Chapter 144: Fighting for a Spot

"Tiger Strike!"

"Dragon Strike!"

"Twin Dragon Claws!" The midnight streets were completely deserted; walking on the path back to the academy, Yu Liang wielded his fists and kicked with thunderous fury.

"Haha... Hahaha!" A searing light blazed in his eyes, his shoulders trembling slightly with excitement. "Killing monsters can increase my level? And increasing my level increases my strength?! How can there be such a wonderful thing in this world?!"

"How incredible! What a magnificent advancement!" After playing for only four or five hours tonight, he felt his progress was faster than if he had consumed all sorts of spiritual medicines and cultivated in the Martial Arts Tower himself!

"This is simply too powerful!" Yu Liang felt the newly added martial qi within his body; it was as if it had been tempered a thousand times over, leaving virtually no impurities. "With martial qi of this purity, how much effort would I normally have to spend to refine it?! Now, I've obtained it after playing for just one night?!"

"No wonder those disciples went even at the risk of such great danger..." Yu Liang muttered to himself. "If this continues, before long, I'll be promoted to a mentor of the Earth Academy, or perhaps even go to the Heaven Academy to teach the super-elites among those disciples?!"

"Why does such a powerful method of cultivation exist?! Even though they both increase one's strength, this small shop is far superior to the Martial Arts Tower!"

"This feeling is simply too wonderful!"

It was too exhilarating!

"But... I heard that you can also team up in this game...? Leveling up and killing monsters is faster and safer?!" He actually felt deeply about this point. If one died amidst a horde of monsters, running back alone to pick up the dropped equipment risked dying several more times if one wasn't careful, and running back and forth wasted enough time already! It was utterly frustrating.

"Should I bring a few close friends along to play? So we can look out for one another?" Although his selfish desires were at play, making him somewhat reluctant to tell others, still...

"Just those few should be fine, right...?"

...

On the other side, Chen Feng gathered with several artifact refiners from his clan, as well as the overseers of the Yang and Yu families.

They all belonged to families of modest size within Jiuhua City; they possessed some influence, but they certainly could not compare to grand clans like the Ouyang family or the Bu family, let alone the Nalan family.

Among the factions that ranked across the entire Jiangnan region, they could only be considered lower-middle.

But whether lower-middle or upper-middle, a new power or an old clan, since they could make the ranks, they would lack neither financial nor material resources!

"We've all been deceived by that fellow Huo Chong!" Chen Feng propped his hands upon his thighs, plonking his rear onto a large chair cushioned with soft beast skin. "He banned us from entering, yet he wants to make a fortune in secret?!"

"What do you think? Can this new type of spiritual artifact be replicated?"

"In my view, this method of artifact refining isn't particularly brilliant." A long-faced, middle-aged man clad in green robes spoke solemnly. "Replicating it isn't difficult, but there are certain details within it that I just can't fathom. Without these, its power and safety will probably be lacking."

"Daoist Wu is correct." Sitting beside him was a middle-aged, grey-robed cultivator with unbound hair. "Furthermore, within the game, we cannot bring in many of the spiritual artifacts used to test materials. Relying solely on our artifact-refining arts to observe will make this a very time-consuming project, requiring meticulous, slow-grinding effort."

"Meticulous, slow-grinding effort...?! Alas!" The stout, middle-aged cultivator sitting across from Chen Feng slapped his thigh heavily. "Does this mean that the earlier one enters the trade, the sooner they will develop this kind of spiritual artifact?"

"It seems we are still a step too late!"

"Brother Yang, calm yourself," Chen Feng said. "Did you see the customers in that shop? In my view, it's not too late yet! Right now, those researching these things are all major factions like the Liuyun Daoist Palace and the Cloud Ocean Sect. People like us are barely seen!"

Pausing for a moment, he added, "If we quicken our pace, this might just be an opportunity!"

"An opportunity..." The artifact refiner surnamed Wu remarked. "Speaking of which, several young masters actually made the acquaintance of a grand figure like Palace Master Xue; this can also be considered an opportunity!"

"Just a familiar face, nothing more. Matters within the game cannot be taken seriously!" Chen Feng grinned. "I killed Sect Master Ye several times today! If that could be taken seriously, wouldn't our Chen family be wiped out on the spot?"

"True!" The middle-aged cultivator surnamed Yang said. "When I blew up Palace Master Xue and Brother Chen together with a grenade back then, Brother Chen didn't take it to heart, did he?"

"Hey! You have the nerve to mention that!" Chen Feng pointed at the middle-aged man surnamed Yang. "Over at B site, weren't you still gunned down by a burst of my bullets?"

"That was a sneak attack! A sneak attack!" The middle-aged cultivator surnamed Yang shouted loudly. "What about later when I sniped both of you down directly through double doors with a sniper rifle?!"

"That was because of my carelessness!" Chen Feng slapped his chair and shouted loudly. "Weren't you killed twice in a row by me over at A site?!"

"..."

"Wait... Brother Chen, Brother Yang! Didn't we come here to discuss the research of the new type of spiritual artifact...? You two...?!"

"..." Several people froze for a moment, realizing that as they chatted, they seemed to have drifted off-topic?

...

And at this moment, Dong Qingli finally produced her communication jade: "Hmm? Qinghe sent so many messages?"

Raising her eyes, she saw Xiang Qinghe already leading a large, furious mob charging down the street ahead: "Surround that shop for me! Don't let anyone escape!"

"Qinghe!" Dong Qingli's lovely face turned cold. "What are you doing?"

"Eldest Miss!" Xiang Qinghe gasped, hastily stepping forward and casting an anxious glance. "Are you alright?"

"This small shop actually detained you, Eldest Miss, until this hour! We must make him pay the price?!"

"Wait?!" Dong Qingli said. "What do you mean, detained until this hour?"

"Is it not...? Then why did you..." Xiang Qinghe looked completely bewildered.

"It's nothing, it's nothing!" Dong Qingli said indifferently. "That shop is quite fun, I forgot to check the communication jade."

"Just... that simple?"

"Alright! It's fine!" Zhang Wanyu pulled him back and whispered, "Come with us to play tomorrow and you'll understand."

"Tomorrow... going again?" Xiang Qinghe's face twitched. "I don't need to go, right?"

"It's better if you don't!" Dong Qingli said. "One less person means one more available seat!"

"By the way, we will continue narrating 'The Martial Immortal' in our shop. Earning a bit less is no matter; we'll keep such good things for ourselves to enjoy."

Xiang Qinghe's face twitched again: "What kind of logic is this?!"

"Furthermore..." Dong Qingli waved her slender, jade-like finger. "Wake me up at seven tomorrow morning."

"Don't you always say that a beauty's looks are slept out..." Xiang Qinghe was still trapped in a state of utter confusion.

Dong Qingli's face was coated in a layer of frost, her silver teeth clenched tightly as she said, "Wake up early to grab a seat!"

"..."

After a night had passed...

Chen Feng, who still hadn't reached any conclusion in their discussion: "You say your sniping is very formidable? It just so happens we can practice today!"

"What formidable? With that marksmanship of his, it's not even half as accurate as his son's!" the artifact refiner surnamed Wu said.

"If we don't determine a victor today, it looks like this topic cannot continue!" The cultivator surnamed Yang had a darkened face. "Speak only after you've beaten me!"

"Let's fight then!" Glancing at the sky outside, several people hurriedly stood up from their seats. "Let's go quickly, lest there are no seats left in a moment!"

...