Chapter 409: Something Strange Mixed In

"Sigh, it's the Lunar New Year, yet this boss doesn't even get a moment's rest." Proprietor Fang explained the various events to Su Tianji and the others with a listless air, while inwardly disparaging a certain system.

The system panel displayed: "Will the host please possess a modicum of ambition."

"Ambition? How do I lack it?" Proprietor Fang replied, thoroughly unconvinced. "This boss practices his skills every single day with diligent and bitter study. My Dante clears have always been S-rank evaluations, I can crush anything single-handedly in King of Fighters, and I'm the ultimate veteran driver in Grand Theft Auto 5... Even Vergil, whom I've only just picked up, is handled with fine form. Where do you think this boss's profound cultivation comes from? Don't you have any decency left?!"

The system: "...The premium gift box includes a luxurious New Year grand prize. The host may choose whether to do it or not."

Proprietor Fang was instantly re-energized: "...When the hell did I ever say I wasn't doing it?!"

It was not just Su Tianji alone who saw these events; the customers who arrived in the early morning to buy instant noodles had clearly all noticed the new contents within the shop.

Proprietor Fang glanced at the time; there were approximately two weeks left for preparation and registration.

"Boss, what is this Music Grand Ceremony for?!" Su Tianji spotted the event at a single glance and refused to budge. "Since it concerns music and is held within 'My Space,' this master has exchanged for several scrolls of classic zither scores. Could I possibly fail to secure a rank?"

"Boss! The King of Fighters tournament! The King of Fighters tournament!" Song Qingfeng instantly crowded before the counter. "This young master wants to participate in the King of Fighters tournament!"

Nalan Mingxue: "Is it... possible to register for all of them?"

"Of course." Proprietor Fang indicated that as this gala was of an entertaining nature, a single person could register for multiple events.

"Then we shall register for all of them!"

"We are signing up for everything too!" Xu Zixin and Shen Qingqing also stepped forward.

"Count us in as well!" Dong Qingli and Zhang Wanyu refused to be left behind.

"Put this old man down for the King of Fighters tournament!" Even Nalan Hongwu came to join the bustle. "And whatever that costume recreation thing is, count this old man in for that too!"

"I... I want to participate as well!"

A cloud of black mist, utilizing its advantage of flight, soared all the way over the heads of the crowd to the front of the counter: "This deity wishes to participate too!"

Everyone stared blankly at the cloud of black mist: "Boss, even pets can participate in this grand ceremony?"

"Who?! Who said this deity is a pet?!" Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, it leapt up and swept its gaze "viciously" around the surroundings. "This deity is the supreme, invincible, demon lord who dominates the Morning Star Sea Realm!"

"Hahaha! Just that?"

"A demon lord?"

"Move aside!" Proprietor Fang looked on with utter disdain. "You're just a teleportation array, what could you possibly cosplay?"

"..."

The area before the counter was instantly packed so tightly that not a drop of water could trickle through.

The Half City shop, at this moment, also began to grow lively.

The disciples of the Nanhua Sect, who had already finished registering, were gathered around the sofas. Clearly, there were no seats left, so the group could only sit together while waiting in line to use the computers.

Mo Xian held a cup of milk tea: "Do any of you plan to participate in that costume event? You can get an extra hour of game time!"

"Me, me, me!" Yue Yan hurriedly responded. "This young lady has already sent a message to Senior Sister Lian, asking her to help me make a set of Qinyun Sect disciple robes, along with the Tianya Treasure Sword. In the future, please address this young lady as Lu Xueqi!"

"Clearly I am Lu Xueqi!" Mo Xian's apricot eyes widened.

"You are clearly the eldest Senior Sister Wen Min! How could Lu Xueqi wear a set of black clothes like yours?!" Yue Yan hastily shifted the topic. "Right, what plans does Junior Sister Liu have?"

Liu Ningyun lost her smile: "I won't contend with you all; this junior sister already has a candidate in mind."

While some disputed endlessly over what identity they would claim, others were already intimately familiar with the ropes, such as Song Qingfeng and his companions.

"Hahaha!" Song Qingfeng held a set of brown, slim-fitting uniform in his hands, featuring a sun-like insignia upon the back.

Beside him, Lin Shao wore a small blue-black vest with a long white shirt underneath and bright red trousers, a crescent moon insignia upon the back. His arms were slightly bent over his head as he shouted aloud: "So many donkeys in the hills!"

A starting posture for the Eight Maidens, exceedingly overbearing.

Not just them, the vast majority of customers had begun to make preparations.

...

To those outside the Desolate Sea Realm, the cultivators of the Desolate Sea Realm had long since become synonymous with backwardness and low cultivation bases.

To depart from the Desolate Sea Realm, one did not merely need to cross layer upon layer of vast oceans, but also had to break through the "Heavenly Ban" that had existed since ancient times.

As for what the "Heavenly Ban" was, no one in the world today knew its origins anymore. They only knew that the Morning Star Sea Realm referred to the ocean to the east as the Yellow Springs Sea, classified by all major powers as the foremost forbidden zone.

The Three Great Sacred Sects referred to the extreme west further beyond as the Grand Desolate Mountain; even those of the Three Sacred Sects held deep taboos regarding it, never daring to take a single step inside.

The extreme north was a land of bitter, bone-chilling frost. Should ordinary cultivators enter, even their spiritual energy would be congealed into ice. Within the seemingly snow-capped peaks, terrifying beasts that had survived from ancient times lay hidden. It was a harsh land through which even Divine Court Realm cultivators with extremely high cultivation found it difficult to pass.

Only in the boundless southern ocean did legends speak of a thoroughfare leading to a vast and blessed land. There had once been cultivators who entered the Desolate Sea Realm from the outside, and they referred to themselves as Lingzhou.

It was rumored to be an extremely vast continent, where immortal mountains towered and the land was suffused with incredibly abundant spiritual qi.

However, of the cultivators who actually set out to sea from the south to search for that continent, very few had ever transmitted back any tidings.

Yet these secrets were likely only known to forces at the level of the Three Great Sacred Sects. Precisely because of this, opportunities for the cultivators of the Desolate Sea Realm to exchange with the outside world were few and far between. Ever since the teleportation arrays of the Three Great Sacred Sects failed several thousand years ago, contact between both sides had been almost completely severed.

To the cultivators of the Desolate Sea Realm, those from the outside world were mysterious and powerful, possessing bizarre abilities that defied the capabilities of ordinary men. But to Jiang Xuan, the matter of the Southern Sea Thoroughfare was not nearly as miraculous as the legends of the Desolate Sea Realm cultivators made it out to be, to say nothing of the Jiang Family.

It seemed that to them, the Desolate Sea Realm was merely a barren land trapped to death by natural hazards, unworthy of the price they would pay to enter, nor did it possess anything too extraordinary. It was just that no one could have anticipated that the little princess of the Jiang Family would run here to play.

Seeing that she would return to Lingzhou for school when spring arrived in the coming year, the little girl was clearly full of reluctance to leave this place. Taking advantage of the interval when Proprietor Fang was free to watch the shop, she had already begun a massive buying spree of local specialties such as the new communication jades, pistols, and sniper rifles.

Regarding the matter of shop assistants, the Half City shop had scouted candidates early on. Ruan Ning, Proprietor Fang's casual neighbor, had grown accustomed to helping him watch the shop anyway, to the point where her own shop hired helpers year-round. Thus, she simply applied to be an employee at the Half City shop. Along with Zou Mo, the two employees were now fully assembled.

As for the Jiuhua City shop...

A long queue of applicants could be seen, and a young master clad in gold clothing was currently waving his hand toward Proprietor Fang.

"..." Proprietor Fang's face twitched. What on earth was this fellow, who had been placed on the blacklist early on, doing blending into the crowd?!

.