After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

Lin Zhixu paid the bill and left the restaurant.

He didn't notice that two people behind him exchanged a glance and quietly followed him.

He strolled around the market and bought most of what he needed.

Just as she was about to head to the meeting place with Jiang Che, she was blocked by two people, one in front and one behind.

Those nearby, seeing this, quickly moved away.

Lin Zhixu paused, looking at the newcomers warily: "What do you want?"

The two people in front of me, one tall and one fat, looked somewhat familiar.

He recalled that he seemed to have glanced around the restaurant twice and then sat at the table diagonally opposite him.

The tall man smiled broadly and spoke in a very friendly tone: "Fellow Daoist, don't be nervous, we mean no harm. We were just impressed by your generosity at the restaurant and wish to make your acquaintance."

Lin Zhixu frowned, inwardly cursing himself for being careless.

Being new to the place and clueless, I forgot the principle of not flaunting my wealth when paying the bill, and someone started watching me.

It seems I'll have to brush up on my basic knowledge of the cultivation world when I get back.

It's not entirely his fault. No one taught him to discern the value of spirit stones, and being young, he was bound to attract unwanted attention.

Lin Zhixu said expressionlessly, "No need. I don't want to make friends. I have something to do, so I'll be leaving now."

He lifted his foot to leave, but the two men blocked his way from the left and right.

"Fellow Daoist, don't be in such a hurry to leave," the tall man said, dropping his pretense and lowering his voice. "To tell you the truth, I have a treasure in my possession. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

"Not interested," Lin Zhixu stared at him. "Get out of my way."

The two were clearly surprised that he was so unyielding.

In the cultivation world, they wouldn't dare to provoke anyone, but the two looked at Lin Zhixu, who was dressed in plain clothes and had a naive expression that seemed out of place here, like a newcomer. Yet he was so generous with his money, and they wondered where he got his spirit stones.

I thought I could extort some money from him by threatening him a few times, but I didn't expect this kid to be so wary and not be swayed by either soft or hard tactics.

The fat man grew impatient, shoved the tall man aside, and said gruffly, "Why waste your breath on him! Kid, you're lucky we're doing this deal with you, don't be ungrateful."

The tall man stumbled from the push, but still didn't want to escalate the situation. He glared at the fat man, then quickly put on a smiling face again: "Fellow Daoist, I really have something good in my hand."

"If you miss this opportunity, you'll never have another chance. The price is guaranteed to be affordable and you'll be absolutely satisfied."

Lin Zhixu watched as the two men played good cop and bad cop, and he knew in his heart that they had come prepared and would not let him go easily.

I am now isolated and helpless; a direct confrontation would definitely result in me suffering losses.

He suppressed his irritation and asked expressionlessly, "...What is it?"

The tall man's eyes lit up, and he quickly pulled out a cloth bag from his pocket, opening it layer by layer, mysteriously, as if he were showing off some rare treasure.

The last layer of tattered cloth was removed, revealing an ugly...stone.

It's dusty and about the size of a fist, with a pitted and uneven surface; no one would even give it a second glance if you threw it on the roadside.

Lin Zhixu: "..."

That's it?

Even if you want to deceive people, shouldn't you at least package your stuff a little?

The tall man, however, showed no embarrassment. Instead, he said solemnly, "Fellow Daoist, don't let its unassuming appearance fool you. This is a piece of immortal stone left over from the great war between immortals and demons millions of years ago. It contains boundless energy and is priceless!"

Lin Zhixu said coldly, "Then why don't you keep them for yourselves?"

The tall man, who was prepared, sighed and said with a regretful expression, "It's just that we two brothers aren't skilled enough to unravel its mysteries. So we can only find someone who is destined to understand."

"I spotted you at the restaurant just now, and I immediately felt that this stone, this immortal stone, was destined to be with you."

He paused, as if making a huge decision, and said with a heavy heart, "Considering our fate together, I'll reluctantly part with it and only charge you one hundred high-grade spirit stones. How about it?"

Not very good.

Lin Zhixu sneered inwardly.

When he was paying the bill at the restaurant, he took out a spirit stone with a better color, and the waiter gave him a whole bunch of spirit stones with a worse color and smaller size.

It is evident that the exchange rate between high-grade spirit stones and low-grade spirit stones is ridiculously high.

The purchasing power of a low-grade spirit stone is already quite considerable for an ordinary person, yet this person is asking for a hundred high-grade spirit stones right off the bat; they really think he's a fool.

Lin Zhixu: "I have no money."

Seeing that he wouldn't budge despite being persuaded, the fat man completely lost his temper: "You think I'm blind just because you say we have no money?"

"You clearly took out a high-grade spirit stone in the restaurant, so you must have more on you! Even if you don't, you have to hand over all the remaining spirit stones!"

The fat man was furious and stepped forward to attack.

The tall man also felt that this kid was going to get what he deserved, so he stood aside and stopped trying to stop him.

Lin Zhixu's fingers had already touched the jade slip Jiang Che had given him, and he was about to crush it—

"Stop! What are you doing?"

A familiar voice came from the alley entrance.

Lin Zhixu turned his head and saw Luo Yiyan rushing over quickly, followed by an unfamiliar young man.

Luo Yiyan, a head taller than him, stood in front of him, spreading her arms to shield him behind her, glaring angrily at the two in front of her: "You're bullying people in broad daylight! Don't you have any sense of law?!"

The tall man eyed the newcomer warily.

He wasn't afraid of the two boys in front of him, but the man behind him had an imposing presence, with a sharp look in his eyes, and was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

The fat man, however, was unfazed and scoffed, "The law? This is the cultivation world. You think you can talk to me about the law?"

The tall man grabbed him and said in a low voice, "Forget it, let's go."

Immediately putting on a smile, Chong Linzhi bowed and said, "Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand. We didn't bully this fellow Daoist; we just wanted to do business with him. Since he's unwilling, then forget it, we won't bother you any longer."

He pulled the reluctant fat man and turned to leave, but the man next to Luo Yiyan stepped forward and blocked their way.

"Please wait, you two. Now that we've run into each other, it won't be so easy for you to leave."

The two men's expressions changed drastically, realizing their identities had been exposed. They exchanged a glance and attacked simultaneously.

A cold glint flashed from the tall man's sleeve, and a short sword pierced straight at the man's face.

The fat man then flanked him from the side, and a pair of copper hammers appeared in his hands at some point, which he swung powerfully at the fat man's lower back.

The man dodged the attack with a swift movement.

Lin Zhixu reacted quickly, grabbing Luo Yiyan and pulling her back. The two hid behind a stall.

Those two good-for-nothings shouldn't cause any more trouble.

The stall owner was terrified and huddled in the back, trembling.

Oh no, he said, "Why have my eyelids been twitching all morning? Turns out, this is bad luck. I wonder if I can even keep my stall?"

Over there, it was two against one. Although the man's cultivation was clearly higher than the two, the tall and fat men cooperated well and used insidious moves, targeting tricky angles. For a while, the man was also struggling.

He had just parried the tall man's short sword when the fat man's copper hammer followed, forcing him to retreat several steps.