1534

Beneath the stage, Warsky was so angry that he was shaking. I picked up the Devil’s Kiss Farewell Song had dropped again and let out a sigh on his behalf. The poor child, it took a prodigious amount of bad luck to drop your main weapon twice in a row. Was it because today just wasn’t his day, or was it because my drop rate was too high?

Thud!

Again, Warsky leaped up the platform before uttering, "Lu Chen, the Devil’s Kiss…!"

I put the weapon in my bag and grinned at him. "Eh, I don’t think I’m returning it this time…"

October Rain blurted, "Lu Chen!"

Warsky raised his Immortal Blade threateningly. "I will take it from you by force if you don’t return it!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You want to fight against me? I’m not looking down on you, Warsky, but until now, your win rate against me has been a big fat zero. Currently, it’s impossible for you to get even a lucky win against me, so what are you even talking about?"

"You!"

Enraged, Warsky rushed me with the Immortal Blade raised high!

……

Thud!

A wooden plank snapped as I rose to my feet. I activated Profound Armor and blocked the Immortal Blade’s strike with my bare arm!

291,872!

Warsky froze in disbelief. He couldn’t believe how little damage the Immortal Blade did to me. In fact, the Divine Armament possessed outstanding regeneration power, but none of the Devil’s Kiss’s armor penetration. The rest of his equipment was either equal or inferior to mine as well, so of course his basic attack couldn’t do much damage.

I raised my knees and sent his head flying backward. Before he knew it, a bloody chain had wrapped around his neck, and the Xuanyuan Sword rose and fell three times in a row!

1,527,723!

1,729,323!

1,938,374!

Warsky hadn’t brought any damage-reducing equipment with him, so he suffered more damage than even Farewell Song himself. The triple hit sent him skidding across the platform with less than 50% HP left. The Immortal Blade was healing him rapidly, but he would die if I really wanted to kill him.

……

I looked down on him from above the sky. "So? You still wanna go?"

Whatever rage or courage Warsky had a moment ago had been sapped completely by the Chains of Freedom around his neck. If he died here, there was a high chance his lifeblood, the Immortal Blade, would drop. If that happened, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Warsky might lose even his will to live.

Warsky staggered out of the debris and uttered, "Fine! I give, you bastard! But the Devil’s Kiss…"

I tossed the weapon back to him and said indifferently, "You didn’t think I would lust over a mere Middle Divine Armament, do you?"

Farewell Song arrived at this moment and caught the weapon himself. He then said, "Best of five!"

……

Suddenly, He Yi called out to me from below the stage, "Lu Chen, Xinran is calling for you in the real world. It sounds like she had a nightmare…"

I immediately descended to the ground and said, "Alright, that’s enough fighting for the day. Give me my money, Uncle Zhang Chun!"

Farewell Song hurriedly said, "What, you running away after winning two rounds?"

Li Chengfeng chose this moment to fly up the arena and point his halberd at the assassin’s nose. "Lu Chen gave you an inch, and you take a mile, you bastard? If you hadn’t made Lu Chen promise not to use the Xuanyuan Art, the fight would’ve been over already. He hadn’t even activated his Profound Armor or Battle Astral Wind, and he still kicked your ass twice in a row. Slink back to your room and train harder, Farewell Song. You are still far, far away from the Heavenly King level!"

A pale-faced Farewell Song exploded, "Li Chengfeng, you—!"

Below the stage, a smiling Candlelight Shadow spoke up, "Enough, Farewell Song. You should know now that you are Lu Chen’s inferior, be it in terms of equipment or skill. Your chances of winning against him are 30% at most."

The spectators began booing and making Warsky even more uncomfortable than before. He looked like he wanted to walk off the stage with Farewell Song right away, but he didn’t want to show weakness either. Thankfully, the intelligent October Rain said, "Stop dilly-dallying and come down already! We need you two to be the tank and DPS for our S6 instance run!"

"Er, oh, yeah, right…" They quickly excused themselves and left after that.

……

Meanwhile, after informing He Yi and Lin Yixin about my departure, I immediately flew back to an inn and logged out.

I took off my helmet and went straight to Xinran’s room. I saw her sitting beside her bed with tears on her cheeks.

"What’s wrong, Xinran?"

I walked up to her and held her hand gently.

Xinran looked at me with teary eyes and said, "I had a dream just now, big brother. A nightmare…"

"What was it about?"

I dreamed that you went to a far, far away place and never returned…" She broke into tears again and pressed her face against my chest. "I came all the way from another world to meet you, big brother. Please don’t leave me?"

I patted her shoulder gently while consoling her, "Don’t worry, Xinran. I’m not going everywhere. In fact, I’ll keep you company until you fall asleep, okay?"

"Mn. You’re the best, big brother…"

……

A while later, Xinran fell asleep once more.

I stepped out of the room and came face to face with He Yi and Lin Yixin.

"How is she?" He Yi asked.

I said with a frown, "Xinran has just returned to the real world, so her emotions are very unstable right now. It’s natural for her to have nightmares. We should consult the doctor on how to solve this problem later."

Lin Yixin said, "I’ve already done so. The doctor told me that the villa is still a little too noisy for Xinran, and that we should move to a quiet recreational resort temporarily. He said that a few days of quiet rest should be enough for her to recover."

"Alright…"

She continued, "There is a place like this next to the Taihu Lake—it’s about an hour’s drive from here—and it should be a suitable place for Xinran to recover. Its rental fee is a little expensive though."

"How much are we talking about?"

"200k per month…"

"Fuck, that is a little expensive. Oh well, I’ll pay for it. We’ll rent it for a month…"

"But of course. You are the richest—"

"Shh, we need to be humble, remember? Anyway, I’ll leave it to you to contact the person-in-charge. Can we move there tomorrow?"

"No problem. The estate belongs to my friend. Should we bring Lian Xin, Beiming and Mingyue over as well?"

"Sure, but do remind them to keep the noise down."

"Okay!"

……

The next day, I woke up very early in the morning. The girls were so excited that they had packed their stuff as soon as last night. They looked like they were going on a vacation, which I supposed they were. Still, I reminded them to bring their gaming helmets with them because there was a high chance a Nation War would be declared in the next couple days.

At 9 am sharp, we departed the workshop and arrived at the lakeside resort in less than an hour. We were greeted by the sight of two European-style villas. I had no doubt that the owner of the estate was either incredibly rich, powerful or both. No wonder the rental fee was 200k RMB per month.

After we entered the estate, I discovered that it was as tranquil as advertised. I could barely hear the sounds of car engines from the distant roads, and the sound of lakewater washing against the shore felt incredibly peaceful.

We ate a quick lunch before I went fishing with Xinran in accordance with her wishes.

There was a cutoff bridge beside the lake, and the end of the bridge was an exclusive spot for fishing. The water was only two meters deep. Xinran leaned against my side with a silly smile on her face as I reeled in fish after fish. She seemed to enjoy this rare moment of tranquility a lot.

When nighttime arrived, the cooks—we had brought them over from the villa because why not?—used the fish I had fished to make delicious soup for everyone.

At the living hall, Murong Mingyue said while holding her notebook, "Now that the real life stuff is done, allow me to report the in-game situation. First things first, a total of 7 players across the whole world have ascended since the last time we logged into the game!"

"7??" My eyes widened. "That’s insane!"

"It is. Almost everyone used up their Divine Crystals because the Nation War is on the horizon…"

"Alright. Who are these new ascenders?"

Murong Mingyue recited while staring at the list on the display, "In the Korea server, Tear Stain became a Light Divine Throne Guardian. In the India server, Flowing Cloud became a War Divine Throne Guardian, and Lui Lok an Ice and Fire Divine Throne Guardian. In the Japan server, Cyan Frost became a War Divine Throne Guardian. In the USA server, Beethoven’s Joy and Death Wish have also ascended. Finally, Warsky became a Light Divine Throne Guardian in our server!"

"Oh no…"

I sucked in a deep breath. "This is really bad. That’s 6 players from the Northern Alliance, India server and Japan server ascending. The Nation War is truly just around the corner!"

"Yeah. We can’t afford to fool around anymore!"

"I understand. We’re challenging the S7 instance when we log into the game later!"

"What if we get wiped?"

"We won’t! You have me!"

"..."

……

We requested two bottles of red wine and enjoyed a quiet dinner. The girls went back to their rooms after the meals, but I stayed in the side hall to enjoy a cup of tea and the peaceful atmosphere.

Creak…

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Beiming Xue’s pretty head. She looked at me and asked, "Are you alone, big bro?"

"Yeah. Come have a seat!"

"Heehee…"

The elf-like girl entered the room and closed the door. She then walked up to with lithe footsteps and, to my surprise, sat on my thighs and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Big bro…"

Her eyes looked misty and starry for some reason.

"What’s wrong?" I panicked a little.

Beiming Xue pouted unhappily. "Big bro, I feel like you’ve abandoned me ever since Xinran showed up. Am I an extra to you?"

I apologized sincerely, "Of course not, it’s just that Xinran’s circumstances are a bit… special. She needs care and love more than any of us right now. Don’t overthink this, Beiming. You will never be an extra to me…"

“In that case, how about you give me a kiss to profess your innocence?" she said while looking at me hopefully.

I didn’t want to disappoint her, so I held her waist and pecked her once on the cheek. After that, I slapped her once on her firm butt and said, "Satisfied? You can get off me now. This isn’t right…"

However, Beiming Xue didn’t remove her hands and continued, "But big bro, I’ve been missing you since I went to university. Are you really going to give me the cold shoulder so soon after I’ve returned?"

"Cold shoulder? You call this cold shoulder? Fine, what do you want?"

"I want you to kiss me, big bro. Do you understand what I’m saying? I don’t want a simple peck on the cheek… just this once…" she said while staring at me with deep longing in her eyes.

I didn’t say anything. I simply straightened my back and leaned down toward her. Beiming Xue shivered from head to toe as she closed her eyes.

When our lips finally met, she hugged me even tighter and said through the kiss, "I love you, big bro… You know it, don’t you?"

A pair of tears rolled down her cheeks.

Beneath the stage, Warsky was so angry that he was shaking. I picked up the Devil’s Kiss Farewell Song had dropped again and let out a sigh on his behalf. The poor child, it took a prodigious amount of bad luck to drop your main weapon twice in a row. Was it because today just wasn’t his day, or was it because my drop rate was too high?

Thud!

Again, Warsky leaped up the platform before uttering, "Lu Chen, the Devil’s Kiss…!"

I put the weapon in my bag and grinned at him. "Eh, I don’t think I’m returning it this time…"

October Rain blurted, "Lu Chen!"

Warsky raised his Immortal Blade threateningly. "I will take it from you by force if you don’t return it!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You want to fight against me? I’m not looking down on you, Warsky, but until now, your win rate against me has been a big fat zero. Currently, it’s impossible for you to get even a lucky win against me, so what are you even talking about?"

"You!"

Enraged, Warsky rushed me with the Immortal Blade raised high!

……

Thud!

A wooden plank snapped as I rose to my feet. I activated Profound Armor and blocked the Immortal Blade’s strike with my bare arm!

291,872!

Warsky froze in disbelief. He couldn’t believe how little damage the Immortal Blade did to me. In fact, the Divine Armament possessed outstanding regeneration power, but none of the Devil’s Kiss’s armor penetration. The rest of his equipment was either equal or inferior to mine as well, so of course his basic attack couldn’t do much damage.

I raised my knees and sent his head flying backward. Before he knew it, a bloody chain had wrapped around his neck, and the Xuanyuan Sword rose and fell three times in a row!

1,527,723!

1,729,323!

1,938,374!

Warsky hadn’t brought any damage-reducing equipment with him, so he suffered more damage than even Farewell Song himself. The triple hit sent him skidding across the platform with less than 50% HP left. The Immortal Blade was healing him rapidly, but he would die if I really wanted to kill him.

……

I looked down on him from above the sky. "So? You still wanna go?"

Whatever rage or courage Warsky had a moment ago had been sapped completely by the Chains of Freedom around his neck. If he died here, there was a high chance his lifeblood, the Immortal Blade, would drop. If that happened, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Warsky might lose even his will to live.

Warsky staggered out of the debris and uttered, "Fine! I give, you bastard! But the Devil’s Kiss…"

I tossed the weapon back to him and said indifferently, "You didn’t think I would lust over a mere Middle Divine Armament, do you?"

Farewell Song arrived at this moment and caught the weapon himself. He then said, "Best of five!"

……

Suddenly, He Yi called out to me from below the stage, "Lu Chen, Xinran is calling for you in the real world. It sounds like she had a nightmare…"

I immediately descended to the ground and said, "Alright, that’s enough fighting for the day. Give me my money, Uncle Zhang Chun!"

Farewell Song hurriedly said, "What, you running away after winning two rounds?"

Li Chengfeng chose this moment to fly up the arena and point his halberd at the assassin’s nose. "Lu Chen gave you an inch, and you take a mile, you bastard? If you hadn’t made Lu Chen promise not to use the Xuanyuan Art, the fight would’ve been over already. He hadn’t even activated his Profound Armor or Battle Astral Wind, and he still kicked your ass twice in a row. Slink back to your room and train harder, Farewell Song. You are still far, far away from the Heavenly King level!"

A pale-faced Farewell Song exploded, "Li Chengfeng, you—!"

Below the stage, a smiling Candlelight Shadow spoke up, "Enough, Farewell Song. You should know now that you are Lu Chen’s inferior, be it in terms of equipment or skill. Your chances of winning against him are 30% at most."

The spectators began booing and making Warsky even more uncomfortable than before. He looked like he wanted to walk off the stage with Farewell Song right away, but he didn’t want to show weakness either. Thankfully, the intelligent October Rain said, "Stop dilly-dallying and come down already! We need you two to be the tank and DPS for our S6 instance run!"

"Er, oh, yeah, right…" They quickly excused themselves and left after that.

……

Meanwhile, after informing He Yi and Lin Yixin about my departure, I immediately flew back to an inn and logged out.

I took off my helmet and went straight to Xinran’s room. I saw her sitting beside her bed with tears on her cheeks.

"What’s wrong, Xinran?"

I walked up to her and held her hand gently.

Xinran looked at me with teary eyes and said, "I had a dream just now, big brother. A nightmare…"

"What was it about?"

I dreamed that you went to a far, far away place and never returned…" She broke into tears again and pressed her face against my chest. "I came all the way from another world to meet you, big brother. Please don’t leave me?"

I patted her shoulder gently while consoling her, "Don’t worry, Xinran. I’m not going everywhere. In fact, I’ll keep you company until you fall asleep, okay?"

"Mn. You’re the best, big brother…"

……

A while later, Xinran fell asleep once more.

I stepped out of the room and came face to face with He Yi and Lin Yixin.

"How is she?" He Yi asked.

I said with a frown, "Xinran has just returned to the real world, so her emotions are very unstable right now. It’s natural for her to have nightmares. We should consult the doctor on how to solve this problem later."

Lin Yixin said, "I’ve already done so. The doctor told me that the villa is still a little too noisy for Xinran, and that we should move to a quiet recreational resort temporarily. He said that a few days of quiet rest should be enough for her to recover."

"Alright…"

She continued, "There is a place like this next to the Taihu Lake—it’s about an hour’s drive from here—and it should be a suitable place for Xinran to recover. Its rental fee is a little expensive though."

"How much are we talking about?"

"200k per month…"

"Fuck, that is a little expensive. Oh well, I’ll pay for it. We’ll rent it for a month…"

"But of course. You are the richest—"

"Shh, we need to be humble, remember? Anyway, I’ll leave it to you to contact the person-in-charge. Can we move there tomorrow?"

"No problem. The estate belongs to my friend. Should we bring Lian Xin, Beiming and Mingyue over as well?"

"Sure, but do remind them to keep the noise down."

"Okay!"

……

The next day, I woke up very early in the morning. The girls were so excited that they had packed their stuff as soon as last night. They looked like they were going on a vacation, which I supposed they were. Still, I reminded them to bring their gaming helmets with them because there was a high chance a Nation War would be declared in the next couple days.

At 9 am sharp, we departed the workshop and arrived at the lakeside resort in less than an hour. We were greeted by the sight of two European-style villas. I had no doubt that the owner of the estate was either incredibly rich, powerful or both. No wonder the rental fee was 200k RMB per month.

After we entered the estate, I discovered that it was as tranquil as advertised. I could barely hear the sounds of car engines from the distant roads, and the sound of lakewater washing against the shore felt incredibly peaceful.

We ate a quick lunch before I went fishing with Xinran in accordance with her wishes.

There was a cutoff bridge beside the lake, and the end of the bridge was an exclusive spot for fishing. The water was only two meters deep. Xinran leaned against my side with a silly smile on her face as I reeled in fish after fish. She seemed to enjoy this rare moment of tranquility a lot.

When nighttime arrived, the cooks—we had brought them over from the villa because why not?—used the fish I had fished to make delicious soup for everyone.

At the living hall, Murong Mingyue said while holding her notebook, "Now that the real life stuff is done, allow me to report the in-game situation. First things first, a total of 7 players across the whole world have ascended since the last time we logged into the game!"

"7??" My eyes widened. "That’s insane!"

"It is. Almost everyone used up their Divine Crystals because the Nation War is on the horizon…"

"Alright. Who are these new ascenders?"

Murong Mingyue recited while staring at the list on the display, "In the Korea server, Tear Stain became a Light Divine Throne Guardian. In the India server, Flowing Cloud became a War Divine Throne Guardian, and Lui Lok an Ice and Fire Divine Throne Guardian. In the Japan server, Cyan Frost became a War Divine Throne Guardian. In the USA server, Beethoven’s Joy and Death Wish have also ascended. Finally, Warsky became a Light Divine Throne Guardian in our server!"

"Oh no…"

I sucked in a deep breath. "This is really bad. That’s 6 players from the Northern Alliance, India server and Japan server ascending. The Nation War is truly just around the corner!"

"Yeah. We can’t afford to fool around anymore!"

"I understand. We’re challenging the S7 instance when we log into the game later!"

"What if we get wiped?"

"We won’t! You have me!"

"..."

……

We requested two bottles of red wine and enjoyed a quiet dinner. The girls went back to their rooms after the meals, but I stayed in the side hall to enjoy a cup of tea and the peaceful atmosphere.

Creak…

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Beiming Xue’s pretty head. She looked at me and asked, "Are you alone, big bro?"

"Yeah. Come have a seat!"

"Heehee…"

The elf-like girl entered the room and closed the door. She then walked up to with lithe footsteps and, to my surprise, sat on my thighs and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Big bro…"

Her eyes looked misty and starry for some reason.

"What’s wrong?" I panicked a little.

Beiming Xue pouted unhappily. "Big bro, I feel like you’ve abandoned me ever since Xinran showed up. Am I an extra to you?"

I apologized sincerely, "Of course not, it’s just that Xinran’s circumstances are a bit… special. She needs care and love more than any of us right now. Don’t overthink this, Beiming. You will never be an extra to me…"

“In that case, how about you give me a kiss to profess your innocence?" she said while looking at me hopefully.

I didn’t want to disappoint her, so I held her waist and pecked her once on the cheek. After that, I slapped her once on her firm butt and said, "Satisfied? You can get off me now. This isn’t right…"

However, Beiming Xue didn’t remove her hands and continued, "But big bro, I’ve been missing you since I went to university. Are you really going to give me the cold shoulder so soon after I’ve returned?"

"Cold shoulder? You call this cold shoulder? Fine, what do you want?"

"I want you to kiss me, big bro. Do you understand what I’m saying? I don’t want a simple peck on the cheek… just this once…" she said while staring at me with deep longing in her eyes.

I didn’t say anything. I simply straightened my back and leaned down toward her. Beiming Xue shivered from head to toe as she closed her eyes.

When our lips finally met, she hugged me even tighter and said through the kiss, "I love you, big bro… You know it, don’t you?"

A pair of tears rolled down her cheeks.