Chapter 74: Don't Play Diablo, Play Sword Immortal!

PS: The group number has been posted in the description of this book on the Qidian website; I do not know how QQ Reading coordinates its updates... I could not find it there, alas.

Welcome to join us, everyone.

"Ha... Ha-what-daas?"

"Häagen-Dazs? Is this stuff any better than Sprite?" Nalan Hongwu, An Huwei, and the others stared displeasedly at the small box in Fang Qi's hand, glaring at him. "If it is about food, Boss, you should bring out more Sprite! We are not interested in any other food in your shop."

"Are you really not going to eat it?" Fang Qi opened the lid, revealing the pale yellow ice cream within.

The system's provision was quite thoughtful; Fang Qi took down a specially made small wooden spoon and scooped out a tiny portion.

"It is frozen...!?" Everyone looked in astonishment at the faint tendrils of water vapor rising from the ice cream.

Generally, drinks in summer could indeed be chilled with ice, but this cup of the boss's... had frozen entirely into a solid, had it not?

"No, could this perhaps be... a Crisp Mountain?" Nalan Hongwu could be considered well-traveled and knowledgeable; though he had never seen this loose and soft ice cream, in his centuries-long life, he seemed to have encountered something similar.

The so-called "crisp" was roughly close to cream and butter, a kind of dairy product; Nalan Hongwu had once encountered this delicacy when campaigning in the Northwest.

"Crisp Mountain?" Not to mention eating it, many people had never even heard of it. "What is that?"

"Crisp Mountain?" Ouyang Zhen, on the other hand, had barely heard of it. "Speaking of this 'Crisp Mountain,' it was passed down from the alien tribes of the Northwest. The 'crisp' is heated until it is nearly melted and very soft, and then, it is drizzled onto a dish or similar vessel, forming the shape of mountain peaks as it pours. Afterward, it is placed into an ice cellar to freeze. I once heard a friend from the Capital mention this, saying it is extraordinarily delicious!"

As for the Jiangnan region, let alone seeing it, most people had never even heard of it!

Could it actually be a high-class style of dining from the Capital?!

Hearing Ouyang Zhen's words, not only Song Qingfeng, An Cheng, Bai Lang, and the others, but even An Huwei and Bu Lei were stunned.

"Crisp Mountain?" Fang Qi suddenly remembered that before he crossed over, some thousands of years ago, a type of food similar to ice cream seemed to have been called by this name.

Fang Qi said awkwardly, "That thing you are talking about has been outdated for thousands of years, hasn't it? This thing is called ice cream!"

"Outdated...? Ice... Qilin?"

Fang Qi took a deep breath, thinking to himself, "I knew there was no way to communicate with these ancient people."

Simply too lazy to explain, he took a bite of the Häagen-Dazs himself first.

With that single bite, as the ice cream melted in his mouth, Fang Qi instantly felt a rich, milky fragrance interspersed with a certain unique and mellow vanilla flavor wrap around his entire tongue. That gentle and moist sensation felt just like lying amidst cotton-like clouds!

It melted upon entering the mouth, sweet but not cloying; most importantly, with that one bite, Fang Qi felt as though he were standing in the midst of a vast grassland, enveloped entirely in the fragrance of green grass as cattle and sheep passed by his side, forming a leisurely, contented, and heartwarming picture.

Yes, it was a sense of warmth and sweetness that could be felt from food!

Taking a bite, even a gloomy mood would vanish into thin air, to say nothing of the fact that Fang Qi was already in a good mood, so he naturally ate with boundless happiness!

Nalan Hongwu, An Huwei, An Cheng, Bai Lang, and everyone else looked at Fang Qi as he ate the ice cream bite by bite, wondering in confusion, "Is it really that delicious?"

"Clack!"

Fang Qi seemed to hear the sound of the wooden spoon striking the bottom of the box.

"Finished already?!" He looked at the ice cream in his hand. "To think it was such a small box?!"

"It truly leaves... an endless aftertaste!" Fang Qi shook his head.

"Why do you all keep staring at me?" Only then did Fang Qi notice that at this moment, everyone was still fixedly watching him.

He plopped himself down in front of the computer, thinking to himself, "Forget it, anyway I have played to my heart's content today, time to play games first."

"Give... give this old master a box to try!" Seeing Fang Qi eating so absorbingly, Nalan Hongwu seemed to be somewhat swayed after all, and he spoke up, "It just so happens that I have not eaten a Crisp Mountain in a long time. This old master shall taste how yours tastes."

"I have already said, this thing is called vanilla ice cream; your method for the Crisp Mountain has been outdated for a long time." Fang Qi rolled his eyes and fetched a box of vanilla ice cream for him.

"The Crisp Mountain is outdated!?" Ouyang Zhen snorted coldly. "This is the most high-class way of dining in the Capital; those with lesser status cannot even eat it! Give me a portion as well, I want to taste what special characteristics this ice cream of yours has, that you dare say the Crisp Mountain is outdated!"

Thus, Fang Qi also fetched a box for Ouyang Zhen.

The two of them simultaneously took the wooden spoons, scooped a bite of ice cream, and ate it.

The moment the ice cream entered their mouths, the two of them instantly felt the rich, milky fragrance dissolve within. Different from the fiercely refreshing impact of Sprite, the ice cream they had just tasted made them feel a flavor that was gentle, moist, and mellow; the milky fragrance blended with the sweetness of vanilla, interspersed further with a fresh, delicious eggy aroma. The various flavors melted together, giving people an extremely sweet and heartwarming sensation.

It was as if all beautiful things were happening to them at this very moment!

"How is it!?" Seeing the solemn expressions of the two men, the crowd hurriedly asked.

"Hahaha!" Nalan Hongwu actually laughed aloud, a rare occurrence, and raised a thumb, saying, "Delicious! Such a delicacy, even this old master has never tasted the likes of it before!"

"Though I do not know if it can compare to the Crisp Mountain," Ouyang Zhen took a deep breath and said, "this 'ice cream' is indeed far too delicious!"

"Bullshit! Can a Crisp Mountain compare to ice cream?!" Nalan Hongwu evaluated, "They are separated by a hundred thousand miles!"

Nalan Hongwu stared at the small box of ice cream in his hand, musing, "This thing... just how is it made...!?"

When it came to eating, he had never imagined that eating a snack could actually make him happy!

Thinking this way, he hastily took another bite!

"Is it truly that delicious!?" Everyone revealed expressions of disbelief.

"The old master actually smiled while eating?!" Lanyandisplayed a look of astonishment. One must know that this highly placed, powerful old master had always been one who never smiled or joked!

Games being fun, and playing them happily made sense, but it was just eating a snack, by what right?!

"Shall... shall we get a portion too?" she asked Nalan Mingxue tentatively.

"Give me a portion!"

"I want one too!"

"And me!"

The scene instantly grew fiery and popular!

...

Before long, behind Fang Qi, everyone held a box of Häagen-Dazs ice cream in hand, and only then did Fang Qi sit comfortably before his computer.

"Mmm—! This ice cream is too delicious!" Lanyan almost sucked the entire small wooden spoon clean.

Nalan Mingxue also bought a box at the appropriate time; using the small spoon, she gently lifted a scoop and brought it to her mouth. Her beautiful eyes widened slightly, seemingly startled: "Mmh, it seems it really is quite delicious!"

"To think there is such a novel way of eating! Is this ice?" An Cheng felt incredibly amazed. "To think even ice can be eaten!?"

Everyone cradled a delicate small box, eating the ice cream bite by bite. Their originally anxious moods gradually became harmonious within this mellow, sweet flavor. Just as the system had said, a sufficiently excellent flavor was enough to possess the power to turn the mundane into something magical; this happiness and sweetness could not be brought about by any other redundant functions.

"Waa...! Why am I the only one who doesn't have any again!" Only Jiang Xiaoyue watched from the side with boundless envy!

As a food lover, to actually watch others eat the entire time?!

She was almost driven to tears!

At this moment, Fang Qi reached out and clicked open a strange blue-and-white icon that had just appeared on the desktop: The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1!

"Eh!? Boss, what is this?!" Bu Che glanced over, suddenly spotting Fang Qi clicking on an icon that no one had ever seen before.

"What is what?!" The crowd, who were savoring the delicacy, looked over in surprise. They saw that on Fang Qi's screen, the image that appeared was actually not Diablo 2!

Under the dim light, a short sword with a wood-grained scabbard and a yellowish-brown gourd rested above a slightly aged bamboo scroll placed beneath them. Within the antiquarian picture composed of these three simple objects, a thread of historical vicissitudes filtered through.

The five ancient seal script characters for 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy' manifested above.

The screen gradually shifted; within the image, 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy' vanished, slowly condensing into two choices:

A New Story

Old Memories

"Boss?! What is this?!"

"Aren't we playing Diablo?!"

"How come I've never seen this thing before?!"

"What on earth is Legend of Sword and Fairy?!"

The crowd of onlookers behind him erupted into a frenzy once more.

Fang Qi responded with utter calm, "No Diablo today. We're playing Legend of Sword and Fairy!"