Chapter 18: Spending the Silver Coin

Returning home, Li Xia first tidied up all her belongings, placing the useful ones into her personal space. She still remembered the lunatic who had shot at her before; earlier, while eating, she had casually checked her phone. There was only one news report about a runaway unloading truck crashing by the roadside, with no casualties reported. On short video platforms, there were live recordings of the scene, showing herself standing there with a baffled expression.

But that was all. Li Xia recalled carefully—she hadn’t even had time to fire her gun before the explosion happened. Plus, since she was sitting inside the car, it was understandable no one noticed her. So, the crazy woman was most likely still out there.

An open attack is easy to dodge, but hidden threats are hard to defend against. Since she was about to go out for a while, it was the perfect time to improve her basic attributes and learn some foundational skills.

Her personal space now measured a full hundred cubic meters, and with the revival of the Hall, it would continue to expand. A hundred cubic meters was roughly half the size of a classroom—decent on its own—but the advantage of this space was that items inside didn’t just pile up on the floor. Instead, they could be arranged freely within the space, greatly improving its utilization.

In just a short while, the entire house was empty, much to the delight of the elderly garbage collector in the neighborhood, who couldn’t stop smiling. After confirming repeatedly that she didn’t want any of the discarded items, the old man solemnly promised, “If there’s anything valuable hidden inside, I’ll definitely return it to you!”

Valuable items? What valuable items could there be? Li Xia shook her head. When her parents had the car accident, the culprit had nothing to be executed for; the car was stolen. They had tried everything in the ICU, sold everything they could, and just as she was about to sell the house, her parents passed away. Logically, as long as there was a balance in the ICU, such problems shouldn’t have occurred. Yet Li Xia inexplicably felt her parents didn’t want to burden her.

After a moment of silence, she carefully packed away the portraits of her late parents and left home.

...

She first went to a phone store and bought a simple elderly phone without any flashy features, then purchased a new smartphone. At a newsstand, she successfully obtained an unregistered black card. After transferring her original SIM card into the elderly phone, she shut it down, planning not to turn it on unless absolutely necessary to avoid being tracked via her phone.

Next, she went to the bank and withdrew her remaining money—less than ten thousand yuan. The bank didn’t even bother to ask the usual questions about the withdrawal.

“Free fighting... strength training... speed training...” In a quiet café, Li Xia listed on paper all the ways she could think of to improve her abilities.

“Oh, and shooting, cold weapon combat... martial arts...” Her pen stopped at ‘martial arts,’ and her brow furrowed. Martial arts... that realm was full of exaggerations.

It wasn’t entirely fake, but it wasn’t as glorified as people claimed either.

She recalled attending a wedding once, where the groom’s father had practiced martial arts for years, specializing in Tai Chi and skillfully wielding a nine-section whip.

Their hometown customs were unpleasant—putting a tall hat on the groom’s father’s head and smearing ink on his face.

Li Xia witnessed a surreal scene. The uncle was very proud and refused to accept such a humiliating practice. Five or six young men tried to hold him down but couldn’t. No one knew how he did it, but those who grabbed him staggered and finally let go, allowing him to escape.

After some hesitation, Li Xia decided to include martial arts anyway—just in case it could manifest as a skill.

She reorganized her notes and stared at the long list she had written. After much contemplation, she wrote a single word at the bottom, circled it heavily, and tapped it firmly.

“Money.”

All the plans above required a large amount of money to support them.

As for the source of funds... a shiny silver coin suddenly appeared between Li Xia’s fingers.

[Meiji Dragon Yen]

[Valuable Item · Currency]

[Description: A silver currency, possibly highly sought after as a collectible in some worlds.]

She had just checked online—the price of the Meiji Dragon Yen fluctuated greatly, from a few hundred to four or five million yuan.

However, the coins she held had been singled out by the system as valuables, naturally belonging to the highest tier.

So, to raise funds, she would have to rely on these silver coins.

Li Xia made up her mind and carefully stored the silver coin away.

Departure!

...

Jinling was an ancient city with the elegant charm of Jiangnan, rich in cultural industries. The city center still preserved many buildings and alleys from previous dynasties.

Among these alleys were numerous antique shops, with coin collections especially abundant.

Li Xia found a seemingly reputable coin shop. As soon as she entered, she was captivated by the dazzling array of coins on display.

Inside the glass counters, ancient and modern coins from many countries seemed to be holding a grand conference, filling every inch.

“Welcome, handsome young man,” a cheerful woman greeted her, casually scanning Li Xia from head to toe.

“First time here, right? Are you collecting or selling?”

Li Xia took a small box from her pocket and placed it on the counter. With no desire for idle chatter, she said plainly, “Selling.”

The woman, accustomed to all kinds of customers, was not surprised.

She opened the small box and saw a silver coin gleaming inside.

If it was genuine, the condition...

Leaning closer, she almost uttered a curse. Who made this fake? So careless.

Even the aging looked unconvincing—it appeared as if it had only been in circulation for a decade or so.

“Sir, your coin is...” The woman held the silver coin carefully, but couldn’t finish her sentence.

The more she examined it, the more shocked she became. Every subtle detail she knew matched perfectly.

Plus, the condition...

If it was authentic... a string of numbers flashed through her mind—prices the coin had fetched at auctions.

Could it be that I’ve really found a treasure?

Suppressing her excitement, the woman brought out a magnifying glass for a closer look, racking her brains for any flaw.

But no matter how she looked, the coin was flawless—perfect, almost unnaturally so.

Yet if it really was genuine, she was about to make a huge profit!

Many people would pay top prices to collect it. At the very least, this coin could launder five million yuan in black money.

Unable to resist, she picked up the coin, intending to find someone inside to verify it.

Just then, a hand pressed down on the box—long, slender fingers.

Startled, the woman looked up and saw Li Xia gazing at her calmly.

“This isn’t proper procedure, is it?” Li Xia said coolly.