Chapter 9

"Cell phone?" Zhou Lingfeng was a bit puzzled, and after a long while, he suddenly said, "The cell phone you mentioned, is it a completely white metal case, black screen, no buttons, and about five or six inches in size?"

"That's right, it's that one. Is the cell phone yours?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.

"No, it belongs to your grandfather. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about it." Zhou Lingfeng smiled and said, "That cell phone is your grandfather's treasure."

"Grandfather's treasure? Where did Grandfather get it from?" Zhou Wen asked, sensing something was off in Zhou Lingfeng's tone.

Zhou Lingfeng then recounted the origin of the cell phone, leaving Zhou Wen stunned.

Zhou Wen's grandfather was a carpenter, but not the kind who made tables, chairs, and stools. He could make those things, but his main job was to build ancient-style wooden structures.

When the ancient city of Guider was being rebuilt to restore its ancient appearance, many ancient-style wooden buildings needed to be constructed. Zhou Wen's grandfather took on the job and worked in Guider for over a year.

During this time, a dry ancient well was excavated at the construction site. It was a rush job at night, and there were no outsiders around, only a few workers, including Zhou Wen's grandfather.

When the ancient well was dug up, a faint light seemed to emanate from below. The workers thought they had found a treasure, so they decided to dig it out and get rich.

After descending into the well, they found an old, rotten wooden box. The box was almost completely decayed, with many cracks, and the light was coming from the cracks.

The workers brought the box up, thinking it contained treasure that they could share. They hoped it would allow them to live a comfortable life.

However, when they opened the wooden box, they found a cell phone. At that time, cell phones were just becoming popular, but they were no longer rare.

The phone was still lit when they first saw it, but after they took it out, it went black as if it had no battery. There were no buttons on the phone, and they couldn't find a charging port.

Zhou Wen's grandfather and the other workers were very disappointed. They thought someone had played a prank by putting a broken phone in the box, and since it had no value, they lost interest. In the end, Zhou Wen's grandfather casually put it in his tool bag.

Later, the phone was brought back to the Zhou family. Zhou Wen's grandfather didn't throw it away but stored it in a storage room. When Zhou Lingfeng was young, his grandfather told him this story, but he presented it as a ghost story, so Zhou Lingfeng remembered it clearly.

"That broken cell phone can't even be turned on. When I was a kid, I took it to a cell phone repair shop to get a price, thinking of trading it for a few packs of cigarettes. But the repairman said it wasn't worth anything, so I just threw it in a cookie box. You're not thinking of selling it for money, are you? Cell phones are a recent invention, not antiques, and old models aren't worth much." Zhou Lingfeng said.

Zhou Wen thought to himself, "Thank goodness the phone wasn't traded for cigarettes, or I would have cried."

"Has this phone never lit up before?" Zhou Wen asked again.

"How could it? It's been stored for who knows how many years. Even if it wasn't broken, it would have been out of battery long ago." Zhou Lingfeng interrupted Zhou Wen, "Anyway, I have a lot of things to do. I've already informed you, so it's up to you whether you come to the wedding or not."

With that, Zhou Lingfeng hung up the phone.

"From the ancient well in Guider? Unfortunately, Guider has become a dimensional realm, and ordinary people can't get close. But the practical test for Guider Prefecture is held in Guider, so I wonder if I can find that well." Zhou Wen thought, but couldn't come up with any ideas.

As Zhou Lingfeng said, cell phones are a product of the past few decades and can't be antiques. Even if they were antiques, they couldn't have such magical abilities.

"Damn, I forgot to ask Dad if he offended anyone." Zhou Wen wanted to call back, but after some thought, he didn't.

Since An Jing had already left and nothing serious happened, there was no need to bring it up again.

Taking out the mysterious cell phone, Zhou Wen opened the Ant Nest program and entered the sea of monsters again.

One by one, the ants were killed by the blood-colored avatar. The game character felt like Zhou Wen himself, and the experience and insights gained from the battles were felt by Zhou Wen as well.

Now, Zhou Wen was more experienced in killing the Strong Ants, lasting longer than before. He could kill four or five hundred Strong Ants with one life, whereas before he could only kill about a hundred.

Unfortunately, his luck was average today. He only got two Strength Crystals and one Constitution Crystal, and they were of low level, only useful for energy replenishment, not for direct level-ups.

Just as he was getting into the rhythm, a red Mutated Strong Ant appeared, making Zhou Wen's heart leap with joy. He controlled the blood-colored avatar and charged forward.

Before, without learning the Strong Fist technique, killing the Mutated Strong Ant was difficult. This time, Zhou Wen used the Strong Fist technique, smashing the Mutated Strong Ant's head and then its body with another punch.

Ding!

A crisp sound rang in his ears, and indeed, a Dimensional Crystal dropped, but only one this time.

"Killed a Mutated Strong Ant, found a Constitution Crystal."

Zhou Wen examined the Constitution Crystal and saw a number 9 on it, making his heart leap with joy.

His Constitution was currently at 8 points, and with this Constitution Crystal, he could advance further.

Constitution affects physical strength and endurance. Only with a strong Constitution can one fight for a long time without tiring, and physical resistance to attacks will also increase. The Kucha Zen he practiced mainly focused on strengthening Constitution and Strength.

Controlling the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Constitution Crystal, a strange force spread from the cell phone to Zhou Wen's entire body, making all his cells feel alive.

Seeing the Constitution in the game data change to 9, Zhou Wen felt his body become much tougher. When ordinary Strong Ants bit the blood-colored avatar, the avatar's health dropped much less.

Zhou Wen continued to grind, discovering that the Mutated Strong Ants occasionally appeared in the depths of the nest, with no fixed location, and not every time they dropped a Dimensional Crystal.

Later, Zhou Wen encountered two more Mutated Strong Ants, but they didn't drop anything.

Time passed quickly as he grinded. Zhou Wen's life didn't change much; he slept in class and played games after class, only practicing coordination and teamwork with Fang Ruoxi and others during cultivation classes.

However, for some reason, Zhou Wen felt that Yu Qiubai was looking at him strangely these days. Every time he looked at Yu Qiubai, he saw him squinting and smiling at him, which made him feel uneasy.