Chapter 5: Crazy Thursday Special

——Identity and Medical Report (Li Qingran)——

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After reading Li Qingran's medical and identity report, Chen Huaian was utterly stunned.

He only had cancer as a debuff, while Li Qingran had five!

And this girl's life was so tragic! What kind of grudge was this? All she did was nick her junior sister's shoulder during a sect competition. In the world of cultivation, isn't it normal to get injured during sparring? Yet the entire Chixiao Peak went berserk over it!

"No wonder she's hiding in this broken hut. If I hadn't come in time, she probably would've been gone for real." Looking at Li Qingran sitting cross-legged on a chair in the room, meditating with her eyes closed, Chen Huaian couldn't help but empathize, as if Li Qingran were a real person and this wasn't just a game.

"Is she cultivating? With her foundation ruined and her spirit root gone, can she still cultivate?" Chen Huaian tapped on Li Qingran, out of respect, he tapped her shoulder instead of any other inappropriate spot.

[Status: Cultivating]

[Cultivation Progress: 39/99]

This probably means she needs to accumulate 99 points of spiritual energy to advance to Qi Refining Level 2?

Chen Huaian speculated to himself, not noticing the slight blush on Li Qingran's ears.

He watched her cultivate for half an hour.

But her cultivation progress didn't increase; instead, it dropped by one point to 38.

The girl in the screen frowned, her pale lips slightly downturned, evoking pity.

"She must feel the spiritual energy receding instead of advancing..."

Chen Huaian started looking around for buttons, trying to find a way to help Li Qingran speed up her cultivation.

Moreover, with all her injuries, leaving her like this would only make things worse.

After searching for a while, he couldn't find an option to heal Li Qingran. There was an "Electronic Girlfriend Store" that was locked, but he finally found something that might help her in the upper-right corner, under a formation icon.

[Basic Spirit Gathering Formation: Watch an ad to unlock for one hour]

[Intermediate Spirit Gathering Formation: Watch an ad to unlock for 10 minutes]

[Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation: 188¥ for one hour, requires watching an ad.]

Besides the Spirit Gathering Formation, there were various other formations listed below.

Like the Concealment Formation, Mystic Armor Formation, and even the ominously named Heaven-Slaying Formation. Some of these formations required money, while others needed rare conditions, many of which he couldn't understand.

For example, one of the top-tier formations, the "Ten Directions Blood Slaughter Heaven-Slaying Formation," required collecting 12 spirit tools of at least artifact grade, along with a bunch of complicated materials to activate. But where to find these materials? Buy them? Get them from the game? Or have Li Qingran search for them, like in Travel Frog?

"Another special offer! And it's Crazy Thursday again?" Chen Huaian gritted his teeth.

Tomorrow, the Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation would return to its original price, and it wouldn't be cost-effective to use it then.

Better to bite the bullet now.

He topped up 1888, feeling a sudden emptiness wash over him. But it was just a fleeting moment. After all, he didn't have many days left to live, so why not live as happily as he could? As long as it gave him emotional value, made him feel alive instead of half-dead, then spending all his money was worth it.

From now on, the Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation would last for 10 hours, just until midnight.

Since Li Qingran wanted to cultivate, he might as well go all out!

But first, he had to watch an ad.

[The heavens are merciless, treating all beings as straw dogs. We cultivators, walking the path against heaven, how can we do so without a proper weapon? Treasure Pavilion's spirit weapons, the big brand in the cultivation world, are now offering heavenly subsidies. Click the link below to get up to 25% off! Buy your weapons at Treasure Pavilion!]

Chen Huaian: "..."

...

"Ugh, failed again."

In the room, Li Qingran sighed dejectedly.

With her cultivation crippled, her foundation ruined, and her spirit root gone, even though she was proficient in cultivation techniques, she couldn't make progress. The spiritual energy in her body kept decreasing, and now, no matter how much she cultivated, it only slowed the decline.

Moreover, she was cultivating the Chixiao Peak's exclusive technique, the Red Cloud Art.

In the entire Qingyun Sect, the Red Cloud Art was considered a relatively fast Earth-grade lower-tier technique, a lesser version of the Heaven-grade Red Sky Art. If even the Red Cloud Art couldn't restore her spiritual energy, the only option left was the Spirit Gathering Formation.

She was quite skilled at setting up Spirit Gathering Formations. Three years ago, her fourth senior brother Zhang Hanxiao had helped her during a sect mission, and since then, she had been giving him half of her monthly spirit stone allowance to set up formations. Over time, she became very proficient.

A Spirit Gathering Formation required a large amount of spirit stones. A basic formation needed at least 100 low-grade spirit stones.

An intermediate formation required 500 mid-grade spirit stones or 50 high-grade spirit stones.

As for an advanced formation, it required spirit crystals, something only elders and the sect leader could afford.

But now, she didn't even have spirit stones, let alone spirit crystals.

Just then.

"Clink—!"

Something fell to the ground.

Li Qingran looked closely and couldn't help but widen her eyes, her mouth forming an "O."

On the ground were ten spirit crystals!

Transparent, cyan crystals the size of a baby's fist, emitting a rich spiritual energy. She couldn't mistake them.

The same spirit crystals that Qingxuan Daoist used sparingly were now casually thrown on the ground!

Senior, you... you're wasting such precious treasures!

Following the spirit crystals, eight formation flags glowing with a faint golden light also fell from the air. These were the highest-quality immortal-grade formation flags, capable of maximizing the efficiency of formation materials, ensuring not a single bit was wasted.

The eight flags were arranged around her as if manipulated by an invisible hand, quickly forming an advanced Spirit Gathering Formation.

Hum—!

The moment the formation activated,

the spiritual energy from the spirit crystals was instantly extracted, swirling around Li Qingran like a vortex.

Within the formation, the concentration of spiritual energy grew denser, first forming a mist, then condensing into liquid droplets. Even without actively circulating the Red Cloud Art, the spiritual energy rushed into her body on its own.

She needed a Spirit Gathering Formation, and the senior had given her one.

And it was the best one.

Li Qingran's eyes welled up with tears.

From the house, clothes, and food to the Thunderfire Talisman and the Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation,

the senior had given her far more than she was worth.

She had even wondered if the senior needed her as a cauldron, but even for that, such an investment was unnecessary. Ten spirit crystals alone could buy several virgin female cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level willing to serve as cauldrons.

She realized that this might truly be her destiny.

The senior might be one of those wandering super-powerful cultivators.

He hadn't shown himself, not because he expected anything in return, but simply because he was sowing a karmic seed, accumulating merit.

The only way she could repay this senior was by cultivating diligently and not disappointing his expectations.

"Senior, don't worry. Qingran won't let you down."

Li Qingran wiped her tears, took a deep breath, and sat down to meditate again.

Every second in the Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation was precious.

She couldn't waste the senior's kindness.

...

[Status: Cultivating]

[Cultivation Progress: 41/99]

[Current Favorability: 20 (Respect) (Actively increasing favorability may trigger small gifts)]

"Still feels a bit slow?" Chen Huaian scratched his head and watched for another ten minutes.

He kept poking Li Qingran's shoulder to check her progress.

In the end, he could only console himself that as long as her spiritual energy wasn't decreasing, it was fine. No need to ask for too much.

Seeing that Li Qingran's cultivation would take a while and nothing major would likely happen during this time, he moved the Thunderfire Talisman from the roof to the door.

After ensuring everything was safe, he still couldn't bring himself to turn off the screen. He left it on and opened his computer.

Before, he didn't want to earn money because he thought it was pointless since he was going to die anyway.

But now, his mindset had changed.

For this game, for Li Qingran, this string of data that had brought some color to his life, he wanted to earn money.

In this internet age, and with his cancer,

there was no better way to make money than exposing himself to the public eye.

That's right, he was going to start live-streaming.

But before that, he needed some preparation.

Like getting a cancer diagnosis from the hospital, then shaving his head to fake multiple chemotherapy sessions.

No need for makeup; his current pallor already made him look seriously ill.

As for the content of his live stream, he had already decided when he opened his computer.

—Flipping off fate, mocking death with a smile.

He was going to climb Mount Tai, enduring the pain in his legs, as a bone cancer patient.