Chapter 802: Learn About Becoming a God Through Esports?

"What? A youth photo album?" Boss Fang wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he stepped into the shop, keeping his head down to read the message on his communication jade. He discovered that Nalan Mingxue had invited him into a new chat group. "You guys are planning to co-host a cybercafe gala event, and even want to make a new promotional video?"

"Yes, yes, exactly!" At this moment, not just Nalan Mingxue, but quite a few others had joined the group as well.

"This is great! Why didn't I think of that?" Su Tianji, who had just entered the group, looked completely amazed.

Big Boss Fang: "How old are you even, and you're still talking about youth..."

"..."

Su Tianji: "(Anger) This young lady is seventeen!"

Big Boss Fang: "(Cold sweat) 6666"

Lanyan hurriedly changed the subject: "Since the boss is here, we just happen to need some rather early material. Do you still have any left on your end, boss?"

"There should be... right?" Boss Fang thought about it; after all, it had been several years already.

"Hurry up and look for it..." Lanyan said in a burning rush. "We have all the new stuff anyway, we're just short on the old ones."

"Oh..."

...

"By the way." In the Jiuhua City shop, Song Qingfeng, Xu Zixin, and the rest of the student crowd, along with An Huwei, Su Tianji, and the rest of the shop's earliest customers—and even some ancient-grade customers like Wang Tai the fat guy and Liang Shi, who had gone their separate ways due to reality and life but still maintained private contact with Boss Fang—were all gathered in the lounge area of Jiuhua City at this moment.

It was roughly the very first batch of people from the shop.

Beside them, Ye Xiaoye of the Cloud Ocean Sect asked, "Xue'xue, which day did we decide to hold this event of ours?"

"Hmm... I've already set it." Nalan Mingxue's eyes rolled slightly. "March twenty-eighth, how about that?"

"March twenty-eighth?" A group of people looked at her curiously. "Is there any special meaning to it?"

Nalan Mingxue glanced around her, then gestured for everyone to lean in close.

Only then did she speak in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz: "A birthday celebration..."

"Ah...?"

"Whose birthday is it...?"

"Could it be...? The boss...?" Ye Xiaoye was about to cry out in surprise on the spot when her mouth was covered by someone. Only after a good while did she say in a low voice, "How come we've never heard the boss mention it."

Although there was no custom of celebrating birthdays for young people in the Great Jin Kingdom, looking at it this way, it really could be considered a special day.

For a gala event, if it could have a special date, it would indeed complement it beautifully.

"...The boss doesn't even remember it himself?" Beside her, Xu Zixin also remarked curiously, "Xue'xue, how did you find out..."

Nalan Mingxue revealed a trace of embarrassment: "Don't ask about that."

After all, who could have guessed that a prior investigation, which ended up being useless back then, would finally be put to use here.

Of course, she probably did not know that Boss Fang likely couldn't remember his own birthday clearly either, and now that he was all alone, there was nowhere to even ask.

"Then it's settled!" Xu Zixin said. "Let's agree beforehand, don't let the word get out in advance!"

"Right, right!" Ye Xiaoye excitedly suggested, "Let's make a big cake! Just like... the one in Grand Theft Auto V! The boss definitely hasn't eaten such a novel thing in reality yet!"

"Hahaha, right, right, right!"

The more they spoke, the more enthusiastic they became, feeling extremely joyful: "When the boss sees it then, he'll definitely be startled out of his wits!"

...

While everyone in the Jiuhua City shop was laughing particularly boisterously, at the East Continent new shop:

A faint, misty rain shrouded the Dongxuan Blessed Land.

A group of disciples from the Haotian Sect pushed open the shop door and stepped out, instinctively raising an umbrella.

This kind of weather truly mattered little to cultivators, and pedestrians still bustled along the bluestone-paved streets.

No one went out of their way to be unconventional by using their cultivation to block the rain; the atmosphere of the entire city was just like a city from before Fang Qi crossed over, at least from the looks of it now, there was no difference.

The Xiaoyao Ancestor, leading a group of cultivators from the Xiaoyao Blessed Land, walked toward the exit of the blessed land just as usual.

Right at this moment, his footsteps suddenly paused.

He stopped without any warning.

"Ancestor?" Ling Xuzi looked at the Xiaoyao Ancestor in surprise.

The bustling crowd ahead seemed... completely devoid of anything unusual.

Suddenly, he followed the Ancestor's gaze and only then noticed an invisible sword qi, tracing along the sky full of misty rain, transforming into a white, barely perceptible line of rain that rushed toward him.

That strand of sword qi was ethereal and agile to the absolute extreme, as if it were a divine sword originating from beyond the heavens; this was by no means a sword strike that a person of the present world should possess. Even Ling Xuzi, who stood behind, felt a sense of helplessness when witnessing this strike, not knowing how to dissolve it.

Yet the Xiaoyao Ancestor merely pressed two fingers together and pointed gently.

"Pop!"

Only a strange, sharp pop was heard as rainwater splashed in all directions. The cultivators hurrying along nearby seemed to only realize it just now, backing away one after another.

At this time, they finally saw a middle-aged man dressed in a plain grey robe standing with his hands behind his back amidst the crowd.

"Dugu..." The Xiaoyao Ancestor narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is that you...?"

"It is me."

Right at this moment, a flurry of hurried footsteps seemed to ring out from the surrounding streets. On the streets ahead and behind the Xiaoyao Ancestor, crowds of cultivators from various sects and factions could be seen arriving hand in hand with synchronized paces, their robes fluttering.

"This is...!?" Ling Xuzi of the Xiaoyao Blessed Land instantly darkened his expression, because he recognized every single one of these people. "The three sects, four factions, and six blessed lands of the Immortal Ruins Continent...!?"

Aside from the Haotian Sect, they had all gathered together!

"What... do you mean by this?" Ling Xuzi immediately asked in a deep voice.

"Cough! Cough!" Right then, a soft cough echoed from an alleyway by the roadside. A pale-faced man dressed as a black-robed scholar emerged. "No particular intentions, we merely happened to unearth the information we required."

"Shang Jiuwen!?" The Xiaoyao Ancestor's face darkened a bit more.

"Daoist Brother Xiaoyao, I trust you have been well since we last met." At the same time, a youth dressed in a silver immortal robe and crowned with a jade dragon drifted down elegantly from the sky.

When he landed, those sect people, even if they were Ascension realm experts or leaders of a sect, actually all recoiled several yards as if fearing a scorpion or venomous snake.

The rain and dew beneath his feet transformed into a pure white, transparent lotus flower, which seemed to support him in mid-air, appearing exceedingly miraculous.

"Li Wuchen..." The Xiaoyao Ancestor's face grew even colder and more somber.

"Brother Xiaoyao, aren't you being a bit too selfish?" Just then, the silver-robed youth spoke up. "In the past, we comprehended the Great Dao together for quite some time. How is it that Daoist Master Xiaoyao now only thinks of swallowing the fruit of the Dao all by himself?"

"In my view, Daoist Brother Xiaoyao might as well bring it out and share it with everyone."

"What fruit of the Dao?" The Xiaoyao Ancestor was completely baffled.

"The opportunity to take a step further; could it be that Daoist Master Xiaoyao doesn't know?" Li Wuchen's face turned cold. Other matters were already beneath the notice of existences like them, but this single matter alone...

Was absolutely not to be lost!

"You mean that...?" The Xiaoyao Ancestor was stunned at first, then waved his hand. "Come with me."

"Hmm!?" Everyone stared intently at the Xiaoyao Ancestor.

It was that simple!?

The crowd exchanged looks, then followed after him.

Before him stood a grand hall, its plaque bearing the sole word: "Origin." The Daoist Patriarch Xiaoyao pushed open the heavy doors and stepped inside.

Addressing the counter, he called out, "Add another two hours to my time today."

After all, overdrafts were permitted here.

He then picked out a computer and took his seat.

"What on earth are you doing?!" a crowd murmured, gathering behind him to watch.

"Do you all not know?" Patriarch Xiaoyao asked without looking back.

"Know what?"

"The times have changed," Patriarch Xiaoyao said, gesturing toward the League of Legends matches flashing across his screen. "The rules of the game have been rewritten."

"The rules... rewritten?!"

They were all fiercely contesting the chance for further ascension—how could the rules for such a thing possibly change?

Who could even possess the authority to dictate new ones?

Patriarch Xiaoyao simply opened his newly unlocked ranked match screen, which displayed a progression of titles: Iron Bronze, Unyielding Silver, Glorious Gold, Noble Platinum, Radiant Diamond, Master, and Challenger.

Next, he pointed to the little blackboard where the shop owner had just scrawled a fresh notice:

Do you wish to become a true deity? Do you wish to ascend the throne of the ultimate king? The qualifying rounds for the League of Legends Global Esports Tournament begin today!

To enter, contestants must reach at least the Radiant Diamond rank and form a team of no fewer than five members.

"Become... a deity? Does this mean one can truly attain godhood through this?!" The crowd stared fixedly at the little blackboard, their eyes wide.

"Radiant... Diamond?!"

"Challenger?!"

.