Chapter 235

226. Chapter 226: Urban Legends

After arriving in this new world, the first obstacle that stumped everyone was making money.

In a modern civilized society, without money you can't move an inch; they had no ID, no phone—truly destitute in every sense.

Even Zhang Xun, as team leader, hadn't anticipated such an issue; after all, he was a Soul Realm powerhouse, and earning money should be easy in any world—but if he wanted to stay low-key, he couldn't use special methods, and official methods were best.

If they broke the law here and became wanted fugitives, it would severely hinder their next moves.

"We could sell something valuable for cash," Qin Bing said. "But I didn't bring anything suitable from my gear. Anyone else have something?"

"People here probably aren't interested in Super Water, Nutrient Solution, or the Super Dagger," Zhang Jing said with a sneer.

The items she mentioned were all valuable, especially the Super Dagger—a cold weapon capable of hunting transcendent beings—but this world seemed mostly populated by ordinary people; these cultivation artifacts would be useless here, unrecognized, and couldn't be exchanged for money.

Li Yi was also embarrassed; his backpack was full of Golden Nutrient Solution, a Mud Horse, and Soul-Returning Pills—all of which couldn't be sold for cash.

"I brought a gold bar; it should fetch some money," said the cultivator named Tao Yuan, pulling a gold ingot from his backpack.

"You brought a gold bar across worlds?" Qin Bing asked in surprise.

Tao Yuan said, "In most worlds, gold is hard currency. I brought one just in case."

"After we return from this cross-world trip, I'll suggest every cultivator carry some gold," said Team Leader Zhang Xun. "Give me the gold. I'll exchange it, then find an internet café to quickly learn about this world through online research."

Tao Yuan didn't object and tossed the gold over.

Zhang Xun took it and immediately led the group searching the streets; soon they found a gold shop—but inside, it only sold silver bracelets and necklaces, not gold jewelry; however, it gladly bought back gold at a price far higher than expected.

A while later.

Zhang Xun walked out with a bag of cash, his expression odd: "The gold price here is extremely high, and it seems scarce. Back in our world, that bit of gold wouldn't fetch ten thousand yuan, but here it exchanged for two hundred thousand. The shop owner said gold prices are still rising. I'll give everyone twenty thousand each; the rest I'll manage. Any objections?"

"None." Everyone said.

It was just a few ten-thousands—who cared?

But since they were newcomers, they needed time to adapt, hence the need for startup capital; once they understood this world, a Soul Realm cultivator could easily acquire more money.

With initial funds secured, Zhang Xun took them straight into a private booth at an internet café. Though internet cafés required ID, if you paid a few hundred extra, it wasn't a problem. Indeed, in every world, money mattered.

"You have two hours online. Focus on this world's technological level and whether any cultivators exist. Also note any transcendent phenomena. Though many truths can't be found online, just like in our world, if something exists, people will discuss it and leave traces. If even online searches yield no trace, then it's unrelated to the general public—we don't need to worry."

"If everything checks out normally, starting tomorrow, I'll let you roam freely."

For this three-month exploration mission, Zhang Xun didn't want to keep these people tethered to him; as long as the world was safe and normal, he wouldn't restrict them.

So far, he was satisfied with this world.

Familiar and peaceful—it was the ideal choice for cross-world travelers.

He'd initially feared entering a world of extreme danger; now he saw he'd overreacted.

Li Yi now sat at a computer, browsing websites, checking news and trending topics—but all the news was celebrity gossip, with zero transcendent events. He searched for cultivation-related topics too, but found only stories and legends—useless.

Thus he confirmed: this world had no cultivators.

"Nothing worth seeing—just trash news. The few major events were Dachang City's chemical pollution, red light covering the sky somewhere, and skyrocketing international gold prices. No cultivation, no Heaven's Collapse, no transcendent creatures," Qin Bing tossed the mouse aside and leaned back on the sofa, shaking his head.

"I found nothing useful either, just endless dirty websites. The only thing that stood out was a netizen named A Wei who kept sharing resources—I thought my computer had a virus," Zhang Jing said, her face perfectly calm despite her words.

"I stumbled into a forum obsessed with ghost stories—if you like them, come take a look," Tao Yuan said calmly.

Xu Qiumei said, "Speaking of ghost stories, I found a local legend about Dazhuang City: a certain building is haunted and sealed off. But I think it's all fake—made up just to boost clicks. These netizens here are bored; no survival pressure, so they spend their days fabricating nonsense online for attention. A single click or reply makes them feel proud."

"Where's the haunted building? Far away? If not, we should go check it out," Zhang Xun said.

"Wait, Team Leader, you actually believe these stories? These netizens' claims are like rumors about strange artifacts in our danger zones—just bored people making things up. If we take these false rumors seriously, we're idiots," Xu Qiumei said in disbelief.

Zhang Xun said calmly, "I'm not believing them—I'm verifying whether this world holds any extraordinary power. Besides, I've found many ghost stories too. People here seem to love telling them. As cross-world travelers, we can't ignore any clue. We're here on a mission, not for vacation. Three months is short—we must gather as much information as possible."

"Alright, keep browsing. Two hours from now, we'll go to the haunted building. Xu Qiumei, write down the address."

He made his decision quickly.

Seeing Zhang Xun so determined, no one said more—they obediently complied. After all, one must respect a Soul Realm powerhouse's authority.

After browsing for a while, Li Yi lost all interest.

He found no useful information.

The others were the same; aside from ghost stories, the only glimpses of transcendent power came from movies—but those were fake. In reality, no one could fly or vanish underground; even martial arts were just ordinary boxing or martial arts, harmless.

Two hours passed in a flash.

With the online time over, Team Leader Zhang Xun abandoned internet research and decided to investigate the urban legends firsthand.

After leaving the internet café, they took a vehicle directly to a location in Dazhuang City.

The driver dropped them off, drove a bit further, then they saw the sealed building mentioned online—surrounded by a cordon, with armed guards patrolling outside; anyone attempting to approach was warned and driven away.

"There really is a sealed building—the online post wasn't fake," Qin Bing said in surprise. "Could the urban legend be true? Is this building really haunted?"

"This world has cosmic energy, unpolluted. If ghosts exist, they could survive here. But to us, ghosts are nothing—easily killed," Zhang Xun said. "My goal is to confirm whether ghosts exist, and also to see if anyone here possesses special powers—if so, how strong are they? That's critical."

"Go ahead. Though guards patrol everywhere, for you Soul Perception cultivators, avoiding surveillance and crossing the cordon shouldn't be hard. Now scatter. Meet at the first floor of the building in ten minutes. I won't tolerate anyone slipping away."

To ensure compliance, Zhang Xun issued another warning.

Soon.

The group dispersed.

Li Yi's vertical pupils glowed as he fixed his gaze on Xu Qiumei, considering whether to kill her now.

But Xu Qiumei sensed his hostility, shuddered, and immediately walked toward a crowded area, exposing herself to view.

If Li Yi attacked in public, he'd reveal transcendent power—triggering a commotion, captured by nearby cameras, and causing serious trouble.

Everyone understood: in a world without cultivation, the appearance of a cultivator would spark massive reaction.

"Li Yi, we should talk. We've only had ordinary conflicts, no deep grudges. I can compensate you, resolve our differences. How about it?" Xu Qiumei said. "I know a mind-controlling technique—I can teach you."

"Not interested. Take your mind-controlling technique to your grave," Li Yi stared at her, then turned away.

This wasn't the right place to act—but later might be.

The sealed building was likely empty.

Unless Xu Qiumei didn't come—he'd have plenty of chances.

Seeing Li Yi unmoved, Xu Qiumei was furious. She'd already pleaded—why wouldn't he let her go? Did he truly want to fight to the death?

Looking at the dark building, she knew: if she went inside, Li Yi would attack.

But if she didn't go, she'd anger Team Leader Zhang Xun—and face consequences during withdrawal.

Thinking this through, she gritted her teeth, found a suitable spot, and slipped past the cordon, sneaking inside.