The Post Sky Tipping Era
Chapter 329 - 225: Urban Legends

Chapter 329: Chapter 225: Urban Legends

Li Yi had not expected that the first hurdle after arriving in a new world would be the challenge of making money.

In the context of modern civilization, getting by without money was difficult, and they lacked identification cards and phones, so they were truly penniless and bereft of belongings.

Zhang Xun, the team leader, had never anticipated such a problem. After all, he was a powerful being in the Soul Realm. Earning money in any world wasn’t difficult for him, but if he wanted to keep a low profile, he couldn’t use any special methods; he had to stick to conventional means.

If they broke the law here and became wanted criminals, it would be detrimental to their next moves.

"We could sell some valuable items for cash," Qin Bing spoke up, "but I didn’t bring anything suitable for that purpose this time. Does anyone else have something?"

"The locals here probably aren’t interested in Extraordinary Water, nutrient liquids, or Extraordinary daggers," Zhang Jing commented with a sneer.

The items she mentioned were quite valuable, especially the Extraordinary dagger, which could be used to hunt Extraordinary Creatures, but this world seemed to be predominantly inhabited by ordinary people, and these Cultivator items would be useless and unrecognized, unsuitable for exchange.

Li Yi also felt rather awkward at the moment. His backpack was mostly filled with Golden Nutrient Liquid, a Mud Horse, and Resurrection Pills... None of these could be exchanged for money either.

"I brought a piece of gold with me," Tao Yuan, a Cultivator, said as he took a gold bar from his backpack.

"You brought a gold bar to Cross Border?" Qin Bing asked, somewhat surprised.

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

"It looks like once we return from this Cross-border trip, I’ll have to suggest that Cultivators carry some gold," Team Leader Zhang Xun said. "Give me the gold; I’ll exchange it for cash, and then find an internet cafe. It’s the fastest way to learn about this world online."

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

Zhang Xun took it and immediately led the team through the streets, soon finding a jewelry store. However, when he went inside, he discovered they only sold silver bracelets and necklaces and other accessories, but did not sell gold jewelry. However, they were very willing to buy gold, offering a surprisingly high price.

A short while later,

Zhang Xun walked out with a bag of money, his expression somewhat odd: "The price of gold in this world is very high, and it seems quite scarce. The gold we brought wouldn’t have fetched ten thousand dollars in our world, but here it got us two hundred thousand, and the owner mentioned that the price of gold is still rising. Everyone gets twenty thousand each, and I’ll manage the rest. Any objections?"

"No," everyone said.

It was just tens of thousands; who would care?

However, they had just arrived and needed some time to adapt to this world, so a bit of starting money was important. Once they understood this world better, earning money with the power of the Spiritual Realm would be easy.

With some initial funds, Zhang Xun took them straight to an internet cafe’s private room. Though internet cafes required identification cards, slipping a few hundred extra made it no issue. Indeed, in every world, money was crucial.

"You have two hours to look up key information about this world’s technology level and whether there are any Cultivators. Also, keep an eye out for any Transcendent phenomena. Though many things can’t be found online, just as in our world, as long as they exist, there will be discussions about them and traces left behind. If we can’t find even a scrap of evidence online, then it’s unrelated to the general public, and we don’t need to worry," Zhang Xun instructed.

"If everything assesses normally, you’ll have free reign starting tomorrow."

During the three-month exploration mission, Zhang Xun didn’t want to keep these people tied to him. As long as this world was relatively safe and normal, he wouldn’t restrain them.

From what he could see so far, he was very pleased with this world.

Familiar and peaceful, it was a top choice for Cross-border adventurers.

Initially, he had been worried about landing in a world with high danger levels. Now, it seemed he had been overly concerned.

Li Yi was also in front of a computer, browsing various websites, focusing on current events and some popular trends. However, the news was dominated by celebrity gossip, completely devoid of any Transcendent events, and his searches about Cultivation yielded only stories and legends, nothing practical.

Consequently, he confirmed that this world had no Cultivators.

"There’s nothing interesting, just a bunch of trash news. The few major stories include pollution from a chemical factory in Da Chang City, some mysterious red sky phenomena, and soaring international gold prices... This world lacks Cultivation, Sky Tipping, and Extraordinary Creatures," Qin Bing, feeling frustrated, tossed the mouse and leaned back on the couch.

"I’m not finding anything useful either, but the web is rife with unsavory sites. The only memorable thing was someone nicknamed Wei sharing resources everywhere, almost made me think my computer got a virus," said Zhang Jing, a woman seeming unbothered as she spoke.

"I stumbled upon a forum where people like to share ghost stories. If you’re interested, feel free to take a look," Tao Yuan said calmly.

"Speaking of ghost stories, I actually found a local myth from Dazhuang City about a haunted building that has been sealed off. However, I think these stories are fabricated, just made up to drive clicks. The netizens of this world are quite bored; with no real-life pressures, they only fabricate narrow-minded stories online to feel some sense of presence. A single click, one reply, and they revel in the attention," Xu Qiumei commented.

"Where is it haunted? Is it far? If not, we can go have a look," Zhang Xun said.

"No, Captain, are you really taking these stories seriously? These netizens’ stories are just like the rumored dangerous zones in our area said to contain mysterious objects, all made up by some bored people. If we take these false messages seriously, then we’re being very foolish," Xu Qiumei said in disbelief.

Zhang Xun calmly said, "I’m not taking it seriously, but rather verifying whether there are indeed extraordinary powers in this world. Besides, it’s not just you; I have also found many ghost stories. It seems that people in this world really enjoy telling ghost stories. As Cross-border, we can’t overlook any clue. We came here on a mission, not to enjoy ourselves. Three months of exploration time is very short, we need to collect as much information as possible."

"Alright, you guys continue browsing online. In two hours, we’ll go check out the haunted places in this city. Xu Qiumei, take note of the address."

He quickly made a decision.

Seeing Zhang Xun act this way, everyone else didn’t say much, only obediently cooperating since they had to give face to a Soul Realm expert.

Li Yi lost interest after searching online for a while.

He couldn’t find any useful information.

The others were the same, only finding ghost stories. They could only see displays of extraordinary powers in movie clips, but those in the movies were fake. In reality, there were no people who could fly through the skies or tunnel through the earth, and even practicing martial arts was merely ordinary boxing and martial arts, lacking lethality.

Two hours passed in a blink of an eye.

With the end of their online session, as the team leader, Zhang Xun decided to abandon the method of searching for information online and instead opted for an on-site investigation into the so-called urban legends.

After leaving the internet cafe, they directly took a ride to a location in Dazhuang City.

The driver dropped them off and then continued driving a bit further. Finally, near a busy district street, they saw the building described online that had been sealed off. Around the building, a security cordon was established, and security personnel patrolling with loaded guns warned off anyone trying to approach.

"There really is a sealed building, that person online wasn’t lying," Qin Bing said, somewhat surprised, "Could it be that the urban legend is true, that there really are ghosts in this building?"

"This world contains cosmic energy, and since it’s unpolluted, if there are ghosts, they could indeed survive here. However, for us, some ghosts are not much of a concern; we could easily eliminate them," Zhang Xun said. "My intention is to verify the ghost situation, and also to see whether any people in this world possess special powers and their strength if they do. This is critical."

"Let’s move ahead. Although there are security personnel patrolling everywhere here, it shouldn’t be difficult for you, Cultivators in the Spiritual Realm, to evade surveillance and cross the security line. Start spreading out now, and regroup on the first floor of the front building in ten minutes. I don’t want to see anyone sneaking off midway."

To ensure these people obediently followed orders, Zhang Xun warned them once again.

Soon.

Everyone began to disperse and take action.

At this moment, Li Yi’s pupils shone as he stared at Xu Qiumei, seemingly considering whether to eliminate this person right now.

However, Xu Qiumei also felt the hostility from Li Yi and shuddered, promptly walked toward a more crowded area, exposing herself in everyone’s view.

If Li Yi were to make a move right on the street, he would inevitably have to display his extraordinary powers, which would cause a sensation if caught on nearby cameras, leading to significant trouble.

Everyone was clear about the kind of reaction the appearance of a Cultivator would provoke in a world without cultivation.

"Li Yi, I think we should have a proper talk. After all, our conflict is just some ordinary dispute, there’s no deep-seated vendetta between us. I can offer compensation to resolve our animosity, what do you say?" Xu Qiumei said, "I know an Enchantment Technique, I can teach it to you."

"Not interested. Take your Enchantment Technique with you to the grave," Li Yi said with a glance at her, then turned and walked away.

This indeed was not the opportunity to act, but that might change soon.

The sealed building was supposed to be empty.

Unless Xu Qiumei didn’t come, he would have plenty of opportunities.

Seeing that Li Yi was implacable, Xu Qiumei was very annoyed. She had gone to such lengths; why wouldn’t Li Yi just let her go? Did he really want to end things in mutual destruction?

Looking at the darkened building, Xu Qiumei knew, if she went there too, Li Yi would definitely attack her.

But if she didn’t go, she would offend the team leader, Zhang Xun, and she would similarly face severe consequences when withdrawing.

Thinking this, she gritted her teeth and found a suitable spot to start crossing the security line and sneaked in.