Chapter 9: You Can't Afford It?

Leo immediately closed his eyes to sense the energy within him. Sure enough, after using it during the day, he felt it had diminished slightly.

The voice on the phone seemed to anticipate Leo's realization and continued, "Energy conservation is a universal law. The strange energy within you is called Spiritual Power. It decreases with use but can be replenished through cultivation."

"How do I cultivate it?" Leo asked, eager for more information.

"The methods are stored in your mind. Spiritual energy exists in the world. You just need to cultivate it, transforming the spiritual energy into Spiritual Power for use," the voice explained.

"Oh, and initially, your body might not sense the spiritual energy. You can channel Spiritual Power into your eyes to perceive it," the voice added.

"Why are you telling me this? What's your motive?" Leo knew there had to be more to the story.

"You'll understand in time. We might even meet again someday. Make good use of your abilities. Goodbye," the voice said before hanging up.

"Wait!" Leo shouted, wanting to ask more questions, but it was too late. He called the number back, but the number was now out of service.

Throwing the phone onto the bed, Leo fell into deep thought.

Who was that person?

Why had that guy experimented on him?

What was his goal?

Unable to find any answers, Leo decided to focus on what the old man had said. He tried channeling a bit of Spiritual Power into his eyes.

A faint, almost invisible blue mist appeared over his pupils, and suddenly, something amazing happened.

He could see through his wardrobe, clearly identifying the clothes inside.

Was this... X-ray vision?

Leo scanned the room but found no trace of spiritual energy, so he delved into his mind for cultivation methods.

He soon found a technique called Nine Transformations of the Stars in his mind.

It was profoundly complex, but he spent the night trying to understand and practice it.

The next morning, Sophia didn't go to work. After breakfast, she asked Leo to drive her to the antique street.

Martin's birthday was the day after tomorrow, and Sophia wanted to get him a gift.

Martin loved collecting jade and antiques, so the antique street was the perfect place to find something.

Leo had been to the antique street twice, so he knew his way around. He parked the car, bought a set of silver needles from a traditional medicine shop, and then accompanied Sophia as they browsed the stalls.

Sophia knew nothing about jade and antiques, so she gravitated towards crowded areas, believing that popular spots would have the best finds.

At one shop, they found a large crowd gathered, buzzing with excitement.

Since they couldn't find anything that looked amazing, they joined the throng.

As they squeezed to the front, they saw a pile of rough stones, also known as jadeite raw materials to the experts.

It turned out they were hosting a stone gambling event.

"Hey, Sophia!" A woman's voice called out.

Sophia turned and saw her college classmate, Julie Jefferson. She hadn't expected to run into Julie here.

Sophia frowned. She hadn't gotten along well with Julie in college and had barely kept in touch since graduation. Still, she forced a smile. "Julie, are you shopping on the antique street too?"

"Yes, I'm here to buy some jade. There's a stone gambling event here," Julie said, her eyes landing on Leo. "And this must be your mute husband!"

Julie's loud comment drew stares from the crowd, making Sophia's face burn with embarrassment.

She wished she hadn't brought Leo.

"Julie, I heard you got divorced. Is that true?" Sophia quickly changed the subject.

Julie casually admitted, "Yes, but I'm getting married again next month. My fiance is the CEO of one of Langstel's top ten companies. You must come to the wedding."

Sophia thought Julie was quite snobbish.

Not wanting to discuss personal matters further, Sophia pointed to a piece of jadeite raw material. "Do you know how to gamble on stones? How does it work?"

Julie brightened at the topic. "Stone gambling is simple. There are two types. See this one with the exposed jade? That's one kind. It's more expensive. The ones completely encased in stone are much cheaper."

"If you buy raw material and cut out jade worth more than you paid, you've won. The better the jade, the more you earn. But if the jade is worth less, or if there's no jade, you've lost. Simple as that."

"For example, this stone has a crack," Julie pointed at a raw piece. "It looks like it might produce glass-quality jade. If so, it could be worth tens or even hundreds of times its price."

Julie enjoyed showing off her knowledge to Sophia, who had always outshone Julie academically.

Finished with her explanation, Julie looked at Leo again. She thought she was lucky today because she got the chance to humiliate Sophia with her loser husband.

"You must be Leo. Your wife seems interested in this jade. Why don't you buy it for her?"

Leo stepped forward to examine the piece closely.

Julie smirked. No way a loser could afford this jadeite, priced at fifty thousand dollars.

Leo shook his head. "This jadeite might have glass-quality jade in the cracking area, but there's nothing inside. Buying it would be a loss."

Julie scoffed. "You just can't afford it, can you?"

She doubted Leo had the skills to gamble on stones.

Ignoring Julie, Leo turned to Sophia. "Let me pick one. If I get some jade, we can make it into a birthday gift for your father."