Three days passed by in the blink of an eye. Sky City became more peaceful after the war between Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Warsky Alliance, but no one thought that things were going to take a turn for the better. On the contrary, this was most likely just the calm before the storm.

That being said, the three days of calm were definitely appreciated by the majority of players. Nearly all the leveling zones below Level 110 had been fully occupied, and over a hundred players completed their fourth-promotion quest during these three days. The members of Frost Cloud workshop—He Yi, Beiming Xue, Murong Mingyue, and me—hadn’t been slacking off either. After traveling all over the world and killing bosses left and right, all three girls successfully reached Level 100 and completed their fourth-promotion quests!

……

It was noon when my phone suddenly rang. The number belonged to He Yi.

I put down my chopsticks and accepted the call. "Hey Eve. I thought you were busy during this time. What’s the occasion?"

He Yi smiled. "What do you think? I’m coming back to China tomorrow. That’s why I’m free to call back."

"Oh? Tomorrow? Thank goodness!" Murong Mingyue chimed in excitedly. "Finally, the one person in our group who would pay for supper without looking like a sour puss is coming home!"

I stared at her wordlessly before deciding that it was best to ignore her remark. I went online after chatting with He Yi for a bit.

……

Swhoosh!

Sky City was as busy and noisy as ever. The eastern gate plaza was wider than even a football field, so it was divided into various zones for easier navigation. There were food ingredient zones, equipment zones, skill zones, pet zones, and so on. There were even zones where scantily dressed, low-level, female succubus players offered… services that didn’t belong inside the game.

As I was passing through one such area, a Level 80 succubus stared at me with her purple eyes before grabbing my shoulder armor. She said in a sweet and charming voice, "Sir, are you from Shanghai? Would you like to take some time off grinding and enjoy a great time? Our shop is the best shop in Xujiahui, and here you can find innocent students, office ladies, loli maids, twins; anyone you want, we can provide. Would you like to give it a try? We also offer closed-door services at Shanghai, Wuxi, Suzhou, and Nantong. It’s only 2000 RMB for the full package, and 3000 RMB for the overnight extra. What do you say?"

I hastily shook off her hand and walked away. At the distance, Xu Yang was laughing loudly at my misfortune, that bastard.

I ran until I reached my shop, "Air Force One”. My beautiful shop assistant, a beautiful fox girl, was leaning on top of the counter and counting something. Her butt was slightly raised, and her white, fluffy tail was swing left and right. She looked perfectly happy and content with her job.

"You’re back, master!" White Fox greeted me respectfully.

I returned her greeting with a nod before checking the turnover. Four days had passed since my shop officially opened. Magic Consumables was my main trade, although I also sold equipment and skill books on the side. I had set my shop to purchase food ingredients automatically, and taught White Fox my Rank 8 Cooking skill. The elite NPC had a skill called Copy, and it was used to copy her owner’s skill. Now, I didn’t even need to cook myself since White Fox could do it for me. This was why I wanted an elite NPC.

Sales were trending upward in just four days. My net profit on the first day after taxes was 3462 gold, 7643 gold on the second day, 9082 gold on the third day and a whopping 14873 gold on the fourth day. All in all, my shop’s profit and popularity was rising each day. As the saying went, repeat customers are the royal road of all businesses!

I took out the equipment Frost Cloud workshop had earned during our leveling trips and unloaded them all to my shop. There were over 200 items in total, and most of them were Silver or and Dark Steel–grade equipment. We also found eight or so Gold-grade items, and some of them could be considered top-tier. They should earn my shop even more popularity.

Right now, White Fox was standing in front of the counter and greeting a customer smilingly. "What do you need, brave warrior?"

Outside the shop, a barbarian warrior carrying an axe on his shoulder replied honestly, "I would like to buy 10 sets of Rank 6 Magic Consumables, lass. How much is it?"

White Fox reported the total price, and the barbarian warrior sneaked a glance at her before swallowing his saliva. He then paid for the goods and left without a fuss.

Tsk tsk, the beautiful shop assistant tactic truly is a tried and true promotion tactic since ancient times!

As I stared at White Fox’s thin waist and plump butt, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible to get a uniform costume in this game. If it was, then all the money of the rich middle-aged men who crossed this street would be mine!

……

I opened the Heavenly Ranking and noted that I was Level 107. I was still the highest-leveled player in Sky City, but the gap between myself and the players at the back was decreasing each day. As usual, countless players were fighting for the seat of supremacy!

NameLevelClassBroken Halberd Sinks Into Sand107Undead SwordsmanWind Fantasy105Light WandererBeiming Xue

104Dark ArcherMurong Mingyue

104PriestFrom Water

104Magic KnightFarewell Song104AssassinLegendary Brave

104Dragon WarriorLittle Piglet

104Cold Wind SwordsmanPurple Marquis

104WarriorOctober Rain

103ArcherGui Guzi

103Undead KnightLaughing At The Heavens

103Magic KnightShadow Chanel

103Dark Tongue MageClear Perfume

103ArcherWarsky

103Warrior

……

Everyone was catching up in levels, but I was very glad to see 6 Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players in total in the Top 15. Warsky Alliance hadn’t given up either. No matter how many times they were killed, they kept returning to the top like wild grass. Their spirit was admirable to say the least.

I sent Lin Yixin a message: "What are you doing right now?"

"I’m selling stuff at a stall. What’s wrong?"

"..."

Instead of replying, I looked for her on the plaza and spotted her in no time. The beautiful Light Wanderer was sitting cross-legged at a secluded corner at the wall. I didn’t know why she bothered with her level of features and legs. It was impossible to miss a beauty like her.

I ran up to her and leaned against the wall. Then, I glanced sideways and watched Lin Yixin as she worked.

"What are you doing?"

"Spectating."

"Hmph!"

Lin Yixin shot me a look before asking, "Are all your skills Rank 10 already?"

I nodded. "Yep, even the ones I picked up just recently."

"Hmm, one of my skills is still at Rank 9 unfortunately. It’s quite the hassle…"

"What skill is that?"

"I’m not telling."

"Fuck!"

Suddenly, a system announcement resounded across the entire Sky City—

Ding~!

System Announcement: All players, please be informed that the number of fourth-promotion players in the China servers has exceeded 100, officially kickstarting the "Who Will Rise" tournament which will be hosted by the CGL officials. Players are required to register as 5-man parties, and the tournament will be carried out online until 32 teams are decided. The final phase of the competition will be held offline. The tournament offers huge monetary reward, and the MVP of the champion team will be included in the CGL Hall of Fame. On top of that, the tournament rewards CGL points and can affect Hall of Famers’ rankings!

Lin Yixin and I blurted in surprise, "Who Will Rise?"

It was yet another 5-man party competition. It looked like the ranking of the best players in China would be refreshed very soon. Countless experts were grinding levels like mad as of late, so I was sure that many of those low-key but powerful players would surface very soon. Moreover, this was a golden opportunity to have one’s ID carved into the CGL Hall of Fame, and in the world of gaming, a CGL Hall of Famer was the equivalent of a god to gamers. Just imagine all the money you could make from ads after becoming a CGL Hall of Famer!

In fact, I had received a call from an advertisement company called "The World Media" a couple days ago. They offered me a hundred thousand RMB contract to shoot an advertisement for them. After some consideration, I decided to turn down the offer because one, it was incredibly troublesome and two, I could kill a boss and sell a Purple Gold–grade item to get the same amount of money but faster. Unlike me, Candlelight Shadow’s advertisements were all over the goddamned country. He was the spokesperson of China’s world of gaming after all.

However, "Who Will Rise" was a tournament meant to shake up the players at the top. If someone could beat Candlelight Shadow in the tournament, then his position as the number one player of China would definitely be destabilized. Moreover, Candlelight Shadow was currently placed 7th on the CGL Hall of Fame. If I could beat him, I was sure that the gap between our rankings would be reduced drastically.

My excitement grew a hundredfold in an instant. I plunged the Heaven-stealing Sword into the wall next to me, clenched my fist and laughed fiercely. "Very good, the CGL rankings are finally going to be reshuffled. I will defeat Candlelight Shadow this time!"

Lin Yixin also rose to her feet and stared at me with a smile. "Nice. This is my chance to enter the CGL Hall of Fame!"

I turned to her in confusion. "Huh? Weren’t you famous as heck during the later stages of Spirit of Grief? I thought CGL officials already offered to include you in the CGL Hall of Fame at the time? Didn’t you turn down the offer yourself?"

Lin Yixin smiled. "I turned it down because I didn’t care about the fame at the time!"

"And now?"

She shot me a long look before answering, "If even someone like you can be a CGL Hall of Famer, then I can’t not join anymore. It would be incredibly embarrassing to fall behind someone like you."

"Hmph hmph!"

I chuckled a little before asking, "Yiyi, do you want to join Ancient Swords Dreaming Souls temporarily and form a party with me? With the two of us, Beiming Xue, and Legendary Brave in one party, there’s practically no one we couldn’t beat!"

Lin Yixin bit her lips as her expression alternated between hopeful and hesitant. After looking back and forth between me and the floor for a while, she finally said, "No, it’s better if I don’t join you. I don’t want my guild members to think that you’ve kidnapped me or something, and the prizes are too huge for me to neglect the wellbeing of my guild members. Qingqing, Purple Marquis, everyone…"

"..."

I supposed that we wouldn’t be fighting together this time. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls might encounter Snowy Cathaya in "Who Will Rise", but who said this had to be a bad thing?

I brought up the official forums, and as expected, the announcement of the tournament was already posted. The headline had bright red font that was impossible to miss: "Who Will Rise, the collaboration tournament between the Heavenblessed officials and the CGL officials will begin in 3 days!"

Immediately after the headline was a list of the prizes. They were as incredible as I expected them to be!

1st place: All party members get a chance at a lucky draw. The best prize a player can get is a Spirit-grade item. Level +4, Luck +3, 2000000 RMB.

2nd place: All party members get a chance at a lucky draw. The best prize a player can get is a Purple Gold–grade item. Level +3, Luck +2, 500000 RMB.

3rd~4th place: All party members get a chance at a lucky draw. The best prize a player can get is a Purple Gold–grade item. Level +2, Luck +2, 200000 RMB.

5th~8th place: All party members get a chance at a lucky draw. The best prize a player can get is a Dark Gold–grade item. Level +1, Luck +1, 100000 RMB.

9th~16th place: All party members get a chance at a lucky draw. The best prize a player can get is a Dark Gold–grade item. Level +1, 50000 RMB.

17th~32nd place: All party members get a chance at a lucky draw. The best prize a player can get is a Dark Gold–grade item. Level +1, 20000 RMB.

……

It was impossible not to gasp in admiration at these prizes. Seriously, the Heavenblessed officials had too much money to spare. A competition that offered prize money to the winner was always welcome!

They even promised to cover travel expenses for the Top 32 teams who qualified for the LAN. Even if you screwed up there, you would still win the minimum prize of 20k RMB. How nice!

Reading this only strengthened my resolve to win the “Who Will Rise” tournament!