Transmigrator's Guide to Conquering Another World

After entering the shop.

Facing the shopkeeper's inquiry.

Wang Qiang, with much experience, showed a slightly distant smile and waved his hand to say:

"We're just having a look, just having a look."

When browsing shops, showing too strong a desire to purchase is a well-known rule even among children.

She and Wu Fan then moved to one side and began to seriously examine the raw stones.

Betting on stones is a project with a considerable audience in both the local and Damo Realm, known as a relatively high-cost form of special gambling.

In the local world, the stones used for betting are called "seed stones," while in the Damo Realm, they are called "raw stones."

However, compared to the seed stones which only produce jade, the variety of things that raw stones can yield is much wider.

The formation of many raw stones in the Damo Realm is somewhat similar to the previously mentioned coal mines.

They all formed from certain rare and precious materials that sank into the earth during ancient times, resulting in a special type of stone.

However, unlike the relatively simple evolution process of coal mines, the conditions for the formation of raw stones are much more complex and special.

Generally, the prototype of a raw stone is created when a rare treasure sinks underground and unexpectedly receives protection from a high concentration of spiritual energy.

Under the protection of spiritual energy, these objects, which should have formed into coal, maintained a relatively intact state, and on the outside, weathered into a stone exterior.

Due to the varying density and quality of internal spiritual energy, after an initial period, the rare treasures preserved within each raw stone began to differ.

Rare treasures with high preservation levels not only retain the exact appearance of ancient times but can also be further enhanced in quality as their essence is soaked in spiritual energy over long periods.

But for those raw stones with poorer quality or lower concentration of spiritual energy, the contents might not be so promising.

Some rare treasures might have been enveloped for only a short time, with spiritual energy not yet beginning to dissipate, and combined with the high durability of the object itself, they retain a relatively good condition when revealed.

However, other raw stones might not be so lucky, with contents inside significantly damaged when cut open, or turning into a pile of ashes.

Because raw stones require a large amount of special spiritual energy to form, they often appear in aggregated forms in places where rare treasures are found, as large-scale raw stone mines.

Additionally.

When raw stones are produced, a concurrent phenomenon can also occur:

Within a raw stone mine, besides some raw stones containing rare objects, there can also be numerous 'pseudo raw stones' that appear to be true raw stones.

These 'pseudo raw stones' also contain a small amount of spiritual energy, making them seem as if something is inside.

But when these pseudo stones are cut open, it turns out that inside is actually as empty as most people's wallets.

Additionally, because the stone exterior of raw stones can block divine sense exploration, even high-level cultivators cannot inspect the inside of the stones.

In the Desert Realm.

The profession of finding these raw stone mines is called "Origin Seeker," which has led to a relatively complete system of stone-seeking, mining, and selling known as the gambling stone system.

Although those legendary discerning pupil techniques do exist, the odds of such natural talent occurring are even lower than Mingmou's black and white spiritual root mutation.

So in the Desert Realm, gambling on stones typically relies on luck.

Of course.

Just like the ever-present market experts seen in the stock market, in the Damo Realm's stone betting industry, there are always veteran gamblers and experts around.

Some of these experts are frauds, but some genuinely have quite rich experience in analyzing raw stones and can make preliminary judgments on the internal situation from the exterior.

However, naturally, Wang Qiang and Wu Fan were definitely not such experts, so Wang Qiang could only place her hopes entirely on Wu Fan.

Considering her limited assets.

After understanding a bit about the pricing, Wang Qiang didn't even look at those raw stones priced at hundreds or even thousands of spirit stones.

With Wu Fan's translation, she ventured into a more secluded area.

The sizes of the raw stones in this area varied greatly; some were enormous, exceeding the height of a person.

Some raw stones, however, were quite small, about the size of a fist.

Regardless of their size, their price was uniformly four spirit stones per piece.

This sales mode was somewhat akin to local surprise boxes, where what you unbox depends entirely on the buyer's luck.

If you're fortunate, you might uncover a voucher for a river view room at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, essentially making a profit of three to four thousand in one night.

If you're unlucky, you might only find a stay in an obscure, poorly rated Hanting hotel, and in the worst case, a thirty yuan per night room in a six-person hostel isn't out of the question.

At this moment.

Wang Qiang stood before the four spirit stones section and said to Wu Fan:

"Xiaowu, I have a total of forty spirit stones in hand,

how about this, you pick four raw stones, and I'll choose one, then we'll see how our luck fares."

Wu Fan was silent for a few seconds, showing a hint of hesitation on his face.

To be honest, he was quite interested in this too, after all, he was a fellow bookworm, with even more reading experience than Wang Qiang.

However, spending Wang Qiang's money always made him feel somewhat uneasy. Besides, he also thought the so-called 'main character aura' was a bit far-fetched and would probably make Wang Qiang lose out for nothing, so he said:

"Sister Wang, why don't I just pay for my share myself?"

Wang Qiang glanced at him and bluntly exposed his situation:

"Come on, how do you have money right now?

Don't forget, Captain Lin is my mentor. It's not like I don't know that you still owe the bank over ten thousand for opening a milk tea shop.

The subsidy from headquarters isn't given out all at once. Do you even have a thousand yuan on you at the moment?

Besides, I'm the one who dragged you out here today. I've already said the money is on me this time, so don't worry about it. This is what you call angel investment, understand?

If I lose, I accept my fate and will never bring up the main character aura again. It's like spending money to fulfill a wish.

But if you manage to uncover something good, I'll make a huge profit."

With that, she gave Wu Fan a little push forward:

"So just focus on making your selection."

Seeing this, Wu Fan had no choice but to stop insisting and walked over to the pile of raw stones, studying them carefully.

Wang Qiang stood next to him, picking her own target on her own.

Soon.

Wang Qiang locked onto a particularly oddly shaped raw stone.

This stone, true to its name, was quite 'round,' a bit larger than a fist, and entirely white.

It had two stone strips slanting to the left and right on top, resembling a small rabbit's head from certain angles.

Wang Qiang took a liking to this raw stone almost instantly, so she picked it up without hesitation and said:

"I'll take this one."

Compared to Wang Qiang's decisiveness, Wu Fan was more cautious.

After all, it was Wang Qiang's money they were spending, and being overly careless wouldn't sit right with him.

Even though he didn't believe he had any main character aura, comparing several options couldn't hurt.

So after a thorough examination.

Wu Fan spent a good fifteen minutes.

Ultimately choosing three raw stones about the size of electric scooter batteries, along with a small additional piece slightly smaller than a fist.

Once they had each selected their targets.

Wang Qiang turned around to the shopkeeper, who had been watching them from the side, and said:

"Shopkeeper, we'll take these five raw stones. Let's settle the bill."

The price for the five raw stones was exactly twenty spirit stones, which wasn't a small deal for this gambling stone workshop, with a profit margin of about eight or nine stones.

After all, most customers in these small shops weren't particularly wealthy, a typical example being families with a monthly allowance of only one spirit stone.

These side families received an annual allocation of about ten spirit stones, and it was common for them to squeeze out a few stones a year to try their luck at striking it rich.

Customers spending twenty spirit stones at once could be considered mid-range clients to some extent.

So the shopkeeper eagerly took the raw stones and asked Wang Qiang:

"A total of twenty lower-grade spirit stones, would you like them cut now or take them with you?"

Wang Qiang took out the full amount of spirit stones and handed them to the shopkeeper, decisively saying:

"We'll take them with us."

She firmly believed Wu Fan bore the main character aura, and if something astonishing were indeed uncovered, it would be all too easy for the obviously cultivator shopkeeper to resort to murder and robbery.

The shopkeeper was not surprised by this.

Such people, who thought they were bound to make big headlines, appeared every so often, as if they were about to reach the peak of their lives, chatting and laughing with Nascent Soul cultivators, and fleeing with their purchases faster than a kind of beast called a Ritual Zhe from the west of the Damo Realm.

For him, as long as he made a profit, it was all that mattered; these people could scamper around all they wanted.

He effortlessly packed the five raw stones and handed them to Wu Fan.

The total weight of these five raw stones was roughly fifteen kilograms, which Wu Fan, with his already awakened physique, could easily carry without needing a cart or any assistance.

As soon as they exited the shop, Wang Qiang started counting on her fingers to plan the next step:

"We spent twenty spirit stones on five raw stones. Now I have twenty spirit stones left. What should we buy next? Xiaowu, any suggestions?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan looked around.

The stalls on Treasure Hunting Street, to be honest, were mostly similar, either gambling stones or personal stalls with an array of intriguing items.

After all, Treasure Hunting Street was meant to be 'strange,' while there were plenty of legitimate goods over at the market.

Facing the countless similar stalls, Wu Fan could only randomly point in a direction:

"Let's head over there."