NOVEL NEXT Chapter 199: No
On Earth as well, manipulating gambling results was a common thing, so how could Richard not know?
He usually despised it.
Here, it seemed like it would benefit him, but that benefit came at the price of his reputation—he would no longer be number one.
Richard could not accept that.
Having an evil reputation was fine for him as long as he was always number one.
Richard smiled after thinking about it.
"No, I don't want to," he said.
When he said that, Luke—who had been smiling—froze.
But he quickly forced his smile back into place.
"Are you sure you don't want to? You know this would be very profitable for you," he said.
"I prefer being number one," Richard replied, opening the door of the room and walking out immediately.
He didn't stop walking as he stepped out, and Grace instantly followed him.
The members of the Order of the Crimson Veil were forced to make way as they passed.
Some glanced at the beautiful Grace, but none dared stare too long, as if afraid Richard would notice.
After that, they approached Luke, who looked slightly irritated.
"Luke, he didn't agree?" one of them asked, guessing the result from Luke's expression.
"He said he prefers being number one," Luke replied.
"So arrogant…"
"How dare he refuse our cooperation."
"He must think he's unstoppable. Even if we can't beat him one-on-one, if we work together and gang up on him, he'd definitely lose."
"…"
Meanwhile, Grace asked Richard, "What did he want from you?"
Grace rarely asked anything, but this seemed to have piqued her curiosity.
"Manipulating gambling," Richard replied, then explained in more detail.
"And you don't want to?"
"Of course not, I want to be number one," Richard said.
"To be honest, I also had a similar plan… to make myself become number one."
Richard, "…"
He didn't know what to say because Grace also had that kind of idea.
But he suddenly got an idea to make Grace forget her own plan.
Seeing the door beside him, he opened it and pulled Grace inside.
As long as it was empty, it seemed fine for outsiders to use these rooms in the temple.
Grace was shocked and stunned.
Meanwhile, Richard locked the door with his hand before pushing Grace against the wall.
Though she had been startled at first, Grace quickly calmed down as she gazed into his eyes.
"Do you know that if we get caught, we can be hung alive? Even for those who aren't members of the Temple of Infinity, this place is sacred," she said.
On the other hand, Richard was already groping the two soft mounds on her chest and only smiled.
"Only if we get caught, right? If not, then it's fine," he said.
Then he kissed her red lips, now even redder because of the thin layer of lipstick.
Though she had protested earlier, she didn't reject Richard's desire.
When kissed, she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.
Here, she wasn't too aggressive, but Richard was extremely aggressive—rushing to strip her.
Even though there was a bed, he didn't bring her there, choosing instead to keep her standing and take her from behind with relentless movements that made Grace moan nonstop, unable to catch her breath.
And Grace clearly enjoyed it—a fact shown by how wet she was.
Things didn't last too long because Richard remembered they weren't in a place where they could do anything they pleased.
Though confident he could escape trouble, he didn't want to risk interruptions, so he kept things short but enough to make Grace's legs tremble.
After that, Richard brought her to the Dragon Hall, using the stored water in his Storage Artifact to wash both of them.
Without bathing, their appearance would be too messy.
Grace—ever mindful of her appearance—even chose a new dress, though in the same color, just a different design.
But what surprised them was that when they stepped out of the room, Luke and his group happened to pass by the door.
They were startled, and so were Richard and Grace.
Grace's different dress and their wet hair explained everything.
"What are you looking at?" Grace seemed bothered by their stares and questioned them immediately.
She then walked away.
Richard could feel their jealousy, and he only smiled in triumph.
So what if they were nobles and members of the strongest faction in the Eastern Region—even people like them could only dream of sleeping with a woman as beautiful as Grace.
This was beauty at the highest level—so high it was hard to imagine someone more beautiful. Usually, women with such beauty only distinguished themselves further through their aura and demeanor.
"That little bastard," some of the men muttered.
"Hmph, that woman too—acting all pure, but isn't she so easy to stain? Hmph, hmph…"
"She's not stained if she only sleeps with her man. And even if she is—so what? I'd give up all my fortune just to have a prostitute as beautiful as her."
"But they actually dared to do it in this temple. If only we had caught them in the act, we could have taught them a lesson."
"Too late. They're already done."
"…"
As Richard and Grace continued walking, they found a group of people—participants of the upcoming contest—rushing toward a certain place.
It seemed the contest was about to begin. Richard and Grace followed them.
Apparently, there was a massive staircase inside the temple.
After climbing it, Richard arrived at the temple roof, which was an enormous open courtyard.
Some people arrived from outside by flying.
Not everyone who came was in the World Realm, but most were World Realm Magi.
As a World Realm Magus himself, Richard could feel the pressure from so many gathered powerhouses.
"Everyone, anyone wants to place bets using Boundless Gems?"
Suddenly, Richard saw a group of people approaching.
They came carrying a large screen showing a list of names.
Among the names: Luke, Gray, Elise, and many others he didn't know.
One name caught his interest—Roland Thundervale.
It was a name he didn't know either, but it bore the Thundervale family name.
And clearly, the crowd was interested as well.
"Roland Thundervale—isn't he Sean Thundervale's little brother? The one said to be just as talented?"
"Yes, I didn't expect him to come. Where is he? I don't see him."
"Between him and Richard, who do you think is stronger?"
"Based on general observation, Richard is stronger. But someone with a powerful background like Roland… can be unpredictable."
"Well, unpredictable or not, I'll still bet on Richard for first place."
"True, true… but I'll also place a bet on Roland."
"I prefer Luke."
"…"
'Looks crowded,' Richard thought.
He saw Luke and his group arriving as well.
They didn't look pleased—they had found that Luke ranked third in the betting list.
This was clearly not what they wanted.
In their opinion, Luke should be ranked second under Richard. But apparently, someone else had more bets placed on him.
"Richard…"
Suddenly Richard saw Gray and Elise.
They had arrived earlier.
Seeing them, Gray looked a bit confused because of their still-wet hair and then noticed Grace had changed her dress.
With all the experience he had, Gray quickly smiled.
But he didn't comment on it.
"Look, Richard, you need to get first place. I bet half my Boundless Gems on you," Gray said, changing the topic.
"You don't need to worry," Richard replied.
"Roland—he finally came…" Elise suddenly murmured, making Richard follow her gaze.
Then he saw a large, muscular young man.
He wore only pants—his upper body bare.
His body was covered in black-dragon tattoos, and lightning crackled around him.
His entire presence was so oppressive that even space seemed strained by his existence.
If Luke had seemed tough, then this man—he was truly terrifying.
"Is he really that strong?" Richard asked Elise.
"Yeah, he's really strong. In our generation, most people lose to him with one strike. He's really like a second Sean Thundervale," Elise answered softly.
She looked genuinely intimidated by the man.
He didn't come alone—he was accompanied by a group of young men with similar physiques, clearly from the same clan.
"Are people from the Thundervale Clan all like this? I've seen Sean Thundervale, but he wasn't big like them," Gray said.
"Sean has a different mother. His appearance follows his mother, but he inherited the Thundervale clan talent," Elise replied.
Gray nodded slightly.
"But are they really equal at the same level?" Richard spoke again, curious about their strength.
It was hard to believe one clan could produce two geniuses this strong.
And both trained in World Magic Aether.
"At least equal in general terms. But overall, Sean is more dangerous. You'll understand when you meet him," Elise said.
BANG!
Suddenly Roland Thundervale and the other Thundervale clan members leapt and landed hard on the temple roof.
Although the temple itself did not shake, the air and space vibrated violently, causing many people to lose their footing.
Richard felt a powerful shockwave and had to use strength to steady himself.
"They're like barbarians," Gray said.
"They really are," Elise replied.
"Who is Richard?" Roland Thundervale suddenly roared the moment he saw his name on the betting screen.
He seemed displeased that he was ranked second.
Such arrogance naturally irritated people. Even Luke—someone already arrogant as an Eastern Region noble—was not this brazen.
Still, everyone couldn't help turning to Richard.
Roland followed their gazes and stared straight at him.
Suddenly, Richard felt a crushing pressure directed at him—as if something was about to explode inside him.
However, how could something like that hurt him?