Lin Lingling had no idea what Chen Huaian was laughing maniacally about.
Anyway, the moment he got home, the guy locked himself in the second bedroom and hadn’t come out since.
“Whatever. I’m exhausted after running around all night. I’m going to bed!”
She cautiously glanced at Baji on the sofa—Baji’s eyes met hers, and in that instant, both girl and cat shuddered.
[Why is this human cub staring at me? Is she going to tattle on me?] —Baji was on edge.
‘Why is this big monster staring at me? Is it planning to eat me?!’ —Lin Lingling’s legs trembled.
Thinking of the terrifying black shadow that had appeared on the wall that night, Lin Lingling’s scalp tingled. Without hesitation, she darted into the master bedroom.
Only then did Baji let out a breath of relief.
He leapt up to the windowsill and began absorbing spiritual energy from the mysterious spirit plant with the massive blue fish.
Living here was like sleeping next to a tiger—he couldn’t take another day of it.
…
Second Bedroom.
Chen Huaian had already booted up the Electronic Girlfriend game.
When the in-game pop-up messages appeared, he was still a bit confused.
“Demon cultivator fragments? What the heck are those?”
“And spider silk soft armor has been delivered? There’s nothing at the door!”
In the past, rewards were always mysteriously delivered to the doorstep, but today, when he came in, there was nothing there.
The moment he finished speaking—
Whoosh!
A package appeared out of thin air on the bed.
[Spider Silk Soft Armor — Claimed by: Chen Xianzun]
Chen Huaian stared at the package in disbelief, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“Well damn, you’re not even pretending anymore? So the past ‘deliveries’ were just for show?”
He opened the package. Inside was a vest-like garment that resembled a bulletproof vest but was far lighter. Beneath the sleek surface was a layer of armor made of some unknown material.
He had a strong hunch—this armor was made from the shell of that human-faced spider!
Connecting the armor pieces were silver threads. He tugged one and immediately felt its incredible elasticity. These had to be the so-called “spider silk.”
So, I killed a human-faced spider… and got one demon cultivator fragment and this spider silk armor.
Even though the thing had been blown to smithereens with not a speck of ash left, its last bit of value had still been squeezed out.
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“Good stuff. Wearing this should definitely lower my chances of ending up as a pile of skin flakes.” Chen Huaian immediately put the spider silk armor on and added it to his harem of precious gear, alongside the Blackscale Sword.
[Demon Cultivator Fragment: A token received after slaying a demon cultivator.]
[Collect ten demon cultivator fragments to unlock the Righteous Cultivator Faction Store.]
“Ah, so that human-faced spider was a demon cultivator. Killing one can drop loot!” Chen Huaian clenched his fist, suddenly enlightened.
He didn’t have a rigid view of good and evil. After all, in many games and novels, so-called “righteousness” was nothing but a façade.
True righteousness lies in the heart, not in the doctrines.
That said, if evil always looked so twisted and hideous, then sure—he’d gladly be the handsome righteous one.
“Wait… I’ve killed demon cultivators in-game before, haven’t I? Why didn’t they drop any fragments?”
Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes.
Three possibilities came to mind—
- You only get fragments from killing demon cultivators in real life.
- The demon cultivator wasn’t completely destroyed by lightning, so the system didn’t register the kill.
- Drops are randomized; fragments don’t always drop.
Whatever the case, he made a mental note of it.
In the room, Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi were both sitting cross-legged in meditation.
Though… for some reason, Yue Qianchi was bundled up like a mummy. Wasn’t he hot?
Chen Huaian was curious for a second, but shrugged it off. He opened the Character Panel and selected Talent Abilities.
Several options popped up:
[Golden Needle Acupuncture Lv2: Spring Needle (Minor Mastery), Meridian-Opening Needle (Beginner’s Insight)]
[Blue Lotus Sword Manual (Beginner’s Insight)]
[Tide Art (Conditions unmet, unable to learn)]
“As expected, I can learn the Tide Art!” Chen Huaian’s heart leapt in excitement as his theory was confirmed.
Though the required conditions weren’t listed, he felt certain the key was to fully open all his meridians.
Even if that wasn’t it, opening the meridians throughout his body would only benefit him—there was no downside.
“Alright! Next step: level up my Meridian-Opening Needle!”
He clicked to view its details:
[Meridian-Opening Needle (Beginner’s Insight): Can open meridians, but has a high risk of causing permanent damage.]
[Upgrade to Minor Mastery requires: ¥1999 spent in-game]
That same 1999 yuan.
He hadn’t noticed before, but now he realized—was this some kind of scam? Especially since the needle was practically a necessity!
Still, 1999 yuan was a small price to pay if it brought real benefits.
“Recharge!”
With a swipe, he funneled ¥1999 into the game through Alipay.
But the skill didn’t upgrade.
“Huh? I spent the money…”
A moment later, he understood.
It wasn’t enough to top up the money—he had to actually spend it in-game.
Fine.
Time to start spending!
Chen Huaian looked left and right and saw that Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi were still cultivating inside the intermediate Spirit Gathering Array. He couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head:
“Chen Huaian, Chen Huaian… you’re really slipping. How could you give baby Qingran something as shabby as an intermediate array? Time to break out of this comfort zone!”
“Let’s just stack another 5.3 hours of an advanced Spirit Gathering Array on top! Let the great me enjoy a dual-layered boost!”
Empty! Empty! Empty!
Ten spirit crystals suddenly dropped from the void, forming a high-level Spirit Gathering Array that enveloped the intermediate one.
The spiritual surge startled both Yue Qianchi and Li Qingran out of their cultivation.
“Enemy attack?” Yue Qianchi’s eyes snapped open, sweeping the room with caution. She didn’t see any threats, but then her eyes went wide with disbelief:
“Heavens above! That’s… that’s a high-level Spirit Gathering Array?! The spiritual energy is overwhelming!”
When the intermediate array had first appeared in the room earlier, she’d been briefly stunned. But soon, the joy of having such a setup for cultivation overtook her embarrassment.
So what if she was seen? Wasn’t Li Qingran’s master supposedly some kind of grand elder?
An old monster like that probably had zero interest in little girls like her.
He was someone chasing the Dao itself. Could such a lofty being even have impure thoughts?
Honestly, even if she offered herself up on a silver platter, he’d probably just wave her off with disinterest.
In the sect, even basic Spirit Gathering Arrays were a luxury she rarely touched. She had to rely on Su Qinian channeling the spiritual veins of several peaks into Luoxia Peak, which gave it ambient energy comparable to a primary-level array. Without that, there was no way she would have reached the mid-stage Golden Core Realm by now.
She’d thought following Li Qingran out of the sect meant no more proper cultivation.
Yet right before bed, her master had casually pulled out an intermediate array.
And now, just past midnight, he threw down a high-level array like it was nothing.
Staring at the ten glittering spirit crystals embedded in the center of the formation, Yue Qianchi swallowed nervously.
A high-level Spirit Gathering Array…
Is this really something a girl like me is qualified to enjoy?
“Junior Sister, your master is seriously something else!” Yue Qianchi gave a big thumbs up to the still-dazed Li Qingran.
“By the way, Junior Sister… does your master have a Dao partner?”
“D-Dao partner?” Li Qingran blushed on reflex, then quickly grew suspicious. She glanced at her senior warily: “Senior Sister, why are you asking that?”
“Just thinking, you know…” Yue Qianchi gave her bust a light squeeze, speaking in a teasing tone, “Senior Sister’s looks aren’t half bad. With a little effort, I’d clean up nicely. So if your master doesn’t have a Dao partner yet… maybe I could…”
“NO WAY!!!”
Li Qingran instantly crossed her arms over her chest, cheeks flushing red: “Absolutely not!”
“Huh? Why not?” Yue Qianchi blinked. She’d only been joking, but Li Qingran’s reaction was unexpectedly strong.
“Because… because…” Li Qingran bit her lip, lowered her gaze, and mumbled: “Because Master is already an old man… and there’s such a huge age gap between you two. If you became Dao partners, it’d be really, really weird!”
“But I don’t think age is a big deal,” Yue Qianchi said meaningfully as she studied Li Qingran’s flustered face. “Senior Sister here doesn’t mind older men! Not like you, who only likes young, handsome little prodigies~”
“Who said that?!” Li Qingran immediately retorted.
“Then does Junior Sister like older men too?” Yue Qianchi pounced on the opportunity.
“Ah… I, I… you…” Li Qingran froze like a deer in headlights, then turned red to her ears: “I’m ignoring you, Senior Sister!”
She was terrified Master might overhear all this nonsense.
With no other choice, she turned around and walked away in a huff.
“Hahaha, alright, alright~” Yue Qianchi caught up and wrapped an arm around her slender waist with a grin: “Stop being mad. Hurry up and cultivate! You’re wasting a perfectly good high-level Spirit Gathering Array~”
“Hmph!” Li Qingran turned to glare at her: “So are you giving up on becoming Master’s Dao partner or not?”
Whoa! This girl’s really hung up on that?!
Yue Qianchi chuckled: “Oh, I gave up~ I gave up~ How could I compete when you’re already so determined? Tsk tsk~”
Li Qingran caught the teasing tone and humphed again, moving a little farther away before closing her eyes in mock anger, and resumed her cultivation.
…
At the same time…
[Meridian-Opening Needle proficiency has advanced to: Minor Mastery]
Chen Huaian felt a rush of clarity in his mind—his memory filled with mysterious knowledge.
A new level of the Meridian-Opening Needle was now available.
[To upgrade to Major Mastery, spend ¥6666 in the game]
“Okay, now that’s a fair price! Recharge!”
With no hesitation, Chen Huaian deposited the full amount into the game.
Now he had to figure out how to spend that ¥6666 efficiently.
No point in topping up the high-level Spirit Gathering Array any further—Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi would be traveling soon, and anything beyond this would be wasted.
He opened the Electronic Girlfriend Store and browsed through the catalog.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up when he spotted something.
Hehehe…
This is perfect!
It’s YOU!!
