“Maxwell, tomorrow’s the New Talent Jade-Gambling Cup. You gotta do Ms. Flora proud, you hear me? If you snag first place, she’ll be bragging about you for the rest of the year.”

“Come on, Ms. Flora, don’t joke like that. With how gorgeous you are, I wouldn’t dare.”

Maxwell Armstrong was chatting on the phone while riding his bike, shooting down the street like an arrow off the string. Just as he turned a corner, a white Porsche burst out from a side road. The driver hit the brakes too late—there was a loud bang, and Maxwell, along with his bike, was sent flying.

His head smacked the ground, splitting the skin, and the thumb-sized jade gourd hanging around his neck shattered.

Flat on the pavement, he felt the world spinning. Before he even opened his eyes, a hazy figure formed in his mind—an old man with a long beard, wearing a purple robe.

“Boy, I am Lord Thunder. I’ve been sealed inside that jade gourd for over a thousand years. Now that you’ve freed me, I have nothing else to offer but the life’s work I poured into the gourd—a set of ten complete masteries. I’ll pass them all to you. And I’ll gift you a pair of Golden Eyes. Use them well, bring some good to the world.”

The old man paused, sighed, then added, “Forget it, I’ll throw in another stroke of fortune. The woman who just hit you—she’ll end up helping you. Don’t waste it.”

With that, he stepped closer, placing his palm squarely on Maxwell’s chest.

A spike of pain shot through Maxwell’s body, and everything went black.

In that drifting, half-conscious state, countless techniques surged into his mind—advanced martial skills, medical arts, needle techniques, tomb raiding, even appraisal, jade gambling, and alchemy.

Ten full masteries.

All of it crashing into him at once made his whole body feel like it was boiling, waves of heat rushing through him. Some part of his body even felt like it was… expanding.

“You okay?”

Hurried footsteps approached, followed by a soft, gentle voice right beside his ear.

Maxwell felt awful, but he forced his eyes open. The more he opened them, the more they ached—until a sudden flash of gold cut across his vision. Then he saw her: a stunningly beautiful woman crouched beside him.

And she wasn’t wearing a single thing.

Maxwell froze. So it wasn’t a dream. What the old man said was real—he really had awakened the Golden Eyes.

A little thrill ran through him, but the woman leaned closer and asked again, “Are you alright?”

Before he could respond, she pressed a bank card into his hand. “There’s three hundred thousand in here. Consider it compensation for hitting you. This is my business card. If anything comes up, call me.”

With that, she stood up and walked straight back to her car.

Maxwell suddenly remembered what the old man had mentioned about a “fated chance.” He looked at the woman’s retreating figure and shouted, his voice carried by pure impulse, “You’ve had that migraine for a long time, right? I can fix it. No charge. Think of it as… making a new friend!”

The woman paused for half a second, but didn’t turn back. She simply got into her car and drove off without a word.

Maxwell hadn’t expected her to be this tough to approach. He flipped the business card in his hand. The name read: Lana Shaw, CEO of the Shaw Jadeite Company. His eyes widened.

Ms. Flora had mentioned that this year’s New Talent Cup Jade-Gambling Tournament was jointly hosted by the Shaw Group and the Tengfei Group. Who would’ve thought that on the day before the tournament, the CEO of the Shaw Group herself would run him over?

Yeah… it hurt like hell.

But he walked away with a superpower and three hundred thousand in compensation.

Honestly? Pretty worth it.

Maxwell lifted his poor bicycle—now practically in pieces—and headed to the nearest ATM. He checked the balance. Sure enough, the card really had three hundred thousand. After transferring the money into his own account, he rushed home and slept like a rock.

The next morning, he washed up in a hurry and went straight to the jade rough market.

According to Ms. Flora, the prize money for this year’s New Talent Cup was a full one million. With that kind of reward, he figured the sign‑ups would be insane.

And he was right.

By the time he arrived at Tianbao Jadeite Raw Stone Market, the place was already packed. Ms. Flora was waiting for him at the entrance.

He greeted her casually, but before he could say more, a wave of commotion rose behind them. Everyone around turned their heads at the same moment. A black Mercedes shot toward the entrance under the full attention of the crowd.

When the car stopped, the door opened, and a tall man with sunglasses stepped out. Conversations burst instantly around them.

“See that? That’s Porter Wells of the Feiteng Group.”

“Yeah, I heard this whole competition is basically tailored for him. He’s the top seed.”

“The Wells family is wild. Rumor is the Wells and Shaw families are planning a marriage alliance. Even Lana Shaw, the top beauty in Shangjing, is supposed to show up.”

Hearing all this, a faint smile tugged at Porter’s mouth. Chin slightly lifted, he strode into the venue like he owned the place.

A moment ago, Maxwell didn’t have any opinion about him. Now, watching that arrogant swagger, his good impression evaporated instantly. He clenched his jaw and muttered to himself, “I don’t care if you’re the seed or if this whole thing is set up for you. That million? I’m taking it.”

The competition was about to start. As they walked in with the other participants, Ms. Flora leaned closer and said, “Maxwell, don’t stress. Just play it easy. Even if you lose, I’ll cook you something delicious tonight.”

Maxwell knew she was trying to reassure him. He grinned and teased back, “Ms. Flora, relax. That million is already mine. And your dinner reward? I’m not skipping that either.”

With that, he stepped into the hall.

The rookie contest really pulled in a crowd today. To keep out the dead weight, the organizers had already run two rounds of strict screening, trimming everything down to a final list of one hundred participants.

Those hundred were divided into ten groups, and to make things more exciting, each group got one seeded contestant. Whoever took first place in their group would move on to the semifinals, and the top two from the semis would battle it out in the finals. The ultimate winner? They’d walk away with a cool million.

When Maxwell Armstrong stepped into the venue, the first thing he did was draw his lot. He landed in Group Two—right in the middle. And the seeded contestant for that group happened to be Gideon Marshall, the only son of the old rival of Ms. Flora’s shop, and one of the favorites to advance.

Gideon was short, with a scar slicing across one eye. The moment he saw Maxwell was in his group, he curled his lip and sneered, his voice dripping contempt. “Maxwell Armstrong? Seriously? A toad like you trying to eat swan meat? Do you not even check yourself in the mirror? You think you’re worthy?”

Maxwell didn’t even blink at the insult. He shot back calmly, “Gideon Marshall, save the trash talk. We’ll know soon enough who the real toad is.”

And with that, he didn’t spare Gideon another glance. Instead, he stepped aside and focused on a jadeite boulder right in front of him. With the competition about to kick off, he figured he’d warm up with a random piece.

Activating his Golden Eye Sight, he scanned the stone. Its internal structure unfolded in perfect clarity.

Glutinous-ice quality… three major cracks… eleven small fractures… variety shifted… guaranteed collapse.

After finishing his scan, Maxwell moved on—only to hear a sudden wave of noise from outside the venue. A moment later, a Porsche rolled in, drawing every pair of eyes with it.

The door swung open, and out stepped a long‑haired woman with a stunning figure. Maxwell recognized her instantly—Lana Shaw.

As the official representative of the Shaw family for this year’s rookie selection, Lana already knew who the champion would be. But she still showed up, partly on assignment, partly to scout for fresh talent.

She entered the venue under countless stares. Almost immediately, her gaze brushed past Maxwell. Her brows creased for the briefest moment before she smoothed her expression and acted as if nothing had happened.

After the host wrapped up the opening remarks and guest introductions, the competition officially began.

All one hundred contestants went to their assigned areas to pick their rough stones according to the draw.

Group Two—Maxwell’s group—was positioned dead center in the entire venue, facing Lana directly.

Maxwell looked up and met her gaze. Out of courtesy, he gave her a small wave from afar. Lana didn’t respond; she simply turned her head away.

A bit embarrassed, Maxwell dropped his hand and stopped looking toward the stage.

He refocused on the competition. Nearly two hundred uncut, windowless jadeite boulders sat neatly arranged in Group Two’s area. All were full‑gamble stones—if you didn’t have real skill, guessing their quality with the naked eye was like playing blindfolded.

To play it safe, Maxwell stood at the edge and started using his Golden Eye to check them one by one.

Reject one, move on to the next.

After scanning a couple dozen stones, something suddenly jolted through him. His eyes locked onto a single piece—a large Dama‑kan rough with vibrant yellow mixed with green.

It immediately grabbed his attention.