"Boss, we've all thought it through," said Zhou Hu with a grin after a moment of consideration.
The others nodded in agreement.
"That's good," Luo Chuan replied, his tone calm as ever.
A few sheets of white paper materialized in the air, suspended by invisible force. Elegant handwriting began to appear upon them, stroke by stroke, as if written by an unseen brush.
Everyone looked on in quiet amazement.
"This is your installment contract," Luo Chuan said. "If you're fine with the terms, infuse your spiritual power into it."
One by one, they did as instructed. As spiritual power surged into the contracts, the pages dissolved into shimmering motes of light and were absorbed into Luo Chuan's palm.
Afterward, they re-entered the weapon sales space, each selecting a weapon suited to their preferences and cultivation level.
Naturally, unlike Bu Shiyi and Bu Lige, who had the means to splurge nearly 10,000 spirit crystals on heaven-grade spiritual tools, they kept their choices more modest. Earth-grade weapons were more than sufficient for their current needs.
With weapons in hand, the next stop was as expected: the virtual world.
"I haven't played in a few days—I think I'm getting rusty!" Zhou Hu laughed as he stretched.
"What are you going to play?" Wei Qingzhu asked, curious.
"The arena mode in Tower of Trials, of course," said Lin Wanshuang with a competitive grin. "I just got a new weapon—I want to try it out."
"That does sound like a good idea," Wei Qingzhu agreed with a nod.
Everyone dispersed into different game modes, allocating their three hours in the virtual world according to their preferences.
In casual mode, Song Qiuying unexpectedly triggered a quest event and received a permanent 1% cultivation boost as a reward.
It may not sound like much—but a 1% increase in cultivation was equivalent to weeks, even months of focused training for many.
Naturally, envy filled the air.
Evening Fell Quietly
The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long golden shadows across the city. By the time Wei Qingzhu and the others left, the Origin Mall had quieted down.
No new customers came in.
This was one of the rare moments when Luo Chuan had the store to himself.
Well, himself and the employees.
That is, if Yao Ziyan were here.
But today, she wasn't.
With a small sigh, Luo Chuan reached for his helmet and logged into the virtual world. He selected the challenge mode of Tower of Trials.
He had already cleared the fourth floor's Ghostface Vine. Now, it was time to move forward.
In this mode, clearing the normal difficulty of each stage would unlock its hard mode.
Although Luo Chuan's cultivation realm was merely at the Tier 3, such measures of power had long become meaningless in his case.
He could have activated hard mode at any time—but he had his reasons.
Luo Chuan was an idealist at heart. He wanted to see just how far he could go in normal mode before it offered him nothing new.
Today, he would attempt the fifth floor.
"You are about to enter the fifth floor of Challenge Mode. Proceed?"
Luo Chuan clicked yes.
The screen flashed—
And the next moment, he found himself standing atop a snow-covered mountain peak.
The wind screamed around him, icy blades of air lashing at his face. Snowflakes fell like razors, stinging against his skin. The cold was intense—bone-deep. An ordinary person would have succumbed to frostbite within minutes.
Luo Chuan narrowed his eyes, taking in the stark white surroundings.
Where was the opponent?
He scanned the endless white expanse, wary. Everything was silent. Empty. Too still.
Then—
He paused.
A glimmer of green.
A single blade of grass jutted from the snow.
It was small, delicate, and appeared frail… but the fact that it could survive in such an environment was already proof that it was anything but ordinary.
Luo Chuan's gaze sharpened.
He could feel it.
A sense of deadly danger, subtle yet terrifying.
His pupils contracted.
That unassuming sprig of grass radiated a pressure that was difficult to put into words. It was like staring down the tip of a divine sword—one forged to pierce the heavens.
That was no ordinary plant.
Its roots were embedded like an unsheathed blade, standing tall, unwavering amidst the storm.
And for the first time in a long while—
Luo Chuan felt anticipation.