Just as the transport convoy set off.

Far away in Ziqiong Market, over a thousand kilometers away.

Since all the goods had been sold off and there wasn't a trade mission, the members of the Taozhu Trade Group were granted a relaxing half-day holiday.

Members could choose to have a long nap or go out for a stroll in Ziqiong City.

Anyway, everyone was equipped with a translator and a positioning device, so they couldn't get lost.

However, for safety reasons, there had to be at least two people going out together.

Lin Ziming just announced in the shop about the holiday.

Wang Qiang hurriedly found Wu Fan and stealthily shook a small bag at him:

"Wu Fan, are we going to head out?"

Wu Fan showed a pained expression, looked at her, and helplessly asked:

"Sister Wang, are we really going?"

Wang Qiang immediately shot him a glare, seemed to remember something, and clenched the bag in her hand a bit tighter, muttering:

"Of course, you have no idea how much I've invested this time, even the location I've already confirmed through Wei Niandong."

After a moment, she looked determined, and said firmly to Wu Fan:

"Wu Fan, let me tell you, later if you see something you feel good about, just tell me directly. If it profits, we'll split it fifty-fifty. If it loses, I'll bear it myself!"

Wu Fan: "..."

The bag Wang Qiang held didn't contain anything else but some rather precious Spirit Stones.

As members of the trade group, the commercial department specially allocated an exchange quota of forty Spirit Stones for each person—it's an old tradition for the department to allocate foreign exchange quotas to each foreign trade group member.

Of course.

The commercial department only provided the Spirit Stone quota; members still had to pay themselves when exchanging.

The current Spirit Stones were still considered strategic resources, so each member getting to exchange forty Spirit Stones was indeed a great benefit.

Whether you use this money to buy pills or pool with others to buy a puppet doll, the department wouldn't interfere with such personal choices.

Because Wang Qiang had Lin Li as such a good mentor, her research funding and benefits were never lacking each year, allowing her to save some money over the years.

The total number in her little savings box was 233,000 yuan and a bit more. Together with the 11,000 yuan temporarily borrowed from Lin Ziming, she managed to gather 244,000 yuan, and exchanged it for forty Spirit Stones from Mu Ge.

Although Wang Qiang was a girl, she had always loved reading male-centric novels since childhood.

She had read things like "Battle Through the Heavens" countless times—and all were legitimate chapters from the Qidian Chinese Website.

Recently, Qidian Chinese Website was even offering Qidian Coins for watching videos, which reduced some of Wang Qiang's spending; otherwise, she might have had to borrow more money from Lin Ziming.

Before coming to the Damo Realm, Wang Qiang was relatively rational.

Liking was one thing, but she wouldn't let those novels affect real life; for instance, she wouldn't link seeing a coffin to a Three Lives Copper Coffin.

But after witnessing the cultivation path of the Damo Realm, the dream of immortality buried in her heart for more than ten years finally erupted—it wasn't just Wang Qiang, among the nearly ten thousand people in the Damo Realm, at least half of them dreamed every night of shouting aloud before drawing their sword west.

It's just that this girl was somewhat stubborn, with a bit of determination: she always felt that Wu Fan was different from ordinary people.

As everyone knows.

Stories with an immortal cultivation background generally need a protagonist.

Also known as the legendary child of the world or child of destiny.

So, very early on, Wang Qiang locked her target onto Wu Fan.

She firmly believed this young fellow was a protagonist, if not, should at least have some protagonist aura.

In a Qidian novel, Wu Fan's name would start as golden, which upon clicking would reveal three large words:

Male Protagonist!

Otherwise why was he the one to discover the light gate?

Initially, many people, including the core layer, felt Wu Fan was a bit special; although the protagonist aura wasn't that mysterious, they had some suspicion about his connection to the light gate.

Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the initial cause detection.

Yet Wu Fan behaved completely like a minor role from the start, showing no relationship with the light gate.

After arriving at the Damo Realm, his assessed aptitude was just four Spiritual Roots, and he had to exhaustively consume Spirit Awakening Pills during awakening.

Only in language did he display a bit of talent.

But if you link language talent to protagonist aura, it seems a bit forced.

Not to mention the language talents in the area, Chixian City has Wei Niandong.

Gradually, nobody paid much attention to Wu Fan anymore; the observations that did occur were no longer as purposeful as they initially were.

Only Wang Qiang hadn't given up.

This time she even took out her hard-earned savings to verify Wu Fan's protagonist aura.

God be kind.

For a twenty-eight or twenty-nine-year-old girl from a foreign land to save up twenty thousand in Modu wasn't an easy feat.

After all, she'd formally joined for only two or three years.

Of course, Lin Li being a good mentor who didn't covet benefits played a role, but Wang Qiang's thriftiness was just as important.

And this very girl, who spent half a day comparing thirty-yuan clothes online, decided to spend her savings courageously and let Wu Fan spend freely.

Most people might not have this courage.

It has to be said...

Imagination really gets you.

Half an hour later.

The two appeared in an area resembling an antique street in the city.

"I heard this is the largest treasure hunting street in Ziqiong City, where some loose cultivators or small families often bring unknown items they've found to sell. If you're lucky, you might find treasures from the ancient times when spiritual energy was abundant."

Wang Qiang introduced the street's background to Wu Fan as they walked:

"But Wei Niandong told me, there are many scammers here too, you might get tricked if you're not careful.

I even suspect the ones spreading tales of finding ancient relics are probably the Yang Family trying to scam people."

Wu Fan glanced at her:

"Then why did you drag me here?"

Hearing this, Wang Qiang adjusted her glasses, a detective-like white light flashing across the lens:

"Because you're here, gambling for stones and finding treasures is a protagonist's special!"

Actually, Wang Qiang had another thought that she didn't say: her initial idea was to go to an auction.

After all, any novel protagonist will find a scoop at an auction, just like the cliché where urban fiction male protagonists meet former girlfriends when buying cars.

Unfortunately, she learned from Wei Niandong that even the lowest-tier auction at Purple Treasure Pavilion required an admission of two hundred Spirit Stones, and cultivators must have reached at least Third-Layer Qi Cultivation.

So she reluctantly gave up that thought.

After speaking, she poked Wu Fan's arm with her finger, asking:

"Hey, do you feel anything now? Like something is attracting you?"

Wu Fan glanced at her again, turned his arm over:

"Kind of hurts, you should cut your nails."

Wang Qiang: "...."

Seeing the girl about to blow her fuse, Wu Fan was startled.

The strong survival instinct made him quickly point in a direction:

"I think we could have a look over there."

Wang Qiang's spirit lifted instantly, she didn't mind Wu Fan's earlier remark, and excitedly pulled him along:

"Come on, let's go check it out!"

It was quite a coincidence.

The direction Wu Fan pointed towards was actually a Gambling Stone Workshop.

Arriving at the entrance of the workshop, Wang Qiang stopped and asked Wu Fan:

"Xiaowu, what do you think about this place? Shall we go in and have a look?"

Wu Fan glanced at the stone prices listed inside the shop, upon seeing the prices, a hint of hesitation appeared on his face, and he said:

"Sister Wang, the stones in this shop are quite expensive, the cheapest one costs a whole Spirit Stone, which adds up to six thousand yuan."

"Oh dear, I already told you to spend freely."

Wang Qiang waved her little bag like a rich lady, proudly showing off her wealth.

But in reality, she felt a bit uneasy inside, as it was her entire savings after all. Nevertheless, after thinking it over, she finally dragged Wu Fan into the shop.

The Gambling Stone Workshop wasn't very large, and there weren't many customers inside.

After all, such businesses on Earth had a similar vibe, somewhat like opening once every few years and eating for three years.

The shopkeeper was a kindly-faced middle-aged man, not very tall, and when he saw Wu Fan and Wang Qiang, he didn't mind their non-cultivator status. He cheerfully approached them and asked:

"Would you like to try your luck? The shop's raw stones have occasionally revealed Third-Rank Spirit Materials."

....

Note: There are two more chapters, with three chapters updated simultaneously, just flip over to them

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