Chapter 9: You Can't Afford It?

Leo immediately closed his eyes to sense it, and indeed, there was less of it after today's usage. The other person seemed to already know the result and didn't wait for Leo's response. They continued, "Energy conservation is a universal law. The unique energy present in your body is called spiritual power. It diminishes after use but can be increased through cultivation."

"How do I cultivate it?" Leo was more concerned about this.

"The cultivation methods are stored in your mind. There is spiritual energy present in the world. Through cultivation, you can convert it into spiritual power and use it," the other person explained.

"Oh, by the way, in the early stages, you won't be able to sense the presence of spiritual energy around you. You can focus the spiritual power in your eyes to detect it," they added.

"Why are you telling me all this? What do you want?" Leo knew it couldn't be that simple.

"You'll find out in the future. Maybe one day, we'll meet again. Make good use of what you have now. Goodbye." He hung up before Leo could say anything else.

"Wait!" Leo had so many questions to ask, but when he tried to call back, he heard the voice message, "The number you have dialed is no longer in service."

Leo tossed the phone on the bed and fell into contemplation.

Who was the old man?

Why did he experiment on him?

What was his purpose?

After pondering for a while, Leo decided not to dwell on it for now. He focused on what the old man had said and attempted to channel a small amount of spiritual power into his eyes.

As the spiritual power entered his eyes, a faint, almost invisible greenish mist appeared on the surface of Leo's pupils. Then something magical happened.

His vision seemed to penetrate the wardrobe, clearly seeing the clothes inside.

Could this be the legendary ability of X-ray vision?

Leo looked around the room but couldn't detect any trace of spiritual energy. So he delved into his memories to find the cultivation method.

Soon, he found a profound cultivation technique deep in his memory called the "Nine Transformations of the Stars."

The technique was extremely profound, but Leo tried to comprehend and practice it. Unknowingly, the night passed.

The next morning, Sophia didn't go to work. After breakfast, she asked Leo to drive her to Antique Street of Chinatown.

Martin's birthday was the day after tomorrow, and Sophia wanted to buy him a birthday gift. Martin's biggest hobby was collecting antique jade, so going to Antique Street to find one for him was the best choice.

Leo had been to Antique Street twice before, so he parked the car skillfully and then went to a traditional medicine shop to buy a set of silver needles before strolling around with Sophia.

Sophia knew nothing about jade and antique, so wherever there were many people, she squeezed in with Leo, believing that popular places would offer good finds.

Sure enough, in front of a store, a crowd had gathered, talking and buzzing with excitement.

After visiting a few more shops without finding anything they liked, the two joined the crowd out of curiosity.

Finally squeezing to the front, Leo and Sophia were faced with a pile of stones. Using professional terms, it should be called raw jade material.

As it turned out, they were conducting a stone gambling event here.

"Hey, Sophia!" a female voice suddenly sounded.

Sophia turned her head and was surprised to see her college classmate, Julie Jefferson. She never expected to run into her here.

Sophia instinctively frowned. They hadn't been on good terms in college, and they had even less contact after graduation. But Sophia managed to force a smile and asked, "Julie, you are also shopping here?"

"Yeah, I want to buy some jade. Luckily, they have a gambling event here," Julie said, her gaze falling on Leo beside Sophia. "And who is this... oh your mute husband!"

Julie said "mute husband" loudly, instantly drawing the attention of people around them.

Sophia's face suddenly felt hot, regretting bringing Leo along.

"Julie, I heard you got divorced?" Sophia quickly changed the topic.

Julie admitted quite openly, "Yeah, but I'm getting married again next month. My man is the CEO of one of the top ten companies in Langstel. You must come to my wedding."

This woman's audacity knew no bounds.

Sophia didn't want to continue discussing personal matters with her, so she pointed at a piece of raw jade and asked, "Do you know how to gamble on stones? How does it work?"

Julie's interest was piqued when it came to stone gambling. "It's simple to gamble on stones. There are full gambling and half gambling. The ones with visible jade through its cracks are considered half-gambling material, more expensive. The ones fully covered by the stone are full-gambling material, relatively cheaper. If you buy raw material, and the jade you get out of it is worth more than what you paid, you win the gamble. The better the jade you cut, the more profit you make. Conversely, if the jade you cut is worth less than what you paid or you can't even cut jade, you lose. It's that simple."

"For example, look at this stone. It already has a crack," Julie pointed at one of the stones. "From it, you can see that this material might produce glassy jade. If you buy it and actually cut out that jade, you could make tens or even hundreds of times how much you pay."

Being able to show off her knowledge in front of Sophia, Julie felt quite pleased. After all, back when they were studying, Sophia had always outperformed her.

Julie finished speaking and looked back at Leo. Since they happened to meet today, it wouldn't be right not to "torment" Sophia a bit.

"Your name is Leo, right? Your wife is interested in this raw jade. Why don't you buy it for her?" Julie sneered.

Leo's gaze fell on the stone Julie pointed to, and he took two steps forward to examine it carefully.

Julie's lips curved into a sneer. A man who relied on his wife for a living would never be able to afford it, which was priced at five hundred thousand.

"Although this stone has glassy jade in the cracking area, it's the only part that is jade for this stone. There is no more inside. Buying it will certainly be a loss," Leo shook his head, looking confident.

Julie chuckled, "Seems like you don't have the money."

She didn't believe that Leo had the expertise to gamble on stones.

Leo ignored Julie and turned to Sophia, saying, "Let me pick one. If we can cut a jade out, it would be perfect for a birthday gift."

Without waiting for Sophia's response, Leo began selecting raw stones from the stall.

"Leo, stop pretending. You dare to say that you can't cut jade out from such a large piece with a crack? If you don't have the money, just say it. I might even give you some and you don’t have to pay back," Julie continued to provoke, not wanting her plan to discourage Sophia to fail.

Leo remained completely unaffected, as if he hadn't heard Julie's words at all.