Chapter 527: Black Diamond Membership, You Deserve to Have It

By the shores of the Heavenly Abyss, the usually turbulent waves had quieted, lending the coast an uncharacteristic silence.

"Have you gathered any news? What exactly is the origin of this shop?" Atop the precipice overlooking the Heavenly Abyss, a murky, dark aura coalesced into a phantom-like shadow.

"Still only the same rumors... This shop is truly too bizarre..." A towering figure, completely concealed within a voluminous black cloak, spoke in a raspy, low voice. "Could it be that some powerful existence from before that bygone era still remains hidden in this world?"

"Incorrect," a voice drifted from the other black shadow that was currently cruising across the sky. "You should know better than I do that such a thing is impossible."

Both dark figures fell into silence, seemingly lost in deep thought.

After a long while, the shadow standing upon the cliff finally spoke, "By the way, how far have you gotten in Legend of Sword and Fairy 3?"

"I finished it a few days ago." The phantom shadow's ethereal voice carried a hint of pride. "Even the Demon King lost a move beneath my blade, hmph!"

"That was Jing Tian!" The tall figure on the cliff replied in a muffled tone. "Speaking of which, it is almost time for my own playthrough to end. To think I could actually battle the Demon King, who reigns supreme across the Six Realms—it was truly exhilarating!"

"Right, have you tried that new game in the shop called Dungeon Fighter Online?" The drifting shadow in the sky asked. "Since we have already beaten Legend of Sword and Fairy, and seeing quite a few people in the shop mentioning it yesterday, I gave it a slight try. The world inside is indeed incomparably vast! Perhaps there will be many things within it that are beneficial to us!"

"Of course." The shadow on the precipice spoke with a fair amount of self-satisfaction. "Yesterday, I burned through the fatigue points on both of my accounts! I raised them both to level twenty!"

"Oh? What class did you advance to? Yesterday, I chose an Avenger for one, and a Blood Mage for the other. I took a special look at their subsequent spells; they seem immensely powerful!"

"I advanced to a Mistress." The voice of the shadow in the sky drifted down. "This class fits my identity quite well. Yesterday, I managed to train all the way to level twenty-one! That is a whole level higher than you."

"What?! How could you be a level higher than me?!" The dark figure on the precipice questioned in a heavy tone. "There are clearly only one hundred and fifty-six fatigue points, and once they are used up, that is it. How could you possibly reach level twenty-one?!"

"That is where your ignorance shows!" The shadow in the sky, shifting between substance and illusion, spoke with a touch of smugness. "Yesterday, I accidentally discovered that on the 'Penguin' messenger, a certain... Black Diamond Membership had appeared. After purchasing this membership according to the description, I indeed found that my fatigue points had increased to 188, and... it even grants an extra five percent clear experience for dungeons!"

"What a loss! What a terrible loss!" The other dark figure lamented, clapping his hands in regret. "I was so focused on investigating the origins of this shop that I completely failed to notice such a method! I must go purchase this... Black Diamond Membership today as well!"

"Say no more! I am going to buy the Black Diamond Membership right now!"

"What about today?! Are we going to separate and visit different shops to gather information, or..."

"We will go to the same shop today. What can be investigated has already been cleared up, and what cannot be uncovered probably won't yield results anytime soon anyway."

"Mm... that makes sense!" The mist-like shadow said. "We shall head to the shop first today, and strive to reach above level thirty!"

With that, the black mist dissipated, and the figure vanished without a trace.

...

Today, whether it was the Jiuhua City branch, the Half-City branch, or the Yuanyang City branch, the crowds inside the shops were growing denser by the day.

"Boss, your breakfast!" Li Qin'er pointed to the food box on the counter. "I bought the Nine-Pattern Tiger Bone Soup, which strengthens the sinews, tempers the bones, and fortifies the spirit—specially prepared for warriors to hone their physiques."

"Ah..." Owner Fang let out a yawn, having grinded a bit too late into the night. "Thanks, just leave it there. I'll get it in a moment."

With that, he first logged into the game. His Blade Master account was just a tiny bit away from level 22, while his Launcher and Soul Bender were at about the same spot.

The overall difficulty of the game was somewhat on the higher side. Furthermore, unlocking the King's Road required clearing the Adventure and Master difficulties first, so with his own limitations in place, Fang Qi would not be noticeably faster than anyone else.

"Where is your Sister Lanruo?" Fang Qi asked Li Qin'er. "And Xiaoyue, are they all in class today?"

"Yes," Li Qin'er replied. "It is said that the cultivators and warriors who came to the Jiuhua and Half-City branches should be heading back around today, though a batch of them with more flexible schedules will be staying over here."

...

An Cheng belonged to the type with a flexible schedule, so he had been spending almost all his time playing games in the shop recently. Rarely venturing out and temporarily dismissing any thought of returning to the Desolate Sea Realm, he arrived extremely early today.

He casually glanced at the passing players. The number of people arriving early in the morning to play Dungeon Fighter Online could be described as immense. There were even many who previously played other games but chose to burn through a bar of fatigue first thing in the morning; at their fastest, it took no more than three hours, leaving the majority of their day for other things.

As An Cheng walked through the corridor, a sudden flash caught his eye, and there appeared a...

"Lu Xiaoxian?" Behind a wide computer chair, An Cheng caught sight of this ID at a glance. The screen displayed a lolita Mage, who was currently using rather clumsy magic to defeat Goblins one by one.

"Hmm...!? Lu...?" An Cheng froze for a moment. "Isn't this..."

He suddenly recalled the matter entrusted to him by several elites in the Jiuhua Army.

"Oh...?" An Cheng, the young city master of Jiuhua City, muttered in surprise, "To think it really is a cute little sister..."

"And she still plays Legend?"

He shook his head with a chuckled and stepped forward, preparing to greet her, only to see a goofy deer head poke out from behind the wide computer chair.

An Cheng's face twitched. "..."

What in the world was this?!

"Brother An? What's wrong?" Beside him, Bu Che, a young noble who often hung around with An Cheng in Jiuhua City, had also just entered the shop today.

"...Nothing."

"I just saw an exceptionally cute little girl," An Cheng nodded. "Yes, that's all."

Let us observe three minutes of silence first...

...

At that moment, two dark figures were spotted slipping like a streak of smoke into a remote corner of the shop.

"Why are those two acting so strange?" An Cheng frowned.

"Quick! Where do I buy the Black Diamond? Today, I too must possess 188 fatigue points," a voice suddenly drifted from the corner.

"Keep it down, don't let others hear..."

"188 fatigue points?!" An Cheng happened to catch that exact phrase.

To think one could actually have 188 fatigue points?

One must know that an extra 32 fatigue points meant gaining one to two levels' worth of experience over others!

He hurriedly asked Bu Che beside him, "Do you know what a Black Diamond is?"

"Black Diamond?" Bu Che was entirely bewildered.

"Those two seemed to say that a Black Diamond Membership grants 188 fatigue points. Come, let's go find out!"

"Black Diamond Membership?!" Just as the morning customers were flooding into the shop, Xiya overheard this sentence the moment she stepped inside.

These people possessed profound cultivation, and their hearing was remarkably sharp.

"What Black Diamond Membership?" Luo Piaoling had not yet reacted when Xiya cried out in surprise, "It seems there really is such a thing! You can even claim some kind of Dungeon Black Diamond Gift Pack!"

"Black Diamond Membership?!"

"Black Diamond Gift Pack?!"

With her exclamation, the cultivators and warriors entering the shop all around instantly caught wind of it.

An Cheng looked back at the internet cafe, which now resembled a disturbed hornet's nest, and muttered, "Holy crap..."