Is It a Spirit Stone?

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

He leaned in for a look and was delighted to discover a recess at the bottom of the pedestal, with an egg-sized ruby embedded inside.

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 captivating 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 faint realization: perhaps this village had suffered disaster because of this ruby.

Such a large ruby, if brought back to reality, could fetch several million at the very least. Of course, explaining where it came from would be a problem—more than that, a serious hassle.

Feng Jun's ancestors had once been prosperous too. Supposedly, there had even been an imperial scholar among them. Even so, he could not possibly produce convincing proof.

But was the gemstone merely a gemstone? Feng Jun did not think so. Otherwise, why was the Stone Ring mark heating up?

Since the gemstone did not necessarily have to be sold, Feng Jun decisively stretched out his left hand and pressed it against 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 strange encounter as thoroughly as possible.

He did not dare press his entire left hand against the ruby, only resting the tip of his smallest finger on it.

The next moment, his body jolted violently. An inexplicable surge of force rushed straight into his body through his left little finger, incomparably vast and violent.

The force was invisible to the naked eye, yet its impact on his flesh was painfully real—so wild it was unbearable, so real it felt as though it were tearing him apart.

"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 worried about being discovered, his scream would have been earth-shaking.

But immediately afterward, a wave of coolness burst from his wrist, and the Stone Ring mark unexpectedly became clear.

The Stone Ring brought coolness, while the tip of his little finger was filled with violent force. Feng Jun gritted his teeth hard, trembling in pain. He felt as though his left hand no longer belonged to him.

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

After around ten minutes, the ruby's magnificent 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 before shattering into a pile of white powder that fluttered down from the stone pedestal.

Meanwhile, the Stone Ring mark on Feng Jun's left wrist became even clearer, so blue it was almost purple, looking like a tattoo.

Unfortunately, the tattoo's design was a little... well, you know.

Feng Jun stood stunned for a long 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 the ruby was. By the logic of web novels, a stone that could provide something like electricity and contained energy was probably a Spirit Stone, right?

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

At that moment, he desperately wished a system would appear. Though legendary systems were full of twisted quirks and often made protagonists wish they were dead, at least it would save him from having to figure everything out himself, right?

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

No matter what, the Stone Ring mark on his hand had deepened, so he did not need to worry about the energy required to enter and leave the space for the time being.

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. He bent down, hooked the rolling suitcase over his elbow, and muttered, "Damn it, this habit of forgetting things is awful."

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 Little Li's phone and replayed the recording. Sure enough, throughout the entire recording, he seemed not to have changed at all. However... the rolling suitcase hooked over his right elbow had mysteriously vanished.

The next instant, the suitcase reappeared, shifted by roughly five centimeters.

If he had not watched it over and over again, 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 and placed the phone on the front desk. "Thanks."

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

Feng Jun urgently felt that he needed a shower, because even he could smell the stench coming off himself.

He spent a full half hour showering. When he came out, Zhao Qi was opening the window. "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 a little better, but the thermal underwear and thick leather jacket could practically choke someone to death.

He had no choice but to go outside and take the clothes from his suitcase to the laundry... even he did not want to wash them with that stench.

The female owner of the laundry looked disgusted as well, but for the sake of the 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 more than five hundred yuan. He was about to reach the pinnacle of life, after all. What did such a small amount of money matter?

After buying the clothes, he did not rush back to Hongjie Club. Instead, he took his ID and rented a room at a budget hotel. 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 on his own.

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

The floor attendant watched this guest carry all sorts of strange things into his room and felt rather puzzled. When she noticed the rebar pry bar, she took the initiative to report it to the supervisor.

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

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

When Feng Jun came out again, an hour had passed. His brows were tightly furrowed, his hair was still wet, and he looked thoroughly unhappy.

The supervisor hurried over after hearing the news. "Sir, you brought a lot of things into your room?"

Feng Jun waved a hand and spoke listlessly. "I don't want any of it. Throw it all away... just leave the suitcase for me."

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

He 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.

The mark on his wrist had faded somewhat by now. If that Spirit Stone had charged him with one hundred energy points, he had already used more than ten.

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

Although Feng Jun had been a humanities major and supposedly should not have been so sensitive to data, one of the degrees in his Dual Degree was business administration. Without data, what management was there to talk about?

Even Qin Shi Huang in ancient times knew to standardize weights and measures, thereby laying the foundation for a unified China. As a modern person, 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 realized 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.

Originally, he had thought he could stop going to work and live a carefree life from then on, but in the end, he could only sigh: ideals were full, but reality was painfully thin.

Since he had to work, he had to look like he was working. Seeing that it was getting late, he rode a public rental bike to the club.

At the entrance, he ran into Qin Tao, who was coming to work. Qin Tao looked him up and down, moved his lips, and ultimately 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 it all too well. The pants he had bought barely over an hour ago in the real world could no longer cover his ankles.

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

The fitness club had machines for measuring height and weight. Feng Jun took off his shoes and stepped onto one. When he saw the result, his mouth fell open in astonishment. He was... one meter seventy-six now?

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

What surprised him even more was that his weight had dropped to seventy kilograms.

As he passed the front desk, Little Li could not help speaking up. "Tell me, how did you get this skinny in the blink of an eye?"

But remembering that he was about to reach the pinnacle of life, he restrained the mischievous urge in his heart.

Successful people had to have class.

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

Was it really just because he had changed clothes? Little Li looked him up and down, feeling that it did not seem right at all, but she could not bring herself to ask further.

That afternoon, Feng Jun did not have much work either. However, to his surprise, he actually signed up a new member.

She was a woman in her early thirties, barely a seventy in looks, but exceptionally obese. Her waist was not especially thick, but her legs were as thick as elephant legs. She was around one meter sixty-five tall and definitely weighed more than eighty-two and a half kilograms.