Chapter 872: Brand New Snacks! Mind-blowingly Delicious! Wasabi Flavored Seaweed! Durian Candy! Stinky Tofu!

At this hour, inside the Canglan City shop, the atmosphere was thick with the afterglow of battle.

A good number of players, stepping forward as allies, had thrown themselves into the fray.

Though their deeds on the front lines lacked a certain brilliance, the formidable support wielded by a handful of paladins and priests had altered the course of the day.

The spell of resurrection, stripped of the life emblems once provided by the system, demanded a harsher price, yet its grace remained undeniable.

Elsewhere, Elder Ceiwi led a gathering of elves, their hands woven with the unique healing arts of the life domain as they tended to the weeping wounds of the fallen.

"I can scarcely believe it..." the elven maiden Sera murmured, her voice breathless with wonder. "He was like a god of war."

Even within the walls of the shop, the murmurs rose and fell like a tide.

"That Great Sage Equalling Heaven... he truly appeared?" The black dragon, Gutonse, widened his dark, massive eyes, staring hard at the few who were animatedly re-enacting the spectacle.

"Did you not witness the Havoc in Heaven?"

"I swear to you, the reality outshone the tale by far!" Leyton, a master of the Saint tier, gestured wildly through the air. "With just a single strike of his staff!"

The black dragon before him shrank back instinctively, his neck tightening as though fearing the staff might descend upon his own brow.

"And then, what do you think happened?"

"That immortal manifestation was struck until blood flowed from its shattered crown!"

"Too powerful... only such a being deserves the name of a god!"

"A pity," Saint Willy sighed from the side, a trace of melancholy in his voice, "that from its cultivation framework to its martial techniques, it belongs solely to the Eastern Continent. We can only look upon it for inspiration."

"Yet I wonder..."

The crowd exchanged glances before shaking their heads. "Forget it, think no more on it!"

"Come, let us play League!"

"To Dark Souls! Are we not all tempered through hardship?"

...

Meanwhile, upon the second floor of the Eastern Continent shop, Owner Fang sat alone.

Obtained: Carrying Stone x1, System Gift Pack x1, Double Cultivation Room Voucher x1.

The Carrying Stone required no explanation; though it left the wielder vulnerable, it possessed the virtue of manifesting the absolute form of any game or movie character, demanding a mere ten percent synchronization rather than the usual twenty.

The System Gift Pack.

The quality of the hoard was excellent, promising a higher chance of drawing items of great power.

"Oh? This bodes well..."

Inside his private chamber upstairs, Owner Fang cradled a purple brocade box within his palms.

The hour of reward had come, a time that never failed to quicken the merchant's pulse.

With deliberate care, he set the box upon the wooden desk and slowly parted the lid.

A blinding shaft of golden light burst from the depths of the container.

"What treasures have dropped this time?" In an instant, the table before him was buried under a deluge of items spilled from the system's bounty.

There were weapons, snacks, and items immediately diverted to the system storage due to the scarcity of space, and...

His gaze fell upon a beautifully wrapped sleeve. A game disc?

He lifted it, reading the inscription aloud. "God of War 1 and 2 Collector's Edition?"

"Upon activation, grants the authority to release God of War 1 and God of War 2, along with the conditions to unlock the series?"

"Well now... a new game has been drawn."

"What else is there?" He searched the clutter until his eyes caught a wrist blade of bizarre design, radiating a crimson glow and a fierce, suffocating heat. This was...

"The Demon Prism Blood Blade?"

"The Demon Lord... Chong Lou?!" Fang Qi stared at the weapon, utterly struck.

The Demon Prism Blood Blade: forged from meteoric divine iron and the essence of the Demon Prism Spring; a demonic weapon beyond the mastery of mortal men. Synchronization increases consumption drastically and reduces duration significantly. Possesses immense power; use with absolute caution.

"Holy word!"

He rubbed his eyes. "Holy word!"

"Hahahahaha!" A burst of wild laughter echoed from the upper floor, clear enough for those below to hear.

Though synchronizing with a character far above his own realm meant a fleeting window of power—one made even shorter by the weapon's demands, perhaps vanishing after a mere two strikes—it remained a formidable trump card in his sleeve.

"And what else?"

"Snacks?" Several packages of provisions lay scattered across the wood.

After a long search, his fingers closed around a dull, dark stone: the Carrying Stone, capable of summoning a character from film or game for a brief span at ten percent synchronization.

"Is this all?" He rummaged further, finding nothing but provisions.

Glancing at the system interface, he noted the current quest had drawn to a close, though comfort came with the progress of another; the King's Training Class was nearing its completion, its hour fast approaching.

At that moment, the chime of the system rang in his ears.

System update at sixty percent; the Wrath of the Lich King version update is complete.

Dungeon and Fighter Summer Gift Pack is now online.

League of Legends Pool Party skins are now online.

(In consideration of local customs, the otherworldly summer attire is rendered with slightly more modesty than the original.)

"A new game, a new version? And a new gift pack?" Owner Fang stood speechless. He glanced out at the sky; though the summer heat was heavy, this world knew no summer vacation.

No, that was not entirely true, though only the Heavenly Academy seemed progressive enough to adopt it.

As the thought crossed his mind, a knock sounded at the door.

Having forgotten to bar the passage last time, he had grown wiser, shutting the door before turning the key on his treasures.

Yet there was nothing left to hide now, so he pulled it open.

"Oh? Xiaoyue?"

"Should you not be at your sect?"

Jiang Xiaoyue smiled, her eyes bright. "I bring good tidings! Our summer vacation is about to begin! My imperial father sent a wealth of spirit crystals through a messenger, bidding this princess study well... though I feel there is nowhere to spend them, heehee!"

"What?" Fang Qi's eyes widened. "Even you are granted a summer vacation?"

"What do you mean 'even us'? Every sect and clan is adopting it now!" Jiang Xiaoyue pouted. "Studying at the sect is exhausting, and after that comes the gaming. Every hour of the day is filled. Why shouldn't we have a vacation?"

"With the summer break, we shall have ample leisure between our games! I can journey to the elven forests with Sister Sera, or wander through the Orc Kingdom! I heard the Half-City faction is gathering a Nine Serenities Exploration Squad, and our academy intends to venture into the void. I mean to join them!"

"Join them? To such a perilous place? Over my dead body."

"Oh!" Jiang Xiaoyue's eyes suddenly lit up as though she had stumbled upon a new continent. Looking past his shoulder, she gasped.

"So much food!"

"Owner! Wherever did you find so many delicacies I have never seen before?"

"Well," Owner Fang glanced back at the mountain of snacks on his desk, a spark of mischief in his eyes. "If Xiaoyue promises not to run off to the Nine Serenities or the void, this owner might just part with half of these provisions for your sake."

"..." Jiang Xiaoyue hesitated, considering her options, and cast a glance at the snacks on the table before reluctantly yielding. "Then let's not go..."

"Then this is for you, and this is for you... and this too!"

Soon, Jiang Xiaoyue watched Boss Fang divide the snacks into two piles, pushing one half entirely toward her.

"Wow!" Clutching the snacks to her chest in disbelief, Jiang Xiaoyue bolted downstairs before Boss Fang could change his mind.

She dumped everything onto the coffee table in the lounge area, revealing two exquisite packets adorned with fruit patterns that read: Durian Candies.

There was also a translucent box containing glossy, pitch-black slices of stinky tofu, labeled: Authentic Stinky Tofu.

Finally, there were two elegant packages decorated with seaweed illustrations: Wasabi Seaweed.

By this time, most people were wrapping up their activities, and Su Tianji's group had just returned to the shop. Spotting the table full of treats, their eyes instantly lit up. "Xiaoyue! Did you buy all these snacks?!"

"My goodness, I've never seen any of these before. Are they new items from the shop?!"

"Ah, no, the boss gave all of these to me." Finding herself surrounded by Su Tianji, a large crowd, and several elves all staring at her with wide, expectant eyes, Jiang Xiaoyue felt a mixture of embarrassment and a slight, painful sting to her generosity. "Do you guys want to try some too?"

"Can we really?!"

"Mm-hmm! Xiaoyue, you're the best!"

.