Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations

“According to this kid…” Nalan Hongwu stroked his beard and summarized the information that they got, “He was sent to a place named Half City by the Senior to establish a branch, and there are countless high-level cultivators in that city?”

“But…” Su Tianji asked curiously, “How come we’ve never heard of this place?”

“Maybe…” Xue Daolv had a thought that even amazed himself, “Mr. Fang’s location is beyond the places that we are aware of?!”

“So far?!” Ye Xiaoye clicked her tongue and asked, “How did the shop owner contact us?”

“It must be a powerful method of the Senior!” Ye Songtao said, “It seems that the Senior’s communication method is more advanced than any of the current communication jades!”

“Sir! How is that place? Is it fun?!” Jiang Xiaoyue wanted to know more.

“It’s okay! This place is quite unusual.”

“Sir! Can you put the new shop on the livestream and let us have a look?” Dong Qingli asked.

“I saw from the manual that there’s a video chat option, and we can see each other!” Lin Shao looked around and soon found a camera button.

The System’s version of QQ had two options: real view video chat and virtual reality video chat. Soon, Fang Qi received a prompt. Lin Shao wants to initiate a video chat. Do you accept?

These guys… They understood how to use this software so quickly. Surprised, Fang Qi clicked accept and saw a large group of people including Jiang Xiaoyue, Song Qingfeng, Nalan Mingxue, and Su Tianji standing behind Lin Shao.

“It is Boss!” Jiang Xiaoyue exclaimed while covering her mouth with her hand.

“We can even do this!” Lan Yan pointed at Fang Qi who sat before the computer. “Look! Is that the new shop?”

“The shop seems empty!” Su Tianji pointed at the space behind Fang Qi and said.

“Damn!” Fang Qi looked at the group of people on the screen, and he blushed a little. “So many people are watching!?”

“We want to see if you got kidnapped and disappeared,” Nalan Mingxue said mildly.

“I almost got kidnapped and sold!” Fang Qi said in earnest, “You can’t imagine what kind of danger I was in when I first arrived. I boarded a shady boat and couldn’t get off; fortunately, I’m smart!”

They talked animatedly while Fang Qi told them the things that he had seen, including the incident in which the carriage driver was wrapped up by the twigs of the tree.

“Hahahaha…” Jiang Xiaoyue laughed so hard that she almost fell to the ground. She hammered the desk with her small fist and said, “How can anyone be so stupid!”

“Are the people in this city really so interesting?” Dong Qingli was also amused.

At this moment, Fang Qi heard Zou Mo yelling, “Boss! Someone is here to collect the monthly fee!”

“Monthly fee?” Fang Qi frowned. “What’s that?”

“You guys enjoy the games! I’ll talk to you guys later!” Fang Qi said as he sent over a waving emoji.

“Sir! Remember to livestream for us when you can!” Dong Qingli reminded him.

“Right! Right! I want to see the new city!” Jiang Xiaoyue looked eager.

…

Liu San was the ‘grand cultivator’ on this street, but he didn’t dare to enter some of the shops on the street to collect money, and the previous shop, which Fang Qi had bought, was one of them.

However, he heard that Mo Tianxing had sold the shop.

“Senior Liu! This shop’s name sounds grand!” Standing by Liu San’s side was a young cultivator who was wearing a short coat and had freckles on his face.

“The prices are not low. It seems that this shop sells good stuff.” Liu San snickered and walked into the shop. “Who’s the owner of the shop?”

“I am.” Fang Qi stood up from his seat and walked over.

Liu San glanced at the prices on the small blackboard and asked, “Kid, are you new here?”

“What is it?”

“Do you know Red Forest Pharmacy?” Liu San said proudly, “I’m Xu Biao’s subordinate. According to the income of your shop, we’ll ensure your safety in the city for 3,000 crystals per month!”

Fang Qi looked at Zou Mo and found that the latter was also confused.

These people were collecting money and running a protection racket!

Fang Qi chuckled, “Sorry, but we are safe and don’t need protection.”

Liu San smiled wickedly and said, “It’s… not safe in this city. Are you sure that you don’t need our protection?”

“Not safe?” Fang Qi frowned since it was the second time that he had heard these words; he heard them the first time from Mo Tianxing.

He shrugged and said, “I feel very safe.”

“Senior Liu, this kid wants to do it the hard way! Let me…” The young man with freckles was incensed, but he was stopped by Liu San who said, “Peace brings money, don’t you know?”

Liu San said with a fake smile, “If you come to us for protection later, the price will be higher!”

“Oh, really?”

“We’ll wait and see,” Liu San snickered and left.

Fang Qi watched the two of them leave, and he was at a loss for words.

At this moment, Ruan Ning came over from the neighboring artifact material shop and said curiously after glancing around Fang Qi’s shop. “Why did they leave in a hurry after coming in?”

“They came to collect the monthly fee, and Boss didn’t give it to them, so…” Zou Mo said uneasily.

“So, you drove them away?” Ruan Ning, the girl in red, looked gloomy. “Don’t you know that you’re new here, and you’ll be in trouble if you offend them?!”

“There will be no trouble; they just need a beating,” Fang Qi said casually. Besides, he didn’t have that much money. He had asked Wang Xian, the carriage diver, about the price of the shops in this area and found that they were similar. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bought this shop.

“Why should I hand my hard-earned money to others?”

Ruan Ning: “You’re so dull and stubborn!”

“If you don’t want to give them money, you can join a force if you two have some unique skills.” Ruan Ning reminded them. “In this city, you can’t live long by yourself. After all, you’re not invincible masters.

“Since you mentioned it.” Fang Qi stroked his chin and nodded, saying, “I feel like I do need a force.”

Ruan Ning was pleased that he listened to her advice, and she said with a nod, “But don’t think that you can save money this way. Unless you can find the headquarters of these forces directly, you must register at the Coiled Dragon Office (Pan Jiao) in the inner city. All the forces including, newly-established forces, must register their names and logos at the Coiled Dragon Office.”

“Oh…” Fang Qi murmured to himself while he thought, Newly-established forces must register in the Coiled Dragon Office?

“Little Mo! Come with me to the Coiled Dragon Office!” Fang Qi yelled.

“Oh! Okay!” The baffled young man answered immediately.

“Finally, you understand the situation!” Ruan Ning watched them walk toward the inner city and heaved a sigh of relief.

When she looked back at Fang Qi’s shop, she was mad. “Hey! You didn’t close the shop’s door! Do you want me to keep an eye on your shop for you?!!!”

However, they were out of her sight.

While they were on the way, Zou Mo asked with a dull expression, “Sir, what force do you planning on joining?”

“Joining?” Fang Qi waved his hand. “Why would we join others? We can establish our own force.”

“Our own force?” Zou Mo was stupefied!

“Yeah…”

In the Coiled Dragon Office, a middle-aged man wearing a luxurious robe looked at the application form Fang Qi handed to him. “Heaven-Defying Online Games Guild?!”

All the people looked as if they had seen a ghost.

Of course, they didn’t know that Fang Qi had already prepared the advertisement for recruitment.

The Dragon-Slaying Treasure Saber will be gifted to anyone who clicks this…

TL Note: There are a lot of online browser games in China, and they all use this type of exaggerated advertisement. These advertisements usually appear as banner ads on websites and video ads before video content. The reason why this became a meme is that a lot of famous celebrities would pose for these games since it was easy to do and they get paid well, but the games themselves were quite bad.