A journey through immortal realms begins with a phantom tale.

Old Zhang carefully examined Luo Cheng's face.

Seeing his calm expression and bright, alert eyes, he really didn't seem to be in any trouble.

He couldn't help but add, "Young Luo, if you're tired, take a break."

"Mm," Luo Cheng responded, sensing the goodwill in Lao Zhang's words.

Next, Luo Cheng intentionally controlled his strength, and although the speed of moving the load wasn't fast, it was still a bit faster than that of Lao Zhang and Lao Li.

Seeing this, the two couldn't help but sigh, "Young people are really something, they've got some strength."

Old Li asked curiously, "Young Luo, you look so delicate and fair-skinned, you don't seem like you've ever done manual labor. How come you're so strong?"

Luo Cheng said calmly, "I practiced some kung fu when I had nothing to do."

"Kung Fu?" Neither of them took it seriously.

In this era, cultivating immortality has long become a legend, and kung fu can only be seen in television and movies.

Old Zhang paused for a moment, then said, "What's the use of learning kung fu? It's better to learn more culture and find an easy job."

Luo Cheng didn't respond, but continued what he was doing.

When Luo Cheng received his wages that evening, he got two hundred yuan.

He didn't pay attention to how much Lao Zhang and Lao Li had paid; the foreman settled accounts separately for each of them.

After dinner, Old Li said to Luo Cheng, "Young Luo, go buy a cell phone, so it'll be easier to keep in touch."

"OK."

Under Lao Zhang's guidance, Luo Cheng bought a second-hand mobile phone for two hundred yuan. It could make calls and watch short videos.

For the next few days, Lao Zhang and Lao Li took Luo Cheng to find work every day.

Sometimes I'm lucky and I can find something to do; other times, I don't have any work for two or three days.

When he has nothing to do, Luo Cheng would wander around the ancient city, experiencing the everyday life and atmosphere.

That day, while the three were working, Old Zhang suddenly received a phone call.

He only heard two sentences before his expression suddenly changed.

Luo Cheng and Lao Li stopped what they were doing and looked at Lao Zhang.

Old Zhang took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "I can't do the work today."

"It's alright." Old Li waved his hand. "If you have something to do, go ahead and do it. Luo and I will continue."

After saying that, Old Li turned around and continued working.

As evening fell, Luo Cheng and Lao Li finished their work and returned to their rented apartment building, where they ran into Lao Zhang.

He looked conflicted, and upon seeing the two of them, he stammered, "Could...could I borrow some money?"

Old Li asked, "How much do you need?"

He thought to himself that if the amount wasn't large, he would lend it to him first.

"One hundred thousand."

Old Li's face darkened, and he said helplessly, "Old Zhang, you know we earn our money through hard work, we don't have that much. How about this, I'll scrape together two thousand for you, you don't need to pay it back."

"Sigh..." Old Zhang sighed deeply, his gaze falling on Luo Cheng, but he was too embarrassed to speak.

In his view, Luo Cheng had just arrived in the city to look for work and certainly hadn't saved any money.

Old Li pressed, "Old Zhang, what exactly happened?"

My wife is sick.

"What illness is it? Why does it cost so much money?"

"I'm not entirely sure what the illness is, but the doctor said I need to use an extracorporeal circulation machine. It costs 50,000 yuan to start, and then another 20,000 yuan for every hour it's used."

Old Li was speechless for a long time after hearing this.

This kind of consumption is far beyond what people like them can afford.

Think about it, they work themselves to the bone all day and only earn four or five hundred yuan. If they can't find any work, they have no income at all.

That machine costs 50,000 to start, and then 20,000 per hour; it's practically robbery.

Old Zhang looked utterly desperate, his voice choked with sobs: "My wife is only in her thirties. She's been with me for seven years, and in those seven years, I haven't given her a good life..."

Old Li thought for a moment and suggested, "Old Zhang, why don't you try asking for help online? Maybe it will be of some use."

"That's all we can do."

The next day, Luo Cheng and Lao Li went looking for work, but after waiting all morning, they couldn't find anything suitable. After discussing it, they decided to go to the hospital to see Lao Zhang.

They bought some fruit and drinks and went to the hospital together.

When they arrived at the hospital, Old Zhang came out to greet them.

In just one day, he looked much more haggard, as if he had aged ten years overnight.

Old Li hurriedly asked, "How did it go?"

"We haven't raised the money, and the doctor said we can't turn on the machine. But my wife can't afford to wait any longer; if we delay another day or two, her life will be in danger." Old Zhang's voice was full of helplessness.

"Didn't you call your father-in-law?"

"They've already made the call, and they're scrambling to raise money."

"Sigh..." Old Li sighed, not knowing how to comfort him.

At this moment, Luo Cheng suddenly spoke up: "Why don't we give up?"

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang flew into a rage, pointing at Luo Cheng and roaring, "Luo boy, what nonsense are you spouting! If you dare say that again, get out of here!"

Luo Cheng looked at him and said calmly, "I can see that you genuinely want to save your wife."

He paused, then added, "But even if her illness is cured, you'll be left with a mountain of debt that you might never be able to pay off in this lifetime."

"Get out of here!" Old Zhang shouted, his eyes red and his emotions running high.

Luo Cheng wasn't angry. He took out a spirit stone from his storage space and handed it over, saying, "This is a gemstone passed down from my ancestors. It should be worth some money. You can take it."

"This..." Old Zhang was stunned. Looking at the crystal-clear stone, his face was full of shame, and he hesitated to accept it.

Even though he didn't know much about jade, he could tell that this stone was unusual and its price was definitely not low.

Luo Cheng stuffed the spirit stone into his hand: "Take it."

"Young Luo..." Old Zhang called out, but the rest of the words got stuck in his throat, and the word "thank you" seemed so pale and powerless.

Luo Cheng said, "Go exchange the money quickly."

"Okay!" Old Zhang gripped the spirit stone tightly, turned around and ran outside.

After Old Zhang left, Old Li looked at Luo Cheng and asked thoughtfully, "Just now, were you testing him? If he were a heartless person, you wouldn't have taken out this gem?"

"Yes." Luo Cheng nodded.

Half a day later, Old Zhang returned to the hospital with a gloomy face.

Old Li hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Did you get the money?"

"That jade... is broken." Old Zhang's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

"What exactly happened?"

"When they took it for testing, they reported an accident: the jade had broken."

As he spoke, Old Zhang pulled a few pieces of metal from his pocket.

Luo Cheng glanced at the fragments and frowned slightly: "This isn't the piece I gave you."

Clearly, the spirit stones had been switched.

Old Zhang felt frustrated but helpless, and could only watch as he suffered this loss.

What he didn't know was that the low-grade spirit stone from Luo City had already been transferred to Li Mengtian through the Li family's jade shop.

Li Mengtian held the spirit stone, her face expressionless, and said calmly, "This little bit of spiritual energy is useless to me now, but it can be used by Ruoshui to establish her foundation."

Then, she looked up and asked her subordinate, "Where did these spirit stones come from?"

"It was brought by an old man who said it was passed down from his ancestors."

"I see..." A hint of disappointment flashed in Li Mengtian's eyes, and she sighed inwardly. Blue Star's spirit stones had indeed been completely depleted.

On the other side, Luo Cheng took out a fruit from his storage space and handed it to Lao Zhang: "Lao Zhang, give this fruit to your wife first."

Old Zhang was stunned, not understanding what he was going to do now.

Luo Cheng said, "If you trust me, let your sister-in-law eat this fruit first."

"Your sister-in-law has no appetite now."

"This fruit tastes good, she'll eat it."

"All right."

At this moment, Old Zhang was still filled with guilt. Luo Cheng had kindly offered his family heirloom, but he had lost it.

He hated both the unscrupulous jade shop owner and his own incompetence.

The ward was a sterile ward, and Old Zhang went in alone.

Luo Cheng and Lao Li stood outside the window, watching from afar.

In the ward, Old Zhang's wife looked haggard and had a dull look in her eyes; she was clearly very ill.

When Xiaojuan saw her husband, she forced a smile and said, "Let's... give up."

"No!" Old Zhang shook his head vigorously, his voice hoarse. "It's my fault. That kid Luo gave me his family heirloom, and I lost it again..."

Xiao Juan gently shook her head: "It's my fate."

She knew that her parents were borrowing money everywhere, and her husband was also borrowing money everywhere.

But she knew even better that even if she recovered, the debt would weigh on them like a mountain, making it hard for them to breathe.

Old Zhang took out the fruit Luo Cheng had given him: "This is fruit from Luo the kid. It looks pretty fresh. Have some."

"I don't want to eat."

"This is Luo's thoughtful gift, have a taste."

"Okay, I'll eat it."

The fruit comes from the city of heaven, crisp and refreshing, with a subtle sweet aroma.

If an ordinary person eats it, they can absorb some spiritual energy.

Xiao Juan ate very quickly, finding the fruit particularly delicious.

After eating, she suddenly felt much lighter and had more energy.

In Lao Zhang's eyes, his wife's face had regained some color after eating the fruit.

"This..." He was both surprised and delighted.

Xiao Juan was also a little surprised: "Honey, what kind of fruit is this? It's so delicious, I feel much better after eating it."

"I'll go ask Luo Xiaozi."

Xiao Juan said softly, "This fruit... must be very expensive, right?"

Just now, Luo Cheng used his divine sense to examine Xiao Juan's condition.

With his methods as a spiritual practitioner, curing this disease would be easy.

But he didn't make a move.

He felt that it was more appropriate to treat the patient using conventional methods.

Moreover, with the current technology on Earth, Xiao Juan's illness is not terminal; the reason she hasn't improved yet is simply because she lacks money.

Old Zhang opened the ward door, stepped outside, and carefully examined Luo Cheng: "Young Luo, you... you can't be an ordinary person, can you?"

"Ordinary and extraordinary are only relative terms," ​​Luo Cheng said cryptically, without stating it explicitly.

Seeing that he didn't want to say more, Old Zhang didn't press him further. He simply thanked him sincerely and said, "I will definitely help you find that piece of jade."

Luo Cheng waved his hand: "It's just a piece of jade, don't worry about it."

Old Zhang was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

He said he'd pay back the money? He simply can't afford it.

Luo Cheng took out another low-grade spirit stone from his storage space: "I also have a piece of jade here. This time, let's go exchange it for money together."

"Ah!" Old Zhang was stunned, not expecting Luo Cheng to be willing to help.

"Let's go."

Half an hour later, Luo Cheng, Lao Zhang, and Lao Li arrived at the Jade City.

Old Zhang pointed around and said, "This place is called Jade City. A lot of the jade is imported from abroad."

He then pointed to a shop not far away, "This is the shop that cheated me out of my jade."

Luo Cheng looked up and saw the words "Dream City" written on the shop sign.

A thought struck him: Was it Li Mengtian's business?

Immediately, Luo Cheng sneered in his heart: If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too.

He had originally wanted to see Li Mengtian, but now he had no desire to even do so.

Old Zhang then pointed to a shop next door: "Let's go to this one. It's owned by the Lin Group, so it should be more reliable."

The Lin family? Luo Cheng's heart skipped a beat again: Is it Lin Chen's Lin family?

Upon entering the shop, Luo Cheng took out a low-grade spirit stone.

The shop assistant's eyes lit up when he saw the spirit stone, and he quickly said, "Handsome, this thing is too valuable. I can't make the decision myself. I'll go get our boss."

A moment later, an elderly man of about sixty years old came out.

He took the spirit stone, glanced at it, and was utterly shocked. He exclaimed in disbelief, "This is... a spirit stone?"

The Lin family patriarch left a message: if you see a spirit stone, you must tell her first.

The old man looked at Luo Cheng a few more times, then tentatively asked, "Are you... a cultivator?"

Luo Cheng was also observing the old man and noticed a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy emanating from him. He was clearly nourished by spiritual energy and his body was much better than that of an ordinary person.

He nodded slightly.

The old man quickly said, "My ancestor enjoys making friends with cultivators from all over the world. I would like to take you to meet her. Would you be willing?"

"Your ancestor?" Luo Cheng sighed inwardly, thinking that it probably wasn't Lin Chen.

When he left Blue Star, Lin Chen was just a little girl.

Luo Cheng shook his head: "I need some money. Let's exchange this jade for cash."

The old man saw that he didn't want to see his ancestor, so he didn't force him.

He had heard from his ancestor that most cultivators were eccentric and acted strangely, but he didn't care.

The old man examined the spirit stone carefully and said, "Judging by its quality, this spirit stone doesn't have much spiritual energy. How about this, I'll price it at 10 billion, is that acceptable?"

"Okay." Luo Cheng didn't haggle.

Old Zhang and Old Li, who were standing nearby, were already stunned.

Ten billion? That number is astronomical to them, completely unimaginable.

The old man asked, "Do you have a card? I'll transfer the money to your card."

"I don't have a card."

"Then I'll give you an anonymous card."

"Okay," Luo Cheng replied, then added, "By the way, transfer ten million to Old Zhang."

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang stood there dumbfounded, unable to utter a single word for a long time.