Chapter 30: Cultivator? Let's Give You a Shock First

Fang Qi cast his eyes down, a sneer playing upon his lips as he glanced at the fleshy hand gripping his collar. His expression turned chilly. In all the days he had kept shop, this was the very first soul who had dared to actually lay hands on him. "I give you three seconds to remove your hand, lest I treat this as an act of public disturbance."

"To think we would actually encounter such a reckless fledgling." Song Qingfeng sneered, casting a sidelong, contemptuous glance at Hei Da.

"..." Hei Da swallowed a mouthful of thick saliva with immense difficulty. "You call that a reckless fledgling? That is far too fierce?!"

This was a cultivator after all! And by no means an ordinary one!

He had never imagined such a reckless fledgling could exist; indeed, this was no fledgling at all, but rather a reckless dragon! A colossal behemoth that, with the slightest carelessness, could reduce this tiny shop to absolute dust!

He utterly refused to believe that Xiao Yulv would compromise in the manner they had.

Xiao Yulv was cut from a different cloth. Even if he were to witness the sheer wonder of these games, he would never, as they did, lament whether it was truly worth so many spirit crystals; instead, his thoughts would immediately turn to how he might seize them for his own!

Song Qingfeng, however, merely offered an noncommittal smile.

Right at that moment, they heard Fang Qi actually beginning a countdown!

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Time is up." Fang Qi let out a soft scoff, staring at the fat man before him as though he were looking at an absolute fool.

"Time is up?" Everyone watched on, utterly bewildered. What on earth did he mean by that? Could it be that Fang Qi truly possessed the audacity to exchange blows with these cultivators?

"You court death!" The fat man seemed to sense something amiss as well. Intending to strike first and gain the upper hand, he smashed a heavy fist straight toward Fang Qi’s face!

"Disturber of the peace detected. Initiating Lightning Punishment." Right at that crucial juncture, a completely emotionless, electronically synthesized voice resounded within the small shop!

"Miss Nalan." Lanyuan, shrinking backward like a startled rabbit, called out in a hushed whisper to Nalan Mingxu who stood beside her.

"Watch closely," Nalan Mingxue said softly, her lips barely moving.

In that very instant, without the slightest warning, a streak of white light violently tore through the void right above Fatty Liu's head!

Boom!

The room, which was not particularly spacious to begin with, was instantly illuminated into a blinding, snow-white glare by that sudden flash!

It also drained the color from the faces of everyone present, leaving them utterly ashen!

Immediately following this, Fatty Liu began to convulse violently on the spot, his arms and legs flailing about as though he were dancing a frantic jig in a discotheque.

His hair stood completely on end, and his entire body was scorched a deep, charcoal black! A thick, pungent odor of burning flesh wafted through the air!

In the next breath, he was unceremoniously kicked out the door by Fang Qi.

"..." Everyone was struck entirely dumb. They had originally feared that Fang Qi was facing mortal peril, but who could have anticipated such an outcome?!

Only then did Fang Qi turn a calm gaze toward Xiao Yulv. "Well then, what about the rest of you?"

"You actually dare to wound my man to such an extent?!"

Xiao Yulv felt that he had never suffered such a profound humiliation in all his life. Someone had actually struck his retainer until he was charred black and thrown him out right before everyone's eyes?!

Was this not a direct slap to his face in front of the entire assembly?

"Beat him!"

He immediately pointed at Fang Qi and roared in a towering rage, "Beat him mercilessly for me! Beat him to death!"

Before ten seconds could even pass, yet another tall, thin figure with an exploded mane of hair, completely blackened and twitching uncontrollably, came bounding out of the shop.

Very quickly, of the original three cultivators, only Xiao Yulv remained!

"To dare lay a hand on me, Xiao Yulv, try it if you have the mettle..."

Boom!

A flash of lightning cut through the air!

Xiao Yulv stood entirely blackened from head to toe. Opening his mouth, he exhaled a puff of white smoke.

Just like the two before him, he was thrown straight out into the street.

The entire cybercafe fell into an absolute, deathly silence.

Every single person was filled with a mixture of shock and uncertainty.

That peculiar voice from moments ago, coupled with the elusive, phantom-like Lightning Punishment, caused a shudder to ripple through the depths of everyone’s heart!

Moreover, Fang Qi had actually possessed the sheer audacity to throw these men out?!

One had to know that even ordinary cultivators would be revered as honored guests in the vast majority of shops within Jiuhua. Yet here, at Fang Qi’s establishment, they were thrown out directly?!

"You wait! All of you just wait! To think you would dare plot against me!" Xiao Yulv’s voice soon drifted in from outside the door. "Tomorrow, I, Xiao Yulv, will surely bring men to smash this wretched shop of yours to pieces!"

"..." Lanyuan lightly covered her mouth, staring open-mouthed at Xiao Yulv's wretched departure. Recalling her own actions from earlier, a cold sweat broke out across her back!

All those who had previously boasted about smashing the shop also felt a chilly breeze sweep across their spines. Who on earth had given them the courage back then to utter such grandiose boasts?

Fang Qi clapped his hands together, as though he had merely performed a trivial, insignificant task. He returned to his armchair and turned his gaze toward Lanyuan. "Therefore, you ought to thank this clever mistress of yours."

"What grand mettle indeed." Someone had finally finished their session and logged off. Nalan Mingxue walked over composedly, taking a seat with an expression so indifferent it was as though absolutely nothing had occurred just now. "We truly wish to see for ourselves what makes the proprietor’s shop so different from ordinary establishments. We are not like them."

"This does not quite seem like Nalan Mingxue's usual disposition..." Lin Shao murmured in a low voice.

"How is it not?" Song Qingfeng said in a deep tone. "I reckon everything that could be investigated has already been laid perfectly bare by her. Do you truly believe she is a blockhead like Xiao Yulv?"

"So, will the two of you watch a movie first, or play a game?" Fang Qi took the opportunity to explain the distinction between the movies and the games to them.

"A biographical chronicle?" Lanyuan felt a lingering trepidation as she looked at Fang Qi now. If Nalan Mingxue had not restrained her earlier, would she not have suffered the exact same fate as those men?!

Fortunately, the matter had passed. She looked upon these strange "artifacts" before her with a degree of perplexity.

It was said that these were all... the creations of cultivators?

Though she had seen many a cultivator’s creation, it was difficult to discern whether this truly belonged to that category.

Everything would only be revealed once they put them to use.

Ultimately, the two of them still logged onto the machines.

"Watch the movie! I highly recommend the movie, it is absolutely splendid!" Hei Da gave a mischievous grin, masquerading as an enthusiastic member of the public to offer his recommendation.

"I also recommend watching the movie! It contains a wealth of foundational knowledge; watching it will aid your gameplay immensely." Lin Shao rubbed his hands together, gloating with anticipation as he burned to see the expressions on their faces once they finished the film.

"I recommend that newcomers start with the movie. The proprietor releasing the game first truly caused us immense suffering!" Xi Xiaoyun, this delicate young lady, spoke with a fair degree of conscience.

"A movie is for watching, while a game is for playing..." Nalan Mingxue’s profile appeared as though it were carved from the eternal ice and snow of the Kunyu Jade Mountains in the Far North. Her eyes were filled with a divine, detached rationality. "And yet, at least ninety percent of the people here recommend the movie, citing reasons such as 'shocking', 'knowledge', and 'getting started'. Merely 'taking a look' also aligns with my original intent, so the movie it shall be."

In the end, Nalan Mingxue chose to watch the movie first.

Seeing Nalan Mingxue’s choice, Lanyuan naturally followed suit.

However, she held a deep contempt for it. Had Nalan Mingxue not insisted upon trying it, she felt she would not have spared it so much as a single glance. "A biographical chronicle? What ridiculous things! Though the master of this shop possesses some capability, to use it to fashion mere playthings is a truly terrible waste of heaven's treasures."

Very quickly, both of them were drawn into the world of the Resident Evil movie by the virtual reality headsets.

"Virtual... reality?" Nalan Mingxue had heard this term during the discussions among the disciples of the Lingyun Academy. The moment scenes completely alien to the real world began to materialize all around her, she immediately recalled the phrase.

"So this is virtual reality?"

Beside her, Lanyuan’s heart had already been shaken to its absolute limits. "Is this an illusion? How can this be! How could it possibly feel so entirely real?!"

Simultaneously, wave after wave of information began to stream directly into her mind.

"At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the Umbrella Corporation..."

"The twenty-first century? What a bizarre era name..."

"The Red Queen... Is this some kind of artifact spirit?! Are they actually working inside a colossal magical artifact?!"

The more Lanyan watched, the more her shock deepened. Some of these concepts drifted entirely beyond the boundaries of her understanding, yet against all logic, she comprehended the exact meaning of these settings with crystal clarity. It was as if, while her mind absorbed the motion picture, it was simultaneously being imprinted with brand-new knowledge!

"A... A martial arts inheritance?!" Though loath to admit it, this method bore a striking resemblance to the transmission of martial legacies!

It was no wonder those few martial artists had drawn such a comparison!

The plot of the cinematic version was naturally intense and fast-paced. Because it stood as an independent tale, the absence of any prior experience with the game did not hinder the viewing at all, allowing Lanyan to be swiftly swept away by the narrative.

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