Is This a Spirit Stone?

Feng Jun kicked over the stone pedestal, and a flash of red light flickered at its base.

He leaned in for a look and was delighted to discover a ruby the size of an egg embedded in a groove underneath the pedestal.

Feng Jun had grown up in an ordinary family and did not know much about rubies, but he could swear that this was the most enchanting ruby he had ever seen in his life—bar none!

The gemstone was crystal-clear. Under the sunlight, it reflected a bright yet gentle radiance, magnificent without losing its warm luster.

For a moment, Feng Jun had a vague realization: perhaps this village had suffered disaster because of this ruby!

A ruby this large would fetch several million if he brought it back to reality. Of course, explaining where it had come from would be a problem—more than a problem, it would be trouble.

Feng Jun's ancestors had once been prosperous too. Rumor had it that there had even been imperial scholars among them, but he still could not produce any convincing proof.

But was this gem merely a gem? Feng Jun did not think so. Otherwise, why would his Stone Ring Mark be heating up?

Since the gem did not necessarily have to be sold for cash, Feng Jun unhesitatingly stretched out his left hand and pressed it toward the ruby.

He already had storage space. Making a fortune was only a matter of time. His task now was to uncover the truth behind this fortuitous encounter as thoroughly as possible.

He did not dare press his entire left hand against the ruby. He merely touched it with the tip of his smallest finger.

The next instant, his body jolted violently. An inexplicable surge of energy rushed straight into his body through his left pinky, vast and overwhelming.

The energy was invisible to the naked eye, yet its impact on his flesh was terrifyingly real—so real it was savage beyond measure, so real it tore at his heart and lungs.

"Urgh..." He could not help letting out a muffled groan. At that moment, he felt as though his left hand was about to explode. If he had not been afraid of being discovered, his scream would have shaken the heavens.

But immediately afterward, a cool sensation burst from his wrist, and the mark of the Stone Ring became distinct.

The Stone Ring brought coolness, while violent energy raged at the tip of his pinky. Feng Jun gritted his teeth hard, shivering from the pain. He felt as though his left hand no longer belonged to him.

Hmm? Why did the ruby's color seem to be fading?

After roughly ten minutes, the ruby's splendid red gradually dimmed. Meanwhile, the Stone Ring Mark on his hand became clearer than ever before.

About half an hour later, the ruby lost its last trace of red, turning from pink to grayish white. Then it shattered, becoming a pile of white powder that rustled down from the stone pedestal.

Meanwhile, the Stone Ring Mark on Feng Jun's left wrist became increasingly distinct, bluish enough to carry a hint of purple. It looked like a tattoo.

Regrettably, the design of that tattoo was a little... well, you know.

Feng Jun stood stunned for quite a while before reaching over with his right hand to touch his wrist. The burning heat had already vanished.

"Is this... a spirit stone?"

He truly could not explain what this ruby was. Going by the definitions in webnovels, a stone that could provide something akin to electricity contained energy, so it was probably a spirit stone, right?

Could it be that he had not traveled to ancient times, but rather to... a world of immortal heroes?

At that moment, he desperately wished a system would appear. Though the systems of legend came with all kinds of twisted senses of humor and often made protagonists wish they were dead, at least he would not have to fumble around on his own, right?

Wait, why was so much grease seeping out of his body again?

No matter what, the Stone Ring Mark on his hand had deepened, so for the moment he no longer needed to worry about the energy required to enter and leave the space.

So the next moment, he dug a pit with his hands, swept the spirit stone fragments into it, scattered sand and dirt over them, and buried them tightly.

After checking several times and finding no problems, he silently recited, "Leave."

Yet less than a second later, his figure appeared again. Bending down, he hooked the rolling suitcase onto his elbow. "Damn it, this habit of forgetting things everywhere is terrible."

After returning to the real world, the first thing Feng Jun did was take off his clothes and change into cool summer wear.

Then he picked up Xiao Li's phone and replayed the recording. Sure enough, throughout the entire filming process, he seemed not to have changed at all. However... the rolling suitcase hanging from his right elbow had vanished bizarrely.

The next instant, the rolling suitcase appeared again, shifted by roughly five centimeters.

If he had not watched it over and over, he might even have thought the suitcase had merely slid a little.

After deleting the video he had just recorded, he carried the suitcase out of the restroom, placed the phone on the front desk, and said, "Thanks."

Xiao Li had been about to tease him, saying she had not expected him to be such a quick draw, when she saw him carrying the rolling suitcase and charging into the staff changing room.

Feng Jun urgently felt that he needed a shower, because even he could smell the stink on himself.

He showered for a full half hour. When he came out, Zhao Qi was opening the windows. "What the hell is that smell? Who stepped in dog shit?"

Feng Jun's clothes stank too. The summer clothes he had just changed into were somewhat better, but his thermal underwear and thick leather jacket could practically fumigate someone to death.

He had no choice but to go out and take the clothes in his rolling suitcase to a laundry shop... the stench was so bad that even he did not want to wash them himself.

The female owner of the laundry shop wore a look of disgust as well. Still, for the sake of money, she did not say anything too unpleasant.

Feng Jun, on the other hand, went to a clothing store and bought another set of summer clothes, spending over five hundred yuan. He was about to stride toward the pinnacle of life, after all—this little money was nothing.

After buying the clothes, he did not hurry back to Hongjie Club. Instead, he took his ID and found a budget hotel to rent a room. He had many tests to conduct next, and staying at the club would be highly inconvenient.

If he could get his first pot of gold soon, he even wanted to resign of his own accord.

After renting the room, he went out again for a massive shopping spree, mainly buying thick clothing and food. He even bought a kerosene stove and purchased a piece of rebar pry bar from a construction site, one end sharpened to a point.

The floor attendant watched this guest continuously carry all sorts of strange items into his room and found it rather odd. When she saw that rebar pry bar, she took the initiative to report it to the supervisor.

The rebar was thicker than a thumb, with one end sharpened. Calling it a weapon would not be an exaggeration.

The supervisor pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Keep an eye on him. Notify me when he comes out again. I'll ask him about it."

Feng Jun did not come out again until an hour later. His brow was deeply furrowed, his hair still wet, and his face was full of displeasure.

Upon receiving the news, the supervisor hurried over. "Sir, did you bring a lot of things into your room?"

Feng Jun waved a hand and spoke weakly. "I don't want any of them anymore. Throw them away... just keep the rolling suitcase for me."

He truly had no interest in talking. Others thought he had spent only an hour in the room, but he had spent a full four days and three nights in that space.

He had searched every corner of the village and never again sensed anything that could make the mark heat up.

Although this was what he had expected, he could not help feeling disappointed. He had found the first spirit stone so easily, after all.

The mark on his wrist had already faded somewhat. If that spirit stone had charged him with a hundred energy points, then he had already used more than ten points.

That was right. During those four days and three nights, he had already quantified the relevant indicators.

Although Feng Jun was a Wenkeseng and supposedly should not have been so sensitive to data, one of his dual degrees was in business administration. Without data, what management could one talk about?

Even Qin Shi Huang of ancient times had known to standardize weights and measures, thereby laying the foundation for the great unification of China. As a modern man, what reason did Feng Jun have to ignore that?

Yet although Feng Jun still had more than eighty energy points, he could not keep wasting them like this.

Worse still, he discovered that if he wanted to search for more spirit stones, he would need to prepare more and better equipment.

He had to remain in the real world for a while longer and earn some money. The ten thousand yuan or so he had left in hand was truly not enough.

He had originally thought he could stop going to work and from then on live free as the high heavens and pale clouds, but in the end he could only sigh: ideals were plump, but reality was truly bony.

Since he had to work, he needed to look like someone who worked. Seeing that it was getting late, he rode a shared bicycle to the club.

At the entrance, he ran into Qin Tao, who was coming in for work. Qin Tao looked him up and down, his lips moved, and in the end he could not hold it in. "Why do I feel like you've gotten taller?"

Of course I know I've gotten taller. Feng Jun knew that better than anyone. The pants he had bought in the real world just over an hour ago no longer covered his ankles.

Fortunately, his feet had not grown much larger. Otherwise, he would not even have been able to fit into his shoes.

The fitness club had equipment for measuring height and weight. Feng Jun took off his shoes, stepped onto it, and measured himself. His mouth fell open in astonishment. He was... 1.76 meters now?

He had finally crossed the line out of "third-class disability"?

What surprised him even more was that his weight had dropped to 140 jin.

As he passed the front desk, Xiao Li could not help speaking up. "Hey, how did you get so thin in the blink of an eye?"

But when he thought about how he was soon going to stand at the pinnacle of life, he restrained the wicked amusement in his heart.

A successful person naturally had to have class.

So he asked back with a hint of pleasant surprise, "Really? I only changed clothes... looks like there really is a reason they sell them so expensively."

Was it really just because he had changed clothes? Xiao Li looked him up and down, feeling that it did not seem right no matter how she looked at it, but she could not very well ask further.

That afternoon, Feng Jun did not have much work to do. What surprised him, however, was that he actually signed up a member.

She was a woman in her early thirties, barely a seventy out of a hundred in looks, but exceptionally obese. Her waist was not particularly thick, yet her legs were as thick as elephant legs. She was around 1.65 meters tall and definitely weighed more than 165 jin.