The one who had spoken was none other than Elder Qingxuan.
Li Qingran met his furious gaze with calm indifference and replied coldly,
"I, Li Qingran, am guilty of nothing!"
The entire plaza before the sect hall fell deathly silent at her words.
All eyes turned toward her in shock.
Where did Li Qingran get the guts to talk back to a Nascent Soul cultivator?!
To most disciples in the sect, elders like Qingxuan were revered figures—respected, powerful, and nearly absolute in authority. Whether right or wrong, whatever Qingxuan said was the law. The correct response was simply to bow and agree. Any misunderstanding could be explained later.
But to openly defy a Nascent Soul elder like this?
That was nothing short of suicide.
Never mind questions of justice or power dynamics—
In the cultivation world, fists made the rules.
Speak out of line, and you could be crushed by someone's cultivation base alone.
Sect Master Wu Duantian sighed softly as he looked at her.
"Li Qingran has an admirable spirit," he murmured.
"To stand firm even under Elder Qingxuan's pressure shows remarkable clarity of mind. But… she's too rigid. That kind of character doesn't suit life in the cultivation world."
"You claim you are not guilty?" Elder Qingxuan laughed in fury.
"Now, you disrespect your elders—that alone is a grave offense! Kneel before me!"
BOOM—!
A terrifying pressure descended upon Li Qingran.
Even with her teeth clenched tightly, her knees began to buckle, inch by inch, until she was on the verge of collapsing to the ground.
But just as her knees were about to touch the stone floor—
a gentle force caught her and held her up. It spread through her body, letting her resist the overwhelming might of Elder Qingxuan.
"Senior…"
A warmth bloomed in Li Qingran's heart.
He had come. He was watching.
But Qingyun Sect had seven Nascent Soul elders, and over a dozen Core Formation cultivators.
If her mysterious benefactor revealed himself now, he might be putting himself in danger.
She relied on him, yes—
But she also worried for his safety.
"Qingran is foolish… and once again, I've caused trouble for you, Senior…"
[No matter.]
A cool, deep voice echoed softly in her mind.
[As long as I'm here… who dares to humiliate you?!]
—
In the game, Chen Huaian was absolutely majestic.
Outside the game, he was completely confused.
Let's rewind to ten minutes earlier.
Just as Li Qingran entered the sect hall,
a flood of game notifications popped up, exactly as Chen Huaian had expected.
[Main Quest 1.0 Triggered: Help Li Qingran sever karma with Chixiao Peak and survive this calamity. (Warning: High difficulty. If you fail, your electronic girlfriend Li Qingran will remain imprisoned and die within the Chixiao dungeons.)]
[Please create your in-game avatar.]
Chen Huaian twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"Wow."
He had already spent over a hundred thousand yuan, and only now was he being asked to create his character?
Before this, he thought he was just some floating cloud of spiritual energy—or maybe just two ghostly hands in the void.
"Let's see what the hell this is."
He opened the character creation panel.
Turns out the face customization wasn't detailed—
You could only fine-tune your existing features. Luckily, he was already good-looking, so a bit of refinement was all it took to make him look like a true cultivator.
He clicked into the hairstyle section.
And his hand froze.
[Limited-Time Offer: Immortal White Hair – 'Wuxian Style'. One-time purchase, permanent use. Only 998 yuan—bring home a top-tier white-haired look!]
"What the actual—?!"
His face went through a rollercoaster of expressions.
He had thought this game wouldn't try to milk money here, but nope—no shame at all.
There were hundreds of white-haired styles to choose from, plus blonde, red, silver—you name it. Thousands of hairstyles in total.
This particular one looked suspiciously like Wei Wuxian's ponytail—but bleached white.
He tried it on.
Absolutely stunning.
"998? Not bad. Cheaper than the other 9998 ones. I'll take it."
As a lifelong white-hair fan, he had to pay the price.
Luckily, he was rich now—this was nothing.
Next up: outfits.
If you didn't buy one, you got a default burlap robe.
Not exactly high-immortal aesthetic.
More like half-starved beggar cosplay.
He chose a limited-time black Daoist robe called "Dijun", with golden dragon embroidery on the cuffs—priced at 3988 yuan. Also "on sale."
The other robes were all over ten grand, some even going for millions if they had special functions—or worse, required spirit stones to buy.
He didn't understand the mechanics.
All he knew was—he couldn't afford them.
With his snazzy white hair and premium robe,
his avatar finally looked like someone important.
Still… compared to the Nascent Soul monsters in the sect hall glowing with divine light, he was nowhere close.
Next came a new paywall:
[Special Effects – Aura Add-ons]
〈1〉Ancestral Dragon's Blessing: Surround yourself with the shadow of a five-clawed dragon. Enter scenes with the dragon paving your way—divine might radiating in all directions!
Day Card: ¥9,988
Monthly: ¥288,888
Annual: ¥3,000,000
Lifetime: ¥3 billion
〈2〉Golden Crow Sunfire: Walk in with the sun blazing behind you. Radiate unmatched power.
Day Card: ¥8,888
Monthly: ¥250,000
Annual: ¥2,080,000
Lifetime: ¥2.5 billion
…
〈1999〉Ancestral Dragon Seal: Discount version of dragon effect. Special offer today: ¥99.8 (Normally ¥998)
Chen Huaian: "…"
He sat in silence for a moment, then chose the Ancestral Dragon Seal.
Great value. High cost-performance.
Once equipped, a shadowy black dragon coiled around his avatar—
Not as flashy as the full version, but still intimidating.
And hey, he wasn't facing Immortal Emperors,
just some Nascent Soul old man.
No need to overdo it—he had other things to spend money on.
Next came weapon effects.
He still had the Blackscale Sword in his inventory.
He added a premium-tier glow effect for ¥99.8.
After all, flashy weapons were nothing if the man behind them was weak.
Then came the big one:
[Realm Boost (Limited-Time 90% Off!)]
New characters had no cultivation level.
He had no idea whether his avatar could even cultivate.
There weren't any cultivation options yet—just a big list of money sinks:
Qi Refining (Full): ¥200,000 / Experience Card: ¥99.8
Foundation Establishment: ¥5,000,000 / Card: ¥998
Golden Core: ¥80,000,000 / Card: ¥10,998
Nascent Soul: ¥660,000,000 / Card: ¥88,000
Soul Formation: ¥1.88 billion / Card: ¥188,000
(More realms locked. Prices also payable in spirit crystals – 1 crystal = ¥10,000)
Even at 90% off, these prices were criminal.
Back in the day—before the hospital revisit, even—he'd have seen this and cursed the devs' entire family line.
But now?
He simply smiled faintly…
…and tapped Soul Formation – Experience Card.
¥188,000 vanished from his account.
His avatar surged with divine light.
Overwhelming spiritual pressure rippled out like water across a still lake.
Right then, in-game—
Elder Qingxuan's furious voice echoed:
"Kneel before me!"
Kneel?
Make Li Qingran kneel?
Heh…
Chen Huaian pressed down on the voice transmission talisman and sneered coldly:
"As long as I'm here—let's see who dares."