Chapter 78: Seems Like Trouble

Rubbing his bleary eyes, Fang Qi watched the horde of players swarm into the internet cafe, his entire face darkened the moment he opened the door!

“Why are you all here at this hour?!” Glancing at the sky outside, Fang Qi's expression looked every bit as dark as the pre-dawn gloom.

“We want to learn the Sword Control Technique!” Lanyan voiced the heartfelt desire of everyone present. “Boss! Activate Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 for us!”

To them, Diablo was certainly fun, and the skills inside were indeed powerful, but the absolute priority right now was learning the Sword Control Technique!

As for playing Diablo... anyway, some had already cleared Act II, and those who hadn’t were close to it. Act III wasn't open yet, so there was no rush.

Fang Qi: “...”

At this hour, even Auntie Wang's bun shop next door hadn't opened yet, leaving Fang Qi with no choice but to grab a carton of Häagen-Dazs from the freezer.

Taking a bite, he felt the rich milk aroma mingled with vanilla spread from his taste buds; at a time like this, enjoying a delicacy was always a pleasant distraction.

At this time of day, save for this bunch of fanatical Sword and Fairy enthusiasts, one could hardly expect anyone else to come. Fang Qi sat there for an hour, only to be joined by Old Man Nalan, who had also come early just to look into the Sword Control Technique.

“Hmm? How come there are so many people already?” Nalan Hongwu paused in surprise as he entered the door, but seeing that everyone had already logged into the game, he hurriedly picked out a seat.

“Riding the sword upon the wind, eliminating demons between heaven and earth. With wine, I rejoice in carefree wanderings; without wine, I am still mad.”

Before Nalan Hongwu had even entered the game, he heard someone shouting loudly in the internet cafe!

Someone immediately followed up: “One sip drains the rivers and oceans, another swallows the sun and moon. A thousand cups cannot make me fall; I alone am the Wine Sword Immortal!”

“...!” Eating his Häagen-Dazs, Fang Qi's face darkened yet again. “Anyone who wants to recite poetry, turn off your external communication options for me! If anyone shouts again, believe it or not, I'll shut down his computer!”

Hearing the first part, the crowd hadn't thought much of it, but upon hearing that Fang Qi would shut down the computer, the person who had just been reciting poetry immediately shivered. He hastily turned off external communication, and within the game, mimicking the manner of the Wine Sword Immortal, he continued reciting poetry while controlling his sword, looking exceedingly dashing and unfettered!

...

The new shop premises had already been contacted. Fang Qi had negotiated and secured two shops yesterday, right across the street, though there were still some finishing touches to handle, so it would take another two days before they could be used.

Fortunately, although the internet cafe's customers were growing more numerous, it hadn't yet reached the point where people had to line up several rows deep as before, so Fang Qi wasn't in too much of a hurry.

Fang Qi played the game himself for a while, and in a flash, it was past eight o'clock. This was a proper opening time; it was around this hour that Ye Songtao arrived at Jiuhua City with the Cloud Ocean Sect disciples by flying boat, and then took a carriage to the storefront.

However, just as Ye Songtao arrived in front of the internet cafe with his disciples...

The usual scene of people shouting and huddling in crowds in the back was gone. Ye Songtao saw that everyone was actually sitting obediently in their own seats, playing games?

“Why does the atmosphere feel a bit strange today?”

“No one needs to communicate?”

“No one is watching others play?”

Just upon entering the shop, he spotted his daughter, Ye Xiaoye, playing a game filled with ancient charm. From the looks of it, it could never be Diablo.

“What are you playing so absorbedly?” Ye Songtao walked forward, saying displeasedly, “Girl, didn't we agree to come together with your father today? How did you run off here all by yourself!?”

“Because I love to study!” Ye Xiaoye said while focusing intently on controlling her sword.

Ye Songtao's face twitched violently: “...You do nothing but play all day long, and now you're telling me you love to study?!”

With a face that practically screamed, “Do you think your father looks like a fool?” Ye Songtao asked with a dark expression, “Then what exactly are you studying?”

“The Sword Control Technique!” Ye Xiaoye was rather dissatisfied with Ye Songtao's interruption. “Alright, I won't say more to you, Father. I need to concentrate on studying the Sword Control Technique! This young lady is going to be the woman who becomes a Sword Immortal!”

Ye Songtao: “...”

Ye Songtao thought to himself, weren't you focusing on studying Frozen Armor yesterday? How did you switch to studying some Sword Control Technique today?

“Can't you study fewer unorthodox and devious... tricks...”

Before he could finish his sentence, he cast a glance at Ye Xiaoye's screen and watched as she controlled the protagonist to leap off a cliff, freezing on the spot in sheer astonishment!

“What on earth is this?!” Ye Songtao saw his daughter actually controlling the protagonist to step onto a sword and fly right up into the heavy clouds?!

“!!??”

This old master spent who knows how long learning to drive a flying spiritual treasure back in the day, yet you casually throw a sword and fly up into the sky?!

Ye Songtao stared with wide eyes at the screen. Since when was there such a maneuver?!

“What is this?! A new class?”

“Yeah, a class called Sword Immortal!” Ye Xiaoye chanted in a tender voice, “A single immortal sword enters the blue void, soaring up to the jade heavens and descending to the underworld. My fate is determined by me, not by heaven!”

Ye Songtao felt like he was about to cough up blood. He had thought that by playing games together, the generation gap with his daughter would narrow, but who could have known that after just one night...!?

How had even communication become difficult?!

And there was actually a spell that allowed one to fly to the sky just by stepping on a sword?!

Could this be... a new game?!

This impressive?!

His eyes fell upon the small blackboard behind the counter, and sure enough, he saw the new game: Legend of Sword and Fairy 1, 20 crystals to activate.

Ye Songtao's face twitched once more. Only yesterday had everyone spent 8 crystals to activate Diablo, and today came another Legend of Sword and Fairy?! Another 20 crystals?!

Looking at the large group of disciples behind him and feeling the crystals in his pocket, Ye Songtao felt: being a sect master is so hard!

“Whatever, I'll try it first to see if this game is really that amazing! A Sword Immortal?!” Ye Songtao immediately shouted, “Boss! Activate another Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 for me!”

As for discussing some “important matter” as mentioned yesterday...

“Let this seat try it out for a bit first...” Ye Songtao thought to himself.

...

After a period of time...

An Huwei, Ouyang Zhen, Nalan Hongwu, and the others were seen, without exception, all standing outside the internet cafe, holding a treasured sword in their palms and muttering spells.

“Wrong, wrong! You're practicing it all wrong!” While practicing the Sword Control Technique, Nalan Hongwu looked disdainfully at An Huwei's sword resting on the ground and said, “The technique of controlling the sword emphasizes using Qi to guide the sword...”

“Just like this!” Nalan Hongwu pinched his fingers together like a sword, and the sheathed blade before him immediately left its scabbard, spinning in the air before suspending itself beneath his feet.

Yet as the wind blew, the blade before Nalan Hongwu immediately wobbled precariously. Had he not been a powerful martial artist capable of flying through the air by his own power, he might have pitched forward and crashed into the ground right then!

Ye Songtao hurriedly said, “Wrong, wrong! Old Senior! Although this Sword Control Technique uses Qi to guide the sword, this Qi also distinguishes between clear and turbid. As the saying goes, clear Qi rises, while turbid Qi sinks... That Wine Sword Immortal must have gathered his own clear Qi with extremely profound spiritual power...”

In order to cultivate the Sword Control Technique as early as possible, almost everyone played halfway, found the Wine Sword Immortal to learn the technique, and then ran to the front door of the internet cafe to experiment, not even filling their daily six-hour limit.

Noon and afternoon were the peak hours for the internet cafe, and with the release of the new game, it was even more crowded. When everyone wanted to head back inside, they discovered there were actually no seats left.

“It'll be fine in the evening when there are fewer people!” Everyone comforted themselves in this way. “Might as well try the Sword Control Technique again...”

At roughly past nine in the evening, An Cheng and the others looked back: “They're coming out, they're coming out! There are seats!”

Quite a few people left the internet cafe at this time; with so many people logging off at once, there would definitely be no shortage of seats!

“Let's go, let's go! Time to play Sword and Fairy!” Green light instantly flashed in everyone's eyes!

“Just right, my Sword Control Technique has reached a critical juncture!” An Cheng spoke confidently, “Watching it one more time will definitely yield results!”

“Miss Nalan, how do you feel about it?” Lanyan also said happily, “I feel that with a bit more practice, I should be able to make the sword fly out of its scabbard!”

“I think that watching it one more time should allow me to execute the first set of Sword Control Mantras,” Nalan Mingwel said calmly.

“So fast?!” Hearing Nalan Mingxue's words, the younger generation couldn't help but gasp!

This talent was simply too terrifying!

“Hey! Boss! Why are you locking the door?!” Just at this moment, a voice suddenly drifted over. “I still have over two hours left unplayed! Isn't it only past nine o'clock?!”

"Locking the door?!" Everyone froze in disbelief. What was going on? Locking up at a time like this?!

The crowd watched as Fang Qi let out a yawn. "This shopkeeper is running on too little sleep today. I can't hold out any longer! Closing early!"

"!!??" Everyone exchanged glances, utterly dumbfounded!

"Hey! Wait a minute—! I still have two hours left of play time!" Lin Shao hurriedly pounded on the door!

"I still have three hours!" Ouyang Cheng howled.

"Shopkeeper! This master still has matters to discuss with you!" Ye Songtao only just remembered his original purpose.

Inside, the lights snapped off. Fang Qi had already headed upstairs to sleep!

"Dammit!" A chorus of wails immediately erupted outside the door!

"Who was the one who suggested shouting at the door earlier?!" Everyone scanned the crowd with darkened faces, intent on weeding out the culprit!

"Who said Shopkeeper Fang couldn't do anything to us?!" The voices were now laced with gritted teeth!

"Ah... this young lady will take her leave first!" Lan Yan let out a couple of hollow laughs, grabbing Nalan Mingxue to make a quick escape!

"Err..." An Cheng's face flushed. "I just remembered, I didn't sleep well yesterday either..."

"All of you, halt right there!" Caught in the crossfire, Nalan Hongwu's face darkened on the spot. To be deprived of three hours of play time for no fault of his own—who exactly had he offended?!

Nalan Mingxue patted her smooth forehead, a headache brewing. "It seems we have stirred up trouble..."

Lan Yan looked at Nalan Hongwu's grim expression, her face awash with silent tears. "..."

An Cheng: "..."

"They should be severely punished!" Ye Songtao, finally remembering he had important matters to discuss, put on a stern face and immediately added fuel to the fire.

"Indeed. And who else participated in that shouting nonsense? Who did it?" Elder Fu, likewise an innocent casualty, scanned the crowd with an unfriendly gaze, stoking the flames further.

Everyone: "..."

They all felt like dying on the spot!

...

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