeing this color symbolizing innocence, Zhao Hongxue was even more incredulous, "How is this possible! If you didn’t cheat, you’d have to have water in your brain to keep that green card to the last to crush my three greens! No strategy would ever have such a move!"

At this moment, Shen Qingming, sitting on the side of the room, also unconsciously sat up straight, her mouth wide open, completely oblivious to the half-chewed cake that rolled down from the corner of her mouth.

He actually won!?

Shen Qingming had personally experienced Zhao Hongxue’s card skill. There was no need to mention her familiarity with card strategy. What was truly terrifying was her well-honed ability to read minds. Without the aid of any cheating, she could perceive the reality and power of her opponents, even gauging the opponent’s hand with just her eyes.

An opponent like this, while not entirely unbeatable, at the very least required equally rich card-playing experience, powerful psychological strength, and mind-reading abilities.

These were qualities that Wang Jiu absolutely did not possess, so how exactly did he win!?

"Can we start the next round?" Wang Jiu did not respond to anyone’s doubts, merely shuffled the cards quietly, dealt them, and prepared to start the next round.

Zhao Hongxue pondered for a long while before finally nodding, "I won’t believe it!"

——

One minute later.

"You must have cheated!" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

This time, Zhao Hongxue tossed her cards into the air, "Who plays cards like this!? Holding three reds until the end against my red, green, and white, no strategy would ever include something like this! You must have seen my hand!"

Wang Jiu remained silent, quietly using the Shape Manipulation Array to gather the scattered cards from the air, shuffled them again, and dealt the cards anew.

"Let the final round begin."

"I..." Zhao Hongxue looked at the aloof opponent before her, unsure of what to say.

Wang Jiu waited for a while before looking up and asking, "Considering forfeiting?"

"Impossible!" Zhao Hongxue hammered the table, "I’ve never lost like this before!"

Then, Zhao Hongxue took a deep breath, circulated her True Essence, and lit three golden glittering spheres beside her.

"With this sacred light illuminating everything, no cheating means can escape detection. It’s formed from my Primordial Spirit and far superior to the cat-eye gem on the ceiling. Whatever cheating trick you used will no longer work in the coming round," Zhao Hongxue said with a cold smirk, "If you don’t believe me and choose to risk it, I warn you that being exposed to this light that’s akin to the blazing sun implies more than just a sunburn."

Wang Jiu nodded, "Let’s begin."

——

Two minutes later, Zhao Hongxue silently threw down the cards in her hand, then grabbed a golden sphere next to her and began to knead it hard.

"You useless thing! After all my daily hard work of Sacrificial Refining and nurturing with Primordial Spirit, is this how you function?! That brat clearly cheated and saw my hand, yet you didn’t even light up!"

Wang Jiu observed Zhao Hongxue continuously tormenting the golden sphere and kindly reminded her, "You should know that if you crush it, you may become an idiot yourself, right?"

"I don’t need your reminder, you fraud!"

After finishing, Zhao Hongxue retracted the three spheres and covered her face with her hands. She remained silent at the card table for a long while, then exhaled a long breath, saying, "A gambler must accept their loss. This round was mine. But before I hear about Zhao Chenlu, answer me one question. How did you cheat?"

At the same time, Shen Qingming also silently moved closer, waiting for Wang Jiu’s answer.

The process of the three card games unfolded nearly identically. Wang Jiu seemed to have perfectly understood the opponent’s cards. Each of his plays perfectly countered Zhao Hongxue, turning what should have been ten-minute rounds into ones with results every two minutes or so.

The strategy Wang Jiu employed couldn’t be any conventional one; his way of playing was blatantly akin to cheating. Yet, despite three rounds, nobody could discern how he managed it.

Now that the card game was over, Zhao Hongxue accepted her loss gracefully, and Wang Jiu owed an explanation.

"I did not cheat," Wang Jiu seriously offered his answer, "I simply could see your hand."

"Nonsense, how can you see my hand without cheating!?" Zhao Hongxue shouted, "Don’t tell me you caught reflections from my eyes! I’ve been wearing the Foggy Eyes! And don’t say you grew some extension organ; any limb, Primordial Spirit, or True Essence exceeding the designated seat limits would trigger alarms! I’ve run this card room for years, leaving no exploitable loopholes! Tell me, how did you do it?"

Wang Jiu said, "Each card in your hand is unique. By carefully observing the details on the card faces and making the necessary notes, I can distinguish every card by merely looking at the card backs."

"Nonsense!" Zhao Hongxue couldn’t believe it, "These cards are produced by Golden Jade City, and their quality is unrivaled, even compared to Heaven-Reaching City and Celestial Craft City! The cards are not only impervious to wear but also fogged, and the error in the craftsmanship is only..."

"0.0001 millimeters." Wang Jiu stated, "The fogging effect indeed works flawlessly, yet the magic effect itself has defects. Thus, observation precision surpassing these two defect values allows you to discern all cards perfectly."

"...Without relying on Immortal Technique, purely with the naked eye, who can achieve such observational precision? Even the Lu Family doesn’t possess such eyesight!"

Wang Jiu said, "I do."

"..." Zhao Hongxue stared intently at Wang Jiu for a long while, unable to speak.

Wang Jiu also gazed back at Zhao Hongxue, then remarked, "Your skincare cream is Golden Plum No. 5 ladies’ version because your skin is relatively sensitive..."

"Enough, there’s no need to continue! So, this is your trick? You were born with extraordinary vision, memorized each card face, and thereby directly saw my hand and won this way?"

Without waiting for Wang Jiu to answer, Zhao Hongxue shook her head slightly, almost unable to accept it: "Damn, that’s still cheating, green cards shouldn’t be played like that!"

Wang Jiu said, "The essence of all card sports is deception, primarily a matter of how skillful the means are. If one does not understand even this simple truth, they are unworthy to be called a card player."

"...Despite being the most shameless statement, when you say it like that, it sounds quite reasonable."

Wang Jiu said, "An old friend told me this many years ago. She said this is the ultimate truth of card sports, and at that time, indeed, no one could defeat her in card projects."

"...Was there such a person in Xiangzhou’s history?" Zhao Hongxue shook her head, "Enough, let’s not dwell on irrelevant details for now. I’ve resigned myself to this card game loss. Regarding Zhao Chenlu, let’s discuss it inside."

Saying this, Zhao Hongxue extended her hand to open a large door leading to a private cave dwelling.

——

Once everyone entered the dwelling, Zhao Hongxue straightforwardly expressed her opinion: "Zhao Chenlu is beyond saving; you should give up."