Henry entered the Dragon's Hoard expecting the hustle and bustle of a casino like he remembered from his previous life. Instead what he saw was a masked man in a black suit sitting behind a big wooden desk.

“Welcome honored guest to The Dragon’s Hoard the finest house of chance in all of the Martial Alliance. How may this lowly one be of service today.”

The man's voice sounded like silk passing through a cloud of smoke, tantalizing and mysterious.

“I’d like to enter and gamble,” Henry said not really sure if there was some code phrase he need to know.

“Splendid sir, how much would you like to put on your account,” the man said, bringing out a gold bracelet with a clear display in the center.

Henry fed his spatial ring with a little ki and plunged his hand into the black hole pulling out the rest of his gold coins as well as the ki stone he had liberated from the young masters. He dropped it all into the tray on the counter.

“Perfect sir the gold coins we can exchange at a 1:1 rate, this ki stone though we will only be able to give you eighty percent. That will bring your total to two thousand two hundred and fifty gold. Would you like for me to process this exchange?”

Henry was shocked by how much the ki stone was worth.

“Yes, go ahead and exchange it, but first let me ask why it feels a little underwhelming here considering the reputation.”

A big Cheshire cat smile appears on the masked man's face as he waves the gold bracelet over the tray. The coins and ki stone vanish and the number 2250 appear on the clear display.

Handing over the gold bracelet to Henry the masked man said “sir you I mean no offense but you are merely at the reception desk."

"The Dragon’s Hoard is not in this dimension sir. That bracelet will be your membership card to where the true Dragon’s Hoard is.”

That's pretty tight Henry thought again marveling at the xianxia bullshit, a casino in a different dimension what will they think of next. Henry put the bracelet on his wrist and it clicks snugly into place.

“Now sir, some ground rules before I let you through,” said the masked man as he started to make complex motions with his fingers in the air.

“Membership is non-refundable, non-transferable, and binding. We at The Dragon’s Hoard reserve the right to refuse service at any point during your stay with us. That’s it, that's all the rules.”

Henry raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“That's it really that’s all the rules? Seems pretty lax.”

“Yes sir, we want you to enjoy your stay and we find that the less rules there are the more enjoyable it is for everyone.”

The smile on the mask turns upward in a slightly predatory way as the man finishes his motions with a clap. With a flourish the man bows and gestures with one hand towards a big oaken door that had materialized in the middle of the room.

“Enjoy your time sir, it has been a pleasure to be of service,” the masked man said before exploding in a spray of gold glitter.

Fucking shit that was a little much Henry thought but he had to admit, this casino had style. Henry pushed the door open and stepped into The Dragon’s Hoard.

**********************************************************************

The Dragon’s Hoard boasted ten floors jam packed with decadence. There was something for every taste if only you had the money for it.

The whole ceiling looked like twinkling stars but upon closer inspection one could see that they were actually thousands of chandeliers all lit with ki.

The casino floor featured every high-stakes gaming tables you could imagine, all surrounded by rich velvet curtains, polished mahogany, and intricately crafted sculptures of men and women locked in combat.

The Dragon’s Horde felt more like an amusement park than a casino. At least if the amusement park was designed to separate you from everything you owned.

It was a temple of decadence where wealth, elegance, and unparalleled luxury converged.

“Pfft, what a bumpkin,” a well dressed man with a monocle said as he walked over Henry who was currently vomiting onto the very expensive carpet. The journey through the door really did a number on his stomach. Inter dimensional travel did not agree with him.

Henry wiped his mouth and looked around seeing that there were a multitude of other doors with people exiting them. Some had poor reactions like Henry but others strode out confidently even laughing and carrying on conversation like this was an everyday occurrence.

As the nausea subsided the hunger came. The deep hunger of Henry’s ki resonated with so much potential energy. Henry felt the gold madness quickly eating away at his common sense. He walked to the first gaming table that he could find and sat down.

The game is Black Jack and Henry had just bet two hundred credits. He wanted to start small at first but at this point he was deep in the throes of the gold madness. The dealer had dealt Henry an eight and a three and themselves an ace. Henry wanted to win, he needed to win, he would do anything to win. Henry signals to hit, the dealer slides him a card. It's a ten, then the dealer flips over their hidden card. The card is a seven. They hit again, it is a king. Henry is the winner and the madness intensifies.

Henry wanted more, he needed more as he felt a bit of ki slowly start to trickle away from him. That was weird Henry thought. Why was his ki depleting? Bah that was a problem for future Henry. The madness urged him to move on; this game was done now and he needed to find something else.

Henry walked in a haze past the many gaming tables. Nothing called to Henry until he chanced on the roulette table.

The madness screamed at him; this was the next target.

Roulettes at a casino are always where the most people seem to congregate. Maybe it was for the communal aspect or maybe it was just because people enjoyed watching others fail. Whatever the reason this table was even more packed than usual.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

There were mortals and cultivators alike all yelling and shouting as the ball was spun at ridiculous speeds around the wheel. Beautiful women were holding drinks of all kinds, serving the winners and losers as if they were kings and queens. Everyone was united in the pursuit to beat the house. And then there was Henry.

Something strange was happening to Henry, oh he knew he was in the throes of the gold madness but something else was happening. When he got to the roulette table he started seeing things. Not a straight up mental break or psychosis, Henry started to see the numbers on the table glow. They literally lit up, not all of them mind you some glowed just a little, some were black but two in particular blazed blindingly.

“Winner thirty seven black to the big muscular man with the golden eyes,” said Khan Ti as he continued to sweat profusely. This big oaf has won four times in a row now. Khan rang the pit boss twice and got no answers back. He had to be cheating somehow. Khan was sure of it. No one won like this at roulette. Damn he just bet 1.5 million gold this fucker was insane.

Henry had just bet 1.5 million gold and he felt pretty sane about it. Well maybe not sane but Henry was pretty sure he was going to win again. The number and color he bet on was blinding in its light. Henry knew deep down that he couldn’t keep this up for much longer he was down to the dredges of his ki reserve. It also looked like several heavily armed security guards and one scary looking woman was approaching him. Strangely enough Henry just didn’t care, he was the gold madness at this point.

“Hello there sir can we ask you to kindly join us, maybe we can help escort you to the cash room,” the woman asked Henry as she put a hand on his shoulder.

Her ki pressed down on him and Henry felt that specter of fear that he had not felt since he got to this world.

“If I said no would that be ok?,” Henry said, giving her the dopiest smile he could muster.

“I mean you could but that would end very badly, so please I’d rather have you walk than carried there.”

She smiled a very dangerous smile at Henry. Henry was pretty sure this lady could snap him like a twig.

“It was fun while it lasted I guess.”

Henry slammed a shot, gave a beautiful woman a deep tongue kiss, and punched some douchebag looking guy square in the face flatlining him. Then he tipped the dealer two thousand credits and walked off with the lady and her goons.

“Who was that guy,” the dude that got punched in the face asked, rubbing his chin.

“I don’t know but he did very strange things with his tongue, it squirmed like a snake,” said the woman fondly.

“I think he said his name was Hen Ri, and I’m probably gonna be fired because of him,” bemoaned the dealer.

**********************************************************************

Henry was escorted past tables and onto a floating platform that rocketed the group up to the penthouse suites.

“So what did I do wrong and how much trouble am in?”

Silence.

“Really if you are gonna murder me in some back room at least tell me what

I did, because honestly I don’t have a clue.”

More Silence.

Henry threw his arms in the air in exasperation.

“Fine be that way, I’m going to haunt the shit out of all of you.”

The gold madness was whispering thoughts of grabbing his bracelet full of credits from the woman and diving out of the enclosed glass platform down ten stories.

His self preservation was telling him he needed to keep his mouth shut and stop antagonizing the scary lady in a suit that could rip his head off if she wanted to.

They reached the top floor and Henry was escorted to a set of double doors and left there gaping like an idiot.

“That's it you aren’t going to murder me? I think I’m actually offended by that.”

The scary lady turned back to Henry and just gave him a smile.

“Murder you? Why would I ever do that, you are our honored guest after all,” she said as she re-entered the platform and waved Henry goodbye.

Well that wasn’t ominous at all Henry thought to himself. He just stood there for a while fidgeting. His animal brain wanted him to book but there was an outside force that held him in place.

“You may enter.”

Aw fuck you are mind speaking to me that’s not good.

“Yes Henry, I am mind speaking to you so please enter.”

Henry pushed the double doors open and entered a room that was more luxurious and decadent than the entirety of The Dragons Horde. Sitting on a throne that was masquerading as a chair was a man.

To call him just a man would be giving men way too much credit. The man wore an exquisitely tailored black suit that screamed wealth. Wide shoulders and a broad chest with what Henry assumed was a six pack underneath his silk white shirt he made Henry feel small. High cheekbones on a face that looked sculpted by a very horny artist as he stared at Henry with unconcealed humor.

His eyes though were what made Henry shiver.

They felt old and terrifying, as if everything bored him because he had seen it all before.

“That is a very apt description of me Henry although I have a twelve pack not a six pack.”

“So like I'm officially freaked out, because only one other person has ever mind spoken with me before and if you are like him then I am royally fucked.”

A chair moved across the room and the man gestured for Henry to sit, of which Henry did immediately.

“Oh don’t worry Henry you are not royally fucked just moderately fucked,” the man said with a rich baritone voice.

“And I will stop mind-speaking with you if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“Thank you sir if I can call you sir, but if you aren’t gonna immediately murder me can I leave,” Henry said sheepishly.

“Eventually Henry, eventually, but first I have some question that you will answer me ,” the man said as he poured himself a glass of some amber fluid for a very expensive looking bottle.

“I can do that sir."

“Good you know when to be polite, but before we go further let's get rid of that gold madness so we can have a civilized conversation,” the man said as he drained his glass.

“Umm sir I kinda don’t know how to do that I just sorta ride it out.”

“Ahh we must remedy that issue then, I want you to force all your ki out of your body Henry,” said the man with a patient tone to his voice.

“Sorry sir I don’t want to offend you but if I do that I'm pretty I'll die.”

“I assure you Henry that you will be fine so if you will, we are wasting time,” the man said again this time with a slight edge to his voice.

Fuck it Henry thought if he was going to die at least he would kill himself. Henry started to force his ki out of his core and meridians. The ki formed a golden mist around him and steam wafted off his head. Strangely he could feel the whispers of the gold madness subsiding.

“Fascinating,” the man said, leaning forward and watching Henry intently.

Henry kept forcing his ki out until he could tell that his core was bone dry.

He did in fact not die. What was that all about? Weren’t people supposed to die when they exhausted their core.

“Normal people would die when they exhaust their cores Henry,”

Then he smiled a very predatory smile.

“ Thankfully we Dragons are made of tougher stuff.”