Becoming an immortal and ancestor begins with the golden toad spitting out money.

Chapter 1: Heavenly Calculations, Golden Toad Spits Money

"Have you heard? The Zhang family girl found a golden toad in the river. It's so lifelike, it looks like it's real!"

This afternoon, Zhang's daughter lost the lucky charms sewn into someone's clothes while washing them. The employer was furious and wanted to deduct a month's wages from her laundry work.

In her search for the amulet coin, Zhang's daughter bravely ventured into the icy river, despite the lingering chill of spring. She didn't find the amulet coin, but instead touched a golden toad.

"A golden toad? No one in our village should have lost such a thing. Could it be an ancient artifact washed out of the river?"

In common parlance, "gold" often refers to bronze. Bronze objects are inherently valuable, let alone antiques made of bronze.

"The golden toad was about two or three inches in size. Not only was it free of any rust, but its eyes also seemed to glow with spiritual light. I think it's not an ordinary antique, but more like a divine object!"

In the eyes of these people, it seemed impossible for the girl from the Zhang family to find a golden toad so soon after losing her lucky charm.

However, the golden toad, being the one in question, knew very well that this was just a coincidence.

Despite being called a golden toad, it is neither a monster nor a deity, but a toad with a human soul.

Su Ji, also known as the toad, was originally a programmer who maintained an artificial intelligence system. However, he woke up one day to find himself transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters.

Becoming a toad is undoubtedly unlucky. Although it may be novel at first, with natural enemies everywhere, you may face life-threatening danger at any moment.

Fortunately, fate was not too cruel. The artificial intelligence system he maintained followed him and underwent some changes when it integrated into this world, becoming a predictive tool called the "Heavenly Calculation Tool".

Yan Tianchou can monitor an area within a three-foot radius and deduce various survival plans based on the surrounding situation, helping him get through the most difficult and weakest tadpole stage.

However, he discovered that the algorithm of the Tianchou project, on which he had placed all his hopes, seemed to have malfunctioned, providing incomprehensible answers and responding in bizarre ways.

When he wanted to obtain a method of cultivation, Yan Tianchou told him to collect money; when he wanted to know what foods were edible, he received a home-cooked recipe book...

However, he didn't want to live like that forever. Even if he didn't become an immortal or an ancestor, he at least wanted to take human form first.

Yan Tianchou didn't say it was impossible, but only pointed out that his computing power was far from sufficient and suggested that he collect all the money he could find.

Money is not only a medium of exchange in the transaction process, but also contains the power of wishes accumulated in the circulation process. No matter how much this power of wishes is, it can be used as the calculation power for divination.

Unfortunately, even if Yan Tianchou could explore an area within a three-foot radius, it would be difficult to find even a few copper coins, and venturing into populated areas was too risky.

Following the principle of starting with the easy and then moving to the difficult, Yan Tianchou set aside the problem of cultivating human form and first used his calculation power to deduce a supernatural power called "Transformation into a Golden Toad".

【Transformation into a Golden Toad】is a unique divine ability that Yan Tianchou devised using his computational power based on his situation.

In normal times, Yan Tianchou would absorb and store the mystical energy between heaven and earth. In the event of danger, he would immediately use this energy to transform his toad body into a golden toad.

The mysterious energy is the metal energy between heaven and earth. During the process of the metal energy gathering, the Tianchou Society uses the concentration of metal energy from all directions as data to calculate the location of nearby metals, thus improving the efficiency of finding wealth.

However, his area of ​​activity was limited, and his strength was weak, so he could only slowly explore in this small river, and his gains were mediocre.

Early this morning, while searching for food in a stream, he encountered an unexpected incident and was nearly swallowed by a strange snake.

Most of the water snakes in the stream are only one or two feet long, and those that can grow to three feet are rare. He even eats some of the small snakes as if they were "spicy snacks".

However, this strange snake had a black belly and white rings. It was not only four or five feet long, but also had a layer of black water film on its body. Its speed far exceeded his imagination. If Yan Tianchou had not sensed the abnormality of the water waves in advance, he would not have had a chance to react.

In desperation, he could only burrow into the mud and sand while using his strongest life-saving move, transforming into a golden toad in less than a breath.

"【Golden Toad Transformation】: Once activated, one cannot move freely. It will take at least one day and one night to recover one's physical body. If the crisis has not yet been resolved, one can endure for another twelve hours."

The game lasts for 36 hours, and even if the hunters are not driven away in the first 24 hours, the game can still find an opportunity to escape in the last 12 hours.

Therefore, after he transformed into a golden toad, even the extraordinary monsters predicted by the Heavenly Calculation could not find his presence. After lingering for a while, they left.

Unexpectedly, after escaping one calamity, he encountered another.

In the past, even if he transformed into a golden toad, he could rely on the cover of water plants and mud to survive for a day and a night before reverting to his physical form.

This time, however, luck was a bit off. In order to find the lost lucky charm, Zhang's daughter endured the biting cold of the river water and carefully searched every inch of the mud and sand. The golden toad that he had transformed into was actually found by Zhang's daughter in the mud and sand.

Such a coincidence was something that neither Su Ji nor Yan Tianchou had anticipated, let alone Yan Tianchou.

Before regaining his physical body, he could only lie flat in the pocket of the Zhang family girl, euphemistically calling it "responding to all changes with constancy."

After the news spread that Zhang's daughter had touched a golden toad, more and more people gathered by the river.

Some people felt sorry for her and wanted Zhang's daughter to come up from the icy river first, but she didn't listen and continued to search for the lucky charm, as if she wouldn't give up until she found it today.

Soon, even Zhang, who was weaving cloth at home, received the news and hurried over.

"Xiao Lian, why are you so stubborn? Get up here right now!"

Zhang Xiaolian was suddenly stunned. When she looked up and saw her mother, she could no longer maintain her stubbornness. As soon as she got ashore, tears of self-reproach and grievance streamed down her face.

It was early February, and a cold wind blew, causing Zhang Xiaolian, who was mostly soaked, to shiver, her lips turning pale.

Zhang looked distressed and quickly hugged her daughter, secretly wiping away her tears.

The onlookers were deeply moved by what they saw, and some even had tears in their eyes as they recalled the Zhang family's experiences over the years.

The Zhang family are not locals. Their ancestor, Zhang Dianshi, moved here when he came to serve as an official. Because the houses in the county town were too expensive, they bought land and houses in the village to settle down.

More than a decade ago, Zhang Dianshi encountered demons and ghosts causing trouble while apprehending a criminal. Not long after, he fell seriously ill and spent all his family's wealth, but still could not hold on for more than half a year.

After Zhang Dianshi died, his only son continued to work as a minor official in the county. However, after only a few years, he was murdered by villains while on official business in the countryside.

Because the Zhang family had no male heirs, they lost the opportunity to work in the county government. Zhang's wife relied on pensions and support from her maternal family to raise her daughter alone, which was extremely difficult...

However, as the mother and daughter were preparing to go home, an uninvited guest appeared not far away.

This man was none other than the Wu family, the wealthiest family in the village and the family that Zhang Xiaolian used for washing clothes. After he stopped, he immediately asked for the lucky charm that Zhang Xiaolian had lost.

Su Ji later learned from people's conversations that a lucky charm coin was worth only eight or nine coins, but the Wu family wanted to deduct the thirty-six coins that Zhang Xiaolian had worked hard to earn for a month to pay for washing clothes, which forced the girl to personally go into the cold river to search for it.

With so many people present, some naturally sided with Zhang Xiaolian, but the Wu family was determined, claiming that the amulet was blessed by the local earth god, and therefore the compensation should be higher.

Furthermore, the Wu family representative pointedly remarked, "It's precisely because our family lost our lucky charms that you were able to find this golden toad..."

"Perhaps this golden toad was originally left to the river by my ancestors, and now it is only through your help that it has returned to our family."

"If you hand over the golden toad, we will not only forgive you for losing the lucky charm, but we will also pay you an extra month's laundry expenses!"

The Wu family's visitor was clearly calculating, and not only the villagers watching, but even the Zhang family mother and daughter sensed something was amiss.

Zhang Xiaolian first pressed down on the golden toad in her arms, then bit her slightly purple lower lip, looked up and stared directly at the person who came: "You clearly gave me three days, I will come back for the lucky money tomorrow!"

Although the girl did not mention the golden toad, the onlookers knew that she had rejected the deal proposed by the Wu family.

The Wu family members did not give in easily. Instead, they held up two fingers and said, "The river water is icy cold. Why risk getting cold by going into the river? If you are willing to return the golden toad to its rightful owner, we will compensate you with two months' worth of laundry expenses!"

There were 108 copper coins inside and out. Even if Zhang only got 72 coins, he could still buy 7 or 8 catties of pork.

At this moment, someone nearby said solemnly, "We have never heard of the Wu family losing a golden toad... It's more like the Zhang family ancestors manifested their power and specially bestowed the golden toad to help the Zhang mother and daughter. Even if the golden toad is not a so-called divine object, it may still be a magical artifact with the effect of warding off evil spirits."

A few days ago, this person had a strange dream in which the deceased Zhang Dianshi was fighting with demons and ghosts. When he woke up, he seemed to catch a glimpse of Zhang Dianshi's figure, which led to the saying that the Zhang family ancestor had appeared.

“Ancestors…” Zhang was startled. Even if this matter had nothing to do with the Zhang family ancestors, as long as someone said it, she would never hand over the golden toad.

"Ah--"

Seeing that the Zhang mother and daughter were adamant, and knowing that they could not force them to buy in public, the Wu family could only say with a grim expression, "If you do not return the amulet coin in three days, we will come to settle accounts with you."

The Wu family did not believe in the claim that the Zhang family's ancestors had appeared to them, and even some villagers thought so. Otherwise, how could the Zhang family have fallen to such a state of poverty?

Even so, after returning home, the Zhang mother and daughter still respectfully placed the golden toad on the offering table and earnestly worshipped it together with the ancestral tablets.

"This……"

Although Su Ji was a toad, he was still a living creature and never imagined that he would be worshipped. Looking at the mother and daughter kneeling and kowtowing, he felt a bit of amusement and exasperation.

Just as the smoke rose, Yan Tianchou suddenly trembled, and then a piece of text appeared.

"【Incense and Candles】: As sacrificial items, they contain relatively pure wishes after burning. Although the content is scarce, they can be regarded as a medium-grade computing power resource."

Upon seeing this, Su Ji's heart stirred slightly. He remembered that Yan Tianchou had once said that the power of vows on copper coins was mixed and impure, and a portion of it needed to be removed before it could be used as calculation power, making it the lowest grade.

Even his thoughts were only low-grade computing power resources, but unexpectedly, the power of incense and vows had reached the mid-grade level.

Just as Su Ji was pondering, the Zhang family mother and daughter began burning paper money, and the Tianchou (a type of paper money) quickly reacted again.

"【Paper money】: As an item for sacrifice, it carries a certain amount of wish after being burned, and can be regarded as a low-grade computing power resource."

Looking at these words, Su Ji couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

The reason why Yan Tianchou was unable to help him deduce the cultivation method was because he could only provide too little computing power and the copper coins he found were also very limited.

If he could find a way to obtain a continuous source of computing power from incense, candles, and paper money, his path of cultivation would not be far off!
With a slight thought, he posed the question to Yan Tianchou, and soon lines of text appeared—

"Through procreation, one can raise offspring into intelligent monsters and gain the power of faith."

"One can become a deity by accumulating good deeds and gain the faith of the people in the area."

"Through hard work, one can gain the court's recognition and be deified after death."

"..."

The calculations of the Heavenly Calculation were detailed and comprehensive, even including methods for producing a group of tadpoles, which left Su Ji speechless.

As for the methods that follow, they all require a certain level of capability, making them seem like a long way off...

Not long after, several villagers suddenly arrived at Zhang's courtyard with incense, candles, and paper money. They were not there to pay respects to Zhang's ancestors, but rather for the golden toad.

This world is often plagued by demons and monsters, but also by immortals, Buddhas, and saints. Not to mention the distant past, the village was haunted a while ago, and it lasted for more than half a month.

The Wu family sewed the amulet into their clothes with the intention of warding off evil spirits. After the ghostly incident subsided a couple of days ago, they handed the clothes over to Zhang's maid to clean.

These people connected this incident to the fact that the appearance of the golden toad was not accidental, but rather a protective treasure bestowed by the local earth god to prevent evil spirits from causing trouble again.

In cities there are city gods, and in villages there are local deities. The so-called heavenly officials and heavenly emperors are all high above, while the local deity is the master and protector of these villagers.

Seeing that the group was sincere, the Zhang mother and daughter did not try to stop them, and soon the room was filled with respectful prayers and blessings.

Seeing the incense, candles, and paper money rising into the air, Su Ji was overjoyed. However, at that moment, Yan Tianchou dealt him a heavy blow.

"warn!
"Absorbing these incense offerings is tantamount to disturbing the earth at the feet of the local earth god!"

Su Ji looked at the warning text in yellow and suddenly realized something.

This is a world with demons, ghosts, immortals, and Buddhas, and also a world where humans and gods coexist.

It's one thing for him to take some of the incense offerings from the Zhang family ancestors; even if the Zhang family ancestors were alive, they wouldn't come back to settle scores.

The local earth god is a different story. Even if he were a human, this act would be considered stealing offerings, let alone if he were a toad that might be mistaken for a monster.

"That was close..."

Fortunately, while Yan Tianchou was reminding him, he had not yet absorbed these rising faith and aspirations. After receiving his order, he remained completely unaffected.

As time passed and the night deepened, Zhang Xiaolian's coughs subsided, and the mother and daughter slowly drifted off to sleep.

As dawn approached, Su Ji finally waited for the full twenty-four hours. With a thought, he transformed from the golden toad into a flesh-and-blood body and quietly left the Zhang family through the crack in the door.

Although neither Zhang Xiaolian nor the villagers who were watching encountered the strange snake, Su Ji was still very cautious. After observing for a while, he cautiously made his way towards the river with the help of Yan Tianchou.

Along the shore were stones specifically for washing clothes, and Yan Tianchou gave a warning before they even got close.

It wasn't a danger warning, but rather that Yan Tianchou had found an anomaly based on the concentration of the absorbed golden energy.

From above, there was nothing unusual at all. But as he crawled into a crevice in the rock, he found something.

Hidden in a crevice in the rock, out of sight from above, lies a uniquely patterned copper coin.

Su Ji couldn't help but sigh, "No wonder the Zhang family girl searched for so long in the river but couldn't find it... It turns out that the amulet coin didn't fall into the water, but rolled into the depths of the rocks!"

Su Ji first cleared a small passage by digging through the mud and sand, and then used his claws to pull out the lucky charms that had rolled down there.

However, unlike what the Wu family said, this amulet coin only had a very exquisite design, and he did not sense any strange power from it.

...Since the Zhang family mother and daughter have offered incense, candles, and paper money, I cannot simply accept them for nothing.

With this thought in mind, Su Ji disregarded his hunger, put the lucky charm in his mouth, and carefully headed towards the Zhang family.

He wasn't afraid of humans at night, and wouldn't care about a toad even if someone got up in the middle of the night. What he feared were the cats and dogs in the village.

Fortunately, the Zhang family was poor and didn't have the energy to keep cats and dogs. In addition, the Zhang family lived on the edge of the village, so Su Ji easily arrived at the Zhang family's courtyard.

However, just as Su Ji was about to squeeze through the crack in the door into the Zhang family's courtyard, he suddenly encountered something unexpected yet perfectly logical.

The peachwood charms on the Zhang family's gate flashed, revealing a door god figure six feet tall.

In an instant, a giant foot suddenly descended from the sky above Su Ji's head. As the powerful sense of oppression came, a majestic Taoist shout rang in his ears.

"Monster, I would have spared your life if you had left, so why have you returned!"

Not to mention the ghosts and monsters that had been causing trouble in the village not long ago, even considering the duties of the door gods, they could not allow monsters to break into people's homes.

"..." Yan Tianchou immediately began to analyze the sound fluctuations of the door god's phantom, striving to deduce a way to communicate with ghosts and gods as quickly as possible.

Su Ji did not hesitate at all and spat out the lucky charm coin in his mouth very decisively.

The golden toad spitting out money speaks volumes without a sound, instantly clarifying the reason why Su Ji returned to the Zhang family.

In an instant, the door god's large foot stopped in mid-air.

At the same time, a soft exclamation, tinged with surprise, suddenly rang out from inside the courtyard.

New author, new book, please add to your collection and invest.

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(End of this chapter)