The speaker was Qingxuan Daoist.
Li Qingran’s indifferent gaze met Qingxuan Daoist’s, and she coldly retorted, “I, Li Qingran, am innocent!”
The entire square in front of the hall fell silent at Li Qingran’s words. Everyone looked at her in shock.
How dare Li Qingran defy a Transformation Stage cultivator?!
For most sect members, elders like Qingxuan Daoist were respected as venerable seniors, almost like a heavenly law. Whatever he said was right, and everyone would comply.
Any discrepancies could be explained later. But to directly confront a Transformation Stage cultivator head-on was tantamount to seeking death.
There was no need to talk about power dynamics.
The strength of a Transformation Stage cultivator was evident.
If you dared to say no, they could suppress you with their realm. What could you do?
In the end, might makes right in the cultivation world.
Master Wu Duantian shook his head at Li Qingran, sighing, “This Li Qingran has a good heart. She can remain calm under Elder Qingxuan’s pressure, but rigidity leads to breakage. She is not suited for the cultivation world…”
“You are innocent?!” Qingxuan Daoist laughed bitterly. “Now, your disrespect towards your seniors is already a grave offense. Kneel down!”
Boom!
A terrifying pressure descended upon Li Qingran.
Even though Li Qingran clenched her teeth, she was still forced to her knees. However, a gentle force then supported her knees, spreading through her body to help her resist Qingxuan Daoist’s pressure.
“It’s the senior…”
Li Qingran felt a warmth in her heart. She thought, sure enough, the senior had arrived.
But there were seven Transformation Stage cultivators and over ten Core Formation Stage cultivators in the Bluecloud Sect. If the senior intervened for her, there might be danger.
She relied on the senior but also constantly worried about the senior’s safety.
“Qingran is slow-witted and has caused trouble for the senior again…”
[No matter.]
A cold voice echoed in her ear.
[I am here. Who dares to insult you!]
…
Chen Huaian was impressive in the game.
Outside the game, Chen Huaian was bewildered.
Flash back to ten minutes ago.
Li Qingran had just entered the great hall.
As Chen Huaian predicted, a series of prompts popped up on the game interface.
[You have triggered the main quest 1.0: Help Li Qingran sever her ties with Chixiao Peak and overcome this calamity. (This task is extremely difficult. If you fail, your virtual girlfriend Li Qingran will remain on Chixiao Peak and eventually die in prison.)]
[Please create your in-game character first!]
Chen Huaian’s lips twitched.
Impressive.
He had spent tens of thousands of yuan before starting to create his in-game character.
Without this window popping up, he wouldn’t even know he could create a character! He thought his character was just an ethereal spiritual form or perhaps just two hands.
“Let me see what’s going on!”
Chen Huaian opened the character creation panel and found that the game’s face customization system was limited. He could only make minor adjustments based on his current appearance. Fortunately, he didn’t look bad, so after a few tweaks, his character would have some immortal charm.
When he pulled down the hair section, his hand froze.
[Limited-time special offer Immortal White Hair – Wu Wei, one-time payment for permanent enjoyment, just 998¥! Get premium white hair at home!]
“Damn it!”
Chen Huaian’s expression was colorful.
He originally thought the game wouldn’t scam him here, but he hadn’t expected them to be so blatant.
Over a hundred options for white hair were available. Without white hair, there were gold, red, silver, and thousands of hairstyles! This limited-time offer was the cheapest, resembling Wei WuXian’s ponytail but in white.
He tried it on.
It was stunning.
“998¥ is reasonable, much cheaper than the 9998¥ ones. I’ll buy it.” Chen Huaian shook his head. As a fan of white hair, he knew he had to pay the price. Luckily, he was well-off now, so this amount wasn’t much.
Next was the outfit.
Without buying an outfit, he would only get a free burlap robe. Forget about looking like a high-level cultivator; compared to street beggars, it was barely better.
An outfit must be bought!
Chen Huaian carefully selected a dark purple daoist robe named Di Jun, adorned with golden dragon patterns at the cuffs, priced at 3988¥. It was also a limited-time offer. Other daoist robes cost tens of thousands, some with functions costing millions, and some required spirit stones… He didn’t quite understand the specifics but knew he couldn’t afford them.
With a flashy outfit and white hair, his character finally looked somewhat dignified. However, compared to the divine light-emitting Transformation Stage cultivators in the sect hall, there was still a significant gap.
Thus came the next option for spending money.
[Body Effect]
<1> Ancestor Dragon Protection: Obtain the Ancestor Dragon protective effect, with the Ancestor Dragon leading the way upon entry, dragon aura surrounding the body, all seas submitting! Daily card: 9988¥ or 1 Spirit Crystal/month card: 288888¥ or 28 Spirit Crystals/year card: 30 million¥ or 300 Spirit Crystals/permanent card: 3 billion¥ or 30 million Spirit Crystals
Card 2.5 billion¥ (or use Spirit Crystals to pay)
…
<1999> Ancestor Dragon Seal: Obtain the Ancestor Dragon aura. Today’s special offer: 99.8¥, returning to original price next purchase. (Original price: daily card: 998¥ or 100 top-grade Spirit Stones)
Chen Huaian: “…”
After a moment of silence, he ultimately chose the Ancestor Dragon Seal.
It was affordable and cost-effective.
Wearing this effect instantly made a five-clawed black dragon phantom circle his character.
Though not as powerful as the full version of Ancestor Dragon Protection,
what did ninety-nine blocks eighty-eight want with a bicycle?
Besides, he was facing a Transformation Stage cultivator.
Not a group of Great Transcendents.
No need for such grandiose actions.
After all, there were more expensive things ahead.
[Weapon Effect]
The weapon was the Black Scaled Sword. Although it was delivered to his home, the in-game item didn’t disappear and remained in his character’s inventory.
For the weapon effect, Chen Huaian simply bought a top-tier spirit tool effect, which was also a special offer at 99.8¥. After all, weapons were external, and self-cultivation was key.
The main event began.
[Level-up Directly]
Newly created characters had no realm.
It was unknown if they could cultivate.
Currently, the character wasn’t fully created, so there was no cultivation option. Instead, the spending points were listed.
<1> Directly reach the peak of Qi Refining Realm: 200 thousand¥/Qi Refining Realm experience card 99.8¥/day,
<2> Directly reach the peak of Foundation Establishment Realm: 5 million¥/Foundation Establishment Realm experience card 998¥/day,
<3> Directly reach the peak of Golden Core Realm: 80 million¥/Golden Core Realm experience card 10,998¥/day,
<4> Directly reach the peak of Core Formation Realm: 660 million¥/Core Formation Realm experience card 88 thousand¥/day,
<5> Directly reach the peak of Transformation Realm: 188 million¥/Transformation Realm experience card 188 thousand¥/day,
<Other realms are currently not open. All can be paid with Spirit Crystals. One Spirit Crystal cancels out 10 thousand¥>
If this were before, even if he had just started with a virtual girlfriend or closer to when he went for a medical checkup, seeing these outrageous spending options, he would sneer and curse the game developers’ ancestors.
Now, he merely smiled indifferently and clicked on the Transformation Realm experience card.
188 thousand¥ disappeared from his bank account.
His character’s divine light surged, and overwhelming spiritual awareness pressure spread like ripples on water.
Just then, he heard in the game,
Qingxuan Daoist’s enraged roar, “Kneel down!”
Kneel down?
Make Li Qingran kneel down?
Ha…
Chen Huaian pressed the communication talisman and sneered,
“Today, with me around, who dares?!”
