Suren approached the stall piled high with raw stones and used his All-Knowing Eye to casually appraise one.

[Cursed Raw Stone]

Details: Purity 6;

No further explanation, only a purity number.

He appraised a few more, all low-quality raw stones with a purity of less than ten.

This pile was the cheapest, two hundred Leso each.

Suren appraised dozens, consuming a significant amount of dark energy, but didn't find a single one with a purity exceeding ten.

He suspected they were all duds, so he didn't buy any.

"At two hundred Leso apiece, the probability of cutting out a 'Cursed Crystal' is theoretically no more than 2%, which is how the merchants make a profit... In other words, on average, only one in fifty or more raw stones will yield a crystal."

He calculated in his mind, knowing that this phenomenon was normal unless his luck was off the charts.

Merchants were shrewd, so the price of raw gambling stones also fluctuated.

After a vein was discovered, ore merchants could only estimate the approximate crystallization rate of the raw stones through samples. But until they were actually cut open, no one could be sure of the final situation of this batch of ore. There might be locally rich deposits, or locally poor deposits.

If the frequency of crystals cut out during sales increased, the shop owner would automatically increase the price of this batch of ore.

If the probability decreased, it would be lowered accordingly.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, the probability of raw stone crystallization could be roughly estimated from the price of the raw stone.

.......

Suren wasn't in a hurry to make a move, as cautious as ever. He observed carefully, wanting to see if there were any other tricks in this stone gambling.

The size and appearance of the ore varied, and the size of the crystals also determined its value.

The raw stones costing two hundred each were slightly smaller, and the probability of crystallization was also the lowest. The raw stones costing five hundred or eight hundred each were larger and of much better quality, and the purity after appraisal had a higher probability of being between 10-20.

Just as Suren was observing, good news suddenly came from the shop's cutting room from time to time.

"Oh! Congratulations to this gentleman, he cut out a medium-sized 'Cursed Crystal'! Our firm is willing to buy it for thirteen thousand Leso!"

"Look, this lady is also very lucky. She cut out some crystal fragments of good quality, worth at least a thousand Leso. You only spent five hundred, so you've earned twice as much..."

"Wow~ that gentleman's batch of raw stones worth thirty thousand actually cut out crystals worth more than fifty thousand, God, that's really good luck..."

"..."

The shop manager enthusiastically presided over the sales, and every time a crystal was produced, he would announce it loudly with passion.

This led to more and more people coming to pick out ore.

The people of the outer city seemed to like this novel way of gambling.

The people who came to the black market were probably all well-off, and batches of raw stones were cut open, and news of cutting out raw stones was heard from time to time.

More and more people flocked to watch the excitement.

Suren watched silently from the sidelines.

After watching for a while, he finally figured out the rule for the displayed purity of the ore.

A purity of 10 or less meant it was a low-quality ore, completely useless.

More than 90% of the raw stones in these piles were this kind of low-quality ore.

A purity between 11-20 could yield some crystal fragments, which, although not very valuable, were enough to break even;

Then there were those with a purity of 20 or more, but they were extremely rare.

Suren noticed that the raw stones that yielded crystals in the shop all displayed a purity of "20" or more.

Having figured out this rule, Suren looked at the piles of raw ore, and a meaningful smile gradually appeared at the corner of his eyes as he murmured to himself, "This is the correct way to use the 'All-Knowing Eye'..."

.......

As time passed, more and more people came to the gambling stone shop, and Suren was no longer afraid of being noticed, so he mixed in with the people who were selecting raw stones.

He also pretended to be like others, shining a light, pouring water, and observing carefully.

Then, after appraising dozens more, his eyes lit up.

[Cursed Raw Stone]

Details: Purity 24;

Seeing this gray stone in his hand, which was almost indistinguishable from other raw stones, Suren discreetly put it in his pocket. To avoid trouble, he also stuffed in a few pieces of low-quality ore.

Five pieces cost a total of one thousand Leso.

Suren had more than three thousand Leso left in his pocket.

In this way, picking and choosing, Suren crouched by the ore pile and selected a basket of stones, some large and some small. But among these ten or so stones, eight alone had a purity of over twenty.

Which meant that as long as they were cut open, they would be worth at least eighty thousand Leso!

Turning a cost of three or four thousand into eighty thousand, a full twenty-fold increase, was faster than gambling!

But Suren didn't plan to continue selecting.

One was that he didn't have enough money to buy more raw stones today; the other was that he felt that if he used cheating methods to pick out most of the raw stones with crystals in this batch of ore, the shop owner might become suspicious.

But, good luck came one after another.

Just as Suren was about to check out and leave, suddenly, an unremarkable stone was thrown at his feet.

It was a raw ore that the people around him had selected and didn't like. In the pile of ore priced at 800 each, this one was indeed not good-looking.

Since Suren was about to leave anyway, he casually appraised it and immediately realized he had found a treasure.

[Cursed Raw Stone]

Details: Purity 99;

"Such a high purity?"

Suren's eyebrows twitched slightly as he looked at it.

A purity of 20 could already produce cursed crystals, so how could a 99 suddenly appear?

Obviously, this was very likely the legendary "supreme-grade cursed crystal" worth one hundred thousand!

Having picked up such a treasure, Suren didn't show any abnormality, and casually threw the stone into the basket.

The staff enthusiastically helped him count and check out.

"Sir, would you like us to cut it open on the spot?"

"Okay, cut a few pieces to see my luck..."

Suren didn't act too differently, and chose two low-quality ores with a purity of less than 10 to cut open. As expected, they were both waste.

Seeing this, he put on a bored expression, stopped the staff from continuing to cut, and grumbled, "Forget it, I'll take the rest back and fiddle with them slowly."

The gambling stone shop was bustling, and the staff probably wanted to save trouble, so hearing this, they were happy to help Suren pack it up.

In this way, Suren left the black market discreetly, carrying stones worth nearly two hundred thousand.

.......

Not long after Suren left, this batch of raw stones had been sold out, and a new batch of goods came up. The manager of the gambling stone shop also had doubts in his mind.

"Eh... that's strange, I clearly chose a batch of top-quality raw stones and sold them at a reduced price, so why isn't the probability of cutting out crystals as high as expected..."

"Also, this pile of ore priced at eight hundred each was clearly brought out from the special-rich mining area where 'supreme-grade ore' had been produced before. I even said I would ignite the atmosphere today, but not a single one has been produced so far..."

But because the number of raw stones sold today was too large, the slight probability abnormality of this batch of ore was quickly ignored.

The gambling stone shop continued to be lively.

.......

As for Suren, the instigator, he had already taken the steam train back to the small inn on Green Street.

He booked a room and locked the door.

He took out the pile of ore from the storage ring, and then used cutting tools to start cutting it himself.

He randomly picked a piece with a purity of more than 20, and as soon as he cut it open, he saw a pure green light representing the crystal flashing before his eyes.

Although Suren was quite calm in his heart, he couldn't help but mutter, "I'm rich..."

After polishing, a walnut-sized "Cursed Crystal" appeared in his large hand.

It was like the most beautiful gemstone in the world, emitting a strange and vibrant bright green light under the light.

"This is the Cursed Crystal..."

Suren looked at the green gemstone in his hand, his eyes somewhat deep.

Just such a crystal could release amazing energy.

[Cursed Crystal]

Details: An energy gemstone containing dark original force, it is the energy source for alchemists.

Suren wasn't yet a formal professional, so there weren't many places where he could use this thing.

However, that didn't stop him from taking this thing and selling it for money.

Then, he continued to cut the next piece.

Suren also felt a little lucky. The [All-Knowing Eye] was worthy of being an S-class talent.

While cutting, he muttered to himself, "I just said I was broke after buying the blueprints, and now I have a place to get the alchemical plant installation materials..."

As he cut, he thought of the mysterious person who sold potions in the black market before.

He thought that if he could have discovered this batch of raw stones earlier, he could have gotten that potion.

But Suren didn't dwell on it, because he was sure that the seller of the potion would probably contact him.

Because probably no one would buy that bad-looking potion, but that guy was in dire need of money.

.......

Not long after, all the ore had been cut.

Just as he had expected, there were eight cursed crystals of different sizes in front of him, and a "supreme-grade cursed crystal" that was so green it was blinding.

Less than four thousand Leso had been exchanged for crystals worth nearly two hundred thousand.

Moreover, this was a sustainable and stable source of income.

Suren felt that this was a good omen, and he seemed to have seen a future where he wouldn't have to worry about money for a long time.

"Today, the 'Rose Ore Firm' came to the black market to exhibit and sell. It's not just to sell a few pieces of ore, but to promote this business. If nothing else, this new gambling method of gambling stones will soon be popular in the outer city..."

Suren pondered in his mind.

At this time, he also thought of something and muttered to himself, "If you look at the probability of 2-8% of producing crystals, a shop with tens of thousands of raw stones can only produce a thousand or so crystals. If they are all taken away by me, there will definitely be problems. It seems that I have to run all over the city in the future. Otherwise, if I catch a sheep and fleece its wool, it will easily arouse suspicion if it is fleeced bald..."

However, although running all over the city was a little hard, compared to the spare money-making plans of going to hunt in the wilderness and killing aberrant monsters in the sewers, this gambling stone was obviously much easier to earn money from...

Suren had money and confidence.

He planned to buy the materials needed for the alchemical plant installation and get some new equipment for himself.

For example, replacing the famous gun [Three-Headed Ghoul] in his hand.