Beast Taming: Slaughter Atlas

The five people did not linger at the entrance for long and quickly walked inside under the guidance of Gu Zhen.

What met their eyes was a scene of lavish splendor, and the opulence of the place promptly shattered Chu Chen's notions of luxury.

The floor was covered with an advanced carpet stitched from the fur of a Commander Level Golden Retriever Star Beast. It was entirely golden and very soft to the touch, the only drawback being its exorbitant price—a single piece of fur cost tens of thousands of Alliance Coins. The walls were adorned with murals depicting Guardian Beasts, and all around were picture frames composed of high-rank Star Cores.

At this moment, a tall young woman approached, wearing a red cheongsam. She carried herself with poise, wearing a faint smile.

Though not stunning in appearance, she possessed a certain charm.

Smiling, the young woman came before them and said, "Welcome to the Black Mist Gambling Egg Pavilion. Which floor would you like to visit?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen realized she was a staff member of the Gambling Egg Pavilion.

Gu Hui quickly said, "This is our first time here. Could you give us an introduction?"

The young woman smiled and replied, "Of course. We have five floors in total, and the price of the Beast Taming Eggs differs on each floor. On the first floor, each egg costs 20,000 Alliance Coins. The second floor eggs are priced at 50,000 each, and so on: the third floor is 100,000, the fourth is 200,000, and the fifth is 500,000."

Hearing this, Chu Chen finally understood why each floor's Beast Taming Eggs were priced differently.

"Which floor would you like to visit?" the young woman asked with a smile again.

No one among Chu Chen's group responded immediately; instead, they turned to look at Lu Hongfei, clearly waiting for him to decide.

Seeing this, Lu Hongfei pondered for a moment and then gravely said, "Since this is our first time here, and we lack experience, why not start on the first floor for practice?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen and the others promptly nodded in agreement. They had actually come to the Gambling Egg Pavilion just to broaden their horizons, not to get rich overnight.

Each Beast Taming Egg on the first floor cost 20,000 Alliance Coins—which sounded cheap at first glance, but wasn't in reality.

The eggs on the first floor were generally ordinary quality beast-taming eggs. Even if one managed to open an elite quality egg, it would just be Battle Five Trash, with no contractual value. However, the Gambling Egg Pavilion would buy them back at a very low price.

Moreover, the minimum purchase for the gambling eggs was usually ten pieces, and 200,000 Alliance Coins was no small amount.

The young woman seemed somewhat disappointed with their choice, but she hid it well, so none of the group noticed.

The staff here not only earned a basic salary but also a considerable commission, which came from the customers' spending amounts that they facilitated.

The young woman maintained her smile as she led the way for the group.

Soon they arrived at the gambling egg area. The place was already crowded with at least around three hundred people, turning the originally spacious environment into something quite cramped.

Chu Chen craned his neck to look into the crowd and noticed dozens of standard racks, with each rack neatly displaying dozens of Beast Taming Eggs.

Roughly estimating, Chu Chen figured there were about two thousand Beast Taming Eggs on these racks.

He was quite shocked by this, as it was his first time seeing such an abundance of Beast Taming Eggs.

At this moment, a middle-aged man walked over from the center of the racks, raised his hands, and signaled to the crowd to quiet down.

Upon hearing him, everyone stopped conversing, clearly recognizing the man.

"The egg gambling will begin in five minutes. All participating customers, please enter."

As his words fell, more than twenty people gradually jostled to the front of the man.

Seeing this, Chu Chen asked somewhat puzzled, "Why are there so few people gambling on the eggs?"

The young woman explained with a smile, "Most of these people are just here for the show, while the ones participating in the gambling are mostly new customers. Regulars typically go to the second or third floors to gamble."

Chu Chen nodded in understanding; evidently, many of them shared the same mentality—to experience it for themselves.

In fact, there was another reason the young woman didn't mention, for fear of offending Chu Chen and the others.

Usually, there are only two types of people gambling on eggs on the first floor: those looking for an experience, and those who are financially struggling. The latter are typically people with a gambling addiction but no money, so they come to the first floor to fulfill their habit. Of course, some do come with the hope of hitting it big overnight.

"Let's go experience it ourselves," Lu Hongfei said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, everyone eagerly nodded.

Observing the crowded scene, Lu Hongfei couldn't help but knit his brows and then released his aura.

The crowd felt a wave of pressure from behind, prompting them to turn around. Seeing Lu Hongfei, they quickly made way for him.

They didn't recognize Lu Hongfei, but they felt the Soul Master Level aura emanating from him.

"Is that a Soul Master? Why is someone like that on the first floor?"

"It's no mystery; look at the young boys and girls behind him. He could well be a bodyguard for some big family."

"That's true. Those young masters and misses must just be here for the experience."

The crowd couldn't help but discuss as they looked at Chu Chen and his companions.

Soon after, the middle-aged man spoke again, "It's time. Before we start, let me explain the rules..."

A moment later, the man finished explaining the rules.

The rules were simple: the number of eggs gambled could not be fewer than ten. There were no restrictions on methods when observing the Beast Taming Eggs. However, if an egg was damaged, a fine of ten times the price had to be paid. Each egg had a corresponding number beneath it, and those participating in the gambling only needed to provide this number to the staff, who would then remove and assess the egg.

Chu Chen approached an unoccupied flower rack and summoned his Slaughter Atlas to inspect the information on these Beast Taming Eggs.

He had attempted this in the Secret Realm before, so he naturally wanted to make good use of this opportunity to gamble on eggs.

Possessing the Slaughter Atlas, Chu Chen was not at all flustered. He instead turned his attention to see how others were engaging in the egg gambling.

He quickly noticed a middle-aged man with a humble demeanor. The man's attire seemed rather shabby, yet he observed the eggs with extreme seriousness. He held a magnifying glass in his hand and would occasionally take books out of his coat to cross-reference.

Seeing this, Chu Chen couldn't help but shake his head in exasperation. This was the epitome of a die-hard gambler. His method was merely observing the color and pattern of the Beast Taming Eggs and then comparing these with what was in his books.

This was essentially amateur hour. One had to know that there were numerous types of Guardian Beasts, and the eggs they laid varied greatly.

Chu Chen recalled a passage he had once read in a book.

Allegedly, a biologist studying serpent Star Beasts discovered three snake eggs laid by the creature. However, the size and pattern of the three eggs differed, which opened a new line of research for him.

The biologist then studied various snake species and found that their eggs also exhibited such differences. He continued his research across many species, noting that the eggs they laid shared these traits.

He also attempted to research how to visually identify the type of Beast Taming Egg, but ultimately, he failed.

Egg gambling is called gambling because, without the aid of instruments, observing with just the naked eye comes down to sheer luck.