Chapter 225

226. Chapter 226: Urban Legends

Never did they expect that after arriving in a new world, the first step that stumped everyone would be making money.

Against the backdrop of a modern civilized society, one cannot move a single step without money; furthermore, they had no ID cards and no mobile phones, which could truly be described as being penniless and destitute.

As the team leader, Zhang Xun himself had never thought he would encounter such a problem. After all, he was a powerhouse of the Spirit Perception Realm; regardless of what kind of world he went to, making money was never a difficult task. However, if one wanted to act low-key, one could not use any special means; it was best to use legitimate methods.

If they broke the law here and became wanted criminals, it would be very disadvantageous for their subsequent operations.

"We can take some relatively valuable items and sell them for money," Qin Bing said, "but among the items I brought with me this time, there is nothing suitable for exchange. Whoever among you has something can take it out."

"I don't think anyone here would be interested in transcendent water, nutrient solution, or transcendent daggers," Zhang Jing said, curling her lips.

The items she mentioned were all relatively valuable, especially the transcendent daggers, which were cold weapons capable of hunting transcendent creatures. However, this world was likely dominated by ordinary people; these items belonging to cultivators were useless if taken out—people wouldn't recognize their value, and they wouldn't be able to exchange them for money.

Li Yi was also quite embarrassed at this moment. His backpack contained mostly golden nutrient solution, as well as a Mud Horse and Soul-Returning Pills. There was no way to take these things to exchange for money either.

"I brought a piece of gold; it should be able to exchange for some money." At this moment, the cultivator named Tao Yuan took a gold bar out of his backpack.

"You even brought a gold bar when crossing worlds?" Qin Bing said with some surprise.

Tao Yuan said, "In most worlds, gold should be hard currency, right? I brought one just in case."

"It seems that after crossing back this time, I must suggest that cultivators keep a little gold on them," team leader Zhang Xun said. "Give the gold to me; I will go exchange it for money, then find an internet cafe. Using the internet is the fastest way to understand the situation in this world."

Tao Yuan did not object and tossed the gold over.

After taking it, Zhang Xun immediately led the group to search the streets. Before long, they found a gold shop. However, when he walked inside, he discovered that the gold shop only sold silver bracelets, necklaces, and similar ornaments, and did not sell gold jewelry. But they were very willing to buy back gold, and the buy-back price they offered was very high—unimaginably high.

A while later.

Zhang Xun walked out holding a bag of money, his expression somewhat strange: "The gold price in this world is very high, and it seems to be relatively scarce. That bit of gold just now wouldn't even exchange for ten thousand yuan in our world, but here it can exchange for twenty thousand. Moreover, the boss said the gold price is still rising. Here is twenty thousand yuan per person; I will manage the rest. No objections, right?"

"None," everyone said.

It was only a few tens of thousands of yuan; who would care?

However, they had just arrived and needed some time to adapt to this world, which was why they needed some start-up capital. Once they understood the situation in this world, with their strength in the Spirit Perception Realm, getting some money would be effortless.

Having obtained the initial funds, Zhang Xun led them directly into a private room at an internet cafe to go online. Although internet cafes required ID cards, if you were willing to slip them a few hundred extra yuan, that was not a difficult task at all. Sure enough, in every world, money was a very important thing.

"I'll give you two hours to go online. Focus on the technological level of this world and whether there are any cultivators. Additionally, keep an eye out for any transcendent phenomena. Although you can't find the truth about many things online, just like in our world, as long as something exists, people will discuss it online and leave some traces. If you can't find even a tiny trace online, it means it has nothing to do with the general public, and we don't need to worry about it," Zhang Xun said.

"If everything evaluates as normal, starting tomorrow, I will let you move about freely."

For a three-month exploration mission, Zhang Xun was also unwilling to keep these people tied to his side. As long as this world was relatively safe and everything was normal, he would not restrain them.

It was just that from the current perspective, he was very satisfied with this world.

Familiar and peaceful—it was the top choice for world-crossers.

At first, he had been worried about entering a world with an extremely high level of danger; now it seemed he had been overthinking it.

Li Yi was also browsing various websites in front of a computer at this moment, paying attention to current events and some popular trends. However, the news was all about celebrity gossip; there were absolutely no transcendent events appearing. Moreover, he searched for things related to cultivation, but they were all just stories and legends, with no practical use.

In this way, he could be certain that there were no cultivators in this world.

"Nothing worth looking at; it's all garbage news. The only few major events are things like chemical pollution in Dachang City, some place appearing with red light filling the sky, and international gold prices soaring. This world has no cultivation, no 'Heavenly Tilt,' and no transcendent creatures." Qin Bing threw the mouse away, leaned back on the sofa, and shook his head.

"I can't find anything useful here either; instead, there's an endless stream of dirty websites. The only thing that left a bit of an impression was a netizen named A-Wei who likes to share resources everywhere, making it seem like my computer caught a virus." As a woman, Zhang Jing said this without blushing or skipping a beat.

"I, on the other hand, entered a forum that likes to tell ghost stories. If you guys like reading them, you can come over and take a look," Tao Yuan said calmly.

Xu Xu Qiu Mei said, "Speaking of ghost stories, I did find a legend about the locals in Dazhuang City, saying that a certain building in this city is haunted and has been sealed off. However, I think these messages are all fake, all made up to trick people into clicking. The netizens of this world are very bored; because there is no pressure to survive, they can only make things up online every day to seek a sense of existence. A single click or a single reply can make them feel smug."

"Where is it haunted? Is it far? If it's not far, we can go over and take a look," Zhang Xun said.

"No, Team Leader, are you really taking the story seriously? What these netizens say is just like the rumors in our world about dangerous zones having mystic objects; they are all just made up by bored people. If we take these false messages seriously, then we are too stupid," Xu Xu Qiu Mei said with surprise.

Zhang Xun said calmly, "It's not about taking it seriously, but about determining whether this world truly has extraordinary power. Besides, it's not just you guys; I also searched and found many ghost stories. The people of this world seem to love telling ghost stories. As world-crossers, we cannot let go of every clue. We came here with a mission, not to enjoy ourselves. The three-month exploration time is very short; we must collect information as comprehensively as possible."

"Alright, you guys continue going online. Two hours later, we will go to the haunted place in this city to take a look. Xu Xu Qiu Mei, write down the address."

He quickly made a decision.

Seeing Zhang Xun like this, the others didn't say much more and could only obediently cooperate; after all, they still had to give face to a Spirit Perception Realm powerhouse.

After searching online for a while, Li Yi completely lost interest.

He couldn't find any useful information.

The others were the same. Apart from some ghost stories, they could only see some displays of transcendent power in movie clips. However, movies were all fake; in reality, there were no people who could fly or burrow into the ground. Even martial arts were just ordinary boxing and martial arts, with no lethality at all.

Two hours passed in a flash.

As the time for going online ended, Zhang Xun, as the team leader, decided to abandon the method of searching for information online and instead go investigate the so-called urban legend on the ground.

After they left the internet cafe, they took a car directly to a place in Dazhuang City.

After the driver dropped their group off, he drove a bit further. Finally, near a street in the downtown area, they saw the sealed building mentioned online. A cordon was set up around the building, and outside the cordon, security personnel with live ammunition were patrolling back and forth. Anyone who tried to get close would be warned and expelled.

"There really is a sealed building; what that person said online wasn't fake," Qin Bing said with some surprise. "Could the urban legend be true? Is this building really haunted?"

"This world possesses cosmic energy, and the cosmic energy has not been polluted. If there really are ghosts, they can survive in this world. However, to us, some ghosts don't count for much; we can just kill them casually," Zhang Xun said. "My purpose is to determine the truth about the ghosts while also seeing if there are any people in this world who have mastered special powers. If there are, what is their strength? This point is crucial."

"Go to the front and take a look. Although there are security personnel patrolling everywhere, for you cultivators of the Spirit Perception Realm, avoiding surveillance and crossing the cordon shouldn't be difficult. Start dispersing now; gather on the first floor of the building in front in ten minutes. I don't want to see anyone running away secretly halfway."

To ensure these people would obediently listen, Zhang Xun gave another warning.

Soon.

The group dispersed and began to act.

At this moment, Li Yi's vertical pupils glowed, staring at Xu Xu Qiu Mei, seemingly considering whether to make a move and finish this guy off now.

However, Xu Xu Qiu Mei also felt Li Yi's hostility. Her body trembled, and she immediately walked toward a crowded place, exposing herself to sight.

If Li Yi made a move on the street, he would inevitably display transcendent power. Once it caused a sensation and was captured by nearby surveillance cameras, it would certainly bring about no small amount of trouble.

Everyone knew very well how much of a reaction would be caused by the appearance of a cultivator in a world without cultivation.

"Li Yi, I think we should have a good talk. After all, there are only some ordinary conflicts and contradictions between us; there is no deep hatred. I can offer compensation to resolve the grudge between us. How about it?" Xu Xu Qiu Mei said. "I know a bewitchment technique; I can teach it to you."

"Not interested. You'd better take your bewitchment technique to the grave," Li Yi stared at her for a moment, then turned and left.

This was indeed not the opportunity to make a move, but it might not be the case later.

There shouldn't be anyone in that sealed building.

Unless Xu Xu Qiu Mei didn't come, he would have plenty of opportunities.

Seeing that Li Yi was impervious to persuasion, Xu Xu Qiu Mei was very annoyed. She had already reached this point; why was this Li Yi still unwilling to let her go? Could it be that he really wanted to perish together with her?

Looking at that pitch-black building, Xu Xu Qiu Mei also knew that if she went over there, Li Yi would definitely make a move on her.

But if she didn't go, she would be offending team leader Zhang Xun, and she wouldn't have a good ending when they retreated either.

Thinking of this, she had no choice but to grit her teeth, find a suitable place, start crossing the cordon, and sneak inside.