Chapter 38: Who Dares?

The one who spoke was Daoist Qingxuan.

Li Qingran's indifferent gaze met Daoist Qingxuan's as she coldly declared, "I, Li Qingran, am innocent!"

The entire square fell silent for a moment after her words. Everyone stared at Li Qingran in shock.

Where did Li Qingran get the courage to defy a Nascent Soul cultivator?!

For most of the sect's cultivators, elders like Daoist Qingxuan were highly respected figures, akin to the embodiment of heavenly law. Regardless of whether what they said was right or wrong, their word was final. Any disagreements could be explained later. Directly confronting a Nascent Soul cultivator like this was nothing short of suicidal.

There was no need to talk about power or authority.

The strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator was right there.

Dare to say no, and they could crush you with their cultivation level. What could you do about it?

In the end, the cultivation world was ruled by the fist.

Sect Leader Wu Duantian looked at Li Qingran and sighed, shaking his head. "Li Qingran's temperament is commendable. She remains calm under the pressure of Elder Qingxuan. But being too rigid is easy to break. She's not suited for the cultivation world…"

"You're innocent?!" Daoist Qingxuan laughed in extreme anger. "Now that you're disrespecting your elders, your crime is already heinous. Kneel!"

Boom—!

A terrifying pressure descended upon Li Qingran.

Even though she clenched her teeth, she was still being forced to kneel inch by inch. But at that moment, a gentle force supported her knees, spreading throughout her body, allowing her to resist Daoist Qingxuan's pressure.

"It's Senior…"

Li Qingran's heart warmed, thinking to herself that Senior had indeed come.

But within the Qingyun Sect, there were seven Nascent Soul cultivators and over a dozen Golden Core cultivators. If Senior stood up for her, he might be in danger.

She relied on Senior but was also constantly worried about his safety.

"Qingran is foolish and has caused trouble for Senior again…"

**[It's fine.]**​

A calm voice rang in her ears.

**[With me here, who dares to humiliate you!?]**​

In the game, Chen Huaian was cool and composed.

Outside the game, Chen Huaian was utterly confused.

Let's rewind ten minutes earlier.

Li Qingran had just entered the main hall.

As Chen Huaian expected, the game interface popped up with a series of prompts.

**[You have triggered Main Quest 1.0: Help Li Qingran sever her karmic ties with Chixiao Peak and overcome this calamity. (This quest is extremely difficult. If you fail, your electronic girlfriend Li Qingran will remain at Chixiao Peak and eventually die in the prison.)]**​

**[Please create your game character first!]**​

Chen Huaian's mouth twitched.

Impressive.

After spending over a hundred thousand, he's only now being asked to create a game character?

If the game hadn't popped up this window, he wouldn't even have known he could create a character! He thought his character was just a vague spiritual entity or, at best, a pair of hands.

"Let me see what's going on!"

Chen Huaian opened the character creation panel and found that the game's customization system wasn't comprehensive. He could only make minor adjustments based on his current appearance. Fortunately, he wasn't bad-looking, and with some tweaks, he could pass as a somewhat immortal figure in the cultivation world.

When he opened the hair section,

Chen Huaian's hand froze.

**[Limited-Time Special Offer: Immortal Venerable's Flowing White Hair—Wu Xian. One-time payment for permanent use. Only 998￥ for this top-grade white hair!]**​

"I… what… the… hell!"

Chen Huaian's expression was a mix of shock and disbelief.

He thought the game wouldn't try to scam him here, but it didn't even bother to hide it.

There were over a hundred white hair options.

If not white, there were golden, red, silver, and thousands of hairstyles! The special offer was the cheapest, resembling Wei Wuxian's ponytail but in white.

He tried it on.

It looked insanely cool.

"998￥ isn't bad, much cheaper than the 9998￥ options. Let's buy it." Chen Huaian shook his head. As a white hair enthusiast, he had to pay the price. Fortunately, he was now wealthy, and this amount was nothing.

Next was the outfit.

Without purchasing an outfit, he only had a plain linen robe, which made him look more like a beggar than an immortal figure.

The outfit had to be bought!

Chen Huaian carefully selected a black Daoist robe—Di Jun, with golden dragon patterns on the sleeves. It cost 3988￥, also a limited-time offer. Other robes cost tens of thousands, with some functional ones even reaching hundreds of thousands or requiring spirit stones to purchase… He didn't understand the specifics, but he couldn't afford them.

With the cool outfit and white hair, his game character finally looked somewhat impressive. However, it still couldn't compare to the Nascent Soul cultivators in the main hall, who were surrounded by dazzling treasures.

Thus came the next spending option.

**[Surrounding Effects]**​

〈1〉Ancestral Dragon's Protection: Gain the Ancestral Dragon's protection effect. Upon entry, the Ancestral Dragon clears the path, with dragon aura surrounding you, and all seas submit! Daily Card: 9988￥ or 1 Spirit Crystal / Monthly Card: 288888￥ or 28 Spirit Crystals / Annual Card: 3 million￥ or 300 Spirit Crystals / Permanent Card: 3 billion￥ or 300,000 Spirit Crystals

〈2〉Golden Crow Chasing the Sun: Gain the Golden Crow and Great Sun effect. Upon entry, heavenly majesty radiates, and the sun shines brightly! Daily Card: 8888￥ / Monthly Card: 250,000￥ / Annual Card: 2.08 million￥ / Permanent Card: 2.5 billion￥ (or pay with Spirit Crystals)

…

〈1999〉Ancestral Dragon Seal: Gain the Ancestral Dragon's surrounding effect. Today's Special: 99.8￥, next purchase returns to original price. (Original Daily Card: 998￥ or 100 high-grade spirit stones)

Chen Huaian: "…"

After a moment of silence, he chose the Ancestral Dragon Seal.

It was affordable and cost-effective.

The moment he equipped the effect, his character was surrounded by the phantom of a five-clawed black dragon.

Though it couldn't compare to the full version of Ancestral Dragon's Protection,

for 99.8￥, what more could he ask for?

Besides, he was facing Nascent Soul cultivators,

not a group of Great Luo Golden Immortals.

There was no need to go all out.

The next big expense came.

**[Weapon Effects]**​

The weapon was the Black Scale Sword. Although it had been delivered to his home, the in-game item hadn't disappeared and was still in his character's inventory.

For the weapon effect, Chen Huaian simply bought a top-grade spiritual weapon effect. Today's special was only 99.8￥. After all, weapons were external tools. True strength came from oneself.

Now came the main event.

**[Cultivation Level Boost (Limited-Time 0.1 Discount)]**​

Newly created characters had no cultivation level.

It was unclear if they could even cultivate.

Since the character creation wasn't complete, there were no cultivation options yet. However, the spending options were already listed.

〈1〉Directly reach the peak of Qi Refining: 200,000￥ / Peak Qi Refining Experience Card: 99.8￥ per day

〈2〉Directly reach the peak of Foundation Establishment: 5 million￥ / Peak Foundation Establishment Experience Card: 998￥ per day

〈3〉Directly reach the peak of Golden Core: 80 million￥ / Peak Golden Core Experience Card: 10,998￥ per day

〈4〉Directly reach the peak of Nascent Soul: 660 million￥ / Peak Nascent Soul Experience Card: 88,000￥ per day

〈5〉Directly reach the peak of Nascent Soul Transformation: 1.88 billion￥ / Peak Nascent Soul Transformation Experience Card: 188,000￥ per day

〈Other levels are not yet available. All options can be paid with Spirit Crystals. 1 Spirit Crystal = 10,000￥〉

Even with a 0.1 discount, it's still so expensive? Ridiculous! In the past, even when he first encountered the electronic girlfriend game, or more recently, before his hospital checkup, seeing these outrageous spending options would have made him sneer and curse the game developers' ancestors for eighteen generations.

But now,

he simply smiled faintly and clicked on the Nascent Soul Transformation Experience Card.

188,000￥ disappeared from his bank account.

His character's body radiated divine light, and an overwhelming spiritual pressure spread out like ripples on water.

Just in time to hear in the game,

Daoist Qingxuan's furious roar: "…Kneel!"

Kneel?

Make Li Qingran kneel?

Heh…

Chen Huaian pressed the communication talisman and sneered:

"With me here today, who dares!?"