Chapter 141: First-Grade Formation

Angel forced herself to calm down from her extreme excitement, sitting quietly to the side to calculate the figures. Highly sensitive to numbers, she only had to glance at her tally without even summing the total yet to be utterly dumbfounded. Over two hundred jade pieces, worth at least fifty million, and that was not even counting the grand-master emerald.

The value of the jade unearthed today alone already surpassed Angel’s Jade Store; factoring in the grand-master emerald, it rivaled the combined value of all the jade shops currently owned by the An family.

Ling Tian had created a miracle!

No wonder he was so confident, daring to openly defy the behemoth Zheng family all by himself.

The crucial point was that he had already started doing it.

If Ling Tian could truly solve the supply problem, the An family would be saved. They would not only withstand the suppression by the Zheng family, but also launch a magnificent counter-offensive.

Angel immediately made a call to the store to arrange for transport vehicles and instructed the staff to re-check the warehouse's security facilities. The value of this batch of jade was simply too astronomical; if any mishap occurred, it would be too late for regrets.

"You spent five million and obtained over fifty million worth of jade. You've created a miracle." Angel walked over to Ling Tian with affectionate eyes, gazing at him in sheer fascination. At this moment, in Angel's heart, Ling Tian was a deity who continuously created miracles and surprises.

Ling Tian smiled and said, "We didn't spend a dime; Zheng Shitian paid for all of it. Including the grand-master emerald, it should be five hundred and fifty million worth of jade. Although we can't convert it into cash just yet, I can congratulate you in advance—you are now the youngest and most beautiful female billionaire."

Faced with Ling Tian's teasing, Angel smiled shyly and said, "This is all thanks to you. From now on, I suppose I'm just working for you."

Zhang Ding chimed in, "What's yours and what's mine? We're a family anyway."

"Hurry up and go help load the trucks," Ling Tian said with a laughing reprimand.

After Zhang Ding left, Angel's expression turned somewhat serious. "Ling Tian, aren't we making a bit too much of a stir by doing this? An emerald worth five hundred million, plus fifty million more in jade—with such a huge commotion, could it provoke some negative consequences?"

Faced with Angel's question, Ling Tian did not answer directly, instead posing a rhetorical one: "If you keep a low profile, will the Zheng family simply let the An family off?"

Angel shook her head silently and said, "No, they won't."

"Since keeping a low profile still won't make the Zheng family let us go, why not be a little more high-profile, show the Zheng family our strength, and make them think twice?"

Angel found that what Ling Tian said made complete sense. Always adept at argument, she found herself completely speechless at this moment.

Ling Tian stood up proudly, looking into the distance with his hands behind his back, and said with an overwhelming aura, "The strong should possess the momentum and boldness of the strong."

Hearing this, Angel felt her blood boiling. Ling Tian's words stirred her grand ambitions, reminding her of her original grandiose vows to revitalize her family and thoroughly defeat their old rival, the Zheng family. Perhaps that moment had already arrived, Angel thought to herself secretly.

"You've helped me so much, and I don't even know how to thank you. From now on, whatever is mine is yours." Angel looked at Ling Tian with immense gratitude. Words crowded her heart, but she did not know how to voice them, so she decided to make a promise to him instead.

Ling Tian, who had just been exuding such an imposing aura, suddenly shifted his tone and teased, "Then are you mine?"

Angel had not expected Ling Tian to come out with such a remark. Her face instantly flushed red, and she scolded playfully, "Hate you!"

Teasing a beauty was indeed a great pleasure, especially teasing a celestial-level beauty like Angel.

The store staff soon arrived at the jade exhibition area in dedicated transport vehicles, accompanied by the female appraiser. When Angel had called earlier, her tone was very excited but lacked detail, so the appraiser did not yet know the situation.

In the appraiser's mind, Angel was the very definition of elegance. Having worked together for years, the appraiser had never seen Angel so excited, as if she had just laid eyes on an entire mountain of jade.

When the appraiser rushed to the jade exhibition and saw the dazzling jade pieces spread all over the floor, she was completely intoxicated. No wonder the ever-elegant Angel had been so excited! Just as the appraiser was beginning to adapt to this shock, her gaze fell upon the foot-tall grand-master emerald. Her pupils instantly dilated, resembling a kitten that had just spotted a gourmet meal.

Disregarding her image entirely for the sake of speed, the appraiser kicked off her high heels and ran barefoot toward the grand-master emerald. Fortunately, the floor had already been cleaned, otherwise her beautiful feet would have suffered.

Carrying her high heels and running on her bare little feet to the grand-master emerald, before she could even stand properly, she dropped her shoes without realizing it, gazing in infatuated awe at the emerald glowing with a grand-master green light. She did not need to appraise it at all to know this was a grand-master emerald, because it shone with the brilliance of an emperor, possessing an aura that felt utterly unreachable.

"My... god, it really is a grand-master emerald, and such a huge one at that!" The appraiser felt as though she were dreaming, yet the dream felt so real. When she placed her slender fingers upon it and felt its delicate, gentle texture, she knew she wasn't dreaming—all of this was real...

"Angel, you've given us a massive surprise!" the appraiser shouted to Angel excitedly, her voice cracking slightly.

"All of this is because of him." Angel gazed infatuatedly at Ling Tian, a man shrouded in an aura of mystery.

Ling Tian said calmly, "Start loading the trucks. There will be even greater surprises in the future."

Under Angel's direction, the loading proceeded in an orderly fashion. In less than an hour, all the jade was loaded onto the vehicles.

Upon returning to the shop, although it was not yet time to close, Angel decisively chose to shut the doors to ensure the items were safely stored as quickly as possible.

All personnel suspended their current tasks and went all out to ensure the security of the warehousing process.

In a mere ten minutes, all two hundred-plus pieces of jade were moved into the secure warehouse, and Angel personally activated the security system.

Ling Tian lifted the grand-master emerald from the vehicle, selected the optimal spot inside the shop, and placed it carefully on the floor.

Angel immediately had someone craft a custom pedestal on the spot, placed the grand-master emerald gently upon it, and covered it with a bulletproof glass dome.

"We need to upgrade the store's security level as quickly as possible." Angel looked at the grand-master emerald with lingering worry. This was a treasure worth five hundred million; once targeted, the consequences would be unimaginable.

As the saying goes, defenses can keep out gentlemen, not villains. Once someone set their sights on it, they would undoubtedly find a way to steal it, or even seize it at all costs. A foot-tall grand-master emerald was definitely worth taking risks for, even at the cost of one's life.

"Don't worry," Ling Tian said calmly. "You all step aside for a moment."

Although Angel did not know what Ling Tian was about to do, she obediently instructed the clerks to withdraw, leaving only herself and the female appraiser present.

Under the watchful eyes of Angel and the appraiser, Ling Tian casually opened a display case, retrieved eight mid-tier jade pieces worth around one hundred thousand each, and gently tossed them into the air. The eight pieces of jade actually defied gravity, suspending themselves in mid-air around Ling Tian.

Angel and the appraiser widened their eyes in astonishment, staring fixedly at Ling Tian.

Ling Tian summoned his primordial heavenly fire, dividing it into eight balls of flame, and refined the jade pieces simultaneously.

The crimson flames appeared out of thin air, instantly enveloping the jade. The scorching heat seemed capable of melting everything. The hard jade softened at a visible speed, rapidly forming eight pearl-sized spheres that automatically flew toward the perimeter of the grand-master emerald and slowly descended.

Suddenly, with a flash of pale golden light, the eight pearl-sized jades vanished simultaneously.

Immediately afterward, Ling Tian sat down cross-legged, manipulating his divine sense to construct a formation. This time, Ling Tian spent a full fourteen hours.

When Ling Tian opened his eyes, it was already the following morning.

"What on earth did you do?" Angel and the appraiser, who had stayed awake all night, asked in unison, walking in circles around the grand-master emerald with intense curiosity.

Ling Tian wiped the sweat from his forehead, let out a long sigh of relief, and said, "Using the grand-master emerald as the formation eye and the eight jade pieces as formation stones, I set up a defensive array. I didn't expect the power of the grand-master emerald to be so immense; I originally thought I could only make a simple formation, but its grade actually reached the first tier."

Angel and the appraiser had no idea what Ling Tian was talking about, but they understood one thing clearly: the security issue of the grand-master emerald had been resolved by Ling Tian.

"The grand-master emerald is a treasure of heaven and earth, capable of continuously absorbing spiritual energy from the universe. There is nothing more suitable to use as a formation eye. If my estimation is correct, combined with the bulletproof glass, it can continuously withstand the force of three consecutive grenade explosions, and it will even reflect the impact back," Ling Tian said with extreme confidence.

To ensure the safety of the grand-master emerald, after refining the jade, Ling Tian had consulted the jade slips to search for formations, ultimately choosing one that combined both offense and defense. Unfortunately, the formation's tier was too high, forcing Ling Tian to create a simplified version; nevertheless, it still reached the level of a first-tier array, which could be considered an extraordinary performance on his part.

"Is it really that magical?" Angel and the appraiser looked at Ling Tian doubtfully.

Ling Tian did not explain; instead, he instructed Zhang Ding to demonstrate.

Following Ling Tian's instructions, Zhang Ding fetched a brick from outside the door, ran over to the grand-master emerald, raised the brick, and prepared to smash it down. However, midway through the air, Zhang Ding stopped, looking toward Ling Tian with hesitation. Although he trusted Ling Tian deeply, standing before a priceless treasure still made his heart waver.

"Smash it hard, or else I'll smash you," Ling Tian ordered.

Zhang Ding grit his teeth fiercely, raised the brick, and brought it down. When the brick was still half a meter away from the grand-master emerald, Zhang Ding felt himself met with the resistance of a mighty force. Immediately afterward, a powerful counter-shock surged back; the brick in Zhang Ding's hand shattered instantly, turning into countless tiny fragments that clattered to the ground.